A saddle type vehicle includes a frame, an engine supported by the frame, a swing-arm swingably supported on the frame, a rear wheel supported on the swing-arm, a rear suspension arranged between the engine and the rear wheel, an air cleaner arranged in an intake passage, and an exhaust chamber arranged in an exhaust passage. At least a portion of the air cleaner is arranged above the rear suspension. At least a portion of the exhaust chamber is arranged below the rear suspension. The rear suspension extends in a direction intersecting with a vertical direction when viewed from a side of the saddle type vehicle. The rear suspension is coupled to the engine and the swing-arm. A height of the rear suspension in the vertical direction is smaller than a length of the rear suspension in a front-back direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to saddle type vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional model of a saddle type vehicle, a rear suspension is arranged vertically above an exhaust chamber with an air cleaner arranged above the rear suspension and behind a center frame (refer to Japan Laid-open Patent Application Publication No. 2009-241922). The conventional model described in Japan Laid-open Patent Application Publication No. 2009-241922 can prevent the heat of the engine and the exhaust chamber from propagating to the air cleaner.
In recent years, there has been the desire to increase the capacity of the air cleaner and the exhaust chamber to comply with increasingly strict emission and noise standards while maintaining the engine output.
However, if the size of the air cleaner in the saddle type vehicle described in Japan Laid-open Patent Application Publication No. 2009-241922 were to increase, the frame would limit expansion to the left and right, thus requiring that the air cleaner protrude upward and therefore the rider loses leg rest space. Additionally, if the size of the exhaust chamber in the saddle type vehicle described in Japan Laid-open Patent Application Publication No. 2009-241922 were to increase, the exhaust chamber would protrude downward or horizontally, thus reducing the minimum ground clearance and the bank angle of the vehicle. Accordingly, increasing the capacity of the air cleaner and the exhaust chamber in the saddle type vehicle described in Japan Laid-open Patent Application Publication No. 2009-241922 is no simple task.


An anode of a direct-current arc furnace is provided in the region of the bottom of the vessel, characterized in that a metallic, broom-like element, having bristles directed towards the interior of the vessel, is positioned in a region of the furnace vessel which is free of refractory material and subsequently, at least in the region of the broom-like element, refractory gunite is applied thereto and a metallic composition is admixed during the guniting, and as the thickness of the applied gunite increases, the ratio of the metallic composition to the refractory composition is reduced, gunite only being sprayed exclusively in the region of the inner edge of the ladle. The practice of the method results in a metallurgical vessel for direct-current arc equipment, which has a cathode protruding into the vessel and at least one anode disposed in the refractory lining of the vessel characterized in that, in the refractory lining at the bottom adjacent to the vessel shell, a metallic, broom-like element connected to the positive pole of the electrical energy equipment. The bristles are embedded in the refractory lining and are directed toward the interior of the vessel and the refractory lining has metallic embedments adjacent the bristles. The proportion by volume of metal embedments to refractory material is less in the part of the furnace lining facing the interior of the vessel than in the lining adjacent the shell. There are no metal embedments at the interior surface of the lining in the wear layer which contacts the melt.

As a consequence of the progress in the development of semiconductor components, a constantly increasing trend towards direct-current arc furnaces for melting and heating steel has ensued. Typically, the arc is formed between a cathode, which is disposed above the melt and protrudes into the vessel, and the melt itself. The direct current is returned by one or more anodes disposed in the region of the bottom of the vessel.
Since these anodes are subjected to a continuing high thermal stress, graphite is regularly used as anode material. These graphite electrodes characteristically have a high softening point and a high melting point. However, they possess the disadvantage that the graphite dissolves in contact with steel of low carbon content. This leads not only to high wear of the anode, which at the same time functions as a protective lining, but also to an impermissible carburization of the steel melt. The same is true for anodes of graphite-magnetite compositions, although it has been possible to reduce the carburization of the steel melt with such anodes.
Metallic electrodes are also used in direct-current arc furnaces. However, metallic electrodes are excluded from being used in ladle furnaces, since the metallic electrodes must be cooled intensively and a melting of the electrodes up to the melt break-out is to be avoided if for no other reason than work safety. Cooling of such metallic electrodes must be kept up during the entire period in which the melt is in the ladle. This leads to a high cost for keeping up the supply of cooling medium during the transport, possibly over long distances, from the smelting furnace to the converter or the ladle furnace, or it leads to structurally expensive electrodes such as shown in EP 0 167 037 B1.
The specification of EP 00 124 490 A1 discloses a direct-current anode comprising a prefabricated, removable, electrically conductive element which is in contact with metal bath. The element in this case is connected to an electrically conductive, grainy material, which lies on a metal plate having a metal rod. The prefabricated element can also consist of a refractory cast part with interspersed metal rods. The anode taught by this publication is different in structure and composition from the rest of the bottom of the direct-current arc furnace. Moreover, the metal rods embedded in the refractory casting have direct contact with the melt.
The German Offenlegungsschrift 27 53 198 discloses an electrode of a generator for the magneto-hydrodynamic generation of power. This electrode has a refractory ceramic matrix which contains 10 to 15% by volume of a continuous metal reinforcement. The surface of this electrode can consist of a refractory ceramic matrix which has not been reinforced. The place of use is a plasma, which may be an ionized or inert gas, in which temperatures up to 2,800.degree. C. may be encountered. This leads to electrode-plasma temperatures of up to 2,100.degree. C. Gas flows around this electrode which is standing apart and is in an environment which cannot be compared with a smelting vessel for metallic materials.

Metallurgical vessel for direct-current arc equipment


An electrical socket for a landscape lighting fixture includes a body having two side walls and two end walls extending between the side walls. The side and end walls cooperate to form a hollow interior for receiving a lamp. Each of the end walls is outwardly movable to permit one or more protrusions on the lamp to be received by the socket and includes one or more abutment surfaces each adapted to be engaged one of the protrusions to resist removal of the lamp from the socket.

As shown in FIG. 1A, an electrical bulb and socket assembly includes a lamp 10 and a socket 12 with a hollow interior 14 for receiving the lamp 10. The lamp 10 includes a rectangular base 16 that carries a bulb 17. The base 16 has two sides 18 and two ends 20. A plug portion 22 extends from the base 16 and has electrical contacts 24 that extend into the interior of the bulb to a filament 26. Protrusions 28 extend outwardly from the ends 20 of the base. The base may include grooves 30 extending along the sides 18.
The socket 12 includes two pieces 32, 34 that are aligned with each other, two side walls 36 and two end walls 38. The side walls 36 have fingers 40 for engaging one of the grooves 30 of the lamp base. The lamp 10 is fastened to the socket 12 by inserting the lamp base 16 into the socket interior 14. As the lamp is inserted into the socket, the side surfaces 18 of its base 16 move the side walls 36 of the socket 12 outwardly until the fingers 40 snap into the grooves 30.
FIG. 1B shows another form of socket and bulb assembly, which is from a motor vehicle. A socket 42 that receives the lamp 10 includes side walls 44 with fingers 46 which snap into the groove 30 of the lamp base.
Double filament bulbs (not shown) may be used rather than single filament bulbs such as when bulbs with a blinking feature are desired. The protrusions of double filament bulbs have a narrower width than the protrusions of single filament bulbs. Therefore, in many cases single filament bulbs cannot normally be inserted into sockets intended to receive double filament bulbs. Different protrusion widths are used in some applications to ensure the use of bulbs having a particular number of filaments to avoid exceeding the intended wattage of the bulb.
In landscape lighting, it is desirable to design the bulb and socket assemblies to be small and reliable. The socket of FIG. 1A is undesirable because it is made of two pieces 32, 34. As a result of this two-piece construction, the socket body halves may be misaligned during fabrication of the socket, which may result in poor electrical contact during use. The socket construction of FIG. 1B is undesirable since the side fingers 46 make it difficult to form the socket small enough for landscape lighting. Moreover, since the fingers 40, 46 of both sockets 12, 42 have a relatively complex shape, the sockets are undesirable in view of excessive tooling costs required for their manufacture.


An above ground storage tank is provided having an inner tank for primary storage, and an outer casing surrounding the inner tank. The outer casing includes both a casing body defining an opening, and a removable lid positioned over the opening. A fire-resistant seal is provided between the lid and casing body to inhibit transmission of fire and explosion hazards to stored materials, as well as preventing leaks and spills from escaping containment. It is preferred to further add a weather-resistant sealant around the periphery of the fire-resistant seal to inhibit weathering thereof.

The present invention relates to above ground fuel storage tanks, and in particular to an above ground storage tank having a removable concrete lid with fireproof seals at joints and openings.
Underground tanks have long been used for the storage and safekeeping of fuels and other hazardous materials. However, due to the long-term effects of groundwater and soil contamination from undetected leakage, the costs of remedial measures, and the related costs of removing underground tanks, underground storage is being avoided in favor of above ground storage of fuels and chemicals.
To provide safe storage of such hazardous materials above ground, storage tanks have been developed for fuels and chemicals where an inner tank is completely encased in an outer concrete jacket. For example, Lindquist et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,644, issued May 2, 1989 shows a steel inner tank for fuels surrounded by both a polyeurethane spacer layer and a polyeurethane liner for secondary containment and, finally, completely entombed in concrete for protection from external hazards.
Cruver et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,638, issued Jul. 23, 1991, discloses an inner steel tank supported by ribs and separated by an air space from an outer concrete casing. The air space is sized at 110% of the inner tank volume, and a sealant may be used on the inner surface of the concrete casing of Cruver et al to provide secondary containment for spills. Again, while the outer concrete casing of Cruver et al is formed from two identical halves, the casing completely entombs the inner tank in the concrete casing. In the event of a spill, loss of secondary containment at the seam between halves is possible.
Above ground storage tanks developed by others for chemical storage use polyethylene inner tanks for primary containment, and polyethylene liners for secondary containment. While effective in resisting chemical substances, polyethylene is expensive, and high mold costs are associated with providing tanks and/or liners for different sizes. Epoxy coatings for outer surfaces of concrete casings are also taught by others for above ground chemical storage tanks.
While generally effective in providing containment, these various above ground storage tanks suffer from a lack of access for inspection, repair and maintenance. Completely encased, the inner tanks may not be repaired or replaced except by destroying the outer casing. While the outer casing of Cruver et al has a horizontal seam between identical halves, access therethrough is problematic. Moreover, disassembly in the event of a spill comprises secondary containment, and may cause high levels of contained -materials to be released. Ready access, while desirable for inspection, repair and maintenance, has not been available due to the hazardous nature of intended uses. Where flammable materials are stored above ground, air gaps in the outer casing are undesirable sources of oxygen which present the possibility that a fire in a nearby structure could involve the stored materials, enhancing the risk of fire and explosion. Gaps or openings through which vapor or spills may leak are also undesirable. Thus, where spills occur in known storage apparatuses, access to clean up spilled material is problematic. As well, repair of damage or decay in the inner tank, or complete replacement thereof, is virtually impossible. Instead, it is necessary to completely dispose of the tank and casing, thus presenting a solid waste disposal problem.
Accordingly, improvements in the design of above ground storage tanks are desired to provide both environmentally sound storage as well as safe access for inspection and economical repair and maintenance.


A digital recording apparatus that obtains a digital stream including a plurality of frames, while recording the digital stream on a digital recording medium. This apparatus obtains, during recording, an instruction for a procedure in which a recording area is changed to another recording area which is not necessarily continuos with the recording area. When the instruction is obtained, the apparatus executes the procedure only when the number of frames which are recorded in the recording area is a predetermined number or more.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital recording apparatus that records an encode stream on a digital recording medium such as a DVD-RAM. More specifically, the present invention relates to technology for partitioning an encode stream into a plurality of VOBs and recording the same.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Recently, a DVD recording/playback apparatus having a DVD-RAM with as large as several gigabytes of storage capacity as a recording medium has been put to practical use and has rapidly become widespread. The DVD recording/playback apparatus is based on the Moving Picture Expert Group (MPEG) standard (ISO/IEC13818) and the DVD-VideoRecording Standard (DVD Specifications for Rewritable/Re-recordable Discs., Part3 VIDEO RECORDING) which specify an encoding method for digital audio-visual data.
The MPEG uses a data compression method based on time correlation properties between different pictures, in addition to a conventionally used compression method based on Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT).
The compression method based on the time correlation properties achieves a high compression rate by representing one picture as a difference from corresponding pictures to be reproduced before and after this picture.
Video data is a plurality of sets of still image data (each set of still image data per unit time is hereafter called a video frame), and therefore video data usually contains similar images. As MPEG can provide a high compression rate for video data containing a lot of images similar to one another, MPEG is suitable for compression of video data.
In addition, MPEG can effectively compress data by providing a different compression rate for each image and dynamically assigning a different amount of data to be encoded to each image in accordance with its complexity.
FIG. 1 shows a hierarchical structure of an encode stream which is recorded on a DVD-RAM by means of a DVD recording/playback apparatus.
The encode stream is a set of encoded digital audio-visual data based on the MPEG standard and the DVD-VideoRecording standard.
The MPEG standard defines a Group of Pictures (GOP) hierarchy as follows.
One GOP includes video encode data corresponding to more than one frame and is defined so as to perform a trick play for a video encode stream such as reproduction in a fast-forward mode or in a fast-rewind mode, or a reproduction from a midpoint of the stream. Each picture within a GOP only refers to pictures in the same GOP and therefore a random access within each GOP is possible.
Meanwhile, the DVD-VideoRecording standard defines a Video Object Unit (VOBU) hierarchy and a Video Object (VOB) hierarchy as follows. Here, each encode stream consists of one or more VOBs.
The VOBU includes one or more GOPs and a plurality of pieces of audio data (not shown).
The VOB includes one or more VOBUs which have a piece of encode information in common.
Also, VOB information (VOBI) is recorded for each VOB in the DVD-RAM, in which the encode information is included.
Here, in some procedures of the DVD recording/playback apparatus such as a recording pause and a change in a video resolution during recording, a VOB has to be changed to another VOB to be recorded before and after these procedures.
The recording pause refers to the case where a user presses a pause button during recording to pause the recording and then presses a playback button to cancel the pause and resume the recording, and the case where only commercials are automatically cut in accordance with the difference of sound attributes. In these cases, the apparatus becomes in a standby mode, by which recording can be resumed in a shorter time period than the normal starting mode, and returns to the recording mode.
The change in the video resolution during recording refers to the case where the video resolution is dynamically changed in accordance with the complexity of pictures. This function is for avoiding image degradation by scaling the video resolution down according to the situation, instead of increasing the compression rates for reducing the amount of encoded data, because the latter case causes block noise and mosquito noise which may lead to the significant image degradation.
FIG. 2A shows an example construction of an encode stream when recording is paused and the pause is cancelled.
As shown in this figure, a portion of the encode stream before the recording pause is recorded as VOB#1 and a portion of the encode stream after the cancellation of the pause is recorded as another VOB (i.e., VOB#2).
The following describes the reason why the VOB should be partitioned and recorded before and after the recording pause.
Video Object Information (VOBI) defines an entry "VOB#REC#Time", and a recording start time for one VOB is recorded in this entry which is present at the start of the VOBI. Accordingly, when different portions of an encode stream before and after a recording pause are recorded as one VOB, these portions of the stream have the same "VOB#REC#Time". However, this is not desirable as these portions of the streams do not consist of one continuous period. Therefore, the VOB should be partitioned and recorded in this case.
FIG. 2B shows an example construction of an encode stream when the video resolution is changed during recording.
As shown in this figure, a portion of the encode stream before the change in the video resolution is recorded as VOB#11 and a portion of the encode stream after the change in the video resolution is recorded as another VOB (i.e., VOB#12).
The following describes the reason why the VOB should be partitioned and recorded when a video resolution is changed.
The video resolution is necessary for encoding and is recorded for each VOB unit as VOB information. Here, only one video resolution can be present in one VOB and therefore video resolutions for all frames in the same VOB should be identical with one another. Consequently, the VOB should be partitioned when the video resolution is changed.
It is preferable to seamlessly reproduce pictures at the point of the stream where recording is paused or the video resolution is changed during recording. In the above cases, however, different VOBs which should be reproduced continuously may be separately arranged in the tracks at the inner radius and the outer radius of the DVD-RAM, because a normal DVD recording/playback apparatus records encode stream in units of VOBs. In such an arrangement, if the number of the frames included in the preceding VOB is less than a predetermined number that equals to a time enough not to generate a break of the reproduction due to the seeking time of a reproduction head, then reproduction is suspended for a moment (i.e., a break of the reproduction is generated) and therefore seamless reproduction cannot be realized.

Digital recording apparatus that secures a certain number of video frames in a VOB constituting with another VOB a portion of encode stream that should be reproduced seamlessly

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Devices include multiple phase change materials connected in parallel between electrodes. Memory cells with multiple parallel phase change materials can be programmed to transition among more than two states representing multiple bits of information. Methods for manufacture and use are also disclosed.

Integrated circuit devices, which may include memory devices, for example, may be found in a wide range of electronic devices. For example, memory devices may be used in computers, digital cameras, cellular telephones, removable flash memory devices, and so forth. When selecting a memory technology for an application, a system designer may consider a physical size of a particular device, storage density, operating voltages, longevity and device stability over time, read/write speed, and/or power consumption, for example. Other example factors that may be of interest to memory system designers may include cost of manufacture, ease of manufacture, and/or reliability.
Reference is made in the following detailed description to accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, wherein like numerals may designate like parts throughout to indicate corresponding and/or analogous components. It will be appreciated that components illustrated in the figures may not be drawn to scale, such as for simplicity and/or clarity of illustration. For example, dimensions of some components may be exaggerated relative to other components. Additionally, it is to be understood that other implementations may be utilized. Furthermore, structural and/or other changes may be made without departing from the scope of claimed subject matter. It should also be noted that directions and/or references, for example, up, down, top, bottom, and so on, may be used to facilitate discussion of drawings and/or are not intended to restrict application of claimed subject matter. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken to limit the scope of claimed subject matter and/or equivalents.

Methods, devices and processes for multi-state phase change devices


An actuation device driven by the adjusting motion of a first carriage is provided and, because of the adjusting motion of the first carriage from the first position into the second position, the adjusting motion of a second carriage can be driven from the measurement point to the rest position, and because of the adjusting motion of the first carriage from the second position into the first position, the adjusting motion of the second carriage can be driven from the rest position to the measurement point.

Such carriage arrangements are used in particular in machine tools that are used for the finishing of gear wheel blanks. These work pieces require indexing, i.e., recording their rotational position with the probe, to adjust a suitable relative position for the finishing between the work piece and the machine tool, for example a honing cutter. In doing so, generally the gear wheel blank forming the work piece is clamped on a rotationally drivable work spindle, which is supported on the first carriage.
For the indexing, the first carriage, which supports the work piece, is brought into its first position and the probe, which forms the indexing sensor, is advanced very close to the work piece by adjusting the second carriage, which carries the probe, into its measurement position. After the indexing, the second carriage must then be retracted into its rest position away from the measurement point so that the work piece on the first carriage can be transferred into the second position for finishing without said adjusting motion causing a collision between the probe and the work piece, the clamping device that clamps the work piece, or the first carriage which supports the work piece. This in particular also includes the case where the first carriage is first adjusted into its loading position, where the work piece is clamped, and only then is adjusted into its first position. It may be provided that during that time, the second carriage which carries the probe remains in its rest position to avoid a potential collision, for example with an interfering contour of the clamped work piece, and is only then adjusted to its measuring point near the work piece now in the first position.
These adjusting motions are conventionally realized with an electric, pneumatic or hydraulic drive. To ensure that the probe is not in the collision reach, position sensors request the instantaneous position of the second carriage, which carries the probe. The adjusting motion of the first carriage, which carries the work piece, from its first position where the indexing was performed and its second position, where the work piece is brought into engagement with the machine tool, is started only after the position sensors that monitor the second carriage issue a release signal. Thus, retracting the probe from its measuring point and advancing the work piece into its second position occur in a time interval. In a serial sequence of retracting the second carriage and advancing the first carriage, this requires an idle time that corresponds to the total of the time required for the adjusting motion of the second carriage between the measuring point and the rest position and the adjusting motion of the first carriage between the first and the second position.
An object to be attained by the invention is to develop a carriage arrangement of the type described above in such a way as to shorten said idle times.


A high voltage p-type metal oxide semiconductor (HVPMOS) device having electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection functions and a method of forming the same are provided. The HVPMOS includes a PMOS transistor, wherein the PMOS transistor comprises a first source/drain region doped with a p-type impurity in a high voltage p-well (HVPW) region, a second source/drain region doped with a p-type impurity in a high voltage n-well (HVNW) region wherein the HVPW region and HVNW region physically contact each other, a field region substantially underlying a gate dielectric, and a first heavily doped n-type (N+) region in the HVPW region and contacting the first source/drain region. The device further includes an N+ buried layer underlying the HVPW region and the HVNW region and a p-type substrate underlying the N+ buried layer. The device has robust performance for both forward and reverse mode ESD.

High-voltage metal-oxide-semiconductor (HVMOS) transistors are widely used in many electrical devices, such as CPU power supplies, power management systems, AC/DC converters, etc.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional HVPMOS 2. The HVPMOS 2 includes a gate electrode 10, a gate oxide 12, a drain region 4 in a high-voltage p-well 16, and a source region 6 in a high-voltage n-well 14. A shallow trench isolation (STI) region 8 isolates the drain region 4 and gate electrode 10 so that a high drain-gate voltage can be applied. An N+ region 18 is typically formed adjacent the source region 6.
The conventional HVPMOS 2 suffers from electrostatic discharge (ESD). As is known in the art, a high potential may be generated to an input or output buffer of an integrated circuit, which may be caused by a person simply touching a package pin. When the electrostatic is discharged, a high current is produced through devices of the integrated circuit. Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is a serious problem for semiconductor devices since it has the potential to destroy the device and the entire integrated circuit. The HVPMOS 2 can sustain forward mode ESD. When a forward mode ESD transient occurs, causing the voltage at the drain region 4 to be higher than the voltage at the source region 6, an ESD current flows through the drain region 4, high-voltage p-well 16, high-voltage n-well 14, and N+ region 18, and is discharged. The HVPMOS 2 thus will not be damaged.
A reverse mode ESD, however, may damage the HVPMOS 2. When an ESD occurs at the source region 6 (and N+ region 18), a reversed diode between the high-voltage n-well 14 and high-voltage p-well 16 prevents ESD current from being conducted. As a result, the HVPMOS 2 or other neighboring devices will be damaged. One way of solving this problem is to form separate ESD protection devices to conduct ESD current and lower the voltage at the source region 6. However, extra cost and chip area are involved.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a novel HVPMOS that is robust against both forward and reverse mode ESD.

Embedded silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) for HVPMOS ESD protection

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


A new Hypericum plant particularly distinguished by red berries, bright green leaves, and an upright, dense, and bushy plant habit, is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct variety of Hypericum, botanically known as Hypericum×Inodorum, and hereinafter referred to by the variety name 'RUIHYH009A'. 'RUIHYH009A' originated from a cross conducted in June 2007 in Hazerswoude, The Netherlands between the proprietary female Hypericum variety 'Hp-04-0126-003' (unpatented), and pollen from a mixture of un-named male Hypericum varieties.
The seeds from the cross were sown and plants were grown outdoors for evaluation. An individual plant designated 'RUIHYH009A' was selected in October 2010. 'RUIHYH009A' was first vegetatively propagated in May 2010 in Hazerswoude, The Netherlands by softwood cuttings. 'RUIHYH009A' was found to reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation via softwood cuttings.
'RUIHYH009A' has not been made publicly available or sold more than one year prior to the filing date of this application.


A multifunction securing mechanism for a compartment closable by a door and includes a key cylinder, a latching assembly which may be a two-point latching assembly movable between a latching and an unlatching position, a rotatable member configured for a lazy-cam function connecting the key cylinder and latching assembly, at least one catch located on a surface adjacent the outside of the door, and a bar pivotally mounted to the outside of the door and movable between a first closed position and a second opened position. A first release mechanism is located on an interior side of the door for changing a positon of the latching assembly, and a second release mechanism is located on the interior side of the door for changing a position of the bar, both for allowing a user to open a latched and secured door from the inside.

Vehicle boxes and compartments with doors, lids or the like have lockable latching assemblies to allow them to be opened and secured in a closed position. The latching assemblies include a latch device such as a pin, rod, or slider movable between a latching position and an open position. In the latching position, the latch is placed in a catch, an opening in a track, or behind an interfering structure of some sort to prevent the door from being opened. In the opened positon, the latch is retracted so as to not contact the corresponding structure and thereby allow the door to be opened. By turning the key in the key cylinder, a mechanism attached to the cylinder transfers rotational motion to generally more linear motion to move the latch back and forth. Roll up doors often have an additional external handle mechanism in which a bar is pivotally held beneath catches at lateral edges of the door to keep the door closed apart from locking the door.
However, if a person is accidentally locked in the compartment, or if the person wishes to be locked in the compartment during working (for example, for security reasons), re-opening a locked door from the inside is impossible without the key. Also, pivoting the external bar outward from the catches is also required. Such issues provides challenges for users of doors and roll up doors in particular.
While currently available lockable assemblies generally function well for their intended purposes, a door locking mechanism addressing one or more of the above issues, and/or providing other benefits, would be welcome.

Multifunction securing mechanism for door


An optical wavelength meter includes: an interferometer; a reference optical source unit with a laser configured to oscillate in a multi-longitudinal mode; and a signal processor configured to calculate a wavelength of a input beam with reference to interference fringe information of reference beam and interference fringe information of the input beam obtained from the interferometer.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an optical wavelength meter.
2. Related Art
Non-Patent Document 1 sets forth uncertainty in wavelength (frequency) of an unstabilized He—Ne laser.
Non-Patent Document 1: Feng-Lei HONG, Atsushi ONAE, "633 nm Unstabilized He—Ne lasers as a wavelength standard—Recommendation of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM)," AIST Bulletin of Metrology, August 2010, Vol. 8, No. 1, p. 11 to 13

YOKOGAWA METERS & INSTRUMENTS CORPORATION


An image-related device has an image-medium receiving tray. The tray is designed by a method that enables the tray to control the contouring of sheets of image medium during reception. The tray has a planar surface and a curved surface. The curved surface is designed by selecting a series of transverse and longitudinal curves to define a curved surface that is generally concave in the transverse direction while also sloping upward in the longitudinal direction. The combined concave and sloped shape of the curved surface causes the leading-edge region of the image medium to transversely curl and thereby obtain sufficient rigidity to extend beyond the front end of the tray. In addition, the curved surface--operating in conjunction with the kickout mechanism of the device--interacts with sheets of medium in a way that causes the sheets to land on top of each other instead of sliding against each other, thereby reducing the possibility of smearing while at the same time producing a neat, evenly stacked pile of media.

The functionality of an image-related device is greatly enhanced when it is able to consistently provide the user with neat and usable output. The image-medium receiving tray of a device plays a crucial role in providing such enhancement.
An effective tray must be able to collect media of different sizes and types and do so in a manner that does not disturb, e.g. smear, the image. To be even more effective a tray should evenly stack the medium it collects.
To be all of the above, a tray must be designed with consideration given to the operating parameters of the associated image-related device. For example, the type of device determines the type and size of medium that the tray must handle--thereby affecting the size of the tray.
The device also defines the speed and angle at which the tray receives the medium--thereby also affecting the size, the angle at which the tray interfaces with the device, and possibly the shape of the tray. Current techniques of tray design are discussed below within the context of several design considerations.
(a) Size of image medium--Most devices process image medium of different sizes; accordingly the tray must be able to accommodate the same variety of sizes. To fulfill this requirement many devices simply use a large tray to handle the largest possible medium that the device can output.
It is desirable, however, that the device and tray be both compact and economical. These characteristics are preferably obtained by reducing the overall size of the tray and accommodating larger medium in other ways.
When the leading-edge portion of a sheet of medium curls downward relative to the trailing-edge portion of the medium--a phenomenon familiarly known as "flopping"--the system may lose control of the medium. In particular with a short tray, large medium flops over the front end of the tray (i.e., the end farthest from other components of the image-related device) and may completely slide over and off the front end of the tray.
One mechanism for accommodating large medium and preventing flopping is a multipiece tray. A multipiece tray includes a main tray and an extension tray--mechanically attached to the main tray and usually stowed beneath or within the main tray. The extension tray is extended to create, in combination with the main tray, a tray large enough to collect large medium.
Though adequate to accommodate large medium and prevent flopping, a multipiece tray is undesirable for several reasons. First, repeated extension and retraction of the extension tray and the stress it places on the mechanism joining the trays results in a device which is susceptible to breakage. Second, multipiece trays are a significant inconvenience to the user, who must repeatedly extend and retract the extension tray to accommodate various media.
Third, an extension tray and the associated mechanical attachments increase the amount of material required to produce the tray and thereby increase overall cost. Finally, when extended the extension tray creates a discontinuous and rough surface over which sheets of medium must slide. This discontinuity often causes sheets to slide erratically, resulting in an uneven stack of medium.
A second technique to accommodate larger medium is to transversely curl the medium along its entire length. This is usually implemented through use of a cylindrical-surface tray. Such a tray forces the medium to transversely curl--thereby giving rigidity to the medium. With this rigidity the medium can extend over the front end of the tray without flopping. A beneficial feature of this technique is that it operates relatively independently of the size of the tray. Though somewhat appealing, this technique is undesirable under certain operating conditions as explained below.
(b) Type of image processing--Another operating parameter to be considered when designing a tray is the type of image processing the device performs. An effective tray must collect and stack image medium in a manner that does not disturb the image just processed by the device. For example, in a liquid-ink device a sheet having wet ink is likely to smear when a subsequent sheet contacts it. One method of avoiding image disturbance in such a context is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,875 of Hock et al.
In Hock et al. a set of wing deflectors positioned near the exit slot of a portable inkjet printer imparts a W-shaped bow on the leading-edge portion of an emerging sheet. This bow imparts rigidity to the leading-edge portion--which allows it to extend over and above the output platform of the printer and the trailing edge of any already-dropped sheet or sheets at rest on the platform.
As the sheet continues to emerge, however, and the leading-edge portion of the sheet moves farther from the deflectors it begins to lose rigidity. When the trailing edge of the sheet exits the printer, the leading-edge portion completely loses rigidity and flops onto the already-dropped sheet--making initial contact toward the leading edge of the sheet. The trailing-edge portion, still bowed by the deflectors, remains at rest on top of the deflectors--separate from the already-dropped sheet.
When a subsequent emerging sheet contacts the bowed trailing edge of the previously exited (but not yet completely dropped) sheet it pushes the trailing edge forward past the deflectors. The trailing-edge portion loses its rigidity and falls onto the trailing-edge portion of the already-dropped sheet.
In limiting the initial contact between the sheets to their leading-edge portions, this device reduces the possibility of smearing since the leading-edge portion of the already-dropped sheet is driest. Also, in keeping the trailing-edge portions of printed sheets separate until a subsequent sheet begins to emerge, this device allows more time for the trailing-edge portion of the already-dropped sheet to dry before another sheet lands on top of it.
While generally effective in preventing smearing this technique is somewhat undesirable because it curls the medium immediately upon exiting the device--thereby curling the medium while the ink is wettest. Because the medium is curled while the ink is drying, the medium is likely to have a residual curl.
In addition, while Hock et al. teach a relevant principle, their implementation of the principle is in a portable ink-jet printer which does not use a tray to collect its output; it merely drops its output onto a table. Such operation is outside the field of the present invention as defined above, and undesirable in a printer intended for essentially fixed installation--as table space is assumed to be at a premium, and a printer is commonly positioned with its tray extending over the table edge (except when not in use and stowed within the printer).
(c) Stacking of image medium--A common problem associated with trays is uneven stacking of sheets of image medium. This problem occurs when sheets ejected from a device slide in a disorderly fashion on the tray surface and particularly on previously deposited sheets.
The result is a pile of misaligned or sometimes even scattered sheets. The user has no option but to manually even the edges of the medium.
A factor contributing to uneven stacking is the manner in which the tray receives the medium from the device. Some typical devices have their trays positioned so that the leading edge of each sheet of medium slides from the back of the tray (i.e., the end closest to other components of the image-related device) toward the front. While sliding, the medium encounters resistance and discontinuities in the tray surface or resistance from previously deposited medium. This resistance sometimes causes the medium to move erratically.
A common technique to achieve even stacking is to add stops at the front end or along the sides of the tray, or both. As with the multipiece tray design previously mentioned, such mechanical additions to the tray are inconvenient, costly, and susceptible to breakage.
Another mechanism for even stacking in inkjet devices uses a pair of longitudinally extending wings driven by an electromechanical assembly. The wings initially hold a newly printed sheet spaced above a previously printed sheet. After printing is complete, the wings move apart, allowing the printed sheet to drop onto the previously printed sheet.
Therefore the sheets fall into an orderly stack. Though quite effective in stacking medium, this mechanism may be relatively more costly.
(d) Summary of related techniques--As previously stated, common techniques for designing effective trays generally include the use of a simple planar surface with various mechanical additions such as extensions and stops. More sophisticated designs have used cylindrical surfaces to control the shape of the medium or electromechanical wings to control the placement of medium.
These techniques, while providing trays that enhance device functionality, create problems in other areas. For example, transverse curling of wet medium--either by deflectors or by a cylindrical surface--causes the medium to have a residual curve. The use of a multipiece tray creates surface discontinuities which may cause uneven stacking of medium. A final problem is that the trays produced by some of these techniques--with their extensions and stops or electromechanical wings--are economically inefficient.
(e) Previously unrelated techniques--In a field not previously associated with the interaction between trays and solid but very flexible image media, it is known to use B-spline curves to design surfaces. Such surface design is common in the automotive and aerospace industries, where the interaction between surfaces and fluids is closely scrutinized to optimize machine performance and efficiency. Such techniques are also common in the field of industrial design, where they are used in shaping common household products to help find aesthetically pleasing forms.
As previously stated, the B-spline surface design technique has not been previously associated with, or suggested for use in, the functional design of image-medium receiving trays.
(f) Conclusion--Thus important aspects of the technology used in the field of the invention remain amenable to useful refinement.

Image-related device having image-medium receiving tray, and a tray for same, and a method for designing such tray


A crash protection device for use in a vehicle has a housing including an opening. An inflatable bag and inflator means are contained within the housing and arranged such that, on activation of the device, the bag inflates and protrudes through the opening. The housing has at least one flap pivotally attached to the remainder of the housing, and flap retainment means for retaining the at least one flap in a position overlying the opening such that (a) before activation of the device, the at least one flap is held in a position in which it retains the bag within the housing and (b) upon activation of the device, the flap retainment means releases said at least one flap to permit protrusion of the bag through the opening. The device has a front cover overlying said housing and mounted on the or one of the flaps.

This invention relates to crash protection devices for use in vehicles, and particularly to crash protection devices of the type in which a bag is inflated automatically under severe crash conditions to act as a cushion to restrict and cushion forward motion of an occupant of a vehicle with respect to the vehicle.
It is known to incorporate inflatable bag crash protection devices into vehicle steering wheels and also into the fascia panel of the vehicle in front of the front seat passenger. In known devices, the bag is contained within a housing forming part of the steering wheel of a vehicle. The housing includes a front cover whose exterior surface is designed to blend in with the rest of the interior of the vehicle On impact, the bag is inflated and forces its way out of the housing by tearing the front cover along one or more predetermined tear lines formed in the cover. These tear lines are defined by grooves or weakened zones moulded into the internal surface of the front cover to reduce the thickness thereof.
In order for the front cover to blend in with the interior of the vehicle, it is desirable to construct the front cover out of a material which complements the rest of the vehicle interior. It is not easy to form tear lines in some materials and so the range of materials available for use is restricted.
Commonly, the provision of grooves in the interior surface of the front cover can be discerned externally as apparent blemishes. It is therefore necessary to include features on the outer surface of the front cover to disguise such apparent blemishes. In order to make the front cover blend in with the rest of the interior of the vehicle, these features may not be desirable. The tear lines are also weak points on the front cover and so render the front cover more prone to accidental damage.
GB-A-2228235 (and corresponding DE-A-3942694) and GB-A-2241665 disclose crash protection devices of the type where the inflatable bag is contained within a housing having a front cover. Such front cover has a relatively hard core and a relatively soft external surface layer in situ moulded over the core, and the weakened zones are formed in the relatively hard core. Whilst such an arrangement does permit a certain degree of flexibility of design to enable the front cover to blend in with the interior of the vehicle, the external surface layer is required to have properties which do not interfere with correct breaking of the core upon inflation of the bag. Thus, for example, the use of fabric or leather to match the interior of the vehicle will normally be precluded in devices of this type.
In vehicles including crash protection devices as described above, it is difficult to include switches for controlling other devices included in the vehicle, for example, the horn, on the steering wheel because the whole device needs to be able to move when the switch is activated. It is also difficult to fix decorated emblems or other embellishments on the front cover as they may become disconnected from the front cover on inflation of the bag, and be a hazard to the vehicle occupants.


A seat integrating a loudspeaker system includes a seat having a seat body having a horizontally oriented seat bottom and a seat back secured thereto. The loudspeaker system includes a sound assembly mounted within the seat back for selective movement between a storage orientation and a use orientation. The sound assembly includes a first support arm and a second support arm. A retraction control mechanism that moves the first support arm and the second support arm between the storage orientation and the extended use orientation. The system also includes a positioning system in communication with the retraction control mechanism, the positioning system including a user interface in the form of a graphical user interface allowing a user to input his or her position within the seat.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a loudspeaker system. More particularly, the invention relates to a loudspeaker system integrated into an aircraft seat for providing a passenger with high quality sound without disturbing those sitting in nearby seats.
2. Description of the Related Art
The current global community has made it possible for people all around the country, and around the world, to interact for both business and personal reasons. For many people, this requires they spend considerable time traveling from one location to another location. More often than not, these people travel in aircraft. Whether these people travel in private or commercial aircraft, they desire high quality entertainment during the many hours they spend within the confines of an aircraft. However, while high quality entertainment, for example, digital video with CD quality sound, is readily available for theater and home use, the weight and size requirements for use in aircrafts make it very difficult to incorporate high fidelity systems within an aircraft. This problem is especially pronounced for audio loudspeaker assemblies when one attempts to meet the size, weight and shape requirements for use in aircrafts.
In the aircraft industry, great priority is placed upon component weight and size reduction. In addition, spacing and positioning of the loudspeaker assemblies is a great priority to those optimizing the operation of aircraft. The size, weight and shape of conventional terrestrial loudspeaker assembly designs adversely affect range and payload. These concerns are notable when one attempts to make changes within smaller, private jets. In addition, the limited space available within an aircraft dictates the use of any space within the aircraft be carefully considered by those responsible for ensuring the comfort of passengers.
Lightweight and compact audio loudspeakers are currently available. These loudspeakers, however, substantially compromise sound quality for reductions in size and weight. An individual wishing to add an audio system to an aircraft must make a choice between high fidelity loudspeakers not suiting the size and weight requirements of the aircraft and lower quality loudspeakers providing desirable size and weight characteristics.
Recently, aircrafts have added "suite" options for international travelers. These "suites" offer passengers a higher level of privacy and service. One feature of these suites is private video monitors for each suite. While passengers may use headphones in conjunction with the video monitors, most people find headphones to be somewhat inconvenient when worn for long periods of time and would prefer to use ambient sound sources while watching a movie or listening to audio while aboard an aircraft.
A need, therefore, exists for a loudspeaker system providing high fidelity sound, while meeting the size, weight and convenience requirements for use within an aircraft. The present invention provides such a loudspeaker assembly.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Ultra-low magnetic susceptibility, biocompatible palladium-tin, palladium-aluminum, and palladium-tantalum alloys include at least 75 at % palladium, between about 3 and 20 at % tin, aluminum, or tantalum, respectively, and one or more other additives chosen from niobium, tungsten, molybdenum, zirconium, titanium, tin for non-palladium-tin alloys, aluminum for non-palladium-aluminum alloys, or tantalum for non-palladium-tantalum alloys, up to about 22 at % total.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) compatibility has become an important feature for medical devices as the use of MRI increases and becomes more commonplace. Over the past three decades, MRI has become a valuable medical tool due to its offer of better soft tissue contrast and tissue chemistry, which are not currently obtainable with standard x-ray fluoroscopic imaging, spiral CT scanning and/or ultrasound. With increased computing power and higher strength magnetic fields, today's MRI equipment provides better signal to noise ratios (SNR) and offers the medical community more detailed imaging capabilities. In the mid-1990's, most clinical MRI equipment was based on a 0.5 Tesla field. By increasing field strength to 1.5 T, and then to 3.0 T, the SNR and image quality has improved without inconvenience to the patient or physician. As a result, MRI imaging has become more common in the neurology and internal medicine fields.
The MRI technique utilizes intense magnetic fields. Nonetheless, some biocompatible devices are constructed from metals or metal alloys that are not MRI compatible. MRI incompatibility arises from an interaction with the magnetic field, resulting in a physical force and/or heating of the metal, and/or distortion of the magnetic resonance (MR) image. These incompatibilities may be life threatening. An extreme example would be the reaction of the MRI magnetic field with a ferromagnetic implant, causing the implant to be dislodged from the therapeutic tissue location, resulting in injury, or death. A no less life threatening example of incompatibility would be the malfunctions of a cardiac rhythm device due to incompatible part(s). Alternatively, an incompatible material may have no noticeable physical reaction, typical of many paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials, but may cause image distortion (e.g. image ghosting, image artifact). The image artifact, or "ghost," can be considered an obstruction, and may limit the capability of the MRI to image the surrounding area and thereby reduce the physician's ability to examine critical features. These, so called ghost image effects, can be greater than ten times the size of the object causing the distortion. The less a metal interacts with a magnetic field, the more compatible it will be for an MRI application. In general a material that is not compatible due to magnetic force will not be compatible for image clarity. The field of research shows that device heating of metals in an MRI is largely due to device geometry. Also there are indications that a material's electrical properties may impact image distortion. To complicate the matter further, not all MRI compatible metals or metal alloys are biocompatible, in that the implant or medical device causes an adverse bodily or localized reaction in use.
Some have sought to improve the MRI compatibility of the materials used to construct devices, including the improvement of the MRI compatibility of palladium based metal alloys. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,087,077, filed Mar. 27, 2002, and entitled Biomedical Aid or Implant; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0121120, filed Jan. 14, 2005, and entitled Biomedical Aid or Implant ("the '120 publication"), the use of specific ratios of palladium, gold, and platinum is disclosed, along with additional dopants to improve the alloys imaging characteristics in an MRI. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0280850, filed Sep. 23, 2005, and entitled MRI Compatible Devices ("the '850 publication"), discloses a generic combination of "precious" metals and "refractory" metals, to achieve particular properties, such that the magnetic susceptibility of the metal or alloy is greater than, or less than, the magnetic susceptibility of the base metal. The reference sets an upper bound of 3×10−4 (cgs), volumetric magnetic susceptibility, which is nearly five times greater than pure palladium's magnetic susceptibility of 6.1×10−5. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0162108, filed Dec. 13, 2003, and entitled Implantable Medical Device Using Palladium ("the '108 publication"), provides a similar list of alloying elements. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 7,128,757, issued Oct. 31, 2006, and entitled Radiopaque and MRI Compatible Nitinol Alloys for Medical Devices ("the '757 patent"), discloses alloys containing palladium, but seeks to "maintain" the MRI compatibility of the alloy. For example, the susceptibility of Nitinol is listed as 1.9×10−5, and the susceptibility of a Ni—Ti—Pt alloy is provided as 1.33×10−5.
In view of the aforementioned references, although some have addressed the general issue of MRI compatibility of medical aids and implants in mechanical, geometrical, or electrical device applications using generic materials, none have dealt with technology needed to formulate alloys with ultra-low magnetic susceptibilities. Accordingly, there is a need for biocompatible medical devices or aids that are MRI compatible, which have an ultra-low magnetic susceptibility.

Palladium-based alloys for use in the body and suitable for MRI imaging


A gate insulating film 103 is oxidized by a thermal oxidation method using a gate electrode 104 as a mask. At this time, the thickness of the gate insulating film 103 becomes thicker so that the portions indicated by 106 and 107 are obtained. The thickness of an active layer becomes thin at an end 112 of a channel, so that the distance from the gate electrode becomes long by the thickness. Then the strength of an electric field between a source and drain is relaxed by this portion. In this way, a thin film transistor having improved withstand voltage characteristics and leak current characteristics is obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of a thin film transistor in which its withstand voltage characteristics and leak current characteristics are improved. The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing the thin film transistor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been known a technique in which a thin film semiconductor film is formed on a glass substrate or a quartz substrate and a transistor is manufactured by using the film as an active layer. This transistor is generically referred to as a thin film transistor. The thin film transistor will be hereinafter referred to as a TFT.
In general, as a semiconductor thin film for forming an active layer of a TFT, an amorphous silicon film or a crystalline silicon film (polycrystalline film or microcrystalline film) is used. This is because a single crystal silicon film can not be formed on a glass substrate or a quartz substrate by an existing technique.
Although low withstand voltage and large OFF-state current value do not become a subject of discussion in a TFT using an amorphous silicon film since its total characteristics are also low, they become a problem in a TFT using a crystalline silicon film.
This problem is caused because the density of defects existing in the silicon film is extremely high as compared with single crystal silicon.
As means for solving the problem, there are known structures disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 3-38755 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Nos. Hei. 4-360580 and Hei. 5-166837.
The structures disclosed in the above publications are referred to as an LDD technique or an offset technique. In these techniques, a high resistance region, which does not function as a channel or a drain, is disposed between a channel region and a drain region, so that a high electric filed applied between the channel region and the drain region is relaxed.
At an OFF operation, the movement of carriers via defects present in the vicinity of the boundary between the channel region and the drain region is suppressed.
The type of high resistance region is roughly divided into a structure of a non-doped region (generically referred to as an offset structure) and a structure of a lightly doped region (generically referred to as an LDD structure).
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Nos. Hei. 4-360580 and Hei. 5-166837 disclose a technique as a method of forming a high resistance region in which an anodic oxidation film is formed on the surface of a gate electrode and the high resistance region is formed in a self-aligning manner by the thickness of the anodic oxidation film.
This method has a feature that the high resistance region can be formed with high controllability.
An object of the present invention is to provide a TFT with a novel structure in which its withstand voltage is high and OFF-state current is small.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a thin film transistor comprises an active layer composed of some regions, a gate insulating film of a silicon oxide film formed on the active layer, and a gate electrode formed on the gate insulting film, and is characterized in that the active layer has been subjected to oxidation using the gate electrode as a mask, and the shape of a certain portion of the gate insulating film is different from that of the other portion thereof.
The certain portion is formed by thermal oxidation using the gate electrode as a mask. In this portion, the thermal oxidation in the active layer progresses to a region under the gate electrode.
In this state, the end of the upper portion of a channel region formed in the active layer is selectively oxidized. By making such a structure, it is possible to realize the state in which the thickness of the gate insulating film at the end of the upper portion of the channel gradually becomes thicker in the direction from the channel to a source or from the channel to a drain.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor comprises the steps of: forming a silicon oxide film on an active layer; forming a gate electrode on the silicon oxide film; and carrying out thermal oxidation using the gate electrode as a mask to increase the thickness of the silicon oxide film except a portion; and is characterized in that the end of the region subjected to the thermal oxidation extends to the portion under the gate electrode.
In this structure, the end of the upper portion of the channel region is selectively oxidized. That is, the thermal oxidation progresses to the end of the upper portion of the channel region.
By adopting this structure, the thickness of the gate insulating film at the end of the upper portion of the channel region is gradually changed. That is, it is possible to obtain such a structure that the thickness of the gate insulating film gradually becomes thicker in the direction from the end of the upper portion of the channel region to the source/drain regions.
The silicon oxide film prior to the thermal oxidation may be a silicon oxide film having an incomplete constitution. This film may contain an element other than oxygen and silicon if the film has such a film quality that thermal oxidation progresses.
In the manufacturing steps of the present invention, after the gate insulating film of the silicon oxide film is formed, the gate electrode is formed, and then the thermal oxidation is carried out.
By this, the thermal oxidation progresses in the portion except the region where the gate electrode is disposed, and the thickness of the portion becomes thick. The thermal oxidation also progresses to a portion under the gate electrode.
In this way, a state in which the thickness of the gate insulating film is gradually changed, is obtained in this portion. That is, there is obtained such a state that the thickness of the gate insulating film becomes thicker in the direction from the end of the upper portion of the channel region to the source/drain regions.
By this, it is possible to realize the structure in which the electric field applied to the active layer from the gate electrode is gradually weakened correspondingly to the change of the thickness of the gate insulating film in the direction from the end of the upper portion of the channel region to the source/drain regions.
The inversion layer formed on the end of the upper portion of the channel region can be made weak as compared with that on the center of the channel, and there is obtained an effect similar to the case where a lightly doped region or an offset region is formed.
That is, it is possible to realize the structure in which the electric field applied between the channel region and the drain region can be made weak.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A marine vessel hull is disclosed herein. The marine vessel hull includes a bottom surface. The marine vessel hull also includes at least first and second planing skis projecting from the bottom surface. Each of the first and second planing skis includes at least one side extending substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface. The first and second planing skis are sized to be submerged when the marine vessel hull is stationary in water. The bottom surface is substantially flat laterally between the first and second planing skis.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to marine vehicles and more particularly wherein the hull of the vessel is either so contoured that a groove-like configuration is formed in the bottom of the vessel, whereby a lifting force is generated.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,218 discloses a PLANING VESSEL. The planing vessel has a hull and a propulsion and control system. The hull has a plane bottom formed of an equicrural triangle in the front and a rectangle at the back, two boards and one or more swell guideways. Each swell guideway has an inclined top line with a lower front and a higher back denting upwardly into and extending lengthwise throughout the bottom and paralleling its centerline. The hull also has a pair of wave-splash guards inlaid or dented one into the boards as an integrated body, a deck, a cabin and an upper construction. The planing vessel so formed can generate sufficient hydrodynamic buoyancy with reasonable distribution to quickly lift itself out of the water and enter a planing state. The planing vessel can have various fine performances, desirable speed and stability to move on rough waters.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.


A method and system are disclosed to audit smart contracts. The method includes: publishing, with a processing server, a smart contract bytecode with metadata on a blockchain; retrieving, with the processing server, the published smart contract bytecode with metadata from the blockchain; extracting, with the processing server, the smart contract bytecode from the published smart contract bytecode; and verifying the smart contract bytecode by comparing a computed hash of a high-level source code of the published smart contract bytecode with the metadata retrieved from the blockchain.

Blockchain was initially created as a storage mechanism for use in conducting payment transactions with a cryptographic currency. Using a blockchain provides a number of benefits, such as decentralization, distributed computing, transparency regarding transactions, and yet also provides anonymity as to the individuals or entities involved in a transaction. New blocks are added to the blockchain through a process known as "consensus." In a traditional consensus process, blockchain nodes work to generate a new block that satisfies all requirements, a process known as "mining," and then will share the new block with other nodes. The other nodes will confirm that the block is suitable and then distribute the block throughout the blockchain, which effectively adds that block into the blockchain and moves the nodes on to working on consensus on the next block.
Smart contracts are written using a high-level language which makes it easier for developers to create them. For example, a high-level language (HLL) can include programming languages such as C, FORTRAN, or Pascal that enables a programmer to write programs that are more or less independent for a particular type of computer. Such languages can be considered high-level because they are closer, for example, to human languages and further from machine languages. When smart contracts are deployed to a blockchain, the smart contracts are compiled into a compact bytecode format, which can be executed by a virtual machine when invoking one of its clauses.
Despite the smart contract bytecode being public, auditing the smart contract requires either analyzing the bytecode itself, which can be difficult, or to transform the bytecode back into a high-level language ("decompilation") for analysis, may require additional tools.

Method and system for auditing smart contracts


A chimeric polypeptide comprising a TNF neutralizer domain, an IL-1 receptor antagonist domain, and a dimerization domain, wherein the three domains are operably linked to each other. Within the scope of this invention are (i) nucleic acids encoding the polypeptide; (ii) expression vectors and host cells containing the nucleic acids; (iii) related pharmaceutical compositions; and (iii) related preparation and treatment methods.

Inflammation is the body's defense reaction to injuries such as those caused by mechanical damage, infection or antigenic stimulation. An inflammatory reaction may be expressed pathologically when inflammation is induced by an inappropriate stimulus such as an autoantigen, expressed in an exaggerated manner or persists well after the removal of the injurious agents.
Two important mediators of inflammation reaction are tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-1 (IL-1). TNF neutralizer and IL-1 antagonist have been used to treat inflammation-dependent diseases.
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (CNF alpha) and Tumor necrosis factor beta (INF-beta) are mammalian secreted proteins capable of inducing a wide variety of effects on a large number of cell types. The great similarities in the structural and functional characteristics of these two cytokines have resulted in their collective description as "TNF".
TNF proteins initiate their biological effects on cells by binding to specific TNF receptor (TNFR) proteins expressed on the plasma membrane of a TNF-responsive cell. Two distinct forms of TNFR are known to exist: Type I TNFR (TNFRI), having a molecular weight of approximately 75 kilodaltons, and type II TNFR (TNFRII), having a molecular weight of approximately 55 kilodaltons. TNFRI and TNFRII each bind to both TNF alpha and TNF beta.
TNF antagonists, such as soluble TNFR and TNF binding proteins, bind to TNF and prevent TNF from binding to cell membrane bound TNF receptors. Such proteins were used to suppress biological activities caused by TNF.
The role of TNF in mediated inflammatory diseases has been well established. TNFRII have been proved to be safe and effective clinically for indications of TNF dependent disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
One of the most potent inflammatory cytokines is IL-1. IL-1 is manufactured by cells of the macrophage/monocyte lineage, and may be produced in two forms: IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta. IL-1 proteins initiate their biological effects on cells by binding to specific IL-1 receptor (IL-1R), proteins expressed on the plasma membrane of an IL-1 responsive cell.
IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) is a human protein that acts as a natural inhibitor of IL-1. IL-1ra binds to cell membrane bound IL-1 receptors and prevents IL-1 from binding to the same IL-1 receptors. This protein has been used to suppress biological activities caused by IL-1.
In theory, simultaneously neutralizing or blocking two important inflammatory mediators, such as TNF and IL-1, should have the best therapeutic value for treatment of inflammation dependent disorders. However, clinical trial of 242 patients and 24-weeks of concurrent use of a soluble TNFRII and non-glycosylated IL-1ra published by Immunex Inc and Amgen Inc did not increase the efficacy but lead to higher incidence of infection and neutrapenia than that of a soluble TNFRII and IL-1ra as monotherapy.


Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed. An example system includes a memory accessed by a program of interest, a performance monitoring unit to collect first memory access information and second memory access information about an object accessed in the memory by the program of interest; and a leak detector to: determine a non-access period based on the first memory access information and an unsupervised machine learning model trained based on the program of interest; and detect a potential memory leak of the program of interest based on the second memory access information and the non-access period.

A major source of bugs in production software is memory leaks. A memory leak happens when a program fails to deallocate (or free) objects that have been allocated in memory by that program. Such objects remain allocated and, therefore, consume heap memory. As a result, memory leaks may gradually exhaust available memory of a computing system, which could result in significant performance degradation or a crash of the computing system. Memory leaks can also be exploited to introduce security issues in a software (e.g., denial-of-service attack).
In general, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts.

Methods and apparatus to detect memory leaks in computing systems


A power output apparatus (20) of the present invention includes a clutch motor (30), an assist motor (40), and a controller (80) for controlling the clutch motor (30) and the assist motor (40). The clutch motor (30) includes an outer rotor (32) linked with a crankshaft (56) of a gasoline engine (50) and an inner rotor (34) connecting with a drive shaft (22). The assist motor (40) includes a rotor (42) connecting with the drive shaft (22). A control CPU (90) of the controller (80) controls a first driving circuit (91) to make the clutch motor (30) carry out power operation, so that the drive shaft (22) is rotated at a revolving speed higher than that of the crankshaft (56). The control CPU (90) also controls a second driving circuit (92) to make the assist motor (40) carry out regenerative operation. The electric power regenerated by the assist motor (40) is supplied to the clutch motor (30) to cover the electric power consumed by the clutch motor (30). The power output apparatus (20) of the invention transmits or utilizes the power generated by the gasoline engine (50) at a high efficiency and enables the drive shaft (22) to rotate at a revolving speed higher than that of the crankshaft (56).

The present invention relates to a power output apparatus and a method of controlling the same. More specifically, the invention pertains to a power output apparatus for transmitting or utilizing power generated by an engine at a high efficiency and rotating a drive shaft at a revolving speed higher than that of the output shaft of the engine. The invention also pertains to a method of controlling such a power output apparatus.

Power output apparatus and method of controlling the same


A scrubber attachment is provided for a spray bottle which includes a spray nozzle. The scrubber attachment includes a base member which includes a top side, a bottom side, and a communication channel extending through the base member from the top side to the bottom side. Scrubber members are connected to the top side of the base member astride the communication channel. A bottle connector is attached to the bottom side of the base member for connecting the scrubber attachment to the spray bottle. The scrubber attachment of the invention permits a surface to be treated with a liquid spray and scrubbed with scrubber members by using a one-handed operation. The bottle connector includes a flexible, tubular, connector sleeve placed in registration with the communication channel. The connector sleeve may be connected to the base member by a rotatable connection. The rotatable connection may include an annular recess in the base member which is in registration with the communication channel and may also include a flanged end on the connector sleeve which fits into the annular recess in the base member. The scrubber members include bristles. The spray nozzle of the spray bottle protrudes from a sprayer housing and the connector sleeve fits onto the protruding spray nozzle by a friction fit. The scrubber members are distributed symmetrically around the communication channel on the base member.

1. Cross-reference to Related Application
This application claims priority based upon my copending Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/040,004, filed Mar. 3, 1997.
2. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to scrubbing implements, and, more particularly, to a scrubbing implement especially adapted for use with a spray bottle.
3. Description of the Prior Art
Often when cleaning activities are carried out, a two-part activity is undertaken. One cleaning activity is to apply a liquid cleaner. The other activity to carry out a cyclic scrubbing action with a solid scrubbing device. Throughout the years, a number of innovations have been developed relating to both applying a liquid cleaner and carrying out a scrubbing action, and the following U.S. patents are representative of some of those innovations: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,388,605, 2,722,701, 3,088,164, 4,464,072, 4,922,859. More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 2,388,605 discloses a liquid applicator with a brush that is powered by a mechanized source of air pressure. For purposes of simplicity and economy, it would be desirable if a liquid applicator with a brush were provided which employs a hand-pumped source of air pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,722,701 discloses a liquid applicator with a sponge that uses a liquid-filled squeeze bulb for applying the liquid. If a leak were to develop in the squeeze bulb, then liquid would spill out. In this respect, it would be desirable if a liquid applicator were provided which does not employ a liquid-filled squeeze bulb.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,088,164 discloses a pressurized and sealed can with an attached brush. Pressurized and sealed cans are generally not refillable. In this respect, it would be desirable if a liquid applicator with a brush were provided in which the liquid container is refillable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,072 discloses a liquid applicator with a brush in which a spray nozzle is set off to the side of the brush. The spray pattern and the brush pattern are offset are offset with this device. For more efficient cleaning, it would be desirable if a spray applicator with a brush were provided in which the spray pattern and the brush pattern are not offset from each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,859 discloses a liquid dispensing head attachment which is attached to a hand-pumped spray bottle. Each of the individual dispensing elements in the head are bristle-like and have hollow interior channels. However, for purposes of simplicity and economy, it would be desirable if bristles in the head were not hollow and were in the form of a bristle-containing brush.
Thus, while the foregoing body of prior art indicates it to be well known to use liquid applicators in combination with a brush, the prior art described above does not teach or suggest a scrubber attachment for a spray bottle which has the following combination of desirable features: (1) employs a hand-pumped source of air pressure; (2) does not employ a liquid-filled squeeze bulb; (3) provides a liquid container which is refillable; (4) provides a spray pattern and a brush pattern are which not offset from each other; (5) and provides bristles which are not hollow and which are in the form of a bristle-containing brush. The foregoing desired characteristics are provided by the unique scrubber attachment for spray bottle of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.


A bezel member (52) to which a lens (54) which transmits light from a light source (37) is supported on a main body (30) to be fixed to a vehicle body (11). A spherical surface (52a) is formed on one of the main body (30) or a bezel member (52), and sliding members (34) for being pressed against the spherical surface (52a) are formed on the other one of them, so that the bezel member (52) can be rotated with respect to a supporting member (33) of the main body (30) and fixed to a given position. Since a metal plate is used as the sliding members (34) in this interior illumination lamp (10), a problem such that the light source cannot be fixed to the desired direction due to abrasion or change of properties of the felt sliding member as in the related art due to the temperature or deterioration with age can be solved. Also, in comparison with the case in which the spring or the like is employed, increase in cost due to increase in the number of parts can be avoided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interior illumination lamp and, for example, to an interior illumination lamp to be mounted to a door, a ceiling, or the like of a motor vehicle.
2. Related Art
In the related art, an interior illumination lamp is shown in FIG. 10, for example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication 2000-1141.
The interior illumination lamp is to be used by mounting to a back door of a station wagon, and is adapted to illuminate a luggage room provided at the rear or the lower part of the opened back door of the station wagon by changing the direction of illumination.
As shown in FIG. 10, an interior illumination lamp 100 includes a lamp housing 102 mounted to a trim 101 defining a wall surface of the back door, and a circular opening 103 provided forwardly of the lamp housing 102. A lamp supporting member 104 having a spherical inner surface is provided rearwardly of the opening 103 (rightward in FIG. 10), and a lamp body 105 in the shape of partial sphere is provided inside the lamp supporting member 104 so as to be change in direction by 360° within a predetermined range. The lamp body 105 includes a bulb 106 disposed therein, and a lens member 107 projecting from the opening 103 of the lamp housing 102 provided on the front surface (left surface in FIG. 10). A space S is provided between the lens member 107 and the opening 103 so as to constrain the amount of rotation of the lamp body 105.
In the above-described interior illumination lamp 100, the direction of the lamp body 105 having the bulb 106 attached thereon can be changed by 360° within the predetermined range, and the change of direction is performed by moving the lens member 107 by hand. In this case, in such the interior illumination lamp 100, fixation of the lamp body 105 which is directed to a desired direction is normally achieved by frictional resistance of felt provided between the inner surface of the lamp supporting member 104 and the outer surface of the lamp body 105. Therefore, there is a problem such that when the resiliency of the felt is reduced by exposure to a high temperature or deterioration with age, the lamp body 105 cannot be fixed at the desired direction.
In order to cope with this problem, usage of a spring and a ball which are little affected by the temperature or deterioration with age is also conceivable. However, in this case, the number of parts increases, and hence the cost is increased correspondingly, and the structure becomes complex.


An amplifier having a switchable common gate gain buffer is disclosed. In an exemplary embodiment, an apparatus includes a plurality of selectable gain channels that provide constant input impedance at a common input to receive an input signal and generate an output signal having at least one of selected gain and current characteristics. At least two gain channels utilize transistors having different transconductance values. The apparatus also includes at least one impedance network coupled to at least one gain channel to provide the constant input impedance.

1. Field
The present application relates generally to the operation and design of analog front ends, and more particularly, to the operation and design of amplifiers for use in analog front ends.
2. Background
Wireless devices have become increasingly more complex resulting in more circuitry being incorporated onto smaller chips and circuit boards. For example, a conventional receiver used in a wireless device may include an amplifier coupled to a buffer stage that provides multiple gain modes.
The linearity of a typical common gate buffer stage is set by the standing current in the buffer. At the same time, the current also sets the input impedance of the buffer stage, thus some additional on-chip matching circuits may be required to present a 50-ohm input impedance at the input of the buffer stage to provide a "matchless buffer".
Typically, when the gain of the buffer is reduced, the linearity requirements do not go down. However, if an amplifier precedes the buffer, the linearity requirements may go down as gain provided by the buffer is reduced. Thus, for lower buffer gain modes, the current in the buffer can be decreased, since linearity requirements go down. However, this decrease in current results in a change in the input impedance of the buffer and thus the impedance presented at the buffer input changes, which is undesirable.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a common gate buffer stage for use with an amplifier in a receiver that maintains constant input impedance as the standing current in the buffer changes thereby providing additional power savings and reduced circuitry.

Amplifier with switchable common gate gain buffer


A heating system using a heating device 1 with a positive temperature coefficient thermistor 10 (PTC) is disclosed for the purpose of warming a carburetor/throttle body of an internal combustion engine and a timer device 20 using the PTC 10 for its control.

It has been known in gasoline engines to use a heating device to prevent the freezing of the water content in air of the air/fuel mixture in a carburetor or the like (a phenomenon called icing) caused by the ambient temperature of the air or the evaporation heat of the gasoline, etc. When icing develops in the engine of a vehicle, there develops a condition which is tantamount to sudden braking which can result in an accident and thus, is a serious problem. Therefore, to prevent icing is an important consideration in engine design.
FIG. 16 shows a typical heating system for an internal combustion engine according to the prior art. Such a heating system uses a nichrome wire and/or the heated water from the cooling system of the engine for warming the carburetor. Typically, either a nichrome heater 50 or a warm water circulation type heater 51 is installed in the carburetor. For the sake of facilitating the explanation, a carburetor 40 with both of them being provided therein is shown.
First, a heating system for an internal combustion engine using a nichrome heater 50 will be described below. A nichrome heater is positioned adjacent that part of the fuel entry system which is cooled most such as an evaporator for the gasoline engine or throttle valve (not shown) of the carburetor 40. With the start-up of the engine, electrical current being supplied from the battery flows to the nichrome heater 50, with the result that the heater 50 warms the throttle valve and area around it thereby preventing possible icing of the carburetor.
Secondly, the heating system for an internal combustion engine, based on a warm water circulation type heater 51, will be explained below. With the start-up of the engine, water for the cooling of the engine is circulated through carburetor 40 as is indicated by the arrow in FIG. 16. As the temperature of the engine heats up, the temperature of the water for cooling also rises and then the carburetor 40 is warmed and icing is prevented by this cooling water. In some engines, oil is used for cooling purposes. In such a case, oil for cooling is employed in the place of water for cooling as described above.
FIG. 17 shows the use of a timer of the prior art for control of the electric current flowing through the nichrome heater 50. As shown in this figure, a timer circuit 60 comprises a crystal oscillator 61, a reference oscillation circuit 62 and a counting circuit 63. This timer circuit measures the time from start-up of the engine and controls a relay 65.
More specifically, crystal oscillator 61 is an element which oscillates at its intrinsic frequency. The reference oscillation circuit 62 is an oscillation circuit that generates an electric pulse which is in conformity with the intrinsic frequency of the crystal oscillator 61. The counting circuit 63 counts the pulses generated by the reference oscillator circuit 62 and then drives relay 65 at the time when a predetermined number of pulses has been reached. The relay 65 has a coil 66 and contact means 67 positioned between nichrome heater 50 and the electric power source. It is the relay circuit with relay 65 that controls operation of the nichrome heater. That is, the coil 66 is connected to timer circuit 60 and causes the opening and closing of contact means 67 in response to the output of the counting circuit 63.
Accordingly, after the start-up of the engine the reference oscillation circuit 62 generates a pulse of a frequency which is intrinsic to the crystal oscillator 61. This pulse is imputed into and counted by counting circuit 63. Upon the passage of a period of time after engine start-up, the pulse becomes constant, counting circuit 63 cuts off the electric current that flows to coil 66, thus contact means 67 opens and the electric circuit that flows to the nichrome heater is shut off.
If the coolant for the engine is used for heating, a temperature sensitive sensor such as a bimetal element can be provided to ultimately control the flow of such coolant.
The above described heating systems have had their problems.
In the case where a nichrome wire is used as a heating device, there is a need to cover the wire with an insulating material to provide electrical insulation from the body that contains the wire and the wire itself. This electrical insulation; however, greatly effects the transmission of the heat to the carburetor/body, thus limiting the efficiency of the system.
This inefficiency of the heating system becomes particularly troublesome in the case of a motor cycle where the electric generating capacity is small. In these cases, it has been difficult to generate sufficient heat. Additionally, because of the use of the insulating material, the size of the nichrome heater needs to be larger. At the same time, the diameter of the nichrome wire needs to be kept at a minimum to raise the resistance and heating value with the result that the wire lacks durability.
In the case of using engine coolant as a heat source, there is the problem of the initial start-up time period when the coolant is still not heated and, thus, the icing problem cannot sufficiently be prevented.
Still further, the timing system for the nichrome heater suffers from reliability problems due to the stringent environments in which it is employed in either an automobile engine area or a motorcycle engine.
Lastly, in the case where the electric current capacity of the nichrome heater is larger, the contact means must be large to carry the current; and correspondingly, the electric current that flows to the coil also is larger, thereby providing for large current consumption. Such a system is generally also large in size.

Heating device and system for an internal combustion engine


An active or functional organic compound is solubilized in a phenylethyl ester, e.g. an aryl carboxylic ester of 2-phenylethyl alcohol, as a solvent, cosolvent or additive, to form a composition thereof. Representative active or functional organic compounds include personal care products, e.g. sunscreens containing UVA/UVB absorbing compounds, such as avobenzone and benzophenone-3. Such compositions also show increased critical wavelength and UVA/UVB absorbance ratio performance properties.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to compositions containing an active or functional organic compound which requires solubilization, and more particularly, to such compositions which are effectively solubilized by addition of an aryl phenylethyl ester as solvent, cosolvent or additive.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many commercial products, e.g. personal care, e.g. sunscreens, pharmaceutical, agricultural and industrial compositions, contain active or functional materials which require solubilization in the form of a solution, emulsion or dispersion, in aqueous or non-aqueous form. For example, a sunscreen formulation containing aromatic compounds such as avobenzone (Escalol® 517) and/or benzophenone-3 (Escalol® 567) as active UVA/UVB absorbing ingredients, requires a solubilization agent to keep it in an emulsion, i.e. to prevent crystallization. Several such solubilizers are known, e.g. ethyl benzoate or a C12-C15 alkyl benzoate; however, the former compound is a strong irritant, and the latter is only a poor solvent for avobenzone.
Previous syntheses of 2-phenylethyl benzoate have employed toxic solvents and/or expensive or toxic stoichiometric reagents. For example, 2-phenylethyl alcohol and benzoic acid have been condensed in acetonitrile solvent with the aid of a stoichiometric N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylchloroformamidinium chloride reagent, prepared in situ from N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylurea, oxalyl chloride and pyridine (Fujisawa et al., Chem. Lett. 1982, 1891-1894). (Oxalyl chloride is a toxic liquid and generates carbon monoxide, a toxic gas.) Similarly, they have been condensed in tetrahydrofuran solvent with the aid of a stoichiometric 3-methyl benzothiazole-2-selone/diethyl azodicarboxylate/N,N-dimethylaniline reagent (Mitsunobu et al., Chem. Lett. 1984, 855-858), and they have also have been condensed with the aid of a stoichiometric triphenylphosphine/S-benzyl-S-phenyl-N-p-tosylsulfilimine reagent (Aida et al., Chem. Lett. 1975, 29-32). (The selenium and phosphorous by-products create a toxic waste problem.) They have also been condensed in toluene with catalytic toluenesulfonic acid, prepared in situ from toluene and sulfuric acid (Zardecki et al., Polish Patent, PL 55230, issued 1968 May 15). 2-Phenylethyl benzoate has also been prepared from 2-phenylethyl alcohol and benzoic anhydride in dichloromethane solvent with vanadium salts as catalysts (Chen, U.S. Pat. No. 6,541,659, issued 2003 Apr. 1) or with bismuth tris(trifluoromethanesulfonate) catalyst (Orita et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2000, vol. 39, 2877-2879). It has also been prepared from 2-phenylethyl alcohol and benzoic anhydride in N,N-dimethylformamide solvent with equimolar 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine (Kim et al., Bull. Korean Chem. Soc. 1984, vol. 5, 205-206).

Compositions containing phenethyl aryl esters as solubilizing agents for active organic compounds