The invention relates to a rotary tablet press comprising: a rotatingly drivable rotor, having a die plate comprising die holes and assigned to the die holes upper and lower punches, rotating synchronously with the die plate, whose axial movement is controlled by upper and lower control cams, having at least one filling station comprising at least one filling device for filling the die holes with material to be pressed, having at least one compression station disposed downstream of the filling station in the rotational direction of the rotor, comprising at least one pressing device which presses the upper and/or lower punches into the die holes when passing through the compression station in order to press the filled material in the die holes, and having at least one ejector station, disposed downstream of the compression station in the rotational direction of the rotor, comprising an ejector device for ejecting the pressed tablets in the die holes, characterized in that at least one vibration generator is provided in the circumferential direction of the upper and lower punches between the filling station and the ejector station that at least temporarily vibrates the upper and/or lower punches at least at the compression station and/or at the filling station and/or at least at an upper control cam and/or at least at a lower control cam.

The invention relates to a rotary tablet press comprising a rotatingly drivable rotor, having a die plate comprising die holes and assigned to the die holes upper and lower punches, rotating synchronously with the die plate, whose axial movement is controlled by upper and lower control cams, having at least one filling station comprising at least one filling device for filling the die holes with material to be compressed, having at least one compression station disposed downstream of the filling station in the rotational direction of the rotor, comprising at least one compression device which presses the upper and/or lower punches into the die holes when passing through the compression station in order to press the filled material in the die holes, and having at least one ejector station, disposed downstream of the compression station in the rotational direction of the rotor, comprising an ejector device for ejecting the tablets press in the die holes.
The invention also relates to a method for pressing tablets in a rotary tablet press, comprising the steps: a rotor, having a die plate comprising die holes and assigned to the die holes upper and lower punches, rotating synchronously with the die plate, whose axial movement is controlled by control cams, is driven in a rotational manner, in the course of its rotation in at least one filling station, the die holes are filled with material to be compressed, in at least one compression station disposed downstream of the filling station in the rotational direction of the rotor, the upper and/or lower punches are pressed into the die holes, wherein the material filled into the die holes is compressed, the pressed tablets in the die holes are ejected in at least one ejector station disposed downstream of a compression station in the rotational direction of the rotor.
Such tablet presses typically comprise a machine frame in which the rotor is disposed in a rotational manner. The rotor is populated with a number of dies and an equal number of upper and lower punches. Typically, a die filling device, a dosing station, a pre-compression and main compression station, and an ejector station for ejecting pressed tablets, are located on an outer pitch circle. The pre-compression and main compression stations can each comprise, for example, an upper and lower compression roller. Here, the compression process of the powdered material, for instance, filled into the die holes begins already in the region in which the appropriate control cam guides the punch into the die hole. This compression process is then continued in the pre-compression station using a comparatively low pressing force. In the main compression station, the compression is then completed using a substantially greater pressing force than in the pre-compression station. The mechanical deformation behavior of pressed masses and granulates can vary widely and depends substantially on the respective powder mixtures of active agent, binding agent, disintigrant, filling agent, lubricant, etc. During tablet pressing in such tablet presses, a problem arises in the so-called covers in which cracks form within the pellets when the tablets are ejected out of the die holes. A further problem exists in that the tablets to be pressed do not always attain the required fracture resistance. Until now, it has been attempted to counteract this problem using a variation of the pre-compression force in the pre-compression station. In practice, however, the known procedure does not always lead to satisfactory results.
Starting from the described prior art as a background, the object of the present invention is therefore to provide a rotary tablet press and a method of the initially named type, with which tablets can be pressed that always have the required fracture resistance, wherein crack formation is reliably prevented.
For a rotary tablet press of the initially named type, the invention solves the object in that at least one oscillation generator is provided in the rotational direction of the upper and lower punches between the filling station and the ejector station that at least temporarily oscillates the upper and/or lower punches at least at the compression station and/or at the filling station and/or at least at an upper control cam and/or at least a lower control cam. For a method of the initially named type, the object of the invention is solved in that the upper and/or lower punches oscillate at least temporarily, between the filling station and the ejection station in the rotational direction, at least at the compression station and/or at the filling station and/or at least at an upper control cam and/or at least at a lower control cam.
The rotor is mounted, for example, in a machine frame and can be driven in a rotational manner about a vertical axis. The number of upper and lower punches corresponds to the number of die holes of the rotor. The upper and lower punches are usually guided in guides. They are controlled during circulation in a known manner using control cams. The material to be pressed can be a powder. Pharmaceutical tablets, for example, can be pressed. A dosing station is usually disposed downstream of the filling station. The filling station, the dosing station and the compression station are located at an outer pitch circle of the rotor aligned with the punches and die holes. Sometimes, only the upper punch is pressed downward into the die hole, whereas the lower punch is held in a fixed position in the die hole. It is also possible, however, that in the compression station the upper and lower punches are moved simultaneously or successively towards one another in the holes. In both cases, the material located on the lower punch in the die hole is compressed. Sleeves or dies can be disposed in the die holes that are then filled with the material to be pressed. In the ejector station, the upper punches are removed upward from the die holes in a known manner, and the lower punches are guided upward through the die holes, wherein they move the compressed tablets in the holes onto the surface of the die plate. From there, they are led, for example, by a deflector to, for example, an outlet which diverts them out of the press and leads them to further use, such as to packaging. Naturally, for instance, two filling stations and compression stations and possibly ejector stations can also be provided respectively at the press.
The compacting process of the, for example, powdered material filled into the die holes can be divided into several phases. In a first phase the particles are re-oriented. In a second phase the particles are elastically and plastically deformed. In the third and final pressing phase, the particles are bonded to each other. The invention is based on the recognition that inner tensions generated in the compressed tablets during these phases can lead to the initially mentioned crack formation and fracture resistance problems. Furthermore according to the invention, it was recognized that these inner tensions can arise during the compression procedure due to the inclusion of air. For avoiding this air inclusion, according to the invention the upper and/or lower punch compressing the material is vibrated during the compaction process of the, for instance, powdered material located in the die holes. For this purpose, one or more vibration generators are disposed in the area between the filling device and the ejector station. The punches can be activated by these generators, in particular, to vibrate in a vertical direction. However, additionally or alternately, vibrations in other directions are conceivable. The vibration of the punches can occur, in particular, during a main compression phase in the main compression station. However, they can also occur already during the pre-compression phase in a pre-compression station. According to the invention, it has been recognized in particular that it is advantageous already upon the upper punch entering into the die hole, before arriving at a pre-compression station, to vibrate the punch, controlled by an appropriate control cam (pull-down cam). The vibration leads to the fact that the material located in the die holes or the dies is distributed more homogenously, and in this manner the inclusion of air is reliably avoided. Thereby, in turn, cracks in the pellets are avoided during ejection from the dies. In particular, the powder particles to be pressed in the three compression phases described above are optimally distributed and bonded to each other. At the same time, the required fracture resistance of the tablets can be assured in this manner at all times.
The arrangement of the vibration generator(s) is possible at different locations substantially along the common vertical force progression axis. The vertical force progression axis extends in the vertical direction along the entire press, for example, through the centers of the possibly provided upper and lower pull-down cams or pre-compression rollers or main compression rollers. For example, a stimulation to vibration of the pull-down cams and the pre-compression rollers or main compression rollers, leads likewise to a vibration of the upper and lower punches controlled by these. A suitable control device can be provided. It controls the vibration generator(s) in the manner according to the invention.
Thus, according to the invention, air inclusions are substantially avoided. Thereby, inner tensions in the pellets are avoided, and the cover tendency is also reduced. This, in turn, minimizes tablet waste. At the same time, a higher fracture resistance and, in particular, the respectively required fracture resistance, is attained with a lower compression force. This in turn leads to an improved running smoothness of the press, and with it, to lower sound emissions. Also as a result, the wear, particularly of the press devices such as the compression rollers and the punch heads interacting with them, is reduced. The energy expenditure per tablet produced can be reduced, which also results in a cost reduction. According to the invention, the possibility of direct compression also exists. Thus, in the prior art, the powder to be compressed is frequently fed in advance to a granulating process in order to improve the subsequent suitability for tabletting the press masses in the press. According to the invention, this costly granulating process can be omitted.
According to one embodiment, at least one vibration generator can be disposed between the filling station and the compression station in the region of an upper and/or lower control cam for the upper and/or lower punch, thus in particular, at a pull-down cam, that at least temporarily vibrates the upper and/or lower punches while passing the upper and/or lower control cam. This embodiment takes into account the realization that it is advantageous for the punch to vibrate already upon entrance of the punch into the die hole.
According to a further embodiment, the compression station can comprise at least an upper and/or lower compression roller, which press the upper and/or lower punches into the die holes while passing through the compression station. In the pre-compression station, the material to be compressed is initially compressed using a comparatively low pressing force. In the main compression station, the compression is completed using a significantly higher pressing force than in the pre-compression station. In this case, the pre-compression station can correspondingly comprise an upper and lower pre-compression roller, and the main compression station can comprise an upper and lower main compression roller. However, instead of compression rollers, in principle, pressure rails or cam tracks, for example, can also be used. However, it is also conceivable to omit the pre-compression station.
According to a further embodiment, at least one vibration generator can be disposed at the compression station that at least temporarily vibrates the upper and/or lower punches in the compression station. If the compression station comprises a pre-compression station and a main compression station, at least one vibration generator can be disposed at the pre-compression station and/or the main compression station that at least temporarily vibrates the upper and/or lower punches in the pre-compression station and/or the main compression station. The vibration generator(s) can be disposed in particular along a vertical axis running through the centers of the upper and lower pre-compression rollers and/or main compression rollers, such that the punches vibrate while passing through the pre-compression and/or main compression rollers. In particular, the vertical force progression axis containing the vibration generator(s) can extend through the pre-compression station or main compression station.
The vibration actuators according to the invention can be of various types. For example, ultrasonic vibration generators and/or electrical vibration generators and/or mechanical vibration generators can be considered. Piezoelectric elements, for example, can be considered as electrical vibration actuators.
The vibrations of the upper and/or lower punches are superimposed on the progression of the pressing force during the compression of the material located in the dies, and have a higher frequency than the progression of the pressing force. Initially during the compression, the pressing force increases during the entry of the upper punch into the die, in particular, up to a maximum when the material is completely compressed by the punch. During subsequent removal of the upper punch from the die, the pressing force correspondingly decreases again. This pressing force progression repeats from punch pair to punch pair, and in total, has the progression of a standard sine curve. For attaining the advantages according to the invention, the vibration frequency forced upon the upper and lower punches should be substantially higher than the frequency of the pressing force progression. The appropriate vibration frequency depends, for example, on the properties of the material to be compressed, the compacting forces and the rotational speed of the rotor in the scope of the compression. Purely as an example, vibration frequencies are in the range of 50 Hz to 50 kHz.
According to a further embodiment, the upper and/or lower punches can be vibrated during the entire compression of material filled into the die holes. The vibration generators are then appropriately controlled in this manner by a control device. According to this embodiment, the entire compression procedure in the dies is advantageously influenced in the manner according to the invention. If a pre-compression station and a main compression station are provided, the punches can vibrate, for example during the entire compression in the pre-compression station and main compression station and already during the pass of a pull-down cam. However, it is also possible that the punches vibrate, for example, only during the compression in the main compression station.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Rotary tablet press and method for pressing tablets in a rotary tablet press


Disclosed are compounds of formula (I), formula (II), and formula (III): wherein Ar, R1, A, and X are as defined in the specification. These compounds are antiviral agents and are contemplated for use in the treatment of viral infections, for example, hepatitis C. These compounds are also contemplated for use in treating or preventing cancers.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects about 200 million people in the world. Many infected people progress to chronic liver disease including cirrhosis with a risk of developing liver cancer. To date, there is no effective vaccine for hepatitis C.
Current standard treatment of chronic hepatitis C, based on combination of peginterferon-α and ribavirin, is only effective in about half of the patients, with significant adverse effects. The fraction of people with HCV who can complete a successful treatment is estimated to be no more than 10 percent. Recent development of direct-acting antivirals against HCV, such as protease and polymerase inhibitors, is promising but still requires combination with peginterferon and ribavirin for maximal efficacy. In addition, these agents are associated with high rates of resistance and many have significant side effects.
In view of the foregoing, an unmet need exists for novel agents for treating or preventing viral infection.

Heterocyclic compounds and methods of use thereof

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services


A mobile RF communication device configured for dual SIM operation and configured to send a request for search data relevant to the second SIM module to a server, said request including an identifier for a first cell associated with the first operator; receive a response from said server, said response including a correlation for said first cell and search data for a second cell associated with the second operator, the search data including an identifier for the second cell; and adapt a network searching strategy for the second RF modem based on the correlated search data.

A mobile radio frequency communication device is by definition mobile and as such it will have to connect to different base stations as it is moved. To find which base station to connect to, the mobile RF communication device has to perform network searches. And as it is highly beneficial to perform so called soft handovers to hard handovers, many network searches are necessary to be able to pre-empt any break in network coverage. Also, if the mobile RF communication device happens to lose its connection it shall continue to search until a network can be found. Such searches are performed by scanning frequency bands until a carrier that is associated with a service subscription for the mobile RF communication device is found and connected to.
As the searches are to be performed on a wide frequency spectrum and also until a connection is reestablished, a lot of battery power is used for these network searches.
Attempts have been made to reduce the number and extent of the network searches by storing and consulting the history of the mobile RF communication device, that is which cells has the mobile RF communication device been connected to previously.
Such solutions suffer from a drawback that they are only relying on the history of a single mobile RF communication device and that they also require continuous network searching to find a lost connection, albeit at a narrower spectrum.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and a mobile RF communication device that limits the network searching so that battery power may be preserved.


The present invention aims to provide a PTC thermister which uses a conductive polymer having a positive temperature coefficient and has a high withstand voltage and high reliability and in which no failure in electrical connection occurs in side electrode even when a mechanical stress occurs due to the thermal shock by repeated thermal expansion of the conductive polymer sheet. It also aims to provide a method to manufacture the above PTC thermister. To achieve the above purpose, the PTC thermister of the present invention comprises (1) a laminated body made by alternately laminating conductive polymer sheets and inner electrodes, (2) outer electrodes disposed on tops and bottoms of said laminated body and (3) multi-layered side electrodes disposed at the center of both sides of said laminated body and is electrically coupled with said inner electrodes and said outer electrodes. And, a side of laminated body having an area on which a side electrode layer is formed and areas on which side electrode is not formed. A method for manufacturing a PTC thermistor comprises the steps of (1) forming a laminated body by sandwiching a conductive polymer sheet with metal foils, and then integrating them by heat pressing, (2) sandwiching the laminated body and conductive polymer sheets from the top and bottom by metal foils, and integrating them by heat pressing. A multi-layered PTC thermistor is obtained by repeating above processes.

PTC thermistors have been commonly used in self-regulating heaters, and are increasingly employed in electronic devices as components to protect against overcurrent. Exposure to overcurrent in an electric circuit causes the conductive polymer sheet inside a PTC thermistor to heat up and expand. This thermal expansion of the conductive polymer sheet increases the resistance of the PTC thermistor and thus reduces the current to a safer level. There are increasing demands for PTC thermistors that carry high currents, have low resistance, are compact in size, and yield a low voltage drop.
A conventional PTC thermistor is described below.
One known PTC thermistor is disclosed in the Japanese Laid-open Patent No. S61-10203. This PTC thermistor is created by laminating a plurality of alternate layers of conductive polymer sheets and metal foils, with side electrodes on opposing sides.
FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a conventional PTC thermistor. In FIG. 10, a conductive polymer sheet 1 is made of a high polymer material, such as cross-linked polyethylene, and dispersed conductive particles, such as carbon black. An inner electrode 2 is made typically of a sheet of metal foil, and is sandwiched between the conductive polymer sheets 1. The inner electrode 2 is also disposed on the top and bottom of the conductive polymer sheet 1, while leaving a no electrode area 3 at the starting end, portions of the middle and finishing ends of the conductive polymer sheet 1 as shown. Alternate layers of the inner electrode 2 and conductive polymer sheet 1 form a laminated body 4. A side electrode layer 5 forms a leader section, and is disposed at the side of the laminated body 4 so as to be electrically coupled to one end of the inner electrode 2.
However, the conventional PTC thermistor created by laminating the conductive polymer sheet 1 and inner electrode 2 alternately to create low resistance undergoes repetitive expansion and shrinkage of the conductive polymer sheet 1 when an overcurrent condition is created and alleviated. This may cause failure in connections to the side electrode due to cracking generated as a result of stresses generated by the expansion and contraction of the conductive polymer sheet 1.
The present invention aims to provide a highly reliable PTC thermistor with good withstand voltage which eliminates failure in a connection to a side electrode by cracks, and its manufacturing method.

PTC thermistor and method for manufacturing the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A connector system may facilitate interconnection between electrical components, such as a printed circuit board and a cable. The connector system may reduce the effect of electromagnetic interference on the transfer of power and data signals between the cable and the printed circuit board. The connector systems may include a cable connector assembly and an electromagnetic shield. The electromagnetic shield may include a body that is configured to receive the connector assembly, thus, providing a shielded channel into which the connector assembly may be inserted. The connector system may includes latches that facilitate having multiple connectors adjacent to one another in close proximity. The cable assembly include pivotally supported latches with vertically staggered handles such that when a pair of connector systems are mounted laterally side-by-side, the adjacent handles can pivot without interfering with each other.

The present disclosure generally relates to electrical connectors, and in particular to electrical connectors having electromagnetic interference shielding and latching features.
An electronic system, such as a computing device for example, may include components mounted on printed circuit boards that are housed in a chassis, such as an enclosure for example. The circuit boards may be connected to cables to transfer power and data signals inside and outside of the chassis. The size and shape of the chassis may be dictated by the external physical constraints of the application in which the electronic system is to be used. For example, a rack-mounted electronic system may have a chassis that conforms to one or more industry standard sizes. With regard to size, electronic system are becoming increasingly dense with more components being fit into smaller spaces. As a result, many features that once had ample space are becoming increasingly cramped, affecting usability for technicians using, servicing, installing, and removing equipment.
However, the size and shape of the circuit boards within the chassis may be dictated by electrical and physical design criteria, such as component placement, heat flow, space efficiency, signal integrity, electromagnetic interference, and the like. In some instances, electromagnetic interference may cause a disturbance of an electrical circuit that may degrade the circuit's performance. In some instances, some components in a chassis may cause electromagnetic interference with other components in the chassis.

Electrical connector system having electromagnetic interference shield and latching features


As deposit bags containing monetary packages arrive at a cash handling facility contents of the deposit bags are inspected and assigned to a teller for processing. An automatic identification system may detect the presence of the deposit bag, the monetary packages, and/or the personnel handling the cash at various custody points at the cash handling facility. Such information may be used to determine the priority at which the monetary package may be processed. Further, a plurality of tellers may be assigned to process the monetary package in the cash handling facility. Each teller's workflow may be tracked based on the presence of monetary packages that are already being processed at the teller's station. Therefore, the monetary packages may be prioritized and may be assigned to a teller that is capable of handling the processing of the monetary package.

The cash supply chain is manual, complex, has inherent risk issues, and is dispersed throughout a network of customers, armored carriers, the Fed (Federal Reserve), and/or a network of client facing devices including but not limited to automatic teller machines (ATMs), cash handling facilities, banking centers, safes, and cash recyclers, and other cash handling devices. The costs of depositing, distributing, and managing cash across a major bank, as well as the amount of daily excess cash carried by such a bank, can be on the order of billions of dollars.
Today's client deposit process does not adequately allow clients to view the status of their deposit bag as it makes it way from the client's site where the deposit was prepared to the financial institution or financial institution's representative and potentially on to proof and bulk file. The proof and bulk file is the processing and storing of checks. Oftentimes, a deposit will contain cash and checks (and possibly other negotiable instruments). The deposit arrives at a deposit handling facility and the deposit is "split" into the cash and the checks. The cash is processed within a cash handling facility and the checks are processed through proof and bulk file.
Deposit bags are handled multiple times in the end-to-end cash supply process, which increases potential errors, opportunity for theft, and complicates finding missing transactions or understanding where errors occurred and assigning fiduciary responsibility for those errors. Pertinent pieces of deposit data are typically manually entered and reentered into various systems throughout the end-to-end processing of the deposit. The collaboration and sharing of information across multiple organizations and with multiple vendors may make this process very complex and increases risk to the financial institution and its customers/clients.
Typically, deposit bags arrive at a cash handling facility and the cash is counted by hand, and then reconciled with a paper ledger provided by the armored carrier. The armored carrier must wait until the manual count of the deposit bags matches the paper ledge and all errors are reconciled. Only after the deposit bags are reconciled with the paper ledger, may the deposit bags be assigned to a teller for counting, inspection, and/or redistribution. Deposit bags are manually assigned to tellers and workflow is managed based upon a human manager making subjective decisions regarding a particular teller's workflow capacity. The teller must take each deposit bag to a teller station and manually enter the declared amounts of cash and negotiable instruments that are present in the deposit bag before the teller is allowed to begin verifying the cash. Once the teller verifies the cash, the cash may be taken to a sorter room for sorting may be further processed, counted, inspected, or the like. The cash then "strapped," which is a process that gathers a particular amount of cash and physically secures a cash strap around it. Strapped physical cash is stored within the cash handling facility. This entire process is expensive, time-consuming, and prone to errors.
The contents of deposit bags are assigned to tellers for processing at the cash handling facility. A person, such as a workflow manager, often controls the distribution of the deposit bags and/or its contents to a particular teller based upon subjective analysis of the teller's workload and/or work capacity. The workflow manager may not know what contents are in the deposit bags and may assign the deposit bags for processing by a teller without consideration for the level of priority (urgent, low-priority, etc.) at which the contents need to be processed. The workflow manager is not able to prioritize the processing of the deposit bags nor is the workflow manager able to select the best teller for processing the deposit bag. Such a system is inefficient, error prone, and increases costs associated with processing these deposit bags.


A system for controlling a high-power ion beam is disclosed, such as for steering, measuring, and/or dissipating the beam's power. In one embodiment, the ion beam can be controlled by being imparted into a cylindrical tube (e.g., a faraday cup), and deflected to strike an interior tube wall at an angle, thereby increasing an impact area of the beam on the wall. By also rotating the deflected beam around a circumference of the interior wall, the impact area of the ion beam may be further increased, thereby absorbing (dissipating) the high-power ion beam on the wall. In another embodiment, the ion beam may be passed through first, second, and third adjustable magnetic rings. By adjusting a relative angle between the rings and a combined rotation angle of all of the rings, a deflected ion beam may be rotated around a circumference of the interior wall of a power-absorbing tube, accordingly.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a system for controlling a high-power ion beam such as for ion implanters, and, more particularly, to steering, measuring, and/or dissipating the power of the high-power ion beam, and an associated magnetic beam steering system.
2. Description of the Related Art:
Ion implantation is a materials engineering process by which ions of a material are accelerated in an electrical field and impacted into a solid. This process is used to change the physical, chemical, or electrical properties of the solid. Ion implantation is often used in semiconductor device fabrication and in metal finishing, as well as various applications in materials science. Ion implantation equipment typically consists of an ion source, where ions of the desired element are produced, an accelerator, where the ions are electrostatically accelerated to a high energy, and a target chamber, where the ions impinge on a target, which is the material to be implanted. The energy of the ions, as well as the ion species and the composition of the target, determine the depth of penetration of the ions in the solid, i.e., the "range" of the ions.
There are various uses for ion implantation, such as the introduction of dopants (e.g., boron, phosphorus or arsenic) into a semiconductor material such as silicon. Another use for ion implantation is for cleaving (exfoliating) thin sheets (lamina) of hard crystalline materials such as silicon, sapphire, etc. Generally, this process involves implanting light ions into the material where they will stop below the surface in a layer. The material may then be heated (for example), causing the material above the implanted layer to cleave off or exfoliate in a sheet or lamina.
A proton accelerator is an example ion beam source that produces ion beams. In some instances, such ion beams have power intensities of about 100 kW, and may have sizes of approximately 10 mm in diameter. In general, it is not possible to handle this power density with a stationary water-cooled or radiation-cooled surface, particularly when dissipating or "dumping" the beam's power. The problem is generally solved by dissipating the power over a larger area. In one arrangement, this can be accomplished by rotating the target upon which the ion beam strikes, such as a large disk or drum, so no one portion of the target absorbs the full power of the ion beam. For example, the target in a typical beam dump system may have a diameter of approximately 2 m or greater, which rotates at approximately 100 rpm or greater, thus spreading the power dissipation over a large area. An alternative approach is to scan the beam over a larger area—that is, moving the beam over the target instead of moving the target.
The current systems for controlling high-power ion beams, particularly to dissipate the power of the beam during a beam dump, are large and bulky, expensive, and don't provide any function other than to absorb the ion beam's power.

Systems for controlling a high power ion beam


The present invention discloses a flat cable connection wire assembly including a flexible flat cable and a connector, and the flexible flat cable includes a plurality of core wires, and the connector includes a plastic body and a plurality of terminals for an electric connection. The plastic body includes a plurality of slots arranged with a specific interval apart from one another and disposed at an end of the flexible flat cable for positioning each terminal, such that a specific interval is formed between terminals and provided for soldering each core wire with each terminal in the slot, while coupling with the connector. The invention provides a more secured and reliable structure of the flat cable connection wire assembly.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connection wire assembly applicable for a signal transmission interface, in particular to a stable and reliable flat cable connection wire assembly.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Flat cable is a common part used in electronic industry for connecting circuit boards. For example, a notebook computer adopts a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) as a connection wire assembly for transmitting signals between an LCD screen and a main system of a notebook computer. In addition, there is another micro coaxial cable assembly which comes with high-precision of impedance and high flexibility to give a cutting edge and meet the fast changing notebook computer market. Since notebook computers gradually replace desktop computers and tend to have a thin design, the flat cable with core wires satisfies the manufacturing requirement of notebook computers and has a tendency of replacing the flexible printed circuit board (FPC).
Related flat cables generally have a structure as shown in FIG. 1, and a flexible flat cable (FFC) 10 composed of a specific quantity of core wires includes a rubber envelop 12 disposed at upper and lower positions of all core wires 11 for fixing the core wires 11. When the FFC is used, a connector 20 is connected to an end of the FFC 10 to form a flat cable connection wire assembly to facilitate an electric connection with a transmission port 31 of a main board.
With reference to FIG. 2 for a connector 20 of a conventional flat cable connection wire assembly, the connector 20 includes a plastic body 21 for arranging and separating each core wire 11, and a metal casing 22 disposed individually at upper and lower ends of the plastic body 21 for engaging the upper and lower ends with one another, and the flexible flat cable 10 and the connector 20 are coupled by the assembling and pressing effect of the two metal casings 22. However, such design has insufficient combining strength, and thus the flexible flat cable 10 may be separated from the connector 20 easily when the flat cable connection wire assembly is plugged into or unplugged from the transmission port.

Flat cable connection wire assembly applicable for signal transmission interface


An optical head which detects the tracking error by irradiating the light beam onto data medium and detecting the reflected light therefrom, is provided with a light source generating a first light beam for detecting the tracking error signal and a second light beam whose distribution of the amount of the reflected beam from the data medium in its reflecting direction is not effected by the occurrence of the tracking error. The optical head irradiates both the light beams on the data medium, guides the reflected light of each light beam in different directions, detects the tracking error signal temporarily by the first light beam, detects the offset corresponding to the displacement of an objective lens by the second light beam, and cancels an offset being included in the temporarily detected tracking error signal by that detected offset.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an optical head which writes/reads information optically to/from a data medium.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 is a conventional optical head disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-68322 (1986). In the figure, a light beam emanated from a semi-conductor laser 1 is deflected by a half mirror 2. In the direction the emanated light is to be deflected, an objective lens 3 is disposed, and at the far side of the objective lens 3, a data medium 4 is disposed. On the data medium 4, a guiding groove 4a is provided along each track where information being is written/read thereto or therefrom.
A 2-divided photodetector 5 having two light-receiving elements is disposed across the half mirror 2 from the objective lens 3. The 2-divided photodetector 5 is connected to a differential amplifier 6. The differential amplifier subtracts the output of the one light-receiving element 5a from the output of the other light-receiving element 5b.
In the optical head as mentioned above, a light beam emanated from the semi-conductor laser 1 is sidewardly deflected at 90.degree. by the half mirror 2. The deflected light is projected on the data medium 4 through the objective lens 3. In the case where the projected light focuses on the data medium 4, a minute light spot of about 1 .mu.m in diameter is formed on the data medium 4. The reflected light from the data medium 4 is projected on the 2-divided photodetector 5 through the objective lens 3 and half mirror 2. The 2-divided photodetector 5 outputs to the differential amplifier 6 an electric signal corresponding to the amount distribution of the light incident upon the two light-receiving elements 5a, 5b. The differential amplifier 6 detects the tracking error of the minute light spot against the data medium 4 on the basis of the amount distribution of the light incident upon the two light-receiving element 5a, 5b.
The tracking servo is carried out by driving the objective lens 3 in the radial direction of the data medium 4 (direction T in the figure) on the basis of the detected tracking error signal. On the other hand, the focusing error of the minute light spot against the data medium 4 is detected by a focus error detecting system (not shown). The focusing servo is carried out by driving the objective lens 3 in the vertical direction to the radial direction of the data medium 4 (direction F in the figure) on the basis of the detected focusing error signal.
Next, explanation will be given on the principle of detecting the tracking error. On the left sides of FIG. 2(a), (b), (c), (d) are shown partial plane views of the data medium 4, and on the right side partial views of optical paths. As shown in FIG. 2(a), (c), in the case where the minute light spot is at the center of the guiding groove 4a or at the center between the guiding grooves 4a on the data medium 4, that is, the writable/readable position of information, the light amounts being incident upon the two light-receiving elements 5a, 5b are equal.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2(b), (d), in the case where the minute light spot is crossing the guiding groove 4a, the light irradiated on the guiding groove 4a is diffracted, and the amount of the light being incident upon the one light-receiving element 5a or 5b (oblique line portion) becomes less than that being incident upon the other light-receiving element 5b or 5a. Accordingly, by detecting the difference between the outputs of the two light-receiving elements 5a, 5b, it can be detected whether the minute light spot is adjusted to the guiding groove 4a or not and to which side the spot deviates. This is the tracking error detecting method to be called the diffracted light method or push-pull method.
But in the conventional optical head as mentioned above, at the time of the tracking servo, when the objective lens 3 is displaced in the tracking direction (direction T in FIG. 1) as shown in FIG. 3 by the broken line, the light being incident upon the 2-divided photodetector 5 moves. Accordingly, there is a problem that the tracking servo cannot be carried out correctly because the detected tracking error signal includes the offset.


The present invention relates to a composition for coloring foods, beverages, animal feeds, cosmetics or drugs comprising 1) dissolved carotenoid emulsified as an oil-in-water emulsion using a suitable emulsifier and 2) crystalline carotenoid encapsulated in a suitable hydrocolloid, making it water-dispersible and thereby miscible with the oil-in-water emulsified carotenoid fraction, mixed in a ratio of between 1:100 to 100:1. The present invention further relates to a method for preparing the coloring composition, a method for preparing a food, beverage, animal feed, cosmetic or drug and a food, beverage, animal feed, cosmetic or drug comprising the coloring composition.

It was in Southern England in a place called Cheddar that it was found that the natural carotene color in milk was carried through to the cheese curd in high levels during the summer month when the cows were feeding on fresh grass and in lower levels during fall and winter when the cows were fed hay. Thus, the natural color of cheese varied over the course of a year and the visual aspect of the color became important in terms of consumer perception of the quality of cheddar cheese.
Cheese makers then started to add coloring agents. Traditionally, the most common of these is annatto, a yellow-red dye made from the seeds of the Bixa orellana tree (Carrie, 1938). The pigments of annatto are two carotenoids; the fat soluble part of the crude extract is called bixin the water-soluble part is called norbixin.
Dyeing the cheeses eliminates seasonal color fluctuations and the use of annatto color is extremely important to achieve the visual appearance of colored cheese, including cheddar, Leicester, Gloucester, etc.
The whey obtained during the cheese process contains significant level of proteins, and in order to be able to valorize this protein, various harsh chemical treatments have been suggested (McDonough et al., 1968), and these all impose undesirable traits for the whey protein, e.g. oxidized flavor, impaired nutritional value and generation of unwanted yellowish color due to oxidation products (Croissant et al., 2009).
A number of carotenoids are found naturally in cows milk, i.e. lutein, violaxanthin, antheraxanthin, zeaxanthin, neoxanthin, all-trans beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and 13-cis beta-carotene, and among those, lutein and beta-carotene are the most abundant quantitatively (Noziere et al., 2006).
An overall trend within food products is a wish for the products to contain ingredients which are already in the products in nature. Because of the consumer preferences and issues regarding quality or utility of the whey fraction following use of annatto as colorant (Kang et al., 2010), the use of carotenoids, and especially beta-carotene, to color food, particularly cheese, has been researched (Lück and Downes, 1972; Luck, 1973; Chapman et al., 1980).
Beta-carotene is a useful cheese coloring agent because it is naturally present in milk, it gives cheese a color which appeals to the customer and it does not produce off-flavors during the ripening of the cheese.
The use of beta-carotene to color cheese is advantageous over annatto in that the chemical compound may be more closely controlled than the natural product. Beta-carotene may be synthesized or extracted from natural sources. Additionally, discovered health benefits of beta-carotene further promote the use of the substance over annatto.
Processing of some milk products (e.g. cheese and butter) involves selective transfer of constituents from milk to milk products. Given that carotenoids and retinol are fat-soluble, they mainly behave like milk fat (Noziere et al., 2006).
However, beta-carotene, and especially annatto, preparations face the problem that a large amount of color is lost in the whey during the cheese making process.
GB 2248170 uses emulsified beta-carotene with caseinate as ingredient thereby claiming that the beta-carotene is better trapped in the cheese curd and not transferred to the whey fraction.
WO 99/07233 relates to producing a uniform coloration in cheese by associating a food grade colorant, such as beta-carotene, with a carrier, such as caseinate, which is then dispersed within the milk source that is processed into a final cheese product.
US 2001/0046546 relates to a mixture of synthetic carotenal (carotenoid containing an aldehyde functional group) and natural beta-carotene in butter oil (anhydrous milk fat), as a carrier, for use as a colorant in food products, such as processed cheese.
Other patent documents are related to increasing the carotenoid concentration by using a hydrocolloid as a carrier or matrix.
WO 2007/009601 is directed to a composition comprising at least one carotenoid, such as beta-carotene, which is dispersed in a matrix containing at least one starch and/or modified starch.
WO 2008/110225 relates to compositions comprising gum acacia and at least one carotenoid for coloration of food, beverages, animal feed, cosmetics or pharmaceutical compositions.
WO 2010/112406 is directed to a stable suspension of partially amorphous carotenoid particles, comprising 1 to 20% (w/w) of at least one carotenoid, such as beta-carotene, 0.2% (w/w) to 20% (w/w) of an edible oil, 3% (w/w) to 60% (w/w) of a hydrophilic protective colloid, 5% (w/w) to 60% (w/w) of a physiologically suitable polyalcohol and 5% (w/w) to 60% (w/w) of water.
Nevertheless, an attempt to match the color shade of annatto, norbixin, using beta-carotene for certain cheddar cheeses has not been successful, and authors state that final color shade using beta-carotene is too yellow compared to that of annatto (Chapman et al., 1980).
Therefore, paprika has been used in combination with beta-carotene to provide a finished cheese product with the same color as annatto-colored cheeses.
WO 2010/069889 relates to a composition for coloring cheese curd comprising a combination of an oil phase comprising an effective amount of paprika, an effective amount of a carotenoid, and a fat, and an aqueous phase comprising a caseinate.
Thus, there is a need for alternative and improved beta-carotene coloring compositions that prevents coloration of the whey by-product stream, while simultaneously providing a finished cheese product with the same color as annatto-colored cheese.


The invention relates to a clamping system as a point of separation inside a tool or workpiece support system, or as an interface between a tool or workpiece support system and a machine tool for the detachable, non-positive connection of two clamping system parts. According to the present invention, it is proposed to coat at least one joining surface of a joining surface pairing between components of the clamping system parts that are to be connected in non-positive fashion with a layer of solid lubricant applied in an abrasion-resistant manner. On the one hand, this coating with solid lubricant enables significant improvement in the sliding characteristics of the joining surfaces, subjected to friction, of the components of the clamping system to be connected with one another. On the other hand, the joining surfaces, which are in addition subjected to a high surface pressure, exhibit improved corrosion characteristics. These characteristics ensure the required positional accuracy of the two clamping system parts, even in the case of tool or workpiece support systems rotating at high speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clamping system for machine tools, for the detachable, non-positive connection of two clamping system parts as a point of separation within a modularly constructed workpiece holding system or tool holding system, or as an interface between a workpiece support system or tool support system and a machine tool spindle.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The use of modern, regulated machine tools having drive systems for high machining speeds enables a significant increase in productivity through a reduction of machining times, due to an increase in cutting and advance speeds. In general, the drive technology for the main drives of machine tools meets the demands of high rotational speed, rotational rigidity, and dynamics made by high-speed machining. For example in cutting, new cutting materials such as oxide ceramics and polycrystalline diamond enable significantly higher cutting speeds, so that these machine tool components allow high-speed machining, with cutting speeds of, for example, 500 to 10,000 meters per minute in machining operations. However, the maximum machining speeds that can be achieved are determined by the forces that act on the tool or workpiece at these high cutting speeds, and by the safety aspects that must be taken into account in this context.
Thus, high demands are placed both on the machine tool spindle bearing system and on the workpiece support system or tool support system, as a weak point in the force transmission path from the machine tool to the tool or workpiece. In particular in clamping systems for rotating tools or workpieces, the highest degree of precision is required, because at the rotational speeds that are standard today of up to 30,000 RPM, very large forces occur, and even the slightest imbalances can destroy the sought precision in machining, or can fail to meet the required safety standards. Besides a high static rigidity, and a high dynamic rigidity in the case of rotating tool or workpiece systems, the demands made on a workpiece or tool clamping system include high-speed capacity and a high repeat accuracy given an automatic changing of tools or workpieces.
Clamping systems in the sense of the present invention are standardly distinguished in that one of the two clamping system parts to be connected has a cylindrical or conical hollow shaft, and the other part has a correspondingly formed receiving section in order to receive the hollow shaft with a precise fit. A clamping device situated concentrically in the receiving section is used for the clamping of the two clamping system parts that are to be connected.
Thus, for example, from DE 4220873 A1 a modular clamping system is known having a clamping device in the form of a system of clamps, via which the hollow shaft of the one clamping system part is drawn into the receiving section of the other clamping system part, producing a high surface pressure between the joining surfaces of the hollow shaft and of the receiving section, and also between end surfaces of the two clamping system parts that are to be coupled. The system of clamps has in particular a clamping element that can be attached in the receiving section, which, in the joined state of the clamping system parts, extends into the hollow shaft up to a point near an inner shoulder, and has a radial recess in which two clamping elements are received. Using an operating element, the clamping elements can be forcibly moved, in opposite directions, into and out of engagement with an undercut clamping shoulder of the hollow shaft through a radial opening in the hollow shaft and in the receiving section.
Another known clamping system, as described for example in the document DE 3807140 C2, includes a clamping device having a plurality of clamping claws that are distributed uniformly over the periphery thereof, and are situated loosely, or at least are not uniquely fixed, these claws being attached in positively locking fashion in the receiving section, and being brought to rest on an undercut clamping shoulder formed in the hollow shaft.
In addition, DE 19753663 A1 discloses a clamping system having a clamping device in the form of a clamping tongue or clamping fork, which, in the joined state of the two parts, extends into the hollow shaft of the one part, and has at least two clamping elements that can be moved in opposite directions, as well as an actuating device that drives the clamping elements. Here, the clamping elements can be brought into and out of engagement with an undercut clamping shoulder of the hollow shaft. The clamping elements are realized as head segments of oblong clamping elements situated essentially parallel to the longitudinal axis, or axis of rotation, of the receiving section, the foot segments thereof being connected with one another.
Recently, the hollow shaft cone clamping system has proven successful because it offers the advantage that, in the joined state of the two clamping system parts, depending on the embodiment the clamping elements used for the clamping, i.e., the clamping bodies or clamping claws, ensure not only that a sufficient surface axial pressure is produced between the end surfaces of the two clamping system parts to be connected, but also that the hollow shaft experiences a certain radial expansion. In this way, the precision of fit between the hollow shaft and the receiving section, as well as the radial positioning accuracy, i.e., the axial alignment, of the two clamping system parts is improved. Precision of fit and accuracy of positioning are the characteristics which a clamping system must have with respect to stability, i.e., static and dynamic rigidity, at high machining speeds in particular.
However, it has turned out that in particular given the constantly increasing rotational speeds, a stable and axially aligned clamping of the two clamping system parts that are to be connected becomes increasingly difficult. The cause for this is the fact that the very high rotational speeds cause the centrifugal forces to increase considerably, so that the clamping forces, which provide the fixing of the two clamping system parts and the transmission of torque, decrease. On the one hand, an increase of the clamping forces is possible only up to predetermined load limits, and on the other hand, as the kinetic energy stored in the clamping system increases the safety risks also increase. Thus, the joining surfaces of the receiving section and of the hollow shaft, and also the end surfaces and the clamping surfaces in the joined state of the two clamping system parts, must be manufactured with greater precision in particular for rotating tools, in order to achieve a seating that is as precise as possible of the hollow shaft in the receiving section, and thereby a stable clamping.
Despite numerous measures aimed at meeting these increasing demands (for example, improved materials have been used, devices have been proposed for monitoring the machining and for correcting the tool settings, etc.), it has nonetheless been observed that, in particular for the case of automatic tooling systems, the high demands placed on a clamping system are not met in such a way as to achieve the sought positioning accuracy of the two clamping system parts to be connected, and the static and dynamic rigidities required at high machining speeds.

Clamping system coated with solid lubricant for machine tools


In a development portion (2) of a directed graph, when a program specification (1) is provided, descriptive elements having characteristics of sets described in the specification and descriptive elements defining a calculation method described therein are mapped with vertices and arcs based on descriptive elements defining a calculation method described therein are drawn between the vertices. Thus, the program specification is developed to the directed graph. The developed directed graph is analyzed by an analyzing portion (3) in view of the characteristics of sets and mappings and global characteristics of the directed graph, and arcs and vertices where flows of execution timing of the calculation synchronize and arcs and vertices where flows of execution timing of the calculation do not synchronize are detected. A program structure defining portion (4) handles the arcs and vertices where the flows of timing synchronize and the arcs and vertices where the flows do not synchronize, by different methods, thereby determining a data structure and a procedure structure as the program structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for automatically designing a program structure. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for automatically designing a structure of a program represented by a procedural programming language from a program specification described by a nonprocedural program specification description language by utilizing a computer.
2. Description of the Background Art
A problem called structure clashes between input/output data occurs in design of program structure. This problem also means that synchronization can not be attained in flow of calculation execution timing. This problem is pointed out in "Principles of Program Design" by M. A. Jackson, p. 299, Academic Press, London (1975) (Japanese Translation by Koji Torii, p. 318, issued by Japan Computer Institute, Tokyo (1980)). Conventionally, this problem has been dealt with by the following three methods.
(1) After a programmer detects structure clashes and solves them, he describes a program specification by a nonprocedural program specification description language from the result of the solution. Consequently, when a structure of a program represented by a procedural programming language is automatically designed from the program specification, detection and solution of structure clashes are not required.
(2) A programmer describes a program specification without being aware of structure clashes, namely, without detecting and solving the structure clashes. In addition, detection of structure clashes is not effected at the time of automatically designing a program structure represented by a procedural programming language from the program specification, and a program structure is automatically designed on the assumption that structure clashes always exist.
(3) The programmer describes a program specification without being aware of structure clashes, using a nonprocedural MODEL language characterized by having functions applicable to arrays and array elements. Consequently, at the time of automatically designing a structure of a program represented by a procedural programming language from the program specification, structure clashes are detected and solved.
The MODEL language is described by N. S. Prywes, A. Pnueli in "Compilation of Nonprocedural Specifications into Computer Programs", IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng., Vol. SE-9, No. 3, pp.267-279 (1983).
According to Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 63-14240 (filed May 29, 1987) entitled "Method for Converting Computer Program Codes" (counterpart U.S. patent application Ser. No. 882737), there is disclosed a method for automatically generating a program represented by a procedural programming language from a nonprocedural language characterized by having functions applicable to arrays and array elements; however, this method does not include automatically detecting and solving structure clashes.
Structure clashes of input/output data are originally problems occurring at the time of designing a program structure. Thus, the structure clashes are problems related with design of program structure and it should not be taken into account in a program specification for representing program functions. Therefore, program specifications taking account of structure clashes and requiring a programmer to be conscious of such clashes cause obstruction to easiness of description and understanding of program specifications. The method described in (1) above involves such factors of obstruction and therefore involves a problem.
If structure clashes exist and they can not be solved by sorting of input data, it is necessary to solve the structure clashes using areas capable of storing many data defined in a main storage or a secondary storage of a computer. More specifically, it is necessary to synchronize flows of timing by waiting attained by temporarily storing many data into array variables defined in the main storage, and files or data bases defined on the secondary storage.
On the other hand, if no structure clash exists, array variables, files or data bases are not required and the data can be processed by using scalar variables defined in the main storage. As a matter of course, the program execution efficiency in the case of processing data using scalar variables is better than that in the case of processing data using array variables, files or data bases. Consequently, in order to enhance the program execution efficiency, it is necessary to detect a portion where a structure clash exists, to assign an area capable of storing many data defined in the main storage or secondary storage for only that portion, and to assign a scalar variable in the main storage for the other portions where no structure clash exists.
However, according to the above described method of (2), the areas capable of storing many data defined in the main or secondary storage are assigned to the portions to which the scalar variables in the main storage are applicable, and consequently the method of (2) involves a problem in program execution efficiency.
According to the above described method of (3), at the time of automatically designing a program structure represented by a procedural programming language from a program specification, structure clashes are detected and solved. However, the detection and solution are made by using characteristics of arrays of the nonprocedural MODEL language and since sets and mappings are more abstract concepts than the arrays, the above mentioned method is not applicable to detection and solution of structure clashes mappings using the characteristics of sets and mappings.
With regard to program input/output data, it has a data format and at the same time it represents information. The information is defined by a universe of discourse to be processed by a program, while the data format is defined by taking account of not only the information but also the processing efficiency of the program. Thus, since the information and the data format are defined by different factors, it is necessary to classify program specifications for the information and the data format and to describe the program specifications by a method suited for each of the information and the data format, thereby making it easy to describe and understand the program specification.
As for the data format, it is suited for description by a description method including arrays as descriptive elements but as for the information, it is necessary to describe it by descriptive elements having the characteristics of sets and mappings capable of representing a universe of discourse as it is recognized. However, the language mentioned in (3) above does not have descriptive elements having characteristics of sets and mappings and accordingly, there is a problem in attaining easy description and easy understanding of program specifications.

Method for automatically designing a program structure

ATR Communication Systems Research Laboratories


A vehicle is shown having a hopper mounted thereon capable of dumping materials contained within the hopper over the end of the hopper or through the bottom of the hopper. Dumping over the end of the hopper is accomplished by lifting the front end of the hopper and sequentially pivoting the rear end of the hopper upon an initial pivot point and a subsequent pivot point in a manner which minimizes the risk of the vehicle capsizing by maintaining a low center of gravity. Dumping through the bottom of the hopper is accomplished through the use of a clam shell gate covering an opening in the bottom of the hopper. The vehicle may be interchangeably used as a rear dump vehicle or a belly dump vehicle, more safely used upon hazardous terrains, and still carry the maximum load capacity allowed.

The invention relates to dump vehicles which are used for transporting sand, gravel or other loose materials which are relatively heavy. Specialized vehicles for this purpose are necessary due to the many varied materials which must be carried and the many varying conditions under which the vehicles must operate. The vehicles are primarily used in general construction work where the conveying of sand, concrete, rocks, earth, and such other loose materials is often required. Some uses of the transported material, such as the spreading of earth or gravel, require the use of a belly dump vehicle. These are vehicles which are equipped to transport a load over a distance and to empty the load through the bottom or belly of the hopper carrying the load. Other uses, such as the placing of large amounts of material in particular locations, require the use of end dump vehicles. End dump vehicles are dump vehicles which empty the contents of the bed by raising the front end of the bed and letting the contents slide through the tail gate or over the end of the bed. Because of the completely different structure normally attendant to end dump type vehicles and belly dump type vehicles, there are some tasks which each type of vehicle simply cannot economically perform. Construction companies normally own, rent or otherwise operate a plurality of different specialized dump vehicles in order to accomplish the different tasks required in construction work. Alternatively, construction companies sometimes use dump vehicles for uses for which they have not been primarily designed. It is, for example, a common occurrence to see an end dump vehicle being used to lay long strips of earth or gravel, rather than the more efficient belly dump vehicle. This is due to the fact that such equipment must be continually used to justify their purchase cost even if such use is not always the one for which they were designed.
Two different catagories of dump vehicles have been developed in response to these conditions. First, extremely specialized dump vehicles are purchased and used by large companies which can be assured of sufficient demand for the specialized dump vehicle to insure that the specialized dump vehicle will only be used for one specific task. There vehicles have many refinements and are extremely efficient at the jobs for which they were designed. A second type of dump vehicle which has been developed are dump vehicles which are designed primarily for a single type of use, but are also intentionally designed to be at least marginally efficient for other types of uses. An example of this type of vehicle is an end dump truck which is useful in the laying of layers of earth as described above.
The small construction company or the individual who wishes to purchase only one or only a few dump vehicles which will necessarily be used for a multitude of purposes is put at an extreme disadvantage. Present day dump vehicles confine his choice to either an end dump type vehicle, which will necessarily be inefficient in the performance of belly dump type vehicle tasks, or the purchase of a belly type dump vehicle, which will be inefficient in the performance of end dump type vehicle tasks. Therefore, a dump vehicle is needed which can be efficiently operated in both belly dump and end dump modes.
An additional problem which current designs of end dump vehicles do not satisfactorily solve is the propensity of end dump vehicles to capsize if used upon soft or uneven ground. Most end dump vehicles operate by raising the front end of the bed so that the contents will slide out or over a rear end of the bed. Due to structural design, which will be discussed below, this involves placing the major portion of the weight of the bed and its contents upon the rear wheels. As the bed is rotated over the rear wheels, any slight angular deviation of the ground from the ideal horizontal surface is communicated to the upraised bed. The longer the bed, the greater the effect of the angular deviation thereon and the more unstable the entire truck. Soft or marshy ground can add to the problem. A means is needed to stabilize end dump vehicles during the process of dumping.


A lighting device, capable of identifying and marking traffic areas of airports, comprises at least one semiconductor lamp and an electronic control circuit, which is connectable to an electrical AC supply network with constant current feed. For controlling the operation of the semiconductor lamp, the control circuit has a rectifier, which is connectable without a transformer to the electrical AC supply network. It further has an internal power supply, which is connected to the rectifier, for supplying the semiconductor lamp with an electric direct current. Furthermore, the voltage supply device (3) having electronic power factor correction means, by means of which voltage and current can be kept in phase in all operating states of the lighting device (1). It furthermore re-adjusts the input voltage from the electrical AC supply network to allow the current predefined on the AC supply network to flow in the event of a small power demand of the electronic control circuit.

Lighting devices, which are capable of identifying and marking traffic areas of airports and emitting signals, have been utilized. For example, runways and landing strips as well as taxiways of airports have been employing lighting devices that can mark, for example, the beginning, the end, and the middle of a runway and, optionally, individual sections of the runway as well. Halogen lamps, frequently used in such lighting devices, have a typical service life of about 1,000 to about 1,500 hours and therefore, in practice, have to be replaced relatively frequently. A further disadvantage of halogen lamps is that they consume a relatively large amount of power during their operation.
Replacing the halogen lamps with lamps based on semiconductors has been described as related to lighting devices capable of identifying and marking traffic areas. EP 0 898 683 B1 and EP 0 898 684 B1, for example, disclose lighting devices that directly emit visible light. In order to reduce the power consumption and the maintenance expenditure, the light sources are implemented as semiconductor elements, in particular as light-emitting diodes. Light-emitting diodes have a substantially lower thermal power loss and simultaneously a longer service life and greater reliability in comparison to halogen lamps. In order to be able to vary the intensity of light emission of the semiconductor elements in a controlled manner, a corresponding control unit is typically provided. Further lighting devices for identifying and marking traffic areas of airports, in which semiconductor elements are used as light sources, are described, for example, in WO 2009/077010 A1, WO 97/44614 A1, or WO 97/44612 A1.
One disadvantage of the lighting devices, of the related art, used for identifying and marking traffic areas of airports is that an additional transformer is required to adapt the control circuit (provided for the operation of the at least one semiconductor element) to the supply network (the AC network). The presence provision of this additional transformer necessitates higher weight of the lighting device and increases the production costs. In addition, a special construction and connection technology required to implement the resulting lighting device, which leads to substantial structural expenditure necessitated by stringent requirements for the vibration and shock resistance.

Lighting device for identifying and marking traffic areas of airports


Amplitude modulation is provided for a polar transmitter that incorporates a translational loop. The input to the polar transmitter and translational loop may be an amplitude modulated signal. The amplitude modulation of the transmitter may be controlled via a closed loop to help ensure that the output of the amplifier accurately corresponds to the modulated input signal. The transmitter may incorporate partially integrated or separate translational and amplitude modulation loops.

In a typical data communication system data is sent from a transmitter to a receiver over a communication media such as a wire, a fiber optic cable or air. In some applications, data is transmitted over the media via a modulated radio frequency ("RF") signal. For example, in a wireless communication system a transmitter may use a relatively low frequency (e.g., less than 1 MHz) data signal to modulate a relatively high frequency carrier signal (e.g., 1 GHz). The receiver will then demodulate the received modulated carrier signal to extract the original data signal.
Typical forms of modulation used in wireless communication include phase modulation and amplitude modulation. Here, phase modulation may involve adjusting the phase of the carrier signal according to the information in the data signal. In contrast, amplitude modulation may involve adjusting the amplitude of the carrier signal according to the information in the data signal. Conventionally, the amplitude waveform of a modulated signal is referred to as the "envelope" of the signal.
In some applications it may be desirable to use a form of modulation that does not modulate the envelope of the carrier signal. For example, when constant envelope modulation is employed in an RF system, the system may use a nonlinear power amplifier instead of a linear power amplifier. This may provide, as a result, a more cost effective and/or efficient system.
An example of a constant envelope system is defined by the Global System for Mobile communications/General Packet Radio Service ("GSM/GPRS") standard for wireless communication devices. This standard incorporates Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying ("GMSK") modulation.
In general, a constant envelope modulation signal may be represented as:s(t)=A cos [ωct+Φ(t)]  EQUATION 1
where Φ(t) contains the information of the signal.
Since the envelope of the signal is constant, the transmitter architecture is not limited to a Cartesian topology. As a result, other architectures have been proposed for constant envelope systems.
For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a transmitter 100 implemented using a translational loop (also know as an offset PLL) architecture. A modulator 102 modulates an input signal (e.g., I/Q signals 104) and outputs a modulated signal 106 to a limiter 108. The limiter 108 serves to remove any amplitude information present in the signal 106. Thus, the signal 110 output by the limiter 108 may, for example, only include phase information.
A phase lock loop circuit modulates an output signal 112 according to the signal 110. The phase lock loop circuit includes a phase/frequency detector and charge pump 114, a low pass filter 116, a voltage controlled oscillator ("VCO") 118 and a feedback loop. The feedback loop includes a mixer 120 and a low pass filter 124 for downconverting the output signal 112 using to a local oscillator ("LO") signal 122.
Although a constant envelope architecture may enable the use of more efficient components such as nonlinear power amplifiers and may be used effectively in circuits such as a translational loop, this architecture may not efficiently use the available bandwidth of the communication media. To facilitate efficient transmission of data over the media, more than one form of modulation may be used to modulate a signal. For example the EDGE standard incorporates both phase and amplitude modulation. As a result, the EDGE standard may support data rates three times higher than GSM/GPRS while using the same bandwidth. In this case, the modulated signal may be represented as:s(t)=A(t)cos [ωct+Φ(t)]  EQUATION 2
To obtain the benefits of using a nonlinear power amplifier and a translational loop, the architecture of FIG. 1 may be modified to a polar transmitter architecture as shown in FIG. 2. In this case, a modulator 202 provides an input signal 204 that may be phase and amplitude modulated. The phase and envelope information may then be separated in the baseband.
For example, a limiter 206 may provide the phase information (cos [ωct+Φ(t)]) to a constant amplitude transmitter such as the translational loop portion of the transmitter 200 of FIG. 2. As in FIG. 1, the transmitter 200 may include translational loop components such as a phase/frequency detector and charge pump 208, a low pass filter 210, a VCO 212, a mixer 214 and a low pass filter 216 that outputs a phase modulated signal 222.
An envelope detector 220 may detect the envelope (e.g., amplitude modulation) of the modulated input signal 204. The envelope of the signal (A(t)) is used to amplitude modulate the signal 222 by controlling the gain of the power amplifier 218. Thus, the power amplifier 218 outputs a phase and amplitude modulated signal 224.
Although this architecture may provide benefits as discussed above, the performance of a transmitter implementing this architecture may not be optimum due to limitations in the system. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved transmitter for transmitting modulated signals.

Feedback control loop for amplitude modulation in a polar transmitter with a translational loop


An RF coil construction (40, 40xe2x80x2) includes removable, relocatable, and/or detachable sections (42, 44) that are inherently decoupled. The sections can be relocated, removed, or exchanged with sections having different coil sizes or coil configurations, allowing the coil configuration to be tailored to a desired imaging procedure and region of the brain. The coil construction provides space for stimulation devices and adjusting patient access and comfort. Since the operator can select coil removal or placement to reduce the amount of data outside the region of interest, the coil construction can also reduce scanning and reconstruction time, reduce artifacts, and provide increased temporal resolution and image throughput.

The present invention relates generally to the art of magnetic resonance. It finds particular application to magnetic resonance imaging receiver coil systems having detachable, relocatable, and/or interchangeable sections. It will be appreciated, however, that the present invention is also applicable to the examination of other portions of the human anatomy and to the imaging or spectroscopic examination of non-human subjects or other objects, materials, and so forth.
Conventionally, magnetic resonance imaging systems generate a strong, uniform, static magnetic field in a free space between poles or in a bore of a magnet. This main magnetic field polarizes the nuclear spin system of an object to be imaged placed therein. The polarized object then possesses a macroscopic magnetic moment vector pointing in the direction of the main magnetic field. In a superconducting main annular or bore magnet assembly, the static magnetic field B0 is generated along a longitudinal or z-axis of the cylindrical bore.
To generate a magnetic resonance signal, the polarized spin system is excited by applying a magnetic resonance signal or radio frequency field B1 perpendicular to the z-axis. The frequency of the magnetic resonance signal is proportional to the gyromagnetic ratio xcex3 of the dipole(s) of interest. The radio frequency coil is commonly tuned to the magnetic resonance frequency of the selected dipole of interest, e.g., 64 MHZ for hydrogen dipoles 1H in a 1.5 Tesla magnetic field.
Typically, a radio frequency coil for generating the magnetic resonance signal is mounted inside the bore surrounding the sample or patient/subject to be imaged. In a transmission mode, the radio frequency coil is pulsed to tip the magnetization of the polarized sample away from the z-axis. As the magnetization precesses around the z-axis back toward alignment, the precessing magnetic moment generates a magnetic resonance signal which is received by the radio frequency coil in a reception mode.
For imaging, a magnetic field gradient coil is pulsed for spatially encoding the magnetization of the sample. Typically, the gradient magnetic field pulses include gradient pulses pointing in the z-direction but changing in magnitude linearly in the x, y, and z-directions, generally denoted Gx, Gy, and Gz, respectively. The gradient magnetic fields are typically produced by a gradient coil which is located inside the bore of the magnet and outside of the radio frequency coil.
Conventionally, when imaging the torso, a whole body radio frequency coil is used in both transmit and receive modes. By distinction, when imaging the head, neck, shoulders, or an extremity, the whole body coil is often used in the transmission mode to generate the uniform excitation field B1 and a local coil is used in the receive mode. Placing the local coil surrounding or close to the imaged region improves the signal-to-noise ratio and the resolution. In some procedures, local coils are used for both transmission and reception. One drawback to local coils it that they tend to be relatively small and claustrophobic.
One type of local frequency coil is known as the xe2x80x9cbirdcagexe2x80x9d coil. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,705 to Hayes. Typically, a birdcage coil is cylindrical and comprises a pair of circular end rings which are bridged by a plurality of equi-spaced straight segments or legs. Birdcage head coils are capable of providing a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and achieving readily homogeneous images. Birdcage coils are widely used for functional MRI (fMRI) and other applications.
Birdcage coils, however, are not without their disadvantages. Since, generally, the SNR and thus image quality increases with decreasing distance between the receiver coil and the volume being imaged, birdcage coils are generally designed so that they will be located very close to the subject""s head, particularly since fMRI applications require the ability to extract small signals (e.g., reported to be as low as about 2-5% at 1.5 T). As the name implies, birdcage coils are also closed or cage-like in nature and thus restrict access to the subject""s face and head. This results in a lack of space for placement of stimulation devices that would be desirable for fMRI experiments. Stimulation devices are devices constructed to stimulate a specific neural function of a subject, the response to which is sought to be observed through imaging the appropriate region of the brain. Such stimulators may emit, for example, mechanical, electrical, thermal, sound, or light signals designed to stimulate the neural activity of interest. The neural activity is induced by sensory stimuli, such as visual, auditory, or olfactory stimuli, taste, tactile discrimination, pain and temperature stimuli, proprioceptive stimuli, and so forth. Since the birdcage design is close fitting and not particularly open in nature, many such stimulation experiments must be performed in a manner that is suboptimal, if at all. For example, the use of a birdcage coil might preclude, due to space constraints, the use of an auditory stimulation device, such as a headphone set. Likewise, since bars are placed over the face, and in some instances directly over the eyes, birdcage coils are particularly disadvantageous for eye-tracking experiments or other visualization experiments.
Another problem with birdcage coils is that the design limits access to the patient, e.g., for therapeutic, physiological monitoring, and patient comfort purposes. Access may be needed, for example, to monitor physiological functions, such as oxygen levels, or to perform interventional medicine or use life-support devices, such as ventilator tubes, tracheotomy tubes, etc., while imaging a patient. Drug delivery, contrast agent delivery, and delivery of gases such as anesthetizing gases, contrast-enhancing gases, and the like, also require patient access. Also, it is also often desirable to enhance patient comfort through the use of patient comfort devices. However, the proximity of the axial segments to one another and to the head of the patient impairs such practices.
Yet another problem with birdcage head coils is their claustrophobic effect on patients. Many pediatric and adult patients already experience claustrophobic reactions when placed inside the horizontal bore of a superconducting magnet. Placement of a close-fitting head coil having anterior legs which obstruct the direct view of the patients further adds to their discomfort. Attempts to reduce the discomfort have been made, for example, through the use of illumination inside the magnet bore, air flow, and the use of reflective mirrors. Although claustrophobic reactions and discomfort are sometimes reduced somewhat by such measures, claustrophobia can still be problematic.
Birdcage coils are circularly polarized. Removing or altering the spacing of the legs adjacent the face alters the symmetry and can degrade performance.
Other types of localized coils include a phased array of smaller surface coils. In this manner, a greater SNR (that increases in proportion to the number of elements) than birdcage design can be achieved. For fMRI applications, flexible coil arrays can be wrapped around the head. However, these so-called flex-wrap designs are lacking in the spatial openness necessary for stimulation studies, interventional imaging, and the accommodation of therapy devices. Furthermore, it is difficult to achieve uniform placement of coils, both as between different subjects and for repeat studies of the same subject.
The present invention provides a new and improved localized RF coil that overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.
In one aspect, the present invention provides an radio frequency (RF) coil system for magnetic resonance imaging of one or more regions of a subject. The coil system includes a first coil section comprising one or more conductive coils in a first nonconductive housing, and a second coil section comprising one or more conductive coils in a second nonconductive housing, wherein the first and second coil sections are configured to be inherently decoupled or have minimal coupling. The coil system further comprises one or more fasteners removably and movably joining the housings of the first and second coil sections.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a magnetic resonance imaging system comprising a main field magnet for generating a temporally constant magnetic field along a main field axis and an RF coil system. The RF coil system includes a first coil section configured for maximum or predominant field sensitivity along a first axis perpendicular to the main magnetic field axis, a second coil section configured for maximum sensitivity along a second axis perpendicular to the first and main magnetic field axes, and a fastening system for selectively fastening the first and second coil sections on opposite sides of a region of interest for quadrature reception of resonance signals emanating from the region of interest.
In yet a further aspect, the present invention provides a magnetic resonance method comprising the steps of establishing a polarizing magnetic field in a region of interest; exciting resonance of selected dipoles in the region of interest to generate magnetic resonance signals; and concurrently receiving the magnetic resonance on one side of the region of interest with a first linear coil having a maximum sensitivity along a first axis orthogonal to the polarizing magnetic field, and on an opposite side of the region of interest with a second linear coil having a maximum sensitivity along a second axis orthogonal to both the polarizing magnetic field and the first axis.
One advantage of the present invention is that it increases spatial openness around the subject.
Another advantage resides in its ability to easily select the desired coverage.
Another advantage resides in improved accommodation for stimulation devices, such as the type used for fMRI experiments, and coil placement or removal options to maximize patient comfort.
Another advantage resides in improved accommodation of patient comfort devices.
Another advantage of the present invention is that detaching coil sections still permit the remaining coil sections to be operational.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it accommodates life support or therapeutic devices such as ventilator tubing, tracheotomy tubes, immobilization collars, etc.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides detachable and/or relocatable coil sections matched to fMRI experiments, such as auditory or visual fMRI experiments. In addition to providing openness in the space around the subject""s head that matches the requirements of the particular fMRI procedure, data acquisition throughput is increased in that the region of interest can be tailored to the appropriate region of the brain, i.e., the region or regions containing the neural activity of interest.
Another advantage of the present invention is that aliasing can be reduced by reduction of coverage of the excitation area.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that coil concentration can be increased for areas of interest or extended to areas not well covered by the current coil designs.
Another advantage is that switching between different fMRI experiments and/or different stimulation equipment, such as between vision and auditory experiments, can be more readily performed.
Still another advantage resides in its ability to monitor relatively small signals, such as in blood oxygen level dependent contrast (BOLD) studies.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that it allows a technologist to readily position and lock non-imaging devices.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that it is readily adaptable to time-saving techniques where temporal resolution is desired.
Still another advantage of the present invention is its adaptability to subjects having different body shapes and sizes, including subjects for whom the conventional head coil designs might provide an ill fit.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that it is can also be used for interventional imaging.
Another advantage is that it allows addition, removal, and exchanging of coils.
Other advantages include the improved physiological monitoring, improved drug and contrast agent delivery, and improved delivery of gases such as anesthetizing gases or contrast-enhancing, e.g., hyperpolarized, gases.
Still further advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

MRI RF coil systems having detachable, relocatable, and or interchangeable sections and MRI imaging systems and methods employing the same