Disclosed is a reusable surgical instrument (1) with an articulated end-effector (3), such as a dissector, scissor or grasper, to enhance a surgeon's performance during various surgical procedures. The longitudinal axis of the instrument is defined by a shaft (2), comprising an internal structural element (2″) covered by an external tube (2′), which may be inserted through a surgical incision into the body of a patient, optionally through a trocar. The articulated end-effector (3) is mounted on the distal extremity of the shaft's internal structural element and comprises a plurality of links interconnected by a plurality of joints, whose movements are remotely actuated by the surgeon's hands. This remote actuation is accomplished via mechanical transmission (5, 6, 7), mainly composed of flexible elements, which are able to deliver motion from a set of actuation elements, placed at a proximal extremity of the shaft (2), to the instrument's articulated end-effector (3). The external tube (2′) can be easily and individually detached from the shaft (2) after each procedure, so that the instrument (1) can be more effectively cleaned and sterilized.

Open surgery is still the standard technique for most surgical procedures. It has been used by the medical community for several decades and consists of performing the surgical tasks by a long incision in the abdomen or other body cavity, through which traditional surgical tools are inserted. However, due to the long incision, this approach is extremely invasive for the patient, resulting in substantial blood loss during the surgery and long and painful recovery periods in an in-patient setting.
In order to reduce the invasiveness of open surgery, laparoscopy, a minimally invasive technique, was developed. Instead of a single long incision, one or more smaller incisions are made in the patient through which long and thin surgical instruments and endoscopic cameras are inserted. Because of the low degree of invasiveness, laparoscopic techniques reduce blood loss and pain while also shortening hospital stays. When performed by experienced surgeons, these techniques can attain clinical outcomes similar to open surgery. However, despite the above-mentioned advantages, laparoscopy requires advanced surgical skills to manipulate the rigid and long instrumentation through small incisions in the patient.
Traditionally, laparoscopic instruments, such as graspers, dissectors, scissors and other tools, have been mounted on straight shafts. These shafts are inserted through small incisions into the patient's body and, because of that, their range of motion inside the body is reduced. The entry incision acts as a point of rotation, decreasing the freedom of the surgeon for positioning and orienting the instruments inside the patient. Therefore, due to the drawbacks of its instrumentation, laparoscopic procedures are mainly limited to use in simple surgeries, while only a small minority of surgeons is able to use them in complex procedures. Therefore, there has been a clear trend for providing distal articulations to end-effector elements of laparoscopic instruments, allowing the distal effector elements to be angulated with respect to the longitudinal axis of the instrument shaft.
Laparoscopic instruments can be provided as disposable or reusable medical devices. Disposable devices are thrown away after each utilization, without having the need to be cleaned. On the other hand, reusable devices must be cleaned and sterilized after each procedure. In many instances, cost-effectiveness and operating room efficiency requires that instruments be cleaned, sterilized and re-used.
Although techniques such as steam sterilization have been widely used, they are often insufficient to reach all of the blood and tissue residues that can enter a surgical instrument during a surgical procedure. In particular, for the case of instruments with articulated end-effectors (like the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,819,894), the cleaning and sterilization processes are even more challenging. The higher mechanical complexity of the articulated end-effector brings additional places where tissue and blood can easily infiltrate. In addition, in order to be airtight and keep the body cavity inflated, these systems are constructed with an elongated and closed tubular body, from where the penetrated blood and tissue are very difficult to be removed.
Some reusable laparoscopic instruments (like to ones disclosed in EP1889579, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,147,357, 5,304,203, 5,308,358, 5,368,606, 5,603,723 and US20090299141) can be disassembled for cleaning and thereafter reassembled for subsequent utilization. This enables access to the interior portions of the instrument tube and the internal mechanical elements housed therein, which results in more reliable cleaning and sterilization methods. However, this solution has only been used in instruments with low complexity end-effectors (mainly with a single distal degree of freedom), where the assembly and disassembly procedures are relatively simple and can therefore be easily accomplished by the hospital staff. This easy assembly/disassembly procedure cannot be applied to existing articulated instruments (like the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,819,894). Indeed, in these instruments, the external tube of the instrument's shaft has the double function of giving structure to the instrument shaft and providing a sealing function for the instrument with respect to the trocar in order to preserve the inflation of the abdominal cavity where the instrument is operated. This limitation in the design of existing articulated instruments makes it impossible to remove the outer tube, which poses a significant challenge for the cleaning and sterilization of such instruments. Without being able to remove the outer tube, direct access to the internal elements of the articulated instrument is not possible, meaning that cleaning tools cannot be directly applied to the elements requiring cleaning, despite the fact that blood and tissue may have contaminated these elements during a surgical procedure. While some articulated instruments allow for the passage of a stream of water as a method of cleaning the internal elements, this does not provide for complete cleaning and is not an efficient solution.
Accordingly, an aim of the present invention is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks of known devices by providing a new surgical instrument with an articulated end-effector, with uses in a cable-driven surgical instrument, where the external tube composing the instrument's shaft can be easily removed, for efficient cleaning, and subsequently reassembled for utilization.

Reusable surgical instrument for minimally invasive procedures


Disclosed is a shock sensor for detecting an attack on a facility equipped with the shock sensor, comprising: a microprocessor; a micro electromechanical system in communication with the microprocessor, the micro electromechanical system being integrated with a shock sensing device adapted to sense a shock generated by the attack in any direction and a microchip adapted to receive and store at least one parameter from the microprocessor and to analyze a shock signal generated by the shock based on the at least one parameter; and an output device connected with the microprocessor and adapted to output information based on an analysis result of the shock signal. According to the invention, the shock sensor can detect reliably any attack and has a simple circuit arrangement.

With the development of the society and technical advancement, more and more convenient facilities, such as automobiles, motorcycles, automatic teller machines (ATM) and the like, appear in our daily life. These facilities normally need to be equipped with alarm devices against an attack, and when the facilities are subjected to the attack, the alarm devices can sense the attack and generate corresponding alarms, such as sound alarms.
At present, the alarm device normally is a shock sensor. That is, it is determined whether the facilities are subjected to the attack according to a shock signal sensed by the shock sensor. To this end, the known shock sensor is provided with a sensing device for sensing the shock signal. In the prior art, a piezo bimorph is usually used as the sensing device. The shock signal sensed by the pizeo bimorph is transmitted to a processor and is analyzed by the processor.
As is well known, the piezo bimorph is an analog element and can only sense a shock in one direction. In operation, the piezo bimorph transforms a strain thereof into an analog voltage as an output signal. Therefore, the shock signal sensed actually by the piezo bimorph may not be a real shock signal and can not describe really the attack as the real shock signal generated by the attack usually has three dimensional components. Moreover, the output signal is interfered easily by many factors, such as noise, a power supply for powering the piezo bimorph, etc.
The shock sensor also needs a complicated analog electrical circuit due to the piezo bimorph, thereby causing the shock sensor unstable.
The known shock sensor mainly executes a detection method as follows. A threshold value is predetermined, the shock signal detected by the shock sensor is compared with the threshold value, and exceeding of the threshold value indicates that the facility is subjected to the attack, thus generating a corresponding alarm. In some cases, in addition that the shock signal detected by the shock sensor is compared with a threshold value, one or more judgment conditions need to be met, in order to further decrease false alarm and missing alarm. However, as described above, the shock signal sensed by the piezo bimorph may not describe really the real attack, and therefore the false alarm and missing alarm may increase so as to cause the shock sensor ineffective.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a simple and reliable shock sensor adapted to detect the shock signal describing really the attack and thereby generate the alarm properly according to the shock signal.


In a developing apparatus of the present invention, a voltage applying circuit applies a developing bias voltage obtained by superimposing a DC component on an AC component to the developer carrying member. A bias voltage controller controls the voltage of the DC component based on at least one of a voltage range between the highest and lowest voltages of a waveform of the developing bias voltage and the ratio of time during which the waveform has a value higher or lower than a reference voltage to one period of the AC component. The reference voltage is set so that an area occupied by a portion of the waveform of the developing bias voltage in which the developing bias voltage has a value higher than the reference voltage is equal to an area occupied by a portion of the waveform in which the developing bias voltage has a value lower than the reference voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developing bias control system for controlling a developing bias in an image forming apparatus such as a copier or a laser printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional image forming apparatus, the surface of a photosensitive member uniformly charged by a charging unit is exposed by using an exposing unit such that an electrostatic latent image is formed thereon. The electrostatic latent image is then changed to a visible image with a toner and the resulting toner image is transferred onto a transfer material. As a developing method adopted in the case of using a magnetic single-component developing scheme in a developing process in which the electrostatic latent image is changed to a visible image with a toner, there is a non-contact developing method whereby development is conducted by allowing a toner to fly between the surface of the photosensitive member and a developing apparatus for supplying the toner.
FIG. 7 is a view for illustrating the non-contact developing method. In the drawing, 901 denotes a developing sleeve, 902 denotes a magnet roller, and 903 denotes a magnetic blade. In accordance with the non-contact developing method, a toner on the developing sleeve 901 is kept from contact with a photosensitive drum 905 and development is conducted by allowing the toner to fly in the space therebetween (hereinafter referred to as "developing gap"), as shown in the drawing.
Specifically, the toner is triboelectrically charged by means of the developing sleeve 901 and the magnetic blade 903 to form a thin-film toner layer on the developing sleeve 901. Thereafter, the toner layer is brought closer to the surface of the photosensitive drum 905 by the rotation of the developing sleeve 901. In the mean time, a developing bias is applied from a developing bias power source 904 to allow the toner to fly in the developing gap, whereby development is conducted. As the developing bias, a developing bias voltage obtained by superimposing a direct-current (hereinafter referred to as "DC") voltage on an alternating-current (hereinafter referred to as "AC") voltage is applied. In this case, the upper voltage time rate of the AC voltage or the lower voltage time rate thereof is usually set to 50%.
Here, "upper voltage time rate or lower voltage time rate" is defined as a rate, of one period of the AC component, constituted by a time during which the AC voltage has a value higher or lower than a reference voltage. The reference voltage is set such that an area occupied by a portion of one cycle of the signal waveform of the AC voltage in which the AC voltage has a value higher than a given voltage (hereinafter referred to as "area middle voltage") as the reference voltage becomes equal to an area occupied by a portion of the signal waveform in which the AC voltage has a value lower than the given voltage.
A description will be given to the waveform in the case of applying the developing bias voltage obtained by superimposing the DC voltage on the rectangular-wave AC voltage.
FIG. 8 is a view diagrammatically showing the signal waveform of the developing bias voltage in the case of superimposing the DC voltage at -250 V on the rectangular-wave AC voltage at a 50% upper or lower voltage time rate.
As shown in FIG. 8, the developing bias voltage has a value of -250 V in the middle of the upper and lower peak voltages (hereinafter referred to as "V.sub.p-p middle", in which p-p stands for "peak to peak"). On the other hand, the voltage in the middle (hereinafter referred to as "area middle") at which the area of the region surrounded by the peak portion of the AC voltage waveform (area of the hatched portion A in the drawing) coincides with the area of the region surrounded by the valley portion thereof (area of the hatched portion B in the drawing), i.e., the area middle voltage mentioned above also becomes -250 V.
As described above, if the upper voltage time rate or the lower voltage time rate is 50%, the voltage in the V.sub.p-p middle and the area middle voltage are equal to each other and to the superimposed DC voltage.
To obtain a proper solid density by controlling a developing density in the case of using the non-contact developing method, it is preferable to freely control the upper or lower voltage time rate of the rectangular-wave AC voltage applied as the developing bias and a voltage range between the upper and lower peak voltages (hereinafter referred to as "upper-to-lower voltage range" or "V.sub.p-p "). This is because the non-contact developing method is, namely, a developing method utilizing the reciprocal movement of the toner in the developing gap caused with the application of the AC voltage so that the upper or lower voltage time rate or the value of V.sub.p-p affects such reciprocal movement of the toner.
If the upper or lower voltage time rate is controlled to be other than 50%, however, the following problems occur. FIG. 9 is a view for illustrating the problems.
As the developing bias, it is normally preferred to cause the voltage in the V.sub.p-p middle of the rectangular-wave AC voltage to coincide with the surface potential of the photosensitive member or the like (in the example of FIG. 9, the surface potential of the photosensitive member or the like is assumed to be -250 V).
The reason for this is that, in principle, V.sub.p-p is preferably maximized in the non-contact developing method. Specifically, the problem of degraded halftone reproduction occurs if V.sub.p-p can be set only to a value smaller than required.
If the upper and lower peak voltages exceed a discharge limit as a result of increasing V.sub.p-p, on the other hand, a discharge occurs in the developing gap, which degrades image quality. To maximize V.sub.p-p such that the discharge limit is not surpassed, therefore, it is preferable to cause the voltage in the V.sub.p-p middle to coincide with the surface potential of the photosensitive member.
If the upper or lower voltage time rate is other than 50%, however, the problem occurs that the DC voltage is not necessarily a voltage in the V.sub.p-p middle even when the DC voltage to be superimposed is caused to coincide with the potential at the surface of the photosensitive member. This is because, in accordance with the principle of the AC transformer, the DC voltage to be superimposed becomes the area middle voltage, not the voltage in the V.sub.p-p middle. If the DC voltage to be superimposed is controlled to coincide with the potential at the surface of the photosensitive member, therefore, there are cases where the peak value of the rectangular-wave AC voltage exceeds the discharge limit. The problem encountered when V.sub.p-p is reduced such that the discharge limit is not surpassed is as described above.

Developing apparatus and method of applying developing bias therefor


A high density fiber terminator/connector and methods of making the high density fiber terminator/connector are provided. One method comprises using deep reactive ion etching to etch a plurality of holes through a silicon substrate, wherein each hole is sized to fit an optical fiber; placing an optical fiber in at least one hole; removing portions of the fibers such that one end of each fiber is substantially even with one side of the substrate; polishing a surface of the ends of the fibers and the side of the substrate that are substantially even; and forming a coating on the surface of the ends of the fibers and the side of the substrate that are substantially even.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fiber optic terminators/connectors, and more particularly to a high density fiber terminator/connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Common fiber optic terminations/connectors terminate one fiber at a time. There are several connector styles (e.g., FC/PC, LC), but in all cases, a single fiber is inserted and glued in a precision ferrule, which is typically made of ceramic. The end of the ferrule and fiber are polished together to provide a smooth surface or a desired shape.
When multiple fibers are connected together, each fiber is terminated with an FC/PC connector as described, and the fibers are connected together one pair at a time. This process is extremely time-consuming and costly when connecting a large number of fibers together.
State of the art high density fiber connectors use micromachined v-grooves in which the fibers are located in v-shaped channels. This technology results in linear arrays of fibers, where the relative positioning of the fibers is limited by the fabrication precision (or imprecision) of the fiber v-grooves and by a diameter uniformity (or non-uniformity) of the fibers. When v-grooves are stacked to provide two-dimensional arrays of fibers, the relative position accuracy is further reduced and results in increased insertion loss in the connection of two such arrays.
A high density fiber terminator/connector and methods of making the high density fiber terminator/connector are provided in accordance with the present invention. One method uses silicon micro-machining to terminate multiple fibers simultaneously. This simplifies the process and improves the alignment of connecting multiple fibers together or positioning multiple fibers together to free-space optical elements.
One method uses Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) to make precise holes in a silicon wafer. The holes in the silicon may be arranged in any desired pattern by using, for example, a mask fabrication process with electron-beam writing of the mask, such as photolithography masking. A single photolithographic mask provides extremely high precision location positioning, and the relative position of each fiber in the holes can be accurately controlled. The accuracy in the relative positioning of the fibers ensures that all fibers are simultaneously aligned. Thus, photolithographic masking and deep reactive ion etching enable the fabrication of connectors for a plurality of fibers. Photolithographic masking and deep reactive ion etching also allow multiple fibers to be accurately aligned to free-space optical components.
One aspect of the invention relates to a method of making an optical fiber terminator. The method comprises using deep reactive ion etching to etch a plurality of holes in a silicon substrate, wherein each hole is sized to fit an optical fiber; and placing an optical fiber in at least one hole.
Another aspect of the invention relates to an optical fiber terminator in an optical switch. The optical fiber terminator comprises a silicon substrate with a plurality of holes formed by deep reactive ion etching, wherein each hole is sized to fit an optical fiber.
Another aspect of the invention relates to an optical fiber terminator with holes formed to allow insertion of fibers at an angle with respect to the substrate surface.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of making an optical fiber terminator. The method comprises etching a plurality of holes in a silicon substrate, wherein each hole is sized to fit an optical fiber; forming a plurality of flaps in the substrate around each hole, the flaps being configured for kinematic alignment of an optical fiber in each hole; and placing an optical fiber in at least one hole.
Another aspect of the invention relates to an optical fiber terminator, which comprises a silicon substrate. The silicon substrate comprises a plurality of holes etched in the silicon substrate, wherein each hole is sized to fit an optical fiber. The silicon substrate also comprises a plurality of flaps formed in the substrate around each hole. The flaps are configured for kinematic alignment of an optical fiber in each hole.


The present disclosure presents a firearm. The firearm includes a frame having a handle and a slide rail guide, the slide rail guide comprising two parallel grooves extending through a long axis of the frame, and a slide having a long axis, the slide comprising two parallel slide rails extending through the long axis of the slide, the two parallel slide rails operable for slidably engaging the two parallel grooves. The firearm also includes a first spacer, the first spacer fixedly attached to one of the frame and the slide, the first spacer operable to slidably engage the slide rails and the slide rail guide providing a first gap between one of the slide rails and the one of the grooves and a second spacer.

Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a firearm with a slide and frame. The present disclosure relates more particularly to a firearm with reduced jamming.
Description of Related Art
There are three common types of handguns: single-shot pistols, revolvers, and semi-automatic pistols. Semi-automatic pistols have a single fixed firing chamber machined into the rear of the barrel, and a magazine so they can be used to fire more than one round. Each press of the trigger fires a cartridge, using the energy of the cartridge to activate the mechanism so that the next cartridge may be fired immediately.
A pistol is a type of handgun that typically has one chamber integral with the barrel. A semi-automatic pistol delivers fast rates of fire and requires only a few second to reload. In blowback-type semi-automatics, the recoil force is used to push the slide back and eject the shell so that the magazine spring can push another round up, then as the slide returns, it chambers the round.


Disclosed herein are compounds of formula (I):

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to bisphosphites having at least one unsymmetric outer biphenol unit. In addition, the use thereof as ligands in hydroformylation.
Discussion of the Background
A bisphosphite has a central unit, called the backbone, and two outer units bonded to the central unit via the phosphorus atom. The two outer units here may be the same, or else different.
The reactions between olefin compounds, carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst to give the aldehydes comprising one additional carbon atom are known as hydroformylation or oxo synthesis. The catalysts used in these reactions are frequently compounds of the transition metals of group VIII of the Periodic Table of the Elements. Known ligands include, for example, compounds of the phosphine, phosphite and phosphonite classes each comprising trivalent phosphorus PIII. A good overview of the state of the hydroformylation of olefins can be found in B. CORNILS, W. A. HERRMANN, "Applied Homogeneous Catalysis with Organometallic Compounds", vol. 1 & 2, VCH, Weinheim, N.Y., 1996 or R. Franke, D. Selent, A. Börner, "Applied Hydroformylation", Chem. Rev., 2012, DOI:10.1021/cr3001803.
Every catalytically active composition has its specific benefits. According to the feedstock and target product, therefore, different catalytically active compositions are used.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,694,109 and 4,879,416 describe bisphosphine ligands and use thereof in the hydroformylation of olefins at low synthesis gas pressures. Particularly in the case of hydroformylation of propene, ligands of this type achieve high activities. WO 95/30680 discloses bidentate phosphine ligands and the use thereof in catalysis, including in hydroformylation reactions.
DE 10 2006 058 682 A1 discloses bisphosphites having different but symmetric outer units, for example compound 1b on page 8 of DE 10 2006 058 682 A1.
Even though a multitude of ligands and the use thereof in rhodium-catalysed hydroformylation are known, it is desirable to develop new ligands having improved properties.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Bisphosphites having an unsymmetric outer biphenol unit

Abstract: wherein:        the groups R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R1′, R2′, R3′, R4′, R5′, R6′, R7′, R8′, R1″, R2″, R3″, R4″, R5″, R6″, R7″, R8″ are defined herein; and        at least one of the following conditions is satisfied:                    two radicals from at least one of the four following pairs of radicals are not the same radical: R1′ and R8′, R2′ and R7′, R3′ and R6′, R4′ and R5′, and            two radicals from at least one of the four following pairs of radicals are not the same radical: R1″ and R8″, R2″ and R7″, R3″ and R6″, R4″ and R5′.


An apparatus for the stacking of sheets, with a stacking band conveyor, which for both-sided action on a series of scalelike staggered sheets has conveyor belts with conveying surfaces facing each other defining a conveying track therebetween, the latter beginning at its entrance having at least one bend about an axis parallel to the axes of rotation of the conveyor belts and having an exit directed substantially downwardly from above, with a substantially horizontal support on which the exit of the stacking band conveyor is directed and on which the scalelike staggered sheets are pushed together in the staggering succession into a stack with sheets standing substantially vertically on their edges, and with a feeder which feeds the sheets to the entrance of the stacking band conveyor. The bend at the entrance of the stacking band conveyor is convex viewed from above, so that the lagging edge of each sheet fed from the feeder to the entrance to the stacking band conveyor lifts from the feeder. The stacking band conveyor is driveable with a conveying speed which is so much smaller than the feeding speed of the feeder that the lifted lagging edge of a preceeding sheet is run under by the sheet lagging at a distance on the feeder. A sensor switches off the stacking band conveyor when a following sheet does not run under the lifted lagging edge of the sheet which was picked up by the stacking band conveyor.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for the stacking of sheets with a stacking band conveyor, which for two-sided action on a series of scalelike staggered sheets has conveyor belts with conveying surfaces facing each other, which conveying surfaces define a conveying track, the latter beginning at its entrance having at least one bend about an axis parallel to the axes of rotation of the conveyor belts and having an exit directed substantially downwardly from above, with a substantially horizontal support on which the exit of the stacking band conveyor is directed and on which the scalelike staggered sheets are pushed together in the staggering succession into a stack with sheets standing substantially vertically on their edges, and with a feeder which feeds the sheets to the entrance of the stacking band conveyor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By devices of this type, stacks are supposed to be formed with sheets vertically standing on one edge, whereby under the designation "sheets", flat objects in general are to be understood, for example, single or individual sheets of paper, cardboard or the like, and multiple folded sheets. The preferred use is the stacking of folded sheets exiting from a folding machine, thus booklets of sheets. The advantage of stacks with vertical standing sheets, which stacks are formed from devices of this type, resides in that this type of stacks by a simple displacement on a table plate can be fed to a further handling device or operation, for example to a bundling or bailing press, where the stacks can be pressed into larger packets and bound together. This has the advantage that the individual packets only need to be taken away in longer time periods.
A device of this type is known from German GBM No. 76 18 803. With this known device the scalelike staggering of the sheets is obtained in the manner that the sheets exiting from a preceeding machine, for example from a printing machine or a folding machine are fed to a slower rotating conveyor belt, so that respectively the lagging edge of a sheet which is located on the conveyor belt is run over by the leading edge of a sheet following from the preceeding machine. If yet a thus staggered sheet series transfers to a stacking band conveyor acting on both sides on it, then this can only produce a stack with vertically standing sheets which stack grows in a direction opposite to the feeding direction. The support on which the stack is produced must thus extend in a direction opposite to the feeding direction of the feeder at least as far as the desired stack is supposed to be long. The distance resulting thereby between the entrance of the stacking band conveyor and the exit of the preceeding machine must thus be bridged over by the feeder. In this manner a comparatively longer feeder is the result, which means a considerable construction expense.
A further disadvantage of the known device is that in order not to make the support (which extends toward the feed direction) still longer, the bundle press which presses the stack together into a bundle must not be arranged in the growing or increasing direction of the stack behind the stack, but rather must be arranged adjacent to this. This causes particular disadvantages when from the bases of rationalization or efficiency, two or more series of sheets are supposed to be fed and stacked side by side from one machine connected in front.
The large length of the feeder required by the known device moreover has the disadvantage that this requires a comparatively heavy frame. If thus the feeder is supposed to be constructed for the height adjustment to the outlet of a preceeding machine, this height adjustment can only be carried out in a comparatively complicated manner.
It is a task on which the invention is based to make a device for stacking of vertically standing sheets, with which the stack increases in the direction in which the sheets run into the device from a preceeding machine, so that devices for further handling of the stack, for example a bundle press, can be arranged in the feed or supply direction seen behind the stacking device. In this manner also the difficulties are avoided which arise with the stacking of several series of sheets running side by side with the known device.


A power-up detection circuit which generates a power-up detection pulse by comparing the directly applied power supply voltage and the delayed power supply voltage so that the application of power supply voltage thereto is exactly detected even though the power supply voltage has a varying rise time. The circuit is disabled when the delayed power supply voltage rises to the full power supply voltage level after a predetermined delay time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power-up detection circuit for an integrated circuit and, more particularly, to a circuit for detecting a power supply input to the circuit and creating a pulse output signal each time that a circuit is energized by a source of power regardless of a varying rise time of the power supply voltage.
2. Description of the Prior An
When power is first applied to a variety of integrated circuits, it is often desirable to reset certain circuit elements such as logic flip-flops and memory shift registers to some predetermined initial state. Forcing the circuit elements to a predetermined state tends to prevent unpredictable and unwanted operations that sometimes occur during or shortly after the time interval required for the voltage at the power supply input terminal to rise to a steady-state value. This circuit initialization process is commonly achieved by a power-up detection circuit which detects the power supply to the circuit and supplies an initial pulse output signal to the various circuit elements for a brief period of time after the circuit is turned on.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional power-up detection circuit is commonly comprised of a P-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (P-MOS) transistor 1 having its gate connected to ground and its source connected to the power supply voltage Vdd, a P-MOS transistor 2 having its gate and drain commonly connected to a node N1 and its source connected to the drain of the P-MOS transistor 1, a P-MOS transistor 3 having its source-drain path connected between the power supply voltage Vdd and the node ND1 and its gate supplied with a feed-back signal from an inverter 7, an N-channel metal-oxide semiconductor (N-MOS) capacitor 4 having its gate connected to the node ND1 and its drain and source connected to ground, series inverters 5-7 which sequentially invert a signal outputted from the node ND1, a P-MOS capacitor 8 having its drain and source commonly connected to the power supply voltage Vdd and its gate connected to a drain-source connection point of the P-MOS transistors 1 and 2, a P-MOS capacitor 9 having its drain and source commonly connected to the power supply voltage Vdd and its gate connected to a node ND2 which is the output terminal of the inverter 5, and a pulse generating circuit 10 which generates a power-up detection pulse, corresponding to the output signal from the inverter 7.
When the power supply voltage Vdd is applied to the above described conventional circuit, the voltage is applied to node ND1 via turned-on P-MOS transistors 1 and 2, and the voltage of node ND1 is applied to inverter 5 with a predetermined delay time (R-C delay time) by P-MOS transistors 1, 2 and N-MOS capacitor 4. Therefore, the voltage at node ND1 is the power supply voltage with the predetermined delay time and thus the logic state of node ND1 transits from low to high after the delay time. The transition of the logic state at node ND1 is inverted by inverters 5-7, respectively.
By the way, when the logic state of node ND1 is low during the R-C delay time at the early stage of the operation, inverter 7 outputs a logic high signal to the gate of P-MOS transistor 3 to render it nonconductive. However, when the logic state of node ND1 becomes a logic high level after the R-C delay time, inverter 7 outputs a logic low level signal to the gate of P-MOS transistor 3, thus maintaining the logic state of node ND1 to be high with the conductive P-MOS transistor 3. As explained hereinabove, P-MOS transistor 3 maintains the logic state of node ND1 to be low during the R-C delay time, and maintains the logic state of node ND1 to be high after the R-C delay time. P-MOS capacitor 8 controls the amount of the current flow from P-MOS transistor 1 to P-MOS transistor 2. Also, P-MOS capacitor 9 supports the logic state of node ND2 to be high during the R-C delay time in which the logic state of node ND1 is low, which in turn causes the logic state of the output signal from inverter 7 to be low and thus renders P-MOS transistor 3 to be turned off. Pulse generating circuit 10 generates the power-up detection pulse by using the transition of the logic state from high to low of the signal outputted from inverter 7.
However, when the rise time of the power supply voltage Vdd varies such that a slow rising power supply voltage or a fast rising power supply voltage is applied to the conventional circuit, the delay time of the voltage at node ND1 has a wide range, causing an exact detection of the power supply input to be impossible. Furthermore, an exact detection of the power supply input is impossible in the conventional circuit, when the power supply voltage is applied again shortly after an abrupt interruption of the power supply.
The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description, considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein various circuits employing the present invention are described.


A computer shut down system includes a sitting detection assembly that is mounted in a seat cushion. The sitting detection assembly includes a pressure indicator for detecting when a weight is positioned on the seat cushion. A transmitter is operationally coupled to the pressure indicator. The transmitter is adapted for sending a wireless signal when the pressure indicator detects the weight. A receiver for receiving the wireless signal is electrically coupled to the computer processor such that the receiver may relay the wireless signal to the computer processor. The computer processor may selectively power down or power up the computer system upon reception of the wireless signal sent by the transmitter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer protection and shut down devices and more particularly pertains to a new computer protection and shut down device for providing input to a computer processor for powering down a computer system after a user leaves the computer system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of computer protection and shut down devices is known in the prior art. While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that detects the presence of a computer user and provides an input signal to the computer if the user moves away from the computer system. Upon receiving of the input signal, the computer determines if the computer should be placed in power save mode and if security measures should be activated.


A mirror, in particular an adaptive mirror configured as a laser beam guidance component. The mirror comprises a housing, to which a mirror element that is optionally deformable is allocated. The aim of the invention is to construct the mirror element with an oval, in particular elliptical shape.

The invention relates to a mirror, in particular an adaptive mirror as a laser beam guidance component, having a housing which is assigned a mirror element, the mirror element possibly being designed to be deformable.
Game of this type are known and can be obtained in an extremely wide range of forms and designs on the market. They are used substantially as laser beam guidance components for deflecting laser light. In this case, round mirrors are known on the market and likewise can be designed to be deformable in order to perform adjustment of the laser beam.
The disadvantage here is that exact adjustment of different wavefronts and divergences between incident and reflective laser light is carried out only inadequately by a curving of round mirrors.
If a round mirror is deformed, then its mirror surface is curved outward or inward in sections.
Differences in the wavefront cannot be adjusted exactly, nor divergences compensated for, in this way. This leads in particular to changes in the focal point and to undesired changes in the laser beam, in particular its wavefront.
The present invention is based on the object of providing a mirror, in particular an adaptive mirror of the type mentioned at the beginning, which eliminates the aforementioned disadvantages and with which, in a simple and effective manner, divergences between incident and emergent laser light on a mirror surface, in particular on a mirror element, can be adjusted, the intention also being to exert an influence on the appropriate wavefronts.

Adaptive mirror comprising cooling channels


A method including providing pseudo-streaming media data to a terminal; receiving a transport control protocol (TCP) acknowledgement from the terminal; estimating one or more network conditions of a network based at least in part on the TCP acknowledgement; determining an optimal session bitrate based on the estimated one or more network conditions; and providing pseudo-streaming media data to the terminal based on the optimal session bitrate.

Rate control is essential for media streaming over packet networks. The challenge in delivering bandwidth-intensive content like multimedia over capacity-limited, shared links is to quickly respond to changes in network conditions by adjusting the bitrate and the media encoding scheme to optimize the viewing and listening experience of the user. In particular, when transferring a media stream over a connection that cannot provide the necessary throughput, several undesirable effects arise. For example, a network buffer may overflow, resulting in packet loss causing garbled video or audio playback, or a media player buffer may underflow resulting in playback stall.
There are several different mechanisms to implement multimedia transport over packet networks. The first category of media network transports is streaming protocols, such as the Real Time Protocol (RTP). Streaming protocols are specifically designed to transport multimedia information with explicit timing information, and packets are generally expected to be sent at the time the media frame(s) in the payload are due.
Another category is pseudo-streaming. The most commonly used transport protocol for pseudo-streaming is Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), designed originally for bulk data transfers. As such, TCP does not explicitly indicate the timing information of the media in the payload. TCP is used to merely transfer a media clip (such as, e.g., .flv or .mp4 files). The media time information is implicitly sent within the media clip format, and the player simply plays back the clip as portions of it are downloaded. HTTP is commonly used as the download protocol over TCP
In the case of streaming protocol transports, standard bodies have recommended protocols, or extensions to protocols, to address the issue of transmission flow control and the implementation of bitrate management algorithms. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), in RFC 3550, specifies Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) as a companion to RTP and the fundamental building block to implement bit rate/packet rate control in RTP streaming media. Several extensions to RTCP, suited for high capacity networks, follow this original recommendation. Other proprietary protocols such as Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) feature similar mechanisms.
Pseudo-streaming transport, on the other hand, usually do not require additional protocols for flow control. TCP itself uses its native endpoint feedback to perform flow control over its connections. TCP packets are identified by packet sequence numbers, which are acknowledged in the opposite direction via acknowledgement (ACK) packets. ACKs are unaware of the type and properties of the payload, thus making it difficult to implement a bitrate management algorithm for pseudo-streaming.
There are several challenges encountered while delivering a multimedia session over packet wireless networks. These challenges can include:                Sudden adjustment of nominal transmission rate: Due to interference, fading, etc, 3+G networks negotiate physical layer parameters on the fly. Nominal transmission bitrates can change by a factor of 10. In both pseudo-streaming and streaming sessions, the most immediate effect is playback stalling due to buffer depletion.        a Packet loss: caused by either link transmission errors or by network congestion.        Reduction of effective bandwidth: The wireless link is a shared resource at Layer 2, with MAC (Media Access Control) mechanism and scheduling. This means that an increased load presented by other wireless terminals in the same sector can reduce the effective bandwidth or capacity that a terminal will see.        Limited capacity: Available capacity can typically be a fraction to that obtained in traditional wireline internet access technologies, where currently capacity is not an issue. Fixed internet media sessions in video portals can typically offer to the network loads between 250 and 800 kbps. Despite the fact that current 3G cellular networks can sustain throughputs of 500 kbps and above, the total bitrate budget for a cellphone wireless multimedia session is typically kept under 150 kbps to ensure scalability.The issues described above could affect streaming and pseudo-streaming sessions, making adaptive bitrate management essential to achieve good user experience.
For wireless mobile phones with RTP or similar streaming protocols, the implementation of this adaptive bitrate management is challenging due to:                Infrequent and incomplete network state information. The typical wireless media player supports RTCP receiver report as defined in RFC 3550, and the report generation frequency is fixed. As a result, the network state information obtained at the sender end is limited and sporadic. In its Packet Streaming Service specification, 3GPP recommends several extensions to the basic IETF RTCP Receiver Report (i.e. RTCP Extended Reports, or XR). Unfortunately, very few handsets implement these enhancements;        Different media streams are handled separately. Despite the fact that they are both transmitted over the same network link, audio and video streams are handled separately by RTCP. Both RTCP reports provide state information about the same network, therefore a joint analysis; and        Low media bitrates are typically used. The bitrate budget for a wireless multimedia session is generally very low (under 150 kbps). Any attempt to reduce the audio or video bitrates can have large perceptual impact on the session.
In the case of pseudo-streaming sessions, TCP handles lost packets by requesting retransmissions. Issues, such as quality degradation due to dropped media packets, are therefore non-existent even though the actual occurrence of packet loss in the system layer leads to increased latency in the data stream, increasing the probability of media players stalling due to empty buffers. The following notable problems occur:                The feedback provided by TCP's ACK packets is completely unaware of the media time being transferred        An HTTP download over TCP will send as much of the media file as possible and as quickly as possible.        Additional components can be required at the receiver to cope with the fact that the internal state of TCP is not directly available to media applications.

Adaptive bitrate management for streaming media over packet networks


A zoom lens includes: a first lens group having a negative refractive power; and a second lens group having a positive refractive power, provided in this order from an object side. Magnification is changed by moving the first lens group and the second lens group. The first lens group includes a first lens having a negative refractive power, a second lens, a third lens having a negative refractive power, and a fourth lens having a positive refractive power, provided in this order from the object side. The zoom lens satisfies predetermined conditional formulae.

Conventionally, zoom lenses of the two group type, constituted by a first lens group having a negative refractive power and a second lens group having a positive refractive power in this order from an object side, that change magnification by moving the first lens group and the second lens group in the direction of the optical axis, are known as zoom lenses having variable magnification ratios of approximately 2.5× and wide angles. This type of zoom lens is favorably employed for miniature video cameras and the like.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-277737 discloses a zoom lens of the two group type having four lenses in a first lens group (Example 2). The first lens group of this zoom lens has a negative lens (a lens having a negative refractive power), negative lens, a negative lens, and a positive lens (a lens having a positive refractive power), provided in this order from the object side.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,940,655 discloses a zoom lens of the two group type having four lenses in a first lens group (Example 1). The first lens group of this zoom lens has a negative lens, a positive lens, a negative lens, and a positive lens, provided in this order form the object side.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20100039710 discloses a zoom lens of the two group type having four lenses in a first lens group and four lenses in a second lens group (Example 1). The first lens group of this zoom lens has a negative lens, a negative lens, a negative lens, and a positive lens, in this order from the object side. The second lens group of this zoom lens has a positive lens, a positive lens, a negative lens, and a positive lens, in this order from the object side.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,169,635 discloses a zoom lens of the two group type having four lenses in a first lens group and four lenses in a second lens group (Example 4). The first lens group of this zoom lens has a negative lens, a positive lens, a negative lens, and a positive lens, in this order from the object side. The second lens group of this zoom lens has a positive lens, a positive lens, a negative lens, and a positive lens, in this order from the object side.
Further, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20040207929 discloses a zoom lens having a lens configuration similar to that disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20100039710.


The present invention relates generally to the treatment of an interleukin-11 (IL-11)-mediated condition. More particularly, the present invention provides the use of modified forms of IL-11 which modulate IL-11 signaling in the treatment of IL-11-mediated conditions.

Bibliographic details of references provided in the subject specification are listed at the end of the specification.
Reference to any prior art is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in any country.
Interleukin-11 (IL-11) is a member of the IL-6 family of cytokines which includes IL-6, viral IL-6 (vIL-6), leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), oncostatin M (OSM), ciliary neutrophic factor (CNTF), cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1), cardiotrophin-like cytokine/cytokine-like factor-1 (CLC/CLF), IL-27 and neuropoietin (NP). IL-11 is able to stimulate the growth and differentiation of various lineages of hematopoietic cells, either alone or in synergy with other cytokines. IL-11 is also able to stimulate megakaryopoiesis and platelet production, and is used clinically to prevent chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia (Tepler et al, Blood 87(9):3607-3614, 1996) and is currently being assessed as a new approach to the treatment of chemotherapy-induced gastrointestinal mucositis (Herrlinger et al, Am J Gastroenterol 101(4):793-797, 2006). IL-11 has also been suggested as being of benefit in arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
IL-11 also exerts a variety of biological activities outside the hematopoietic system. It is a regulator of osteoclast development and believed to be a regulator of bone metabolism (Girasole et al., J Clin Invest 93:1516-1524, 1994; Hughes et al, Calcif tissue Int 53:362-364, 1993; Heymann and Rousselle, Cytokine 12(10):1455-1468, 2000). IL-11 is expressed at high levels in cells of the CNS (Du et al, J Cell Physiol 168:362-372, 1996) and stimulates the survival and proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells (Mehler et al, nature 362:62-65, 1993). In female mice, IL-11 is essential for successful embryo implantation (Dimitriadeis et al, Mol Hum Reprod. 6(10):907-914, 2000; Robb et al, Nat Med 4:303-308, 1998; Bilinski et al, Genes Dev 12:2234-2243, 1998) and the expression pattern of IL-11 and its receptors during the menstrual cycle suggests a similar role in humans. Other non-hematopoietic activities of IL-11 include inhibition of adipogenesis (Ohsumi et al, FEBS Lett 288:13-16, 1991; Ohsumi et al, Biochem Mol Biol Int 32:705-712, 1994), induction of a febrile response (Lopez-Valpuesta et al, Neruopharmacology 33:989-994, 1994), modulation of extracellular matrix metabolism (Maier et al, J Biol chem. 268:21527-21532, 1993), stimulation of acute-phase reactants (Baumann and Schendel, J Biol Chem 266:20424020427 1991), and proposed pro- and anti-inflammatory roles (Trepicchio et al, J Clin Invest 104:1527-1537, 1999; Redlich et al, J Immunol 157:1705-1710, 1996).
IL-11 has also been suggested as a potential therapeutic agent in various other inflammatory disorders including radiation-induced lung damage (Redlich et al, supra 1996), sepsis (Chang et al, Blood Cells Mol Dis 22(1):57-67, 1996) and psoriasis (Trepicchio et al, supra 1999). U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,759 suggests that IL-11 may be therapeutically useful for a variety of inflammatory conditions including asthma and rhinitis.
Indicative of the therapeutic interest in IL-11, US Patent Application No. 2007/0190024 describes modified forms of IL-11 with mutations at His 182 (H182) and Asp 186 (DI 86) which act as agonists and hyperagonists of IL-11.
IL-11 exerts its effects via association with a specific cell surface receptor (IL-11Rα) as well as the shared receptor subunit gp130. While all IL-6 family cytokines signal through receptor complexes involving one or more gp130 molecules, the IL-11 signaling complex is most similar to that of IL-6 in that it comprises two molecules each of the cytokine, specific α-chain receptor and gp130 (Barton et al, J Biol Chem (2000) 275:36197-36203, 2000).
While neutralizing antibodies and soluble receptor proteins are a common strategy for inhibiting cytokines, a third class of antagonist molecules are referred to as "cytokine muteins" which prevent signaling by binding to only one of the two receptor chains. A number of these muteins has previously been described and one, an antagonistic variant of growth hormone, is used clinically to treat acromegaly (Cunningham and Wells, Science 244:1081-1085, 1989). Within the IL-6 family of cytokines, cytokine muteins have been described for IL-6, CNTF, LIF and IL-11 (Ehlers et al, J Biol Chem 270:8158-8163, 1995; Brakenhoff et al, J Biol Chem 269:86-93, 1994; Savino et al, Embo J 135863-5870, 1994; Hudson et al, J Biol Chem 271:11971-11978, 1996; Saggio et al, Embo J 14; 3045-3054, 1995; Underhill-Day et al, Endocrinology 144; 3406-3414, 2003). In each case, these cytokine mutein contain specific mutations which prevent binding of cytokine to gp130. In the case of IL-11, a single point mutation, W147A (a tryptophan to alanine substitution at amino acid residue 147), is sufficient to convert IL-11 from an agonist into an antagonist of IL-11 signaling with the affinity for IL-11Rα unchanged (Underhill-Day et al, supra 2003).
In addition, structure-function studies have identified various regions of murine and human IL-11 which are important for IL-11Rα binding (Czupryn et al, J. Biol. Chem. 270 (2): 978-985, 1995; Miyadai et al, Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 60.3:541-542, 1996; Czupryn et al, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 762:152-164, 1995; Tacken et al, Eur. J. Biochem. 265.2:645-655, 1999; Harmegnies et al, Biochem J. 375(6):23-32, 2003). In particular, residues D165, W166, R169, L172 and L173 at the C-terminal end of the D-helix, and M58, L64 and L67 in the A-B loop were found to contribute to IL-11Rα binding.
US Patent Application No. 2007/0190024 describes IL-11 muteins with mutations at His 182 (H182) and Asp 186 (D186) of IL-11 as agonists and hyperagonists of IL-11, but does not suggest antagonists. The IL-11 mutein, W147A IL-11, is an antagonistic variant of IL-11 that prevents the recruitment of gp130 to the IL-11 receptor complex (Underhill-Day et al, supra 2003) thereby preventing IL-11 signaling. However, W147A IL-11 has the same affinity for IL-11Rα as wild-type IL-11.
There is a role for IL-11 modulators in therapy. The identification of further IL-11 modulators is required.


The invention relates to methods for preventing, inhibiting, or suppressing tumors by administering to a person in need of such treatment a therapeutically effective amount of one or more flavanolignanes, such as silymarin, silybin, silidianin, silicristin, dehydrosilybin, mixtures thereof, or extracts thereof as an antiproliferative. The invention further relates to the antitumor pharmaceutical composition includes a therapeutically effective amount of the flavanolignane selected from the group of silymarin, silybin, silidianin, silicristin, dehydrosilybin, and mixtures thereof, in combination with a different antitumor agent. In another embodiment, the pharmaceutical composition includes a therapeutically effective amount of a flavanolignane selected from the group of silidianin, silicristin, and mixtures thereof, with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient. The compositions and method may be prepared or administered with different antitumoral agents for concurrent or sequential use for treating tumors, such as those typically found in the uterus, ovary, and breast.

Recently, some flavonoids have been found to have antitumoral activity (Verna, Cancer Research 48, 5754, 1988) and chemoprophylactic activity in some tumors (Cassady, J. Nat. Prod. 53, 23, 1990). Particularly quercetin, a flavonoid which is almost ubiquitous in plants, has proved some inhibiting activity on the proliferation of human leukemia cells (Larocca, Br. J. of Haematology 75, 489, 1990) and on other cell lines (Scambia, Br. J. Cancer 62, 942, 1990--Int. J. Cancer 46, 1112, 1990--Cancer Chemother. Pharmacol. 28, 255, 1991--Gynecologic Oncology 45, 13, 1992) besides having a synergistic activity with the usual chemotherapeuticals. Though the mechanism of such an inhibiting action on proliferation is unknown, it seems to be connected with the interaction of this flavonoid with the estrogen receptors of type II (Markaverich, J. steroid Biochem. 30, 71, 1988). These receptors, first described by Clark (J. Biol. Chem. 253, 7630, 1978) in the rat uterus, are different from the real estrogen receptors (ER) since these are present in a higher concentration and have a dissociation affinity constant (K.sub.D : 10-20 nM) for estradiol lower than that of the estrogen receptors (K.sub.D : 0.2-1 nM).

Pharmaceutical compositions containing flavanolignanes and methods for using same as an antiproliferative


A contact (1) for an electrical connector mountable on a substrate (3) having at least a via (311) therethrough comprises a medial portion (10), a contact engaging portion (121) extending from the medial portion (10), a solder terminal portion extending from the medial portion (10) in a direction away from said contact engaging portion (121) and includes at least a first spring arm (11) having a standing point (111), and at least an auxiliary foot (112) extending sideway from the first spring arm (11) having a distance with respect to the standing point (111), the contact engaging portion (121) is adapted to engage with a mating contact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical contact, and more particularly to an electrical contact having additional mounting feet arranged to ensure reliable electrical connections with conductive pad around via of a circuit board.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional electrical connector is for electrically connecting a CPU with a PCB, the electrical connector comprises an insulative housing and a plurality of contacts received in the insulative housing. The insulative housing is configured to a rectangular shape and comprises a top surface for supporting the CPU and a bottom surface opposite to the top surface. The contact comprises a base portion, a first spring arm extending upwardly from the base portion and a second base portion extending downwardly from the base portion. The first spring arm defines a first contact portion extending beyond the top surface to connect with the pad of the CPU and the second spring arm defines a second contact portion extending beyond the bottom surface to connect with the pad of the PCB. Thus, it makes a good connection between the CPU and the PCB.
The pad of the PCB defines a hole and the contact portion of the contact often falls into the hole, thus the contact portion can not connect with the pad of the PCB. Thus, the CPU and the PCB is disconnected.
In view of the above, a new electrical connector assembly that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages is desired.

Electrical contact having additional mounting feet arranged to ensure reliable electrical connections with conductive pad around via of circuit board


A plate assembly for a multi-disk brake system is provided. The plate assembly includes at least one of a pressure plate or an end plate and a floating plate wear liner mounted against the at least one of the pressure plate or the end plate. The floating plate wear liner is configured to contact a contact surface of an adjacent rotatable friction disk in response to the multi-disk brake system being actuated.

Aircraft brake systems typically employ a series of friction disks forced into contact with each other to stop the aircraft. Friction disks splined to a non-rotating wheel axle are interspersed with friction disks splined to a rotating wheel. The friction disks withstand and dissipate the heat (and thus may be referred to as a "heat sink assembly") generated from contact between one another during braking. During high speed landings and rejected takeoffs ("RTOs"), the amount of heat and force generated can affect the friction disks that are made of carbon composite materials. Carbon composite materials are suited for high temperature use and are now the standard for friction disks in aircraft brake assemblies. However, carbon composite disks can be expensive to manufacture, especially ones having the thickness desirable for use on an aircraft. In addition, friction disks may be prone to vibration.

Plate assemblies including floating wear linings for multi-disk brake systems and methods for reducing vibration in a multi-disk brake system


Right and left lighting devices 3-1 and 3-2 each include an abnormal event informing signal output circuit for outputting an abnormal event informing signal in response to an informing output of the control circuits 6-1 and 6-2. Each abnormal event informing signal output circuit has a circuit configuration that enables the abnormal event informing signal to be supplied to onboard equipment via a signal path common to the two devices.

As onboard headlamps, instead of conventional halogen lamps, long-life, bright discharge lamps or light sources using LEDs come into wide use. At the same time, high-performance headlamps become widely available which have additional functions such as an AFS (Advance Front lighting System) or DRL (Daytime Running Light). Some of the high-performance headlamps have a function of informing a driver of an abnormal event of a headlamp. As a means for informing a driver of an abnormal event occurring in the vehicle, there is a warning light (alarm lamp) indicating an abnormal event visually or a warning sound (alarm buzzer) indicating an abnormal event aurally.
Patent Document 1, which relates to a system for informing a user of various abnormal events occurring in headlamps of a vehicle, discloses an abnormal event informing device for estimating and displaying the site of a malfunction including identification of a right or left light (headlamp).
Patent Document 2 discloses an onboard headlamp using a discharge lamp as its light source, which has an auxiliary light source provided separately from the discharge lamp, and lights it when an abnormal event occurs in the discharge lamp, thereby substituting it for the discharge lamp having a fault owing to the occurrence of the abnormal event.
Patent Document 3 discloses a light source lighting device with a communication function. The light source lighting device enables quick communication processing while executing the lighting processing appropriately even if the communication processing is performed during the processing of lighting the discharge lamp.
Conventionally, although apparatuses have been disclosed which integrate the lighting devices for lighting right and left headlamps of a vehicle as in the Patent Documents 1 and 2, there is none that arranges abnormal event informing paths, which are provided for informing an abnormal event occurring in the right and left independent headlamps, into a single path.
For example, in the Patent Document 1, a plurality of LEDs for informing a driver of an occurrence of a fault or an estimate result of a fault are provided corresponding to the right and left discharge lamps of the headlamps of a vehicle, so that an abnormal event occurring in a headlamp is indicated by lighting the corresponding LED. In the Patent Document 2, although it outputs a switching signal for lighting the auxiliary light source, it does not arrange the informing system of an abnormal event for the driver into a single system.
In addition, although the Patent Document 3 discloses communication processing with external equipment via a communication control unit provided in the lighting device, it does not describe a signal format for notifying an abnormal event informing device mounted in the vehicle of an abnormal event occurring in one of the right and left headlamp lighting devices of the vehicle in cooperation with the communication operation of the other lighting device.
As described above, although systems for informing of an abnormal event in detail in various ways are disclosed, when an abnormal event occurs in a headlamp of a vehicle, it will not matter much to a driver whether the abnormal event occurs in the right or left headlamp, but it will be enough for the driver to be able to identify that a headlamp has an abnormal event in the first place. To achieve this, as for informing a driver of a headlamp abnormal event, a single system that integrates right and left is enough, and hence it is necessary to reduce excessive functions of the conventional examples and to reduce the components involved with the reduction.
The present invention is implemented to solve the foregoing problems. Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a headlamp light source lighting device and a vehicle headlamp lighting system using the same capable of simplifying a configuration of an output system and reducing the amount of components necessary for the configuration by arranging the output system, which transfers information about an abnormal event detected with right and left headlamp light source lighting devices to an abnormal event informing device, into a single system, thereby being able to contribute to the reduction in the weight of the vehicle as a result.

Headlamp light source lighting device and vehicle headlamp lighting system


The present invention relates to a so-called "natural dripping" type plastic container by which medicinal fluids are administered by deformation of the flat shaped body. During natural dripping the accumulation capability for the contained fluids is large and the deformation based on back pressure avoids the occurrence of dead space. In the plastic blow container for medicinal fluids of this invention, in the cross-sectional shape of a flat shaped body the long axis width is more than 2.0 times the short axis width, at the upper end of the body a suspending mechanism is formed, and at the outer of the lower end of the body an opening means is formed, the bottom cross-section of the body on the short axis side the shape of parallel faces is formed as a wedge, while the parallel faces on the long axis side are formed with a tapered funnel shape toward the opening means.

Due to such advantages as not breaking even if dropped and light weight, plastic type medicinal fluid containers have rapidly progressed in recent years. Among these, natural dripping types are widely used, which utilize the flexibility of plastic materials whereby the body portion is deformed for administering the medicinal fluid. When used for natural dripping, since air is not supplied into the container during application, concern as to contaminating organisms entering the container is absent, and there is a hygienic advantage. As an example of a plastic container for medicinal fluids, a container of this type is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 158955/1989 (referred to below as prior art publication). The art publication indicates a unitized plastic container for medicinal fluids, in which an opening at the upper end of the container body is sealed by a stopper device, and at the bottom end of the body, a suspending fixture is provided.

Plastic blow container for medical fluids


An electromagnetic flowmeter system whose electromagnets are excited by a direct-current source through switching means operating at a predetermined drive frequency to generate a pulsatory current establishing a magnetic flux field in the flow tube through which the fluid to be measured is conducted. The fluid intercepting this field induces a pulsatory voltage in the metering electrodes mounted at diametrically-opposed positions on the tube. The electrode voltage is applied to an analyzer which includes a sampling switch operating in synchronism with the drive frequency to extract pulses from the electrode voltage during the magnetic flux steady state intervals thereof. These pulses, which are rich in harmonics, are fed through a filter that selects one of the harmonics to yield a harmonic signal which is demodulated to produce an output signal free of disturbances.

This invention relates generally to electromagnetic flowmeter systems whose electromagnets are excited by a pulsatory current to produce an output signal indicative of flow rate, and more particularly to a system in which the voltage induced in the metering electrodes is sampled during magnetic flux steady-state intervals to produce periodic pulses, a harmonic of which is extracted and rectified to yield a noise-free output signal.
In a conventional electromagnetic flowmeter, the fluid whose flow rate is to be measured is conducted through a flow tube provided with a pair of diametrically-opposed electrodes, a magnetic field perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the tube being established by electromagnets. When the fluid intersects this field, a voltage is induced therein which is transferred to the electrodes. This voltage, which is proportional to the average velocity of the fluid and hence to its average volumetric rate, is then amplified and processed to yield an output signal for actuating a recorder or indicator, or for carrying out various process control operations.
The magnetic field may be either direct or alternating in nature; for in either event the amplitude of voltage induced in the liquid passing through the field will be a function of its flow rate. But when operating with direct magnetic flux, the D-C signal current flowing through the liquid acts to polarize the electrodes, the magnitude of polarization being proportional to the time integral of the polarization current. With alternating magnetic flux operation, polarization is rendered negligible; for the resultant signal current is alternating and therefore its integral does not build up with time.
Though A-C operation is clearly advantageous in that polarization is obviated and the A-C flow-induced signal may be easily amplified, it has distinct drawbacks. The use of an alternating flux introduces spurious voltages that are unrelated to flow rate and, if untreated, give rise to inaccurate indications. The two most-troublesome spurious voltages are stray capacitance-coupled voltages from the coils of the electromagnets to the electrodes, and induced loop voltages in the input leads. The electrodes and leads in combination with the liquid extending therebetween constitute a loop in which a voltage is induced from the changing flux of the magnetic coils.
The spurious voltages from the first source may be minimized by electrostatic shielding and by low-frequency excitation to cause the impedance of the stray coupling capacitance to be large. But the spurious voltage from the second source is much more difficult to suppress.
The spurious voltage resulting from the flux coupling into the signal leads is usually referred to as the quadrature voltage, for it is assumed to be 90.degree. out of phase with the A-C flow-induced voltage. Actual tests have indicated that this is not true in that a component exists in-phase with the flow induced voltage. Hence, that portion of the "quadrature voltage" that is in-phase with the flow-induced voltage signal constitutes an undesirable signal that cannot readily be distinguished from the flow-induced signal, thereby producing a changing zero shift effect.
Pure "quadrature" voltage has heretofore been minimized by an electronic arrangement adapted to buck out this component, but elimination of its in-phase component has not been successful. Existing A-C operated electromagnetic flowmeters are also known to vary their calibration as a function of temperature, fluid conductivity, pressure and other effects which can alter the spurious voltages both with respect to phase and magnitude. Hence it becomes necessary periodically to manually re-zero the meter to correct for the effects on zero by the above-described phenomena.
All of the adverse effects encountered in A-C operation of electromagnetic flowmeters can be attributed to the rate of change in the flux field (d.phi.)/dt, this change serving to induce unwanted signals in the pick-up loop. If, therefore, the rate of change of the flux field could be reduced to zero value, then the magnitude of quadrature and of its in-phase component would become non-existent and zero drift effects would disappear.
When the magnetic flux is a steady state field, as, for example, with continuous d-c operation, the ideal condition d.phi./dt=0 is satisfied. But d-c operation to create a steady state field is not acceptable, for galvanic potentials are produced and polarization is encountered, as previously explained. In order, therefore, to obtain the positive benefits of a steady state field without the drawbacks which accompany continuous d-c operation, U.S. Pat. No. 3,783,687 to Mannherz et al. discloses an excitation arrangement in which the steady-state flux field is periodically reversed or interrupted.
In the Mannherz et al. patent, in order to avoid the spurious voltages which result from stray couplings without, however, causing polarization of the electrodes, the electromagnet is energized by a low-frequency square wave. This wave is produced by applying the output voltage of an unfiltered full-wave rectifier to the electromagnet and periodically reversing the voltage polarity at a low-frequency rate by means of an electronic switch.
Since the steady-state field produced by the square wave is disrupted by switching transients occurring at the points of reversal, the converter to which the signal from the electrodes is applied includes a demodulator which is gated synchronously with the electronic switch to yield an output signal only when the magnetic flux achieves a steady state condition.
Similarly, in the Hognestat U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,018, the voltage induced in the electrodes of a flowmeter excited by square wave pulses is applied through a gating circuit to an amplifier, the gating circuit passing this voltage to the amplifier only during intervals when the magnetic field is constant. In the Tucker et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,446, applied to the electromagnets of a magnetic flowmeter is a direct-current which is periodically switched to cause the magnetic field to alternate in opposite directions, the voltage induced in the electrodes being sampled during each switching period after a predetermined delay to allow transients to die away, so that the voltage in the sampled intervals represent a steady-state condition. The difference between successive samples is determined to provide an indication of fluid flow rate that is independent of disturbances. The disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,783,687; 3,329,018 and 3,550,446 are incorporated herein by reference.
Though electromagnetic flowmeter systems of the tape disclosed in the above-identified patents analyze the periodic voltage induced in the metering electrodes only during steady-state magnetic flux intervals and therefore have advantages over systems which operate with a sinusoidal magnetic flux pattern and do not discriminate against disturbances, these prior art systems still have certain drawbacks.
During the steady state intervals when d.phi./dt=0, polarization potentials are built up at the metering electrodes which give rise to disturbances. When such disturbances take the form of long term variations in voltage, they can be compensated for by known circuit arrangements.
The starting point for the present invention is the existence of short term as well as long term variations by reason of polarization potentials built up at the metering electrodes of a flowmeter system excited by a pulsatory current. The frequency spectrum of these short term disturbances usually extend up to approximately 10 m/sec. within a range up to about 20 Hz.
The obvious way to overcome such short term disturbances is to provide a magnetic flux .phi. with a periodicity lying within a range that is above 20 Hz. But then the d.phi./dt=0 sampled intervals will also be short, and this will give rise to disturbances comparable to those encountered when using a sinusoidal magnetic flux pattern.


A rectifier unit for supplying power to a D.C. load including a transformer having a primary, a secondary and a saturable core, the secondary defining an output section and a control section. A ferroresonance control circuit simulates saturation of the transformer core and includes an electronic switch for controlling the degree of simulated core saturation and thereby regulating the rectifier unit output. Rectifier failure alarm circuitry produces a failure alarm in response to a number of rectifier unit malfunctions. The rectifier failure alarm circuitry is coupled to the ferroresonance control circuitry and comprises a rectifier alarm element operable between the first condition wherein a rectifier failure alarm is produced and a second condition. The failure alarm element is operated from its first condition when the electronic switch minimizes the rectifier system output. The failure alarm element is provided with power from the secondary output section so that, if this output section fails to produce power, a rectifier failure alarm is also produced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to D.C. power supplies employing controlled ferroresonant transformers and more particularly to the provision of failure alarms in such systems.
So-called ferroresonant power transformers consist of an iron core upon which separate primary and secondary coils are wound and separated from each other by magnetic shunts in the core. The magnetic shunts cause some of the flux induced by the primary to be diverted from the secondary resulting in a certain amount of isolation between the primary and secondary windings. The shunts also allow the magnetic flux levels in the respective core sections associated with the primary and secondary to be different in both amplitude and phase. The secondary of such a transformer is connected across a suitably selected capacitor so that the secondary and the capacitor form an oscillator circuit, commonly referred to as a "tank circuit". When sufficient A.C. voltage is applied to the primary of such a transformer, the transformer abruptly assumes a condition called ferroresonance, in which oscillations in the tank circuit cause the secondary transformer core section to experience A.C. flux saturation.
When the secondary core section is saturated a portion of the voltage provided across the secondary can be tapped off, rectified and filtered to produce a source of relatively constant D.C. voltage for supplying a D.C. load. Within limits, changes in the A.C. voltage and/or frequency input to the transformer change only the saturation level of the core and produce relatively small changes in output voltage to the D.C. load. Increasing the D.C. load, within limits, drains energy from the tank circuit and reduces the saturation of the core but also results in only a small change in D.C. output voltage.
Thus, so long as the transformer secondary core section remains saturated, the D.C. output voltage remains relatively constant regardless of fluctuations in the load and in the power supply voltage and frequency; however, if the input voltage or frequency is reduced below a predetermined value, or if the load increases sufficiently, the energy in the tank circuit is not sufficient to maintain the transformer core saturated and the output voltage to the load drops precipitately.
The disadvantages of the ferroresonant power transformer arrangement referred to are that the degree of D.C. output voltage regulation is dependent upon the magnetic characteristics of the transformer core material and thus cannot be controlled with precision; the output voltage is determined by the number of turns tapped from the transformer secondary and cannot be easily changed; the output voltage from the rectifier is dependent upon changes in the frequency of input power to the transformer; and, the load at which the output voltage drops precipitately is highly sensitive to changes in the transformer input voltage.
The foregoing disadvantages were largely overcome by the development of so-called controlled ferroresonant power supplies. These included ferroresonance control circuitry associated with essentially the same transformer and tank capacitor arrangement referred to previously. The ferroresonance control circuitry enabled the impedance of the tank circuit to be controllably altered thus permitting the tank circuit to variably simulate saturation of the secondary core section.
The ferroresonance control circuits provided for a variable impedance in parallel with the tank capacitor to alter the impedance of the tank circuit. The variable impedance was commonly formed by an inductor and an electronic switch which switched the inductor in and out of the tank circuit electronically in a controlled fashion to controllably alter the impedance of the tank circuit to simulate saturation of the transformer core. By thus simulating saturation of the transformer core so that the voltage across the tank capacitor was normally less than the minimum which would have existed with the heaviest expected load and the lowest expected input voltage and frequency, the output voltage was controlled electronically and could be made to be essentially independent of input voltage and frequency, load current and the magnetic characteristics of the core itself.
In a typical application, two or more controlled ferroresonant rectifier units have been connected across a load in parallel with a battery. The rectifier units operated to share the load and maintain the battery charge level. In the event of a power interruption to the rectifier units the battery provided a temporary power supply for the load. If one of the rectifier units malfunctioned, the load was distributed among the remaining rectifier units. In the latter event a rectifier failure alarm was produced so that the existence of the malfunction was brought to the attention of the equipment user.
2. The Prior Art
Controlled ferroresonant power supplies were provided with various accessory circuits which individually sensed different failure modes of the power supplies and produced failure alarm signals. These included low current alarm circuits and high voltage shutdown circuits.
The high voltage shutdown circuits sensed the existence of a voltage across the rectifier unit output terminals which exceeded a predetermined set point value. This condition was indicative of a rectifier unit failure. The high voltage shutdown circuits commonly interrupted the supply of power to the rectifier unit by means of a resettable circuit breaker.
The low current alarm circuits were employed to determine when the rectifier unit output was minimized, thus indicating a failure of some sort in the unit. To accomplish this the low current alarm circuits sensed the rectifier unit output current and when that current reached a predetermined minimum value (generally 0.5% of full load current) a rectifier failure alarm was produced. Current sensing was typically accomplished by the use of a current shunting device from which a signal was derived and amplified to control operation of an alarm producing device. These circuits produced failure alarms when load levels were low but without any actual rectifier malfunction occurring. The low current alarm circuits had to be constructed to respond to arbitrary low current levels because of the difficulty in sensing and responding to extremely small rectifier output currents.

Rectifier system with failure alarm circuitry


Organophosphate (OP) nerve agents and pesticides are potent inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Though oxime nucleophiles can reactivate an AChE-phosphyl adduct, the adduct can undergo a reaction called aging, leading to an aged-AChE adduct. The invention provides compounds and methods that can be used to reactivate an aged-AChE adduct. Such compounds and methods are useful to counteract organophosphorus poisoning.

Organophosphorus (OP) agents have been used as both pesticides and chemical warfare agents for most of the past century (Mercey, G., et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 2012, 45, 756; and Jokanovic, M.; Prostran, M. Curr. Med. Chem. 2009, 16, 2177). Pesticides based on phosphate or thiophosphate agents (e.g. parathion, diazinon, or malathion) are or have been used in domestic and commercial agriculture to protect crops from a variety of destructive species. Despite numerous efforts to ban or limit the use of OP pesticides, their continued use results in over 200,000 fatalities and over 1 million instances of morbidity annually due to OP exposure. Phosphonate nerve agents, including sarin, soman, VX, and tabun, are extremely toxic and are considered a serious threat to national security due to their potential use in terrorist actions (See Millard, C. B.; et al., Biochem. 1999, 38, 7032; Sanson, B.; et al., J. Med. Chem. 2009, 52, 7593; Carletti, E.; et al., J. Med. Chem. 2010, 53, 4002; Masson, P.; Nachon, F.; Lockridge, O. Chem. Bio. Interact. 2010, 187, 157; and Mercey, G.; et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 2012, 45, 756).
These nerve agents elicit their acute toxicity by inhibiting the acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which results in an overstimulation of muscles due to the buildup of acetylcholine in the neuromuscular junction. The ultimate result is muscle fasciculation and subsequent cardiopulmonary arrest (Mercey, G.; et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 2012, 45, 756; and Jokanovic, M.; Prostran, M. Curr. Med. Chem. 2009, 16, 2177). Specifically, OPs inhibit AChE by covalently bonding to the serine residue in the catalytic triad of the active site (FIG. 1). The well documented and tremendous affinity of OP agents for the active cite of AChE is a result of OP's structural similarity to the tetrahedral transition state of the cognate hydrolysis reaction of acetylcholine (Quinn, D. M. Chem. Rev. 1987, 87, 955).
There are several potential treatments for both acute and chronic organophosphate poisoning. Most include a nucleophilic oxime to reactivate the enzyme along with atropine as an acetylcholine receptor antagonist and diazepam to treat seizures that arise from inhibition of AChE in the CNS (Mercey, G.; et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 2012, 45, 756; and Jokanovic, M.; Prostran, M. Curr. Med. Chem. 2009, 16, 2177). If administered shortly after exposure, the oxime (e.g. 2-pyridine aldoxime methyl chloride, 2-PAM) is able to displace the bound OP and liberate the serine residue (FIG. 1). (Kalisiak, J.; et al., J. Med. Chem. 2011, 54, 3319; Kalisiak, J.; et al., J. Med. Chem. 2012, 55, 465; Mercey, G.; et al., Chem. Commun. 2011, 47, 5295; and Sit, R. et al., J. Bio. Chem. 2011, 286, 19422.)
If administration of the oxime is delayed a process called aging occurs where the enzyme bound phosphonate experiences a solvolytic loss of an alkyl group (FIG. 1: R=isopropyl for sarin, pinacoyl for soman). See Millard, C. B.; et al., Biochem. 1999, 38, 7032; Sanson, B.; et al., J. Med. Chem. 2009, 52, 7593; Carletti, E.; et al., J. Med. Chem. 2010, 53, 4002; Masson, P.; Nachon, F.; Lockridge, O. Chem. Bio. Interact. 2010, 187, 157; and Mercey, G.; et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 2012, 45, 756. The aged adduct is a phosphonate ester monoanion, which is intrinsically less reactive as an electrophile that the erstwhile neutral phosphonate ester of the initial phosphonyl-AChE adduct. The aged adduct is further stabilized by several key interactions with the AChE active site, and is refractory to oxime reactivation. See Millard, C. B.; et al., Biochem. 1999, 38, 7032; Sanson, B.; et al., J. Med. Chem. 2009, 52, 7593; Carletti, E.; et al., J. Med. Chem. 2010, 53, 4002; and Masson, P.; Nachon, F.; Lockridge, O. Chem. Bio. Interact. 2010, 187, 157. No compounds have been reported that are able to recover AChE activity once aging has occurred, and therefore there are no known antidotes against aged AChE-OP adducts. See Mercey, G., et al., Acc. Chem. Res. 2012, 45, 756; Kalisiak, J.; et al., J. Med. Chem. 2011, 54, 3319; Kalisiak, J.; et al., J. Med. Chem. 2012, 55, 465; Mercey, G.; et al., Chem. Commun. 2011, 47, 5295; and Sit, R. et al., J. Bio. Chem. 2011, 286, 19422.
Currently there is a need for compounds and methods that can be used to reactivate the aged-AChE adduct. Such compounds and methods would be useful to counteract organophosphorus poisoning.

Compounds and methods to treat organophosphorus poisoning