Blank for a gun barrel, consisting of a steel bar, which bar, in one or more hot working steps, has been repeatedly wrung about its own longitudinal axis.

The present invention relates to a blank for a gun barrel, which blank consists of a metal bar. The invention further relates to a method for production of a gun barrel, and such a gun barrel. In the concept of gun barrel, there is also included cannon barrels. The invention is applicable for all types of fire-arms, e.g. manual, semi-automatic, or automatic small arms, cannons etc., but has primarily been developed for gun barrels for shot-guns.
Known gun barrels, e.g. for rifles, shot-guns, automatic or semi-automatic guns, cannons etc., are usually manufactured from a blank which consists of a rolled or forged bar material of steel, which bar material is drilled for the formation of a bore.
One important aspect in connection with the manufacturing of gun barrels is the strength, especially when the gun is fired. Thereby, the gun barrel must be provided with an adequate wall thickness in order to withstand the tensile stresses which occur at the firing of a given charge. The required wall thickness may result in a heavy weapon, which accordingly will be expensive and/or difficult to handle.
One drawback of known gun barrels is that they are manufactured from a bar material which after rolling/forging exhibits its best mechanical properties in the longitudinal direction of the bar. Normally, the fatigue strength, the notch value and the ductility is 20-50% higher in the longitudinal direction than in the lateral direction. This is mainly due to the orientation and the indication of fracture effect of nonmetallic occlusions. When the bar material is produced, it is substantially elongated in the longitudinal direction, whereby the occlusions too are being elongated in the same direction. Thereby, the occlusions will exhibit a surface which is substantially larger in the lateral direction as compared to the longitudinal direction, whereby the fatigue strength, the notch value and the ductility will be lower in the lateral direction as compared to the longitudinal direction.
At the use of a gun barrel, i.e. at the firing of the gun barrel, tensile stresses will occur in the barrel due to the internal overpressure, which may be in the magnitude of 3500 bar, which arises in the barrel. Thereby, the stress distribution will principally be the same as in a cylindrical pressure vessel, the difference being that stresses in the longitudinal. direction are taken by the gun bolt and by the bullet or the shots. In the barrel itself, no substantial stresses will arise in the longitudinal direction, but in the tangential direction around the barrel, the tensile stresses will on the other hand be large. Therefore, it is a major disadvantage of known gun barrels that they exhibit poorer mechanical properties in the lateral/tangential direction, than in the longitudinal direction.
The problem is accentuated by there being a strive in the technical field to be able to increase the charging in the fire-arms, at the same time as a decreased weight is desired.
Another drawback, which relates to known gun barrels for shot-guns, is that the known gun barrels exhibit far to poor wear resistance or hardness in the bore, considering the decision in certain countries to change from lead shots to iron shots, for certain types of hunting.
The above problems are decreased by choosing a blank for the gun barrel according to the present invention.
The invention is based on the understanding of the above problems and on the solution, which is characterized in that a steel bar is repeatedly wrung about its own longitudinal axis, suitably in one or more hot working steps. After heat treatment, the wrung bar constitutes a blank for a gun barrel and may accordingly be drilled or battered, for the making of a bore, and may optionally be post-treated.
According to one aspect of the invention, the bar is wrung about its own longitudinal axis to a helix angel/pitch angle of 45-90xc2x0, preferably 60-88xc2x0 and even more preferred 75-87xc2x0. The wringing may be automatically or manually done. By the wringing according to the invention, the occlusions will be crushed into more but smaller disturbances. The occlusions, which before the wringing are mainly oriented in the longitudinal direction of the bar, will moreover instead be mainly oriented tangentially around the bar, mainly at its periphery. Thereby, the occlusions will not constitute as severe indications of fracture at the tangential tensile stresses which arise in connection with the firing of the gun barrel which is manufactured from the bar, as compared to when they are oriented in the longitudinal direction of the bar. The toughness and the fatigue limit of the bar is accordingly increased in the tangential or lateral direction when the bar is wrung according to the invention. The fact that the orientation of the occlusions will become the most tangential in the periphery is advantageous, since the tensile stresses are the largest here.
According to another aspect of the invention, the ultimate breaking strength of the bar may be increased, after the wringing according to the invention, by about 1-5%, the ductility (area contraction) may be increased by about 20-550%, the notch value may be increased by about 20-300% and the fatigue strength may be increased by about 30-50%, these values relating to the increase in the lateral direction and to conventional heat treatment steels for shot-gun barrels.
The ultimate breaking strength and yield strength may be additionally affected by heat treatment after the wringing. An increased possibility to heat treat the steel to an increased hardness and strength, without the material showing tendencies of becoming brittle, is created since the wringing results in an improved toughness. As an alternative, a harder and stronger alloy may be chosen. Such an increase in strength will result in an improved wear resistance and may therefore also be used for saving weight in connection with a decreased wall thickness in the gun barrels as produced.
Furthermore, it is generally true that the steel will become tougher and stronger the larger the degree of processing. By the wringing according to the invention, the degree of plastic machining may be increased without affecting the dimensions of the bar. The machining direction is also taking place in the most advantageous direction, i.e. in the direction in which the largest loads will arise at the use of the weapon.
According to one aspect of the invention, the wringing is performed in two or more hot working steps, the material being allowed to recover between these steps, in order for re-crystallisation to take place. As an alternative, the wringing may be performed in a single step, if it is done slowly. The purpose of performing the wringing in several steps, or to perform it slowly in a single step, is to avoid local overheating, which otherwise may arise in certain cases when the wringing is fulfilled in a single, fast step. Such local overheating may cause surface defections in the bar, which at continued wringing may grow to surface fissures. At a continued wringing, the fissures will grow even more, whereby the bar will be wrung off. The critical limit for the forming of surface defections vary between different steel grades.
By use of the invention, there is created a possibility to increase the charge of a fire-arm and/or to lower the weight of the weapon, as the gun barrel may be provided with a smaller wall thickness as compared to known gun barrels.
Any steel or steel alloy suitable for gun barrels may be used as raw material in the bar. From an strength point of view it is especially advantageous to use a powder metallurgical alloy, preferably a fast solidified powder metallurgical alloy. These types of alloys are common today in qualified metal machining tools, due to their superior strength.
Powder metallurgy will beneficially also give an opportunity to achieve compound materials which are suitable for the purpose. As a material for the part which is to form the inside of the bore in the gun barrel, there may accordingly be chosen a hard and wear resistant material with a large resistance to the friction from the projectiles, but which also provides a good corrosion resistance against gunpowder gases, gunpowder splashes and moisture which may contain dissolved gases and gunpowder splashes. As a material intended to form.the outside of the barrel, there is instead preferably chosen a material of great toughness and strength.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the gun barrel may be provided with a very decorative surface pattern, at the same time as beneficial properties are achieved in the steel material, by use of so called damascene technique, based on powder metallurgy. Such a powder metallurgical damascene technique, which is especially preferred, is described in Swedish patent SE-C-9400127-8.
In powder metallurgical damascene technique, there is used at least two different steel materials exhibiting substantially differing alloy compositions, e.g. two substantially different types of stainless steel, at least one of them consisting of a powder. The two steel material are united to a consolidated body e.g. by hot isostatic pressing, so called HIP-ing, at a pressure which exceeds 600 bar and a temperature exceeding 1000xc2x0 C. Other conceivable consolidation techniques are extruding and step-by-step forging of powder in a capsule. Suitably, there is used a powder which is manufactured by so called atomisation, which means that a stream of molten metal is disintegrated into small droplets by the aid of an inert gas, whereafter the droplets are allowed to solidify to a powder in the inert gas. Thereafter, the powder is sieved into a particle size of 1 mm at the most. The HIP-ing may be performed by conventional hot isostatic pressing, the two steel materials to be united with each other, at least one of them being a powder, are arranged in a closed capsule, which is evacuated of air and exposed to the hot isostatic pressing. The capsule may, as is conventional in connection with powder metallurgy, consist of plate, e.g. carbon steel plate, but it may also be conceived that the capsule at least partly consists of stainless steel, which will form an integrated part of the final product. Also, capsules of non-metallic materials may be conceived, e.g. glass, enamel etc.
A conceivable process line is the manufacturing of powder by so called atomisation, filling of two or more powder grades, preferably in prechosen patterns, in a capsule, preferably a steel capsule, compacting to full density by hot isostatic pressing, extrusion or forging of the consolidated body and thereafter continued plastic machining into a bar, wringing according to the invention in a hot working step, and etching in acid in order to develop the decorative effect.
In order to achieve a decorative effect, steel material are chosen of compositions different enough to achieve a desired contrast effect after etching. For example, if both materials are stainless, one of the stainless steels may consist of a martensite, relatively highly carbonised stainless steel, which has limited corrosion resistance and which accordingly is easily etched and darkened by acid, while the other stainless steel suitably consists of a more corrosion resistant, low carbonised stainless steel, which is less etched than the martensite, highly carbonised stainless steel, e.g. an austenite, ferrite or ferrite-austenite stainless steel, or possibly a martensite stainless steel having a substantially lower content of carbon than the first mentioned stainless steel. In principle, according to the invention there may also be used two stainless steel qualities of the same type, e.g. martensite, and which have the same composition with the exception that one of the steels but not the other is alloyed with one or more substances, or contains a substantially larger amount of this or these substances, e.g. phosphor, which results in this steel being substantially more etched than the other steel, all in the cause of achieving a desired contrast effect.
According to one aspect, the different steel materials may be arranged in layers, e.g. as is described in SE-C-9400127-8. Thereby, it is especially preferred to, as in the above described compound technique, arrange a wear resistant or hard steel material as a homogeneous core along the longitudinal axis of the bar, and layers of two or more steel materials outside of this core, which outer steel materials in the main exhibit strength. It is also conceivable to arrange the layers of the different steel materials as more or less concentric rings. Furthermore, the different steel materials may be arranged in relation to each other so that one or more steel materials constitute strands or other areas in another steel material. The different steel materials may be chosen in order to, for each use, give the desired properties consisting of strength, wear resistance, hardness, toughness etc., in different areas of the bar.
In connection with damascene technique, the wringing of the bar which is to constitute a blank for a gun barrel, will result in an additional dimension in the surface pattern of the gun barrel. Accordingly, there may e.g. be made gun barrels with a helical surface pattern, or with a combination of a random or chosen pattern and a helical pattern.

Blank for gun barrel, method for producing said gun barrel and gun barrel


An electrical lead retainer (2) with compression seal (4) is provided for a terminal receptacle post (6) of an ignition coil tower for gasoline engines in corrosive environments, including the high tension lead in marine applications. An insulated electrical wire (16) is inserted into the post, and an annular grommet (20) around the wire is compressed against the post and against the wire to prevent moisture from creeping across the post opening and from creeping along the wire into the post opening. An end cap (22) has an aperture (28) through which the wire extends and has a pair of flexible outer locking tabs (24, 26) engaging the backside of a flange (14) on the post in snap-lock manner to hold the cap on the post and compress the grommet. The cap has an internal annular recess (34) forming a step shoulder (56) with the aperture (28) and compressing the grommet against an annular collar (10) on the post. The internal annular recess (34) has substantially the same diameter as the outer diameter (42) of the grommet to restrict expansion of the outer diameter of the grommet upon compression of the latter by the step shoulder (56) and instead cause expansion of the grommet inwardly against the wire.

The invention relates to electrical lead retainers and connectors, particularly for use in harsh and corrosive environments.
The invention addresses and solves the need for a simple and effective seal for eliminating ignition failure due to corrosion within iginition coil towers used on two and four cycle gasoline engines in marine propulsion systems. The invention provides a seal which prevents moisture from creeping across the opening in the coil tower post, and also prevents moisture from creeping along the wire within the post.

Electrical lead retainer with compression seal


The present invention provides n ultrasonic treatment device (10) for heating a portion of a subject of interest, comprising a ultrasonic irradiation unit (12) for generating high-intensity focused ultrasonic irradiation, whereby a beam path of the ultrasonic irradiation is movable along a trajectory for depositing ultrasonic energy within a target zone (22) of the subject of interest, and a control unit (20) for controlling the ultrasonic irradiation unit (12) to move the beam path of the ultrasonic irradiation along the trajectory and to apply an ultrasonic dose to the target zone (22), wherein the control unit (20) is adapted to receive temperature information of the target zone (22) and to control the ultrasonic irradiation unit (12) based on the received temperature information, and the control unit (20) is adapted to control the ultrasonic irradiation unit (12) based on the temperature of a current (26) and at least one previous direction (28) of the beam path of the ultrasonic irradiation along the trajectory. The invention further provides a corresponding method for ultrasonic treatment and an ultrasonic treatment system, comprising the above ultrasonic treatment device (10) and a diagnostic imaging device for providing temperature information of a target zone (22) of the subject of interest, wherein the control unit (20) of the ultrasonic treatment device (10) is adapted to receive the temperature information from the diagnostic imaging device. By looking at the temperature or a thermal dose distribution along a previous direction of the beam path of the ultrasonic irradiation along the trajectory where the heating has been completed, an improved control of the treatment is achieved. Even if this previous sonication was different to the one currently applied, it represents a good indicator of the tissue and ultrasound system behavior.

The invention pertains to guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy. An ultrasonic treatment device, i.e. a HIFU therapy module, directs the ultrasonic irradiation towards a target zone of a subject of interest, which is usually an alive being, more typically a human being.
Interstitial and intraluminal ultrasonic irradiation devices frequently comprise a mechanically movable transducer, which enables a movement of a beam path of the ultrasonic irradiation. An exemplary application is the treatment of prostate cancer with a rotatable intra-urethral transducer. Accordingly, the transducer is movable so as to control the position within a target zone where HIFU energy is deposited. An actuator is provided to move the transducer. The actuator is controlled by a control unit to move, i.e. to rotate, the transducer, so that a trajectory of HIFU energy depositions is generated. Accordingly, the entire target zone can be heated by the HIFU module as required for the treatment.
Diagnostic imaging like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is becoming more important in the area of therapy. In particular, diagnostic imaging is used to obtain temperature information of the target zone to monitor the heating of the target zone. This increases the accuracy of the treatment. Alternatively, also ultrasonic devices can be used as imaging devices in this area.
In current ultrasonic treatment systems comprising the diagnostic imaging device and the ultrasonic treatment device, the diagnostic imaging device is used for providing temperature information in the direction of the beam path of the ultrasonic irradiation. I.e. the diagnostic imaging device is configured to monitor the temperature in the area where the HIFU depositions, also referred to as sonications, are made. A control unit of the ultrasonic treatment device is configured to control the activation at the current target zone on the basis of the measured temperature. The heating is achieved by performing simultaneous sonication and displacement of the beam direction. This is for example proposed in the article "Method for MRI-guided conformal thermal therapy of prostate with planar transurethral ultrasound heating applicators" Rajiv Chopra, Mathieu Burtnyk, Masoom A Haider and Michael J Bronskill, Phys. Med. Biol. 50 (2005) 4957-4975. In particular, it is proposed to use the above interstitial and intraluminal ultrasonic irradiation unit, with an acoustic power and a rotation speed proportional to the difference between the targeted temperature and temperature measured along the sonication direction at the targeted location. This feedback temperature control deliver acoustic power until the target temperature is reached along the beam path at the current target location. However sonications along each direction overlap to some extent due to the width of the ultrasonic beam. Furthermore, the effect of thermal diffusion may result in a further heating of an area, when the ultrasonic beam does not cover this area anymore. As consequence for a specific beam path orientation, an additional temperature rise is taking place at this location once the beam is moved ahead. The heating in a location is completed only once the ultrasonic beam has moved sufficiently away from this location. As consequence the final temperature at the target contour overpass the targeted temperature by a value not predicted.
Accordingly, the control unit decides which sonication parameters such as acoustic power, ultrasound frequency and movement speed are to be applied based on the current temperature within the area of the current HIFU depositions. This requires an accurate calibration of the ultrasonic irradiation unit, in particular in respect to the direction of a beam path of the ultrasonic irradiation. Furthermore, due to beam parameters like beam width, some areas of the subject of interest can be exposed to a dose, which is higher than required. This extends the time required for the treatment of the subject of interest and can lead to undesired treatments of areas of the subject of interest outside the target zone.

High-intensity focused ultrasound irradiation


A self closing carton or container is formed from a blank of sheet material which folds together to form the elongated carton having a triangular cross section with self closing end flaps. The blank includes four adjacent rectangular side panels of substantially equal size, the outer two side panels being overlapped to thereby form the triangular cross sectional configuration of the carton. Triangular end flaps, with tab receiving slots, extend from the lateral ends of one rectangular side panel. At each lateral end of the next adjacent side panel is a pair of interconnected triangular end flaps, at the remote end of which is an outwardly extending tab. Each pair of end flaps can be folded over a respective first triangular end flap, whereby each tab locks into its corresponding slot. At each remote end of the last rectangular side panel is a triangular locking flap which can respectively securely fit between the first triangular flap and the outermost one of a pair of triangular flaps to be sandwiched therebetween to thus close and seal the carton.

This invention relates to a carton and a blank for making the carton, and more specifically to a self closing carton of triangular cross sectional configuration.
Numerous types of cartons or containers of all sizes, shapes and configurations are readily available. However, as the configuration of the carton changes from a common rectangular box-like configuration, the blank becomes of more complex construction and requires more costly and time consuming manufacture, as well as presenting more difficulty in folding the blank to form the completed carton.
A further problem with many existing cartons, is that while they may be formed of a single blank, after folded into a completed shape, the carton must be sealed by means of various adhesives. The adhesives may be printed as part of the carton whereby portions of the carton must be heat sealed. In other situations, adhesives are added after the carton has been completed. Additionally, tapes may be needed to close off portions of the carton in order to seal it.
For elongated types of material, such as documents, manuscripts, rolls of postage stamps, etc., it has been found that the most convenient type of carton for transporting and shipping such documents is a tubular or cylindrical carton. The document can then be rolled and placed in the carton. The ends of the carton can typically be sealed off with plugs or other end closure device. Additionally, tapes can be pasted at the ends of the carton and the tapes folded inside the tubular cartons in order to seal off the ends. Such cartons are frequently used for mailing, and are frequently referred to as mailing tubes.
While such cylindrical or tubular cartons or containers are very useful for various types of documents and other material which cannot be folded, the cylindrical containers themselves are extremely awkward to use, store and ship. Although they provide good protection for their contents by avoiding the necessity of folding, the storage and transport of the containers themselves present a problem. Tubular or cylindrical containers must be shipped in their final condition. Thus, a manufacturer of the tubular containers must actually ship them as tubes. This takes up a considerable amount of shipping space. Also, the user must store the containers in its tubular shape, whereby an excessive amount of storage space is also required. An additional problem concerns the closure of the tubular containers. Generally the tubular containers are not self closing and require the addition of closure material. Such closure material must be pasted on at the time of manufacture or must be provided separately as insertable plugs or covers. Accordingly, an excessive amount of time and expense is required for storing, shipping and utilizing of such tubular containers.


The use of purified process materials in the production of a seeded sol-gel alumina abrasive results in an abrasive of superior properties.

This invention relates to aluminous abrasive grits and particularly to seeded sol-gel alumina abrasive materials with improved grinding performance. Such aluminas are made up of sub-micron alpha alumina crystals and the abrasive grits are sintered to essentially full theoretical density, that is in excess of 95% of the theoretical figure for alpha alumina.
Seeded sol-gel alumina abrasives are conventionally produced by uniformly dispersing sub-micron sized particles of alpha alumina particles in an aqueous dispersion, such as a sol or gel, of an alpha alumina precursor, (which is usually but not essentially, boehmite). The water is then removed and the mixture is fired to above the conversion temperature at which alpha alumina is formed and sintered to essentially theoretical density. A simple seeded sol-gel process is described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,364.
The firing operation performs the tasks of converting the transitional alumina forms present in the dried gel to the alpha form and the sintering of the alpha alumina closes up residual porosity and ensures that the particles have adequate density and hardness to function well as abrasive grits. It is known that excessive time at sintering temperatures, which are generally between 1300.degree. and 1400.degree. C. for seeded sol-gel materials and about 100.degree. C. higher than that for unseeded sol-gel aluminas, can lead to crystal growth. Since crystal growth is generally regarded as undesirable because it is associated with loss of abrasive properties, it is often considered appropriate to incorporate into the gel certain oxides which act to limit the crystal size growth. U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,827 teaches magnesia and zirconia for this purpose in connection with unseeded sol-gel processes, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,364 adds silica, zirconia and chromia to the list for seeded sol-gel processes. In spite of the above teaching U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,827 for reasons that are unspecified in the patent, positively excludes significant amounts of calcia and alkali metal oxides from the scope of the invention claimed. In more recent times it has been disclosed that products made with the incorporation of minor amounts of rare earth metal oxides, yttria, transition metal oxides and lithium oxide bring advantageous results whether the gel is seeded or unseeded. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,770,671; 4,881951; 5,188,908; 5,190,567; 5,192,339; 5,215,551; 5,387,268; and 5,403,795 and European Applications 408,771; 594,455; 561,865; and 622,438.
It has now been found that the amount of such minor components should be controlled within narrow limits to obtain the best abrasive alumina grits by a seeded sol-gel process. This is somewhat surprising in view of the many patents teaching the positive advantages of the incorporation of minor amounts of oxides to modify the grain boundaries of the crystal structures or form a separate phase at such boundaries.

Saint-Gobain/Norton Industrial Ceramics Corporation


Test device for detection and visual indication of a specific analyte in a liquid sample such as a body fluid. The device includes a biodegradable housing, a test strip and a lid. The device is configured for placement in concentrate or dilute test liquid that is for example contained in a vessel. One end of the test strip wicks the liquid being tested into the housing and across a control site and test site which provide visual indication that the device is working correctly and whether the analyte being tested is present in the test liquid. An antibody specific to the antigen being tested may be provided on the test strip. The test device for example detects specific antigens in dilute urine, such that the device may be placed in a toilet bowl after urination.

This invention relates to a unique test device, more specifically a device for testing the presence of an anticipated analyte in liquid. Many devices are known to detect for the presence of a specific chemical, hormone or other material in liquid, such as blood, urine or even saliva. A variety of test devices are available which allow a user to test for the presence of HCG in urine, an early indicator of pregnancy, at home. Devices are also known for the detection of variety of chemicals, such as illegal drugs in urine, often associated with pre-employment or employment screenings. To date, such test devices have required the test subject to either urinate directly on the device, or to deposit urine in a receptacle and then position the device therein. This requirement is less than desirable and often results in a user coming in direct contact with their own urine, or in some instances coming into contact with the urine of a test subject.


An integral fastener particularly for use in mounting a sheet material to a structural member with a plurality of threaded studs. The integral fastener in one embodiment is connected to the sheet by a web adjacent an aperture in the sheet. The fastener has an opening that defines multiple flaps. To fasten the sheet material to the stud, the stud is inserted through the sheet aperture and the fastener is pressed on the stud so that it extends through the fastener opening, deflecting the flaps, which engage the threads of the stud. In another embodiment, the fastener is formed within the sheet and defines an opening through which the stud passes. In a third embodiment, the stud comprises a T-shaped flange and the fastener has a slotted opening at an acute angle to the plane of the T-shaped flange to retain the fastener on the T-shaped flange.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to sheet material with integral fasteners for securing the sheet material to a structural member. In one of its aspects, the invention relates to a sound barrier mat having an integral fastener for securing the mat to a vehicle fire wall. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a method for assembling a sheet material to a structural wall. In still another of its aspects, the invention relates to a structural wall assembly comprising a structural wall and a sheet material fastened thereto.
2. Description of Related Art
In most contemporary automobiles, a steel fire wall separates the engine compartment from the passenger compartment. To reduce the transmission of sound from the engine compartment through the fire wall and into the passenger compartment, a sound barrier mat is mounted to and substantially overlies the fire wall.
The sound barrier mat is mounted to a plurality of studs extending from the surface of the fire wall. Typically, to mount the sound barrier mat to the fire wall, the sound barrier mat has corresponding apertures in register with the studs so that the studs extend through the apertures and hang the sound barrier mat on the fire wall.
An absorber mat is usually attached to the sound barrier mat. When the sound barrier mat is installed to the fire wall, the absorber mat reduces the area of contact between the sound barrier mat and the fire wall. The sound barrier mat will lay under the carpet and extends beyond the carpet up to the top of the fire wall. To secure the sound barrier mat to the fire wall, separate fasteners are mounted onto the studs. The fasteners prevent the accidental removal or repositioning of the sound barrier mat and the underlying absorber mat.
A fastener for attaching an article such as a trim strip to a motor vehicle body is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,6392 Baum et al., issued Mar. 8, 1994. The Baum fastener is a plastic, push-button fastener which consists of a domed head with a circular stem that is received at one end in a circular skirt. A pair of resilient fingers project into an axial bore of the stem. To attach the fastener to the vehicle, a threaded stud mounted to the car body is received within the axial bore of the stem. By exerting pressure on the push-button, the stem is pressed over and onto the stud to deflect the retaining fingers so that they engage the threads on the stud to secure the fastener to the body panel. The domed head abuts the trim strip to hold the trim strip to the vehicle body.
Other similar fasteners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,874,276, issued Oct. 17, 1989; 5,014,369, issued May 14, 1991; 5,195,793, issued Mar. 23, 1993; and 1,197,906, issued Sep. 12, 1916.


A molding machine for making bricks, etc. having a mold open on both ends and opposed plungers for cooperation with the mold, the mold and plungers being removable and replaceable as a set.

In a conventional brick forming machine, the metallic mold sits on the metallic mold support and receives the brick material into its inside. The upper plunger is driven by a hydraulic cylinder placed on the upper center of the machine to press the brick material in the metallic mold between itself and the stationary lower plunger. The metallic mold support is driven by hydraulic cylinders mounted on the right and left columns of the machine to fasten the metallic mold while the brick is being pressed.
Every time the shape or size of the bricks being formed are changed, the metallic mold, and the upper and lower plungers have to be changed. While they are being changed, the forming operation is interrupted, and the time needed for the change is long. The production efficiency is, therefore, low in general as compared with the conventional brick forming machines.

Molding apparatus with replaceable plunger and die set


A dynamic random access memory (RAM) addressing controller comprises a plurality of connectors connectible with a plurality of memory boards which use different addressing arrangements. A timing generator for generating a timing signal is provided for multiplexing address signals applied to a dynamic RAM storage. The controller also includes an input unit for applying an address signal of predetermined width, an address selector for mutliplexing a part of the address signal supplied from the input unit in accordance with the timing signal, a branching unit for supplying another part of the address signal of predetermined width from the input unit to a corresponding portion of each of the connectors respectively, and another branching unit for branching the address signal of the multiplexed part from the address selector in such a way as to be applied to a corresponding portion of each of the connectors. Memory boards carrying highly-integrated memory devices are replaceable in memory board slots.

The present invention relates to a system for supplying an address to a memory unit.
The art of memory multiplexing, that is, supplying a row address and a column address by time division on an address bus to a memory matrix of a dynamic RAM is described in, for example, a Manual of Hitachi IC Memory, March 1990, pp. 91-92.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,454 issued to Y. Matsuura on Sep. 15, 1987 discloses the refresh operation in a dynamic memory, which description is herein introduced by reference to the number thereof.
In a conventional dynamic memory device, as described in "Nikkei Micro-Devices," March 1989, p.p. 42-43, the refresh rate of 2048 cycles has been employed for the period of 32 ms for 16 megabits. In other words, the refreshing has been effected by division of (1/2) .sqroot.memory capacity in a predetermined length of time. This refresh rate is equivalent to 512 for a 1-megabit memory device, and 1024 for a 4-megabit memory device.
The 16-megabit memory device of what is called the next generation type has therefore a refresh cycle of 2048. With the increase in the number of bits activated or refreshed, however, the power consumption is undesirably increased for each cycle. In view of this, the recent tendency is toward reducing the number of bits activated for each cycle by increasing the refresh cycles to 4096 equivalent to .sqroot.memory capacity.
In such a case, 12 bits (PA.sub.0.about.11) of row address in the multiplex address line (A.sub.0.about.11) supplied to the memory device represents a refresh address. As a result, a 16-megabit memory device having a configuration of 4 mega words.times.4 bits is addressed by 12 bits or row address (RA.sub.0.about.11) and 10 bits of column address (CA.sub.0.about.9). An address is thus supplied by ten bits of multiplex address line (A.sub.0.about.9) and 2 bits of nonmultiplex address line (A.sub.10.about.11).
A conventional 4-megabit memory device having a configuration of 4 megawords.times.one bit, on the other hand, is of a type of supplying an address by 11 bits of multiplex address line (A.sub.0.about.10) since 2K.times.2K=4M as well known.
In other words, there are two types of memory device having the same address width, one supplied with an address partly nonmultiplexed but the remainder multiplexed, and the other supplied with all addresses multiplexed. Since alternation of generation of a memory chip used in a memory card is faster that the lifetime of the system, the parallel use of different types of cards is indispensable in order to steadily realize a higher performance of the system in operation.
In a conventional storage unit using the two types of memory devices in parallel, the problem is that the two types of memory devices are required to be discriminated and the storage addresses supplied to the memory address line are required to be controlled separately by switching in spite of the fact that they have the same address width.

Controller for supplying multiplexed or non-multiplexed address signals to different types of dynamnic random access memories


In a breakaway trailer brake activating mechanism mounted on a trailer surge brake actuator, one end of a tension coil spring is attached to the breakaway activating mechanism while the other end of the spring is connected to an intermediate link on a breakaway chain. The connection is such that a surplus, predetermined number of breakaway chain links, forming a slack section of the breakaway chain, are connected between the ends of the spring. The spring prevents the slack section of the breakaway chain connected between the ends of the spring from being pulled tight so as to allow for tow vehicle turns even if the breakway chain is incorrectly secured. Thus, during a sharp turn of the tow vehicle, the spring will allow the reserve links of the slack section of chain to extend but not so far as to cause the trailer brake to be activated. Should the trailer become separated from the towing vehicle during towing, however, the force exerted on the breakaway chain extends the spring to the point that the slack section of the breakaway chain is pulled tight thereby causing application of the trailer surge brakes by the breakaway brake activating mechanism.

Most trailer surge brakes incorporate a breakaway system to activate the trailer brakes if the trailer becomes disconnected from the tow vehicle. Such a system usually includes a flexible coupling typically in the form of a breakaway chain one end of which is connected to the tow vehicle and the other end of which is connected to a brake activating mechanism. If the trailer becomes separated from the tow vehicle, the breakaway chain pulls tight, thereby activating the trailer's brake system.
Occasionally, a breakaway chain is improperly secured so that there is not enough slack in the breakaway chain to allow the tow vehicle to make a turn without pulling on the breakaway chain and activating the trailer brake system.
Accordingly, an overall object of the present invention is to provide an improved trailer breakaway surge brake system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved trailer breakaway system capable of accommodating turns of the tow vehicle without activating the trailer brake even if the breakaway chain is improperly secured, that is, with insufficient slack, while still providing for the proper operation of the breakaway brake system in the event the tow vehicle and trailer become separated.


Provided is a system and method for displaying a graphic on a crew user interface. The system comprises a crew user interface comprising an input and an output, a server accessed by the crew user interface comprising a display application program that retrieves screen configuration data stored in a non-volatile memory of a database connected to the server and an aircraft entertainment system connected to the crew user interface. The output comprises the graphic that is produced during run-time by the application program interpreting the screen configuration data.

This invention pertains generally to aircraft entertainment and passenger service systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to an aircraft crew user interface for an entertainment system.
Commercial passenger airlines and transportation vehicles continuously try to make travel as enjoyable as possible for their customers. Airlines often provide in-flight entertainment systems that provide access to various entertainment and services for passengers on the aircraft.
It is desirable for the crew and maintenance personnel to be able to centrally control and monitor the provision of and availability of services to passengers on the aircraft, in portions of the aircraft or in particular seats on the aircraft. In addition, new services may be added or existing services may need to be modified from time to time. It is desirable to be able to modify the availability of services, the types of services, and the display of information provided to the crew and maintenance personnel about those services. Therefore, it would be beneficial to be able to adapt the control logic for the display of such information and the navigation among menu screens without requiring changes in executable code.

Aircraft crew user interface for an aircraft entertainment system


Disclosed herein is a bonded-type laminated core member manufacturing apparatus including an adhesive application unit to apply an adhesive to a material being continuously transferred, and a laminating unit configured to integrate laminar members laminated within a laminating hole by blanking the material, a laminated core member being manufactured by interlayer adhesion between the laminar members, and the laminating unit includes an adhesive hardener to harden the adhesive located between the laminar members so as to integrate the laminar members passing through the laminating hole, and pinchers provided under the adhesive hardener to apply lateral pressure to the laminated core member so as to prevent falling of the laminated core member. Since the laminated core members may be stably extracted, damage to the laminated core member due to falling may be prevented and the laminated core members in an aligned state may be extracted.

In general, a laminated core manufactured by laminating and integrating laminar members is used as a rotor or a stator of a generator or a motor and, as methods of manufacturing laminated cores, i.e., by laminating the laminar members and then integrally fixing the laminar members, a tap fixing method using interlock taps, a fixing method using welding, for example, laser welding, a rivet fixing method, etc. have been known.
The tap fixing method is disclosed as manufacturing technology of a laminated core member in Patent Documents, i.e., Korean Patent Laid-open Publication Nos. 10-2008-0067426 and 10-2008-0067428. In manufacture of the laminated core member using such a method, iron loss occurs, particularly, it is difficult to execute embossing due to thickness reduction in a material, i.e., a steel sheet, and thus it is limited as technology for manufacturing laminated cores. The above-described Patent Documents and Patent Documents which will be described later disclose various kinds and shapes of laminated core members.
Recently, an adhesion fixing method, in which laminar members forming a laminated core member are adhered to each other by an adhesive so as to be integrated, has been proposed. Such an adhesion fixing method is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-1996-0003021 and Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H5-304037.
With reference to Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H5-304037 Among the above-described Patent Documents, a material for manufacturing a motor core, i.e., a steel sheet, is fed to a first press die and a second press die by a feed roller and, before the steel sheet is supplied to the first press die, an adhesive is applied to the surface of the steel sheet by an application roller and a nozzle.
Further, blanked members (laminar members) sequentially accumulated in the first press die and the second press die due to blanking of the material are integrated by the adhesive, thereby manufacturing an adhesive laminated core.
The above-described adhesion fixing methods, i.e., the adhesive laminated core manufacturing method, may reduce manufacturing costs, as compared to the laser welding method, and correspond to thickness reduction in the steel sheet, but, when the core strips are integrated within a laminating barrel by a heater and move downwards, the core strips fall to the bottom of the laminating barrel due to gravity and thus the laminated core member may be damaged due to falling weight thereof and/or damaged by another subsequently falling laminated core member and the laminated core members may be misaligned.
Further, the core strips passing through the heater and peripheral parts of the heater, for example, parts forming the dies and the laminating barrel, may be thermally deformed (thermally expanded) or damaged, misalignment of the core strips and a defective product may occur due to lowering (change) of straightness/accuracy of a region (the laminating barrel), through which a product, i.e., the core strips, passes, and product quality may not be uniformly maintained. Further, since elements, such as the press dies, the nozzles, the application roller, etc., are separately provided and independently operated, precise control in application of the adhesive and blanking of the material is required.
Further, in a conventional adhesive laminated core manufacturing apparatus, an outlet of a nozzle to apply an adhesive may cause leakage of the adhesive or pollution around the outlet, the adhesive leaked from the nozzle may be adhered to the surface of the nozzle and thus cause clogging of the outlet of the nozzle and pollution. These problems may disturb precise application of a fixed quantity of the adhesive and reduction in the hardening time.
Moreover, the conventional adhesive laminated core manufacturing apparatus has a difficulty in applying a regular amount of the adhesive to the surface of a steel sheet each designated cycle, and requires precise management of the adhesive supply pressure, i.e., the pressure of the adhesive within the nozzle, so as to accurately control the discharge quantity of the adhesive and the operation time of the nozzle (application timing of the adhesive), and, if an adhesive application process is not effectively executed, delamination of the laminated core occurs and causes a defective product and, thus, productivity may be lowered due to increase in a defect rate and management costs may be increased.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Laminate unit for manufacturing bonded-type laminated core member and apparatus having the same for manufacturing laminated core member


A device and method for providing body cooling for treating fever. The cooling device applies cooling to blood flowing in a vein or artery, e.g., the vena cavae, that is then distributed throughout the body.

Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the lowering and control of the temperature of the human body. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and intravascular apparatus for cooling the whole body, especially during periods of fever.
2. Background Information
Organs in the human body, such as the brain, kidney and heart, are maintained at a constant temperature of approximately 37xc2x0 C. Hypothermia can be clinically defined as a core body temperature of 35xc2x0 C. or less. Hypothermia is sometimes characterized further according to its severity. A body core temperature in the range of 33xc2x0 C. to 35xc2x0 C. is described as mild hypothermia. A body temperature of 28xc2x0 C. to 32xc2x0 C. is described as moderate hypothermia. A body core temperature in the range of 24xc2x0 C. to 28xc2x0 C. is described as severe hypothermia.
Hypothermia is uniquely effective in reducing brain injury caused by a variety of neurological insults and may eventually play an important role in emergency brain resuscitation. Experimental evidence has demonstrated that cerebral cooling improves outcome after global ischemia, focal ischemia, or traumatic brain injury. For this reason, hypothermia may be induced in order to reduce the effect of certain bodily injuries to the brain as well as other organs.
Cerebral hypothermia has traditionally been accomplished through whole body cooling to create a condition of total body hypothermia in the range of 20xc2x0 C. to 30xc2x0 C. The currently-employed techniques and devices used to cause total body hypothermia lead to various side effects. In addition to the undesirable side effects, present methods of administering total body hypothermia are cumbersome.
Catheters have been developed which are inserted into the bloodstream of the patient in order to induce total body hypothermia. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,425,419 to Dato describes a method and apparatus of lowering and raising the temperature of the human body. Dato induces moderate hypothermia in a patient using a rigid metallic catheter. The catheter has an inner passageway through which a fluid, such as water, can be circulated. The catheter is inserted through the femoral vein and then through the inferior vena cava as far as the right atrium and the superior vena cava. The Dato catheter has an elongated cylindrical shape and is constructed from stainless steel. By way of example, Dato suggests the use of a catheter approximately 70 cm in length and approximately 6 mm in diameter. Thus, the Dato device cools along the length of a very elongated device. Use of the Dato device is highly cumbersome due to its size and lack of flexibility.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,003 to Ginsburg also discloses a method and apparatus for controlling a patient""s body temperature. In this technique, a flexible catheter is inserted into the femoral artery or vein or the jugular vein. The catheter may be in the form of a balloon to allow an enhanced surface area for heat transfer. A thermally conductive metal foil may be used as part of a heat-absorbing surface. This device fails to disclose or teach use of any ability to enhance heat transfer. In addition, the disclosed device fails to disclose temperature regulation.
An ailment particular susceptible to treatment by cooling, either selective or whole body, is fever or hyperthermia. There is a growing awareness of the dangers associated with fever. Many patients, especially after surgery and/or in the intensive care unit, suffer from fever. For example, it is estimated that 90% of patients in neurointensive care units suffering from sub-arachnoid hemorrhage have a fever. Further, 60% of patients in neurointensive care units suffering from intra-cranial hemorrhage have a fever. 80% of patients in neurointensive care units suffering from traumatic brain injury have a fever. These patients are typically treated with Tylenol, cooling blankets, or other such methods. These methods are not believed to be very effective; moreover, they are difficult to control.
Therefore, a practical method and apparatus that lowers and controls the temperature of the human body satisfies a long-felt need.
In one aspect, the apparatus of the present invention can include a heat transfer element that can be used to apply cooling to the blood flowing in a large vein feeding the heart.
The heat transfer element, by way of example only, includes first and second elongated, articulated segments, each segment having a mixing-inducing exterior surface. A flexible joint can connect the first and second elongated segments. An inner lumen may be disposed within the first and second elongated segments and is capable of transporting a pressurized working fluid to a distal end of the first elongated segment. In addition, the first and second elongated segments may have a mixing-inducing interior surface for inducing mixing within the pressurized working fluid. The mixing-inducing exterior surface may be adapted to induce mixing within a blood flow when placed within an artery or vein. In one embodiment, the flexible joint includes a bellows section that also allows for axial compression of the heat transfer element as well as for enhanced flexibility. In alternative embodiments, the bellows section may be replaced with flexible tubing such as small cylindrical polymer connecting tubes.
In one embodiment, the mixing-inducing exterior surfaces of the heat transfer element include one or more helical grooves and ridges. Adjacent segments of the heat transfer element can be oppositely spiraled to increase mixing. For instance, the first elongated heat transfer segment may include one or more helical ridges having a counter-clockwise twist, while the second elongated heat transfer segment includes one or more helical ridges having a clockwise twist. Alternatively, of course, the first elongated heat transfer segment may include one or more clockwise helical ridges, and the second elongated heat transfer segment may include one or more counter-clockwise helical ridges. The first and second elongated, articulated segments may be formed from highly conductive materials such as metals, thin polymers, or doped polymers.
The heat transfer device may also have a supply catheter with an inner catheter lumen coupled to the inner lumen within the first and second elongated heat transfer segments. A working fluid supply configured to dispense the pressurized working fluid may be coupled to the inner catheter lumen or alternatively to the supply catheter. The working fluid supply may be configured to produce the pressurized working fluid at a temperature of about 0xc2x0 C. and at a pressure below about 5 atmospheres of pressure.
In yet another alternative embodiment, the heat transfer device may have three or more elongated, articulated, heat transfer segments each having a mixing-inducing exterior surface, with additional flexible joints connecting the additional elongated heat transfer segments. In one such embodiment, by way of example only, the first and third elongated heat transfer segments may include clockwise helical ridges, and the second elongated heat transfer segment may include one or more counter-clockwise helical ridges. Alternatively, of course, the first and third elongated heat transfer segments may include counter-clockwise helical ridges, and the second elongated heat transfer segment may include one or more clockwise helical ridges.
The mixing-inducing exterior surface of the heat transfer element may optionally include a surface coating or treatment to inhibit clot formation. A surface coating may also be used to provide a degree of lubricity to the heat transfer element and its associated catheter.
The present invention is also directed to a method of treating fever in the body by inserting a flexible cooling element into a vein that is in pressure communication with the heart, e.g., the femoral or iliac veins, the superior or inferior vena cavae or both. The vena cavae may be accessed via known techniques from the jugular vein or from the subclavian or femoral veins, for example. The heat transfer element in one or both vena cavae may then cool virtually all the blood being returned to the heart. The cooled blood enters the right atrium at which point the same is pumped through the right ventricle and into the pulmonary artery to the lungs where the same is oxygenated. Due to the heat capacity of the lungs, the blood does not appreciably warm during oxygenation. The cooled blood is returned to the heart and pumped to the entire body via the aorta. Thus, cooled blood may be delivered indirectly to a chosen organ such as the brain. This indirect cooling is especially effective as high blood flow organs such as the heart and brain are preferentially supplied blood by the vasculature.
A warming blanket or other warming device may be applied to portions of the body to provide comfort to the patient and to inhibit thermoregulatory responses such as vasoconstriction. Thermoregulatory drugs may also be so provided for this reason.
The method further includes circulating a working fluid through the flexible, conductive cooling element in order to lower the temperature of the blood in the vena cava. The flexible, conductive heat transfer element preferably absorbs more than about 100 or 300 Watts of heat.
The method may also include inducing mixing within the free stream blood flow within the vena cava. It is noted that a degree of turbulence or mixing is generally present within the vena cava anyway. The step of circulating may include inducing mixing in the flow of the working fluid through the flexible heat transfer element. The pressure of the working fluid may be maintained below about 5 atmospheres of pressure.
The present invention also envisions a method for lowering a fever in the body of a patient which includes introducing a catheter, with a cooling element, into a vena cava supplying the heart, the catheter having a diameter of about 18 mm or less, inducing mixing in blood flowing over the cooling element, and lowering the temperature of the cooling element to remove heat from the blood to cool the blood. In one embodiment, the cooling step removes at least about 50 Watts of heat from the blood. The mixing induced may result in a Nusselt number enhancement of the flow of between about 5 and 80.
Advantages of the invention are numerous. Patients can be provided with an efficient method of reducing fever that does not suffer from the deleterious consequences of the prior art. The procedure can be administered safely and easily. Numerous cardiac and neural settings can benefit by the hypothermic therapy. Other advantages will be understood from the following.
The novel features of this invention, as well as the invention itself, will be best understood from the attached drawings, taken along with the following description, in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts, and in which:


A sample and hold circuit is arranged to have a common input bus line and a plurality of combinations of analog switches and capacitors connected to the command input bus line. The sample and hold circuit includes as features a signal feeding unit for sequentially feeding a sampling control signal to the analog switches and a preventing unit for preventing the plurality of analog switches from being made conductive at one time because of the delay of the sampling control signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sample and hold circuit and more particularly to the sample and hold circuit which is used for sampling a video signal in an integrated circuit for driving active matrix liquid crystal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Before describing the sample and hold circuit known by the inventors of the present application, the driving circuit for liquid crystal with which the sample and hold circuit of this invention concerns will be described. Such a driving circuit is typically arranged to have a plurality of-signal electrodes located in parallel, a plurality of scan electrodes crossed with those signal electrodes, pixel electrodes provided near each of the cross points between the signal electrodes and the scan electrodes, opposite electrodes located in opposition to the pixel electrodes, and auxiliary capacitance electrodes located in a manner to form capacitances with the pixel electrodes. The later description will be expanded as taking an example of an active matrix liquid crystal display unit. However, it goes without saying that this invention is applicable to an electroluminescent display unit and a plasma display unit.
FIG. 1 exemplarily shows the known active matrix liquid crystal display unit. As shown, this display unit provides a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) liquid crystal panel 100 having TFTs 104 served as switching elements for driving the pixel electrodes 103 arranged in a matrix manner. The TFT liquid crystal panel 100 includes a plurality of scan electrodes 101 located in parallel to one another and a plurality of signal electrodes 102 crossed with and located in parallel to the scan electrodes 101. The TFT 104 for driving the pixel electrode 103 is provided closer to each cross point between the scan electrode 101 and the signal electrode 102. Opposite electrodes 105 are provided as opposed to the pixel electrodes 103, respectively. The opposite electrode 105 is exemplarily shown in FIG. 1. Normally, however, it is composed of one conductive layer commonly located to all the pixel electrodes 103. A certain amount of voltage Ve is applied to the opposite electrode 105. The TFT liquid crystal panel 100 further includes a plurality of auxiliary capacitance electrodes 106, which will be discussed later.
The TFT liquid crystal panel 100 is driven by a driving circuit including a source driver 200 and a gate driver 300. The source driver 200 is connected to the signal electrodes 102 of the TFT panel 100. The gate driver 300 is connected to the scan electrodes 101 of the TFT panel 100. The source driver 200 operates to sample and hold an analog image signal or a video signal input thereto and then feed it to the signal electrodes 102. The gate driver 300 operates to sequentially output a scan pulse to the scan electrodes 101. Various control signals such as a timing signal input to the gate driver 800 and the source driver 200 are fed from a control circuit 400.
Then, the source driver 200 will be discussed in detail as referring to FIG. 2. The source driver 200 includes a shift register 210, a sample and hold circuit 220 and an output buffer 280. The shift register 210 operates to shift a shift pulse input from the control circuit 800 on the shift clocks and sequentially output a sampling pulse to the lines B1, B2 . . . Bi . . . Bm on shift clocks. Based on the sampling pulse, the analog switches ASWI(1) . . . ASWi(i) . . . ASWi(m) in [he sample and hold circuit 220 are sequentially made conductive. The sampling capacitor 221 is charged up to the same level as the instantaneous amplitude v(i, j) of the input analog image signal. Herein, v(i, j) denotes an instantaneous amplitude of an analog image signal to be written in the pixel electrode 103 corresponding to a cross point between the i-th signal electrode and the j-th scan electrode. After the sample and hold circuit 220 takes sampling of an image signal for one horizontal scan period, an output pulse OE is applied to the source driver so that the image signal is shifted from the sampling capacitor 221 to the holding capacitor 222. The image signal held in the holding capacitor 222 is output to the signal electrode 102 through the output buffer 230.
FIG. 3 schematically shows a waveform of an I/O signal in the source driver 200. In FIG. 8, v(CSPL(i)), v(CH(i)) and Vs(i) denote a voltage in the i-th sampling capacitor 221, a voltage in the i-th holding capacitor 222 and an output voltage of the i-th output buffer 230, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, the signal electrode 102 is normally driven by an ac voltage in a manner that the polarity of the applied voltage against the voltage applied on the opposite electrode 105 in one field is different from that in the adjacent field.
FIG. 4 shows an equivalent circuit of a pixel. As shown in FIG. 4, in addition to a pixel capacitance CLC formed between the pixel electrode 103 and the opposite electrode 105, an auxiliary capacitance Cs is formed between the pixel electrode 103 and the auxiliary capacitance electrode 106. In the TFT liquid crystal panel 100, even if the signal electrode 102 is ac driven, an ac waveform applied to the liquid crystal element is made asynchronous. A polarized electric field due to the asynchrony is formed in the liquid crystal element. This polarized electric field leads to lowering the reliability of the liquid crystal element. The addition of the auxiliary capacitance Cs is intended for improving such a disadvantage and reducing a flicker phenomenon. The pixel electrode 103 serves as one electrode of the auxiliary capacitance Cs. As the other electrode of the auxiliary capacitance Cs, that is, the connecting system of the auxiliary capacitance electrode 106, the following two systems are known.
In the first system, as shown in FIG. 1, the auxiliary capacitance electrode 106 corresponding to the j-th scan electrode 101 is electrically connected to the adjacent (j-l) th scan electrode 101. However, the auxiliary capacitance electrode 106 corresponding to the (j=0) th scan electrode 101 is connected to the opposite electrode 105. This system is referred to as a Cs on-gate system.
In the second system, as shown in FIG. 5, the auxiliary capacitance electrode 106 is electrically connected to the opposite electrode 105. In this case, the voltage vx of the auxiliary capacitance electrode 106 is equal to the voltage vc of the opposite electrode 105.
In the second system, it is necessary to wire a pick-up bus line for connecting the auxiliary capacitance electrode 106 to the opposite electrode 105 in parallel to the scan electrode. This results in bringing about the disadvantage of lowering a numerical aperture. On the other hand, since the gate electrode serves as the pick-up bus line, the first system is more advantageous in light of the numerical aperture.
The known source driver is arranged of a logic circuit such as a counter and a shift register operated on a low voltage, and a middle voltage endurance section such as a sample and hold circuit, a level shifter circuit, and an output buffer. To manufacture the part operating on different voltages as a monolithic LSI, it is necessary to employ a design rule and a manufacture process suited to the middle voltage endurance section.
FIG. 6 shows a sample and hold circuit known by the inventors of the present applicant. The timing of the known sample and hold circuit is shown in FIG. 7. It is basically equal to the timing of the present invention.
The known sample and hold circuit operates to sequentially switch on and off the analog switch Gn on the timing of an output signal Qn of a shift register 2 and take sampling of the data in the corresponding capacitor Cn for holding an analog signal Vi input to an input bus line 1 for a certain interval.
Consider the case that the analog switch is continuously switched on and off in the known circuit. Since the trailing edge of the n-th sampling gate signal is the same timing as the leading edge of the (n+1) th sampling gate signal, the (n+1) th gate is switched on before the n-th gate Gn is completely switched off because the waveform of this gate signal is transformed or delayed. If the-sampling gate as shown in FIG. 6 is composed of an analog switch made of P-MOS and N-MOS, it is known that the adjacent gates remain on at the same time for a longer interval of time.
On the other hand, when the sampling gate Gn+1 is switched on, the charge or discharge of the capacitance Cn+1 may give an adverse effect to the input bus line as noises in some histories of the voltage level accumulated in the sampling capacitance Cn+1. Hence, the sampling capacitance Cn does not disadvantageously reach the necessary input level.


Provided are a solid preparation comprising an alkyl cellulose which provides excellent moldability and disintegrability even in a small amount of the alkyl cellulose, and a production method therefor. Specifically, provided are a solid preparation having an alkyl cellulose having a specific surface area by BET method of 0.5 to 10.0 m2/g and a dissolution start temperature of 5 to 27° C.; and a method for producing a solid preparation having the steps of: mixing a cellulose pulp and a first alkali metal hydroxide solution with stirring to obtain alkali cellulose, reacting the alkali cellulose with an alkylating agent to obtain a first reaction mixture, mixing the first reaction mixture and a second alkali metal hydroxide solution with stirring and without further addition of any alkylating agent to obtain a second reaction mixture, and pulverizing an alkyl cellulose isolated from the second reaction mixture to obtain an alkyl cellulose.

In the fields of pharmaceutical products, foods and health foods, the method for producing a solid preparation, especially a tablet, includes dry direct tableting in which a mixture of a drug and an additive is directly subjected to tableting; dry granulation tableting in which a mixture of a drug and an additive is subjected to roll compression (dry granulation), then disintegration and tableting; and wet granulation tableting in which a mixture of a drug and an additive is granulated together with a binder solution or an appropriate solvent such as water, and the resulting granules are dried and then subjected to tableting. The wet granulation tableting involves an agitation granulator or a fluidized bed granulator.
The dry direct tableting and the dry granulation tableting have been increasingly adopted in many cases because the methods are applicable to a drug susceptible to water and include a simple process for easy process control. However, the methods typically require a larger amount of an additive than the wet granulation tableting in order to ensure moldability. Examples of the additive having high moldability include crystalline cellulose (JP 06-316535A), hydroxyalkyl cellulose fine particles (WO 2011/065350A1) and low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose (JP 2010-254756A).
In recent years, tablets are downsized for easy administration, so that the content of a binder or the like is likely to be suppressed. To address such a trend, there is a demand for a binder that increases the hardness of a tablet at a small content. In addition, a tablet administered is desired to be immediately disintegrated in terms of bioavailability.

Solid preparation containing alkyl cellulose and method for producing the same


A method of manufacturing SIMOX heterostructures using a single implant sequence and an increasing range of ion beam energies is disclosed. The method produces SIMOX materials having thin, continuous buried oxide layers having sharp interfaces and which are substantially free of silicon islands.

The technical field of this invention is the implantation of ions into targets, such as silicon semiconductors, and, in particular, to improved methods for generating a silicon heterostructure having a discrete, continuous, buried dielectric layer which is substantially free of defects.
Ion implantation techniques are particularly useful in forming a class of buried layer devices known as silicon-on-insulator (SOI) devices. In these devices, a buried insulation layer is formed beneath a thin surface silicon film. These devices have a number of potential advantages over conventional silicon devices (e.g., higher speed performance, higher temperature performance and increased radiation hardness).
In one known technique, known by the acronym SIMOX, a very thin (0.1 micron-0.3 micron) layer of monocrystalline silicon is separated from the bulk of the silicon wafer by implanting a high dose of oxygen ions (e.g., up to about 3.0.times.10.sup.18 oxygen ions/cm.sup.2) into the wafer to form a buried dielectric layer of silicon dioxide (having a typical thickness ranging from about 0.1 micron to 0.5 micron). This technique of "separation by implanted oxygen" (SIMOX), provides a heterostructure in which a buried silicon dioxide layer serves as a highly effective insulator for surface layer electronic devices.
While SIMOX technology is proving to be one of the most promising of the SOI technologies, there are a number of problems still associated with the manufacturing of SIMOX materials, as practiced in the art. One particular problem is the presence of isolated pockets of silicon within the buried dielectric layer. These silicon inclusions or "islands" tend to form near the lower interface of the buried layer with the underlying bulk silicon region and can severely affect the performance of SIMOX devices, particularly as MOS devices, by acting as overlapping floating gates. Once formed, the silicon islands are difficult to eliminate, primarily because of silicon's slow diffusion rate, relative to that of oxygen.
Implanting lower doses of oxygen ions appears to exacerbate silicon island formation, particularly as the dose approaches the critical implant dose (the minimum implant dose required to produce a continuous amorphous layer of implanted oxygen, e.g., 1.4.times.10.sup.18 ions/cm.sup.2). However, increasing the implant dose alone does not appear to be sufficient to prevent silicon island formation, although it may reduce the number formed. In addition, higher implant doses require longer implantation times, and increase the damage to the overlying silicon body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,660 (Short et al., filed Nov. 26, 1986), discloses a method of manufacturing SIMOX material having "substantially homogeneous, relatively thin buried silicon dioxide layers". The method comprises implanting a subcritical dose of oxygen ions, followed by at least one "randomizing implant" (e.g., of silicon ions) and then annealing at a low temperature. The effectiveness of this method is unknown, as no experimental evidence is provided.
EPO 298,794 (Margail, J. et al, filed Jun. 13, 1988), discloses a method of manufacturing SIMOX heterostructures having sharp interfaces, using a multiple implant protocol. The method involves implanting a total dose of at least 1.5.times.10.sup.18 ions/cm.sup.2 in a series of multiple partial implants using a constant beam energy and subjecting the wafer to a high temperature annealing protocol between each partial implant. The intermediate annealing steps are thought to reduce the buildup of threading dislocations in the overlying silicon.
There exists a need for a method of manufacturing SIMOX materials having a buried insulating layer substantially free of silicon islands, and that is rapid and cost efficient to produce. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved method of manufacturing SIMOX materials having these characteristics and requiring only a single implant and anneal sequence. Another object of the invention is to provide a method of manufacturing SIMOX materials requiring a lower dose of oxygen ions. Other features and objects of this invention will be apparent from the description, figures and claims which follow.
As used herein, "overlying silicon body" is understood to mean that portion of the silicon wafer (substrate) lying over the buried oxide layer, and on which the semiconductor device is to be built. "Bulk silicon region" is understood to mean that portion of the silicon wafer (substrate) lying below the buried oxide layer. "Upper interface" and "lower interface", respectively, refer to the boundaries separating the buried oxide layer from the overlying silicon body and the underlying bulk silicon region. "Silicon islands" and "silicon inclusions" are understood to mean isolated pockets of silicon within the amorphous dielectric layer. "Substantially free of silicon islands" is understood to mean a buried oxide layer sufficiently depleted of silicon islands such that the performance of the insulating layer or the overlying device is not affected.

Simox materials through energy variation


A straightforward method to characterize a nucleotide sequence of a defined DNA region is described. A purified segment representing the defined region is subjected to repeated cycles of amplification (PCR) using a single primer complementary to a portion of the segment under conditions of low stringency and high polymerase and primer concentrations. PCR under these conditions results in a mixture of amplified DNA molecules the composition of which is characteristic of the DNA segment assessed. Determination of the composition of the mixture can be obtained by subjecting the mixture to standard chromatographic or electrophoretic techniques to obtain a pattern of fragments which represents a "signature" of the nucleotide sequence.

In the past several years, the development of techniques capable of detecting DNA sequence variation has aroused a great deal of interest. Major applications include the study of genetic disease, cancer, and identity testing. While DNA sequencing is clearly the most sensitive and informative method, it is too cumbersome for routine use in searching for mutations, especially when the DNA segment of interest is large.
For detection of single-base mutations, alternatives to sequencing consist either of techniques dependent on prior knowledge of the exact base alterations sought, for instance techniques involving allele-specific hybridization (Reinach F. C. et al. Nature (1986) 322:80; Saiki, R. K. et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (1989) 86:6230) or shotgun strategies that ideally would detect any change, for example, SSCP (Orita, M. et al. Genomics (1989) 5:874 and DGGE (Sheffield, B. C. et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (1989) 86:232). Techniques relying on prior knowledge of the base alterations become awkward when sequence differences caused by a variable number of mutations are studied (Stoneking, M. et al. Am J Hum Genet (1991) 48:370). Shotgun strategies can only be applied to small DNA fragments and do not identify the number of modifications or their sites.
The present invention provides a new technique, called low stringency single-specific primer PCR (LSSP-PCR) that, when applied to gene-size DNA fragments, at least up to 1 kb, translates the underlying DNA sequence into a unique multiband "gene signature". Changes as small as single-base mutations significantly alter the signature that is diagnostic of the specific alteration.
Other techniques involving low stringency or random priming have also been disclosed. Dias Neto, E. et al. Nucleic Acids Res (1993) 21:763-764, describe a technique for sex determination by low stringency PCR. This technique utilizes conventional 2-primer PCR but with performance of the reaction under low stringency. When conducted in this way, the reaction mixture yields a pattern rather than a single amplified band. Low stringency conditions are also employed in the performance of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) as described by Welsch, J. et al. Nucleic Acids Res (1990) 18:7213-7218.

Fingerprinting using single specific primers in low stringency polymerase chain reaction conditions


A device and method for producing plastics containers, in particular plastics tanks, for example, fuel tanks of motor vehicles.

For the production of plastics containers, in particular plastics tanks, it is known to use the method of thermoforming, and accordingly thermoforming pressing. Also known is so-called double-layer thermoforming or double-mould thermoforming in which plastics half-shells are thermoformed simultaneously in two moulds, said plastics half-shells subsequently being fused to one another in the hot and pasty state at their edges so as to form a hollow body.
A method for the double-layer thermoforming of plastics fuel tanks and a device for producing plastics fuel tanks is known from WO Patent Publication No. WO 2004/062889 A1, wherein two heated plastics layers are moved independently of one another to a thermoforming station, wherein the individual plastics layers are lowered into a first and a second moulding die, wherein the first and second dies are arranged laterally beside one another, wherein each plastics layer is thermoformed to form a shell, and wherein one of the moulding dies is rotated together with the thermoformed shell and arranged over the other die, and finally, overlapping sealing areas of the shells are pressed together and thermally fused.
European Patent Publication No. EP 1 314 528 A2 discloses a thermoforming press for the production of moulded parts, comprising a mould support table which is suspended on a frame below a moulding die assembly and comprising a pair of moulds which are mounted side-by-side on the moulding support table, wherein a mechanism is provided for pivoting said moulding support table through an arcuate pendulum travel and for orienting and registering of one of said moulds and then the other of said moulds alternately with the moulding die assembly.

Device and method for manufactoring plastic containers


An electronic timepiece includes frequency-dividing circuit means for generating a first signal of at least 1 Hz from a signal of a predetermined frequency. This first signal is counted by a time counter. The frequency-dividing circuit and the time counter are reset in response to the closing of a first input switch. Circuitry is provided for releasing the frequency-dividing circuit from its reset condition to generate a second signal of at least 1 Hz as a quick advance signal for time setting in response to the closing of a second input switch.

This invention relates to an electronic timepiece, and more particularly to an improved counter circuit which generates a quick advance signal required for time-setting in an electronic timepiece.
In a known type of electronic timepiece, the output of a quartz oscillator, having a predetermined frequency of 128 Hz, is introduced to a first frequency--dividing circuit to obtain a signal of 1 Hz thereby providing a "second" signal. Then the "second" signal thus obtained is counted by a "second" counter, i.e. a sexagesimal counter to obtain a "minute" signal, which in turn is fed to a liquid crystal or LED (light-emitting diode) display element through a decoder to indicate a time value, while the display element is driven according to a signal of a frequency of 32 Hz which has been obtained by dividing the frequency of 128 Hz, thereby effecting the digital time display.
For the time-setting of an electronic timepiece, two switch elements and a second frequency-dividing circuit are conventionally used therein. The first frequency-dividing circuit and the "second" counter are held inactive by closing one of the switch elements, while an output signal of the second frequency-dividing circuit, such as 1 Hz, is sent to the display element as a quick advance signal for setting the time by closing the other switch element. Therefore, the display element is driven by the quick advance signal of 1 Hz during the closed state of the second switch. Accordingly, the displayed minute or hour value advances at a 1 Hz rate from the initially indicated time value during the close-state of the second switch. When the display element indicates the time value at which the timepiece is to be set which passes in little real time, the second switch is turned off to prevent the generation of the quick advance signal. Then, the displayed time maintains the time value at the moment when the second switch is turned off. Thereafter, when the displayed time value is coincident with the real time, the first frequency-dividing circuit and the "second" counter are released from their reset condition by closing the first switch to thereby allow the counter to carry out normal time counting. The time-setting is completed in this manner.
However, in such a method for setting the time, the second frequency-dividing circuit adapted to generate the quick advance signal is necessary, so that an increase in the number of components of the circuit results. With the recent rapid development of integrated circuit technology, a reduction in the number of circuit components is desired by integrated circuit users.
It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide an electronic timepiece which permits accurate time-setting, without providing an additional frequency-dividing circuit for use in generating a quick advance signal.


A method provides for data transmission utilizing medium access control protocol with a fair cell-access scheme in a local area network having a unidirectional looped bus and a plurality of network stations coupled to the bus for asynchronous cell transmissions from one network station to other network stations. A head-of-bus is used to generate continuously time slots to the bus. Each of the time slots includes a busy bit, a reserved bit, and a slot reservation bit. The medium access control protocol makes use of the busy bit, the reserved bit, and the slot reservation bit so as to provide fair bandwidth sharing by all of the network stations connected to the bus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to local area networks and more particularly, it relates to a method and apparatus for data transmission utilizing a medium access control (MAC) layer protocol in a slotted unidirectional bus local area network to provide a high efficiency and complete fair cell-access scheme that is independent of the number of network stations connected to the bus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is known in the information technology, there exists a number of organizations such as CCITT, TI, IEEE, and ISO that define interfaces, networks, and protocols so that different equipments can communicate with each other. For example, a subnetworking system for use in metropolitan area network (MAN) is the distributed queue dual bus (DQDB) as defined in IEEE 802.6 DQDB Metropolitan Area Networks (proposed) standard. The DQDB subnetwork consists of two oppositely oriented unidirectional buses and a plurality of stations distributed along the length of the buses. For a more detailed description and as a background, reference is made to an article authored by R. M. Newman, Z. L. Budrikis, and J. L. Hullett entitled "The QPSX Man" in IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 26, No. 4, April, 1988, pp. 20-28.
The DQDB subnetwork provides two types of cell transmission services: (1) isochronous cell transmission mode that allows connected stations to establish multiple virtual channels for voice and video transmission services requiring steady bandwidth, and (2) asynchronous cell access mode defined under the concept of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) to provide a high efficiency or burst information transport. See the article entitled "ATM Ring Protocol and Performance" authored by H. Ohnishi, N. Morita, S. Suzuki of NTT Communication Switching Labs of Tokyo, Japan. The bandwidth not reserved for isochronous cell transmissions is shared among the stations based upon priority and position in a queue which is distributed across the buses, one for each direction. The DQDB has a slotted access protocol which uses a reverse bus to reserve a slot in order to make the access fairer. The fairness problems in DQDB networks and a proposed solution are discussed in a paper by E. L. Hahane, A. K. Choudbury, and N. F. Maxemchuk of AT&T entitled "Improving The Fairness of Distributed-Queue-Dual-Bus Networks" dated September, 1989.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,244 to John L. Hullett et al. issued on May 1, 1990, there is disclosed a method of transmitting data on a communication network having two oppositely directed unidirectional buses (A, B) and a number of access units (4) coupled between the buses. The method includes the step of establishing a queue which is distributed in the access units and which controls when the access units can transmit data packets on the buses. When an access unit has a data packet (38) queued for transmission on the bus A, it sends a REQ bit on the bus B. The access units monitor the number of REQ bits passing and the packets available so as to thereby establish the distributed queue.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,557 to Van P. T. Phung et al. issued on Dec. 11, 1990, there is disclosed a method of providing priority access in a communication system having dual unidirectional and oppositely oriented buses. An effectiveness factor K is introduced to enhance the effectiveness of priority. In one embodiment, lower priority countdown counters CD are incremented by K for each higher priority request. In a second embodiment, lower priority request counters RQ are also incremented. In a third embodiment, the low priority countdown counters CD slots are incremented only for the highest request received in a given slot. In a fourth embodiment, the lower priority request counters RQ are also incremented.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,707 to R. Kositpaiboon issued on Mar. 19, 1991, teaches a method of providing reserved bandwidth in a communication system having dual unidirectional and oppositely directed buses connected therebetween in which the bandwidth is provided by fixed format cells. The method includes the step of reserving a bandwidth on a data bus in response to requests accepted from stations on a signal bus. Each station is provided with a reserved bandwidth value which is calculated in dependence upon an amount of bandwidth requested by the station. A number of reserved bandwidth cells per a cell generation cycle is generated in dependence upon a total bandwidth requested by the stations. At each station, each reserved bandwidth used is counted until the reserved bandwidth value is reached.
However, none of the prior art discussed above discloses a method and apparatus for data transmission like that of the present invention which utilizes a medium access control (MAC) layer protocol in a multimedia slotted single bus local area network so as to achieve a full bandwidth utilization and a complete fair cell-access scheme that is independent of the number of network stations connected to the bus.

Medium access control (MAC) protocol for single bus multimedia fair access local area network