An apparatus for and a method of measuring material thickness with magnetics. The thickness monitoring system includes a thickness monitor, a probe, and a target. In a preferred embodiment, the probe is positioned on one side of an article for which the thickness is to be determined. The target is positioned on the opposite side of the article from the probe. The probe includes an excitation coil, a field compensation coil, and a magnetic sensor. The method includes energizing the excitation coil to excite a response from the target, compensating for the effect of the excitation coil on the magnetic sensor, measuring the response of the target with the magnetic sensor, and determining the thickness of the article from the measured response. The preferred mode of energizing the excitation coil is with an AC waveform; however DC, multi-frequency AC, or a combination of AC and DC waveforms may be used.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of automated measuring devices and pertains more specifically to an apparatus for and a method of measuring material thickness using a magnetic technique.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There currently exist a number of techniques to measure the thickness of an object. Common techniques include (a) mechanical measurement, (b) ultrasound measurement, and (c) magnetic measurement. A mechanical measurement is usually performed using a mechanical instrument such as a pair of calipers. While the mechanical measurement can give accurate results, it is awkward, tedious, and time consuming to measure the thickness of large objects or objects with a complicated geometry. While ultrasound measurements can measure the thickness of many materials, it is difficult to use ultrasound to measure the thickness of materials which are inhomogeneous, such as composite materials, or those which have internal structures that can scatter ultrasound, such as honeycomb structures.
Magnetic thickness measurement can be divided into different categories. One type of magnetic measurement is the DC magnetic measurement. In a DC magnetic thickness measurement, a magnet is placed on one surface of the sample and the resultant magnetic field is measured at the opposite surface of the sample, using a magnetic field sensor such as a Hall sensor. Since the magnetic field falls with distance from the magnet, the thickness of the sample can be deduced from the magnitude of the measured magnetic field. Alternatively, both the magnet and the magnetic sensor are placed on the same surface of the sample, and the sample thickness is determined by measuring the response from a magnetically permeable target placed on the opposite surface of the sample. One example of a DC magnetic thickness measurement is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,675 to Carroll Sr. et al. This invention preferably employs a permanent magnet to automatically measure the wall thickness of an article such as a bottle, using a set of positioning motors. The magnet generates a DC field which induces a response from a steel ball target positioned opposite to the magnet on the other side of the bottle wall. The response from the target depends on the wall thickness, which can then be determined. One disadvantage of this method is that the DC magnetic measurement is subject to errors due to the Earth""s magnetic field and the intense low-frequency magnetic background noise present in many industrial environments. In addition, since the magnetic field is produced by a permanent magnet, the magnitude of the field changes with temperature. These errors limit the accuracy and precision of the thickness measurement, especially for thick samples.
A second type of magnetic thickness measurement uses the response of a magnetic target to an AC, or oscillatory, magnetic field. This technique has been applied to measure the thickness of nonmagnetic films, coatings, or sheets placed on top of a magnetic substrate that acts as the target. An example of this method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,949 to Sgro. Here a coil is placed on one side of the sample and a magnetic target is placed on the other side. An AC magnetic field is produced by passing an oscillatory current through the coil. This AC magnetic field is distorted by the magnetic permeability of the target and this field distortion changes the inductance of the coil. The thickness of the sample is then determined from the magnitude of the change in the coil inductance. Nix (U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,014) has also described a similar technique, known as the xe2x80x9cmagnetoinductivexe2x80x9d technique, in which the magnetic response of the sample changes coil inductance.
Another variation of the AC magnetic thickness measurement uses the eddy current response from a metallic target. Here a coil generates an oscillatory, or AC, magnetic field that induces eddy currents in a metallic target on the opposite surface of the sample. The thickness of the sample is then determined by measuring the magnetic field produced by this eddy-current response. Most commonly, this technique has been used to measure the thickness of a film or coating on a conducting substrate. An example of this technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,031 to de Halleux et al. Here an excitation coil supplies an AC magnetic field to a ferromagnetic, electrically conducting material covered with a non-ferromagnetic, electrically conducting coating. The response from the material and coating consists of a combination of the eddy current response from the magnetic material and that from the coating. This response is measured with a receive coil and used to determine the coating thickness.
Nix (U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,014) describes two probes as part of the same device. The first being a magnetoinductive probe to measure the thickness of film coatings on magnetic or ferromagnetic substrates and the second being an eddy current probe to measure the thickness of film coating on conducting, but non-magnetic, substrates. The two probes are necessary since they operate at different AC frequencies. Rather than have to rely on two probes, one would prefer to utilize the same probe for measurements at all frequencies.
In contrast with the DC-field method, these AC-field methods are not subject to errors due to the Earth""s magnetic field. One disadvantage of these methods is that, when the sample itself is electrically conductive, the magnetic measurements will be affected by eddy currents induced in the sample. As described below, one would prefer to reduce this effect by reducing the frequency of the AC magnetic field.
Another disadvantage, shared by all of the methods described above, is that the magnetic sensor or detection coil is subjected to the applied AC or DC field, as well as the field due to the response of the target. In most cases, the target response is much smaller than the applied field, so that small drifts in the applied field, or in the gain of the sensor system, can produce large errors in measuring the target response.
The magnetic measurements described above are generally used to measure the thickness of nonmagnetic materials since magnetically permeable materials distort the applied magnetic field. However, in principle, one could calibrate the response from a section of a given magnetically permeable material to a DC or a very low frequency AC magnetic field, and use this information to determine the thickness of other sections of the same material.
A definite need exists for a system having an ability to provide rapid, accurate thickness measurement of materials. In particular, a need exists for a system which is capable of providing these measurements in a non-destructive manner. Ideally, such a system would have a lower cost and a higher sensitivity than conventional systems. A primary purpose of the present invention is to improve the capability of the magnetic thickness measurement technique using an accurate and versatile thickness measurement device.
An apparatus for and a method of measuring material thickness with magnetics is disclosed. The thickness monitoring system includes a thickness monitor, a probe, and a target. In a preferred embodiment, the probe is positioned on one side of an article for which the thickness is to be determined. The target is positioned on the opposite side of the article from the probe. The probe includes an excitation coil, a field compensation coil, and a magnetic sensor. The method includes energizing the excitation coil to excite a response from the target, compensating for the effect of the excitation coil on the magnetic sensor, measuring the response of the target with the magnetic sensor, and determining the thickness of the article from the measured response. The preferred mode of energizing the excitation coil is with an AC waveform; however DC, multi-frequency AC, or a combination of AC and DC waveforms may be used. Other preferred embodiments include:
(1) Omitting the excitation and field compensating coils and exciting the target by passing a current of AC, DC, or both through the target to generate a magnetic field at the sensor. In this preferred embodiment, the target is a strip of conductor or a conducting coil. The magnetic field generated by passing a current through the target is measured by the magnetic sensor on the opposite side of the sample. The sample thickness is then determined from the strength of the magnetic field at the sensor.
(2) Omitting the target and determining the sample thickness from the magnetic response of the sample itself.
(3) Using two or more excitation coils producing magnetic fields of differing spatial distribution.
(4) Using two or more magnetic sensors to detect the spatial distribution of the magnetic field generated by the target.

Material thickness measurement using magnetic information


Provided is a computer system, comprising a storage system and a management computer. The management computer manages differential copy start times, differential data amounts of first pairs, and a data amount that can be copied in differential copy per unit time; identifies one of the first pairs for which the differential copy is to be started and a start time of the differential copy; subtracts the data amount of differential copy per unit time that is allocated to the identified one of the first pairs from a differential data amount of the identified first pairs; add the unit time to the identified start time; judges that the differential copy has been finished at a time when the subtracted differential data amount reaches zero or less; and calculates time zones in which the first pairs execute differential copy based on the time at which differential copy has been finished.

This invention relates to a computer system containing a storage system, and more particularly, to a differential copy setting method.
In a computer system in general where a plurality of host computers are run, one storage system is shared by the host computers to be run in a centralized manner, thereby reducing the running and management cost of the storage system. In the centralized storage system, input from and output to (I/O) the servers (host computers) concentrate in a single disk drive, and redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) is employed as a technology of speeding up I/O. RAID achieves quick I/O by grouping together a plurality of physical disks that are to be managed as one disk (parity group) and allowing the grouped physical disks to operate in parallel with one another. A computer system of this type usually partitions a parity group into a plurality of storage areas. The storage areas are referred to as "logical volumes" here.
A computer system can lose data through a breakdown of its storage system due to a disaster, a physical failure due to, for example, the expiration of the service life of a disk, data destruction by a computer virus, an operational mistake made by a user, and the like. Computer systems generally prepare for such data loss by backing up data periodically and using the backup data for restoration.
Storage systems that are attracting attention lately are ones having a function of copying data from a logical volume that is being used for business operation (primary volume) to another logical volume (secondary volume). This function enables a computer system to back up data stored in a logical volume without stopping the daily business operation. The pair consisting of the primary volume and the secondary volume is a "copy pair". Information indicating which logical volume is paired with which logical volume to form a copy pair is "copy pair configuration information". The relation between the secondary volume and a parity group to which the secondary volume belongs is a "parity group relevant to the copy pair".
A storage system as the one described above has a copy function with which data is backed up by copying every piece of data in the primary volume to the secondary volume after the volumes are paired as a copy pair, thereby making data in the primary volume and data in the secondary volume consistent (synchronized) with each other. After the synchronization, the business operation is started and the storage system merely records updated places where data is newly written in the primary volume, instead of executing copy between the primary volume and the secondary volume. When it is time to take a backup, data in the updated places alone is copied from the primary volume to the secondary volume based on the record of updated places. The storage system thus accomplishes fast backup (see, for example, JP 2001-331378 A). The data in the updated places to be copied is a "differential". Copying the differential data from the primary volume to the secondary volume is "differential copy".
The characteristics of a logical volume vary depending on the type of physical disks constituting its parity group (for example, disks coupled by fibre channel or disks coupled by serial advanced technology attachment (ATA)) and the RAID type (e.g., RAID level 1 or RAID level 2). It is therefore desirable to pair a primary volume with a secondary volume whose characteristics fit the primary volume as a copy pair.
Running a storage system in a centralized manner increases the count of logical volumes per storage system. This means that there are that much more logical volumes to choose from for the secondary volume of a backup-purpose copy pair, and makes it difficult to determine which logical volume as a secondary volume fits the primary volume.
As a technology of alleviating this problem, a method has been disclosed in which the computer system manages a table recording the characteristics of each logical volume to present appropriate secondary volume candidates to the user on the basis of the correlation between the characteristics of the primary volume and the characteristics of an unused logical volume (see JP 2005-18185 A, for example). This enables the user to choose a secondary volume that fits the primary volume from many logical volumes with ease.
Or the sophisticated storage system described above is equipped with other various functions. An example of those functions is related to relocation of data between physical disks within the storage system. With this function, the association of a logical volume that stores the data and that has been associated with the pre-relocation allocated place in a physical disk is switched to the post-relocation allocated place in a physical disk (see JP 2000-293317 A, for example). The data relocation is referred to as "data migration" here.
Generally speaking, a storage system backs up data periodically. When differential copy is started as part of data backup processing, backup data that has been stored in the secondary volume is destroyed by overwriting and can no longer be used. Data in the secondary volume cannot be used as new backup data, either, because it is incomplete until the differential copy is finished. In short, there is substantially no backup data in the secondary volume during differential copy. Data loss is therefore a possibility if a failure occurs in the primary volume during differential copy.
Also, requests to read data out of the primary volume which are issued during differential copy in order to extract a differential affect the business operation. In these and other various respects, it is desirable to keep differential copy processing time within a given period of time.
A storage system shared by a plurality of host computers prepares a copy pair for each host computer. In the case where the secondary volumes of the respective copy pairs belong to the same parity group, executing differential copy in the copy pairs at the same time causes the concentration of load on this parity group and accordingly prolongs the differential copy processing time.
This problem cannot be solved by the technology described in JP 2005-18185 A where candidates for the secondary volume are presented based only on the characteristics of a logical volume.

Backup data management method in which differential copy time is taken into account


A coated catalyst for the catalytic gas-phase oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons comprises, on an inert nonporous support, a catalytically active composition comprising a defined amount of vanadium oxide, titanium dioxide, a cesium compound, a phosphorus compound, and antimony oxide, wherein the catalytically active composition is applied in two or more layers and where relative to the inner layer or inner layers the outer layer has an antimony oxide content which is from 50 to 100% lower and wherein the amount of catalytically active composition of the inner layer or layers is from 10 to 90% by weight of the amount of catalytically active composition, and can be used for preparing carboxylic acids and/or anhydrides, in particular phthalic anhydride; also specified is a production process for such catalysts.

The present invention relates to a coated catalyst for the catalytic gas-phase oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons, comprising, on an inert nonporous support, a catalytically active composition comprising, in each case based on the total amount of catalytically active composition, from 1 to 40% by weight of vanadium oxide, calculated as V2O5, from 60 to 99% by weight of titanium dioxide, calculated as TiO2, up to 1% by weight of a cesium compound, calculated as Cs, up to 1% by weight of a phosphorus compound, calculated as P, and up to a total of 10% by weight of antimony oxide, calculated as Sb2O3. In addition, it relates to a production process for these catalysts and to a process using these catalysts for preparing carboxylic acids and/or anhydrides and especially phthalic anhydride.
It is known that many carboxylic acids and/or carboxylic anhydrides are prepared industrially by the catalytic gas-phase oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, the xylenes, naphthalene, toluene or durene in fixed-bed reactors, preferably multitube reactors. These processes are used to obtain, for example, benzoic acid, maleic anhydride, phthalic anhydride isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid or pyromellitic anhydride. The usual procedure is to pass a mixture of a gas comprising molecular oxygen, for example air, and the starting material to be oxidized through a plurality of tubes arranged in a reactor, with a bed of at least one catalyst being present in each tube. To regulate the temperature, the tubes are surrounded by a heat transfer medium, for example a salt melt. Despite this thermostatting, it is possible for hotspots in which the temperature is higher than in the remainder of the catalyst bed to occur. These hotspots give rise to secondary reactions such as the total combustion of the starting material or lead to formation of undesirable by-products which can be separated from the reaction product only with difficulty, if at all, for example the formation of phthalide or benzoic acid in the preparation of phthalic anhydride (PA) from o-xylene. Furthermore, the formation of a pronounced hotspot prevents a rapid running-up of the reactor to the reaction temperature of the reaction since the catalyst can be irreversibly damaged above a certain hotspot temperature, so that the loading can be increased only in small steps and has to be monitored very carefully.
To reduce this hotspot, it has become customary in industry to arrange catalysts having different activities in zones in the catalyst bed, with the less active catalyst generally being arranged in the fixed bed so that the reaction gas mixture comes into contact with it first, i.e. it is located toward the gas inlet end of the bed, while the more active catalyst is located toward the gas outlet end of the catalyst bed. The catalysts of differing activity in the catalyst bed can be exposed to the reaction gas at the same temperature, but the two zones of catalysts having differing activities can also be thermostatted to different reaction temperatures for contact with the reaction gas (DE-A 40 13 051).
Catalysts which have proven useful for these oxidation reactions are coated catalysts in which the catalytically active composition is applied in the form of a shell to a support material which is generally inert under the reaction conditions, e.g. quartz (SiO2), porcelain, magnesium oxide, tin dioxide, silicon carbide, rutile, alumina (Al2O3), aluminum silicate, magnesium silicate (steatite), zirconium silicate or cerium silicate or a mixture of these support materials. Catalytically active constituents of the catalytically active composition of these coated catalysts are generally titanium dioxide in the form of its anatase modification plus vanadium pentoxide. In addition, the catalytically active composition may further comprise small amounts of many other oxidic compounds which, as promoters, influence the activity and selectivity of the catalyst, for example by lowering or increasing its activity. Examples of such promoters are the alkali metal oxides, in particular lithium, potassium, rubidium and cesium oxides, thallium(I) oxide, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, iron oxide, nickel oxide, cobalt oxide, manganese oxide, tin oxide, silver oxide, copper oxide, chromium oxide, molybdenum oxide, tungsten oxide, iridium oxide, tantalum oxide, niobium oxide, arsenic oxide, antimony oxide, cerium oxide and phosphorus pentoxide. Promoters which reduce the activity and increase the selectivity are, for example, the alkali metal oxides, while oxidic phosphorus compounds, in particular phosphorus pentoxide, increase the activity of the catalyst but reduce its selectivity.
According to the processes of DE-A 16 42 938 and DE-A 17 69 998, such coated catalysts are produced by spraying an aqueous and/or organic solvent-containing solution or suspension of the constituents of the active composition and/or their precursor compounds, which is hereinafter referred to as a xe2x80x9cslurryxe2x80x9d, onto the support material in a heated coating drum at elevated temperature until the amount of active composition as a proportion of the total weight of the catalyst has reached the desired value. According to DE 21 06 796, the coating procedure can also be carried out in fluidized-bed coaters as are described, for example, in DE 1280756. However, spraying in a coating drum and coating in a fluidized bed result in high losses since considerable amounts of the slurry are converted into a mist or parts of the active composition which has already been applied are rubbed off again by abrasion and are carried out by the waste gas. Since the proportion of active composition in the total catalyst should generally have only a small deviation from the prescribed value because the amount of active composition applied and the thickness of the shell strongly influence the activity and selectivity of the catalyst, the production methods indicated require the catalyst to be cooled, taken from the coating drum or the fluidized bed and weighed at frequent intervals to determine the amount of active composition applied. If too much active composition is deposited on the catalyst support, it is generally not possible to carry out a subsequent, careful removal of the excess active composition without adversely affecting the strength of the shell, in particular without crack formation in the catalyst shell.
To reduce these problems, it has become customary in industry to add organic binders, preferably copolymers, advantageously in the form of an aqueous dispersion, of vinyl acetate/vinyl laurate, vinyl acetate/acrylate, styrene/acrylate, vinyl acetate/maleate and vinyl acetate/ethylene, to the slurry. The amounts of binder used are 10-20% by weight, based on the solids content of the slurry (EP-A 744 214). If the slurry is applied to the support without using organic binders, coating temperatures above 150xc2x0 C. are advantageous. When the abovementioned binders are added, the usable coating temperatures are, depending on the binder used, from 50 to 450xc2x0 C. (DE 21 06 796). The binders applied burn off within a short time after introduction of the catalyst into the reactor and start-up of the reactor. The addition of binder has the additional advantage that the active composition adheres well to the support so that transport and charging of the catalyst are made easier.
Gas-phase oxidations over the abovementioned coated catalysts do not take place only on the outer surface of the shell. To achieve the catalyst activity and selectivity required for complete conversion of the high loadings of the reaction gas with starting material employed in industrial processes, it is necessary for the total active composition shell of the catalyst to be utilized efficiently and thus for the reaction centers located in this shell to be readily accessible to the reaction gas. Since the oxidation of aromatic compounds to give carboxylic acids and/or carboxylic anhydrides proceeds via many intermediates and the desired product can be further oxidized over the catalyst to form carbon dioxide and water, optimum matching of the residence time of the reaction gas in the active composition by generating a suitable active composition structure (for example its porosity and pore radius distribution) in the catalyst shell is necessary to achieve a high conversion of starting material while at the same time suppressing the oxidative degradation of the desired product.
Furthermore, it has to be taken into account that the gas composition at the outer surface of the active composition shell does not necessarily correspond to the gas composition at points inside the active composition. Rather, it is to be expected that the concentration of primary oxidation products is higher and the starting material concentration is correspondingly lower than at the outer catalyst surface. This different gas composition should be taken into account by means of a targeted variation of the composition of the active shell within this shell in order to achieve optimum catalyst activity and selectivity. Thus, DE 22 12 964 has already described a method of sequentially spraying slurries of differing compositions onto a support and the use of the catalysts obtained in this way for preparing phthalic anhydride.
However, the multilayer coated catalysts obtained in this way do not yet give satisfactory results and have the disadvantage that only unsatisfactory yields of phthalic anhydride are achieved when they are used for the oxidation of o-xylene.
It is an object of the present invention to propose multilayer coated catalysts which allow a further increase in the selectivity of the oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons to form carboxylic acids.
We have found that this object is achieved by a coated catalyst for the catalytic gas phase oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons, comprising, on an inert nonporous support, a catalytically active composition comprising, in each case based on the total amount of catalytically active composition, from 1 to 40% by weight of vanadium oxide, calculated as V2O5, from 60 to 99% by weight of titanium dioxide, calculated as TiO2, up to 1% by weight of a cesium compound, calculated as Cs, up to 1% by weight of a phosphorus compound, calculated as P, and up to a total of 10% by weight of antimony oxide, calculated as Sb2O3, wherein the catalytically active composition is applied in two or more layers, where the inner layer or inner layers have an antimony oxide content of from 1 to 15% by weight and the outer layer has, in contrast, an antimony oxide content which is from 50 to 100% lower and the amount of catalytically active composition of the inner layer or the inner layers is from 10 to 90% by weight of the total amount of catalytically active composition.
We have also found a production process for these catalysts and a process using these catalysts for preparing carboxylic acids and/or anhydrides and especially phthalic anhydride.
The thickness of the inner layer or the sum of the thicknesses inner layers is generally from 0.02 to 0.2 mm, preferably from 0.05 to 0.1 mm, and that of the outer layer is generally from 0.02 to 0.2 mm, preferably from 0.05 to 0.1 mm.
The novel catalysts preferably comprise two concentric layers of catalytically active composition, where the inner layer preferably comprises from 2 to 10, in particular from 5 to 10% by weight, of vanadium oxide and preferably from 2 to 7, in particular from 2.5 to 5% by weight, of antimony oxide and the outer layer preferably comprises from 1 to 5, in particular from 2 to 4% by weight, of vanadium oxide and preferably from 0 to 2, in particular from 0 to 1% by weight, of antimony oxide.
In addition, the coated catalysts comprise further constituents which are known per se for the oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons to carboxylic acids, for example titanium dioxide in the anatase form having a BET surface area of from 5 to 50 m2/g, preferably from 13 to 28 m2/g.
The nonporous inert support comprises, for example, quartz (SiO2), porcelain, magnesium oxide, tin dioxide, silicon carbide, rutile, alumina (Al2O3), aluminum silicate, magnesium silicate (steatite), zirconium silicate or cerium silicate or a mixture of these support materials. Preference is given to using steatite in the form of spheres having a diameter of from 3 to 6 mm or of rings having an external diameter of from 5 to 9 mm and a length of from 4 to 7 mm.
Apart from the optional additives cesium and phosphorus which have already been mentioned above, it is in principle possible for the catalytically active composition to further comprise small amounts of many other oxidic compounds which, as promoters, influence the activity and selectivity of the catalyst, for example by lowering or increasing its activity. Examples of such promoters are the alkali metal oxides, in particular lithium, potassium and rubidium oxides as well as the abovementioned cesium oxide, thallium(I) oxide, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide, iron oxide, nickel oxide, cobalt oxide, manganese oxide, tin oxide, silver oxide, copper oxide, chromium oxide, molybdenum oxide, tungsten oxide, iridium oxide, tantalum oxide, niobium oxide, arsenic oxide, antimony oxide and cerium oxide. However, from among this group, cesium is generally used as promoter. Further preferred additives from among the abovementioned promoters are the oxides of niobium, tungsten and lead in amounts of from 0.01 to 0.50% by weight, based on the catalytically active composition. Suitable additives for increasing the activity but reducing the selectivity are, especially, oxidic phosphorus compounds, in particular phosphorus pentoxide.
In general, the inner layer of the catalyst is phosphorus-containing and the outer layer is low in phosphorus or phosphorus-free.
The application of the individual layers of the coated catalyst on the inert nonporous support can be carried out using any methods known per se, for example by
(a) spraying-on of solutions or suspensions in a coating drum,
(b) coating with a solution or suspension in a fluidized bed or
(c) powder coating of the supports.
With regard to (a)
The sequential spraying-on is generally carried out as described in DE 22 12 94 and EP 21325, with the proviso that chromatographic effects, i.e. the migration of individual constituents into the other layer, should be avoided as far as possible. If the active components to be applied are not at least partly present as insoluble metal compounds, it may be advantageous for this purpose to subject the powders to be applied to a thermal pretreatment or to make them virtually insoluble in another way, e.g. by means of additives.
With regard to (b)
The coating in a fluidized bed can be carried out as described in DE 12 80 756.
With regard to c)
The method of powder coating, which is known from WO-A 98/37967 and EP-A 714 700, can also be employed for sequential coating in a plurality of layers. For this purpose, powders are first prepared from the solution and/or suspension of the catalytically active metal oxides, with or without addition of auxiliaries, and these powders are applied in succession, with or without heat treatment in between, in the form of a shell to the support.
To remove volatile constituents, the catalyst is generally, at least afterwards, subjected to a heat treatment.
The novel catalysts are generally suitable for the gas-phase oxidation of aromatic C6-C10-hydrocarbons such as benzene, the xylenes, toluene, naphthalene or durene (1,2,4,5-tetramethylbenzene) to give carboxylic acids and/or carboxylic anhydrides, e.g. maleic anhydride, phthalic anhydride, benzoic acid and/or pyromellitic dianhydride.
In particular, the novel coated catalysts make possible a significant increase in the selectivity and yield in the preparation of phthalic anhydride.
For this purpose, the catalysts produced according to the present invention are introduced into reaction tubes which are thermostatted from the outside to the reaction temperature, for example by means of salt melts, and the reaction gas is passed over this catalyst bed at temperatures of generally from 300 to 450, preferably from 320 to 420 and particularly preferably from 340 to 400xc2x0 C., and a gauge pressure of generally from 0.1 to 2.5, preferably from 0.3 to 1.5 bar, and at a space velocity of generally from 750 to 5000 hxe2x88x921.
The reaction gas fed to the catalyst is generally produced by mixing a gas comprising molecular oxygen and, if appropriate, suitable reaction moderators or diluents, e.g. steam, carbon dioxide and/or nitrogen, with the aromatic hydrocarbon to be oxidized. The gas comprising the molecular oxygen generally comprises from 1 to 100, preferably from 2 to 50 and particularly preferably from 10 to 30 mol %, of oxygen, from 0 to 30, preferably from 0 to 10 mol %, of water vapor, from 0 to 50, preferably from 0 to 1 mol %, of carbon dioxide and nitrogen as balance. To produce the reaction gas, the gas comprising molecular oxygen is generally mixed with from 30 to 150 g of the aromatic hydrocarbon to be oxidized per standard m3 of gas.
In carrying out the gas-phase oxidation, it is advantageous to thermostat two or more zones, preferably two zones, of the catalyst bed located in the reaction tube to different reaction temperatures, for which purpose it is possible to use, for example, reactors having separate salt baths, as described in DE-A 22 01 528 or DE-A 28 30 765. If the reaction is carried out in two reaction zones, as described in DE-A 40 13 051, the reaction zone located toward the end at which the reaction gas enters, which zone generally makes up from 30 to 80 mol % of the total catalyst volume, is generally thermostatted to a reaction temperature which is from 1 to 20 higher, preferably from 1 to 10 and in particular from 2 to 8xc2x0 C. higher, than that of the reaction zone located toward the gas outlet end. Alternatively, the gas-phase oxidation can also be carried out at one reaction temperature without division into temperature zones. Regardless of the temperature structure, it has been found to be particularly advantageous to use catalysts which differ in their catalytic activity and/or the chemical composition of their active shell in the abovementioned reaction zones of the catalyst bed. When using two reaction zones, the catalyst used in the first reaction zone, i.e. that located toward the end at which the reaction gas enters, is preferably one which has a somewhat lower catalytic activity than the catalyst located in the second reaction zone, i.e. the reaction zone located toward the gas inlet end. In general, the reaction is controlled by the temperature profile so that the major part of the aromatic hydrocarbon present in the reaction gas is reacted at maximum yield in the first zone.
If the preparation of PA is carried out using the catalysts of the present invention and a plurality of reaction zones in which different catalysts are present, the novel coated catalysts can be used in all reaction zones. However, considerable advantages over conventional processes can generally be achieved even if a coated catalyst according to the present invention is used only in one of the reaction zones of the catalyst bed, for example the first reaction zone, and coated catalysts produced in a conventional way are employed in the other reaction zones, for example the second or last reaction zone.

Multilayered shell catalysts for catalytic gaseous phase oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons


A thin, flexible antenna that has particular application to be mounted to a dielectric structure on a vehicle, such as vehicle glass, where the antenna has a wideband antenna geometry for various communications applications, and where the conductive portion of the antenna can employ transparent conductors.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a thin, flexible, wideband antenna configured on a dielectric substrate and, more particularly, to a thin, flexible, wideband co-planar waveguide (CPW) antenna that may include transparent conductors so as to allow the antenna to be adhered to a visible part of vehicle windows.
Discussion of the Related Art
Modern vehicles employ various and many types of antennas to receive and transmit signals for different communications systems, such as terrestrial radio (AM/FM), cellular telephone, satellite radio, dedicated short range communications (DSRC), GPS, etc. Further, cellular telephone is expanding into 4G long term evolution (LTE) that requires two antennas to provide multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operation. The antennas used for these systems are often mounted to a roof of the vehicle so as to provide maximum reception capability. Further, many of these antennas are often integrated into a common structure and housing mounted to the roof of the vehicle, such as a "shark-fin" roof mounted antenna module. As the number of antennas on a vehicle increases, the size of the structures required to house all of the antennas in an efficient manner and providing maximum reception capability also increases, which interferes with the design and styling of the vehicle. Because of this, automotive engineers and designers are looking for other suitable areas on the vehicle to place antennas that may not interfere with vehicle design and structure.
One of those areas is the vehicle glass, such as the vehicle windshield, which has benefits because glass makes a good dielectric substrate for an antenna. For example, it is known in the art to print AM and FM antennas on the glass of a vehicle where the printed antennas are fabricated within the glass as a single piece. However, those known systems are generally limited in that they could only be placed in a vehicle windshield or other glass surface in areas where viewing through the glass is not necessary.

Wideband coplanar waveguide fed monopole applique antennas


A cylinder head for a four-cycle engine having combustion chamber holes formed in the lower surface thereof, and mounting at least one rotatable cam shaft along the upper surface. The cylinder head may also mount a rocker shaft to permit use with either a 1-cam 2-valve engine or a 1-cam 4-valve engine.

A cylinder head of a four-cycle engine is, like a cylinder block, directly exposed to combustion gas at a high temperature and a high pressure, and receives a high gas pressure and thermal load. Accordingly, the cylinder head requires characteristics closer to those needed in a cylinder block, and the cylinder heads are often manufactured of cast iron like the cylinder block. But different from the cylinder block, the cylinder head receives a larger amount of heat because the combustion of the mixed gas finishes near the top dead center of the piston, and it has no sliding part with the piston. Cylinder heads made of a lightweight aluminum alloy molding with a superior heat releasing property are therefore mainly used.
One known cylinder head is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 49-15162. The reciprocating internal combustion engine disclosed in this publication employs an oscillating action for the exhaust valve requiring less severity and a direct cam action for the intake valve to realize an overhead cam shaft apparatus with a high degree of freedom in design.
Another cylinder head is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 58-135309. The hemispherical combustion chamber cross flow V-type valve configuration center spark plug SOHC engine disclosed in this publication possesses two cams on one cam shaft and the exhaust valve is opened and closed by one cam and the intake valve is opened and closed by the other cam through a rocker arm.
Still another cylinder head is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model No. 52-145207. The hydraulic controller for automatic valve clearance regulator in the valve operating system of the internal combustion engine disclosed in this publication is designed to open a bubble separating slot near the apex of the hydraulic chamber, to connect the bubble separating slot to a relief passage, and to mount a relief valve between the hydraulic chamber and the relief passage, thereby feeding a specific hydraulic pressure without containing bubbles to the valve clearance regulator.
In cylinder heads of the conventional four-cycle engine, exclusive cylinder heads are manufactured for each kind of engine including those using one cam and a pair of intake and exhaust valves (called 1-cam 2-valve engines), those using one cam and two pairs of intake and exhaust valves (called 1-cam 4-valve engines), and those using two cams and two pairs of intake and exhaust valves (called 2-cam 4-valve engines), and exclusive machining apparatus and exclusive parts were provided for each cylinder head.
Accordingly, the manufacturing cost of exclusive machining apparatus and exclusive parts for each cylinder head are enormous, and such system are economically not advantageous.
In addition, as the exclusive parts require checking and testing respectively, the developing period is consequently prolonged, the developing period can not be shortened, a large amount of developing cost is spent and a great deal of effort is needed, and therefore such system is economically and practically not advantageous.
The cylinder heads disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 49-15162, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 58-135309 and in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model No. 52-145207 were designed without the aim of common use of the machining apparatus and components.
It is hence a primary object of this invention to provide cylinder heads for four-cycle engines not only economically advantageous so as to permit reducing the manufacturing cost, but also economically and practically advantageous by not requiring checking and testing for each type of part, by being capable of shortening the development period, and by being capable of reducing the period and effort for development by designing common machining apparatus and parts.


A cartridge for faucets having some parts which are assembled in the cartridge to function as a guide, an element of support for a movable small plate of hard material, forming a part of the above mentioned guiding parts, at least one small plate of hard material operatively mounted and fixed in the cartridge, and at least one movable small plate mounted in the aforementioned element of support and adapted to be movable in relation to the fixed small plate in order to bring about the regulation of fluid flow and the proportion of mixing. At least one of the surfaces of the parts of plastic material, adapted to slide against the surface of other pieces of plastic material, is provided with a metal layer, preferably by chemical or electrochemical means. It is preferred that the metal cover is applied on an intermediate part having surfaces adapted to slide in contact with different parts of plastic material, and precisely on a guiding ring.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cartridge adapted to be inserted in the body of a faucet, including a guide, an element of support for a movable small plate of hard material positioned within the guiding parts, at least one small plate of hard material which is fixedly mounted in the cartridge, and at least one movable small plate mounted in the element of support and adapted to move against the fixed small plate in order to effectuate the regulation of the rate of fluid flow and of the proportion of mixing.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In the usual construction, the element of support for the movable small plate and the parts which function as a guide are made of plastic material and their reciprocal sliding is facilitated by properly chosen plastic material and a lubricating grease. However, with time, the lubricating grease is expended, the plastic material loses its self-lubrication, and an excessive friction begins to develop between the parts which are subjected to a reciprocal sliding movement resulting in a clatter which is very unpleasant to the user. This inconvenience can be overcome in certain constructions by inserting thin gaskets of metallic foil between the parts of plastic material which are subjected to a reciprocal sliding movement. In fact, a proper choice of metallic material permits the avoidance of the development of excessive friction and of the noise which occurs with time when there is movement. However, the insertion of these gaskets has a relatively high cost, not only for their construction but because of the complications that they bring to the assembly of the cartridge. Further, this is not even possible in certain cases; for example, when one of the parts has a lamellar structure, an elevated structure or other structures which are destined to stop the vibration and the noise of the water flow.

Cartridge for faucets having small plates of hard material and a metallic covering


The illumination optic is a collimator lens having a solid monolithic structure that includes spaced-apart and longitudinally-extending side lobed segments laterally disposed around a central core section. Each lobed segment has a TIR inner peripheral surface extending from a rear side towards a front side of the collimator lens and has a light exit surface generally facing the front side. Also disclosed is an illumination device including the collimator lens and a diffusion lens that is coaxially positioned next to its front side to redirect light coming out of the light exit surfaces. The diffusion lens has spaced-apart outlying optical regions disposed around a central optical axis, at least one for each light exit surface, to be selectively positioned in or out of alignment with a corresponding one of the light exit surfaces depending on a relative angular position between the collimator lens and the diffusion lens.

Illumination arrangements including a light source and a corresponding lens have been used in many applications to generate light projections. In general, it is desirable that the size of an illumination device, more particularly the overall length with reference to the central optical axis along which light propagate, be kept as small as possible for the intended use. This can be required in view of different constraints, such as space restrictions, weight limitations and manufacturing cost targets, to name just a few, depending on the application and the implementation. One approach to improve compactness includes using a reflector inside the illumination device, thereby allowing the light source to be positioned closer to the light output. While the term "reflector" often refers to an optical component having mirror-like coated surfaces to reflect incident light (i.e. having specular reflection), it also designates an optical component, for instance a lens, in which total internal reflection (TIR) can occur without the need of any mirror-like coated surfaces. Light can reflect back on a TIR surface inside a lens with almost a 100% efficiency when the angle of incidence of the light rays is above a critical angle and when some other conditions are met.
Some lenses can be used in illumination devices and arrangements to simultaneously collimate light coming from a light source at the lens entry and reflect this light towards the lens exit. Using TIR inside these illumination optics is generally preferred whenever possible because specular reflection is not as efficient as TIR. Most applications will thus have illumination optics relying on TIR without having any significant specular reflection therein or with only specular reflection being used therein in limited areas. Nevertheless, some implementations can use illumination optics relying only on specular reflection.
For the sake of simplicity, lenses used as collimator/reflectors in illumination devices and applications will now be referred to as collimator lenses from this point onwards.
Light coming from a light source with which an illumination device is optically coupled enters the collimator lens of the device but some of this light can be lost if the acceptance angle of the light is not optimum everywhere at the light entry surfaces. Improving the capture of this light is highly desirable since it can increase the overall light output efficiency and/or uniformity. In order words, energy savings can be made with a more efficient light collection at the entry of the collimator lens since more light can be outputted for the same input and the energy provided to generate light at the light source can then be reduced. Furthermore, there are implementations where the goal is to have a maximum amount of light so optimizing the efficiency of the collimator lens is also very desirable in such situation.
Various other challenges and limitations also exist in the related technical field. Among other things, some applications may require illumination optics capable of accommodating sensors, cameras or other features in the immediate vicinity of the front side of a collimator lens. This may be very difficult to achieve using a collimator lens having a circular perimeter.
Mass-producing collimator lenses with a very high surface accuracy and a stable batch-to-batch consistency while minimizing costs can often be difficult using known methods and designs, particularly when they involve injection molding of a plastic resin material because the injection molding process itself may cause deformations of the optical active surfaces. Plastic lenses tend to shrink during cooling and this phenomenon can create issues when certain portions of the lenses cool at a different rate compared to others. The presence of thicker portions in lenses often tend to be detrimental to the surface accuracy and performances. In general, it is thus desirable to design lenses where all portions can be cooled relatively at the same rate when it solidifies at the end of the injection molding manufacturing process. Furthermore, minimizing the amount of plastic resin material required for making each lens is also desirable to reduce manufacturing costs and the weight of the final products.
Still, there are several applications where the projected light to be changed somehow, for instance in size, shape, orientation, or a combination thereof, while the illumination devices are in use. Examples includes, among other things, headlights of vehicles, flashlights, stage lighting for concerts or other events, light art shows and exhibits, to name just a few. Many others exist as well. These devices include, for instance, illumination optics movable along the central optical axis or having a light source that is movable along the central optical axis. Moving parts along the central optical axis changes the focal distance between the light source and the optics inside the illumination device, thereby creating a zooming effect that can change the size of the light projection from narrow or wide, or vice-versa. This approach may be suitable in many applications but may be unsatisfactory or inadequate in others, particularly when the available space is very limited, such as in automotive applications. It may also create additional complexities. Furthermore, the light collection efficiency and the shape can be very difficult to control over the entire range of positions.
Overall, room for many improvements always exists in this area of technology.


The present invention provides a variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus which, when an overlap of a variable-length code and a synchronizing word is generated on a bit stream due to a transmission error or the like in the variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus of an image compression bit stream, can exactly detect the synchronizing word and a state where the overlap is generated. The variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus has a synchronizing word detecting unit 119 which detects the synchronizing word of the bit stream in a first shift register 104, a synchronizing word position management unit 122 which sets a head bit position of the synchronizing word at the timing that the head of the synchronizing word which exists in the first shift register 104 is moved to the second shift register 109 and thereafter updates the same, a variable-length encoding and decoding unit 113 which performs decoding processing of the variable-length code of the second shift register 109 and simultaneously obtains the code length of the variable-length code, and an overlap detecting unit 115 which detects the overlap of the synchronizing word and the variable-length code by the code length of the variable-length code and the head bit position of the synchronizing word.

The present invention relates to a variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus for encoding or decoding an image compression bit stream according to the MPEG standard.
In the image compression bit stream according to the MPEG standard (the details which are described in xe2x80x9cTextbook of Recent MPEGxe2x80x9d (ASCII) edited by Hiroshi Fujiwara, xe2x80x9cAll of MPEG-4xe2x80x9d (Kogyo chosakai) written and edited by Sukeichi Miki, and the like are avoided), in order to identify a start position of information such as a screen and a type of data included in the bit stream after the start position, a fixed length code having a specific bit pattern (hereinafter, referred to as a start code) is inserted. When compressed image information is decoded, this start code is detected, and decoding processing is performed on the basis of the following information (hereinafter, referred to as xe2x80x9cstart code valuexe2x80x9d). In a structure of the start code, as shown in FIG. 7(a), an 8-bit start code value is added to 23 pieces of xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d and a single piece of xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d, 24 bits in total. Taking MPEG4 (Moving Picture Experts Group 4) as an example, the standardized start codes are as shown in FIG. 7(b).
The following measure is taken so as to enable to clearly distinguish the start codes from the other data. Bit patterns which are difficult to appear in the other data are adopted. Further, in the process of encoding the image information, the same bit pattern as that of the start code sometimes results in depending on the combination of the code words. However, in order to avoid an emulation due thereto, in an encoder, a 1-bit bit stream is inserted in the code word which has possibility to be emulated. Further, synchronizing words such as a start code and a sync marker are arranged such that each distance between the heads of synchronizing words becomes a positive integral multiplication of 8 as shown in FIG. 6.
When a conventional code detecting apparatus detects the synchronizing words as described above, the apparatus detects whether a bit stream having a certain bit length coincides with a pattern of the synchronizing word employing a shift register of 1 bit/cycle or 8 bits/cycle, for example, whether the bit sequence of 32 bits from the head of a shift register coincides with the pattern of the synchronizing word.
There is a case where an overlap is generated between image compression information (fixed length code, variable-length code) in the bit stream and the synchronizing word due to transmission errors and the like coming from the worsening of a communication state.
As an example, a state where the overlap is generated between a variable-length code and the synchronizing word will be described with reference to the drawings. Initially, FIG. 4(a) shows a normal bit stream in which the overlap is not generated. A 32-bit synchronizing word 501 follows a variable-length code 500. On the other hand, FIG. 4(b) shows a bit stream in which the overlap is generated. The 3-bit data from the least significant bit of a variable-length code 510 and 3 bits from the most significant bit of the following 32-bit synchronizing word 511 overlap with each other. The state as shown in FIG. 4(b) is detected, and further the synchronizing word following the variable-length code is detected, resulting in an efficiency improvement of an image decoding processing and suppressing an image deterioration of a decoded image.
However, in the conventional synchronizing word detecting apparatuses, there are some in which the synchronizing word cannot be detected when the overlap is generated between the bit stream and the synchronizing word in the image compression information (fixed length code, variable-length code). In addition, there are some in which even if the synchronizing word can be detected, the state where the image compression information and the synchronizing word overlap with each other cannot be detected.
The synchronizing word is important information which shows the following image decoding processing. Therefore, non-detection or erroneous detection of the synchronizing word has a strong possibility of affecting the following image decoding processing, and causes an efficiency lowering of the image decoding processing and deteriorating the quality of the decoded image. In addition, such an error that the variable-length code and the synchronizing word overlap with each other cannot be detected. Therefore, there is a case where, when, actually, the image decoding processing should be interrupted immediately after error detection, the processing is kept as it is, thereby generating an erroneous decoded image and deteriorating the quality of an output image.
Furthermore, in the conventional synchronizing word detecting apparatus, searching for the synchronizing word is performed with the data being abandoned, and the above-described processing is kept until the synchronizing word is detected. Therefore, it is impossible for the apparatus to identify whether the synchronizing word exists in the most neighboring byte align point.
The present invention is made to solve the above-described problems, and it has for its object to provide a variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus which, when the overlap is generated in the image compression information and the synchronizing word, can detect the synchronizing word and can detect an error that the image compression information and the synchronizing word overlap with each other, and further can efficiently identify the presence of the synchronizing word in the most neighboring byte align point.
In order to solve the problems, according to a 1st aspect of the present invention, there is provided a variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus comprising: a register which stores a bit stream of video compression information from an external apparatus; a first shift register which shifts a signal to the high-order direction by n bytes per a machine cycle; first selection means for selecting a vacant section of a successive predetermined bit number in a predetermined section from the least significant bit of the first shift register, and successively storing a signal of the first shift register from the high-order side of the vacant section of the first shift register; a second shift register which shifts the signal to the high-order direction by the optional bit number per a machine cycle; second selection means for selecting a vacant section of the successive predetermined bit number in a predetermined section from the least significant bit of the second shift register, and successively storing a signal of the second shift register from the high-order side of the vacant section of the second shift register; third selection means for selecting a signal of the successive predetermined bit number in the second shift register; variable-length encoding and decoding means for performing decoding and simultaneously outputting code length information which shows a code length of a variable-length code in the case where a signal selected by the third selection means is a variable-length code and can be decoded; fourth selection means for selecting a signal of the successive predetermined bit number from the first shift register to output the same while decoding processing of the variable-length code is performed by the variable-length encoding and decoding means, and outputting a signal input from the third selection means when the decoding processing is completed; synchronizing word detecting means having first code detecting means for comparing the signal of the first shift register selected by the fourth selection means with a specific bit pattern to perform coincidence detection, and second code detecting means for comparing the signal of the second shift register selected by the fourth selection means with the specific bit pattern to perform coincidence detection; specific bit pattern position information management means which, when a signal of the specific bit pattern in the first shift register is detected by the first code detecting means and a signal of the most significant bit of the specific bit code is moved to the second shift register, sets a head bit position information of the specific bit pattern in the second shift register at that timing, and, when shift processing is generated in the second shift register, updates the head bit position information in accordance with the shift amount; overlap detecting means which judges whether or not an overlap is generated between the variable-length code and the specific bit pattern in the second shift register, on the basis of code length information of the variable-length code from the variable-length encoding and decoding means and the head bit position information of the specific bit pattern from the specific bit pattern position information management means and, when the overlap is detected, outputs an overlap notifying signal.
Thereby, the overlap can be detected with high precision, and the quality of the decoded image from image compression information can be enhanced.
According to a 2nd aspect of the present invention, in the variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus of the 1st aspect, the specific bit pattern position information management means comprises a plurality of storage means for storing each head bit position information of plural specific bit patterns in the second shift register, and the overlap detecting means judges whether or not the overlap of the variable-length code and the specific bit pattern is generated in the second shift register by using the head bit position information closest to the most significant bit or all the head bit position information of the second shift register among the plurality of the head bit position information stored in the plurality of the storage means.
Thereby, even when the head bits of two synchronizing words exist in the second shift register, the overlap between both the two synchronizing words and the variable-length code can be detected.
According to a 3rd aspect of the present invention, in the variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus of the 2nd aspect, the specific bit pattern position information management means initializes the head bit position information of the plurality of the storage means in the case where the head of the specific bit pattern does not exist in the second shift register, and, each time when the signal of the specific bit pattern is detected by the first code detecting means, selects one in which the head bit position information has an initial value among the plurality of the storage means thereby to set the head bit position information.
Thereby, overwriting in the head bit position information which is already stored in any of the storage means when the synchronizing word is detected can be avoided.
According to a 4th aspect of the present invention, in the variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus of any of the 1st through 3rd aspects, when the corresponding code does not exist in a lookup table of the variable-length code while the variable-length encoding and decoding means decodes the variable-length code signal selected by the third selection means, the variable-length encoding and decoding means outputs a maximum code length of the variable-length code in the lookup table to the overlap detecting means.
Thereby, even when an error is generated in decoding processing of the variable-length code, the overlap of the synchronizing word and the variable-length code can be detected, and the overlap detection with high precision can be realized.
According to a 5th aspect of the present invention, in the variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus of any of the 1st through 3rd aspects, when the corresponding code does not exist in the lookup table of the variable-length code while the variable-length encoding and decoding means decodes the variable-length code signal selected by the third selection means, the variable-length encoding and decoding means outputs a value which is obtained by adding 1 to the number of bits which coincides successively from the respective most significant bits in the selected variable-length code and the variable-length code in the lookup table to the overlap detecting means.
Thereby, even when an error is generated in decoding processing of the variable-length code, the overlap of the synchronizing word and the variable-length code can be prevented from being erroneously detected, and the overlap detection with higher precision can be realized.
According to a 6th aspect of the present invention, the variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus of any of the 1st through 5th aspects comprises: byte align point management means which, when the specific bit pattern in the second shift register is detected by the second code detecting means, at that timing, initializes a byte align point of the bit stream and, when shift processing is generated in the second shift register, updates the byte align point in accordance with the shift amount.
Thereby, the data is shifted by the second shift register at the time when the next synchronizing word is searched so that the byte align point becomes the most significant bit, thereby detecting the synchronizing word by the second code detecting means, and the erroneous detection due to such as the emulation of the synchronizing word can be prevented.
According to a 7th aspect of the present invention, the variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus of any of the 1st through 6th aspects comprises: second synchronizing word detecting means which regards the most neighboring byte align point from the most significant bit of the second shift register as a reference point, in accordance with byte align point information of the byte align point management means, and compares the signal of the successive predetermined bit number with the specific bit pattern thereby to perform coincidence detection.
Thereby, the detection of the synchronizing word can be performed for each byte align point, and efficient synchronizing word detection and image decoding processing can be performed.

Variable-length encoding and decoding apparatus

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An electric control apparatus with an electromechanical latch device which allows the electric control device to be momentarily energized to one operating position, mechanically latched in that position, and released to return to its initial position after momentarily energizing the latch device mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electric control apparatus, and more particularly to electric control devices such as contactors or relays with latching devices that releasably hold the electric control device in one operating position after momentary energization.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is desirable in the art of electric control to be able to momentarily energize an electric control device such as a relay or contactor to one energized position and mechanically latch the device in that position. It is often desirable to add this latching feature to contactors or relays that were not designed with this feature in mind. However, mechanical latches that are added onto existing contactors or relay designs can be bulky, have complicated linkages, and are sometimes inoperable.

Electric control apparatus with an electromechanical latch device


An advertisement is associated with an advertiser-sponsored theme. An application generates a page that includes the advertisement. If a first user input event is detected with respect to the advertisement, the advertiser-sponsored theme is temporarily applied to the page, thereby providing a preview of the advertiser-sponsored theme. If a second user input event is detected with respect to the advertisement, the preview of the advertiser-sponsored theme is removed from the page. If a third user input event is detected with respect to the advertisement, the advertiser-sponsored theme is selected for use with the application. A notification may also be provided to other users indicated that the advertiser-sponsored theme was selected for use.

Certain types of desktop application programs and World Wide Web ("Web") sites allow users to personalize their user experience. For instance, a Web site may be configured to allow users to select and apply themes, also called "skins," to the pages provided by the Web site. A theme is a collection of attributes and graphical elements that can be utilized to customize the look of an application or a Web page.
A theme may specify the colors, text size, font, static or moving graphics or video, page layout, and other stylistic elements that can be utilized to customize the visual appearance of a desktop or Web application. When used in conjunction with a desktop application program, themes may also allow the customization of other visual elements, such as the size and shape of a user interface window generated by the application program. In some implementations a theme may also allow the customization of audible elements, such as user interface feedback sounds.
In an effort to reach a greater number of potential customers, some advertisers have created custom branded themes for use with Web sites and other types of application programs. These advertiser-sponsored themes are often created under the direction of the advertiser and generally incorporate elements of the advertiser's brand into the theme. For instance, a theme may specify colors and other graphical or audible elements that are consistent with an advertiser's brand. These types of advertiser-sponsored themes are often popular with users that are loyal consumers of the brand. As an example, a user that is a fan of a certain movie may choose to "skin" a Web site or desktop application using a theme that incorporates branding elements from the movie, such as a color scheme and a logo.
One limiting factor in the ability of advertisers to reach large groups of users with advertiser-sponsored themes is the current difficulty that users encounter when trying to locate and select themes. Current implementations require users to navigate through at least several menus to locate available themes. Once the themes have been located, users may then be required to make several selections in order to preview how the Web site or desktop application will appear once the theme has been applied. This can be a frustrating and time consuming process that can lead to a limited exposure of an advertiser-sponsored theme to a large group of users. It can also be difficult for users to share these themes with other users utilizing current implementations.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.

Advertising-driven theme preview and selection


Camptothecin derivatives of camptothecin of formula (I):

The present invention relates to compounds having antitumor activity, in particular to new derivatives of camptothecins, processes for their preparation, their use as antitumor drugs and pharmaceutical compositions containing them as active ingredients.
Camptothecin is an alkaloid, which was isolated by Wall et al (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 83, 3888-3890 (1966)) for the first time from the tree Camptoteca acuminata, a plant originating from China, of the Nyssaceae family.
The molecule consists of a pentacyclic structure having a lactone in the ring E, which is essential for cytotoxicity.
The drug demonstrated a wide spectrum of antitumor activity, in particular against colon tumors, other solid tumors and leukemias, and the first clinical trials were performed in the early 70""s. Since Camptothecin (in the following briefly CPT) has low water solubility and in order to prepare clinical trials, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) prepared the sodium salt (NSC100880), which is water-soluble. Clinical trials in phase I and II, were not completed because of the high toxicity showed by the compound (hemorrhagic cystitis, gastrointestinal toxicity, such as nausea, vomit, diarrhoea, and myelosuppression, especially leucopenia and thrombocytopenia.
In any case, sodium salt showed a lower activity than CPT, because, at pH 7.4, the inactive form (open ring) predominates on the lactone-active one (closed ring), which predominates at pH less than 4.0.
Subsequently, many CPT analogues were synthesised in order to obtain compounds with lower toxicity and higher water solubility. Two drugs are marketed, Irinotecan (CPT-11), marketed with the Trade Mark Camptosar(copyright) by Upjohn and Topotecar(copyright), marketed with the Trade Mark Hymcamptamin(copyright) or Thycantin(copyright) , by Smith Kline and Beecham. Other derivatives are in different steps of clinical development in phase II, such as NSC-603071 (9-aminocamptothecin), 9-NC or 9-nitrocamptothecin, an oral prodrug converted in 9-aminocamptothecin, GG-211 (GI 147211), and DX-8591f, the latter being water-soluble. All the derivatives identified to-date contain the parent structure with 5 rings, essential for cytotoxicity. It was demonstrated that modifications on the first ring, such as in the case of the above-mentioned drugs increase water solubility and allow a higher tolerability of the drug.
Water-soluble Irinotecan was approved for the treatment of many solid tumors and ascites (colon-rectum, skin, stomach, breast, small and non-small cell lung, cervix and ovarian cancer and in non-Hodgkin lymphoma). Moreover, Irinotecan resulted active in solid tumors resistant to Topotecan, vincristine or melphalan and MDR-1 cells resulted marginally resistant to the drug. The active metabolite was identified as the 10-hydroxyderivatives (SN-38), produced by the action of carboxylesterases. CPT-11 showed a good activity using different administration routes, such as intraperitoneal, intravenous, oral (Costin D., Potmhexyl M. Advances in Pharmacol. 29B, 51-72 1994).
CPT-11 was administered also with cisplatin or etoposide, showing a synergistic effect, thanks to the ability to hinder DNA repair. Also in this case, however, a grade 3 and 4 leucopenia and diarrhoea arose (Sinha B. K. (1995) Topoisomerase inhibitors. Drugs 49, 11-19, 1995).
Topotecan has a significant oral bioavailability. Oral administration proved to be convenient to reach a prolonged exposition to the drug, without the use of temporary catheters being necessary (Rothenberg M. L. Annals of Oncology 8, 837-855, 1997). Also this water-soluble CPT analogue showed activity against different types of tumors, with different administration routes, intraperitoneal, intravenous, subcutaneous, oral The more promising results were obtained with Topotecan hydrochloride, intravenous infusion for 5 days, in different tumors such as small and non-small cell lung, ovarian, breast, stomach, liver, prostatae, soft tissue sarcoma, head and neck, oesophagus, resistant colon-rectum, multiform glioblastoma, chronic and acute myelocytic leukemias. However, also in this case, severe side effects occurred, such as neutropenia and thrombocytopenia, whereas gastrointestinal toxicity, such as nausea, vomit and diarrhoea were milder.
It was demonstrated that the main transformation and elimination pathways of the drug comprise lactone hydrolysis and urinary excretion: in fact, lactone form is 50% hydrolysed to open ring, 30 min after infusion. Topotecan crosses hematoencephalic barrier 10 min after infusion (30% in the cerebrospinal fluid with respect to plasma). On the contrary, camptothecin does not cross hematoencephalic barrier in significant amount, probably due to its binding with proteins.
Clinical development of 9-aminocamptothecin was hampered by its scarce water solubility. Recently, a colloidal dispersion was prepared, which made possible its entry in phase II clinical trial. Prolonged exposition (from 72 hours to 21 days) appeared to be essential to demonstrate antitumor activity, because of its short half-life (Dahut et al., 1994). Responses in patients suffering from not treated colon-rectum, and breast cancer and resistant lymphoma, were noticed. The activity demonstrated against Pgp-positive tumors suggested a lack of cross-resistance against resistant MDR-1 cells. Once again, bone marrow and gastrointestinal toxicity was observed.
Lurtotecan is the most water-soluble analogue, with an activity comparable to Topotecan in vitro. Two regimens were adopted: one 30-min infusion a day for 5 days every 3 weeks and one 72-hours infusion one time every 3 weeks. Responses in patients suffering from, neck, ovarian, breast, liver tumour were observed. Also in this case, hematic toxicity was detected. The molecule is the following:
9-Nitrocamptothecin is an oral prodrug rapidly converted into 9-aminocamptothecin after administration. Responses were observed in patients suffering from pancreas, ovarian, and breast cancer.
Notwithstanding the major part of tumour cells is highly sensitive to topoisomerase I inhibitors, due to the high enzyme levels, some tumoral lines result to be resistant. This is due to other mechanisms, rather than the overexpression of MDR1 and MRP (multidrug resistance associated protein) genes and of their products, P (Pgp) glycoprotein and MRP protein, respectively, for which Topotecan or CPT-11 are not very good substrates, (Kawato Yet al J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 45, 444-448, (1993)).
In fact, it was observed that some resistant tumour cells contain mutant forms of topo I, accordingly the formation of the topo I-DNA complex is damaged or some cells lack in the carboxylesterase activity, necessary for converting CPT-11 in the active metabolite SN-38 and are thus resistant against this drug (Rothenberg, 1997, ibid.).
Within the drugs used in tumour therapy, the interest in inhibitors of topoisomerase I enzymes is attributed to the following considerations: a) efficacy against tumors naturally resistant to conventional drugs, topoisomerase II inhibitors included; b) the levels of the toco I enzyme remain elevated in all phases of the cycle; c) many tumors express high levels of the target enzyme; d) lack of recognition by the proteins involved in the phenomenon of multi-drug resistance (Pgp or MRP) and absence of the detoxifying enzyme-mediated metabolism, associated to the glutathione-dependent system (glutathione peroxidase and glutathione S-transferase) (Gerrits C J H., et al., Brit. J. Cancer 76, 952-962).
Once potential clinical advantages of topoisomerase I inhibitors are taken into consideration, both in terms of antitumor activity, assayed on a wide range of tumors, and the poor induction of pharmaco-resistance, the present research aims to identify topo I inhibitors with a lower toxicity with respect to the one demonstrated by the drugs on the market or in clinical phase. The factors determining the relative potency of camptothecin analogues include a) intrinsic activity of topoisomerase I inhibition; b) drug mean life; c) interaction with plasma proteins; d) the ratio between the circulating active form (lactone) and the non active one (carboxylate); e) drug sensitivity relative to cell outflow mediated by glycoprotein P or MRP; f) bond stability with topoisomerase I (Rothenberg, 1997, ibid.).
Among the main adverse effects of Irinotecan and other camptothecins derivatives, myelosuppression and gastrointestinal toxicity, such as diarrhoea and vomit, have been observed. Diarrhoea can have an early or late onset and can be a dose-limiting factor. Vomit and late diarrhoea are induced by many antitumor drugs, while early diarrhoea occurring during or immediately after infusion is almost specific for Irinotecan and some camptothecin derivatives.
Toxic effects occur mainly in the intestinal tract.
In order to reduce diarrhoea, CPT-11 was administered in some clinical trials, in combination with loperamide, a synthetic oppioid, agonist of the mu-oppioid enteric receptors (Abigerges, 1994; Abigerges, 1995), as well as with an inhibitor of the enkephalinases (acetorfan) or with ondansetron, an antagonist of the 5-HT3 receptors, or with diphenidramine, an antagonist of H1 receptors.
To date, the problems connected with the use of camptothecin derivatives as antitumor drugs can be summarised in the following items:
camptothecin (CPT), and many of its active derivatives have low water solubility;
the subsequent derivatives are endowed with severe side effects at gastrointestinal and bone marrow level;
some tumour lines developed resistance against topoisomerase I inhibitors;
there is the constant search for a better therapeutic index.
Patent application WO97/31003, herein incorporated for reference, discloses derivatives of camptothecins substituted at positions 7, 9 and 10. Position 7 provides the following substitutions: xe2x80x94CN, xe2x80x94CH(CN)xe2x80x94R4, xe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90C(CN)xe2x80x94R4, xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90C(CN)xe2x80x94R4, xe2x80x94C(xe2x95x90NOH)xe2x80x94NH2, xe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90C(NO2)xe2x80x94R4, xe2x80x94CH(CN)xe2x80x94R5, xe2x80x94CH(CH2NO2)xe2x80x94R5, 5-tetrazolyl, 2 -(4,5-dihydroxazolyl), 1,2,4-oxadiazolidin-3-yl-5-one, wherein R4 is hydrogen, linear or branched alkyl from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, nitrile, carboxyalkoxy. Of these possible compounds, WO97/31003 enables the disclosure only of camptothecin derivatives bearing at position 7 the group xe2x80x94CN and xe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90C(CN)2, with unsubstituted positions 9 and 10.
Of these compounds, the best one proved to be the 7-nitrile (R4=xe2x80x94CN), hereinafter named CPT 83, with cytotoxic activity on non-small cells lung carcinoma (non-SCLC, H-460). This tumour line is intrinsically resistant to cytotoxic therapy and is only moderately responsive to topoisomerase I inhibitors, notwithstanding the overexpression of the target enzyme. CPT 83 is more active than Topotecan, taken as reference compound and on the whole it offers a better pharmacological profile, even in terms of tolerability, then a better therapeutic index.
CPT 83 is prepared through a synthesis route comprising the oxidation of 7-hydroxymethylcamptothecin to camptothecin 7-aldehyde, the transformation of the latter into oxime and final conversion into nitrile.
The starting compound and the intermediates are disclosed in Sawada et al Chem. Pharm. Bull. 39, (10) 2574 (1991). This paper makes reference to a patent family with priority of 1981, for example European patent application EP 0056692, published in 1982, incorporated herein for reference. In these publications there are disclosed, among others, the compounds camptothecin 7-aldehyde and its oxime. The usefulness of these derivatives is to provide compounds with antitumor activity having low toxicity starting from 7-hydroxymethylcamptothecin. In the paper published on Chem. Pharm. Bull. 39, (10) 2574 (1991), the authors demonstrate that, with respect to camptothecin, the 7-alkyl and 7-acyloxymethyl derivatives, which were not foreseen in the above mentioned patent application, are the more active compounds on lines of murine leukemia L12 10, while lower activity, always with respect to camptothecin, was observed in compounds bearing 7-substitutions with high polar character, such as hydrazones and the oxime xe2x80x94CH(xe2x95x90NOH).
It has now surprisingly been found that camptothecins bearing an alkyloxime O-substituted at position 7 are endowed with antitumor activity higher than the compound of reference Topotecan. More surprisingly, it has been found that camptothecins bearing an enamino group on position 7, are also endowed with antitumor activity. Said compounds have better therapeutic index.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention compounds of general formula (I):
wherein: R1 is a xe2x80x94C(R5)xe2x95x90Nxe2x80x94O(n)R4 group, wherein R4 is hydrogen or a C1-C8 linear or branched alkyl or C1-C8 linear or branched alkenyl group or C3-C10 cycloalkyl, or (C3-C10) cycloalkyl xe2x80x94(C1-C8) linear or branched alkyl group, or C6-C14 aryl, or (C6-C14) aryl xe2x80x94(C1-C8) linear or branched alkyl group, or a heterocyclic or heterocyclo xe2x80x94(C1-C8) linear or branched alkyl group, said heterocyclic group containing at least one heteroatom selected from the group consisting of nitrogen atom, optionally substituted with a (C1-C8) alkyl group, and/or oxygen and/or sulfur; said alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aryl-alkyl, heterocyclic or heterocyclo-alkyl groups, being optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from the group consisting of: halogen, hydroxy, keto, C1-C8 alkyl, C1-C8 alkoxy, phenyl, cyano, nitro, xe2x80x94NR6R7, wherein R6 and R7, the same or different between them, are hydrogen, (C1-C8) linear or branched alkyl; the xe2x80x94COOH group or a pharmaceutically acceptable ester thereof; or the -CONR8R9 group, wherein R8 and R9, the same or different between them, are hydrogen, (C1-C8) linear or branched alky, phenyl; or
R4 is a (C6-C10) aroyl or (C6-C10) arylsulfonyl group, optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from the group consisting of: halogen, hydroxy, C1-C8 linear or branched alky, C1-C8 linear or branched alkoxy, phenyl, cyano, nitro, xe2x80x94NR10R11, wherein R10 and R11, the same or different between them are hydrogen, C1-C8 linear or branched alkyl;
R4 is a polyaminoalkyl group; or
R4 is a glycosyl group;
n is the number 0 or 1;
R5 is hydrogen, C1-C8 linear or branched alkyl, C1-C8 linear or branched alkenyl, C3-C10 cycloalkyl, (C3-C10) cycloalkyl xe2x80x94(C1-C8) linear or branched alkyl, C6-Cl14 aryl, (C6-C14) aryl xe2x80x94(C1-C8) linear or branched alkyl;
R2 and R3, the same or different between them are hydrogen, hydroxy, C1-C8 linear or branched alkoxy;
their N1-oxides, their single isomers, in particular the syn and anti isomers of the xe2x80x94C(R5)xe2x95x90Nxe2x80x94O(n)R4 group, their possible enantiomers, diastereoisomers and relative mixtures, the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof and their active metabolites;
with the proviso that when R5, R2 and R3 are hydrogen and n is 1, then R4 is different from hydrogen.
The present invention comprises the use of the compounds of the above-mentioned formula (I) as active ingredients for medicaments, in particular for medicaments useful for the treatment of tumors. A further object of the present invention is also the use of the compounds of formula (I) as active ingredients for medicaments useful for treating viral infections. Another object of the present invention is also the use of the compounds of formula (I) as active ingredients for medicaments having antiplasmodium falciparum activity.
The present invention comprises pharmaceutical compositions containing compounds of formula (I) as active ingredients, in admixture with pharmaceutically acceptable vehicles and excipients.
The present invention comprises also processes for the preparation of compounds of formula (I), and the relative key intermediates.

Camptothecin derivatives having antitumor activity

Abstract: wherein the groups R1, R2 and R3 are as defined in the description are disclosed.

Abstract: The compounds of formula (I) are endowed with antitumor activity and show a good therapeutic index.

Abstract: Processes for the preparation of the compounds of formula (I) and their use in the preparation of medicaments useful in the treatment of tumors, viral infections and antiplasmodium falciparum are also disclosed.

Sigma-Tau Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite S.p.A.


The invention concerns itself with a hammermill, specifically for the fragmentation of metal car bodies, equipped with a shaft to which radially pointing rotor arms are attached, to the ends of which movable hammers are attached in the direction of the shaft rotation. The hammers are individually attached to the rotor arms, are U-shaped and embrace the end and sides of the rotor arms, thereby protecting the rotor arm ends and sides without requiring additional protective caps. On one of the preferred embodiments the positioning of the hammers is configured eccentrically so that an adjustment of the travel circle radii of the hammers is possible allowing greatly extended periods of operation of the hammermill.

Hammermills of the type contemplated herein are used to break up metal car bodies. These mills, also known as shredders, are fragmentation machines, which meet their objective by impact.
Hammermills possess impact devices that oscillate on the ends of radially directed rotor arms and generally include hammers, taking on a flat position when sufficient torsion speed of the rotor is applied. A well-known configuration features hammers suspended between disks that are affixed to the rotor shaft. Another configuration features a hammer supported between adjacent rotor arms. The hammers are located on a shaft situated parallel to the main shaft, the radial position of this shaft runs through all of the rotor arms and hammers. The number of shafts is equal to the number of the rotor arms to support the hammers.
The hammers are subjected to extraordinary wear and tear and are replaced by new hammers after only a number of days of service. After initial use, some may be reused after having been shifted 180.degree.. Yet, the production period of such a hammermill is relatively short. The free standing ends of the rotor arms in this type of hammermill are also subject to wear. Attempts have been made to fit the rotor arm ends with protective caps that are also attached to the shaft that supports the hammers. Finally, it is worth noting that the frequent exchange of hammers and protective caps requires the disassembly of the full length of the supporting rod.
In the hammermills disclosed and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,575 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,494 the supporting rods for the protective caps and the supporting rod for the hammers are situated behind each other in circumferential direction. Thus, the front edges of the rotor arms, especially exposed to wear, are protected by the caps. Even though these configurations do not require the dismantling of the hammers in order to change the protective caps, a costly supplemental arrangement is required to secure the caps to the rotor arms.


In some embodiments, the instant invention provides a programmed system having a computer programmed with software instructions that include at least: code to receive an electronic Tender voting request to conduct a Tender voting; where the Tender voting is limited to a plurality of employees who has owned shares of an issuer at a record date via at least one of: i) at least one 401K plan, and ii) at least one employee stock ownership plan (ESOP); where the Tender voting is selected from the group of Tender voting types consisting of: i) a Tender offer, ii) an All-or-None Tender offer, and iii) a Dutch Tender auction; code to identify the plurality of employees; code to generate a plurality of programmed visual computer screens to allow the plurality of employees to submit Tender votes; and code to dynamically output a report identifying a progress of the Tender voting.

Typically, a tender offer is a broad solicitation by a company or a third party to purchase a substantial percentage of a company's Section 12 registered equity shares or units for a limited period of time. Typically, the offer is at a fixed price, usually at a premium over the current market price, and is customarily contingent on shareholders tendering a fixed number of their shares or units. Typically, under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, parties who will own more than five percent of a class of the company's securities after making a tender offer for securities registered under the Exchange Act must file a Schedule TO with the SEC. Typically, the SEC also requires any person acquiring more than five percent of a voting class of a company's Section 12 registered equity securities directly or by tender offer to file a Schedule 13D.
Typically, the filings required by Section 14(d) of the Exchange Act and Regulation 14D provide information to the public about persons other than the company who make a tender offer. Typically, the company that is the subject of the takeover must file with the SEC its response to the tender offer on Schedule 14D-9. Typically, the rules also set time limits for the tender offer and provide other protections to shareholders. Typically, when a public company makes a tender offer for a class of its own equity securities, it similarly must file a Schedule TO and may also need to file a Schedule 13E-3. Typically, except for the anti-fraud and a few other provisions of Regulation 14E, the SEC's tender offer rules generally do not apply to tender offers that result in ownership of five percent or less of the outstanding shares—also known as "mini-tender offers."
Typically, Dutch auction share repurchase allows firms an alternative to the fixed price tender offer when executing a tender offer share repurchase. Typically, a Dutch auction offer specifies a price range within which the shares will ultimately be purchased. Typically, shareholders are invited to tender their stock, if they desire, at any price within the stated range. Typically, the firm then compiles these responses, creating a supply curve for the stock. Typically, the purchase price is the lowest price that allows the firm to buy the number of shares sought in the offer, and the firm pays that price to all investors who tendered at or below that price. Typically, if the number of shares tendered exceeds the number sought, then the company purchases less than all shares tendered at or below the purchase price on a pro rata basis to all who tendered at or below the purchase price. Typically, if too few shares are tendered, then the firm either cancels the offer (provided it had been made conditional on a minimum acceptance), or it buys back all tendered shares at the maximum price. An example of a Dutch auction is when the auctioneer starts at $2,000 for an object. If there are no bidders, the price is lowered by $100. The object will be sold once a bidder accepts the last price announced by the auctioneer, say $1,500.

Facilitating corporate tenders/Dutch auction tenders and computer-implemented methods and computer systems thereof


A control method of the heated injector system for a vehicle including an injector, injecting fuel into an engine of the vehicle, and a fuel pump supplying the fuel to the injector, includes activating a heater to preheat the injector, stopping fuel supply by stopping driving of the fuel pump, and upon stopping the fuel supply, re-activating the heater to heat the injector.

In the case of an engine using gasoline, ethanol, and the like, as fuel, one of the most important factors for improving performance and fuel economy and decreasing exhaust gas is to improve combustion characteristics. A combustion process of a general spark ignition engine is a diffusion flame type process in which flame is expanded from an ignition source when the fuel is mixed with air and the fuel-air mixture is ignited by spark plug as illustrated in the following drawings.
In order to improve combustion characteristics in premixed combustion, the particle size of the fuel should be small and the fuel should be easily vaporized and easily mixed with air. To this end, technologies for improving spray characteristics of the injector and flow characteristics in the combustion chamber have been actively developed and applied. Combustion characteristics at a low temperature generally deteriorate due to deterioration of vaporization characteristic of the fuel. Therefore, in order to improve start-up performance at the time of cold start, the amount of the fuel is increased, power generation of an alternator is prohibited, and multi-ignition, or the like, is applied, thereby improving start-up performance.
Therefore, in order to improve the combustion characteristics at a low temperature, there is a need to improve start-up performance by optimizing heating control in the system to which a heated injector for increasing the temperature of the fuel is applied.

Control method for heated injector system of a vehicle