A nonvolatile storage system includes a plurality of nonvolatile memories and a control unit. When having detected a write-in error that occurred at an operation-subject nonvolatile memory, the control unit can set inter-chip alternate information indicating that a storage region related to the write-in error has been replaced by a storage region of any other nonvolatile memory of the plurality of nonvolatile memories to the nonvolatile memory of the storage region related to this error, so that when having received the inter-chip alternate information from the operation-subject nonvolatile memory, the control unit can change the operation subject from the current operation-subject nonvolatile memory to any other nonvolatile memory indicated by this inter-chip alternate information. It is thus possible to rescue a write-in error which occurred at one nonvolatile memory by replacing it with any other chip.

The present invention relates to a technology for rescuing such a storage region in any one of a plurality of nonvolatile memories that encounters a fault occurring time-wise in a nonvolatile storage system that has these memories, for example, to such a technology that is effectively applicable to such a memory card as an Advanced Technology attachment (ATA) memory card mounted with a flash memory.
An electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory stores information based on a threshold voltage, which varies with an amount of electrons or positive holes injected into the floating gate of the memory cells. The properties of such a threshold voltage of the memory cells will deteriorate time-wise as the number of times of rewriting the memory contents increases. Such a deterioration in the properties results in a write-in error being detected in verification. To solve this problem, there has conventionally been provided a rescue technology for replacing a storage region in which a write-in error occurred with another storage region.
For example, in an ATA memory card used as a file memory, the storage regions of each of nonvolatile memories are divided into such functional sections as a data block regions section, a data-block alternate regions section for rescue, etc. so that each of these functional sections is defined as an aggregate of data blocks given in units of one sector and a corresponding management region. Each of the data blocks is assigned an inherent physical address in each of the memories. If a write-in error occurs in any of these data block regions, a flag indicating the error is set to this region, to set the physical address of such a data block region in said data block alternate regions section that is to substitute for said faulty data block region. Write-in data related to the write-in error is written into a data block of that alternate address. Then, if access is made to the address of said faulty data block, this data block is recognized to be faulty based on the error flag set in its corresponding management region so that access may be made instead to such a data block in the data block alternate regions section that is specified by the alternate address.
The Inventor, however, recognized a problem that in a case where a faulty data block is to be replaced with another only within the corresponding one of a plurality of nonvolatile memories and there is a deviation in fault occurrence ratio among them, if so many write-in errors occur in any one of these memories that cannot be accommodated by the rescue capacity of the data block alternate data block regions section in this memory, the entire relevant memory card must be treated as being faulty.
Concerning this, there have been disclosed such a conventional technology of having a preliminary nonvolatile memory for a backup purpose that is disclosed in JP-A-3-25798 and such a method for processing data necessary to replace a faulty nonvolatile memory that is disclosed in JP-A-9-200636.
The conventional technologies, however, are based on a premise that a faulty nonvolatile memory is to be replaced or a redundant (spare) nonvolatile memory and so are yet to fully utilize the storage regions of each of nonvolatile memories without replacing a faulty one of them.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a nonvolatile storage system that can improve redressing efficiency for a write-in error occurring as time passes by without replacing a faulty one of nonvolatile memories or using a spare nonvolatile memory in the system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a nonvolatile storage system that can avoid an overall failure thereof without replacing a faulty one of nonvolatile memories or using a spare nonvolatile memory in the system even if a faulty data block cannot be replaced within any one of these memories.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a nonvolatile storage system that can utilize the storage regions of each nonvolatile memory without waste when replacing a faulty data block.
The typical contents of the present invention in this application are outlined as follows.
(1) Inter-chip alternate: A nonvolatile storage system according to the present invention comprises a plurality of nonvolatile memories capable of read-out, erasure, and write-in operations and a control unit for controlling the operations of these nonvolatile memories in response to an external request. When having detected a write-in error on an operation-subject one of said plurality of nonvolatile memories, said control unit can set inter-chip alternate information about a fact that a storage region related to the write-in error has been replaced by a storage region in another one of said plurality of nonvolatile memories to the nonvolatile memory related to this error and also, when having received inter-chip alternate information from the current operation-subject nonvolatile memory, can switch the operation-subject memory from it to such another nonvolatile memory that is indicated by the chip alternate information. In the present specification, a write-in error refers to a state where when a write-in voltage is applied to a nonvolatile memory (programming) to then verify it, a predetermined threshold voltage cannot be obtained or a state where when the write-in subject is replaced already, confirmation of whether a alternate destination address can be obtained before start of said programming and programming verification finds that it is impossible.
It is thus possible, in inter-chip alternate, to redress a write-in error which occurred at one nonvolatile memory by using a storage region of another nonvolatile memory. This makes it possible, if a faulty data block cannot be replaced with another within one of a plurality of nonvolatile memories, to avoid an overall system error without replacing the faulty nonvolatile memory or using a preliminary nonvolatile memory.
If a write-in error occurred in a nonvolatile memory in which the number of the remaining storage regions capable of new placement has decreased to a predetermined number or less, preferably inter-chip alternate is allowed to that memory. It is thus possible to enable inter-chip alternate so as to eliminate waste of the data blocks as much as possible. That is, by starting inter-chip alternate before such a nonvolatile memory appears that is exhausted to such an extent that intra-chip alternate is no longer possible, the remaining regions capable of new alternate hardly have a large deviation among themselves, thus making it possible to minimize the number of processing cycles required for inter-chip alternate and intra-chip alternate. This is because, if there is a large deviation in the number of the regions capable of new alternate among nonvolatile memories, the number of such nonvolatile memories of these that can be adopted as a alternate destination is decreased, to increase the number of times of making retrieval retrials for looking for such a nonvolatile memory that can be adopted as an inter-chip alternate destination.
To enable inter-chip alternate so as to eliminate waste in the data blocks, inter-chip alternate can be allowed for a write-in error which occurred in a nonvolatile memory in which the number of the storage regions that can be adopted as a alternate destination has been decreased to a predetermined number of less.
A write-in error that occurred in such a nonvolatile memory that is capable of alternate can be accommodated by intra-chip alternate. For example, if a write-in error occurred in a nonvolatile memory which has the storage regions capable of alternate as many as a predetermined number or more, said control unit sets intra-chip alternate information indicating that a storage region related to the write-in error has been replaced with another storage region to such a nonvolatile memory that has the storage region related to this error and also makes it possible to obtain the intra-chip alternate information from an operation-subject nonvolatile memory to then change the operation subject from it to such a storage region that is indicated by this intra-chip alternate information.
It is thus possible to improve the rescue efficiency for write-in errors occurring time-wise without replacing a faulty nonvolatile memory or using a preliminary nonvolatile memory, thus utilizing the storage regions of each of the nonvolatile memories without waste in alternate of faulty data blocks.
Note here that of course a storage region used for said inter-chip or intra-chip alternate is different from a redundant storage region used for defect rescue in a device process.
As a candidate for a alternate destination nonvolatile memory used in inter-chip alternate, such a nonvolatile memory can be adopted that has the remaining storage regions that can be adopted as a alternate destination as many as a number larger than a predetermined number. If there is none of said candidates that can be adopted, another candidate can be adopted that has the storage regions that can be adopted as a alternate destination as many as the predetermined number or less. If a write-in error occurred in a storage region, preferably the operation of writing such data that is related to the write-in error into such a region that substitutes for this storage region related to the write-in error does not compete with an operation of writing other data, which can be made possible when the writing operation is best performed to the nonvolatile memory where this write-in error occurred.
(2) Interleaved writing: In a case where in the above-mentioned nonvolatile storage system said control unit can control interleaved writing for responding to a data write-in request from an external device to thereby sequentially write write-in data in units of a predetermined data quantity into a plurality of nonvolatile memories as shifting the operation timing, when having detected a write-in error during an interleaved writing operation, as another nonvolatile memory that substitutes for a storage region related to the write-in error, it excludes such a series of nonvolatile memories including a nonvolatile memory where said write-in error occurred that are made a subject for interleaved writing.
By doing so, the operation of writing data related to a write-in error into a alternate region can be prevented from competing with an interleaving operation of writing sub-divided other data. At least, such competition can be eliminated easily at a high probability.
From another detailed aspect on interleaved writing, when having detected a write-in error during the interleaved writing operation, as another nonvolatile memory that substitutes for a storage region related to the write-in error, said control unit may select the first candidate from among such nonvolatile memories that are each distant in interleaving order from the preceding and following ones by a predetermined number of two or more.
If said first candidate cannot be selected, said control unit may select such a second candidate that can be adopted as a alternate destination from among such nonvolatile memories of those outside a range in which said first candidate is selected that follow said first candidate in interleaving order.
If said second candidate cannot be selected, said control unit adopts as a third candidate for a alternate destination a nonvolatile where a write-in error occurred.
If said third candidate cannot be selected, said control unit selects such a fourth candidate that can be adopted as a alternate destination from among such nonvolatile memories of those outside the range in which said first candidate is selected that precede said first candidate in interleaving order.
(3) Parallel writing: When parallel writing is used in place of interleaved writing, said control unit can control parallel wiring for responding to a data write-in request from an external device to thereby write write-in data in units of predetermined data quantity to a plurality of nonvolatile memories concurrently, so that when having detected a write-in error during parallel writing, it selects the first candidate for another nonvolatile memory that substitutes for a storage region related to said write-in error, from a range excluding the parallel-writing subject nonvolatile memories including the nonvolatile memory where said write-in error occurred.
(4) The following will describe a nonvolatile memory related to the present invention from a further aspect. A nonvolatile storage system comprises a control unit and a plurality of nonvolatile memories. Said control unit receives data and address information from an external device to then control the storing of the data received from said external device into said plurality of nonvolatile memories, the reading out of the data thus stored in said nonvolatile memories, and the erasing of the data stored in said nonvolatile memories, while said nonvolatile memories each respond to an operation instruction from the control unit to thereby perform a write-in operation of storing data supplied from said control unit, a read-out operation of reading the stored data and supplying it to the control unit, and an erasure operation of erasing the stored data. The control unit then sub-divides the data received from the external device into data portions of a predetermined size and performs an interleaving operation of supplying the first nonvolatile memory with the first one of thus sub-divided data portions together with a write-in operation instruction and supplying the second nonvolatile memory with the second data portion together with a write-in operation instruction while data is being written to the first nonvolatile memory, thus sequentially supplying all of these sub-divided data portions to the plurality of nonvolatile memories. If a write-in error occurred while predetermined data is being written to any one of the plurality of nonvolatile memories, when having detected the write-in error, the control unit controls data storage in supplying said predetermined data together with a write-in operation instruction to the nonvolatile memory engaged in the write-in operation and also to other nonvolatile memories except those to which sub-divided data portions are to be written after the occurrence of the write-in error.
The nonvolatile memories each have a plurality of memory cells, a plurality of word lines, and a plurality of bit lines. Said plurality of memory cells are positioned at the respective intersections between the corresponding word lines and bit lines. The memory cells connected to the respective word lines are classified into, for example, a first group and a second group so that the memory cells of the first group may be used for storing the data supplied from the control unit and the memory cells of the second group may be used for storing predetermined information. The predetermined information contains such information that indicates whether a write-in error occurred when the predetermined data was being stored into any memory cell connected to the relevant word line during the write-in operation and such information that indicates a nonvolatile memory that stored the predetermined data when the write-in error occurred.
The predetermined size of the sub-divided data portions is, for example, such that they can be stored in any of the memory cells of the first group. The write-in, read-out, and erasure operations are performed for each of said word lines, for example.
The memory cells each store data therein based on a threshold voltage that corresponds, for example, to the data to be stored, while the write-in operation comprises a first operation of changing a threshold voltage for each memory cell to a threshold voltage that corresponds to data to be stored and a second operation of confirming whether the threshold voltage for each memory cell has been changed to the corresponding threshold voltage and repeats the first and second operations. In this operation, the write-in error is detected when it is detected that after the first and second operations are repeated a predetermined number of times, the threshold voltage of at least one memory cell has not been changed to the corresponding threshold voltage.
When the write-in error is detected in the write-in operation, the nonvolatile memory posts the occurrence of the write-in error to the control unit, which in turn gives a write-in operation instruction to the other nonvolatile memories after writing data to the relevant nonvolatile memory where the write-in error occurred by specifying a word line different from that involved in writing when the write-in error occurred.
If rescued by redundant means at the stage of a device process, said nonvolatile memory notifies said control unit of the occurrence of a write-in error after writing data through the redundant means by specifying a word line different from that involved in writing when said write-in error occurred.
The above-mentioned and other objects and the novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.


A lockout valve for an inflatable penile prosthesis which responds to internal fluid pressure. The lockout valve comprises a housing having inlet and outlet ports, an interior chamber, an apertured valve seat, and a poppet biased toward the closed position. The inlet communicates with the prosthesis reservoir, and the outlet communicates with the interior chamber and the prosthesis pump. The housing includes a flexible diaphragm which moves toward the poppet when flexed inwardly. Fluid pressure through the inlet port urges the poppet into sealing engagement against the valve seat, therefore closing the lockout valve. Negative fluid pressure applied to the interior chamber from the outlet port (when the pump is actuated) causes the diaphragm to flex inwardly and contact the poppet to open the valve. The lockout valve operates like a check valve when subject to reverse flow.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relate, generally to lockout valves for implantable penile prostheses, and particularly to a valve assembly which responds to an internal pressure differential within the prosthesis and which may be retrofitted to an existing implanted prosthesis.
2. Content of the Prior Art
Implantable penile prostheses for treating impotence are well know to the art. These prostheses generally include a reservoir of biocompatible liquid such as physiological saline implanted within the patient s abdomen, a pump and valve block located within the patient's scrotum, and a pair of cylinders which are implanted within the corpus cavernosae of the penis. Actuating the pump transfers fluid from the reservoir to the cylinders causing them to inflate, thus producing an erection. When the patient wishes to return to a tumescent or flaccid state, he releases the fluid from the cylinders back into the reservoir, in some cases by manually compressing the cylinders to force fluid back to the reservoir. Some representative examples of these penile prostheses and their components or variations are shown in several United States patents to Buuck '102, Cowen '611, '417, '485, and '914, Fogarty '446, 183, and '826, Bley '020, Uson '711, and Strauch '122, which are incorporated herein by reference.
A wide variety of embodiments of such penile prostheses are known, including the representative examples mentioned above. For example, some prostheses do not utilize a pump, but rather rely on physical compression of the reservoir or a pressurized reservoir to inflate the cylinders. While some prostheses locate the reservoir or pump subcutaneously within the patient's abdomen, others provide a unitary pump and reservoir located within the patient's scrotum. For purposes of this disclosure, many of these prostheses may be considered substantially interchangeable to the extent they include a reservoir, pump, and cylinders (or their structural or functional equivalents).
As noted, one of the components of many prostheses is a valve block, which contains one or more check valves regulating the flow of fluid between the reservoir and cylinders. These check valves prevent the flow of fluid in one direction, and may be spring-biased to remain in a closed position preventing flow in the forward direction until sufficient internal pressure is exerted on the valves to cause them to open. In some embodiments, the check valves are actually palpitatable valves which must be physically manipulated (such as by actuating the pump or squeezing the valve element) in order to open the valve to forward flow.
Another component is a release or relief valve, which serves to permit reverse flow from the cylinders to the reservoir when the release valve is selectively actuated by the patient. The release valve is usually located in the pump or valve block, between the pump and the cylinders, or within or near the cylinders.
While the check valves and release valves are suitable to selectively control the flow of fluid between the reservoir and the cylinders during normal operation, it was soon recognized that pressure exerted on the reservoir during physical activity or movement by the patient could cause the inadvertent and undesired inflation of the cylinders. If sufficient pressure is placed on the reservoir (for example, when a patient who has an abdominal reservoir bends over, or a patient having a scrotal reservoir sits down or crosses his legs), the pressure on the reservoir may overcome the resistance of the spring-biased check valve, causing complete or partial inflation of the cylinders. In prostheses having pressurized reservoirs, the unintended activation of the control valve can produce the same result. In the event of accidental auto-inflation--either partial or total--the patient would be required to manually open the release valve and physically compress the cylinders to deflate them.
In addition, encapsulation or calcification frequently occurs around the reservoir. This can lead to more frequent instances of auto-inflation (since the capsule may transmit or focus more pressure on the reservoir when the patient moves or bends), or result in continuous partial inflation because the capsule exerts pressure on the reservoir that overcomes the check valve or prevents complete deflation of the cylinders.
As may be readily appreciated, instances of accidental auto-inflation can be quite embarrassing and painful for a patient, and may restrict their ability to engage in certain recreational or daily activities. In addition, even for patients whose actual incidents of accidental auto-inflation might be infrequent, the mere risk of such an occurrence may cause them to refrain from activities in which they might otherwise engage.
Lockout valves to prevent auto-inflation of the chambers are therefore well known to the art. As meant herein, the term "lockout valve" means a valve or flow control other than the check or release valves, which serves to prevent accidental auto-inflation and is characterized by requiring selective actuation or activation by the patient in order to permit fluid flow in the positive direction (i.e., from the reservoir to the cylinders), and which will remain closed despite high fluid pressures experienced by or exerted from fluid in the reservoir or connecting tubing.
Conventional lockout valves include those which are normally-closed (returning to a completely closed position when not being manually actuated) versus bi-stable (having distinct open and closed positions in which the valve will remain until manually moved to the contrary position).
Representative examples of various lockout valves are shown in several United States and foreign patents, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The Cozzi '798 patent application discloses a prostheses having an abdominal reservoir with either a palpitatable or bi-stable "spigot" type lockout valve located in the scrotum. The Cozzi '798 patent does not utilize a pump, but instead relies on manual compression of the reservoir. The Trick '110 patent shows a bi-stable lever-type valve mounted on a pressurized reservoir located within the scrotum. The Stucks '416 patent provides bi-stable valves associated with each cylinder which control both inflation and deflation.
The Evans '491 and 968 patents disclose bi-stable crossover valves which are connected in line between the pump and cylinders. The Burton '509 patent discloses an embodiment having a bi-stable valve located in the valve block, and an embodiment in which the valve actuator is located inside the pump bulb.
The Daly '403 and Trick '360 patents disclose palpitatable valves which are formed integrally with the pump and are therefore located within the patient's scrotum. The Lash '693 patent shows a palpitatable valve disposed slightly downstream from the unitary pump and reservoir.
The Fischell '242 and '830 patents disclose subcutaneous lockout valves positioned within the patient's abdomen or pubic area, which are opened by depressing a spring-biased plunger or resilient diaphragm.
Although not exhaustive of the various structures and embodiments of lockout valves developed or utilized with inflatable penile prostheses, these examples are believed to represent the basic concepts or methods previously employed by those skilled in the art of designing penile prostheses to prevent accidental auto-inflation.
However, these designs do present or reflect several significant disadvantages or drawbacks.
Several of the lockout valves require two-handed operation--one to actuate the lockout valve, and the other to operate the pump or compress the reservoir. It may also be difficult to initially locate or manipulate the activation mechanisms in some of the lockout valves.
Subcutaneous abdominal lockout valves may become less responsive when implanted due to calcification and the formation of scar tissue, or due to movement within the patient unless the lockout valve is secured to an available anatomical structure.
Some of the lockout valves can cause additional discomfort due to their size or shape, or may expose the patient to the risk of internal injuries or damage due to interference with vesicles or lumen within the scrotum, or as a result of manipulating the valve's actuation mechanism. The size and shape of some lockout valves may increase the complexity or risks associated with the implant procedure itself, or prohibit some types of less invasive surgical procedures.
Finally, some of the valves are unduly complicated or expensive to manufacture, and may be subject to mechanical wear, failure, or rejection that would necessitate repair or replacement, thereby involving additional surgery for the patient.

Pressure-responsive lockout valve and method of use


An engine block is disclosed in one embodiment having a cylinder shape bore, which forms the outside wall surface of a cylindrical air chamber. Radially outwards from the cylindrical air chamber there is an annular shape combustion chamber, which has a circular inner wall surface, circular outer wall surface, closed annular shaped top surface, and an annular shaped open end opposite of the top surface. The bottom end of the circular inner wall surface of the annular shape combustion chamber and the bottom end of the outside wall surface of the cylindrical air chamber defines an annular shape surface. This surface fits inside the annular shape air chamber in the piston assembly. In one embodiment, in the lower part of the circular inner wall surface of the annular shape combustion chamber there is a circular groove for an oil scraper ring of conventional design.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for obtaining mechanical energy directly from the expenditure of the chemical energy of fuel burned in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the apparatus, and more particularly to an internal-combustion engine.
Internal-Combustion Engine is any type of machine that obtains mechanical energy directly from the expenditure of the chemical energy of fuel burned in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the engine.
In 1873 Brayton, an American, developed an engine, which had the unique features of constant-pressure combustion and complete expansion. One cylinder was used to compress air or the combustible mixture. Another cylinder was used as a working cylinder and was large enough to obtain complete expansion to atmospheric pressure. The compressor discharged the mixture into a receiver, and the mixture flowed from the receiver to the engine, being ignited and burned at constant pressure as it entered the engine. An ignition flame was supported by a mixture by-pass, and a flame-suppression grid prevented the flame from flashing back into the mixture receiver.
The Brayton engine could not compete with the Otto-cycle engine because of high heat and mechanical-friction losses, and it was abandoned when the Otto-engine was introduced in the United States. Although the Brayton process was abandoned for the piston engine, it is used for gas-turbine engine process.
Four principal types of internal-combustion engines are in general use: the Otto-cycle engine, the Diesel engine, the rotary engine, and the gas turbine.
The Otto-cycle engine, named after its inventor, the German technician Nikolaus August Otto, was first built in 1876 and is the familiar gasoline engine used in automobiles and airplanes.
The Diesel engine, (U.S. Pat. No. 542,846, granted on Jul. 16, 1895) named after the French-born German engineer Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel, operates on a different principle and usually uses oil as a fuel. It is employed in electric-generating and marine-power plants, in trucks and buses, and in some automobiles. Both Otto-cycle and Diesel engines are manufactured in two-stroke and four-stroke cycle models.
The essential parts of Otto-cycle and Diesel engines are the same. The combustion chamber consists of a cylinder, usually fixed, that is closed at one end and in which a close-fitting piston slides. The in-and-out motion of the piston varies the volume of the chamber between the inner face of the piston and the closed end of the cylinder. The outer face of the piston is attached to a crankshaft by a connecting rod. The crankshaft transforms the reciprocating motion of the piston into rotary motion. In multi-cylindered engines the crankshaft has one offset portion, called a crankpin, for each connecting rod, so that the power from each cylinder is applied to the crankshaft at the appropriate point in its rotation. Crankshafts have heavy flywheels and counterweights, which by their inertia minimize irregularity in the motion of the shaft. An engine may have from 1 to as many as 28 cylinders.
The fuel supply system of an internal-combustion engine consists of a tank, a fuel-pump, and a device for vaporizing or atomizing the liquid fuel. In Otto-cycle engines this device is either a carburetor or, more recently, a fuel-injection system. In most engines with a carburetor, vaporized fuel is conveyed to the cylinders through a branched pipe called the intake manifold and, in many engines, a similar exhaust manifold is provided to carry off the gases produced by combustion. The fuel is admitted to each cylinder and the waste gases exhausted through mechanically operated poppet valves or sleeve valves. The valves are normally held closed by the pressure of springs and are opened at the proper time during the operating cycle by cams on a rotating camshaft that is geared to the crankshaft. By the 1980s more sophisticated fuel-injection systems, also used in Diesel engines, had largely replaced this traditional method of supplying the proper mix of air and fuel. In engines with fuel injection, a mechanically or electronically controlled monitoring system injects the appropriate amount of gas directly into the cylinder or inlet valve at the appropriate time. The gas vaporizes as it enters the cylinder. This system is more fuel-efficient than the carburetor and produces less pollution.
In all engines some means of igniting the fuel in the cylinder must be provided. For example, the ignition system of Otto-cycle engines described below consists of a source of low-voltage, direct current electricity that is connected to the primary of a transformer called an ignition coil. The current is interrupted many times a second by an automatic switch called the timer. The pulsations of the current in the primary induce a pulsating, high-voltage current in the secondary. The high-voltage current is led to each cylinder in turn by a rotary switch called the distributor. The actual ignition device is the spark plug, an insulated conductor set in the wall or top of each cylinder. At the inner end of the spark plug is a small gap between two wires. The high-voltage current arcs across this gap yielding the spark that ignites the fuel mixture in the cylinder.
Because of the heat of combustion, all engines must be equipped with some type of cooling system. Some aircraft and automobile engines, small stationary engines, and outboard motors for boats are cooled by air. In this system the outside surfaces of the cylinder are shaped in a series of radiating fins with a large area of metal to radiate heat from the cylinder. Other engines are water-cooled and have their cylinders enclosed in an external water jacket. In automobiles, water is circulated through the jacket by means of a water pump and cooled by passing through the finned coils of a radiator. Some automobile engines are also air-cooled, and in marine engines seawater is used for cooling.
Unlike steam engines and turbines, internal-combustion engines develop no torque when starting, and therefore provision must be made for turning the crankshaft so that the cycle of operation can begin. Automobile engines are normally started by means of an electric motor or starter that is geared to the crankshaft with a clutch that automatically disengages the motor after the engine has started. Small engines are sometimes started manually by turning the crankshaft with a crank or by pulling a rope wound several times around the flywheel. Methods of starting large engines include the inertia starter, which consists of a flywheel that is rotated by hand or by means of an electric motor until its kinetic energy is sufficient to turn the crankshaft, and the explosive starter, which employs the explosion of a blank cartridge to drive a turbine wheel that is coupled to the engine. The inertia and explosive starters are chiefly used to start airplane engines.
Otto-Cycle Engines
The ordinary Otto-cycle engine is a four-stroke engine; that is, in a complete power cycle, its pistons make four strokes, two toward the head (closed head) of the cylinder and two away from the head. During the first stroke of the cycle, the piston moves away from the cylinder head while simultaneously the intake valve is opened. The motion of the piston during this stroke sucks a quantity of a fuel and air mixture into the combustion chamber. During the next stroke, the piston moves toward the cylinder head and compresses the fuel mixture in the combustion chamber. At the moment when the piston reaches the end of this stroke and the volume of the combustion chamber is at a minimum, the fuel mixture is ignited by the spark plug and burns, expanding and exerting a pressure on the piston, which is then driven away from the cylinder head in the third stroke. During the final stroke, the exhaust valve is opened and the piston moves toward the cylinder head, driving the exhaust gases out of the combustion chamber and leaving the cylinder ready to repeat the cycle.
The efficiency of a modern Otto-cycle engine is limited by a number of factors, including losses by cooling and by friction. In general, the efficiency of such engines is determined by the compression ratio of the engine. The compression ratio (the ratio between the maximum and minimum volumes of the combustion chamber) is usually about 8 to 1 or 10 to 1 in most modern Otto-cycle engines. Higher compression ratios, up to about 15 to 1, with a resulting increase of efficiency, are possible with the use of high-octane antiknock fuels. The efficiencies of good modern Otto-cycle engines range between 25 and 30 percent—in other words, only this percentage of the heat energy of the fuel is transformed into mechanical energy.
Diesel Engines
Theoretically, the Diesel cycle differs from the Otto cycle in that combustion takes place at constant volume rather than at constant pressure. Most Diesels are also four-stroke engines but they operate differently than the four-stroke Otto-cycle engines. The first, or suction, stroke draws air, but no fuel, into the combustion chamber through an intake valve. On the second, or compression, stroke the air is compressed to a small fraction of its former volume and is heated to approximately 440° C. (approximately 820° F.) by this compression. At the end of the compression stroke, vaporized fuel is injected into the combustion chamber and burns instantly because of the high temperature of the air in the chamber. Some Diesels have auxiliary electrical ignition systems to ignite the fuel when the engine starts and until it warms up. This combustion drives the piston back on the third, or power, stroke of the cycle. The fourth stroke, as in the Otto-cycle engine, is an exhaust stroke.
The efficiency of the Diesel engine, which is in general governed by the same factors that control the efficiency of Otto-cycle engines, is inherently greater than that of any Otto-cycle engine and in actual engines today is slightly more than 40 percent. Diesels are, in general, slow-speed engines with crankshaft speeds of 100 to 750 revolutions per minute (rpm) as compared to 2500 to 5000 rpm for typical Otto-cycle engines. Some types of Diesel, however, have speeds up to 2000 rpm and even higher. Because Diesels use compression ratios of 14 or more to 1, they are generally more heavily built than Otto-cycle engines, but this disadvantage is counterbalanced by their greater efficiency and the fact that they can be operated on less expensive fuel oils.
Two-Stroke Engines
By suitable design it is possible to operate an Otto-cycle or Diesel as a two-stroke or two-cycle engine with a power stroke every other stroke of the piston instead of once every four strokes. The efficiency of such engines is less than that of four-stroke engines, and therefore the power of a two-stroke engine is always less than half that of a four-stroke engine of comparable size.
The general principle of the two-stroke engine is to shorten the periods in which fuel is introduced to the combustion chamber and in which the spent gases are exhausted to a small fraction of the duration of a stroke instead of allowing each of these operations to occupy a full stroke. In the simplest type of two-stroke engine, sleeve valves or ports (openings in the cylinder wall that are uncovered by the piston at the end of its outward travel) replace the poppet valves. In the two-stroke cycle, the fuel mixture or air is introduced through the intake port when the piston is fully withdrawn from the cylinder. The compression stroke follows, and the charge is ignited when the piston reaches the end of this stroke. The piston then moves outward on the power stroke, uncovering the exhaust port and permitting the gases to escape from the combustion chamber.
Rotary Engine
In the 1950s the German engineer Felix Wankel developed an internal-combustion engine of a radically new design, in which a three-cornered rotor turning in a roughly oval chamber replaces the piston and cylinder. The fuel-air mixture is drawn in through an intake port and trapped between one face of the turning rotor and the wall of the oval chamber. The turning of the rotor compresses the mixture, which is ignited by a spark plug. The exhaust gases are then expelled through an exhaust port through the action of the turning rotor. The cycle takes place alternately at each face of the rotor, giving three power strokes for each turn of the rotor. Because of the Wankel engine's compact size and consequent lesser weight as compared with the piston engine, it appeared to be an important option for automobiles. In addition, its mechanical simplicity provided low manufacturing costs, its cooling requirements were low and its low center of gravity made it safer to drive. A line of Wankel-engine cars was produced in Japan in the early 1970s, and several United States automobile manufacturers researched the idea as well. However, production of the Wankel engine was discontinued as a result of its poor fuel economy and its high pollutant emissions.
Stratified Charge Engine
A modification of the conventional spark-ignition piston engine, the stratified charge engine is designed to reduce emissions without the need for an exhaust-gas re-circulation system or catalytic converter. Its key feature is a dual combustion chamber for each cylinder with a pre-chamber that receives a rich fuel-air mixture while the main chamber is charged with a very lean mixture. The spark ignites the rich mixture that in turn ignites the lean main mixture. The resulting peak temperature is low enough to inhibit the formation of nitrogen oxides, and the mean temperature is sufficiently high to limit emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon.
Research on modifications of conventional engines as well as alternatives to conventional engines continues. Some of these options include a modified version of the two-stroke engine, the twin engine (a combination of an internal-combustion engine and an electric engine), and the Stirling engine.
Stirling Engine
Stirling engine is a type of engine that derives mechanical power from the expansion of a confined gas at a high temperature. The engine was patented in 1816 by the Scottish clergyman Robert Stirling and was used as a small power source in many industries during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The need for automobile engines with low emission of toxic gases has revived interest in the Stirling engine, and prototypes have been built with up to 500 hp and with efficiencies of 30 to 45 percent. Common internal-combustion engines have efficiencies in the range of 20 to 30 percent.
The cycle that provides the work is called the Stirling cycle. It consists in its simplest form of the compression of a fixed amount of so-called working gas (hydrogen or helium) in a cool chamber. This cool compressed gas is transferred to a hot chamber, which is heated by an external burner, where the gas expands and drives a piston that delivers the work. The expanded hot gas is then cooled and returned to the cold chamber, and the cycle begins again. The engine is able to transform heat into work because the expansion of the gas at high temperature delivers more work than is required to compress the same amount of gas at low temperature.
An external continuous burner that can operate on gasoline, alcohol, natural gas, propane, or butane, provides the heat for the expansion chamber, and the exhaust generated has very low free carbon and toxic gas levels. The Stirling engine runs smoothly because pressure variations in the compression and expansion chambers are sinusoidal, that is, relatively gradual, rather than explosive as in internal-combustion cycles. The necessity of rapid removal of heat from the hot working gas requires a large radiator, which makes this type of engine less suited to small automobiles.
The Scuderi Split-Cycle Engine
The Scuderi Split-Cycle Engine presently under development divides (or splits) the four strokes of the Otto cycle over a paired combination of one compression cylinder and one power (or expansion) cylinder, operating in principle like the Brayton engine in 1873. These two cylinders perform their respective functions once per crankshaft revolution.
The concept is shown in FIG. 1 where an intake charge is drawn into the compression cylinder 10 through an intake gas passage way and through typical poppet-style valves. Gas is compressed in the compression cylinder 10 and transferred to a compressed gas accumulator 14 and/or the power cylinder 12 through a crossover gas passage, which acts as the intake port for the power cylinder 12. The crossover gas passage includes a set of uniquely timed valves, which maintain a pre-charged pressure in the compressed gas accumulator 14 through all four strokes of the cycle. A check valve is used to prevent reverse flow from the crossover gas passage to the compression cylinder 10. Likewise a poppet-style valve prevents reverse flow from the power cylinder 12 to the crossover passage during the power and exhaust strokes.
Shortly after the piston in the power cylinder 12 reaches its top dead center position, the gas is quickly transferred to the power cylinder 12 and fired (or combusted) to produce the power stroke. The exhaust gases are pumped out of the power cylinder 12 during its return exhaust stroke through a typical poppet valve to the exhaust passage way.


A dry-formed nonwoven fabric; preferably an air lay web; including a fiber composition which is at least 50%, by weight, wood pulp fiber less than about 0.635 cm (1/4 inch) in length with 25% or more of the fiber composition in the web, by weight, being kraft wood pulp fibers, and under 50%, by weight, reinforcing fibers intermixed with the wood pulp fibers throughout the web structure; an embossment in the web providing a plurality of compressed, densified valley regions and less-dense high loft regions; the web including no more than about 5.1 g/m.sup.2 (3.0 lbs per ream of 2,880 ft..sup.2) of a binder and having a cross machine direction wet tensile strength no lower than about 0.09 Kg/cm (0.5 lbs/inch), and preferably at least 0.107 Kg/cm (0.6 lbs/inch). A higher cross-machine direction wet tensile strength in excess of 0.267 Kg/cm (1.5 lbs/inch) can be established at a binder level less than 8.5 g/m.sup.2 (5 lbs/ream), and preferably at a binder level between 6.8-8.5 g/m.sup.2 (4-5 lbs/ream).

Air lay web forming technology has developed to the point where it is now being used commerically to manufacture a variety of absorbent web products. For example, Scott Paper Company has developed an air lay process in which wood pulp fibers and textile fibers are blended together to manufacture webs for use in impregnated baby wipes, household towels and a variety of industrial wipers. These textile fibers enhance web strength by reinforcing the structure. In addition, Scott owns a number of patents directed to its blended-fiber, air lay technology (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,134,948; 4,130,915; 4,097,965 and 4,064,600). This list of patents does not include all patents directed to Scott's air lay technology; however, it is representative of information relevant and material to the subject matter of the instant invention.
Johnson & Johnson also has developed an air lay technology for manufacturing absorbent webs from a blend of wood pulp fibers and textile fibers. This technology purportedly utilizes the suction bonding technique described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,663,348, issued to Liloia et al., to bond the webs throughout their thickness, and purportedly is being commercially utilized to manufacture the facing sheet of Johnson & Johnson's disposable diaper product. This technology also may have been employed at different times to manufacture other absorbent web products.
Karl Kroyer of Denmark has developed an air lay technology employing 100% wood pulp fibers in forming air lay webs. In other words, Kroyer's technology does not employ textile fibers blended with the wood pulp fibers to reinforce the web structure. This technology presently is being utilized by American Can Company to commercially manufacture a household towel under the Bolt trademark, and purportedly employs the method claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,778, issued to Rasmussen.
In the commercial products employing blended fiber compositions (i.e., wood pulp fibers and textile fiber) relatively large quantities of binder have been needed to establish the necessary strength levels; particularly for absorbent products encountering rigorous use (e.g., household wipers, industrial wipers, etc.). In fact, the prior art technology employed by Scott Paper Company to manufacture its household and industrial wipers relies upon the use of approximately 8.5-10.2 g/m.sup.2 (5-6 lbs. per ream 2,880 ft..sup.2) of a cross-linking latex binder to establish a cross-direction wet tensile strength that does not fall below 0.107 Kg/cm (0.6 lbs. per inch). Although for some applications a lower cross-direction wet tensile strength on the order of about 0.089 Kg/cm (0.5 lbs./inch) can be tolerated, a high binder level in excess of about 6.1 g/m.sup.2 (3.6 lbs./ream) would still be needed.
The need for high binder levels is even more acute in air lay webs formed from 100% wood pulp fibers, since no additional strength will be imparted to these webs by longer-length textile fibers. For example, the commercial use of Kroyer's technology, as is partially reflected in earlier-referenced Rasmussen U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,778, to manufacture Bolt household towels utilizes in excess of 13.6 g/m.sup.2 (8 lbs./ream) of binder to establish a cross-machine direction wet strength level of about 0.135 kg/cm (0.76 lbs./in).
Liloia et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,663,348, assigned to Johnson & Johnson, suggests the use of low binder levels in air lay web structures. However, in order to achieve desired strength levels Liloia et al. appears to require the use of reinforcing synthetic fibers having a substantially uniform length greater than 1.9 cm (3/4 inches), and a suction bonding technique for bonding the entire web throughout its thickness.
The webs described in the Liloia et al. examples are not embossed, and there is absolutely no teaching that any relationship exists between the magnitude of embossing pressure and strength. However, such a relationship has surprisingly been recognized by applicant, and has been made use of in inventing the products covered herein, as will be explained in greater detail later in this application. It is significant to note that even though specific examples in the Liloia et al. patent suggest the use of low binder levels less than 3.4 g/m.sup.2 (2#/ream), commercial products purportedly covered by this patent employ considerably higher levels above 8.5 g/m.sup.2 (5 lbs. per ream) to obtain a CDWT level of about 0.14 kg/cm (0.8 lb/in).
A further patent of interest relating to air-lay fibrous webs including blends of wood pulp fibers and longer-length fibers, is U.S. Pat. No. 2,926,417, issed to Duvall. The webs disclosed in Duvall are primarily intended for use as flexible insulation and cushioning felts and are not embossed. Duvall definitely does not suggest any relationship between the magnitude of embossing pressure and strength; a relationship that need to be recognized by applicant in making the instant invention. Duvall indicates that to provide sufficient strength in his web to permit it to be conveyed through a bonding operation without falling apart, he needs to include at least 20% textile-length fibers in the structure. Interestingly, the blended fibrous webs of the instant invention can include considerably less than 20% textile fibers and still be carried through a bonding operation in a reliable manner.


Improved techniques of identifying when a device needs of service involve using data analytics to determine conditions when a device administrator of a computerized device is to be sent an alert regarding that device. Along these lines, a device monitoring system receives state data from a device that indicates the device is in a particular state, e.g., running certain applications, using some percentage of the processor and memory capacity, etc. The device monitoring system maps the device state data to a decision of whether or not to send a device administrator an alert concerning the device. The decision itself is a result of applying a model to the state data that is derived from the application of data analytics on historical device state data and administrator login data.

Cloud-based, information technology (IT) monitoring systems enable an IT professional to acquire information about customer systems from a remote location. Such IT monitoring systems include a central server that acquires system information from the customer systems and presents that information to the IT professional over a network.
The central server in a conventional cloud-based, IT monitoring system may send a notification to the IT professional when a customer system needs attention. Such notifications may take the form of emails, SMS messages, phone calls, and the like.


A cored electrode wire for pulsed electric arc welding, wherein said core includes from 2.5 to 12% calcium fluoride, from 2 to 8% calcium carbonate, from 0.2 to 2% silicon dioxide and from 0.5 to 1.5% of a fused mixed oxide. Also disclosed is a cored electrode wire for pulsed electric arc welding, wherein said core contains from 4 to 15% elemental manganese and from 2 to 8% elemental silicon, the remainder of the core comprising fused mixed oxide, desired alloying components and iron powder. In each of the above cases, the wire is suitable for use with the following welding pulse parameters: pulse energy: 8 to 250 J and preferably 10 to 120 J; pulse frequency: 10 to 500 Hz and preferably 15 to 350 Hz; background current: 8 to 250 A and preferably 10 to 100 A; wire feed speed: 1 to 20 m/min and preferably 4 to 17 m/min.

Solid electrode wire generally suffers from lack of versatility in alloy composition, since only large batches are economical, and absence of the protective and cleaning action provided by a slag. In addition, the solid wire/conventional power supply combination can give problems with lack of sidewall fusion in joining thicker sections.
Cored wires offer great versatility with regard to alloy composition since alloy additions are made via the core. They also generally give better sidewall fusion than solid wires. To reliably achieve the good low temperature impact properties and low weld metal hydrogen levels required in certain cases, basic-flux cored or metal cored wires demonstrate considerable advantage compared to alternative slag systems such as rutile ones.
However, the combination of basic cored wire with conventional power supply gives harsh welding operation, can be used only in a narrow range of welding currents, and is not usable for positional welding. The combination of basic cored wire with pulsed power supply, on the other hand, has been found to give good welding behaviour over a wide range of welding currents and to offer an all-position welding capability. Similarly, metal cored wires are only usable at high currents with conventional power supply but, when combined with pulsed power supply give good welding behaviour over a wide range of welding currents and offer all-position welding capability.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and Welding Industries Limited


This invention provides a method of isolating an increased number of hematopoietic stem cells from a subject comprising a) administering interleukin-7 to the subject in an amount that mobilizes the hematopoietic stem cells to the peripheral blood; and, b) isolating a population of leukocytes enriched for hematopoietic stem cells from the peripheral blood. Also provided is a method of transplanting an increased number of hematopoietic stem cells from a donor to a recipient to enhance repopulation of the recipient's hematopoietic and immune cells comprising a) administering interleukin-7 to the donor in an amount that mobilizes the hematopoietic stem cells to the peripheral blood; b) isolating a population of leukocytes enriched for hematopoietic stem cells from the donor's peripheral blood; and, c) transplanting the isolated population of leukocytes enriched for hematopoietic stem cells to the recipient, thereby enhancing the repopulation of the recipient's hematopoietic and immune cells. Finally, the invention provides a method of improving engraftment of a bone marrow transplant or a peripheral blood leukocyte transplant from a donor to a recipient comprising administering interleukin-7 to the recipient following transplantation in an amount that enhances engraftment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of hematopoietic cell mobilization. In particular, IL-7 has been found to mobilize hematopoietic stem cells, which can be used to augment peripheral blood transfusions and bone marrow transplantations.
2. Background Art
Autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has been used for the support of high dose chemotherapy in the treatment of various neoplastic diseases (1). Under steady-state conditions, the majority of primitive hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells reside in the bone marrow, and only a low number of these cells can be isolated from the peripheral blood. However, additional peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) and peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) can be mobilized by treatment with myelosuppressive agents (2), and/or certain growth factors (3, 4). Recent studies have shown that PBPC and PBSC exhibit enhanced potential for engraftment as compared to BMT (4, 5).
The differentiation of cells of the various hemopoietic lineages involves a complex and, as yet, incompletely understood series of events. In recent years, advances have been made in isolating and expressing cytokines known to be involved in hematopoiesis. Granulocyte-macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interleukin-3 (IL-3), granulocyte-CSF, CSF-1 and IL-6 have been shown to be directly stimulatory to myeloid progenitor cells (25, 26). In contrast, the factors which regulate lymphopoiesis at the progenitor cell level are largely unknown despite a large body of evidence showing significant effects of various interleukins on mature T-cells and B-cells.
Several hematopoietic growth factors (I-IGF) have been studied as mobilizing agents, alone or in combination, in preclinical studies or clinical trials (e.g. G-CSF, GM-CSF, IL3/Epo, IL-1, SCF, IL-11) (4, 20). Some HGFs have their activity restricted to myelopoiesis while others stimulate lymphopoiesis and myelopoiesis (21). To date, 11,-7 had been reported to primarily stimulate lymphopoiesis (13, 22, 34, 35), with a pronounced increase in the number of mature T lymphocytes, particularly CD8+T-cells, as well as T-cell-mediated responses (13). Additionally, IL-7 has also been found to influence early myeloid progenitors (7). In this regard, IL-7 has been shown to synergize with GM-CSF and SCF to enhance in vitro myeloid colony formation of Lin.sup.- Sea-1.sup.+ murine BM progenitor cells (9).
Chemotherapy has also been used to mobilize stem cells. The disadvantages of this therapy include the toxicity of chemotherapeutic agents, which can result in neutropenia and sepsis and may lead to death. Additionally, the time consuming nature of the operation is a disadvantage. Mobilization does not occur until approximately 16 days after the chemotherapy is given, 3-6 days are needed for the apheresis procedure, and 2 more weeks must pass to permit the progenitor culture assays to mature. Thus, in a successful mobilization, the entire procedure requires about 5 weeks. Finally, however, the method is not predictably successful. Patients who have already been treated with multiple courses of combination chemotherapy and patients with bone marrow metastases are especially likely to fail chemotherapy-induced mobilization attempts.
The development of a long-term B-lineage culture system allowed the demonstration of sustained lymphopoiesis in vitro (27, 28), whereby populations of pro- and pre-B cells developed over a period of several months. Using this technique, IL-7 was originally described as a bone marrow stromal cell-derived factor that could support the proliferation of B-cell precursors from Whitlock-Witte bone marrow cultures (29), thus demonstrating its growth/regulatory function in lymphopoiesis. Murine and human IL-7 cDNA have both been cloned, sequenced and expressed (30, 31), and there is 60% homology at the amino acid-level. Northern blot analysis of a variety of murine and human tissues showed that the IL-7 gene is transcribed not only in the bone marrow, but also in the spleen and the thymus (30).
IL-7 was thus initially shown to be a B-cell lineage growth factor with preferential stimulating effects on the proliferation of B-cell precursors (30, 32, 33). Subsequently, it was found that IL-7 increased the number of CD3.sup.+ cells in bone marrow cultures (22), and also supported the growth of thymocytes (34-36), in particular, the CD4.sup.- CD8.sup.-, CD4.sup.+ CD8.sup.- and CD4.sup.- CD8.sup.+ subsets (37). IL-7 also was shown to act as a co-stimulator for peripheral T-lymphocytes in concert with mitogen or antigen in vitro (38, 39). In vitro, IL-7 has been shown to enhance CSF-induced proliferation of myeloid colony formation (9).
The in vivo effects of IL-7 administration using murine systems also have been examined. Normal mice treated with recombinant murine IL-7 (rmIL-7) have increased lymphocyte numbers (40) and cyclophosphamide-treated mice were able to reconstitute the lymphocyte compartment more rapidly with rmIL-7 treatment (41). Further, administration of recombinant human IL-7 (rhIL-7) to sublethally irradiated mice resulted in accelerated repopulation of T and B lymphocytes and some immature myeloid-lineage cells (8). It has been previously demonstrated that administration of rhIL-7 to mice induced exportation of single-lineage colony-forming units-culture (CFU-c) and multilineage CFU-granulocyte, erythroid, monocyte, and megakaryocyte (CFU-GEMM) colony generating myeloid progenitors from the bone marrow to the spleen that resulted in a 90% decrease in bone marrow myeloid progenitors and a 5-fold increase in the spleen (6, 7). The administration of rhIL-7 has also been shown to result in a 3- to 5-fold leukocytosis in spleen and lymph nodes due to an increase in all major mature leukocytes subsets (B-, T-, NK-cells and macrophages) with a disproportionate increase in pre-B cells and CD8.sup.+ T-cells (13). Further, T-cells in rhIL-7 treated mice had enhanced and accelerated abilities to respond to various stimuli (13).
Thus, recent laboratory research has demonstrated that administration of recombinant human interleukin-7 (rhIL-7) to mice mobilized myeloid progenitor cells from the bone marrow to the spleen (6), blood and the liver (7). rhIL-7 treatment does not decrease bone marrow cellularity (6). Administration of rhIL-7 to irradiated mice increased the number of megakaryocytes and immature granulocytes in the spleen in vivo (8). In vitro rhIL-7 enhanced colony stimulating factor-induced myeloid colony formation from primitive Lin.sup.- Sca-1.sup.+ murine bone marrow progenitor cells, without effecting proliferation of committed Lin.sup.- Sca-1.sup.- myeloid progenitors (9). Additionally, researchers have shown the effects of IL-7 on lymphopoiesis (10), and documented the expression of receptors for IL-7 on myeloid cells (11).
However, it has not been shown or suggested that IL-7 can be used to mobilize hematopoietic stem cells to permit isolation of increased numbers of stem cells from the peripheral blood. Such a use of IL-7 would be extremely valuable for use in long term reconstitution in lethally irradiated recipients.

Method of mobilizing pluripotential hematopoietic stem cells with IL-7

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


A method for controlling braking in a motor vehicle equipped with a brake servo unit capable of being implemented in a braking system including: a hydraulic master cylinder associated with a vacuum brake booster and with hydraulic circuits supplying the wheel brakes equipping the vehicle wheels; an ABS hydraulic unit with wheel antiskid function, and an electronic mechanism implementing emergency braking assisted by the hydraulic unit. The method detects serial repetition in time for implementing emergency braking operations and adapts the conditions for implementing an emergency braking in case of serial repetition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assisted braking method and system in a motor vehicle and more particularly to adapting emergency braking detection to sequenced braking recognition, in other words the recognition of braking operations which occur close together in time.
2. Description of Related Art
In a known manner, a conventional hydraulic braking installation in a vehicle comprises at least one hydraulic braking circuit, conventionally two, each of these braking circuits being associated with at least one wheel brake, conventionally with two wheel brakes.
These braking circuits are supplied, in the case of normal assisted braking, by a master cylinder which can be actuated by means of the brake pedal via a braking force amplifier, generally a vacuum brake booster. The latter comprises a working chamber which is separated by a movable piston from a low-pressure chamber maintained permanently at a low pressure, i.e. a negative pressure with respect to atmospheric pressure, and on which the application of a pedal force makes it possible to place the working chamber under atmospheric pressure and correspondingly amplify the pedal force via the force acting on the movable piston.
Moreover, to prevent the wheels from locking, something which may cause the vehicle to lose control, antilock braking systems (ABS) have been developed and are now very widespread. They allow the braking pressure in the wheel brake to be controlled while monitoring the speed of rotation of each of the wheels. It is thus possible to obtain stable dynamic vehicle behavior during braking, even heavy braking. This type of system comprises a hydraulic braking block with electronic control comprising inlet valves and outlet valves which can be controlled electrically and which are associated with the various wheel brakes, a pressure sensor representing the pressure in the master cylinder, and delivery pumps, for example electrically driven delivery pumps, associated with a respective braking circuit. Depending on the dynamic behavior of the monitored wheel, the corresponding braking pressure can be relaxed to prevent locking by discharging some hydraulic fluid from the wheel brake in question to the delivery pump, then increased again by means of the high-pressure hydraulic fluid coming from the outlet of the delivery pump or from an accumulator associated with this pump.
The systems of the ABS type are often coupled to vehicle dynamics control systems, for example of the electronic stability program (ESP) type or antislip regulation (ASR) type. These systems are integrated with the hydraulic block of the ABS device. These vehicle dynamics control systems make it possible to provide a stable dynamic vehicle behavior by acting on the wheel brakes without the brake pedal having been pressed by the driver of the vehicle.
With such an ESP braking system, it is known to employ a hydraulic brake assist (HBA) function whereby the braking is performed with the assistance of the hydraulic block. More precisely, when this HBA function is employed, the hydraulic block autonomously raises the pressure of the hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic block so as to optimize the braking by reaching the limit of activation of the ABS device as quickly as possible.
In the case of sudden braking (or emergency braking), that is to say when the brake pedal is, for example, subjected very rapidly to a considerable pressure by the driver, the vehicle, equipped with an ESP hydraulic block with HBA function, is braked with the assistance provided by the hydraulic block following determination of an emergency braking situation.
The conventional criteria used to determine these emergency braking situations are, for example, the pressure in the master cylinder and/or the pressure gradient in the master cylinder, which allow good characterization of emergency braking operations.
The disadvantage of a hydraulic braking system with a vacuum brake booster lies in the fact that, in the case of rapidly repeated emergency braking operations, the pressure difference between the two chambers of the brake booster does not have time to become reestablished. The braking pressure is thus increased progressively less by the brake booster and it becomes more and more difficult to reach the emergency braking activation threshold.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,126 describes a solution to this problem. The emergency braking method according to that document takes into account the difference between the measurement of the pressure in one of the two chambers and the atmospheric pressure, and also the gradient of this pressure difference. Hence, the method according to document U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,126 makes it possible to adapt the pressure threshold to be reached in the master cylinder for triggering emergency braking to four criteria (the pressure in the master cylinder, the gradient with respect to time of the pressure in the master cylinder, the difference between the pressure measured in one of the chambers of the vacuum brake booster and the gradient of this pressure difference), making it possible in particular to characterize the repeated emergency braking situations and consequently adapt the activation of emergency braking. However, this method has the disadvantage of requiring the use of means for measuring the pressure in one of the brake booster chambers and of means for comparing this measured pressure with the atmospheric pressure, thus increasing the cost of the device.

Method for adapting emergency braking detection to sequenced braking recognition


The present invention is directed to realize a portable, compact, light, thin, inexpensive and fast printer apparatus. A motor is provided between a printing head unit and a stationary frame member to drive the printing head unit relative to the stationary frame member in leftward and rightward directions, thereby eliminating conventional indirect driving components such as a stepping motor and a lead screw. Further, a sensor is provided in the printing head unit to detect a moving velocity and a position of the printing head unit to thereby construct the printer apparatus having reduced number of components to ensure stable driving and high accuracy. According to such a construction, the motor is integrated into the printing head unit, which self-moves in the printer apparatus to eliminate a mechanism converting a rotational movement into a linear movement, thereby achieving cost down of the printing apparatus.

The present invention relates to a printer apparatus, and particularly relates to a printer apparatus using an ultrasonic motor for driving a printing head unit.
Recently, down-sizing of electronic instruments has been required in the information processing field, hence the printer apparatus also needs to have a compact size, a light weight and a good portability as an output instrument. In this regard, research and development have been conducted to reduce the size and weight of components. However, down-sizing of existing components has been limited.
Conventionally, a compact printer apparatus uses one or plural stepping motors or else for driving a printing head carrier and feeding a record paper medium. Particularly, with regard to the driving of the printing head, generally a rotational movement of the motor is converted into a linear movement by means of a timing belt or a lead screw.
Namely, in the prior art, the stepping motor is utilized for driving the printing head so that various components, such as the timing belt and the lead screw, are indispensable, thereby increasing a number of components. Further, the size of the stepping motor is not reduced extremely because a given driving torque should be maintained. Therefore, it is quite difficult to effect further down-sizing by simply compacting the existing components.

Printer apparatus having a vibrator motor


The invention relates to a telephone holder, especially a holder (2) installable on a car in which a phone (1) is kept during driving. The holder has an enclosed structure and it comprises a cup-like inner shell part (4), an outer shell part (5) and a locking element (7) fitted in the cavity between the shell parts and movable with respect to the shell parts, a thrust block (12) and locking claw (15) in the locking element being located in a hole (11) formed in the inner shell part. The phone is locked into the holder with a turning movement wherein the phone pushes the thrust block (12) and at the same time a guiding surface (16) in the outer shell part wedges the locking claw (15) into a hollow (17) on the side of the phone. The pushing movement is directed against the end (23) of a double torsion spring (22) in the holder so that the middle part of the spring turns a shaft (18) and thus locks the locking element (7) into the locked position. The phone is released from the locked position by pressing the shaft (18) by means of a push lever whereby the locking element is freed from a catch (20) and the end (23) of the spring returns the phone to the initial position so that it can be removed from the holder.

This invention relates to a telephone holder comprising at least one locking element which moves when pushed by a telephone inserted in the holder, and a guiding surface located against the locking element to wedge a locking claw in the locking element against the side of the telephone in such a manner that the claw locks the telephone into the holder.
Especially in a car it is needed a holder for a mobile phone where the phone can be kept in such a manner that the phone can be reached by the driver during a drive. The holder should include locking elements which hold the phone in its place so that it cannot drop off the holder during a drive while at the same time the holder must be such that the phone can be inserted in it and removed from it with a simple move of the hand.
A known telephone holder for car use is disclosed in published FI patent application 89650. That holder comprises two shell-like parts jointed onto each other in a turnable manner, said parts being positioned one within the other so that the inner part constitutes a mount for the phone and the outer part serves as stationary attachment part of the holder. Locking of the phone is in this holder arranged in such a manner that on both sides of the holder's inner part there is a flexible strip-like element which is attached at its bottom part to the holder and the tip of which forms a protruding locking claw which is wedged into a hollow on the side of the phone by a pressing surface on the outer part of the holder when the parts of the holder are turned with respect to each other. The joint pin between the parts of the holder serves as a retainer for the bottom part of the phone, and the phone is attached by using the phone supported by the pin as pushing means that turns the inner part of the holder with respect to the outer part. The parts of the holder are locked with respect to each other by a separate spring catch wherefrom the phone can be removed with a light pull when needed.
Because of the large parts movable with respect to each other the holder according to the published FI patent application 89650 is clumsy and its open unprotected construction is susceptible to failure. Especially for car use it would be advantageous to produce a more compact and rigid holder construction that would tolerate knocks and would facilitate easy attachment and removal of phone in addition to holding the phone reliably in its place in all circumstances.
The telephone holder according to the invention that meets the aforementioned objects is characterized in that the holder comprises an inner shell part serving as a mount for the phone, and an outer shell part which is stationary with respect to said inner shell part and includes a guiding surface so that a locking element is located between those parts and is movable with respect to them, that the inner shell part has a hole at a location corresponding to that of the locking element so that a locking claw is pushed against the side of the phone through said hole, and that the locking element includes a thrust block such that when said thrust block is pushed the phone forces the locking element into the locked position.
Instead of the flexible strip in the inner shell part according to the published FI patent application 89650 the locking element in the holder according to the invention comprises a separate moving element which is substantially encapsulated between the inner shell part and the opposing stationary outer part. Said outer part may together with the inner shell part form a continuous housing which is closed except for the hole in the inner shell part required by the locking element's locking claw and thrust block. This way a rigid, durable construction can be provided in which a locking element and the spring catch, which locks the locking element into the locked position, are well protected.
The locking element's thrust block, which is pushed by the phone, and the locking claw may be located successively in the pushing direction in a hole formed in the inner shell part of the housing. The connecting part between the thrust block and locking claw is advantageously a flexible shaft pushed by the guiding surface to wedge the locking claw against the side of the phone, into a hollow corresponding to the locking claw and positioned suitably on the side of the phone. Locking of the phone into the holder is preferably realized on both sides of the phone by means of mutually symmetric locking elements located on the opposite sides of the holder.
Pushing the phone into the locking position is advantageously realized against a spring such that when the locking element is freed from said position the spring unlocks the phone from the holder. Locking of the locking element into the locked position is caused by a catch in the holder which may be connected to a push lever with which the locking elements can be unlocked from the catch in such a manner that thereafter spring force causes the phone to be released from the holder. The catch, too, is spring-operated, and a preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the holder is equipped with a double torsion spring connected by its ends to locking elements on the opposing sides of the holder in such a manner that the pushing movement of the locking elements is directed against the ends of the spring while at the same time the middle part of the spring is pressing a shaft by means of which the locking elements are locked in their places in the locked position.
To guide the return movement of a locking element freed from the locked position the inner shell part of the holder advantageously includes a guiding surface which makes the locking claw to retreat from the hollow on the side of the phone. The phone, which thus has been unlocked, can be lifted off the holder.


Apparatus is described for reading data from or writing data onto a credit card-sized storage media containing a rotating magnetic memory. The reader includes a spindle motor and an arm with a magnetic head position thereon, as well as integrated circuits for controlling its operation. The reader preferably complies with standards for PCMCIA cards, enabling the reader to be inserted into the host system such as a personal computer or a laptop for use.

This invention relates generally to the storage of information and to credit cards, as well as to software applications serviced by these cards. The credit card is ubiquitous and almost every wallet contains two, and often more cards. This invention provides a method by which a large storage volume can be offered on such a card, providing greater versatility and functionality to a common and useful device, for example, sufficient memory to store an entire feature film on each card.
Prior art teaches the fabrication of a card with a PVC plastic substrate and artwork laminated to and/or printed on to the front face, and minimal (a magnetic strip) or no storage. Lettering is embossed on the card, and space provided on the back for a specimen signature. All transactions have the backing of a reputable financial institution. A remote infra-structure requires the merchants to call for authorization of charges. The financial institution gives the card holder credit to cover these transactions, and maintains an organization for billing, transaction verification and fraud control. In the United States long distance telephone calls are economical, so a card with a magnetic strip on the back, containing about 140 bytes of information has become popular. The user or the merchant swipes the card on a reader, enters a PIN code and a dollar amount of the transaction. The resulting information is then transmitted via modem or a network to a remote site for authorization. The limited storage available on these cards, however, is not sufficient to reduce or eliminate the complex, remote infra-structure or the cost to process each transaction. In Europe and other countries where telephone services are expensive, a unique card known as a Smart Card has become popular.
The Smart Card comes in a variety of configurations, some with integrated circuit memory of about 1 to 8 Kbytes and others with an additional integrated circuit on the card to manipulate the on-board memory. The maximum storage offered in these cards is 32 Kbytes, which was the same amount of on-board memory available on a PC when it first shipped in the early 1980s. The PC, however, required an external floppy drive with 150K bytes of replaceable volume to become a useful appliance. Smart Cards, possibly for the lack of sufficient memory, have not been widely accepted by the consumer in the United States.
Optical memory cards such as those taught by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,199,761; 5,932,865; 6,120,907 and others, consist of an optical recording media bonded to the surface of the card. Such optical cards require a unique reader, now costing more than $2,000. Each optical card had a maximum storage capacity of 4.9M Bytes. In view of their greater memory, these cards have found niche applications, but the high cost of implementation has limited their popularity.
Other prior approaches, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,131,816 and 5,107,099, teach a unique magnetic strip made from stainless steel and sputter coated with high coercivity magnetic films and laminated in the card. The design of a special purpose reader is also taught, which removes this strip and installs it on a reciprocating table where a magnetic recording head is utilized to read and write data to and from the strip. That patent states that a large storage capacity could be attained on each card, however, the card reader is unique and expensive, similar in characteristics to the optical card, and requires the development of a significant infra-structure to support such a system.
Prior art also teaches the design of special purpose magnetic and optical storage products that record and read data back from unique mediums, such as floppy disk drives, ZIP disk drives, hard disk cartridge drives, CD-R/W and DVD-RAM products. All these devices require the use of a recording medium that is larger, and thicker than a Credit card, and consequently, do not offer the convenience of being able to be slipped into a wallet for easy transportation. None of these approaches provide a compact reader for reading credit card sized cards that include a rotating magnetic memory, such as a floppy disk.
Cards containing large storage volume can provide services that hereto required the maintenance of a significant infrastructure to control unauthorized access to data, to equipment, and to facilities. For example, an American Express Credit card, VISA or MasterCard adopting the invention herein can serve as a financial card, a personal wallet, a record keeper, a storage of favorite songs (with CD quality), a secure key to access confidential records at financial institutions or on the Internet, an electronic album with both still and video clips of family and friends, a complete set of personal medical records, and a host of other features. By virtue of the card, one does not need to remember a variety of passwords or personal identification pins (PINs) to access bank accounts. The card has all this data, and furthermore, this data can be encrypted with a 512 bit or larger key to provide a high level of security.
Data storage is fundamental and can increase the versatility of the common credit card. Processing power can be located in the reading device or local on the card in a manner similar to the Smart Card. If the credit card will be used in equipment that contain a sophisticated processor, however, burdening the credit card with the added expense of a processor chip may not be necessary. This invention provides an economical reader for use with the credit cards so equipped. The reader complies with the industry standard PCMCIA interface and size. This enables it to be used with personal computers and laptops, which provide a host system. The reader may be implemented at low cost. The invention described herein focuses on the design of the reader for reading the cards. The cards are described in a co-pending U.S. patent application.

Apparatus for reading and writing cards having rotating memory


The present invention provides a multi-terminal power conversion device, a multi-terminal power transfer device, and a power network system which allows an existing power grid to be divided into a plurality of power grids that can be interconnected together and operated stably via existing or new transmission lines. An inter-power grid asynchronous interconnection network system includes a multi-terminal power conversion device characterized by connecting together a plurality of asynchronous power grids including a bulk power grid and controlling power so that the sum of inflow power and outflow power is zero. An intra-power grid synchronous network system includes a power apparatus control terminal device with means for controlling power for a power apparatus installed in an autonomous power grid. A plurality of inter-power grid asynchronous interconnection network systems are connected to an intra-power grid synchronous network system to integrate the power control with communication control.

Electric power is mostly supplied by power grids of a power company through a transmission network of a bulk power grid. The frequency of a power grid results from the balance between demand (load) and supply (generated output). Thus, the power company matches the supply and demand on a moment-by-moment basis by controlling load fluctuation of at most several tens of seconds by a governor-free power generator, load fluctuation of at most 20 minutes by a power plant with a frequency control (AFC) function, and a load fluctuation of the order of several hours by scheduled increases and decreases in the output of a steam turbine power plant. A power generator in the grid includes a group of synchronous power generators and has a control characteristic called drooping. The control adjusts the output so as to increase the rotation of the power generators with decreased grid frequency, while reducing the rotation of those with increased grid frequency. Thus, owing to the drooping characteristic, all the power generators cooperate with one another in maintaining constant frequency. Furthermore, these synchronous power generators are rotating machines with a large inertia force and thus have the ability to stabilize the frequency in the area without being affected by slight fluctuations in grid frequency. This is expressed by the phrase "synchronizing power of the power generators".
In Japan, the power supply is separated into two grids, a 50-Hz grid for the eastern region and a 60-Hz grid for the western region, therefore demand control for frequency stabilization is performed independently in the respective regions. This control allows the frequency to be synchronized to a single value in all locations within each of the two regions.
On the other hand, in recent years, renewable energy power sources such as wind power generation, solar power generation, and biofuel power generation have been introduced at an accelerated rate as a means for dealing with the problem of global warming and as a result of the rapid rise in fossil fuel costs.
The Japanese government has established the goal of introducing 28,000,000 kW of solar power generation by 2020 and 53,000,000 kW of solar power generation by 2040, however on the other hand, as reported in "Report of Workshop on Low Carbon Power Supply Systems" in July, 2009 the current power grid, if not improved, could support only about 13,000,000 kW of solar power generation.
This limitation is because renewable energy power sources such as solar power generation and wind power generation cannot provide synchronizing power.
These power sources provide power through inverters which detect the frequency of the grid and feed current synchronously by following other power sources on the grid. The power sources thus have the tendency of impairing the frequency stability of the system by magnifying normal power fluctuations. Thus, the introduction of large amounts of renewable power that fluctuates severely impairs the synchronization capability of the existing grid. This may lead to a catastrophe such as cascading massive power failure.
To solve this problem and introduce a large amount of renewable power, it is necessary to design a new power grid not supported by conventional concepts and to present a procedure for migrating the current grid to the new system without critical difficulties. However, the conventional art includes no document or report regarding such a system or procedure.
To deal with problems occurring when a large amount of unstable power is connected to a synchronous grid, several conventional techniques as described below have been proposed. The techniques are roughly classified into the following three methods.
A first conventional method is to enhance bulk power grids. That is, fluctuations in renewable energy power generation is remediated by enhancing high-voltage interconnection lines, installing back-to-back (BTB) loop controllers, increasing the capacity of frequency converter stations, increasing the capacity of DC interconnection lines between Hokkaido and Honshu, Japan, and increasing the number of gas turbine power generation facilities and variable speed hydroelectric power generation facilities as backup power sources. This method relates to Patent Literature 1 and 2 listed below.
A second conventional method is suppression of output from distributed power sources and reducing load (demand). For output suppression, every effort has been made to require power companies of solar power generation or wind power generation to provide a circuit that suppresses the output in response to a signal from the power company. This method relates to Patent Literature 3 and 4 listed below.
A third conventional method is to interchange power among a plurality of power grids or between a bulk system and power grids. This method uses a power interchange device to connect together a plurality of power grids into which a large amount of unstable power such as renewable energy is introduced so that power can be interchanged among the power grids. This method relates to Patent Literature 5, 6, 7, and 8 listed below.
Furthermore, a combination of power and communication is described in Patent Literature 9 listed below.

Multi-terminal power conversion device, multi-terminal power transfer device, and power network system


Disclosed is a lens moving device and a lens installation unit within which at least one lens is installed and at least one guiding protrusion is formed, a driving means that moves the lens installation unit, and a frame which includes a guiding slot into which the guiding protrusion is arranged and houses the lens installation unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens moving device, and more particularly, to a lens moving device which can be used in image capturing devices, such as cameras and camcorders.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image capturing devices, such as cameras and camcorders, may perform focusing operations and/or zooming operations. To perform these operations, a lens must be moved. Therefore, a device for moving a lens along the optical axis is required.
A conventional lens moving device includes a lens frame into which lens is arranged, guidance means to guide movement of the lens frame, and movement means for moving the lens in the optical direction. There are various lens moving devices developed according to the structure and type of image capturing device to which the lens moving device is adapted.
In particular, lens moving devices, which occupy a small amount of space within mobile image capturing devices and can be operated stably, are being developed due to the recent popularization of small sized mobile image capturing devices such as digital cameras.

Lens moving device and installation unit