The garment proprioceptively treats a patient and comprises a sleeve having an anchor strap and a viscoelastic pad. The sleeve defines inner and outer sleeve surfaces and is configured to envelop a portion of the patient's body. The anchor strap is circumferentially wrappable about the outer sleeve surface and defines an inner strap surface. The anchor strap has an intermediate anchor portion disposed on the inner strap surface between opposing end anchor portions that are releasably securable to the outer sleeve surface such that tension in the anchor strap may be selectively adjusted. The garment includes an elastic band extending along the inner strap surface. The viscoelastic pad is securable on the inner sleeve surface generally opposite to the elastic band when the anchor strap is extended over the outer sleeve surface.

This invention relates generally to orthotic devices and, more particularly, to a uniquely configured proprioceptive knee brace specifically adapted to support a patient's knee while providing the benefits of neuromuscular stimulation.
The human knee has an intricate anatomy and a relatively complex set of rotational movements. The primary movements of the knee comprise flexion and extension respectively defined as rearward and forward rotational movement of the tibia (knee bone), relative to the femur (thigh bone). The knee is subject to complex loads and stresses and is the joint that is most often injured during physical endeavors, including athletic or sporting activities. For example, patellar tendinitis ("jumper's knee") is a painful condition that may result from repetitive running and/or jumping as is common when running and playing basketball, volleyball, tennis, etc.
The act of jumping and hitting the ground may overstress the patellar tendon which attaches the patella (kneecap) to the tibia, at the tibia tubercle (upper front portion) of the tibia. Patellar tendinitis is characterized by inflammation of the patellar tendon and surrounding soft tissue in an area just below the patella at the patella/patellar tendon junction. Osgood-Schlatter disease, a condition similar to patellar tendinitis, may occur in young children and adolescents and may be caused by a common phenomenon in children and adolescents wherein the bones grow at a faster rate than that of the muscles and tendons, causing tightness and pulling in the tendons and resulting in pain and inflammation.
Other conditions associated with the patella/patellar tendon junction include chondromalacia patellae, which is a condition characterized by a softening and subsequent breakdown and roughening of articular cartilage lining the patella. Ideally, the articular cartilage is smooth such that it may glide freely along the articular groove of the femur as the knee flexes or bends. Chondromalacia patellae may occur in older age groups as a result of normal wear and tear with aging. This condition may also occur in young children as a result of muscle imbalances around the knee, causing uneven wear on the lateral (outer) facet of the patella.
When chondromalacia patellae occurs in young children, it may be due to an imbalance between vastus lateralis (outer) and vastus medialis (inner) components of the quadriceps muscle, which is the large muscle on the front of the thigh. The quadriceps muscle attaches to the patella via the quadriceps tendon, which is located above the patellar tendon. In some patients, the vastus lateralis may be more powerful than the vastus medialis, resulting in a tendency for the patella to track laterally or outwardly and eventually resulting in softening and breakdown of the patella.
Still other conditions of the knee joint include meniscal (cartilage) tears, wherein shock absorption, joint stabilization, and lubrication qualities otherwise provided by the meniscal cartilage are compromised. Illo-tibial band (ITB) syndrome may occur in long distance runners as a result of running on cambered surfaces or using shoes having little cushioning. The ITB is a relatively thick strip of tendon extending downwardly from the hip joint and passing across the outside of the knee and inserting into the tibia just below the knee joint. ITB syndrome is characterized by pain in the knee joint during flexion and extension as the ITB moves backwards and forwards across the lateral side of the knee joint.
Patello-femoral pain-syndrome (PFPS), or "runner's knee", may be defined as pain resulting from physical changes in the patellofemoral joint (the joint between the femur and the patella), which often worsens with certain activities, such as descending steps or hills. PFPS may be the result of a maltracking of the patella relative to the femur during knee flexion and extension. More specifically, PFPS may be due in part to an imbalance in the quadriceps muscles that attach to the patella. Although balance in the quadriceps muscle assists in the proper tracking of the patella, imbalance in the quadriceps muscle may cause abnormal gliding of the patella leading to eventual inflammation and pain. Similar to the above-described condition of chondromalacia patellae in young children, PFPS may also be caused by an imbalance in muscle strength between the vastus lateralis and the vastus medialis, resulting in a tendency for the patella to track laterally, causing increased stress to the knee joint.
The prior art includes many knee braces that are intended to reduce strain on injured knee components such that the knee may properly heal. Additionally, prior art knee braces may be worn as a preventative measure when the patient engages in strenuous or physically demanding activities. Unfortunately, many knee braces of the prior art suffer from several deficiencies that detract from their overall utility. For example, many of the prior art knee braces are configured to circumferentially wrap around or encircle the patient's knee so as to provide inward compressive force around the circumference of the knee joint. Such knee braces may be designed with the intention of supporting the knee joint against hyperextension, which may stretch or further damage the ligaments and tendons connected thereto. Unfortunately, such circumferential compression about the knee joint causes vascular restriction, which impedes the flow of blood to the injured area and which may extend the healing process.
For the above-described conditions of chondromalacia patellae and PFPS, wherein the vastus lateralis tends to be more powerful than the vastus medialis with resulting patellar tracking dysfunction, some prior art knee braces have been developed with the intention of correcting lateral patella tracking by providing a knee brace configuration that physically pulls or forces the patella in a medial (inward) direction. One such prior art knee brace includes a sleeve having a crescent-shaped side support adaptable to a particular shape of the patient's patella. When tractioned medially across the patella, the knee brace is understood to improve patellafemoral mechanics during knee flexion and extension.
Unfortunately, knee braces of the type described above are typically effective in providing patellar stability and reducing PFPS only when the knee brace is worn. If the knee brace is not worn, further injury to the patella may occur with corresponding pain and discomfort to the patient. Furthermore, as understood, such knee braces are adapted to generally provide treatment in healing injuries and correcting deficiencies in the knee joint using a musculoskeletal stimulation approach with little regard for neurostimulation aspects of healing. In this regard, such knee braces of the prior art, as known and understood by the present inventor, are not believed to provide the best approach to overcoming the wide array of problems associated with the knee joint.
For example, it is believed that knee braces of the prior art are inadequate in correcting patellar tracking dysfunction by merely physically pulling medially on the patella. Moreover, it is believed that knee braces of the prior art are generally ineffective in altering and correcting for muscle imbalances around the knee joint. Finally, it is believed that knee braces of the prior art fail to account for healing qualities provided through neuromuscular stimulation of numerous sensory receptors located on the patient's skin. More specifically, it is noted that one square inch of skin typically contains about 19,000 of such sensory cells, which provide information regarding at least five different senses (pain, heat, cold, touch, and pressure) to the central nervous system.
In this regard, it is believed that providing such neuromuscular stimulation to the skin surrounding the knee joint may stimulate another type of receptor called proprioceptive or stretch receptors, which are located in the muscles and tendons. Proprioceptive response relates to nerves that transmit signals to and from muscles and joints in order to control movement and function of the joints and surrounding areas. Such stretch receptors sense changes in length and tension of muscles and tendons and send information regarding such changes to the central nervous system. Proprioceptive response provides the patient with spatial orientation information regarding location and movement of joints and limbs without the patient actually seeing the limb move.
It is believed that stimulation of the proprioceptive receptors in tissue surrounding the knee joint (i.e., nerves located in the skin, bones, muscle-tendon junctions, and joints) through proprioceptive response creates chemical changes in the body which positively affects the muscles, ligaments, and tendons. More specifically, it is believed that by incorporating proprioceptive response into a knee brace, muscles and tendons surrounding the affected or injured area of the knee joint may be re-educated in proper positioning and relative movement in order to correct for abnormalities and dysfunction in the knee joint such that, over time, adverse knee conditions may be corrected.
As can be seen, there exists a need in the art for a knee brace that can alleviate symptoms of pain and discomfort associated with knee joint degeneration due to injury, wear and tear, or normal aging. Moreover, there exists a need in the art for a knee brace that provides a desired amount of focused compression on tissue surrounding the affected knee joint with minimal vascular restriction on surrounding portions of the knee joint. Additionally, there exists a need in the art for a knee brace wherein a desired amount of medial influence on the patella can be provided in order to compensate and correct for lateral patella tracking dysfunction. Furthermore, there exists a need in the art for a knee brace that combines neuromuscular stimulation with such medial influence and focused compression in order to provide the benefits of proprioceptive response in healing degeneration in the knee joint.

Neuromusculoskeletal knee support device


A low cost thermostatic switch (10) has first and second scoop shaped terminal members (12, 14) having flanges (12e, 14e) received on ledges (20f) formed on opposed sidewalls (20e) of a housing (20). The terminal members are spaced apart with the distal end portions (20g) of the sidewalls of the housing bent over to clamp the terminal members to the housing with a strip (16) of electrical insulation placed therebetween. A movable contact arm (22, 22', 22") is cantilever mounted on the bottom wall (14a) of one terminal member (14) movable into and out of electrical engagement with a stationary contact (26) mounted on the bottom wall (12a) of the other terminal member. A motion transfer pin member (28) is adjustably mounted on the movable contact arm and extends downwardly toward a thermostatic snap-acting disc (30) received on a disc seat (20b) formed on the bottom wall (20a) of the housing with the disc adapted to transfer motion through the motion transfer pin member (28) to move the movable contact arm out of electrical engagement with the stationary contact (26) in one of the two oppositely dished configurations of the disc. A spring 32 is mounted in the housing (20) in a modified thermostatic switch (10') to maintain snap-acting disc on the disc seat (20b) regardless of the orientation of the switch. The switch is calibrated by adjusting the position of the motion transfer pin relative to a reference level to be within a selected gap and then deforming the sidewalls of the housing until the movable contact moves out of electrical engagement with the stationary contact (26).

This invention relates generally to thermostatic electrical switches and more particularly to such switches which use a snap-acting thermostatic disc to control the state of energization of an electrical circuit.
Conventional thermostatic switches typically employ an electrically insulating base of plastic, or ceramic for high temperature environments, to mount the components of the switch and provide required electrical isolation therebetween. This base is attached to a heat conductive metallic can for mounting the heat responsive disc in heat conductive relationship with a heat source to be monitored. Although this arrangement has been effective, there is a need to provide a device which is less expensive to manufacture yet one which can be easily and accurately calibrated.

Low cost thermostat apparatus and method for calibrating same


A color image sensing device comprises an image sensor having pixels of the offset sampling structure in which the horizontal pitch is P.sub.H, the vertical pitch is P.sub.V and the horizontal offset amount is P.sub.H /2, and a color filter array comprising three or four types of color filters provided in one-to-one relation to the pixels of the image sensor. The color filter array has the offset sampling structure in which those types of color filters are each arranged with the horizontal pitch of 2P.sub.H, the vertical pitch of 2P.sub.V and the horizontal offset amount of P.sub.H.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arrangement of color filters for an image sensor in which pixels have the offset sampling structure.
2. Related Background Art
FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show conventionally known examples of an arrangement of color filters for a color solid-state image sensing device. In FIG. 1, green light transmissive filters (hereinafter referred to as "Gr filters") are vertically arrayed in the stripe form. Red light transmissive filters (hereinafter referred to as "Rd filters") and blue light transmissive filters (hereinafter referred to as "Bl filters") are arrayed two rows apart vertically and one column apart horizontally between the Gr filters.
In FIG. 2, magenta light transmissive filters (hereinafter referred to as "Mg filters"), green light transmissive filters, cyan light transmissive filters (hereinafter referred to as "Cy filters"), and yellow light transmissive filters (hereinafter referred to as "Ye filters") are arranged in the sequence as shown in units of eight color filters consisted of horizontal two pixels and vertical four pixels.
FIG. 3 is concerned with a solid-state image sensor having the offset sampling structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 1-24433, for example. In this offset sampling structure, Rd, Gr and Bl filters are arranged in units of three color filters consisted of horizontal three pixels and vertical one pixel with an offset amount of 1.5 pixels in the horizontal direction between two rows.
FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are characteristic diagrams of the first quadrant as obtained by expressing color light carriers in the color filter arrangements of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 using the two-dimensional frequency plane (f.sub.H, f.sub.V), respectively. Assuming that the horizontal pixel pitch is P.sub.H and the vertical pixel pitch is P.sub.V, each diagram represents an area of 0.ltoreq.f.sub.H .ltoreq.1/P.sub.H and 0.ltoreq.f.sub.V .ltoreq.1/2P.sub.V. In any diagram, the arrow indicates a carrier of each color, the arrow length indicates a magnitude of the carrier, and the arrow direction indicates a phase relationship.
In FIG. 4, color light carriers occur at (1/2P.sub.H, 0), (1/P.sub.H, 0), (0, 1/4P.sub.V), (1/2P.sub.H, 1/4P.sub.V) and (1/P.sub.H, 1/4P.sub.V) other than (0, 0). Among then, (0, 0) and (1/P.sub.H, 0) represent the carriers which occur for achromatic light and cause turn-back distortions. The remaining carriers are perfectly canceled out and disappeared for achromatic light, but not disappeared for chromatic light and cause turn-back distortions.
Likewise, in FIG. 5, color light carriers occur at (1/2P.sub.H, 0), (1/P.sub.H, 0), (1/2P.sub.H, 1/4P.sub.V), (0, 1/2P.sub.V), (1/2P.sub.H, 1/2P.sub.V) and (1/P.sub.H, 1/2P.sub.V) other than (0, 0). Among then, (0, 0) and (1/P.sub.H, 0) represent the carriers which occur for achromatic light and others represent the carriers which are disappeared for chromatic light.
In FIG. 6, assuming that the horizontal offset amount of the solid-state image sensor is P.sub.H /2, color light carriers occur at (2/3P.sub.H, 0), (1/3P.sub.H, 1/2P.sub.V) and (1/P.sub.H, 1/2P.sub.V) Among them, (0, 0) and (1/P.sub.H, 1/2P.sub.V) represent the carriers which occur for achromatic light and others represent the carriers which are disappeared for chromatic light.
It is generally known that the above offset sampling structure has a feature as follows. With the rectangular sampling structure as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, since the carrier occurs for achromatic light at the frequency corresponding to the horizontal position of (1/P.sub.H, 0), f.sub.H =1/2P.sub.H becomes the Nyquist's frequency and the frequency component thereabove cannot be obtained. Thus, the horizontal resolution obtainable with this structure is maximally f.sub.H =1/2P.sub.H. On the other hand, with the offset sampling structure as shown in FIG. 3, the carrier does not occur for achromatic light at the frequency corresponding to the horizontal position of (1/P.sub.H, 0) and f.sub.H =1/P.sub.H can become the Nyquist's frequency. Therefore, although the color filter arrangement of FIG. 3 has the same sampling pitch as the rectangular sampling structure of FIGS. 1 and 2, it can realize the horizontal resolution twice the above cases, i.e., f.sub.H =1/P.sub.H.
However, because objects to be usually photographed are not always achromatic but colored in general cases, the color light carriers at all the positions shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 generate turn-back distortions, so that some scenes may be awkward or hard to see. This necessitates use of an optical low-pass filter or the like to cut the detrimental color light carriers, which leads to a reduction in the resolution.
In the color solid-state image sensing device with the offset sampling structure shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, for example, the color light carrier occurs at the position of (2/3P.sub.H, 0) and, therefore, an optical low-pass filter capable of cutting off the frequency component above f.sub.H =2/3P.sub.H in the horizontal direction is required. This means that while the horizontal resolution up to f.sub.H =1/P.sub.H could be intrinsically obtained for achromatic light, the practically obtainable horizontal resolution is only 2/3of that, i.e., f.sub.H =2/3P.sub.H.


A biopsy forceps having a proximal end and a distal end. The biopsy forceps includes a handle at the proximal end of the biopsy forceps. The handle includes a body portion and an actuator axially displaceable relative to the body portion. The biopsy forceps further includes an end effector assembly at the distal end of the biopsy forceps. The end effector assembly includes a pair of opposed end effectors operable between an open position and a closed position. A catheter portion connects the handle to the end effector assembly so that axial displacement of the actuator relative to the body portion causes the end effectors to move between the open position and the closed position. The handle is shaped to receive the catheter portion to lock the end effectors in the open position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to surgical instruments. More particularly, this invention relates to a surgical instrument, such as a biopsy forceps device, that includes a locking feature for maintaining end effectors in an open relation during removal of a tissue sample, and relates to a related method of removing a tissue sample.
2. Background of the Related Art
An endomyocardial biopsy forceps device is used to obtain biopsy tissue samples from the interior walls of heart chambers. Such samples are often used to characterize rejection factors in the hearts of transplant recipients or for other diagnostic applications.
A typical biopsy forceps includes a long flexible catheter portion having a pair of opposed jaws at a distal end and a manual actuator at the proximal end. Manipulation of the actuator opens and closes the jaws.
During a biopsy tissue sample procedure, the physician first inserts the catheter portion into an appropriately sized introducer sheath. Under ultrasound or other visual technique, the physician then guides the catheter portion through a long tortuous passageway, such as a vein or an artery, until the jaws are positioned by a tissue sample site of an interior wall of the chamber. The physician then opens the jaws, positions the jaws around the tissue to be sampled, and manipulates the actuator so that the jaws close around the tissue. A sample of the tissue is then cut from the biopsy site while it is trapped between the jaws. Keeping the jaws closed, the physician withdraws the biopsy forceps and opens the jaws to collect the biopsy tissue sample.
During removal of a tissue sample from the device, the physician must maintain the jaws in an open relationship. With conventional endomyocardial biopsy forceps, the physician must manipulate the actuator handle to maintain the open relationship and, at the same time, remove the sample. Performing both of these steps at the same time typically requires the aid of another person. The need exists therefore for a biopsy forceps and a related method in which tissue samples can be removed more easily.
Conventional endomyocardial biopsy forceps typically also include an end effector assembly made of multiple parts requiring rivets or other fasteners to hold the assembly together. Such a construction increases the manufacturing cost and assembly time. An end effector assembly with less parts and a simpler construction therefore is desired.
The end effector assembly retains the opposed jaws. Each jaw typically includes a cup at its distal end to retain the biopsy sample. The edges of the cup perform the cutting operation. Because the jaw is small and difficult to machine and the edges must be very sharp, conventional machining techniques often result in rough, pitted jaws with burrs. Therefore, a process for achieving a burr free, polished jaw with sharp edges and an acceptable cosmetic appearance is desired.

Surgical instrument with locking feature, split distal housing, and sharpened jaws


Process for converting certain lactones to their alpha-methylene derivatives in the liquid phase using oxynitride catalysts or composite catalysts incorporating dithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, or barium or combinations thereof.

Alpha-methylene-gamma-butyrolactone and methyl alpha-methylene-gamma-butyrolactone are useful monomers in the preparation of both homopolymers and copolymers. In addition, the alpha-methylene-gamma-butyrolactone group is an important structural feature of many sesquiterpenes of biological importance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,474 B1 describes a method for converting certain starting lactones to alpha-methylenelactones using a homogeneous or heterogeneous so-called basic catalyst that can be selected from the metal oxides, hydroxides, carbonates and phosphates, any of which may be supported or unsupported. The preferred reaction is the conversion of gamma-butyrolactone to alpha-methylene-gamma-butyrolactone. The basic catalyst may include additives and promoters to enhance catalyst efficiency. The method involves a reaction between the starting lactone and formaldehyde and may be carried out in a batch mode, optionally using an organic solvent and a phase transfer agent. The method is carried out at a temperature of at least 70° C. and a pressure less than or equal to 2000 psi (13.7 MPa).
The prior art in this area involves the use of supported catalysts on silica, which are known to be hydrothermally unstable (see for instance, WO9952628A1). Under reaction conditions, or after repeated regeneration cycles, a hydrothermally unstable material will show catalytic performance that will deteriorate with time.
Aluminum phosphorous oxynitrides are a relatively new category of materials, which may have unique properties for base catalyzed chemistry. These materials are believed to have adjustable acid/base properties. These phosphorus oxynitrides, which were first described by M. J. Climent (M. J. Climent et al., Catalysis Letter, 59 (1999)33–38; P. Grange et al., Applied Catalysis A: General 114 (1994) L191–L196; P. L. Grange et al., Applied Catalysis A: General, 137 (1996) 9–23) have been shown to be active for various base catalyzed condensation reactions (e.g., arylsulfones with substituted benzaldehydes). Structural information is not available. However, depending on the nitridation temperature and other conditions, and therefore degree of incorporation of nitrogen into the structure of these materials, it was shown that the relative proportion of acidic and basic sites in the catalyst could be adjusted. However, the use of these materials for lactone conversion has not been described, either as the oxynitrides or as composite catalysts in which various Group I and/or Group II elements are incorporated into the oxynitride.
Although a phosphorus oxynitride system might be expected to possess a significant advantage in hydrothermal stability compared to conventional silica catalysts, the catalytic activity of such a material for lactone conversion reactions cannot be predicted because of the unpredictable nature of catalysis in general.
It would be advantageous to have a catalyst that is hydrothermally stable at high temperatures and whose activity does not decay with time on stream (TOS) or after several high temperature oxidizing regenerations.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Liquid phase synthesis of methylene lactones using oxnitride catalyst


An operating system for distributed industrial controllers ensures the completion of enrolled application programs within a predetermined time span as is required for robust industrial control by preallocating dynamic and static hardware resources on a per application basis and in a manner that ensures execution of the application within the necessary time constraints. Portions of the distributed operating system may be distributed at particular hardware resources to provide necessary modeling for those hardware resources in making the commitments to resource bandwidths.

The present invention relates to industrial controllers for controlling industrial processes and equipment and more generally to an operating system suitable for a distributed industrial control system having multiple processing nodes spatially separated about a factory or the like.
Industrial controllers are special purpose computers used for controlling industrial processes and manufacturing equipment. Under the direction of a stored control program the industrial controller examines a series of inputs reflecting the status of the controlled process and in response, adjusts a series of outputs controlling the industrial process. The inputs and outputs may be binary, that is on or off, or analog providing a value within a continuous range of values.
Centralized industrial controllers may receive electrical inputs from the controlled process through remote input/output (I/O) modules communicating with the industrial controller over a high-speed communication network. Outputs generated by the industrial controller are likewise transmitted over the network to the I/O circuits to be communicated to the controlled equipment. The network provides a simplified means of communicating signals over a factory environment without multiple wires and the attendant cost of installation.
Effective real-time control is provided by executing the control program repeatedly in high speed xe2x80x9cscanxe2x80x9d cycles. During each scan cycle each input is read and new outputs are computed. Together with the high-speed communications network, this ensures the response of the control program to changes in the inputs and its generation of outputs will be rapid. All information is dealt with centrally by a well-characterized processor and communicated over a known communication network to yield predictable delay times, critical to deterministic control.
The centralized industrial controller architecture, however, is not readily scalable and with foreseeably large and complex control problems, unacceptable delays will result from the large amount of data that must be communicated to a central location and the demands placed on the centralized processor. For this reason it may be desirable to adopt a distributed control architecture in which multiple processors perform portions of the control program at spatially separate locations about the factory. By distributing the control, multiple processors may be brought to bear on the control problem reducing the burden on any individual processor and the amount of input and output data that must be transmitted.
Unfortunately the distributed control model is not as well characterized as far as guaranteeing performance of the controlled process as is required for real-time control. Delay in the execution of a portion of the control program by one processor can be fatal to successful real-time control and because the demand for individual processor resources fluctuates the potential for an unexpected overloading of a single processor is possible. This is particularly true when a number of different and independent applications programs are executed on the distributed controller where the application programs compete for the same set of physical hardware resources.
The present invention provides an operating system for distributed real-time industrial control that ensures deterministic execution of multiple independent application programs. To do so the operating system pre-allocates hardware resources to each application by seeking a commitment from those hardware resources that they will meet specified timing constraints. The hardware resources determine whether they can meet the timing constraints by modeling the execution of the application together with the other applications. Generally, the commitments are initially based on worst case assumptions which are later modified by actual statistics of the process during its execution.
Specifically the present invention provides a real-time operating system for use with a control system having spatially separated hardware resources arranged in a topology. The operating system includes an application list indicating control application programs to be executed together with a required completion time and control hardware resources required by the control application programs. A resource list indicates control hardware resources and their allocation among control application programs. A commitment program portion of the operating system receives new control application programs and identifies control hardware resources from the resource list matching control hardware resources required by the new control application program. The commitment program then allocates a portion of the required completion time to each identified hardware resource and models execution of the new control application program with the other control application programs on the application list to ensure that allocated completion time for each hardware resource is met. The new control application program is enrolled on the application list if the completion time constraint is met and otherwise an error is reported.
Thus it is one object of the invention to provide a deterministic control environment with distributed hardware found in a distributed control system. By pre-allocating all hardware resources based on completion times for the application programs, acceptable response times are ensured.
The commitment program may model the execution of a control application program based on pre-determined pattern of repeated execution of the new application. During running of the control application program the commitment program may collect statistics on bandwidth usage and arrival time to modify the pre-determined pattern of repeated execution to better optimize use of hardware resources.
Thus it is another object of the invention to allow conservative but certain allocation of hardware resources which may later be improved based on actual statistics of resource use by the application program.
The hardware resources may be shared by scheduling and the resource list may include a schedule of use of the hardware resources by control application programs and the commitment program may model the schedules of the control application programs.
Thus it is another object of the invention to allow allocation of control application programs to share hardware resources such as networks which can be partitioned only in time through a scheduling system.
The modeling of the execution of a control application program with the other control application programs for each hardware resource may occur at the spatial location of the hardware resource.
Thus it is another object of the invention to provide each hardware resource with its own modeling capability so that a control system may be freely constructed of different hardware resources and yet be used with the distributed operating system.
The distributed operating system may include a network topology map indicating the topology of interconnections of the control hardware resources. Upon receiving a new control application program, xe2x80x9cprimaryxe2x80x9d control hardware resources may be identified matching the hardware resources required by the new control application program and xe2x80x9cimplicitxe2x80x9d control hardware resources may be identified based on necessary intercommunications between identified primary control hardware resources per the network topology.
Thus it is another object of the invention to provide for deterministic operation of those hardware resources required principally to support the distributed nature of the control system, for example, hardware resources that provide intercommunication between other hardware resources sharing the principal execution of the control application program. Such implicit resources are not solely dependent on the application program but also depend upon the allocation by the commitment program of the control application program to the various hardware resources.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which there is shown by way of illustration a preferred embodiment of the invention. Such embodiment does not necessarily represent the full scope of the invention, however, and reference must be made to the claims herein for interpreting the scope of the invention.


The present invention discloses a phosphorus-silicon synergistic flame retardant and the preparation method and use thereof. The phosphorus-silicon synergistic flame retardant provided by the present invention has a structural general formula shown as formula I. A new type of compound containing phosphorus and silicon is prepared by the present invention using the cheap organic boron catalyst, and employing the addition reaction of diphenyl phosphine oxide and derivatives thereof with silicone containing carbon-carbon double bond. Such compounds have the properties of hydrolytic resistance, easy purification, and low synthesis cost, etc. Phosphorus and silicon elements in the molecular structures of such compounds both can act as the flame retardants solely, and meantime can work synergistically, thereby enduing the common polymeric materials with the excellent flame retardant property.

In recent years, as the environmental protection and the safety protection consciousness continuously increase, the flame retardant problem of the polymeric materials gets more and more attention. It is the most effective manner to add flame retardants into polymeric bulk to improve the flame retardant property of the polymeric materials. Ideal flame retardants not only have the high-effective flame retardant feature, but also have the characteristics such as the environment friendliness, etc. At present, for the selection of the flame retardants, the following five aspects generally need to be sufficiently considered: (1) the flame retardant efficiency of the flame retardants on the polymeric materials; (2) the influence of the flame retardants on the processing technology of the polymeric materials; (3) the compatibility of the flame retardants with the matrix and the influence of the flame retardants on the physical property of the matrix; (4) the balance of the performance-price ratio of the flame retardants; and (5) the environmental compatibility of the flame retardants and the like. The conventional polymeric materials use flame retardants, such as halogen and antimony flame retardants, and although they have good flame retardant efficacy, use thereof is increasingly restricted due to their bad environmental compatibility. In contrast, the research and use of the phosphorus, nitrogen, silicon and inorganic hydrate flame retardants have been rapidly developed in recent years (Wilkie C A, Morgan A B. Fire retardency of polymeric materials, CRC Press, 2010, pp 1˜14).
During the research and development of the new type of flame retardants, another development trend is to pay increasing attention to the function of "synergistic effect" in a flame retardant system. In the flame retardant design of the polymeric materials, people increasingly realize that use of single flame retardant system tends to have defects, such as low efficiency, large addition amount, great influence on the property of the polymeric bulk, and the like. However, use of the synergistic effect among the different kinds of the flame retardants can largely improve the flame retardant efficiency. "Synergistic effect" means that, when the addition amounts are the same, the performance improvement of the system consisting of two or more components is superior to the sum of performance improvements when two components solely work respectively. For the flame retardants, the "halogen-antimony" and "phosphorus-nitrogen" flame retardant systems are the two most common synergistic systems. Because of the implementation of European Environmental Law, mainly WEEE and ROHS ACTs, the use of the "halogen-antimony" synergistic system is gradually forbidden. Therefore, the current synergistic flame retardant system is mainly the "phosphorus-nitrogen" system. For example, FUSHIMI Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Japan, develops the highly-efficient "phosphorus-nitrogen" synergistic flame retardant polyphosphazene (trade name: Rabitle® FP-100). This flame retardant has excellent flame retardant characteristic to epoxy molding compound and engineering plastic (polycarbonate, ABS resin, high impact polystyrene etc.) system.
In recent years, another kind of synergistic flame retardant system, "phosphorus-silicon" flame retardants, gets more attention. Research indicates that the coexistence of phosphorus and silicon elements has the effect of synergistic flame retardance. Research by Li et al. has found that the phosphorus-nitrogen-silicon type flame retardants have a good synergistic flame retardant effect on polypropylene materials (Li Q, et al. Synergistic effect of phosphorus, nitrogen, and silicon on flame-retardant properties and char yield in polypropylene. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2005, 96: 854-860). Patent ZL 200710178086.7 reports an organosilicon compound containing phosphorus. This compound is prepared by reacting 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO) with silicone compounds containing carbon-carbon double bonds under the action of a catalyst such as platinic chloride, rhodium chloride and the like. The research indicates that such compounds all have good flame retardant effects on the polymeric materials such as phenolic resin, polycarbonate, polymethyl methacrylate, etc. However, there is an easily hydrolyzable phosphonate ester bond in the molecular structure of such compounds, thus their use is limited. In addition, because the preparation reaction uses the expensive heavy metal catalyst, the cost is high, and it is difficult to achieve the mass production.

Phosphorus—silicon synergistic flame retardants and the preparation method and use thereof

Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences


The invention includes semiconductor processing patterning methods and semiconductor constructions. A semiconductor processing patterning method includes forming a second composition resist layer over a different first composition resist layer. Overlapping portions of the first and second composition resist layers are exposed to actinic energy effective to change solubility of the exposed portions versus the unexposed portions of each of the first and second composition resist layers in a developer solution. The first and second composition resist layers are developed with the developer solution under conditions effective to remove the exposed portions of the first composition resist layer at a faster rate than removing the exposed portions of the second composition resist layer. Additional aspects and implementations are contemplated.

A continuing goal of semiconductor processing is increased miniaturization while maintaining high performance. Modern semiconductor processes are heavily reliant on photolithography when preparing semiconductors to achieve this goal.
Photolithography typically involves the following steps. Initially, a layer of resist is formed over a substrate. A reticle/mask is subsequently placed above the resist and radiation is allowed to pass through openings of the reticle/mask and contact the resist in patterns defined by the reticle/mask. Depending on whether the resist is a negative resist or a positive resist, the radiation renders exposed portions of the resist more or less soluble in a solvent relative to unexposed portions. The solvent is subsequently utilized to remove the more soluble portions of the resist while leaving the less soluble portions as a patterned mask. The mask pattern can be transferred to the underlying substrate with a suitable etch. Exemplary methods of prior art photolithography and a problem therewith are illustrated in FIGS. 1-3.
Referring first to FIG. 1, a semiconductor substrate 1 at one stage of semiconductor processing is shown that includes a bulk substrate 3, multilayers 4 (e.g., conductive, semiconductive and/or insulative layers) and a resist 5. To aid in interpretation of the claims that follow, the terms "semiconductive substrate" and "semiconductor substrate" are defined to mean any construction comprising semiconductive material, including, but not limited to, bulk semiconductive materials such as a semiconductive wafer (either alone or in assemblies comprising other materials thereon), and semiconductive material layers (either alone or in assemblies comprising other materials). The term "substrate" refers to any supporting structure, including, but not limited to, the semiconductive substrates described above.
Referring to FIG. 2, photoresist layer 5 has been processed to form masking blocks 7. It would be desirable that these masking blocks be of constant respective width in the illustrated cross-section from top to bottom. However in certain instances, the patterned photoresist tends to flare out at the bottoms/bases, as shown, forming what are commonly referred to as "footing", depicted by feet 9.
Referring to FIG. 3, layers 4 have been etched using blocks 7 as an etch mask. As shown, feet 9 have functioned as part of that mask making the pattern of layers 4 substantially wider than the predominate width of blocks 7. In many instances, this is undesirable and/or difficult to predict or control.

Semiconductor processing patterning methods


The invention provides a method of preparing nanoparticles having at least one polymer shell attached to them, each polymer shell having a selected property or properties. The method comprises attaching initiation monomers to the surfaces of the nanoparticles, contacting the nanoparticles having the initiation monomers attached to them with a transition metal ring-opening metathesis catalyst to activate the initiation monomers, and contacting the nanoparticles with one or more types of propagation monomers of the formula P—L—N under conditions effective so that the monomers are polymerized to form the one or more polymer shells. In the formula P—L—N, N is a cyclic olefin-containing group, P is a moiety which gives each polymer shell a selected property or properties, and L is a bond or linker. The invention also provides polymers formed by polymerizing the propagation monomers. The invention further provides the nanoparticles, the initiation monomers, and propagation monomers of formula P—L—N wherein P is a moiety having a property selected from the group consisting of redox activity, optical activity, electrical activity and magnetic activity, and L and N are defined above. The invention also provides binding monomers of formula B—L—N, wherein B is a binding moiety that binds specifically to an analyte, and N and L are defined above. Finally, the invention provides methods and kits for detecting or quantitating an analyte.

In recent years, there has been considerable interest in developing methods for assembling nanoscale building blocks into periodic, functional materials. See Storhoff et al., J. Clust. Sci., 8:179 (1997) and references cited therein, and Brousseau et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 120:7645 (1998). These methods rely on access to both novel building block compositions and assembly strategies.
With regard to the former, both inorganic and organic compositions are now available. Importantly, some of these building blocks are accessible in macroscopic quantities and in monodisperse form. For example, a variety of methods exist for preparing monodisperse samples of CdS and CdSe particles (Murray et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 115:8706 (1993); Weller, Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 32:41 (1993); Wang and Herron, J. Phys. Chem., 95:525 (1991)) and gold particles (Grabar et al., J. Anal Chem., 67:735 (1995); Frens, Nature Phys. Sci., 241:20 (1973); Hayat, M. A. (ed.), Colloidal Gold: Principles, Methods and Applications (Academic, San Diego, 1991)) with diameters ranging from 1 to 40 nm. Studies involving these well-defined inorganic particles not only have led to a greater understanding of quantum confinement effects but also the development of new and useful spectroscopic methods (Freeman et al., Science, 267:1629 (1995); Zhu et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 119:235 (1997)) and detection technologies (Mirkin et al., Nature, 382:607 (1996); Elghanian et al., Science, 277:1078 (1997); Storhoff et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 120:1959 (1998)). Similarly, a great deal has been learned from the synthesis, characterization, and study of polymer particle compositions. Goodwin et al., Colloid Polym. Sci., 525:464 (1974); Goodwin et al., Colloid Polym. Sci., 257:61 (1979); Schmitt et al., Adv. Mater., 9:61 (1997); José-Yacamán et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 7:913 (1969); Olsen and Kafafi, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 113:7758 (1991); Spatz et al., Adv. Mater., 8:337 (1996) However, far less is known about such systems with nanoscale dimensions (<100 nm).
The development of synthetic methods for preparing structures consisting of nanoparticle cores and organic polymer shells on this size scale would give entry into a new and versatile class of hybrid nanoparticle building blocks. Importantly, if it were possible to control the composition and thicknesses of the polymer shells, one would have unprecedented control over the chemical and physical properties of these novel materials.


A computer implemented method and apparatus for improving viewer engagement in video advertising. The method comprises configuring a plurality of skip options for presentation in advertising content, such that each skip option of the plurality of skip options is presented in series for a limited duration during display of the advertising content until a presented one of the skip options is selected.

Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to video advertising and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for improving viewer engagement in video advertising.
Description of the Related Art
Video content generates high engagement levels with viewers, and therefore presents an attractive monetization opportunity for advertisers to show relevant advertisement videos to viewers of video content. Advertisement videos are often presented with a skip option, either when the advertisement video commences or at a predetermined time period shortly thereafter, allowing a viewer to select the skip option in order to skip the advertisement video and access the video content of interest.
Often, the viewer selects the skip option so as to skip the advertisement as soon as the skip option becomes available for selection. Thus the viewer is unlikely to have engaged with the advertising content or any branding messages contained therein. Such viewer behavior defeats the purpose of the advertisement.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus for improving viewer engagement in video advertising.

Method and apparatus for improving viewer engagement in video advertising


A combined shipping and optionally presentation package for holding flatly packed goods or flat containers. This package possesses at least two presentation trays (3 ) holding the plastic containers (24), a slipover cover (2) with two opposite downward extending sides (9a, 9b) placed on the presentation trays (3) as well as means for holding the slipover cover on the presentation trays. Each of the presentation trays can have a long and a short flank (13, 17) and therefore be L-shaped in side view and be arranged standing in a row on the short flanks under the slipover cover.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a combined shipping and presentation package for holding flatly packed goods or flat containers, in particular plastic containers.
Such goods or flat containers are currently packed in two rows next to each other in flat cartons open at the top. These cartons open at the top have sidewalls sloped to the front in order to present the goods packed in them or their imprints better To prevent the goods from falling out of the carton during transport, the carton along with the goods is wrapped around with a plastic band running lengthwise to the container rows. A package, closed in this way is sent to the retail trade, where the merchandise is presented in display windows.

Combined shipping and presentation package


A control system for aligning a first element coupled to an actuator with a second element of a main system includes a position sensor that measures an absolute position of the first element relative to the main system as a sensor signal, a position error signal-based compensator that generates a second control signal as a function of a position error signal, wherein the position error signal indicates a relative position of the first element as a difference between the actual position of the first element and a target position of the first element relative to the second element, a sensor-based compensator that generates a first control signal as a function of the sensor signal and the second control signal, and an actuator that changes the position of the first element relative to the second element dependent on the first control signal to align the first element with the second element.

The invention relates to a device and to a method for aligning a first element coupled to an actuator with a second element of a main system, using a position sensor and considering environmental vibrations.
In many technical systems using actuators, the performance of these actuators, and thus the overall performance of the technical systems, can be influenced by vibrations being induced to the systems and actuators from the outside as external, environmental vibrations and internal vibrations occurring at the actuator or at an element the actuator is coupled with. However, the performance of any technical systems using actuators has increased considerably and is desired to be increased further. Thus, an accurate positioning of actuators may be required to achieve an increased performance.
For example in modern tape storage systems, the capacity and performance of the tape storage systems have increased in the last years. To achieve higher cartridge or tape capacities and improved performance, however, further advances in several areas are necessary. Increases in linear and track densities on the tape may be required in order to achieve higher storage capacities. However, increase in linear densities may lead to a decrease of the distance between adjacent bit cells, which in turn may lead to an increase of inter-symbol interferences. Increase in track densities may lead to narrower individual track widths and narrower write and/or read heads which may require a very precise control of the tape transport system and track-follow control of the tape head.
To achieve the required track densities, precise positioning of the recording head over the data tracks may be required. Therefore, the performance of the track-follow control system of tape drives needs to be improved. Furthermore, operation of tape drive systems requires robust performance of the track-follow control system under shock and vibration conditions. Increasing the tape track density tightens further the tolerance in the acceptable track following error making it increasingly more challenging to meet the performance specifications under vibration conditions.
The basic function of the track-follow control system is to reduce the misalignment between the tape and the recording head created by lateral motion of the flexible medium. Lateral tape motion (LTM) arises primarily from imperfections in the tape guide rollers and reels, such as run-outs, eccentricities and other tape path imperfections.
Besides compensating for the LTM, the track-follow control system should provide an additional functionality of compensating for the external vibration disturbances. Conventionally, standard vibration profiles are used to describe the vibration specifications in terms of the acceleration input under which the tape drive must continue to operate reliably.
A track-follow control system can use a position error signal (PES) that is generated based on servo information prerecorded on the tape. The PES provides a measure of the error between the target track location on the tape and the head position. Several approaches have been proposed for improving performance under vibration condition by enhancing the PES-based track-follow controller. For example, the PES-based track-follow controller can provide an enhanced rejection at the vibration frequencies. Further, switching controllers, accelerometer measurements and disturbance observer enhancements could be used to improve the performance under vibration conditions. Controllers in this context refer to devices for controlling an actuator being responsible for actuating the head, i.e., to change the position of the head. For different vibration conditions, different controllers should be used, i.e., controllers having configurations customized to the current vibration condition. Depending on the vibration condition, the control signal for the actuator can be generated and adjusted so that the vibration condition is considered when actuating the head. However, in order to consider different vibration conditions, the kind of controller can be chosen, i.e., switching between different controllers can be performed.
Another approach for improvements in the track-following performance is to provide a higher closed-loop bandwidth, i.e., increasing the bandwidth within the control system. For higher closed-loop bandwidth, it might be necessary to either increase the physical head actuator bandwidth or increase the PES-based closed-loop bandwidth. The first approach is limited due to a large head actuator mass and power consumption or dissipation constraints. The second approach is limited due to measurement delay effects especially at low speeds and due to noise or disturbance amplification areas.
Therefore, there are several limitations in improving the track-following that is based only in the PES measurement. The same limitations applies to other technical systems using actuators wherein the PES refers to a difference between a target position of the actuator, or an element coupled to the actuator, and the actual actuator position, or element position.
Currently solutions for track-follow control systems use PES and modify the control signal which depends on the PES by considering vibration signals like LTM or by reducing noise in the system. A system using PES and considering LTM is for example disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,059,362 B2. A system using PES and reducing noise in the system is for example disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,068,308 B2.

Aligning a first element coupled to an actuator with a second element of a main system


An electronic device, a lead frame, and a method, including providing a lead frame with a Y-shaped feature having branch portions connected to a dam bar in a prospective gap in an equally spaced repeating lead pitch pattern, and a set of first leads extending parallel to one another along a first direction and spaced apart from one another along a second direction in lead locations of the repeating lead pitch pattern, attaching a semiconductor die to a die attach pad of the lead frame, attaching bond wires between bond pads of the semiconductor die, and the first leads, enclosing first portions of the first leads, the die attach pad, and a portion of the semiconductor die in a package structure, and performing a dam bar cut process that cuts through portions of the dam bar between the lead locations of the repeating lead pitch pattern.

Many integrated circuits and other electronic devices include equally spaced rows of pins or leads extending out of one or more sides of a package. Integration of magnetic components allows high levels of isolation between different circuits in a single package. For example, isolated DC-DC converter circuits can include primary circuitry such as one or more switching transistors, driver circuits, and a transformer primary winding, along with isolated secondary circuitry that includes rectifier diodes and a transformer secondary winding. In some examples, a first circuit is provided on a first die, a laminated magnetic structure provides transformer isolation between the first circuit and a second circuit on a second die. The first and second dies and the laminated magnetic structure can be integrated within a single electronic device package with associated pins or leads. Electronic devices that include multiple isolated circuits are often subject to lead-to-lead clearance requirements, for example, to ensure minimum spacing between leads of two isolated circuits within the device. Alternatively, or in addition, specific device architectures may call for spacing requirements between certain die attach pads and leads of the device. At the same time, electronic device packaging typically includes external leads in one or more rows along an associated side of the device package, with equal spacing between the leads, referred to as a repeating lead pitch pattern of uniform spacing or pitch. One or more leads may be omitted from the equally spaced lead pitch pattern where the standardized lead spacing is closer than the spacing requirements for a given circuit configuration in a device. However, new customized lead pitch designs are costly in terms of manufacturing time and tooling. For example, trim and form tooling is used to remove dam bar features from lead frames after molding, prior to lead trimming and lead shape formation. For uniform lead pitch patterns, standard dam bar cutting tools (e.g., punch and die systems) cut the dam bar material between the uniformly spaced leads, leaving the prospective lead material in place for subsequent trimming and forming. Simply removing one or more pins from the repeating lead pitch pattern would result in extra debris falling into the trim and form tooling, causing contamination and requiring additional tool cleaning operations. Alternatively, custom trim and form tooling can be designed and fabricated for each new custom lead frame design, but this is extremely expensive and causes delays in manufacturing.


An insulated gate type thyristor includes: a first current terminal semiconductor region of a first conductivity type having a high impurity concentration; a first base semiconductor region of a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type having a low impurity concentration and formed on the first current terminal semiconductor region; a second base semiconductor region of the first conductivity type having a low impurity concentration and formed on the first base semiconductor region; a second current terminal semiconductor region of the second conductivity type having a high impurity concentration and formed on the second base semiconductor region; a trench passing through the second current terminal semiconductor region and entering the second base semiconductor region leaving some depth thereof, along a direction from a surface of the second current terminal semiconductor region toward the first base semiconductor region; and an insulated gate electrode structure formed in the trench.

A) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thyristor and more particularly to an insulated gate type thyristor having an insulated gate.
B) Description of the Related Art
A thyristor having a pnpn lamination structure is known as a switching device having a low on-resistance. The pnpn lamination structure is understood as a structure merging a pnp bipolar junction transistor and an npn bipolar junction transistor. As a high voltage is applied between anode-cathode and a forward bias is applied to a p-type base or an n-type base, one bipolar junction transistor turns on to forward-bias the other base. The other bipolar junction transistor also turns on thereafter. Positive feedback is mutually applied to both bipolar transistors to enter a latch-up state. In this way, a low on-resistance can be realized. As the polarity of the voltage between anode-cathode is reversed, the thyristor turns off.
A gate turn-off thyristor (GTO) is a thyristor which can turn off, without reversing the polarity of voltage between anode-cathode, for example, by backward-biasing gate-cathode to pull the drain carriers in the base region through the gate electrode. Since large current flows, a proper gate drive circuit is required to be prepared.
A thyristor called an insulated gate transistor is also known (B. J. Baliga: IEEE Trans. El. Dev. ED-31, No. 6, 821, 1984). The npn portion of a pnpn thyristor structure is formed in a planar transistor structure, and an insulated gate electrode is formed on a region traversing an n-type emitter region and a p-type base region and reaching an n-type base region. A positive polarity bias voltage is applied to the insulated gate electrode to form an inversion layer in a surface layer of the p-type base region, to connect the n-type emitter region and n-type base region, to inject carriers (electrons) into the n-type base region, and to turn on the thyristor. Gate turn-off is also possible.
Instead of the planar structure, another structure has also been proposed in which an insulated gate electrode is formed in a trench formed by passing through the p-type base region from the surface of the n-type region of a pnpn lamination structure and entering the n-type base region (e.g., JP-A-2000-311998).


A die-down HBGA package includes an integrated-circuit die mounted to a substantially flat lower surface of a die-carrier/heat spreader. A flexible insulated tape layer with a central opening for the die has its upper surface adhesively fixed to the lower side of the die-carrier/heat spreader. Wire-bonding sites and a number of contact areas are connected by traces on the lower surface of the tape layer. Bonding-wire loops are connected between the wire-bonding pads on the die and the wire-bonding sites on the insulated tape layer. A rigid board, such as an epoxy or ceramic circuit board, with electrically conductive plated-through holes is fixed to the insulated flexible tape layer with adhesive. Conductive adhesive material connects the contact areas with the top surfaces of the plated-through holes. Alternatively, pins join the carrier/heat spreader and the rigid circuit board. Solder pads for solder balls are formed on the bottom surface of the printed-circuit board.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in ball grid array BGA packages for integrated circuits.
2. Prior Art
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a conventional die-down high performance ball grid array HBGA package 10, which includes a die-carrier/heat spreader 12 which is formed of a metallic or ceramic material. The die-carrier/heat spreader 12 has a die-cavity 14 formed through its lower surface. An integrated-circuit die 16 is attached to the top interior surface 18 of the die-carrier/heat spreader 12. A plurality of bonding wires are connected between wire bonding pad on the integrated-circuit die 16 and wire bonding sites formed on an insulated tape layer which surrounds the die-cavity 16. The wire-bonding sites on the tape layer are located outside of the cavity and adjacent to the cavity on the bottom side of the die-carrier/heat spreader 12.
An encapsulation cap 20 covers the integrated-circuit die 16 and the bonding wires. A number of solder balls, typically shown as 22, are arranged in a well-known grid pattern and are attached to the conductive traces formed on the insulated tape layer. The solder balls 22 are also connected to a number of corresponding solder-ball attachment sites located on the top surface of a printedcircuit board 24.
A number of conductive traces are formed on the insulated tape layer to connect the conductive bonding sites to selective solderable areas for the solder balls 22. The selective solderable areas are located on the insulated tape outside of the cavity and away from the encapsulation cap. The selective solderable areas for the solder balls are formed on the insulated tape layer and are arranged in a grid pattern on the bottom side of the die-down HBGA package. A solder mask is formed on the insulated tape layer but not over the selective solderable areas for the solder balls 22 on the insulated tape.
Note that thickness of the encapsulation cap 20 must be sufficiently thin and the solder balls 22 sufficiently large, so that the bottom surface of the encapsulation cap 20 provides sufficient clearance to the top surface of the printed-circuit board 24.
With reference to FIG. 2 in greater detail, the bonding wires, typically shown as 30, have one of their ends attached to bonding pads, typically shown as 32, on the lower surface of the integrated-circuit die 16. The other ends the bonding wires are attached to wire-bonding sites, typically shown as 34, which are formed on an insulated tape layer 24. The insulated tape layer 24 is attached with an adhesive layer 36 to a lower surface 38 of the die-carrier/heat spreader 12.
The encapsulation material, which forms the encapsulation cap 20, fills the cavity 14 and covers the integrated-circuit die 16, the bonding wires 30, and the wire-bonding sites 34, as illustrated. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the bonding wires 30 droop below the plane of the lower surface of the insulated tape layer 24. The encapsulation cap 20 must be thick enough to cover the drooping wire loops of the bonding wires 30 while still providing sufficient clearance to the top surface of the printed-circuit board 24.
In order to mount an HBGA package to the surface of a printed-circuit board, the grid pattern of the solder balls is placed over a corresponding grid pattern of solderable areas on the printed-circuit board. The solder balls are then heated to a temperature sufficient to melt the solder balls and to fix the HBGA package to the surface of the printed-circuit board. The solder balls provide mechanical and electrical connection between the HBGA package and the printed-circuit board.
The bonding wires 30 form wire loops. The wire loops extend between the bonding-wire pads on the integrated-circuit die, which are located in the cavity, to the bonding sites on the tape layer, which are located outside of the cavity. The bonding-wire loops also extend downwardly below the plane of the insulated tape layer on the bottom side of the die-carrier/heat sink. On the one hand, the encapsulation cap 20 must be sufficiently thick so that it completely encapsulates the downwardly extending bonding-wire loops. On the other hand, the encapsulation cap 20 must also be sufficiently thin so that sufficient clearance is provided between its bottom surface and the component-mounting surface of the printed-circuit board when the HBGA package is soldered to the printed-circuit board with the solder balls 22.
A high performance ball grid array HBGA package has a grid with a center-to-center spacing, or pitch, between adjacent solder balls of 50 mils for solder balls with a final, assembled thickness of 19 mils. A solder ball with an initial diameter of 30 mils collapses to 24-25 mils when it is mounted to a package. When the package is finally assembled to a printed-circuit board, the solder ball will have a final thickness of 19 mils. The depth of the cavity 14 in the die-carrier/heat spreader 12 is 18 mils and the combined thickness of the adhesive layer 36 and the insulated tape layer 24 is 6 mils. The droop of the bonding wires loops below the plane of the lower surface of the insulated tape layer 24 is 10 mils. The distance w between the lowest point of a bonding wire and the lower surface of the encapsulation cap is 4 mils. For a solder ball having a thickness of 19 mils, the spacing d between the lower surface of the encapsulation cap 20 and the top surface of the printed-circuit board 24 is 5 mils to provide clearance between the HBGA package and the surface of the printed-circuit board.
HBGA packages having solder-ball grid spacings smaller than 50 mils require using solder ball with final thicknesses less than 19 mils. Consequently the package configuration illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is limited to larger solder balls and larger grid spacings.
Consequently, it can be appreciated that the design of a die-down HBGA package requires attention to the dimensions and allowable tolerances for certain critical parameters, such as the droop of the wire loops and the thickness of the encapsulation cap. This is especially important for higher density cavity-down BGA packages with a solder-ball spacing, or pitch, which is less than 50 mils or 1.27 mm. pitches. As the diameter of the solder balls get smaller, the clearance between the package and the surface of the motherboard also get smaller.
Further, it can be appreciated that fabrication of the cavity in the die-attach/heat spreader by etching or by stamping adds additional fabrication costs and complexity to a package design.
The insulated tape layer of a conventional die-down BGA package are good for routing of conductive traces but are limited when solder ball pads are to be attached to the tapes because the conductive traces have to go around the pads which interfere with routing of the conductive traces on the insulated tape layer.

BGA package using PCB and tape in a die-down configuration


A method of assembly for a planetary gear train wherein long front gears of stepped long pinions are applied with markings on the end surfaces of tooth forms, the middle grooves of the second and third stepped long pinions are respectively provided with an assembling pin hole in the position at an angle 180 degrees opposite to said markings, and the long rear gear of the first stepped long pinion is provided with a spot facing on the end surface corresponding to the marking, the process comprising preparing an assembling jig composed of carrier-fixing plates at an angular interval of 120 degrees on the center of a boss portion, a spot-facing plate provided in the direction rotated 15 degrees on the center of the support shaft located between said carrier-fixing plates, and control pins supported on pedestals; assembling the stepped long pinions by inserting the control pins into assembling pin holes so that the markings on the second and third stepped long pinions are pointing to the same direction as that of the marking of the first long pinion positioned by the spot facing plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic transmission and particularly to an assembling process for a Ravignawx type planetary gear train having stepped long pinions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, in the mechanism of this kind of a Ravignawx type planetary gear 1, as shown in FIG. 10, for example, there are provided coaxially an input shaft 2 and an output shaft 3. To the end of the input shaft 2 is fitted a rear sun gear 4, and into the input shaft 2 is inserted a front sun gear 5 through a clutch (not shown). Also, to the output shaft 3 is fitted a carrier 6 havaing a predetermined diameter, and this carrier 6 is provided with three pairs of support shafts 7, 8 in parallel at angular intervals of 120 degrees in the shifted phase around the output shaft 3. To this support shaft 7 is rotatably fitted a short pinion 10 meshing with the front sun gear 5 and a ring gear 9 which is coaxially provided in the outside periphery of the front sun gear 5. Also, to the support shaft 8 is rotatably fitted a long pinion 11 meshing with the short pinion 10 and the rear sun gear 4 commonly.
Recently, this long pinion 11 has been replaced, in view of the reduction gear ratio, with a stepped long pinion 15 comprising a long front gear 16 and a long rear gear 17, as shown in FIG. 1. In this case the long pinion 15 which is rotatably fitted to the shaft 8 of the carrier 6, the long front gear 16 is meshed with and connected to the front sun gear 5 and the ring gear 9 through the short pinion 10 and also the long rear gear 17 is meshed with and connected to the rear sun gear 4, as shown in FIG. 12(a) and FIG. 12(b).
In order to accomplish the theoretically proper mesh with this stepped long pinion 15, it is required to satisfy the following conditions:
The condition No. 1 is to select the number of teeth so that the number of teeth of each gear may be in the proper mesh. The formula to select the number of teeth is omitted here.
Next, the condition No. 2 is for the long front gear 16 and long rear gear 17 of the stepped long pinion 15 to be adjusted to the same phase at each center of the tooth width in each one of tooth grooves 16a, 17a FIG. 2(a) to control the relative position of both the gears 16, 17.
Further, as the condition No. 3 it is required to control the relative positions between the mutual long pinions 15 for assembling the stepped long pinions 15 which have satisfied the condition No. 2. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, where the phase-controlled tooth forms are applied with markings M, when the marking M1 is located at an angle of .phi.1=0 from the line a1 tying the center of No. 1 stepped long pinion 15A to the center P of the input shaft 2, No. 2 stepped long pinion 15B and No. 3 stepped long pinion 15C must be assembled so that the markings M2, M3 may be located respectively at an angle of .phi.2=-120 degrees (240 degrees) from the line a2 and at an angle of .phi.3=-240 degrees (120 degrees) from line a3. Incidentally, the plus sign represents the position clockwise from the lines a2, a3, and the minus sign counterclockwise from the same lines, and the calculation of those positions can be obtained by known formulas, but omitted.
If those three conditions are not satisfied, the gears can not be meshed theoretically and can not to be assembled. But in practice there are backlashes in the respective gears, so that in some cases the assembly can be performed even when the above-described three conditions are not satisfied. In those cases, however, there are problems in that the rotation of the gear is lacking in smoothness, the contact between the teeth becomes too tight, and defects such as pitching occurs. Especially, when the condition No. 3 was not satisfied, there was a problem of the failure in meshing, as shown in a circle mark in FIG. 14.

Assembling process for a ravignawx type planetary gear train having stepped long pinions


A system (100) for receiving electrical power wirelessly comprises a first (101) and a second electrode (102), with sandwiched there between at least one load module (103) dispersed in a matrix (104). Wherein at least the matrix (104) is applied in wet form.

In a wireless power transfer system energy can be transmitted from a power source to a load without the need for an electrical contact between both. Possible applications are the charging of electronic devices, but also for instance realizing illumination panels. Capacitive or inductive technologies are possible implementations for wireless power transfer. In wireless power transfer, power efficiency is a very important parameter.
For large area illumination emission surfaces based on light emitting diode (LED) sources nowadays technologies such as 2D attachment on large sheets of flexible substrates, combining multiple LED-strips in parallel, and alike, are required. WO 2013/024406 describes a transparent capacitive wireless powering system, which may for instance be used for powering lighting elements such as LEDs, LED strings, a lamp etc. The system disclosed comprises a pair of receiver electrodes connected to a load through an inductor, and a transparent infrastructure having at least a first layer of a non-conductive transparent material, and a second layer of a conductive transparent material coupled to each other. The second layer is arranged to form a pair of transmitter electrodes, wherein the pair of receiver electrodes are decoupled from the second layer, thereby forming a capacitive impedance between the pair of transmitter electrodes and the pair of receiver electrodes. A power signal generated by a driver is wirelessly transferred from the pair of transmitter electrodes to the pair of receiver electrodes to power the load when a frequency of the power signal substantially matches a series-resonance frequency of the first inductor and the capacitive impedance.
There is still room for improvement in creating free form (both in size and in surface topography) large area illumination products.


A connection for two items of installation equipment lined up beside each other with their end or broad sides against each other, in particular line-protection circuit breakers, residual current circuit breakers and the like, whose housings are each formed from two shell-shaped housing parts. The connecting element has an approximately cylindrical base body with a first outer diameter onto which, on both sides, two radially springy spreading arms projecting axially in opposite directions are integrally molded. The outside diameter of the spreading arms is smaller than the outside diameter of the base body and free ends of the spreading arms have radially protruding lugs which, when assembled, latch in behind protrusions on the housings of the items of installation equipment located beside each other and to be connected by the connecting element.

A connecting element is provided for connecting two items of installation equipment to each other. The two items of installation equipment each have a housing formed of two shell-shaped housing parts having protrusions extending out from the housing parts, each housing has a broad side and the broad side of each housing is lined up beside each other and against each other.
A single-pole electrical line-protection circuit breaker has a housing that has a shell-like configuration, the front edges of the shell walls are placed against each other. The two shells are fixed to each other by rivets.
Such single-pole line-protection circuit breakers can be combined to form multi-pole circuit breakers. It is known to rivet the individual poles to each other.
Such riveted connections are technically complicated, since, first, they make it necessary to keep a stock of rivets and, second, an operation has to be provided with which the riveting is performed.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a connecting element for two items of installation equipment lined up beside each other with their broad sides against each other, and a method of connecting the items of installation equipment which overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art methods and devices of this general type, in which the connection operation of the two items of installation equipment that are to be connected to each other is simplified.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a connecting element for connecting two items of installation equipment to each other. The two items of installation equipment each have a housing formed of two shell-shaped housing parts having protrusions extending out from the housing parts. The housing has an end side and the end side of each housing is lined up beside each other and against each other. The connecting element contains a substantially cylindrical shaped base body having an outer diameter, and two radially springy spreading arms integrally molded to the base body and projecting axially in opposite directions from the base body. The two spreading arms have an outside diameter being smaller than the outside diameter of the base body and free ends with radially protruding lugs forming the free ends. The lugs latching in behind the protrusions formed on the housing of each of the two items of installation equipment located beside each other for connecting the two items of installation equipment to each other.
According to the invention, the connecting element has an approximately cylindrical base body with a first outside diameter onto which, on both sides, two radially springy spreading arms project axially in opposite directions are integrally molded. The radial outer contour constitutes a cylindrical surface and their free ends have radially protruding lugs which, when assembled, latch in behind protrusions on the housings of the items of installation equipment to be connected by the connecting part.
The assembly, that is to say the method of assembling the two items of installation equipment using the connecting element configured in accordance with the invention is then simple. The connecting element is pushed with its spreading arms into one housing and the other housing is slipped over the spreading arms projecting from the one housing, which produces the connection between the two items of installation equipment. As far as the outlay on assembly is concerned, this type of connection is very simple and can be carried out without tools. When connecting two or more line-protection circuit breakers to form a multi-pole device, additional operations, which would be necessary to place the switches on one another, are no longer needed.
According to an advantageous refinement of the invention, the connecting element has the shape of a sleeve that has an axial longitudinal slot that is disposed centrally. With this refinement, the base body is also springy, so that it serves to center the items of installation equipment located beside each other.
In this way, by use of the one longitudinal slot, the spreading arms are separated from each other on one side; in order to form the spreading arms, further slots are introduced in the area of the spreading arms, diametrically opposite the longitudinal slot, and matched to the first.
In order that the assembly of the connecting elements is simplified, the free ends of the arms with the lugs are tapered conically to a point, so that the diameter of the sleeve shape at the ends is smaller than the diameter in the area of the lugs.
In order that tolerances in the housings can be compensated for, the transition face of the base body to the spreading arms and the transition face from the spreading arms to the lugs is in each case conical, the cone angle being slightly less than 180xc2x0.
This achieves the situation where the protrusion bears on the lugs, even in the event of an unfavorable tolerance situation.
In order that the connecting element remains firmly held between the two housings, a pin is inserted into the interior of the sleeve for fixing the connecting element in place. The pin prevents the longitudinal edges of the longitudinal slot or of the spreading arms springing towards one another. If, for example, an auxiliary switch is to be fixed to an item of switchgear, such a pin is generally not necessary. Ultimately, the pin is not necessary when the elasticity of the connecting element is not high, that is to say the connecting element is relatively stiff.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the base body combined with the spreading arms are in a form of a sleeve having an axial longitudinal slot formed therein disposed centrally between the lugs.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the lugs each have a free end that is tapered conically to a point.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the base body has end faces, onto which the spreading arms are integrally molded, are obtusely conically shape with cone angles being open towards each other, and in that a cone angle is less than 180xc2x0.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the lugs have rear faces disposed opposite the end faces of the base body, the rear faces have a conical shape with a cone angle that is open in an opposite direction and is less than 180xc2x0.
In accordance with another added feature of the invention, a pin is disposed in the axial longitudinal slot of the sleeve, the pin fixes and prevents the spreading arms from springing towards each other.
In accordance with another additional feature of the invention, the two items of installation equipment are selected from the group consisting of line-protection circuit breakers and residual current circuit breakers.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a method for connecting two items of installation equipment. The method includes providing a connecting element formed of a substantially cylindrical base body having an outer diameter, and two radially springy spreading arms integrally molded to the base body and projecting axially in opposite directions from the base body. The two spreading arms each have an outside diameter being smaller than the outside diameter of the base body and free ends with radially protruding lugs. The connecting element is latched into a first item of installation equipment having an opening formed therein for receiving the connection element. The first item of installation equipment has protrusions extending into the opening and disposed on a broad side for latching the connecting element. A second item of installation equipment is pressed against the first item of installation equipment, at right angles to the broad side of the first item of installation equipment. The connecting element is received in an opening formed in the second item of installation equipment and held by protrusions extending into the opening on a broad side of the second item of installation equipment.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a connecting element for two items of installation equipment lined up beside each other with their broad sides against each other, and a method of connecting the items of installation equipment, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

Connecting element for two items of installation equipment lined up beside each other with their broad sides against each other, and method of connecting the items of installation equipment


Conjugates of an interleukin-2 (“IL-2”) moiety and one or more nonpeptidic, water-soluble polymers are provided. Typically, the non-peptidic, water-soluble polymer is poly(ethylene glycol) or a derivative thereof. Also provided, among other things, are compositions comprising conjugates, methods of making conjugates, methods of administering compositions to an individual, nucleic acid sequences, expression systems, host cells, and methods for preparing IL-moieties.

In healthy humans, the immune system can differentiate between healthy cells and cancerous cells. Upon identifying a given cell as cancerous, the immune system typically eliminates it. Thus, when the immune system breaks down or is overwhelmed, cancers can develop resulting from a compromised immune system's inability to differentiate, and then eliminate, cancer cells. In a patient suffering from cancer, administration of an immunomodulatory protein to the patient may help return (at least in part) that patient's immune system back to normal so that her immune system's ability to eliminate cancer cells returns. In this way, the cancer may be slowed or even eliminated.
One such immunomodulatory protein used in the treatment of patients suffering from certain cancers is interleukin-2. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a naturally occurring cytokine that has activity as both a stimulator of natural killer cells (NK cells) and as an inducer of T-cell proliferation. In unglycosylated form, IL-2 has a molecular weight of about 15,300 Daltons (although IL-2 is found in vivo in variably glycosylated forms).
A commercially available unglycosylated human recombinant IL-2 product, aldesleukin (available as the PROLEUKIN® brand of des-alanyl-1, serine-125 human interleukin-2 from Prometheus Laboratories Inc., San Diego Calif.), has been approved for administration to patients suffering from metastatic renal cell carcinoma and metastatic melanoma. IL-2 has also been suggested for administration in patients suffering from or infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acute myeloid leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, atopic dermatitis, breast cancer and bladder cancer.
Even recommended doses of aldesleukin, however, can cause severe side effects, including capillary leak syndrome (CLS) and impaired neutrophil function. In view of the potential for these severe side effects, and because the recommended treatment cycle involves intravenous infusion over fifteen minutes every eight hours for fourteen doses, administration of aldesleukin occurs within a clinical setting. Moreover, the commercial formulation of aldesleukin includes the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate, a substance that appears to be required to maintain optimal activity through conformational stability. See Arakawa et al. (1994) Int. J. Peptide Protein Res. 43:583-587.
Attempts at addressing the toxicity concerns of IL-2 have been tried. In one approach, formulation approaches have been attempted. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,706,289 and international patent application publication WO 02/00243 and WO 99/60128. In other approaches, certain conjugates of IL-2 have been suggested. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,766,106, 5,206,344, 5,089,261 and 4,902,502.
Notwithstanding these approaches, however, there remains a need for conjugates of IL-2. Among other things, one or more embodiments of the present invention is therefore directed to such conjugates as well as compositions comprising the conjugates and related methods as described herein, which are believed to be new and completely unsuggested by the art.

Conjugates of an IL-2 moiety and a polymer