A computer system has a processor bus under control of the microprocessor itself, and this bus communicates with main memory, providing high-performance access for most cache fill operations. In addition, the system includes one or more expansion buses, preferably of the PCI type in the example embodiment. A host-to-PCI bridge is used for coupling the processor bus to the expansion bus. Other buses may be coupled to the PCI bus via PCI-to-(E) ISA bridges, for example. The host-to-PCI bridge contains queues for posted writes and delayed read requests. All transactions are queued going through the bridge, upstream or downstream. According to a feature of the invention, provision is made for split transactions, i.e., a read request which is not satisfied while the processor requesting it is still on the bus, but instead the bus is relinquished and other transactions intervene before the read result is available. A contemporary microprocessor such as a P6 has a deferred transaction protocol to implement split transactions, but this protocol is not available on a PCI bus. Split transactions are done by a "retry" command on a PCI bus, wherein a read request that cannot be completed immediately is queued and a "retry" response is sent back to the requester on the bus; this instructs the requester to retry (send the same command again) at a later time.

This invention relates to computer systems, and more particularly to a bus protocol for a computer system which uses a bridge between a processor bus and a standardized system bus.
Computer systems of the PC type usually employ a so-called expansion bus to handle various data transfers and transactions related to I/O and disk access. The expansion bus is separate from the system bus or from the bus to which the processor is connected, but is coupled to the system bus by a bridge circuit.
For some time, all PC's employed the ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) expansion bus, which was an 8-MHz, 16-bit device (actually clocked at 8.33 MHz). Using two cycles of the bus clock to complete a transfer, the theoretical maximum transfer rate was 8.33 MBytes/sec. Next, the EISA (Extension to ISA) bus was widely used, this being a 32-bit bus clocked at 8-MHz, allowing burst transfers at one per clock cycle, so the theoretical maximum was increased to 33-MBytes/sec. As performance requirements increased, with faster processors and memory, and increased video bandwidth needs, a high performance bus standard was a necessity. Several standards were proposed, including a Micro Channel architecture which was a 10-MHz, 32-bit bus, allowing 40-MByte/sec, as well as an enhanced Micro Channel using a 64-bit data width and 64-bit data streaming, theoretically permitting 80-to-160 MByte/sec transfer. The requirements imposed by use of video and graphics transfer on networks, however, necessitate even faster transfer rates. One approach was the VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) bus which was a 33 MHz, 32-bit local bus standard specifically for a 486 processor, providing a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 132-MByte/sec for burst, or 66-MByte/sec for non-burst; the 486 had limited burst transfer capability. The VESA bus was a short-term solution as higher-performance processors, e.g., the Intel P5 and P6 or Pentium and Pentium Pro processors, became the standard.
The PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus was proposed by Intel as a longer-term solution to the expansion bus standard, particularly to address the burst transfer issue. The original PCI bus standard has been upgraded several times, with the current standard being Revision 2.1, available from a trade association group referred to as PCI Special Interest Group, P.O. Box 14070, Portland, Oreg. 97214. The PCI Specification, Rev. 2.1, is incorporated herein by reference. Construction of computer systems using the PCI bus, and the PCI bus itself, are described in many publications, including "PCI System Architecture," 3rd Ed., by Shanley et al, published by Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., also incorporated herein by reference. The PCI bus provides for 32-bit or 64-bit transfers at 33- or 66-MHz; it can be populated with adapters requiring fast access to each other and/or with system memory, and that can be accessed by the host processor at speeds approaching that of the processor's native bus speed. A 64-bit, 66-MHz PCI bus has a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 528-MByte/sec. All read and write transfers over the bus can be burst transfers. The length of the burst can be negotiated between initiator and target devices, and can be any length.
System and component manufacturers have implemented PCI bus interfaces in various ways. For example, Intel Corporation manufactures and sells a PCI Bridge device under the part number 82450GX, which is a single-chip host-to-PCI bridge, allowing CPU-to-PCI and PCI-to-CPU transactions, and permitting up to four P6 processors and two PCI bridges to be operated on a system bus. Another example is offered by VLSI Technology, Inc., is a PCI chipset under the part number VL82C59x SuperCore, providing logic for designing a Pentium based system that uses both PCI and ISA buses. The chipset includes a bridge between the host bus and the PCI bus, a bridge between the PCI bus and the ISA bus, an a PCI bus arbiter. Posted memory write buffers are provided in both bridges, and provision is made for Pentium's pipelined bus cycles and burst transactions.
The "Pentium Pro" processor, commercially available from Intel Corporation, uses a processor bus structure as defined in the specification for this device, particularly as set forth in the publication "Pentium Pro Family Developer's Manual" Vols. 1-3, Intel Corp., 1996, available from McGraw-Hill, and incorporated herein by reference; this manual is also available from Intel by accessing <http://www.intel.com>.
A CPU operates at a much faster clock rate and data access rate than most of the resources it accesses via a bus. In earlier processors, such as those commonly available when the ISA bus and EISA bus was designed, this delay in reading data from a resource on the bus was handled by wait states. When a processor requested data, and it was not immediately available due to a slow memory or disk access, then the processor merely marked time using wait states, doing no useful work, until the data finally became available. In order to make use of this delay time, a processor such as the P6 provides a pipelined bus that allows multiple transactions to be pending on the bus at one time, rather than requiring one transaction to be finished before starting another. Also, the P6 bus allows split transactions, i.e., a request for data may be separated from the delivery of the data by other transactions on the bus. The P6 processor uses a technique referred to as "deferred transaction" to accomplish the split on the bus. In a deferred transaction, a processor sends out a read request, for example, and the target sends back a "defer" response, meaning that the target will send the data onto the bus, on its own initiative, when the data becomes available. Another transaction available on the P6 bus is a "retry" response. If a target is not able to supply a requested item, the target may respond to the request from the processor using a retry signal, and in that case the processor will merely send the request again the next time it has access to the bus.
The PCI bus specification as set forth above does not provide for split transactions There is no mechanism for issuing a "deferred transaction" signal, nor for generating the deferred data initiative. Accordingly, while a P6 processor can communicate with resources such as main memory that are on the processor bus itself using deferred transactions, it is not possible to employ this technique when communicating with disk drives, network resources, compatibility devices, etc., on an expansion bus.

Delayed transaction protocol for computer system bus


A split ring wedge bearing friction damper for an aero engine that allows the engine to operate without an oil tank, a pump, and a lubricant cooler, the friction damper having a damper ring and a wedge ring that both have wedge surfaces in contact so that an axial load can be applied to the bearing outer race to provide damping to the bearing, and so that the damper ring can also have a radial displacement to produce a radial load on the damper ring against the stator bearing support surface in which the axial load provides the friction damping and the radial load eliminates lost motion for maximum damping.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a gas turbine engine, and more specifically to a high temperature bearing in a gas turbine engine.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
A small gas turbine engine of the type that operates near or above 100,000 RPM requires high speed bearings to support the single or twin rotors. In a twin spool gas turbine engine, the high speed shaft requires damping for the bearings because of the excessive vibrations due to rotor dynamics issues. Without adequate damping of the bearings, the rotor shaft could not operate at these high rotational speeds and thus an engine of this small size would not be practical.
Another issue with a small gas turbine engine is that the bearings are exposed to very high temperatures because they are located near the combustor or the turbine. Prior art dampers like those made of plastics cannot be used under these extreme temperature environments. Another type of damper is needed for use in high temperature environments like those in a small gas turbine engine, and that can provide the dampening capability for these high speed rotor shafts in order to make the small gas turbine engine workable.
Another issue is a long storage life before the engine is used. For a UAV of the kind used by the US Army as a surveillance aircraft, a long shelf life of as much as 20 years is required of the engine. The engine must be capable of still operating after sitting on a shelf for up to 20 years. Plastic O-rings have been used to provide damping for bearings. However, the plastic material would degrade over time due to oxidation and even from micro-organisms growing that harm the plastic. What is needed is a long shelf life bearing damper as well.


It is an object of the present invention to provide a focused ion beam apparatus capable of prolonging a service life of an aperture, preventing contaminants from increasing when a column valve is closed, and being quickly restarted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a focused ion beam apparatus irradiating a sample with a thinned ion beam and performing a microfabrication processing on the sample, in particular to a focused ion beam apparatus having a column valve.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a focused ion beam apparatus that irradiates a sample with a thinned ion beam and that performs a microfabrication processing on the sample, there is conventionally known an apparatus disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-162769.
In the focused ion beam apparatus disclosed therein, processing accuracy (accuracy in finished shape) depends on a thinness of an ion beam, i.e., a magnitude of a beam spot on the sample, and a throughput (processing speed) depends on a current amount of the beam. To perform high accuracy and high throughput processing, it is necessary to use an ion beam as thin as possible and to use high electric current.
The focused ion beam apparatus includes an aperture device configured to include openings (apertures) of various sizes so as to be able to produce beams of various current amounts and to be able to locate an aperture of a desired size onto a central axis of an optical system. Namely, a higher-current beam can be obtained by employing a larger aperture. However, a charged-particle-beam-applied apparatus has the following characteristics. If a larger aperture is employed, a beam spot becomes larger because of lens aberration of the optical system that focuses a charged particle beam on the sample. As a result, it is disadvantageously impossible to process the sample with high accuracy. On the other hand, if an aperture having a smaller diameter with low aberration is employed, a beam spot can be made smaller. However, beam current is lower, so that the throughput is disadvantageously deteriorated.
Considering these disadvantages, the sample is processed by executing a plurality of steps using a high-current beam or a microbeam depending upon circumstances so as to process the sample with as high accuracy as possible and as high throughput as possible. First, an entire processing region of the sample is processed (subjected to rough processing) with low accuracy by a high-current beam obtained by using the larger aperture. A region near a boundary of the processing region is processed (subjected to intermediate processing) by a beam having a beam spot of an intermediate size and an intermediate amount of current. Further, a narrow region on the boundary is finished (subjected to finishing processing) with high accuracy by a microbeam obtained by using the smaller aperture.
Examples of ion beams used in the processings in these steps include an ion beam for rough processing with a current amount of 30 nA and a beam spot diameter of one μm obtained by using an aperture at a diameter of 650 μm, an ion beam for intermediate processing with a current amount of six nA and a beam spot diameter of 0.15 μm obtained by using an aperture at a diameter of 300 μm, and an ion beam for finishing processing with a current amount of 0.1 nA and a beam spot diameter of 0.02 μm obtained by using an aperture at a diameter of 40 μm.
Moreover, the focused ion beam apparatus normally includes a column valve arranged between an ion gun and a sample chamber. The column valve is a valve for evacuation. In a state in which the column valve is closed, even if the sample chamber is in an atmospheric pressure environment, the ion gun can be kept to have a degree of vacuum of about 10−6 Pa. If the focused ion beam apparatus is left for a long time or the sample is replaced by another sample, the column valve is closed for safety against unexpected vacuum leakage.
However, as long as emission from an ion source provided in the focused ion beam apparatus continues, the aperture is constantly irradiated with the ion beam. Due to this, the ion beam passed through one of the apertures is restricted and cut off. Since the ion beam is heavier by 103 to 104 than an electron beam, the ion beam has a sputtering action. When members constituting the apertures are subjected to sputtering by irradiation of the ion beam, surfaces of the members and sidewalls of openings of the apertures are shaved. The surfaces of the members and the sidewalls of openings of the apertures become thinner and the openings of the apertures become wider. As a result, a diameter of each aperture increases, and a desired current amount and a desired diameter of the beam cannot be obtained. This disadvantageously deteriorates a performance of the focused ion beam apparatus as the charged-particle beam irradiation apparatus. To bring the apparatus back into good performance, replacement of the apertures is necessary. Namely, a service life of an aperture ends when the replacement time has comes. The service life of the aperture generally depends on an irradiation amount (irradiation current density×irradiation time) of the beam accumulated per unit area.
An index of a beam performance for evaluating high processing accuracy and high throughput in microfabrication using the ion beam is a current density of the beam. Assuming ion beams having the same beam spot diameter for comparison, the higher-current beam is irradiated when the current density of the beam is higher. Therefore, the sample can be processed at higher speed with the same processing accuracy. In the above-stated example of the ion beams, current densities of the beam for rough processing, the beam for intermediate processing, and the beam for finishing processing on the beam spot are 3.8 A/cm2, 34 A/cm2, and 31.8 A/cm2, respectively. The current density of the beam for rough processing is far lower than those of the beam for intermediate processing and the beam for finishing processing.
If a TEM sample is to be produced using a focused ion beam, it takes time to finish the sample into a thin film. It is, therefore, desired to make the current density of the finishing beam further higher.
Development of an ion-beam-applied microfabrication processing apparatus capable of generating an ion beam at high current density in an entire range of the beam used for microfabrication processing is underway, and the current density of the beam is increasingly higher. Due to this, the ion beam irradiated onto the aperture of the aperture device is concentrated on a narrow irradiation region and the current density of the beam becomes higher. An irradiation amount (irradiation current density×irradiation time) of the beam accumulated per unit area is an indication for determining whether a service life of each aperture expires. A time required until such an irradiation amount reaches an upper limit (time until an irradiated region is thinner and an opening diameter of the aperture begins to change) is disadvantageously shortened.
Moreover, in the focused ion beam apparatus including the column valve, if the ion beam is emitted from the ion source when the column valve is closed, then the column valve is irradiated with the beam, and sputtering particles and secondary electrons are generated. The sputtering particles and secondary electrons collide against a surface wall of a vacuum container in which the column valve is disposed. Absorbable molecules such as hydrocarbons on the surface wall are decomposed and solidified, and deposited to form a high resistance or insulating film. In this way, contaminants disadvantageously increase. To prevent the disadvantage, a high-voltage power supply may be turned off when the column valve is closed. It is thereby possible to prevent emission of the ion beam. However, if the high-voltage power supply is turned on again, it takes some time until emission is stabilized. Due to this, it disadvantageously takes long time to restart the apparatus.

Abstract: A high-voltage power supply controller lowers an extraction voltage applied to an extraction electrode or lowers a control voltage applied to a control electrode to set an emission to 0 μA when a column valve is closed. The high-voltage power supply controller returns the extraction voltage applied to the extraction electrode to an original extraction voltage or returns the control voltage applied to the control electrode to an original control voltage when a column valve is opened.


A double-ended socket for antenna nuts includes a central hexagonal body section separated into two parts by a flange. The socket further includes a collar with lugs extending axially from each end of the center body section.

This invention relates to a socket made especially for removal and replacement of vehicle antenna retention nuts.
Typically the antenna of a vehicle includes or utilizes a specially designed and constructed antenna nut to retain the antenna in position. Such a nut includes a circumferencial or circular pattern of recesses around the periphery of the nut so that a socket with compatible lugs may be fitted over the antenna and engaged with the nut recesses. Usually such sockets are of various diameters and include two, three or four prongs so as to be compatible with variously sized and configured antenna nuts. The sockets also typically include a hexagonal driver or lug at the end opposite the lugs. Since antennas very significantly in size and shape, there are many different sizes of antenna nuts and many different configurations of recess patterns in such nuts. Thus, heretofore, an individual or unique socket has been required for each unique antenna nut. This has made it necessary for vehicle repair shops to have a collection of at leaset six antenna sockets, which are costly and may be misplaced or lost.
It is against this background that applicant developed an antenna nut socket construction which is less expensive and which enables reduction of the inventory of sockets by one-half relative to known prior art antenna sockets.


The invention relates to a retrofit LED lamp having an LED module, a driver circuit for supplying power to the LED module, a base for making mechanical and electrical contact with a bulb fitting and a heat sink arrangement for dissipating the heat produced during operation at the LED module and/or the driver circuit. The heat sink arrangement in this case has a metal mount insert consisting of a mount plate with an integrally attached collar, the mount plate bearing, in thermally conductive contact, the LED module, and a transparent upper shell being fitted to the collar of the mount insert in the light exit direction and a thermally conductive lower shell being fitted, in areal contact, in the direction of the base for heat dissipation, said upper shell and said lower shell together forming a housing of the LED lamp which surrounds the LED module and the mount insert.

The invention relates to an LED lamp. The invention focuses in particular on so-called retrofit LED lamps which are designed as a replacement for halogen lamps or incandescent lamps.
LED lamps are being used more and more often for lighting purposes. Said LED lamps are characterized by their high light efficiency and their long life. Furthermore, they can be used very flexibly owing to their extremely small dimensions. LEDs are usually produced as LED modules. Conceivable here are LED modules comprising at least one blue LED which produces white light by means of wavelength conversion means arranged on the LED. Any desired colors can be produced by means of RGB LED modules, with it being possible to implement adjustment and dimming via PWM driving of the individual color channels.
Particularly preferably, LED lamps in the form of so-called retrofit LED lamps are used. In this case, the LED lamp is designed in terms of its mechanical and electrical connections to replace existing light-emitting means (incandescent bulb, halogen, . . . ). In order to match the supply current, the retrofit LED lamp also generally has a dedicated driver circuit, which matches the supply current to the operating conditions of the LEDs on the basis of, for example, a system voltage supplied via the base. Thus, the retrofit LED lamps, in the same way as conventional incandescent bulbs, can be screwed into conventional lampholders and operated by means of the supplied system current.
However, in the case of LEDs there is the problem that the LED chips and/or their driver circuit generate heat during operation which can result, inter alia, in undesired changes in the emitted color spectrum and in a shorter life. Correspondingly, it is important to provide effective cooling of the LED. Cooling is also advantageous for reliable operation of the driver circuit for the LED. Owing to the use of LEDs in retrofit LED lamps, however, space is very limited, and therefore it is not possible to use large and therefore powerful cooling systems. Therefore, it is even more critical to use a particularly efficient cooling system which can be used in a small space and can nevertheless dissipate a very large amount of heat.


A front-end server for temporarily holding an operation request for a NAS server, which is sent from a predetermined client, is interposed between the NAS server and clients on a network. This front-end server holds information concerning a correlation among data files stored in the NAS server, optimizes the operation request received from the client based on the information, and transmits the operation request to the NAS server.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to memory management of a computer system, and particularly, to memory management realizing efficient memory allocation suitable for a NAS (Network Attached Storage) system.
2. Description of Related Art
Heretofore, a variety of computer systems including various types of hardware (terminals) interconnected through a network have been utilized. Among such computer systems, there is a system using a storage device (NAS: Network Attached Storage) to be used by being directly connected to the network. In this system, the NAS is made to function as an independent file server capable of allowing a data file (hereinafter, simply referred to as a file) to be shared among clients and the like through the network, and is adapted to be accessible from and usable by the clients on the network.
FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a general configuration of a NAS server. As shown in FIG. 7, the NAS sever 700 includes the hard disk device (HDD) 701 as storing means, the file system 702 as managing means for the file, which is realized as a function such as a CPU controlled by a program, and the network interface 703 for realizing a network communication function. An exemplary file system 702 may be the JFS (Journal File System) from International Business Machines Corporation.
Having received a read request from a client through the network interface 703, the NAS server 700 reads data from the hard disk device 701 under the management of the file system 702. Then, the NAS server 700 returns the read data as a response to the client through the network interface 703. Moreover, the NAS server 700, having received a write request from a client, writes data into the hard disk device 701 under the management of the file system 702, and notifies a completion of the write as a response to the client after the write is finished.
To improve the performance of NAS server 700, heretofore a write cache has been provided in the NAS server 700. In data write operations, it takes an extended amount of time to write the data into the hard disk device 701 due to the mechanical nature of the hard disk device 701. Accordingly, a high-speed semiconductor memory (hereinafter, referred to as a cache memory) is often used as a write cache of the file system 702. The NAS server 700 temporarily stores the write data sent from the client in the cache memory, and at this point, notifies the client of the write completion. In such a way, the client recognizes the write completion, thus making it possible for the client to move to another process without waiting for an actual completion of the write processing into the hard disk device 701.
Moreover, the NAS server 700 writes the data accumulated in the cache memory in a way as described above into the hard disk in accordance with a load status of the hard disk device 701. By performing such control, processing efficiency of the NAS server 700 itself can be enhanced, and the performance thereof can be improved.
Furthermore, in order to avoid losing the data accumulated in the cache memory when the NAS server 700 is down due to a cause such as an unexpected accident, a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory has been used as this cache memory. In the case of using NFS as the file system 702, the non-volatile memory will be necessarily used for the cache memory because rules on protocol determine that a response to a client for a write request shall be returned after recording data in a non-volatile recording medium (Stable Storage).
One example of the NAS server 700 as described above is a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent (Inexpensive) Disks) system, which disperses accesses by use of a plurality of hard disk devices in combination to achieve improvements of a processing speed and reliability. Also in this RAID system, the improvement of the performance has been achieved by providing the cache memory as non-volatile memory.
As described above, the cache memory using the non-volatile memory has been generally provided in the NAS server, and as introduction methods thereof, there have been heretofore adopted a method for introducing the cache memory as a write cache of a file system, and a method for introducing the cache memory as a cache of the RAID system.
However, there has been a problem as below in the case of introducing the cache memory as the write cache of the file system. Specifically, in order that the file system utilizes the non-volatile memory as the write cache, it is necessary that the file system itself be designed to be capable of using the write cache. However, the file system for which various functions such as clustering, failover and snapshot are required already has a very complicated structure today. Therefore, it costs an enormous amount to change the existing file system and introduce the write cache. In the case of a software product realizing the NAS server, it is not preferable that the file system be changed to a great extent in order to introduce the write cache so as to meet specific hardware because a burden in terms of development cost is large. Moreover, for a vendor purchasing such software and selling the software in combination with hardware of his own, it is difficult to change the file system for reasons of technology and contract.
Furthermore, when the hardware in which the file system operates fails, this cache memory also becomes unusable simultaneously. Therefore, it is difficult for another device to access this cache and acquire the accumulated data for the purpose of maintenance and the like.
Meanwhile, in the case of utilizing the non-volatile memory as a part of a disk system as in the RAID system, it is possible for the file system to utilize the non-volatile memory completely transparently, and therefore, such a problem as inherent in the foregoing case of introducing the non-volatile memory as the write cache of the file system does not occur. However, there has been a problem as below even in this case. Specifically, in the case of introducing the non-volatile memory as the cache memory of the RAID system, operation requests (read and write requests) from the client are recorded in the cache memory on the RAID after processings thereof in the file system, a buffer system and a disk driver are finished. For this reason, great performance improvements in a response time to the client and a throughput of the NAS server itself cannot be expected.
In addition, the write request from the client affects a wider range of the file as processes are increased. Hence, when a large number of steps are performed before the write request is recorded in the cache memory, a required memory capacity for one write processing is increased, and thus utilization efficiency of the cache memory is reduced.

Network system, server, data processing method and program


Sheet-guiding device assembly includes at least one sheet hold-downer disposed on a movable protective guard.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sheet-guiding device assembly with a sheet hold-downer for a sheet-processing machine.
The published non-prosecuted Japanese Patent Application 5-88942 discloses a small plate for holding down sheets of paper which is displaceably supported on a crossbar or traverse extending transversely to a sheet feeding direction and which is disposed so as to be swivellable about a bolt in order to adjust or set a spaced distance between a front lay seat or support and the small sheet hold-down plate.
With regard to the heretofore known device of the foregoing Japanese publication, it is of considerable disadvantage that a large amount of space is required therefor. Moreover, a danger arising with the use thereof is that scratches will be made in the printed subject by the point of the small sheet hold-down plate, and the scratches will impair the quality of the print.

Sheet-guiding device assembly with a sheet hold-downer


A cosmetic composition and process which provides enhanced wear and transfer resistance containing: (a) at least one polypropylsilsesquioxane film forming resin; (b) at least one solvent; and (c) optionally, at least one colorant.

The present invention relates to a cosmetic composition, especially a makeup and/or care composition for keratinous materials comprising a silicone resin in a cosmetically acceptable medium. The invention also relates to a makeup process or care process for the keratinous materials.
The use of film-forming silicone resins in cosmetic compositions has been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,937, U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,974, U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,112, U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,298, U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,654, US20020031488, U.S. Pat. No. 6,780,422, US20040156806. These patents and patent applications describe and claim compositions containing various silicone resins in association with several specific ingredients. The presence of these silicone resins makes it possible to increase the wear of the composition applied to the skin, lips or lashes. However, while these cosmetic compositions are drying on the skin, they often give rise to sensations of tautness that the user finds unpleasant, making the composition uncomfortable to wear. These problems of comfort are especially associated with the mechanical properties of the deposits obtained on the skin. In particular, when the film formed on the skin after applying the composition is too rigid, it leaves an unpleasant sensation, for example during movements of the face.
Although the use of silicone resins, in general, does increase the wear of cosmetic compositions due to their ability to form films, the rigidity of the film may cause it to flake off from the keratinous substrate onto which it is applied, thereby reducing its wear properties.
There is thus still a need for a stable cosmetic composition to be applied to the skin, which forms a film that is both comfortable on the skin and shows good wear properties in terms of its resistance to flaking. It has been unexpectedly discovered that such a composition may be obtained by using a specific type of silsesquioxane film forming resin in a cosmetically acceptable medium.
Surprisingly, the Applicant has found that such a composition containing a polypropylsilsesquioxane film forming resin in a cosmetically acceptable medium gives a deposit on the skin that shows noteworthy cosmetic properties. In particular, such a composition is comfortable to apply and shows good wear properties, especially good resistance to flaking. The use of this polypropylsilsesquioxane film forming resin can also obviate the use of a plasticizer.

Cosmetic compositions having enhanced wear properties


In a method of managing knowledge, existing knowledge is captured in a predetermined format of selected information categories, the captured knowledge is organized into an indexed database of information including links between related information, new knowledge is acquired and captured in the predetermined format, and the database is updated to include the new information and links between the new information and related information.

Many disciplines, such as engineering and medicine, have accumulated a vast repository of knowledge that needs to be preserved and passed through time to be expanded and improved upon by each successive generation. Oftentimes, this knowledge does not exist in a tangible form outside of the minds of those who develop and apply it. The process of preserving and passing on this knowledge involves a complex and costly combination of formal education, mentoring, and on-the-job training. Although those involved in academia are trained to record their advances in great detail, more often than not such advances come from the 'field' and those involved in the day-to-day application of science. However, engineers, doctors and other such hands-on professionals are usually too busy or distracted to keep complete, up-to-date records. Therefore, what is needed is a method and/or a system to allow an organization to capture the knowledge of its members or employees, and manage that knowledge to allow the entire organization to use it and to further contribute to it.


A robot for depalletizing open top boxes having a product from a pallet, removing the box from the product, unloading the product onto a magazine conveying surface and picking up slip sheets.

The present invention is directed to a robot which removes open top boxes, having a product therein, in sequence from a pallet, inverts the box while holding the box and product, places the box on a box stripper for separating the product from the box, removes the empty box, picks up the product and loads the product on a magazine conveyor at the proper location.
Many products are shipped in open top boxes in layers on pallets. However, when the pallets reach their destination, the product must be removed from the boxes and positioned for use. For example only, the boxes may contain a plurality of folded or unassembled cardboard boxes which are to be used in other operations to contain different products.
In order to speed up the unloading process and economize this operation, the present invention is directed to a robot which locates and removes stacked boxes, containing a product to be unloaded, from a pallet, provides a box stripping machine for assisting in removing the open top box from its product after placement by the robot, unloads the product onto a magazine conveyor that may have a variable amount of product, and picks up and places slip sheets which are positioned between different levels of boxes on a pallet.


A load-bearing structure of a motor vehicle, having hollow profiles and junction elements to connect the hollow profiles. The hollow profiles may be fastened in receptacles of the junction elements, and the junction elements may have a plurality of of areal webs in a vehicle vertical direction, at least some of the areal webs forming a framework structure which assists the load path in the respective junction element.

Load-bearing structures of a motor vehicle may be used in particular in the so-called "space frame" type of construction of bodies for motor vehicles.
A load-bearing structure composed of light metal cast junctions and/or plastic junctions, and of light metal extruded profiles and/or plastic profiles connecting said junctions, is known, for example, from European Patent Publication No. EP 0900716 A1.
European Patent Publication No. EP 0146716 A2 discloses a car body, in particular for passenger motor vehicles, which as a load-bearing structure comprises pipe parts that may be joined together by way of junction elements, wherein the pipe parts may be extruded profiles produced from light metal, the junction elements may be likewise composed of light metal, and the ends of the extruded profiles may be, owing to their cross-sectional shape, held in positively locking fashion in corresponding receptacles in the junction elements.

Load-bearing structure of a motor vehicle and method for producing the same


A safety and restraint assembly allows transition of palletized cargo into a cargo bay and prevents the palletized cargo from inadvertently rolling backwards out through the cargo bay door. The assembly includes a wedge-shaped, spring-loaded, anti-rollout component that rotates downward as force from a pallet is applied to the anti-rollout component during loading of pallets, and the anti-rollout component returns to its original position after the pallet has traversed entirely over the anti-rollout component. The assembly also includes a folding restraint pawl for vertical restraint of adjacent pallets during transport. In an engaged position, the restraint pawl snaps into a slot in the anti-rollout component.

The very nature of loading cargo onto airplanes, trailers, and other vehicles that transport palletized cargo is fraught with potential dangers. When pallets of cargo enter through cargo bay doors, there is a chance that the palletized cargo may inadvertently roll backwards out through the doors. Safety devices are available to prevent the cargo from rolling backwards, but quite often such safety devices must be manually adjusted after the cargo has passed through the door, then readjusted prior to entry of the next pallet of cargo, thus inhibiting the loading process. Other safety devices forego manual adjustments between pallets, but require awkward maneuvering of the cargo, such as in a direction perpendicular to the direction of entry into the cargo bay, which may also inhibit the loading process. Still other safety devices may be inadvertently initiated at the wrong time by hard impacts with the cargo pallet.
Another danger that arises in handling cargo is a result of movement of the cargo during transit. Airplanes, boats, trailers, and other vehicles that transport cargo often encounter turbulence or other obstacles that cause the cargo bay to become jostled, often tilting the pallets from a horizontal orientation to an angled orientation, which may cause the pallets to slide around the cargo bay into precarious positions. Such shifting of cargo may damage the cargo as well as endanger the cargo handlers who subsequently unload the cargo.
There is a need or desire for a safety device that allows transition of palletized cargo into a cargo bay and prevents the palletized cargo from inadvertently rolling backwards during loading as well as during transport. There is also a need or desire for a safety device that provides vertical restraint to pallets during transport.

Folding pallet latch with integral rollout prevention


A rotatable electric plug has a bottom case, a rotatable brace, a plug head, a limit cover and a top cover. The rotatable brace is rotatably mounted in the bottom case and has a top surface and two connectors being mounted on the top surface of the rotatable brace. The plug head is detachably mounted on the bottom case and is connected with the rotatable brace. Two pins of the plug head is electronically connected to the connectors respectively. The limit cover is mounted in the bottom case to position the rotatable brace. The top cover is mounted on the bottom case to hold the rotatable brace and the limit cover inside the bottom case.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an electric plug, and more particularly to a rotatable electric plug.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical devices are necessary for everyone's daily life. Specifications of electric plugs are different in different countries. In order to use an electrical device having an impropriety plug in some specific countries, an adapter for specific plugs or to replace the plug with a suitable one is necessary. However, neither using a specific adapter nor replacing the plug directly is ease since the adapter is easily detached from the plug and replacement is troublesome. Moreover, the adapter normally has a large volume and is not able to adjust the orientation on a socket, so that the adapter may cover adjacent sockets to cause that the sockets cannot be used.
The present invention provides a rotatable electric plug to obviate or mitigate the shortcomings of the conventional electric plug.


An attachment for improving the efficiency of a fluid circulation device such as a fan comprises a back connector portion for connecting to a fan blade and a lobe which protrudes from a leading edge of the fan blade. An impeller has a plurality of fan blades extending from a central hub, and the impeller is rotated by an electrical motor. The impeller is housed within a fan guard. As the impeller is rotated, the lobes operate to pick up air passing around the preceding blade and continue accelerating the air to increase efficiency and flow.

This invention relates to fluid circulation devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to devices and methods for improving the efficiency of air fans.
Fluid circulation devices are utilized in a variety of domestic, commercial, and industrial applications. Air circulation devices in the form of fans typically comprise impellers made up of a plurality of blades attached to a hub. In commercial and industrial applications where the operational requirements of the fans are high, the blades are typically made with metal to sustain high speeds over extended periods of use. In these commercial and industrial applications, such as automobile plants, fans may be found in great quantity. Because each individual work station will frequently have its own fan, a single plant may use hundreds or possibly thousands of them.
Because of the high number of the devices that are used in commercial and industrial applications, small gains in efficiency have a measurable impact on the overall cost of operating them even in a single plant. Hence, many attempts have been made to increase performance and efficiency which are measured by several factors: output in cubic feet per minute (cfm), overall power consumption, and heat rise of the device.
Attempts to increase efficiency frequently involve altering the shape of the blade. Past attempts at modifying blade shapes have resulted in complex parabolic or hyperbolic blade configurations and complex variations of the pitch at which the blades attack the surrounding air. However, operational blade shapes are limited because the available processes for forming metal blades are not capable of forming certain blade shapes cost effectively, if at all, and developing the tooling for mass production of a new blade shape is costly.
In attempts to overcome some of the costs of modifying blade shapes, separate components have been attached to the blade in attempts to improve efficiency. These attempts typically involve adding an extension to the trailing edge of a blade thereby increasing its surface area and hopefully the efficiency of the air circulation device. Increases in efficiency gained by these previous blade attachments have been small, unsuited for commercial and industrial applications, and, therefore, of minimal significance.
Thus, improvements in fan efficiency are desirable to enhance air flow and to reduce the cost of operation. It is also desirable to obtain such increases in efficiency without modification of existing blade shapes and means for attaching the blades. Increases in efficiency obtained without modifying the actual blade shape or the means for attaching the blades to hubs, reduce the cost of production for fans.


A projection apparatus including an optical engine, a ring, a lens and multiple casings is provided. The optical engine is suitable for producing an image light beam to project an image onto a screen. The ring is fixed on the optical engine. The lens is disposed outside the optical engine and located at a transmission path of the image light beam. The casings are assembled to the ring and connected to each other to form a lens barrel for fixing the lens, and the lens is driven to move relative to the optical engine and the ring by the lens barrel. The projection apparatus has a smaller overall dimension.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projection apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a projection apparatus having a smaller overall dimension.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, big and bulky display devices utilizing cathode ray tubes (CRT) are gradually replaced by products utilizing liquid crystal projection apparatus and digital light processing (DLP) projection apparatus. These products are not only light and portable, but can also be directly connected to any digital products for displaying images. With many manufacturers striving to produce cheaper and more competitive display products and providing additional functions, these products are now used in companies, schools and other public places. Gradually, even families can afford such products.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional projection apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional projection apparatus 100 comprises an optical engine (not shown), a projection lens assembly 110, and a housing 120 for enclosing the optical engine and the projection lens assembly 110. In general, the projection lens assembly 110 of the projection apparatus 100 has a modular design. In other words, the projection apparatus 100 can project images on a screen once the projection lens assembly 110 is securely fastened to the optical engine.
However, most modular projection lens assembly 110 are purchased from vendors, the process of assembling the projection lens assembly 110 to the optical engine requires additional operations. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the overall production cost of the projection apparatus 100. In addition, the housing 120 must have a dimension and shape that fits the projection lens assembly 110 because the projection lens assembly 110 has a predetermined modular design. Specifically, because the dimension and shape of the modularized projection lens assembly 110 is fixed, it cannot be adapted to other models of projection apparatuses, which is rather inconvenient. Moreover, special tools are often required for properly adjusting the projection lens assembly 110 when the projection lens assembly 110 is assembled to an optical engine.


The invention is directed to a process for protecting the edges of a panel by applying a non-sagging polyurethane composition to the edges of said panel, and allowing the composition to cure.

The present invention relates to the protection of the edges of panels. More particularly, the invention relates to the protection of edges of panels used for construction and furniture (such as, e.g., tables).
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for more safety for furniture in offices, schools, nurseries, kindergartens and homes. In general, the industry has attempted to apply protective edging to panels used to produce various types of furniture. In one commercially used process, a U-shaped groove is cut around and into the edge of the panel to be protected. A polyurethane composition is then poured into the groove. Once the polyurethane composition has cured, the panel edge portion making up the outside border of the U-shaped groove is removed with a router. The edge must then be routed to remove excess polyurethane and routed again to shape the polyurethane composition. Finally, the edge is sanded to its final surface smoothness. Obviously, this technique is very labor intensive.
In addition, techniques have been developed which utilize complex molds (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,813).
Non-sagging polyurethane compositions are known in the polyurethane art. Such compositions have been described as useful adhesives and to repair cracks and voids (see, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,336,298, 4,444,976, and 4,944,540, and U.S. application Ser. No. 07/465,715, filed on Jan. 16, 1990, now U.S. Pat. NO. 5,164,473 patented Nov. 17, 1992, and Ser. No. 07/513,466, filed on Apr. 19, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,303, patented Nov. 7, 1992.
It is an object of the present invention to protect the edges of panels in a simple, efficient manner.


A signal processing apparatus capable of reducing burst error generation, and a highly reliable data recording/reproducing apparatus using this signal processing apparatus. This signal processing apparatus has a simple error detection/correction circuit provided just before a modulated code demodulator, thereby correcting error of a pattern easy to occur in a maximum likelihood decoder. The simple error detection/correction circuit is an error detection/correction circuit using a linear error correction code, for example, an error correction code (CRCC) formed of a cyclic code. Thus the number of burst errors after the modulated code demodulator can be decreased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus and method capable of suppressing the generation of burst error, and to a data recording/reproducing apparatus using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
The magnetic disk recorder represented as a data recording/reproducing apparatus has been more and more requested to have a capability of higher recording density, and the signal processing technology in the recording/reproducing system for supporting this request has also been developed toward the higher recording density capability.
In order to cope with the S/N ratio reduced by the intersymbol interference associated with high density recording, a partial response equalization system has been employed. For example, PRML (Partial Response with Maximum Likelihood detection) class 4 has been used to detect a signal sequence nearest to a reproduced signal by means of a known interference caused in a reproducing channel, and it is already utilized in the magnetic disk recorder.
FIG. 1 shows a flow of digital information reading processing in the conventional EEPRML (Extended Extended PRML). A signal 1 read from a head is equalized by a PR equalizer 2 into a signal 3. Then a decoded data sequence 5 that was actually recorded is estimated from the signal 3 by a maximum likelihood decoder 4. The estimated coded sequence 5 is supplied through a postcoder 6 to a 16/17 code demodulator 10, where it is decoded into an information data sequence 11. The information data sequence 11 undergoes error detection and correction in a Reed-Solomon decoder 12.
The most of the error sequences in the maximum likelihood decoder 4 have a short distance from a correct sequence. The error sequences with shorter distances from the correct sequence are examined by use of an error flow graph.
FIG. 2 is a schematic graph of error flow within a distance of 8 from the correct sequence in EEPRML. In each state (et-3 et-2 et-1 et), et represents error at time t. When et is 0, the corresponding bit has no error. Similarly when et is respectively + and xe2x88x92, the corresponding bits xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d have errors of xe2x80x9c1xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d, respectively. The numbers attached on the arrows in the flow diagram indicate the distance from the correct sequence that increase with the transition of the corresponding errors. From FIG. 2, it will be understood that the error sequences from the maximum likelihood decoder 4 in EEPRML have errors of xc2x1(+xe2x88x92+) (three consecutive errors), xc2x1(+xe2x88x92+xe2x88x92 . . . ) (four or more consecutive errors), and xc2x1(+xe2x88x92+00+xe2x88x92+) in the order of shorter distance from the correct sequence. The frequency of actual error occurrence is affected not only by the distance from the correct sequence but by the mutual correlation between the error length and noise. The actual error is likely to occur in order of errors of three consecutive bits, one bit, two bits, five bits and four bits. Where, the error of four consecutive bits xe2x80x9c0101 . . . xe2x80x9d is represented as xe2x80x9c1010 . . . xe2x80x9d or vice versa.
Also by use of more advanced PRML or by slightly moving coefficients of partial response the frequency order is somewhat changed, but error tendency is not changed.
The short errors on the modulated codes in the maximum likelihood decoder 4 are expanded into burst error by the demodulator 10. If, for example, 16/17 modulation code is used, the worst expansion is 4 bytes. This corresponds to the worst value in the case where errors occur at the final bit of 16/17 code and are propagated to the next code word by the postcoder 6. This error expansion causes the correction ability of Reed-Solomon code to be reduced.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to realize a signal processing apparatus and method capable of reducing burst error to a small value, and provide a highly reliable data recording/reproducing apparatus using the same.
In order to achieve the above object, a signal processing apparatus according to the invention has a simple error detection/correction circuit provided just before the modulated code demodulator. The simple error detection/correction circuit can be an error detection/correction circuit using a linear error correction code, for example, an error detection/correction circuit using an error correction code (CRCC) constructed by a cyclic code.
Moreover, data reproducing means of a data recording/reproducing apparatus is constructed by using this signal processing apparatus.
Since some error patterns, that are easy to occur in the maximum likelihood decoder, can be corrected before the modulated code demodulator by constructing the signal processing apparatus as mentioned above, the burst error after the demodulator can be reduced.

Signal processing apparatus and method, and data recording/reproducing apparatus using the same


Certain embodiments provide an in-the-ear device. The in-the-ear device includes a housing including a microphone inlet. The in-the-ear device also includes a microphone and a windscreen. The microphone is disposed within the housing adjacent to the microphone inlet. The windscreen includes a porous screen and an attachment mechanism coupled to the porous screen. The attachment mechanism is configured to detachably couple to the housing surrounding a perimeter of the microphone inlet such that an acoustic seal is formed between the windscreen and the housing.

The present invention relates to an apparatus that receives ambient sound at a microphone disposed in an earplug. More specifically, the present invention relates to an in-the-ear device having a housing with a microphone inlet, where a microphone is disposed within the housing adjacent the microphone inlet and a porous windscreen is detachably coupled to the housing surrounding a perimeter of the microphone inlet.
Existing electronic earplugs or other in-the-ear devices can include a microphone for receiving ambient sound to provide to an ear canal. For example, a microphone disposed within a housing of the earplug may receive ambient sound via a microphone inlet in the housing. In windy environments, the microphone of an electronic earplug can pick up noise created by the moving air. As an example, a user of an electronic earplug can have difficulty understanding ambient sounds received at a microphone when outside on a gusty day, in an open moving vehicle, or in a breezy room, among other things. Such wind noise may discourage potential users from wearing the electronic earplug.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application.


An image capture apparatus includes an image capture unit, an internal memory, a digital communication unit, a display unit and a control unit. The image capture unit captures an image. The internal memory stores the captured image. The digital communication unit sends the captured image stored in the internal memory to an external device. The control unit (i) selects a low-speed transfer mode if the display unit displays an image, and (ii) selects a high-speed transfer mode if the display unit does not display an image. Both the low-speed transfer mode and the high-speed transfer mode are used for transfer of data between the internal memory and the digital communication unit for transfer of the captured image to the external device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus which generates still image data of an object.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known apparatus for generating still image data is a digital camera.
In a known digital camera, in processing for displaying display data (such as a frame of reduced image data of still image data generated by an image capture apparatus or read from a removable storage medium, or menu-panel data for illustrating a menu panel) on a display unit, when data to be written in an external apparatus is transferred from an internal memory to a digital interface unit or when data read from the external apparatus is transferred from the digital interface unit to the internal memory by a DMA (direct memory access) transfer, a display processing problem (for example, a delay in the display processing) is likely to occur, whereby the display data is sometimes displayed in an disarranged manner.
Also, in a known digital camera, in processing for continuously generating a plurality of frames of still image data (that is, in continuous capture processing), when data to be written in the external apparatus is transferred from the internal memory to the digital interface unit or when data read from the external apparatus is transferred from the digital interface unit to the internal memory by DMA transfer, a continuous capture processing problem (for example, a delay in photometric control processing, or in image processing) is likely to occur, whereby the frames of still image data are generated in an disarranged manner.

Image capture apparatus with variable image data transfer rate based on operating status


Disclosed are compounds having a scytoneman skeleton, such as scytonemin, and methods of using thereof. Methods of using a compound having a scytoneman skeleton to inhibit, modulate, attenuate, or prevent cell-cycle progression, cell proliferation, kinase activity, or induce apoptosis are disclosed. Also disclosed are methods of treating, preventing, or inhibiting diseases and disorders associated with cell cycle progression, cell proliferation, kinase activity, tissue hyperplasia or angiogenesis, such as cancer or an inflammatory disease.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to compounds having a scytoneman skeleton, such as scytonemin. Specifically, the present invention relates to methods of using a compound having a scytoneman skeleton to inhibit, prevent, modulate, or attenuate cell-cycle progression, cell proliferation, kinase activity, phosphorylation, or induce apoptosis. Additionally, the present invention relates to methods of treating, preventing, or inhibiting diseases and disorders associated with cell cycle progression, cell proliferation, kinase activity, or angiogenesis in a subject comprising administering a scytoneman compound to the subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
The cell cycle is a tightly regulated series of events, eventually leading to the formation of two daughter cells. The transitions of the cell cycle are controlled by the reversible phosphorylation of certain proteins. For example, the cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) when complexed with a specific cyclin protein, are responsible for coordinating the passage of the cell through the different stages of the cell cycle. See Norbury, C. et al. (1992) Ann. Rev. Biochem. 61:441-470; Sherr, C. J. (1993) Cell 73:1059-1065; and Nasmyth, K. (1993) Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 5:166-179. The phosphorylation of certain residues on CDK/cyclin complexes control catalytic activity both positively or negatively. See De Bondt, H. L. et al. (1993) Nature 363:595-602; Ducommun, B. et al. (1991) EMBO J 10:3311-3319; Jeffrey, P. D. et al. (1995) Nature 376:313-320. For instance, the catalytic activity of CDK1/cyclin B requires the removal of inhibitory phosphates by the cdc25C phosphatase. See Dunphy, W. G. et al. (1991) Cell 67:189-196. Subsequent activity of CDK1/cyclin B allows the cycle to progress from G2 into mitosis. See Maller, J. L. (1991) Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 3:269:275; Krek, W. et al. (1991) EMBO J 10:3321-3329; Atherton, F. S. et al. (1993) Mol. and Cell. Biol. 13:1675-1685; Endicott, J. A. et al. (1994) Prot. Eng. 7:243-253.
Aberrant cell proliferation is symptomatic of many debilitating disease conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, psoriasis, and cancers. Genetics research has advanced our knowledge as to what factors contribute to regulating the cell cycle. Many of these molecules have been targeted for pharmacological inactivation in attempts to discover novel mechanisms by which uncontrolled cell proliferation may be abrogated.
Recent evidence indicates that a novel family of enzymes, the polo-like kinases (Plks), may serve to regulate the activity of cdc25C. A Xenopus Plk (Plx1), and the human Plk homologue (PKL1), have both been implicated in the phosphorylation and subsequent activation of cdc25C. See Kumagai, A. et al. (1996) Science 273:1377-1380; Roshak, A. K. et al. (2000) Cellular Signaling 12:405-411. These findings suggest that the Plks constitute another level of regulation for CDKs, in particularly the activation of the CDK1/cyclin B complex via activation of cdc25C.
The polo gene was originally identified in Drosophila melanogaster, where mutant polo phenotypes displayed aberrant mitotic divisions due to abnormal spindle formation. See Sunkel and Glover, (1988) J. Cell Sci. 89:25-38. Functional homologues have subsequently been identified in organisms ranging from protozoa to human. See Graham, T. M. et al. (1998) Gene 207:71-77; Kitada, K. et al. (1993) Mol. Cell. Biol. 13:4445-4457; Ohkura et al. (1995) Genes and Dev. 9:1059-1073; Kumagai (1996); Clay et al. (1993) PNAS USA 90: 4882-4886; Golsteyn, et al. (1994) J. Cell Sci. 107:1509-1517; Hamanaka, et al. (1994) Cell Growth Differ. 5:249-257. Members of this family of serine/threonine kinases share homologous structural features which includes a 30 amino acid motif at the C-terminus, called the polo-box, the function of which is unknown. See Golsteyn, et al. (1996) Cell Cycle Res. 2:107-114; and Nigg (1998) Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 10:776-783. Polo-family members also share a conserved sequence in the ATP binding domain. This conserved sequence, GxGGxAxC, differs from the sequences of ATP binding pockets of most other serine/threonine kinases, GxGxxGxV, wherein xe2x80x9cxxe2x80x9d is any nucleotide. See Golsteyn et al. (1996) and Nigg (1998).
Functional studies suggest that Plk homologues play an integral role in regulating cell cycle progression. See Lane, et al. (1996) J. Cell Biol. 135:1701-1713; Llamazares, et al. (1991) Genes Dev. 5:2153-2165; and Ohkura et al. (1995). The expression of PLK1 correlates with the mitotic index of many cancer cell lines. Over-expression of the enzyme in murine NIH3T3 cells results in a transformed phenotype. See Smith, et al. (1997) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 150:1165-1172. In addition, when PLK1-neutralizing antibodies are microinjected into a T cell line, the T cells lose the ability to undergo mitosis. See Lane (1996). These data suggest that PLK1 plays a critical role in cell cycle regulation and targeting its activity may yield another means of inhibiting aberrant cell proliferation.
Prior to the present invention, there have been no reports of small molecule inhibitors of PLK1 activity. Thus, there is a need for a polo-like kinase inhibitor for the treatment of cancer and other diseases and disorders associated with aberrant cell cycle progression and cell proliferation.
In some embodiments, the present invention relates to a method of inhibiting, modulating, attenuating, or preventing cell-cycle progression, intracellular signaling, or cell proliferation of a cell comprising exposing the cell to at least one scytoneman compound. In preferred embodiments, the scytoneman compound is scytonemin.
In some embodiments, the present invention relates to a method of inhibiting, modulating, attenuating, or preventing a kinase, kinase activity, or phosphorylation of a substrate by a kinase comprising exposing the kinase to at least one scytoneman compound. In preferred embodiments, the kinase is a cell cycle regulatory kinase or an intracellular signaling kinase. In some embodiments, the kinase is a serine/threonine kinase, a threonine/tyrosine kinase, or a tyrosine kinase, preferably, a polo-like kinase, a cyclin-dependent kinase, or a checkpoint kinase, more preferably, PLK1, Myt1, CHK1, CDK1/cyclinB, PKCxcex22, PKA, or Tie2.
In some embodiments, the present invention relates to a method of treating, preventing, or inhibiting a disease or disorder associated with inflammation, cell cycle progression, cell proliferation, kinase activity, tissue hyperplasia or angiogenesis in a subject comprising administering at least one scytoneman compound to the subject. Preferably, the subject is a mammal, more preferably, human. In some embodiments, the disease or disorder is an acute or a chronic inflammatory disease or disorder. In some embodiments, the disease or disorder is cancer, a papilloma, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, atherosclerosis, diabetic retinopathy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, tuberculosis, chronic cholecystitis, osteoarthritis, rheumatic carditis, bronchiectasis, Hashimoto""s thyroiditis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn""s disease, silicosis, or the like. In preferred embodiments, the disease or disorder is cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, angiogenesis, or psoriasis. Preferably, the scytoneman compound is administered in a therapeutically effective amount or concentration.
In some embodiments, the present invention relates to a method of inducing apoptosis in a cell comprising exposing the cell to at least one scytoneman compound. In some embodiments, the present invention relates to a method of treating a disease, disorder, or tissue, in a subject comprising inducing apoptosis in a target by administering at least one scytoneman compound to the subject. In preferred embodiments, the target is a cell, an abnormal cell, or an organism.
In some embodiments, the present invention relates to a method of treating, preventing, inhibiting, attenuating or modulating inflammation related to an neurogenic inflammatory pathway in a subject comprising administering at least one scytoneman compound to the subject.
In some embodiments, the present invention relates to a method of treating, preventing, or inhibiting pain associated with neurogenic inflammation in a subject comprising administering at least one scytoneman compound to the subject.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

The Regents of the University of California


A hydraulic drive passenger lift with distinct lifting "up and down" (loading, unloading) and "fold-unfold" (storage) motion patterns, includes a flow control structure that accommodates various hydraulic flows, somewhat unrestricted for "up-and-down" movement, and different for "fold" and "unfold" movements. The flow control structure includes multiple paths between a source and an actuator, with control for selecting the appropriate path to yield predetermined flow rates. A solenoid driven spool valve and a biased movable orifice member select the desired path. Accordingly, while the flow is substantially unrestricted during "up-and-down" movement, it is somewhat restricted for reduced speed during the "unfold" movement and is more restricted during the power-driven "fold" movement.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to passenger lifts and, in particular, it relates to an improved, hydraulically driven passenger lift with controlled movement during loading and storage operations.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
An increasing sensitivity exists in our society for the mobility of people who have difficulty walking. Although various forms of wheelchairs have helped considerably, their users face many obstacles, as getting in and out of vehicles such as vans and buses. Consequently, there is a great need for improved passenger lifts having mobile platforms to raise and lower passengers effectively between a loading position, at ground level, and an entry position that is aligned with the vehicle's floor.
The convenience of passenger lifts is enhanced, if the platform folds or collapses for storage inside the vehicle. The speeds at which passenger lifts operate while moving through raising, lowering, stowing and deploying patterns gives rise to certain safety considerations. Based on such safety considerations, the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1201 et seq., establishes a different limit on the speed at which wheelchair lift platforms can be raised or lowered, than the speed at which they can be deployed or stowed. Section 38.23(b)(10), Federal Register, Vol. 56, No. 173, p. 54757 provides that no part of the platforms shall move at a rate exceeding six inches/second while raising and lowering an occupant and shall not exceed twelve inches/second while deploying and stowing, unless the platforms are manually deployed or stowed. However, if swing motions are involved in deploying and storing platforms, further speed restrictions may be prudent. Typically, the raising and lowering or "up and down" operations must have the capability to operate with a substantial load, i.e. a person in a wheelchair. Conversely, the deploying and stowing operations involve only the weight of the lift.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,450 discloses a hydraulically driven passenger lift movable through loading, entry and storage patterns. The stated advantage of the hydraulic system of that patent is that the same pump raises the platform and powers its motions. The use of a single pump simplifies the system, thereby decreasing both the system's weight and cost while increasing the system's reliability.
However, a drawback of the hydraulic system of U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,450 is the difficulty of moving the platform at different speeds as it is stowed, deployed, raised and lowered. Consequently, a need exists for an economical, trouble-free, safe and convenient hydraulic lift with a flow control to move the lift platform at different speeds through patterns of deploying, loading and stowing.
Note that effective control of the platform speed as it is stowed and deployed may be particularly difficult due to load and power differences that occur. For example, the problem may be complicated by pressure differences occurring as the lift moves through different patterns. Consequently, there is a need for a hydraulic drive system for a passenger lift with a directionally dependent flow controlling device that is activated depending on the pattern of operation of the lift. Such a device would permit the lift platform to move at different speeds through different motion patterns.

Passenger lift movable at variable speeds


A process for producing a monomer for resists represented by the following general formula 1:

Resists for use in microfabrication by lithography are prepared from various materials. For example, a resist for use in production of semiconductors is prepared by polymerizing one or more kinds of monomers and adding an additive, acid generating agent, solvent or the like to the polymerized product. In these resists, their contamination by impurities need to be reduced as much as possible depending on the purpose. Therefore, in the production of a monomer for resists, too, it is preferable to reduce the formation of by-product.
Commonly employed processes for synthesizing esters include, for example, addition reaction of alkene and (meth)acrylic acid performed in the presence of acid catalyst; dehydration (in the presence of condensation agent or acid catalyst) of alcohol and (meth)acrylic acid; transesterification between alcohol and ester; and esterification by acid chloride.
Monomers for resists each having an alicyclic structure are three-dimensionally bulky and subject to decomposition by acid. Therefore, generally it is difficult to synthesize such monomers by addition reaction, dehydration or transesterification in the presence of acid catalyst. As a result, usually such monomers are frequently synthesized by esterification by acid chloride, as described in JPN. J. Appl. Phys. 1996, 35(4B) L 528–530. Ester synthesis by transesterification using a titanium- or tin-containing compound is also well known.
In the synthesis of monomers for resists, however, since alcohol itself used as a starting material is bulky, when conducting transesterification by the well known processes as above, the reaction is often retarded significantly or often does not progress at all due to the inactivation of catalyst and the like.
In addition, since resists prepared by chemical syntheses as described above are contaminated much by by-products or catalyst added, their purification requires great labor. In such context, an ester synthesizing process for producing monomers for resists has been desired which uses no acid catalysts, is carried out under mild conditions and makes product purification easier.
On the other hand, esterification or transesterification by enzymes is widely known. However, since enzymatic reactions are highly substrate-selective and site-selective, generally it is difficult to use enzymes in transesterification for producing bulky monomers, and there have been no examples in which enzymes are applied to special monomers of high bulk, such as monomers for resists.

Abstract: wherein R1 represents hydrogen or an optionally substituted alkyl group; R2, R3 and R4 each independently represent hydrogen or a substituent; and X, Y and Z each independently represent a direct bond or an optionally substituted alkylene group with 1 to 3 chain members,        the process comprising carrying out esterification or transesterification in the presence of a biocatalyst.


Described herein are system(s), method(s), and apparatus for embedding personal video recorder functions at the picture level. In one embodiment, there is presented a computer readable medium for storing a data structure. The data structure comprises a picture header and at least one command following the picture header.

Personal video recording functions allow a user to rewind, fast forward, pause, and play video data in slow motion. The foregoing functions can be implemented by displaying selected pictures from the pictures forming the video data.
Many video compression standards introduce data dependencies between pictures in a video. As a result, some pictures in the video are data dependent on other pictures in the video. Pictures that are data dependent on other pictures are decoded after the other pictures.
The compression standards typically restrict the permissible data dependencies between pictures in the video data, such that the decoding order has some relationship to the standard video display order. However, the decoding order can be vastly different from the rewind and fast forward order.
Due to copyright and security concerns, video data is increasingly encrypted. The video data is usually transmitted in transport packets. The transport packets include a header and payload. The payload includes encrypted video data.
The use of encrypted data complicates personal video recording functions. Certain personal video recording functions can display pictures in a different order from the standard playback order. In standard playback, the video data stream is accessed and consumed in generally a continuous manner. During a number of personal video recording functions, the video data is displayed in a non-continuous order. The encryption complicates accessing the video data at the appropriate intervals.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional systems will become apparent to one of skill in the art through comparison of such systems with the invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

System, method, and apparatus for embedding personal video recording functions at picture level


A seat guide for mounting a car seat and to its positional adjustment in a direction of an axis of displacement. The seat guide has two guide rails installed parallel to the axis of displacement and support rollers which cooperate with and move relative to the guide rails to support a vertical load. Lateral guide devices are provided for lateral support in a direction of a lateral axis running essentially perpendicular to both the axis of displacement and the guide rails. The relative motion of the lateral guide devices cooperates with the guide rails overcoming any conditions of elastic rolling friction.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat guide for mounting a car seat and for its positional adjustment in the direction of an axis of displacement, with two guide rails installed parallel to the axis of displacement, and with support rollers which, by rolling, cooperate with and move relative to the guide rails to support the vertical load.
2. Discussion
These kinds of seat guides have a special problem, in that large dimensional tolerances appear because of the large number of sheet metal parts used to manufacture the body, so that the clearance of the seat""s guide components, measured in the direction of a vehicle""s horizontal lateral axis (Y-axis), can even differ in the range of several millimeters. Furthermore, dimensional tolerances in the manufacture of the seat frame cannot be neglected. All of these tolerances have to be compensated so that the seat guide operates without trouble, i.e. to guarantee above all that there is no jamming when the position is adjusted. This problem is particularly important for bench seats above all, because their large width (span between the lateral guides) also makes them susceptible to rocking motion around a vertical axis (Z-axis), which can result in wedging of the bench seat.
A seat guide of the generic type is known from DE19547034A1. Here, two double-conical rollers (guide rolls) run on each of two guide rails and are guided axially movable in movable bearing arrangements on at least one side to compensate tolerances. This seat guide is basically very functional, but practice has shown that this design can only be realized at relatively high cost, because the bearings have to withstand certain forces, which can be quite high in a collision, above all. Special materials must therefore be used for the bearings. It has furthermore been shown, that no absolutely jam-free adjustment of the bench seat can be achieved in the longitudinal direction, even with this known design.
DE4330133A1 describes another rail guide for car seats, which is moreover designed as a slip-in guide with plastic slide blocks guided slidable in the guide rails. To compensate tolerances, support pieces are installed on the seat, which first of all have a bearing arrangement that can pivot around their longitudinal axis, and which secondly can slide in the direction of their longitudinal axis on at least one side of the seat. Externally, these support pieces feature plastic slide blocks, which slide in the longitudinal guide rails.
DE3920077A1 similarly deals with a car seat guided in rails, whereby the seat is guided on slide supports in the rails. Here, a fastening device, which is also supposed to compensate lateral play in the rails caused by structural tolerances, is provided to prevent rattling. This fastening device features a bolt, which is mounted in a fastening fastened to the seat and rests tightly against one of the rails under the force of a spring.
Finally, DE-OS11680269 describes a device for fastening a seat onto a floor. Here, we are dealing with a slip-in guide with interlocking rails, whereby it has one pair of rails whose rails interlock perpendicularly to the rails"" longitudinal axis without any significant play, whereas the rails of all the remaining pairs can slide relative to each other transversely to the seat. Work tolerances are thereby supposed to be compensated by sliding the rails of the latter pairs transverse to the seat.
It is the objective of the present invention, to create a seat guide of the generic type, that guarantees steady operation without trouble during longitudinal adjustment, without jamming in particular, using inexpensive resources.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a seat guide for positional adjustment of a vehicle seat along an axis of displacement is provided. The seat guide includes a first guide rail positioned parallel to the axis of displacement and a second guide rail spaced apart from the first guide rail along a lateral axis and positioned parallel to the axis of displacement. At least one support roller is operably associated with and moveable relative to the first guide rail and the second guide rail. Additionally, at least one lateral guide device is operably associated with and moveable relative to the first guide rail and the second guide rail with at least a portion of the at least one lateral guide device being moveable about an axis substantially perpendicular to the axis of displacement.
This is achieved in accordance with the invention, that in combination with the support rollers known by themselves, special lateral guide devices, cooperating with the guide rails by elastic rolling friction, are provided for lateral support in the direction of a lateral axis running essentially perpendicular to both the axis of displacement and the guide rails, especially guide rollers whose rolling and relative motion cooperates with the guide rails.
When the car seat is adjusted, the embodiment in accordance with the invention will only produce elastic rolling friction, because it deals with pure guide rollers. If the seat should tilt while its longitudinal position is being adjusted, i.e. tilting around its vertical axis, then at least one part of the lateral guide rollers will become arranged on at least one assigned guide surface of the respective guide rail, so that only very small rolling friction will also occur here, whereby catching or even wedging will be safely eliminated during seat adjustment.
One favorable embodiment of the invention allocates at least two guide rollers, separated in the direction of the axis of displacement, to each of the two guide rails. The clearance of each lateral pair""s two guide rollers should be chosen as large as possible, depending on structural factors. The seat guide in accordance with the invention is thereby particularly suitable for wide bench seats, two-person or three-person bench seats for example. If there is any tipping, two guide rollers diagonally opposite each other will both become arranged on the two guide rails, so that jamming will be completely eliminated.
The seat guide in accordance with the invention can be realized with inexpensive resources, because conventional rolling bearings can be used as rollers.
The compensation of lateral dimensional tolerances can also be achieved without problem, because the rollers can be guided in the guide rails with a known permissible lateral play. Two minor lateral movements of the seat are indeed possible here, but these are favorably bounded by the guide rollers of the lateral guide devices, without a significant amount of extra friction occurring during adjustment.
In another favorable embodiment of the invention, compensating means are provided for relative support of the seat in a direction opposite to that in which the support rollers bear the load. In principle, slip-in guides can be used here, but it is particularly preferable if the compensating means on the side of each guide rail feature at least one compensating roller for resting and rolling on a supporting surface on the guide rails that is opposite the direction of load-bearing. It is the objective of these compensating means, to prevent rocking motion of the seat around its lateral axis or to minimize such motion, respectively.
To prevent any noise, especially rattling while driving, it is preferable to provide each provided roller with a raceway composed of an elastic material. This could possibly be dispensed with only for the support rollers, because these always abut the guide rails because of their weight.
If there are large stresses on the car seat, the provided rollers alone may not be capable of directing the working forces out of the seat, through the guide rails, and into the vehicle floor. To ensure that the car seat is securely supported in this case, a preferred embodiment of the invention provides special features to directly support the seat on stationary body components. These features can be built by providing the seat guide""s components with web-like impact profile cutouts that interlock with playing distance, whereby these cutouts arrange against each other in the event large stresses occur.

Seat guide for mounting a longitudinally adjustable car seat


A method of manufacturing an electric member having a number of leads such as in a remote-controlled light receiving module, loosening prevention kinks created on at least one of the leads are shaped such that, the shorter the distance from the loosening prevention kink to the tip of the lead the thinner the loosening prevention kink. When the electric member is mounted on a printed circuit board, the leads are inserted into wiring through-holes on the printed circuit board by pressing the electric member against the board, allowing the position and orientation of the electric member to be firmly fixed automatically by virtue of the loosening prevention kinks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric member having a plurality of leads and a method of manufacturing the electric member.
2. Description of Related Art
A typical remote-controlled light receiving module 4 for receiving infrared light conveying a remote control signal from a remote commander is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
Reference numeral 1 shown in the figures is a package having an approximately cubic shape. The package 1 is made of resin which can be penetrated by the infrared light. A remote-controlled receiver IC which is not shown in the figure is sealed inside the package 1. Reference numeral 2 is a lens having a convex spherical surface created as an integrated part of the front surface of the package 1. The lens 2 is fixed at a location which is optimum for focusing the infrared light modulated by the remote control signal at the remote commander on the light receiving surface of the remote-controlled receiver IC.
Reference numeral 3 denotes a lead protruding from the bottom surface of the package 1 in a direction perpendicular to the bottom surface. In the conventional remote-controlled light receiving module 4, the shapes and the sizes of the sectional surfaces of the leads 3 are uniform at least at the bottom surface of the package 1 from which the leads 3 protrude. The leads 3 are created so as to extend straight out from the bottom surface of the package 1.
Such a remote-controlled light receiving module 4 is used in remote-controlled equipment such as a television receiver, tape recorder and air conditioner. Speaking in concrete terms, it is necessary to insert the external tips of the leads 3 of the remote-controlled light receiving module 4 into predetermined lead inserting through holes on a printed wiring board and solder the leads to wires on the board.
FIG. 2 shows how the conventional remote-controlled light receiving module 4 is typically mounted on a printed wiring board. Reference numeral 5 shown in the figure is the printed wiring board whereas reference numerals 6 each denote a lead inserting through hole created on the printed wiring board 5 for inserting a lead 3. Reference numeral 7 denotes a piece of solder for connecting a lead 3 inserted into a lead inserting through hole 5 to wiring on the printed wiring board 5.
Reference numeral 8 is a socket for enclosing the remote-controlled light receiving module 4. The socket 8 serves as a component for fixing the position of the remote-controlled light receiving module 4, in particular, the height of the remote-controlled light receiving module 4 above the surface of the printed wiring board 5. In addition, the socket 8 is also used for fixing the orientation of the remote-controlled light receiving module 4, in particular, the direction of the optical axis thereof. That is to say, since the remote-controlled light receiving module 4 exhibits a directivity characteristic, the position and the optical axis thereof are very important factors which affect the way the infrared light is received from a remote commander modulated by a remote control signal of an optical apparatus. It is thus necessary to install the remote-controlled light receiving module 4 on the printed wiring board 5 in a way determined in advance.
As described earlier, in the case of the conventional remote-controlled light receiving module 4 shown in FIG. 1, the shapes and the sizes of the sectional surfaces of the leads 3 are uniform at least at the bottom surface of the package 1 from which the leads 3 protrude. The leads 3 are created so as to stretch straight out off the bottom surface of the package 1. Therefore, even with the leads 3 inserted into the lead inserting through holes 6, the conventional remote-controlled light receiving module 4 is still shaky to a certain degree due to a gap existing between the conventional remote-controlled light receiving module 4 and the printed wiring board 5. As a result, the position and orientation of the conventional remote-controlled light receiving module 4 relative to the printed wiring board 5 are not truly fixed. For this reason, loosening and a positional shift are generated inevitably in the conventional remote-controlled light receiving module 4. Loosening refers to an inclination or slope of the optical axis relative to a set direction. Such a slope is undesirable in an optical system. It is needless to say that the positional shift is also undesirable as well. In order to avoid such loosening and such a positional shift, the socket 8 is used for firming the position and the orientation of the remote-controlled light receiving module 4.
The socket 8 has an installation pin 9 to be inserted into a lead inserting through hole 6. Reference numeral 10 is a hook nail 10 formed at the end of the installation pin 9 for hooking the installation pin 9 at the back surface (or the surface on the side not facing the socket body) of the printed wiring board 5. Reference numeral 11 is a stopper created on the installation pin 9 at a position separated from the hook nail 10 at the end of the installation pin 9 by a distance about equal to the thickness of the lead inserting through hole 6. The stopper 11 is used for hooking the installation pin 9 on the front surface (or the surface on the side facing the socket body) of the printed wiring board 5. By hooking the installation pin 9 on the printed wiring board 5 by means of the stopper 11 and the hooking nail 10, the position, particularly the height above the printed wiring board 5, and the orientation of the socket 8 itself are fixed. The socket 8, in turn, firmly sustains the position and orientation of the remote-controlled light receiving module 4. That is to say, the position and orientation of the remote-controlled light receiving module 4 relative to the printed wiring board 5 are fixed in a prescribed manner using the socket 8. At this position and in this orientation, the leads 3 of the remote-controlled light receiving module 4 are soldered to wiring on the printed wiring board 5.
The problems described below are encountered because the position and orientation of the conventional remote-controlled light receiving module 4 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B are fixed by using the socket 8.
First of all, there is a problem that the cost is increased by the use of the socket 8.
To be more specific, efforts need to be made to reduce the number of components and the number of assembly operations in response to a very strong demand for low-cost remote-controlled equipment such as a television set. In spite of such a demand, the conventional remote-controlled light receiving module 4 employs the socket 8 merely for firming the position thereof. The use of the socket 8 cannot thus be tolerated.
A second problem is that, since the position of the remote-controlled light receiving module 4 is fixed by the socket 8 through dip soldering, the leads 3 are pulled by the tensile stress of the solder 7 during dip soldering, giving rise to a problem that stress is applied to an IC pellet die-bonded to one of the leads 3. It should be noted that the IC pellet itself which is embedded inside the package 1 is not shown in the figure. This problem is described in more detail as follows.
With the position of the conventional remote-controlled light receiving module 4 fixed by the socket 8, the leads 3 are soldered by using a dip-soldering technique. As the solder 7 becomes cool, it shrinks. The shrinking force pulls the leads 3 in a direction indicated by an arrow a shown in FIG. 2.
Since the position of the package 1 is fixed by the socket 8, however, the leads 3 cannot move in the direction indicated by the arrow a. As a result, the leads 3 are inevitably pulled out away from the package 1 downward to the lower side shown in FIG. 2. The IC pellet die-bonded to one of the leads 3, in turn, experiences stress developed by the package 1 for sealing the IC pellet. The application of stress to the IC pellet gives rise to characteristic deterioration, reliability deterioration and an increased failure rate of the IC which are of course undesirable.

Method of manufacturing loosening prevention kinks on leads of an electric member for insertion into a mounting board