In an image forming apparatus provided with an image carrying member, a toner image forming device, an intermediate image carrying member, a first transfer member, and a second transfer member, toner images are formed on both sides of a sheet. The toner images on the both sides of the sheet is fixed by a fixing device having a heater and a pair of fixing rollers. A detecting device detects at least one of a temperature of the fixing members, a material of the sheet and a size of the sheet, and a controller changes an image forming interval in accordance with at least one of the temperature of the fixing members, the material of the sheet and the size of the sheet detected by the detecting device.

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus conducting image forming through an electrophotographic system, and in particular, to an image forming apparatus wherein double-sided image forming is conducted by forming toner images on both sides of a transfer material and by heat-fixing them collectively.
Heretofore, for double-sided copying to form toner images on both sides of a transfer material, there has been employed a method wherein an image on one side which is formed on an image forming body is transferred and fixed on a transfer material, then the transfer material is stored temporarily in a double-side reversing and sheet-feeding device, and then the transfer material is fed out of the double-side reversing and sheet-feeding device in synchronization with an image formed on the image forming body successively so that the image on the other side is transferred and fixed on the transfer material.
In the double-sided copying apparatus of this kind, a transfer material needs to be fed to a double-side reversing and sheet-feeding device and needs to be conveyed to pass through a fixing device twice, as stated above, resulting in a longer conveyance distance for the transfer material and resulting in longer processing time for copying. Further, reliability in conveyance of a transfer material is low, causing a jam, because the transfer material which tends to be curled after passing through the fixing device is fed again.
In opposition to the foregoing, TOKKOSHO Nos. 49-37538, 54-28740, TOKKAIHEI Nos. 1-44457 and 4-214576 disclose those wherein toner images are formed on both sides of a transfer material to be fixed collectively.
However, it is not easy to conduct fixing collectively for the transfer material having on its both sides toner images. To conduct fixing collectively for the transfer material having on its both sides toner images, it is necessary to provide heating means on both sides of the transfer material, which inevitably results in big power consumption in a fixing means because power is supplied to both heating means. Further, in this method, an interval for conveying a transfer material to a fixing device in the case of single-sided copying is different from that in the case of double-sided copying, and therefore, fixing failure or waste of electric power is caused in the conventional fixing device.
The first object of the invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide an image forming apparatus wherein excellent fixing can be conducted with less power consumption even when a transfer material having toner images on its both sides is collectively fixed and when a transfer material having a toner image on its one side is fixed, without reducing the number of transfer materials to be processed.
Inventors of the invention have studied color image forming on both sides of a transfer material and on one side only of a transfer material, by making an image forming apparatus wherein a plurality of toner image forming means each being composed of a charging means, an imagewise exposure means and a developing means are arranged around the first image carrying means, the second image carrying means is provided against the first image carrying means, then superposed color toner images representing a reverse side image are formed on the first image carrying means and these color toner images are collectively transferred onto the second image carrying means temporarily, then superposed color toner images representing an obverse side image are formed on the first image carrying means, and after transferring the toner images on the first image carrying means onto the obverse side of the transfer material and transferring the toner images on the second image carrying means onto the reverse side of the transfer material, toner images on the transfer material are fixed to form a double-sided color image.
In the aforesaid image forming apparatus and the image forming method, image forming timing and transfer material supplying timing are controlled so that toner images representing a reverse side image held on the second image carrying means and toner images representing an obverse side image held on the first image carrying means may be synchronized with a transfer material in the transfer area, for the purpose of aligning the leading edge of the obverse side image and that of the reverse side image on the transfer material. Namely, when forming images on both sides of a transfer material, a time interval from the start of forming a reverse side toner image to the start of forming an obverse side toner image is made to agree with the rotation cycle of the second image carrying means regardless of a size of an image and of a length of a transfer material in the conveyance direction therefor, and supply timing for the transfer material is controlled in synchronization with timing for forming the obverse side toner image. For the reason of easy control of timing, even in the case of continuous image forming on only one side of a transfer material, a time interval from the start of toner image formation or the start for supplying a transfer material to the succeeding start of toner image formation or the succeeding start for supplying a transfer material is made to agree with the rotation cycle of the second image carrying means. Further, when forming images continuously on both sides of a transfer material, a time interval from the start of forming an obverse side toner image to the start of forming a reverse side toner image is also made to agree with the rotation cycle of the second image carrying means. Furthermore, even in the case of forming images continuously on both sides of a transfer material while making the second image carrying means to carry thereon toner images equivalent to plural sheets of the transfer material, an interval of forming toner images is determined based on the rotation cycle of the second image carrying means so that intervals for forming reverse side toner images or obverse side toner images which are formed continuously may be equal.
However, in the case of forming images continuously only on one side of a transfer material, if a time interval is made to agree with the rotation cycle of the second image carrying means when the restriction of control of timing for an image forming process or for supplying a transfer material is only way for the time interval for toner image forming or for transfer material supply, the number of sheets for image formation per unit time is reduced. When forming images continuously on both sides of a transfer material, if the time interval from the start of forming an obverse side toner image to the start of forming a succeeding reverse side toner image is made to agree with the rotation cycle of the second image carrying means, the number of sheets for image formation per unit time is also reduced in this case. Furthermore, even in the case of forming images continuously on both sides of a transfer material while making the second image carrying means to carry thereon toner images equivalent to plural sheets of the transfer material, if the interval of forming toner images is determined to be the same as the rotation cycle of the second image carrying means when the restriction of timing control for the image forming process or for supply of transfer materials is the only way for the forming interval for reverse side toner images or obverse side toner images to be formed continuously, the number of sheets for image forming per unit time is also reduced in this case.
The invention has been achieved in view of the technical problems stated above, and its second object is to provide image forming apparatuses in the following items 2-1-2-3.
2-1
An image forming apparatus wherein it is possible to improve the image forming speed in the case of forming images continuously on one side of a transfer material.
2-2
An image forming apparatus wherein it is possible to improve the image forming speed in the case of forming images continuously on both sides of a transfer material.
2-3
An image forming apparatus wherein it is possible to improve the image forming speed in the case of forming images continuously on both sides of a transfer material, while making the second image carrying means to carry toner images equivalent to plural sheets of transfer material.


The present invention relates to unique strategies and constructs for producing a nucleic acid product that downregulates or prevents expression of a desired target polynucleotide.

Suppression of gene expression may be accomplished by constructs that trigger post-transcriptional or transcriptional gene silencing. These silencing mechanisms may downregulate desired polynucleotide or gene expression by chromatin modification, RNA cleavage, translational repression, or via hitherto unknown mechanisms. See Meister G. and Tuschl T., Nature, vol. 431, pp. 343-349, 2004.
A construct that is typically used in this regard contains a desired polynucleotide, which shares sequence identity with at least part of a target gene that is operably linked to a promoter and a terminator. As is well appreciated, the promoter initiates transcription, while the terminator ends transcription at a specific site and subsequently mediates polyadenylation. Such transcript processing is important for stability of the transcript and its transport from the nucleus and into the cytoplasm.
In this regard, the terminator plays an important role in conventional gene silencing constructs. For instance, WO 99/53050 describes a construct that comprises a promoter, a polynucleotide comprising a first sequence with homology to a target gene and a second sequence that is inverse complementary to the target gene, and a terminator. A terminator of conventional constructs does not necessarily have to be positioned immediately downstream from the desired polynucleotide. For instance, Mette and co-workers described a plasmid that contains a desired polynucleotide that is separated from an operably linked terminator by a hygromycin gene (Mette et al., EMBO J 18: 241-8, 1999; Mette et al., EMBO J 19: 5194-201, 2000).
Other conventional constructs designed to silence genes contain a polynucleotide in the sense or antisense orientation between promoter and terminator. Such a conventional gene silencing construct typically produces RNA transcripts that are similar in size, determined by the distance from transcription start to termination cleavage site and the poly-adenylated tail.
The present invention relates to new strategies and constructs for gene silencing that are generally more effective than conventional constructs. Furthermore, the present invention relates to new strategies and constructs for gene silencing using a polynucleotide that is not operably linked to a promoter and a terminator but is instead operably linked to two convergently-oriented promoters.


An ablation catheter employing one or more manifold arrangements to convey a conductive fluid medium to a target tissue. The manifold includes at least one inlet port in fluid communication with a fluid supply lumen running along at least a portion of the catheter. The inlet port or ports are in fluid communication with a larger outlet port. The outlet ports provide an outlet for the fluid to flow out of the catheter and against the target tissue. As such, the combination of at least the inlet port with the outlet port provides a flow path for fluid within the fluid lumen to flow through the manifold and to outside of the catheter. An electrode is arranged in the flow path of fluid within or adjacent the manifolds. As such, fluid may be energized and conduct ablation energy to the target tissue to ablate the tissue.

a. Field of the Invention
Generally, the present invention is related to the field of ablation catheters. More particularly, aspects of the present invention involve an ablation catheter manifolding arrangement for directing ablation fluid to a target tissue. Aspects of the present invention also involve a steerable and shapable catheter employing fluid force to steer and change the shape of the catheter. Aspects of the present invention also involve an ablation catheter employing a continuous or partially continuous electrode adapted to provide a continuous or nearly continuous lesion at a target vein.
b. Background Art
Catheters have been in use for medical procedures for many years. Catheters can be used for medical procedures to examine, diagnose, and treat while positioned at a specific location within the body that is otherwise inaccessible without more invasive procedures. During these procedures a catheter is inserted into a vessel located near the surface of a human body and is guided to a specific location within the body for examination, diagnosis, and treatment. For example, one procedure often referred to as "catheter ablation" utilizes a catheter to convey an electrical energy to a selected location within the human body to create necrosis, which is commonly referred to as ablation of cardiac tissue. Another procedure oftentimes referred to as "mapping" utilizes a catheter with sensing electrodes to monitor various forms of electrical activity in the human body.
Catheters are used increasingly for medical procedures involving the human heart. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a typical human heart 10 includes a right ventricle 12, a right atrium 14, a left ventricle 16 and a left atrium 18. The right atrium is in fluid communication with the superior vena cava 20 and the inferior vena cava 22. The interatrial septum 24 separates the right atrium from the left atrium. The tricuspid valve 26 contained within the atrioventricular septum provides a fluid flow path between the right atrium with the right ventricle. On the inner wall of the right atrium where it is connected with the left atrium is a thin walled, recessed area, referred to as the fossa ovalis 28. Between the fossa ovalis and the tricuspid valve is the opening or ostium for the coronary sinus 30. The coronary sinus is the large epicardial vein which accommodates most of the venous blood which drains from the myocardium into the right atrium.
In a normal heart, contraction and relaxation of the heart muscle (myocardium) takes place in an organized fashion as electrochemical signals pass sequentially through the myocardium from the sinoatrial (SA) node (not shown) located in the right atrium to the atrialventricular (AV) node (not shown) and then along a well defined route which includes the His-Purkinje system into the left and right ventricles. Initial electric impulses are generated at the SA node and conducted to the AV node. The AV node lies near the ostium of the coronary sinus in the interatrial septum in the right atrium. The His-Purkinje system begins at the AV node and follows along the membranous interatrial septum toward the tricuspid valve 26 through the atrioventricular septum and into the membranous interventricular septum. At about the middle of the interventricular septum, the His-Purkinje system splits into right and left branches which straddle the summit of the muscular part of the interventricular septum.
Sometimes abnormal rhythms occur in the atrium which are referred to as atrial arrhythmia. Three of the most common arrhythmia are ectopic atrial tachycardia, atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. Atrial fibrillation can result in significant patient discomfort and even death because of a number of associated problems, including the following: (1) an irregular heart rate, which causes a patient discomfort and anxiety, (2) loss of synchronous atrioventricular contractions which compromises cardiac hemodynamics resulting in varying levels of congestive heart failure, and (3) stasis of blood flow, which increases the vulnerability to thromboembolism. It is sometimes difficult to isolate a specific pathological cause for the atrial fibrillation although it is believed that the principal mechanism is one or a multitude of stray circuits within the left and/or right atrium. These circuits or stray electrical signals are believed to interfere with the normal electrochemical signals passing from the SA node to the AV node and into the ventricles. Efforts to alleviate these problems in the past have included significant usage of various drugs. In some circumstances drug therapy is ineffective and frequently is plagued with side effects such as dizziness, nausea, vision problems, and other difficulties.
An increasingly common medical procedure for the treatment of certain types of cardiac arrhythmia and atrial arrhythmia involves the ablation of tissue in the heart to cut off the path for stray or improper electrical signals. Such procedures are performed many times with an ablation catheter. Typically, the ablation catheter is inserted in an artery or vein in the leg, neck, or arm of the patient and threaded, sometimes with the aid of a guidewire or introducer, through the vessels until a distal tip of the ablation catheter reaches the desired location for the ablation procedure in the heart. The ablation catheters commonly used to perform these ablation procedures produce lesions and electrically isolate or render the tissue non-contractile at particular points in the cardiac tissue by physical contact of the cardiac tissue with an electrode of the ablation catheter and application of energy. The lesion partially or completely blocks the stray electrical signals to lessen or eliminate atrial fibrillations.
In some conventional ablation procedures, the ablation catheter includes a single distal electrode secured to the tip of the ablation catheter to produce small lesions wherever the tip contacts the tissue. To produce a linear lesion, the tip may be dragged slowly along the tissue during energy application. Increasingly, however, cardiac ablation procedures utilize multiple electrodes affixed to the catheter body to form multiple lesions.
One difficulty in obtaining an adequate ablation lesion using conventional ablation catheters is the constant movement of the heart, especially when there is an erratic or irregular heart beat. Another difficulty in obtaining an adequate ablation lesion is caused by the inability of conventional catheters to obtain and retain uniform contact with the cardiac tissue across the entire length of the ablation electrode surface. Without such continuous and uniform contact, any ablation lesions formed may not be adequate.
Moreover, effective ablation procedures are sometimes quite difficult because of the need for an extended linear lesion, sometimes as long as about three inches to five inches (approximately eight centimeters to twelve centimeters). To consistently produce such a linear lesion of this length within a wide variety of cardiac anatomies. In some instances, stray electrical signals find a pathway down the pulmonary veins 32 and into the left atrium. In these instances, it may be desirable to produce a circumferential lesion at the ostium 34 to one or more of the pulmonary veins or within one or more of the pulmonary veins. The pulmonary veins may reach a circumference of up to about 90 millimeters; thus, about a 90 millimeter circumferential lesion would be desirable to completely block stray signals from traveling down the pulmonary vein and into the left atrium.
Besides the difficulty in achieving an adequate lesion at the target tissue, it is also difficult to properly guide the catheter through the body to the target tissue and to change the shape of the catheter so that the ablation electrode is properly positioned at or against the target tissue. For instance, to guide a catheter into the left atrium of the heart for an ablation procedure at a pulmonary vein, a catheter oftentimes is fed into a vein in the right leg routed up to the right atrium of the heart, turned to the right and pressed through the septum between the left and right atrium to gain access to the left atrium. Once in the left atrium, the catheter must be further maneuvered to the appropriate pulmonary vein. In such a maneuvering of the catheter, numerous turns must be achieved to place the catheter at the ultimate target vein.

Ablation fluid manifold for ablation catheter

St. Jude Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc.


The output of a carrier amplifier circuit in a Doherty amplifier is coupled to the summing node so that the impedance observed by the carrier amplifier's output is approximately equal to the load impedance at the combining node when the load impedance is not modulated. In an example non-inverting configuration, a power amplifier circuit is configured to provide an amplified signal to a load at a summing node, where the load has a first impedance when not load-modulated. The power amplifier circuit includes a splitter network arranged to receive the input signal and to split the input signal to provide a carrier input signal and a peaking input signal, a carrier amplifier path configured to amplify the carrier input signal in a full-power mode and in a first backoff mode, and a peaking amplifier path configured to amplify the peaking input signal in at least the full-power mode.

In today's 3rd- and 4th-generation wireless communication systems, complex modulation schemes are used to improve the spectral efficiency of the signals and thus increase system capacity and throughput. In contrast to the constant envelope signals used in earlier wireless systems, the signals in these high-speed wireless networks typically have high peak-to-average power ratios. As a result, the power amplifiers used in system transmitters must be operated in modes that are more linear, but thus less efficient. To increase the efficiencies of the power amplifier system, which in turn reduces system temperatures and power consumption, the well-known Doherty Power Amplifier (PA) architecture is commonly used, often along with a feed-forward or feed-back system, allowing the amplifier to operate closer to the saturation region achieving higher efficiency.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a conventional Doherty amplifier circuit. In the figure, power amplifier 100 includes two amplifier paths—a carrier amplifier path and a peaking amplifier path—fed by a splitter circuit 102. Splitter circuit 102 divides the input radio-frequency (RF) signal in such a manner that the phase of one output lags the other by 90 degrees, at an operating frequency for the amplifier circuit. In the illustrated configuration, the un-delayed output of splitter 102 is fed to a carrier amplifier path, which includes a carrier amplifier 106, an input matching circuit 104, and an output matching circuit 108. The delayed output of splitter 102 is supplied to a peaking amplifier path, which includes a peaking amplifier 118 and corresponding input and output matching circuits 120. Input matching circuits 104 and 116 and output matching circuits 108 and 118 are typically designed so as to match the amplifiers' input and output impedances to a nominal system impedance. In this case, the system impedance is ZL; a typical system impedance might be 50 ohms, for example.
The carrier amplifier path further includes a quarter-wavelength transformer section 122, coupling the output matching circuit 108 to a summing node 110. In the peaking amplifier path, the output matching circuit 120 is coupled directly to the summing node. A load 114, having a load impedance of ZL, is coupled to the summing node via an impedance transformer 112. Because of the 90-degree phase delay introduced by transformer section 122, the total path delay from the input to splitter 102 to the summing node 110 (and to the load 114) is the same for both the carrier amplifier path and the peaking amplifier path, assuming that the amplifiers 106 and 118 and their corresponding matching circuits are identical, and assuming that amplifiers 106 and 118 are operating at identical operating points. When both amplifiers are operated at their maximum output powers, the signals are in phase at summing node 110, and add constructively. If each amplifier has an output power of POUT, a total of 2*POUT is thus delivered to the load 114, assuming proper matching at the summing node 110.
When the carrier amplifier path and the peaking amplifier path are both delivering power to the summing node, the load impedance observed by each of the carrier amplifier path and the peaking amplifier path is increased, relative to the actual load impedance provided by transformer 112 and load 114. This load modulation is demonstrated in FIG. 2a, where the carrier amplifier path and peaking amplifier path are represented as current sources 210 and 220, respectively, delivering currents I1 and I2 to load resistance RL. The voltage V across load resistance RL is thus V=(I1+I2)*RL. The impedance observed by current source 210, then, is Z1=V/I1=(I1+I2)*RL/I1, while the impedance observed by current source 220 is Z2=V/I2=(I1+I2)*RL/I2. If I1 and I2 are identical, these impedances are equal: Z1=Z2=2*RL. In the context of Doherty amplifiers, this load-pulling effect, whereby the effective impedance observed by each amplifier path is increased as a result of current delivered by the other path, is known as load modulation. It thus can be said that the load at the summing node presents an impedance of RL when it is not load-modulated, while the same load presents an impedance of 2*RL when it is fully load-modulated.
Referring back to FIG. 1, when both the carrier amplifier path and peak amplifier path are operating at full power, each path observes an effective load impedance that is twice the summing node load impedance ZC, or 2*ZC, assuming that carrier amplifier 106 and peaking amplifier 118 are identical. (Load modulation for configurations where the power amplifiers are unequal can be easily derived, using the principles illustrated in FIG. 2A.) For optimal matching of the carrier amplifier path, 2*ZC should be equal to the system impedance ZL. In other words, ZC should be equal to ZL/2. If the load 114 has an impedance of ZL, this is easily achieved (at the amplifier operating frequency) by providing a quarter-wavelength transformer section 112, having a characteristic impedance equal to the geometric mean of ZL and ZC, i.e., the square root of the product of ZL and ZC. For ZL=50 ohms, for example, a transformer section having a characteristic impedance of about 35 ohms will transform the load impedance to an impedance ZC=ZL/2=25. Note that when this is done, transformer section 122, which has characteristic impedance ZL, is matched to both the output impedance of output matching circuit 108 and to the modulated load impedance 2*ZC.
In operation, both the carrier amplifier 106 and the peaking amplifier 118 are active when output power levels at or near full power are required. At full-power, the total power delivered to load 114 is twice the power available from one amplifier alone. (Again, this assumes equal-sized amplifiers—configurations with differently sized amplifiers are well known as well.) When less than half of the full output power is required, peaking amplifier 118 can be deactivated, so that all of the needed power is delivered by the carrier amplifier 106 alone. In this "backoff" mode of operation, the peaking amplifier path ideally presents a very high impedance to the summing node, and the summing node load impedance is no longer modulated, as shown in FIG. 2B. Hence, referring back to FIG. 1, the impedance observed by the carrier amplifier path, looking towards the summing node 110, is an un-modulated load impedance ZC. This load impedance ZC is transformed by transformer section 122 to an impedance of (ZL*ZL)/ZC. Given ZL=50 ohms and ZC=25 ohms, the impedance presented to the output matching circuit 108 is 100 ohms.
It should be appreciated that the carrier amplifier is operating closer to its most efficient operating point in this "backoff" mode of operation, while the peaking amplifier is consuming no power at all. Since the average power in a signal having a high peak-to-average power ratio is considerably lower than the peak power, this means that the Doherty amplifier configuration is more efficient than a single amplifier designed for a similar maximum output power and with similar linearity requirements. For this reason, the Doherty amplifier is widely used in wireless transmitters designed for use in systems employing complex modulation schemes, such as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) system developed by members of the 3rd-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Alternative configurations, variations, and extensions of the basic Doherty amplifier illustrated in FIG. 1, including extensions in which one or more additional peaking amplifier paths are added, have been explored and are well documented. Examples include, but are by no means limited to: U.S. Pat. No. 6,522,201 B1, "RF amplifier having switched load impedance for back-off power efficiency," issued 18 Feb. 2003; International Patent Publication WO 02/054589 A2, "Triple Class E Doherty Amplifier Topology for High Efficiency Signal Transmitters," published 11 Jul. 2002; European Patent Application Publication EP 2 403 135 A1, "Power amplifier for mobile telecommunications," published 4 Jan. 2012; International Patent Publication WO 2012/149976 A1, "Wideband and Reconfigurable Doherty Based Amplifier," published 8 Nov. 2012; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,521,995 B1, "Inverted Doherty Amplifier with Increased Off-State Impedance," issued 21 Apr. 2009.
The operation of the conventional Doherty power amplifier is relatively narrowband because of the way the Doherty combiner is designed, which causes poor efficiency and linearity at the band edge when signal bandwidth increases. The operational bandwidth of telecommunication bands is generally less than 5% of the RF carrier frequencies used in those band, which means that the conventional Doherty power amplifier and its well-known variants have been satisfactory for meeting many of today's requirements. However, newer systems are increasingly multi-band, demanding higher-bandwidth components. At the same time, high-efficiency power amplifiers continue to be demanded, as these allow a radio system to operate at higher output powers and/or with reduced cooling requirements, which can reduce the overall size of the radio unit. When these requirements are coupled with demands for reduced costs and improved time-to-market, the conventional Doherty architecture becomes a design bottleneck due to the narrow bandwidth and added design complexity.
A common technique for increasing efficiency in a Doherty power amplifier is to design an asymmetric 2-way Doherty amplifier. With this approach, the carrier amplifier and peaking amplifier are designed for different maximum power levels; an asymmetric configuration may yield efficiency improvements of several percentage points, compared to the symmetric configuration. Even higher power amplifier efficiency can be achieved by using a 3-way Doherty power architecture, where two peaking amplifier paths are combined with the carrier amplifier path, with the peaking amplifiers activated and deactivated at different back-off power levels.
With both the asymmetric 2-way Doherty amplifier and the 3-way Doherty amplifier, the efficiency degrades at back-off power, primarily due to higher output-combiner losses. Furthermore, the advantages gained with higher efficiencies in even the conventional 2-way Doherty power amplifier are offset by added complexities in the power amplifier design, by the larger printed circuit board areas required. The Doherty amplifier's smaller bandwidth also increases difficulties in linearizing the power amplifier output with digital pre-distorter or feed-forward systems.
Telecommunication equipment providers face many challenges in meeting market demands for multiple radio variants to support various output power capability, frequency bands, and multiple standards such as GSM, WCDMA and LTE. At the same time, there are pressures to reduce development cycle and product cost. Unfortunately, because the conventional Doherty power amplifier architecture is generally optimized only to a specific frequency band and power class, a new development cycle is required each time a system specification is changed. This requires more design resources, longer product development times, and increased manufacturing costs each time there is a new radio variant.

Enhanced and versatile N-way doherty power amplifier


An airbag is housed in a housing area in the shape of a folded-up body which is obtained as a result of folding the airbag by bringing the lower edge close to the upper edge and elongated in a front and rear direction. A displacement-preventing means is provided at a peripheral portion of the airbag constituting an outer peripheral edge of the airbag for preventing a tape member wrapped around the folded-up body from supping against the folded-up body. The means is formed at an upper end region of the peripheral portion which will be an upper edge of the airbag at deployment and at least either in front of or at the rear of the tape member. The means is comprised of a recessed region or a projecting region that is formed on the airbag itself so as to be engageable with an end edge of the tape member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head-protecting airbag device including an airbag that is mountable on an upper periphery of a window of a vehicle at an inboard side of the window in a folded-up configuration and is deployable over the window when fed with an inflation gas.
2. Description of Related Art
An airbag used in a head-protecting airbag device is folded up from an unfolded or flattened state and reduced in size in an up and down direction so as to be housed in a housing area of a vehicle. Specifically, the airbag is folded up by bringing the lower end region toward the upper end region. JP2006-117123 discloses an airbag which has some heterologous yarns inwoven generally vertically such that the folding can be conducted following the yarns as markers.
JP2011-73562 discloses an airbag which are bound by tearable tape members at a plurality of positions in a front and rear direction for keeping the folded-up configuration.
In the first prior art as well as in the second, the airbags for use in a head-protecting airbag device require a certain member to keep the airbag in a folded-up configuration and prevent the folded-up configuration from collapsing after the folding. If a tape member is used as the member for keeping a folded-up configuration and wrapped around an airbag as completely folded up, the tape member may sometimes slip and be displaced considerably relative to the airbag. Therefore, an improvement has been expected in order to prevent such displacement of the tape member.


A storage device includes: a first electrode; a storage layer including an ion source layer; and a second electrode. The first electrode, the storage layer, and the second electrode are provided in this order. The ion source layer contains a movable element, and has a volume resistivity of about 150 mΩ·cm to about 12000 mΩ·cm both inclusive.

The present disclosure relates to a storage device and a storage unit that store information by change in electrical characteristics of a storage layer that includes an ion source layer.
As semiconductor non-volatile memories for data storage, NOR-type or NAND-type flash memories have been generally used. Although a memory device and a driving transistor have been miniaturized in order to increase the capacity of a semiconductor non-volatile memory, the limitation in miniaturization has been pointed out since a high-voltage is necessary for writing and erasing and the number of electrons to be injected into the floating gate is limited.
Currently, resistance change memories such as a ReRAM (resistance random access memory) and a PRAM (phase-change random access memory) have been proposed as next generation non-volatile memories capable of breaking through the limitation in miniaturization (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-196537 and Waser et al., Advanced Material, 21, p. 2932 (2009)). Such memories have a simple structure in which a resistance change layer is disposed between two electrodes, and it is considered that atoms or ions transfer due to heat or an electric field to form a conduction path, and thus the resistance value of the resistance change layer is changed, thereby performing writing and erasing.
A multi-value of a memory is an alternative way to increase the capacity of the memory in which writing and erasing are performed using the resistance change besides the miniaturization of the memory as described above. Allowing the multi-value of the memory, in other words, allowing a multi-value recording of 2 bits (4 values), 3 bits (8 values) etc. per device increases the capacity two-fold, three-fold, and so on.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A smart assistant is disclosed that provides for interfaces to capture requirements for a technical assistance request and then execute actions responsive to the technical assistance request. Example embodiments relate to parsing natural language input defining a technical assistance request to determine a series of instructions responsive to the technical assistance request. The smart assistant may also automatically detect a condition and generate a technical assistance request responsive to the condition. One or more driver applications may control or command one or more computing systems to respond to the technical assistance request.

Many computer-based tasks may be beyond the capabilities of many users. To accomplish these tasks, many people may rely on the assistance of a technical coworker such as a computer programmer. However, many of these tasks that require a technical coworker may be routine, repetitive, or mundane for the technical coworker to perform. This creates a pain point for both the non-technical coworker and the technical coworker. The non-technical coworker is blocked until the technical coworker completes the task, and the technical coworker finds the task undesirable because it is repetitive.
Technical users also encounter repetitive technical tasks in their daily workflow. These repetitive and monotonous tasks may similarly slow down a technical user, preventing them from working on more challenging or important tasks.


A process for recovering monoethylene glycol from a catalyst bleed stream is disclosed. The process comprises combining the catalyst bleed stream with a heavies stream comprising at least 40 wt % diethylene glycol, to provide a combined stream and distilling the combined stream to provide a first stream comprising monoethylene glycol and a second stream comprising diethylene glycol.

Monoethylene glycol is used as a raw material in the manufacture of polyester fibres, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics and resins. It is also incorporated into automobile antifreeze liquids.
Monoethylene glycol is typically prepared from ethylene oxide, which is in turn prepared from ethylene. Ethylene and oxygen are passed over a silver oxide catalyst, producing a product stream comprising ethylene oxide, carbon dioxide, ethylene, oxygen and water. The product stream is supplied to an ethylene oxide absorber and the ethylene oxide is absorbed by a recirculating solvent stream.
The solvent stream leaving the ethylene oxide absorber is supplied to an ethylene oxide stripper, wherein ethylene oxide is removed as a vapour stream. The ethylene oxide obtained from the ethylene oxide stripper can be purified for storage and sale or can be further reacted to provide monoethylene glycol.
In the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,897 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,972, ethylene oxide is catalytically reacted with carbon dioxide to produce ethylene carbonate. The ethylene carbonate is subsequently hydrolysed; the reaction of ethylene carbonate with water produces an ethylene glycol product stream. The product stream from the hydrolysis step is subjected to dehydration to remove water. The dehydrated stream is subjected to distillation wherein a glycol stream is removed from the top of the distillation column and a catalyst solution is removed from the bottom of the column. The catalyst solution is recycled to the carboxylation reactor.
EP 776 890 discloses a similar process wherein the product stream from the hydrolysis reactor is separated into a glycol stream and a catalyst solution. The catalyst solution is recycled to the ethylene oxide absorber. A portion of the catalyst solution is discharged as a catalyst bleed stream to avoid accumulation of heavy components such as diethylene glycol.
In addition to diethylene glycol, a catalyst bleed stream is likely to comprise catalyst degradation products, other impurities and monoethylene glycol. It is desirable to recover the monoethylene glycol from the catalyst bleed stream to increase the yield of the product. The present inventors have sought to provide a process that can be used to recover monoethylene glycol from a catalyst bleed stream. Desirably the process is integrated into the monoethylene glycol manufacturing process.

Process for the recovery of monoethylene glycol


A hinge pin removal tool for removing a head capped pin from a knuckled door hinge. The hinge pin removal tool comprises an elongate shaft, a generally planar tool head attached to the elongated shaft which extends therefrom. The tool head includes a first and a second end. The tool head is attached to the elongate shaft proximate to the second end of the tool head. The tool head further includes a tapered chisel edge disposed at the tool head first end, and an elongate pin punch disposed orthogonally to the tool head intermediate the chisel edge of the first end and the second end. The tool head may be disposed orthogonally to the elongate shaft. In a second embodiment the tool head and elongate shaft are substantially collinear. The hinge pin removal tool may further include an open slot disposed in the chisel edge which extends inwardly therefrom toward the second end of the tool head. The slot width is sized to accommodate a hinge pin shaft. The hinge pin removal tool shaft may include a first and a second end, wherein the first and second end each include a tool head attached thereto. In this version of the hinge pin removal tool, the two tool heads are disposed at opposite directions relative to each other. Each tool head includes a chisel edge and an elongate pin punch.

Removing a hinge pin from a door hinge is typically required if the door is to be removed from the door frame in which it is mounted. The process of removing the hinge pin may be difficult as some door hinges have been manufactured with close manufacturing tolerances to provide a smooth opening door without any play in the hinges. In other cases, hinge pin removal may be difficult due to poor manufacturing practices which results in the hinge pin fitting tighter than was desired due to poor fitting or misaligned hinge sections. Still other hinges have hinge pins that are intentionally difficult to remove to aid in door security. These hinges use pins that have to be driven into the hinge knuckles due to an interference fit that has been designed into the hinge assembly. The hinge pin may also include a knurled section close to the pin head that increases the outside diameter of the pin and causes the pin to bite into the hinge knuckle as it is driven into the hinge knuckle. Still other hinges use a closed bottom knuckle or a pressed-in cap in the bottom knuckle of the hinge. In hinge assemblies such as this, a punch is prevented from being able to drive out the pin by striking on the bottom of the pin.
Although hinge pin removal is made difficult for the reasons previously mentioned, there are few tools available to assist in hinge pin removal. The person attempting hinge pin removal typically uses one of two different methods to remove the hinge pin. If the hinge bottom knuckle is not capped and remains open, a long shafted tool such as a punch or a nail can be inserted into the knuckle to drive the pin upwardly by striking on the bottom of the pin through the punch or the nail. If the hinge knuckle is capped or if a suitable long shafted tool is not available for driving out the hinge pin, the person attempting the hinge pin removal must try to drive the pin upwardly by pounding a flat tool such as a screwdriver head between the underside of the hinge pin head and the adjacent hinge knuckle.
Both common hinge pin removal processes are problematic and may result in damage to the hinge, as well as to the door or door frame molding.
The process of removing a pin by forcing the pin upwardly through the use of a punch or a nail can be damaging to the door or the molding. A nail or punch inserted into the bottom hinge knuckle will, of course, extend straight down from the hinge knuckle. The hinge knuckles are typically immediately adjacent to the door outer surface and the door frame molding. The hinge knuckles also typically extend into the interior of the room only a small amount. Because of this, the punch or nail inserted into the knuckle will, by necessity, remain dangerously close to the door outer surface and the door frame molding. The act of striking the nail or punch with a hammer is awkward due to the necessity to swing the hammer upwardly. Damage to the door and door frame molding is common because of the hammer often striking the door or frame molding in place of the nail or punch. Finger injuries are also common from this procedure.
In the second common hinge pin removal procedure, the person attempting the hinge pin removal must try to drive the pin upwardly by pounding a flat tool such as the bladed head of a screwdriver between the underside of the hinge pin head and the adjacent hinge knuckle. The blade must be driven between the pin head and the hinge top knuckle. There is typically no gap between the pin head and the knuckle within which to initially insert the blade. Because of this, hammer strikes often cause the screw driver to deflect off the pin and into the door or door frame. Even if the worker keeps the bladed head of the screwdriver properly in place on the pin while driving the pin upward, there will be some metal deformation from the process which will disfigure the hinge pin head and the hinge top knuckle. There also may be some paint chipping if the hinges have been painted.
Because of the previously mentioned reasons, there is a need for a hinge pin removal tool that allows the user to drive the pin upwardly by striking the bottom of the pin without potentially causing damage to the door or door frame molding. There is a further need that the tool provide a hand hold position which places the hand in a protected position where it unlikely will be hit by a striking hammer. There is a further need for a hinge pin removal tool that can easily be urged between the pin head and the top hinge knuckle to lift the pin head from the position where the pin head is adjacent to the top hinge knuckle. There is a need for a hinge pin removal tool that performs this task without causing damage to the hinge and the hinge pin, as well as to the door and door frame. There is a further need for a hinge pin tool that can securely engage the shaft of a hinge pin immediately below the pin head during the removal process. There is still a further need for a hinge pin tool that accommodates different sized hinge pins so as to be an effective hinge pin removal tool for doors of all sizes and weights.