A receptacle-filling system in a balance with a weighing compartment and with a balance housing containing a weighing cell and forming the rear wall and the floor of the weighing compartment is equipped with a weighing object carrier which is attached to a cantilevered extension of the weighing cell. The extension has a coupling arrangement reaching through passage openings in the rear wall of the weighing compartment, the weighing object carrier being removably attached by the coupling arrangement. Arranged at the rear wall of the weighing compartment is a fixed holder system which allows a source container device to be fastened at different heights above the floor, wherein the source container device includes a source container holder. The weighing object receiver setup is capable of translatory displacement within the weighing compartment in relation to the location of the coupling arrangement and id also capable of being held in the displaced position by the position-adjusting device of the weighing object carrier.

A receptacle-filling system in a balance as well as its constituent parts, in particular a weighing object carrier and a source container device are disclosed. The balance used with the system has a weighing compartment and a balance housing that contains a weighing cell and forms the rear wall and the floor of the weighing compartment.
There are a multitude of possibilities for using a balance in a laboratory. Laboratory balances are frequently used for filling substances into receptacles, for example in preparing measured doses of powdery or liquid substances and the like. As a rule, a person entrusted with this task will have developed a working technique that is to a large extent optimized for the prevailing circumstances, i.e., the accessory equipment of the balance, the particular placement of the balance at the work station, the arrangement of the supply containers at the work station, the size and number of the vessels to be filled, etc. Nevertheless, there is a frequent need for further development of these boundary conditions with respect to improved ergonomics. In regard to this opportunity for improvement, the accessory equipment of the balance takes a key position.
A balance which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,557,391 B2 has a weighing compartment, a balance housing containing the weighing cell and forming the rear wall and the floor of the weighing compartment, a carrier device which serves to receive the weighing object and is attached to a cantilevered extension of the weighing cell to which a receiving seat for calibration weights of a calibration device is attached. The cantilevered extension has a coupling arrangement which reaches through passage openings in the rear wall of the weighing compartment and serves as a means for removably attaching the weighing object carrier to the cantilevered extension. The floor of the weighing compartment extends as a closed separating wall between the receiving seat for the calibration weights and the weighing object carrier. The weighing object carrier can be configured as a level grate or in another embodiment as a holder for one or more laboratory vessels, where the holder can also be configured so that it can swivel about an axis. This opens up a multitude of application possibilities for the balance and thus ensures improved manual operating conditions from an ergonomics point of view.
A balance which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,603,081 B2 has a weighing compartment, a balance housing containing the weighing cell and forming the rear wall and the floor of the weighing compartment, a carrier device which serves to receive the weighing object and is attached to a cantilevered extension of the weighing cell. A fixed holder system is attached to the rear wall of the weighing compartment, which allows weighing compartment accessories to be fastened at different heights above the floor of the weighing compartment. A holder for laboratory devices or an intermediate floor can be attached to the holder system, where the intermediate floor can be useful as a place on which to set substance containers, tools, etc. The holder system is configured so that a laboratory device or the intermediate floor is easy to fasten or to remove. The laboratory devices envisaged here include for example dosage delivery devices for powdery or liquid substances.
The balances of the foregoing description are not optimized in every respect for the dispensing of substances, in particular if the substance quantities are small and therefore have to be dispensed into receptacles with a narrow opening. For example when using a generally known type of balance, the receptacle which is to be weighed while being filled cannot be set up at the location in the weighing compartment that is ergonomically most appropriate for the fill-weighing process. Furthermore, when a substance to be filled into a receptacle has to be transferred out of a source container that is located outside of the weighing compartment, a time-consuming manipulation is required as one frequently has to pass several times through an opened window of a draft shield which is normally present, and as a result the thermal equilibrium in the weighing compartment can be disturbed by air drafts.
In the case of the balance described above which belongs to the known state of the art, wherein the source container for the substance to be dispensed can be placed inside the weighing compartment for example on the intermediate floor, the space situation in the weighing compartment often requires carefully controlled hand movements so that a source container that may have been set on the intermediate floor does not get knocked over. There is further the risk that the air in the weighing compartment gets warmed up too much if the user's hand remains in the weighing compartment too long while performing the filling operation.


An undergarment including waist and leg apertures and openable front panel with a closure. The undergarment including similarly shaped overlapped superposed half width segments bonded to each other in preselected area to form front and rear panels having a crotch area. The garment also includes non-bonded overlapped portions forming two halves of an openable front panel connected at the top of the opening by a tape. The rear panel overlapped segments are bonded together. Reusable tapes are also used to attach the segments halves together in the front panel. The rear panel includes flap extensions protruding from each side margin and the extension attach to the side margins of the front portion. The garment is folded in the crotch region.

This application for a U.S. Patent is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/797,172 for garments having front and rear panels connected along a minimum of three margins, at least two of which include extension flaps on each side margin of one panel being folded over and attached to the other panel.
Products constructed according to '172 can include garment types as diverse as pants, shirts, vests, gowns, undershorts and underbriefs, etc.
This continuation-in-part application describes the preferred embodiment as a garment for use without an absorbent pad, thus providing only limited absorbency and protection. The basic garment is referred to hereinafter as `briefs`.
In a second embodiment, the briefs are constructed so that they will accept a separate commercially available feminine pad, or in another embodiment are manufactured as an incontinent brief complete with absorbent pad of conventional design, including pervious covering against the user, absorbent core, and impervious covering attached to the inside surface of the brief.
Briefs heretofore described in prior art (Class 2--garments) are normally made from textile fabrics, and being hand sewn or knitted as unitary items, are formed or assembled to have full width front and rear panels, contiguous if knitted, or joined by sewn seams along side margins. Features can include front openings for male urinary functions, but with an expandable continuous elastic waistband rather than an openable panel. Panties for women and underwear for male use have similar construction.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,329,119 is one of the first to describe baby pants with an inner non-porous lining, and having buttons instead of tapes to connect front and rear panels at the top side margins. Patent '119 also shows the general `hourglass` shape so prevalent in state of the art diapers.
The baby pants of '119 are made from textile cloth but had many of the useful features and functional components of current diapers including leg cutouts, front rear and intervening crotch sections, waistband drawstrings instead of waistband elastic, buttons instead of side connector tapes, impervious lining pervious absorbent pad and impervious barrier, leg drawstrings versus leg elastics, etc., but the essential element for absorbency was missing until later.
In the intervening 50 plus years, many new materials, adhesives, elastics, absorbent fluff, absorbent additives, pervious barrier sheets and nonwoven fabrics with improved hand and surface treatment, as well as improved manufacturing techniques based on fabrication of continuous webs have transformed baby garments from hand sewn textile products with an impervious liner to state of the art diapers, briefs, and incontinent products.
The prior art in U.S. Class 128 for sanitary napkins and Class 604 for diapers is replete with examples of the abovementioned improvements and features including the hourglass shape of U.S. Pat. No. 3,461,871 to Foote (1963) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,368,562 to Vogt (1968) and the important addition of leg elastics per U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,003 to Buell.
Thus, while substantial prior art exists for absorbent diaper features, there is scant teaching on incontinent pants or briefs with panel openings that make it easier for the user to put the briefs on, be openable for urinary functions, and with the front `fly` open, and be easily dropped to the user's knees for excretory functions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,733 describes a diaper with a front opening for use in toilet training or for use by incontinent adults wherein the absorbent padding layer (28) is located between the inner layer (19) and outer layer (24), and is held therein by secure attachment of the inner and outer layers 19 and 24 respectively around their entire periphery. The product of '733 thus defines a product having the absorbent pad as part of a garment requiring difficult manufacturing manipulations with a front opening that must be closed by transverse movement of bias cut flaps to the overlapped position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,695 to Cooper describes a combination diaper training pant with the typical hourglass shape, but it also includes absorbent material between the inner pervious sheet and the outer impervious material, again being limited to a product with an integral absorbent pad. Patent '695 shows a front opening in both the front impervious panel and the inner pervious absorbent padding.
In the instant invention, a front opening is constructed by longitudinally overlapping half width webs with the advantage that one or both of the marginal edges (flaps) can be enclosed with folded strips that define a `reinforced` front fly without further processing of materials except along longitudinal lines until the product is assembled and ready for separation into discreet units, thus being well adapted for high speed fabrication.


A system and method for providing a software modeling framework which supports different types of dependency injection and other software modeling or software development frameworks, and which allows software developers to develop models that strategically layer different components for different implementations. A service provider interface (SPI) enables different DI frameworks to be incorporated into the system; while an application provider interface (API) enable machines or implementations to be constructed. Extenders can be modeled so that, for example a particular bundle requires a handler for a particular configuration manifest entry; while a particular module provides handling of that manifest entry.

In software development, dependency injection (DI) generally refers to the process of supplying an external dependency to a software component, such as a software object, using a form of inverse control. Traditionally, if an object needs a particular service, then that object is also responsible for instantiating and ultimately disposing of the service. This tends to increase the object's overall complexity. A DI framework eliminates the need for each object to manage the lifecycle of the services it invokes, and instead allows the object to maintain a reference to an implementation of the service, and then use that implementation to invoke the service's behaviors.
An example of a DI framework that enables dependencies is the OSGi (Open Services Gateway initiative) framework. OSGi defines a module system for the Java software language, and implements a dynamic component model in which applications are modularized into components or bundles. Each bundle is a tightly-coupled, dynamically loadable collection of classes, jars, and configuration files that explicitly declare their external dependencies. A services layer is used to connect bundles in a dynamic manner, by offering a publish-find-bind model for plain old Java objects (Pojo). A services registry API allows for management services, and a lifecycle API allows for lifecycle management of bundles. Applications or components provided as bundles can be remotely installed, started, stopped, updated and uninstalled, without requiring a system reboot.
Other systems provide similar functionality: for example, the OSGi Blueprint Container specification defines a service which uses XML definitions within a bundle to create and wire application objects, and also defines a dependency injection framework for bundles that accounts for the dynamic nature of services. SpringSource similarly defines a DI-like Spring Dynamic Modules (SDM) framework, which enables the use of Spring to configure both the internals of a bundle, and the references between bundles. Additional technologies that make use of, or that are related to DI include the Blueprint Services Specification as described in Request for Comments (RFC) 124, and the OSGi Bundle Repository Specification as described in RFC-112, each of which are herein incorporated by reference.
However, to date, little has been provided in the way of accommodating the variety of different DI and other frameworks in a unified manner that allows for usage and further extension of these frameworks in building new machines and new software applications. This is the general area that embodiments of the invention are intended to address.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Methods, devices, and computer readable storage device for navigation of a touchscreen display include calculating a scaled position based on a scaling factor. The scaling factor is based on dimensions of a region of reach and dimensions of the touchscreen display.

An anchored finger includes one in which the proximal end of the finger is anchored. For example, the proximal end of the finger may be anchored because a hand that includes the finger is used to hold a device and the finger is used to contact a touchscreen display of the device.
It is difficult to navigate a relatively large touchscreen display with an anchored finger where the size of the display is larger than the reach of the finger. Currently, to navigate the entire touchscreen display, the finger has to be unanchored or two fingers are needed to reach all areas of a large display. Reaching all areas of the display is necessary to convey literal location information for making selections or indicating larger gestures.

Methods, devices, and computer readable storage device for touchscreen navigation


An integrated line-card terminates an asymmetric digital-subscriber line (ADSL) copper-pair at a single point in a central office. The line card contains analog line circuitry such as a ring generator, off-hook detector, D.C. current feed, and a single analog-digital (A/D) converter. The phone line carries a composite signal of both the high-frequency ADSL data and the low-frequency voice or plain-old-telephone-service (POTS) signal. Instead of using an analog frequency-splitter with bulky, expensive inductor coils, a digital splitter is used. A digital-signal processor (DSP) can be used to perform the digital splitting of ADSL and POTS. The waveforms from the analog phone line are first converted to digital values by the A/D converter, and then a digital splitter separates the low-frequency POTS from the high-frequency ADSL. The ADSL data is formatted by the DSP for a data pathway to the Internet, while the POTS data is converted by the DSP to A-Law or C-Law for transmission over the telephone network's PCM highway. The DSP can perform all decoding, encoding, compression, and formatting needed by both ADSL and POTS. The quality of the phone line is improved by having a single termination point at the central office, rather than separate termination points for POTS and ADSL data from the phone line.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telephone systems, and more particularly to central-office equipment for Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) that use frequency-division-multiplexing to share the line with Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
The demand for telephone bandwidth continues to increase as more telephone customers send data traffic over phone lines. While it is feasible to run high-speed fiber-optic cable to some new customers, existing customers are connected to the phone system by slower coppers wires. The cost of replacing existing copper wires with higher-speed fiber-optic cable is prohibitive. Thus, higher-bandwidth technologies that use the existing copper-cable phone lines are desirable.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) boosted data rates over existing copper phone lines to 128 kbps. Special termination and conditioning of the existing copper phone lines is required for ISDN. ISDN's future is in doubt now that newer analog modems are reaching 56 kbps without expensive conditioning of the phone lines. Digital-Subscriber Lines (DSL) are now becoming available. DSL provides bandwidth up to 8 Mbps downstream, or up to 2 Mbps symmetric. DSL approaches the bandwidth of T1 lines, about 1.5 Mbps. Several variations of DSL technology are being explored, such as HDSL, IDSL, SDSL, RADSL and ADSL. ADSL (asymmetric DSL) is particularly attractive for consumer Internet applications where most of the data traffic is downloaded to the customer. Upstream bandwidth for uploading data can be reduced to increase downstream bandwidth since most Internet traffic is downstream traffic. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,461,616, 5,534,912, and 5,410,343 for descriptions of ADSL technology.
VOICE AND DATA CALLS ON ADSL--FIG. 1
Some DSLs such as ADSL have the advantage that ordinary voice calls can share the same line with data calls. The lower-frequency band of ADSL is used for voice calls, while the upper frequencies are used for data calls. FIG. 1 is a diagram of the partitioning of frequency bands for ADSL data and voice calls. Plain-old-telephone service (POTS) voice calls are transmitted over low-frequency POTS band 2, as they are for standard telephone lines. POTS band 2 operates from about 100 Hz to 4 kHz. Since this is the same frequency range as standard telephones, ordinary telephone equipment can be used over POTS band 2.
Reverse channel 4 is for uploads from the customer, or for sending commands and user input from the customer to the central office and eventually to the Internet. Some embodiments may use a bi-directional channel in place of reverse channel 4. Reverse channel 4 operates at about 85 to 95 kHz, or up to 1 Mbps.
Wide-band 5 carries the bulk of the ADSL-line bandwidth. Wide-band 5 carries ADSL data to the customer at up to 8 Mbps. Wide-band 5 is a frequency band from 100 to 500 MHz. Thus ADSL is asymmetric; using a wide frequency band for downloads while using a relatively narrow frequency band for uploads. The lowest frequencies are reserved for POTS.
VOICE CALLS ON ADSL LINES WHEN POWER FAILS
Although voice calls can be made over ISDN, special terminal adapters must always be powered. When power fails, ISDN voice calls cannot be made. Thus, customers are told to have a standard POTS line for emergencies, in addition to the ISDN line.
ADSL voice calls can be made even when the power fails. External power is not required for the frequency-splitter circuit that separates the low-frequency voice band from the high-frequency data band. The splitter can be made of entirely passive components that do not require external power, and the power provided by the central office over the phone line is sufficient to power the POTS telephone. Since central offices have back-up power generators to power ordinary POTS lines during emergencies and power failures, ADSL lines, like POTS lines, continue to carry voice calls during power failures. Thus, a single ADSL line can serve as an emergency voice line. A second POTS line is not required as is true for ISDN.
ADSL EQUIPMENT INCLUDES FREQUENCY SPLITTER
Like ISDN, ADSL requires some line conditioning of the copper phone lines. Special equipment is needed at both the customer premises and at the phone company's central office where the customer's copper phone line ends. FIG. 2 is a diagram of a prior-art ADSL phone line highlighting the frequency splitters.
Copper phone line 20 is a pair of copper lines running from central office 8 to the customer. The phone customer has installed customer premises equipment 6. Since ADSL uses high frequencies for data traffic and low frequencies for voice calls, the signal received over copper phone line 20 must be split into high- and low frequency components. Splitter 12 contains a low-pass filter that outputs the low-frequency components from copper phone line 20. These low-frequency components carry the voice calls that are sent to telephone set 10. Telephone set 10 is a standard POTS analog telephone set. Additional phone sets, fax machines, or analog modem equipment can be connected to telephone set 10 as phone-line extensions as is well-known.
Splitter 12 also contains a high-pass filter that outputs the high-frequency components to ADSL modem 14. ADSL modem 14 converts the high-frequency analog signal from splitter 12 into digital data. Computer equipment can read this digital data and transmit digital data to ADSL modem 14 for conversion to analog-voltage modulations. Splitter 12 also mixes high-frequency data from ADSL modem 14 with the low-frequency voice from telephone set 10 and transmits the combined signal over copper phone line 20 to central office 8.
Copper phone line 20 is typically only one or two miles in length. Lines longer than 18,000 feet have too many loses for use as ADSL lines. Central office 8 receives copper phone line 20 and splits off the high-frequency components with splitter 16. The high-frequency components from splitter 16 are sent to ADSL modem 18, which converts the analog-voltage high-frequency signal to a digital data steam. The data stream can then be combined with a high-speed data highway or backbone.
Splitter 16 sends low-frequency components to conventional telephone switch 19, which is similar to other line cards that terminate POTS lines. Conventional telephone switch 19 connects to other switch circuits to be combined with other calls and sent to a pulse-code-modulated (PCM) highway for transmission to other central offices or to the long-distance networks.
Incoming voice calls received by conventional telephone switch 19 are combined by splitter 16 with modulated data traffic from ADSL modem 18. The combined signal is transmitted over copper phone line 20 to customer premises equipment 6.
ANALOG SPLITTER IS BULKY, COSTLY
FIG. 3 is a diagram of an analog splitter for splitting the high-frequency data calls from the low-frequency voice calls. Low-pass filter 86 is a network of inductors 92 in series and capacitors 94 in parallel. Since the series-inductor, parallel-capacitor network passes low-frequency signals but resist high-frequency signals, the low-frequency components from incoming telephone line 20 are passed through low-pass filter 86 to the telephone line card and eventually the telephone switch for POTS voice calls.
High-pass filter 88 is a network of capacitors 98 in series and inductors 96 in parallel. Series-capacitor, parallel-inductor networks pass high-frequency signals but block low-frequency components. Thus high-pass filter 88 passes the high-frequency components from incoming telephone line 20 while blocking the low-frequency POTS components. The high-frequency components are passed on to a data highway through an XDSL modem.
While such analog splitters are useful, they are relatively large and bulky. Inductor coils in particular are much larger than semiconductor components. The bulky coils are an impediment to miniaturization and cost reduction of ADSL. Since ADSL requires splitting the high- and low-frequency data and voice components, such bulky splitters have been considered a necessary part of ADSL. Inductors and other passive components are not easily integrated into semiconductor integrated circuits, as they cannot be mimicked by transistors.
MULTIPLE A/D CONVERTERS USED AT CENTRAL OFFICE--FIG. 4
FIG. 4 is a diagram of prior-art ADSL line equipment at a central office. Copper phone line 20 is received at the central office by analog splitter 22. Analog splitter 22 uses bulky inductor coils together with resistors and capacitors to form high-pass and low-pass filters. The output of the high-pass filter in analog splitter 22 is the high-frequency data components, which are sent to analog-digital A/D converter 24. A/D converter 24 converts the analog voltages from analog splitter 22 to digital values at a high sampling rate. These digital values are sent to ADSL processor 26, which extracts the encoded data values transmitted from the ADSL modem at the customer premises.
The data from ADSL processor 26 is combined with other such data, for transmission over a shared high speed data pathway 30. The high speed Data Network can be a fiber-optic backbone or other high-bandwidth network. ADSL processor 26 also receives data from high-speed data pathway 30 and encodes the data. The encoded data is then converted to analog voltages by A/D converter 24, and the resulting analog-voltage waveform is sent to analog splitter 22 where it is combined with the low-frequency voice signal and transmitted to the customer's premises over phone line 20. The low-frequency components output from the low-pass filter in analog splitter 22 are sent to conventional telephone line card 28, which is a standard line card used to terminate POTS phone lines. The analog signals from conventional telephone line card 28 are converted to digital values and encoded as PCM signals by A/D CODEC 32. The PCM signals from A/D CODEC 32 are combined with signals from other line cards (not shown) and transmitted over PCM highway 34 to other central offices, or to a long-distance network.
Incoming voice calls from PCM highway 34 are decoded and converted to analogvoltage waveforms by A/D CODEC 32. The analog-voltage waveforms are driven by conventional telephone line card 28 and then mixed with the high-speed ADSL data by analog splitter 22 and transmitted out on copper phone line 20.
The prior-art ADSL equipment at the central office is undesirable for several reasons. Splitter 22 is a bulky, expensive component using large inductor coils, capacitors, and resistors. Since splitter 22 is made of discrete components, it does not benefit from the continuing size and cost reductions of semiconductor integrated circuits.
SEGREGATED ARCHITECTURE, MULTIPLE EQUIPMENT RACKS
The prior-art ADSL architecture treats the ADSL and voice data as two completely separate data streams, each with its own encoders, decoders, and analog-digital converters. Such redundancy is wasteful. For example, FIG. 4 showed two separate points of analog-digital conversion, one for ADSL data at A/D converter 24, and another for conventional voice telephone calls at A/D CODEC 32.
Since two completely separate data streams are used, the ADSL and voice circuitry are typically segregated to different circuit boards or even separate equipment racks at the central office. For example, one rack may contain the conventional telephone line cards, while another rack contains the analog splitters and the ADSL modems. Often the racks are several feet apart. When many ADSL lines are terminated in a central office, the result can be a messy nest of wires connecting the ADSL and conventional telephone racks.
Terminating the phone line in such a central office is complicated by the multiple destinations of the signals. Instead of a single termination point on a single line card as for POTS, at least two termination points exist. The ADSL and POTS termination points can be physically several feet apart, complicating line provisioning.
What is desired is improved ADSL equipment at the central office. It is desired to eliminate the bulky analog splitter with its inductor coils and discrete components. It is further desired to reduce redundancy at the central office. It is desired to use a single A/D converter and to combine the encoding and decoding of POTS voice and ADSL data signals. It is desired to reduce wiring between racks at the central office by using a single line card for both ADSL and POTS signals from an ADSL line. It is desired to have a single termination point for the copper-pair ADSL phone line.

ADSL integrated line card with digital splitter and POTS CODEC without bulky analog splitter


A semiconductor memory device is arranged so that its circuit area is made smaller and the stored data may be constantly outputted at fast speed. The semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell array and an auxiliary cell array concatenated with word lines on the increasing side of bit-line addresses in the memory cell array. The auxiliary cell array stores data of memory cells in the range from a first bit-line address on a next word-line address to a bit-line address located apart by a predetermined number of bits. A Y-address driver is also included in the semiconductor memory device. The Y-address driver reads data from the auxiliary cell array following the last bit-line address if the read of data pieces at a time ranges from the last bit-line address to the first bit-line address on the next word-line address in the memory cell array.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device and a method of reading data from the semiconductor memory device. In particular, the present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device which is arranged to read and output a plurality of data pieces at a time and the method of reading a plurality of data pieces from the semiconductor memory device and outputting them at a time.
(2) Description of the Related Art
For a memory such as a DRAM or a SRAM, a 2-bit prefetch operation has been proposed as a method of reading data from such a memory. The 2-bit prefetch is executed to read 2-bit data from memory cells at a time and continuously output the data to the outside (which is called a gapless read). However, when a reading operation is shifted from a word-line address being currently processed into the next word-line address, the reading operation needs to take a time in switching one word line to another. This switching time also needs a wait cycle in outputting the data. This thus makes it impossible to realize the gapless read. The partial improvement of the 2-bit prefetch for overcoming this shortcoming leads to a 4-bit prefetch.
FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic view of a memory cell array. FIG. 13 is a timing chart showing an operation of reading data from the memory cell array shown in FIG. 12 through the effect of the 4-bit prefetch.
A circle shown in FIG. 12 indicates a memory cell. WL0, . . . , WLj, WLk, . . . , WLm (j, l and m are a positive integer) indicate the word-line addresses of the memory cells, respectively. BL0, . . . , BLn (n is a positive integer) indicate the bit-line addresses, respectively.
The clock CLK shown in FIG. 13 indicates a synchronous clock. In synchronous to the clock, the memory device is operated. AVD# denotes an initial address read signal which indicates a start signal of reading an external address. An address ADD denotes a series of addresses generated on an external address read from the outside. In an Ax, y of the address ADD, an "x" portion denotes a word-line address of a memory cell and a "y" portion denotes a bit-line address thereof. A data DATA denotes data of a memory cell to be outputted. In a Dx, y of the data DATA, an "x" portion denotes a word-line address of the memory cell in which data is stored and a "y" portion denotes a bit-line address thereof. A word-line signal WL denotes a word line of a memory cell to be selected when data is read out and its timing. WLj and WLk shown in FIG. 13 correspond with the word-line addresses of the memory cells shown in FIG. 12, respectively. A sensing SNS denotes a bit-line address at which data being outputted from a memory cell is sensed and its sensing timing. BLn−3 to BL7 correspond with the bit-line addresses of the memory cells shown in FIG. 12, respectively. In FIG. 13, arrows denote synchronous timings between a clock CLK and a data DATA and between a clock CLK and a sensing SNS.
As shown in FIG. 13, the memory device obtains an external address on the timing of the initial address read signal AVD# and generates the continuous addresses Aj, n−3 to Aj, n as indicated in the address ADD. Then, based on the address Aj, n−3 to Aj, n, the memory outputs a word-line signal WL of the word-line address WLj onto the memory cell and then senses the bit-line address BLn−3 to BLn. As a result, as indicated in the data DATA, the data Dj, n−3 to Dj, n of the memory cells at the bit-line addresses BLn−3 to BLn on the word-line address BLj are outputted to the outside of the memory.
When the address ADD shifts to the address Ak, 0 to Ak, 3, the memory outputs a word-line signal WL of the word-line address WLk to a memory cell and then senses the bit-line addresses BL0 to BL3 as indicated in the sensing SNS. Thus, as indicated in the data DATA, the data Dk, 0 to Dk, 3 of the memory cells at the bit-line addresses BL0 to BL3 on the word-line address WLk are outputted to the outside.
For the 4-bit prefetch, as shown in FIG. 13, the word line may be switched from one to another while the 4-bit data is being outputted. This switching results in efficiently realizing the gapless read. However, in some cases, the 4-bit prefetch may not realize the gapless read. FIG. 14 illustrates the timing on which the gapless read may not be realized. As shown, in a case that the first access to a memory cell starts at a bit-line address BLn−1 located within four bits from the last bit-line address BLn of the word-line address WLj, while the 2-bit data Dj, n−1 to Dj, n are being outputted, it is necessary to switch the word-line address WLj to the other word-line address WLk. Hence, even the 4-bit prefetch needs a wait cycle.
Moreover, as a memory, a semiconductor memory device has been proposed which is arranged to provide two memory cell arrays whose word lines are shifted alternately so that data may be outputted without having to switch an address signal from the outside. The conventional prefetch has a disadvantage that no gapless read may be realized and the data output is made slower accordingly.
In the semiconductor memory disclosed in the Official Gazette of the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 04-157693, the semiconductor memory is equipped with two memory cell arrays and thus two systems of the relevant wirings and circuits like decoders. This double system results in disadvantageously making the circuit area larger.

Semiconductor memory device and method of reading data from semiconductor memory device


There is provided a multilayer ceramic capacitor including: a ceramic body; first and second internal electrodes disposed to face each other within a ceramic body, and having respective lead portions exposed to an upper surface of the ceramic body; first and second external electrodes formed on the upper surface of the ceramic body and connected to the lead portions, respectively; and first and second terminal frames each including a vertical portion facing end surfaces of the ceramic body and upper and lower horizontal portions facing upper and lower surfaces of the ceramic body, respectively, wherein the upper horizontal portions are connected to the first and second external electrodes, respectively, and adhesive layers are provided between the upper horizontal portions and the first and second external electrodes, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer ceramic capacitor and a mounting circuit board thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since a multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC), one of multilayer chip electronic components, has advantages such as a small size, high capacitance, easiness of mounting, and the like, the multilayer ceramic capacitor may be used in various electronic devices.
For example, a multilayer ceramic capacitor may be used as a chip type condenser mounted on circuit boards of various electronic products such as display devices including liquid crystal displays (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), and the like, computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and mobile phones to serve to charge or discharge electricity.
Generally, the multilayer ceramic capacitor may have a structure in which a plurality of dielectric layers and internal electrodes having opposite polarities and interposed between the dielectric layers are alternately laminated.
In this case, since the dielectric layers have piezoelectricity, when direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) voltage is applied to the multilayer ceramic capacitor, a piezoelectric phenomenon is generated between the internal electrodes, thereby generating periodic vibrations while expanding and contracting the volume of a ceramic body according to frequency.
Such vibrations may be transferred to a circuit board through external electrodes of the multilayer ceramic capacitor and a solder connecting the external electrodes to the circuit board, such that the entire circuit board may become an acoustically reflective surface to generate a vibration sound as noise.
This vibration sound may correspond to an audible frequency range of 20 to 20,000 Hz making listeners uncomfortable. The vibration sound, potentially providing unpleasant feeling to listeners, is known as acoustic noise.
Recently, since acoustic noise generated in the multilayer ceramic capacitor as described above maybe evident due to noise reductions in components of electronic devices, research into a technology for reducing the acoustic noise generated in the multilayer ceramic capacitor has been required.
As a method of reducing the acoustic noise as described above, a method of mounting a multilayer ceramic capacitor so as to be spaced apart from a circuit board by a predetermined distance using a metal frame has been disclosed.
However, in order to reduce the acoustic noise to a predetermined level using the metal frame, a distance between the metal frame and the circuit board should be increased to be greater than a predetermined standard distance.
In addition, since the above-described distance increase between the metal frame and the circuit board results in an increase in a height of a product in which the multilayer ceramic capacitor is mounted, it may be difficult to use the metal frame in a set having a height limitation.
A method of reducing acoustic noise transferred from a multilayer ceramic capacitor to a circuit board using a metal terminal is disclosed in the following Patent Document 1, but a method of reducing a size of a product is not disclosed therein.

Multilayer ceramic capacitor and mounting circuit board therefor


An apparatus for and a method of fitting or removing a motor vehicle tyre (4) comprising a rotatably supported wheel receiving device (2) to which the rim (3) is to be fixed, at least one fitting or removal tool (5), a rotary drive device (10) for the wheel receiving device and a sensing device (6), (7), (8) for sensing the radially outer rim contour (12), (14) along which the at least one fitting or removal tool is to be guided during the fitting or removal operation, wherein the sensing device (6), (7), (8) is a sensing device which contact-lessly senses the rim contour and the sensing signals of which are converted into electrical sensing signals, and connected to the sensing device (6), (7), (8) is a control device (9) which evaluates the electrical sensing signals and which controls the at least one fitting or removal tool (5) in the fitting or removal operation in dependence on the sensing signals without contact with the rim surface.

An apparatus which is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,505 has a wheel receiving device to which the rim of a motor vehicle wheel can be fixed. The wheel receiving device can be rotated during the fitting or removal operation by means of a rotary drive device, for example an electric motor. The tyre can be fitted to the rim or released the rim by means of fitting or removal tools. Provided on the removal tool is a sensing device in the form of a projection which senses the radial outside surface (rim bed) of the rim and which comprises a material which does not damage the rim material, for example plastic material. That ensures that the removal tool is kept at a given spacing from the surface of the rim in the removal operation. That prevents the rim surface being damaged by the hard material of the removal tool. In that case however there is the danger that the projection which senses the rim contour and which maintains the spacing wears away due to abrasion or is damaged in some other fashion.
An apparatus which is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,505 has a wheel receiving device to which the rim of a motor vehicle wheel can be fixed. The wheel receiving device can be rotated during the fitting or removal operation by means of a rotary drive device, for example an electric motor. The tyre can be fitted to the rim or released from the rim by means of fitting or removal tools. Provided on the removal tool is a sensing device in the form of a projection which senses the radial outside surface (rim bed) of the rim and which comprises a material which does not damage the rim material, for example plastic material. That ensures that the removal tool is kept at a given spacing from the surface of the rim in the removal operation. That prevents the rim surface being damaged by the hard material of the removal tool. In that case however there is the danger that the projection which senses the rim contour and which maintains the spacing wears away due to abrasion or is damaged in some other fashion.
It is also known from DE 25 29 343 B2 for the fitting or removal tool to be moved along a control surface which ensures that the tool is guided on a curved path along the rim contour in the rim bed during the fitting or removal operation. Here too there is the danger that the guidance along the desired curved path is no longer achieved due to abrasion wear at the control surface. The control surface therefore has to be frequently replaced.
The problem of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of the kind set forth in the opening part of this specification, in which the geometrical dimensions of the wheel rim are reliably determined and in particular the fitting or removal tool is guided in such a way as to protect the rim during the fitting or removal operation.

Method of and apparatus for determining geometrical dimensions of a wheel rim, in particular when fitting and/or removing a motor vehicle tyre


Documents are processed collectively by multiple printing devices. A printing device receives a request to print a document, and partitions the document into one or more blocks. The printing device communicates, to each of one or more additional printing devices, at least one of the one or more blocks. The additional printing devices convert the portions they receive to a print-ready format, and return the portions in the print-ready format to the printing device. The printing device uses the portions in print-ready format received from the additional printing devices to print the document.

As computer technology has advanced, computers have become increasingly commonplace in homes, businesses, and elsewhere, and have become increasingly inter-connected. Local area networks have become commonplace in businesses, and are becoming increasingly common in homes. Furthermore, these local networks are becoming increasingly connected to wide area networks (e.g., the Internet), allowing communication among computers throughout the world.
One task that many users often like to perform with their computers is to generate hard copies of their documents by printing them to a printer. However, given the computing power of many modem computers, the documents to be printed can be fairly complex and require a substantial amount of time at the printer to process the documents (that is, to convert them to a format that the print engine of the printer is able to render and generate a hard copy of the document contents). This substantial amount of time can cause the printer to print pages of documents at a slower rate than it is mechanically capable of printing, which is typically undesirable to the user. For example, a printer capable of printing 25 pages per minute may only be able to print 10 pages per minute due to the substantial amount of processing that the printer is performing.
One solution to this problem is to build printers with faster components (e.g., controllers and/or processors) that can process the documents faster and thus print the documents faster. However, such faster components can significantly increase the cost of the printers. Thus, there remains a need to improve the speed of processing of documents for printing by printers without significantly increasing the cost of the printer.

Collective document processing by multiple printing devices

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Provided are a thin film magnetic head and a method of manufacturing the same, which can locally miniaturized a pole width with high accuracy. A thin film coil is provided in a region located more rearward than a position (a first position) of a rear end of a top shield layer. A position of a surface of an underlayer of a rearward region of a write gap layer, i.e., the region in which the thin film coil is to be formed is lower than a position of a surface of an underlayer of a frontward region. Thus, a height (μm) of an apex portion formed of an insulating film decreases. Thus, a top pole can be formed so that a tip portion has a local miniature uniform width. Therefore, the pole width can be locally miniaturized with high accuracy.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a thin film magnetic head having an inductive magnetic transducer for writing and a magnetic transducer for reading, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, an improvement in performance of a thin film magnetic head has been sought in accordance with an increase in an areal density of a hard disk drive. For example, a composite thin film magnetic head, which has a stacked structure comprising a recording head having an inductive magnetic transducer for writing and a reproducing head having a magnetoresistive (hereinafter referred to as MR) element for reading, is widely used as the thin film magnetic head.
For example, the recording head includes a top pole and a bottom pole, which are located with a write gap in between on and under the write gap, respectively, and a coil for generating a magnetic flux with an insulating layer in between the top pole and the bottom pole. The top pole and the bottom pole have the same uniform width near the write gap in a region close to a recording-medium-facing surface (an air bearing surface) facing a magnetic recording medium (hereinafter referred to as "a recording medium"). The top pole and the bottom pole form "a magnetic pole portion" for determining a write track width. For example, the magnetic pole portion is formed in the following manner: the top pole having a uniform-width portion forming a part of the magnetic pole portion is formed, and then the write gap and the bottom pole are etched in self-alignment by using the uniform-width portion as a mask.
To increase the recording density of the performance of the recording head, it is necessary to locally miniaturize the width of the magnetic pole portion (a pole width) to the submicron order and thereby increase a track density on the recording medium. In this case, it is preferable that the pole width is uniform with high accuracy over the overall area of the magnetic pole portion. When the pole width is partly great, a side erase phenomenon occurs. Specifically, information is written not only on a track region on which the information is to be written, but also on a neighboring track region. Thus, information already written on the neighboring track region is overwritten with the information newly written thereon, and consequently the already-written information is erased.
Although the local miniaturization of the pole width to the submicron order is required, a problem has, however, heretofore existed: it is difficult to form with high accuracy the uniform-width portion of the top pole to be used as the mask for forming the magnetic pole portion. The problem arises for the following reason.
That is, for example, a coil for generating a magnetic flux is formed on a flat underlayer (e.g., a write gap), and then the coil is coated with an insulating layer made of a photoresist. As a result, a hill portion (hereinafter sometimes called "an apex portion") made of the photoresist is formed on the flat underlayer. The apex portion has a round inclined surface near the edge thereof, for example because a portion near the edge flows due to heat treatment subjected to the photoresist with which a peripheral region around the coil is to be filled. To form the top pole made of a plated film pattern in a region having an uneven structure formed of the apex portion and the like, a photoresist film formed in the region having the uneven structure is exposed to light in the step of forming a frame (a frame pattern) for forming the plated film pattern. Consequently, light is reflected obliquely or transversely from an inclined surface portion of the underlayer. Since the reflected light increases or reduces an exposed region in the photoresist film, the reflected light deteriorates the accuracy in forming the frame pattern. This makes it difficult to form with high accuracy the top pole, particularly the uniform-width portion having a local miniature width. The greater the height of the apex portion on the underlayer, the more noticeable the tendency to deteriorate the accuracy in forming the top pole.

Thin film magnetic head and method of manufacturing the same


A vertical internal combustion engine includes a crankshaft enclosed in a crank chamber, a belt-drive transmission mechanism held in a belt chamber and including a rubber belt for transmitting power of the crankshaft to a camshaft included in a valve train, and a transmission case defining the belt chamber. The transmission case has a lower case between the crank chamber and the belt chamber. The belt has a part extending over the crank chamber, and the lower case is disposed to screen the part of the belt from the crank chamber. The belt is lubricated by oil in oil-containing gas from the crank chamber. Thus the oil containing gas is prevented from excessively contacting the rubber belt, so that the life of the belt is extended.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vertical internal combustion engine having a crankshaft held in a crankcase with its center axis vertically extended, and provided with a belt-drive transmission mechanism including a lubricated rubber belt for transmitting the power of the crankshaft to a driven device. The vertical internal combustion engine is incorporated into, for example, an outboard motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vertical internal combustion engine disclosed in, for example, JP-A 2-275020 is provided with a belt-drive transmission mechanism including a rubber belt for transmitting the power of the crankshaft to a driven device. The belt-drive transmission mechanism is placed in a belt chamber, and the rubber belt is lubricated with oil that flows from the crank-case into the belt chamber.
If the belt chamber is opened into the crankcase and the components of the belt-drive transmission mechanism including a belt and pulleys are exposed to the atmosphere in the crankcase, the belt is likely to be exposed to gas containing oil mist and blowby gases. Hereinafter, this gas will be referred to as "oil-containing gas". Moreover, the belt is wetted with oil drops splashed by the rotating crankshaft and with the oil adhered to the pulleys and scattered when the pulleys rotate. Consequently, the belt is excessively lubricated. If the belt is exposed excessively to the oil and blowby gases contained in the oil-containing gas and to the high-temperature oil-containing gas, components of the oil and the blowby gases accelerate the degradation of the rubber belt and shorten the life of the rubber belt. If the width and thickness of the belt is increased and the strength of the belt is enhanced to reduce the detrimental effect of degradation on the belt, the cost and size of the belt-drive transmission mechanism increase. If the belt is not satisfactorily lubricated, the belt is abraded by increased friction between the belt and the pulley and the life of the belt shortens.

Vertical internal combustion engine provided with belt-drive transmission mechanism


An auto-locking bit holding system includes a plurality of clamping rods secured by a nut to hold a bit in a transmission block being connected to a transmission shaft of an electric hand tool, a shell covered around the transmission block and the nut, and a locating barrel fastened to the shell to stop the nut inside the shell, wherein: the nut has two projecting blocks at one end; the locating barrel has a body and a plurality of longitudinal locating ribs equiangularly spaced around the periphery of the body; an annular impact member is mounted around the cylindrical transmission block between the nut and the locating barrel, the annular impact member having two projecting blocks bilaterally disposed at one end, and a plurality of equiangularly spaced and longitudinally extended locating grooves on the inside respectively forced into engagement with the locating ribs of the body of the locating member, the projecting blocks of the annular impact member being turned with the annular impact member to strike the projecting blocks of the nut when the transmission block is rotated, causing the nut to be fastened tight with threaded portions of the clamping rods.

The present invention relates to a bit holding system for an electric hand tool for example an electric hand drill, and more particularly to an auto-locking bit holding system which automatically locks the bit when the electric hand tool is operated.
FIG. 1 shows a bit holding system for an electric hand tool according to the prior art. This structure of bit holding system comprises a hollow cylindrical transmission block having a rear end thereof fixedly connected to one end of the transmission shaft of the electric hand tool and a plurality of through holes spaced around the periphery, a plurality of clamping rods respectively obliquely inserted through the through holes on the hollow cylindrical transmission block and forced to hold down the bit being inserted into the hollow transmission block, the clamping rods each having a threaded portion at an outer side outside the hollow cylindrical transmission block, a nut having a tapered screw hole threaded onto the threaded portions of the clamping rods, a shell covered around the hollow cylindrical transmission block and the nut, and a locating barrel fastened to the shell to stop the nut inside the shell. When the shell is compressed with the hand and then turned, the nut is turned with the shell relative to the clamping rods to hold down or release the clamping rods. This structure of bit holding system is still not satisfactory in function. This structure of bit holding system is that the shell is not convenient in use because the shell must be turned by hand when holding down or releasing the clamping rods. Another drawback of this structure of bit holding system is that iron chips from the workpiece tends to be gathered at the shell because the shell is rotated with the transmission block during the operation of the electric hand tool, therefore the user's hand tends to be injured by iron chips gathered at the shell. Furthermore, because vibration waves are transmitted from the bit to the clamping rods, the transmission block and the nut during the operation of the electric hand tool, the tapered screw hole of the nut and the threaded portions of the clamping rods tend to be damaged.

Auto-locking bit holding system of a hand tool


A dual spring includes a pair of conically-shaped spring sections, which are joined at a common fulcrum. One of the spring sections is disposed radially inward from the fulcrum and the other of the spring sections is disposed radially outward from the fulcrum. Both of the conical sections open axially in the same direction relative to the fulcrum section.

Washer or Belleville springs, as they are commonly termed, employ a conical-shaped washer or disc, which has spring properties. The disc spring is deflected from the conical shape towards a flat shape as reaction load increases. A typical disc spring has advantages over coiled wire springs in that less axial space is needed for a given reaction load requirement. Also, the disc spring can be designed to have a constant load over a wide range of deflections. This makes this spring very useful in environments, such as torque-transmitting mechanisms, where it is desirable to provide control over the reaction force on the apply piston which is returning the piston to a disengaged condition in a torque-transmitting mechanism.


A modular ramp for creating a ski jump on a modern naval vehicles is provided. Generally, the system allows a user to manipulate a ramp surface in a way that best suits the needs of the user at that time. The system generally comprises a framework, interlinking tracks, and control arm. The control arm manipulates the position of the framework, which in turn manipulates the surface created by the interlinking tracks. The modular ramp may also comprise mechanical joints and a hinge, which may allow the surface to be manipulated in multiple directions.

Modern warships often provide aerial vehicles a runway means from which to take off and land. However, the runway provided is often too short for a normal takeoff. To fix this problem, many modern warships use what is known as a ski-jump. A ski jump is an upward-curved ramp that allows aircraft to take off from a runway that is shorter than the aircraft's required takeoff roll. By forcing the aircraft upwards, lift-off can be achieved at a lower airspeed than that required for sustained flight, while allowing the aircraft to accelerate to such a speed in the air rather than on the runway. Though this type of ramp system allows aircraft to take off on the short runways provided by modern warships, it also reduces the available useable deck space since the curved ramp area is more or less unusable for many tasks. Further, it may be beneficial to have the ability to alter the amount of curvature that the ski jump possess depending on the aerial vehicle taking off, but current ski jump ramps are fixed at a specific curvature that can't be altered.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system of a modular ramp that can provide both usable deck space and a ski jump with varying degrees of curvature.


A unified, nonlinear, non-stationary, stochastic model is disclosed for estimating and removing effects of background noise on speech cepstra. Generally stated, the model is a union of dynamic system equations for speech and noise, and a model describing how speech and noise are mixed. Embodiments also pertain to related methods for enhancement.

The present invention generally pertains to pattern recognition systems. More particularly, the present invention pertains to methods for reducing the adverse impact of noise on signals utilized within speech recognition systems.
A pattern recognition system, such as a speech recognition system, takes an input signal and attempts to decode the signal and identify an incorporated pattern. For example, in a speech recognition system, a speech signal (often referred to as a test signal) is received by the recognition system and is decoded to identify a string of words represented by the speech signal.
To decode the incoming text signal, most recognition systems utilize one or more models that describe the likelihood that a portion of the test signal represents a particular pattern. Examples of such models include Neural Nets, Dynamic Time Warping, segment models, and Hidden Markov Models.
Before a model is used to decode an incoming signal, it is trained. Training is typically accomplished by measuring input training signals generated from a known training pattern. For example, in speech recognition, it is common for speakers reading from a known text generate a collection of speech signals. These speech signals are then used to train the models.
In order for the models to work optimally, the signals used to train the model should be similar to the eventual test signals that are decoded. In particular, the training signals should have the same amount and type of noise as the test signals that are decoded.
Typically, the training signal is collected under "clean" conditions and is considered to be relatively noise free. To achieve this same low level of noise in the test signal, many prior art systems apply noise reduction techniques to the testing data. Automatic speech recognition systems without explicit provisions for noise robustness have proven to degrade quickly in the presence of additive noise.
Thus, how to best add noise robustness to speech recognition systems is an area of active research. There are many examples of model based feature enhancement systems. Many such systems include a model for speech, and often a model for noise as well, within an enhancement algorithm. Most techniques incorporate either Gaussian mixture models or hidden Markov models.
When the clean speech model is a Gaussian mixture model (GMM), each frame of data is enhanced independently. Without post-processing, this can result in artifacts, such as sharp single frame transitions, that were not part of the original clean speech signal.
Choosing a hidden Markov model (HMM) for the clean speech model introduces some time dependencies in the enhancement process. Although, for any given state sequence, the enhancement process is the same as for a GMM, the state transition probabilities of the HMM tend to eliminate single frame errors in the output. State transitions, however, can still produce edge artifacts, so post-processing is still generally necessary.

Noise robust speech recognition with a switching linear dynamic model


A magnetic recording medium which comprises, on a substrate, a Cr undercoat layer and a Co alloy thin film formed on the substrate in this order. The coercive force of the medium is significantly improved by incorporating oxygen either in the Cr undercoat layer or in the Co alloy thin film.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to magnetic recording mediums which are suitable for horizontal magnetization recording and which have a Cr undercoat layer and a magnetic Co alloy layer formed on the undercoat layer. The invention also relates to a method for making such mediums.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, those magnetic recording mediums for high density recording using a magnetic Co alloy film have been often employed. In particular, rigid or hard disks making use of a Cr undercoat layer and a magnetic Co alloy layer formed on the undercoat layer have been studied in order to increase the coercive force, Hc. To this end, a variety of elements have been added to the Cr undercoat layer. For instance, when elements such as Gd, Ce, Cu, Si, etc., are incorporated in the Cr undercoat layer in an amount of about 1 atomic percent, the coercive force is increased by about 100 to 200 Oe as compared with the case where no additive element is added. Over 1 atomic percent, the coercive force, Hc, tends to decrease
("Effects of Substituted Elements into the Cr Layer on CoNiCr/Cr Sputtered Hard Disk" in Reports of the 12th Meeting of the Japan Applied Magnetic Society).
However, the increase of the coercive force by approximately 100 to 200 Oe is not satisfactory for use as high density magnetic recording mediums. Moreover, it is very difficult to appropriately control the amount of the additive element at about 1 atomic percent.
Another type of high density magnetic recording medium of the horizontal magnetization type has been proposed wherein a Co alloy film or layer is incorporated with a certain amount of oxygen to improve magnetic characteristics and a corrosion resistance. For example, CoCr alloys are subjected to vapor deposition under an oxygen pressure of 1 to 3 mTorr., thereby forming an amorphous CoCr alloy film containing from 5 to 15 atomic percent of oxygen therein. This type of medium is described, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application Nos. 61-115244 and 61-105721 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,810. Moreover, a magnetic layer composed of Co, Ni and O with or without use of Cr is formed by oblique vapor deposition techniques while controlling the content of oxygen, thereby improving magnetic characteristics and a corrosion resistance (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application Nos. 59-58804 and 59-61105.
However, the CoCr alloy film is amorphous in nature and has thus no magnetic anisotropy, so that the maximum coercive force is in the range of from 500 to 600 Oe. This is not satisfactory for use as a medium for high density recording. In addition, the oblique vapor deposition is disadvantageous in that much of the starting material is consumed in vain.

Method for fabricating a magnetic recording medium


Disclosed is a roasting apparatus allowing automation of a roasting process including steps of charging a raw material, roasting it, and carrying a roasted product. A carrying-in port is opened in the bottom of a quantitative tank 1 for storing a raw material to be roasted, and a lid 34 is provided at an edge portion of the carrying-in port. A motor-driven cylinder 33 for opening/closing the lid 34 on the basis of an electric signal is provided to the lid 34. A roasting kiln 40 is disposed under the quantitative tank 1. An opening 63 is provided in the roasting kiln 40 and lids 42 are provided at edge portions of the opening 63. A kiln opening/closing link and a motor-driven cylinder 58 for opening/closing the lids 42 are provided outside the roasting kiln 40. A carrying passage 120 is provided under the roasting kiln 40. Burners 41 are disposed near the carrying passage 120 and electric heaters 71 are disposed around the rotational shaft 52. The outer surface of the electric heater 71 is covered with a far infrared radiation material. Slip rings 73 are provided around portions, positioned outside the roasting kiln, of the rotational shaft 52.

The present invention relates to a roasting apparatus allowing automation of a roasting process including steps of charging a raw material to be roasted, roasting the raw material, and carrying out a roasted product.
A known roasting apparatus includes a roasting kiln formed into a circular shape or an elliptic shape in cross section.
<Drying/Roasting Step>
A circular roasting kiln in which rotary blades are mounted in the roasting kiln is known from Japanese Patent Publication Nos. Hei 4-17623 and Hei 5-5463. In this roasting kiln, the rotary blades are rotated upon roasting, to roast a material to be roasted.
Another circular roasting kiln in which a number of agitating blades spaced at specific intervals are projectingly formed on the inner peripheral wall surface of the roasting kiln is known from Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 7-26951. In this roasting kiln, a material to be roasted, which is accumulated on the bottom of the roasting kiln, is scooped up by the agitating blades, and when the agitating blades reach the top of the roasting kiln, the material to be roasted is dropped.
An elliptic roasting kiln is known from Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 3-56726, wherein a material to be roasted, which is accumulated on the bottom of the elliptic drum, is lifted upward and then dropped to sufficiently agitate the material to be roasted, thereby effecting uniform drying and roasting.
<Dipping Step>
A quantitative tank is used at the dipping step before roasting. At this dipping step, an operator has performed works of previously charging grain and water in the quantitative tank, dipping the grain in water in the quantitative tank, opening the bottom of the quantitative tank after the grain is sufficiently dipped in water, and charging the grain in a roasting kiln of the roasting apparatus.
However, the following problems are encountered in automating a roasting process including steps of dipping a raw material to be roasted in water and roasting the raw material to be roasted using the related art roasting apparatus.
<Dipping Step>
(1) The dipping step involves works of loosening a string having bound the end portion of a net bag, provided in the quantitative tank, for containing a raw material to be roasted, and charging the raw material to be roasted in a roasting kiln. The works are manually performed by an operator, thereby taking a lot of labor and processing time, and further, the works must be performed by an operator in such a severe working environment that the temperature in the work section is high by the thermal effect of the roasting kiln. For this reason, it may be desired to automate the dipping step.
(2) If the quantitative tank is disposed apart from the roasting kiln, since a raw material to be roasted, which has been dipped in water and taken out of the quantitative tank, must be immediately charged in an opening of the roasting kiln without being scattered to the outside, attention must be paid to arrangement and structures for mounting the quantitative tank and roasting kiln to each other and to the procedure of charging the raw material to be roasted in the roasting kiln. PA1 (3) For a roasted product having a water content of 6%, the gelatinization degree of starch is about 30 to 40% which is low insufficient for the roasted product to be used as a drinkable health food or a drink. To improve the digestion characteristic of the roasted product, it is required to enhance the gelatinization degree of the roasted product. In particular, a roasted product of unpolished rice is indigestible, and therefore, it may be desired to enhance the gelatinization degree of the roasted product of unpolished rice. PA1 (4) In the case of roasting grain for a long time such as several hours until it is charred, it is difficult to uniformly heat the grain with strong fire. This is because strong fire burns only the surface of the grain and does not sufficiently heat up the interior of the grain. As a result, in the above case, the grain is required to be heated with weak fire or by controlling a fire power. To produce weak fire or control a fire power, however, the external gas heating is degraded in terms of safety, reliability and controllability. PA1 (5) To take a roasted product out of a roasting kiln, there is adopted a method of rotating rotary blades or the rotary kiln in the direction opposed to that upon roasting by a motor and taking the product from a discharge port formed at one end of the roasting kiln. In this method, the use of a roasting kiln having a circular cross section presents a problem. That is to say, a raw material is only slipped on part of the inner peripheral surface of the circular roasting kiln, and thereby it is not agitated during take-out of the product. As a result, part of the raw material in contact with and in the vicinity of the inner wall of the roasting kiln is strong heated, while part of the raw material separated from the inner wall of the roasting kiln is not heated. In this way, it is difficult to uniformly roast the raw material. PA1 (6) In usual roasting for obtaining a product having a water content of about 3 to 14%, the roasting time is as relatively short as 20 to 45 minutes. In this case, according to the related art method, since the raw material is externally heated via a roasting kiln, the thermal conductance is poor. This makes longer the roasting time, to degrade the quality of a roasted product due to thermal deterioration of the product. PA1 (7) At the roasting step, according to the related art method, there occurs a difference in uniformity between roasted products depending on a difference in the rotational speed of a roasting kiln, a difference in agitating state of a material to be roasted due to the charged amount in the kiln, and a difference in water content of the grain between the initial, medium and final stages at the roasting step. Further, the roasting time requires 30 minutes for each roasting, resulting in the reduced productivity. For this reason, it may be desired to improve the productivity without degradation of the quality. PA1 (8) In the related art method, the termination of roasting is determined by setting the roasting time using a timer; however, the finishing water content of a roasted product is dependent on the atmospheric temperature and moisture, the dipping state of a raw material, or the initial state or the final state of the roasting operation continuously performed throughout one day, to thereby obstruct the uniformity of roasted products.
<Drying/Roasting Step>
The use of a roasting kiln having an elliptic cross section presents another problem. That is to say, the roasting kiln having an elliptic cross section can uniformly roast a raw material; however, it cannot be provided with rotary blades. In particular, since the temperature of the interior of the kiln is high, it is impossible to mount drive portions of a motor or hydraulic equipment. As a result, a roasted product is manually taken out by an operator, which takes a lot of time. Also since the rotation of the roasting kiln is stopped during take-out of the roasted product, the product accumulated in the roasting kiln is excessively heated, giving rise to inconveniences, such as occurrence of unevenness of roasting, obstruction to labor-saving, or an increase in processing time.


An instrument and related method includes at least one substrate, and conductive layer, and a coating disposed on the conductive layer. The conductive layer is at partially disposed on the at least one substrate. The coating is disposed on the conductive layer and includes first and second materials. The first material and second materials are different from each other.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an electrosurgical instrument for treating tissue. More particularly, the present disclosure is related to an electrosurgical instrument having a coated electrode.
Background of Related Art
Electrosurgery involves the application of electricity and/or electromagnetic energy to cut, dissect, ablate, coagulate, seal, or otherwise treat biological tissue during a surgical procedure. Additionally, certain electrosurgical modes invoke the application of electrosurgical energy through a compressed vessel secured between two electrodes to seal the vessel without significant cutting during the sealing process. Electrosurgical cutting, on the other hand, includes applying an electrical spark to tissue in order to produce a cutting or dividing effect. Blending includes the function of cutting combined with the production of a hemostasis effect.
Generally, electrosurgery utilizes an electrosurgical generator, an active electrode and a return electrode. The electrosurgical generator generates an electromagnetic wave (commonly referred to as "electrosurgical energy"), typically above 100 kilohertz to avoid muscle and/or nerve stimulation, between the active and return electrodes when applied to tissue. During electrosurgery, electrosurgical energy is conducted through the patient's tissue disposed between the two electrodes. The electrosurgical energy is returned to the electrosurgical source via a return electrode pad positioned under a patient (e.g., in a monopolar system configuration) or a smaller return electrode positionable in bodily contact with or immediately adjacent to the surgical site (e.g., in a bipolar system configuration). The current causes the tissue to heat up as the electrosurgical energy overcomes the tissue's impedance.
As mentioned above, vessel sealing invokes the application of electrosurgical energy thorough a compressed vessel secured between two electrodes to seal the vessel without significant cutting during the sealing process. The tissue undergoes changes by the applied electrosurgical energy including tissue in direct contact with the electrodes. The tissue in contact with the electrodes sometimes sticks to the electrodes and so-called "eschar" can build up on the electrodes. The eschar must be cleaned or sticking may worsen. Eschar increases the impedance between the electrode and the tissue being treated thus reducing the efficiency of the electrosurgical energy transfer. Also, overall tissue impedance is typically monitored during sealing and the build up of eschar can contribute to higher impedance measurements resulting in increased and/or inconsistent sealing time. Thus, it is desirable to provide electrosurgical electrodes having non-stick surfaces.

Electrosurgical instrument having a coated electrode


A delay time control circuit controls delay times without a significant increase of power consumption or circuit components. The delay time control circuit for controlling delay times in a logic circuit includes a delay circuit having a plurality of serially connected gates, a pulse signal supplied to the delay circuit; a first group of gates which generates a reset pulse based on the pulse signal, a second group of gates which generates a set pulse based on the pulse signal, a flip-flop which is set by the set pulse and is reset by the reset pulse, an integrator which integrates an output signal of the flip-flop to produce an average voltage indicating a duty cycle of the output signal, a first delay time control voltage generator which compares the average voltage and a reference voltage indicating a delay time for the logic circuit and generates a first control voltage which is applied to the logic circuit, and a second delay time control voltage generator which receives the first control voltage and generates a second control voltage which is symmetrical to the first control voltage and is applied to the logic circuit.

In testing a semiconductor device by a semiconductor test system, a semiconductor device under test is provided with various test signals with varying timings. The semiconductor test system must generate the test signals while accurately controlling timings of the test signals. Such timing differences are produced by delay circuits typically formed of CMOS circuits.
Such a delay circuit formed of CMOS circuits usually includes a series of CMOS gates, typically inverters, each of which has a certain delay time. A delay time is determined by selecting the number of inverters serially connected in the delay circuit. However, the transmission delay times in the CMOS circuits are subject to surrounding temperature changes or voltage changes, which decreases the accuracy of the delay times in the semiconductor test system. Therefore, to maintain the accuracy or to stabilize the delay times in the semiconductor test system, the following methods or technologies are used in the conventional delay circuits having the CMOS gates as delay elements.
In one conventional method, a heater is provided in an LSI (large scale integrated) circuit having CMOS gate delay circuits. The heater is positioned close to the CMOS gate delay circuits in the LSI. A delay time detector is also provided in the LSI circuit or in the close proximity of the LSI circuit to detect the delay time changes in the CMOS gate delay circuits. Since the delay times in the CMOS gates vary on the changes of the surrounding temperature, the heater is controlled to maintain the delay times of the CMOS gates constant based on the detected delay time changes.
However, in this conventional method, an overall power consumption in the LSI circuit increases since the additional power is consumed to raise the internal temperature of the LSI circuit. Namely, to maintain the constant delay time, electric currents must be provided to the heater so as to control the internal temperature and thus the delay times in the CMOS delay circuit. Thus, it is not possible to decrease the power consumption in the LSI circuit. Further, additional circuit components are inevitable such as semiconductor cells to be used as the heater and the delay time detector.
In the other conventional method, an overall number of pulses or total frequencies in the delay circuit is controlled to be constant. Since the heat generation by the CMOS gates is proportional to the number of pulses (changes of state in the CMOS gates) or the overall frequency provided to the CMOS gates, it is attempted to maintain the temperature of the CMOS gate delay circuit constant by controlling the overall pulses in the delay circuit constant.
For so doing, a dummy circuit formed of CMOS gates is provided in the LSI circuit to receives the number of pulses to supplement the pulses short in the actual CMOS delay circuit to make the overall number of pulses to be equal to the predetermined value. For example, in case where the predetermined overall number of pulses in one second is 20,000.000 and the actual number of pulses provided to the CMOS gate delay circuit is 12,000,000 to form a specific test signal, 8,000,000 pulses are generated to be provided to the dummy CMOS circuit.
However, in this conventional method, as in the first example, the overall power consumption in the LSI circuit increases since the additional power is consumed to operate the supplemental number of pulses in the dummy CMOS circuit to make the overall number of pulses in the LSI circuit constant. Namely, to maintain the constant delay time, additional pulses must be provided to the dummy circuit so as to control overall number of pulses constant. This is because to control the overall number of pulses constant is to control the internal temperature and thus the delay times in the CMOS delay circuit constant.
Thus, in this example, it is not possible to decrease the power consumption in the LSI circuit since the additional power consumption is always necessary to stabilize the delay times. Further, additional circuit components are inevitable such as, in addition to the dummy CMOS circuit as mentioned above, a circuit for detecting the number of pulses provided to the CMOS delay circuit and a circuit which generates the supplemental number of pulses for the dummy circuit.
In the further method, source voltages to the CMOS gates delay circuit are controlled to stabilize the delay time of the delay circuit. As noted above, the delay times in the CMOS gates vary depending on the source voltages supplied to the CMOS gates. Thus, the delay times in the CMOS gates are monitored and a control voltage is feedbacked to adjust the source voltages to the CMOS gates to control the delay times constant.
In this method, however, as in the above two examples, the power consumption in the semiconductor test system increases. This is because the control of the voltage sources must involve voltage drops in a source voltage generating circuit and thus the source voltages must be larger than an ordinary source voltage level to secure a certain control voltage range.
Furthermore, in this method of controlling the source voltages to the CMOS gates, since the delay time change by the change of the source voltage is small, an additional control means is usually necessary to compensate the delay time variance between each CMOS gates. For example, to maintain the delay time of the CMOS gates constant, an output capacitance of each of some of the CMOS gates must also be controlled in addition to the control of the source voltages. Therefore, the number of circuit components or an overall circuit size increases in this example.
Moreover, in all of the above three conventional examples, although the delay times can be controlled to be constant, it is not possible to control a very small amount of delay time for each CMOS gate.


The disclosure provides an antimicrobial mixture of at least two volatile compounds derived from essential oils, at least one of which is a bactericide selected from cinnamaldehyde, diacetyl, and acetic acid with another being a fungicide selected from allyl isothiocyanate, hexanal, thymol, and 2-nonane. The antimicrobial mixture inhibits both bacterial and fungal pathogens that negatively impact the shelf-life of perishable agricultural commodities, and at concentrations sufficiently low to avoid phytotoxic effects to agricultural commodities held in closed shipping and storage systems.

Fruit, vegetables and cut-flowers are highly perishable agricultural commodities. Growth of microorganisms including bacteria and fungi can lead to rapid quality deterioration and spoilage after harvest of agricultural commodities, as well as for other raw and processed food materials. The majority of fresh produce destined for shipping is packed in containers that do not provide protection against microbial activity. Consequently, the maintenance of low temperature is essential to reduce the growth of microorganisms during storage and transport. Unfortunately, periodic warming episodes and consequent deterioration in quality and product loss are common in distribution systems.
There are few options available for the control of fungal and bacterial deterioration of fruit, vegetables or flowers in distribution systems. The industry relies on washing with sanitizers or application of antimicrobials before the commodity is placed inside a container to achieve acceptable shelf-life during subsequent handling.
Further, current regulations stipulate that substances incorporated into food from packaging must meet specific regulatory criteria. Therefore, it is more economically viable to use existing products that are generally recognized as safe by the USDA or categorized as flavorings under European regulations.
The only commercial product available to provide antimicrobial function inside containers is a gaseous chlorine dioxide preparation which is released from sachets added prior to closure. The product is not widely used due to the potential for adverse reactions with plant tissues (phytotoxic effects that can lead to changes in colour, texture, or flavour), general concerns about the toxicity of chlorine and incompatibility with regulations governing the production of organic foods.
Essential oils and their extracts contain volatile and complex compounds formed by plants as secondary metabolites. They have been traditionally used for disease and infection treatment for centuries, and have recently been utilized in food preservation. While a great deal of research has been performed to evaluate the effect of direct contact between microorganisms and antimicrobial essential oil compounds, exploration of antimicrobial properties of essential oil vapours phase is relatively new (Tyagi et al. 2012, Trends in Food Science & Technology. Volume 26, Issue 2: 99-113). Studies regarding essential oil vapour phase to-date have been directed towards the efficacy of individual essential oil compounds in liquid and gas phases against microorganisms in food preservation applications (Hyldgaard et al. 2012. Frontiers in Microbiology. 3:1-24.) (Obaidat and Frank, 2009. J. Food Prot. 72:315-324).
Attempts to combine essential oils to provide synergistic effects have been made. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/995,122 shows synergistic effects of oil of orange and oil of bergamot, however the ratios of a large number of compounds within essential oils is difficult to control between batches, leading to uncertainty about antimicrobial properties when applied in a commercial setting.
Natural volatile compounds with antimicrobial abilities have been identified from essential oil mixtures. These include allyl isothiocyanate, cinnamaldehyde, hexanal, diacetyl, acetic acid, nonanone and thymol, all of which, alone, are capable of inhibiting either bacteria or fungi, but none is capable of performing both functions at concentrations that are 1) sufficiently low to permit commercial application, or 2) not deleterious to the quality of fresh produce due to phytotoxicity ((Mari et al. 2007. Stewart Postharvest Review, 3(6). Article 4). For example, allyl isothiocyanate causes discoloration of peaches, (Mari et al. 2008. Postharvest Biol. Technol. 47:61-67); oregano and thyme oils induce systemic damage in tomato (Plotio et al, 2003. Acta Hort. 628:737-745), and thymol causes browning of cherry stem (Tsao and Zhou, 2000).
It would be beneficial to provide a natural volatile agent that is generally recognized as safe, and capable of inhibiting both bacteria and fungi common to perishable agricultural commodities at concentrations sufficiently low to permit commercial application and to avoid phytotoxic effects on perishable agricultural commodities held in closed shipping and storage systems.

Antimicrobial mixtures of an essential oil derived bactericide and an essential oil derived fungicide which extend the shelf-life of perishable agricultural commodities


A silver halide photographic material is disclosed, comprising a support having on one side the support photographic component layers, wherein at least one of the component layers contains a composite polymeric material comprising inorganic particles and a hydrophobic polymer, a silver halide emulsion layer comprising a silver halide emulsion containing silver halide grains having an average chloride content of not less than 60 mol % and containing a metal dopant.

In the field of scanners for printing plate-making, there have become popular screening systems such as high definition screening or FM screening in which images are formed with smaller halftone dots than conventional halftone screens. For this type of screening system, it is preferable to have an ultra-high contrast type photographic material in which sufficient density of small dots can easily be obtained.
With regard to photographic techniques for reproducing ultra-high contrast images in a silver halide photographic light sensitive material (hereinafter, referred to as photographic material), for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,929 discloses a photographic material containing a hydrazine derivative and JP-A 4-98239 (the term, "JP-A" refers to unexamined, published Japanese Patent Application) discloses a photographic material containing a nucleation accelerating agent.
Photographic materials are generally subject to abrasion during handling or various transporting apparatuses, and in particular, a photographic material used in the graphic arts is likely to produce abrasion marks due to friction from transporting rollers of scanner exposing apparatus or contact with other photographic materials.
Abrasion in films not only produces abrasion marks but also markedly deteriorates qualities of finished originals. In view thereof, an improvement of abrasion resistance has strongly been desired.
In scanner exposing apparatus, a photographic material is generally set into position and transported via rollers. In this case, excessively high curl of the photographic material results in transport troubles. Curl of processed films is desired to be as low as possible to enable the films to be easily handled in subsequent processes, so that it is important to keep the curl of the photographic material, before and after exposure and processing, to the absolutely minimum.
As is well known in the art, for the purpose of minimizing curl due to elongation or shrinkage of the photographic material, a softening agent (e.g., polymer latex) is incorporated in one of gelatin layers to lower the Young modulus of the layer. Further, to minimize cracks or abrasion marks of the film is also a softening agent or plasticizer, and there are disclosed a number of relevant techniques.
The recent trend of more and more rapid processing of photographic materials accelerates the transporting speed of films. Accordingly, physical properties based on prior art have become increasingly insufficient and further improvements are strongly desired. Further, physical properties of films which exhibit less deterioration even when subjected to rapid processing, are also desired.

Silver halide photographic light sensitive material


Polymer composition made by combining a polyketone polymer and a monophenolic compound of the general formula: ##STR1## R.sup.1 and R.sup.2, independently, are hydrogen or alkyl groups with 1-6 carbon atoms,. Y is an organic group from 3 up to 15 carbon atoms.

This invention relates to polyketone polymer compositions. More particularly, this invention relates to polyketone polymer compositions containing a stabilizer acting against long term heat degradation during their end-use.
Polymers of carbon monoxide and ethylenically unsaturated compounds, generally referred to as polyketones or polyketone polymers, are well known in the art. The class of linear alternating polymers of carbon monoxide and at least one ethylenically unsaturated compound are of particular interest among polyketone polymers. This class of polymers is disclosed in numerous patent documents, exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,865 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,811.
Polyketone polymers have utility as "Engineering Thermoplastics", or "ETP's", for which stringent end-use requirements apply. Since these plastics are used in high temperature applications, there is a strong need for effective stabilization against long term heat degradation during end-use applications.
In EP-A-289077 and EP-A-326223 it was found that only a few narrowly defined phenolic compounds produce desired stabilization against long term heat degradation in polyketone polymers. EP-A-289077 shows that the classes comprising diphenolic compounds, i.e. phenolic compounds with two phenolic groups provide good stabilization against long term heat degradation. EP-A-326223 teaches that particular classes of triphenolic compounds also provide good stability against long term heat degradation.
It was further shown in EP-A-289077 as well as EP-A-326223 that a monophenolic and a tetraphenolic compound, which are commercial top stabilizers against long term heat degradation for other polymers, result in very disappointing stabilization activity in polyketone polymers. The monophenolic compound is octadecyl 3-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propanoate, the tetraphenolic compound is pentaerythrityl tetrakis[3-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydoxyphenyl)propanoate].
In "Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopaedia of Chemical Technology", third Edition, Volume 3, p. 133 it is taught that for high temperature applications polynuclear phenolic compounds are preferred over monophenolic compounds because of their lower sublimation rate. The sublimation rate of a compound is directly related to its molecular weight; the higher the molecular weight, the lower the sublimation rate. According to the common general knowledge a preference thus exists for the use of phenolic compounds having a relatively high molecular weight.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,885 various phenolic compounds were described as having utility for the improvement of polyketone melt stability and high temperature heat stability. The stabilizers comprised one of the following moieties para to the hydroxyl group: hydrogen, hydroxy, lower alkoxy, alkyl of up to C.sub.18, phenyl, halophenyl, or dialkyl hydroxyphenyl. The patent provides no direction for the selection of a C.sub.3-15 organic group nor more particularly, such a group comprising a carboxylic acid, carboxylic ester, ether, or carboxylic amide moiety. Further, the patent is directed against such a selection because it shows the weak performance of compounds such as 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-methoxyphenol within the content of the testing protocol used (see, e.g., Table I).
The above findings correspond with the finding that 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-methylphenol, a low molecular weight monophenolic stabilizer, gives a low level of stability against long term heat degradation in polyketone polymers.
However, it has now surprisingly been found that good stability against long term heat degradation can be achieved in polyketone polymers by applying as stabilizer a monophenolic compound having a relatively low molecular weight, which belongs to a narrowly defined class. In addition, the resulting compositions show attractive melt stability, as well as attractive mechanical and physical properties.