A process of fabricating a semiconductor device includes the steps of: forming a base layer of a bipolar transistor (NPN bipolar transistor) on a semiconductor base body by selective epitaxial growth; and forming a dielectric film of a MIS capacitor on the same semiconductor base body. In this process, when side walls for isolating a base electrode connected to the base layer from an emitter layer formed on the base layer are formed, the dielectric film is formed of a silicon nitride film which is the same as one of films constituting the side walls. Thus, a MIS capacitor can be thus formed on one substrate together with a bipolar transistor only by adding the minimum number of steps to the steps of forming the bipolar transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process of fabricating a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to meet a requirement for an increase in the maximum cut-off frequency (hereinafter, referred to as an "fTmax") of a bipolar transistor, there has been proposed a silicon series narrow base type heterojunction bipolar transistor including a base made of a material capable of making a more narrow band gap such as mixed crystals of silicon-germanium (Si.sub.1-x Ge.sub.x). And, it has been reported that the above bipolar transistor was successful in increasing the fTmax to a value of ftmax=100 GHz. Such a bipolar transistor is expected to be used in the telecommunications field which is a market of great promise with the advent of multi-media age.
In recent years, a silicon series narrow base type heterojunction bipolar transistor in which a silicon-germanium(Si.sub.1-x Ge.sub.x) thin film is formed by a selective growth process has been proposed, and put in practical use. Additionally, a known silicon series narrow base type heterojunction bipolar transistor will be described with reference to a schematic configuration thereof shown in FIG. 7.
In FIG. 7, an N.sup.+ -type buried layer 203 is formed in a semiconductor substrate 201 at a region isolated by portions of a field oxide film 202 positioned on both sides of the region. An N.sup.- -type collector layer 204 is formed on the buried layer 203, and a silicon oxide film 207 provided with opening portions 205, 206 respectively positioned over the collector layer 204 and over part of the buried layer 203 is formed on the semiconductor substrate 201. An N.sup.+ -type collector electrode 208 is formed in the opening portion 206 in contact with the buried layer 203, and a P-type base layer 209 which is made of mixed crystals of silicon-germanium(Si.sub.1-x Ge.sub.x) and is formed on the collector layer 204 in the opening portion 205.
A base contact electrode 210 made of P.sup.+ -type polycrystalline silicon is connected to the base layer 209, and a silicon oxide layer 211 is formed on the base contact electrode 210. An opening portion 212 is formed in the base layer 210, and side walls 215 formed of both a silicon oxide film 213 and a silicon nitride film 214 are formed on side walls of the opening portion 212. An N.sup.+ -type emitter layer 216 is formed in the opening portion 212 via the side walls 215 in such a manner as to make a junction with the base layer 209. A process of fabricating the above silicon series narrow base type heterojunction bipolar transistor will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A to 8C.
FIGS. 8A to 8C show steps of fabricating emitter/base portions of a transistor. Parts corresponding to those described with reference to FIG. 7 are indicated by the same reference numerals.
At a step shown in FIG. 8A, an N.sup.- -type collector layer 204 is formed on an N.sup.+ -type buried layer 203 formed in a semiconductor substrate (not shown), and a silicon oxide film 207, a base contact electrode layer 221, a silicon oxide film 211, and a silicon nitride layer 222 are sequentially formed in a state covering the N.sup.- -type collector layer 204. Then, an opening portion 212 is formed in the silicon oxide film 222, the silicon oxide film 211 and the base contact electrode layer 221 at a portion over the collector layer 204, and side walls 223 made of a silicon nitride film are formed on side walls of the opening portion 212. After that, the silicon oxide film 207 is etched using the silicon nitride film 222 and the side walls 223 as an etching mask, to form an opening portion 205 having a diameter larger than that of the opening portion 212 for exposing the collector layer 204 on the bottom of the opening portion 205.
At a step shown in FIG. 8B, a P-type base layer 209 is formed in the opening portion 205 by selective epitaxial growth of mixed crystals of silicon-germanium (Si.sub.1-x Ge.sub.x), and the silicon nitride film 222 and the side walls 223 made of the silicon nitride film are removed.
At a step shown in FIG. 8C, side walls 215 made of a silicon oxide film 213 and a silicon nitride film 214 are formed on side walls of the opening portion 212 positioned over the base layer 209, and an emitter layer 216 made of N.sup.+ -type polycrystalline silicon is formed in the opening portion 212 via the side walls 215.
In this way, in the process of fabricating the silicon series narrow base type heterojunction bipolar transistor using selective growth, silicon nitride films are frequently used.
The above high speed bipolar transistor mainly adopts a so-called double polysilicon emitter/base self-aligned structure in which each of an emitter electrode and a base electrode is formed of a polycrystalline silicon thin film. The self-aligned technology has benefits in shortening an emitter-base distance, reducing a parasitic transistor portion, and realizing an emitter length less than the exposure limit by use of the side wall formed of an insulating film. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 6-66325 (B) employs a heterojunction bipolar transistor having the above double polysilicon emitter/base self-aligned structure in which the base layer is formed of a thin film of silicon-germanium (Si.sub.1-x Ge.sub.x). In the bipolar transistor disclosed in this document, a number of silicon nitride films are used.
In the case of fabricating an IC using the above-described narrow base type heterojunction bipolar transistor, passive elements such as a resistor, a capacitor and an inductor are required to be provided in addition to the bipolar transistor. However, there has not been disclosed any structure in which these passive elements such as a resistor, capacitor and inductor are formed on one substrate together with a narrow base type heterojunction bipolar transistor using a base layer made of mixed crystals of silicon-germanium and a fabrication process thereof. In the case of forming a MIS capacitor on one substrate together with a narrow base type heterojunction bipolar transistor, the MIS capacitor is required to be formed by a process different from a fabrication process for the bipolar transistor.

Process of fabricating integrated heterojunction bipolar device and MIS capacitor


An assembly for mounting sealed gas burners in a gas stove has a cabinet including upstanding side walls and a main top with spaced-apart burner openings therein mounted on the upstanding side walls. The assembly includes a sub-top mounted on the upstanding side walls of the stove cabinet substantially parallel to and beneath the stove main top so as to effectively span the area bounded by the upstanding side walls of the stove cabinet. The sub-top is adapted for functional connection thereto of gas burners. The assembly is adapted for mounting the sub-top on the upstanding side walls of the stove cabinet. Each of the gas burners extend through a correspondingly positioned opening in the stove main top and are connected to the sub-top in such manner that the main top may be removed from the stove without disturbing the functional connection of the gas burners to the sub-top.

Historically, gas stoves or "ranges," such as that shown in FIG. 2 of the patent which issued to Brown (U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,459) were provided with a flat main top, or cooking surface having large openings therein for location of the burner heads. The openings were spanned by metal grates for support of a cooking pot above a corresponding burner. Ordinarily in such structures an annular gap was present between the outer surface of the burner head and the edge of the main top burner opening, which gap permitted liquid or food spillover from a cooking pot to flow through, under the main top, and into the stove cabinet or burner chamber beneath the main top. This resulted in a great deal of time and effort being spent in opening the stove main top to clean therebeneath in an effort to prevent the presence of unpleasant odors and the attraction of insects as a result of accumulation of food substances.
This common drawback of older gas ranges was addressed by the advent of a construction for gas stoves in which the gas burner heads were "sealed" to the main top of the range in such a manner that no gap existed between the burner head and the stove main top through which foodstuffs and liquids could enter the burner chamber. (One example of such prior art sealed burner mounting structures is seen in FIG. 7 and is discussed in detail hereafter). The usual sealed gas burner ranges offer a great advantage to modern consumers who are much too busy to spend the time required to disassemble and scrub beneath a stove top at any but the most infrequent intervals.
However, a major disadvantage of previous sealed burner ranges becomes apparent when testing or servicing thereof is necessary. Generally, sealed burners are mounted within the burner chamber on one or more independent brackets and have a burner head structure consisting of at least two parts and which is directly sealed to the main top, for example by screws, in such a way that the burner heads must be completely disassembled in order to remove the stove main top for access to structures therebeneath. These prior art burners cannot be safely lit and the gas supply thereto cannot be initiated unless the burners are fully assembled in their normal functional positions sealed, to the stove main top. Previously, no sealed gas burner ranges existed in which the main top could be removed from the stove, away from the burners during testing or servicing thereof, or to make other adjustments to internal elements of the stove.
Although the precise burner mounting structure varies with different brands of known sealed gas burner ranges, in all cases the entire multi-part burner head must be completely assembled and fully connected to the main top before the burners can be safely lit after servicing or, for example, after installation adjustments. Access to certain stove parts, such as gas pipes and burner ignition wiring, however, can only be accomplished by opening or fully removing the main top of the stove, leaving the burners in an inoperable state.
Therefore, if an adjustment is made, a leak is sealed, etc., it can only be tested for correctness by completely reassembling all of the burner mounting assemblies (usually four), replacing the main top and screwing down all attachments to each burner (normally, at least three screws per burner) before the gas pressure can be turned on and a burner can be lit. This procedure clearly requires a great deal of time and patience to make fine adjustments and may result in careless and inadequate servicing, in addition to being very costly. For example, a single service call, such as to change a stove from liquid propane ("LP") to natural gas, or vice versa, could require four or five separate removals and replacements of the stove main top. This effort is absolutely necessary for safety in lighting and accuracy in testing the stove, in order to ensure proper connection of all gas carrying parts.
Other examples of reasons for service calls requiring access to the inside of the stove and, previously, disassembly of the burners, include to repair leaks, to adjust/replace the air shutters which control air/gas mix going to each separate burner, to replace wires and to replace gas lines. Thus, throughout the useful lifespan of a particular gas range, the known sealed gas burner mounting structures can entail a very large amount of service time, and thus expense, for the stove to function efficiently and safely.
Also, during initial production of a gas stove it is preferred to separately test the integrity of all gas lines and seals under pressure with both natural and liquid propane ("LP") gas, to provide a better, safer product. This formerly entailed complete assembly, testing, disassembly, adjusting, reassembly, retesting and repeating various steps if leaks were discerned or adjustments had to be made. Clearly, this process requires a great deal of time on the production line and thus increases the cost of manufacture substantially. In fact, performing this testing on the production line increases the on-line time for this single step by approximately five fold, from about two to about five minutes.
In order to perform such testing any faster in conventional sealed gas burner ranges on the assembly line would require special equipment and tools not needed for testing non-sealed burner gas ranges or the stove burner mounting structure presently described and claimed. Thus, because of the great increase in manufacturing and end-product cost entailed in adequately testing and adjusting known sealed burner gas stoves, this step is usually simply omitted. Instead, the stove parts are installed and the unit is shipped, delaying the time and expense of burner adjustment and testing for integrity of gas bearing elements.
Ultimately, certain of these steps must then be performed in the consumer's home or other place of stove installation, deferring the cost, but eventually passing it on to the consumer nonetheless. Clearly, for safety reasons, such testing should not be completely foregone; although, in reality it may be omitted by careless delivery personnel, creating a substantial safety risk to the user.
Thus, with the above concerns in mind, the new assembly claimed herein for mounting sealed gas burners in a gas range was developed. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an assembly for mounting sealed burners in a gas range in a manner that permits safe lighting and operation of the burners for testing and/or adjustment of the gas lines and other stove elements while the stove main top is open and separated from the burner heads.
It is also an object of the invention that testing and adjustment with the stove main top open, separated from the burners may be performed in the factory, as a final stage of assembly, or at the ultimate site of installation.
It is further among the objects of the present invention to provide an assembly having the features indicated that permits of such adjustment and testing in a quick, facile and economical manner.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a burner mounting assembly having the features indicated that consists of few parts relative to prior constructions, which parts are largely formed of commonly available materials, and is simple and economical to assemble.
It is also among the objects of the present invention to provide a gas burner mounting assembly in which the burner units are not formed of multiple pieces, but consist of one piece burner heads, each with an integral gas pipe fixed thereto.
It is further among the objects of the present invention having the above features to permit rapid, economical adjustment and testing of sealed gas burners and related parts in a gas stove during manufacture thereof on an assembly line, or otherwise.
Thus, in furtherance of the above objects, the invention is, briefly, a sealed gas burner mounting assembly for mounting sealed gas burners in a gas stove having a cabinet including upstanding side walls and a main top with spaced-apart burner openings therein and which is mounted on the upstanding side walls. The assembly includes a sub-top mounted on the upstanding side walls of the stove cabinet substantially parallel and beneath the stove main top so as to effectively span the area bounded by the upstanding side walls of the stove cabinet. The sub-top is adapted for functional connection thereto of at least one gas burner. The assembly is adapted for mounting the sub-top on the upstanding side walls of the stove cabinet. The assembly also includes at least one gas burner. Each of the gas burners extends through a correspondingly positioned opening in the stove main top and is functionally connected to the sub-top in such manner that the main top may be removed from the stove without disturbing the functional connection of the at least one gas burner to the sub-top. The assembly furhter includes an adapatation for connecting the at least one gas burner to the sub-top.
The invention is also, briefly, the combination of a gas stove and a sealed burner mounting assembly. The gas stove has a cabinet with upstanding side walls and a main stove top mounted substantially horizontally on top edges of the upstanding side walls of the cabinet of the stove. A divider is positioned transversely within the upstanding side walls parallel to and spacedly beneath the main top of the cabinet so as to define a burner chamber therein, the divider forming a floor of the burner chamber. The sealed burner mounting assembly includes a sub-top mounted within the stove cabinet substantially adajacent and parallel to and beneath the stove main top so as to span the area bounded by the upstanding side walls of the stove cabinet. The sub-top has at least one aperture formed therethrough for receiving a gas burner head therein. The assembly is adapted for mounting the sub-top within the stove cabinet, and there is at least one gas burner having a one-piece head and a gas pipe having inner and outer ends integrally connected at its inner end to the one-piece head. The gas pipe extends forwardly within the burner chamber beneath the sub-top and is connected at its outer end to a burner control on the stove cabinet. The gas pipe is journaled at the inner end thereof in a correspondingly sized aperture in the sub-top, and the one-piece head is removably connected to the subtop, being positioned above and connected to the sub-top in such manner that the main top may be removed from the stove for servicing and testing the at least one gas burner without requiring removal thereof from its normal functional position on the sub-top. The assembly also includes an adaptation for functionally connecting the one-piece head of the at least one gas burner to the sub-top so that removal of the stove main top from its normal position for cooking does not require movement of the assembly, nor impair normal functioning of the burner head while the stove main top is removed.
Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinbelow.


Plastic extruded lawn edging includes a vertical panel and a horizontal panel that are reconfigurable to a storage position and an installed position. In the storage position, the lawn edging has a relatively low minimum moment of inertia for the flexibility of coiling about itself. In the installed position, the lawn edging has a higher minimum moment of inertia for greater rigidity when in use. The horizontal panel is wide enough to support the wheel of a lawnmower and provides a band along which no grass can grow. The horizontal panel eliminates the need for grass trimming wherever it is used, such as along side the outer wall of a house or around a garden.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally pertains to lawn edging, and more specifically, to lawn edging that is extruded plastic.
2. Description of Related Art
Typical extruded plastic lawn edging simply comprises a vertical panel embedded in the ground. Such a design still requires weed eater-style lawn trimming along the edge. Otherwise, a mower blade may clip off the upper edge of the lawn edging.

Right angle lawn edging and method therefor


A DRAM memory cell includes a storage capacitor device with two storage capacitors connected in parallel with one another. One of the storage capacitors is a trench capacitor whereas the other one of the storage capacitors is a stacked capacitor.

The invention relates to a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) cell including a storage capacitor device and a selection transistor, which are provided at least partly in a semiconductor body.
As is known, DRAM memory cells can store the information contained in them only for a specific time. This is because the information is present in the memory cell as an electric charge in a storage capacitor having a specific capacitance.
The loss of charge and hence information in the storage capacitor takes place through various mechanisms, such as leakage currents through the dielectric of the storage capacitor, stray currents between the capacitor electrodes and other conductors which are at a potential that differs from the potential of the capacitor electrodes, etc.
If the capacitance of a storage capacitor could theoretically be increased as desired, then the charge in this storage capacitor could also be preserved for as long as desired.
Conversely, the time period during which the charge is retained in a storage capacitor decreases with a decreasing capacitance of the capacitor. Since the capacitance of a capacitor is essentially proportional to its dimensions, its size significantly influences the information storage time.
However, the size of storage capacitors is continually being reduced with ever smaller structural dimensions. Through skillful dimensioning of trench cells accommodating storage capacitors, it has been possible hitherto, despite the diminishing structural dimensions, to keep the storage time essentially constant, that is to say to compensate for the reduced structural dimensions. Solutions for this goal are achieved with deeper trenches, thinner dielectrics of the storage capacitors, dielectrics having higher dielectric constants, etc.
Nevertheless, limits are also imposed on the depth of the trenches in conjunction with a smaller diameter or the widening of the trenches deep in the semiconductor material (xe2x80x9cbottled trenchesxe2x80x9d) or the introduction of dielectrics having higher dielectric constants. Moreover, the complexity of the fabrication process increases if, for example, special dielectrics having higher dielectric constants or trenches widened in their depth are used in order to compensate for the reduction in capacitance accompanying the miniaturization of the structural dimensions.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a DRAM memory cell which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known memory cells of this general type and with which, even in the case of advancing miniaturization of the structural dimensions, the reduction in capacitance can be counteracted, thereby making it possible to prevent a decrease in the storage time.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a DRAM memory cell, including:
a semiconductor body;
insulating layers disposed on the semiconductor body, the insulating layers having contact holes formed therein;
a storage capacitor device provided at least partly in the semiconductor body, the storage capacitor device including at least a first storage capacitor and a second storage capacitor connected in parallel with one another;
the first storage capacitor being a trench capacitor disposed in the semiconductor body;
the second storage capacitor being a stacked capacitor disposed on the semiconductor body such that the second storage capacitor is located above the first storage capacitor;
the second storage capacitor being electrically connected to if the first storage capacitor via the contact holes in the insulating layers; and
a selection transistor provided at least partly in the semiconductor body.
In other words, the object of the invention is achieved by virtue of the fact that the storage capacitor device includes at least two storage capacitors connected in parallel with one another, of which one is provided in the semiconductor body and the other is provided on the semiconductor body.
In the case of the DRAM memory cell according to the invention, two storage capacitors, one of which is preferably a trench storage capacitor, while the other storage capacitor is formed by a stacked capacitor on the semiconductor body, are connected in parallel with one another, so that the capacitance of the stacked capacitor formed on the surface of the semiconductor body contributes to an increased capacitance of the storage capacitor device. The trench storage capacitor can be introduced into the semiconductor body in a customary manner in accordance with the trench concept through the use of an etching step, while the stacked capacitor on the surface of the semiconductor body includes at least two capacitor electrodes which lie parallel to one another and are isolated from one another by a dielectric. In order to enlarge the electrode area, the electrodes may also be xe2x80x9cintermeshedxe2x80x9d in one another and in this case have a tree-like structure, for example. The stacked capacitor is preferably provided above the trench capacitor, so that no additional area is taken up for the stacked capacitor.
The two capacitors are connected, in parallel with one another, to the selection transistor, whose gate is connected to a word line and whose drain has a bit line contact to a bit line. In this case, the selection transistor may be embodied either laterally or vertically. The source of the selection transistor is connected to a node between the two storage capacitors connected in parallel with one another. The other two electrodes of the two storage capacitors may be connected to ground.
The storage capacitor device preferably includes two storage capacitors connected in parallel with one another. However, it is also possible, of course, for three or more, rather than two, storage capacitors also to be connected in parallel and jointly connected to a selection transistor in order thus to further increase the capacitance of the storage capacitor device of the DRAM memory cell.
The semiconductor body is preferably composed of silicon. However, it is also possible, of course, to use other semiconductor materials, such as, for example, AIIIBV semiconductor materials or SiC.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a DRAM memory cell, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.


The virtual screening of a database of molecules is based on explicit three-dimensional molecular superpositions. The torsional flexibility of the database molecules is taken fully into account, and an arbitrary number of conformation-dependent molecular features may be considered. A fragmentation-reassembly approach is utilized, which allows for an efficient sampling of the conformational space. A fast clique-based pattern-matching algorithm generates alignments of pairs of adjacent molecular fragments on the (rigid) query molecule that are subsequently reassembled to complete database molecules. Using conventional molecular features (hydrogen bond donors and acceptors, charges, and hydrophobic groups), it is possible to rapidly produce accurate alignments of medium-sized drug-like molecules. Examples with a test database containing a diverse set of 1780 drug-like molecules (including all conformers) show that average query processing times of the order of 0.1 seconds per molecule can be achieved on a PC, depending on the size of the query molecule.

The virtual screening of compounds in databases is an important tool in modern drug design. Traditionally, two-dimensional or pharmacophore-based methods, which are very fast but have only limited accuracy, have been used for this purpose. (See, for example, H. Matter et al., in Combinatorial Organic Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, New York, N.Y., 1999; C. Humblet et al., Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry, vol. 28, Chapter VI, Topics in Drug Design and Discovery, Academic Press, London, pp. 275-284, 1993; P. Willet, J. Mol. Recognition, vol. 8, p. 290, 1995; and R. D. Brown et al., J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci., vol. 36, p. 572, 1996.)
Three-dimensional molecular superposition methods have been successfully utilized to determine binding geometries relative to a reference molecule. (See, for example, G. Klebe et al., J. Comput. Aided Mol. Des., vol. 8, p. 751, 1994; S. K. Kearsley, et al., J. Comput. Aided Mol. Des., vol. 8, p. 565, 1994; G. Klebe et al., J. Comput. Aided Mol. Des., vol. 13, p. 35, 1999; C. Lemmen et al., J. Comput. Aided Mol. Des., vol. 11, p. 357, 1997; C. Lemmen, J. Med. Chem., vol. 41, p. 4502, 1998; C. Lemmen et al., J. Comput. Aided Mol. Des., vol. 12, p. 491, 1998; M. D. Miller et al., J. Med. Chem., vol. 42, p. 1505, 1999; J. A. Grant et al., J. Comput. Chem., vol. 17, p. 1653, 1996; C. McMartin et al., J. Comput. Aided Mol. Des., vol. 9, p. 237; and S. Handschuh et al., J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci., vol. 38, p. 220, 1998.) These 3-D methods play an important role in 3D-QSAR (Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships) applications, pharmacophore elucidation, and receptor modeling—situations in which structural data of the target protein is not available. The variety of methodologies used for molecular superposition has recently been extensively reviewed (see Lemmen et al., J. Comput. Aided Mol. Des., vol. 14, p. 215, 2000), and an application of existing superposition methods to virtual database screening has been reported (see C. Lemmen et al., Perspectives in Drug Discovery and Design, vol. 20, p. 43, 2000).
Of course, the use of molecular superposition to determine the binding capability of possible ligands has its limitations. The underlying assumption is that other ligands will have the same overall binding mode as the reference molecule. Also, the bound conformation of the reference molecule has to be known, which is generally true only if crystallographic information about the corresponding protein-ligand complex is available. Therefore, in practical applications, the reference molecule should have a non-flexible structure, or its bound conformation has to be inferred using other methods, e.g., deduced from simultaneous, flexible alignments within a set of ligands that are known to be active. (See, for example, S. K. Kearsley et al., J. Comput. Chem., vol. 11, p. 1187, 1990; R. Diamond, Protein Sci., vol. 1, p. 1279, 1992; J. Mestres et al., J. Mol. Graph., vol. 15, p. 114, 1997; D. A. Cosgrove et al., J. Comput. Aided Mol. Des., vol. 14, p. 573, 2000; P. Labute et al., J. Med. Chem., vol. 44 p. 1483, 2001; and J. E. J. Mills et al., J. Comput. Aided Mol. Des., vol. 15, p. 81, 2001.) The bound conformation of the reference molecule can also be determined from distance constraints obtained in NMR (NOE) experiments (see G. C. K. Roberts, Drug Discovery Today, vol. 5, p. 230, 2000).
A field-based similarity search system and method have been described in which there is no screening of the conformation space, leading to a high computational load (see M. C. Pitman et al., J. Comput. Aided Mol. Des., vol. 15, p. 587, 2001). In this approach, all candidate molecules must first be assembled before they are scored. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,787,279 and 5,752,019 to Rigoutsos describe other search systems and methods in which the search is based on atom types, and pose-clustering (a particular method of clustering of coordinate systems arbitrarily located and rotated in space) is used to generate alignments (hypotheses).
There is still a need for an accurate, efficient method of performing a database search of molecules that fully accounts for the three-dimensional structure and conformational flexibility of the molecules in the database.

Method of performing three-dimensional molecular superposition and similarity searches in databases of flexible molecules

International Business Machines Corporation


Compounds of formula I

Protein kinases are known to mediate cell proliferation. Inhibition of such kinases is useful in the treatment of cell proliferative diseases.
Some substituted bicyclic nitrogen heterocycles are known in the art for their protein kinase, specifically tyrosine kinase, inhibitory activity. WO 01/29042 and WO 01/29041 relates to alkylamino-substituted dihydropyrimido[4,5-d]pyrimidinone derivatives with p38 inhibitory activity. WO 99/61444 relates to dihydropyrimido[4,5-d]pyrimidinones, substituted with aryl and hetarylamines, sulfides, sulfoxides and sulfones as inhibitors for cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks) and tyrosine kinases. Aryl and heteroarylamine substituted dihydropyrimido[4,5-d]pyrimidinones are also discussed in WO 00/24744 as inhibitors of T-cell tyrosine kinase p56lck.
There continues to be a need for easily synthesized, small-molecule compounds effective in inhibiting the catalytic activity of protein kinases.

Abstract: Compounds of formula I

Abstract: are described. These compounds are protein kinase inhibitors, in particular they inhibit the src family tyrosine kinases. Thus, these compounds are useful for the treatment of diseases mediated by src tyrosine kinases, including cell proliferative disorders such as cancer. Also described are methods of making and using compounds of formula I as well as pharmaceutical compositions containing these compounds.


A replaceable seal system with high and low sides connectable to a coplanar inlet plate on a pressure transmitter. A first side of the seal system can be replaced without disturbing the sealing of a second side of the seal system. The seal system includes a stack of first and second plates with a central split line. At least one of the first and second plates is split along the central split line to provide for separate replacement on only one side of the system.

The present invention relates to seal systems for use with industrial process pressure transmitters. More specifically, the present invention relates to such seal systems that include a seal that couples a pressure to a coplanar inlet plate of a differential pressure transmitter.
Industrial process control systems are used to monitor and control industrial processes use to produce or transfer liquids or the like. In such systems, it is typically important to measure "process variables" such as temperatures, pressures, flow rates, and others. Process control transmitters are used to measure such process variables and transmit information related to the measured process variable back to a central location such as a central control room.
One type of process variable transmitter is a differential pressure transmitter which measures two pressures of process fluids and provides an output related to a pressure difference between the two measured pressures. This pressure difference may, in turn, represent a differential pressure, a flow rate, a level of process fluid in a vessel, or other process variable. The transmitter is configured to transmit information related to the differential pressure back to the central control room. The transmission is typically sent over a two wire process control loop, however, other communication techniques may be used, including wireless techniques.
The pressures must be coupled to the process variable transmitter through some type of process couplings. For example, the process fluid can comprise a component used in an industrial process such as natural gas, oil, etc. In certain process measurement applications, the pressure transmitter is located remotely relative to the pressurized process fluid, and pressures are physically conveyed from the process fluid to the pressure transmitter through a fluid link called a remote seal.
In some applications, an assembly of two seals couples two pressures (high side and low side pressures) to a coplanar inlet plate of a differential pressure transmitter. When one of the seals requires replacement, the assembly of two seals is disconnected from the coplanar inlet plate. Disconnection from the coplanar inlet plate results in breaking open both high and low side seal systems, and the entire assembly must be replaced at great expense. There is a need to improve seal systems that attach to coplanar inlet plates so that the cost of replacing a single damaged seal is reduced.

Separately replaceable seal systems for use with a pressure transmitter


A shock tube initiator (STI) for allowing the remote and/or manual initiation of at least one shock tube, typically two shock tubes is disclosed. The STI consists of: a) at least one coupling 8, connected to a shock tube containing a shot shell primer that upon firing initiates burning of the shock tube, b) a cockable mechanical firing mechanism 7 adjacent to the coupling 8 wherein the mechanical firing mechanism 7 is adapted to strike respective firing pins 9 within the couplings, c) a safety mechanism 15 adapted to allow the mechanical firing mechanism 7 to ignite said explosive charge only when the safety mechanism 15 is moved from a safe mode position to an armed position, d) a rotary solenoid valve 24, electrically connected to and energised by a remote controlled operating system, and e) an actuator 10 positioned between and engageable with the rotary electro-mechanical energising means 24 and the firing mechanism 7 and wherein said actuator 10 is adapted to be actuated either by the rotary solenoid valve 24, when energised, or manually manipulated (13) to allow the cockable mechanical firing mechanism 7 when cocked, to ignite said shell primer.

The detonation of explosives either in the military, mining or similar fields can be a very dangerous exercise, which if not done correctly can lead to catastrophic effects not just to the surrounding area but also to people within close proximity to the detonation area.
When using explosives there are two prime considerations that need to be dealt with, these being (1) placing the blaster a safe distance away from the explosion to prevent injury from flying debris, flames, concussion on a combination of the three, and (2) initiating the explosive at a safe distance (stand-off) between the blaster and the blast. The stand-off distance cannot be readily identified as a specific distance and as a consequence is directly related to many blasting accidents.
The common types of detonation of explosives used to provide a safe stand-off distance are (1) electric blasting using wire and electric blasting caps, (2) radio controlled blasting using communication telemetry and (3) initiation cord or tube.
The use of initiation cord requires sufficient energy to detonate the explosive. The use of initiation cord with an electric blasting cap can be dangerous since the blasting cap contains more explosive than is necessary to start the initiation cord and is prone to interference from radio frequency energy or high electro-magnetic fields which can cause premature detonation of the explosive.
Current known methods of using initiation cord with mechanical starters using a shell shot primer coupled to the initiation tube can also be dangerous. This is because the close proximity of the blaster to the detonating cord can cause injury due to the cord having an external burning rate of approximately 7000 meters per second.
While known explosive initiating devices fulfill their respective objectives and requirements they do not appear to describe an explosive initiating method and/or system that utilises the best features of the electric and mechanical initiators to provide safe and efficient initiating of explosives.
There have been previous attempts to use electro/mechanical initiators using a high current discharge capacitor to drive a linear solenoid to strike a shot shell primer. However, such initiators require high energy to operate and are generally only able to be fired electrically, not manually.


End marker functionality may be provided in mobile networks having mobile user planes configured with segment routing for IPv6 (SRv6), especially suitable for 5G network migration. For example, a base station may receive an SRv6 control message from a user plane function (UPF) which carries data traffic of a data session for the UE. The base station may perform a function associated with a segment identifier (SID) identified in a segment routing header (SRH) of the SRv6 control message. The function may be an end marker handling function associated with an end marker SID. Performing the end marker handling function may cause the base station to generate a tunneling protocol message (e.g. according to GPRS tunneling protocol or GTP) comprising an end marker message and send the tunneling protocol message comprising the end marker message for receipt by the target base station.

There is a need to provide end marker functionality in mobile networks having mobile user planes configured with segment routing (SR) for IPv6 (SRv6), especially suitable for 5G mobile network migration.
In accordance with common practice the various features illustrated in the drawings may not be drawn to scale. Accordingly, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. In addition, some of the drawings may not depict all of the components of a given system, method or device. Finally, like reference numerals may be used to denote like features throughout the specification and figures.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and apparatus for providing end marker functionality in mobile networks having SRv6-configured mobile user planes


A thin film transistor array panel includes: a first gate line extending in a first direction; a second gate line extending in the first direction; a data line extending in a different second direction; a first common signal distribution line including a plurality of first branches connected to each other, wherein the first branches extend in the second direction and intersect under or over with the first gate line and the second gate line. The first branches are connected to receive an electrostatic offset voltage of polarity opposite to that of data line voltages supplied on the data line. A column of pixel-electrodes are sandwiched between the data line and one of the first branches.

(a) Field of Disclosure
A thin film transistor array panel and a manufacturing method thereof are provided.
(b) Description of Related Technology
In general, a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, or an electrophoretic display includes opposed electrodes between which an electric field is generated and one or more electro-optical active layers disposed to be affected by the generated field. The typical LCD includes a liquid crystal layer interposed as the electro-optical active layer between a pixel-electrode and an opposed section of a common electrode. The typical OLED display includes an organic light emitting layer as the electro-optical active layer. Generally one of electric field generating electrodes is referred to as the pixel-electrode and it is generally connected to a switching element (e.g., a transistor) so as to receive an image specifying electrical signal through the switching element. The electro-optical active layer responds to the received electrical signal by forming a corresponding optical signal, thereby displaying a corresponding portion of an image.
Typically, the flat panel display device includes a display panel having a plurality of pixel units arranged in a display area in the form of a matrix, and each pixel unit includes a pixel electrode, a corresponding portion of the common electrode, and a thin film transistor acting as the switching element and connected to the pixel electrode. A gate electrode of the thin film transistor is connected to a corresponding gate line to receive therefrom a row-activating gate signal produced by a gate driver circuit. A source electrode of the thin film transistor is connected to a corresponding data line to receive therefrom a data signal produced by a data driver circuit. The thin film transistor (TFT) operates to selectively couple the received data signal to the pixel electrode of its pixel unit when an activating gate signal is received. Each pixel unit of the display device may output light of one of primary colors such as red, green, and blue, and in some cases additional colors are included such as a white output. An appropriately dyed color filter may be positioned over the pixel unit for outputting the desired spectrum of wavelengths. Alternatively, a color specific emission layer material may be disposed within the pixel unit for emitting the pixel's uniquely colored spectrum of light wavelengths.
In the typical liquid crystal display, the polarity of the applied pixel-electrode voltage, that is the voltage developed between the pixel electrode and the common electrode, is periodically reversed in order to prevent image deterioration due to long-time application of a unidirectional electric field, etc. In other words, the polarities of the supplied data voltages with respect to the common voltage are reversed every frame, or every row, or for every next pixel as examples of such periodic polarity reversals.
The gate driver circuits and the data driver circuits of the display device generally include a plurality of driver ICs. The cost, in particular of the data line driver ICs, tends to be high such that it is desirable to find ways to reduce the number of data driver ICs used in the display device and thus reduce overall cost and complexity. One method of reducing the number of the data driving ICs, is to reduce the number of the data lines provided relative to the number of pixels driven. In one such implementation gate lines and TFTs are clustered close together. This creates a form of asymmetry in the structure because the positions of the thin film transistors are not consistently the same for every pixel. Vertical line blurs may appear due to localized electric field influences between adjacent pixels due to asymmetry and may become perceptible. Artifacts may also develop due to polarity reversal driving (inversion driving).
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the related technology and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art and is already known to persons of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.

Thin film transistor display panel and method of manufacturing the same


The purpose of the present invention is to provide: a magnetic element for wireless power transmission, which is capable of feeding power with high power transmission efficiency, while increasing the heat dissipation performance; and a method for manufacturing the magnetic element for wireless power transmission magnetic element for wireless power transmission have configurations that respectively comprise planar coils through which an alternating current passes and magnetic parts which are arranged in parallel in the intervals between the copper wires of the planar coils when viewed in cross section. The magnetic parts comprise an epoxy resin in which iron-based amorphous particles FINEMET® serving as magnetic particles are dispersed, and the magnetic parts are integrated with the planar coils by being bonded to the planar coils in an electrically insulated state by means of the epoxy resin.

There have been an increasing number of machines activated by cordless power supply utilizing electromagnetic inductance, such as electric toothbrushes, cordless telephones, and portable devices (e.g., PTL 1). There have also been developments of machines activated by cordless power supply utilizing magnetic resonance, in relation to wall-hang television sets and personal computers (e.g., PTL 2). To add this, there have been many developments and suggestions for magnetic elements for wireless power transmission capable of feeding high power with high power transmission efficiency, in the field of wireless power transmission.
However, feeding high power with high power transmission efficiency in such a magnetic element for wireless power transmission causes an excessive heat generation. This generated heat in the magnetic element for wireless power transmission may cause a problem to the magnetic element itself or to the functional parts of the element.
To address this problem of heat generation, for example, one approach is to adopt a structure of substrate having an in-built coil such as the one disclosed in PTL 3, in which a planar coil conductor to serve as the heat source is covered with a magnetic layer so as to radiate the heat outside through a conductor layer for heat transfer which is provided to the magnetic layer. This, without a doubt, enables radiation of heat generated by the planar coil to the outside.

Magnetic element for wireless power transmission and method for manufacturing same


A flashlight with automatic light intensity adjustment means comprising a flashlight casing, a light source, a switch, a light controlling circuit on a printed circuit board and a power source, wherein a sensor component is attached to the flashlight casing, and the sensor component comprises a sensor casing and an incident light intensity sensor disposed therein, and the sensor is electronically connected to the light source, the switch, the light controlling circuit and the power source, and the light controlling circuit controls electrical current passing through the light source according to intensity of incident light as detected by the sensor so that more current is passed through the light source when a lower intensity of incident light is detected, and less current is passed through the light source when a higher intensity of incident light is detected.

The present invention relates to a flashlight with automatic light intensity adjustment means and more particularly pertains to a flashlight capable of automatically adjusting the light intensity according to the intensity of incident light reflected from the nearest object facing the light source of the flashlight.
Flashlights are indispensable for household use. For example, when there is an outage of electricity, it is necessary to use flashlight to light the way. In some instances when household hardware which is located in relatively dark corners of the house, such as fuse box and pipelines, is damaged, it is also necessary to use flashlight to light the dark corners to repair the damaged hardware.
Flashlights are also indispensable for various outdoor activities such as camping and mountain climbing. Especially in countryside where public lighting facilities and installations are rare, it is essential for people to use their own flashlights for conducting various activities in the dark, such as reading the map, finding the way and so forth. If the light intensity of the flashlight is not high enough, only the area within a limited distance can be illuminated and so users are prone to get injured by running into obstacles in the dark. However, if the light intensity of the torch is too high, it is difficult for the human eyes to adapt to the strong light in the dark and so users cannot see things clearly in the adjacent area. This poses serious problems especially for map reading. To solve the aforementioned problem, some flashlights available in the marketplace are equipped with manual light intensity adjustment means. However, they are not user-friendly and user usually wastes much effort on switching to the suitable level of light intensity. Therefore, there is a need for flashlights with automatic light intensity means which can conveniently provide the appropriate level of light for users.

Flashlight with automatic light intensity adjustment means


The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for providing a framework for providing one or more applications to a user set top device. The method according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises providing a minimized state wherein installed applications are displayed as one or more minimized widgets on an output device in communication with to the user device wherein the list of the installed applications comprises one or more indications of passively updated content associated with the installed applications. In response to the selection of a minimized widget command, a widget state is provided wherein a portion of the output device is allocated for the display of additional widget content in response to the selection of a minimized widget. In response to a remote control command, a full-screen state is provided wherein full-screen version of the minimized widget may be displayed. Finally, an installed application is displayed in a minimized, widget or full-screen state in response to a user action.

With the explosive growth of personal computing, networked computer and information sharing many manufacturers have attempted to incorporate the desirable traits of these technological advances in existing and known technologies. One of these technologies was television, a nearly universal technology with a longstanding foothold in many cultures.
The basic concept of incorporating Internet and PC technologies with television was simple: to provide the user with dynamic, useful data in addition to existing television broadcasts. The proven success of the graphical user interface ("GUI") in modern operating systems led to the obvious solution of including a GUI with television broadcasts. This technique allowed users to utilize a television much like the way he or she would use a personal computer. However, this approach failed to remember the distinction between personal computer and television and inappropriately attempted to combine two technologies targeted for two different goals.
The television from conception to present day remains solely as an entertainment device whereas the personal computer was primarily aimed at allowing a user to perform various tasks quickly and more efficiently. Although advances in personal computing allow a user to utilize a personal computer as an entertainment device (via digital music, video, photography, etc.), the personal computer still remains as an active participation device. Thus, the porting of operating system type functionality to the television (commonly referred to as the "ten foot display") inadvertently transformed the television into a personal computer capable of display television broadcasts; as opposed to a television operative to perform personal computer-like functions. The result was a highly interactive television experience detracting from the relaxing and pleasurable television viewing experience. A user frequently was required to actively participate in updating content to the screen, viewing relevant information and many other tasks typically associated with use of a personal computer.
Thus, there currently exists a need in the art to provide a less intrusive framework for providing dynamic, robust data to the ten foot display that allows a user to be presented with external data, while maintaining the "feel" of watching a television broadcast. The present invention is directed towards systems and methods for providing this framework, a framework for providing minimally intrusive applications ("widgets") to a user via a television device. The applications of the present invention allow a user to be presented with relevant and personalized data with minimal or no interaction from the user. This is accomplished by providing a framework outlining a plurality of states of varying degrees of interactivity, thus allowing a user to control his or her viewing session, from a standard "no interactivity" approach to a more interactive approach. The present invention standardizes this concept into a framework for deploying a near infinite amount of applications to the user seamlessly, effectively and robustly.

System and method for providing dynamically updating applications in a television display environment


An apparatus (1) for producing bristle arrangements for brushes, in particular toothbrushes, having a bristle supply (2) and an apparatus (3) for extracting individual bundles (4) of bristles from the bristle supply (2), and also having a transporting apparatus for transporting the bundles (4) of bristles by way of at least one hollow line (8) by means of a stream of gas or air in perforations in a bundle-retaining plate, is characterized in that the apparatus (3) for extracting the bundles (4) of bristles from the bristle supply (2) has at least one bundle holder (6), and in that the bundle holder(s) (6) of the extraction means (3), the inner contour (10) of the hollow line(s) (8) and the perforations in the bundle-retaining plate are each contoured in a manner corresponding to the bundle contour which is desired in the bristle arrangement.

The invention relates to an apparatus for producing bristle arrangements for brushes, in particular toothbrushes, having a bristle supply and having an apparatus which is intended for removing individual clusters of bristles from the bristle supply and has at least one cluster holder, and having a transporting apparatus for transporting the clusters of bristles through at least one hollow line, by means of a gas stream or air stream, into perforations of a cluster-retaining plate, these perforations, for accommodating a cluster of bristles transported in a hollow line, being contoured in each case to correspond to the desired cluster contour.
Such an apparatus is known, for example, from EP 0 405 204 B1. A plurality of clusters of filaments here are transported into a carrier plate via hoses. The clusters of filaments are then fused to a thermoplastic carrier plate and/or encapsulated in plastic material by injection molding to form a brush head. The individual clusters of bristles here each have a round cross section. In particular in the case of toothbrushes nowadays, however, there is a desire to have more complex bristle arrangements in which at least individual clusters of bristles have a non-circular cross section, for example a rectangular or triangular cross section.
Numerous further publications, for example DE 101 08 339 A1 or DE 34 05 001 A1, also disclose apparatuses and methods for transferring clusters of bristles into cluster-retaining plates in order to form a bristle arrangement. The individual clusters of bristles here, however, likewise always have a round, circular cross section.

Apparatus for producing bristle arrangements for brushes


The invention relates to antibodies that are capable of specifically binding tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), neutralizing free TFPI and reducing the clotting time of blood. Furthermore, the invention relates to polynucleotides that encode such antibodies and to cells that comprise the polynucleotides or that express the antibodies of the invention. Such antibodies have utility in the treatment of subjects with a coagulopathy, alone as well as in combination with a second agent.

In subjects with a coagulopathy, such as in human beings with haemophilia A and B, various steps of the coagulation cascade are rendered dysfunctional due to, for example, the absence or insufficient presence of a coagulation factor. Such dysfunction of one part of the coagulation cascade results in insufficient blood coagulation and potentially life-threatening bleeding, or damage to internal organs, such as the joints. Subjects such as human beings with haemophilia A and B may receive coagulation factor replacement therapy such as exogenous Factor VIII or Factor IX, respectively. However, such patients are at risk of developing "inhibitors" (antibodies) to such exogenous factors, rendering formerly efficient therapy ineffective. Furthermore, exogenous coagulation factors may only be administered intravenously, which is of considerable inconvenience and discomfort to patients. For example, infants and toddlers may have to have intravenous catheters surgically inserted into a chest vein, in order for venous access to be guaranteed. This leaves them at great risk of developing bacterial infections and thrombotic complications. Subjects with a coagulopathy may only receive therapy after a bleed has commenced, rather than as a precautionary measure, which often impinges upon their general quality of life. Thus, there are still many unmet medical needs in the haemophilia community, in particular, and in subjects with coagulopathies, in general.
The coagulation cascade is normally set into motion upon vessel wall injury, which exposes sub-endothelial tissue factor (TF) to the components of circulating blood. In brief, TF forms a complex with Factor VII/Factor VIIa (FVII/FVIIa) on the surface of TF-expressing cells. This complex activates Factor X (FX) to Factor Xa (FXa) which, with Factor Va (FVa) as cofactor, leads to the generation of a limited amount of thrombin (FIIa). Small amounts of thrombin activate platelets, which results in surface exposure of phospholipids that support the binding of the tenase complex, Factor VIIIa/Factor IXa (FVIIIa/FIXa). The tenase complex activates large amounts of FX to FXa, which subsequently results in the generation of a large amount of thrombin. A full thrombin burst is needed for the formation of a mechanically strong fibrin structure and stabilization of the haemostatic plug.
In individuals with haemophilia, FVIII or FIX is present at low levels, or may be entirely absent. Due to the lack of tenase activity, the capacity to generate FXa is low and insufficient to support the propagation phase of coagulation. In contrast, the TF-mediated initiation phase of coagulation is not dependent on the formation of the tenase complex. Initiation of coagulation via the TF-pathway will, however, be blocked by plasma inhibitors shortly after the initial FXa generation. One such inhibitor is tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), which inhibits both FXa and TF/FVIIa and plays a key role as a feed-back inhibitor of on-going coagulation. TFPI is a strong inhibitor of the TF-FVIIa complex only in the presence of FXa. Thus, efficient inhibition of TF/FVIIa requires generation of FXa, formation of the FXa/TFPI complex, and a subsequent formation of the ternary TF/FVIIa/FXa/TFPI complex.
Several pools of TFPI exist in vivo. A major fraction is bound to the vascular endothelium, a minor fraction is associated with lipoproteins in the blood, a small fraction is present in platelets and, finally, a small amount exists as free, circulating TFPI. Furthermore, TFPI exists as TFPIalpha, TFPIbeta and TFPIgamma forms. Neutralization of the inhibitory activity of certain fractions of TFPI may prove efficient in treatment of undesired bleedings.
Antibodies that are capable of binding TFPI are known in the art. Several documents disclose antibodies that are capable of binding to the K3 domain of TFPI, namely:                J. Biochem, 1995, 118 (1): 178-182.        Blood Coagul. Fibrinolyis, 1999, 10 (6): 309-19.        JP6153981A.
These references do not disclose TFPI antibodies for the treatment of subjects with a coagulopathy.
There is still a need in the art of medicine for pharmaceuticals which may be used to enhance coagulation. There is a need for pharmaceuticals which may be administered not only intravenously but also by other routes of administration, such as subcutaneously. Thus, there is a need for pharmaceuticals, such as antibodies, which are pro-coagulant even when administered in low doses and/or which have a high bioavailability. Furthermore, there is a need for pharmaceuticals, such as antibodies, which are suitable for the prophylactic treatment of individuals with a congenital or acquired coagulopathy such as haemophilia A, haemophilia B, haemophilia A with inhibitors or haemophilia B with inhibitors. More specifically, there is a need for pharmaceuticals, such as antibodies, that lower the threshold for FVIII or FIX activity in individuals with haemophilia A and haemophilia B, respectively. Within the particular realm of antibodies that are capable of binding TFPI, there is a need for antibodies which do not bind to all pools of TFPI, such as antibodies which do not affect the function of endothelial cell-bound TFPI, such as the GPI-anchored pool of TFPI. More specifically, there is a need for TFPI antibodies that demonstrate dose linearity with respect to their half-life in plasma.
Disclosed herein are antibodies which are suitable for use as pharmaceuticals. Such antibodies may have a substantial impact upon the quality of life of—not least—individuals with haemophilia A or B, with or without inhibitors.

Antibodies that are capable of specifically binding tissue factor pathway inhibitor


An attachment for an automobile is disclosed which enables handicapped persons to operate a vehicle with hand applied power and without foot operation of the pedals. A mounting bracket is set forth. It has a supporting structure which connects with a pair of upstanding tabs, a rotatable shaft serving as a pivot point supported by said stubs, and a pivotally mounted lever connected to said shaft. The lever operates a bell crank mechanism. At one side the bell crank mechanism connects with a cable which is connected at the opposite end to the accelerator, carburetor or points in between to speed up the engine speed. At the opposite end of equipment, it connects with a flexible drive cable in a sheath wherein the cable and sheath extend from the installed apparatus under the vehicle and connect with the brake pedal hanger mechanism. This enables a handicap user to apply the vehicle brakes.

This disclosure is directed to a device which when attached to an automobile, particularly assists in making the automobile more easily and readily operatable by individuals having injured or disabled feet or legs. The device can be used by those who are also partially paralyzed or who have some other physical limitations which interfere with the operation of the foot-operated pedals. This apparatus is particularly useful in providing connection of a hand operated mechanism which jointly enables use in operation of the brake pedal and the accelerator in an automobile.
Devices have been provided in the past which convert pedal-equipped automobiles for hand operation by those who have been injured or partially crippled. As a generalization, they include hand-operated devices which are often mounted on the steering column. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,983 shows a hand-operated system which mounts on the steering column. U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,905 shows a hand-operated system that has linkage rods which extend to the various pedals. In similar fashion, U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,679 shows a hand operated control system which clamps to or attaches by means of rods to various pedal hangers. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,946 also mounts on the steering column and has linkage rods. In like fashion, U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,492 shows a set of connective rods.
The present disclosure avoids the steering column type connection and also avoids the rods which are installed to make such connections. It is not uncommon for rods as long as two feet, perhaps even three feet, to extend upwardly in the drivers compartment towards the steering wheel. This will typically be connected with a hand-operated crank or lever which is positioned at that height or elevation. Such devices normally position the handles at about the height of the column terminating at the steering wheel, or perhaps even higher. This is less than desirable because it substantially converts such an automobile so that conventional use of the automobile is difficult or impossible. A person who operates the foot-powered pedals in the conventional fashion simply cannot slide into the seat and operate the vehicle because of interference. It is difficult to slide in and out of the driver's seat when the region is cluttered with the connecting rods, and especially those which extend under the dash and make connections to the brake pedal. Particular problems also arise where connections are made to the brake pedal because it is closer to the door and has a greater tendency to interfere with user entry into the vehicle.
By contrast, the disclosed apparatus set forth in the present application is particularly adapted for use by an injured or crippled person in a vehicle which can also be used in a conventional manner by those drivers fortunate enough to have uninjured legs and feet. Consider the situation where a vehicle is to be shared in a family. If the wife of average build and height requires conversion because of an unfortunate handicap, and yet her husband of average build must use the vehicle, the connective rods would get in his way. If the wife intends to use the same vehicle time and again, the husband must simply contort to make use of the pedals by sliding around the connective rods exemplified by the several references noted above. Moreover, entry into the vehicle is somewhat limited. If however the apparatus of this disclosure were installed in the vehicle, it would define a vehicular system which can be readily used by both the injured or crippled wife and the otherwise healthy spouse. Other personnel could likewise use the vehicle, including parking lot attendants, service station personnel, etc.
The difficulties which result from installation of rod-type equipment are substantially avoided. The present apparatus is a mechanism which can be readily installed in a vehicle and particularly in the type of vehicle which has front seats which are sometimes known as bucket seats. Typically, the bucket seats are deployed on the flanking sides of the floor located tunnel which encloses the automotive engine transmission and which transmission connects with the drive shaft extending to the rear of the vehicle. This hump or tunnel is normally cosmetically treated rather well by placing a tray or storage container between the two front seats, and especially between the two bucket seats. Moreover, the shift lever is normally located in that locale so that the operator can grasp the shift lever with the right hand and operate the lever. In view of the fact that most automobiles driven in this country have automatic transmissions, typically the shift lever will provide the necessary choices at the quadrant indicated at the shift lever to select the right gear for driving. More importantly, such a vehicle can be easily converted by installation of the present apparatus.
This device is a system which is relatively narrow in foot print, referring to the mounting area which supports the apparatus, and can be attached next to or adjacent and forward of the automotive transmission shift lever normally provided. It has the advantage of being positioned relatively low so that the operator does not have to reach up in the air with the right hand to either apply the brakes or to accelerate the vehicle. The present apparatus can therefore be used by a driver who can readily rest the right hand during driving, the hand resting at approximately knee height on most drivers of average height. The right hand is used to control both the brake pedal and accelerator. Moreover, the device is sized so that a handle can be easily grasped in the hand of the user while turning the hand with the palm facing downwardly. This hand operation of the equipment is easily done even when the driver is required to take control of the vehicle for hundreds of miles. Driver comfort is thus assured even over a long time frame. Because the hand is not raised and because the equipment is operated conveniently to the transmission shift lever, the same type of motion can be readily implemented by the driver. In other words, operator comfort is gained significantly at all points in time.
Summarizing, the present apparatus it is an adapter which can be placed on an automobile equipped with a central console on the tunnel or hump in a vehicle to thereby convert the brake pedal and accelerator to hand operation. It has a mounting bracket which enables the device to be mounted in that region approximately even with the right knee of the driver. This enables the driver to rest the right hand conveniently on the equipment so that driving is readily occasioned by comfort without holding the hand excessively high. Moreover, this enables and permits the equipment to be operated for many hours with driver comfort. Once installed, the equipment can be left permanently in the vehicle. At the time of installation, permanent connections are made to operate both the brake pedal and the accelerator. These can be left on the vehicle indefinitely. However, their presence does not interfere with the ordinary and conventional operation of the pedals by a person not requiring this equipment. For those who are not handicapped, they still have access to the brake pedal and access to the accelerator without interference from the present equipment. This device is therefore a base plate or mounting bracket which is installed on the vehicle. It supports upstanding mounting plates which in turn connect with a transverse mounting shaft. That shaft connects with a hand operated bell crank. In turn, the bell crank supports a forwardly protruding tab which connects with the accelerator by means of a flexible cable and also supports a rearwardly projecting tab which connects with the brake pedal. As will be detailed in the specifics of this apparatus it is a relatively simple structure to install on the vehicle and is also relatively simple to interconnect with the respective pedals. When installed, it can be hand operated continuously by the handicap driver or can be ignored by a person who prefers to use the pedals in the conventional fashion.


An image processing device comprising: an image acquisition unit; a display unit; a selection unit; a parallax acquisition unit; a parallax history information generator that generates continuously parallax history information on the basis of the parallax acquired by the parallax acquisition unit, the parallax history information indicating variation with time of the parallax for the specific subject image and including a current parallax for the specific subject image; and a controller that displays on the display unit the plural viewpoint images of the moving image acquired by the image acquisition unit together with the parallax history information generated by the parallax history information generator, the controller making the display cycle of displaying the parallax history longer than the cycle of acquiring the parallax by the parallax acquisition unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device capable of assisting parallax adjustment for a user such that the user easily grasps parallax variation, an image processing method, a program, a recording medium, and an imaging device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A device has been in widespread use which can take or display an image that is stereoscopically viewable.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-33990 discloses a configuration in which a parallax amount of a subject image is detected, and if the parallax amount falls within a stereoscopically viewable range, stereoscopic imaging is automatically performed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-287967 discloses a configuration in which depth distribution information in a screen is extracted from an image to perform a special effect processing such as feathering on portions that are not at a certain distance.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-177921 discloses a configuration in which a projection amount of a subject is superimposed on an image for display.

Image processing device, image processing method, recording medium, and imaging device


This invention provides hydroxybenzoic acids, their esters and analogues thereof that are useful for the prevention and/or treatment of virus infection such as HBV, papillomavirus and/or herpes virus infection.

Among hydroxybenzoic acids and their esters, p-hydroxybenzoic acids and their esters are often used as food and drug preservatives. Gallic acid esters can inhibit the synthesis of thromboxane A2 (TXA2). It has a stronger and faster effect against platelets aggregation than aspirin and has been used in solution for injection. Gallic acid has been proven to inhibit hepatitis B virus replication (see Journals of Guangzhou Liberation Army High Specialized School, 1998, 26 (2):5-7).
Chinese Patent No. 1411339A and U.S. Pat. No. 6,294,186 disclosed an antimicrobial composition. The composition includes a safe and effective amount of benzoic acid analogues, which have the following structure (II):

Wherein, R1, R2, R4 and R5 were independently H, OH, F, I, Br, Cl, SH, NH2, CN, alkyl, alkoxy, NR2, OR, NO2, COR, CONR2, CO2R or SO3R, wherein R was independently H, alkyl or alkoxy; R3 was independently H, OH, F, I, Br, Cl, SH, CN, alkyl, alkoxy, OR, NO2, COR, CONR2, CO2R or SO3R, wherein R was independently H, alkyl or alkoxy. The aforesaid patent references also pointed out the most preferred embodiment as salicylic acid ("2-hydroxybenzoic acid"), benzoic acid or their combination; they also limited the pH range in which these compounds could be used to 1-7.
Although viruses are the smallest known pathogenic microorganisms, they spread most widely. Today, almost three quarters of contagious diseases in the world are caused by viruses. In clinical diagnosis, many diseases are related to virus infection.
Papillomavirus is a DNA virus that infects the skin or mucosal surfaces of humans or animals. Condyloma acuminata, also called genital warts or venereal warts, is a benign skin mucosa growth induced by human papillomavirus (HPV). It is one of the most frequently seen sexually transmitted diseases and is closely related to inflammation and cancer of the genital organs. Currently, podophyllotoxin is one of the drugs for treating genital warts. Its advantage is short treatment time and disadvantage is skin irritation and severe side effects, including pain, edema, erosion and so on. Recombinant interferon α-2β gel is recognized as an effective external drug to treat genital warts.
Recent researches indicated that 29.3% of the patients of cervical erosion were tested HPV positive while the positive rate among the normal population is only 11.1% (Fuqiang Chen, Tumor Prevention Magazine, 2001, 8 (4): 342-344; Chenkang Xu, Journal of Zhongshan Medical University, 1998, 19 (3): 223-226). It was reported that the high-risk HPV16, HPV18 were expressed in about 69% of chronic cervicitis patients and that these subtypes were detected at an increasing rate as the degree of the cervical erosion increased (Ahn ws et al, J. Cell Biochem. Suppl., 1997; 28-29: 133-139). The difference of the detection rates of HPV16 and HPV18 between granular or papillary erosion and normal cervix was significant. The positive rate of HPV16 and HPV18 in cervix cancer could be as high as 83.33% when detected by PCR. The DNA of high risk HPV could integrate into the chromosomes of the host cells and then produce E6 and E7 tumor proteins. E6 and E7 could respectively inhibit anti-cancer genes p53 and Rb. As a result, cells would lose the control of p53 and Rb. This would cause cells in the steady state to grow actively and might become cancerous. If HPV16 remains in the cells, it could turn the cervix pathological changes into cancer. Different from the pudendum infection, cervix HPV infection mainly involves HPV 16/18 and usually will not cause warts. It can exist as latent infection for a long time and induce atypical hyperplasia at first and become cancerous when the other factors add on.
Herpes viruses are a virus family with many virus subtypes. Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is one of the most common subtypes of herpes viruses. HSV is a double stranded DNA virus and can enter into target organisms through mouth, respiratory passage, genital tract mucosa, broken skin and many other channels. HSV are further divided into two sub-subtypes, HSV-1 and HSV-2. It is a quite common infection among humans and the infection rate is as high as 80˜90%. Typical symptoms include clusters of blisters on certain parts of the mucosa and skin, while occasionally serious systemic disease may occur and do harm to the internal organs. Previous researches indicated that HSV-1 and HSV-2 might separately be related to lip cancer, vulva cancer and cervix cancer and lots of attentions have been drawn to them (Sun He et al., China Practical Gynaecology and Obstetrics Journal, 2001, 17 (7):407-409). Presently, drugs for treating HSV infection include idoxuridine, cytosine arabinoside, vidarabine, bromovinyl uridine, acyclovir and so on. But the treatment time of these drugs are quite long, about 5-7 days.
Varicella zoster virus (VZV), also called herpes zoster, is another commonly found herpes virus. VZV is closely related to HSV and shares much genome homology. Initial VZV infection may cause chicken pox, which in a few rare cases, may result in encephalitis or pneumonia. After the initial infection, VZV could remain in the host's nervous system in a latent state. In about 10-20% of cases, VZV reactivates later in the life of the host to cause shingles and related complications.
Antiviral drugs useful for treating hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, such as vidarabine, vidarabine phosphate, acyclovir and zidovudine, which were tested in the 1980s, were not used to treat hepatitis B anymore due to severe side effects and high toxicity. Recently, many nucleoside drugs, such as Lamivudine, famciclovir, lobucavir, adefovir, FTC, FMAU, FDDC, BMS 200475 and so on, were developed and they had significant inhibiting effect on HBV. Unfortunately, viruses may mutate and become drug resistant after long term use of these drugs. Furthermore, these drugs need to be taken for a long time because short term use only has temporary effect.
There is a continuing need for new drugs useful for the prevention and/or treatment of virus infection such as HBV, papillomavirus and herpes virus infection.

Use of hydroxybenzoic acids and their esters and analogues for preventing or treating virus infection

Shenghua Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Science & Technology Co., Ltd.


An electronic component mounting structure includes a flexible circuit board having terminal connection patterns formed thereon and a light-emitting component provided with electrodes. The light-emitting component is placed on the flexible circuit board, and a synthetic resin casing is injection-molded to cover the light-emitting component and a portion of the flexible circuit board surrounding the light-emitting component placed thereon, whereby the electrodes of the light-emitting component and the terminal connection patterns of the flexible circuit board are connected in abutting contact with each other.

Conventionally, surface-mount electronic components are mounted onto circuit boards by the following methods. For example, an electronic component placed on a flexible circuit board is clamped, together with the circuit board, by a clamping member made of a metal plate from the underside of the circuit board, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 11-40917. According to a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 7-7249, the upper side of an electronic component placed on a flexible circuit board is covered with a film, and the peripheral portion of the film is secured to the circuit board by ultrasonic welding or the like.
Among electronic components are those having terminals projecting from their casing surfaces, such as sensor switches. Conventionally, such an electronic component is mounted onto a circuit board as follows. For example, an auxiliary board and a mounting member are placed over the electronic component positioned on the circuit board, and resilient portions provided on the mounting member are allowed to resiliently urge the terminals of the electronic component downwardly through the auxiliary board so that the terminals are pressed against electrode patterns on the circuit board, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-164674.
The above-described conventional electronic component mounting structures suffer, however, from the following problems. Because electronic components have to be mounted onto a circuit board one by one, if a large number of electronic components need to be mounted onto the circuit board, each electronic component may fail to be mounted in the desired position, resulting in an unreliable connection between the circuit board and the electronic components. In addition, mounting of electronic components cannot be efficiently carried out.

Mounting structure and method for mounting electronic component onto circuit board


Disclosed herein is an upright vacuum cleaner having a movement control grip that is capable of performing switch between automatic operation mode and manual operation mode on the movement control grip. The grip comprises a grip body, having a square section, connected to the upper end of a cleaner body while being bent to the cleaner body, upper and lower guide members vertically connected to each other while surrounding the grip body such that the upper and lower guide members can be slid along the outer surface of the grip body, a grip returning unit disposed at the grip body for resiliently returning the upper and lower guide members to their original positions, and a grip sensor unit mounted at the grip body for sensing the forward or rearward movement direction of upper and lower guide members relative to the grip body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an upright vacuum cleaner, and, more particularly, to an upright vacuum cleaner having a movement control grip that is capable of performing switch between automatic operation mode and manual operation mode on the movement control grip.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional upright vacuum cleaner. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional upright vacuum cleaner comprises: an upright cleaner body 100 for suctioning air though a suction nozzle 101 and filtering the air to remove foreign matter from the air; a drive unit 200 mounted in the cleaner body 100 for driving the cleaner body 100 such that the cleaner body 100 can be moved forward or rearward; a grip 300 slidably mounted to the upper end of the cleaner body 100, the grip 300 having a sensor 301 for sensing the forward or rearward movement direction of the grip 300; a control unit 400 for controlling the operation of the drive unit 200 such that the cleaner body 100 can be moved forward or rearward based on the forward or rearward movement direction of the grip 300 sensed by the sensor 301.
The drive unit 200 comprises: a drive motor 201 mounted in the cleaner body 100; a drive shaft 202 rotatable in the forward or reverse direction by the drive motor 201; and drive wheels 203 mounted at opposite ends of the drive shaft 202, respectively.
When a user pushes or pulls the grip 300 of the conventional upright vacuum cleaner while holding the grip 300, the forward or rearward movement direction of the grip 300 is sensed by the sensor 301. The sensed information is input to the control unit 400, which rotates the drive motor 201 in the forward or reverse direction based on the sensed information.
However, the sliding grip of the conventional upright vacuum cleaner comprises a plurality of parts, including resilient members, which are connected to one another. As a result, the structure of the grip is very complicated, and therefore, the assembly of the grip takes a great deal of time. Furthermore, the number of parts constituting the grip is large, and therefore, manufacturing costs of the grip are increased.

Upright vacuum cleaner with movement control grip


Provided is a working vehicle capable of increasing lifting operation speed of a working device without increasing cost, even when provided with a circuit configuration that prioritizes a steering operation over a working device operation.

As a wheel type working vehicle equipped with a steering, there has been known, for example, a wheel loader and a forklift which perform loading work. In these working vehicles, it is necessary to supply hydraulic oil to each of a steering actuator for driving the steering and a loading actuator for driving a working device used for loading work.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a wheel loader in which a steering actuator and a loading actuator are connected in parallel to a common hydraulic pump, and each of the actuators are driven by hydraulic oil discharged from the common hydraulic pump. The wheel loader according to Patent Literature 1 includes a circuit configuration which allows the hydraulic oil discharged from the hydraulic pump to flow to the steering actuator when the steering changes from a non-operating state to an operating state, in other words, when the steering is operated, regardless of an operation of an operation tool for operating a working device. With this configuration, the steering actuator is activated preferentially over the loading actuator.

Abstract: A wheel loader 1 comprises a priority valve 451 configured to allow hydraulic oil discharged from a hydraulic pump 41 to flow into a steering drive circuit 43 preferentially over a working device drive circuit 44, and further comprises: an electric steering lever 30; a pair of solenoid control valves 34A, 34B configured to control a steering directional control valve 33; and a controller 5. The controller 5 is configured to control the pair of solenoid control valves 34A, 34B so as to limit operation speed of a steering 3 when determining that an engine 40 is in a low idle state and a lift arm 21 is performing a lifting operation.

HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.


The present invention encompasses methods for treating chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia by administering buprenorphine or a salt thereof. The compound may optionally be administered in a pharmaceutical composition. Preferred compositions for delivery of the buprenoiphine are sublingual lozenges and transdermal gel.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a clinically defined condition characterized by severe disabling flu-like fatigue and a combination of symptoms that include impairment in concentration and short-term memory, sleep disturbances, and musculoskeletal pain. No specific test exists to diagnose chronic fatigue syndrome. Therefore, the presence of chronic fatigue requires a clinical evaluation to identify underlying conditions that may require treatment. A patient should be evaluated for depression and other psychiatric disorders; alcohol or other substance abuse; and current use of prescription and over-the-counter medications and food supplements. In addition, a complete laboratory work-up should be performed to rule out the possibility of any existing medical problems. The central issue is whether chronic fatigue syndrome or any subset of the syndrome is a pathologically discrete entity or a debilitating but nonspecific condition shared by many different illnesses.
The study of chronic fatigue syndrome is problematic because, to date, no tests have consistently proven or demonstrated this illness. Tests should be directed toward confirming or excluding other etiologic possibilities. Clarification of the relation between chronic fatigue syndrome and neuropsychiatric syndromes are particularly important. These latter disorders are the source of confusion in studies of chronic fatigue syndrome as these disorders are diagnosed more frequently in populations affected by chronic fatigue than in the general population. The extent to which the features of chronic fatigue syndrome are generic features of chronic fatigue and deconditioning due to physical inactivity common to a diverse group of illnesses must be established.
Fibromyalgia (FMS) is a chronic rheumatic condition characterized by systemic body pain and uncontrollable fatigue. Many other symptoms are associated with fibromyalgia, such as irritable bowel, headaches, sleep disorders, and poor circulation.
Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia remain serious problems for the general population which are not only difficult to diagnose and have no known effective treatment. Although many medications are commonly used to treat these conditions, there are no known medications which permanently resolve the symptoms of either chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia. In addition, many of the currently used medications produce side effects ranging from mild side effects, e.g., drowsiness, dizziness, and nausea to serious side effects, e.g., addiction and liver damage.
Some of the more common medications currently employed to treat chronic fatigue syndrome and/or fibromyalgia include, but are not limited to, analgesics, hypnotics, immune suppressants, various other prescribed medications, and an array of non-prescription medications.
Analgesics include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs which can relieve pain. Some preparations of analgesics are available as over-the-counter medications and have been prescribed for CFS and fibromyalgia patients for symptomatic relief. An analgesic that is sometimes prescribed for CFS and FMS patients is cyclobenzaprine. It is generally prescribed for the relief of skeletal muscle spasm and its associated signs and symptoms.
Benzodiazepines are one commonly used type of hypnotics. This group of drugs is sometimes prescribed to treat seizures, but it is prescribed for CFS patients as a treatment for various sleep disorders. Examples of benzodiazapines used in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are Klonopin.TM., Valium.TM., Zanax.TM., Ativan.TM., and Dalmane.TM.. A non-benzodiazepine hypnotic drug that has sometimes been prescribed to relieve sleep problems for CFS patients is Zolpidem..TM.
Azathioprine is an immune suppressant that has been prescribed to CFS and FMS patients. Presumably, these drugs have been employed based on the unsubstantiated theory that CFS is characterized by some underlying immune dysfunction. Such a use is purely experimental and, in view of the degree of toxicity associated with these agents, is inappropriate for the treatment of CFS and FMS.
Some of the various other prescription drugs given to treat CFS and FMS patients include Naltrexone.TM., an opioid antagonist, sodium retention agents/beta blockers, calcium channel blockers/histamine blockers, anti-depressants, allergy medications, and acute anxiety medications. Most of these drugs are either inappropriate for the treatment of CFS and FMS either because they are not effective or because of the significant side effects associated with their use.
Some of the non-prescription medications given to patients with CFS and FMS include herbal preparations, and vitamin and mineral supplements. Although the potential medicinal value of various herbs is promising, it is difficult, if not impossible, to assess the validity of scientific claims regarding these substances. In addition, vitamin/mineral supplements may demonstrate some positive results but none have any scientifically demonstrated clinical value. In addition, these supplements may be toxic if taken in high doses.
Thus, it is clear that chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are debilitating diseases for which no known effective treatment exist. What is needed, therefore, is a composition that is effective in treating chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. Also needed are methods for delivery which would allow for easy and regimented application.

Method for treating chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia with buprenorphine


A master cylinder 5 includes: a first liquid chamber 51 generating a liquid pressure in response to a brake operation of a driver; and a second liquid chamber 52 communicated with a reservoir 4 and connected to a suction port 70 of a pump 7. In a state in which the reservoir 4 and a suction section 70 of the pump 7 are communicated via the second liquid chamber 52, a liquid pressure of the first liquid chamber 51 can create a wheel cylinder liquid pressure.

Conventionally, a brake device in which a suction oil passage of a brake system with a pump as a liquid pressure source is connected to a reservoir not via a pressure chamber (a liquid chamber which generates a liquid pressure in accordance with a brake operation of a driver) of a master cylinder is known.
For example, in a technique described in Patent Document 1, the above-described suction oil passage is communicated with the reservoir via a stroke simulator chamber (a chamber to house a spring of a stroke simulator).