A piezoelectric transformer driving circuit includes a boosting circuit receiving an input DC voltage to generate an AC voltage for driving a piezoelectric transformer, a frequency control circuit for controlling the frequency of the AC voltage applied to the piezoelectric transformer to control a step-up ratio of the piezoelectric transformer, and a drive voltage control circuit for controlling the voltage of the AC voltage applied to the piezoelectric transformer at a predetermined level, regardless of variation of the input DC voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit for driving a piezoelectric transformer performing a voltage-to-voltage conversion by utilizing a piezoelectric element, and more specifically to a piezoelectric transformer driving circuit capable of realizing a high conversion efficiency even if an input voltage varies in a wide range.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a piezoelectric transformer can be said to be a voltage-to-voltage converter so configured that a mechanical vibration is caused in piezoelectric element by applying a voltage between primary electrodes, and a different voltage is picked up from secondary electrodes by action of a piezoelectric effect of the piezoelectric element. The piezoelectric transformer is featured in that it is easily scaled down and thinned in comparison with an electromagnetic transformer, and is used as an inverter for lighting a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (one kind of cold-cathode tube) and attracts attentions as a high voltage power source.
The present invention is directed to a driving circuit for this piezoelectric transformer, which is used as an inverter for converting a DC voltage to an AC high voltage or a DC-to-DC converter for converting a DC voltage to a DC high voltage. For example, in the case that the piezoelectric transformer is used in a power source for a back light incorporated in a 9.4-inch color liquid crystal display unit, if a load is a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (cold-cathode tube) having a tube length of 220 mm and a tube diameter of 3 mm.phi., the inverter is required to convert a DC voltage in the range of 5 V to 20 V, to an AC power of a lamp voltage of about 500 Vrms (the suffix "rms" indicates a root-mean-square value), a lamp current of about 5 mArms and a frequency of 100 kHz. In the case that the piezoelectric transformer is used as a power supply for generating a static electricity in a laser printer, it is necessary to obtain a DC voltage on the order of 1 kV to 5 kV from a DC power supply on the order of 24 V.
In Japanese Patent Application No. Heisei 7-069207 filed on Mar. 28, 1995 and its corresponding U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/623,028 (the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application), the inventor of this application has proposed one piezoelectric transformer driving circuit, a block diagram of which is shown in FIG. 1.
The piezoelectric transformer driving circuit shown in FIG. 1, comprises a piezoelectric transformer 1 having a pair of primary electrodes and a pair of secondary electrodes, a load 2 connected to the secondary electrodes of the piezoelectric transformer 1, a step-up or boosting circuit 4 connected to the primary electrodes of the piezoelectric transformer 1 for driving the piezoelectric transformer 1 with an AC voltage, and a frequency control circuit 3 connected to the load 2 (or the secondary electrodes of the piezoelectric transformer 1) and for controlling the boosting circuit 4 to the effect that the piezoelectric transformer 1 is driven at or near a resonance frequency of a piezoelectric element so that an output is controlled at a constant level. This piezoelectric transformer driving circuit is an inverter receiving a input DC voltage VDD and supplying an AC output voltage VO(Vrms) to the load 2.
With this arrangement, if a driving voltage of a sine wave having the resonance frequency is applied to the primary electrodes of the piezoelectric transformer 1, the piezoelectric transformer causes a mechanical vibration. The piezoelectric transformer 1 has a step-up ratio determined by a shape of the piezoelectric transformer, and therefore, the AC voltage elevated by the step-up ratio can be obtained from the secondary electrodes of the piezoelectric transformer 1.
Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown an equivalent circuit of a part composed of the piezoelectric transformer 1, the boosting circuit 4 and the load 2, in the circuit shown in FIG. 1. The piezoelectric transformer 1 can be considered to be constituted of a resonance circuit of series-connected inductor L, capacitor C and resistor R and an ideal transformer T, and to receive a drive voltage supplied from the primary electrodes, and to output from the secondary electrodes a voltage stepped up with a step-up ratio Av. In the case that the piezoelectric transformer 1 is driven with a frequency other than the resonance frequency, a parasitic vibration occurs in the piezoelectric transformer 1, but only a component of the resonance frequency can be extracted from the secondary electrodes, with the result that the conversion efficiency of the piezoelectric transformer 1 drops because of an energy loss. Therefore, it is important to drive the piezoelectric transformer 1 with a sine wave containing no component other than the resonance frequency. In addition, since it is possible to generate a sine wave having a voltage higher than an input power source voltage, by use of a coil or an electromagnetic transformer, the piezoelectric transformer driving circuit can be advantageously driven with a lower input voltage.
Under the above mentioned circumstance, the boosting circuit 4 shown in FIG. 1 is so configured that a sine wave is generated with a resonance between an inductance of the electromagnetic transformer and a capacitance of the piezoelectric transformer and the piezoelectric transformer itself is driven with the generated sine wave. In brief, the primary electrodes of the piezoelectric transformer 1 are connected to electromagnetic transformers T1 and T2, respectively, in the form of an autotransformer, and a pair of complementary clocks generated by a 2-phase pulse generator 9 are supplied to a pair of transistors Q1 and Q2, respectively, so as to alternately turn on the transistors Q1 and Q2, so that a primary winding of the electromagnetic transformers T1 and T2 are alternately supplied with an electric current from a DC power source VDD, with the result that the primary winding of the electromagnetic transformers T1 and T2 alternately accumulate an electromagnetic energy.
When each of the transistors Q1 and Q2 is turned off, the accumulated electromagnetic energy is discharged to generate a voltage higher than the input DC power source voltage. In the equivalent circuit shown in FIG. 2, it is so designed that each transformer causes a voltage resonance (series resonance) in cooperation with an input equivalent capacitance Cd1 of the primary electrode of the piezoelectric transformer 1, and a half-wave sine wave having a peak voltage of about three times of the input DC power source voltage VDD is generated. Half-wave sine waves Vd1(Vo-p) (the suffix "o-p" indicates a zero-to-peak value) and Vd2(Vo-p) generated in the electromagnetic transformers T1 and T2 are stepped up by the secondary winding of the electromagnetic transformers T1 and T2 to similar half-wave sine waves VS1(Vo-p) and VS2(Vo-p), respectively, which are turn-ratio "N+1" times of Vd1(Vo-p) and Vd2(Vo-p). These half-wave sine waves VS1 (Vo-p) and VS2(Vo-p) are supplied to the primary electrodes of the piezoelectric transformer 1.
These two half-wave sine waves VS1(Vo-p) and VS2(Vo-p), which are opposite to each other in phase, equivalently becomes one full-wave sine wave having an amplitude of VS1+VS2(Vp-p) (the suffix "p-p" indicates a peak-to-peak value), which in turn vibrates the piezoelectric transformer 1, with the result that the secondary electrodes of the piezoelectric transformer 1 generates a stepped-up AC voltage VO(Vrms), which is determined by the shape of the piezoelectric transformer 1.
The AC voltage VO(Vrms) thus generated is applied to the load 2, so that an AC current IO(mArms) (or alternatively, AC voltage VO(Vrms)) is supplied to the frequency control circuit 3. This frequency control circuit 3 is configured to generate a driving frequency for the piezoelectric transformer 1, to be supplied to the 2-phase pulse generator 9, and to continue to sweep the driving frequency until the AC current IO(mArms) (or alternatively, AC voltage VO(Vrms)) outputted from the piezoelectric transformer 1 reaches a predetermined value, and to stop its sweeping when the AC current IO(mArms) (or alternatively, AC voltage VO(Vrms)) becomes the predetermined value.
As shown in FIG. 1, the frequency control circuit 3 comprises a current-to-voltage converter 10 receiving the AC current IO(mArms), a rectifying circuit 11 receiving an output of current-to-voltage converter 10 (or alternatively the AC voltage VO(Vrms) directly from the piezoelectric transformer 1), an comparator 12 for comparing an output of the rectifying circuit 12 with a reference voltage Vref, an integrating circuit 13 receiving an output of the comparator 12, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 15 receiving an output of the integrating circuit 13, and another integrating circuit 14 receiving the output of the integrating circuit 13 and having an output connected to a control input of the integrating circuit 13.
With this arrangement, the AC current IO(mArms) flowing through the load 2 is converted by the current-to-voltage converter 10 into a voltage signal, which is in turn rectified by the rectifying circuit 11 to a DC detection signal. This DC detection signal is compared with the reference voltage Vref by the comparator 12. When the DC detection signal is smaller than the reference voltage Vref, the comparator 12 outputs a high level signal to the integrating circuit 13, and on the other hand, the integrating circuit 13 is configured to continuously drop its output voltage at a constant rate during a period in which the integrating circuit 13 receives the high level signal. The output voltage of the integrating circuit 13 is applied to the VCO 15, which generates a pulse having a frequency in proportion to the received voltage. This pulse is supplied to the 2-phase pulse generator 9 so that the piezoelectric transformer 1 is driven with the frequency of the VCO 15. Therefore, when the DC detection signal is smaller than the reference voltage Vref, the driving frequency continues to drop.
The following is the reason for sweeping the driving frequency from a high frequency side to a low frequency side. It is constructed to use a frequency region higher than the resonance frequency "fr" of the piezoelectric transformer 1. On the other hand, it is also designed that if the detection signal outputted from the rectifying circuit 11 is lower than the reference voltage Vref, the driving frequency drops. The closer the driving frequency becomes to the resonance frequency "fr", the step-up ratio of the piezoelectric transformer 1 increases, and therefore, the AC current IO (mArms) (or alternatively, the AC voltage VO (Vrms)) continues to increase. In this condition, when the voltage applied to the comparator 12 exceeds the reference voltage Vref, the output of the comparator 12 becomes the low level, which in turn causes the integrating circuit 13 to stop its integration operation. Thereafter, the output of the integrating circuit 13 is maintained at a voltage level just before the output of the comparator 12 becomes the low level. Accordingly, the output frequency of the VCO 15 becomes a constant, and therefore, the piezoelectric transformer 1 is driven with a constant driving frequency, so that the AC current IO (mArms) (or alternatively, the AC voltage VO (Vrms)) supplied from the piezoelectric transformer 1 is maintained at a constant level.
When the input DC voltage VDD is smaller than a rated voltage, or during a period until a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (cold-cathode tube) connected as the load 2 starts to discharge, a predetermined AC current IO (mArms) (or AC voltage VO (Vrms)) cannot be supplied to the load 2. In this situation, the driving frequency of the VCO 15 drops lower than the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric transformer. Thereafter, when the input DC voltage VDD reaches the rated voltage or more, or when the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp starts to actually discharge, the step-up ratio of the piezoelectric transformer 1 is not sufficient, so that a necessary electric power cannot be supplied to the load 2. Accordingly, when the driving frequency dropped to a minimum frequency of the VCO 15, it is necessary to return the driving frequency to a frequency region which is higher than the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric transformer 1. An operation for this purpose will be described in the following:
If it is not possible to supply the predetermined AC current IO (mArms) (or AC voltage VO (Vrms)) to the load 2, the output of the comparator 12 remains at the high level, which causes the driving frequency to continue to drop. If the output voltage of the integrating circuit 13 becomes lower than a minimum reference voltage Vmin which is set to correspond to the minimum frequency of the VCO 15, the comparator 14 outputs a reset signal of a high level to the integrating circuit 13. In response to this reset signal, the output voltage of the integrating circuit 13 is brought to a maximum voltage, which corresponds to a maximum frequency of the VCO 15. As a result, the driving frequency becomes the maximum frequency of the VCO 15, and the above mentioned operation will be repeated until the predetermined AC current IO (mArms) (or AC voltage VO (Vrms)) is supplied to the load 2.
Thus, when the input DC voltage VDD recovers the rated voltage or more, or when the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp connected as the load 2 starts to discharge, it is possible to supply the predetermined electric power.
As mentioned above, when the input DC voltage VDD is not less than the rated voltage, since the constant AC current IO (mArms) (or AC voltage VO (Vrms)) is supplied to the load 2, it is possible to supply the constant AC current IO (mArms) (or AC voltage VO (Vrms)) to the load 2, regardless of variations of the ambient temperature, the power source voltage and the load.
Referrring to FIG. 3, there is shown a block diagram of a prior art example of the DC-to-DC converter using a piezoelectric transformer, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Pre-examination Publication No. JP-A-4-210733.
As shown in FIG. 3, a DC voltage supplied from a DC power source 30 is supplied to a primary electrode driving circuit 31, which generates an AC voltage for driving primary electrodes of a piezoelectric transformer 1. Thus, secondary electrodes of the piezoelectric transformer 1 output a stepped-up AC voltage to an output rectifying circuit 32, which in turn supplies a rectified DC voltage to a load 2. Furthermore, the rectified DC voltage is also supplied to a detecting and amplifying circuit 35, which in turn supplies a detected and amplified signal to a variable frequency oscillator 33 so as to adjust an oscillation frequency of the variable frequency oscillator 33 supplied to the primary electrode driving circuit 31. Thus, by adjusting the driving frequency of the piezoelectric transformer 1, the step-up ratio of the piezoelectric transformer 1 is adjusted. In the above mentioned feedback loop, the DC voltage supplied to the load is stabilized.
The primary electrode driving circuit 31 shown in FIG. 3 adopts a resonance type converter configured to carry out a zero-voltage switching (ZVS) of the drive voltage or a zero-current switching (ZCS) of the drive current. Therefore, in order to adjust a duty ratio (duty factor) of switching means (not shown) included in the primary electrode driving circuit 31, thereby adjusting the switching timing of the primary electrode driving circuit 31, the rectified DC voltage is further supplied to a voltage-to-duty converting circuit 34, which in turn controls an on-off timing of the switching means (not shown) included in the primary electrode driving circuit 31, so that the primary electrode driving circuit 31 drives the piezoelectric transformer 1 with an adjusted half-wave sine wave.
Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a block diagram of a prior art example of a DC-to-AC inverter using a piezoelectric transformer, which has a construction similar to that of the circuit shown in FIG. 3 and which is disclosed in "NIKKEI ELECTRONICS", No.621, pp147-157, Nov. 7, 1994.
In the inverter shown in FIG. 4, a forward type converter is constituted of an electromagnetic transformer T1 and a transistor Q1, to control a duty ratio and to realize the zero current switching (ZCS), so that a half-wave sine wave is generated to drive a piezoelectric transformer 1. An AC voltage stepped up by the piezoelectric transformer 1 is suppled to a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp constituting a load 2. A current flowing through the load 2 is converted by a resistor R10 and a diode D10 into a half-wave sinusoidal voltage, which is in turn supplied to a control IC (integrated circuit) 40.
In the control IC 40, the half-wave sinusoidal voltage is supplied through a buffer 45 to an integrating circuit 46, in which the half-wave sinusoidal voltage is converted into a DC voltage, which is in turn supplied to a VCO 42. In accordance with the magnitude of the receiving DC voltage, the VCO 42 generates a driving frequency for the piezoelectric transformer 1, and the driving frequency is supplied to a drive circuit 43 for driving the transistor Q1. As shown in FIG. 4, the control IC 40 additionally includes a starter circuit and load disconnection detection protection circuit 47, an input power source voltage detecting circuit 41, and an abnormal lighting detecting protection circuit and input voltage drop detecting protection circuit 44, which function to stop operation of the inverter shown in FIG. 4 when abnormality occurs in the power source voltage and/or in the load.
The piezoelectric transformer driving circuit shown in FIG. 1 is disadvantageous in the following points: For example, in the case that a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp is connected as the load for the piezoelectric transformer, for stabilizing luminescence of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp, the circuit controls the driving frequency to increase or decrease the step-up ratio of the piezoelectric transformer for the purpose of controlling the current flowing through the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp to a predetermined desired value.
Generally, the piezoelectric transformer exhibits a maximum efficiency around a resonance frequency of the piezoelectric transformer, and the farther the driving frequency separates from the resonance frequency, the efficiency for transmitting an input power applied to the primary electrodes to an output power obtained from the secondary electrodes drops. Accordingly, if the piezoelectric transformer is caused to operate at a driving frequency exhibiting the maximum efficiency of the piezoelectric transformer, the driving frequency becomes the resonance frequency "fr" as shown in FIG. 5B, and then, the piezoelectric transformer operates with a maximum step-up ratio Av. Here, if the driving voltage of the piezoelectric transformer drops, the above mentioned current flowing through the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp cannot be maintained.
In the circuit shown in FIG. 1, a peak voltage VS1(Vo-p) of the driving voltage for the piezoelectric transformer is in proportion to a peak voltage Vd1(Vo-p) of the drain voltage of the transistor Q1, but as shown in FIG. 5A, since this peak drain voltage Vd1(Vo-p) of the transistor Q1 becomes about three times the input DC voltage VDD, the peak driving voltage VS1(Vo-p) is also in proportion to the input DC voltage VDD. Therefore, it is so set that, when the input DC voltage VDD is a minimum input voltage VDDmin(V), the driving frequency becomes the resonance frequency "fr" of the piezoelectric transformer in order to cause the piezoelectric transformer to operate with the maximum efficiency.
Under this condition, if the input DC voltage elevates, it is so controlled that the driving frequency for the piezoelectric transformer 1 is shifted or deviated to a frequency higher than the resonance frequency, with the result that the step-up ratio drops to supply a constant current to the load. For example, if the input DC voltage becomes two times the minimum input voltage, namely, 2VDDmin(V), the driving frequency is controlled to a frequency "fl" which makes the step-up ratio of the piezoelectric transformer 1 a half, and if the input DC voltage becomes 3VDDmin(V), the driving frequency is controlled to a frequency "f2" which makes the step-up ratio of the piezoelectric transformer 1 one third.
However, in the control method as mentioned above, when the power source voltage supplied to the driving circuit (boosting circuit) is high, it is not possible to avoid the piezoelectric transformer from operating at a driving frequency giving a low efficiency. Therefore, in the case that the piezoelectric transformer is operated in a wide power source voltage range, an averaged efficiency inevitably drops.
In this connection, the transistors Q1 and Q2 are required to have a high breakdown voltage so that these transistors are never broken down at a peak voltage occurring when the input DC voltage VDD is maximum. Accordingly, when the power source voltage range is wide, transistors having a high breakdown voltage are required. This results in an increased on-resistance which lowers the efficiency, and also increases the cost.
Another problem has been encountered in that, since the driving frequency is elevated to lower the step-up ratio of the piezoelectric transformer when the input DC voltage VDD becomes high, the driving waveform can no longer maintain a voltage resonance (series resonance) waveform, with the result that each of the transistors Q1 and Q2 is turned on before the voltage at the primary electrodes of the piezoelectric transformer becomes zero, and therefore, a zero voltage switching (ZVS) cannot be realized. Therefore, a large current flows through each of the transistors Q1 and Q2, so that the amount of heat generation becomes large, which is often destroys the transistor. Therefore, the widening of the input voltage range is inevitably restricted by a certain upper limit.
The above mentioned restrictions make it difficult to widen the input voltage range to greatly exceed beyond about two times the minimum input voltage. Accordingly, for example, the input DC voltage range becomes from 8 V to 16 V. To the contrary, a circuit utilizing an electromagnetic transformer can have a wide input voltage range of about three or four times the minimum input voltage (for example, from 5 V to 20 V in the DC voltage), since it can have a wide driving frequency range and further is not required to adopt the driving of the voltage resonance (series resonance) type or the current resonance (parallel resonance) type. Accordingly, the inverter and the DC-to-DC converter utilizing the piezoelectric transformer are narrow in the input voltage range, in comparison with those utilizing the electromagnetic transformer, and therefore, is restricted in the extent of application.
On the other hand, in the piezoelectric transformer driving circuits shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, since the resonance frequency range of the piezoelectric transformer is narrow, namely, since the Q factor of the piezoelectric transformer is high, the driving frequency can be adjusted only in the range of a few %. In addition, the on-off duty ratio of the transistor of the one-transistor type forward type converter can almost never be changed. As a result, there similarly occurs the phenomenon that the driving voltage for the piezoelectric transformer becomes large in proportion to the input voltage, and therefore, it is necessary to drive the piezoelectric transformer in a region of a low step-up ratio by shifting the driving frequency of the piezoelectric transformer from the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric transformer, completely similarly to the example shown in FIG. 1.
In the above mentioned examples, furthermore, it is required to so design that, when the input voltage is maximum, a magnetic saturation is never caused by a current flowing through a primary winding of the electromagnetic transformer for driving the piezoelectric transformer. Accordingly, the electromagnetic transformer is required to have a sufficient margin in capacity. Since the current flowing through the primary winding is in proportion to the input voltage, if the input voltage supplied to the driving circuit becomes double, the current flowing through the primary winding correspondingly becomes double. In this case, therefore, there is required an electromagnetic transformer allowing two times the current flowing when the circuit operates at a minimum voltage.
Conventionally, in order to cause a large current to flow through a winding of the electromagnetic transformer with no magnetic saturation, the size of the electromagnetic transformer inevitably becomes large. The piezoelectric transformer can be formed in a thinned shape in comparison with the electromagnetic transformer, but if the size of the electromagnetic transformer for driving the piezoelectric transformer becomes large, the advantage of the thin shape of the piezoelectric transformer can be exerted, so that a thinned shape inverter or power supply cannot be realized.
In the above mentioned piezoelectric transformer driving circuits, in order to enable the piezoelectric transformer driving circuit to operate in a wide input voltage range, the efficiency inevitably drops, or alternatively, the size of the device unavoidably becomes large. Therefore, the input voltage range cannot be satisfactorily widened.
From a different viewpoint, in the case that the piezoelectric transformer is used as a high voltage supply for lighting a backlight composed of a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (cold-cathode tube), it is necessary to control the current flowing through the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp in order to adjust the backlight luminance. The cold-cathode fluorescent lamp has a characteristics of a negative resistance in which if the lamp current value becomes small, the impedance increases, and can be expressed by a resistance component RL and a capacitance component CL in an electric equivalent circuit, as shown in FIG. 2.
If an absolute value of the current flowing through the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp becomes small, a current flowing in a stray capacitance can no longer be ignored, so that there occurs a difference in current value between a high voltage side and a low voltage side of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp, with the result that the luminance becomes uneven. This is inconvenient in the case that the backlight is constituted of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp.
Under the above mentioned circumstance, in order to widely change the luminance, a so-called "burst light adjusting method" has been known, which is also called a "pulse width modulation light adjusting method". This method is characterized in that, the lamp current of the cold-cathode fluorescent lamp is intermittently turned on and off at predetermined intervals (for example, 210 Hz) which is not sensible to a human eye as a flicker, and a ratio of an on-time to an off-time is changed to equivalently change the luminance.
In order to realize this burst light adjusting method in the piezoelectric transformer driving circuit shown in FIG. 1, it is necessary to stop the alternating on-off operation of the two transistors Q1 and Q2 in order to intermittently stop the driving voltage applied to the piezoelectric transformer. This means that one side of the load inductance is opened, with the result that the accumulated current energy is discharged as a voltage energy, which generates a voltage surge far larger than the driving voltage of the piezoelectric transformer. Accordingly, it is required to provide a protection means for protecting the transistors from breakdown. This protection means may be constituted of a protection circuit incorporating therein a Zener diode.

Piezoelectric transformer driving circuit


The present invention is an image processing apparatus applied to a digital camera which includes a Bayer array CCD for producing and outputting an image lacking at least one type of color component per pixel by capturing an optical image focused by an optical system, a line correction circuit for correcting the difference in gain between lines on the image output from the CCD via a single-chip image buffer, and an interpolation circuit for producing color image data by interpolating a missing color component at each pixel of the single-chip image data output from the line correction circuit via a WB correction circuit based on information regarding neighborhood pixels.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing apparatuses and image processing programs for processing images output from a single-chip image pickup system, a two-chip image pickup system, or a three-chip pixel-shifting image pickup system to generate a color digital image with three color component values at each pixel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Single-chip image pickup systems frequently used in, for example, digital cameras use a single-chip image pickup element having a different color filter for each pixel, and an image output from the image pickup element has only one type of color component value at each pixel. Thus, interpolation for compensating for missing color component values at each pixel is required to produce a color digital image. Interpolation for compensating for these missing color component values is also required in apparatuses which use a two-chip image pickup system or a three-chip pixel-shifting image pickup system.
This interpolation may cause the finally produced color images to undergo deterioration such as false color or blurring, unless ingenuity is exercised. For this reason, interpolation based on various methods has been proposed. Interpolation is classified roughly into two types. One is based on a method of edge detection and the other is based on a method of color correlation.
A technique based on edge detection is described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-298669. The technique described in that Patent Application Publication will now be described with reference to FIGS. 32A and 32B. FIGS. 32A and 32B are illustrations for known interpolation based on edge detection.
It is assumed that a single-chip image pickup element is realized by, for example, a single-chip Bayer array image pickup element provided with color filters of a three-primary-color Bayer array, as shown in FIG. 32A. When neighborhood pixels of B5 in the form of a cross, which is a pixel of interest, are given, as shown in FIG. 32B, along the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, an interpolation value Gh for G in the horizontal direction and an interpolation value Gv for G in the vertical direction of the relevant pixel of interest are estimated as shown in Expression 1.Gh=(G4+G6)/2+(2×B5−B3−B7)/4  [Expression 1]Gv=(G2+G8)/2+(2×B5−B1−B9)/4
Then, evaluation values dH and dV are calculated as shown in Expression 2, where dH and dV indicate the direction in which more gaps exist, i.e., the horizontal direction or the vertical direction.dH=|G4−G6|+|B3−2×B5+B7|  [Expression 2]dV=|G2−G8|+|B1−2×B5+B9|Symbol |x| represents the absolute value of x. The interpolation value Gh or Gv is used depending on the direction corresponding to the evaluation value dH or dV calculated in this manner, whichever is determined to be smaller or flatter.
On the other hand, a technique based on color correlation is described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-215512. The technique described in this Patent Application Publication will now be described with reference to FIG. 33. FIG. 33 is an illustration for known interpolation based on color correlation.
As shown in FIG. 33, it is assumed that, in the vicinity of a pixel of interest X, a linear correlation as represented by Expression 3 using factors αqp and βqp is established between Vp and Vq, which are respectively the component values of any two color component types p and q selected from among the color components of the color filters included in the image pickup element (e.g., r, g, and b for color filters on a primary-color system).Vq=αqp×Vp+βqp  [Expression 3]Here, p and q are one of r, g, and b, if the color filters included in the image pickup element are based on, for example, the primary-color system, and the component values Vp and Vq corresponding to the color components p and q, respectively, are values of pixels in a neighborhood of the pixel of interest X.
Then, the pixels in a neighborhood U determined in the vicinity of the pixel of interest X are classified into three subsets Ur, Ug, and Ub, according to the obtained color component type r, g, or b. The factors αqp and βqp are estimated from Expression 4 shown below based on the average Ac (where, c is one of r, g, and b) and the standard deviation Sc (where, c is one of r, g, and b) of the pixel values in each of the subsets.αqp=Sq/Sp, βqp=Aq−αqpAp  [Expression 4]
This technique is based on the concept that the ratio of the width of the distribution of the color component q (standard deviation Sq) to the width of the distribution of color component p (standard deviation Sp) gives the gradient αqp of the linear correlation shown in Expression 3 and that, furthermore,.a straight line with the obtained gradient αqp passes through a point plotted by the mean value Ap of the color component p and the mean value Aq of the color component q.
Then, based on the estimated factors αqp and βqp, the value Xm of a missing color component m at the pixel of interest X is calculated from the value Xe of the color component e obtained at the pixel of interest X, as shown in Expression 5 below.Xm=αme×Xe+βme  [Expression 5]
Here, m and e are each one of r, g, and b.
As described above, the known technique based on color correlation is characterized in that the correlation between pixel values of different color components in the neighborhood of the pixel of interest can be estimated.
On the other hand, in an actual image pickup system, variance in sensitivity may occur between even pixels that use the same color filters and in fact should produce the same color components, due to a difference in gain between lines or slightly different spectral characteristics of the used color filters.
In all the above-described techniques, the color component obtained at the pixel of interest is used without any change for the interpolation result. Hence, when a missing color component at the pixel of interest is to be calculated, information regarding the pixel of interest itself is reflected in the result. In general, it is more efficient to use, for the interpolation result, information regarding the original color component obtained at each pixel without any change. If the sensitivity differs at pixels where the same color components are obtained, however, this processing causes the sensitivity variance between the pixels to be directly reflected in the interpolation result. As a result, a side effect, such as the appearance of a slight grid pattern, occurs.

Image processing apparatus and image processing program


Niobium dioxide is produced by heating particulate niobium nitride in an oxygen atmosphere at a temperature above the melting point of niobium dioxide. The product obtained predominantly contains niobium dioxide.

Oxides of niobium and processes for making them and their derivatives have received relatively little attention for use as refractory materials. This is principally because Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5, the most commonly encountered oxide, is not highly refractory. It melts at 1450 degrees Celsius and suffers considerable loss of oxygen near this temperature. Other oxides of niobium, e.g., NbO and NbO.sub.2, have received relatively little attention because they are difficult to prepare. As a result, the use of NbO.sub.2 as a novel starting material for any binary and higher-order mixtures with other oxides has not been extensive. Because of this, difficulty there has been limited use of such materials. There is need, therefore, for a better procedure for preparing NbO.sub.2 in order to better exploit the use of oxides of niobium and its derivatives.
Heretofore, the obtaining of NbO.sub.2 has been achieved in a variety of ways such as the reduction of Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5 by hydrogen, which reaction is also reversible. Also, by heating Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5 in a current of argon at 1150 degrees Celsius, the dissociation of the pentoxide is appreciable. For use in X-ray studies, single crystals of NbO.sub.2 have been prepared by melting pressed tablets of Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5 and metal powder, correctly proportioned, in an electric arc furnace.
Niobium dioxide prepared as described is known to have a tetragonal crystal structure as its most common polymorph, a variant of the rutile structure of TiO.sub.2 Zircon, ZrSiO.sub.4, is also a tetragonal oxide material, which structure is useful in several applications. Therefore, it may be projected useful applications would be found for NbO.sub.2 provided it were more directly and economically available.
Due to its complicated electronic structure, it has been used or proposed in such applications as secondary lithium batteries, fuel cell catalyst, photoelectrochemical cell anode, and as a thermochromic material.
Japanese Patent 89-128355 describes the use of NbO.sub.2 in batteries which exhibit a high capacity and a long cycle life. The use of NbO.sub.2 is also described in PCT number 87-07422 for an interference film component in a magneto-optical recording disk. Some of these uses include NbO.sub.2 alone or in combination with other metals or metal oxides. Nevertheless, mixtures of NbO.sub.2 with other oxides have not been studied extensively since it is first necessary to produce NbO.sub.2 as a powder, then to combine it with another material and heat it to elevated temperatures for prolonged times to generate a new material. There is, therefore, a need for a process which generates NbO.sub.2 at a high thermal plateau, so that it can react readily.

Process for synthesizing niobium dioxide and mixed metal oxides containing niobium

Teledyne Industries, Inc. (California Corp.)


A device for shaping the mesh of a lacrosse stick head includes a ball similar in size to a lacrosse ball and carried by an elongated handle. A positioning rod is detachably connected to the handle and adapted to extend transverse to the plane of the head and serve as a fulcrum for pivoting the handle away from the head and driving the ball into the mesh of the head to stretch the mesh and form a pocket in it.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a device for stretching and forming a pocket in the mesh of a lacrosse stick head. There are presently available two types of devices used for this general purpose. One such device marketed under the name Warrior Pocket Pounder comprises a ball carried on a handle, and it is used to repeatedly strike the mesh in a hammer-like motion so as to break in the mesh. The other known available type device serves to stretch the mesh and thereby form the pocket. In the latter device, a hemispherically shaped ball is carried by a threaded shaft that is in turn assembled on the head of the stick with the shaft disposed essentially perpendicular to the plane of the face of the head, and the shaft is rotated to force the ball into the mesh. The present invention is capable of performing both the pounding and stretching functions and further is easier to mount on the stick head for performing the stretching function.
2. Discussion of Related Art
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. application Ser. No. 60/582,162 entitled LACROSSE STICK POCKET CREATOR filed Jun. 23, 2004, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.


A visor that can be removably attached to a variety of field masks, including those used in softball and baseball and other sports, to protect the user from weather elements and minimize sun damage while not affecting play and withstanding movement. In some embodiments, the visor may include a curvilinear base having at least one recess. The visor may additionally include a brim attached to, or formed with, the base. The visor may further include a fastener received in the at least one recess, where the fastener is configured to secure the visor to the field mask.

The present invention is directed to protective sport headgear, and more specifically to a visor that removably attaches to field masks used to play sports.
Softball and baseball are popular sports in the United States, with a combined total of five million teenage players annually and growing. In 2013, around a quarter of all softball injuries were to the head, face or neck. These injuries may range anywhere from broken noses, knocked-out teeth, lacerations, to concussions. Due to the close proximity and speed at which the pitchers throw the ball, batters generally use protective face masks and other gear to minimize the risk of injury. In recent years, defensive players in the field have also begun to wear protective face masks.
A softball or baseball field mask generally includes three connected structures assembled to fit over a player's head. First, the centerpiece generally includes a cross bar assembly that covers a player's facial area from the eyes and below, and oftentimes the centerpiece also includes a chin cup or pad for added security and comfort. Common materials for the centerpiece are steel, titanium, or other types of light weight metal. Second, an upper piece frames the player's eye and forehead area from the temples, over the ears, and across the forehead. The upper piece typically has padding inserted for added stability, fit and comfort. The upper piece is generally firmly affixed to the centerpiece and the two pieces form the bulk of the field mask and provide protection for the head. The final structure generally comprises adjustable straps that connect to the upper piece from the top and the sides, where the straps go over a player's head from the top to the back and secure the field mask position on the player's head. The straps may be made from durable fabric, nylon and other materials.
While these field masks greatly help prevent injuries, when the field mask is worn, the upper piece and the straps typically preclude the wearer from wearing a traditional visor or ball cap. This means the wearer must contend with the glare and U.V. damage from the sun and waterdrops from the rain, as well as any other weather elements, which can negatively affect visibility. Prolonged exposure to the sun may also cause permanent damage to a player's skin. If the player wears glasses, rain can greatly obscure visibility if there is nothing to shield it, and the player may have to wipe the glasses to resume playing.
What is desired, therefore, is an assembly that includes a field mask visor that can be removably attached to field masks, to protect the user from weather elements and minimize sun damage while not affecting play and withstanding movement.

Selectively attachable visors for field masks


An image pickup apparatus permits easy setting of an optimum hue of an image to be shot by displaying a hue chart in the image pickup apparatus, thereby enabling the user to visually check each hue set in the process of selecting an optimum hue according to the taste or intention of the user or the place where he or she is located. The user arbitrarily designates a tracing range of white balancing. Then, the tracing range parameters for achromatic color determination are selected on the basis of the designated tracing range. White balancing is carried out on an image signal output from an imaging element using the selected tracing range parameters. Based on the image signal that has been subjected to the white balancing, a color signal and a luminance signal are generated and output, thereby enabling the user to set or check an achromatic color determining range for white balancing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus equipped with an imaging element having a plurality of types of color filters and with a hue setting feature for processing image signals, an image pickup method, and a recording medium and a program therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following will describe an example in which a user sets a hue in an image pickup apparatus. The example relates to a setting method for white balancing (hereinafter referred to as "WB") in a digital camera.
In a conventional digital camera, the basic setting modes selected by a user to correct WB are an automatic white balancing (hereinafter referred to as "AWB") mode and a manual mode. When the AWB mode is set, a light source or a color temperature is automatically determined to correct the WB accordingly. When the manual mode is set, a light source, such as an electric bulb or a fluorescent lamp, and a color temperature are specified to perform a predetermined WB. The manual mode is suited for a case where it is difficult to automatically determine a light source or a case where different color temperatures are to be set.
The aforementioned AWB will now be described. There are two techniques for accomplishing automatic WB according to color temperature changes. In a first technique, a region that should show an achromatic color is determined from image data (hereinafter referred to as "the determination of achromatic color"), then the WB is performed to make the determined region achromatic. According to a second technique, the image signals of the overall image data are averaged for each color component, and the mean values are used to accomplish the WB. To determine achromatic colors, a region that should look achromatic is defined as an achromatic color determining range on a predetermined hue plane, then the region that should show an achromatic color is determined by determining whether each region is within a defined chromatic color extraction range. The hue plane is a coordinate plane in which, for example, the axis of ordinate indicates the assessment values of changes in hue toward green from magenta via an achromatic color, while the axis of abscissa indicates the assessment values of changes in color temperature. The hue plane plots color temperatures and hues of diverse light sources. The hue plane will be explained in more detail hereinafter.
The first technique described above is effective when the region of a substance or object that should look achromatic (hereinafter referred to simply as "the range") in image data in video signals obtained from an imaging element or the like is sufficiently large. This technique is disadvantageous, however, in that it is difficult to accurately perform WB if there is no region of a substance or object that should show an achromatic color or if the region is extremely small.
Even if a sufficiently large region of the substance that should look achromatic can be extracted, erroneous extraction of an achromatic color may result in the case of, for example, an achromatic color at a low color temperature and a flesh color at a high color temperature, or an achromatic color at a high color temperature and blue or the like at a low color temperature. In these cases, achromatic color extraction results that are similar to each other are provided. Especially when a wider achromatic color determining range is set, the AWB can be accomplished for a wider variety of light sources, while on the other hand, more determination errors may result in cases where similar achromatic color determination results are obtained.
For instance, an achromatic fluorescent lamp has more green components than a sunlight light source. Hence, for most fluorescent lamps, AWB is accomplished by making a setting to provide an extended tracing range toward green, i.e., an extended achromatic color determining range, on a hue plane. On the other hand, erroneous determination results in the case of a fluorescent lamp against lawn or the like of a pale color, thus preventing accurate WB adjustment. If, however, the tracing range is narrowed, then the types of light sources that can be covered by tracing will be inconveniently limited.
According to the second technique, the color components in image data are integrated, and the integrated value provides the achromatic color. This approach poses the following problem. When shooting a scene in which a particular color is dominant, e.g., a sunset scene, it is undesirably determined that the integrated value indicates an achromatic color, whereas the mean value determined by integration does not indicate an achromatic color. This results in a serious determination error.
There have been proposed a third technique that combines the first technique and the second technique discussed above, and a fourth technique in which the information regarding the brightness of an object is separately used to estimate the color temperature of a light source.
A proposed image pickup apparatus, for example, has a detector for detecting the brightness of an object, a limiter for limiting the white balancing range for at least an object of a low color temperature, and a balancing range changer for changing the limited white balancing range according to the outputs of the detector so as to expand the range when an object is dark. More specifically, if an object is relatively bright, then it is presumed that the user is likely to be outdoors and the white balancing for an outdoor sunlight light source is effected. Each time an object grows darker, cloudiness or shade is added to the AWB tracing range (achromatic color determining range), and the object grows further darker, then indoor light sources, such as electric bulbs and fluorescent lamps, are added to the AWB tracing range. Using these techniques makes it possible to automatically adjust white balance to obtain hues matched to human sense based on remembered/stored colors and/or experiences, according to shooting circumstances.
Although the above third and fourth techniques solve the problems with respect to the first and second techniques, to a certain extent, they are not fundamental solutions, because they are not capable of accurately determining light sources. More specifically, the techniques are effective within a range of light sources and environments that have been assumed beforehand, but proper WB cannot be accomplished when light sources and/or environments are out of the expected range. For instance, AWB may not be properly effected under an extremely bright bulb light source or when shooting a pale green object in a dark place.
There is a case where WB should fully trace the changes of light sources; on the other hand, there is a case where capturing the atmosphere of a scene is more important than making WB fully trace light source changes. The selection between these two cases depends on the taste or intention of a shooter. For example, a depiction with a remaining reddish tint and a depiction with full WB effected under a bulb light source are both frequently used, depending on shooting scenes. It is therefore difficult to decide on an optimum tracing range of expected light sources and the optimum tracing range also depends on the shooter'intention. This poses a problem in that it is extremely difficult to determine standard optimum WB settings for multiple users. Furthermore, conventionally it has been impossible for users to visually recognize the WB settings in terms of colors.
When setting a color shade or a hue of an image signal, in an RGB space, for example, a user cannot visually identify RGB set values in setting each of the RGB independent parameters. It is therefore difficult to determine optimum color balance. Furthermore, when checking the color shade of an image to be shot displayed in a histogram, the entire color balance cannot be visually perceived by merely observing the respective independent levels of the RGB.

Image pickup apparatus and method, recording medium, and program providing user selected hue and white balance settings


An optical fiber plug for high density optical fiber connections is proposed for matching with an optical fiber adapter, and includes a body with an elastic buckling member (130) to buckle the adapter, and an ejecting assembly actuated at the same time when the buckling member (130) is actuated to release the body from the adapter. The ejecting assembly includes an ejecting spring (420) and an ejecting rod (410) arranged in the body. The ejecting rod (410) is ejected from the body when the ejecting assembly is actuated, and stopped on the adapter to eject the body out of the adapter. The optical fiber plug can be automatically ejected out of the adapter when the buckling member (130) of the plug is actuated, thus solving the problem of operational difficulties caused by reducing the geometric size of the plug, and realizing high density optical fiber connections with optical fiber jumpers.

The capability of information interconnection is remarkably increased by the Internet and wireless technologies, which experienced an exponential growth across the globe and are expected to support the data traffic generated by hundreds of millions of users. The global transmission of billions of digital data is achieved by switches, long-distance optical fibers, Metropolitan Area Networks, and other various access technologies. The connections between optical fibers and those between optical fibers and equipments are achieved by connectors. As the information interconnection grows explosively, the density of the optical fiber connections is required to be improved continuously, that is, more optical fiber connections per unit volume should be achieved.
Due to the small diameter of the optical fiber, even of the optical fiber coated with a protection layer, hundreds of optical fibers can be placed into an optical cable with a relatively small cross section. However, these optical fibers would cause the space occupied at the side of a connector to be increased by 20 to 50 or more times. Because the optical fiber connector should has a size large enough for holding by fingers, and sufficiently stable optical coupling and holding devices also occupy some space, a typical manner for increasing the connection density is to combine many optical fibers into a pin. However, such a manner is not suitable for the situation where an optical fiber jumper is required, especially in the application approaching the user terminal. In those situations of high density optical fiber connections in which the optical fiber jumper is needed, if the high density optical fiber connections are implemented merely by reducing the geometrical size of the optical fiber plug of the optical fiber connector, a significant operation difficulty will occur, and the neighboring optical fiber plug can be affected susceptibly. For example, during the pulling of an optical fiber plug, the optical fiber plug is difficult for operating due to its small size, and on the other hand, other neighboring optical fiber plugs are susceptible to improper touching and hence loosening.

Optical fiber plug for high density optical fiber connections


A semiconductor package socket comprises an insulating support substrate, pin contacts arranged in a constant-pitch lattice-array and which are attached in a manner that permits advance or retreat in a direction which is almost perpendicular to a main surface of the support substrate, a pin contact movement driving mechanism which advances or retreats the pin contacts en bloc, and a guide frame which has spaces to accommodate said pin contacts, which is freely detachable and which can cover areas other than those required by the pin contacts.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor package socket and, in particular, to a socket suitable for a semiconductor package wherein a semiconductor chip is mounted on a main surface of a board equipped with a wiring circuit that includes portions to be connected, and wherein flat external connector terminals for connecting to the input/output part of the semiconductor chip are arranged in a constant-pitch lattice-array and are derived and exposed on the back of the board.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, the structure of a memory card is restricted by such factors as its shape, size, and thickness. Thus, compact mounting of a semiconductor chip that provides memory and control functions is called for. Further, when packaging the semiconductor chip, it is desirable, as much as possible, for the package to be as thin or as compact as the semiconductor chip itself.
Some well-known methods used for compactly mounting the semiconductor chip are the TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) method, the flip chip mounting method and the COB (Chip on Board) method. A typical example of the compact package is given in FIG. 1 which shows a cross-sectional view of the principal structure of the semiconductor package comprising compact circuit board 1 on a main surface of which a semiconductor chip 2 with a memory function, and other electrical parts, are mounted; flat external connector terminals 4 derived from the other main surface of circuit board 1 via through-hole 3, and mold resin layer 5 which coats and seals the mounting region of said semiconductor chip 2. Reference numeral 6 in FIG. 1 represents a bonding wire. The semiconductor package wherein the external connector terminals are derived and exposed on the back (bottom) has the following advantages that make it attractive from the practical point of view:
(a) Face-down mounting is materially possible; PA1 (b) When the semiconductor chip itself is mounted face down, it may be made more compact by eliminating some of the resin mold; and PA1 (c) Compared to that of the semiconductor chip itself, electrical testing of individual products is easier.
However, while the external dimensions of the compact semiconductor package would differ according to the type or capacity of mounted semiconductor chip 2, the number and array form of external connector terminals 4 derived and exposed on the back would also differ. Therefore, when electrically testing and evaluating said compact package, is necessary to prepare dedicated semiconductor package sockets having pin contacts adapted to the number and array form of said external connector terminals 4. Thus, depending on the number and array form of the external connector terminals, dedicated sockets must be prepared beforehand in order to perform electrical testing and evaluation. This means that a large number of dedicated sockets for certain numbers and array forms of the external connector terminal of the semiconductor package is required. However, if the socket for testing is adaptable to many types of semiconductor packages, it is practically difficult to set the size of the compact semiconductor package close to that of the semiconductor chip.
Further, if external connector terminals 4 derived and exposed on the back of said compact semiconductor package are arranged in a constant-pitch lattice-array, the connecting terminals on the surface of the mounted wiring board can be standardized. Standardization of said connecting terminals then lead to the standardization of circuit design for mounted wiring boards, thus making it possible to expand the versatility of mounted wiring boards.
An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor package socket suitable for electrical testing of compact semiconductor packages having external connector terminals arranged in a constant-pitch lattice-array.
A further object of this invention is to provide a semiconductor package socket which is highly reliable for electrical testing and evaluation of compact semiconductor packages having external connector terminals arranged in a constant-pitch lattice-array.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide allow-cost semiconductor package socket through standardization.
A yet still further object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor package socket which may be used regardless of the type of the compact semiconductor package wherein external connector terminals are arranged in a constant-pitch lattice-array.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor package socket wherein it is possible to standardize the circuit design of the mounted wiring board and expand the versatility of the mounted wiring board.


Using a 1,5-anhydroglucitol dehydrogenase capable of acting on 1,5-anhydroglucitol and directly catalyzing a reducing chromophoric agent in the absence of an electron carrier, the 1,5-anhydroglucitol dehydrogenase is allowed to act on 1,5-anhydroglucitol in the presence of the reducing chromophoric agent preferably after the glucose in the specimen has been changed, or while being changed, into such a structure that it does not react with the 1,5-anhydroglucitol dehydrogenase in the specimen, by the aid of a glucose eliminator. Then, the amount of the resultant reduced colored substance is measured. As the 1,5-anhydroglucitol dehydrogenase, an enzyme produced by a microorganism having the ability to produce the 1,5-anhydroglucitol dehydrogenase is preferably used.

The 1,5-anhydroglucitol (hereinafter "1,5-AG") is present in body fluids (or humors) such as serum, blood plasma, urine and so forth of humans, and its quantity in the body fluids greatly varies when one suffers from a certain disease, in particular, diabetes. Accordingly, in recent years, it is being an important diagnostic item in clinical diagnosis as a useful diagnostic marker.
As a method of quantitative assay for this 1,5-AG, a method is prevalent in which pyranose oxidase or L-sorbose oxidase is allowed to act on 1,5-AG and the hydrogen peroxide formed is subjected to calorimetric quantitative assay using a color-forming system using peroxidase (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-41238). In recent years, this method is applied to general-purpose automatic analyzers. Since, however, these enzymes have a low substrate specificity and may also strongly react with saccharides such as glucose, it has been necessary to beforehand completely remove or eliminate the saccharides in specimens.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-24200 also discloses a method in which a 1,5-AG oxidizing enzyme having a high specificity to the 1,5-AG, produced from the genus Pseudomonas sp. NK-85001, is used to quantitatively assay the amount of consumption of oxygen after its reaction with 1,5-AG or the reaction products such as a reduction product of an electron acceptor. However, the method of measuring the amount of consumption of oxygen is not suitable for treating many specimens continuously. The method of measuring the reduction product of an electron acceptor is also not suitable for practical application because the method can not be said to be satisfactory taking account of the reduction product itself which is reversible and unstable and in view of sensitivity, when ferricyanic compounds and dichlorophenolindophenol as disclosed in that publication are used as electron acceptors.
In an instance where the quantitative assay is made using an enzyme such as 1,5-AG dehydrogenase requiring NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) as a coenzyme (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2-268679), such an enzyme may be affected by enzymes requiring the NAD as a coenzyme, e.g., lactate dehydrogenase and the like, contained in a biological sample, and hence this method has a problem on accuracy.
It is also known that glucoside 3-dehydrogenase EC 184.108.40.206! confirmed to be present in the soluble fraction of the genus Agrobacterium (The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol.242, No.16, pp.3665-3672, 1967) or the membrane fraction of the genus Flavobacterium acts on the 1,5-AG (The Journal of Biochemistry, Vol.100, No.4, pp.1049-1055, 1986). Since, however, these enzymes also have a low substrate specificity, it is necessary to beforehand completely remove or eliminate the saccharides in specimens. Also, they require to use ferricyanic compounds or dichlorophenol indophenol as the electron acceptor, and have problems on safety and sensitivity.
Meanwhile, as the clinical significance of 1,5-AG, in diabetics the 1,5-AG concentration in serum or blood plasma specifically becomes as low as several .mu.g/ml. On the other hand, with regard to glucose concentration, it is about 100 mg/dl in the case of normal persons, whereas it may reach 1,000 mg/dl in the case of diabetics. Thus, the difference in concentration between 1,5-AG and glucose reaches as much as thousands of times. No enzymes have ever been discovered which enable direct quantitative assay for 1,5-AG and are perfectly specific to it in specimens in which glucose is present together in such a high concentration.
Then, the glucose must be completely removed or eliminated when the quantitative assay is made using the pyranose oxidase or L-sorbose oxidase, having a poor specificity to 1,5-AG and rather strongly reacting with glucose. For this purpose, various methods are proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-41238 discloses a method in which a pre-treatment operation making use of an ion-exchanged resin is used in combination in order to remove saccharides such as glucose. As a method of eliminating glucose, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 1-320998, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-71514, Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open No. 6-237795, No. 3-27299, No. 6-245796, etc. disclose a method in which a glucose 6-position phosphorylated enzyme (glucokinase or hexokinase) is used and, also in order to bring this reaction into completion, the equilibrium of the phosphorylation of glucose is intended to be completely directed to glucose 6-phosphate (a coupling system employing several kinds of enzymes and substrates in combination). This method also intends to lessen the inhibitory action of ATP (adenosine 5'-triphosphate) on pyranose oxidase. Another method is also proposed as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publications No. 7-102154 and No. 7-108236, in which pH conditions for allowing pyranose oxidase to act on 1,5-AG are specified or pyranose oxidase with a different origin is used so that the ATP can have no inhibitory action.
However, of the above methods, the method employing an ion-exchanged resin requires so troublesome operations that it is not suitable for treating many specimens. Also, in the method employing a glucose 6-position phosphorylated enzyme and also a coupling system using several kinds of enzymes and substrates in combination, the reaction system is so complicated that the stability of the enzyme, substrate and so forth to be used must be taken into account. The method employing the glucose 6-position phosphorylated enzyme alone also have many restrictions such that the ATP must be used in great excess in order to completely convert and eliminate the glucose and the origin of pyranose oxidase and reaction conditions are limited. Thus, the method can not be so much general-purpose.

Method of quantitative assay for 1,5-anhydroglucitol and reagent for quantitative assay


An annular having a central bore includes a conical surface concentric with the bore such that the conical surface has a peak, an inner trough and an outer lip and the inner trough is adjacent to the central bore. A retention groove located under the outer lip has an outside diameter that is less than the lip outside diameter. A tapered reflective face extends outward from the retention groove. When a code wheel disc having an inside diameter that is smaller than said lip outside diameter is pressed onto the conical surface, the difference in size of the lip outside diameter and the disc inside diameter promotes a deflection of the disc which forces it to conform to the tapered reflective surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical encoder components, and more specifically, it relates to reflective code-wheel disc optical encoder manufacturing technology
2. Description of Related Art
Rotary encoders fulfill a multitude of consumer and industrial applications from acting as infinitely rotating dials on stereos and other human input devices to acting as feedback loops for motors that drive equipment demanding positional accuracy. There are a variety of styles of rotary encoder which are established as prior art. While some encoders utilize mechanical contact mechanisms similar to that of a brushed motor in order to send varying signals to a device, others utilize magnetic fields to send constantly varying analog signals as an output. The style of encoder discussed herein is a third type referred to an optical encoder, which is a device that utilizes a lighting source, a code wheel disc and a sensor to decipher the interruptions of the lighting source that are established during its interaction with the code wheel disc. Of optical encoders, there are two common types that establish the prior art. One of these types is a transmissive system that locates the light source on one side of a code wheel disc and the sensor on the other side of the code wheel disc. In this style of optical encoder, the code wheel disc may be a translucent mylar with opaque markings on its surface to block the transmission of the light source through the substrate, or it may be another mechanism such as an opaque plastic disc with cut-away gaps that allow the light signals to transmit through the gaps effecting the sensor. Another common type of optical encoder is that of the reflective code-wheel disc optical encoder, which employs a code-wheel disc which has a series of reflective and non-reflective patterns on its surface. Opposite that surface are both the light source and the sensor, arranged in a way in which the light source focuses on the surface of the code wheel disc in a fashion that reflects back toward the sensor when the wheel is oriented in a position where the reflective sections of code pattern interact with the light source. The pattern which is chosen in any optical rotary encoder can provide either an incremental or absolute position of the shaft to which the encoder codewheel is attached. FIG. 1 shows a prior art reflective code wheel design. A reflective mylar code-wheel disc 16 is embedded between glass discs 12 and 14. Reflective codewheel disc 16 is attached to hub 18 via retaining washer 10.

Encoder hub to disc attachment method and apparatus


A method of causing production and secretion into the bloodstream of a human patient of a biologically active enzyme for which the human patient suffers a deficiency; the method involves introducing into the human patient donor bone marrow stromal cells which have been transfected with a gene encoding the enzyme, so that the introduced cells can adhere to a bone cavity surface of the patient and produce and secrete the active enzyme.

This invention relates to the use of recombinant techniques to correct genetic deficiencies.
Hemophilia A, a bleeding disorder caused by a deficiency or abnormality of a particular clotting protein, Factor VIII-C, occurs in about 10-20 males in every 100,000. Afflicted individuals suffer episodes of uncontrolled bleeding and are treated currently with concentrates rich in Factor VIII-C derived from human plasma. Recombinant DNA technology has been proposed as useful for providing human Factor VIII-C purified from cultured cells as an alternative treatment for haemophiliacs (Toole et al., 1984, Nature 312:342).
Louis et al. (1988, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 85:3150) implanted collagen-embedded mouse primary skin fibroblasts infected with a recombinant retrovirus containing human factor IX cDNA into the epidermis of mice, and detected human factor IX for 10-12 days in the sera.
Garver et al. (1987, Science 237:762) transplanted murine fibroblasts containing recombinant DNA encoding human .alpha..sub.1 -antitrypsin into the peritoneal cavity of nude mice, and detected human .alpha..sub.1 -antitrypsin in the sera and the epithelial surface of the lungs. Garver et al. observe that "the level of gene expression in target cells such as fibroblasts has generally been better than with primate bone marrow stem cells".


A method, apparatus, and system of a sequencing technique to account for a clock error in a storage area network are disclosed. In one embodiment, a system of a backup server includes a processing module to examine a data timestamped with a sequence of characters denoting a time according to a clock source, an analysis module to determine that the data has been timestamped at an earlier time than an other data previously received, a substitution module to provide the data an incremental sequence number placed with the data using an algorithm until a new data is received that includes a future timestamp with a later timestamp than the timestamp of the other data, and a storage module to store the data.

A computer system (e.g., a storage area network, a local area network, etc.) may use a time log technique (e.g., maintaining a chronological record of a data processing event) as a data backup and/or restore technique in a data backup system (e.g., a peripheral data storage device, etc.). As a data (e.g., an information in a form suitable for processing by a computer) is written to a primary storage system (e.g., a storage disk array, a logical unit number system, etc.) a copy of the data may be written to a secondary storage system (e.g., a storage disk array, a logical unit data storage system, etc.). A time log (e.g., a chronological record of a data processing operation that may be used to construct or reinstate a historical or alternative version of a computer file) of a change to the data in the computer system may be sent to the secondary storage system and/or may identify when the change to the data occurred with a time stamp according to a clock source (e.g., a signal used to coordinate an action of a set of circuits). In the event of a disaster and/or a loss of the data stored elsewhere in the computer system or in the primary storage system, the data may be recovered from the secondary storage system. A recovery of the data may be accomplished by applying the time log to locate the appropriate data with the time stamp in the secondary storage system. The copy of the data may be written to a storage repository (e.g., a single volume several storage volumes, a set of files on a file system, etc.).
In order to retrieve the data stored to a single point in time across several storage volumes (e.g., could be stored in parallel), a user may need to identify a proper time and/or sequence the data was written onto the storage volumes. The data may be marked with a time stamp when it is placed onto the storage volume in order that it may later be recovered according to the proper sequence. The recovery of the data from the secondary storage system depends on an accuracy of the clock source. The clock source may inherently be unreliable (e.g., it may arbitrarily return to an earlier point of time, time keeping as queued, etc.). Consequently, the time stamp identifying the data on the storage volume or volumes may not be sufficient and/or accurate. This can prevent the system in identifying the proper sequence of the data stored in the secondary storage system. Thus, the time log technique as a method of data backup may become unreliable.

Sequencing technique to account for a clock error in a backup system


A device and method for regulating a cooking apparatus. In order to obtain an effective servocontrol of the desired temperature with a cooking surface, when cooking for example by induction, a servocontrol curve is used in the plane (i.e., temperature, variation of the temperature as a function of time). Each time the curve is crossed the heating power is cut off or reduced. The device and method applies principally to monitoring of the heating device. The device according to the present invention is particularly well adapted to cooking surfaces and especially to cooking surfaces wherein cooking is done by induction.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates principally to a device and to a method for regulation especially of the temperature and/or of the power of a cooking apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Background
It is known for electrical cooking apparatuses to associate a device for measurement of temperature with a device for regulation.
These apparatuses have the aim, after an initial period of pre-heating, of maintaining substantially constant the temperature of a heating receptacle. However, the temperature of the sensor or, preferably, of the recipient is regulated, and not its contents. In fact, in order to deduce the temperature of the contents from the temperature of the sensor, it would be necessary to know the development of the temperature. Now, the correlations between temperature of the sensor and that of the contents of the cooking receptacle vary (sic) from one cooking operation to the next and sometimes even in the course of a single cooking operation. This relation varies, for example, between a frying pan with one liter of oil and a shallow cast-iron saucepan with 3 liter of oil or a cast-iron grill pan. The addition, of, for example, 800 grams of chips in the course of cooking completely modifies the temperature of the contents of the receptacle and influence only after a certain delay and in a damped fashion the variation of the temperature of the sensor.

Device and method for regulation the temperature and/or power of a cooking apparatus

Compagnie Europeenne Pour L'Equipement Menager-Cepem


A terry fabric comprises a plurality of repeat units of interwoven warp and weft threads. Each of the repeat units comprises a set of ground warp threads, a set of pile warp threads, and a set of weft threads. The ground warp threads are woven tightly with the weft threads to form a substrate, and the pile warp threads are loosely interwoven with the weft threads to form pile loops. At least two adjacent weft threads are interwoven with the ground warp threads and the pile warp threads in an identical pattern (typically in a single machine cycle). In this configuration, fabrics with different properties can be producing in similar manufacturing duration, particularly if weft threads of different thread weight are employed.

Terry fabrics are very commonly used in numerous products, such as towels, robes and the like. Terry fabrics typically include within the fabric pile loops that provide texture, absorbency, softness, and other desirable properties to the fabric. The pile loops are interwoven with "ground" threads that serve as the base for the overall fabric. Loops may be incorporated into one or both sides of the fabric. Also, loops may be of different heights to provide a desired appearance or texture, and different colors or yarn types or sizes may also be employed to influence the look and properties of the fabric.
Terry fabrics are typically woven by employing two different types of warp threads that interweave with weft threads (also known as "picks"). "Ground" warps are interwoven with weft threads at a relatively high tension and form the base or substrate of the fabric. "Pile" warps are interwoven at a much lower tension and are advanced or "let off" from the loom beam at a higher rate of speed than the ground warp threads, and they are permitted to "float" over two or more adjacent picks. When all of the threads are "beat up" (i.e., pushed together with a bar or the like) at the conclusion of a weaving repeat, the pile threads form loops that extend away from the substrate. Common terry patterns include 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 pick weaves; higher pick patterns are often avoided for cost reasons, so most terry fabric is woven with a three-pick repeat pattern.
This type of terry fabric pattern has been used for years, but can have some shortcomings. For example, it would be desirable to increase the weight of the fabric without increasing manufacturing time. Further, it would be desirable to impart different fabric qualities into terry fabrics without increasing manufacturing time, and/or to match the quality of current products while decreasing manufacturing time. Also, during use the pile loops can slip relative to the substrate, which can negatively impact the quality of the fabric.

Terry fabric and method for weaving same


A configurable computer workstation has a base unit and at least one expansion unit, the units having height-adjustable legs and horizontal beams. A connecting structure hingedly and removably connects the expansion unit to the base unit to permit repositioning of the third height-adjustable leg spatially in a horizontal plane relative to the first and second height-adjustable legs. A clampable monitor mount is clampable on one of the beams and is infinitely adjustable along a length of the beam. Motorized height adjustment structures on the units are synchronized for adjusting height of the beams by the same amount in the same direction upon operation of a common control. The workstation is thereby modular, expandable and reconfigurable to permit configuring the workstation to accommodate physical space, ergonomics and the tasks to be performed at the workstation.

Computer workstations generally comprise furniture (e.g. a desk or table) on which computer equipment including a central processing unit, a video monitor, a keyboard, a computer mouse, an external disk drive, and the like, as well as paperwork and other ancillary equipment and items are arranged. More recently, computer workstations have been developed that employ multiple output devices (e.g. video monitors) linked to a single central processing unit (CPU) controlled by a user from a common input device (e.g. keyboard and/or mouse). Such workstations are useful for tasks that require the user to observe data displayed on multiple output devices and provide data input separately to the data files or computer programs that are serving each of the output devices.
Current workstation furniture is generally inadequate for providing a configuration of the furniture that can accommodate multiple output devices such as video monitors while being both ergonomically sound for any particular user and modular to permit expansion and reconfiguration of the workstation to accommodate physical space and ergonomics. There remains a need for such a computer workstation.


An inner space of an outer case is partitioned by a gas permiable diaphragm into a fluid pressure operating chamber and a reference pressure operating chamber. The former chamber communicates with a pressurized fluid inlet hole formed in the case, and the latter communicates with a pressure equalizing hole formed in the case. Electrical contacts are stored in the latter chamber to perform on/off-operation in response to deflection of the diaphragm caused by pressure change of pressurized fluid in the former chamber. Outer connection terminals for the contacts are supported by the outer case. A filter is provided in the equalizing hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure switch, and more particularly to a pressure switch comprising an outer case which has a fluid inlet hole and a pressure equalizing hole being independent of the fluid inlet hole and being adapted to communicate with an outer space, a diaphragm which partitions an inner space of the outer case into a fluid pressure operating chamber communicating with the fluid inlet hole and a reference pressure operating chamber communicating with the pressure equalizing hole, electrical contact means, stored in the reference pressure operating chamber, for performing on/off-operation in accordance with deflection of the diaphragm caused by the pressure change of fluid flowed into the fluid pressure operating chamber through the fluid inlet hole, and an outer connection electrical terminal which is supported by the outer case for the electrical contact means.
2. Description of the Related Art
This type of pressure switch is used in, for example, an airconditioner for an automobile, and its structure is disclosed in, for example, Published Unexamined Japanese Patent No. 64-27137 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,321.
In the conventional pressure switch, plastic is selected as material of the diaphragm by taking a pressure response characteristic and a lifetime into consideration. Plastic has, however, a slight gas permeability.
The pressure equalizing hole applies atmospheric pressure as a reference pressure on the reference-pressure-operating-chamber-side side surface of the diaphragm. In addition, the pressure equalizing hole functions to prevent slight gas, which permeate from the fluid-pressure-operating-chamber-side side surface (the pressure-sensing-side surface) into the reference-pressure-operating-chamber-side side surface of the diaphragm due to the gas permeability of the diaphragm material, from affecting the reference pressure.
FIGS. 1A and 1B show a longitudinal sectional view of a conventional pressure equalizing hole 14 formed in a part of the inner surface of a connection terminal insertion hole 12 of an outer case 10, and a plane view thereof, respectively. As apparent from these figures, the pressure equalizing hole 14 is formed along all over a longitudinal side (having a maximum size L) of an outer peripheral surface in a cross section of an outer connection electrical terminal 16 inserted into an outer connection electrical terminal insertion hole 12.
In the above-structured conventional pressure switch, there is a possibility that, dust enters into the reference pressure operating chamber of the inner space of the outer case through the pressure equalizing hole and is adhered to the electrical contact means stored in the reference pressure operating chamber, and causes defectiveness of electrical conductivity in the electrical contact means, when the pressure switch is used in the airconditioner for an automobile.

Pressure equalizing mechanism for a pressure switch

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The invention is directed to an arrangement for controlling the output power of the drive unit of a motor vehicle. The drive unit includes a drive motor for generating an output torque, a transmission unit and a power transmitting device including a torque converter interconnecting the drive motor and transmission unit for transmitting torque therebetween with the power transmitting device having an output torque, the transmission unit having a transmission ratio and the torque converter having an amplification. The arrangement includes a circuit for supplying a signal indicative of a driver command and a control apparatus. The control apparatus determines a desired value for the output torque of the drive motor occurring at the output end of the power transmitting device and determines a desired value for a drive motor torque from the desired value of the output torque and from variables representing the transmission ratio of the transmission unit and the amplification of the torque converter. A desired value is provided for the drive motor torque to adjust the desired value of the output torque. The apparatus controls the drive motor torque in accordance with the desired value.

An arrangement for controlling the output power of a drive unit of a motor vehicle is disclosed in published German patent application 4,037,237. Here, for the open-loop control of the output power of a drive unit, a drive torque desired value corresponding to the driver's request is pregiven and, with the input of an engine torque desired value, the engine torque is adjusted by influencing output parameters of the engine while considering transmission ratios corresponding to the desired value of the drive torque. The engine torque desired value is determined on the basis of the transmission ratio, output torque desired value and measured output engine speed from a characteristic field. The computation of the desired engine torque takes place in such a manner that the output torque which adjusts is made available independently of the gear in which the transmission is placed corresponding to the accelerator pedal position.
The following situation results with an automatic transmission having a converter. The desired value of the output torque is determined from the output engine speed and the accelerator pedal position and requires a certain desired torque at the turbine wheel of the converter in dependence upon the ratio of the gear which has been shifted into place. To obtain this desired turbine torque, a specific desired engine torque is required at the converter input in dependence upon the converter amplification. In order to obtain an output torque independent of the gear position and converter amplification, the converter amplification must be included in the determination of the desired engine torque. A concrete procedure for determining the converter amplification is not provided in the above-mentioned published German patent application.
In the electronic control of transmissions, it is known to compute a theoretical desired acceleration of the motor vehicle from engine torque, gear position and converter slip which is directly connected to the converter amplification. The slip of the converter can then be determined from a characteristic field as a function of the engine speed and engine torque.
The use of methods of this kind for determining the converter slip or the converter amplification resulting therefrom is however not suitable when the engine torque is unknown or when a desired value for the engine torque must be computed in advance in order to obtain the pregiven drive torque. Therefore, the necessary engine torque cannot be made available in all cases in a satisfactory manner with a view to the desired output torque value representing the request of the driver. An exact determination of the desired engine torque in accordance with the methods outlined above would further have an iterative operating procedure with corresponding complexity as the result since the converter slip or the converter amplification are dependent on the engine torque which is a variable which is sought.

Arrangement for controlling the output power of a drive unit of a motor vehicle


Disclosed are novel compounds useful for prevention or control of diseases derived from fungi, a process for producing the same, and novel antifungal agents using the novel compounds. The compounds useful for prevention and treatment of diseases derived from fungi according to the present invention include novel compounds represented by formula (I). The compounds represented by formula (I) have potent antifungal activity against diseases derived from fungi, and do not have phytotoxicity to mammals and agricultural and garden plants, from which diseases should be eliminated, and, even when applied to agricultural and garden plants, have high photostability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel compound or a salt thereof having antifungal activity, a process for producing the same, and use thereof.
2. Background Art
Various diseases induced by fungi have seriously injured the health of human beings and non-human animals and have brought about serious damage to crops. For this reason, provision of compounds having antifungal activity and antifungal agents comprising these compounds as active ingredients and provision of advantageous processes for producing these compounds have always been desired in the art.
For example, some fungi are pathogenic to human beings and non-human animals and have been regarded as being responsible for fungal infectious diseases. The pathogenicity of fungi is on the whole weak. However, fungi often bring about grave condition in patients having lowered resistance thereto. This has led to an expectation of the development of novel pharmaceuticals useful for the treatment of these diseases. Some fungi are known as being pathogenic, and the development of novel antifungal agents for agricultural and gardening applications has been required associated with the control of plant diseases. Further, in reflection of recent housing circumstances, the invasion of filamentous fungi into housing has become an issue. In particular, the invasion of filamentous fungi often brings about such conditions as an allergy to human beings. The development of antifungal agents for preventing the occurrence of such symptoms, particularly the development of novel fungicides, has been desired in the art.
With a view to overcoming these problems, various antifungal agents have been developed with certain success.
However, the development of antifungal agents, which are not only environmentally friendly but also are safe against human beings and non-human animals and plants and are highly effective, has been desired in the art. Regarding agricultural and garden plants, the development of antifungal agents, which have high antifungal activity and excellent photostability, has been particularly desired.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 233165/1995 discloses a part of compounds represented by formula (II). Compounds represented by formula (II) are generally referred to as "UK-2."

wherein
R1 represents a straight-chain or branched saturated aliphatic hydrocarbon group or unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon group.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 233165/1995 discloses, in working examples, compounds represented by formula (II) wherein R1 represents isobutyryl (hereinafter referred to as "UK-2A"), compounds represented by formula (II) wherein R1 represents tigloyl (hereinafter referred to as "UK-2B"), compounds represented by formula (II) wherein R1 represents an isovaleryl group (hereinafter referred to as "UK-2C"), and compounds represented by formula (II) wherein R1 represents 2-methylbutanoyl (hereinafter referred to as "UK-2D").
The above laid-open publications describe that UK-2 has antifungal activity and is useful as an active ingredient of antifungal agents for medical applications, fungicides for agricultural and gardening applications, and fungicides for industrial applications.
In particular, as compared with antimycins which likewise have a dilactone structure with a nine-membered ring and are represented by formula (III), UK-2 has the same or higher antimicrobial activity against fungi including yeasts, such as Candida, and filamentous fungi, such as Aspergillus, Penicillium, Mucor, Cladosporium, Rhizopus, Sclerotina, and Trichoderma, and has much lower cytotoxicity against culture cells, such as P388. Therefore, UK-2 has led to an expectation for usefulness thereof.

Further, the above laid-open publications describe the isolation of UK-2 as fermentation products from microorganisms belonging to Streptoverticillium.
Furthermore, "Tetrahedron Letters 39 (1998) 4363-4366", discloses the synthesis of UK-2.

Antifungal compound and process for producing the same

Abstract: wherein                R1 represents isobutyryl, tigloyl, isovaleryl, or 2-methylbutanoyl;        R2 represents a hydrogen atom, an aromatic carboxylic acid residue, or a protective group of amino; and R3 represents a hydrogen atom, nitro, amino, acylamino, or N,N-dialkylamino, excluding the case where, when R1 represents isobutyryl, tigloyl, isovaleryl, or 2-methylbutanoyl with R3 representing a hydrogen atom, R2 represents a 3-hydroxypicolinic acid residue, 3-hydroxy-4-methoxypicolinic acid residue, or a 3,4-dimethoxypicolinic acid residue.


An organic phosphite composition is provided comprising organic phosphite particles having organic phosphite cores coated with an organic hydrogen polysiloxane. The phosphite particles exhibit high levels of resistance to hydrolysis and are useful as antioxidant additives for thermoplastic compositions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to solid organic phosphites resistant to hydrolysis, and to the process for preparing them.
Organic phosphites are compounds which are used in the art in order to endow organic polymers with stability characteristics, against the oxidative degradation caused by light and/or heat, such as disclosed, e.g., in U.K. Patent No. 803,557 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,963.
The organic phosphites suffer from the undesired characteristic of undergoing phenomena of hydrolysis, in particular during their storage under warm and moist conditions, with the consequent loss of stabilizing activity, and danger of possible handling problems.
It is known to coat solid phosphite powders with dialkoxy or diphenoxy substituted silicones such as those of the formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.5 is an alkoxy or phenoxy group and m is greater than 4. Such disubstituted silicones can however undergo a reaction with water, thereby generating an alcohol or phenol which can in turn react with the phosphite. Thus while coatings of disubstituted silicones can provide solid phosphites with some degree of protection from hydrolysis, they themselves can result in degradation through their secondary hydrolysis byproducts. Other processes for coating phosphites include treating said powdered phosphites with a monomeric silane containing in its molecule at least two alkoxy groups and causing the silane to hydrolyze, thereby causing the formation of a siliconic polymer on the surface of powder particles but again generating alcohol upon hydrolysis that can react with the phosphite. Neri et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,579 issued Mar. 7, 1989 discloses organic phosphite in powder form treated with a silane containing in its molecule at least two alkoxy groups, and is incorporated herein by reference.
Consequently, there is a desire to improve the hydrolytic stability of silicone coated solid organic phosphites.

Organohydrogen polysiloxane coated phosphites