Novel parathyroid hormone peptide (PTH) and parathyroid hormone related peptide (PTHrP) or derivatives thereof which are biologically active are disclosed, as are pharmaceutical compositions containing said peptides, and synthetic and recombinant methods for producing said peptides. Also disclosed are methods for treating mammalian conditions characterized by decreases in bone mass using therapeutically effective pharmaceutical compositions containing said peptides. Also disclosed are methods for screening candidate compounds of the invention for antagonistic or agonistic effects on parathyroid hormone receptor action. Also disclosed are diagnostic and therapeutic methods of said compounds.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel parathyroid hormone peptide (PTH) derivatives and to novel parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) derivatives. In particular, the invention relates to PTH and PTHrP minimized peptide and derivatives thereof that still retain biological activity.
2. Description of Related Art
Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is a major regulator of calcium homeostasis whose principal target cells occur in bone and kidney. Regulation of calcium concentration is necessary for the normal function of the gastrointestinal, skeletal, neurologic, neuromuscular, and cardiovascular systems. PTH synthesis and release are controlled principally by the serum calcium level; a low level stimulates and a high level suppresses both hormone synthesis and release. PTH, in turn, maintains the serum calcium level by directly or indirectly promoting calcium entry into the blood at three sites of calcium exchange: gut, bone, and kidney. PTH contributes to net gastrointestinal absorption of calcium by favoring the renal synthesis of the active form of vitamin D. PTH promotes calcium resorption from bone indirectly by stimulating differentiation of the bone-resorbing cells, osteoclasts. It also mediates at least three main effects on the kidney: stimulation of tubular calcium reabsorption, enhancement of phosphate clearance, and promotion of an increase in the enzyme that completes synthesis of the active form of vitamin D. PTH exerts these effects primarily through receptor-mediated activation of adenylate cyclase and phospholipase C.
Disruption of calcium homeostasis may produce many clinical disorders (e.g., severe bone disease, anemia, renal impairment, ulcers, myopathy, and neuropathy) and usually results from conditions that produce an alteration in the level of parathyroid hormone. Hypercalcemia is a condition that is characterized by an elevation in the serum calcium level. It is often associated with primary hyperparathyroidism in which an excess of PTH production occurs as a result of a lesion (e.g., adenoma, hyperplasia, or carcinoma) of the parathyroid glands. Another type of hypercalcemia, humoral hypercalcemia ofmalignancy (HHM) is the most common paraneoplastic syndrome. It appears to result in most instances from the production by tumors (e.g., squamous, renal, ovarian, or bladder carcinomas) of a class of protein hormone which shares amino acid homology with PTH. These PTH-related proteins (PTHrP) appear to mimic certain of the renal and skeletal actions of PTH and are believed to interact with the PTH receptor in these tissues. PTHrP is normally found at low levels in many tissues, including keratinocytes, brain, pituitary, parathyroid, adrenal cortex, medulla, fetal liver, osteoblast-like cells, and lactating mammary tissues. In many HHM malignancies, PTHrP is found in the circulatory system at high levels, thereby producing the elevated calcium levels associated with HHM.
The pharmacological profiles of PTH and PTHrP are nearly identical in most in vitro assay systems, and elevated blood levels of PTH (i.e., primary hyperparathyroidism) or PTHrP (i. e., HHM) have comparable effects on mineral ion homeostasis (Broadus, A. E. and Stewart, A. F., xe2x80x9cParathyroid hormone-related protein: Structure, processing and physiological actions,xe2x80x9d in Basic and Clinical Concepts, Bilzikian, J. P. et al., eds., Raven Press, New York (1994), pp.259-294; Kronenberg, H. M. et al., xe2x80x9cParathyroid hormone: Biosynthesis, secretion, chemistry and action,xe2x80x9d in Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, Mundy, G. R. and Martin, T. J., eds., Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg (1993), pp. 185-201). The similarities in the biological activities of the two ligands can be explained by their interaction with a common receptor, the PTH/PTHrP receptor, which is expressed abundantly in bone and kidney (Urena, P. et al., Endocrinology 134:451-456 (1994)).
Native human parathyroid hormone is an unmodified polypeptide of 84 amino acids. It is secreted from the parathyroid glands in response to low blood calcium levels and acts on osteoblast (bone-building cells) in bone, and on tubular epithelial cells of kidney. The hormone interacts with a cell surface receptor molecule, called the PTH-1 receptor or PTH/PTHrP receptor, which is expressed by both osteoblast and renal tubular cells. PTHrP, the major cause of the humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy, also has normal functions that include roles in development. PTHrP has 141 amino acids, though variants also occur that result from alternative gene splicing mechanisms. PTHrP plays a key role in the formation of the skeleton through a process that also involves binding to the PTH-1 receptor (Karaplis, A. C., et al., Genes and Dev. 8:277-289 (1994) and Lanske, B., et al., Science 273:663-666 (1996)).
The PTH-1 receptor is homologous in primary structure to a number of other receptors that bind peptide hormones, such as secretin (Ishihara, T. et al., EMBO J. 10:1635-1641 (1991)), calcitonin (Lin, H. Y. et al., Science 254:1022-1024 (1991)) and glucagon (Jelinek, L. J. et al., Science 259:1614-1616 (1993)); together these receptors form a distinct family called receptor family B (Kolakowski, L. F., Receptors and Channels2:1-7 (1994)). Within this family, the PTH-1 receptor is unique, in that it binds two peptide ligands and thereby regulates two separate biological processes. A recently identified PTH receptor subtype, called the PTH-2 receptor, binds PTH but not PTHrP (Usdin, T., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 270:15455-15458(1995)). This observation implied that structural differences in the PTH and PTHrP ligands determined selectivity for interaction with the PTH-2 receptor. The PTH-2 receptor has been detected by RNA methods in the brain, pancreas and vasculature, however, its biological function has not been determined (Usdin, T., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 270:15455-15458 (1995)). It is hypothesized that the family B receptors use a common molecular mechanism to engage their own cognate peptide hormone (Bergwitz, C., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271:26469-26472 (1996)).
The binding of either radio labeled PTH(1-34) or PTHrP(1-36) to the PTH-1 receptor is competitively inhibited by either unlabeled ligand (Jxc3xcppner, H. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 263:8557-8560 (1988); Nissenson, R. A. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 263:12866-12871 (1988)). Thus, the recognition sites for the two ligands in the PTH-1 receptor probably overlap. In both PTH and PTHrP, the 15-34 region contains the principal determinants for binding to the PTH-1 receptor. Although these regions show only minimal sequence homology (only 3 amino acid identities), each 15-34 peptide can block the binding of either PTH(1-34) or PTHrP(1-34) to the PTH-1 receptor (Nussbaum, S. R. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 255:10183-10187 (1980); Caulfield, M. P. et al., Endocrinology 127:83-87 (1990); Abou-Samra, A.-B. et al., Endocrinology 125:2215-2217 (1989)). Further, the amino terminal portion of each ligand is required for bioactivity, and these probably interact with the PTH-1 receptor in similar ways, since 8 of 13 of these residues are identical in PTH and PTHrP.
Both PTH and PTHrP bind to the PTH-1 receptor with affinity in the nM range; the ligand-occupied receptor transmits a xe2x80x9csignalxe2x80x9d across the cell membrane to intracellular effector enzymes through a mechanism that involves intermediary heterotrimeric GTP-binding proteins (G proteins). The primary intracellular effector enzyme activated by the PTH-1 receptor in response to PTH or PTHrP is adenylyl cyclase (AC). Thus, PTH induces a robust increase in the xe2x80x9csecond messengerxe2x80x9d molecule, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) which goes on to regulate the poorly characterized xe2x80x9cdownstreamxe2x80x9d cellular processes involved in bone-remodeling (both bone formation and bone resorption processes). In certain cell-based assay systems, PTH can stimulate effector enzymes other than AC, including phospholipase C (PLC), which results in production of inositol triphosphate (IP3), diacylglycerol (DAG) and intracellular calcium (iCa2+). The roles of these non-cAMP second messenger molecules in bone metabolism are presently unknown.
Osteoporosis is a potentially crippling skeletal disease observed in a substantial portion of the senior adult population, in pregnant women and even in juveniles. The disease is marked by diminished bone mass, decreased bone mineral density (BMD), decreased bone strength and an increased risk of bone fracture. At present, there is no effective cure for osteoporosis, though estrogen, calcitonin and the bisphosphonates, etidronate and alendronate are used to treat the disease with varying levels of success through their action to decrease bone resorption. Since parathyroid hormone regulates blood calcium and the phosphate levels, and has potent anabolic (bone-forming) effects on the skeleton, in animals (Shen, V., e al., Calcif Tissue Int. 50:214-220 (1992); Whitefild, J. F., et al., Calcif Tissue Int. 56:227-231 (1995) and Whitfield, J. F., et al., Calcif. Tissue Int. 60:26-29 (1997)) and humans (Slovik, D. M., et al., J. Bone Miner. Res. 1:377-381 (1986); Dempster, D. W., et al., Endocr. Rev. 14:690-709 (1993) and Dempster, D. W., et al., Endocr. Rev. 15:261 (1994)) when administered intermittently, PTH, or PTH derivatives, are prime candidates for new and effective therapies for osteoporosis.
Truncated PTH derivatives such as PTH(1-34) and PTH(1-31) are active in most assay systems and promote bone-formation (Whitefild, J.F., et al., Calcif. Tissue Int. 56:227-231 (1995); Whitfield, J. F., et al., Calcif Tissue Int. 60:26-29 (1997); Slovik, D. M., et al., J. Bone Miner. Res. 1:377-381 (1986); Tregear, G. W., et al., Endocrinology 93:1349-1353 (1973); Rixon, R. H., et al., J. Bone Miner. Res. 9:1179-1189 (1994); Whitfield, J. F. and Morley, P., Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 16:372-386 (1995) and Whitfield, J. F., et al., Calcif. Tissue Int. 58:81-87(1996)). Butthese peptides are still too large for efficient non-parenteral delivery and low cost. The discovery of an even smaller xe2x80x9cminimizedxe2x80x9d version of PTH or PTHrP would be an important advance in the effort to develop new treatments for osteoporosis.
PTH and PTHrP derivatives that have amino acid substitutions or deletions in the 1-14 region usually exhibit diminished activity (Tregear, G. W., et al., Endocrinology 93:1349-1353 (1973); Goltzman, D., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 250:3199-3203 (1975); Horiuchi, N., et al., Science 220.1053-1055 (1983) and Gardella, T. J., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 266:13141-13146 (1991))
Several short NH2-terminal PTH or PTHrP peptides have been investigated previously, but no activity was detected. For example, bPTH(1-12) was inactive in adenylyl cyclase assays performed in rat renal membranes (Rosenblatt, M., xe2x80x9cParathyroid Hormone. Chemistry and Structure-Activity Relations,xe2x80x9d in Pathobiology Annual, Ioachim, H. L., ed., Raven Press, New York (1981), pp. 53-84) and PTHrP(1-16) was inactive in AC assays performed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells expressing the cloned rat PTH-1 receptor (Azurani, A., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 271:14931-14936 (1996)). It has been known that residues in the 15-34 domain of PTH contribute importantly to receptor binding affinity, as the PTH(15-34) fragment binds weakly to the receptor, but this peptide does not activate AC (Naussbaum, S. R., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 255:10183-10187 (1980) and Gardella, T. J., et al., Endocrinology 132:2024-2030 (1993)).
The relatively large size of native PTH or PTHrP presents challenges to the use of these peptides as treatments for osteoporosis. In general, a protein of this size is not suitable for use as a drug, since it cannot be delivered effectively by simple methods such as nasal inhalation. Instead, injection is required, and in the case of PTH, daily, or almost daily injections would most likely be needed to achieve increases in bone formation rates. Additionally, larger peptides are technically difficult and expensive to prepare by conventional synthetic chemistry methods. Alternative methods employing recombinant DNA and cell-based expression systems are also expensive, potentially vulnerable to contamination by foreign proteins and do not circumvent the delivery problem.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous for those skilled in the art to be able to identify a small molecule analog (either peptide or non-peptide) that is based on the larger peptide and yet which still retains the desired biological activities. The activity may at first be weak relative to the intact peptide, but further optimization can lead to enhanced efficacy and potency.
The present invention relates to PTH(1-14)/PTHrP(1-14) peptides and derivatives thereof Compounds of the invention which include PTH(1-14)/PTHrP(1-14) peptides, fragments thereof, derivatives thereof, pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, and N- or C-derivatives thereof, are hereinafter collectively referred to as xe2x80x9ccompounds of SEQ ID NO:1 and derivatives thereofxe2x80x9d.
In detail, the invention provides synthetic and/or recombinant biologically active peptide derivatives of PTH(1-14) and PTHrP(1-14). In one specific embodiment, this invention provides a biologically active peptide at least 85% identical to a peptide consisting essentially of the formula:
(a) X01ValSerGluX02GlnLeuX03HisX04X05GlyLysX06(SEQ ID NO:1);
(b) fragments thereof containing amino acids 1-9, 1-10, 1-11,1-12, or 1-13;
(c) pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof; or
(d) N- or C-derivatives thereof;
wherein:
X01 is Ser or Ala;
X02 is Ile or His;
X03 is Met, Leu or Nle;
X04 is Asn or Asp;
X05 is Leu or Lys; and
X06 is His or Ser, provided that said peptide is not PTHrP(1-14).
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, this invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising
(a) a biologically active peptide at least 85% identical to a peptide consisting essentially of the formula: SerValSerGluIleGlnLeuMetHisAsnLeu GlyLysHis (SEQ ID NO:3);
(b) fragments thereofcontaining amino acids 1-9, 1-10, 1-11, 1-12, or 1-13;
(c) pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof; or
(d) N- or C-derivatives thereof; and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, this invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising
(a) a biologically active peptide at least 85% identical to a peptide consisting essentially of the formula: AlaValSerGluHisGlnLeuLeuHisAspLys GlyLysSer (SEQ ID NO:4);
(b) fragments thereofcontaining amino acids 1-9, 1-10, 1-11, 1-12, or 1-13;
(c) pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof; or
(d) N- or C-derivatives thereof; and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, this invention provides a nucleic acid molecule consisting essentially of a polynucleotide encoding a biologically active peptide which has an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of:
(a) X01ValSerGluX02GlnLeuX03HisX04X05GlyLysX06(SEQ ID NO:1); or
(b) fragments thereofcontaining amino acids 1-9, 1-10, 1-11, 1-12, or 1-13;
wherein:
X01 is Ser or Ala;
X02 is Ile or His;
X03 is Met, Leu or Nle;
X04 is Asn or Asp;
X05 is Leu or Lys; and
X06 is His or Ser,
provided that said peptide is not PTHrP(1-14).
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, this invention provides a recombinant DNA molecule comprising: (1) an expression control region, said region in operable linkage with (2) a polynucleotide sequence coding for a biologically active peptide, wherein said peptide is selected from the group consisting of:
(a) X01ValSerGluX02GlnLeuX03HisX04X5GlyLysX06(SEQ ID NO:1); or
(b) fragments thereofcontaining amino acids 1-9, 1-10, 1-11, 1-12, or 1-13;
wherein:
X01 is Ser or Ala;
X02 is Ile or His;
X03 is Met, Leu or Nle;
X04 is Asn or Asp;
X05 is Leu or Lys; and
X06 is His or Ser,
provided that said peptide is not PTHrP(1-14).
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, this invention provides a method for treating mammalian conditions characterized by decreases in bone mass, which method comprises administering to a subject in need thereof an effective bone mass-increasing amount of a biologically active peptide, wherein said peptide comprises an amino acid sequence at least 85% identical to a member selected from the group consisting essentially of:
(a) X01ValSerGluX02GlnLeuX03HisX04X05GlyLysX06(SEQ ID NO:1);
(b) fragments thereofcontaining amino acids 1-9, 1-10, 1-11, 1-12, or 1-13;
(c) pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof; or
(d) N- or C-derivatives thereof;
wherein:
X01 is Ser or Ala;
X02 is Ile or His;
X03 is Met, Leu or Nle;
X04 is Asn or Asp;
X05 is Leu or Lys; and
X06 is His or Ser,
provided that said peptide is not PTHrP(1-14); and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, this invention provides a method for the treatment of a patient having need of a biologically active peptide comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of a peptide, wherein said peptide comprises an amino acid sequence at least 85% identical to a member selected from the group consisting essentially of:
(a) a biologically active peptide consisting essentially of the formula: SerValSerGlulleGlnLeuMetHisAsnLeuGlyLysHis (SEQ ID NO:3);
(b) fragments thereofcontaining amino acids 1-9,1-10, 1-11, 1-12, or 1-13;
(c) N- or C-derivatives thereof; or
(d) pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof; and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, this invention provides a method for the treatment of a patient having need of a biologically active peptide comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of a peptide, wherein said peptide comprises an amino acid sequence at least 85% identical to a member selected from the group consisting essentially of:
(a) a biologically active peptide consisting essentially of the formula: AlaValSerGluHisGlnLeuLeuHisAspLysGlyLysSer (SEQ ID NO:4);
(b) fragments thereof containing amino acids 1-9, 1-10, 1-11, 1-12, or 1-13;
(c) N- or C-derivatives thereof, or
(d) pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for treating a medical disorder that results from altered or excessive action of the PTH-1/PTH-2 receptor, comprising administering to a patient a therapeutically effective amount of a biologically active peptide wherein said peptide comprises an amino acid sequence at least 85% identical to a member selected from the group consisting essentially of:
(a) X01ValSerGluX02GlnLeuX03HisX04X05GlyLysX06(SEQ ID NO:1);
(b) fragments thereofcontaining amino acids 1-9, 1-10, 1-11, 1-12, or 1-13;
(c) pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof; or
(d) N- or C-derivatives thereof,
wherein:
X01 is Ser or Ala;
X02 is Ile or His;
X03 is Met, Leu or Nle;
X04 is Asn or Asp;
X05 is Leu or Lys; and
X06 is His or Ser,
provided said peptide is not PTHrP(1-14); and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier sufficient to inhibit activation of the PTH-1/PTH-2 receptor of said patient.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, this invention also provides a method for determining rates of bone reformation, bone resorption and/or bone remodeling comprising administering to a patient an effective amount of a labeled peptide of SEQ ID NO: 1 or a derivative thereof and determining the uptake of said peptide into the bone of said patient. The peptide may be labeled with a label selected from the group consisting of: radio label, flourescent label, bioluminescent label, or chemiluminescent label. An example of a suitable radio label is 99m Tc.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, any amino-acid substitutions at positions 1-9, and more particularly those amino acid substitutions at amino acid positions 10, 11, 12, 13, and/or 14, which do not destroy the biological activity of the PTH(1-14)/PTHrP(1-14) peptide analog to antagonize or agonize the PTH-1/PTH-2 receptor (as determined by assays known to the skilled artisan and discussed below), are also included within the scope of the present invention.

Bioactive peptides and peptide derivatives of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP)


A segmented redundant display cell driver interface system and method wherein each of the drivers are totally independent from each other. The system and method provide segmented redundant display cell drive interfaces that drive the display normally in a failure free mode, and that additionally can independently drive a portion of the display in the event of a failure in the drive electronics. With the segmented redundant display cell driver interface, the drive function can be segmented into N independent segments. With N segments, a failure on one of the driver interface boards would cause the loss of 1/Nth of the display, with the remaining display still operational. In the alternative, all the remaining displays could be repositioned by software so that no sub-display information is lost.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field displays and display drivers and more particularly to a segmented redundant display cell interface apparatus and system and method.
II. Description of the Related Art
Present display cell driver systems include one or more video sources that are connected to the display cell driver interface, which is connected to the display cell itself. The video signals can be generated by any variety of sources including camera, radar systems, computer display generators and the like. The display cell itself is a display screen including LCDs, plasma screens, LED screens and other optical devices. The display cell driver interface is a circuit that accepts the video signals and generates the proper timing and voltage levels for all the drive signals needed by the display cell in order to display the image. Currently display cells are very fault tolerant in that if there is a display cell failure, only a few pixels, or a line of pixels typically fail. However, a failure on the driver interface circuitry can cause no information to be displayed at all causing a catastrophic single point failure. The current trend in many industries including avionics is toward a single display screen that can display several different smaller screens as sub-displays, displaying information from different video sources, within the one larger screen. Prior to this trend, there would be a single screen for each video source. However, as described above, a single catastrophic failure can cause none of the screens to display.

Segmented redundant display cell interface system and method


A method of steering a watercraft propulsion device mounted to a transom plate and having a steering drive unit which allows the watercraft propulsion device to rotationally move about a swivel shaft. The method can include calculating a steering parameter for the steering drive unit in accordance with the degree of operator's steering wheel displacement, and operating the steering drive unit based on the calculated control physical quantity, in which the control physical quantity can be selected from a plurality of preset control physical quantities.

1. Field of the Inventions
The present application relates to a method of steering a watercraft propulsion device using an electric motor.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, cable and hydraulic manual steering systems are used for steering watercraft propulsion devices such as outboard motors and stern drives (hereinafter "outboard motors"). The cable-type steering systems can generate high operational loads. Thus, the hydraulic manual steering systems are more commonly used.
In hydraulic manual steering systems, it is not practicable to include control systems for optimizing steering angles in accordance with watercraft speed. In addition, since hydraulic piping is required for such systems, additional space for the piping is required in the hull. Thus, the design of the system structure is complicated and construction and servicing are time-consuming.
More recently, a "Drive-By-Wire" (DBW) type system has been developed in which steering is electronically controlled using a steering drive unit including an electric motor (see Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 4-38297, for example). In this system, an outboard motor is mounted to a transom plate and includes a steering drive unit having an electric motor which drives the outboard motor to rotate about a swivel shaft. The method of operating the system includes calculating a control quantity for the steering drive unit in accordance with the degree of operator's steering displacement; and operating the steering drive unit based on the calculated control quantity.
In such conventional method of steering an outboard motor, a control quantity can be directly and unequivocally correlated to the steering wheel displacement. The control command signal, based on the steering angle as the control quantity, is sent to the steering drive unit to control the electric motor so as to maintain the steering drive unit in the desired orientation.
When the electric motor is controlled in a manner such that the control amount for driving the electric motor is directly correlated to a steering angle of the propulsion device in accordance with the steering wheel displacement, the operator might attempt numerous course corrections requiring a large amount of power to move the outboard motor. For example, in some operating conditions, the direction of the watercraft can frequently change under the influence of waves and/or wind on the watercraft. These changes can cause the operator to move the steering wheel frequently in an attempt to stay on the desired course. However, depending on the experience of the operator, this can result in more steering movements than necessary, thus wasting electrical power.
In addition, when the control physical quantity is constant, no drive-control of the electric motor is allowed in accordance with a steering angle using a control physical quantity, e.g. steering torque, angular speed, a tactical diameter, or orientation, as a target control amount, which provides an optimum steering feeling in accordance with operating states of the watercraft or an ambience when the watercraft enters or leaves a port, cruises at sea, or the like.

Method and system for steering watercraft


According to one embodiment, a wireless communication apparatus includes a reserved period ensuring unit which ensures a reserved period to be occupied for communication in a communicable period time-shared in a group by adjustment in a periodic beacon period, a wireless communication unit which performs wireless communication using the reserved period, a group generating unit which generates a new group in which a periodic beacon period is formed not to temporally overlap the beacon period and causes the apparatus to belong to the new group, when the reserved period ensuring unit fails to ensure the reserved period, and a controlling unit which controls the reserved period ensuring unit to ensure the reserved period not to temporally overlap the beacon period of the original group in the communicable period of the new group to which the apparatus is caused to belong by the group generating unit.

1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a wireless communication control technique of efficiently performing wireless communication complying with, e.g., the UWB (Ultra WideBand) standard.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, many information processing apparatuses such as personal computers have wireless communication functions. For example, a LAN (Local Area Network) is often built in an office in order to share a resource. When communication can be performed without any cable, the layout of the office can easily change.
As a technique for wireless communication to be performed by this type of information processing apparatus, a technique of time-sharing a predetermined frequency band among a plurality of information processing apparatuses is available. In relation to this technique, various proposals have been made for the purpose of efficiently performing wireless communication using a given frequency band serving as a limited resource (for example, see Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005 245040).
In a wireless communication system disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005 245040, a wireless communication apparatus (having the function of a wireless base station) which belongs to a given network (parent network) can build another network (child network) within the range of a resource allocated to the wireless communication apparatus itself. According to this proposal, since the parent and child networks do not interfere each other, a plurality of networks can coexist on the same frequency band.
Assume that a wireless communication apparatus A tries to start wireless communication with a wireless communication apparatus B on a given network. Also, assume that a resource must be additionally allocated to perform this wireless communication, but cannot be allocated to this network.
In the wireless communication system disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005 245040, when the wireless communication apparatus A can wirelessly communicate with the wireless communication apparatus B within the range of the resource allocated to the wireless communication apparatus A, or when the resource can be additionally allocated to the wireless communication apparatus A by its shortage, the wireless communication apparatus A can immediately start wireless communication with the wireless communication apparatus B. However, when the resource becomes short in the network in the existing wireless communication system such as the wireless communication system disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005 245040, the wireless communication apparatus A must wait until the shortage of the resource is supplemented.

Wireless communication apparatus and wireless communication control method for wireless communication system


Systems and methods and computer programs for verifying the authenticity and integrity of hyperlink addresses and files that are accessible by means of these hyperlink addresses. A system and a method are disclosed for authenticating a file such as an HTML document hyperlinked to a graphic object such as a digital image or to a graphic icon. The hyperlink network address (e.g., the URL of the hyperlink on the Internet) is encoded on a first portion of the graphic object. Checking information such as a MAC digital signature and the hyperlinked file are encoded into a second portion of the same graphic object. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a system and a method are disclosed for verifying the authenticity and integrity of a hyperlink and a file when this hyperlink is activated.

The most serious risk associated with the exchange of electronic information on open, unsecured networks, particularly on the Internet, may be that digital data can be easily modified during transfer. Therefore, the demand for more secure transfer systems has increased.
Most of today's transactions on the Internet involve access by the user to files on servers (e.g., on Web servers or mail servers) by activating hyperlinks. On open, unsecured networks, when a user selects and activates hyperlinks from a Web browser, or when a user clicks on the icons of file attachments on received e-mail, it is important to authenticate all linked and attached files prior to using them as intended. Such files may include, but are not limited to, computer programs, text documents, graphics, pictures, audio, video, or other information that is suitable for use within a computer system. Also, when a user selects and activates hyperlinks on open and unsecured networks, it is essential to be sure, not only of the authenticity and the integrity of the received (linked) files, but also that those files have been placed and are being accessed from trustworthy servers and from authenticated network addresses (i.e., from authenticated hyperlinks).
To illustrate these security concerns, if a document includes a hyperlink to an executable file or a software program, the user may wish to ensure, when activating the hyperlink, that the received file has been sent by a trustworthy party prior to exposing his computer system to a program file that might include a "Trojan Horse" or that could infect the user's computer with a virus. Also, when a user on the Internet receives data from a server, it may be necessary to verify that the received data has not been corrupted or otherwise altered in some manner. The receiving user may also need to verify that the data received was actually received from the proper sender, rather than from an impostor.
To improve the security of data transmitted over computer networks, while preventing digital forgeries and impersonations, document authentication and signer authentication safeguards must be used. The standard solution consists of adding a MAC or Message Authentication Code to the transmitted documents. A MAC is a digest computed with a one-way hash function over the document and which depends on a secret key, known only to the sender and the receiver. The MAC allows the receiver to check first that what is received has indeed been originated by the party who shares the secret-key, and second, that the document has not been altered. For example, the Secure Hash Algorithm or SHA specified by the National Institute of Standards and Technologies, NIST, FIPS PUB 180-1, "Secure Hash Standard", US Department of Commerce, May 1993, produces a 160-bit hash. It may be combined with a key (e.g., through the use of a mechanism referred to as HMAC or Keyed-Hashing for Message Authentication), subject of the RFC (Request For Comment) of the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) under the number 2104. HMAC is devised so that it can be used with any iterative cryptographic hash function including SHA. Therefore, a MAC can be appended to the transmitted document so that the whole document can be checked by the recipient.
For authenticating a document that includes a plurality of links to other files, not only the document, but also all the files linked to it must be authenticated. To deal with those very common cases, typically a single MAC is generated by applying a cryptographic hashing algorithm to an aggregate of the document and all linked files. When such an authenticated document and linked files are received, the verification algorithm must also be applied to the same aggregate of the received document and all linked files. However, the process of authenticating and verifying, and/or generating hash functions, places an additional overhead on the sending and receiving computational resources. Particularly, when a user receives a document that contains many hyperlinks to large files, the verification of the aggregate of the received document and all linked files would imply an excessive burden on the receiving computer resources and unacceptable delays on such computer network environments (e.g., if a received document is hyperlinked to one-hundred digital image files, each of them of about one megabyte, assuming that the average verification process takes one second on a personal computer, the user would have to wait for about 100 seconds after receiving the document, for securely accessing the verified files).
The prior art teaches methods for efficiently securing and verifying the authenticity of a plurality of data files, in particular data files intended to be transferred over computer networks. Most methods for verifying the authenticity of groups of data files provide, along with the group of data files, a separate signature file or MAC file. This MAC file includes individual check-values for the data files (e.g., hash-values) as well as a digital signature or a MAC value for the group. The digital signature of the group of files is verified using a computer system. Check-values in the signature file are compared with the corresponding values computed from the data files using the computer system. A typical method for generating a separate signature file for groups of data files is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,051 "Implementing digital signatures for data streams and data archives", Renaud, et al., which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Obviously, methods using checking information in a separate file have the drawback of separating checked information and checking information (i.e., the signature or the MAC file). Therefore, the checking information can be intentionally removed in an attempt to cheat, or can be accidentally lost if intermediate equipment and the communication protocol used to forward electronic documents and data files are not devised to manipulate this extra piece of information. The checking information should then be encoded transparently into the body of the document in a manner that does not affect the readability of the document, and so that the checking information remains intact across the various manipulations it may encounter to on its way to the destination to enable the end-recipient to authenticate the document.
Another approach to authentication which applies well to images consists of hiding data in the digital representation of the images. To meet the above requirement, checking information is merged and hidden in the document itself. The hiding of data has received considerable attention mainly to protect the copyright attached to digital multimedia materials which can easily be copied and distributed everywhere through the Internet and networks in general. A good review of data hiding techniques is described in the publication entitled "Techniques for data hiding" by W. Bender et al., IBM Systems Journal, Vol. 35, Nos. 3 & 4, 1996. The most common form of high bit-rate encoding reported in the preceding publication is the replacement of the least significant luminance bit of image data with the embedded data. This technique is imperceptible (the alteration of the image is not noticeable) and may serve various purposes, similar to authentication. This includes watermarking (aimed at placing an indelible mark on an image) or tamper-proofing (to detect image alterations especially through the embedding of a MAC into the digital image).
In practice, in computing environments where users navigate across files on a network and activate hyperlinks from one file to another, there is no need to verify immediately each received document and all the various files that are hyperlinked to it. What is really needed is a mechanism, when a hyperlink is activated by the user, for verifying the authenticity and integrity of this hyperlink, and the authenticity and integrity of the file associated with this hyperlink. Under these circumstances, it would be advantageous to define an authentication method that associates the checking information of a linked file with the hyperlinked object itself from which the linked file is accessed (and not to the document comprising the hyperlinked object, as is the common practice taught by the prior art, for instance by appending or attaching a MAC file to the document).
To ensure that the linked file is authentic, it is important to receive this file from a trustworthy server (i.e., from an authenticated network address). Therefore, it is advantageous to define an authentication method that associates with the same hyperlinked object, not only the checking information of the linked file, but also the checking information of the network address of the file.
On a document comprising a plurality of hyperlinks, it would be advantageous to define a system and method for authenticating and verifying each individual hyperlink and each linked file. For doing that, checking information must be associated with each hyperlink object (and not with the document that contains the hyperlinked objects). In order not to affect the format and readability of the document, the checking information of each hyperlink must be encoded transparently into the hyperlink object itself. Furthermore, the checking information must remain intact across the various manipulations it encounters on its way to its destination, to enable the end-recipient to verify the authenticity and integrity of the hyperlink and its associated file.
Therefore, there is a need for an efficient system and method for securing and verifying the authenticity and integrity of hyperlinks (i.e., hyperlink network addresses and hyperlinked files), especially hyperlinks intended to be activated on unsecured computer networks.
There is a also a need for a protocol-independent system and method for authenticating hyperlinks, so that the checking information of hyperlinks in a document remains intact across the various manipulations of this document.
There is also a need for a system and method for encoding and embedding the checking information of hyperlinks into the hyperlinks, so that the integrity of the hyperlink network addresses and the integrity of linked files or resources may be checked when these hyperlinks are activated, while preventing the checking information from being lost or separated from the hyperlinks.
In particular, there is a need for a system and method for encoding and embedding the checking information of a hyperlinked graphic object into this hyperlinked graphic object.

System and method for securely hyperlinking graphic objects

International Business Machines Corporation


A planar transformer having windings on a printed circuit board coupled by a high frequency ferrite core driven by a high frequency operational amplifier based relaxation oscillator controlling a switch for pulsing a primary winding of the transformer at a set frequency. The secondary of the transformer powers a lamp circuit which is isolated from the electrical supply, and a test input is connected in a logic OR arrangement with the electrical supply.

This invention relates to indicator lights and particularly to power supplies for indicator lights. More particularly, the invention relates to a miniaturized isolated power supply for an indicator light.
Illuminated indicators, commonly referred to as indicator lights, are used in industrial control applications to signal the state of a remote piece of control apparatus. Indicator lights may be incorporated in pushbutton operated electrical switches. One or a few indicator lights may be located directly on an enclosure for electrical control apparatus or may be arranged in an array of indicator lights on a large control panel. The indicator light is connected to the power supply for the electrical control apparatus but contains its own power supply which commonly comprises a step-down transformer to provide reduced voltage for the light. Such power supplies typically use low frequency, bulky and heavy iron transformers, resulting in large, more expensive components and a need to dissipate significant power and heat. It is desirable to electrically isolate the light circuit at the secondary side of the transformer from the primary electrical supply. It is also desirable to provide a second input terminal to the indicator light for applying a test signal for the light. This second input necessitates the incorporation of a relay which increases the parts count and cost of the indicator light assembly.

Isolated power supply for indicator light


An electronic apparatus that performs switching with the use of a piezoelectric element comprises a piezoelectric element 11, a first monitor electrode 15, and a second monitor electrode 16, the latter two being provided thereon and intended to output electric shock signals that are generated when a shock has been applied to the piezoelectric element 11 to thereby distort it. Whereby, a shock is applied to the electronic apparatus that contains the piezoelectric element 11 and a shock is applied to the built-in piezoelectric element 11. This makes it possible to output for the purpose of controlling the operation of the respective functions an electronic shock signal that is generated when the piezoelectric element 11 is distorted. As a result, it is possible to reduce the number of switch parts for, and hence the size of, the electronic apparatus and reduce the amount of time and labor for performing the switching operation by utilizing the piezoelectric effect of the piezoelectric element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic apparatus having loaded thereon a piezoelectric element.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional electronic apparatus having a piezoelectric element loaded thereon is illustrated in FIG. 8. As illustrated in FIG. 8, a piezoelectric element output signal 812 that is outputed from a loaded function piezoelectric element 804 and an electric control signal 212 that is generated from switching means 802 are inputed to a control IC 801, whereby the drive of the loaded functions 803 has been controlled using function control signals 811 that are output from the control IC 801 in correspondence with the respective input signals.
In the above-mentioned electronic apparatus having a piezoelectric element loaded thereon, there is provided the switching means, whereby the drive of each function of the electronic apparatus is controlled by an electric control signal that has been generated from this switching means. As a result, a number of switches are needed to be provided and it is impossible to miniaturize the apparatus by the extent that corresponds to the space that is occupied by them. In addition, since the switching means must be manually operated, the amount of time and labour therefor is large.

Electronic apparatus for being switched using piezoelectric element


Immediate recognition of deposits and other transactions may be provided by a financial institution for transactions conducted at a remote location. The financial institution may receive transaction data from a device at the remote location and immediately acknowledge the transaction and provide a non-provisional credit to an entity's account. The device may include various currency handling devices such as automatic teller machines (ATM), self-payment kiosks, cash registers and the like. A financial institution may further provide a real-time cash position of an entity across multiple currency handling devices of the entity.

Businesses and other organizations often require a supply of cash to fund transactions such as providing change for customer purchases. Typically, businesses must periodically reconcile funds received at the business's site with a backing financial institution. Thus, funds received at a business's site in the morning would not be credited to the business or other organization's account until close of business, once the physical funds reach the financial institution or at some other predefined time.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Immediate recognition of financial transactions


A non-contact evaluation system for evaluating a rope. The system including a transducer and a processor. The transducer is spaced apart from the rope. The transducer configured to output an ultrasonic wave in a transverse direction towards a longitudinal location of the rope, such that at least a portion of the ultrasonic wave passes around a perimeter of the rope, receive the portion of the ultrasonic wave, convert the portion of the ultrasonic wave to a signal, and output the signal. The processor configured to receive the signal, and evaluate the rope based on the signal.

The lightweight nature of synthetic fiber rope provides many performance and economic advantages over metal wire rope. For example, when used in conjunction with sheaves in applications known as cyclic bend over sheave (CBOS) applications (e.g., cranes, elevators, heave compensation systems, and pulling lines), synthetic fiber rope allows for the use of equipment having a smaller footprint, less weight, and less power consumption than similar equipment for metal wire rope. However, regardless of whether metal wire or synthetic fiber rope is used in a particular application, it is critical to be able to assess the rope's condition to provide and maintain a retirement criteria to assure safe operation of the rope.
A crucial and dynamic component used for determining and maintaining an accurate retirement criteria is the structural integrity of the rope. The integrity of the rope is used in conjunction with other components including user preferences (e.g., replacement at 50% strength, etc.) and the particular application, (e.g., mooring, cranes and winches, safety lines, etc.) to determine the retirement criteria.
A number of SHM and NDE systems and methods that measure rope and cable structural integrity to determine the retirement criteria of steel and other metallic wire ropes have been developed. However, there are no generally accepted methods of measuring structural integrity for synthetic ropes, and thus the general practice for determining retirement criteria for synthetic fiber ropes relies on visual inspections and/or by tracking the history of usage for each rope. Visual inspections are inherently subjective and history-of-usage tracking can be highly inaccurate, therefore current retirement criteria are not based on meaningful parameters.
Responsive to the deficiencies of visual inspections and history of usage tracking, a number of objective methods for SHM and NDE for synthetic fiber ropes have been developed. The methods use secondary materials such as conductive carbon fibers and glass or polymeric optical fibers intertwined with the synthetic fibers of the rope. In theory, the secondary materials undergo the same stresses and wear as the synthetic fibers. The stresses on the secondary materials can be easily measured and from these measurements the stresses and wear on the synthetic fibers is inferred. In reality, because the materials are inherently different and due to the complicated structure of the rope, the synthetic fibers can undergo stresses and wear that the secondary materials do not. Furthermore, the secondary materials are only exposed to stresses in their immediate vicinity and, as such, there may be sections of the rope in which stresses and wear are not measured. For these reasons, measurements obtained using secondary materials directly reflect the integrity of the evaluation materials only and indirectly reflect that of the synthetic fibers that make up the rope itself. Furthermore, synthetic fiber ropes intertwined with secondary materials may be less strong, have different than expected abrasion properties, and be more difficult to manufacture than ropes formed entirely from synthetic fibers. For at least these reasons, methods for measuring the structural integrity of rope with optical fibers are not widely practiced.
Another method of monitoring and evaluating synthetic fiber ropes involves longitudinal waves propagated over a length of rope. Such a method may utilize longitudinal wave propagation theory such as described by M. Ferreira et al. in "Non Destructive Testing of Polyaramide Cables by Longitudinal Wave Propagation: Study of the Dynamic Modulus", Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol 40, No. 7, July 2000. This method calls for at least some physical contact with the rope as probes or tappers directly contact the rope to introduce the acoustic signal. Furthermore, to determine meaningful retirement criteria with data from longitudinal waves, the rope must be held under constant tension (e.g., elevator cables, antenna stays, etc.) when being evaluated. This limits the use of this method to applications monitoring a stationary length of rope. Even then, vibrations in the rope introduced by devices in the rope's environment, such as motors and sheaves, are picked up by the transducers, resulting in distorted wave measurements. A further deficiency of this method is that it measures the entire length of the rope between the transducer and receiver, which are normally placed at each end of the rope. Therefore the resolution of this system is limited by the distance between the transducer and receiver. If only a small part of the rope is damaged, the system would not be able to indicate the specific location of the damage and the entire rope would have to be considered suspect. Another limitation to this method is that it cannot be used in situations where a portion of the rope is inaccessible, such as a rope used in conjunction with an offshore crane where one end could be under thousands of feet of water.
Therefore, there is a need for a system that enables structural health monitoring of synthetic fiber ropes in a way that does not need to have direct contact with the rope, access to two distinct points along the rope, or the use of secondary materials, with greater resolution, and furthermore, is able to be used on a fast moving rope, and with a variety of rope fibers and construction methods.

Non-contact signal propagation property evaluation of synthetic fiber rope


A printing device containing print heads supported on a print carriage assembly wherein the print heads are attached to print head holders which are adapted to be placed on the print carriage assembly at predetermined positions ensuring alignment and accurate positioning of the respective print heads, particularly in the sub scanning direction. Also disclosed is a method for mounting a print head holder on a print carriage assembly.

This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No. 02079713.0 filed in Europe on Nov. 7, 2002, which is herein incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is relates to a printing device such as a printing or copying system employing multiple print heads containing discharge elements for the image-wise forming of dots of a marking substance on an image-receiving member. Examples of such printing devices are inkjet printers and toner-jet printers.
2. Related Art
Print heads employed in inkjet printers and the like usually contain a plurality of discharge elements arranged in (a) linear array(s) parallel to the propagation direction of the image-receiving member or in other words the sub scanning direction. The discharge elements usually are placed substantially equidistant. In operation, the discharge elements are controlled to the image-wise discharge of ink droplets on an image-receiving member to form columns of image dots of ink in relation to the linear arrays. The discharge activation may be thermally or thermally assisted and/or mechanically or mechanically assisted and/or electrically or electrically assisted, including piezoelectrically. In scanning inkjet printers, the print heads are supported by a print carriage which is movable over a guide member across the image-receiving member, i.e. in a direction perpendicular to the propagation direction of the image-receiving member or in other words the main scanning direction. In operation a scanning inkjet printer forms a matrix of image dots of ink corresponding to a part of an image by scanning the print heads at least once, optionally bi-directionally, over the image-receiving member in the main scanning direction. After a first matrix is completed the image-receiving member is displaced so as to enable the forming of the next matrix. This process may be repeated till a complete image is rendered.
Alignment of the print head(s) in inkjet printers, particularly in the sub scanning direction, is of the utmost importance as dot positioning errors may cause visual disturbances in the formed image. In scanning inkjet printers having multiple print heads, contiguous dots may originate from different print heads. Examples of such inkjet printers include multi-color printers having at least one print head per color, and multi-color printers having at least one print head for the black process color and at least one print head for the other process colors, and monochrome printers having multiple print heads for the black process color. Not only alignment of the respective print heads in such printers, particularly in the sub scanning direction is of utmost importance, but also accurate positioning of the print heads relative to each other. The alignment of the respective print heads relative to each other in the sub scanning direction can be controlled by accurately positioning the print heads with respect to a reference position. This reference position is typically the guide member, on which the print carriage assembly supporting the print heads is suspended. This is a challenging problem as the positioning accuracy should be in the range of several hundreds of micrometers, preferably several tens of micrometers, while the distance between the guide member and the respective print heads is typically in the range from a few centimeters to several tens of centimeters.
An approach to tackling this problem is providing a print carriage assembly containing built-in means for mounting the respective print heads to the assembly. As this built-in mounting means is located at fixed positions within the assembly, the position with respect to the points of suspension of the assembly is also determined. Therefore the positioning accuracy of the print heads depends on the dimensional tolerances used to manufacture the print carriage assembly. Consequently, to obtain a high positioning accuracy for the respective print heads, the print carriage assembly should be manufactured with a high degree of precision, i.e. the respective parts and/or components of the assembly should be manufactured and positioned using dimensional tolerances typically in the order of micrometers or less. Although it may be possible to manufacture print carriage assemblies with such stringent dimensional requirements, the costs involved would be too high to be of commercial use.
In European patent application EP 1145860, a print head assembly is disclosed which may be easily installed and removed from a fixed position on the printer wall via a snap-fit arrangement using resilient side-fingers.

Print carriage assembly and method for mounting a print head holder thereon


Disclosed is a clothes dryer having a heat pump, the clothes dryer capable of enhancing energy efficiency by recovering waste heat to the maximum in correspondence to a capacity of the heat pump, capable of enhancing reliability by preventing overheating of a compressor and a heat exchange means, and capable of shortening drying time. The clothes dryer includes a body, drum rotatably installed in the body, a suction duct installed at the body, and configured to suck external air and to supply the external air into the drum, an exhaustion duct configured to exhaust air having passed through the drum to outside of the body, and a heat pump having a heat exchange means for recovering waste heat by heat-exchanging air passing through the exhaustion duct, wherein part of the air exhausted via the exhaustion duct is heat-exchanged with the heat exchange means of the heat pump.

1. Field of the Invention
This specification relates to a clothes dryer, and more particularly, to a clothes dryer having a heat pump and heat exchange means, the clothes dryer capable of enhancing energy efficiency by recovering waste heat to the maximum in correspondence to a capacity of the heat pump, capable of enhancing reliability by preventing overheating of a compressor and the heat exchanging means, and capable of shortening drying time.
2. Background of the Invention
Generally, a clothes dryer serves to dry laundry by introducing the laundry having been completely washed and dehydrated into a tub (drum), and by supplying hot air into the drum so as to evaporate moisture of the laundry.
The hot air supplied into the drum is discharged out with the moisture of the laundry. This high-temperature and humid air may be processed in various manners. According to a method for processing the high-temperature and humid air, the clothes dryer may be classified.
More concretely, the clothes dryer may be classified into a condensation type clothes dyer for condensing moisture included in air by cooling humid air, by making high-temperature and humid air heat-exchanged at a heat exchanger inside the clothes dryer, through circulation without exhaustion to the outside, and an exhaustion type clothes dryer for exhausting high-temperature humid air passing through a drum to the outside.
This clothes dryer will be explained in brief with taking the exhaustion type as an example. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an exhaustion type clothes dryer in accordance with the conventional art. The clothes dryer comprises a body 1 having a door 2 on a front surface thereof, a drum 3 rotatably installed in the body 1 and having a plurality of lifters 4 protruding from an inner circumferential surface thereof, driving means configured to provide a rotational force to the drum 3, a heater 5 configured to generate hot air by heating sucked external air to a high temperature, a suction duct 7 communicated with a rear side of the drum 3 and configured to guide the hot air generated by the heater 5 to an inner side of the drum 3, a lint duct 8 communicated with a front side of the drum 3 and configured to guide humid air exhausted after a drying operation to an exhaustion duct 15, and a blower 13 installed at a rear side of the lint duct 8 and configured to generate a blowing force. At an entrance of the lint duct 8, installed is a filter 14 configured to filter foreign materials such as dust or naps from air discharged from the drum 3.
The driving means for rotating the drum 3 consists of a motor 10, a driving pulley 11 coupled to the motor 10, and a driving belt 12 connected to the driving pulley 11 and encompassing an outer circumferential surface of the drum 3. Once the driving pulley 11 is rotated by rotation of the motor 10, the driving belt 12 wound on the driving pulley 11 is rotated to rotate the drum 3.
A drying operation of the clothes dryer will be explained.
Firstly, an object to be dried such as laundry is introduced into the drum 3. Then, a drying operation is performed to operate the heater 5 and the motor 10 and to rotate the drum 3 and the blower 13. As the blower 13 is operated, external air is sucked to be heated by the heater 5. Then, the heated air is forcibly introduced, through the suction duct 7, into the drum 3 being rotated. Then, the heated air introduced into the drum 3 dries the laundry by evaporating moisture of the laundry, and then passes through the lint duct 8 and the exhaustion duct 15, sequentially to be discharged out in a humid state.
Generally, the exhaustion type clothes dryer has advantages that the entire drying time is shortened owing to rapid heating by the heater, and massive fabrications are possible. However, the exhaustion type clothes dryer has a disadvantage such as a large amount of energy consumption, since introduced air is heated only by the heater and then is discharged out. More concretely, the amount of energy lost without being used in a drying operation in the drum corresponds to 30˜40% of the entire energy, and the amount of energy exhausted through the exhaustion duct corresponds to about 80% of the entire energy. This may result in a great deal of wasted energy.
In order to solve this waste of energy, heat exchange means may be used to recover part of waste energy. However, in this case, the heat exchange means may be overheated due to a limitation of a capacity. Furthermore, a fan may be additionally installed so as to enhance heat exchange efficiency by supplying a large air volume. Especially, a compressor used in a heat pump serving as the heat exchange means may be overheated. In the case that the compressor is overheated, reliability of the dryer may be degraded, and compression efficiency of a refrigerant may be degraded. This may lower the entire heat exchange efficiency.
On the other hand, the condensation type clothes dryer has advantages that an exhaustion duct for exhausting air to the outside is not required, and energy efficiency is high. However, the condensation type clothes dryer has disadvantages that designing the heat exchange means is restricted according to a performance or a capacity since waste heat is partially recovered to be used as air to be supplied into the drum, drying time is long, and massive fabrications are not easy. Especially, in the case of drying time, it takes more about three times than in the exhaustion type clothes dryer.


A labelling machine is provided for the application of self-adhesive labels spaced at intermediate distances and having adhesive undersides which are disposed successively on a band-shaped substrate onto a continuously moving strip. The machine includes a peeling and applying unit comprising a peeling mechanism which peels the labels off the substrate and a transport mechanism which transports the substrate to the peeling mechanism and applies the peeled-off labels onto the strip. The transport mechanism includes: at least one transport element which transports the substrate with labels to the peeling mechanism and the peeled-off labels to the strip; a driving mechanism adapted to drive the transport element with a variable speed; and a substrate/label holding arrangement which non-mechanically holds at least said peeled-off labels against the transport element with the adhesive undersides directed away from the transport element until the peeled-off labels are applied onto the strip.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a labelling machine for the application of self-adhesive labels spaced at intermediate distances and which are disposed successively on a band-shaped substrate onto a continuously moving strip. More particularly, the machine comprises a peeling and applying unit including a peeling mechanism which peels the labels off the substrate and a transport mechanism which transports the substrate to the peeling mechanism and applies the peeled labels onto the strip.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such machines are used, for example, for applying address labels on letters which are printed as a continuous strip and subsequently cut to length.
The problem with such machines is that the labels are situated on the substrate at a much smaller distance, mostly only 2 to 4 mm, from each other than the distance which must remain between them when they are applied onto the strip which may, for example, be 30 cm.
In known labelling machines, the peeling mechanism is a knife situated directly above the strip, such that the peeled labels directly drop onto the strip where they are pressed on this strip by means of a roller. The transport mechanism consists of a winding mechanism with a driven roller on which the empty substrate is wound up. Consequently, the substrate with labels is wound off from the roll on which it had been wound up and is drawn over the knife.
In these known labelling machines, the aforementioned problem is solved by driving the winding mechanism intermittently and thus winding the substrate successively over a distance and over the knife.
This means that each time a label is to be applied onto the strip, the roll of the winding mechanism during actual application must be accelerated very fast from a standstill up to a circumferential speed to make the speed of the substrate equal to the speed of the strip. The roll of the winding mechanism must move for a short period of time with this speed, and thereafter must come back to a standstill very fast.
This sequence of accelerations and decelerations of the band with labels causes it to be impossible to realize high speeds of the strip. This strip, coming from a printing machine with a speed of 375 m/min, must be decelerated.


A tone generator includes a controller for generating a frequency control signal, an address control signal, a tone period control signal and an automatic tone period mode, a sinusoidal wave generator having a nonvolatile table of a sampled value of .pi./2 period for synthesizing two single frequencies generated by dividing temporally the sampling frequency output from the nonvolatile table and outputting a dual sinusoidal wave, a gain signal generator for generating a gain signal, a multiplier for multiplying the sinusoidal wave and the gain signal to output tone sampling data, a pulse code modulator for pulse-code-modulating the tone sampling data to output a pulse code modulation code, a serial converter for converting the pulse code modulation code into a serial bit, a tone period control signal generator having a tone period memory and a timer, for outputting a tone period control signal of the controller when the automatic tone period mode of the controller is not activated, and outputting a tone period control signal of the timer according to a counter value output from the tone period memory by the address control signal when the automatic tone period mode is activated, and a switch for switching and outputting a signal output from the serial converter according to the tone period control signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tone generator, and more particularly, to a tone generator by which the size of a desired tone is memorized to then be varied by an address control. The present application is based upon Korean Application No. 67864/1995, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of a conventional tone generator. Referring to FIG. 1, a tone read only memory (ROM) 122 converts a tone signal into a digital code by an analog-to-digital(A/D) converter and then stores the same according to a compressive conversion mode of A law or mu (.mu.) law. The tone ROM 122 is installed in a tone generator of a system. An address generator 121 having received an address control signal of a controller (not shown) of the system controls the tone ROM 122 based on the address control signal. Then, the tone ROM 122 reads a tone signal of the corresponding address by the address generator 121 and generates a pulse code modulation (PCM) signal of a desired tone. Then, a serial converter 123 serially converts an input PCM and outputs the same. A tone period control signal generator 124 performed by an external software outputs a tone period control signal. An FET 125 outputs an output signal of the serial converter 123 applied to a drain to an output port of a source using the tone period control signal applied to a gate as a switching signal. Finally, the PCM value output through a switching operation is sent to a codec and is converted into an analog signal to then be heard by a user.
However, the tone ROM 122 should be differed depending on a tone size (frequency combination, tone gain, tone period control signal, number of tone sources, and A/.mu. law, etc.) Further, once the tone ROM 122 is installed, the change of the same is not possible. Also, the tone period control signal generator should be operated by an external software. In addition, the tone ROM 122 should be large.


An antenna device includes an antenna for receiving a time information radio wave, and an antenna support member. In the antenna, a coil is wound around a center portion of a core. In the support member, a non-magnetic portion supports two magnetic portions independently and both end portions of the core of the antenna are magnetically coupled with the magnetic portions. A radio wave controlled timepiece includes a case in an inner space of which the antenna and the support member are installed as described above. In the inner space, a time counting unit, a time display unit connected to the time counting unit, and a time updating unit configured to update the time displayed on the display unit, based on the time information radio wave received by the antenna, are installed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an antenna device and a radio wave controlled timepiece.
The antenna device used here comprises an antenna including a core and a coil wound around the core, and a structure that functions in cooperation with the antenna in order to improve receiving performance of the antenna.
2. Description of the Related Art
A radio wave controlled wristwatch which receives a radio wave including time information and automatically correct the current time is well known. In the radio wave controlled wristwatch, a small sized antenna is installed in a predetermined position of an inner space of a wristwatch case.
A structure for or improving the receiving sensitivity of a small sized antenna is disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 55-91237. In this document, in order to attract more magnetic flux, a sectional area of each one of both end portions is set to be larger than that of a center portion around which a coil is wound in a core of the antenna. And, the antenna having the above described structure constitutes an antenna device.
When the whole wristwatch case is formed of a metal, the appearance of the wristwatch is improved, and the wristwatch looks like a high quality product. However, the metallic wristwatch case functions as a magnetic shield. Thus, in the case where the antenna is installed in an inner space of the metallic wristwatch case, the receiving sensitivity of the antenna may be significantly lowered.
Further, when a magnetic flux generated by the antenna which received a radio wave passes through the metallic wristwatch case, an eddy current may be generated with the wristwatch case. As a result, a loss occurs in the antenna coil and a Q value is lowered, and finally, the receiving sensitivity of the antenna may be significantly lowered.
A structure for preventing occurrence of the eddy current described above in the wristwatch case is disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005-311715 (and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 7,126,548). In this document, a magnetic member for restraining the generation of the eddy current is arranged between the antenna installed in the inner space of the metallic wristwatch case and a surface of the inner space of the wristwatch case. And, the antenna and the magnetic member described above configure the antenna device.

Antenna device and radio wave controlled timepiece


Novel memory cells utilize source-side injection, allowing very small programming currents. If desired, to-be-programmed cells are programmed simultaneously while not requiring an unacceptably large programming current for any given programming operation. In one embodiment, memory arrays are organized in sectors with each sector being formed of a single column or a group of columns having their control gates connected in common. In one embodiment, a high speed shift register is used in place of a row decoder to serially shift in data for the word lines, with all data for each word line of a sector being contained in the shift register on completion of its serial loading. In one embodiment, speed is improved by utilizing a parallel loaded buffer register which receives parallel data from the high speed shift register and holds that data during the write operation, allowing the shift register to receive serial loaded data during the write operation for use in a subsequent write operation. In one embodiment, a verification is performed in parallel on all to-be-programmed cells in a column and the bit line current monitored. If all of the to-be-programmed cells have been properly programmed, the bit line current will be substantially zero. If bit line current is detected, another write operation is performed on all cells of the sector, and another verify operation is performed. This write/verify procedure is repeated until verification is successful, as detected or substantially zero, bit line current.

Erasable programmable read only memories (EPROMs) and electrically erasable programmable read only (EEPROMs) are well known in the art. These devices have the ability to store data in non-volatile fashion, while also being capable of being erased and rewritten as desired. EPROM devices are typically erased by exposing the integrated circuit device to ultraviolet radiation, while EEPROMs allow erasure to be performed electrically.
One form of EEPROM device includes a so-called "split-gate" electrode, in which the control gate includes a first portion overlaying a floating gate and a second portion directly overlaying the channel. Such a split gate structure is described in a 5-Volt-Only Fast-Programmable Flash EEPROM Cell with a Double Polysilicon Split-Gate Structure by J. Van Houdt et al, Eleventh IEEE Non-Volatile Semiconductor Workshop, February 1991, in which charge is injected into the floating gate from the source side of the cell. U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,897 describes an EEPROM device which does not utilize a split-gate, but which also provides injection to the floating gate from the source side of the device.
As described in the above referenced U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,897, memory cells are typically arranged in an array, as is well known in the art. One form of such an array utilizes buried diffusions, in which source and array regions are covered with a fairly thick layer of insulating material. This is shown for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,151,020; 4,151,021; 4,184,207; and 4,271,421. Such buried diffusion devices often utilize a virtual ground approach, in which columns connecting the sources of a first column of memory cells also serves to connect drains of an adjacent column of memory cells.
While many EEPROM devices utilize two layers of polycrystalline silicon, one for the formation of the floating gate, and the other for the formation of the control gate and possibly electrical interconnects, other EEPROM devices utilize three layers of polycrystalline silicon. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,766 provides a first polycrystalline silicon layer for the floating gate, a second polycrystalline silicon layer for the control gate, and a third polycrystalline silicon layer coupled through an erase window to a portion of the first polycrystalline silicon layer for use during erasure of the cell. U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,968 also uses a third layer of polycrystalline silicon to form an erase gate, while U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,090 forms an addressing gate electrode utilizing a third layer of polycrystalline silicon. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,561,004 and 4,803,529 also use three layers of polycrystalline silicon in their own specific configurations.
Japanese Patent Publication 61-181168 appears to utilize three layers of polycrystalline silicon to provide additional capacitive coupling to the floating gate. Japanese Patent Publication 63-265391 appears to pertain to a buried diffusion array, possibly utilizing virtual grounds.
European Patent Application 0373830 describes an EEPROM in which two polycrystalline silicon layers are used, with the second layer of polycrystalline silicon having two pieces, one of which provides the erase function, and one of which provides the steering function.
"A New Flash-Erase EEPROM Cell With a Sidewall Select-Gate on its Source Side" by K. Naruke et al. IEDM-89-603 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,565 describe an EEPROM utilizing a side wall select gate located on the source side of the field effect transistor.
"EPROM Cell With High Gate Injection Efficiency" by M. Kamiya et al. IEDM 82-741, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,656 describe an EEPROM device in which a reduced programming voltage is provided by having a highly doped channel region under the select gate, and the channel region under the floating gate being either lightly doped or doped to the opposite conductivity type, thereby providing a significant surface potential gap at the transition location of the channel.

EEPROM with split gate source side injection


A system and method includes an automation system generating a modified content signal from a content signal by inserting insertion material into the content signal during a break and a monitoring system monitoring the content signal. The automation system controls the automation system to return to the content signal in response to monitoring the content signal when the break ends on the content signal before an end of the insertion material.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Satellite broadcasting of television signals has increased in popularity. Satellite television providers continually offer more and unique services to their subscribers to enhance the viewing experience. Providing reliability in a satellite broadcasting system is therefore an important goal of satellite broadcast providers. Providing reliable signals reduces the overall cost of the system by reducing the number of received calls at a customer call center.
Television providers often insert promotional material or commercials into various portions of a program. For cable television provider this is done locally. For live events, the predictability of the ending of the break is unpredictable. The inert may still be running over a portion of the live event.

Method and system for interrupting inserted material in a content signal


In a method and apparatus for removing water from sludge the sludge is introduced into an intermediate chamber from which it is fed into at least one sludge chamber having a filter surface. A hydrostatic pressure is built up in the sludge chamber to remove the water. The sludge chamber is then opened and the filter surface moved out of the sludge chamber to remove the filter cake. The hydrostatic pressure is generated by the sludge being transferred out of the intermediate container, after the continuous feed of sludge thereto has been cut off, by positive displacement of the volume of sludge from the intermediate container into the sludge chamber. The feed of sludge into the sludge chamber may occur simultaneously at a plurality of points from a corresponding number of intermediate containers.

One form of generally employed operating procedure for removing water from sludge such as that which is produced in a sewage treatment installation involves adding an organic or inorganic flocculating agent or a filtering aid and then removing the water in chamber-type filter presses. In chamber-type filter presses of the usual design configuration the sludge is fed into filter chambers which are closed on all sides and the medium from which water is to be removed continues to be pumped, by means of pumps, under high pressure, until the desired content of dry substance is attained. In that procedure, the filtrate contained in the medium from which water is to be removed is discharged through the separation walls of the individual filter chambers, such walls consisting of filter material. A disadvantage of known chamber filter presses of that kind and the corresponding operating procedure involved in the removal of water is that, while involving a very high level of technical expenditure, the efficiency with which the pressure is transmitted to the sludge from which water is to be removed decreases from one chamber to another in the direction of conveying movement. Furthermore the hydrostatic pressure for removing water is built up by pumps, and that gives rise to the serious disadvantage that flocculation of the sludge, which is achieved by use of a flocculating agent or other filtering aid, is destroyed again in the pumping phase. Another disadvantage lies in the discontinuous mode of operation of such chamber filter presses as the feed of sludge has to be interrupted when the sludge chamber is opened. Furthermore the entire water-removal procedure including the preliminary step in removing water is effected at low pressure in the chamber which is designed for high pressures so that the chamber is used in a highly uneconomical fashion.

Method and apparatus for removing water from sludge and similar substances


Thermoregulated multilayer material characterized in that it comprises at least one substrate and one thermoregulated layer, said thermoregulated multilayer material having: for λ radiation of between 0.25 and 2 μm, an absorption coefficient αm≥0.8; and, for incident λ radiation of between 7.5 and 10 μm, a reflection coefficient ρm: ρm≥0.85, when the temperature T of said multilayer material 1 is ≤100° C.; ρm between 0.3 and 0.85, when the temperature T of said multilayer material is between 0 and 400° C.

The invention relates to a thermal material, in particular of the absorbent type, the role of which is to convert the absorbed energy into heat energy. This heat energy is capable of giving heat that is directly usable into a heat network, commonly of the hot domestic supply water type.
The invention particularly relates to a self-adapting, thermo-regulated multilayer material capable of absorbing light rays defined by a certain wavelength λ, in particular between 250 and 2500 mm corresponding to the solar emission spectrum.
The multilayer material of the invention is capable of adapting its electric and optical properties, in particular in the infrared, based on the value of its internal temperature.
Such a device will be particularly applicable in the field of solar panels, in particular thermal solar panels.
In a known manner, in order for a thermal solar panel to be effective, it must have a maximum absorption capacity for the energy from light rays, in particular solar rays, while maximally limiting the loss of energy by thermal radiation when the panel is hot.
During normal operation, the energy from solar rays is converted into heat by the solar panel. This heat is discharged via a heat transfer fluid in order to heat the water from a reservoir, for example using a heat exchanger.
As long as the heat transfer fluid circulates in the panel, the heat from the panel is discharged and its temperature remains below from 100 to 120° C.
When the water from the reservoir reaches the desired temperature, necessary to supply the heat network, the circulation of the heat transfer fluid is stopped. As a result, the energy stored by the panel is no longer discharged while said panel is still subject to the solar light rays. In this case, the temperature of the panel increases up to an equilibrium temperature, called "stagnation temperature". At the stagnation temperature, the initial efficiency n0 of the panel is nil. In other words, the "stagnation temperature" can be defined as the temperature difference at which the energy gains from light rays coming from the sun cannot offset the heat losses of the panel. This "stagnation temperature" can reach a value of between 220 and 250° C. for a sunshine of 1000 W/m2. Thus, under stagnation conditions, the panel is incapable of dissipating the stored heat.
Such a high stagnation temperature has several drawbacks.
On the one hand, it causes an accelerated deterioration of the heat transfer fluid, usually guaranteed for a maximum usage temperature of 170° C., said heat transfer fluid then having to be renewed periodically. Furthermore, the high stagnation temperatures, above 140° C. for a pressure of the heat transfer fluid of about 3 bars in the panels, promote the vaporization/condensation cycles of the heat transfer fluid. These cycles are accompanied by significant pressure variations, in particular pressure variations >1 bar, which can generate leaks at the various hydraulic connections.
Furthermore, an overly high "stagnation temperature" causes a risk of deterioration of the very material making up said solar panel, as well as a loss of its absorption capacities and a deterioration of its optical properties.
One of the solutions proposed by international application WO 2014/140499 to resolve this problem of stagnation temperature of the panel consists of using a "thermochrome material" with a base of vanadium oxide VO2 or a combination of vanadium oxides to contribute heat to the heat transfer fluids.
This material has a "thermochrome effect" as a function of its critical transition temperature "Tc". Indeed, for an identical absorbance capacity:                when the temperature of the vanadium oxide-based thermochrome material is below its critical transition temperature Tc, the material will have an absorbance greater than 0.75 for the rays with a wavelength between 0.4 and 2.5 μm. The material will therefore absorb and partially convert the radiation coming from the sun into heat. In parallel, the transmittance of the selective layer of vanadium oxide greater than 0.85 in the infrared makes it possible to obtain a material with a high infrared reflectance, i.e., with a low emissivity and having low thermal losses. These properties are further conditioned, owing to the support, on which the vanadium oxide selective layer rests, which is a good reflection of the infrareds, which is to say having a reflectance greater than 0.8 for the wavelengths A greater than 5 μm. Thus, the majority of the heat is transmitted to the heat transfer fluid;        when the temperature of the vanadium oxide-based thermochrome material is above its critical transition temperature Tc, the material keeps an absorbance greater than 0.75 for the rays with a wavelength between 0.4 and 2.5 μm. The material continues to absorb and partially convert the radiation coming from the sun into heat. However, the transmittance of the selective layer of vanadium oxide is reduced to values of between 0.5 and 0.2, which, for a constant absorbance of the selective layer, leads to a reduction of the reflectance of the material, that is to say to a high emissivity and high heat losses. Thus, to keep the energy balance, less heat is transmitted to the heat transfer fluid, which heats less.
In conclusion, with a VO2-based thermochrome material, the infrared emissivity of the material is variable as a function of the internal temperature of said material. Thus, under stagnation conditions, when the material reaches its maximum internal temperature, the emissivity is high and the energy lost by thermal radiation increases, that is to say that the quantity of incident energy arriving toward the heat transfer fluid is decreased. As a result, the heat transfer fluid deteriorates less quickly, since it is less heated.
The drawback of the VO2-based thermochrome material lies in the fact that its critical transition temperature Tc is about 68° C. This Tc cannot be significantly modified or increased without altering the electrical or optical properties of the material, to the detriment of its thermochrome properties.
In other words, in the prior art, the thermochrome effect of the material is observed for a relatively low critical transition temperature Tc. This temperature Tc of 68° C. is reached fairly quickly in the presence of an intense solar radiation (very sunny weather), which limits the efficiency of the solar panel during its operation. Indeed, when the VO2-based thermochrome material, making up the solar absorber or sensor of a thermal solar panel, reaches the transition temperature Tc of 68° C., the heat transfer fluid at the exchanger of a hot domestic supply water accumulation container for example is only about 55° C. due to various heat losses at the system (couplers, pipe lengths, etc.). Thus, for a heating setpoint of the domestic supply water above 60° C. in the accumulation container and equivalent heat losses of the system, the temperature of the thermochrome material must be above 73° C. Yet at this temperature, the properties of the VO2-based thermochrome material, that is to say, of the thermochrome solar absorber or sensor, are transformed, resulting in an increase of the heat losses and a lower efficiency.
Ideally, a critical temperature Tc above 80° C. is desirable for a thermal solar application without performance loss of the solar panel.
This is why it is necessary to find an adequate solution as an alternative to the solar panel of the prior art making it possible to keep, under operating conditions, a good energy efficiency of the solar panel, while decreasing, under stagnation conditions, the value of the stagnation temperature of the material.
It should be noted that the decrease of the value of the stagnation temperature of a material, usable as solar panel, is a direct consequence of an increase in the emissivity of the material.
The present invention aims to offset the drawbacks of the state of the art, by proposing a thermoregulated multilayer material comprising at least:                A support having:                    a transmission coefficient Γs substantially equal to 0, for rays with wavelength λ of between 0.25 and 25 μm;            a reflection coefficient ρs≥0.9, for incident rays with wavelength λ of between 7.5 and 10 μm;                        and also comprising at least one thermoregulated layer with a thickness of between 50 and 500 nm with a base of rare earth perovskite cobaltites or rare earth perovskite nickelates or rare earth manganites, said thermoregulated layer (2) topping one of the surfaces of said support.
More specifically, said thermoregulated multilayer material has:                for rays with wavelength λ of between 0.25 and 2.5 μm; an absorption coefficient αm≥0.8;        and, for incident rays with wavelength λ of between 7.5 and 10 μm; a reflection coefficient ρm:                    ≥0.85, when the temperature T of said multilayer material is ≤100° C.;            between 0.3 and 0.85, when the temperature T of said multilayer material is between 100 and 400° C.
Furthermore, according to another feature of the invention, said perovskites have formula ABO3:                With "A" being at least one single chemical element or a group of chemical elements belonging to the rare earths group;        With "B" being either cobalt Co, or nickel Ni, or manganese Mn, and        With "O3" representing three oxygens.
Furthermore, according to other features of the invention:                "A" corresponds to at least one chemical element belonging to the rare earths family chosen from the following list: lanthanum La; praseodymium Pr; neodymium Nd; samarium Sm; gadolinium Gd or europium Eu;        advantageously, said at least one chemical element "A" of the perovskite with formula ABO3 is partially doped with at least one chemical element "E" of atomic fraction "z" of between 0.1 and 0.6, said element "E" belonging to the alkaline-earth group chosen from the following list: strontium Sr; calcium Ca or barium Ba, such that the thermoregulated layer has formula A1-zEzCoO3 or A1-zEzNiO3 or A1-zEzMnO3;        the element "B" of the perovskite with formula ABO3 is partially doped with at least one chemical element "D" of atomic fraction "y" of between 0.1 and 0.5; said element "D" belonging to the transition metals group chosen from the following list: cobalt Co; nickel Ni; manganese Mn; iron Fe; titanium Ti; vanadium V or chromium Cr, such that the thermoregulated selective layer has formula ACO1-yDyO3 or ANi1-yDyO3 or AMn1-yDyO3;        also advantageously, the oxygens "O3" of the perovskite with formula ABO3 are partially doped with nitrogen N with atomic fraction "x" of between 0.03 and 1, such that the thermoregulated layer has formula ACoC3-xNx or ANiO3-xNx or AMn3-xNx.
Preferably, the thermoregulated layer with formula ABO3, comprising at least one of these elements "A", "B" or partially doped "O3":                has a thickness of between 300 and 500 nm, and        has, for incident rays with wavelength λ of between 7.5 and 10 μm, a transmission coefficient ΓT:                    ≥0.95 for an internal temperature of said thermoregulated layer less than or equal to 100° C.;            ≤0.6 for an internal temperature of said thermoregulated layer of between 100 and 200° C.
According to one embodiment, said support consists of a metal sheet with a base of aluminum Al or copper Cu.
According to another preferred embodiment, said thermoregulated sheet is covered with an antireflection layer.
According to another embodiment of the invention, said material comprises a barrier layer able to prevent the diffusion in solid state of chemical elements of the support toward the thermoregulated layer, said barrier layer being positioned between said support and said thermoregulated layer.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, said thermoregulated multilayer material of the invention has:                for rays with wavelength λ of between 0.25 and 2.5 μm; an absorption coefficient αm≥0.94;        and, for incident rays with wavelength λ of between 7.5 and 10 μm; a reflection coefficient ρm:                    ≥0.92, when the temperature T of said multilayer material (M) is ≥100° C.;            ≤0.6, when the temperature of said multilayer material is ≥100° C.
The present invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a multilayer material according to the invention in which:                A thermoregulated layer with general formula ABO3 is deposited on said support by vacuum co-sputtering, in the presence of a reactive plasma of argon and oxygen or of pure argon, with "A" being at least one single chemical element or a group of chemical elements belonging to the rare earths group and "B" being a transition metal of type Ni, Mn or Co,        The material previously obtained is annealed ex situ at temperatures of between 525 and 800° C., preferably 575 and 600° C. for a duration of between 30 seconds and 1 hour, preferably between 30 and 240 seconds.
The present invention also relates to a solar panel comprising a thermoregulated multilayer material according to the invention.

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE