A method and a device for regulating a therapeutic beam directed at an object are provided. The method includes displaying at least one multidimensional image data record encompassing at least one target area of the object. The method also includes determining the treatment beam dosage directed at the at least one target area, and recording and optionally visualizing an isoline or isosurface dependent on the treatment beam dosage in the at least one multidimensional image data record. The method includes adjusting the isoline or isosurface such that the isoline or isosurface approximates a contour of the target area as closely as possible or corresponds to the contour, and regulating the treatment beam dosage by evaluation of the adjusted isoline or isosurface.

The present embodiments relate to a device and a method for regulating a radiation dose.
Radiation therapy includes irradiating diseased tissue with X-ray beams, electron beams or particle beams. For example, particle therapy has developed over the last few years into an established method for the treatment of tissue (e.g., tumorous diseases). However, irradiation methods, as deployed, for example, in particle therapy, may also be deployed in non-therapeutic areas such as, for example, the irradiation of phantoms or non-living bodies for the purposes of research work and/or during the irradiation of materials.
During particle therapy, particles are generated (e.g., ions such as protons, carbon ions or other types of ions). The particles are accelerated to high energies in an accelerator, formed into a particle beam and directed at the tissue to be irradiated. The particles penetrate the tissue to be irradiated where the particles discharge energy of the particles in a circumscribed region. The depth of penetration of the particle beam into the tissue to be irradiated is primarily a function of the energy of the particle beam. The greater the energy of the particle beam, the deeper the particles penetrate the tissue to be irradiated.
During the radiation therapy planning process, the total quantity of the radiation to be supplied by the irradiation device is to be defined. This may be expressed by a number of monitor units (MUs) for treatment with external electron or photon light beams or as ion pulse counters that count treatments with protons or heavy ions. The following explanation applies to MUs, but all the explanations below are also applicable to ion pulse counters.
A dose calculation algorithm in treatment planning software is calibrated to calculate one radiation dose per monitor unit D/MU to enable the prescription of an absolute dose that may be used to determine the required MU.
There are different options for determining the desired dose. The different options include, for example: dose at a reference point is X Gy, or the maximum dose is X Gy; or the average dose at a target area or volume is X Gy, or the dose of Y % of the maximum dose of isoline or isosurface is X Gy. If the dose distribution in the target area is not constant, dose coverage of the tumor is to be minimized. This may be the case with electron-beam treatments, with conventional treatments with photon light beams, with treatments with scanned particle light beams, with brachytherapy treatment, or with advanced treatment techniques such as, for example, intensity-modulated radiation therapy and radiosurgery. The renormalization of the dose may entail a repetitive, laborious and long-winded trial and error process when amending the prescribed dose or during the renormalization of the dose, and when observing changes in a specific isoline record.

Device and method for radiation dosimetry


A CMOS image pixel array formed on a chip is used for storing programmed information within the pixel array. Manufacturing lot and other data is written to the array during manufacturing and testing by applying a laser to pixels to render the photodiode defective. The programmed data is read from the pixel array using existing circuitry.

There is a current interest in CMOS active pixel imagers for use as low cost imaging devices. An exemplary pixel circuit of a CMOS active pixel sensor (APS) is described below with reference to FIG. 1, where the circuit is identified generally by reference number 100. Active pixel sensors can have one or more active transistors within the pixel unit cell, can be made compatible with CMOS technologies, and promise higher readout rates compared to passive pixel sensors. The pixel cell shown in FIG. 1 is a 3T APS pixel cell, identified by reference number 150, where the 3T is commonly used in the art to designate the use of three transistors to operate the pixel. A 3T APS includes has a photodiode 162, a reset transistor 184, a source follower transistor 186, and a row select transistor 188. It should be understood that while FIG. 1 shows the circuitry for operation of a single pixel, in practice the imager will be formed of an M times N array of identical pixels arranged in rows and columns, with the pixels of the array accessed using row and column select circuitry, as described in more detail below.
The photodiode 162 converts incident photons to electrons which collect at node A. A source follower transistor 186 has its gate connected to node A and thus amplifies the signal appearing at Node A. When a particular row containing cell 150 is selected by a row selection transistor 188, the signal amplified by transistor 186 is passed on a column line 170 to the readout circuitry. The photodiode 162 accumulates a photo-generated charge in a doped region of the substrate. It should be understood that the CMOS imager might include a photogate or other photo conversion device, in lieu of a photodiode, for producing photo-generated charge.
A reset voltage source Vrst is selectively coupled through reset transistor 184 to node A. The gate of reset transistor 184 is coupled to a reset control line 191 which serves to control the reset operation, i.e., the connection of Vrst to node A. Vrst may be equal to Vdd. The row select control line 160 is coupled to all of the pixels of the same row of the array. Voltage source Vdd is coupled to a source following transistor 186 and its output is selectively coupled to a column line 170 through row select transistor 188. Although not shown in FIG. 1, column line 170 is coupled to all of the pixels of the same column of the array and typically has a current sink at its lower end. The gate of row select transistor 188 is coupled to row select control line 160.
As known in the art, a value is read from pixel 150 in a two step process. During a charge integration period, the photodiode 162 converts photons to electrons which collect at the node A. The charge at node A is amplified by source follower transistor 186 and selectively passed to column line 170 by row access transistor 188. During a reset period, node A is reset by turning on reset transistor 184 to apply the reset voltage Vrst to node A, and this voltage is then read out to column line 170 by the source follower transistor 186 through the activated row select transistor 188. As a result, the two different values—the reset voltage Vrst and the image signal voltage Vsig—are readout from the pixel and sent by the column line 170 to the readout circuitry where each is sampled and held for further processing as known in the art.
All pixels in a row are read out simultaneously onto respective column lines 170 and the column lines are activated in sequence for reset and signal voltage read out. The rows of pixels are also read out in sequence onto the respective column lines.
FIG. 2 shows a CMOS active pixel sensor integrated circuit chip that includes an array of pixels 230 and a controller 232 which provides timing and control signals to control reading out of signals stored in the pixels in a manner commonly known to those skilled in the art. Exemplary arrays have dimensions of M times N pixels, with the size of the array 230 depending on a particular application. The imager is read out a row at a time using a column parallel readout architecture. The controller 232 selects a particular row of pixels in the array 230 by controlling the operation of row addressing circuit 234 and row drivers 240. Charge signals stored in the selected row of pixels are provided on the column lines 170 (FIG. 1) to a readout circuit 242 in the manner described above. The pixel signal read from each of the columns then can be read out sequentially using a column addressing circuit 244. Differential pixel signals (Vrst, Vsig) corresponding to the read out reset signal and integrated charge signal are provided as respective outputs Vout1, Vout2 of the readout circuit 242.
FIG. 3 more clearly shows the rows 321 and columns 349 of pixels 350. Each column includes multiple rows of pixels 350. Signals from the pixels 350 in a particular column can be read out to a readout circuit 351 associated with that column. The read out circuit 351 includes sample and hold circuitry for storing the pixel reset (Vrst) and integrated charge signals (Vsig). Signals stored in the readout circuits 351 then can be read sequentially column-by-column to an output stage 354 which is common to the entire array of pixels 330. The analog output signals can then be sent, for example, to a differential analog circuit and which subtracts the reset and integrated charge signals and sends them to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), or the reset and integrated charge signals can be supplied directly to the analog-to-digital converter.
FIG. 4 more clearly shows the column readout circuit 351 that includes a sample and hold read out circuit 401 and an amplifier 434. The FIG. 4 circuit is capable of sampling and holding and then amplifying the Vsig and Vrst values for subsequent use by an output stage 354 (FIG. 3).
During manufacture, each imaging pixel array is usually tested individually. Tests detect defective pixel circuits, pixel signal level, and other array attributes, and the information is stored based on lot and individual device identification numbers. The information developed during testing can be utilized to enhance the operation of the device by, for example, compensating for defective pixels, differing pixel signal levels, and other tested pixel attributes.
Additionally, imaging sensors are not identifiable when they are being manufactured. The security/identification values are assigned after the complete system is manufactured, resulting in an additional step in manufacturing that also adds to the cost of manufacture. There is also an administrative burden with regard to keeping track of defective pixel information before an identification number is assigned, as the sensor and the defective pixel information related to the pixel must be physically tracked throughout the manufacturing process. If a sensor is misplaced in the manufacturing sequence, then the integrated circuit imaging array, and all the other integrated circuit imaging array that are mis-sequenced, must be re-tested.
A certain number of defective pixels per sensor is tolerated so that a given amount of sensors are deemed usable and manufacturing costs are recovered. In these sensors, pixels that are found to be defective do not exceed a predetermined number for the entire sensor nor do they exceed a predetermined number within a predetermined area. Although the locations of these pixels are discovered during testing, it is an administrative burden, as described above, to keep track of this information during manufacture. More importantly, ensuring that information about defective pixels are supplied with each sensor after manufacture adds to the cost of sensor production. For example, the company that manufactures the sensor must provide the company that manufactures the camera with defective pixel information. Most often, the defective pixel information is provided a separate media (e.g., a floppy disc, a computer-readable tape, or other computer-readable storage media), which adds to costs. And again, problems arise with matching each sensor with its defective pixel information.
CMOS imagers with on-chip programmable memory for storing pixel and identification information for a CMOS sensor array are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,396,539 (Heller et al.) discloses an on-chip programmable flash memory, which is complex and bulky. Using a programmable memory requires additional storage circuitry (i.e., the memory) and associated circuitry to read, write, and decipher the information in the memory. It would be desirable to provide an image sensor having on-chip storage system that minimizes the amount of additional circuitry needed to implement the memory. Additionally, it would be desirable to have an on chip storage system that does not require additional circuitry to access and interpret the stored information. A simple and easy way to store pixel array information on-chip for later use would also be desirable.


An exercising machine carrying wheel assembly is disclosed including a tubular wheel frame, which has two central shafts aligned at two opposite ends, wheels respectively mounted on the central shafts and locked in place by cotter pins, washers respectively mounted on the central shafts and retained between the stepped wheels and respective inside flanges inside the tubular wheel frame, protective caps respectively covered on the wheels, and a mounting frame welded to the wheel frame at right angles, a mounting frame connected to the base of an exercising machine by screws for permitting it to be carried on the protective caps and moved from place to place.

The present invention relates to a wheel assembly, and relates more particularly to an exercising machine carrying wheel assembly fastened to the base of an exercising machine for permitting it to be carrying from place to place.
Various exercising machines have been proposed for use in physical exercise, and have appeared on the market. A ordinary exercising machine is heavy and difficult to move from place to place. If simply fasten wheels to the base of an exercising machine in order to let it be moved from place to place, the exercising machine may become unstable as it is being operated. FIG. 1 illustrates an exercising machine carrying wheel assembly for use in carrying an exercising machine, which comprises curved wheel frames fastened to the rear cross rod of the I-beam base of an exercising machine, and rollers respectively fastened to the wheel frames. The rollers are disposed at an elevation above the bottom edge of the I-beam base. Because the rollers are disposed at an elevation above the bottom edge of the I-beam base, it needs much labor to lift the front end of the I-beam base from the ground for permitting the exercising machine to be carried on the rollers. Further, because the rollers project outwards, the sense of beauty of the exercising machine is destroyed, and much storage space is needed during the delivery of the exercising machine.

Exercising machine carrying wheel assembly


Method and system for synchronizing Access Points in a WLAN, such as a CSMA/CA Access Point. A method of synchronizing a first Access Point and a second Access Point includes the steps of deploying the first and the second Access Point within a wireless network and utilizing the first Access Point to detect a presence of the second Access Point. A first periodic Beacon Frame of the first Access Point is synchronized with a first periodic Beacon Frame of the second Access Point.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention is directed to methods and systems for synchronizing Access Points within a Wireless Local Area Network. However, aspects of the invention may be equally applicable in other scenarios as well.
II. Description of Related Art
Over the recent years, the market for wireless communications has enjoyed tremendous growth. Wireless technology now reaches or is capable of reaching virtually every location on the face of the earth. One reason for this tremendous growth has been the IEEE wireless Local Area Network ("LAN") standard 802.11.
An 802.11 LAN is based on a cellular architecture where the system is subdivided into cells. Each cell or Basic Server Set ("BSS") is controlled by a Base Station. This Base Station is often referred to as an Access Point ("AP"). Even though a wireless LAN may be formed by a single cell, with a single Access Point, and in certain arrangements it can also work without an Access Point. Generally, however, most LAN installations will comprise several cells. The Access Points connected through some kind of backbone called Distribution System ("DS"), typically Ethernet, and in some cases wireless itself.
The whole interconnected Wireless LAN including the different cells, there respective Access Points and the Distribution System, is seen to the upper layers of the OSI model, as a single 802 network, and is called in the Standard an Extended Service Set ("ESS").
The standard also defines the concept of a Portal where a Portal is a device that interconnects between an 802.11 and another 802 LAN. This concept is an abstract description of the functionality of a "translation bridge." As any 802.x protocol, the 802.11x protocol covers that MAC and Physical Layer, the Standard currently defines a single MAC which interacts with three PHYs (all of them running at 1 and 2 Mbit/s up to 54 Mbit/s). Frequency hopping spread spectrum in the 2.4 Ghz Band, Direct Frequency Spread Spectrum in the 2.4 GHz Band, and Infrared. Beyond the standard functionality usually performed by MAC Layers, the 802.11 MAC performs other functions that are typically related to upper layer protocols, such as Fragmentation, Packet Retransmissions, and Acknowledges. The MAC Layer defines two access methods, the Distributed Coordination Function and the Point Coordination Function.
The basic access mechanism, called Distributed Coordination Function, is a Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance mechanism ("CSMA/CA"). CSMA protocols are known, where the most popular is the Ethernet, which is a CSMA/CD protocol (CD standing for Collision Detection).
With a CSMA protocol, a station desiring to transmit senses the medium. If the medium is busy (i.e, some other station is transmitting), then the station will defer its transmission to a later time. If the medium is sensed free or available for transmission, then the station is allowed to transmit. These kinds of protocols are effective when the medium is not heavily loaded, since it allows stations to transmit with minimum delay. However, there is a chance of stations transmitting at the same time (collision), caused by the fact that the stations sensed the medium free and decided to transmit at once.
These collision situations should be identified, so that the MAC layer can retransmit the packet by itself and not by upper layer, which would cause significant delay. In the Ethernet case, this collision is recognized by the transmitting stations which go to a retransmission phase base on an exponential random backoff algorithm. While these Collision Detection mechanisms are a good idea on a wired LAN, such Collision Detection mechanisms are typically difficult to implement in a Wireless LAN environment. For example, implementing a Wireless LAN based Collision Detection Mechanism would require the implementation of a Full Duplex radio, capable of transmitting and receiving at once. Such a full duplex approach would also tend to increase the complexity and price of the system significantly.
In addition, on a wireless environment one cannot assume that all stations hear each other. This is generally a basic assumption of the Collision Detection scheme. The fact that a station willing to transmit and senses the medium free, does not necessarily mean that the medium is free around the receiver area. In order to overcome these two concerns, the 802.11 uses a Collision Avoidance mechanism together with a Positive Acknowledge scheme. In this Positive Acknowledge scheme, a station willing to transmit senses the medium is busy then it defers transmission. If the medium is free for a specified time (called DIFS, Distributed Inter Frame Space), then the station is allowed to transmit.
A receiving station will check the CRC of the received packet and send an acknowledgment packet ("ACK"). Receipt of the ACK will indicate to the transmitter that no collision occurred. If the sender does not receive the acknowledgment then it will retransmit the fragment until it gets acknowledged or thrown away after a given number of retransmissions.
In order to reduce the probability of two stations colliding because they cannot hear each other, 802.11 defines a Virtual Carrier Sense mechanism. A station willing to transmit a packet will first transmit a short control packet called RTS (Request to Send). The RTS includes the source, destination, and the duration of the following transaction (i.e., the packet and the respective ACK). The destination station responds (if the medium is free) with a response control Packet called CTS ("Clear to Send"). The CTS will include the same duration information.
Stations receiving either the RTS and/or the CTS, will set their Virtual Carrier Sense indicator (called NAV, for Network Allocation Vector), for the given duration, and will use this information together with the Physical Carrier Sense when sensing the medium. This mechanism reduces the probability of a collision on the receiver area by a station that is "hidden" from the transmitter, to the short duration of the RTS transmission, because the stations will hear the CTS and "reserve" the medium as busy until the end of the transaction. The duration information on the RTS also protects the transmitter area from collisions during the ACK (by stations that are out of range from the acknowledging stations).
Because RTS and CTS are short frames, it also reduces the overhead of collisions, since these are recognized faster than it would be recognized if the whole packet was to be transmitted, (this is true if the packet is significantly bigger than the RTS, so the standard allows for short packets to be transmitted without the RTS/CTS transaction, and this is controlled per station by a parameter called RTS Threshold.
Typical LAN protocols use packets of several hundred of bytes (e.g., Ethernet longest packet could be up to 1518 bytes long), on a Wireless LAN environment there are some reasons why it would be preferable to use smaller packets. For example, because of the higher Bit Error Rate of a radio link, the probability of a packet to get corrupted increases with the packet size. In addition, in the case of packet corruption (either because of collision or noise), the smaller the packet the less overhead it causes to retransmit it. In addition, on Frequency Hopping system, the medium is interrupted periodically for hopping (in our case every 20 milliseconds), so the smaller the packet, the smaller the chance that the transmission will be proposed to after the dwell time.
The mechanism is a simple Send-and-Wait algorithm, where the transmitting station is not allowed to transmit a new fragment until one of the following happens: receives an ACK for the said fragment or decides that the fragment was retransmitted too many times and drops the whole frame.
Exponential Backoff is a method that attempts to resolve contention between different stations willing to access a medium. The method requires each station to choose a Random Number n between 0 and a given number. Then, wait for this number of Slots before accessing the medium, and then checking whether a different station has accessed the medium before. The Slot Time is defined in such a way that a station will be capable of determining if another station has accessed the medium at the beginning of the previous slot. This reduces the collision probability by half.
Exponential Backoff means that each time the station chooses a slot and happens to collide, it will increase the maximum number of the random selection exponentially. 802.11 defines Exponential Backoff Algorithm that will be executed in the following case. Where, if when the station senses the medium before the first transmission of a packet, and the medium is busy.
When a station wants to access an existing BSS (either after power-up, sleep mode, or just entering the BSS area), the station needs to receive synchronization information from an Access Point (or from the other stations when in an ad-hoc mode). The station can get this information by one of two means: passive scanning or active scanning. First, it may get this information by passive scanning. In the passive scanning case, the station waits to receive a beacon frame from the AP. The beacon frame is a periodic frame sent by the AP with synchronization information.
Alternatively, active scanning may be used where a station tries to find an AP by transmitting Probe Request Frames, and waiting for Probe Response from the AP. Either of these methods may be chosen according to the power consumption/performance itself.
Once the station has found an AP, and the station has decided to join the AP's BSS, the station will go through the Authentication Process. This Process is an interchange of information between the AP and the station, where each side proves the knowledge of a given password.
When a station is authenticated, then the station will start the Association Process. This process is the exchange of information about the stations and BSS capabilities, and which allows the DSS (the set of APs to know about the current position of the station). Only after the association process is completed, a station is capable of transmitting and receiving data frames.
Stations need to keep synchronization since this is needed for keeping hopping synchronized, and other functions like Power Saving. On an infrastructure BSS this is performed by all the stations updating their clocks according to the AP's clock. This synchronization occurs as the AP transmits periodic frames called Beacon Frames. These Beacon Frames contain the value of the AP's clock on the moment of transmission. Note that this is the moment when the transmission really occurs, and not when it is put in the queue for transmission, since the Beacon Frame is transmitted using the rules of CSMA, the transmission may be delayed significantly.
The receiving stations check the value of their clock at the receiving moment and correct it to keep synchronizing with the AP's clock. This prevents clock drifting which could cause loss of synchronization after a couple hours of operation.
In a typical wireless network, such as a Wireless Local Area Network ("WLAN") system, each Access Point ("AP") will have it's own internal clock. Each independent clock will also define the Time Division Multiplexing ("TDMA") timing of the SSID area that this AP covers. Consequently, this means that all AP's, provided in a certain WLAN SSID area, will be not be synchronized. Consequently, these unsynchronized BSS cells may interfere with one another. These unsynchronized BSS cells will interfere with each other even if they are operating on the same channels or alternatively adjacent yet different channels.
In an effort to reduce such interference concerns, it is generally known that the overall system throughput may be improved when there is at least beacon synchronization and scheduling between all stations in the ESS environment. Existing mechanisms like fragmentation, data rate back-off, adaptive contention window threshold, as other mechanisms, will help improve the system throughput to a certain extent. However, there is, therefore, a general need for a method and system for synchronizing WLAN APs. There is also a general need for a method and system for synchronizing WLAN APs while also improving system capacity and QoS by utilizing AP synchronization and beacon scheduling.

Method and system for WLAN synchronization


In a computer system, each program has a program attribute list associated with it, for associating different aggregates of program attributes with each of a number of invocation contexts in relation to that program. In operation, a process is given attributes depending on the current context/program combination, as determined by the program attribute table for that program. The program attributes may, for example, include a set of privileges and the context may include the identity of the user on whose behalf the program is to be run, so that a program can be given different sets of privileges depending on which user runs the program.

This invention relates to a mechanism for controlling program attributes within a computer system, and is particularly, although not exclusively, concerned with a privilege control mechanism for a computer system.
Conventional privilege mechanisms operate on an all-or-nothing basis: either a process is in a privileged state, and has the ability to perform all restricted actions, or else it is in a non-privileged state, and cannot perform any of these actions. Other conventional privilege mechanisms provide finer granularity of privilege control by associating a set of privileges with each program that needs those privileges and can be trusted not to abuse them.
One object of the present invention is to improve on these conventional privilege mechanisms.

Program attribute control in a computer system


This invention relates to the use of compounds as inhibitors of the fatty acid synthase FabH.

This invention relates to the use of compounds as inhibitors of the fatty acid synthase FabH.
The pathway for the biosynthesis of saturated fatty acids is very similar in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. However, although the chemical reactions may not vary, the organization of the biosynthetic apparatus is very different. Vertebrates and yeasts possess type I fatty acid synthases (FASs) in which all of the enzymatic activities are encoded on one or two polypeptide chains, respectively. The acyl carrier protein (ACP) is an integral part of the complex. In contrast, in most bacterial and plant FASs (type II) each of the reactions are catalyzed by distinct monofunctional enzymes and the ACP is a discrete protein. Mycobacteria are unique in that they possess both type I and II FASs; the former is involved in basic fatty acid biosynthesis whereas the latter is involved in synthesis of complex cell envelope lipids such as mycolic acids. There therefore appears to be considerable potential for selective inhibition of the bacterial systems by broad-spectrum antibacterial agents (Jackowski, S. 1992. In Emerging Targets in Antibacterial and Antifungal Chemotherapy. Ed. J. Sutcliffe and N. Georgopapadakou. Chapman and Hall, New York; Jackowski, S. et al. (1989). J. Biol. Chem. 264, 7624-7629.)
The first step in the biosynthetic cycle is the condensation of malonyl-ACP with acetyl-CoA by FabH. In subsequent rounds malonyl-ACP is condensed with the growing-chain acyl-ACP (FabB and FabF, synthases I and II respectively). The second step in the elongation cycle is ketoester reduction by NADPH-dependent xcex2-ketoacyl-ACP reductase (FabG). Subsequent dehydration by xcex2-hydroxyacyl-ACP dehydrase (either FabA or FabZ) leads to trans-2-enoyl-ACP which is in turn converted to acyl-ACP by NADH-dependent enoyl-ACP reductase (FabI). Further rounds of this cycle, adding two carbon atoms per cycle, eventually lead to palmitoyl-ACP whereupon the cycle is stopped largely due to feedback inhibition of FabH and I by palmitoyl-ACP (Heath, et al., (1996), J. Biol. Chem. 271, 1833-1836). Fab H is therefore a major biosynthetic enzyme which is also a key regulatory point in the overall synthetic pathway (Heath, R. J. and Rock, C. O. 1996. J. Biol. Chem. 271, 1833-1836; Heath, R. J. and Rock, C. O. 1996. J. Biol. Chem. 271, 10996-11000).
The antibiotic thiolactomycin has broad-spectrum antibacterial activity both in vivo and in vitro and has been shown to specifically inhibit all three condensing enzymes. It is non-toxic and does not inhibit mammalian FASs (Hayashi, T. et al., 1984. J. Antibiotics 37, 1456-1461; Miyakawa, S. et al., 1982. J. Antibiotics 35, 411-419; Nawata, Y et al., 1989. Acta Cryst. C45, 978-979; Noto, T. et al., 1982. J. Antibiotics 35, 401-410; Oishi, H. et al., 1982. J. Antibiotics 35, 391-396. Similarly, cerulenin is a potent inhibitor of FabB and F and is bactericidal but is toxic to eukaryotes because it competes for the fatty-acyl binding site common to both FAS types (D""Agnolo, G. et al.,1973. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 326, 155-166). Extensive work with these inhibitors has proved that these enzymes are essential for viability. Little work has been carried out in Gram-positive bacteria.
There is an unmet need for developing new classes of antibiotic compounds that are not subject to existing resistance mechanisms. No marketed antibiotics are targeted against fatty acid biosynthesis, therefore it is unlikely that novel antibiotics of this type would be rendered inactive by known antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Moreover, this is a potentially broad-spectrum target. Therefore, FabH inhibitors would serve to meet this unmet need.
This invention comprises cinnamate derivatives and pharmaceutical compositions containing these compounds and their use as FabH inhibitors that are useful as antibiotics for the treatment of Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial infections.
This invention further constitutes a method for treatment of a Gram negative or Gram positive bacterial infection in an animal, including humans, which comprises administering to an animal in need thereof, an effective amount of a compound of this invention.
The compounds of this invention are represented by Formula (I):
wherein,
R1 is selected from the group consisting of H, C1-10 alkyl, C1-3 arylalkyl C1-3 heteroarylalkyl aryl, heteroaryl, C1-3alkyl-C3-6cycloalkyl, and C3-6cycloalkyl;
R2 is selected from the group consisting of H, O(CH2)m aryl, O(CH2)mheteroaryl, N(R5)(CH2)m heteroaryl, N(R5)(CH2)m heteroaryl, N(R6)COaryl, N(R6)COheteroaryl, N(R6)SO2aryl and N(R6)SO2heteroaryl wherein the aryl and hetroaryl moieties of R2 and R3 may be optionally substituted by one or more of CH3, CF3, OCF3, OH, OCH3, NH2, NHCH3, N(CH3)2, SCH3, SOCH3, SO2CH3, halogen, CO2H, CO2CH3) CONH2, CON(CH3)2, NHCOH, NHCOCH3, NHSO2CH3, methylenedioxy; provided that R2 is H when R3 is selected from the group consisting of O(CH2)maryl, O(CH2)mheteroaryl, N(R5)(CH2)m aryl, N(R5)(CH2)mheteroaryl, N(R6)COaryl, N(R6)COheteroaryl, N(R6)SO2aryl and N(R6)SO2heteroaryl;
R3 is selected from the group consisting of H, halogen, OCH3, CH3, O(CH2)maryl, O(CH2)mheteroaryl, N(R5)(CH2)m aryl, N(R5)(CH2)m heteroaryl, N(R6)COaryl, N(R6)COheteroaryl, N(R6)SO2aryl and N(R6)SO2heteroaryl; provided that R3 is selected from the group consisting of O(CH2)maryl, O(CH2)mheteroaryl, N(R5)(CH2)m aryl, N(R5)(CH2)m heteroaryl, N(R6)COaryl, N(R6)COheteroaryl, N(R6)SO2aryl and N(R6)SO2heteroaryl when R2 and R4 are H;
R4 is selected from the group consisting of H, halogen, OCH3, and CH3;
R5 is selected from the group consisting of H, C1-10 alkyl, C1-3 alkyl-aryl, C1-3 alkyl-heteroaryl CO(C1-8)alkyl, and COaryl and COheteroaryl;
R6 is selected from the group consisting of H, C1-10 alkyl,C1-3alkyl-aryl and C1-3alkyl-heteroaryl; and
m is an integer from 0-3;
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.
Also included in the invention are pharmaceutically acceptable salt complexes.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cC1-10alkylxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9calkylxe2x80x9d means both straight and branched chain of 1 to 10 carbon atoms, unless the chain length is otherwise limited, including, but not limited to, methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, iso-butyl, tert-butyl, n-pentyl and the like. The alkyl may carry substituents such as hydroxy, carboxy, alkoxy, and the like.
The term xe2x80x9ccycloalkylxe2x80x9d is used herein to mean cyclic rings, preferably of 3 to 8 carbons, including but not limited to cyclopropyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, and the like.
The term xe2x80x9carylalkylxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cheteroarylalkylxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cheterocyclicalkylxe2x80x9d is used herein to mean C1-10 alkyl, as defined above, attached to an aryl, heteroaryl or heterocyclic moiety, as also defined herein, unless otherwise indicated.
As used herein,xe2x80x9carylxe2x80x9d means phenyl and naphthyl and substituted aryl such as hydroxy, carboxy, halo, alkoxy, methylenedioxy, etc.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cheteroarylxe2x80x9d means a 5-10 membered aromatic ring system in which one or more rings contain one or more heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O or S, such as, but not limited, to pyrrole, pyrazole, furan, thiophene, quinoline, isoquinoline, quinazolinyl, pyridine, pyrimidine, oxazole, thiazole, thiadiazole, triazole, imidazole, benzotriazole, or benzimidazole. As used herein, preferred aryl substituents include halo, including chloro, fluoro, bromo and iodo, in any combination; C1-10 alkyl, C1-10 alkoxy, aryloxy, or heteroaryloxy.
The compounds of this invention may contain one or more asymmetric carbon atoms and may exist in racemic and optically active forms. All of these compounds and diastereomers are contemplated to be within the scope of the present invention.
Some of the compounds of this invention may be crystallised or recrystallised from solvents such as organic solvents. In such cases solvates may be formed. This invention includes within its scope stoichiometric solvates including hydrates as well as compounds containing variable amounts of water that may be produced by processes such as lyophilisation.
Since the antibiotic compounds of the invention are intended for use in pharmaceutical compositions it will readily be understood that they are each provided in substantially pure form, for example at least 60% pure, more suitably at least 75% pure and preferably at least 85%, especially at least 95% pure, particularly at least 98% pure (% are on a weight for weight basis). Impure preparations of the compounds may be used for preparing the more pure forms used in the pharmaceutical compositions; these less pure preparations of the compounds should contain at least 1%, more suitably at least 5% and preferably from 10 to 49% of a compound of the formula (I) or salt thereof.
Preferred compounds of the present invention are selected from the group consisting of:
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-3-(4-phenoxyphenyl)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(3-Bromophenyl)-3-(2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-3-(2,6-Dichlorobenzyloxy)-2xe2x80x2-[3-(4xe2x80x2-phenoxybiphenyl)]cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(3-Biphenyl)-3-(2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-3-phenylcinnamic acid;
(E)-4-(2,6-Dichlorobenzyloxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl )-4-(2,6-dichlorophenoxy)cinnamic acid;
(Z)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(2,6-dichlorophenoxy)cinnamic acid;
(Z)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(3,5-dichlorophenoxy)cinnamic acid;
(E/Z)-2xe2x80x2-Benzyl4-(2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-3,5-dichloro-4-(2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-3,5-Dichloro-4-(2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)-2xe2x80x2-piperonylcinnamic acid;
(E/Z)-3-Chloro-4-(2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)-5-methoxy-2xe2x80x2-piperonylcinnamic acid;
(E/Z)-4-(2,6-Dichlorobenzyloxy)-3-methoxy-2 xe2x80x2-piperonylcinnamic acid;
(E/Z)-4-(2,6-Dichlorobenzyloxy)-3,5-dimethy-2xe2x80x2-piperonylcinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(3,5-dichloroanilino)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(2,5-dichlorophenoxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(4,6-dimethyl-pyrid-2-ylamino)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(3,4-dichloroanilino)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(3-cyanoanilino)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(N-acetyl-3,4-dichloroanilino)cinnamic acid;
(E)-4-(2,6-Dichlorobenzyloxy)-2xe2x80x2-thiophenylcinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(2,6-dichlorobenzylamino)cinnamic acid;
(E)-4-[Bis(2,6-dichlorobenzy)amino]-2xe2x80x2-(6-chloropiperonyl)cinnaric acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(4-Aminobenzyl)-4-(2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-4-(2,6-Dichlorobenzyloxy)-2xe2x80x2-(4-methanesulfonaminobenzyl)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-Cyano4-(2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-4-(3,4-Dichlorobenzyloxy)-2xe2x80x2-(1-methyltetrazol-5-yl)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(2-Cyanoethyl)-4-(2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)cinnamic acid; and
(E)-4-(2,6-Dichlorobenzyloxy)-2xe2x80x2-(2-thienyl)cinnamic acid.
More preferred compound useful in the present invention are selected from the group consisting of:
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-3-(2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(3,5-dichlorophenoxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(2,5-dichloroanilino)cinnamnic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(2-chloro-5-hydroxybenzyloxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(Phenyl)-4-(2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)cinnamic acid;
(E)-2xe2x80x2-(6-Chloropiperonyl)-4-(3-amino-2,6-dichlorobenzyloxy)cinnamic acid; and
(E)-4-(2,6-Dichlorobenzyloxy) 2xe2x80x2-(3-thienyl)cinnamic acid.
Compounds of Formula (I) wherein R2 or R3 is benzyloxy are prepared by the methods described in Scheme 1.
a) NaH, DMF; b) NaH, DMF; c) KOH, EtOH; d) acetic acid, piperidine, benzene; e) NaOH, CH3OH, THF, H2O
Hydroxy benzaldehyde 1-Scheme-1, and a benzyl halide (such as 2,6-dichlorobenzyl bromide) are treated with a base (such as sodium hydride) in a solvent (such as DMF) and stirred (6 hours to 30 hours, preferably 16 hours) to yield 3-Scheme-1. Diethyl malonate 5-Scheme-1 is alkylated with a benzyl halide (such as 6-chloropiperonyl chloride 4-Scheme-1) and a base (such as sodium hydride) in a solvent (such as DMF) then stirred (1 hours to 10 hours, preferably 3 hours). The resulting diester is mono-saponified using a base (such as potassium hydroxide) in a solvent (such as ethanol) and stirred (4 hours to 30 hours, preferably 18 hours) to yield 6-Scheme-1. Knoevenagel condensation of 3-Scheme-1 with 6-Scheme-1 in a solvent (such as benzene) with catalysts (such as piperidine and acetic acid) at reflux temperature with azeotropic water removal provides the ester 7-Scheme-1. Saponification of 7-Scheme-1 with a base (such as potassium hydroxide) in a solvent (such as ethanol and tetrahydrofuran) provides 8-Scheme-1.
Compounds of Formula (I) wherein R2 is phenoxy or aninilo are prepared by the methods described in Scheme 2.
a) acetic acid, piperidine, benzene; b) Cu(Oac)2, TEA, 4A sieves, CH2Cl2; c) KOH, EtOH
A Knoevenagel condensation of 1-Scheme-2 with 2-Scheme-2 (prepared by treating the arylboronic acid with ethylene glycol with concurrent water removal) in a solvent (such as benzene) with catalysts (such as piperidine and acetic acid) at reflux temperature with azeotropic water removal provides the boronic acid 3-Scheme-2. This is coupled with a substituted phenol or aniline (such as 3,5-dichloroaniline) using copper salts (such as Cu(II) acetate) and a base (such as TEA) with molecular sieves in a solvent (such as methylene chloride) to provide 4-Scheme-2. Saponification of 4-Scheme-2 with a base (such as potassium hydroxide) in a solvent (such as ethanol) provides 5-Scheme-2.
Compounds of Formula (I) wherein R2 is phenyl are prepared by the methods described in Scheme 3.
a) ArX, (Ph3P)4Pd(0), Na2CO3, toluene, H2O; b) KOSi(CH3)3, THF
A Suzuki coupling of 1-Scheme-3 with an aryl halide (such as 3,5-dichloroiodobenzene) in the presence of a palladium catalyst [such as tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0)] and a base (such as sodium carbonate) in a solvent (such as toluene and water) provides the ethyl ester of 2-Scheme-3. Saponification of the ethyl ester of 2-Scheme-3 with a base (such as potassium trimethylsilanolate) in a solvent (such as THF) provides 2-Scheme-3.
a) acetic anhydride, TEA
A condensation of an arylacetic acid and a 4-benzyloxybenzaldehyde in acetic anhydride with triethyl amine at high temperature provides the 2xe2x80x2-arylcinnamic acids 3-scheme-4.


The present invention is provided a structure for mounting a printed board in which each connector that is attached to each of a plurality of sub printed boards, which are juxtaposed to one another with respect to a main printed board secured to a metal backboard, is inserted into each of a plurality of connectors that are juxtaposed to one another on the main printed board so that the sub printed boards are mounted on the main printed board by the connector connections. Parts of both ends of an area in proximity to a semiconductor-device mounted area on each of the sub printed boards ate pinched between a first metal frame and a second metal frame so that each of the sub printed boards are secured.

The present invention relates to a structure for mounting a printed board, in which a multiplicity of printed boards (sub substrates), which are juxtaposed to each other, are connected and mounted to a main printed board that is secured to a backboard, each of the printed boards including an electronic part area on which a plurality of electronic parts are mounted, and a semiconductor device area on which a plurality of semiconductor devices are mounted. The present invention also relates to an electronic apparatus (for example, a nuclear medicine diagnosis system having an observation unit such as a PET (Positron Emission Tomography) system and a SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computer Tomography) system) having the structure for mounting a printed board.
Conventional structures for mounting a printed board are known by JP-A-2001-7572 (patent document 1) and JP-A-11-186708 (patent document 2). According to the patent document 1, when a plurality of printed boards are mounted inside a case whose printed board entrance is opened, a pair of guide rails for guiding a pair of edges of each printed board, which are opposed to each other, are attached in rows in the case of an electronic apparatus so that the pair of guide rails are opposed to the case. Here, the distance from a start point of the pair of guide rails to the entrance of the printed board differs from one another; and the edges of a rail member constituting the guide rail, on the start point side, expand in a direction in which the edges are spaced away from each other. In addition, according to the patent document 2, in a mounting method for mounting a printed board relating to electric parts that require electromagnetic shielding, soldering paste is applied to the printed board, and then the electric parts are mounted on the printed board. Moreover, a shield case is attached on the printed board. The shield case has a box shape whose bottom is opened to cover the electric parts from the top, and is provided with the clearance between the shield case and the printed board at a plurality of points. Then, hot air is put into the clearance at least at one of the points, and the hot air is then exhausted from the clearance at least at another point, and thereby the electric parts and the shield case are soldered with the soldering paste.
On the other hand, a PET (Positron Emission Tomography) system, which is electronic apparatus having a plurality of unit substrates each including semiconductor devices that are mounted in matrix, is known by JP-A-2005-106805 (patent document 3). The patent document 3 discloses a nuclear medicine diagnosis system such as a PET system. The PET system includes a support member, and a plurality of detector units that are attached to the support member in a manner that the detector units can be freely removed. Each of the detector units includes a housing member, and a plurality of unit substrates that are housed in the housing member in a manner that the unit substrates can be freely removed. Each of the unit substrates includes a first substrate and a second substrate. The first substrate includes a plurality of semiconductor radiation detectors, each of which detects a radioactive ray generated by chemical solution that has been injected into the body of a subject. The second substrate includes an integrated circuit for processing a radioactive-ray detection signal that is output from each of the multiplicity of semiconductor radiation detectors. The integrated circuit includes: an analog integrated circuit for processing a signal output from the semiconductor radiation detector; an A/D converter for converting an analog signal, which is the output of the analog integrated circuit, into a digital signal; and a digital integrated circuit for inputting a signal output from the A/D converter. The PET system further includes a counting device that inputs each output from the integrated circuit, and that calculates in pairs the output corresponding to a pair of radioactive-ray detection signals detected during the setup time. The PET system creates tomogram information by use of calculation information output from the counting device.

Structure for mounting printed board and nuclear medicine diagnosis system


Interfacing a wireless device with web services, including social networking web services, is described. For example, a system for interfacing a wireless device with a plurality of web services comprises a web service proxy having an API to allow other modules to interface with the web service proxy; a plurality of web services adapters interfaced with the web services proxy through the API, each one of the web services adapters configured to communicate with a particular web service using the specific communication formats for the web service; where the web services adapters and the web services proxy convert between the communication formats employed to communicate with each of the web services and a wireless communication format, the wireless communication format being a different format than the communication formats for each of the web services, thereby enabling bi-directional communication between the wireless device and the plurality of web services.

Many people access Internet content and Web Services from a wireless communication device (e.g., a cellular telephone or PDA) so that they are not restricted to a personal computer with an Internet connection. Most wireless communication devices retrieve Internet content and Web Services in one of two different ways: use of a Web browser or use of a Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) application.
High power wireless communication devices often include a Web browser (e.g., Windows® Explorer) so that information can be retrieved from an Internet site on the device just as if the user was at a personal computer. One problem with the use of Web browsers on wireless devices, though, is that the devices require a lot of processing power and bandwidth to handle and convert the large amount of data exchanged so as to be compatible with the Internet site and the wireless device.
In order to overcome processing and network bandwidth restraints posed by a Web browser, many wireless communication devices retrieve Internet content and Web Services using an application that follows the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). WAP applications allow devices to connect to a Web server, but require less processing power and use less network bandwidth than a typical Web browser. For example, the social networking site MySpace® currently provides a Web Services proxy that can be connected to through the use of a WAP application in order for a user of a wireless communication device to connect to MySpace®.
A Web Services proxy may be updated to add new features for Web applications and/or to fix problems. One problem, though, with current WAP applications is that they become useless if the associated Web Services proxy is updated. That is, the WAP application is hard coded so as to be compatible with the previous version of the Web Services proxy. Hence, when the Web Service proxy is updated the WAP application may be unable to connect to the new version of the Web Services proxy. As a result, the WAP application on a device must typically be updated when a Web Services proxy is updated.
Updating every WAP application (e.g., updating every cellular telephone of a Cellular Telephone Service Provider) can be very costly and consume large portions of network bandwidth. In addition, device applications implemented through WAP applications can require multiple requests from the device to the Web Services proxy, tying up valuable bandwidth. Furthermore, the communication protocol employed to allow a WAP application and a Web Services proxy to communicate is an inefficient ("chatty") format based on the exchange of data through Extensible Markup Language ("XML") documents (e.g., using the Simple Object Access Protocol ("SOAP"))
One exemplary Web Service is that provided by a social networking site. A "social network" is a map of the relationships between individuals, indicating the ways in which they are connected through various social familiarities ranging from casual acquaintance to close familial bonds. Social networking is the practice of expanding and/or maintaining those relationships within the map. For example, in business, businessmen will refer friends to other businessmen (e.g., exchanging business cards). In casual life, persons will attend parties of a friend in order to connect and build relationships with the friend's friends.
Within the last ten years, social networking through the Internet has become popular. A variety of services are provided by social networking sites which allow users to communicate and exchange information including, for example, Instant Messaging, E-Mail messaging, Message Boards, photo sharing services, etc. Recently, social networking sites such as MySpace®, LinkedIn®, and Yahoo! ® Local have become a popular choice for social networking. To improve social networking, MySpace® includes, for example, personal Web pages for each user including profiles, blogs, pictures, videos, a "shoutbox," instant messaging, a list of "friends" (other users on the MySpace® network that allow each other communications between the two users), e-mail capabilities, bulletin boards, and calendars. To use the social networking services, a user logs into the service's website (e.g., MySpace.com) from his or her personal computer. Mobile devices currently provide access to social networking sites through a Web browser or WAP application.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Managing web services data and presence data


The indoor unit for an air conditioner comprises a cross flow fan, an indoor heat exchanger, an auxiliary pipe, an indoor fan motor, a motor cover section, a front drain pan, a rear drain pan, and a communication passage. The communication passage is arranged adjacent to the motor cover section along the rotational axis in a top plan view and serves to link the front drain pan and the rear drain pan together. The cross flow fan, the indoor fan motor and the communication passage are arranged such that in a top plan view they are positioned along the rotational axis in the following order: the cross flow fan, the indoor fan motor, and the communication passage.

An indoor unit of an air conditioner is equipped with a blower fan, a motor, and a heat exchanger and serves to deliver air that has passed through the heat exchanger into a room. The motor serves to rotationally drive the blower fan, and the blower fan and motor are arranged adjacent to each other along the rotational axis of the blower fan.
The indoor unit of the air conditioner is further equipped with a first drain pan and a second drain pan to catch drain water that drips from the forward end and rearward end of the heat exchanger and a communication passage to link the first and second drain pans together. By providing a communication passage, the water caught by the first drain pan and the second drain pan can be collected in either one of the drain pans or in the communication passage and discharged to the outside of the indoor unit. In conventional indoor units, the communication passage is often arranged between the blower fan and the motor in a top plan view. More specifically, the blower fan, the communication passage, and the motor are often arranged such that in a top plan view they are positioned along the rotational axis of the blower fan in the following order: blower fan, communication passage, motor (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-221497).
However, in an indoor unit of an air conditioner, water drips not only from the heat exchanger but also from the auxiliary pipe that extends outward from the side face of the heat exchanger. Consequently, a motor cover that covers the motor is arranged below the auxiliary pipe to protect the motor from the drain water. In some cases, the disposal of the drain water that drips onto the motor cover is problematic. When the communication passage is arranged between the blower fan and the motor along the rotational axis of the blower fan in a top plan view, it is necessary to prevent the drain water caught by the motor cover from flowing toward the outside, i.e., toward the opposite side as the side where the blower fan is located. The idea of as providing ribs on the motor cover to guide the drain water away from the outside have been tried as a means of preventing the drain water from flowing to the outside, but such designs cause the shape of the motor cover to become complex and the manufacturing cost to increase.


Methods comprising: providing at least a plurality of liquid hardenable resin coated particulates that have been at least partially coated with a liquid hardenable resin component; providing at least a plurality of liquid hardening agent coated particulates that have been at least partially coated with a liquid hardening agent component; suspending the liquid hardenable resin coated particulates and the liquid hardening agent coated particulates in a treatment fluid; and placing the treatment fluid into a subterranean formation. Methods comprising: providing at least a plurality of coated particulates that have been at least partially coated with one component of a two component resin system; coating at least a plurality of the coated particulates on a job site with a second component of a two component resin system; suspending the coated particulates in a treatment fluid; and placing the treatment fluid into a subterranean formation.

The present invention relates to improved methods of coating particulates with a resin composition so that they may be used in subterranean operations, such as hydraulic fracturing, gravel packing, and frac-packing.
Hydrocarbon-producing wells are often stimulated by hydraulic fracturing treatments. Hydraulic fracturing operations generally involve pumping a treatment fluid (e.g., a fracturing fluid or a "pad" fluid) into a well bore that penetrates a subterranean formation at a hydraulic pressure sufficient to create or enhance at least one or more fractures in the subterranean formation. The fluid used in the treatment may comprise particulates, which are often referred to as "proppant particulates," that are deposited in the resultant fractures. The proppant particulates are thought to prevent the fractures from fully closing upon the release of hydraulic pressure, forming conductive channels through which fluids may flow to a well bore to ultimately be produced. The term "propped fracture" as used herein refers to a fracture (naturally-occurring or otherwise) in a portion of a subterranean formation that contains at least a plurality of proppant particulates. The term "proppant pack" refers to a collection of proppant particulates within a fracture.
Hydrocarbon-producing wells also may undergo gravel packing treatments, inter alia, to reduce the migration of unconsolidated formation particulates into the well bore. In gravel packing operations, particulates, often referred to in the art as gravel, are suspended in a treatment fluid, which may be viscosified, and the treatment fluid is pumped into a well bore in which the gravel pack is to be placed. As the particulates are placed in or near a subterranean zone, the treatment fluid is either returned to the surface or leaks off into the zone. The resultant gravel pack acts as a filter to prevent the production of the formation solids with the produced fluids. Traditional gravel pack operations may involve placing a gravel pack screen in the well bore and then packing the surrounding annulus between the screen and the well bore with gravel. The gravel pack screen is generally a filter assembly used to support and retain the gravel placed during the gravel pack operation. A wide range of sizes and screen configurations is available to suit the characteristics of a well bore, the production fluid, and any particulates in the subterranean formation.
In some situations, hydraulic fracturing and gravel packing operations may be combined into a single treatment. Such treatments are often referred to as "frac pack" operations. In some cases, the treatments are generally completed with a gravel pack screen assembly in place with the hydraulic fracturing treatment being pumped through the annular space between the casing and screen. In this situation, the hydraulic fracturing treatment ends in a screen-out condition, creating an annular gravel pack between the screen and casing. In other cases, the fracturing treatment may be performed prior to installing the screen and placing a gravel pack.
Particulates (such as proppant or gravel) used in subterranean operations are often coated with resins to facilitate consolidation of the particulates and/or to prevent their subsequent flow-back through the conductive channels in the subterranean formation, which can, for example, clog the conductive channels and/or damage the interior of the formation or equipment. The term "resin" as used herein refers to any of numerous physically similar polymerized synthetics or chemically modified natural resins including thermoplastic materials and thermosetting materials.
A typical resin coating material is a two component resin system comprising a liquid hardenable resin component and a liquid hardening agent component. Heretofore, resin coated particulates have been coated by mixing both of the components of the resin system together on-the-fly to form a hardenable resin composition and then coating particulates with this hardenable resin composition at the well site. The term "on-the-fly" is used herein to mean that a flowing stream is continuously introduced into another flowing stream so that the streams are combined and mixed while continuing to flow as a single stream. Although this technique is frequently used to coat particulates, this method can be problematic. Once the two components of a resin coating material are mixed together to form a hardenable resin composition, the hardenable resin component becomes activated by the hardening agent component thus becoming tackified. As used herein, the term "tacky," in all of its forms, generally refers to a substance having a nature such that it is (or may be activated to become) somewhat sticky to the touch. The hardenable resin composition may stick to equipment with which it may come into contact with during the particulate coating process or while being mixed into a treatment fluid thereby decreasing the efficiency of the coating process and making the equipment difficult to clean.
Another problem encountered in the use of hardenable resin compositions for coating particulates is that the hardenable resin composition has a very short shelf life. That is, once batch mixed, the shelf life of the hardenable resin composition may be as short as four hours or less. Heretofore, it has been a common practice to utilize particulates that have been precoated with a resin system where only a small portion of the resin remains curable, so that the resin pre-coated particulates can then be stored for later use. When the precoated particulates are required for use at a job site, they are then transported to the job site. However, when such precoated resin coated particulates are consolidated after being placed in a subterranean formation, the resulting consolidated particulates often do not have enough strength to prevent proppant flow-back and do not perform effectively.


Circuit interrupting devices, power distribution switchgear assemblies, and pole units for power distribution are provided. A circuit interrupting device includes a solid insulation housing, a disconnect, a window, and an insulating fluid. The solid insulation housing defines a first external opening and a first cavity extending into the solid insulation housing from the first external opening. The disconnect has a moving contact in selective engagement with a stationary contact in the first cavity. The window is secured to the solid insulation housing at the first external opening. The insulating fluid is disposed within the first cavity. The window, the solid insulation housing, or a combination thereof is configured to form a trap region that is in fluid communication with the first cavity and is configured to trap air bubbles in the insulating fluid.

Circuit interrupting devices function to isolate a fault condition in a power distribution system. Upon clearing of the fault condition certain types of these devices may be manually or automatically reclosed to restore the circuit. Faults in a power distribution system can occur for any number of reasons and are typically transient. Reclosing after the fault is cleared provides for quick service restoration.
A typical circuit interrupting device may include a disconnect having a stationary contact and a moving contact. Some such disconnects may be located within a fluid cavity and surrounded by electrically insulating or dielectric fluid, such as silicone. In certain conditions, these fluid-filled disconnects may have air bubbles within the fluid cavity. While these disconnects are still functional with such air bubbles, the air bubbles may cause technicians or other personnel to believe that the circuit interrupting device is in need of service.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a circuit interrupter device with a configuration capable of reducing such visible air bubbles in a silicone filled cavity. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Circuit interrupters with air trap regions in fluid reservoirs


A mixing assembly for use in a semi-continuous process for producing liquid personal care compositions, such as shampoos, includes a main feed tube carrying a base of the composition to be produced, a plurality of injection tubes in selective fluid communication with the main feed tube, and an orifice provided in a wall at an end of the main feed tube downstream of the plurality of injection tubes. The wall in which the orifice is provided includes a curved (e.g., semispherical) entry surface on an upstream or inlet side of an orifice, and a curved (e.g., semi-elliptical) exit surface on a downstream or outlet side of the orifice. The orifice may have a rectangular or elliptical shape. By maintaining symmetry of the injection tubes with respect to the orifice, and leveraging delay between introduction of dosed modules and increased viscosity, effective mixing may be achieved with minimal energy.

Liquid personal care compositions, such as shampoos, shower gels, liquid hand cleansers, liquid dental compositions, skin lotions and creams, hair colorants, facial cleansers, fluids intended for impregnation into or on wiping articles (e.g., baby wipes), laundry detergent, dish detergent, and other surfactant-based liquid compositions, are typically mass produced using batch processing operations. While viscosity of the compositions can be measured and adjusted in the large, fixed size, mixing tanks used in such batch processing systems, this approach does not provide optimal production requirements to meet the needs of facilities engaged in the production of numerous liquid compositions that share the same equipment to perform mixing operations.
Another drawback of conventional batch processing systems used in the production of liquid personal care compositions is the difficulty of cleaning the pipes and tanks to accommodate change-over to production of different personal care compositions. In order to reduce losses and avoid contamination of the next batch to be made, it is common to "pig" the feed lines or pipes leading to and/or from the batch tank and to wash out the batch tank. As this washout period can take up to 50% of the batch cycle time, a system that could significantly reduce changeover time would provide opportunities to increase production capacity and efficiency.
In addition to changeover time, significant quantities of unused components pigged through the lines during the changeover process are considered scrap and wasted when changeover occurs. Thus, a system that reduced such waste would be beneficial to the environment and would decrease cost of the finished product.

Semi-continuous feed production of liquid personal care compositions


A selectable one-way rocker clutch assembly includes an inner race disposed radially within an outer race, first and second plurality of rockers, a selector ring and an apply plate. The inner race defines a plurality of pockets configured to operatively retain the first and second plurality of rockers. The first plurality of rockers is configured to resist rotation of the outer race relative to the inner race in a first direction. The second plurality of rockers is configured to resist rotation of the outer race relative to the inner race in a second direction. The selector ring is disposed radially between the inner race and outer race. The apply plate is configured to engage with the selector ring and, in so doing, rotate the selector ring to thereby selectively retract the first and/or second plurality of rockers and thus control the state of the rocker clutch assembly.

Traditional automotive vehicles include a powertrain that is comprised of an engine, a multi-speed transmission, and a differential or final drive system. The multi-speed transmission increases the overall operating range of the vehicle by permitting the engine to operate through its torque range a number of times. The number of forward speed ratios that are available in the transmission is indicative of the number of times the engine torque range is repeated.
Automatic transmissions (e.g., planetary gear type) and manual shifting transmissions (e.g., countershaft type) constitute the two main varieties of automotive transmissions. Early automatic transmissions had two speed ranges. This severely limited the overall speed range of the vehicle and therefore required a relatively large engine that could produce a wide speed and torque range. This resulted in the engine operating at a specific fuel consumption level during cruising, other than the most efficient level. Therefore, historically, manually-shifted transmissions were the most popular.
With the advent of three- and four-speed automatic transmissions, the automatic shifting transmission increased in popularity with the motoring public. These transmissions improved the operating performance and fuel economy of the vehicle. Increasing the number of speed ratios in an automatic transmission reduces the step size between each ratio, improving the shift quality of the transmission by making the ratio interchanges substantially imperceptible to the operator under normal vehicle acceleration. Furthermore, by varying the gear ratios within the transmission, the internal combustion engine may operate below the maximum rotational speed and preferably near the engine speed range that provides the best performance and/or fuel economy.
Automatic transmissions generally effect a ratio change by altering the power delivery path after selective actuation of one or more friction elements, commonly referred to as either a clutch or brake mechanism. The aforesaid friction elements may include, for example, a one-way clutch configured to selectively transfer torque in a first direction, and to interrupt the transfer of torque in the opposite direction. As an example, a one-way clutch may be implemented to transfer torque from an engine to the transmission, and to interrupt the transfer of reverse torque from the transmission to the engine.


A wood splitter comprises a fixedly mounted splitting wedge 2 and a pressure plate 4 driven by a hydraulic ram 5,6 so as to feed pieces of wood 3 onto the wedge. Hydraulic fluid is delivered to the ram through the intermediary of a hydraulic-pressure control valve 14. Feed movement of the pressure plate is initiated only when the hydraulic pressure applied to the valve rises above a predetermined value. The pressure plate is returned to its starting position by a spring 23 when the hydraulic pressure falls below the predetermined value.

The present invention relates to a wood splitter of the kind which includes a fixed splitting wedge and a hydraulically-driven pressure plate for advancing wood pieces towards and against the wedge.
Known hydraulic wood splitters of this kind normally comprise a double-acting hydraulic piston-cylinder device and a hydraulic feed circuit which operates at constant, high pressure. The high pressure hydraulic circuit is connected to different sides of the piston by means of a manually adjustable valve, such connection being made in dependence on whether the pressure plate is to carry out a working or return stroke. A hydraulic fluid tank is connected to the other side of the piston at the same time.
One drawback with these known arrangements is that the hydraulic pump must be driven continuously by a prime mover, in order to maintain a constantly high-feed pressure. In addition to unnecessary operating costs, this drawback necessitates the use of a large oil and tank volume in order to achieve requisite cooling of the oil, due to the fact that the oil is heated considerably during operation of the splitter. For example, with a hydraulic flow of 10-15 l/min., it is necessary to use a tank whose which volume corresponds to 2.5-3 times this flow rate. Another drawback is that adjustments to the setting of the high pressure valve in order to effect a working stroke or a return stroke of the pressure plate must be carried out by means of a manually actuable valve assembly, which because of the high oil pressure that prevails is relatively complicated. Because of these drawbacks of the known wood splitter of the aforesaid kind, the splitter has a very heavy and bulky construction and cannot therefore be transported easily between different working sites. For example, commercially available wood splitters of this kind may weigh from 100 to 150 kg.
The present invention is based on the realization that the aforesaid drawbacks are eliminated, among other things, when a single-acting piston-cylinder device is used instead of a double-acting device, so that the high feed pressure required need only be generated during a working stroke of the pressure plate. This greatly reduces the need to cool the oil, thereby also reducing the requisite tank volume. The pressure plate may be returned to its starting position by means of a spring force. The use of a spring for this purpose also has the advantage that the return stroke of the pressure plate will be less liable to injure the operator. The operator of the known wood splitters stands a serious risk of injury when the pressure plate is returned at such high hydraulic pressures as those concerned.
EP-A1-0 051 853 discloses a wood splitter of this general kind which, however, comprises a manually operated valve. In one embodiment of the wood splitter it is said that this valve could be replaced by an automatically operated valve so that the hydraulic fluid can be supplied to the piston-cylinder device through said valve which is controlled by the hydraulic pressure, such that feed movement of the pressure plate is initiated when the hydraulic pressure rises and that the pressure plate is returned to its starting position by a return spring, when the hydraulic pressure falls.
The valve proposed to be used in the above embodiment seems not to be able to fulfill the intended function as the discharge conduit will not open as there will be no substantial pressure difference between the opposite surfaces of the rim portion of the flexible membrane as the delivery flow of hydraulic oil is discontinued.


A thermal transfer sheet includes coloring material layers D1, D2, and D3. Transferred images respectively formed by the coloring material layers D1, D2, and D3 have a value C defined by mathematical formula 1 of less than 12, and colorimetric values P (a*, b*) defined by mathematical formulae 2 and 3 different from one another:C=([a*]2+[b*]2)0.5   (mathematical formula 1)where C represents chroma and a* and b* each represent a colorimetric value equivalent to L*=38,[a*]=(ay−ax)/(Ly−Lx)*(38−Lx)+ax   (mathematical formula 2), and[b*]=(by−bx)/(Ly−Lx)*(38−Lx)+bx   (mathematical formula 3)where Lx, ax, bx, Ly, ay, and by represent colorimetric values at adjacent step Sx and step Sy near L*=38 when a stairstep image is formed by transfer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal transfer sheet having two or more types of coloring material layers, a thermal transfer sheet set including a plurality of thermal transfer sheets each having different types of coloring material, and an image forming method that uses the thermal transfer sheet and the thermal transfer sheet set. In particular, the present invention relates to a black-based thermal transfer sheet having a color toning function, a black-based thermal transfer sheet set, and an image forming method using the black-based thermal transfer sheet or the black-based thermal transfer sheet set.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dye sublimation transfer technology has been available as one technique for creating color hard copies. The dye sublimation transfer technology uses a thermal transfer sheet including a substrate film having a heat-resistant lubricating layer on one surface and a coloring material layer on the other surface, in combination with a thermal transfer-receiving sheet including a substrate having an image-receiving layer on at least one surface. According to the dye sublimation thermal transfer technology, a surface of the thermal transfer sheet on which the coloring material layer is formed is arranged to face a surface of the thermal transfer-receiving sheet on which the image-receiving layer is formed, and thermal energy corresponding to an image to be transferred is applied by a thermal head through a heat resistant lubricating layer surface of the thermal transfer sheet so as to allow dye molecules in the coloring material layer of the thermal transfer sheet to migrate to the image-receiving layer surface of the thermal transfer-receiving sheet and to thereby form a transferred image on the thermal transfer-receiving sheet. Since the dye sublimation transfer technology can provide continuous density gradation within one pixel, it is suitable for outputting photographic images.
There has been a demand to create monochromic prints by the dye sublimation thermal transfer technology. Monochromic prints can be obtained by using coloring material layers having the following features:
Method 1: Use of Color Thermal Transfer Sheet
According to method 1, a thermal transfer sheet having yellow, magenta, cyan, and, if necessary, black coloring material layers is used and black/gray tone is obtained by subtractive mixing of these colors. According to method 1, gray-tone prints of a desired hue can be obtained by differentiating the thermal energy distribution ratios for yellow, magenta, and cyan material layers.
However, according to method 1, unintended hue shift occurs in low-density portions of a gray tone print. The term "hue shift" refers to subtle differences in tone between portions with high and low densities that occur during image formation. Whereas a monochromic image should have a constant tone from low-gradation to high-gradation, phase shift causes lack of tone consistency in the monochromic image, which is not preferable. The hue shift is attributable to instability of reproducibility in repeating transfer of dyes by heat application using a thermal head. In other words, according to the method 1, since chroma of the color material layers of three primary colors is originally high, in low-density gray regions, subtle changes in ambient temperature and the temperature of the entire thermal head cause changes in gray tone between different levels of gradation.
Following two methods are also available as methods for obtaining monochromic prints.
Method 2: Use of Monochromic Thermal Transfer Sheet
In method 2, a thermal transfer sheet including an achromatic color material layer is used. Examples of the monochromatic thermal transfer sheet include those having the following coloring material layers, all of which create an achromatic color by imparting absorption over substantially the entire visible light range:    (1) a color layer composed of one type of black-based dye (e.g., refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1-165486 and 2-265790)    (2) a color layer combining a plurality of types of low-chroma dyes having different maximum absorption wavelengths (e.g., see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 4-226393 and 10-86535)    (3) a color layer made achromatic by combining dyes corresponding to three primary colors for subtractive mixing (e.g., see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1-136787 and 7-304272).
In the case where the coloring material layer (2) is used, a sufficient maximum print density (reflection density of 2 or more) may not be obtained by conducting thermal transfer once. In order to overcome this drawback, coloring material layers of the same color tone are superimposed a plurality of times to increase the maximum print density (e.g., see to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2-587).
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 7-214804 describes one example of a method for forming an image of a desired color tone in making a monochromic print. The method described in '804 document proposes use of a thermal transfer sheet having a plurality of coloring material layers with symmetric hues of opposite types to obtain a desired color tone.
In method 2, the tone of the gray print is preset and the tone can rarely be changed according to the preference of the user at the site of printing. In order to overcome this drawback, '804 document proposes use of two different types of ink sheets having different hues to obtain a desired tone. However, the selection of the hue is limited to contrastive hues, and the document does not address the problem of hue shift between the low-print-density and high-print-density portions or possible solutions for hue shift.
Another problem with the monochromic thermal transfer sheets (1) to (3) above is that it is difficult to obtain a coloring material layer having a high sensitivity. This is due to the following reasons, which are described according to the composition of the monochromic thermal transfer sheet.
The thermal transfer sheet including a color layer composed of one type of black-base dye described in (1) tends to have a large molecular weight, low dye transfer efficiency, and difficulty in achieving high sensitivity.
As for the thermal transfer sheet having a layer combining a plurality of types of low-chroma dyes having different maximum absorption wavelengths set forth in (2) and the thermal transfer sheet having a layer made achromatic by combining dyes corresponding three primary colors for subtractive mixing set forth in (3), the half value width at the maximum absorption wavelength of each dye used is small in the thermal transfer sheet of (2) and smaller in the thermal transfer sheet of (3), thereby requiring many types of dyes.
Furthermore, the blend ratio of the dye constituting the coloring material layer to the binder constituting the coloring material layer is limited in view of stable dye retention. If the thermal transfer sheet has a dye/binder blend ratio exceeding the upper limit, the dyes may precipitate in the coloring material layer. Because of such restriction, the amount of dye usable for each component becomes more and more limited as the number of types of dyes used increases, and it becomes difficult to transfer a sufficient amount of coloring material (about 2 in terms of maximum print density) by conducting the transfer of the coloring material layer only once. Although this drawback can be overcome by the method described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2-587, the problem of lack of choice of tone remains unresolved.
As described above, although the thermal transfer sheets described above have been used to obtain a monochromic print by the dye sublimation transfer technology, it has been difficult to achieve a print density of a practical level, to render the hue shift in the low-density regions less noticeable, and to satisfactorily achieve a desired gray tone.

Thermal transfer sheet, thermal transfer sheet set, and image forming method


Exemplary embodiments provide systems and methods for autonomously valet parking a vehicle based on images obtained from a plurality of plenoptic (light field) cameras. According to one embodiment, an autonomous valet parking system comprises a plenoptic camera configured to: obtain an image external to a vehicle, and for the image, generate a depth map including location information for an object in the image; and a controller configured to: using the depth map, generate an occupancy map indicating whether each of a plurality of regions surrounding the vehicle is occupied; and using the occupancy map, control the vehicle to navigate to a desired parking space.

Vehicles that can autonomously park are becoming more commonplace. The sensors these known vehicles employ to enable autonomous parking, such as ultrasonic sensors, RADAR, and/or LIDAR, have advantages and disadvantages. Ultrasonic sensors are inexpensive, but they are relatively inaccurate. For instance, ultrasonic sensors have difficulty detecting certain objects, such as curb shapes and even other vehicles, when the geometry and/or the material of the objects do not provide a strong return. Further, ultrasonic sensors do not output precise directional information because the ultrasonic sensor beam pattern is wide. LIDAR provides relatively good object range and heading information, but is expensive. RADAR provides relatively good object range rate information, but has difficulty detecting some objects and is expensive. There is a need for new sensing systems and methods for autonomously parking vehicles.

System and method for autonomous valet parking using plenoptic cameras


The present invention relates to a positive-type photosensitive resin composition and a cured film prepared therefrom. The positive-type photosensitive resin composition comprises a nonpolar organic solvent, thereby suppressing the reactivity of the epoxy group in the composition to reduce the production of diol compounds. When a cured film is prepared from the composition, an appropriate level of developability can be maintained to further enhance the pattern adhesiveness, resolution, and sensitivity. Further, since the composition of the present invention has a small difference in the film retention rates at room temperature and low temperatures, the composition may have stable stability over time.

Generally, a transparent planarization film is formed on a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate for the purpose of insulation to prevent a contact between a transparent electrode and a data line in a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. Through a transparent pixel electrode positioned near the data line, the aperture ratio of a panel may be increased, and high luminance/resolution may be attained.
In order to form such a transparent planarization film, several processing steps are employed to impart a specific pattern profile, and a positive-type photosensitive resin composition is widely employed in this process since fewer processing steps are required. In particular, as the size of LCD panels increases, there is an increasing demand for positive cured films without stitch mura and lens mura.
In connection with the conventional positive-type photosensitive resin compositions, technologies of using a polysiloxane resin, an acrylic resin, and the like as raw materials have been introduced.
As compared with a polysiloxane resin that is rich in silanol groups, an acrylic resin has a problem that its sensitivity is lower than that of the polysiloxane resin since the content of carboxyl groups involved in development is limited. In order to compensate this, a photosensitive resin composition and a cured film prepared therefrom have been proposed in which a polysiloxane resin and an acrylic resin are employed together, thereby having excellent sensitivity and adhesiveness (see Japanese Patent No. 5,099,140).
However, the sensitivity has not yet been improved to a satisfactory level. In addition, in the conventional technologies in which a polysiloxane resin and an acrylic resin are used as a binder, new problems have arisen that the diol compounds produced by the reaction between the epoxy groups in the acrylic resin and the H2O molecules in the polysiloxane resin result in a poor pattern and deterioration in the adhesion to a substrate.
In recent years, attempts have been made to resolve this problem by adjusting the content of the binder or by adding an additive. In most of these techniques, however, the properties of the cured film only immediately after the preparation thereof were evaluated to be improved, failing to show that the stability continues over time.

Positive-type photosensitive resin composition and cured film prepared therefrom


A position measuring device of the invention includes a light emitter configured to emit a laser light, a hologram configured to generate a reconstructed image of an inclined surface relative to an optical axis, a light receiver disposed on a reconstructed image forming surface of the hologram, and a measurement unit configured to measure a position of an object based on a position of light received by the light receiver. In the position measuring device of the invention, the light emitter may emit a linear laser light and the light receiver may include an image sensor having a two-dimensional array of pixels.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to a position measuring device that receives reflected and scattered light of a laser light with which a surface of an object is irradiated and measures a position on the surface of the object.
Related Art
A position measuring device is known in the art which irradiates a surface of a measurement object with a laser light, causes an image sensor to receive reflected and scattered light, and calculates a position on the surface of the measurement object using triangulation (e.g., see JP 2002-139311 A).
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a non-contact position measuring device using triangulation. As illustrated in FIG. 8, this position measuring device includes a light emitter 10 configured to emit a laser light LS1 toward a workpiece W to be measured and a light receiver 30 provided on an optical axis not parallel to an optical axis of the laser light LS1. The position measuring device also includes a projection lens 11 configured to concentrate the laser light LS1 emitted from the light emitter 10 and a light receiving lens 12 configured to image light reflected and scattered by the workpiece W on the light receiver 30. The respective placements and angles of the projection lens 11, the light receiving lens 12, and the light receiver 30 are determined according to the Scheimpflug principle.
In order for the position measuring device to measure a position of the workpiece W, the laser light LS1 is emitted from the light emitter 10 toward the workpiece W. The light receiver 30 then captures reflected and scattered light of the laser light LS1 on the workpiece W. Since the position measuring device has a disparity D between the light emitter 10 and the light receiver 30, a displacement L of the workpiece W is determined using triangulation based on position information Δx captured by the light receiver 30, a focal length f, and the disparity D.
JP 6-185978 A discloses a distance measuring device using a hologram. This distance measuring device uses a hologram that serves to image a plurality of points on the optical axis of light generated from a light source at another different points. In the distance measuring device, a light source emits light from the light source to a measurement object and a light detection unit detects light reflected from the measurement object and through the hologram. A distance on the optical axis of the measurement object is measured based on an imaging position of the light detected by the light detection unit.


A computer-implemented method and a control system are described for controlling operations involving residue. The method and system include analyzing residue on an agricultural field. A first image is captured with an image sensor of an area of the field that is ahead of or behind the implement. The first image is analyzed to determine an indicator of residue coverage on the field. A subsequent operation on the field is executed, one or more aspects of which are controlled based upon the determined indicator of residue coverage.

Various agricultural or other operations may result in residue covering a portion of the area addressed by the operation. In an agricultural setting, for example, residue may include straw, corn stalks, or various other types of plant material, which may be either cut or un-cut, and either loose or attached to the ground to varying degrees. Agricultural residue may result, for example, from tillage operations, which may generally cut and bury plant material to varying degrees and, accordingly, may result in residue of various sizes covering the tilled ground to various degrees. Notably, the size and coverage of residue may vary from location to location even within a single field, depending on factors such as the local terrain and soil conditions of the field, local plant coverage, residue characteristics before the instant tillage (or other) operation, and so on. Residue coverage may generally be characterized by at least two factors: percent coverage (i.e., percentage of a given area of ground that is covered by residue) and residue size (i.e., a characteristic length, width or area of individual pieces of residue).

Residue monitoring and residue-based control