A drivetrain for a motor vehicle has a first electric machine provides drive power, wherein the first electric machine is connected to an electrical energy store. A differential can distribute drive power to two driven wheels or axles of the motor vehicle. A first transmission arrangement which connects the first electric machine to the differential. A second electric machine which is coupled to an internal combustion engine in order to charge the electrical energy store in a generator mode. A second transmission arrangement connects the internal combustion engine to the differential. The second transmission arrangement has a first gear stage and a second gear stage which can be alternately engaged, for the transmission of drive power from the internal combustion engine to the differential, by means of a clutch arrangement.

The present invention relates to a drivetrain for a motor vehicle, which has a first electric machine for providing drive power which can be transmitted via a first transmission arrangement to a differential of a driven axle of the motor vehicle. Furthermore, the drivetrain has an internal combustion engine and a second electric machine which is coupled to the internal combustion engine in order to charge the electrical energy store in a generator mode. Furthermore, a second transmission arrangement is provided which is designed to connect the internal combustion engine to the differential.
A drivetrain of said type is known under the term "range extender". A drivetrain of said type is designed to supply drive power to the vehicle by means of the first electric machine. To increase the range of the motor vehicle, the internal combustion engine is provided; this can charge the electrical energy store by means of the second electric machine, if appropriate also while electrical power is being extracted from the energy store by means of the first electric machine. The range can hereby be extended considerably in relation to a purely electric vehicle.
Furthermore, in the case of a drivetrain of said type, it is generally provided that the motor vehicle can also be driven by means of the internal combustion engine.
The second transmission arrangement used for this purpose may have a conventional motor vehicle transmission with a multiplicity of gear stages. This however in turn increases the weight of the vehicle.

GETRAG Getriebe- und Zahnradfabrik Hermann Hagenmeyer GmbH & Cie KG


A protective helmet apparatus of modular construction to be worn by anesthetized patients for facial support during surgery. The helmet apparatus is assembled using one of a plurality of interchangeable, substantially transparent helmet casings, which are removably attachable to a plurality of dismountable facial cushions providing even support to the facial surface of a patient. The removable facial cushions are dimensioned on and interior surface to accommodate different sized facial structures of different patients to yield maximum pressure diffusion on the face and chin of the patient and are replaceable when worn. The exterior surface of the facial cushions are dimensioned for cooperative engagement with the interior surface of the helmet casing. A plurality of different facial cushions and helmet casings are modular in design and dimension to be interchangeable with each other thus providing accommodate the broad differences in facial structure and size of patients using them for surgery. The cushions may be marked with printed or color coded indicia to designate size. A view of the patients eyes and surrounding area is afforded through in line ocular apertures extending around a front surface area and up at least one sidewall. The ocular aperture is in line with a cushion ocular aperture when the cushion is engaged with the casing thereby allowing a view of the patent eye and surrounding face through the ocular aperture from the side of the device. Additional utility is provided by variable elevation above a registered engagement with a mount which also may provide a mirrored surface to reflect the patent facial features for viewing by upright doctors and operating staff. An optional integral heating element aids in temperature control of the patient""s head during surgery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety helmet for cranial protection. More particularly it relates to a modular helmet apparatus constructed of interchanging cooperative components of differing sizes which provide a prophylactic cushion and helmet to be worn by patients undergoing general anesthesia to prevent eye, skin, or other nerve damage from prolonged pressure upon areas of the head as well as to provide a safer manner for cranial manipulation during surgery.
2. Prior Art
Surgeries upon patients in the prone position present a number of patient care challenges to the anesthesiologist and surgical staff. Once a patient undergoing a surgery requiring general anesthesia is anesthetized, that patient is essentially in a coma like state. In such a state, noxious stimuli to the patient""s body and skin, such as pressure or pain, which would normally cause an awake patient to move to relieve the stimulus, no longer causes such a reaction. Consequently, patients under general anesthesia are especially threatened by a number of factors, other than the surgery itself, which arise during such surgical procedures.
One hazard which requires constant vigilance by the surgical staff to protect against injury is the threat of eye damage. Inadvertent pressure upon the ocular structures of a patient for just a matter of minutes can cause extreme damage or blindness to the eye. As noted above, because the anesthetized patient is in a coma like state, the discomfort of facial compression upon the eye, which would normally cause an awake patient to move and relieve that pressure, fails to alert the anesthetized patient. Care must be taken by an ever alert surgical staff to inspect for possible pressure points about the ocular structures of the patient and to move the patient""s face to prevent eye damage.
Other compression injuries can occur to the anesthetized patent""s forehead and chin areas. Here again, the constant pressure upon those areas, caused by the weight of the patients own head, if not relieved by movement of the face to allow blood flow thereto, can cause localized ischemia to the chin and forehead area. Since the anesthetized patient does not react to the body""s cues of discomfort preceding injury, the risk of harm in a matter of minutes to these areas is great.
An additional concern during surgical procedures of the anesthetized patient is the decrease in body temperature that can occur during surgery. Currently bulky warmed towels and electric blankets are used in an attempt to warm the patient. Such endeavors crowd the operating field and are not easily controlled for temperature.
Currently, there are a number of conventional methods to support the head and protect the eyes and face of a patient from compression injuries during surgery which require the patient to be placed in a prone, face down, position for the long periods of time involved in surgery. One method conventionally used is placement of the patient""s head and face in a horseshoe shaped frame supporting a foam pillow which holds the patients face off of the operating table in a supported manner. The patient""s eyes are generally taped shut when such a structure is used to keep them from contact with the foam and to prevent eye fluid drainage. This frame and pillow support however has inherent hazards of its own in that it cannot distribute pressure maximally over the surface of the head. Further, great care must be taken by the anesthesiologist and staff to make sure that any anesthetic equipment, such as endotracheal tubes, esophageal stethoscopes, or electronic sensing devices, are not dislodged or disrupted by gravity or patient positioning during the term of the surgical procedure. Such disruption or dislodgement of surgical equipment can cut off the air supply to the patient or lead to inaccurate readings by monitoring equipment.
Another method is simply to place the patient""s face sideways on a pillow or towel located upon the surgical table. However, this method suffers from the danger of tubing collapse due to the patient""s head weight, and even a face or eye supported by a foam pillow may be damaged if the pressure is uneven and remains on one area too long. Further, the placement of the patient""s face on a towel requires the head to be turned one way or the other, placing pressure on one side of the face which, as noted earlier, subjects the patient to the potential of injury. Additionally, blood flow through the veins and arteries of the neck may be impaired by this twisted fashion of head support. Hazards to the patient increase if the surgery requires a face down posture because the danger of tube collapse from pressure or bending increases with the tubes entering the patient""s body through the mouth or nose being compressed between the patient""s face and the operating table. With the entry points to the head out of view, such constrictions of the tubes also remain out of sight.
A further challenge facing surgical teams during surgery on anesthetized patients is the seemingly simple task of rolling the patient over from a supine position to a prone position on the operating table or from a cart onto the operating table. Generally, the patient at this point in the surgical procedure is already intubated, asleep, and basically xe2x80x9cdead weight.xe2x80x9d In this physical state, the patient is at great risk of injury during the roll over procedure, especially to the neck area. Additionally vexing to the surgical staff is the fact that the patient, with tubes exiting the mouth and/or nose, must be rolled over, without disturbing the tubes and without injuring the neck. Concurrently during the roll over procedure, the surgical staff must plan ahead so that when the patient is placed face down on an operating table, the face is properly aligned with, and inserted upon or into the pillow, already located upon the table. This insertion of the face into the pillow is conventionally done without the benefit of a pre surgery fit to make sure the face and pillow and frame mate in a manner that will accommodate the patient for the term of the surgery and protect the face from compression injury. Heads and faces being quite different amongst people in general, an optimum fit between face and pillow is achieved only a small percentage of the time. Once in this prone position, the danger of injury remains constant and continued and consistent vigilance by the surgical staff is required to ascertain, that in fact, the patient""s airways are open, the eyes are not compressed, and the face is not being subjected to pressure at any point for a duration sufficient to cause nerve damage.
Finally, when the operation is over, the patient must again be moved off of the operating table and is generally rolled over onto a gurney in a reverse roll over procedure. Still anesthetized, the patient is at great risk of injury to the neck if the head is not adequately supported and manipulated during this roll over process.
Still further, if an emergency develops while the patient is in the face down prone position, requiring the patient to be rolled to the supine position, valuable life saving time can be lost trying to upright the patient without injury to the neck, and without crimping the airway supply tubing and monitoring equipment communicating through the nose and mouth of the patient.
Further, patient size is also a factor in the fitting of facial and head support. A child may have a very small face and head and an adult a large one. Conversely, a large child may have a head and face requiring support in areas much different from a small stature adult.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,699 (Farris) teaches an inflatable pillow mounted inside a mask for variable support of differing sized patients. However Farris requires the use of an inflatable chamber which as taught is inflated once the patient has already been rolled to the prone position. It requires an air inflation device to function and lacks the ability for an easy installation prior to surgery and will not function without compressed air.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,820 (O""Dell) teaches an apparatus using pads and having a xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d shaped void which may be used in combination with a support structure to hold the patient""s head. However, O""Dell does not allow for pre-fitting and pre-installing the protective device prior to surgery and does not aid in protecting the patient during roll over on and off the table.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,815 (Agbodoe) teaches a surgical headrest with a removable foam pad; however, Agbodoe does not provide any manner to pre-fit and install the device on the patient prior to being asleep and it mounts to the table and is intended for use after roll over thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,983 (Ray) features a pair of cushions attached to a horseshoe-shaped frame for surgical head support. However Ray also suffers from an inability to pre-fit and install the device on patients prior to surgery while they are awake as well as lacking any protective ability during dangerous roll over onto the table and like the aforementioned prior art, lacks the ability to see the patient""s eyes and face from the side or from above.
As such, there exists a need for a support device that is easily modified to fit a variety of patients of differing size, and that may be pre-fit to the patient prior to surgery while the patient is alert and able to ascertain the comfort or discomfort level of the device. Further such a device should provide an additional manner to support the head and maximally diffuse pressure over a large area while helping prevent patient thermal heat loss during surgery, as well as during the hazardous movement of the patient prior to and after surgery. Such a device should also provide for easy viewing of the patient""s eyes and nose from a side and top view during the operative procedure so that the patient may be continually monitored by the staff.
A further need exists for such a device that may be cooperatively engaged with a positionable mount or used by itself if needed yet still provide a view of the eyes and ocular area of the patient from looking inward from the side.
The present invention relates to a new and improved protective helmet apparatus which provided functionally through the ability to vary the configuration for the physical characteristics of patients undergoing general anesthesia during surgery, and provide optimum cranial support to the patent using differing configurations of the various parts of the device. Concurrently, the device, when using a substantially transparent helmet casing and operatively placed apertures provides the medical professionals operating on the patient, easy viewing of the patients facial features and easy access to the nasal and oral passages of the patient in either the prone or supine position. The device is best made of modular construction allowing for the substantially transparent helmet casing to fit a variety of different sized patients. Interchangeable and replaceable cushions of variable dimensions on one surface to accommodate different patient facial structures are positionaable in a plurality of interchangeable light weight helmet casings. The cushions on their exterior surface are dimensioned for a registered fit with the helmet casing surface and apertures in the cushion register with apertures in the helmet casing. The cushions can also be color coded to designate different sizes to accommodate different sized patients. If desired, while not the best mode for maximum support and positioning, the cushions themselves can be used without the helmet casing, yet still provide a side view of the patient""s eyes and temple area during the procedure through an aperture communicating through a sidewall to the face of the patient. Such might be the case in emergencies when sufficient helmet casings are not available or when a low mount of the patient""s head is desirable.
The device is especially useful in that it allows for pre-fitting of the patient while the patient is awake and alert using modular pads of differing facial dimensions and having a rear or mask side dimension configured to fit into a registered position in the helmet casing. While the current best mode combines the proper sized cushion with the appropriate helmet casing for a mount on the table surface, even using the facial cushion by itself, if desired, yields a substantial increase in utility over prior art due to the viewing of the patient""s eyes and temple area from the side afforded by the apertures therefor. The device having the pre-fitted cushions or pads mounted into the helmet casing, and featuring appropriate indentations on the facial contact surface, evenly diffuses pressures on the face of the wearer and may be worn into surgery such that the surgical team need not worry about trying to fit the patient with pillows or pads in a table mounted frames after the patient is asleep.
For use in a variety of patients in prone or supine positions during surgery the various embodiments of the device offer a plurality of ways in which to support the patient""s head. One embodiment features a hinged or optionally removable lower chin support which is moveable from a first position in operable contact with the helmet casing to a second position out of such contact, thus allowing the surgical team easy access to the entire face and mouth area for insertion of required tubing into the patients mouth and/or nose. The chin support is thereafter reinstalled to provide lower chin support with the entire helmet being worn by the patient for the rollover procedure on and off the table to protect the patient from injury during the course of the surgical procedure. Or, the chin support may be provided by the cushion itself with the cushion and the helmet casing extending below the mouth area of the patient thus eliminating the detachable chin support.
As the device may be pre-fitted for optimal weight diffusion and comfort and can be worn during the movement of the patient on and off the operating table, the surgical team is relieved on concerns of whether the device to hold the face and head actually fits the patient. Further, an optional rotating handle upon the top of the helmet provides a handy gripping point for the head for the surgical team to help prevent neck injury during roll over of the patient on and off the table. By placement of a hand on the face of the mask and another on the rotating handle, smooth and continual support may be provided to the neck and head area when the patient is being rolled over on or off of the operating table.
Another embodiment of the device features a helmet casing, which is best made of substantially transparent material, having an interior cavity that is formed to register with a cooperatively engageable cushion. The cushion is made from foam or other soft resilient material and is dimensioned on one surface to accommodate the patient""s face, and on the other opposite or exterior surface, to register with the interior cavity of the helmet casing. A raised border about the exterior surface perimeter of the cushion could be formed during manufacture to provide an additional means to register and align the cushion with the openings in the helmet casing. Optionally, the cushions may be color coded for patient facial sizing. One or a plurality of apertures communicating through the helmet casing register with appropriately configured apertures communicating between the two surfaces of the cushion and provide an in line cavity from the patient""s face through the casing. This in-line cavity provides access to the patient""s mouth, nose, and eyes. By dimensioning the cavity to extend around the patients face at eye level, easy viewing of the patient""s eyes and nose is provided to the operating room staff.
An additional embodiment of the device would feature a plurality of legs on the exterior surface of the helmet casing to provide a raised mount above the operating table. The legs can be adjustable for height above the operating table to provide comfortable posture to the patient while affording the best access and view of the face of the patient to the staff of the operating room.
In the current best mode, an optional base may also be provided which provides a releasable but solid mount for the helmet casing using cooperating fasteners located on the mount and the exterior of the helmet casing. The mount acts as a positioner by providing a stable mount for the helmet casing and optionally may provide additional utility in the best mode with a surface mounted mirror for providing a reflective view of the patient""s eyes and nose to the staff of the operating room while the patient is face down and the staff is substantially in an upright position. This eliminates the constant need for members of the operating team to bend over to inspect the face and eyes of the patient during surgery in providing a continuous view of the eyes and face of the face-down patient. Additional utility is provided by an optional light means positioned on the upper surface of the mount adjacent to the mirror by illuminating the patient""s face through the in-line cavity and enlightening the reflection on the mirror for the staff to more easily view it from a distance.
An object of this invention is to provide a helmet which prevents injury due to ocular compression during surgery by minimizing ischemic damages through maximal diffusion of pressure about the patient""s head.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a protective device for use during surgery which allows for pre-fit of the patient prior to surgery while the patient may comment on the comfort or discomfort level of the device.
A further object of this invention is to provide a protective helmet for surgery which provides a facial and chin support to the patient which is easily removable by the surgical team for insertion of required devices into the mouth and nose of patient and thereafter easily reinstalled.
An additional object of this invention is the allowance of easy access to and viewing of, the patients eyes and temple area through apertures in the device positioned to accommodate such access and viewing.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a protective surgical helmet of modular construction which allows for positioning of different sized facial cushions and components into the helmet casing to accommodate the head different sized patients.
An additional object of this invention is providing an easily sterilized protective helmet through the use of easily sterilized cushions or inexpensive throw away insertable cushions removably mountable inside an easily sterilized or cleaned helmet shell.
A still further object of this invention is to concurrently provide easy viewing of the eyes and mouth area of the patient while the device is mounted upon the patient.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of the ability to control and alter the temperature of the device to aid in temperature control of the patient during surgery.
An additional object of this invention is to provide easy viewing of the patients facial features to the operating staff using while concurrently allows the staff members to remain substantially upright through the provision of a reflective means of the face of the patient.
Further objects of the invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon.

Protective cushion and cooperatively engageable helmet casing for anesthetized patient


A system-in-a-package based flash memory card including an integrated circuit package occupying a small overall area within the card and cut to conform to the shape of a lid for the card. An integrated circuit may be cut from a panel into a shape that fits within and conforms to the shape of lids for a finished memory card, such as for example an SD Card. The integrated circuit package may be a system-in-a-package, a multi-chip module, or other arrangement where a complete electronic system is formed in a single package.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a system-in-a-package based flash memory card including an integrated circuit package occupying a small overall area within the card and cut to conform to the shape of a lid for the card.
2. Description of the Related Art
The strong growth in demand for portable consumer electronics is driving the need for high-capacity storage devices. Non-volatile semiconductor memory devices, such as flash memory storage cards, are becoming widely used to meet the ever-growing demands on digital information storage and exchange. Their portability, versatility and rugged design, along with their high reliability and large capacity, have made such memory devices ideal for use in a wide variety of electronic devices.
One exemplary standard for flash memory cards is the so-called SD flash memory card. The SD (Secure Digital) Card is a secure flash memory about the size of a postage stamp. Jointly developed by SanDisk, Toshiba and Matsushita Electronic (which makes Panasonic products), the SD Card weighs approximately two grams and is used for memory storage in a wide variety of digital products, including for example digital music players, cellular phones, handheld PCs (HPCs), digital cameras, digital video camcorders, smart phones, car navigation systems and electronic books.
In the past, electronic devices such as SD cards have included an integrated circuit ("IC") system consisting of several individually packaged ICs each handling different functions, including logic circuits for information processing, memory for storing information, and I/O circuits for information exchange with the outside world. The individually packaged ICs have been mounted separately on a substrate such as a printed circuit board to form the IC system. In conventional SD Cards including individually packaged components on a printed circuit board, the printed circuit board took up all or almost all of the available space within the card. The printed circuit board was formed to that size in order to contain all of the individually packaged components.
More recently, system-in-a-package ("SiP") and multichip modules ("MCM") have been developed where a plurality of integrated circuit components have been packaged together to provide a complete electronic system in a single package. Typically, an MCM includes a plurality of chips mounted side by side on a substrate and then packaged. An SiP typically includes a plurality of chips, some or all of which may be stacked on a substrate and then packaged.

System-in-a-package based flash memory card


In a method for priming a fuel metering device for an internal combustion engine with a piston arranged in a combustion chamber and driving a crankshaft that is rotatably supported in a crankcase, with a fuel pump that conveys fuel from a fuel tank to a metering valve that opens into a metering chamber at alternating operating pressure, and with a control unit that calculates and controls timing for the metering valve for metering a fuel quantity corresponding to a load situation of the internal combustion engine, the metering valve is kept open, independent of the calculated timing for the metering valve, for a priming duration in a starting phase of the internal combustion engine when the alternating operating pressure of the metering chamber at the mouth of the metering valve is negative and when a fuel system pressure in the fuel metering device is below a target pressure.

The invention concerns a method for priming a fuel metering device for a two-stroke engine comprising at least one piston arranged in a combustion chamber that drives by means of a connecting rod a crankshaft that is rotatably supported in a crankcase, comprising a fuel pump that sucks in fuel from a fuel tank and conveys it to a metering valve that opens into a metering chamber at alternating operating pressure, and comprising a control unit for calculating and controlling the timing for the metering valve for the purpose of metering a fuel quantity corresponding to a load situation of the internal combustion engine.
The invention also relates to a fuel metering device for an internal combustion engine comprising at least one piston arranged in a combustion chamber that drives by means of a connecting rod a crankshaft that is rotatably supported in a crankcase, comprising a fuel pump that sucks in fuel from a fuel tank and conveys it to a metering valve that opens into a metering chamber at alternating operating pressure, and comprising a control unit for calculating and controlling the timing for the metering element for the purpose of metering a fuel quantity corresponding to a load situation of the internal combustion engine.
Fuel metering devices in the form of injection devices are known. For disturbance-free function it must be ensured that the system is free of air. In particular in low-pressure injection systems or in low-pressure fuel supply systems air inclusions cause significant disruptions, in particular when fuel pumps are used that cannot convey air bubbles on their own.
In case of hand-held power tools such as motor chainsaws, trimmers, cut-off machines or the like, two-stroke engines are used as a drive means whose fuel metering devices comprise a fuel pump that is configured as a diaphragm pump and is driven by the fluctuating crankcase pressure of the internal combustion engine. When air bubbles have formed in the pump chamber of the diaphragm pump, the conveying quantity is greatly limited so that particularly when starting an internal combustion engine significant starting problems may be caused. Therefore, so-called purgers are proposed that are operated like a hand pump and must be actuated by the user in order to prime the fuel system. Such hand pumps—purgers—must be additionally mounted and connected to the fuel system. Only once sufficient fuel is present in the pump chamber of the diaphragm pump, its conveying action begins wherein a low-pressure level up to approximately 1 bar is reached.

Method and device for priming a fuel metering device


A touch display apparatus and a touch mode switching method thereof are provided. A touch mode of a touch panel is switched according to a touch track and a touch area of an input tool.

1. Field of Invention
The invention generally relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to a touch display apparatus and a touch mode switching method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
With the rapid development of technology, most electronic devices, such as notebook computers, mobile phones or portable multimedia players, usually adopt touch panels as input interfaces. Based on different sensing types, a touch panel can be generally categorized into a resistance touch panel, a capacitive touch panel, an optical touch panel, an acoustic-wave touch panel and an electromagnetic touch panel. The capacitive touch panel is characterized by short response speed, favorable reliability, satisfactory durability, and so on. Therefore, the capacitive touch panel is widely used in the electronic products.
The capacitive touch panel is operated by approaching or touching the touch panels with a finger or a conductive material to change the capacitances of the touch panel. When variation of the capacitance values is detected, the location approached or touched by the finger or conductive material can be identified to further execute a predetermined operation corresponding to the foregoing approached or touched location.
When using the stylus pen to perform the touching, the touch mode of the capacitive touch panel has to be switched to improve the sensitivity of the capacitive touch panel in order to judge the touch position of the stylus pen accurately. However, because the touch sensing signal intensity of the stylus pen is similar to the noise of the capacitive touch panel, it is easy to erroneously judge the noise as the touch sensing signal of the stylus pen for the capacitive touch panel. The capacitive touch panel is then switched to the high sensitivity touch mode, which increases unnecessary power consumption.

Touch display apparatus and touch mode switching method thereof


A piston-type quantity meter including a metering chamber having a bottom, a cylindrical chamber shell, a cover, a central journal, a guide ring, two inlet opening formed, respectively, in the chamber bottom and the chamber cover, and a radial outlet opening formed in the chamber shell, an annular piston located in the chamber interior and having a cylindrical piston skirt, guide slot means formed in the piston skirt and corresponding to a width of separation wall located in the metering chamber for pinning the piston on the separation wall, and a radial outlet opening associated with the outlet opening formed in the chamber shell, and a seal strip for sealing at least one of a slit formed between the inner surface of the chamber shell and an outer surface of the annular piston, and a slit formed between the inner surface of the piston and the guide ring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piston-type quantity meter including a metering chamber having a bottom, a cylindrical chamber shell, a cover, a central journal, a guide ring, a separation wall located in a chamber interior, two inlet opening formed, respectively, in the chamber bottom and the chamber cover, and a radial outlet opening formed in the chamber shell; and an annular piston located in the chamber interior and having a cylindrical piston skirt, a piston cap, piston journal means, guide slot means formed in the piston skirt and corresponding to a width of the separation wall for pinning the piston on the separation wall, and radial outlet opening associated with the outlet formed in the chamber shell.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Piston-type quantity meters, which belong to volume meters, are well known and are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,773,718 and International Publication WO93/22631. The known quantity meters, have a metering chamber through which an entire amount of fluid is forcefully flown. At that, a portion of a potential energy of a to-be-measured fluid is lost for driving the meter. The resulting pressure reduction is designated as a pressure loss as delta p. It results from deviations of the fluid flow path, cross-sectional changes along the flow path, from driving the annular piston of the meters, ets. . . .
In the metering chamber, an annular piston is arranged which during the measuring process, is displaced from a high pressure side to a lower pressure side. This displacement takes place automatically as a result of flow of the fluid through the meter. During rotation of the piston, two different volumes having, respectively, the same predetermined value are transported. During the transportation, the annular piston internal journal rotates about the central journal of the metering chamber.
The skirt of the annular piston is slotted over its entire height. The slot reciprocate once along a separation wall provided in the metering chamber with each revolution of the piston. The advantage of the oscillating movement of the piston consists in that the piston automatically returns into its initial position without any additional control elements, valves, slides, ets. . . .
The annular piston has, an upper journal for supporting a driver which transmits the rotary movement of the journal to a counter. A piston-type quantity meter of the above-described type is disclosed in a publication of Orlicek et al., xe2x80x9cZur Technik der Mengenxe2x80x94un Durchflussmessung von Fluxcex2ssigkeitenxe2x80x9d (Technik for measuring volume and flow rate of fluids), R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munchen-Wien, 1971, p.p. 44-57.
In one type of piston quantity meters, an inlet opening is provide in both the bottom and the cover of the metering chamber, with a half of the volume of the to-be-measured fluid passing through each inlet opening. Rectangular slots, which are formed in the chamber shell and in the annular piston skirt, form outlet openings. With this flow of fluid through the metering chamber, in an ideal case, the axial flow forces acting on the piston are automatically balanced. See French Patent Publication FR-A 454609, article of Orlicek et al. xe2x80x9cZur Technik der Mengen-und Durchflusmessung von Fluessigkeiten,xe2x80x9d R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1971, p.p. 44-57, and WO93/22631 (FIGS. 9 and 10).
Because in this type of piston-type quantity meters, the axial forces, which act on the piston, are automatically balanced, the meters of this type should have a greater measurement accuracy than the meters of the first two types. Actually, opposite is the case. The greater measurement inaccuracy of the piston-type quantity meters of this type is caused by formation of slits between the piston and the rectangular slot formed in the chamber shell and between the guide ring and the rectangular slot formed in the piston, respectively. Because of these slots the guide ring and the piston skirt, respectively, could not perform their sealing functions. Therefore, when the piston and the guide ring reach the respective slots, a noticeable increase of the effective slot width takes place, and this leads to a high slit leakage. For this reason, the piston-type quantity meter of this type could not be used up to the present.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce the measurement error in the piston-type quantity meters with outlet slots formed in the chamber shell and the piston skirt.
This and other objects of the present invention, which will become apparent hereinafter, are achieved by providing a seal strip for sealing at least one of a slit formed between a chamber edge, which is defined by an intersection between a side wall of the outlet opening formed in the chamber shell and an inner wall of the chamber shell, and a piston edge, which is defined by an intersection between a side wall of the outlet opening formed in the piston skirt and an outer surface of the piston, and a second slot formed between a piston edge, which is defined by an intersection between a side wall of the outlet opening formed in the piston skirt and inner wall of the piston, and an outer wall of the guide ring.
According to the present invention, the seal strip can be secured, for sealing the outer slit, either to the chamber shell, projecting into the outlet opening formed in the piston skirt, or to the piston skirt, projecting into the outlet opening formed in the chamber shell.
The seal strip can be formed integrally with an element to which it is secured by being molded thereon.


The invention relates to a scraping device for a rotary tablet press comprising a scraper that is designed to scrape off material for pressing that is located on the top side of a die plate of the rotary tablet press, the die plate rotating relative to the scraper, and comprising a force-generating apparatus that is designed to press the scraper with a predetermined compression against the top side of the die plate, characterized in that the force-generating apparatus comprises a fluid pillow filled with a fluid that is in contact with the scraper directly or via at least one transmission element in order to press the scraper by the predetermined compression against the top side of the die plate. The invention also relates to a rotor for a rotary tablet press, as well as a rotary tablet press.

The invention relates to a scraping device for a rotary tablet press comprising a scraper that is designed to scrape off material for pressing that is located on the top side of a die plate of the rotary tablet press, the die plate rotating relative to the scraper, and comprising a force-generating apparatus that is designed to press the scraper with a predetermined compression against the top side of the die plate. The invention also relates to a rotor for a rotary tablet press, as well as a rotary tablet press.
With rotary tablet presses, it is known to arrange scraping devices downstream from the filling apparatuses in order to scrape off from the die plate excess material for pressing. Known scraping devices have a scraper such as a so-called scraper blade that is pressed onto the top side of the die plate by means of a force-generating apparatus. Excess pressing material located on the die plate rotating under the scraper blade is then scraped off inward or outward by the scraper blade from the top side of the die plate. The material to be pressed can, for example, be a powder or pellets, or the like.
With known scraping devices, the scraper bar can be pressed onto the die plate by means of spring force. For this, the force-generating apparatus has a suitable spring. A disadvantage is that the spring force remains fixed due to the properties of the spring, especially its spring constant and its designed arrangement. It is only possible to adapt the spring force to different operating and/or installation situations with significant design effort. Furthermore, the compression from the use of a spring is not specifically defined when there are changes to the operating situation. For example, the scraper blade wears during operation which changes the compression against the top side of the die plate. The force-generating apparatus then must be manually adjusted. Such a manual adjustment or a change in the installation situation can lead to undefined changes in the compression.
On the basis of the presented prior art, the object of the invention is to provide a scraping device, a rotor and a rotary tablet press of the initially-cited type by means of which a specific scraper device compression exists at all times, wherein it is possible to easily flexibly adapt the scraping device to different operating situations and/or installations.
The invention achieves the object with a scraping device of the initially-cited type in that the force-generating apparatus comprises a fluid pillow filled with a fluid that is in contact with the scraper directly or via at least one transmission element in order to press the scraper by a predetermined compression against the top side of the die plate.
The scraper of the scraping device according to the invention can be a scraper blade. The scraper is arranged stationary in a known manner in the direction of rotation of the die plate behind the filling apparatus, also arranged in a stationary manner, for the rotary tablet press. The filling apparatus can in particular comprise a so-called filling shoe. The die plate with its die holes runs under the filling shoe, wherein the die holes are filled with the material for pressing such as a powder, or pellets, or the like. The scraper scrapes off excess material in a known manner that is on the top side of the die plate in the filling apparatus, at least out of the area of the pitch circle in which the die holes are arranged. At least one scraping edge of the scraper facing the excess material during operation is generally arranged at an angle relative to the radial direction with reference to the die plate. The scraper can completely scrape off the material from the die plate. It is however also possible to scrape off the material into an edge area of the die plate that is inactive during subsequent pressing. The excess material can be scraped off inward or outward in a known manner.
For scraping, the scraper is pressed by a force-generating apparatus onto the top side of the rotating die plate. According to the invention, the force-generating apparatus has a liquid pillow in which a fluid is under pressure. The fluid pillow presses the scraper directly or via at least one transmission element and thereby presses it against the top side of the die plate. The compression is generated by the fluid pressure predominating in the fluid pillow. In particular, the fluid pillow has an elastic case and expands according to the pressure predominating in the fluid pillow. This in turn leads to pressure being exerted on the scraper, or compression being exerted on the scraper. The scraper is in turn thereby pressed against the die plate. A constant compression is hence generated against the die plate independent of a level of wear of the scraper. In addition, by appropriately adjusting the fluid pressure predominating in the fluid pillow, a specific compression is generated in a particularly easy manner that can be flexibly adapted to different operating situations and/or installation situations.
It is possible in principle for the fluid pillow to be a liquid pillow filled with a liquid. According to one particularly practical embodiment, the fluid pillow can, however, be a gas pillow filled with a gas. In another particularly practical manner, the gas pillow can be an air pillow in which air is under pressure. The scraper is hence pressed pneumatically against the top side of the die plate.
According to one embodiment, the fluid pillow can be arranged in a housing, wherein the housing possesses at least one opening through which the fluid pillow is in contact with the scraper directly or by means of the at least one transmission element. The housing can, for example, consist of a metal material or plastic. Through the opening, there is a direct contact, or indirect contact via one or several transmission elements, between the fluid pillow and the scraper, whereby the scraper is pressed against the die plate. In particular, a side of the housing opposite at least one opening is closed. The corresponding housing wall that is substantially inflexible forms a counter-bearing against which the fluid pillow braces to exert the compression on the scraper. Almost any form is conceivable for the housing. The housing can for example be designed in the shape of a pot. It can for example possess the shape of a hollow cuboid closed on one side.
According to another embodiment, the force-generating apparatus can also comprise a fluid filling apparatus for filling the fluid pillow with a fluid such as gas. The fluid filling apparatus possesses in particular a control apparatus by means of which the level at which the fluid pillow filled with fluid can be controlled. As mentioned, the fluid pillow can be a gas or air pillow. The fluid pillow is then correspondingly filled with a gas or air by means of the fluid filling apparatus.
According to another embodiment, the force-generating apparatus can also comprise a pressure measuring apparatus that directly or indirectly measures the fluid pressure, such as the gas pressure, predominating in the fluid pillow. The fluid pressure predominating in the fluid pillow permits a direct inference of the pressure exerted by the fluid pillow on the scraper, and hence the compression with which the scraper is pressed against the top side of the die plate. It is therefore particularly easy to monitor the proper compression.
According to another embodiment, the force-generating apparatus can also comprise a fluid regulating apparatus that regulates the fluid filling apparatus to fill the fluid pillow with fluid such as gas depending on the measurements from the pressure measuring apparatus so that a specific fluid pressure predominates in the fluid pillow. By means of the fluid regulating apparatus, the fluid pressure in the fluid pillow, and hence the compression with which the scraper is pressed against the top side of the die plate, can be set to a constant value and maintained at this constant value. It is hence ensured that the scraper always presses against the top side of the die plate with a constant compression or constant pressure. The compression of the scraper is clearly specified at all times.
At the same time, it is possible in a particularly advantageous manner to regulate the fluid pressure in the fluid pillow to different values by means of the fluid control apparatus, i.e., for example to vary the fluid pressure depending on the purpose or place of use. On the one hand, it is therefore possible to adapt the scraping device in a particularly easy manner to different operating situations of the same rotary tablet press. On the other hand, it is possible to easily adapt the scraping device to different installation situations in the same rotary tablet press, or to use in different rotary tablet presses with different installation situations. This can ensure that the scraper always presses against the die plate with the desired compression, e.g. always with the same compression, even in different operating or installation situations, be it in the same or different rotary tablet presses.
As already mentioned, the invention also relates to a rotor for a rotary tablet press comprising a rotatably drivable die plate with a plurality of die holes, as well as an upper punch seat and a lower punch seat for the upper punch and lower punch of the rotary tablet press rotating with the die plate, and comprising at least one scraping device according to the invention.
As also already mentioned, the invention also relates to a rotary tablet press comprising a rotatably drivable die plate having a plurality of die holes, as well as an upper punch seat and a lower punch seat in which the upper punch and lower punch rotating with the die plate are guided to press material added to the die holes of at least one filling apparatus of the rotary tablet press arranged stationary relative to the die plate, wherein an upper punch and a lower punch are assigned in each case to a die hole, furthermore comprising a rotary drive for rotating the die plate as well as the upper die seat and the lower die seat, and furthermore comprising a scraping device according to the invention.
In a manner known per se, the rotary tablet press according to the invention comprises a pressing station with upper and/or lower compression rollers in which the material is pressed. Furthermore, the rotary tablet press comprises guide apparatuses, so-called guide cams, in a manner known per se for guiding the path of the upper and lower punch. In addition, the rotary tablet press comprises an ejection apparatus in a manner known per se that is also arranged stationary relative to the die plate and in which the pressed products such as tablets are ejected.
The at least one filling apparatus is arranged in a manner known per se in the direction of rotation of the die plate in front of the at least one scraper of the at least one scraping device such that material added to the at least one filling apparatus can be scraped off by the following scraper while the die plate rotates. The at least one pressing station of the rotary tablet press is correspondingly downstream from the scraper in the direction of rotation of the die plate in a manner known per se. If a plurality of filling apparatuses are provided, a plurality of scraping devices can correspondingly also be provided, wherein one scraping device is assigned to each filling apparatus. Correspondingly, a plurality of pressing stations assigned to the filling or scraping devices can also be provided. All of this is known and will therefore not be further explained.

Scraping device for a rotary tablet press, as well as a rotor and rotary tablet press


In one embodiment, an array of packages may comprise three or more different sizes of disposable absorbent articles. The Product Hip-to-Waist Silhouette of a second absorbent article may be equal to or less than a Product Hip-to-Waist Silhouette of a first absorbent article. And the Product Hip-to-Waist Silhouette of a third absorbent article may be equal to or less than a Product Hip-to-Waist Silhouette of a second absorbent article. And, an Array Average Product Hip-to-Waist Silhouette of first and second packages of the array may be from about 1.1 to about 0.9.

As BMI increases, both the Hip Circumference measurement and Waist Circumference measurement increase. However the Waist Circumference increases at a higher rate than the Hip Circumference. This causes the Waist Circumference measurement to approach the Hip Circumference measurement in higher BMI women, whereas the Hip Circumference measurement is typically larger than the Waist Circumference measurement in lower BMI women. The Hip Circumference measurement, due to the relationship to the prominent point of the buttocks, generally establishes the primary anchoring point of the absorbent article as it often represents the maximum circumference around the body. This is especially true for women who have a more cylindrical body shape or a more apple-like body shape. In alternative embodiments the Waist Circumference measurement can be the primary anchoring point of the absorbent article as it can represent the minimum circumference around the body especially for women who have a more hourglass body shape or a more pear-like body shape. This is a function of fit at the minimum circumference, which means the product circumference and as a result force at the waist would have to increase to slide or sag due to the increased body dimension at the hip. For products comprising one uniform elastic material or a series of uniformly strained strands of material, the hip may be the highest force region in the waist-encircling portion of the article, especially for hour glass or pear shaped body styles. For higher BMI women and women of different shapes, the high force region can extend toward the waist as the Waist Circumference measurement approaches the Hip Circumference measurement, for example in women having a cylindrical or apple shape. The Hip Circumference and Waist Circumference are illustrated in FIG. 1. The relationship of the Hip Circumference to the Waist Circumference (Hip Circumference-to-Waist Circumference Ratio), as illustrated in FIG. 2, is an important product design parameter to ensure that the shape of the product in the waist region more closely approximates the shape of the female body in the waist region. Having an understanding of the relationship between the Hip Circumference and Waist Circumference enables targeting of elastic forces based on the body shape to enable improved fit, comfort and gasketing. Elastic forces that are too high as well as elastic forces that are too low can both have a negative impact on fit, performance and comfort. High force leads to fit that is too tight and uncomfortable due to skin marking and low forces lead to loose fit, sagging and potential leakage due to poor gasketing.
The Hip Width and Waist Width are illustrated in FIG. 3. The Body Hip-to-Waist Silhouette, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 correlates with the Hip Circumference-to-Waist Circumference Ratio as the values of both decrease as BMI and Waist Circumference increase. This is shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5.
As the Hip Circumference increases with BMI and Waist Circumference, Hip Circumference-to-Waist Circumference Ratio and Body Hip-to-Waist Silhouette both decrease. A key benefit of having the Product Hip-to-Waist Silhouette closer to that of the Body Hip-to-Waist Silhouette and designed to change accordingly with BMI and Waist Circumference is that the product itself more closely matches the shape of the body. This results in the product being deformed to a significantly lesser degree during application than one that is generically designed to generically fit a bigger range as illustrated by the current marketed products. It also results in a product fit, which is more tailored to the body shape, providing more effective gasketing and more targeted force and pressure distribution between the hip and waist. In fact, many of the current marketed products are designed to fit increments as large as 100 pounds and, as such do not provide adequate fit, gasketing, comfort and discretion across the entire range. Additionally, product designs, which mimic the general shape of the body convey to consumers a better, more tailored fit as the Product Hip-to-Waist Silhouettes are more similar to consumers' Body Hip-to-Waist Silhouettes. The designs enabled by the present disclosure are more targeted by design and therefore provide a greater level of fit, gasketing, comfort and discretion.
Adult incontinence ("AI") absorbent articles of the present disclosure may be used to absorb and contain liquid and other discharges from the human body to prevent the body and clothing from becoming soiled. For adults who suffer from urinary incontinence, urine voiding consists of two general types: stress urinary incontinence ("SUI") and urge urinary incontinence ("UUI"). SUI is caused by high pressure on the bladder induced by coughing, sneezing, laughing, bending, etc., and can result in a high flow rate though at a smaller urine volume that is associated with UUI. UUI can result in a full bladder release, though at a lower flow rate than that associated with SUI.
Adult Incontinence articles come in a variety of designs, each typically available in multiple sizes, including 2, 3 and 4 size arrays. The size of articles of the prior art typically affects, for example, the size of the waist opening, the size of the openings around the thighs, and the length or "pitch" of the article. Many of these prior art articles are designed to fit ranges up to 100 pounds. The prior art articles are typically sized and sold by waist circumference dimension. The various sizes can have a range in waist circumference of as much as 12 inches and in some cases up to 16 inches. If a consumer selects an adult incontinence article of the prior art which is size appropriate based on the waist circumference dimension of the wearer given the large ranges associated with the various sizes, the thigh openings or pitch of the article, for instance, may be too large for proper fit on the wearer, potentially leading to slipping, sliding, sagging, drooping, or a loss of gasketing effects that are designed to inhibit leakage. Alternatively, depending on where the wearer is within the large size range, the thigh opening or pitch of the article may be too small for proper fit, potentially leading to wearer discomfort, skin marking of the wearer's skin or improper application or positioning of the article on the wearer.
Desirably, an adult absorbent article should be designed and sized to maintain contact with and conform as closely as possible to a wearer's body. Such a body-conforming design may increase the effectiveness of the adult absorbent article by reducing the possibility that urine, or the like, will spread or travel along the wearer's body and leak out of rather than be absorbed into the adult absorbent article. However, current adult absorbent articles on the market do not adequately address body shape or product shape and therefore do not fit a broad range of users adequately or provide the desired level of close fit. Typically AI packages of adult absorbent articles are labeled with a recommended wearer waist circumference range that the packaged article is intended to fit. As a result, the waist circumference is often the sole criteria used to identify the size of an AI article. The waist size does not in itself adequately describe the body shape of the individual and therefore does not help define the hip or thigh circumference nor the pitch that may be needed to provide the proper fit, comfort, coverage and gasketing of the article. This is the case even though other characteristics and anthropometric attributes of potential wearers (for example, age, height, weight, thigh circumference, and rise) may vary widely within the recommended waist circumference range, and may result in an ill-fitting article even though a wearer's waist circumference falls within that range. There is a need for adult absorbent articles that conform well to various wearers' body shapes and sizes. While there is a wide range of body shapes and sizes among women, available products do not reflect this wide range; rather, absorbent articles available today within a given product array tend to be scaled versions of each other, and do not even follow the natural trend of body shape and dimensional changes across the range of consumers, i.e. smaller to larger women as well as women of varying shape.
Body Mass Index (BMI) is on the rise globally for both men and women. In the U.S. alone, more than ⅓ of adult females are now considered obese (BMI>30). This has changed significantly over the past 30 years; in 1980 only about 16% of U.S. adult females were obese. Larger women exhibit different ratios of body anthropometrics than smaller women, i.e., all body dimensions do not simply scale-up as women get larger. In addition, women across the range of BMI may also have very different body shapes. There is a lack of recognition and understanding of this issue by current adult absorbent article manufacturers and as such consumers' needs are not being adequately met. Therefore, there is a need to develop adult absorbent articles for a wide variety of body shapes and sizes in order to provide an improved level of fit and contact between the body and the adult absorbent article to reduce the occurrence leakage and improve the overall fit, comfort, coverage and discretion of the article. There is a clear need for adult absorbent articles which are designed for variety of wearers based on their BMI and body shape. There is also a need to communicate to wearers the benefits of such customized adult absorbent articles in an easy-to-understand manner (e.g., some women may not understand what BMI is or know their BMI number), which is not off-putting (e.g., without stigmatizing or embarrassing women based on their BMI).
These are all objects of the present disclosure; embodiments of the present disclosure may combine various objects mentioned. A particular embodiment may, but need not, embody every object as described.

Hip-to-waist silhouettes of adult disposable absorbent articles and arrays


A packet switching system for switching packets over corporate networks and the Internet using Internet Protocol (IP) suite of protocols is provided with an encryption detecting unit that determines whether at least a section of a portion of an incoming packet allocated for Internet Protocol (IP) address fields comprises encrypted data. If the encrypted data is detected, a decrypting unit decrypts the encrypted data. A packet identifying unit detects a virtual connection identifier (VCID) marker indicating that a VCID is provided in the portion of the incoming packet allocated for IP address fields. A data extracting unit extracts the VCID from the decrypted data. For example, the data extracting unit may extracts original source and destination IP addresses, or a Quality of Service (QoS) field for identifying parameters of Quality of Service. A route processing engine determines a route for forwarding the packet, and a packet forwarding unit places the packet into a queue for transmission. An encrypting unit encrypts the VCID of packets transmitted to a network that uses virtual connection identifiers for switching packets.

Switching of packets entails end-to-end, connection-oriented sequential flow of packets. For historical reasons, switching is also associated with high-speed transmission of packets. The current technologies that comprise switching are Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) protocols.
ATM switches packets in layer 2 after it segments or fragments each IP packet. ATM segments each IP packet at the ATM network ingress node when the IP packet is larger than 48 Bytes and adds a 5 Byte ATM header that provides for ATM addressing and payload type. ATM reassembles the segmented packets into IP packets at the point where the ATM packets need to be converted to IP. This Segmentation and Re-assembly (SAR) process is generally considered too processing intensive and non-scalable at 2.4 Gbps and above. In this process of transmission and packet handling, ATM provides no security to the addressing fields and other contents of the packet through any encryption methodologies. Thus, anyone collecting the ATM packets can regroup the packets by ATM path identifiers and then by IP addresses to collect the information in the payloads of the original packets. ATM is now only associated with high-speed core networks and thus cannot provide end-to-end security.
The other mechanism for packet switching, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), switches packets by labeling each IP packet for a given type explicit-path associated with a flow. This path is set up end-router to end-router within a network. MPLS requires a processing-intensive label management system or server to allocate labels at each router, node or switch for each packet in each flow. The protocol does not solve the inherent problems of security in its packet switching methodology. MPLS does not provide any encryption methodologies and also has security issues due to the requirement of centralized label management and associated single-point-of failure risks. The explicit path set-ups are limited to the perimeter of a network of MPLS routers. This does not allow extending MPLS to the end-user devices from the network edge and therefore cannot deliver security all the way to the end devices.

Encryption mechanism in advanced packet switching system


Cosmetic/dermatological/pharmaceutical compositions, well suited for the treatment of a variety of mammalian disorders of, for example, the skin, hair and/or mucous membranes, a manifestation of which is an excess in the synthesis and/or in the release of substance P, e.g., for the treatment of cutaneous disorders and sensitive skin, comprise an effective substance P antagonist amount of at least one salt of yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, tin, manganese, or mixture thereof, in a cosmetically/pharmaceutically acceptable medium therefor.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel cosmetic, dermatological or pharmaceutical compositions comprising at least one lanthanide, manganese, tin or yttrium salt as a substance P antagonist, for the treatment of disorders associated with an excessive synthesis and/or release of substance P and, more especially, for the treatment of sensitive skins.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Polypeptides belonging to the tachykinin family exist in mammals which induce rapid contractions of the smooth muscle fibers. Exemplary compounds of this family include .beta.-neurokinin, .alpha.-neurokinin and substance P.
Substance P is a polypeptide chemical species (undecapeptide), produced and released by a nerve ending. The location of substance P is specific to the neurons, both in the central nervous system and in the organs at the periphery. Thus, very many organs or tissues receive afferences of substance P neurons; these are especially the salivary glands, stomach, pancreas, intestine (in the latter, the distribution of substance B is superposed on the intrinsic Meissner and Auerbach nervous plexus), cardiovascular system, thyroid gland, skin, iris and ciliary bodies, bladder and, obviously, the central and peripheral nervous systems.
By virtue of the ubiquitous distribution of substance P, very many disorders are associated with an excessive synthesis and/or release of substance P.
Substance P is involved, in particular, in the transmission of pain (dental, cutaneous, tympanic) and in diseases of the central nervous system (for example anxiety, psychoses, neuropathies, neurodegenerative disorders of the Alzheimer senile dementia type, dementia in Aids patients, Parkinson's disease, Down's syndrome, Korsakoff's syndrome, multiple scleroses, schizophrenia, psychotic diseases), in respiratory diseases (such as, for example, bronchial pneumonia, cough, emphysema, bronchiolitis) and inflammatory diseases (such as, for example, rheumatoid arthritis), in allergic syndromes (for example asthma, allergic rhinitis, allergic pharyngitis, urticaria, eczematous dermatitis), in gastrointestinal diseases (such as, for example, ulcers, colitis, Crohn's disease, gastritis, gastroenteritis, intestinal spasticities), in skin disorders (such as, for example, psoriasis, prurigenous diseases, herpes, photodermatosis, atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, lichens, prurigos, pruritus, rosacea, ulcers, zona, demodicidoses, acne rosacea, sensitive skins, dartres, solar and emotional erythemas, insect burns), in fibroses and other collagen maturation disorders (such as, for example, scleroderma), in cardiovascular diseases, vasospastic disorders (such as, for example, migraine, Raynaud's disease), in immunological disorders, in disorders of the urinary or genital tract (such as, for example, incontinence, cystitis), in rheumatic diseases, in certain dermatological diseases (such as eczema) and in ophthalmological conditions (such as, for example, conjunctivitis, uveitis, ocular pruritus, blepharitis, irritations and ocular pain).
The administration of a substance P antagonist is one of the therapeutic alternatives which are effective in all of the conditions and afflictions indicated above.
By "substance P antagonist" is intended any compound or species capable of partially, or even completely inhibiting the biological effect of substance P. In particular, for a substance to be recognized as a substance P antagonist, it must induce a coherent pharmacological response (including or otherwise its binding to the substance P receptor), in particular in one of the following tests:
(a) the antagonist substance must reduce the extravasation of the plasma across the vascular wall induced by capsaicin or by an antidromic nerve stimulation, or, alternatively; PA1 (b) the antagonist substance must cause inhibition of the contraction of the smooth muscles induced by the administration of substance P. PA1 (1) skin pigmentation and/or proliferation and/or differentiation modulating agents, such as retinoic acid and isomers thereof, retinol and esters thereof, vitamin D and derivatives thereof, estrogens such as estradiol, kojic acid or hydroquinone; PA1 (2) antibacterial agents such as clindamycin phosphate, erythromycin or antibiotics of the tetracycline class; PA1 (3) antiparasitic agents, in particular metronidazole, crotamiton or pyrethrinoids; PA1 (4) antifungal agents, in particular the compounds belonging to the imidazole class such as econozale, ketoconazole or miconazole or salts thereof, polyene compounds such as amphotericin B, compounds of the allylamine family, such as terbinafine, or alternatively octopirox; PA1 (5) antiviral agents such as acyclovir; PA1 (6) steroidal anti-inflammatory agents such as hydrocortisone, betamethasone valerate or clobetasol propionate, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents such as ibuprofen and salts thereof, diclofenac and salts thereof, acetylsalicylic acid, acetaminophen or glycyrrhetinic acid; PA1 (7) anaesthetic agents such as lidocaine hydrochloride and derivatives thereof; PA1 (8) antipruritic agents such as thenaldine, trimeprazine or cyproheptadine; PA1 (9) keratolytic agents such as alpha- and beta-hydroxycarboxylic or -ketocarboxylic acids, their salts, amides or esters and, more particularly, hydroxy acids such as glycolic acid, lactic acid, salicylic acid, citric acid and, in general, fruit acids, and n-octanoyl-5-salicylic acid; PA1 (10) anti-free radical agents such as alpha-tocopherol or esters thereof, superoxide dismutases, certain metal chelators or ascorbic acid and esters thereof; PA1 (11) antiseborrhoeic agents such as progesterone; PA1 (12) antidandruff agents such as octopirox or zinc pyrithione; PA1 (13) antiacne agents such as retinoic acid or benzoyl peroxide; PA1 (14) antiseptics; PA1 (15) antimetabolites; PA1 (16) agents for combating hair loss, such as minoxidil.
To date, substance P antagonists have been administered to treat the disorders indicated above.

Cosmetic/pharmaceutical compositions comprising lanthanide manganese, tin and/or yttrium salts as substance P antagonists


A method for sending a signal to a signaled entity, the method determining at least a first code of a sequence of codes comprising the signal, wherein at least one code of the sequence of codes is derived from at least one bit string that is encoded by an encoder to produce a sequence of output bit groups, each output bit group being used to select a code from a set of predefined codes; receiving, at the signaling entity, an assignation of resources from the signaled entity for transmission of at least the first code of the sequence of codes; transmitting, utilizing at least the first code of the sequence of codes and the assignation, the signal, wherein at least the first code is shared among a plurality of signaling entities; and sending, utilizing subsequent codes of the sequence of codes, the signal.

Local area network and wide area network traffic in the internet typically has packet bursts, where the size and timing of the bursts statistically follows a heavy tailed distribution. For example, non-voice traffic patterns for internet-like applications are typically generated in situations such as when user activity occurs, when applications generate uplink network traffic, when network traffic is sent to the internet in general, when a server responds, when downlink traffic arrives for a device or when an application complies with user activities such as displaying a page, starting a stream etc. All of this traffic has a statistical distribution where some of the packets arrive or are sent quickly while others arrive or are sent later.
In systems where a service needs to be requested, system resources must be made available to allow one entity to signal a request for a service from another entity. For example, in systems where transmission resources need to be requested, the bursty nature of the traffic typically requires a network element to compromise between the number of signaling resources pre-allocated for sending a request for transmission resources, the number of devices that can request service, and the latency that each device experiences. For example, in mobile systems a mobile device may need to request resources in order to send uplink traffic. However, with many mobile devices being serviced by a network element, the network element needs to typically pre-allocate many resources for uplink requests and to monitor these uplink requests. The higher the number of pre-allocated uplink request slots or resources that exist for sending requests, the fewer the number of resources available for transmitting mobile user traffic. However, if the number of pre-allocated uplink request slots or resources is reduced, the longer a device may need to wait before being able to request uplink resources. For some services this latency causes a poor user experience.

Method and system for requesting a service utilizing a sequence of codes


A process for increasing olefin production from refinery that processes hydrocarbon streams that are rich in aromatic compounds and includes steam cracking and hydrotreating an aromatically rich feedstock to produce a hydrotreated pyrolysis gasoline stream and light pyrolysis oil byproduct, saturating at least one additional naphtha/hydrocarbon stream together with the hydrotreated pyrolysis gasoline stream or together with the light pyrolysis oil byproducts to form a first naphthene stream, and steam cracking the first naphthene stream to produce olefins.

Petrochemical/refinery processes are limited by their inability to scale olefin and aromatic production from naphtha rich feedstocks. Demand for olefins, such as butadiene, propylene, and ethylene, has steadily increased over the last few years [see, Ladwig, U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,180B1, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety]. However, olefin production is often sacrificed in favor of increased production of valuable aromatics such as benzene (C6), toluene (C7), and xylenes (C8). This discourages the hydrogenation of aromatics to form naphthenes which are often used as feedstocks en route to olefins [see, Kim et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,962,900B2, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety].
This trend has limited the possibility of improvement in olefin yields. Currently, low value byproducts, such as light pyrolysis oil separated during the hydrotreating pyrolysis gasoline), are either subject to refining steps such as transalkylation, dealkylation and/or isomerization to increase the yield of valuable aromatics when needed, or relegated to fuel oil pools [see, Ellrich et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,940,950B2, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety]. This emphasis of aromatic production over olefin production poses a distinct challenge for global petrochemical producers looking to take advantage of these related product line markets.
Variances in sulfur, aromatic and naphthenic contents of hydrocarbon feedstocks from region to region also necessitate more dynamic processes in olefin production. For example, Chinese, African and Middle Eastern refineries yield feedstocks with higher aromatic and lower naphthene contents when compared to North American "sweet crude" feedstocks [see, Hamad et al., US201180253595A1, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety]. As a result, demand for olefin products is higher in these regions. However, existing methods of olefin production remain incapable of adjusting to meet these needs.
Attempts to resolve this continual processing limitation have been few. Attempts to accommodate different feedstocks in processes that include more than one cracking unit [see, Tallman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,128,827B2, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety] have failed to boost olefin production as have attempts to use other methods such as hydrotreating byproduct streams [see, Kim et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,962,900B2, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety]. Unfortunately both solutions require increased production costs, only partially convert byproducts, provide limited olefin gains and fail to address coking, catalyst deactivation and contamination of active components from "recycled" byproducts.
In view of the forgoing an objective of the present disclosure is to provide an integrated process for increasing olefin production from aromatically rich hydrocarbon streams and byproducts alongside valuable aromatic production.

Process for producing olefins using aromatic saturation


A device for associative coding of printed circuit boards comprises a coding member comprising a central longitudinal member, attachment arms and a series of appendages the spacing between which is equal to the spacing between two board guide slideways. The front panel of each board incorporates a coding slot enabling an appendage to pass through it when the latter is aligned with the slot. The position of the coding slot is a characteristic common to all boards of a given family. After a first board is fitted into the subrack only other boards of the same family can be connected into the part of the subrack fitted with the coding member. This prevents the insertion into the same subrack or subrack compartment of boards from different and incompatible families although for a same product type and having the same functionality.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention concerns a method and a device for coding printed circuit boards adapted to be connected into a subrack adapted to be mounted in a cabinet or a rack. Each board is guided by slideways which are part of a plurality of parallel slideways perpendicular to a backplane of the subrack and has a front panel in the form of a wall perpendicular to its plane adapted to close part of an open front side of the subrack when the board is inserted into the latter.
The method may be used to prevent incorrect insertion of boards into a standardized subrack forming part of a telecommunication installation cabinet or rack. A particular object of the invention is to prevent insertion into the same subrack of boards from different and incompatible families although part of a common type of product and having the same functionality.
2. Description of the prior art
The cabinets or racks used in telecommunication installations each comprise a number of parallelepiped-shape subracks with standardized dimensions and having a rear wall called the "backplane" in the form of a printed circuit board carrying multipin connectors adapted to receive mating connectors each carried by one plug-in printed circuit board and connected to the circuitry on the board, the front side of the subrack opposite the backplane being open to enable the removable insertion of a plurality of parallel boards each in a vertical plane perpendicular to the backplane. Each board has to be inserted at a specific location of the subrack to assure not only correct mechanical coupling but also the electrical coupling implementing the connections needed between the backplane circuit and the board circuit. The boards are guided as they are inserted in order to align the connectors carried by the boards exactly with the respective connectors fixed to the backplane. To this end the subrack is fitted with parallel slideways perpendicular to the backplane.
Each printed circuit board carries a so-called "front panel" perpendicular to its main plane fixed to the edge of the board parallel to that carrying the connector(s) to be plugged into the respective connector(s) fixed to the backplane. The front panel faces the open side of the subrack during and after insertion of the board into the subrack and can carry information concerning the correct location of the board in the subrack. However there is still some risk of misreading or misinterpretation of this information or of handling errors subsequent to such reading, resulting in the incorrect insertion of boards into the subrack.
One known way to eliminate the risk of error in the individual insertion of each board is to adopt an individual coding method whereby for each board there is a coding member fixed to or forming an integral part of at least one connector fixed to the backplane and a respective coding member fixed to or forming an integral part of at least one connector fixed to the board, the two coding members being rendered selectively engagable plug-and-socket fashion by coding achieved (for example) by fitting removable "polarizer keys" to obstruct predetermined openings of a series of identical openings in one member and removing from the other member projecting members in corresponding relationship to the position of the openings closed off by the polarizer keys and part of a series of members adapted to enter the openings of said series.
Adapting this individual coding method to discriminating between different board families for the same type of product and having the same functionality but which are nevertheless incompatible with each other, in other words which represent different technical and/or electrical versions (for example, ECL technology boards and CMOS technology boards), would have the disadvantage of requiring modification to the coding of all connectors fixed to the backplane. One consequence of this would be to rule out the interchangeable use of different families of boards in a given subrack without modifying again the coding of all the backplane connectors, which would require much dexterity and be somewhat time-consuming, once again with a non-negligible risk of errors.
A specific object of the invention is to obviate the disadvantage just mentioned by enabling associative coding of boards according to the family of which they are part, so retaining the interchangeability of boards within a complete family, without modifying the individual coding of the connectors fixed to the backplane or the connectors fixed to the boards.

Method and device for coding printed circuit boards


An apparatus for cleaning an endless belt, on both side end portions of the inner peripheral surface of which a pair of belt-shaped side stoppers are provided, includes a blade pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the belt and a backup roller. At both side end surfaces of the roller, assistant support rollers are provided to support the both side stoppers to prevent the both side end portions of the belt from moving inward to separate from the blade by a pressure applied from the blade. An image forming apparatus having such a belt cleaning apparatus includes a plurality of image carrying bodies arranged side by side along the belt, a plurality of toner image developer for developing images on the carrying bodies by toner, and a plurality of transfer units for transferring the developed toner images on the image carrying bodies to a paper sheet transferred by the belt.

The present invention relates to a belt cleaning apparatus for cleaning a surface of a belt which is stretched between a plurality of rollers so as to be circularly movable, and more particularly to a belt cleaning apparatus for cleaning a surface of a photoconductive belt or conveyor belt which is stretched between a plurality of rollers so as to be circularly movable and which is prevented from moving in its both side directions by elongated both side-stop members. In addition, the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including such a belt cleaning apparatus.
Conventionally, sheet conveyor belts are used in electrophotographic type image forming apparatuses such as printers and copying machines. FIGS. 5A and 5B show an example of a belt cleaning apparatus for cleaning a surface of such sheet conveyor belt, and FIG. 6 shows an arrangement of a main part of an image forming apparatus, the apparatus furnishing with the conventional belt cleaning apparatus. As shown in FIG. 6, the image forming apparatus comprises a photoconductive drum 1 which is rotatable in a clockwise direction, and further comprises an initializing charger brush 2, a writing head 3, a developing unit 4, a transfer brush 5, and a drum cleaner 6, those of which being arranged along a peripheral surface of the drum 1.
Generally, the photoconductive drum 1 is formed by uniformly depositing a photoconductor on a peripheral surface of an electrically conductive metallic roller to form a photoconductive layer on the surface. The initializing charger brush 2 applies, for example, a high negative voltage to the drum 1, thereby uniformly charging the photoconductive layer on the peripheral surface of the drum 1 to a high negative electric potential. The writing head 3 has a laser or LED light source, and selectively exposes the highly negatively charged peripheral surface of the drum 1 in accordance with image information supplied to the head, to form a negative low-potential section with a lowered electric potential. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed by the low-electric potential section in the aforesaid highly negatively charged peripheral surface of the drum 1.
The developing unit 4 contains therein a non-magnetic toner 4-1, and supports a developing roller 4-2 in its bottom opening. The roller 4-2 faces the photoconductive drum 1, and rotates with carrying on its peripheral surface a thin layer of the toner 4-1 that is charged to a low negative electric potential generated by rotational friction between the toner and the roller. In a region where the developing roller 4-2 and the drum 1 face each other, the electric potential of the low-electric potential section of the static image on the drum 1 is relatively high compared with that of the toner 4-1 on the roller 4-2. By an electric field generated by this electric potential difference, the negatively charged nonmagnetic toner 4-1 is transferred to the low-electric potential section on the photoconductive drum 1. Thereupon, a toner image is formed on the drum 1 (that is, the latent image on the drum 1 is reversely developed). As the drum 1 rotates, this toner image gradually moves to a region where the drum 1 and the transfer brush 5 face each other. A paper sheet 7 to which the toner image on the drum 1 is to be transferred, is transported to the facing region between the drum 1 and the brush 5.
Conventionally, it is very usual to employ a plurality of transportation roller pairs and transportation guide plates to transport the sheet 7. These days, however, a conveyor belt is frequently used for this purpose because it can steadily transport the sheet in a high-speed image forming process. The conveyor belt system is advantageous in a case that a plurality of photoconductive drums are arranged side by side to form a plurality of image forming units corresponding to various colors for full-color image formation, because it is easy to arrange the photoconductive drums side by side along the conveyer belt. In general, the conveyor belt 8 is formed of a dielectric or semiconductor film. The belt 8 is a horizontally stretched loop, horizontally opposite end portions of which are supported by a rotating roller 9 and a driven roller 10, individually. An upper surface of an upper extending portion of the belt 8 is in contact with a lower end of the peripheral surface of the photoconductive drum 1, and the belt 8 is moved circularly in a counterclockwise direction indicated by an arrow "a" in FIG. 6. The sheet 7 is placed on the upper surface of the upper extending portion, and is transported to the facing region between the drum 1 and the transfer brush 5 in such a manner that it is held together with the belt 8 by the driven roller 10 and an auxiliary roller 11. By the way, it is well known to apply an attraction bias voltage of a predetermined polarity to the auxiliary roller 11 from a power source (not shown). According to this, the sheet 7 is attracted on the belt 8 by the attraction bias voltage and is further pressed on the belt 8 by the auxiliary roller 11, so that the sheet 7 can be transported more securely by means of the conveyor belt 8.
The transfer brush 5 faces the photoconductive drum 1 with the conveyor belt 8 interposed there-between, and slidably contacts a back surface of the upper extending portion of the belt 8, thus forming a transfer section. The brush 5 is formed of an electrically conductive brush-shaped member, and is connected to a positive power source (not shown). The transfer brush 5 applies a positive transfer bias to the sheet 7 through the conveyor belt 8. The negative toner image on the drum 1 is transferred to the sheet 7 having a positive potential. The sheet 7 on which the toner image have been transferred, is separated from the upper extending portion of the belt 8 at its downstream end with respect to the transportation direction. Then, the toner image is thermally fixed on the sheet 7 by means of a fixing unit (not shown), and is discharged from the image forming apparatus.
Since the attraction and transfer bias voltages are applied to the conveyor belt 8, the toner, paper dust, etc. are easily attached to those regions of the conveyor belt 8 on which the sheet 7 is not placed. To remove the attached toner, paper dust, etc. from the conveyor belt 8, a belt cleaning apparatus is provided under the conveyor belt 8. The apparatus includes a blade scraper 12 and a cleaner bottle 13. The scraper 12 is pressed against a lower surface of a lower extending portion of the belt 8 at a position corresponding to the driven roller 10, to scrape off the attached toner, paper dust, etc. on the belt 8. The bottle 13 receives and stores the toner, dust, etc. removed from the belt 8 in this manner.
FIG. 5A is a cross sectional view showing the belt cleaning apparatus which includes the conveyor belt 8, the driven roller 10, the blade scraper 12, and the cleaner bottle 13, and FIG. 5B is an enlarged cross sectional view showing a portion encircled by a broken-line VB on a left end side of the cleaning apparatus in FIG. 5A. The cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 5A has a symmetrical structure in its cross section so that a right end of the cleaning apparatus in FIG. 5A has the same structure as that of the left end of the cleaning apparatus in FIG. 5A. As shown in FIG. 5A, an upper end portion of the blade scraper 12 is pressed against the lower surface of the lower extending portion of the conveyor belt 8, while a lower end portion thereof is supported by a support member 14. As shown in FIG. 6, that portion of the belt 8 on which the scraper 12 is pressed against is supported by the driven roller 10. Thus, the roller 10 further serves as a backup roller for the scraper 12, so that the belt 8 will not escape from the upper end portion of the scraper 12 while the upper end portion of the scraper 12 is pressed on the belt 8. In this manner, the scraper 12 can be pressed against the belt 8 securely enough to remove the toner, dust, etc. from the belt 8. The driven roller 10 is supported on a frame 16 of the image forming apparatus by means of a support shaft 15.
Generally, a belt conveyor system is provided with a side-stopper mechanism for preventing the conveyor belt from sideslipping in its width direction. This mechanism includes a pair of elastic side-stopper members 17 which are fixed to both side end portions of the back or inner surface of the conveyor belt 8 shown in FIG. 5A and extend in a longitudinal direction of the belt 8.
Since these side-stopper members 17 are designed to abut the side surfaces of the driven roller 10 and the rotating roller 9 to prevent the conveyor belt 8 from sideslipping, the both side end portions of the back or inner surface of the belt on which the side stopper members 17 are fixed are not supported by those rollers 9 and 10. Thus, when the both side end portions of the belt 8 reach the upper end portion of the blade scraper 12, the both side end portions easily bend to move away from the upper end portion of the scraper 12 as shown in FIG. 5B, so that the scraper 12 cannot be pressed against the both side end portions of an outer surface of the lower extending portion of the conveyor belt 8 enough to remove the toner, dust, etc. from the both side end portions of the outer surface of the belt 8. The toner, dust, etc. remaining on the both side end portions of the outer surface of the belt 8 are finally moved to a central portion of the outer surface of the belt 8, and possibly produce an unfavorable result in the image transfer operation. This problem cannot be very serious if the width of the belt 8 is made greater enough than that of maximum-width paper sheets (that is, a width of the photoconductive drum or a width of the developing unit) usable in the image forming apparatus. If this is done, however, the whole size of the apparatus inevitably becomes large as compared with the maximum-width paper sheet. Accordingly, the above described problem becomes serious to minimize the whole size of the apparatus as small as possible compared to the maximum-width paper sheet usable in the apparatus.
If the upper extending portion of the conveyor belt 8 free from the press of the blade scraper 12 is subjected to a leftward deflective stress in its width direction in FIG. 7A, for example, while the belt 8 is circulating, the belt 8 easily deflects leftward as indicated by an arrow "b" in FIG. 7B despite the provision of the aforesaid side-stopper members. This deflection or sideslipping often causes the right-hand side-stopper member 17 to run onto the peripheral surface of each of the rotating roller 9, the driven roller 10, and tension rollers (not shown in FIG. 6) arranged between the rollers 9 and 10. Since the stopper member 17, like the conveyor belt 8, is an endless continuous structure, once the stopper member 17 runs onto the peripheral surface of each of the rollers, this running of the stopper member 17 on the peripheral surface continues endlessly.
In order to solve this problem, the following arrangement has been proposed. In this arrangement, as shown in FIG. 7C, a pair of belt retaining mechanisms are provided on both opposite ends of a shaft of a roller 18, the roller being the tension roller, the rotating roller 9, or the driven roller 10, for pressing the belt 8 toward its a center in its width direction. Each of the mechanisms includes a retaining flange 19 axially movably mounted on each end portion of the shaft of the roller 18, a spring 21 coaxially mounted on each end portion of the shaft, for urging the flange 19 toward the corresponding side edge of the belt 8, and a nut 22 screwed on each end portion of the shaft, for preventing removal of the spring 21 and adjusting the urging force of the spring. In this arrangement, if the urging force of the springs 21 are properly adjusted, the deflecting or the sideslipping of the belt 8 can be considerably reduced.
This arrangement, however, requires more components than those used in the arrangement of FIG. 7A, and therefore, makes inventory control more troublesome than that of the arrangement of FIG. 7A. Further, since this arrangement increases the number of assembly steps, a manufacturing cost of this arrangement becomes high. Further, the belt rotating mechanisms provided on the both end portions of the shaft of the roller 18 hinder the reduction of the whole size of a body of an apparatus, the apparatus using the belt 8. Furthermore, since the both side edges of the belt 8 are pressed inward in this arrangement, the cross section of the belt 8 is liable to bend upwardly or downwardly, and this bending may possibly result in unsuccessful image transfer.

Belt cleaning apparatus and image forming apparatus using the same

Casio Electronics Manufacturing Co., Ltd.