A microbolometer imaging apparatus having an array of selectable substrate-isolated microbolometer detectors, a detector selection controller, and a readout circuit. The detectors may be exposed to a scene of interest, and each detector has a corresponding resistor value. The detector selection controller may selectively couple an electrical bias source to each detector. The readout circuit may establish an output signal representative of the resistance value of each detector. The readout circuit includes a feedback bias control circuit modulates the electrical bias source as a function of the output signal.

An infrared detector called the "bolometer," now well known in the art, operates on the principle that the electrical resistance of the bolometer material changes with respect to the bolometer temperature, which in turn changes in response to the quantity of absorbed incident infrared radiation. These characteristics can be exploited to measure incident infrared radiation on the bolometer by sensing the resulting change in its resistance. When used as an infrared detector, the bolometer is generally thermally isolated from its supporting substrate or surroundings to allow the absorbed incident infrared radiation to generate a temperature change in the bolometer material, and be less affected by substrate temperature.
Modern microbolometer structures were developed by the Honeywell Corporation. By way of background, certain prior art detectors and/or arrays, for example those manufactured by Honeywell, Inc., are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,286,976, and 5,300,915, and 5,021,663, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Such detectors include those microbolometer detectors that have a two-level microbridge configuration: an upper level and a lower level form a cavity that sensitizes the bolometer to radiation of a particular range of wavelengths; the upper level forms a "microbridge" that includes a thermal sensing element; the lower level includes read-out integrated circuitry, and reflective material to form the cavity; the upper microbridge is supported by legs which thermally isolate the upper level from the lower level and which communicate electrical information therein to the integrated circuitry.
A list of references related to the aforesaid structure may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,419. The aforesaid patent describes a two-dimensional array of closely spaced microbolometer detectors which are typically fabricated on a monolithic silicon substrate or integrated circuit. Commonly, each of these microbolometer detectors are fabricated on the substrate by way of a commonly referred to "bridge" structure that includes a temperature sensitive resistive element that is substantially thermally isolated from the substrate. This aforesaid microbolometer detector structure is herein referred to as a "thermally-isolated microbolometer." The resistive element may, for example, be comprised of vanadium oxide material that absorbs infrared radiation. The constructed bridge structure provides good thermal isolation between the resistive element of each microbolometer detector and the silicon substrate. An exemplary microbolometer structure may dimensionally be on the order of approximately 50 microns by 50 microns.
In contrast, a microbolometer detector that is fabricated directly on the substrate, without the bridge structure, is herein referred to as a "thermally shorted microbolometer," since the temperature of the substrate and/or package will directly affect it. Alternately, it may be regarded as a "heat sunk" microbolometer since it is shorted to the substrate.
Microbolometer detector arrays may be used to sense a focal plane of incident radiation (typically infrared). Each microbolometer detector of an array may absorb any radiation incident thereon, resulting in a corresponding change in its temperature, which results in a corresponding change in its resistance. With each microbolometer functioning as a pixel, a two-dimensional image or picture representation of the incident infrared radiation may be generated by translating the changes in resistance of each microbolometer into a time-multiplexed electrical signal that can be displayed on a monitor or stored in a computer. As used herein, the term "pixel" is equivalent to the term "microbolometer". The circuitry used to perform this translation is commonly known as the Read Out Integrated Circuit (ROIC), and is commonly fabricated as an integrated circuit on a silicon substrate. The microbolometer array may then be fabricated on top of the ROIC. The combination of the ROIC and microbolometer array is commonly known as a microbolometer infrared Focal Plane Array (FPA). Microbolometer focal plane arrays that contain as many as 640×480 detectors have been demonstrated.
Individual microbolometer pixels will have non-uniform responses to uniform incident infrared radiation, even when they are manufactured as part of a single microbolometer FPA. This is due to small variations in the detectors' electrical and thermal properties as a result of the manufacturing process. This non-uniformity in the individual microbolometer response characteristics, commonly referred to as spatial non-uniformity, must be corrected to produce an electrical signal with adequate signal-to-noise ratio for image processing and display. The characteristics contributing to spatial non-uniformity, among others, include the infrared radiation absorption coefficient, resistance, temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR), heat capacity, and thermal conductivity of the individual detectors.
The magnitude of the response non-uniformity can be substantially larger than the magnitude of the actual response due to the incident infrared radiation. The resulting ROIC output signal is difficult to process, as it requires system interface electronics having a very high dynamic range. In order to achieve an output signal dominated by the level of incident infrared radiation, processing to correct for detector non-uniformity is required.
Methods for implementing an ROIC for microbolometer arrays have used an architecture wherein the resistance of each microbolometer is sensed by applying a uniform electric signal source, e.g., voltage or current sources, and a resistive load to the microbolometer element. The current resulting from the applied voltage is integrated over time by an amplifier to produce an output voltage level proportional to the value of the integrated current. The output voltage is then multiplexed to the signal acquisition system.
Gain and offset corrections are applied to the output signal to correct for the errors that may arise from the microbolometer property non-uniformities. This process is commonly referred to as two-point correction. In this technique two correction coefficients are applied to the sampled signal of each element. The gain correction is implemented by multiplying the output voltage by a unique gain coefficient. The offset correction is implemented by adding a unique offset coefficient to the output voltage. Both analog and digital techniques have been utilized to perform this two-point non-uniformity correction.
The current state-of-the-art in microbolometer array ROICs suffers from two principal problems. The first problem is that the larger arrays increase substrate temperature. A second problem is that a larger microbolometer introduces non-uniformities in the ROIC integrated circuit output signal thereby requiring a large instantaneous dynamic range in the sensor interface electronics that increases the cost and complexity of the system. Current advanced ROIC architectures, known in the art, incorporate part of the correction on the ROIC integrated circuit to minimize the instantaneous dynamic range requirements at the acquisition systems interface.
A technique for minimizing the effect of substrate temperature variations is to provide substrate temperature stabilization so as to maintain a substantially constant substrate temperature. One common technique employed for substrate temperature stabilization is the use of what is commonly referred to as "thermo-electric cooling." As used herein, the term "thermoelectric cooler" is equivalent to the term "thermoelectric stabilizer"—both of which are commonly used in the art and refer to an apparatus and technique for raising and lowering the temperature of a substrate to maintain the substrate at a substantially constant temperature.
An unstabilized (i.e. no temperature stabilization of the substrate) microbolometer focal plane array is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,756,999, entitled, "Methods and Circuitry for Correcting Temperature-Induced Errors in Microbolometer Focal Plane Array, issued to Parrish, et. al. Therein, a bias correction method and a pre-bias correction method are taught. With regard to the bias correction method, as stated therein, "According to the bias-correction method, a unique bias amplitude is applied to each detector during the integration period to support uniformity correction. The bias-correction method can be implemented as an adjustable voltage, current, or load bias that is applied to the microbolometer detectors during the integration (measurement) period . . . . The bias-correction value is applied during the integration period of the microbolometer detector using an adjustable voltage source . . . . The bias-correction value is controlled by the output of a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). . . . The adjustable bolometer bias may be used to correct the optical gain of the signal for uniform output at a particular substrate temperature in conjunction with single-point offset correction . . . to remove residual fixed offsets."
Although the aforesaid patent sets forth improved methods for correcting temperature induced errors in microbolometer focal-plane arrays, these methods still remain complex and time consuming.
Another method for controlling bias for a microbolometer focal plane array permitting an unstabilized (i.e. no temperature stabilization of the substrate) microbolometer focal plane array is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,444,983, entitled, "Microbolometer Focal Plane Array With Controlled Bias," in the name of T. McManus, et. al., and is incorporated herein by reference thereto, As taught therein, a single thermally-shorted microbolometer detector is employed for controlling the magnitude of an electric signal bias source that is applied to all microbolometers of a focal plane array on a substrate. A calibration bias source magnitude is determined and continually adjusted as a function of the reading value of the resistance of the thermally-shorted microbolometer at calibration, and readings of the thermally-shorted microbolometer after each image sample is taken. With the bias controlled in a manner as just described, temperature induced errors are minimized thereby permitting the microbolometer focal plane array to be employed without the need of any thermo-electric stabilization of the substrate.
Another source of error in microbolometer focal plane arrays is the variation in "responsivity" of each microbolometer with changes in temperature. This is because each microbolometer is a temperature sensitive resistor having a sensitivity that varies due to minute variances in the manufacturing process from one microbolometer to another. The temperature of a microbolometer is affected by the bias current flowing there through, since that current inherently Warms the microbolometer due to the power dissipated. Heat is also transferred to the microbolometer through the focal plane array's substrate. Heat is also transferred to the microbolometer by infrared radiation focused on the microbolometer.
In order to produce a high quality image from a microbolometer focal plane array, the differences in responsivity from one microbolometer to another need to be taken into account, and the change in microbolometer resistance due to infrared radiation impinging thereon should be separated from any resistance changes due to all other sources of heat transfer.

Microbolometer focal plane array with temperature compensated bias


A dual-stage doped fiber amplifier is provided which utilizes a single pump laser and a passive power splitter to pump both amplifier stages. The passive splitter couples a first portion of the power output of the single pump laser to a first stage amplifier and a second portion of the pump power to the second stage. In this manner, the performance characteristics of the amplifier can be controlled by utilizing a single pump source.

The present invention relates to a doped fiber amplifier arrangement and, specifically, to a dual-stage amplifier with a passive pump splitting arrangement which allows low noise operation and variable signal gain with a single pump laser.
Erbium doped fiber amplifiers have revolutionized lightwave systems. These amplifiers have replaced detection and regeneration systems in long transglobal systems where fiber attenuation and dispersion act to degrade the transmitted signal. Further, fiber amplifiers are utilized in wide area signal distribution systems where distribution losses become appreciable.
In practice, the fiber amplifier is placed in-line with the signal carrying fiber to allow the optical signal to enter the Erbium fiber and directly experience gain. Connectors or fusion splices may be used to attach the amplifier to the signal fiber. Input and output isolators are typically utilized in unidirectional systems to control the direction of signals and amplified spontaneous emissions from the Erbium gain medium.
Topologically, fiber amplifiers take many forms. Multiple stages may be utilized to optimize performance. Additionally, either 980 nm or 1480 nm laser sources are typically utilized to co-, counter, or co- and counter-propagate pump power within each Erbium fiber amplifier stage. Wavelength multiplexers are utilized to couple the pump power to the Erbium fiber. Inter- and intra-stage isolators and filters maybe utilized to effect the noise and gain performance. In today's applications, a specific design consideration is flattening gain over the wavelength range of interest by selecting appropriate lengths of Erbium fiber or by utilizing an appropriate gain shaping filter.
Practical Erbium fiber amplifiers fall into one of three classifications: (1) post (or booster) amplifier, (2) in-line amplifier, or, (3) pre-amplifier. The post and pre-amplifier are often called terminal amplifiers. They are typically found at the ends (terminals) of a lightwave system, while the in-line amplifier is found mid-span in the system. Functionally, amplifier types differ in their input and output specifications.
The post amplifier operates in saturation to produce high optical output power (+17 to +24 dBm). The pre-amplifier is designed to deliver large small signal gain with minimal noise figure. Typically, a pre-amplifier will deliver >30 dB of small signal gain with output power >-10 dBm. The in-line amplifier delivers 10 to 20 dB of gain from input power levels between -20 and -10 dBm.
Erbium doped fiber amplifiers are commercially available from many suppliers. One or two stage amplifiers with one or more pumps per stage, either at 1480 nm or 980 nm are common. The bulk of commercial amplifiers have a limit range of variable gain with which to either stabilize output power or accommodate a range of input conditions.
An often used method of adjusting the gain state of a fiber amplifier is by dynamically adjusting the pump power in one or more stages. The most common way for controlling amplifier gain without sacrificing the total amplifier noise figure is by adjusting the pump power in the second stage of a dual-stage amplifier, i.e., leaving the first stage gain high enough to insure a reasonable total noise figure. This method usually allows approximately 22 dB of variable gain and requires a minimum of two pumps, one for each stage. Further, the second stage gain control is difficult due to the rapid nonlinear change of gain with decreasing pump power.
Therefore, a need remains in the art for an optical amplifier arrangement which combines the lower noise figure advantage of a dual-stage design with an extended range of variable gain and which is readily controllable with the cost advantages of a single pump laser.

Split-pumped dual stage optical fiber amplifier


A tag holder (12) formed as a single stamping defines a singular body having a first tab (16), a second tab (24), and a third tab (38). The second tab (24) is cut from the first tab (16) to define an aperture (18) in the first tab for receiving a hanger rod (62) of a product display, and then the second tab (24) is folded from the first tab (16) and aligned adjacent the third tab (38). Protuberant lance portions (30) are formed from a surface (26) of the second tab (24) and extend toward the third tab (38). A hang tag (50) is placed between the second tab (24) and the third tab (38), with the aperture (18) in the first tab (16) aligned adjacent a hanger aperture (54) of the hang tag (50), and then the second tab (24) is pushed toward the third tab (38) with the protuberant lance portions (30) extending through the hang tag (50) and against the third tab (38) to secure hang tag (50) to the tag holder (12).

Prior hang tags have been provided for supporting various retail products, typically small items which are hung on display walls and such in retail stores. Hang tags are often formed of paper, and at times the hanger portion of hang tags will tear such that the hang tag is no longer operational or functional for hanging a product for display on a display wall. Hang tags often have to be repaired by taping, or other fastening means, or replacing the damaged hang tag with a new hang tag which requires removing the displayed product from the damaged hang tag and securing the displayed product to the new hang tag.


The present invention is a system and method for activating financial cards via biometric authentication of an individual presenting the card for activation. Information from the financial card presented for activation is entered into the system and is stored in association with the card presenter's biometric information. Financial card activation is enabled via the biometric system sending the entered financial card information and an authorization of the identity of the card presenter to the card provider for card activation.

Newly issued financial cards typically require card owners to activate the cards before using them to conduct financial transactions. Common methods of activating such cards include the recipient verifying receipt of the card by calling the card provider via a phone number associated with the home address the recipient provided when applying for the card. During application review, card providers verify that the phone number an applicant provides in his application is linked to the address he provided. Then during activation, the card provider verifies that the card recipient is, in fact, the card owner by verifying that the recipient is calling from a telephone number associated with the address provided with the card application. This verification typically occurs via Automatic Number Identification technology, and if the calling number is verified, the card is activated.
Unfortunately, although this method of financial card activation provides some security it is not foolproof. Typically, the card provider uses caller identification (ID) to verify that the credit card is being activated from the proper telephone number, but card providers do not always verify the activation number via caller ID for any number of reasons, some of the most common relating to the calling number information being blocked. Additionally, phone number verification poses security problems in situations where various persons are sharing the same home address. For example, a person sharing a home address with an individual who applied for a card might easily activate and proceed to use a card recipient's new card simply by activating the card from the card recipient's phone. Therefore, the security of card activation is compromised. Additional methods of security implemented during card activation include the card recipient verifying personal information. However, if the calling telephone number is not verified, verifying personal information provides little security, as such information may be fraudulently obtained and verified.
In addition to security problems of card verification some card applicants may not have a well established phone number linked to their home address for various reasons, such as their replacing a landline with a cell phone, their inability to obtain a phone line, and/or their not wishing to have a phone. Such issues are typically common among lower income individuals who have not been able to establish a "trusted" telephone number with which to associate and build their credit. Because such individuals have little or no credit and because they have no fixed home address with which to associate a "trusted" telephone number, they are, in turn, unable to establish credit. What is needed are more secure and convenient methods of activating financial cards.

System and method for activating financial cards via biometric recognition


A liquid filled hot plate used in integrated circuit fabrication baking processes. The hot plate uses heated liquid which is pumped throughout a circulatory system, for heating the hot plate. The hot plate has a cavity which has symmetrical parallel partitions dividing the cavity into equal halves, where the inlet fluid line determines the left and right halves. Therefore, temperature control of the hot plate can be achieved to +/-0.25 degrees C., and temperature spiking phenomenon can be depreciated.

History
Historically, IC wafer manufacturing has implemented heating of IC wafer fabrication through the use of resistive coil heated hot plates. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the typical hot plate 10 includes a resistive coil 12, a main body portion 14, and a heating platform 16 for mounting the wafers upon.
Typically, there are several IC fabrication processes that require precise temperature control across the uniformity of IC wafers. For example, precise temperature control is required for resist thickness control during the soft bake process. Similarly, precision is required during critical dimension and "film speed" control on chemically-amplified resists occurring during post exposure bake processes.

Liquid filled hot plate for precise temperature control


A light projecting device includes a supporting unit, a first light source, a second light source, a light guiding unit and a lens. The first light source and the second light source are disposed on the supporting unit. The first light source includes a first lighting unit having a first light emitting surface. The second light source includes a second lighting unit having a second light emitting surface. The light emitting direction of the first light emitting surface is opposite to that of the second light emitting surface, and the first light emitting surface is substantially coplanar with the second light emitting surface. The light guiding unit is disposed in front of the supporting unit and the lens is disposed in front of the light guiding unit. Therefore, the light utilization efficiency of the light projecting device can be increased while satisfying requirements for miniaturization.

The headlight, referred to by some as the "eyes" of a vehicle such as a motorcycle or a car, is very important to traffic safety. Common light sources for the headlight include halogen lamps, tungsten halogen lamps and HID (High Intensity Discharge Lamp) lamps. In addition, the technologies that use an LED in place of a halogen, tungsten halogen or HID lamp become more and more popular.
For example, Taiwan Patent No. M539600 and Taiwan Patent No. M536321 disclose light core structures that can be directly mounted on a vehicle headlight. The light core structure of the '600 patent uses an LED lighting unit to directly emit lights to a lens, so as to produce a low beam illumination pattern. In addition, the light core structure of the '600 patent uses another LED lighting unit working with a reflecting structure of the vehicle headlight to output lights, in which the reflecting structure has a paraboloid-like surface, so as to produce a high beam illumination pattern. The light core structure of the '321 patent includes two LED lighting units (i.e., first and second lighting units) and a reflecting structure. The first lighting unit works with the reflecting structure to project lights to a lens, so as to produce a low beam illumination pattern. The second lighting unit works with another reflecting structure of the vehicle headlight to output lights, in which the another reflecting structure has a paraboloid-like surface, so as to produce a high beam illumination pattern.
However, the optical designs of the light core structures cannot fully utilize lights of the LED lighting unit, and thus there is a concern that the light intensity of the low beam or high beam lights is insufficient. Although the light intensity can be increased by increasing the number of the LED lighting unit, this cannot meet the design requirements of miniaturization.

Light projecting device having high light utilization efficiency


The invention provides compositions and methods for therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

Researchers have long been attempting to exploit the ability of targeting moieties or ligands to bind to specific cells (via receptors or otherwise) to target compositions such as detectable labels or therapeutic agents to particular tissues of an animal (especially a human). In such situations, the ability of the targeting moiety to bind to the target (e.g., affinity, avidity, and/or specificity) significantly impacts the ability to successfully target the desired tissues.
Numerous attempts have been made to use natural (e.g. polyclonal) and monoclonal antibodies, as targeting moieties in vivo. However, use of such antibodies present certain disadvantages, such as unacceptable levels of antigenicity—even for humanized antibodies. In addition, natural antibodies are difficult to produce in recombinant form, due to the number of chains, disulfide bonds, and glycosylation. Natural antibodies also present pharmacokinetic problems. Antibodies pose significant problems in imaging and radiotherapeutic applications because, due to their large size, accumulation in extravascular target tissue and clearance from the vascular system are both slow. This problem is especially critical when dealing with solid tumors, which present additional barriers to the ingress of large blood born compounds. Similar problems occur with antibodies used for imaging using other modalities, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound and light. If the antibody is radiolabeled with a diagnostic or therapeutic radionuclide, lower target to background ratios result in the images. In addition, an undesirable distribution of radiation exposure between the tumor and normal tissues occurs.
In attempts to solve these problems, efforts have been directed towards the construction of smaller entities with similar binding affinities using the essential features of the natural antibody binding regions. The building blocks are typically single-chain Fv fragments (scFv) which are monovalent. Combining fragments of this type so that they have the bivalent or multivalent properties of the antibodies has been problematic. In order to dock to a surface it is an advantage that the two binding sites on the antibody are connected via a flexible hinge to the constant region. Thus, in order to imitate the binding efficacy of antibodies, not only must the binding site be recreated, but so also must the bivalency (or higher valency) and the flexibility. This flexibility is needed because the protein backbone that makes up the nonbinding region of the scFv is still bulky relative to the binding site. Once an appropriate method has been devised to join two scFv fragments together, different scFv fragments can be joined together as well as more than the customary two scFv moieties present in natural antibodies. Certain scFv fragments, depending both on the VH/VL interface and the linker length, can spontaneously dimerize or multimerize. These "diabodies" are smaller than the natural antibody and do not have the immunological properties of the Fc portion (which activates complement and/or binds to Fc receptors), which they lack. The two (or more) binding sites are rotated relative to each other, and thus the antigen must be correctly positioned to accommodate this presentation.
"Miniantibodies" have properties similar to those of diabodies, but rather than a short 5–20 amino acid linker they have a relatively more flexible linker that allows freer orientation of the binding sites relative to each other, similar to in a natural antibody. Like diabodies, miniantibodies do not have the high molecular weight, immunologically active Fc dimer fragment. They can also be made by bacterial systems. Although they have desired advantages over natural antibodies, miniantibodies still suffer from having a relatively large size, which affects their pharmacokinetics, and must be made using biological methods. The smallest miniantibody is about 120 kDa in size.
Attempts have been made to use bispecific antibodies (e.g. antibodies that bind to two separate targets) to overcome one of the major deficiencies of antibodies, namely, that the size of the antibodies slows accumulation in the extravascular target tissue and clearance from the blood. The bispecific approach taken has been referred to as "pretargeting." This approach uses a two-step protocol. A bispecific antibody with at least one arm that recognizes a tumor-associated antigen and at least one other arm that recognizes an epitope on a diagnostic or therapy agent is given as a first injection. After the unbound antibody has substantially cleared non-target tissues and has reached a maximum level in the tumor, the smaller, bispecific antibody-recognizable diagnostic or therapeutic agent is given. It is hoped that the latter agents distribute more rapidly throughout the body, and either bind to the bispecific antibody localized at the tumor, or are cleared via the kidneys.
An alternative to this approach attempts to use a mixed antibody avidin/biotin system in a two-step procedure. For example, a targeting antibody is conjugated with either avidin or biotin and then is injected whereupon it localizes in the tumor of interest. Thereafter, either biotin or avidin (depending on which was coupled to the targeting antibody), bearing an imaging or radiotherapeutic radionuclide, is injected and becomes localized at the site of the primary antibody by binding to avidin or biotin respectively.
Another approach to the use of antibodies as targeting moieties for radiopharmaceuticals or other diagnostic imagining agents has attempted to use a bivalent hapten to increase the avidity for the cell bound bispecific antibody over that of the circulating antibody. This approach relies on bidentate binding occurring with the cell bound antibodies, because the surface density on the cells is sufficiently high, but not occurring with the circulating antibodies, because the concentration is too low. In effect, the system makes use of the increase in avidity caused by the closer presentation of the antibodies/antigen on the cells.
Peptides have also been used as targeting moieties. In an attempt to improve the binding bi-specific peptide constructs have been prepared with two or more peptide based targeting agents selective for different targets. For example, a hybrid peptide having ligands to two targets selected from the somatostatin-, GRP-, CCK-, Substance P-, or VIP receptor and αvβ3 integrin was reportedly made and tested for the ability to bind to tumor cells. The initial evaluation showed no improved tumor uptake for the multiple ligand systems investigated. The investigators assumed that steric impairment leads to a reduction of the receptor affinities of the dimeric structures. Others have tested an RGD-DTPA-Octreotate hybrid peptide targeted towards both the αvβ3 integrin and the somatostatin-2 receptor for the ability to increase the tumor uptake over that of a peptide selective for one or the other targets. The different binding affinities of the two targeting moieties towards their targets, blood vessels and tumor cells, respectively, resulted in the avidity for tumors being dominated by the stronger (somatostatin mediated) interaction.
A variation of these approaches uses a bispecific diabody targeted to two different epitopes on the same antigen. This approach attempts to increase the avidity of the construct for the target, because, although the binding is monovalent for each epitope, the construct as a whole is bivalent to its target, as each of the binding epitopes is located within the same target molecule. In the case of the single molecule target, scFv fragments have been found to have insufficient affinity and an increase in avidity was required.
Two rationales underlie the approaches described above. The first rationale uses two different targeting moieties to overcome some of the pharmacokinetic problems associated with the delivery of antibodies to solid tumors. The second rationale uses two different targeting moieties to increase the avidity of the construct for a given target, such as a single molecule or a whole tumor. However, all of the approaches described suffer from various drawbacks. Thus, there remains a need for diagnostic and therapeutic agents with increased affinity and or avidity for a target of interest. There also remains a need for diagnostic and therapeutic agents that, when administered in vivo to a mammal, have acceptable pharmacokinetic properties.
Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, occurs not only during embryonic development and normal tissue growth and repair, but is also involved in the female reproductive cycle, establishment and maintenance of pregnancy, and repair of wounds and fractures. In addition to angiogenesis that occurs in the normal individual, angiogenic events are involved in a number of pathological processes, notably tumor growth and metastasis, and other conditions in which blood vessel proliferation is increased, such as diabetic retinopathy, psoriasis and arthropathies. Angiogenesis is so important in the transition of a tumor from hyperplastic to neoplastic growth, that inhibition of angiogenesis has become an active cancer therapy research field.
Tumor-induced angiogenesis is thought to depend on the production of pro-angiogenic growth factors by the tumor cells, which overcome other forces that tend to keep existing vessels quiescent and stable. The best characterized of these pro-angiogenic agents is vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (Cohen et al., FASEB J., 13: 9–22 (1999)). VEGF is produced naturally by a variety of cell types in response to hypoxia and some other stimuli. Many tumors also produce large amounts of VEGF, and/or induce nearby stromal cells to make VEGF (Fukumura et al., Cell, 94: 715–725 (1998)). VEGF, also referred to as VEGF-A, is synthesized as five different splice isoforms of 121, 145, 165, 189, and 206 amino acids. VEGF121 and VEGF165 are the main forms produced, particularly in tumors (see, Cohen et al. 1999, supra). VEGF121 lacks a basic domain encoded by exons 6 and 7 of the VEGF gene and does not bind to heparin or extracellular matrix, unlike VEGF165.
VEGF family members act primarily by binding to receptor tyrosine kinases. In general, receptor tyrosine kinases are glycoproteins having an extracellular domain capable of binding one or more specific growth factors, a transmembrane domain (usually an alpha helix), a juxtamembrane domain (where the receptor may be regulated, e.g., by phosphorylation), a tyrosine kinase domain (the catalytic component of the receptor), and a carboxy-terminal tail, which in many receptors is involved in recognition and binding of the substrates for the tyrosine kinase. There are three endothelial cell-specific receptor tyrosine kinases known to bind VEGF: VEGFR-1 (Flt-1), VEGFR-2 (KDR or Flk-1), and VEGFR-3 (Flt4). Flt-1 and KDR have been identified as the primary high affinity VEGF receptors. While Flt-1 has higher affinity for VEGF, KDR displays more abundant endothelial cell expression (Bikfalvi et al., J. Cell. Physiol., 149: 50–59 (1991)). Moreover, KDR is thought to dominate the angiogenic response and is therefore of greater therapeutic and diagnostic interest (see, Cohen et al. 1999, supra). Expression of KDR is highly upregulated in angiogenic vessels, especially in tumors that induce a strong angiogenic response (Veikkola et al., Cancer Res., 60: 203–212 (2000)). The critical role of KDR in angiogenesis is highlighted by the complete lack of vascular development in homozygous KDR knockout mouse embryos (Folkman et al., Cancer Medicine, 5th Edition (B.C. Decker Inc.; Ontario, Canada, 2000) pp. 132–152).
KDR (kinase domain region) is made up of 1336 amino acids in its mature form. The glycosylated form of KDR migrates on an SDS-PAGE gel with an apparent molecular weight of about 205 kDa. KDR contains seven immunoglobulin-like domains in its extracellular domain, of which the first three are the most important in VEGF binding (Cohen et al. 1999, supra). VEGF itself is a homodimer capable of binding to two KDR molecules simultaneously. The result is that two KDR molecules become dimerized upon binding and autophosphorylate, becoming much more active. The increased kinase activity in turn initiates a signaling pathway that mediates the KDR-specific biological effects of VEGF.
Thus, not only is the VEGF binding activity of KDR in vivo critical to angiogenesis, but the ability to detect KDR upregulation on endothelial cells or to detect VEGF/KDR binding complexes would be extremely beneficial in detecting or monitoring angiogenesis. Diagnostic applications, such as detecting malignant tumor growth, and therapeutic applications, such as targeting tumoricidal agents or angiogenesis inhibitors to the tumor site, would be particularly beneficial.
Hepatocyte growth factor (also known as scatter factor) is a multi-functional growth factor involved in various physiological processes such as embryogenesis, wound healing and angiogenesis. It has become apparent that HGF, through interactions with its high affinity receptor (cMet), is involved in tumor growth, invasion and metastasis. In fact, dysregulated cMet expression (for example, the overexpression of cMet in neoplastic epithelium of colorectal adenomas and in other carcinomas as compared to normal mucosa) and/or activity, as well as hyperactivity of the cMet receptor through an autocrine stimulatory loop with HGF, has been demonstrated in a variety of tumor tissues and induces oncogenic transformation of specific cell lines.
In general, HGF is produced by the stromal cells, which form part of many epithelial tumors; however, it is believed that the production of HGF by tumor cells themselves comprises the main pathway leading to the hyperproliferation of specific tumors. HGF/cMet autocrine stimulatory loops have been detected in gliomas, osteosarcomas, and mammary, prostate, breast, lung and other carcinomas.
Interrupting the HGF interaction with the cMet receptor slows tumor progression in animal models. In addition to stimulating proliferation of certain cancer cells through activation of cMet, HGF also protects against DNA-damaging agent-induced cytotoxicity in a variety of cell lines susceptible to hyperproliferative phenotypes (e.g., breast cancer). Therefore, preventing HGF from binding to cMet could predispose certain cancer cells to the cytotoxicity of certain drugs.
In addition to hyperproliferative disorders, cMet also has been linked to angiogenesis. For example, stimulation of cMet leads to the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which, in turn, stimulates angiogenesis. Additionally, stimulation of cMet also has been implicated in promoting wound healing.
In addition to identifying the cMet receptor as a therapeutic target for hyperproliferative disorders, angiogenesis and wound healing, the large discrepancy between expression levels of neoplastic and corresponding normal tissues indicates that cMet is an attractive target for imaging applications directed to hyperproliferative disorders.

Multivalent constructs for therapeutic and diagnostic applications


A process and resulting product is provided in which a solid particulate, such as vulcanized crumb rubber, has the surface functional groups oxidized by ozonation using a nonpolar solvent. The ozonation process renders the treated crumb rubber more suitable for use in new rubber formulations. As a result, larger loading levels of the treated crumb rubber can be used in new rubber mixtures.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to the surface treatment of solids and more particularly to the recycle of rubber products and still more particularly to the use of recycled crumb rubber.
2. Discussion of Background
Existing efforts to recycle used rubber, in particular used tires, into new rubber articles, especially tires, have met with only limited commercial success. In the United States alone, there are currently billions of tires stock-piled in long term storage with additional millions being added annually to such stock piles. Because of the large volume involved with tires, this discussion will be directed to tires although much of these comments are applicable to other new and used rubber products. Those skilled in the art will know when the comments are appropriate to other new or used rubber products. Also, because used rubber is usually processed in the form of crumb rubber, references herein will be to rubber in that form. A major limitation in the recycling of used tire material is that the used tire rubber can not be readily mixed in economical proportions to form suitable new tire polymer mixes.
During the vulcanization process of new tires, accelerators, promoters, and/or initiators, are used which result in the formation of large numbers of sulfur crosslinks in the resulting vulcanized tire rubber. It is generally believed in the art that the sulfur compounds which are present in used tire rubber are highly reactive in the tire curing process such that when used tire material is mixed with new tire polymer, the used material is too reactive. Reformulation of used tire rubber with virgin materials results in a brittle compound unsuitable for many uses and among them are vehicle tires such as automobile or truck tires. Heretofore, efforts to reclaim scrap rubber have included a physical sheering process which is suitable for a rubber which can be mixed with asphalt, forming asphalt rubber. Such use is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,576.
It is also known to take used rubber and depolymerize the vulcanized rubber in an organic solvent and then recover various polymerized fractions as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,078. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,640 teaches taking scrap rubber from used tires and regenerating the monomeric chemicals which are subsequently recovered. This method uses gaseous ozone to break down the crosslinked structure of the rubber followed by thermal depolymerization in a reaction chamber. U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,215 teaches a similar process in which used tire material may be depolymerized under elevated temperatures and at a reduced pressure to recover the monomeric compounds.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,464 teaches a method to devulcanize rubber from commercial scrap rubber in which the vulcanized particles of used tires are reacted with an organic solvent to swell the rubber particles. Following swelling, the vulcanized particles are reacted with an aqueous solution of OH.sup.- ions. The ions disrupt polysulfide crosslinks which produces a rubber product better able to be recycled.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,186 to Myers et al., recites a process for devulcanizing a rubber crumb by introducing an alkali metal in the presence of a solvent to break polysulfide crosslinkages. The resulting devulcanization process is used to liberate rubber polymer
There remains a strong need for a practical, economical system for processing used rubber into a material which can be incorporated at a substantial loading level into new rubber compounding mixtures. There also remains a dire if not critical need for a practical, economical system for processing used tires into a material which can be incorporated at a substantial loading level into new tire compounding mixtures. Preferably, such a system could be operated under ambient conditions without the use of hazardous reactants or solvents.

Nonaqueous ozonation of vulcanized rubber


A nonvolatile memory cell operates without a time delay in an external power mode using an external power source. A power detector includes high voltage generators for generating voltages to a target level in response to a high voltage enable signal. A high voltage level detector detects attainment of the generated voltages to their respective target levels in response to an internal power mode signal generated in an internal power mode, and outputs a first detection signal. An external power mode detector outputs a second detection signal for an operation of the nonvolatile memory cell in response to an external power mode signal generated in an external power mode, and outputs the second detection signal in response to the first detection signal in the internal power mode.

1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to a nonvolatile memory device, and more particularly, to a power detector for use in a flash memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor memory device is generally classified into either a volatile memory for which stored information expires by a power failure, or a nonvolatile memory in which the stored information is preserved even with a power failure. The nonvolatile memory may further be classified into an EPROM(Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), an EEPROM(Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) or a flash memory. The flash memory has advantages over the EPROM and the EEPROM, while employing the drive principle of the EPROM when programming data, and employing the drive principle of the EEPROM when erasing the data. In the flash memory the size of the chip is relatively small compared with the EEPROM, thus the flash memory is more usable for high-integration and high capacity, and has an advantage of instantly updating information in a system, etc.
The flash memory requires a relatively high voltage in comparison to the power source used for programming and erasing data. For example, in the programming operation a high voltage of about 10V, or about 5V to 6V, is required, and in the erasing operation a high voltage of about 6V is required. Thus, the flash memory device requires a high voltage generating circuit for generating voltages high in comparison with a power source of about 3V. The high voltage generating circuit for generating high voltage is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,420.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an external power apparatus for use in a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device that is provided with a high-voltage generating circuit according to the conventional art. FIG. 2 is a timing diagram for the operation of a power detecting apparatus in an internal power mode according to the conventional art. FIG. 3 is a timing diagram for the operation of a power detecting apparatus in an external power mode according to the conventional art.
The configuration and operation of the power detecting apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 according to the conventional art.
Referring to FIG. 1, the power detecting apparatus includes high voltage generators 106a, 106b, 106c, a high voltage level detector 110 and a pulse generator 112. In order to describe the operation of the power detecting apparatus, a command register 102 and a program controller 104 are also shown in FIG. 1.
In the programming operation of the nonvolatile memory device, a program operation in response to command codes causes the command register 102 to generate a program enable signal PGM. The program controller 104 then generates a high voltage enable signal VPP_en, and the high voltage generators 106a, 106b, 106c respond by individually generating voltages VPP1, VPP2, VPP3, respectively, each having a target level. In response to either an internal power mode signal Mint or an external power mode signal Mext, the high voltage level detector 110 outputs a detection signal VPP_OK for the program operation when the voltages VPP1, VPP2, and VPP3 reach their respective target levels. Also, if any one of the voltages VPP1, VPP2, or VPP3 does not reach their respective target level within a predetermined time, t1, the high voltage level detector 110 outputs the detection signal VPP_OK at the end of the predetermined time. Finally, the pulse generator 112 generates a pulse signal HV_OK when the detection signal VPP_OK is enabled.
Referring to FIG. 2, a timing diagram for the case of the internal power mode, when the voltages (1: VPP1, VPP2, VPP3) generated in the high voltage generators reach their respective target levels, the high voltage level detector 110 outputs the detection signal VPP_OK. But when any one of the voltages (2: VPP1, VPP2, VPP3) does not reach their respective target level within a predetermined time, t1, the high voltage level detector 110 also outputs the detection signal VPP_OK, but only after a lapse of the predetermined time.
Referring to FIG. 3, for the case of the external power mode, similar to the case of the internal power mode, when the voltages (3: VPP1, VPP2, VPP3) reach their respective target levels, the high voltage level detector 110 outputs the detection signal VPP_OK. But when any one of the voltages (4: VPP1, VPP2, VPP3) does not reach their respective target level within a predetermined time, t1, the high voltage level detector 110 also outputs the detection signal VPP_OK, but only after a lapse of the predetermined time.
According to the conventional art, as in the case of the internal power mode, a high voltage level detection is also performed in the external power mode. Thus if any one of voltages generated in the high voltage generators does not reach a target level, the high voltage level detector outputs a detection signal for a program operation only after a lapse of a predetermined time. This results in unnecessary time and power loss in the external power mode using an external power source.

Power detector for use in a nonvolatile memory device and method thereof


Propylene polymer compositions comprising:                A) from 70 wt % to 95 wt %, of a random copolymer of propylene with ethylene, containing from 1.5 wt % to 4.5 wt %, of ethylene derived units, having a content of fraction insoluble in xylene at 25° C. of not less than 93%;        B) from 5 wt % to 35 wt %, of a copolymer of propylene with ethylene, containing from 7.0 wt % to 17.0 wt % of ethylene derived units;the sum A+B being 100;        wherein the melt flow rate, MFR. (Melt Flow Rate according to ASTM 1238, condition L, i.e. 230° C. and 2.16 kg load) ranges from 40 g/10 min and 130 g/10 min; and        wherein the relation (I) is fulfilled:10<XS*C2A−MFR/C2B<30  (I)        wherein XS is the wt % of xylene soluble content at 25° C. of the total composition;        C2A is the wt % of ethylene derived units content of component A;        MFR is the melt flow rate of the total composition;        C2B is the wt % of ethylene derived units content of component B.

As is known, the isotactic polypropylene is endowed with an exceptional combination of excellent properties which render it suitable for a very great number of uses.
In order to improve the properties of the isotactic polypropylene the crystallinity of the propylene homopolymer is decreased by copolymerization of the propylene with small quantities of ethylene and/or α-olefins such as 1-butene, 1-pentene and 1-hexene. In this manner one obtains the so called random crystalline propylene copolymers which, when compared to the homopolymer, are essentially characterized by better flexibility and transparency.
Propylene random copolymers, however, although they have good transparency, do not offer, especially at low temperatures, sufficiently better impact resistance than the homopolymer which can be satisfactory used for the applications listed above.
It has been known for a long time that the impact resistance of polypropylene can be improved by adding an adequate quantity of elastomeric propylene-ethylene copolymer to the homopolymers by mechanical blending or sequential polymerization. However, this improvement is obtained at the expenses of the transparency of the material.
To avoid this inconvenient, U.S. Pat. No. 4,634,740 suggests the blending of the polypropylene, in the molten state, with propylene-ethylene copolymers obtained with specific catalysts, and having an ethylene content ranging from 70 to 85% by weight. However, said compositions present transparency values (Haze) substantially comparable to those of the propylene homopolymer. Said patent, therefore, does not teach how to obtain compositions having good transparency.
EP-A-0557953, describes polyolefin compositions where one obtains a good balance of transparency, stiffness, and impact resistance even at low temperatures, by modifying a crystalline random copolymer of propylene with the proper quantities of a mechanical mixture comprising an elastomeric copolymer and one or more polymers chosen from LLDPE, LDPE and HDPE.
WO 01/92406 describes a propylene polymer composition comprising (percent by weight):                A) from 70 to 90%, of a random copolymer of propylene with ethylene, containing from 1 to 6%, of ethylene, having a content of fraction insoluble in xylene at room temperature of not less than 93;        B) from 10% to 30%, of a copolymer of propylene with ethylene, containing from 8 to 18%, of ethylene;wherein the ratio (B)/C2B of the percent by weight of (B), with respect to the total weight of (A) and (B), to the percent by weight of ethylene in (B), with respect to the total weight of (B), represented in the above formula by C2B, is 2.5 or lower. The MFR L ranges from 0.5 to 50 g/10 min. This composition shows a good transparency but quite low values of flexural modulus.


In the chroma killer detection for detecting the abnormality of the burst signal, in addition to the circuits (1004, 1005, 1006) for detecting the states of the components of the burst signal, which circuits are for selecting the cos θ data of the burst signal, circuits (1050, 1051, 1052) for detecting the states of the R-Y components, which circuits are for selecting sin θ data are employed for chroma killer detection. Thereby, it is possible to enhance the detection precision of the abnormality states of the burst signal and the precision for discrimination of the broadcasting system.

In recent years, digitization of the receiving device of analog television broadcasting is progressing from progress of semiconductor technology, and it is important in particular to realize a receiving device that is common through broadcasting systems (NTSC, PAL, SECAM). In this situation, a chroma killer circuit is an important circuit in order to detect the phase state of the burst signal in the television video image signal and specify the signal state which is now under reception as well as the broadcasting system.
Hereinafter, the construction and the operation of the entire video image reproduction device and the prior art chroma killer detection circuit will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 9 is a construction diagram illustrating the entirety of the video image reproduction device. A video image reproduction device 4001 includes a video image signal input terminal 4002, an AD converter 4003, a YC separation circuit 4004, a reference clock generator circuit 4005, a chroma killer detection circuit 4006, a color signal demodulation circuit 4007, a chroma killer control circuit 4008, a luminous signal output terminal 4009, a R-Y signal output terminal 4010, and a B-Y signal output terminal 4011.
The video image signal 4102 which is inputted to the video image signal input terminal 4002 is inputted to the AD converter 4003. The AD converter 4003 is operated with a reference clock 4101 which is outputted from the reference clock generator circuit 4005 to convert the video image input signal 4102 to a digital signal. The digitally converted signal is inputted to the YC separation circuit 4004. The YC separation circuit 4004 is operated with the reference clock 4101 to output a luminous signal component 4103 and a color signal component 4104 which are included in the video image signal 4102. The luminous signal 4103 is outputted to outside the block via the luminous signal output terminal 4009.
The reference clock generator circuit 4005 generates a reference clock, i.e., a burst clock which is synchronized with the burst signal portion of the video image signal 4102. Herein, it is supposed that the clock frequency of the reference clock 4101 is supposed as four times of the burst signal.
Hereinafter, the construction and operation of the reference clock generator circuit 4005 will be described in detail.
The reference clock generator circuit 4005 includes a burst detection circuit 4021, the phase comparator 4022, an accumulation adder 4023, a lamp wave generator circuit 4024, a sinusoidal wave generator circuit 4025, a DA converter 4026, an LPF 4027, a four times frequency multiplier circuit 4028, and a four times frequency divider circuit 4029.
The color signal component 4104 is inputted to the phase comparator 4022 and the burst detection circuit 4021. The burst detection circuit 4021 detects the burst signal included in the color signal component 4104, and outputs a burst gate pulse 4120 which is being ON during the burst signal period, thereby indicating the presence of the burst signal. The burst gate signal 4120 is inputted to the phase comparison circuit 4022, the chroma killer detection circuit 4006, and the color signal demodulation circuit 4007. The four times frequency division circuit 4029 carries out a four times frequency division of the reference clock 4101 which is synchronized with the frequency of four times as the frequency of the burst signal, and inputs the signal having the frequency that is equal to that of the burst signal into the phase comparator 4022. The phase comparator 4022 carries out a phase comparison on the color signal component 4104 and the signal which is generated by the four times frequency division circuit 4029. The phase comparison is carried out during the period during which the burst gate pulse 4120 is ON, i.e., during the period during when the burst signal is present, and the result is inputted to the accumulation adder 4023 as a phase error information for a burst lock. The accumulation adder 4023 carries out accumulation addition for the phase error information, and the result is inputted to the lamp wave generator circuit 4024. The lamp wave generator circuit 4024 generates a lamp wave having an inclination of the lamp wave that is equal to the output of the accumulation adder 4023. The SIN wave generator circuit 4025 builds in therein a SIN wave ROM having N pieces of addresses, and when it is assumed that the output of the lamp wave generator circuit 4024 is "X" and the SIN wave output is "Y", Y=sin(X/N) is satisfied.
Herein, the accumulation adder 4023 has an offset for its center value, and when it is in a burst lock, the phase error information is zero, and therefore, the accumulation addition result does not reflect it and the center value is outputted. In other words, the center value is selected so that the SIN wave which is synchronized with the burst value is generated from the SIN wave generator circuit 4025. While the burst signal frequency is assigned to any of the 4.43 MHz, or 3.58 MHz dependent on the broadcasting system, it takes any of appropriate center values dependent on the received broadcasting. On the other hand, when the phase error is not zero, in order to acquire burst lock, the accumulation adder 4023 varies its center value, and controls the inclination of the lamp wave. Thereby, it is possible to always acquire the burst lock.
Then, the output of the SIN wave generator circuit 4025 is converter into an analog signal by the DA converter 4026, discrete noise components therein are removed by the LPF 4027, and the result signal is outputted with taking clocks which are obtained by the four times multiplier circuit 4028 being synchronized with the four times frequency of the burst signal as reference clock signals 4101 to external circuits.
The color signal components 4104, the reference clock 4101, and the bust gate pulse 4120 are inputted to the color signal reproduction circuit 4007. The color signal demodulation circuit 4007 is operated with the period of the reference clock 14101, and carries out phase demodulation with employing the phases of the burst signal portions which are detected with the burst gate pulse 4120 as references and the results are inputted to the chroma killer control circuit as R-Y signal and B-Y signal, respectively.
The chroma killer detection circuit 4006 detects the abnormality state of the burst signal (i.e., carries out chroma killer detection) on the basis of the color signal components 4104, the reference clocks 4101, and the burst gate pulse 4120, and outputs the result as the chroma killer signal 4140.
The chroma killer control circuit 4008 has a construction so as to halt the output of the demodulation output from the color signal demodulation circuit 4007 when it detects the chroma killer from the chroma killer detection circuit 4006, and the results are outputted from the R-Y signal output terminal 4010 as the R-Y signal 4150 and from the B-Y signal output terminal 4011 as the B-Y signal 4051, respectively.
Next, the construction and operation of the chroma killer detection circuit 4006 will be described with reference to FIG. 5.
The chroma detection circuit 4006 includes a first flip flop 5001, a second flip flop 5002, a third flip flop 5003, a burst cos θ data selection circuit 5004, a threshold setting circuit 5005, a comparator 5006, an up down counter 5007, an OR circuit 5008, a counter upper limit detection circuit 5009, and a counter lower limit detection circuit 5010.
The color signal components 4104 are inputted to the first flip flop 5001 ad the burst cos θdata selection circuit 5004. The output of the first flip flop 5001 is inputted to the second flip flop 5003 and the burst cos θdata selection circuit 5004. The output of the second flip flop 5002 is inputted to the third flip flop 5003 and the burst cos θ data selection circuit 5004. The first flip flop 5001, the second flip flop 5002, and the third flip flop 5003 are operated with reference clocks 4101, respectively.
Here, the color signal components 4104 will be described in detail. In the NTSC, PAL systems, the color signal components 4104 include color signals which are phase modulated, and they are represented by formulae with supposing the carries are sinusoidal waves, as follows:R sin(ωT+θ)
Here, R denotes amplitude, ω denotes an angular velocity, and fsc denotes a carrier frequency which is about 3.58 MHz in the case of NTSC system. θ denotes a color component information that is phase modulated, and in the burst signal portion thereof serving as a reference for the color component information, it is phase modulated such that θ is 180° in the case of NTSC system. T denotes a sampling period and the chroma killer detection circuit 4006 is operated with the reference clock 4101, i.e., clocks which are synchronized with the four times frequency of the burst signal. Accordingly, when it is supposed as t=(¼fsc), the T takes values such as {0, 1t, 2t, 3t, . . . }. With it is supposed that the above-described signal components are inputted, the input of the first flip flop 5001 becomes as follows, when T=0 is assumed,input of first flip flop 5001 is R sin(θ) (when T=0)  (1),and similarly,input of second flip flop 5002 is R cos(θ) (when T=t)  (2),input of third flip flop 5003 is −R sin(θ) (when T=2t)  (3),output of third flip flop 5003 is −R cos(θ) (when T=3t)  (4),and
the respective carrier frequency components of the respective formulae (1) to (4) are removed, thereby remaining only θ components. Herein, the examples of the above-described formulae (1) to (4) are not limited thereto, but the result of the order of R sin(θ), R cos (θ), −R sin(θ), −R cos(θ) is surely obtained.
For example, since θ in the burst signal portion is 180°, the followings are obtained in the example of the above (1) to (4):R sin(180)=0  (1)′R cos(180)=−R  (2)′−R sin(180)=0  (3)′−R cos(180)=R  (4)′
When the information θ is replaced into vector diagrams which are based on the R-Y components and the B-Y components as shown in FIG. 6, the burst signals in the NTSC system become as 601. Herein, the color signal components 4104 are rotated with the period of the burst signal on the circle of radius R, and if they are burst locked, it is meant that the data sampling is carried out at the timings of 602, 603, 604, and 605 as shown in FIG. 6. Further, in the examples of above (1) to (4), the sampled data at the timing of 602 is R sin(θ) which is an input to the first flip flop 5001, the sampled data at the timing of 603 is R cos(θ) which is an input to the second flip flop 5002, the sampled data at the timing of 604 is −R sin(θ) which is an input to the third flip flop 5003, and the sampled data at the timing of 605 is −R cos(θ) which is an output from the third flip flop 5003.
The burst cos θ data selection circuit 5004 outputs the burst signal information which is required for the detection of the chroma killer signal. The burst signal has only the value of B-Y signal components as represented by the vector 601, and becomes as (2)′. Therefore, the data of (2)′ which is sampled at the timing of 603 among the above (1)′ to (4)′ is selected, and it is used for the chroma killer detection which is performed then.
Now, since in the usual signal state both of amplitude and phase are stable, the data "−R" is continued to be sampled at the timing of 603. On the other hand, when the input is carried put in abnormality states such as weak electric field environment, VTR input, or a different broadcasting system input, it is not possible to sample the input data "−R". The comparator 5006 selects whether the sampled data is in the normal state or in the abnormal state, and its result is inputted to the up down counter 5007.
FIG. 7 illustrates a method of selecting sampled data. Numeral 701 denotes the output of the threshold setting circuit which takes an arbitrary value on the B-Y components. The comparator 5006, which takes the value 701 as the threshold value of the B-Y components, judges it is in the normal state when there is a vector in the region 702 in the vector diagram and makes an UP signal inputted to the up down counter 5007, while judges it is in the abnormal state when there is a vector in the region of 703 and makes a DOWN signal inputted to the up down counter 5007. The up down counter 5007 counts the comparison result of the comparator 5006 and makes the counted result to the counter upper limit detection circuit 5009 and the counter lower limit detection circuit 5010. The counter upper limit detection circuit 5009 makes, when the counted result of the up down counter 5007 has reached the upper limit value, a signal indicating that fact inputted to the OR circuit 5008. The counter lower limit detection circuit 5010 makes, when the counted result of the up down counter 5007 has reached the lower limit value, a signal indicating that fact inputted to the OR circuit 5008, and further, outputs this signal as a chroma killer signal 4140 to the outside. The OR circuit 5008 carries out such a control that the up down counter 5007 is held.
The conditions on which the up down counter 5007 is held are satisfied during when the counter upper limit detection circuit 5009 has detected the upper limit value, when the counter lower limit detection circuit 5010 has detected the lower limit value, or when the input signal is not in the burst portion. Until when the counter lower limit detection circuit 5010 detects the lower limit value while the comparison result of the comparator 5006 being counted by the up down counter 5007, the DOWN signal is inputted as abnormal state to the up down counter 5007, and when the abnormality state of the burst signal is continued to be detected, the chroma killer detection is turned ON.
Patent document 1: Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2001-265591


The present invention provides compositions, methods, apparatus, and systems to minimize environmental impact, water use, and overall cost of drilling and hydraulic fracturing for crude oil and natural gas. Some variations of the invention provide a fracturing-fluid additive composition comprising a water-soluble portion of a biomass-pyrolysis liquid. In some embodiments, the fracturing-fluid additive composition is substantially biodegradable and is not toxic. Some variations provide improved proppants for oil or gas well fracturing. Other variations of this invention relate to drilling-fluid additive compositions, and methods of using these compositions. This invention can significantly improve the environmental, economic, and social sustainability associated with drilling and fracturing for production of oil and gas.

Oil and natural gas are common fossil-based resources used for the production of transportation fuels, heat and power, materials, chemicals, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, polymers, fibers and other products. Since the first oil well drilled in 1859 and the introduction of the internal combustion engine, the United States has been a major producer and consumer of fossil resources (Drake Well Museum, 2012).
In 2010, the US produced over 2 billion barrels of oil and 26.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas worth over $180 and $110 billion, respectively. A significant amount of this production can be attributed to advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Previously unrecoverable deposits have been freed up ensuring access to decades of domestic natural gas and oil. In fact, without hydraulic fracturing, 17% of oil and 45% of natural gas production would be lost within five years (IHS Global Insight, 2009).
Oil and natural gas deposits are located all across the United States and the World. It is estimated that the total amount of technically recoverable natural gas resources worldwide is 22,600 trillion cubic feet of which shale gas is 6,622 trillion cubic feet or nearly 30% (U.S. Department of Energy and Energy Information Administration, 2011). Wells are drilled hundreds of meters deep in order to gain access to the resources. Once drilled, new wells or old unproductive wells are hydraulically fractured to stimulate production.
Drilling fluids or muds are used during the initial well bore to cool the bit, lubricate the drill string, suspend and transport cuttings, control hydrostatic pressure and maintain stability. Drilling fluids are typically water- or oil-based but can be pneumatic. Water or oil is the main ingredient in liquid drilling fluids. Barite, clay, polymers, thinners, surfactants, inorganic chemicals, bridging materials, lost circulation materials and specialized chemicals are also added to engineer drilling fluid properties. Drilling fluids make up between 5-15% of drilling costs (Ben Bloys, 1994).
Hydraulic fracturing was developed in the 1940's to increase productivity of oil and gas wells. Hydraulic fracturing creates and maintains cracks within oil and gas formations providing a clear path for oil and gas to flow. Fracturing can be performed in vertical and horizontal wells. During a fracturing operation, perforations are made through cement casing into the oil and gas formation using explosive charges. Fracturing fluids are injected into the well at high pressures to create new cracks while further expanding and elongating the cracks formed by the explosives (American Petroleum Institute, 2010).
Fracturing fluids are composed primarily of water (87-94%) and proppant such as sand (4-9%). Sand mixed with the fracturing fluids is used to prop open formation cracks and maintain a clear path for oil and natural gas. The remaining fracturing fluid (0.5-3%) is composed of chemicals that aid the fracturing process. Chemical additives are mixed into the drilling fluid depending on the well and formation properties. Chemicals are used to dissolve minerals, reduce friction, prevent scaling, maintain fluid properties (viscosity, pH, etc.), eliminate bacteria (biocide), suspend the sand, prevent precipitation of metal oxides, prevent corrosion, stabilize fluid, formation and wellbore, thicken fluid (gelling agent) and breakdown the gel (breaker) (American Petroleum Institute, 2010).
Hydraulic fracturing fluid is made in a step-wise procedure and carefully engineered to accomplish the fracking process. In its most basic form, a gelling agent such as gaur gum is first added to water and hydrated. Next a breaker (oxidant or enzyme) is added which will break the gel bonds after being pumped into the well. A crosslinking agent such as borate is then added to the solution which immediately forms a viscous, gelled solution. The purpose of the gel is to suspend the proppant while being pumped into the well where it is wedged into formation fractures propping them apart.
Eventually the fracturing fluid must be removed from the well leaving the proppant in the fractures to maintain open channels for oil or gas to flow through. In order to pump the fracturing fluid out of the well and leave the proppant behind the viscous gel must be broken down to a viscosity less than 100 cP. Since the fracturing fluid is pumped into the well in stages, precise amounts of breaker are mixed with the fracturing fluid to break the entire gel solution simultaneously. Once the entire gel is broken the fracturing fluid is pumped back to the surface where it is stored in retention ponds or hauled away from the well for treatment and disposal.
One of the challenges associated with drilling and hydraulic fracturing is in using oil-based fluids. Oil-based fluids are subject to environmental scrutiny and are costly since they may include substantial quantities of refined petrochemicals or fuels, such as diesel fuel.
Another challenge associated with drilling and hydraulic fracturing is reducing the amount of water used in the process. Depending on how deep the well is, millions of gallons of water may be used during both drilling and hydraulic fracturing (Ground Water Protection Council and ALL Consulting, 2009). Recovered fluid is stored in open retention ponds where it is left to settle and evaporate or trucked out to be treated. In some cases, fluid is lost underground.
Another challenge associated with drilling and hydraulic fracturing arises from the retention ponds themselves. Retention ponds contain the recovered fluid, chemicals and cuttings from the well. Retention ponds may be a source of ground water contamination if the containment area gives way or the liner is pierced. Retention ponds also pose risks to wildlife if exposed to chemicals. Furthermore, if wells are planned in environmentally sensitive areas, retention ponds may not be permitted. In this case cuttings and recovered fluids and chemicals must be transported from site for treatment.
A criticism with drilling and hydraulic fracturing relates to the types of chemicals used during the process and the hazards they may pose. Though usually less than a couple percent of the entire fluid, common chemical additives include hydrochloric acid, formic acid, citric acid, boric acid, acetic acid, lauryl sulfate, polyacrylamide, ethylene glycol, borate salts, potassium carbonate, potassium chloride, glutaraldehyde, guar gum, isopropanol, petroleum distillates, sodium chloride, methanol and 2-butoxyethanol.
Another criticism associated with drilling and hydraulic fracturing is that groundwater contamination may occur in underground aquifers. During drilling and hydraulic fracturing, cement and steel casing is placed in the wellbore as a boundary between aquifers and the production material. Nonetheless, many have complained about chemicals found in drinking water and blame drilling and hydraulic fracturing. The Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies are investigating if and how drilling and hydraulic fracturing are linked with ground water contamination (Environmental Protection Agency, 2009).
Another criticism associated with hydraulic fracturing is ground water contaminated with natural gas. Landowners cite detectible amounts of thermogenic methane in drinking water that contribute to poor health of livestock and humans (Stephan G. Osborn, 2011).
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,566 (Nov. 26, 1991) a subterranean formation fracturing method is disclosed where a hydratable polymer, crosslinking agent and breaker are combined to form a fracturing fluid. A pH regulating substance is added to the fluid which slowly hydrolyzes forming an acid so that the breaker is activated and can control the breaking point of the polymer gel. The patent notes that one of the challenges with breakers is that they are difficult to control such that the entire gel is broken simultaneously. Oxidant breakers are ineffective at temperatures below 55° C. without added coreactants and, although enzyme breakers can be used at lower temperatures, they are sensitive to pH. The invention seeks to improve upon these breakers, however it requires an additional pH regulating substance for enzymatic breakers to be effective.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,886 (Apr. 29, 1997) a subterranean formation fracturing method is disclosed where a hydratable polymer, crosslinking agent and breaker are combined to form a fracturing fluid. The breaker is made of an insoluble oxidant and formed as a pellet. However, the insoluble breaker is not evenly mixed with the fracturing fluid which may prevent even breaking throughout the fluid. Furthermore, a solid, insoluble, pelletized breaker is costly to manufacture and difficult to incorporate into liquid fracturing fluids.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,231,976 (Jun. 19, 2007) a method of treating a well with a biodegradable fluid consisting of a lactic acid ester and a fatty acid ester is disclosed. The biodegradable fluid may be emulsified with alcohol and water using emulsifiers and used to remove pipe dope, hydrocarbons and drilling muds. Furthermore, the biodegradable fluid may act as a breaker catalyst to decrease the viscosity of fracturing fluids or replace synthetic and oil based drilling muds. However, forming an emulsion adds increased complexity and cost to a drilling and fracturing operation.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,632 (Oct. 21, 1997) a method of acidizing an underground reservoir by injecting a substrate and enzyme which converts the substrate into an organic acid is disclosed. However, it is noted that the enzyme may be inactive under certain temperatures, pressures and environments and fail to treat the reservoir.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,715 (Jun. 17, 1997) an environmentally non-toxic drilling fluid is disclosed. The drilling fluid is made in part from a surfactant that imparts anti-bit balling, lubricity, salt tolerance and non-toxic properties. However, the non-toxic surfactant is only an additive to the drilling fluid which may include other toxic compounds.
What are needed in the art are methods or products that minimize environmental impact, scrutiny, water-use and costs of drilling, treating and hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas. Furthermore, products that are environmentally benign, have reduced toxicity and do not contaminate drinking water are needed. A preferred fast pyrolysis process that converts biomass into renewable bio-oil fractions and carbon-rich biochar will reduce water use, hazardous chemicals and fluid cost while improving the environmental sustainability of drilling, treating and hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Compositions, methods, apparatus, and systems for incorporating bio-derived materials in drilling and hydraulic fracturing


A cache memory consists of plurality of memory bits within a random-access memory (RAM) cell. An extra address decode circuit is needed to select a single memory bit within the multi-bit RAM cell before normal access of RAM array circuit. Combining of multiple bits into a RAM cell reduces the number of interconnections in comparison to single bit RAM cell. This technique eliminates the need to break up the cache array into multiple sets for reducing power dissipation. The area advantages are also from optimal layout of multi-bit RAM cell, address decoder, and sense amplifier unit. Furthermore, the interconnections can be widened to reduce the RC delay as it is a dominating factor in future technology advancement. The multiplexing of the bits are done before the row decoding thus reducing one level of multiplexing after reading of data from the sense amplifier units.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to random access memory arrays and more particularly to a high performance static multi-bit random access memory arrays.
2. Brief Description of the Related Technology
Random access memory (RAM) arrays are employed within a variety of digital systems to provide data storage. A static RAM stores bits in an array of flip-flops, whereas a dynamic RAM stores bits as charged capacitors. A bit once written in a static RAM stays there until rewritten, unless the power is turned off. In a dynamic RAM, the data will disappear due to discharge, unless "refresh".
A typical static RAM circuit includes an array of RAM cells in a predetermined arrangement of columns and rows. Upon each cycle a row is enabled to allow the reading of a selected cell through a differential sense amplifier. RAM arrays have been used extensively as cache in high performance microprocessors. Caches are small and fast memories that are either included on the same monolithic chip with the microprocessor core, or are coupled nearby. With advancement in technology, the cache size increases 50 to 100 folds over the last 10 years. RAM arrays take a large area and become major contributor to power dissipation.
To reduce the power dissipation, the cache array is divided into sets with a single set enabled per access. A subset of index bits from the requested address is used to select and enabled only a single set. Each set of the cache array has its own address decoders, input buffers, sense amplifiers, and routing buses. This organization of cache array trades area for power dissipation. Furthermore, the routing of the buses from multiple sets of cache array introduces extra delay in cache access time.
In addition, the transistor's size and delay scales better with technology in comparison to interconnect, metal routing. The shrinking geometry of transistor's size makes it difficult to efficiently lay out the random-access memory (RAM) cell and associated address decoder cell and sense amplifier without violating design rules. In term of interconnect, each RAM cell required a total of five metal lines; one row line, two bit lines, and two power lines. Only the power lines can be shared with the neighbor cells. The RAM cells is dominated by interconnects and the speed is limited by the resistance-capacitance delay of the interconnects.


A method and apparatus for switching data in communication system which comprises of mainly a conversion circuit to receive source data possessing real coding dimension and covert it to converted data possessing tolerable coding dimension; judgment bit is set in the converted data to designate the data as source data or not. Later on, shift circuit is used to shift the converted data in certain amount so as to generate a shifted data; meanwhile, the lowest bit and highest bit of shifted data are used to start acquiring real coding dimension to be used respectively as a first data and a second data, or by changing the pattern of acquiring the first data, then the highest bit minus the real coding dimension bit as the starting bit of the first data, and acquiring the real coding dimension from the side of the lowest bit. Finally, a comparison and selection circuit is used to compare the corresponding judgment bit in the first and the second data and to output an output data, wherein output data is source data with the above-mentioned amount of shift.

In a communication system, data switching apparatus is needed to convert a source data transmitted from the previous circuit into an output data to be used by subsequent circuit for data processing. Data switching apparatus is just like a translation system between previous circuit and the subsequent circuit, the previous circuit needs a data-switching apparatus to convert source data into output data that can be controlled by the subsequent circuit before data processing can be performed by the subsequent circuit. Therefore, it is indispensable no matter in the transmitter or the receiver of communication system. Here, the output data is generated by shifting the source data. Note that, the communication specification it supports has to be decided and needs to match the above-mentioned previous circuit processing and data transmission. For example, IEEE 802.16e Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), IEEE802.11n, Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), 4th generation mobile communication (4G) and Ultra-Wideband (UWB), etc. Therefore, all the source data received by data switching apparatus should match the coding dimension as specified by the communication specification.
In conventional data switching apparatus, since data shifting is needed to achieve the purpose of converting the source data transmitted from the previous circuit into output data; therefore, shifter circuit is needed to perform the operation of shifting data. Conventional shifter circuit is designed with data shifting data component, that is, multiple numbers of multiplexers are used to move the source data. Each multiplexer is connected to the data of two neighboring bit in source data and the last multiplexer is connected to the highest bit and the lowest bit of the source data; then through the by controlling the multiplexer, and complete the shifting operation of source data. However, the number of multiplexer is related to the coding dimension and each communication specification has multiple sizes of coding dimensions; moreover, all the coding dimension are different, take the WiMax) as an example, it has 19 sizes of coding dimensions for the LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) encoder and decoder, thus, the above-mentioned coding dimensions of source data are all different. Therefore, in conventional data switching apparatus, the shifter circuit design in dealing with fixed size of coding dimensions which the architecture includes one fixed size shifter circuit and perform only single coding dimension, that is, it is not allowed to use the same shifter circuit to shift source data according to multiple sizes of coding dimension.
Take WiMax as an example, if all the 19 sizes of coding dimensions specified by WiMax LDPC code are to be used in the communication production, data switching apparatus should be implemented using a circuit comprising of 19 different sizes shifters to process corresponding data for 19 sizes of coding dimensions respectively. The electronic circuit will occupy pretty large chip area and the complexity of hardware design will be relatively increased too. Furthermore, the manufacturing cost is relatively increased too.
Therefore, it is highly expected that a multi-size coding dimensions data switching apparatus for communication system that reduces circuit area and hardware complexity can be invented.

Method and apparatus for switching data in communication system


An improved rotor for a dynamoelectric machine which includes a rotor core of magnetizable material having a longitudinal axis and axially spaced core ends, winding end supports of electrically insulating material at the core ends, and a winding having a plurality of layers of continuously connected turns of wire and first and second exciter lead portions at electrically opposite ends of the winding. The first exciter lead portion includes a crossover section oriented generally transverse to the longitudinal axis and located at one of the core ends. The winding is oriented generally parallel to the longitudinal axis and extends around the core, over the crossover section of the first exciter lead portion of the winding, and over both winding end supports, forming a plurality of end turns at the core ends and thereby maintaining the core and the winding end supports fixed relative to each other and constraining the crossover section of the first exciter lead portion between the end turns and the winding end support. A slot and a recessed area are incorporated into the winding end support, with the slot allowing the crossover section of the first exciter lead portion of the winding to be conveniently routed between the end turns and the winding end support, and the recessed area providing constraint for the end turns, thereby preventing deformation of the end turns due to centrifugal forces incident with rotation of the rotor.

The power density, reliability, and cost of a dynamoelectric machine are directly related to the physical size and complexity of the machine. Accordingly, manufacturers of dynamoelectric machines continually strive to reduce the complexity and physical size of their machines in an attempt to improve power density, provide enhanced reliability, and reduce cost.
Design improvements allowing reductions in the axial length and the complexity of rotors used in dynamoelectric machines are of particular interest in this regard. During operation, the rotor and associated support structures are subjected to high centrifugal forces and bending movements caused by rotation of the rotor and high internal magnetic fluxes incident with operation of the dynamoelectric machine. This is particularly true in dynamoelectric machines designed for use in aircraft which typically operate at high rotational speeds and utilize very high magnetic flux densities in order to achieve maximum performance with a machine of minimum size and weight.
As the axial length of the rotor is decreased, problems associated with critical speed and bending of the rotor are also diminished. This in turn allows reduction in the size of structural elements comprising the rotor and corresponding reduction in the size of structures supporting the rotor. It will be appreciated, therefore, that, as a result of reductions in the size of structural elements comprising and associated with the rotor, reduction in the axial length of the rotor will allow an overall reduction in the size of the dynamoelectric machine greater than would have been derived solely from the reduction in axial length of the rotor alone.
As complexity of the rotor is decreased, size and cost of the rotor also decrease. As a result, rotor designs comprised of a minimal number of simple parts are highly desirable.
Through the years, designers and manufacturers of dynamoelectric machines have devoted considerable effort toward advancing the state of the art in the design and manufacture of dynamoelectric machines in general, and more specifically toward reduction in the axial length and complexity of the rotors utilized in these machines. Typical of these past efforts are U.S. Pat. No. 3,292,025 to Victor; U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,515 to Long et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,223 to Glennon et al; U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,274 to Mosher.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,292,025 to Victor describes a rotor end winding having a special conductor configuration in an end turn region of a rotor in conjunction with a special coil-to-coil connector which allows a radial transition to be made between coils in the end turn region, thereby removing the necessity for an overlapping or extra conductor layer.
The Victor patent is directed to connections between coils in a rotor having a winding made up of multiple separate coils, whereas the present invention, to be described hereinafter, utilizes a rotor having a winding formed as a single continuous coil, and does not, therefore, require coil-to-coil connectors. In addition, the present invention addresses configuration and termination of the exciter lead portions of the winding, whereas Victor addresses only coil-to-coil connections and does not address the exciter lead portions of the windings.
And finally, Victor states that an object of his invention is to provide an arrangement "which does not employ extra turns or overlapping turns at the end of the rotor", thereby specifically teaching away from the present invention which is directed in part to defining a manner in which the exciter lead portion of the winding can be conveniently crossed underneath the winding at the core ends.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,515 to Long et al describes means for embedding end turns of field windings for a rotor in the rotor and restraining the field windings in the rotor by use of wedge means. The rotor of the present invention, to be described hereinafter, utilizes a construction radically different from Long, particularly with regard to placement and support of end turns and the method utilized to restrain the windings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,223 to Glennon et al, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes a unique construction for the end turns of stator windings in dynamoelectric machines and is directed to an improved stator end turn construction which provides capability for enhanced cooling and/or a reduction in axial length of the machine. The Glennon patent is directed specifically to stator end turns and does not address the rotor or end turns of windings in a rotor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,274 to Mosher, also assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes a structure for facilitating precision machine winding of a rotor for a high speed machine and a method of producing a rotor utilizing the structure as defined. Mosher utilizes an insulator having radially spaced rows of notches for guiding turns of a winding to predetermined locations in a precision wound rotor. Wedges are attached following winding to prevent distortion of the winding due to centrifugal forces incident with rotation of the rotor.
Mosher is of special interest because both Mosher and the present invention incorporate structures made from insulative material at each core end, these structures being specifically denoted as an "insulator", according to Mosher, and as the "winding end support" in the present invention. However, the configuration and functions performed by the winding end support of the present invention, described hereinafter, are significantly different from the configuration and function of the insulator of Mosher.
In light of the following description of the present invention, it will be readily appreciated that the present invention is clearly patentably distinct from, and constitutes significant improvement over, prior dynamoelectric machines.

Main field winding and connections for a dynamoelectric machine