A closed-loop system and process is used for applying fire retardant chemicals to fibers. Fibers are preferably positioned in a vessel such as a dye machine which circulates the fire retardant chemicals. After absorption of the fire retardant composition, non-absorbed fire retardant chemicals are recovered and re-used on subsequent batches of fibers. Recovery can be achieved by directing the non-absorbed fire retardant composition into a second dye machine containing additional fibers, or by extracting the fire retardant composition by centrifugation or other means, or by a combination of the two processes. The process is environmentally friendly, and allows for higher throughput on impregnating fibers with fire retardant chemicals.

Fires
Fires are produced as the result of three components: heat, fuel, and oxygen. Heat produces flammable gases as a result of the pyrolysis (thermal degradation) of polymer, resulting in the breakage of covalent bonds and the formation of a range of intermediate products. An adequate ratio between the flammable gases and oxygen results in the ignition of the polymer. The resulting combustion of the polymer leads to a production of heat that is spread out and fed back. This heat feedback sustains the combustion, resulting in flame spread.
Pyrolysis products that are initially produced as a result of a fire generally consist of a complex mixture of combustible and non-combustible gases, liquids (which may subsequently volatilize), solid carbonaceous chars and highly reactive species, such as free radicals (highly energetic hydrogen and/or hydroxy radicals that propagate the overall combustion process).
Fires occur frequently throughout the world, often causing severe injuries or fatalities to human beings and animals. Each year, over three million fires leading to approximately 29,000 injuries and 4,500 deaths are reported in the United States alone.
In October of 2003, the largest wildfire outbreak in California history caused fires to rage completely out of control for about two weeks in locations within California, including Los Angeles, resulting in a two billion dollar disaster that claimed approximately 3,335 homes and 20 lives. Thousands of California residents were forced to evacuate their homes and relocate to shelters.
Real property (houses, commercial buildings, warehouses, barns and similar structures) and personal property (furniture, electronic devices, appliances, clothing, jewelry, pieces of art, livestock, crops and the like) that are damaged or destroyed by fires can be prohibitively expensive to repair or replace. Certain pieces of personal property, such as photographs, videotapes and pieces of jewelry, are often priceless and irreplaceable. The total annual costs resulting from property losses caused by fires in the United States has been estimated to be over one hundred billion dollars. Personal property losses occur primarily in residences, where furniture, wallcoverings and clothing fuel the fire. Large financial losses may also be incurred when commercial structures, such as office buildings and warehouses, burn. Fires can also produce significant financial losses when they occur in airplanes, trains, ships, buses and other motorized vehicles, where passengers and freight are generally confined, and have a limited means for egress.
Fires frequently cause buildings to collapse, thereby exposing occupants to a risk of severe injury or death from collapsed building materials and falling debris. Although both of the 110-story twin towers of the New York World Trade Center had survived powerful hurricane gusts, and one of them had also survived a bomb explosion in 1993 (creating a 22-foot wide, 5-story deep crater at its base), both of the twin towers collapsed after fires occurred in the buildings following the crash of airplanes into their sides on Sep. 11, 2001. Experts subsequently concluded that structural damage to the towers was caused predominantly by fires, and that this damage was apparently severe enough to overburden the lower sections of the buildings, causing them each to collapse. Thousands of people that had been in the twin towers on Sep. 11, 2001 lost their lives, or were severely injured, as a result of smoke inhalation, falling debris, burning or jumping from windows.
Smoke contains toxic gases, such as carbon monoxide. It is widely acknowledged that carbon monoxide, which incapacitates fire victims, is the most frequent cause of death in building-related fires. The remainder of the deaths in these fires are generally caused by burns and falling building structures.
Fires frequently spread rapidly across products that are present in buildings, such as draperies, rugs, carpeting, upholstery, furniture and other window, wall, floor and ceiling coverings, and produce dense, and often deadly, smoke. Growing concern over the problem of reducing the likelihood of substrates, such as foam in furniture and mattresses, from igniting has prompted the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission to draft proposals that would require these articles not to burn when contacted with an open flame.
Methods for enhancing the flame retardance of consumer goods have been developed to provide protection from fires, and to increase the available escape time from fires.
Flame Retardants
In most cases, organic materials that do not have any flame retardant properties decompose to volatile combustible products when they are exposed to heat and, thus, initiate or propagate fires.
Flame retardant agents can be added to products, such as clothing, to inhibit or suppress the combustion process. The principle effects of flame retardant agents are to inhibit the development of a fire, or to inhibit or delay the spread of fire over a burning material. In actual fires, flame retardant agents generally function to reduce: (a) the heat release rate of a material; (b) the rate of combustion, degradation and consumption of a material (fire extinction); and (c) smoke emission, and the evolution of toxic gases. As a result, flame retardant agents can significantly increase the available escape time before flashover or the development of an incapacitating atmosphere occurs and, thereby, reduce the exposure of human beings and animals to toxic gases and burning.
Flame retardants can act chemically (by reactions in either the gas or solid phase) and/or physically (by cooling, by formation of a protective layer or by dilution of a matrix), and at different times during the combustion process, to inhibit, interfere with and/or otherwise suppress one or more of the following stages of the combustion process in a manner that reduces flame spread over a material and/or the overall heat release: (a) heating; (b) decomposition; (c) ignition; (d) flame spread; and/or (e) smoke production.
Flame retardant compounds can be organic or inorganic compounds containing, for example, halogens, such as chlorine or bromine, phosphorous, alumina and/or antimony. The families of flame retardants include: (a) chlorinated flame retardants; (b) brominated flame retardants; (c) phosphorous based flame retardants; (d) metal hydroxides; (e) melamine based flame retardants; (f) zinc borate; (g) low melting glasses; and (h) silicon-based materials.
Flame Resistance for Fabrics and Textiles
The ability of fabrics, textiles and clothing to retard flame is a highly desirable characteristic to which considerable attention has been directed for public safety. The United States Federal Trade Commission is currently setting standards that require flame retardant fabrics for many end uses of apparel.
Methods are available for developing various types of flame retardant fibers and fabrics. However, these methods generally possess a variety of disadvantages, the principal disadvantage being that the methods are not very durable, particularly to home or industrial launderings or cleaning processes. Fibers and fabrics treated in accordance with these methods generally have an inability to retain flame retardant properties that have been added thereto, or enhanced, after one or more washings, launderings or dry cleaning operations. The added flame retardant properties (and flame retardant agents providing such properties) are generally rendered ineffective, or significantly less effective, as a result of such washings, launderings or dry cleaning operations. Another disadvantage of these methods is that they often result in a waste of large quantities of flame retardant agents, other process components and water, causing these methods to be expensive and potentially detrimental to the environment when they are disposed. The poor recovery rates of process chemicals and solvents employed in flame retarding processes, most of which are lost to municipal waste treatment facilities, as well as required secondary washing process steps, introduce economic, process control and environmental disadvantages to such operations.
Many of the woven and non-woven thermoplastic and non-thermoplastic fibers, fibrous compositions and fabrics that are commonly used today in connection with mattresses, furniture upholstery, insulation and construction materials, and in other commercial, industrial or residential applications, burn when contacted with an open or other flame, sometimes producing toxic gases as a by-product. When treated with a flame retardant composition, thermoplastic fibers, fibrous compositions or fabrics may not burn, but may still melt, producing a molten plastic that can cause deep skin burns. It is this melting of, for example, covering materials, such as the outer surfaces of mattresses, that may allow an open flame to come into contact with other materials, such as non-woven interior construction materials, that the covering materials are supposed to protect, and that may not have been treated with a flame retardant agent.
Another problem associated with non-thermoplastic fibers, fibrous compositions and fabrics is that many non-woven or woven substrate manufacturers do not have the necessary equipment or expertise to add flame retardant agents to these fibers, fibrous compositions and fabrics in their production processes. Increased costs to these manufacturers, thus, may be incurred when roll or other goods or parts need to be shipped elsewhere for flame retarding treatment.
Environmental Impacts of Clothing Manufacture
Several pollution issues currently exist in connection with the manufacture of fabrics, textiles and clothing. As a result, the manufacture of such products often causes one or more of a variety of negative impacts upon the environment. For example, 25% of the insecticides used globally are placed upon cotton plants, which grown cotton to produce the world's most popular fabric. Additionally, many synthetic fabrics, such as polyester, are manufactured from petroleum products that are not biodegradable. Further, many fiber or fabric finishing processes, such as a wide variety of dyeing processes, are highly toxic and polluting to the environment and, thus, are not "environmentally friendly" processes.
Description of the Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,606 ("the '606 patent") describes a process for rendering non-thermoplastic fibers and fibrous compositions flame resistant when contacted with a hot molten material (to prevent severe burns and blisters to workers and others that are exposed to hot molten metals, glass or other materials). The process involves the application to the fibers and fibrous compositions of a flame retardant composition incorporating a water-insoluble, non-phosphorous solid, particulate mixture of brominated organic compound and either: (a) a metal oxide of the formula Me2On (wherein Me is aluminum, silicon, arsenic, bismuth, titanium, zirconium, molybdenum, tin or antimony, and n is the valence of the metal), such as antimony oxide (Sb2O3), in a water insoluble, particulate form (having an average size not exceeding about 20 microns); or (b) a metal oxide as described in (a) and a metal hydrate, such as a mixture of antimony oxide and alumina trihydrate. After materials are treated with the compositions described in the '606 patent, and excess composition is removed, the wet material is cured by a two-step process: (a) drying the material at a temperature between 80° C. and 130° C.; and (b) then, in a separate step, baking the material at a temperature between 140° C. and 180° C. for ½ to 5 minutes.
In contrast with the compositions of the invention, which need not contain a metal oxide in order to be effective, and which can contain phosphorous-containing and other non-brominated flame retardant substances, the compositions described in the '606 patent contain a metal oxide and only contain non-phosphorous flame retardant substances. Additionally, the '606 patent does not teach or suggest flame retardant compositions that do not contain an amount of a dye, or of any other chemical compound, substance, agent or composition, that could have the effect of contaminating the flame retardant compositions, fibers or fibrous compositions described therein. Further, in contrast with the processes and systems of the invention, which do not require a curing step or a separate baking step after the drying step, or the heating equipment or energy resources associated with such curing and baking steps, the process described in the '606 patent requires a curing process that includes both a drying step and a separate baking step. Still further, the process described in the '606 patent does not teach or suggest the use of a "closed loop" process or system for applying flame retardant compositions to substrates, or the recycling of flame retardant compositions and/or rinse liquids.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,966 ("the '966 patent") describes a process for the simultaneous dyeing and flameproofing of textile sheet materials made of polyester fibers using thermosol dyes. This patent also describes dye preparations that contain one or more disperse dyes in an amount of from 0.6 to 30 g/kg and one or more flame retardants in an amount of from 100 to 200 g/L, and that are employed to achieve different depths of shade. In contrast with the processes, systems and compositions of the present invention, the '966 patent does not teach or suggest: (a) the use of a flame retardant composition that does not contain an amount of a dye, or of any other chemical compound, substance, agent or composition, that could have the effect of contaminating the flame retardant compositions; (b) the use of an adhesion agent (or any weight percent thereof); (c) the use of a flame retardant substance in a particulate form (or having the size ranges described herein); (d) the reuse of a flame retardant composition that has been applied to one or more substrates; or (e) the use of a "closed loop" process or system in which flame retardant compositions and/or rinse liquids can be recycled.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,196 ("the '196 patent") describes a flame retardant composition for treating high pulp content non-woven web that includes soluble solids formed from inorganic salts, such as ammonium polyphosphate, and sulfur. The '196 patent does not teach or suggest the use of a "closed loop" process or system for applying flame retardant compositions to substrates or the recycling of flame retardant compositions and/or rinse liquids, and does not discuss the durability of treated substrates or latexes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,639 ("the '639 patent") describes a method for impregnating combustible materials, such as wood, paper and textiles, with an aqueous fire retarding and smoke inhibiting composition. The composition comprises an aqueous solution of the reaction product of: (a) 0.5–90% by weight of an ammonium phosphate selected from monoammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate and mixtures thereof; (b) 0.1–30% water soluble metal salts capable of forming water insoluble phosphate and ammonium phosphate salts; (c) 1–20% by weight acid, such as phosphoric acid; (d) 1–15% by weight dicyandiamide; and (e) up to 5% by weight additives, such as fungicides. Phosphoric acid and dicyandiamide are present in the composition in the form of the reaction product guanylureaphosphate. The method comprises impregnating a combustible material with the aqueous composition and drying the impregnated material to form fire retarding and smoke inhibiting characteristics in the material. In contrast with the processes, systems and compositions of the present invention, the '639 patent does not teach or suggest: (a) the use of an adhesion agent (or any weight percent thereof); (b) the use of a flame retardant substance in a particulate form (or having the size ranges described herein); (c) the reuse of a flame retardant composition that has been applied to one or more substrates; or (d) the use of a "closed loop" process or system in which flame retardant compositions and/or rinse liquids can be recycled.
Other patents or patent applications that describe inventions that are different from the compositions, processes, systems and/or substrates of the present invention include: (a) U.S. Pat. No. 1,339,488 (which describes a method for fire proofing fibrous materials using a solution containing preferably 6% or over of soluble borate to which a proportion of an alkali, such as potassium carbonate, has been added); (b) U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,839 (which describes an aqueous solution for projection (by spraying, pumping, etc.) onto an existing fire that includes potassium carbonate, a boron-containing compound, a potassium salt of an organic acid having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms and water, and that is stated to be effective in extinguishing fires, for example, grease fires on cooking surfaces or coal fires); (c) U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,865 (which describes methods and compositions for inhibiting the combustion of wood and other cellulosic materials by impregnating the materials with the compositions); (d) Patent Application Publication Number U.S. 2003/0017565 A1 (which describes methods and compositions for treating a porous article, such as wood, to provide flame retarding, rust-preventing, organism-repellant and other properties thereto by performing enzymatic macromolecularization reactions in the article using an enzyme having a polyphenol oxidizing activity (obtained by the cultivation of a fungus) in an alkaline pH region); (e) European Patent Application Publication No. 0 285 721 (which describes a method for protecting wood against fungal growth and fire that comprises applying to the surface of the wood an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate and sodium borate); (f) International Patent Application Publication No. WO 02/06021 A2 (which describes compositions comprising a boron source composition, a melamine binder resin and a urea casein activator resin that are stated to protect wood products from attack by termites, fungi, fire and flame, and methods for using these compositions); and (g) International Patent Application Publication No. WO 00/00570 (which describes a method for flame proofing insulating materials made with renewable raw materials).
Needs in the Art and Objects of the Invention
A need currently exists for methods, systems and compositions that can effectively flame retard substrates containing from about 5 to about 100 weight percent of non-thermoplastic material, such as non-thermoplastic filaments, microfibers, fibers, fibrous compositions, threads, yarns, fabrics, textiles, materials, items of apparel, paper or tissue, or blends or products produced using any of the foregoing materials, in an "environmentally-friendly," cost effective and durable manner. A need also exists for improving currently-available processes, systems and compositions for fire retarding non-thermoplastic substrates. There is also a need for substrates containing at least about 5 weight percent of non-thermoplastic material, such as non-thermoplastic fibers, to be effectively treated with flame retardant materials before a non-woven, woven or other production process.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide compositions, processes and systems for providing one or more flame retardant properties to one or more substrates containing from about 5 to about 100 weight percent of non-thermoplastic material, such as non-thermoplastic filaments, microfibers, fibers, fibrous compositions, threads, yarns, fabrics, textiles, materials, items of apparel, papers or tissues, or blends or products produced using any of the foregoing materials, whether woven or non-woven, and whether natural or synthetic, in a manner that conserves flame retardant agents and other process chemicals and compositions, as well as solvents, and that is "environmentally friendly" and durable, before, during or after a woven, non-woven or other production process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide methods and systems for reducing or eliminating the burning of, and/or the amount and density of smoke (which generally contains toxic gases) produced by, one or more substrates containing at least about 5 weight percent of non-thermoplastic material that is exposed to an open or other flame or fire.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide one or more methods for the application of flame retardant substances to substrates containing at least about 5 weight percent of non-thermoplastic material, such as non-thermoplastic filaments, microfibers, fibers, fibrous compositions, threads, yarns or blends prior to being woven, knitted or otherwise formed into fabrics, textiles, materials, items of apparel or other products produced using the foregoing materials.
It is another object of the present invention to provide flame retardant compositions for use in flame barrier substrates (protective substrates) containing at least about 5 weight percent of non-thermoplastic material, such as non-thermoplastic fibrous compositions, fabrics or textiles employed as outer coverings for other substrates, materials or products, for example, the central foam or other portions of cushions, pillows or mattresses, that provide one or more flame retardant properties against an open or other flame by forming a charred protective layer (a char) on one or more surfaces of the protective substrates when exposed to, or contacted with, a flame.
It is another object of the present invention to extract and recycle used or spent flame retardant compositions, rinse liquids and/or other process components used in processes or systems for flame retarding substrates, thereby reducing or eliminating the waste or release into the environment of, or the costs associated with, flame retardant compositions, rinse liquids or other substances. Preferably, if a rinse liquid is employed in processes or systems within the invention, used flame retardant composition is transferred to one holding vessel and the rinse liquid is transferred to a separate holding vessel, so that both of the substances can be reused in one or more subsequent applications of the flame retardant compositions and/or rinse liquids to substrates. Because neither the flame retardant compositions nor the rinse liquids employed in the processes and systems of the invention generally contain an amount of any dye or other substance that could contaminate the processes or systems (and preferably contain no dyes or other substances that could contaminate the processes or systems), the processes and systems of the invention can be performed in a "closed loop" manner, rather than in an "open loop" manner. Such "closed loop" processes and systems advantageously recycle, and thereby, conserve flame retardant and other process chemicals and rinse liquids, which are often expensive, as well as water or other solvents, thereby significantly reducing costs that are generally otherwise associated with the flame retarding of substrates. These "closed loop" processes and systems also generally reduce or eliminate pollution to the environment, the requirement for pre-disposal processing of chemicals and liquids and the payment of waste disposal fees, and may generally be employed without the need for elaborate safety precautions.
The present invention provides processes, systems and compositions for effectively flame retarding substrates containing from about 5 to about 100 weight percent of non-thermoplastic material, such as those described above, in an "environmentally-friendly," cost effective and durable (or non-durable) manner prior to, during or after a woven, non-woven or other production process, without wasting large quantities of flame retardant chemical compounds or compositions, solvents or rinse liquids. Within the same processes or systems of the invention, both unused and recycled flame retardant composition can be separately employed to provide one or more flame retardant properties to one or more substrates, or to enhance the flame retardant properties of one or more substrates, whether the substrates being treated are the same or different, or are of the same or a different type. As a result of the recycling (reuse) of flame retardant composition in these processes and systems, it is generally possible to reduce the costs of the components employed in the flame retardant compositions, such as flame retardant chemicals, by at least about 75%, and often by at least about 90% (and possibly higher).
The present invention provides flame retardant compositions that, when applied to the surfaces, or other areas or components, of substrates containing at least about 5 weight percent of non-thermoplastic material, such as filaments, microfibers, fibers, fibrous compositions, threads, yarns, fabrics, textiles, materials, items of apparel, paper or tissue, or blends or products produced using the foregoing materials, prior to an exposure to an open or other flame or fire, or when added to, or mixed with, these substrates during their manufacture or other production, advantageously provide a flame retardant finish or coating to the substrates that reduces the amount of burning that occurs to the substrates, and/or the amount or density of smoke (and associated toxic gases) produced by the substrates, when they are exposed to and open or other flame or fire. These substrates may advantageously be blended with one or more other substrates that do not have any flame retardant properties to produce a homogeneously blended product containing at least some substrates that have been treated in accordance with the compositions, methods or systems of the invention uniformly throughout the blended product, such as a blended fabric containing treated and untreated fibers.
Thus, the processes, systems, compositions and substrates of the present invention should reduce or prevent injury or death to human beings and animals, and destruction to real and personal property, resulting from fires, particularly when the substrates are employed as flame barrier substrates with other materials that do not have any flame retarding properties.
The above and other objects and advantages of the compositions, methods and systems of the current invention should become apparent by way of examples, and otherwise, from the more detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiments of the invention described herein.

Methods, systems and compositions for fire retarding substrates


A roller capable of easily absorbing impact transmitted thereto while maintaining a desired level of abrasion resistance, and a clothes drying apparatus provided with the roller. The roller is provided with an impact absorption enhancer capable of causing the roller to be easily elastically deformable while maintaining a desired hardness of the roller. Accordingly, it is possible to absorb intensive impact transmitted to the roller while maintaining a desired abrasion resistance of the roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a roller and a clothes drying apparatus provided with the roller, and, more particularly, to a clothes drying apparatus provided with rollers exhibiting high abrasion resistance while being easily elastically deformable.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a clothes drying apparatus forcibly blows hot air into a drying tub, thereby drying wet clothes contained in the drying tub. That is, the clothes drying apparatus dries the clothes by forcibly circulating, by a fan, air heated by a heater into the drying tub.
A conventional clothes drying apparatus includes a housing provided with a door at a front wall thereof and a heater at a rear wall thereof, a drying tub mounted in the housing, a hot air intake duct arranged at the rear wall of the housing to guide hot air generated around the heater into the drying tub, and a hot air exhaust duct adapted to guide exhaustion of the hot air from the drying tub.
In order to elastically support the drying tub under the condition in which clothes are contained in the drying tub in an amount larger than an appropriate amount, the conventional clothes drying apparatus also includes rollers rotatably mounted to the housing beneath the drying tub to support a peripheral wall of the drying tub.
Each roller has a peripheral portion made of an elastically deformable material to elastically support the drying tub. Where a soft material, which is easily elastically deformable, is used for the rollers, effectively absorbing intensive impact transmitted from the drying tub is possible, thereby preventing damage to hinge shafts to hingably couple the rollers to the housing. In this case, however, there is a problem in that the rollers may be easily abraded due to low abrasion resistance thereof. On the other hand, where a hard material having high hardness, and thus, high abrasion resistance, is used, the rollers may not easily be abraded even after prolonged use. In this case, however, effectively absorbing impact transmitted from the drying tub is difficult, so that there may be a problem in that the hinge shafts to hingably couple the rollers to the housing may be damaged.

Roller and clothes drying apparatus provided with the same


There is provided a production method of a cyclic polyarylene sulfide from a reaction mixture including at least a sulfidizing agent (a), a dihalogenated aromatic compound (b) and an organic polar solvent (c). The production method includes: a process 1 of heating the reaction mixture having an arylene unit of not less than 0.80 mol but less than 1.05 mol per 1 mol of the sulfur content in the reaction mixture; and subsequent to the process 1, a process 2 of further causing the reaction to proceed after addition of the dihalogenated aromatic compound (b) to have the arylene unit of not less than 1.05 mol and not greater than 1.50 mol per 1 mol of the sulfur content in the reaction mixture.

Cyclic aromatic compounds have recently received attention, because of the characteristics derived from their cyclic structure, i.e., their structure-derived specificity. More specifically, the cyclic aromatic compounds have potential for development in applications of high-performance materials or functional materials and are expected to be used as inclusion compounds or to be used as effective monomers for syntheses of high molecular-weight linear polymers by ring-opening polymerization. Cyclic polyarylene sulfide (hereinafter polyarylene sulfide may be abbreviated as PAS) is a remarkable compound belonging to the category of cyclic aromatic compounds.
A proposed production method of cyclic polyarylene sulfide is, for example, a method of oxidative polymerization of a diaryl disulfide compound under an ultra dilute condition (for example, Patent Document 1). This method is expected to produce cyclic polyarylene sulfide at high selectivity and produce only a very low amount of linear polyarylene sulfide, and actually allows for production of cyclic polyarylene sulfide at a high yield. This method, however, requires the reaction under the ultra dilute condition and accordingly produces a very little amount of cyclic polyarylene sulfide per unit volume of a reaction vessel. This method accordingly has many problems in terms of producing cyclic polyarylene sulfide with high efficiency. This method has the reaction temperature of about room temperature and thus requires a long time of several ten hours for the reaction. This method accordingly has low productivity. Additionally, linear polyarylene sulfide produced as a byproduct by this method has low molecular weight including disulfide bond derived from diaryl disulfide as the raw material and low thermal stability and is practically not valuable. The linear polyarylene sulfide produced as the byproduct by this method has molecular weight similar to the molecular weight of the cyclic polyarylene sulfide as the objective substance, so that it is difficult to separate the cyclic polyarylene sulfide from the linear polyarylene sulfide as the byproduct. This method accordingly has extreme difficulty in production of high purity cyclic polyarylene sulfide with high efficiency. Additionally, this method requires an equal amount of an expensive oxidizing agent such as dichlorodicyanobenzoquinone to the amount of diaryl disulfide used as the raw material for the progress of oxidative polymerization. This method is thus not capable of producing cyclic polyarylene sulfide at a low cost. Another proposed method of oxidative polymerization of the diaryl disulfide compound under an ultra dilute condition performs oxidative polymerization in the presence of a metal catalyst and uses oxygen as the oxidizing agent. This method uses the inexpensive oxidizing agent but still has many problems, for example, difficulty in control of the reaction to produce a variety of and a large amount of oligomers and an extremely long time required for the reaction. In any case, the method of oxidative polymerization of the diaryl disulfide compound under the ultra dilute condition is not capable of producing high purity cyclic polyarylene sulfide at a low cost and with high efficiency.
Another proposed production method of cyclic polyarylene sulfide is a method of heating a copper salt of 4-bromothiophenol in quinoline under an ultra dilute condition. Like the above method of Patent Document 1, this method also requires the ultra dilute condition and a long time for the reaction and accordingly has extremely low productivity. Additionally this method has difficulty in separating copper bromide as a byproduct from cyclic polyarylene sulfide as an objective product and allows for production of only low purity cyclic polyarylene sulfide (for example, Patent Document 2).
A method disclosed to manufacture cyclic polyarylene sulfide at a high yield from general raw materials is a method of reacting a sulfidizing agent and a dihalogenated aromatic compound in 1.25 liters or more of an organic polar solvent relative to 1 mol of sulfur content in the sulfidizing agent (for example, Patent Document 3). This method, however, has only a low yield of cyclic polyarylene sulfide relative to the raw material monomer and produces a large amount of linear polyarylene sulfide as a byproduct. There is accordingly a need for improvement.
A method disclosed to produce cyclic polyarylene sulfide at a high yield is a method of exposing a dihalogenated aromatic compound such as 1,4-bis-(4′-bromophenylthio)benzene to sodium sulfide in N-methylpyrrolidone under reflux temperature (for example, Non-Patent Document 1). This method is expected to obtain cyclic polyarylene sulfide, since the volume of the organic polar solvent per 1 mol of sulfur content in the reaction mixture is 1.25 liters or more. This method, however, does not use linear polyarylene sulfide as the raw material and thus needs to use a large amount of a dihalogenated aromatic compound. This method also uses a very special compound as the dihalogenated aromatic compound and is thus industrially of little practical use. There is accordingly a need for improvement.
A method disclosed to solve the above problems is a method of heating and reacting a linear polyarylene sulfide, a sulfidizing agent and a dihalogenated aromatic compound in 1.25 liters or more of an organic polar solvent relative to 1 mol of sulfur content in the reaction mixture (for example, Patent Document 4). This method uses linear polyarylene sulfide as the raw material and thus reduces the amount of monomer used and improves the yield of cyclic polyarylene sulfide relative to the monomer. The method is accordingly expected to be industrially practical. This method has, however, been examined only for the procedure of simultaneously feeding and reacting all the reaction raw materials, i.e., linear polyarylene sulfide, a sulfidizing agent, a dihalogenated aromatic compound and an organic polar solvent. There have been no reviews for improvement of the yield and the formation rate of cyclic polyarylene sulfide and reduction of the impurity content by supplementary addition of the dihalogenated aromatic compound that is a preferred characteristic of the invention.
A disclosed multi-stage production method of cyclic polyarylene sulfide accompanied with supplementary addition of a dihalogenated aromatic compound is a method of performing a reaction (A) of heating a reaction mixture including linear polyarylene sulfide, a sulfidizing agent, an organic polar solvent and less than 0.9 mol of a dihalogenated aromatic compound relative to 1 mol of sulfur content in the sulfidizing agent and a reaction (B) of supplementary adding the dihalogenated aromatic compound and heating the reaction mixture in 1.25 liters or more of the organic polar solvent relative to 1 mol of sulfur content in the reaction mixture (for example, Patent Document 5). This method is characterized by cyclization of a low molecular-weight prepolymer obtained in the reaction (A) by supplementary addition of the dihalogenated aromatic compound in the reaction (B). In order to produce the prepolymer with high efficiency, it is preferable that substantially no dihalogenated aromatic compound is present in the reaction mixture in the reaction (A). Actually, only the method including no dihalogenated aromatic compound in the reaction (A) has been examined conventionally. In order to produce the prepolymer with high efficiency, it is also preferable that the volume of the organic polar solvent in the reaction mixture in the reaction (A) is less than 1.25 liters per 1 mol of sulfur content. Actually, only the method using 1 liter of the organic polar solvent in the reaction mixture per 1 mol of sulfur content has been examined conventionally. The effects on the yield have accordingly been unknown in manufacture of cyclic polyarylene sulfide in positive coexistence of a dihalogenated aromatic compound in the reaction mixture prior to supplementary addition of the dihalogenated aromatic compound under a diluter condition that the volume of the organic polar solvent is 1.25 liters or more per 1 mol of sulfur content through the entire reaction process.
The methods disclosed in Patent Documents 3 and 4 for recovery of cyclic polyarylene sulfide first recover a solid mixture mainly consisting of cyclic polyarylene sulfide and linear polyarylene sulfide by removal of part or most part of the organic polar solvent from a reaction mixture obtained by the reaction, subsequently expose the recovered solid mixture to a solvent that is capable of dissolving the cyclic polyarylene sulfide to prepare a solution including the cyclic polyarylene sulfide and remove the solvent used for dissolution from the solution, so as to obtain the cyclic polyarylene sulfide.
A method disclosed to produce high purity cyclic polyarylene sulfide similar to the above recovery method exposes a polyarylene sulfide mixture including at least linear polyarylene sulfide and cyclic polyarylene sulfide to a solvent that is capable of dissolving the cycling polyarylene sulfide to prepare a solution including the cyclic polyarylene sulfide and subsequently obtains the cyclic polyarylene sulfide from the solution (for example, Patent Document 6). These methods ensure production of high purity cyclic polyarylene sulfide. In order to produce the high purity cyclic polyarylene sulfide, however, the method requires the process of preparing a reaction mixture consisting of cyclic polyarylene sulfide, linear polyarylene sulfide and an organic polar solvent, the process of removing the organic polar solvent from the reaction mixture to produce a solid mixture including the cyclic polyarylene sulfide and the linear polyarylene sulfide, the process of exposing the solid mixture to a solvent to obtain a solution including the cyclic polyarylene sulfide and the process of removing the solvent from this solution. The procedure is thus rather troublesome.
A method disclosed to solve the above problems in recovery of cyclic polyarylene sulfide or more specifically to recover high purity cyclic polyarylene sulfide with high efficiency by a simple technique is a recovery method of cyclic polyarylene sulfide from a reaction mixture, which is characterized by removal of an organic polar solvent from a filtrate obtained by solid-liquid separation of the reaction mixture in a temperature range of not higher than the boiling point of the organic polar solvent under ordinary pressure, wherein the reaction mixture is obtained by exposure and reaction of at least a sulfidizing agent and a dihalogenated aromatic compound in the organic polar solvent and includes at least linear polyarylene sulfide and cyclic polyarylene sulfide (for example, Patent Document 7). Another disclosed method is a method of distilling out part of an organic polar solvent from a mixture including at least polyarylene sulfide, cyclic polyarylene sulfide and the organic polar solvent and subsequently recovering the cyclic polyarylene sulfide by solid-liquid separation (for example, Patent Document 8). These methods separate and recover cyclic polyarylene sulfide as the objective substance by the simple technique of solid-liquid separation. These are expected to improve the above problems of the prior arts. These methods, however, do not perform supplementary addition of a dihalogenated aromatic compound and further reaction, which are preferred characteristics of the invention, in the process of obtaining the reaction product including cyclic polyarylene sulfide. Accordingly, there is still a problem that a long separation time is required in the process of solid-liquid separation of the reaction product. Additionally, the resulting cyclic polyarylene sulfide has not sufficiently high purity. Further improvement is thus needed.

Production method of cyclic polyarylene sulfide


A method is described for providing Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) transmission feedback to a higher layer protocol in a communication system. The method includes a step of detecting HARQ retransmissions in a first layer protocol. This can be used to determine a HARQ failure or an HARQ ACK after a delay of some retransmissions. A next step includes providing feedback information about the detecting step from the first layer protocol to a higher layer protocol. A next step includes instituting corrections at the higher layer protocol, in response to the information transferred from the first layer protocol. These corrections can include immediate retransmission of those bursts of a HARQ failure, or correcting timers to match the delay of eventually ACK'ed data.

A Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) is a physical layer (layer one) retransmission function in the WiMax IEEE 802.16 protocol (with variants in several cellular protocols, such as in UMTS). HARQ is a link adaptation technique where link layer acknowledgements are used for re-transmission decisions at the physical layer. For each burst transmitted in the link, a receiver may or may not receive the burst properly, due to varying channel conditions. If the burst is received properly, an acknowledged (ACK) message is returned. If the burst is not received properly, a not-acknowledged (NACK) message is returned. Upon receipt of an ACK, further data bursts can be sent. Upon receipt of a NACK a retry attempt can be made to resend the same burst information.
IEEE 802.16 defines two levels of retry attempts. The first as described above is HARQ on the physical layer. The second is on a higher layer protocol such as standard Automatic Repeat Requests (ARQ) on the data plane, or Media Access Control (MAC) timers on the control plane. As used herein, MAC layer refers to any higher layer protocol such as the control plane, data plane, or application layer. In an example, if a data burst is sent and neither an ACK or NACK is returned, or if NACKs are continually received with no retry attempts being successful (i.e. HARQ failure), it must be assumed after some period of waiting in the higher layer that the burst was not received properly. In this example, a timer on a higher layer protocol determines that there is a problem, but only after a considerable amount of time may have passed.
Unfortunately, there is no feedback mechanism defined between the physical layer and higher layers (such as the control or data plane). Typically, the retransmission at the physical layer is done independently of other higher layer MAC procedures such as ARQ or handling of MAC management messages. As a result, any HARQ failure is not directly linked to handling at the upper layer protocols, which depend upon their own retransmission mechanisms (timers, ARQ, TCP, etc) to attempt another transmission. In addition, some transfers do not have a retry mechanism and the burst loss must simply be tolerated. In addition, since HARQ does not rebuild bursts when retry attempts are made, the coding scheme for that burst cannot be changed to adapt to changing channel conditions.
Referring to FIG. 1, four cases are shown demonstrating problems that arise due to HARQ failures. In Case 1, a control plane sends a MAC management message to the physical layer which experiences HARQ failure. In this example, the RF channel conditions are changing rapidly, and the inability of HARQ to modify the coding scheme on retransmissions during the changing channel conditions makes it unlikely that HARQ will be able to successfully deliver that burst within its maximum number of retry attempts. The control plane does not know of any problems until a control plane timer timeouts, which may be much later than the time HARQ abandoned the delivery attempt. Only at this point does the control plane determine that the MAC management message must be resent, which can result in a significant delay.
In Case 2, packet data units (PDU) are to be sent from a higher layer using ARQ through the physical layer. In this case, message feedback is sent whenever a peer decides to send it. There is no time limit for the peer to respond with either an ACK or NACK, which means any transmission failure resulting in a NACK can significantly delay the resending of the data packets, even if HARQ detected a delivery failure after maximum retries.
In Case 3, a higher layer is to provide ARQ feedback. If the physical layer is unable to send the feedback (i.e. HARQ failure), the higher layer must rely on future feedback attempts to continue data transfers, which can result in a significant delay.
In Case 4, packet data units (PDU) are to be sent from a higher layer through the physical layer without using ARQ. If the physical layer is unable to send the feedback (i.e. HARQ failure), data retransmission must occur at the application layer at endpoints (e.g. TCP), which can result in a significant delay.
HARQ retransmissions also results in other deleterious effects, even when a HARQ burst is eventually acknowledged. In particular, HARQ retransmission cause delays that can upset synchronize communications between higher layer protocols of a mobile station and a base station, for example.
Referring to FIG. 2, two scenarios are shown wherein HARQ retransmissions cause delays that can upset synchronization involving bases stations and mobile stations. In Case 1, during handover there is an action time negotiated between the base station and the mobile station that defines when the mobile station will arrive at a target base station. In particular, the source base station will send a mobility base station handoff request (MOB_BSHO-REQ) to the mobile station and wait for the mobile station to send a handoff indication message indicating that the mobile station would like to move to the target base station. The target base station will use a non-contention based Fast Ranging procedure which allocates an information element in the uplink MAP. The action time sent in a mobility base station handoff response (MOB_BSHO-RSP) message should be interpreted correctly between the base station and mobile station. However, due to poor RF conditions the allocation made for the handover indication message may have been lost and the mobile station may not be able to use the non-contention based Fast Ranging IE at the target base station and might need to fall back to performing contention based bandwidth request to send the handover indication successfully. During this time handover latencies can be significantly increased.
Therefore, there is a need for a technique to provide HARQ feedback (such as for HARQ transmission failures) to higher layer protocols, so that much faster and beneficial recovery mechanisms and synchronization can be immediately instituted to prevent lost data or unnecessary retransmissions.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are typically not depicted or described in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention.

HARQ transmission feedback for higher layer protocols in a communication system


A horse-control device that allows a handler or rider to control the pressure exerted on the horse's nose and/or poll area is described. In one embodiment, the horse-control device comprises a halter that is worn on the horse's head. The halter includes a first, resilient nose band and second nose band that cooperate to regulate pressure applied to the horse's nose. When tension is applied to a lead line of the halter, the first nose band expands across the horse's nose and the second nose band applies concentrated pressure to the horse's nose. Upon removing tension from the lead line, the first nose band immediately contracts and causes the second nose band to immediately remove the pressure from the horse's nose. Also described is a strap component for a horse-control device that comprises a cable embedded within a flexible outer sheath.

Managing a horse involves communication between the horse and the human handler or rider. A variety of devices exist for achieving this communication, such as halters and bridle bits. These devices generally work by transferring some motion made by the handler or rider into some form of physical contact with the horse's body. Most horse-control devices are worn over a horse's head, partly because certain parts of a horse's head are particularly sensitive to contact.
Bridle bits incorporate a mouthpiece that fits inside the horse's mouth. The inside of the mouth is perhaps the most sensitive part of a horse, so bridle bits typically allow for maximum control. Typically, less control is needed when a horse is being led by a handler on foot, as opposed to a mounted rider. In this situation, halters may be used. Most halters include a portion that encircles the horse's mouth and another portion that extends around the horse's poll. These portions are then connected to a lead line that can be manipulated by the handler.
Horses can learn to obey commands communicated by the handler or rider. This learning process takes time and can be hindered or facilitated by the manner in which the handler or rider communicates with the horse. Horses have a tendency to resist heavy steady pressure and generally respond more favorably to light intermittent pressure. For example, if a handler or rider is signaling the horse to come to a halt by applying heavy pressure, the horse may ignore the command or try to resist.
Some existing horse-control devices incorporate a nose band that extends over the horse's nose. A nose band applies pressure to the horse's nose when the handler or rider is communicating a command. In a conventional halter, the nose band typically comprises a rope or a piece of flat nylon web that is connected at opposite ends to respective cheek pieces, such as by means of metal hardware on nylon web halters or knots on rope halters. A lead line connected to the halter allows a handler to apply a downward force to the horse's nose through the nose band.
In nylon web halters, it is known to use a chain that is connected at one end to a cheek piece, and extended over the horse's nose through an opposing check piece to the lead line. The chain applies an especially strong pressure when the handler pulls on the lead line, and therefore allows the handler to send a stronger signal to the horse. Unfortunately, the chain has a tendency to bind up and can fail to release pressure when the handler releases the pressure on the lead line and the horse complies with the command. When the chain fails to disengage, the horse receives no "positive feedback" after complying with the command. Consequently, the horse may struggle to understand how to comply and training is adversely affected.
Another pressure point useful for communicating with a horse is the poll area, located just behind the horse's ears. Many existing horse-control devices include a rope or band that presses against the poll area. While this area is sensitive, sometimes the amount of pressure exerted by the handler or rider is insufficient to affect the horse. When rope is used, knots are sometimes incorporated to focus the pressure on the poll area. Although this technique is effective, rope is susceptible to fraying. Further, available non-rope straps fail to provide a means for applying concentrated pressure to the horse's poll area.


A composition is prepared from a mixture of different vesicles, such as outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) and vaccines are based thereon. Another composition comprises in a single vesicle a combination of antigens and/or other vesicle components deriving from separate vesicles; again vaccines are prepared therefrom.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of compositions comprising vesicles, such as liposomes and outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) obtainable from Gram negative bacteria, methods of making such compositions and vaccines based thereon. In particular, the invention relates to vaccines and pharmaceutical compositions comprising OMVs obtained from Neisseria species.
2. Description of the Related Art
A significant number of human and animal pathogens fall within the Gram negative classification of bacteria, including members of the genus Neisseia, Moraxella, Kingella, Acinetobacter, Brucella, Bordetella, Haemophilus, Escherichia, Chlamydia, Legionella, Pseudomonas, Proteus and Yersinia. Neisseria meningitidis (the meningococcus) is the organism that causes meningococcal meningitis and is of particular importance as a worldwide health problem. In many countries the incidence of this disease is increasing. N. meningitidis is also responsible for meningococcal septicaemia, which is associated with rapid onset and high mortality, with around 22% of cases proving fatal. Other Gram negative bacteria are responsible for a range of human infections including meningitis (H. influenzae), plague (Y. pestis), gastroenteritis (E. coli), venereal disease (N. gonorrhoeae) and nosocomial infection (P. aeruginosa).
It would be desirable to provide alternative broad spectrum vaccines that provide protective immunity in animals, particularly humans, against Gram negative bacterial infection, and especially infection by Gram negative pathogens.
Many known vaccines are based upon preparations of capsular polysaccharide, however, these vaccines are often limited in their protective value. For example, vaccines directed at providing protective immunity against meningococcal disease provide only limited protection because the protection tends to be strain specific whereas there are many different strains of N. meningitidis. Vaccines based upon the serogroup antigens, the capsular polysaccharides, offer only short lived protection against infection and do not protect against many strains commonly found in North America and Europe. In fact, certain capsular polysaccharides, such as that from the group B meningococcal capsule, are essentially non-immunogenic in humans.
The outer membrane of many Gram negative bacteria is highly dynamic and can produce vesicles that bud off and are released into the surrounding environment. These outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), also referred to as blebs, comprise many of the outer membrane proteins (OMPs) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) that contribute to the antigenic profile of the organism.
There have been a number of attempts to generate an OMV based vaccine in the hope that it could overcome the disadvantages seen in previous capsular polysaccharide based vaccines. In Bjune et al. (Lancet (1991) 338: pp 1093-1096) a vaccine consisting of OMVs from group B N. meningitidis is described (Norwegian vaccine). Bjune et al. show that the vaccine was able to induce a protective efficacy against meningococcal disease of 57.2% in a clinical trial in Norway. A similar vaccine has been produced in Cuba (Sierra et al., NIPH Ann (1991) December;14(2): pp 195-207) and high levels of efficacy were observed in that country. However, a large study in Brazil showed poor efficacy of the Cuban vaccine, especially in young children (de Moraes et al., Lancet (1992) October 31;340(8827): pp 1074-1078).
To address the difficulties associated with achieving broad spectrum protection researchers have attempted to "enrich" OMVs with particular antigens that might enhance the immunogenic potential of the OMV. In WO-A-00/25811 OMVs isolated from N. meningitidis are combined with heterologous antigens, e.g. Tbp, or a genetically modified N. meningitidis expresses such antigens recombinantly and antigen enriched OMVs are derived therefrom. A similar approach was adopted by researchers in WO-A-01/09350 which describes vaccine compositions comprising OMVs from N. meningitidis, M. catarrhalis and H. influenzae, where in certain embodiments these organisms have been genetically modified to overexpress particular immunogenic moieties.
A further OMV based vaccine composition is known as the Hexamen™ or Dutch vaccine (Cartwright et al., Vaccine 17 (1999), pp 2612-2619). The Hexamen™ vaccine composition comprises N. meningitidis OMVs that include six different PorA proteins that are recombinantly produced using two vaccine strains of N. meningitidis, PL16215 and PL10124. Each strain is capsule negative and produces three different PorA proteins, CPS−P1.7,16;P1.5,2; P1.19,15 and CPS−P1.5c,10; P1.12,13; P1.7h,4 respectively.
Ruppe Van der Voort et al (Vaccine (2000) 18(14); pp 1334-1343) show that the hexamen vaccine induces specific serum bactericidal antibodies against all six PorA sero-subtypes included in the vaccine. However, the Hexamen™ vaccine suffers from certain drawbacks. It is not currently possible to express all six PorA proteins in a single N. meningitidis cell due to host toxicity problems. Hence, three PorAs are expressed in one cell and three in another. OMVs from cell cultures each expressing three PorAs are obtained and then admixed to give the hexavalent vaccine.
PorA is an immunodominant antigen, meaning that it masks most other antigens presented on the OMV surface—i.e. Hexamen™ vaccine is heavily biased towards PorA as the protective antigen. This, in turn, leads to selection pressure in the population towards strains of N. meningitidis that express PorAs that are antigenically different to those in the Hexamen™ vaccine. There is, therefore, a risk that strains of N. meningitidis that are not protected against by the Hexamen™ vaccine will predominate in time, resulting in ongoing efforts to continually modify the vaccine to protect against strains currently infecting and causing disease in the human population.
It would be desirable to provide an OMV vaccine composition that provides broad spectrum protection to infection from a number of bacterial species and at least a wide range of strains within a single bacterial genus. It would be particularly desirable to produce an OMV-based vaccine that provides broad spectrum, long term protection against disease caused by a range of strains of Gram negative bacteria, and especially N. meningitidis.
It would further be desirable to provide further and/or improved methods of preparing vesicle-containing compositions.

Outer membrane vesicles from gram negative bacteria and use as a vaccine


A system that can deliver a tailored message based upon characteristics surrounding an incoming communication. In one aspect, the system is a targeted voice-mail system that has the capability to provide a unique voice-mail depending upon the communication characteristics which include the identity of caller or the initiator of the call, whether a specific identity or within a group, the identity for which the call is targeted, and the intent of the caller. Additionally, other contextual factors can be considered in generating, locating and/or rendering a tailored response message.

The Internet has spawned many communication mediums that continue to become increasingly popular and wide spread. The ever-growing popularity of mobile devices such as internet-capable smartphones has contributed to this continued popularity. These communication mediums include but are not limited to electronic mail (email), Voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP), instant messaging (IM) and text messaging over a network of two or more computers or network connectable, processor-based devices.
VoIP, aka broadband telephony, refers to a protocol of routing voice conversations via the Internet or any other IP-based network. While VoIP is technologically advanced in view of conventional telephony systems, it retains some of pitfalls of the traditional systems. For example, spam or unsolicited communications continue to plague these systems. As well, although technologically advanced, VoIP systems, and particularly VoIP automated answering machines, lack personalization and programmability.
Companies that provide VoIP service are commonly referred to as providers, and protocols which are used to carry voice signals over the IP network are commonly referred to as 'Voice over IP' or 'VoIP' protocols. Some cost savings of the VoIP protocol can be attributed to a single network to carry voice and data, especially where users have existing underutilized network capacity that can carry VoIP at no additional cost. Popularity of the use of VoIP communication mechanisms is on the rise as VoIP phone calls are often free to both parties, while VoIP to conventional public switched telephone networks (PSTN), may have a cost which is often charged to the VoIP user in these scenarios.
VoIP can facilitate tasks that may be more difficult to achieve using traditional networks. For example, an ability to transmit more than one telephone call via a single broadband-connected telephone line is achievable with today's VoIP protocol. One benefit of this feature is that it easily enables addition of an extra telephone line to a home or office. Moreover, incoming phone calls can be automatically routed to a VoIP phone, regardless of the location of the network connection. Thus, a user can employ a VoIP phone to make and receive calls anywhere the Internet is available.
Consistent with traditional PSTN systems, VoIP features most often include features such as 3-way calling, call forwarding, auto-redial, caller ID as well as voice-mail. However, unlike traditional PSTN systems, these features are most often included free of charge with the base connection. Additionally, VoIP phones can integrate with other services available over the Internet, such as video conferencing, message and data file exchange in parallel with the conversation, audio conferencing, PIM (personal information manager) data management, etc.
Although VoIP systems are technologically advanced as related to conventional telephony systems, to date, features have been generally limited to the features of traditional systems. For example, VoIP voice-mail, in its simplest form mimics the functions of a traditional answering machine. More particularly, it effectively uses a computerized system to generate a user (or system) programmed greeting in response to a missed or unanswered call. While greetings may be customized to convey information desired by a user, today's VoIP systems do not leverage the power of the computer in offering voice-mail features.

Identity-based interactive response message


A triple-axis rotation type headset is described herein that preferably uses a Bluetooth™ module in a main housing that has a first hinge axis longitudinally extended therethrough, and has a rotating housing rotatably attached to the main housing. The rotating housing is rotated about the first hinge axis. To the rotating housing is rotatably attached a connecting member having a second hinge axis longitudinally extended therethrough. The connecting member is rotated about the second hinge axis. The second hinge axis is spaced apart from the first hinge axis. The headset further comprises a hanging member having a third hinge axis provided at one end thereof. The end of the hanging member is rotatably attached to one end of the connecting member about the third hinge axis. The third hinge axis is perpendicular to the second hinge axis. The triple-axis rotation type headset provides improved contact between the headset and an ear of a user of the headset, and convenient key manipulation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless headset using a Bluetooth™ module, and more particularly to a triple-axis rotation type wireless headset that is capable of rotating about its three axes so that it makes close contact to an ear of a user of the headset.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a wireless headset using a Bluetooth™ module is a device which is worn on an ear of a user of the headset while not being connected with another communication device by a wire to communicate with a third party. In recent years, a wireless headset has been adapted to wirelessly transmit/receive an audio signal to/from a main communication device using a Bluetooth™ module, which is a short-range wireless transmitting and receiving unit.
A conventional wireless headset for transmitting and receiving an audio signal is fully disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 2001-006391 entitled
"HINGE UNIT FOR HEADSET HAVING CURRENT CARRYING MEANS," which has been filed in the name of the same applicant, and in U.S. patent Ser. No. 09/951,257, publication no. 20020110249, entitled "HINGE UNIT FOR HEADSET HAVING CURRENT-CARRYING MEANS," which has been assigned to Samsung Electronics Co., LTD. The conventional wireless headset comprises two housings: one for a speaker and the other for a microphone. The two housings are rotated relative to each other about a hinge shaft so that the headset is put on an ear of a user of the headset. In addition, an elastic member, such as a sponge, is attached to the conventional headset to ensure comfortable contact between the ear of the user and the headset.
However, the conventional headset has a disadvantage in that the contact between the ear of the user and the headset is not tight since it has only a single hinge shaft, about which the two housings are rotatably attached to each other. Generally, it is required that the speaker is arranged close to the ear of the user and the microphone is arranged close to a mouth of the user. It is also required that the headset further comprises an additional hanging member, which is hung on the ear of the user, to improve a degree of contact between the ear of the user and the headset.


This invention pertains to therapeutic wound healing compositions for protecting and resuscitating mammalian cells (Embodiment One (I)). This invention also pertains to therapeutic permeation enhanced-wound healing compositions for enhancing the penetration of actives into membranes and increasing the proliferation and resuscitation rate of mammalian cells (Embodiment Two (II)). In a first aspect of Embodiment One (I.A), the therapeutic wound healing composition comprises (a) pyruvate, (b) an antioxidant, and (c) a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. In a second aspect of Embodiment One (I.B), the therapeutic wound healing composition comprises (a) pyruvate, (b) lactate, and (c) a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. In a third aspect of Embodiment One (I.C), the therapeutic wound healing composition comprises (a) an antioxidant and (b) a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. In a fourth aspect of Embodiment One (I.D), the therapeutic wound healing composition comprises (a) lactate, (b) an antioxidant, and (c) a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. In Embodiment Two (II), the therapeutic wound healing compositions of Embodiment One (I.A-D) are combined with a therapeutically effective amount of a permeation enhancing agent (PE) to form permeation enhanced-wound healing compositions (II.A-D+PE). This invention also pertains to methods for preparing and using the permeation enhanced-wound healing compositions and the topical and ingestible pharmaceutical products in which the therapeutic compositions may be used.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to therapeutic wound healing compositions for protecting and resuscitating mammalian cells (Embodiment One (I)). This invention also pertains to therapeutic permeation enhanced-wound healing compositions for enhancing the penetration of actives into membranes and increasing the proliferation and resuscitation rate of mammalian cells (Embodiment Two (II)).
In Embodiment One (I), the therapeutic wound healing compositions are used alone. In a first aspect of Embodiment One (I.A), the therapeutic wound healing composition comprises (a) pyruvate selected from the group consisting of pyruvic acid, pharmaceutically acceptable salts of pyruvic acid, and mixtures thereof (b) an antioxidant, and (c) a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids wherein the fatty acids are those fatty acids required for the repair of cellular membranes and resuscitation of mammalian cells. In a second aspect of Embodiment One (I.B), the therapeutic wound healing composition comprises (a) pyruvate selected from the group consisting of pyruvic acid, pharmaceutically acceptable salts of pyruvic acid, and mixtures thereof (b) lactate selected from the group consisting of lactic acid, pharmaceutically acceptable salts of lactic acid, and mixtures thereof, and (c) a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids wherein the fatty acids are those fatty acids required for the repair of cellular membranes and resuscitation of mammalian cells. In a third aspect of Embodiment One (I.C), the therapeutic wound healing composition comprises (a) an antioxidant and (b) a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids wherein the fatty acids are those fatty acids required for the repair of cellular membranes and resuscitation of mammalian cells. In a fourth aspect of Embodiment One (I.D), the therapeutic wound healing composition comprises (a) lactate selected from the group consisting of lactic acid, pharmaceutically acceptable salts of lactic acid, and mixtures thereof, (b) an antioxidant, and (c) a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids wherein the fatty acids are those fatty acids required for the repair of cellular membranes and resuscitation of mammalian cells.
In Embodiment Two (II), the therapeutic wound healing compositions of Embodiment One (I.A-D) are combined with a therapeutically effective amount of a permeation enhancing agent to form permeation enhanced-wound healing compositions (II.A-D+PE). This invention also pertains to methods for preparing and using the permeation enhanced-wound healing compositions and the topical and ingestible pharmaceutical products in which the therapeutic compositions may be used.
2. Description of the Background

Therapeutic permeation enhanced-wound healing compositions and methods for preparing and using same


A dome type clear-span roof construction, having an exterior, polygonal arch frame (1), and a pre-tensioned, doubly curved membrane cover (2), which is suspended from the arch frame and is tied down to anchors (9) along its perimeter. Underneath the arch frame, a single, continuous suspension cable (4), anchored to the arch's end supports (8), is alternately taken through a series of upper pulleys (6) secured to the underside of the arch break points, and lower pulleys (5) secured at similar spacing to the membrane's ridge line (3), creating a multiple block-and-tackle suspension mechanism in the full length of the arch. The suspension mechanism converts the random membrane loads into concentrated, identical arch loads. The centerline of the polygonal arch coincides with the constant pressure line of its concentrated loads, which therefore do not cause bending moments in the arch.

Arches are widely used as supports for membrane roofs with long spans and no internal supports. The maximum length of clear-span arches, built with known technologies, is limited by the magnitude of stresses in the arches cross sections, due to axial compression forces and bending moments. As arch spans increase, the increase in stresses due to axial compression is linear, but the increase in flexural or bending stresses is exponential. Therefore, in order to build arches with longer spans, and also with greater material economies, their bending moments are to be reduced or preferably eliminated altogether. In theory this is possible, but only with symmetrical loading, such as uniformly distributed snow load, because the arch curve can be designed to coincide with the pressure line of such symmetrical load, in which case no flexural stresses will result in any cross section of the arch. However, in reality, natural loads on roofs are not symmetrical. Snow load may be symmetrical, but very rarely, and only for a short time, and wind load never is.
Therefore, in order to build arches with longer clear spans, and greater material economy, than what is possible with known techniques of the prior art, a novel method and apparatus is needed, which reduces or eliminates the bending moments in arches, by converting asymmetrical roof loads into symmetrical arch loads. Such method would be especially advantageous, if it also assures that the arches' loads so converted remain not only symmetrical but also equal with each other, at all times, because the pressure line of such loads is a constant curve, and if the arch curvature is designed to follow this pressure line, then the arch will be free of bending moments at all times. The purpose of this invention is to provide such method and apparatus, that eliminates bending moments from roof arches, and thereby increases the length of their maximum clear span.


An instructional baseball for teaching the proper manner of throwing a curveball. The instructional baseball comprises a generally spherical ball having a continuous seam on the surface, said seam defining a horseshoe-shaped boundary for each of four areas on the surface of the ball, and a depression within each of the areas, each of the depressions having substantially the same volume.

The present invention relates to the game of baseball, and, in particular, the instruction of the pitch known as the "curveball."
In baseball, a pitcher will use whatever means necessary to deceive a hitter, including, but not limited to, making the pitched ball sink or drop. This pitch is frequently referred to as the "curveball." Different trajectories can be achieved by altering the grips on the ball, as well as applying different points of pressure with the fingers. In order to learn and master the curveball, one should understand some of the basic principles of baseball aerodynamics.
When released from the hand, the ball will, naturally, spin, and its path will be affected by wind currents. The actual trajectory of the ball will depend on the seams of the ball and, specifically, in what direction they are spinning. Without intending to be bound by any theory, it is believed that, while in flight, the seams of a spinning ball will grab the air and pull the air underneath the ball, much like the air foil on an airplane. Thus, the faster the seam-spin, the greater the air-flow, and the more pronounced the trajectory of the ball.
A fastball, the easiest and most natural pitch, is released directly off the finger tips, without any added pressure or alterations. The result is a backspin of the seams and a straight ball trajectory. The curveball requires a different skill. To effectively throw this pitch, one must make the seams rotate in the opposite direction as the fastball. In other words, the ball must have topspin. Spinning in such a manner, it is believed that the seams will grab the air, force it beneath the ball and thus make the ball drop on its way towards the batter. In order to effectuate this air flow, a pitcher must manually create the forward rotation. He can do this by facing his middle and index fingers toward the batter and snapping his wrist downward--as if pulling down a window shade--upon release of the ball. Depending on how fast the seams are spinning, indeed how hard the pitcher has snapped his wrist downward, the ball will break in a downward manner. In attempting to throw a curveball, however, beginners will often attempt to throw a pitch that breaks in a horizontal, rather than vertical, plane by facing the middle and index fingers away from the body and twisting the wrist and forearm in an awkward manner upon release of the ball. This pitch, known as a "flat curve," if thrown regularly, can cause serious injury and should be avoided.
Although explaining the proper and improper methods of throwing a curveball is a relatively simple task, teaching a pitcher to actually throw the curveball is frequently a difficult, and, often, futile, endeavor. Until now, novice pitchers and coaches have had little, if any, ability to determine the reason or reasons why an attempted curveball does not drop. Heretofore, the best available educational tool in teaching the curveball was to observe the spin of the seams while the ball is in flight. This, however, is difficult, if not impossible, for a pitcher, since the ball is traveling away from him. And while a coach assuming the position of hitter may have a slightly easier time observing the spin of a pitched ball, the desired level of accuracy in determining the correctness of the rotation is often unattainable using the observation technique. Adding to the difficulty of determining the cause of an ineffective curveball is the fact that a curveball may be unsuccessful for reasons other than improper spin, such as too much velocity or an improper release point. Thus, there is a significant need for a tool which would allow a pitcher or coach to determine whether the problem with an unsuccessful curveball lies in the spin or elsewhere in the delivery.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means to identify and perfect the correct spin of a curveball. Another object of this invention is to provide a means of enhancing and exaggerating the trajectory of a curveball in order to observe an otherwise indiscernible break or curve. Another object of this invention is to provide an educational and instructional tool which can be safely used at any level of competition from approximately the age of 13. Yet another object of this invention is to accomplish the foregoing objectives by a means which can be used repeatedly, by any number of students.


An apparatus and method to exfoliate a graphite grain is described. A mixture of a graphite grain and a fluid medium are transferred into a vessel. The vessel includes an agitator and a chiller. The chiller chills the mixture such that the fluid medium at least partially solidifies into an ice grain. The agitator agitates the mixture to induce a contact between the graphite grain and the ice grain. The contact between the graphite grain and the ice grain exfoliates the graphite grain.

Since its isolation in 2004, graphene has been a highly sought-after commodity. Consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms, this material has been theorized and demonstrated to possess remarkable properties, including a high tensile strength, high flexibility, high thermal conductivity, and extremely high electrical conductivity. The applications for this material abound and increase with each year of research and development.
However, the demand for graphene far exceeds the capability of existing techniques for producing it. The first technique to produce graphene, known informally as the "Scotch tape method," includes the steps of emplacing a strip of tape on the surface of a graphite block and peeling it away to mechanically exfoliate a thin sheet of graphite, emplacing a second strip of tape on top of the first strip of tape and peeling it away to exfoliate a thinner sheet of graphite; this process is repeated until exfoliated flakes of monolayer graphene are finally affixed to a strip of tape. Although monolayer graphene may be produced, this technique requires an enormous expenditure of labor and time as well as the consumption of copious amounts of tape and solvents to remove said tape and isolate the graphene flakes. This process is also not only tedious, time-consuming, and costly but not environmentally friendly due to the waste produced.
Additional techniques have been developed in the years since the introduction of the "Scotch tape method," falling into the broad categories of "bottom-up" and "top-down" methodologies. Bottom-up techniques, such as Chemical Vapor Deposition, assemble graphene directly at a nanoscale from free carbon atoms. Bottom-up techniques are capable of producing sheets of graphene of configurable size but are limited by the fact that they produce only a single sheet of graphene at a time. Top-down techniques, such as the "Scotch tape method," rely on the fact that naturally occurring graphite already includes stacked layers of graphene that are held together by weak van der Waals forces and seek to exfoliate these layers to isolate the graphene. Van der Waals forces include attraction and repulsion between atoms, molecules, and surfaces, as well as other intermolecular forces.
Traditional exfoliation techniques, however, are also limited by their efficiency as well as the quality of their final product. As previously discussed, the "Scotch tape method" requires an inordinate expenditure of labor and material and is disadvantageous for large-scale, industrial production of graphene. Other techniques, such as chemical exfoliation and liquid phase shear mixing, may be feasible for industrial production but produce a final product that is either compromised by oxidation or limited to a slow production rate that drives up the production cost.
High-energy techniques that may produce graphene at a high rate and quality include laser-induced graphene ("LIG") and flash Joule heating ("FJH"). These techniques allow the use of non-graphitic base materials that contain carbon, such as rubber or organic waste, and may produce graphene at higher rates than previously discussed techniques. However, these techniques are limited by the intrinsic safety risk and cost of high-energy systems.
Thus, there exists a high demand for novel techniques of producing graphene that are safe and scalable to industrial levels. Further, as the current price of graphene is a limiting factor for the introduction of novel products leveraging the many useful features of the material, there exists a demand for novel techniques of producing graphene that are inexpensive.

Apparatus and method for exfoliating graphite


A service tender node functions as an intermediary between subscribers and adjunct telecommunications services from multiple service providers to facilitate negotiation of services in real-time. The service tender node includes an index of services which is maintained and employed to search for applicable services in response to a tender request generated by a subscriber. Records in the index are described with an adaptive service definition which includes standard parameters and subjective parameters. The standard parameters identify types of service pursuant to telecommunications industry standards. The subjective parameters may be specified by individual service providers in order to differentiate their services within the service type defined by the standard parameters. Services generated from a search of the index pursuant to the standard parameters may be further sorted and filtered according to a comparison between a subscriber profile and the subjective parameters.

Telecommunications providers typically offer an array of adjunct services in conjunction with basic telephone service. For example, legacy services such as directory assistance, call waiting, caller identification, and call forwarding, and multimedia services such as Push-to-Talk, Video on demand, VoIP, and presence are services that a subscriber may utilize. Adjunct services make telephone service more useful and generally increase the revenues of telecommunications service providers.
Various factors presently inhibit telecommunications service providers from offering more adjunct services and encouraging the use of adjunct services by a greater number of subscribers. One inhibiting factor is that each service must have relatively broad demand to the community of subscribers in order to be economically viable. Part of the reason for this is that services are typically developed, maintained and managed by the telecommunications provider at considerable expense. Another inhibiting factor is that the services may only be functional with the infrastructure platforms for which it was designed, thereby limiting the possibility of generating revenue through reuse and increasing platform migration costs. Adjunct services are typically fully deployed in the network of the service provider that is selling the service, which increases the overall cost of providing the service. Another inhibiting factor is that many adjunct services are manually initiated and static. Manual initiation, i.e., initiation by the actions of telephone company personnel each time the service is used such as traditional directory assistance, is relatively slow and costly. Static services, i.e., subscriptions for unlimited use of a service such as call forwarding for a recurring monthly charge, may not appeal to those who would use a service only once or even occasionally. It would therefore be desirable to solve these problems and facilitate economical provisioning of a greater variety adjunct services.


A method of securing network authentication information at a data processing device includes determining a boot source from which to boot the device and comparing the boot source to an expected source. If the boot source is not the expected source, access to the network authentication information is inhibited, such as by disabling access to the portion of memory that stores the authentication information. Further, if the boot source is the expected source, boot code authentication information is retrieved from memory and verified during the boot sequence. If the device authentication information is not authenticated, access to the network authentication information is inhibited. Accordingly, access to the network authentication information is allowed only if the data processing device is booted from an expected source, and only if the boot code is authenticated, thereby reducing the likelihood of unauthorized access to the network authentication information.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to data processing devices and more particularly to boot systems for data processing devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Security of communications is an increasingly important concern. For example, in a communications network, it is frequently desirable to have communications between network nodes be secured. One method of securing communications is to have the network nodes exchange authentication information such as passwords, public key, or private key information. Each node verifies the authentication information according to a defined security protocol, and only communicates designated information to the other node if the authentication information is verified. The authentication information is typically stored at each node. However, such authentication information can be subject to unauthorized access, allowing the authentication information to be misappropriated.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Processor boot security device and methods thereof


An on-die termination resistor includes three transistors and a resistor. The resistor keeps at least one of the transistors from entering the saturation region and therefore improves the I-V characteristics of the termination resistor.

Printed circuit boards ("PCBs") populated with silicon chips typically require termination resistors for terminating the transmission lines that run throughout the PCBs. Termination resistors are necessary for good signal integrity at a high frequency operation.
Termination resistors can be integrated within the silicon chips or placed directly on the PCB. Traditionally, the termination resistors are placed on the PCB board because of the difficulties in designing high quality resistors in a silicon chip. However, as electronic systems on PCBs become more and more complicated, there is a large number of input receivers/output drivers that need termination, and consequently it has becomes very difficult to place all of the termination resistors on PCB board. Therefore, the need for the termination resistors to be placed on silicon chips, as on-die termination ("ODT") resistors, has increased.
To compensate for the resistance change caused by process and temperature variations, digital compensation circuits have been used to make sure an ODT resistance is within a pre-determined range over different process corners (i.e., statistical variation process parameters) and temperature. Difficulties arise, however, because the device parameters in these circuits greatly vary with process and temperature conditions, and because the I-V characteristics of MOS transistors used in these circuits are non-linear.
To improve the linearity of an ODT resistor, a number of structures have been explored, including an all-PMOS active resistor structure disclosed in J. Griffin et al., "Large Signal Active Resistor Output Drive", IEEE 42nd Symposium on Circuits and Systems (Aug. 8–11, 1999), hereinafter "Griffin". FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of the active ODT resistor 10 disclosed in Griffin. ODT resistor 10 includes positive-channel metal-oxide semiconductor ("PMOS") transistors 12–14. With resistor 10, the size (i.e., the channel width/channel length ratio) of transistors 12 and 13 are the same, but the size of transistor 14 must be approximately four times the size of transistors 12 and 13 to achieve linearity.
The all-PMOS ODT resistor shown in FIG. 1 has good linearity when used in digital compensation circuits where the gate bias VGG of transistor 12 at terminal 17 is set to VSS. In this case, transistor 12 is in the linear region until the pad terminal voltage (or output voltage Vo) 16 is lower than its PMOS threshold voltage Vt.
However, the use of digital impedance control include the disadvantages of step-like impedance adjustments (normally 5˜10%), switching noise generation from turning on/off the different legs of the ODT resistor, interference with data transmission, and the need for a state machine in order to update resistor value.
In analog impedance control, the compensation is accomplished by changing the gate bias. However, the linearity of transistor 12 of FIG. 1 deteriorates when VGG reaches approximately Vcc/2 at fast process corner and lower temperature. This is because transistor 12 enters the saturation region when the pad voltage is lower than Vcc/2+Vt.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need for an improved ODT resistor suitable for analog impedance control, and an analog feedback loop that provides a suitable gate bias for the ODT resistor.

On-die termination resistor with analog compensation


An exemplary semiconductor fabrication stack includes underlying layers; an organic planarization layer atop the underlying layers; a metal oxide hardmask atop the organic planarization layer and doped with both carbon and nitrogen; and an organic photoresist directly atop the doped metal oxide hardmask. In one or more embodiments, the doped metal oxide hardmask exhibits a water contact angle of greater than 80°.

The present invention relates to the electrical, electronic, and computer arts, and more specifically, to manufacturing semiconductor devices.
Semiconductor device manufacturing is an expensive multistep process that requires a significant amount of equipment, electricity, and chemicals. Typically, a workpiece will be moved among several pieces of equipment, performing one step in a first process chamber, another step in a second process chamber, and another step back in the first process chamber or in a third process chamber. Each time the workpiece is moved, there is an opportunity for error that will lead to manufacturing defects and scrappage. Each operation of a process chamber requires electrical power and consumable chemicals. Generally, it is desirable to reduce workpiece moves and process chamber operations involved in manufacturing a semiconductor device.

Organic photoresist adhesion to metal oxide hardmasks

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for leasing multiple vehicles, including the steps of compiling information as to vehicles available for leasing and time periods in which the vehicles are available for leasing; presetting at least one group of N vehicles from the compiled information; setting a total lease term for each group of N vehicles; dividing the total lease term into P sub-lease terms; selecting a plurality of M individuals for leasing the vehicles in each group, where N, P and M are integers and M is less than or equal to N; calculating lease costs for leasing each vehicle in each group for each sub-lease term; entering into a lease agreement with each individual for leasing a plurality P of the vehicles in the P sub-lease terms for a preset one of the groups of N vehicles; and removing the selected vehicles from the compiled information.

The present invention relates generally to a method and system for leasing goods, and more particularly, is directed to a method and system for a group of individuals to lease a matching number of vehicles so that the vehicles are transferred between the individuals in a systematic sequence that permits each individual to drive each vehicle in the group for a predetermined length of time and predetermined time slot and at a predetermined lease price.
Conventionally, there are four ways to obtain rights to drive a vehicle, namely, purchase, lease, rental or car share. The purchase of a vehicle generally requires high payments, since the entire vehicle is purchased in a short period of time, for example, three or four years. Vehicle rental generally occurs for a much shorter period of time, for example, a day or week, and would be cost prohibitive over a period of time of, for example, three years.
Car share is similar to very short term rentals of, for example, one hour to a weekend. The typical car share program involves groups of people who become members by paying a membership fee. They can then reserve time to use the car and pay an additional fee, based on the length of each individual use, on either an hourly or daily basis. However, use of the cars is relatively random in that there is no systematic rotation of vehicles between individuals in the group. This is because individuals reserve vehicles on an as needed basis. As a result, there may be times when vehicles are not being leased at all, and other times when one is unable to reserve a vehicle because all of the vehicles in the group have been reserved. There are also periods of time when vehicles are not in use, and consequently, are not fully utilized, whereby the lessor loses cost opportunity. The primary advantage of this system is for those persons who have relatively little use for a vehicle and desire access to a vehicle on an as needed basis, and are willing to pay accordingly. Thus, with this system, there is no matching of the number of vehicles available with the same number of people in the program, and no matching with the number of lease periods, that is, the system is a random system.
Conventional leasing of vehicles has become a popular option because it can be financially attractive. With a leased vehicle, there remains a residual value at the end of the lease. Accordingly, the payments are based on the difference between the purchase price and the residual value, thereby greatly reducing the monthly payments relative to the purchase of the vehicle.
However, a lease arrangement is limited to a single vehicle for the relatively long lease term. Thus, a lease arrangement is not designed to provide flexibility as to the types of vehicles that a person can drive, that is, the person is limited to driving a single vehicle during the lease term. A person can easily get tired of driving a single vehicle during a lease term and may prefer a wider range of choices.
Another problem with leasing is that the vehicles are returned to the vehicle dealership at the end of the lease term. The vehicle dealership must then attempt to sell the returned vehicles. Because of the large number of leased vehicles, there has been a glut of used vehicles that the dealership must now sell.
In earlier copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/873,686, a method and system was disclosed in which an individual could lease multiple vehicles in sequence in a lease arrangement. Although this is easy to manage from the individual lessee's viewpoint, it can become difficult to manage for the lessor, particularly where there are a large number of vehicles and lessees. It can also result in a waste of cost opportunity where vehicles are not being leased.

Method and system for leasing and sharing a group of goods by a group composed of matching number of individuals including the systematic rotation of those goods between the lessees in predetermined time slots