In electrophoretic media, it is advantageous to use pigment particles having a polymer chemically bonded to, or cross-linked around, the pigment particles, the polymer comprising repeating units derived from a fluorinated acrylate or fluorinated methacrylate monomer. The polymer desirably has a branched chain structure with side chains extending from a main chain. Desirably, the fluorinated acrylate or fluorinated methacrylate monomer comprises from 1 to 5 mole percent of the polymer.

This invention relates to electrophoretic particles (i.e., particles for use in an electrophoretic medium) and processes for the production of such electrophoretic particles. This invention also relates to electrophoretic media and displays incorporating such particles. More specifically, this invention relates to electrophoretic particles the surfaces of which are modified with polymers.
Electrophoretic displays have been the subject of intense research and development for a number of years. Such displays can have attributes of good brightness and contrast, wide viewing angles, state bistability, and low power consumption when compared with liquid crystal displays. (The terms "bistable" and "bistability" are used herein in their conventional meaning in the art to refer to displays comprising display elements having first and second display states differing in at least one optical property, and such that after any given element has been driven, by means of an addressing pulse of finite duration, to assume either its first or second display state, after the addressing pulse has terminated, that state will persist for at least several times, for example at least four times, the minimum duration of the addressing pulse required to change the state of the display element.) Nevertheless, problems with the long-term image quality of these displays have prevented their widespread usage. For example, particles that make up electrophoretic displays tend to settle, resulting in inadequate service-life for these displays.
Numerous patents and applications assigned to or in the names of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and E Ink Corporation have recently been published describing various technologies used in encapsulated electrophoretic and media. Such encapsulated media comprise numerous small capsules, each of which itself comprises an internal phase containing electrophoretically-mobile particles in a fluid medium, and a capsule wall surrounding the internal phase. Typically, the capsules are themselves held within a polymeric binder to form a coherent layer positioned between two electrodes. The technologies described in the these patents and applications include:
(a) Electrophoretic particles, fluids and fluid additives; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,961,804; 6,017,584; 6,120,588; 6,120,839; 6,262,706; 6,262,833; 6,300,932; 6,323,989; 6,377,387; 6,515,649; 6,538,801; 6,580,545; 6,652,075; 6,693,620; 6,721,083; 6,727,881; 6,822,782; 6,870,661; 7,002,728; 7,038,655; 7,170,670; 7,180,649; 7,230,750; 7,230,751; 7,236,290; 7,247,379; 7,312,916; 7,375,875; 7,411,720; 7,532,388; and 7,679,814; and U.S. Patent Applications Publication Nos. 2005/0012980; 2006/0202949; 2008/0013155; 2008/0013156; 2008/0266245 2008/0266246; 2009/0009852; 2009/0027762; 2009/0206499; 2009/0225398; and 2010/0045592;
(b) Capsules, binders and encapsulation processes; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,922,276; and 7,411,719;
(c) Films and sub-assemblies containing electro-optic materials; see for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,178; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0109219;
(d) Backplanes, adhesive layers and other auxiliary layers and methods used in displays; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,116,318; and 7,535,624;
(e) Color formation and color adjustment; see for example U.S. Pat. No. 7,075,502; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0109219;
(f) Methods for driving displays; see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,012,600; and 7,453,445; and
(g) Applications of displays; see for example U.S. Pat. No. 7,312,784; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0279527.
Known electrophoretic media, both encapsulated and unencapsulated, can be divided into two main types, referred to hereinafter for convenience as "single particle" and "dual particle" respectively. A single particle medium has only a single type of electrophoretic particle suspending in a colored suspending medium, at least one optical characteristic of which differs from that of the particles. (In referring to a single type of particle, we do not imply that all particles of the type are absolutely identical. For example, provided that all particles of the type possess substantially the same optical characteristic and a charge of the same polarity, considerable variation in parameters such as particle size and electrophoretic mobility can be tolerated without affecting the utility of the medium.) The optical characteristic is typically color visible to the human eye, but may, alternatively or in addition, be any one of more of reflectivity, retroreflectivity, luminescence, fluorescence, phosphorescence, or color in the broader sense of meaning a difference in absorption or reflectance at non-visible wavelengths. When such a medium is placed between a pair of electrodes, at least one of which is transparent, depending upon the relative potentials of the two electrodes, the medium can display the optical characteristic of the particles (when the particles are adjacent the electrode closer to the observer, hereinafter called the "front" electrode) or the optical characteristic of the suspending medium (when the particles are adjacent the electrode remote from the observer, hereinafter called the "rear" electrode, so that the particles are hidden by the colored suspending medium).
A dual particle medium has two different types of particles differing in at least one optical characteristic and a suspending fluid which may be uncolored or colored, but which is typically uncolored. The two types of particles differ in electrophoretic mobility; this difference in mobility may be in polarity (this type may hereinafter be referred to as an "opposite charge dual particle" medium) and/or magnitude. When such a dual particle medium is placed between the aforementioned pair of electrodes, depending upon the relative potentials of the two electrodes, the medium can display the optical characteristic of either set of particles, although the exact manner in which this is achieved differs depending upon whether the difference in mobility is in polarity or only in magnitude. For ease of illustration, consider an electrophoretic medium in which one type of particles is black and the other type white. If, as discussed in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the two types of particles differ in polarity (if, for example, the black particles are positively charged and the white particles negatively charged), the particles will be attracted to the two different electrodes, so that if, for example, the front electrode is negative relative to the rear electrode, the black particles will be attracted to the front electrode and the white particles to the rear electrode, so that the medium will appear black to the observer. Conversely, if the front electrode is positive relative to the rear electrode, the white particles will be attracted to the front electrode and the black particles to the rear electrode, so that the medium will appear white to the observer.
If, as discussed below with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the two types of particles have charges of the same polarity, but differ in electrophoretic mobility (this type of medium may hereinafter to referred to as a "same polarity dual particle" medium), both types of particles will be attracted to the same electrode, but one type will reach the electrode before the other, so that the type facing the observer differs depending upon the electrode to which the particles are attracted. For example suppose the previous illustration is modified so that both the black and white particles are positively charged, but the black particles have the higher electrophoretic mobility. If now the front electrode is negative relative to the rear electrode, both the black and white particles will be attracted to the front electrode, but the black particles, because of their higher mobility will reach it first, so that a layer of black particles will coat the front electrode and the medium will appear black to the observer. Conversely, if the front electrode is positive relative to the rear electrode, both the black and white particles will be attracted to the rear electrode, but the black particles, because of their higher mobility will reach it first, so that a layer of black particles will coat the rear electrode, leaving a layer of white particles remote from the rear electrode and facing the observer, so that the medium will appear white to the observer: note that this type of dual particle medium requires that the suspending fluid be sufficiently transparent to allow the layer of white particles remote from the rear electrode to be readily visible to the observer. Typically, the suspending fluid in such a display is not colored at all, but some color may be incorporated for the purpose of correcting any undesirable tint in the white particles seen therethrough.
Both single and dual particle electrophoretic displays may be capable of intermediate gray states having optical characteristics intermediate the two extreme optical states already described.
Some of the aforementioned patents and published applications disclose encapsulated electrophoretic media having three or more different types of particles within each capsule. For purposes of the present application, such multi-particle media are regarded as sub-species of dual particle media.
Many of the aforementioned patents and applications recognize that the walls surrounding the discrete microcapsules in an encapsulated electrophoretic medium could be replaced by a continuous phase, thus producing a so-called polymer-dispersed electrophoretic display, in which the electrophoretic medium comprises a plurality of discrete droplets of an electrophoretic fluid and a continuous phase of a polymeric material, and that the discrete droplets of electrophoretic fluid within such a polymer-dispersed electrophoretic display may be regarded as capsules or microcapsules even though no discrete capsule membrane is associated with each individual droplet; see for example, the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,866,760. Accordingly, for purposes of the present application, such polymer-dispersed electrophoretic media are regarded as sub-species of encapsulated electrophoretic media.
As noted above, electrophoretic media require the presence of a fluid. In most prior art electrophoretic media, this fluid is a liquid, but electrophoretic media can be produced using gaseous fluids; see, for example, Kitamura, T., et al., "Electrical toner movement for electronic paper-like display", IDW Japan, 2001, Paper HCS1-1, and Yamaguchi, Y., et al., "Toner display using insulative particles charged triboelectrically", IDW Japan, 2001, Paper AMD4-4). See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,321,459 and 7,236,291. Such gas-based electrophoretic media appear to be susceptible to the same types of problems due to particle settling as liquid-based electrophoretic media, when the media are used in an orientation which permits such settling, for example in a sign where the medium is disposed in a vertical plane. Indeed, particle settling appears to be a more serious problem in gas-based electrophoretic media than in liquid-based ones, since the lower viscosity of gaseous suspending fluids as compared with liquid ones allows more rapid settling of the electrophoretic particles.
A related type of electrophoretic display is a so-called "microcell electrophoretic display". In a microcell electrophoretic display, the charged particles and the fluid are not encapsulated within microcapsules but instead are retained within a plurality of cavities formed within a carrier medium, typically a polymeric film. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,672,921 and 6,788,449, both assigned to Sipix Imaging, Inc.
An encapsulated electrophoretic display typically does not suffer from the clustering and settling failure mode of traditional electrophoretic devices and provides further advantages, such as the ability to print or coat the display on a wide variety of flexible and rigid substrates. (Use of the word "printing" is intended to include all forms of printing and coating, including, but without limitation: pre-metered coatings such as patch die coating, slot or extrusion coating, slide or cascade coating, curtain coating; roll coating such as knife over roll coating, forward and reverse roll coating; gravure coating; dip coating; spray coating; meniscus coating; spin coating; brush coating; air knife coating; silk screen printing processes; electrostatic printing processes; thermal printing processes; ink jet printing processes; and other similar techniques.) Thus, the resulting display can be flexible. Further, because the display medium can be printed using a variety of methods, the display itself can be made inexpensively. However, the service life of encapsulated electrophoretic displays, of both the single and dual particle types, is still lower than is altogether desirable. It appears (although this invention is in no way limited by any theory as to such matters) that this service life is limited by factors such as sticking of the electrophoretic particles to the capsule wall, and the tendency of particles to aggregate into clusters which prevent the particles completing the movements necessary for switching of the display between its optical states. In this regard, opposite charge dual particle electrophoretic displays pose a particularly difficult problem, since inherently oppositely charged particles in close proximity to one another will be electrostatically attracted to each other and will display a strong tendency to form stable aggregates. Experimentally, it has been found that if one attempts to produce a black/white encapsulated display of this type using untreated commercially available titania and carbon black pigments, the display either does not switch at all or has a service life so short as to be undesirable for commercial purposes.
It has long been known that the physical properties and surface characteristics of electrophoretic particles can be modified by adsorbing various materials on to the surfaces of the particles, or chemically bonding various materials to these surfaces. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,801 (Chiang) describes an electrophoretic display composition in which the particles are coated with a highly fluorinated polymer, which acts as a dispersant, and which is stated to prevent the particles from flocculating and to increase their electrophoretic sensitivity. U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,448 (Müller et al.) describes an electrophoretic medium in which the particles are coated with an organic material, such as a wax, which is solid at the operating temperature of the medium but which melts at a higher temperature. The coating serves to lower the density of the electrophoretic particles and is also stated to increase the uniformity of the charges thereon. U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,245 describes a process for producing particles for use in electrophoretic displays, wherein a heavy, solid pigment, preferred for its high contrast or refractive index properties, is coated with a polymeric material. This process significantly reduces the specific density of the resultant particle, and is stated to create particles with smooth polymer surfaces that can be chosen for stability in a given electrophoretic carrier fluid, and possess acceptable electrophoretic characteristics. U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,103 (Beilin Solomon I et al.) describes a single particle electrophoretic display using inorganic pigment particles coated with an organosilane derivative containing quaternary ammonium groups; this coating is stated to provide quick release of the particles from the electrode adjacent the observer and resistance to agglomeration.
Later, it was found that simple coating of the electrophoretic particles with the modifying material was not entirely satisfactory since a change in operating conditions might cause part or all of the modifying material to leave the surface of the particles, thereby causing undesirable changes in the electrophoretic properties of the particles; the modifying material might possibly deposit on other surfaces within the electrophoretic display, which could give rise to further problems. Accordingly, techniques have been developed for securing the modifying material to the surface of the particles.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,783,614 (Chen et al.) describes an electrophoretic display using diarylide yellow pigment particles modified with a polymer of pentafluorostyrene. The modified particles are produced by forming a mixture of the unmodified particles, the pentafluorostyrene monomer and a free radical initiator, and heating and agitating this mixture so that the monomer polymerizes in situ on the surface of the particles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,806 (Gordon II et al.) describes electrophoretic particle formed by reacting pigment particles with a pre-formed polymer so that the polymer becomes covalently bonded to the surface of the particles. This process is of course restricted to pigments and polymers having chemical properties which allow the necessary reaction to form the covalent bond. Furthermore, a polymer with only a few sites capable of reacting with the particle material has difficulty in reacting with the solid interface at the particle surface; this can be due to polymer chain conformation in solution, steric congestion at the particle surface, or slow reactions between the polymer and the surface. Often, these problems restrict such reactions to short polymer chains, and such short chains typically only have a small effect on particle stability in electrophoretic media.
It is also known to use, in electrophoretic displays, particles consisting essentially of polymer; if dark colored particles are required, the polymer particles can be stained with a heavy metal oxide. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,360,689; 5,498,674; and 6,117,368. Although forming the electrophoretic particles from a polymer allows close control over the chemical composition of the particles, such polymer particles usually have much lower opacity than particles formed from inorganic pigments.
Despite the considerable amount of work which appears to have been done regarding attachment of modifying materials to electrophoretic particles, the prior art contains little discussion of the effects of varying amounts of modifying material upon the behavior of the particles, it apparently being assumed that the ideal is to achieve complete coverage of the electrophoretic particle with the modifying material. It has now been found that, at least with many polymeric modifying materials, this is not in fact the case, and that there is an optimum amount of polymer which should be deposited; too large a proportion of polymer in the modified particle causes an undesirable reduction in the electrophoretic mobility of the particle.
It has also been found that the structure of the polymer used to form the coating on the particle is important, and this invention relates to specific preferred forms of polymer for this purpose. More specifically, it has been found that, in a dual particle electrophoretic system, the particle charge, typically measured as the zeta potential, plays an important role in overall switching properties. Prior art technology, as described in the PCEP applications, provides negative charge to the pigment particles through the incorporation of silanes on the pigment surface. These silanes provide charge as surface hydroxyl groups. Although a negatively charged white pigment and a satisfactory electrophoretic medium can be obtained in this manner, it is difficult to make the pigment more negative by use of more silane; it appears that at some level of silane coverage of the pigments particles, a plateau of charge is reached.
It has now been found that the charge on the pigment particles can be adjusted by incorporating fluorinated acrylates or fluorinated methacrylates (especially 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl methacrylate, hereinafter abbreviated as "TFEM") into the polymer shell, thus providing a way to make the pigment more negative independent of the amount of silane used.

Electrophoretic particles and processes for the production thereof


Disclosed is a polymer comprising a repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 1, or a polymer comprising a repeating unit represented by Chemical Formula 2:

1. Field
This disclosure relates to a polymer for an optical film, and an optical film including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flat panel displays may be classified into emitting display devices that emit light by themselves and non-emitting display devices that require separate light sources. Optical compensation films such as phase difference films may be used for improving image quality of the flat panel displays.
In an emitting display device, for example, an organic light emitting display, visibility and contrast ratio may be decreased due to reflection of external light by metals such as the metal in an electrode of the display device. In order to reduce such deterioration, a polarizing plate and a phase difference film are used to prevent the external light reflected in the display device from leaking out of the display device.
In a liquid crystal display ("LCD"), which is a kind of non-emitting display device, elliptical polarization and light leakage may occur due to birefringence of liquid crystal and crossed polarizing plates in the display device, thereby decreasing contrast ratio and causing color shift. An optical compensation film may convert the elliptical polarization into a circular polarization to improve the image quality of the display device.
In order to fabricate a compensating optical film having reverse wavelength dispersion, the method of co-extruding, laminating, or copolymerizing positive birefringence resin and negative birefringence resin is typically used. Further, in order to show positive birefringence, it is known that the refractive index of a polymer should be greatest in a direction parallel to the alignment axis of the main chain of the polymer. For this purpose, side chains that are capable of being aligned in an elongation direction are substituted to the main chain of a polymer. However, the effect is insignificant. In order to effectively increase the refractive index in a direction parallel to the main chain of a polymer, it is known to cyclize the main chain of a polymer. Commercialized polymers, of which the main chain is cyclized to show positive birefringence, are cyclic olefin polymer ("COP") and polycarbonate ("PC"). These polymers are, however, very expensive and the polymerization to obtain these polymers is very difficult.
Accordingly, a polymer for an optical film, such as a compensating film having reverse wavelength dispersion is continuously sought.

Polymer for optical film, and optical film including same

Abstract: wherein R1, R2, x and y are as defined herein.


In an electromagnetic coupling apparatus, an excitation coil constituted by a plurality of turns of a winding member is covered with a resin coil bobbin. The coil bobbin can be divided into at least two members and is formed into a hollow annular shape. The divided mating surfaces of the members constituting the coil bobbin are joined to each other by ultrasonic welding.

The present invention relates to an electromagnetic coupling apparatus for intermittently performing transmission of rotational torque and braking of a rotating member by intermittently exciting an excitation coil.
(1) In an electromagnetic coupling apparatus such as an electromagnetic clutch or an electromagnetic brake, a conventional excitation unit for magnetically attracting an armature is designed as disclosed in, e.g, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-39540.
This excitation unit is housed in an annular groove of a yoke through an insulating resin material, and is constituted by a resin coil bobbin and an excitation coil wound therearound. The coil bobbin is constituted by a cylindrical portion and flanges on both the sides thereof so as to have an annular shape having a U-shaped section as a whole. The wires of the excitation coil are wound around the coil bobbin by a plurality of turns by using a winding machine. Portions of the turn start and end portions of the excitation coil and leads which are soldered to the start and end portions are covered with insulating tubes. The yoke for housing the coil bobbin around which the excitation coil is wound is pressed into an annular shape. The yoke is constituted by a bottom plate and outer and inner flanges so as to form an annular groove and to have a substantially U-shaped section. The outer and inner flanges are tapered such that inner circumferential surfaces expand toward the opening side. Recesses are formed in the inner circumferential surfaces. A projection is formed on the annular bottom plate and extends into the annular hole, and a rubber bush is fitted in a hole formed in the bottom plate.
With this arrangement, the coil bobbin having the excitation coil wound therearound is loosely fitted in the annular groove of the yoke. After the leads of the excitation coil are inserted into the hole of the rubber bush and are extracted outside, an insulating resin material is injected into a portion around the coil bobbin and is hardened. As a result, the excitation coil is insulated and fixed in the annular groove of the yoke. In this case, since the projection is formed on the bottom plate of the annular groove so as to lift the coil bobbin from the bottom plate, the resin flows into the bottom plate side of the coil bobbin. In addition, since the recesses are formed in the inner circumferential surfaces of the flanges defining the annular groove, the resin flows into the recesses, the resin is not separated from the coil bobbin.
(2) In an electromagnetic clutch as an electromagnetic coupling apparatus mounted in a coolant compressor as, e.g., a vehicle cooling apparatus, a pair of terminals are formed in a resin terminal base fixed to the rear surface of a yoke by insert molding. An excitation coil is connected to an external electrical circuit through these terminals.
As an electromagnetic coupling apparatus of this type, for example, an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-26980 is known. An excitation unit arranged in this electromagnetic coupling apparatus has the following arrangement. A hole communicating with a through hole of a coil bobbin is formed in an annular groove bottom surface of a yoke for housing an excitation coil wound around the coil bobbin. The turn start and end portions of the excitation coil are extracted outside from this hole. A box-like resin terminal base is mounted on the coil bobbin by fitting a protruding opening portion of the terminal base in the through hole. The terminal base is fitted in a groove of a mounting plate, and is fixed to the rear surface of the yoke through a partially cut upright portion formed at the groove portion. In addition, a pair of terminals are integrally formed in the terminal base by insert molding. The turn start and end portions of the excitation coil are respectively fixed to the pair of terminals by caulking, and are electrically connected to leads fixed to the pair of terminals by caulking. The coil bobbin and the terminal base having the above-described arrangements are fixed with a caulking piece formed on an opening portion of the annular groove and a caulking piece formed at the groove portion. At the same time, a resin is injected on externally exposed portions of the excitation coil, and the connecting portions between the turn start and end portions of the excitation coil extracted into the terminal base and the terminals, and into the through hole of the yoke, thereby preventing an insulation failure or disconnection of the excitation coil and the connecting portions.
With this arrangement, the coil bobbin around which the excitation coil is wound is loosely fitted in the annular groove of the yoke, and the turn start and end portions of the excitation coil are extracted to the terminal base and connected to the terminals. Thereafter, the resin is injected on the externally exposed portion of the excitation coil and the connecting portions between the turn start and end portions of the excitation coil extracted into the terminal base and the terminals, and into the through hole of the yoke. As a result, the excitation coil is insulated and fixed in the annular groove of the yoke.
(3) In an electromagnetic clutch mounted in a coolant compressor as, e.g., a vehicle cooling apparatus, since the lengths of leads vary depending on a wiring state with respect to other auxiliary units in the vehicle, versatility of a clapper electromagnet is poor in terms of design and is uneconomical. In addition, in an electromagnetic clutch of this type, a surge killer diode is incorporated in an electrical circuit of an electromagnet. Since the diode is incorporated in the electromagnet or arranged outside the electromagnet, versatility of the electromagnet is also poor and is uneconomical.
An electromagnetic coupling apparatus for solving such problems, for example, is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-6512. This apparatus comprises an electromagnet constituted by a yoke in which an excitation coil is fixed in annular groove with an epoxy resin material or the like, and a terminal base fixed to the rear surface of the yoke with through a partially cut upright portion of a mounting plate joined to the rear surface of the yoke by solvent welding. Terminals which are formed in the terminal base by insert molding are constituted by connecting portions connected to the excitation coil, and connecting portions connected to an external electrical circuit. When the electromagnet of the electromagnetic coupling apparatus having the above-described arrangement is to be assembled, the terminal base is tentatively fixed to the yoke by bending the partially cut upright portion formed on the outer side of the mounting plate. The turn start and end portions of the excitation coil are hooked on lock pieces formed on the connecting portions as partially cut upright portions of the terminals. Subsequently, the excitation coil and the lock pieces are integrally joined to each other by soldering or fusing. A metal lid is fitted on the terminal base. The terminal base and the lid are fixed to the yoke by expanding partially cut upright portions formed on the inner side of the mounting plate by caulking.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 57-51026 discloses another electromagnetic coupling apparatus. In this apparatus, a lead extracted from an electromagnet is connected to a terminal of a resin-molded surge killer diode. An external electrical circuit is connected to the electromagnet through this terminal. The ground side of the lead is fixed to a housing of a coolant compressor by integrally fixing a distal ground terminal and a resin-molded ground piece to the housing with screws.
In the conventional electromagnetic coupling apparatus described in item (1), in order to prevent an insulation failure caused by moisture which enters the excitation coil, the insulating resin material is injected between the annular groove of the yoke and the coil bobbin, as described above. Since such an operation is time-consuming, productivity is decreased, and it demands a great deal of labor.
In the conventional electromagnet coupling apparatus described in item (2), the resin is supplied to the exposed portions of the excitation coil, the connecting portions between the turn start and end portions of the excitation coil and the terminals, and the through hole of the yoke in order to prevent an insulation failure or disconnection due to vibrations or the like, as described above. Since a molding operation is required in the process of manufacture, and a long period of time must be consumed, productivity is decreased, and it demands a great deal of labor.
In the conventional electromagnetic coupling apparatus described in item (3), as a countermeasure against vibrations of a vehicle engine or vibrations during travel, a pair of terminals are formed in the resin terminal base by insert molding, and only the connecting portions to be connected to an external electrical circuit are caused to protrude into the U-shaped space side. In addition, the excitation coil and the terminals are connected to each other in the following manner. The lock pieces which are integrally formed by bending are arranged on the inner wall formed between the pair of connecting portions connected to the excitation coil and the connection portions of the terminals, and the turn start and end portions of the excitation coil are guided between the inner wall and the side surfaces of the lock pieces into the terminal base. Thereafter, the start and end portions are firmly connected to the terminals while mechanically and electrically satisfactory contact areas are ensured.
In such a structure, however, since the inner wall is present between the connecting portions or the integrally bent portions as partially cut upright portions are formed to extend upward from the terminals, the space in the terminal base cannot be effectively used.
In addition, in such an electromagnetic coupling apparatus, the interior of the terminal base must be waterproofed. However, in the conventional apparatus in which the metal lid is fixed to the resin terminal base by caulking the partially cut upright portions of the mounting plate, good quality is difficult to ensure, and problems are posed in terms of reliability.
Furthermore, when a diode is to be mounted, the diode is resin-molded to a terminal and is integrally formed by insert molding in order to provide a countermeasure against vibrations and to ensure waterproof. If such a molding operation is performed in the process of manufacture, a lead time is prolonged, operation efficiency is degraded, and problems are posed in terms of cost.


A water discharge device generates a large air bubble having a cross sectional area larger than a channel sectional area of a jetting port when the inside of a water storage chamber is viewed from the jetting port. The water discharge device intermittently forms the large air bubble to change a flow speed of a jet flow.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water discharge device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Improvement of a feeling of cleaning is demanded for a water discharge device for cleaning a human body. The feeling of cleaning is a feeling that depends on a feeling of stimulation caused by water, which is discharged from the water discharge device, hitting the human body and a feeling of massiveness. If the feeling of stimulation and the feeling of massiveness are compared to characteristics of the water, the feeling of stimulation is a physical quantity represented by a flow speed of the water and the feeling of massiveness is a physical quantity represented by an area of the water hitting the human body (also equivalent to a sectional area of the water immediately before hitting the human body). In other words, the feeling of stimulation is the intensity of stimulation of the water felt by a user according to the flow speed of the water. The feeling of stimulation is intensified if the flow speed of the water increases and is weakened if the flow speed of the water decreases. The feeling of massiveness is a volume of the water felt by the user according to the area of the water hitting the human body. The feeling of massiveness is intensified if the area of the water increases and is weakened if the area of water decreases.
On the other hand, improvement of a water saving function is also demanded for the water discharge device. It is necessary to reduce the volume of water discharged from the water discharge device in order to improve the water saving performance. However, the feeling of massiveness is reduced if the volume of the discharged water is simply reduced. It is likely that users dissatisfied with the feeling of cleaning increase.
Therefore, there is proposed a technique for converting continuous linear water discharge into intermittent discharge by a water mass to secure the area of water hitting a human body and not to spoil the feeling of massiveness while consuming a small volume of water. As an example of this technique, a technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-90151 (Patent Literature 1) is proposed. In the technique described in Patent Literature 1, a first portion where jetting speed is high and a second portion where jetting speed is low are alternately formed in discharged water and the first portion catches up with the second portion before water arrival at the human body to form a large water mass. In the technique described in Patent Literature 1, in order to form such a speed difference, pressure higher than a water supply pressure to the water discharge device is intermittently applied to substantially vary a water discharge pressure. If the water discharge pressure is substantially varied in this way, intermittent flow speed variation occurs in the water discharge. Therefore, the intermittent water discharge by the water mass explained above is realized.
The technique described in Patent Literature 1 is a technique excellent for surely realizing the intermittent water discharge by the water mass. However, a relatively large pump is necessary to apply the pressure higher than the water supply pressure. If the relatively large pump is indispensable, the entire water discharge device becomes expensive, leading to an increase in the size of the device.
As a technique for periodically varying the flow speed of the discharged water without using a pump, a technique described in Japanese Patent No. 4572999 (Patent Literature 2) is proposed. In Patent Literature 2, air bubbles are mixed in discharged water to cause flow speed variation of the discharged water. According to the description of the Patent Literature 2, in a portion where the volume of the air mixed in cleaning water as air bubbles is larger, the speed of the cleaning water is higher. On the other hand, in a portion where the volume of the air mixed in the cleaning water as air bubbles is smaller, the speed of the cleaning water is lower. Consequently, in the discharged water, repetition of the high-speed portion and the low-speed portion occurs.
The technical idea of Patent Literature 2 is an idea for changing the mixed volume of the air in the cleaning water to give flow speed variation to discharged water. However, the examination by the inventors found that it is difficult to give large flow speed variation to discharged water according to the technical idea of Patent Literature 2. Paragraph 0047 of Patent Literature 2 describes that it is desirable to supply fine air bubbles to the cleaning water in order to efficiently mix the air in the cleaning water. However, the inventors found that, even if the fine air bubbles are mixed in the cleaning water and a mixed volume of the air bubbles is changed, it is difficult to give large flow speed variation to discharged water. If the flow speed variation of the discharged water is small in this way, a long time is necessary until a discharged water portion having relatively low speed catches up with a discharged water portion having relatively high speed. Therefore, the water mass sometimes does not sufficiently grow until the discharged water arrives at the target human body.


A socket joint for ductile cast iron pipes is locked by toothed locking ring inserts 15 and a counter-flange 11. At least one elastic lip 19 is inserted between the locking ring and the rear face of a rigid stop ring which encloses the smooth or male end of the pipe 1.

This invention concerns a joint locked in place between the smooth end of a first tubular element and the socket end of a second tubular element, of the type comprising a sealing gasket housed in the socket, a locking ring incorporating inner teeth surrounding the smooth end, and a counter-flange fitted with means for attachment to the socket and configured to implement position-retention of the locking ring preventing backward movement. The invention is especially applicable to the installation of systems of pipes made of ductile cast iron.
Whatever the type of gasket used, whether a radial compression gasket for joints termed "automatic", or an axial compression gasket for joints termed "mechanical", locked joints of this type must restrict the backward movement of the smooth pipe end to a very low value during pressurization of the pipe system, while being easy to use.
Furthermore, to ensure that the tubular joint can be locked in an effective, durable manner and to ensure that the life of the tubular elements or pipes is not affected, the areas of contact between the locking ring and the metal parts enclosing it should be protected against corrosion.


A transformer has a cover and a bobbin. The cover has a cavity and a bottom opening. The cavity is formed inside of the over. The bobbin is mounted inside the cavity in the cover and has two surfaces, multiple pins and multiple coils. The pins are mounted through the bobbin and protrude from the two surfaces of the bobbin. The coils are mounted between the pins and have wires connected to each other. After the coils are connected to pins and tested, the bobbin with the coils can be mounted in the cover so that the process of fabricating the transformer is easier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transformer, and more particularly to a transformer that is easy to manufacture.
2. Description of Related Art
Transformers are widely used in many electrical devices. The transformers are able to change voltage from high to low or from low to high so transformers are a very important part in many electrical devices.
With reference to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, a conventional transformer comprises a cover (30, 40), multiple pins (32, 43), coils (33, 44) and encapsulant (46).
The cover (30, 40) has a top, a top opening (not numbered) and a cavity (31, 41). The top opening is formed on the top of the cover (30, 40). The cavity (31, 41) is formed in the cover (30, 40) and communicates with the top opening of the cover (30, 40) and has a bottom and multiple optional through holes (42). The through holes (42) are formed through the bottom of the cover (40) and correspond to each other.
The pins (32, 43) are mounted in and protrude from the cover (30,40). In a first embodiment of the conventional transformer, the pins (32) protrude through the top opening in the cover (30). In a second embodiment, the pins (43) are mounted respectively in the through holes (42) through the bottom of the cover (40), extend into the cavity (41) and protrude from the bottom of the cavity (41).
The coils (33, 44) are located inside the cavity (31, 41) and have wires (34, 45). The wires (34, 45) connect the coils (33, 44) respectively to the pins (32, 43).
The encapsulant (46) fills the cavity (31, 41) in the cover (30, 40) to seal the top opening and the cavity (31, 41) and protect the coils (33, 44).
The encapsulant (46) keeps manufacturing the transformers from being less expensive. Furthermore, the encapsulant (46) must be removed totally to correct any internal problem with the transformers. Removing and replacing the encapsulant (46) keeps manufacturing the transformers from being easy.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a transformer to obviate or mitigate the aforementioned problems.


A light collector includes: a light guide; optical blocks, each of which has top and bottom surfaces and front and rear surfaces which extend curvedly and frontwardly from the top surface to the bottom surface, the rear surface exhibiting total internal reflection and having a focal point; and optical coupling protrusions, each of which protrudes from the bottom surface, each of which is disposed at the focal point and each of which is coupled to the light-entrance surface of the light guide. The front surface of one of every two adjacent ones of the optical blocks overlaps the rear surface of the other of every two adjacent ones of the optical blocks along a normal direction of the light guide.

Referring to FIG. 1, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0233384 discloses a light collector that includes a light guide layer 114 and a light insertion layer 112 disposed over the light guide layer 114. The light insertion layer 112 includes a plurality of pie-shaped annular bodies 172 made from a material, such as silicone. Each of the pie-shaped annular bodies 172 has a planar edge surface 170, a parabolic surface 160, and a planar interface 159 that is annular in shape and that is deformed so as to be brought into contact with a contact surface 130 of the light guide layer 114. The planar interface 159 of each of the pie-shaped annular bodies 172 forms an optical exit of the light insertion layer 112, such that the light insertion layer 112 is formed with an array of the optical exits. The optical exits cooperate with the contact surface 130 of the light guide layer 114 to form an array of annular optical apertures. In operation, light 122 entering each of the pie-shaped annular bodies 172 is reflected by the parabolic surface 160 via total internal reflection (TIR) toward the optical exit and pass through the optical aperture into the light guide layer 114. The planar interface 159 of each of the pie-shaped annular bodies 172 is small in area relative to the size of the pie-shaped annular body 172, thereby reducing the amount of light 122 that will escape the light guide layer 114 through the optical aperture and not thus be available for harvesting.
Referring to FIG. 2, the aforesaid conventional light collector is disadvantageous in that since the planar edge surface 170 is straight and is transverse to the light guide layer 114, light 122 reflected from the parabolic surface 160 may travel through the planar edge surface 170, which results in incorrect focus and a decrease in converging the light 122, which, in turn, results in a decrease in light coupling efficiency. In addition, the shape of the pie-shaped annular bodies 172 renders the light collector to have a low fill factor in area, which results in a decrease in the light collecting efficiency for the light collector.


A precursor material for forming a film of a group IB-IIIA-chalcogenide compound and a method of making this film are disclosed. The film contains group IB-chalcogenide nanoparticles and/or group IIIA-chalcogenide nanoparticles and/or nanoglobules and/or nanodroplets and a source of extra chalcogen. Alternatively, the film may contain core-shell nanoparticles having core nanoparticles include group IB and/or IIIA elements, which are coated with a shell of elemental chalcogen material. The method of making a film of group IB-IIIA-chalcogenide compound includes mixing the nanoparticles and/or nanoglobules and/or nanodroplets to form an ink, depositing the ink on a substrate, heating to melt the extra chalcogen and to react the chalcogen with the group IB and group IIIA elements and/or chalcogenides to form a dense film.

Solar cells and solar modules convert sunlight into electricity. These electronic devices have been traditionally fabricated using silicon (Si) as a light-absorbing, semiconducting material in a relatively expensive production process. To make solar cells more economically viable, solar cell device architectures have been developed that can inexpensively make use of thin-film, light-absorbing semiconductor materials such as copper-indium-gallium-sulfo-di-selenide, Cu(In, Ga)(S, Se)2, also termed CI(G)S(S). This class of solar cells typically has a p-type absorber layer sandwiched between a back electrode layer and an n-type junction partner layer. The back electrode layer is often Mo, while the junction partner is often CdS. A transparent conductive oxide (TCO) such as zinc oxide (ZnOx) is formed on the junction partner layer and is typically used as a transparent electrode. CIS-based solar cells have been demonstrated to have power conversion efficiencies exceeding 19%.
A central challenge in cost-effectively constructing a large-area CIGS-based solar cell or module is that the elements of the CIGS layer must be within a narrow stoichiometric ratio on nano-, meso-, and macroscopic length scale in all three dimensions in order for the resulting cell or module to be highly efficient. Achieving precise stoichiometric composition over relatively large substrate areas is however difficult using traditional vacuum-based deposition processes. For example, it is difficult to deposit compounds and/or alloys containing more than one element by sputtering or evaporation. Both techniques rely on deposition approaches that are limited to line-of-sight and limited-area sources, tending to result in poor surface coverage. Line-of-sight trajectories and limited-area sources can result in non-uniform three-dimensional distribution of the elements in all three dimensions and/or poor film-thickness uniformity over large areas. These non-uniformities can occur over the nano-, meso-, and/or macroscopic scales. Such non-uniformity also alters the local stoichiometric ratios of the absorber layer, decreasing the potential power conversion efficiency of the complete cell or module.
Alternative approaches to vacuum-based deposition techniques such as sputtering and evaporation have been developed. In particular, production of solar cells on flexible substrates using semiconductor printing technologies provides a highly cost-efficient alternative to conventional vacuum-deposited solar cells. For example, T. Arita and coworkers [20th IEEE PV Specialists Conference, 1988, page 1650] described a screen printing technique that involved mixing and milling pure Cu, In and Se powders in the compositional ratio of 1:1:2 and forming a screen printable paste, screen printing the paste on a substrate, and sintering this film to form the compound layer. They reported that although they had started with elemental Cu, In and Se powders, after the milling step the paste contained the CuInSe2 phase. However, solar cells fabricated from the sintered layers had very low efficiencies because the structural and electronic quality of these absorbers was poor.
Screen-printed CuInSe2 deposited in a thin-film was also reported by A. Vervaet et al. [9th European Communities PV Solar Energy Conference, 1989, page 480], where a micron-sized CuInSe2 powder was used along with micron-sized Se powder to prepare a screen printable paste. Layers formed by screen printing were sintered at high temperature. A difficulty in this approach was finding an appropriate fluxing agent for dense CulnSe2 film formation. Solar cells made in this manner also had poor conversion efficiencies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,691 issued to B. M. Basol et al describes another particle-based method to form a Group IB-IIIA-VIA compound film. The described method includes the steps of preparing a source material, depositing the source material on a base to form a precursor, and heating the precursor to form a film. In that method the source material includes Group IB-IIIA containing particles having at least one Group IB-IIIA phase, with Group IB-IIIA constituents present at greater than about 50 molar percent of the Group IB elements and greater than about 50 molar percent of the Group IIIA elements in the source material. The powder is milled to reduce its particle size and then used in the preparation of an ink which is deposited on the substrate in the form of a precursor layer. The precursor layer is then exposed to an atmosphere containing Group VIA vapors at elevated temperatures to convert the film into the compound. The precursor films deposited using this technique were porous and they yielded porous CuInSe2 layers with small-grain regions as reported by G. Norsworthy et al. [Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 2000, vol. 60, page 127]. Porous solar cell absorbers yield unstable devices because of the large internal surface area within the device, and small grains limit the conversion efficiency of solar cells. Another key limitation of this method was the inability to effectively incorporate gallium into the material. The properly-distributed presence of gallium in a CIS film serves to potentially broaden the bandgap of the semiconductor material, thereby increasing the open circuit voltage of the solar cell, and to promote the adhesion of the CIGS layer to a (Mo) electrode, providing a back surface electric field which can improve the collection of carriers. The absence of gallium decreases the potential power conversion efficiency of the solar cell. In practice, while gallium oxide particles can easily be produced, it is very difficult to reduce gallium oxide, even at relatively high temperatures, and in the absence of reduction, gallium oxide cannot be effectively used as a precursor material for gallium in the final film. Accordingly, in addition to poor stability, solar cells made using the approach of Basol et al. had sub-optimal power conversion efficiency.
Eberspacher and Pauls in U.S. Pat. No. 6,821,559 describe a process for making phase-stabilized precursors in the form of fine particles, such as sub-micron multinary metal particles, and multi-phase mixed-metal particles comprising at least one metal oxide. The preparation of particulate materials was described using a range of methods including laser pyrolysis, atmospheric arc evaporation, solution precipitation, chemical vapor reactions, aerosol pyrolysis, vapor condensation, and laser ablation. In particular, aerosol pyrolysis was used to synthesize mixed-metal particulates comprising metal oxides formed as substantially solid and spherical particulates. These particulate precursor materials were then deposited onto large-area substrates in thin layers using any of a variety of techniques including slurry spraying methods such as pneumatic spraying with a pressurized gas nozzle, hydraulic spraying with a pressurized slurry expelled through an orifice, and ultrasonic spraying with a rapidly vibrating atomization surface. A disadvantage of solar cell devices comprised of thin-film absorber layers formed in this manner was the poor reproducibility of the resulting device performance, and the porous form of the absorber layer, which tends to result in poor device stability.
Bulent Basol in U.S. Published Patent application number 20040219730 describes a process of forming a compound film including formulating a nano-powder material with a controlled overall composition and having particles of one solid solution. The nano-powder material is deposited on a substrate to form a layer on the substrate, and this layer is reacted in at least one suitable atmosphere to form the compound. Due to the improved process window made available by the phase space of a solid solution, the use of nanoparticles comprised of a solid solution may improve the repeatability and the overall yield of the thin-film deposition and solar cell production process. However, a means to incorporate additional Ga beyond that possible through a solid-solution (containing either Cu+Ga or In+Ga) restricts the potential performance of a device constructed by this method. In particular, since the presence of additional gallium in the light absorbing film serves both to broaden the bandgap of the semiconductor material and to increase the open circuit voltage of the solar cell, a lack of additional gallium in the light-absorbing thin film tends to decrease the potential power conversion efficiency of solar cells created in this manner. Using the solid-solution approach, Gallium can be incorporated into the metallic dispersion in non-oxide form—but only with up to approximately 18 relative atomic percent (Subramanian, P. R. and Laughlin, D. E., in Binary Alloy Phase Diagrams, 2nd Edition, edited by Massalski, T. B. 1990. ASM international, Materials Park, Ohio, pp 1410-1412; Hansen, M., Constitution of Binary Alloys. 1958. 2nd Edition, McGraw Hill, pp. 582-584.). However, efficient CIGS solar cells benefit from achieving a gallium ratio of up to 25 relative atomic percent. Furthermore, it would be simpler to directly work with elemental metallic nanoparticles, nanoglobules, or nanodroplets rather than solid-solution metallic nanoparticles in that the elements can be optimized individually and they are more readily available in elemental form. However, no technique was known in the prior art to create gallium nanoparticle powders sufficient and adequate for semiconductor applications, in part because gallium is molten at room temperature and therefore does not lend itself to common techniques for creating nanoparticles in the form of powders that are then dispersed in solution (as commonly done with the other elements). As a result, it was not possible in the prior art to directly incorporate gallium (or incorporate gallium in a high percentage) into the metallic dispersion used to print the CIG precursor of a CIGS solar cell.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/081,163, now abandoned describes a process of forming a compound film by formulating a mixture of elemental nanoparticles composed of the IB, the IIIA, and, optionally, the VIA group of elements having a controlled overall composition. The nanoparticle mixture is combined with a suspension of nanoglobules of gallium to form a dispersion. The dispersion may be deposited onto a substrate to form a layer on the substrate. The layer may then be reacted in a suitable atmosphere to form the compound film. The compound film may be used as a light-absorbing layer in a photovoltaic device. This process provides a method of forming a material comprised of gallium-containing CIGS precursor materials, where the precursor materials can be reproducibly, uniformly, and densely applied over large substrate areas to form a thin-film CIGS solar cell, and where the gallium is directly included in an elemental form.
Even with direct incorporation of gallium into the CIG precursor film, compositional non-uniformity can still be present on one or more length scales and on either one, two, or three directions both for CIG precursor layers and for the CIGS compound film. In particular, non-uniformities can arise from the formation of more than one single phase when preparing the CIG precursor layer with the composition required for a high-efficiency thin-film CIGS solar cell or module. Rapid thermal processing such a non-uniform CIG precursor layer in the presence of VIA sources can result in both lateral non-uniformity of the final CIGS, and (large) CIS crystals at the front whereas the back mainly contains (small) Ga-rich CIGS crystals. One way to overcome both the non-uniformity in composition for CIGS as formed via rapid thermal processing of CIG precursor layers in the presence of VIA sources and at the same time be able to form CIGS faster than made via the conventional evaporation and sputtering methods is to choose a different yet fast route for the formation to CIGS. A preferred method would be to form precursor materials where most of the IB and IIIA elements are already incorporated in a binary, ternary, or multinary chalcogenide nanopowder, deposit these nanopowders via fast solution-based deposition techniques, and subsequently rapidly thermal process these solution-deposited nanopowders into a dense CIGS film.
Others have tried using chalcogenide powders as precursor material, e.g. micron-sized CIS powders deposited via screen-printing, amorphous quarternary selenide nanopowder or a mixture of amorphous binary selenide nanopowders deposited via spraying on a hot substrate, and other examples [(1) Vervaet, A. et al., E. C. Photovoltaic Sol. Energy Conf., Proc. Int. Conf., 10th (1991), 900-3; (2) Journal of Electronic Materials, Vol. 27, No. 5, 1998, p. 433; Ginley et al.; (3) WO 99,378,32; Ginley et al.; (4) U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,740]. So far, no promising results have been obtained when using chalcogenide powders for fast processing to form CIGS thin-films suitable for solar cells.
Due to high temperatures and/or long processing times required for sintering, formation of a IB-IIIA-chalcogenide compound film suitable for thin-film solar cells is challenging when starting from IB-IIIA-chalcogenide powders where each individual particle contains appreciable amounts of all IB, IIIA, and VIA elements involved, typically close to the stoichiometry of the final IB-IIIA-chalcogenide compound film. In particular, due to the limited contact area between the solid powders in the layer and the high melting points of these ternary and quarternary materials, sintering of such deposited layers of powders either at high temperatures or for extremely long times provides ample energy and time for phase separation, leading to poor compositional uniformity of the CIGS absorber layer at multiple spatial scales. Poor uniformity was evident by a wide range of heterogeneous layer features, including but not limited to porous layer structure, voids, gaps, cracking, and regions of relatively low-density. This non-uniformity is exacerbated by the complicated sequence of phase transformations undergone during the formation of CIGS crystals from precursor materials. In particular, multiple phases forming in discrete areas of the nascent absorber film will also lead to increased non-uniformity and ultimately poor device performance.
The requirement for fast processing then leads to the use of high temperatures, which would damage temperature-sensitive foils used in roll-to-roll processing. Indeed, temperature-sensitive substrates limit the maximum temperature that can be used for processing a precursor layer into CIS or CIGS to a level that is typically well below the melting point of the ternary or quarternary selenide (>900° C.). A fast and high-temperature process, therefore, is less preferred. Both time and temperature restrictions, therefore, have not yet resulted in promising results on suitable substrates using ternary or quaternary selenides as starting materials.
As an alternative, starting materials may be based on a mixture of binary selenides, which at a temperature above 500° C. would result in the formation of a liquid phase that would enlarge the contact area between the initially solid powders and, thereby, accelerate the sintering process as compared to an all-solid process. Unfortunately, below 500° C. no liquid phase is created.
Thus, there is a need in the art, for a rapid yet low-temperature technique for fabricating high-quality and uniform CIGS films for solar modules and suitable precursor materials for fabricating such films.


A biomedical shape-set textile structure based mechanical thrombectomy systems and methods are described. In one of the embodiments, the mechanical thrombectomy device can be customized to the length of the clot in each patient. In one of the embodiments, the mechanical thrombectomy device because of the textile structure has a very low overall profile or thickness that is less than 0.0125 inches (0.317 mm) and therefore can be deployed within microcatheters with inner lumen diameter as small as 0.014 inches (0.355 mm).

Stroke is the leading cause of long term disability in the United States and the second leading cause of death worldwide with over 4.4 million deaths in a year (1999). There are over 795,000 new strokes every year in the United States. Around 85% of all strokes are acute ischemic strokes caused from a blockage in a blood vessel or a blood clot occluding a blood vessel. In 1996, the FDA approved a thrombolytic drug to dissolve blood clots called recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tpa). Despite practice guidelines from multiple national organizations stating the intravenous r-tpa is the standard of care for patients with acute ischemic stroke within 3 hours from symptom onset, only 3-4% of patients with acute ischemic stroke received this drug in the United States. Unlike intravenous r-tpa, catheter-based therapies for mechanical thrombectomy can be used for up to 8 hours or beyond from acute ischemic stroke symptom onset and could benefit more people. With advances in regional stroke networks, there are more and more stroke patients who are getting access to intra-arterial thrombolysis and therapies, and are as high as 21.6%.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Shape-set textile structure based mechanical thrombectomy systems


[Problem] The object is to obtain cosmetics which do not show primary skin irritation or sensitization, and do not impart any unpleasant sensation such as sharp pain or prickly sensation when employed as a cosmetic, with the lowest possible inclusion of preservative/fungicide.

Preservatives are employed in various non-limiting industrial applications including personal care, household, coatings, metalworking fluids, paper, wood, plastics, disinfection, cosmetics, toiletry, pharmaceuticals, food, beverages, oral care, paints, and water treatment to prevent microbial contamination, of which, the personal care products engage significant amount of preservatives. It is mandatory on the part of formulators to give due consideration for product safety and environmental impact of the ingredients of the composition that they develop.
The prior art discloses use of a variety of glycols for preparing preservative or antimicrobial compositions. Sometimes glycols per se are used as a preservative component. In many laboratories ethylene glycol has replaced formaldehyde to preserve organisms. However, the use of ethylene glycol is limited in food and personal care industries due its toxicity. So, there is a necessity to replace ethylene glycol with a solvent which is non toxic. The limitation of ethyleneglycol is partly addressed by chemically synthesized propylene glycol which has been widely used in many applications such as food, cosmetics, personal care, bakery, etc. Such compositions comprising chemically synthesized propylene diols were found to have an irritation potential, and harmful and toxic impurities produced from the chemical processes used to synthesize it.
Further, the use of diols, glycols and alcohols for preserving cosmetic, dermatological or pharmaceutical, personal care, household, disinfection, toiletry, food, beverages, oral care is limited by statutory regulatory instruments. Countries often have maximum concentration ranges to be employed in their respective approved regulated products. Additionally, the lowering of viscosity is observed with usage of higher percentage of solvents like alcohols in the end-user applications, thus, there is a limitation to employ higher concentration levels of alcohols.
To protect end-users against the microbial attack and from the side effects of excessive use levels of antimicrobial active ingredients, it is beneficial to have reduced concentration levels of hinokitiol, an antimicrobial active of the present application. In this regard, mild and harmless efficacy enhancers of hinokitiol could render the opportunity of decreasing the use concentration levels of hinokitiol, an antimicrobial agent.
US Patent Publication No. 20110086918 discloses a composition having effective broad spectrum preservation activity comprising benzyl alcohol, salicylic acid, sorbic acid, and a compound selected from the group consisting of 1,3-propanediol, glycerin and combinations thereof.
US Patent Publication No. 20080176957 discloses a preservative compositions comprising 1,3-propanediol, wherein the 1,3-propanediol in said composition has a bio-based carbon content of about 1% to 100%. In addition, it is preferred that the 1,3-propanediol be biologically-derived, and wherein upon biodegradation, the biologically-derived 1,3-propanediol contributes no anthropogenic CO2 emissions to the atmosphere.
US Patent Publication No. 20120100085 discloses liquid compositions which contain (a) from 5 to 95% by wt of sorbitan monocaprylate and (b) from 5 to 95% by weight of one or more alcohols of formula (1) R—OH, and wherein the liquid compositions are suitable for the production of cosmetic, dermatological or pharmaceutical products.
WO2010127227 discloses cleanser compositions suitable for application to the skin and ocular surface comprising linalool, hinokitiol and an alcohol. The alcohol can be a diol, such as a glycol. Exemplary glycols include propylene glycol, and ethylene glycol and dipropylene glycol. The cleanser compositions of the invention may further comprise decylglucoside, sodium trideceth sulfate, cocamidopropyl betaine, dipropylene glycol or mixtures thereof.
US Patent Publication No. 20120101135 discloses liquid compositions which contain (a) from 40 to 99.9% by wt of sorbitan monocaprylate and (b) from 0.1 to 60% by wt of one or more antimicrobial substances selected from the group consisting of the components (b1) to (b5): (b1) specific organic acids and the salts thereof, (b2) specific formaldehyde donors, (b3) specific isothiazolinones, (b4) specific paraben esters and the salts thereof, and (b5) specific pyridones and the salts thereof. The liquid compositions are suitable for the production of cosmetic, dermatological or pharmaceutical products.
In view of foregoing, there remains a need for an eco-friendly, non-aqueous and stable antimicrobial solution composition comprising a solvent which is free from toxins, non-irritant for the skin, and preferably acceptable by various regulatory authorities around the globe.
Accordingly, it is a primary objective of the present application to provide an antimicrobial composition which is capable of providing effective antimicrobial activity at lower use levels of antimicrobial agent in the presence of said solvent or solvent system, i.e., 1,3-propanediol and/or sorbitan caprylate.
Another objective of the present application is to provide an antimicrobial composition comprising lower concentration levels of solvents such as alcohols in order to limit the impact on the viscosity of the end user products.
It is a further objective of the present application to provide an eco-friendly, non-aqueous and stable antimicrobial solution composition comprising (i) hinokitiol; (ii) 1,3-propanediol, a bio-derived solvent; and/or (iii) sorbitan caprylate, a bio-derived solvent.

Eco-friendly non-aqueous antimicrobial composition comprising hinokitiol with 1,3-propanediol and/or sorbitan caprylate

Abstract: [Solution] Antimicrobial low-irritant cosmetics characterized in that they contain one or two or more tropolone derivative(s) and one or two or more polyhydric alcohol(s) in quantities which have an anti-microbial effect and low skin irritancy.


A sharpening apparatus (16) for a blade-like cutting implement. The sharpening apparatus has an elongate body (18) and a cutting edge extending widthwise across one end of the body (11) at a predetermined angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the body (11). The cutting edge is formed by an inclined face formed on one side face of the body. The apparatus includes a cradle (26) for holding a blade-like implement to be sharpened and a mounting body for mounting the cradle (26) relative to a grinding surface. The cradle is mounted on a pair of guide rails (22, 24) for movement along a rectilinear path, the cradle including first and second rail followers slidably connected to a first and second of the guide rails respectively. The cradle (26) includes a seat for locating the blade-like implement at a reselected reference position on the cradle (26) such that the cutting edge of the implement to be sharpened is located parallel to said rectilinear path. The first rail and/or the first rail follower is adjustably mounted to enable the lateral position of the rectilinear path to be adjusted.

The present invention relates to a sharpening apparatus for blade-like cutting implements and, in particular, to a sharpening apparatus for the sharpening of plane blades or chisels, as used in woodworking.
Generally plane blades or chisels have an elongate body and a cutting edge located at one end of the body.
The cutting edge is normally rectilinear, and is defined at the transition between an inclined face ground at a predetermined angle on one side face of the body, and the opposite face of the body.
The cutting edge normally extends across the width of the blade body at a predetermined angle, usually 90°, to the longitudinal axis of the elongate body.
It is desirable, when re-sharpening a plane blade or chisel, to re-grind the inclined face at the same angle as it was originally ground relative to said one side face, and also to grind along the inclined face such that the cutting edge extends across the width of the body at the said predetermined angle.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a sharpening apparatus for a blade-like cutting implement having an elongate body and a cutting edge extending widthwise across one end of the body at a predetermined angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the body, the cutting edge being formed by an inclined face formed on one side face of the body, the apparatus including a cradle for holding a blade-like implement to be sharpened and a mounting body for mounting the cradle relative to a grinding surface, the cradle being mounted on a pair of guide rails for movement along a rectilinear path, the cradle including first and second rail followers slidably connected to a first and second of the guide rails respectively, the cradle including a seat for locating the blade-like implement at a preselected reference position on the cradle such that the cutting edge of the implement to be sharpened is located parallel to said rectilinear path, the first rail and/or the first rail follower being adjustably mounted to enable the lateral position of the rectilinear path to be adjusted.
Referring initially to FIG. 1 there is shown a sharpening device 10 which includes a grinding wheel 12 mounted on the drive shaft of an electric motor housed within a housing 14.
A sharpening apparatus 16 is removably mounted on the housing 14. The attachment includes a mounting body 18 which is detachably attached to the housing 14 via a tongue and groove arrangement 20. The mounting body 18 includes a pair of generally parallel rails 22,24 that are spaced a predetermined distance apart, and extend widthwise of the mounting body 18 to define a rectilinear path.
The sharpening apparatus 16 also includes a cradle 26 slidably mounted on the rails 22,24 for movement along the rectilinear path.
A first 22 of the pair of rails is a rod-shaped member. The cradle 26 is slidably mounted thereon by means of first rail followers in the form of outwardly extending limbs 28,30 having apertures 32,34 therein through which the first rail 22 extends.
As shown in FIG. 2, the first rail 22 is preferably mounted at each end on an eccentric 58 rotatably supported in the mounting body 18. The eccentrics 58 thereby provide an adjustment means for adjusting the lateral position of the rectilinear path. An adjustment knob 59 is preferably connected to the eccentric 58 at one end of the first rail 22 to facilitate rotation of the first rail 22 and thereby adjustment of the lateral portion of the rectilinear path.
The second 24 of the pair of rails is formed as a flange and extends outwardly from the mounting body 18. The cradle 26 is slidably mounted on the second rail 24 by means of a second rail follower in the form of an outwardly extending arm 36. The arm 36 is connected to the cradle 26 at one end, and includes a recess 38 at its other end that is shaped to receive the second rail 24 therein.
As shown in FIG. 3, the arm 36 is preferably received at its one end in a recess 25 formed in the cradle 26, and is preferably adjustably connected at its one end to the cradle 26 by means of a plurality of teeth 40 formed along an edge thereof and adapted to engage teeth 42 formed on a sprocket wheel 44 housed in the cradle 26.
The cradle 26 includes an adjustment knob 46 (FIG. 1) operably connected to the sprocket wheel 44 to facilitate adjustment of the angular position of the sprocket wheel 44 relative to the teeth 42 formed on the arm 36.
The separation between the cradle 26 and the second rail 24 is determined by the length 1a of the portion of arm 36 extending from the recess 25. The length of the arm 36 may be adjusted by turning the adjustment knob 46 such that engagement between the teeth 40 on the arm 36 and the teeth 42 on the sprocket wheel 44 drives the arm 36 into or out of the recess 25 formed in the cradle 26.
By adjusting the length 1a of the portion of arm 36 extending from recess 25, and thereby the separation between the cradle 26 and the second rail 24, the angular position of the cradle 26 may be adjusted about the longitudinal axis Pa of the first rail 22.
In other embodiments, the angular position of the cradle 26 may be adjusted about the longitudinal axis of the first rail 22 by adjusting the position of the second rail 24 relative to the arm 36 in addition to, or as an alternative to adjusting the length of the arm 36.
The arm 36 is preferably shaped to form a curved member. The curvature of the arm 36 provides a certain degree of resilience thereby providing a bias that helps to maintain the recess 38 in engagement with the second rail 24. The resilience however may permit a user to disengage the arm 36 from the second rail 24, when required, in order to reveal a blade seat 48, as shown in FIG. 4.
The cradle 26 includes a seat 48 for holding a blade-like implement to be sharpened against a fixed edge 50 extending generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rectilinear path.
The seat 48 preferably includes a channel 52 formed therein that extends generally parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rectilinear path and has a rail 54 provided therein extending along the length thereof.
A movable block 56 is slidably mounted on the rail 54.
In use, the mounting body 18 is mounted on the housing 14 of the sharpening device 10 such that the rectilinear path defined by the rails 22,24 extends across an exposed face of the grinding wheel 12.
When a blade-like implement is positioned on the seat 48 with its cutting edge facing the first rail 22, the movable block provides an adjustable means for holding the blade-like implement against the fixed edge 50 such that the cutting edge is located parallel to the rectilinear path.
The adjustable mounting of the first rail 22 provides means for adjusting the lateral position of the rectilinear path, and thereby provides means for adjusting the lateral position of the cutting edge of the blade-like implement, in use, relative to the grinding wheel 12.
The adjustable mounting of the cradle 26 relative to the second rail 24 provides means for adjusting the angular position of the cradle 26 about the longitudinal axis Pa of the first rail 22. This in turn enables the angle of the inclined face of the cutting edge of the blade-like implement to be adjusted relative to the rectilinear path and thereby adjusted relative to the grinding wheel 12.
The slidable mounting of the cradle 26 on the first and second rails 22,24 permits sliding movement of the cutting edge of the blade-like implement along the rectilinear path. It thereby permits sliding movement of the cutting edge, in use, relative to the grinding wheel 12.
The provision of a detachable arm 36, permitting disengagement of the cradle 26 from the second rail 24, enables a user to inspect the cutting edge of the blade-like implement during the sharpening process.


A method and system for determining the angular position of an object are disclosed. As one example, a method for determining the angular position of an object is disclosed, which includes the steps of obtaining data representing an image of a surface area of the object, the image including a plurality of dots, determining a set of coordinates for each dot of the plurality of dots, selecting a predetermined number of dots of the plurality of dots, comparing the predetermined number of dots with a plurality of dots stored in a dot map, responsive to the comparing step, if the predetermined number of dots substantially match the plurality of dots stored in the dot map, selecting the predetermined number of dots, and forming a coordinate transformation matrix representing a transformation from a coordinate frame associated with a position of the predetermined number of dots at the surface of the object to a coordinate frame associated with a position of the image of the surface area of the object.

Contemporary precision inertial navigation systems have eliminated the need for gimbals by supporting the inertial sensor assembly with a spherically-shaped gas-supported bearing. The gas-supported bearing allows rotation of the inertial sensor assembly in all axes with no wear due to contact between the rotating surfaces. During the flight of a craft, the angular position of the inertial sensor assembly (sometimes also referred to as the attitude, or roll, pitch and yaw of the inertial sensor assembly) relative to the frame of the craft must be monitored at all times. However, physical contact with the freely-rotating, gas bearing-supported inertial sensor assembly is undesirable. Consequently, a pressing need exists for a position determination method and system that can be used for sensing the angular position of the inertial sensor assembly without physically contacting the assembly.
Similarly, in other applications, such as, for example, in a manufacturing assembly line, objects being manufactured are scanned to determine their position on the assembly line's conveyor. A robotic system down-line from the scanner, and in communication with the scanner, is implemented to reposition the objects if necessary. Physical contact between the scanner and the objects is undesirable. Consequently, a need also exists for a position determination method and system that can be used for sensing the angular position of an object on an assembly line without physically contacting the object.

Method and system for determining angular position of an object


An image forming process system in which an original document which includes characters to be copies is scanned. A desired magnification ratio for magnifying the original document can also be input. Further, the characters in the original document are segmented for magnifying the characters by the desired magnification ratio. This magnification operation is performed such that only the characters in the segments are magnified so that the copied and magnified characters are centered at the segments, and such that a size of the copied document is the same as the size of the original document. An operation may further be provided in which the input desired magnification ratio is based on an operator inputting a minimum distance to be maintained between the characters after the magnifying operation, so that the input magnification ratio is calculated based on this minimum distance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an image processing apparatus used in an image forming apparatus such as a digital copier, etc., and more particularly, the present invention is directed to an image processing apparatus which includes a magnification unit for magnifying characters on an original document.
2. Discussion of the Background
In an image processing apparatus, FIG. 5 is a drawing of an original document used in a background image processing apparatus. FIG. 15 is a drawing showing a copied document formed from the original document of FIG. 5 with a magnification process in the background image processing apparatus.
As illustrated in FIG. 5, it is often difficult to read small characters on an original document. To make the small characters more readable, an operator may wish to enlarge the document by performing a magnification process. In the magnification process, an operator sets a magnification ratio for the small characters on the original document, such as for an original document size B5.fwdarw.A4 (115%), A4.fwdarw.A3 (141%), and a size of a recording paper such as A4, A3 in an image processing apparatus.
Characters on a copied document are enlarged by performing the magnification process in the image processing apparatus from an upper left edge portion (Xo, Yo) on the original document in the directions for scanning X and sub-scanning Y. It then becomes easy to read large characters on the copied document.
However, the above-mentioned image processing apparatus has a drawback in that a size of the original document is not the same as that of the copied document. It may then become inconvenient to have such documents with different sizes.


A driving apparatus enables a sliding-type portable wireless terminal to be opened or closed with reduced noise and through multiple stages of opening. The portable wireless terminal may have various functions corresponding to each of the multiple stages. The driving apparatus comprises: a main body; a sub body sliding in a longitudinal direction of the main body, so as to be opened from or closed onto the main body; a first magnetic module provided at a rear surface of the sub body and having a first magnet, the first magnet having a first polarity and extending in a longitudinal direction of the first magnet; and a second magnetic module provided at a front surface of the main body and having a second magnet, the second magnet having a second polarity and being opposed to the first magnet.

In general, portable wireless terminals are classified into bar-type terminals, flip-type terminals, and folder-type terminals according to their appearance. Recently, the folder-type terminals have prevailed in the wireless terminal market, because it is easy to make them in a compact size with reduced weight. In addition, body-wearable type terminals and sliding-type terminals have appeared, in order to satisfy the diversified taste or desires of customers.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a driving apparatus of a sliding-type portable wireless terminal 100 according to the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, the sliding-type portable wireless terminal 100 has a main body 101, a sub-body 102, and a spring module 150 which acts as a driving apparatus and which couples them in such a manner that they can slide relative to each other.
The sub-body 102 has a pair of sliding guides 127 positioned on its rear surface for smooth sliding. The sliding guides 127 preferably have the shape of an H-beam having lateral grooves (not shown), so that the sub-body 102 can slide in a stable manner and can be prevented from escaping from the main body 101. The sliding guides 127 are retained in coupling grooves 123, which are formed on the rear surface of the sub-body 102 along its longitudinal direction.
The spring module 150 has a rear cover 151, a front cover 153, and torsion springs 155.
The rear cover 151 is retained on the front surface of the main body 101. The rear cover 151 is positioned on the upper portion of the front surface of the main body 101 and a key pad (not shown) is positioned on the lower portion thereof.
The front cover 153 has sliding grooves 153d formed along its longitudinal direction, which corresponds to the sliding guides 127, and guide slits 153c formed along the longitudinal direction, which penetrates both the sliding grooves 153d and the interior of the front cover 153. The sliding grooves 153d are engaged with the lateral grooves of the sliding guides 127 so that the spring module 150 can slide on the slide guides 127. The upper surfaces of the sliding guides 127 are in communication with the interior of the front cover 153 via the guide slits 153c. The front cover 153 also has support holes 153f formed thereon for supporting the torsion springs 155. After being retained on the rear cover 151 and being coupled to the sliding guides 127 on the rear surface of the sub-body 102, the front cover 153 acts as a bridge which connects the main body 101 and the sub-body 102 to each other in such a manner that they can slide relative to each other.
Each torsion spring 155 has a coil 155a, a first retaining end 155b extending from an end of the coil 155a, and a second retaining end 155c extending from the other end of the coil 155a. The coils 155a of the torsion springs 155 are moved along a predetermined path within the rear cover 151. The first retaining ends 151b protrude to the exterior via the guide slits 153c of the front cover 153 and are retained on the sliding guides 127, which are positioned on the rear surface of the sub-body 102. The second retaining ends 155c are retained in the support holes 153f of the front cover 153. The torsion springs 155 accumulate an elastic force, which acts in such a direction that the first and second retaining ends 155b and 155c move away from each other. The elastic force enables the spring module 150 to provide a driving force which causes the sub-body 102 to slide on the main body 101.
However, such a sliding-type portable wireless terminal according to the prior art has a problem in that it generates a noise during opening/closing and the service life of the product is shortened by the friction among components because of the structure, which uses a spring module to generate a driving force. In particular, as the coil springs in the spring module are moved, they generate a noise and cause friction among components, which wears the components and shortens the service life of the product.

Driving apparatus using magnetic substance for sliding type portable wireless terminal


Devices for extracting bone marrow from a bone of a patient are disclosed. The device includes a housing defined in part by a cannula and a hollow needle disposed within the cannula. The hollow needle is movable axially relative to the cannula and extendable therefrom. The hollow needle is configured to aspirate bone marrow within a bone. A depth adjustment mechanism coupled to the hollow needle and the cannula is used to adjust the depth of the hollow needle relative to the cannula to control the distance of the needle within the bone. The device is attachable to an extraction device to extract bone marrow from the patient through the hollow needle. Methods of using these devices and methods of extracting bone marrow are also included.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to devices and methods for extracting tissue such as bone marrow from a patient. More particularly, the present invention relates to bone marrow aspiration needle and device.
2. Background Information
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,628,524 and 3,598,108 disclose a device that is commonly used for tissue biopsy. In general, such devices include a cannula, in which a stylet is inserted and used to penetrate the outer layers of tissue. Once the outer layers of tissue have been penetrated, a needle is advanced to the desired depth. Then the stylet is removed and a syringe is attached to the proximal end and tissue is extracted via the needle.
Limitations exist with prior art including controlling the needle penetration depth in bone, visualization of the bone entry location and rotational movement of the cannula that could affect tissue. For example, the presence of a T-shaped handle, flange or other member that is used to brace the device may block the surgeon's view of the device in the patient thus making it more difficult to maneuver the device. Also, such devices do not include a needle, the depth of which within the patient may be adequately adjusted, relative to the cannula to accommodate the anatomy of a patient. Furthermore, rotational movement of the cannula and needle when inserted can result in damage to surrounding bone or other tissue as the needle is inserted or extracted.
These issues make it difficult to safely extract bone marrow from certain anatomical areas such as vertebrae. Bone marrow and/or concentrated bone marrow products are used in spinal fusion surgery to facilitate bone growth and healing. In such surgeries, the surgeon may prefer to extract the bone marrow from vertebrae at or near the point of surgery, rather than create a new surgical site. When extracting bone marrow from the vertebrae, conventional bone marrow extraction/aspiration needles are difficult to use and control, especially when using an anterior surgical approach. For example, if the cannula or needle rotates, tissue may be exposed to possible injury due to the needle and the cannula. In addition, due to the vertebrae anatomical limitations as compared to the ileum and the surrounding anatomy, it is desirable to have an access needle which is variable and adjustable in length so its depth within the bone can be precisely controlled.
Thus, a need exists for an adjustable depth bone marrow aspiration device that is safe, effective and able to accommodate a diverse array of clinical scenarios, including spinal surgery and/or vertebral bone marrow extraction.

Bone marrow aspiration device and needle