Drug delivery systems and methods for administering a glucagon-like insulinotropic peptide to the buccal mucosa for transmucosal drug delivery are described. The drug delivery systems comprise a drug composition containing an effective amount of the glucagon-like insulinotropic peptide and an effective amount of a permeation enhancer for enhancing permeation of glucagon-like insulinotropic peptide through the buccal mucosa and means for maintaining the drug composition in a drug transferring relationship with buccal mucosa. These systems can be in free form, such as creams, gels, and ointments, or can comprise a device of determined physical form, such as tablets, patches, and troches. A preferred glucagon-like insulinotropic peptide is GLP-1(7-36)amide.

This invention relates to compositions and methods for delivery of drugs, especially peptide drugs, to a warm-blooded animal by transmucosal administration and particularly through the buccal mucosa of the oral cavity. More particularly, the invention relates to compositions and methods for buccal delivery of glucagon-like insulinotropic peptides (GLIPs) into the body.
Traditionally there has been very little work evaluating membranes of the oral cavity as sites of drug administration. Both the buccal and sublingual membranes offer advantages over other routes of administration. For example, drugs administered through the buccal and sublingual routes have a rapid onset of action, reach high levels in the blood, avoid the first-pass effect of hepatic metabolism, and avoid exposure of the drug to fluids of the gastrointestinal tract. Additional advantages include easy access to the membrane sites so that the drug can be applied, localized, and removed easily. Further, there is good potential for prolonged delivery through the buccal membrane. M. Rathbone & J. Hadgraft, 74 Int'l J. of Pharmaceutics 9 (1991). Administration through the buccal mucosa may be better accepted than rectal dosing, for example, and generally avoids local toxic effects, such as has been a problem in nasal administration. B. Aungst & N. Rogers, 53 Int'l J. Pharmaceutics 227, 228 (1989).
The sublingual route has received far more attention than has the buccal route. The sublingual mucosa includes the membrane of the ventral surface of the tongue and the floor of the mouth, whereas the buccal mucosa constitutes the lining of the cheek and lips. The sublingual mucosa is relatively permeable, thus giving rapid absorption and acceptable bioavailabilities of many drugs. Further, the sublingual mucosa is convenient, easily accessible, and generally well accepted. This route has been investigated clinically for the delivery of a substantial number of drugs. It is the traditional route for administration of nitroglycerin and is also used for buprenorphine and nifedipine. D. Harris & J. Robinson, 81 J. Pharmaceutical Sci. 1 (1992). The sublingual mucosa is not well suited to sustained-delivery systems, however, because it lacks an expanse of smooth and relatively immobile mucosa suitable for attachment of a retentive delivery system.
The buccal mucosa is less permeable than the sublingual mucosa, and the rapid absorption and high bioavailabilities seen with sublingual administration of drugs is not generally provided to the same extent by the buccal mucosa. D. Harris & J. Robinson, 81 J. Pharmaceutical Sci. 1, 2 (1992). The permeability of the oral mucosae is probably related to the physical characteristics of the tissues. The sublingual mucosa is thinner than the buccal mucosa, thus permeability is greater for the sublingual tissue. The palatal mucosa is intermediate in thickness, but is keratinized and thus less permeable, whereas the sublingual and buccal tissues are not keratinized. The buccal mucosa, however, appears well suited to attachment of retentive delivery systems.
The ability of molecules to permeate through the oral mucosae also appears to be related to molecular size, lipid solubility, and ionization. Small molecules, less than about 300 daltons, appear to cross the mucosae rapidly. As molecular size increases, however, permeability decreases rapidly. Lipid-soluble compounds are more permeable through the mucosae than are non-lipid-soluble molecules. In this regard, the relative permeabilities of molecules seems to be related to their partition coefficients. The degree of ionization of molecules, which is dependent on the pK.sub.a of the molecule and the pH at the membrane surface, also greatly affects permeability of the molecules. Maximum absorption occurs when molecules are unionized or neutral in electrical charge; absorption decreases as the degree of ionization increases. Therefore, charged macromolecular drugs present the biggest challenge to absorption through the oral mucosae.
Substances that facilitate the transport of solutes across biological membranes, penetration enhancers, are well known in the art for administering drugs. V. Lee et al., 8 Critical Reviews in Therapeutic Drug Carrier Systems 91 (1991) hereinafter "Critical Reviews"!. Penetration enhancers can be categorized as (a) chelators (e.g., EDTA, citric acid, salicylates), (b) surfactants (e.g., sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)), (c) non-surfactants (e.g., unsaturated cyclic ureas), (d) bile salts (e.g., sodium deoxycholate, sodium taurocholate), and (e) fatty acids (e.g., oleic acid, acylcarnitines, mono- and diglycerides). The efficacy of enhancers in transporting both peptide and nonpeptide drugs across membranes seems to be positively correlated with the enhancer's hydrophobicity. Critical Reviews at 112. For example, the efficacy of bile salts in enhancing the absorption of insulin through nasal membranes is positively correlated with the hydrophobicity of the bile salts' steroid structure. Critical Reviews at 115. Thus, the order of effectiveness is deoxycholate<chenodeoxycholate<cholate<ursodeoxycholate. Conjugation of deoxycholate and cholate, but not fusidic acid derivatives, with glycine and taurine does not affect their enhancement potency. Transmucosal intestinal delivery of heparin is not apparent, as measured in terms of prolongation of partial thromboplastin time or release of plasma lipase activity, when administered through the colon of a baboon. However, significant activity is detected when the bile salts, sodium cholate or deoxycholate, are included in the formulation. Critical Reviews at 108.
Various mechanisms of action of penetration enhancers have been proposed. These mechanisms of action, at least for peptide and protein drugs, include (1) reducing the viscosity and/or elasticity of mucus layer, (2) facilitating transcellular transport by increasing the fluidity of the lipid bilayer of membranes, (3) facilitating paracellular transport by altering tight junctions across the epithelial cell layer, (4) overcoming enzymatic barriers, and (5) increasing the thermodynamic activity of the drugs. Critical Reviews at 117-125.
Many penetration enhancers have been tested and found effective in facilitating mucosal drug administration, but hardly any penetration enhanced products have reached the market place. Reasons for this include lack of a satisfactory safety profile respecting irritation, lowering of the barrier function, and impairment of the mucociliary clearance protective mechanism. Critical Reviews at 169-70. Further, for an enhancer to function adequately, the enhancer and drug combination is preferably held in position against mucosal tissues for a period of time sufficient to allow enhancer-assisted penetration of the drug across the mucosal membrane. In transdermal and transmucosal technology, this is often accomplished by means of a patch or other device that adheres to the skin layer by means of an adhesive.
Oral adhesives are well known in the art. See, for example, Tsuk et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,995; Lowey, U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,314; Lowey, U.S. Pat. 4,680,323; Yukimatsu et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,365; Kwiatek et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,996; Suzuki et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,299; Suzuki et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,369; Mizobuchi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,092; Fankhauser et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,142; Nagai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,163; Nagai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,848; Browning, U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,580; Schiraldi et al.,U.S. Reissue Pat. No. Re.33,093; and J. Robinson, 18 Proc. Intern. Symp. Control. Rel. Bioact. Mater. 75 (1991). Typically, these adhesives consist of a matrix of a hydrophilic, e.g., water soluble or swellable, polymer or mixture of polymers that can adhere to a wet mucous surface. These adhesives may be formulated as ointments, thin films, tablets, troches, and other forms. Often, these adhesives have had medicaments mixed therewith to effectuate slow release or local delivery of a drug. Some, however, have been formulated to permit adsorption through the mucosa into the circulatory system of the individual.
Glucagon-like insulinotropic peptides, e.g. GLP-1(7-36)amide, are antidiabetogenic agents being investigated for treatment of diabetes mellitus that have heretofore been administered intravenously, subcutaneously, or by some other invasive route, and are too large for transdermal delivery. Diabetes mellitus afflicts nearly 15 million people in the United States. About 15 percent have insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM; type 1 diabetes), which is believed to be caused by autoimmune destruction of pancreatic islet beta cells. In such patients, insulin therapy is essential for life. About 80% of patients have non-insulin-dependent diabetes (NIDDM; type 2 diabetes), a heterogeneous disorder characterized by both impaired insulin secretion and insulin resistance. A few patients who appear to have NIDDM may actually have a slowly progressive form of IDDM and eventually become dependent on insulin. Most patients with NIDDM, however, can be treated without insulin. They are usually overweight and have the insulin resistance of obesity superimposed on the insulin resistance intrinsic to the disease. Weight loss, especially early in the disease, can restore normal glucose levels in the blood of these patients. Their diabetes may develop when the impact of the combined insulin resistances exceeds the ability of their pancreatic beta cells to compensate. Plasma insulin levels in such patients, which are often higher than those in people of normal weight who do not have diabetes, are not appropriate to their obesity and hyperglycemia. People with NIDDM who are not obese may have a primary defect in insulin secretion in which elevations of plasma glucose levels cause not only insulin resistance but also the further deterioration of pancreatic beta cell functioning. J. E. Gerich, Oral Hypoglycemic Agents, 321 N. Engl. J. Med. 1231 (1989).
NIDDM patients are generally treated with diet modifications and sulfonylureas and/or diguanides. H. E. Lebovitz & M. N. Feinglos, Sulfonylurea Drugs: Mechanism of Antidiabetic Action and Therapeutic Usefulness, 1 Diabetes Care 189 (1978). Oral hypoglycemic agents account for about 1 percent of all prescriptions in the United States. J. E. Gerich, 321 N. Engl. J. Med. 1231 (1989). Unfortunately, about 11-36% of NIDDM patients fail to respond well to diet and sulfonylurea therapy after one year of treatment. Within 5-7 years, about half of NIDDM patients receiving sulfonylurea treatment need to start insulin therapy. These patients tend to be resistant to insulin, thus high doses of insulin are administered, which in turn leads to hyperinsulinemia which can play a role in the development of atherosclerosis. D. A. Robertson et al., Macrovascular Disease and Hyperinsulinaemia, in Bailliere's Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 407-24 (M. Nattras & P. J. Hale eds., 1988).
In warm-blooded animals and humans, GLIPs stimulate insulin release, lower glucagon secretion, inhibit gastric emptying, and enhance glucose utilization. M. K. Gutniak et al., Antidiabetogenic Effect of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (7-36)amide in Normal Subjects and Patients with Diabetes Mellitus, 326 N. Engl. J. Med. 1316 (1992); D. M. Nathan et al., Insulinotropic Action of Glucagonlike Peptide-1-(7(37) in Diabetic and Nondiabetic Subjects, 15 Diabetes Care 270 (1992); M. A. Nauck et al., Normalization of Fasting Hyperglycaemia by Exogenous GlucagonLike Peptide 1 (7-36 amide) in Type 2 (Non-Insulin-Dependent) Diabetic Patients, 36 Diabetologia 741 (1993). Further, these peptide drugs are inherently safe since the insulinotropic effects are strictly glucose dependent, thus limiting the risk of hypoglycemia in response to therapeutic use thereof. M. A. Nauck et al., Normalization of Fasting Hyperglycaemia by Exogenous Glucagon-like Peptide 1 (7-36 amide) in Type 2 (Non-Insulin-Dependent) Diabetic Patients, 36 Diabetologia 741 (1993). These properties make such peptides serious candidates for a therapeutic drug in treatment of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM).
GLP-1(7-36)amide is a gastrointestinal hormone processed from the preproglucagon gene. Preproglucagon is a polyprotein hormone precursor comprising a 20-amino acid signal peptide and a 160-amino acid prohormone, proglucagon (PG). PG has been shown to be processed differently in the pancreas and the small intestine of man. C. .O slashed.rskov et al., Pancreatic and Intestinal Processing of Proglucagon in Man, 30 Diabetologia 874 (1987). In the pancreas, the main products are (a) glucagon (PG amino acids 33-61), (b) a glycentin-related pancreatic peptide (GRPP) (PG amino acids 1-30), and (c) a large peptide-designated major proglucagon fragment (MPGF) (PG amino acids 72-158) that contains two glucagon-like sequences. The only proglucagon derived pancreatic peptide with known biological activity is glucagon. In the small intestine, the main products of proglucagon are (a) enteroglucagon (PG amino acids 1-69), which includes the glucagon sequence of amino acids, (b) GLP-1 (PG amino acids 78-107), and (c) GLP-2 (PG amino acids 126-158). C. .O slashed.rskov et al., Proglucagon Products in Plasma of Noninsulin-dependent Diabetics and Nondiabetic Controls in the Fasting State and after Oral Glucose and Intravenous Arginine, 87 J. Clin. Invest. 415 (1991). A variant of GLP-1(7-36)amide, termed GLP-1(7-37), has been shown to have indistinguishable biological effects and metabolic rates in healthy individuals, D. Gefel et al., Glucagon-Like Peptide-I Analogs: Effects on Insulin Secretion and Adenosine 3',5'-Monophosphate Formation, 126 Endocrinology 2164 (1990); C. .O slashed.rskov et al., Biological Effects and Metabolic Rates of Glucagonlike Peptide-1 7-36 Amide and Glucagonlike Peptide-1 7-37 in Healthy Subjects Are Indistinguishable, 42 Diabetes 658 (1993), but GLP-1(7-36)amide is the naturally occurring form in humans, C. .O slashed.rskov et al., Complete Sequences of Glucagon-like Peptide-1 from Human and Pig Small Intestine, 264 J. Biol. Chem. 12826 (1989). It has long been believed that an endocrine transmitter produced in the gastrointestinal tract, or incretin, stimulates insulin secretion in response to food intake. Since GLP-1(7-36)amide is released during a meal and after oral glucose administration and potentiates glucose-induced insulin release, this peptide may be an important incretin. J. M. Conlon, Proglucagon-derived Peptides: Nomenclature, Biosynthetic Relationships and Physiological Roles, 31 Diabetologia 563 (1988); J. J. Hoist et al., Truncated Glucagon-like Peptide 1, an Insulin-releasing Hormone from the Distal Gut, 211 FEBS Lett. 169 (1987); M. Gutniak et al., Antidiabetogenic Effect of Glucagon-like Peptide-1 (7-36)amide in Normal Subjects and Patients with Diabetes Mellitus, 326 N. Engl. J. Med. 1316 (1992).
An improved treatment regime for NIDDM patients exhibiting a secondary failure to sulfonylurea should give a satisfactory metabolic control without creating marked hyperinsulinemia. Until now, there have been no other serious candidates for a drug that can be used as such a treatment. Glucagon-like insulinotropic peptides, such as GLP-1(7-36)amide, appear to be the most promising treatment of diabetes. J. Eng, U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,286; S. E. Bjorn et al., WO 9517510; J. A. Galloway et al., EP 658568; H. Agerbk et al., WO 9505848; D. E. Danley et al., EP 619322; G. C. Andrews, WO 9325579; O. Kirk et al., WO 9318785; D. I. Buckley et al., WO 9111457; J. F. Habener, U.S. 5,118,666; J. F. Habener, WO9011296; J. F. Habener, WO8706941; J. F. Habener, U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,712. It has been found previously that the combination therapy of a GLIP and a sulfonyl urea exerts a synergistic effect on glycemia and insulin release. S. Efendic et al., WO 9318786.
R. W. Baker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,496, disclose oral dosage forms for transmucosal administration of nicotine for smoking cessation therapy. Such dosage forms include a lozenge, capsule, gum, tablet, ointment, gel, membrane, and powder, which are typically held in contact with the mucosal membrane and disintegrate or dissolve rapidly to allow immediate absorption. J. Kost et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,587, disclose enhancement of transbuccal drug delivery using ultrasound. F. Theeuwes et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,298,017, describes electrotransport of drugs, including peptides, through buccal membrane. J. L. Haslam et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,822, teaches a drug delivery system that can be used for buccal delivery wherein the drug is combined with a polymer that is liquid at room temperature and semisolid or a gel at body temperature. T. Higuchi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,317, discloses a shaped body for drug delivery wherein the drug is contained in an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer. A. Zaffaroni, U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,254, describes buccal drug delivery with a device having a microporous wall surrounding a closed reservoir containing a drug and a solid drug carrier. The pores contain a medium that controls the release rate of the drug.
In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that compositions and methods for prolonged buccal delivery of glucagon-like insulinotropic peptides, such as GLP-1(7-36)amide, would be significant advancements in the art.

Buccal delivery of glucagon-like insulinotropic peptides


A method of forming a patterned thin film comprises the step of forming a frame having an undercut near the bottom thereof on an electrode film, and the plating step of forming the patterned thin film by plating through the use of the frame. The patterned thin film includes a plurality of linear portions disposed side by side. Each of the linear portions has a portion close to the electrode film. This portion has a width greater than the width of the remaining portion of each of the linear portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a patterned thin film including a linear portion and a method of forming the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Frame plating is one of the methods of forming a thin film that is patterned (referred to as patterned thin film in the present patent application), such as the method disclosed in Published Examined Japanese Patent Application Showa 56-36706 (1981). To perform the frame plating disclosed, an electrode film is formed on a substrate, for example, and a resist layer is formed on the electrode film. The resist layer is patterned by photolithography to form a frame to be used for plating. Electroplating is then performed through the use of the frame with the electrode film already formed as an electrode and a seed layer, so as to form a patterned thin film made of a conductive material.
A patterned thin film formed by frame plating may be utilized in microdevices, for example. Such microdevices include a thin-film inductor, a thin-film magnetic head, a semiconductor device, a sensor incorporating thin films, and an actuator incorporating thin films.
Patterned thin films include those having a plurality of linear portions disposed side by side, such as a coil or wiring. For such a patterned thin film it is required to reduce the width of the linear portions and to reduce the space between adjacent linear portions in some cases so as to enhance the integration.
If the width of the linear portions of the patterned thin film is made too small, however, the resistance of the linear portions increases and a problem such as generation of heat in the linear portions arises.
The following problem arises if the space between adjacent ones of the linear portions of the patterned thin film is reduced. When the patterned thin film is formed by frame plating, the space between adjacent ones of the linear portions is determined by the width of a dividing portion disposed between adjacent ones of grooves of the frame. The minimum width of the dividing portion depends on the resolution of the resist used for making the frame. The resolution of the resist is determined by the material of the resist and the exposure method. As thus described, to form the patterned thin film by frame plating, it is difficult to make the space between adjacent ones of the linear portions of the patterned thin film smaller than the limit determined by the resolution of the resist.


A common-mode choke coil comprises an insulating layer and first and second coil conductors. The first and second coil conductors are laminated with the insulating layer interposed therebetween and are magnetically coupled to each other. A width W (mm) and a length L (mm) of at least one coil conductor in the first and second coil conductors satisfy the relational expression of:√{square root over (L/W)}<(7.6651−fc)/0.1385where fc (MHz) is the cutoff frequency with respect to differential-mode noise.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a common-mode choke coil used in electronic devices and the like.
2. Related Background Art
As a conventional common-mode choke coil, a common-mode choke coil disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 8-203737 has been known. The common-mode choke coil disclosed in the above-mentioned publication comprises a pair of magnetic substrates and a multilayer body disposed between the magnetic substrates. The multilayer body has an insulating layer and two coil conductors laminated with the insulating layer interposed therebetween. When an interface such as cable is provided with such a common-mode choke coil, noises generated at the time of data transmission can be reduced.


The invention relates to a device which is used for cleaning and/or disinfecting a keg coupler (10) which has a collar-like lower section (14) with segment-like projections (18). The lower section (14) is provided on its periphery with a cylindrical external peripheral surface (16) and is provided on the inside with a recess which is formed by an axially recessed radial bearing surface (19), a cylindrical internal peripheral surface (20), a lower radial surface (21), and a peripheral surface (22) divided into segments. An adapter (30) can be fitted onto the keg coupler (10). The adapter (30) comprises an applying unit adapted to apply a cleaning liquid to a surface of the recess. The adapter (30) comprises an annular sealing insert (60), into which the keg coupler (10) can initially be fitted with the cylindrical external peripheral surface (16) in a loose state in a first operating position and can then be sealed in a liquid-tight manner in a second operating position, in such a way that a cavity (94) is formed which is delimited at least by the radial bearing surface (19), the cylindrical internal peripheral surface, the lower radial surface (21), the peripheral surface (22) divided into segments, and a surface (88) of the adapter (30).

Devices of the abovementioned kind are known, for example from DE 198 49 153 A1.
Other cleaning devices are disclosed e.g. in DE 195 49 212 A1, DE 91 13 488 U1, DE 92 09 690 U1 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,907.
In dispensing systems for beverages, in particular carbonated beverages, it is necessary for hygiene reasons to clean the dispensing system at regular intervals. This cleaning not only involves cleaning the tap, which is usually located in the area of a bar counter in a pub or restaurant, and cleaning the beverage conduit leading to the cellar. Instead, it is also necessary to clean the keg coupler on those surfaces that may come into contact with the beverage.
Keg couplers are of a standardized design on their bottom surface so that, when connecting up a new keg, they can be mounted onto a complementary and also standardized fitting of the keg, and they can be removed from this fitting again upon disconnection of the keg. The actual contact surface of the keg coupler is a radial bearing surface which is mounted onto a corresponding mating surface of the keg fitting, so that the beverage conduit is connected to the riser pipe of the keg.
To fix the coupler on the keg fitting, a bayonet-like arrangement is used which is made up of a cylindrical internal peripheral surface, a lower radial surface, and segmented peripheral surfaces that protrude inward about the circumference. When connecting up a keg, the segments are inserted from above into corresponding recesses of the keg fitting. The keg coupler is then turned about a common axis of keg coupler and keg fitting, so that the segments then extend under corresponding mating segments of the keg fitting and are wedged in place there.
The connecting operation is then effected by pivoting a lever located on the keg coupler. This establishes the connection between a riser pipe of the keg and the beverage conduit leading to a taproom. The pivoting of the lever also opens the gas conduit, so that carrier gas (CO2) can flow into the keg.
Upon connection and disconnection of a keg, it is primarily the radial bearing surface of the keg coupler that comes into contact with the beverage.
In conventional devices of the type mentioned at the outset, the keg coupler is mounted onto the spatially fixed adapter, which in principle is designed as a keg fitting, but instead of having a riser pipe comprises a tubular conduit through which a cleaning liquid can be conveyed. Because conventional cleaning adapters of this kind simulate a connecting of the keg coupler, the gas conduit for the carrier gas has to be shut off before the keg coupler is connected to the cleaning adapter, since otherwise the carrier gas would emerge in an uncontrolled manner.
It should be noted at this point that, in the context of the present application, "cleaning" is to be understood as meaning all processes that can be initiated in connection with a cleaning operation, for example also disinfection, flushing and the like.
Conventional devices of the type mentioned at the outset are now designed such that, during the cleaning on the adapter, only the radial bearing surface is cleaned because, as has been mentioned, when the keg coupler is mounted onto the cleaning adapter, only the connecting process is simulated. Therefore, in conventional cleaning adapters of this kind, only those surfaces and cavities can be cleaned that are also accessible in the connected state of the keg coupler. There is no access, however, to those surfaces which, in contrast to the connected state, cannot be reached through shutting off the gas conduit.
In practice, however, this form of cleaning has not always proven satisfactory under certain operating conditions. This is because, during connection and disconnection of a keg, traces of the beverage may reach the other surfaces of the keg coupler which serve to connect the keg coupler to the keg fitting, that is to say the cylindrical internal peripheral surface, the lower radial surface, and the segmented peripheral surface. These last-mentioned surfaces are not cleaned by conventional devices.
Moreover, even quite negligible traces, for example droplets of beverage, for instance beer, that settle on these surfaces can lead to hygiene problems, especially if the keg is located in a relatively warm environment, for example during the warm season.

Device and cleaning and/or disinfecting a keg coupler


A monitoring system for monitoring the health status of a patient and transmitting to a remote receiver a signal, based on measured physiological parameters. A sensor is incorporated in a finger ring or other article of apparel so as to monitor skin temperature, blood flow, blood constituent concentration, or pulse rate of the patient. The data are encoded for wireless transmission by mapping a numerical value associated with each datum to a pulse emitted after a delay of a specified duration following a fiducial time. Multiple ring bands and sensor elements may be employed for deriving three-dimensional dynamic characteristics of arteries and tissue of the finger.

The population of aged people living alone is expected to continue its recent upward trend. As people live longer and the social and economic circumstances continue to change, more aged people live alone having no supervision or limited attendance by caregivers, and aged spouses may be unable to properly care for each other. Such individuals suffer a high risk of accidents, and this is a major concern and even a fear for those aged people living alone.
Close monitoring is the key to avoiding or responding to such accidents or medical emergencies. While technologies are known for remotely monitoring certain physiological parameters, these tend to be cumbersome and a patient may easily forget to don the monitor if it is removed, for example, while taking a shower. Less cumbersome monitors require strategies for prolonging the life-time of the battery or other energy source which provides power for transmitting the monitored physiological parameters and which is necessarily limited by the space available for housing it. The limited power source must be used efficiently so that even a tiny battery may last for a reasonable period of time, on the order of a few months. Among many components involved in a remote monitoring device, a radio transmitter may consume over 40% of the total power, hence power saving in the radio transmitter will make a significant contribution to the extension of battery life. A power-saving wireless transmission protocol is thereby desirable for this and other power-sensitive applications.
The most power-consuming part of digital RF transmitters is often an oscillator circuit involving a CMOS power transistor, which consumes a significant amount of power only when the output is high, i.e. 1-bit. Therefore significant energy may be saved by minimizing the total duration of time the output is high.


A light-emissive polymer device comprising: an anode; a cathode; a conjugated light-emissive polymer layer located between the anode and the cathode; and a driver for applying a voltage drive scheme between the anode and the cathode of a pattern having a relatively high voltage portion which causes the polymer layer to emit light and a relatively low voltage portion during which substantially no light is emitted by the polymer layer.

This invention relates to electroluminescent devices, and especially to controlling such devices.
One type of electroluminescent device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,190, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The basic structure of this device is an organic light-emitting polymer film (for instance a film of a poly(p-phenylenevinylene)- "PPV") sandwiched between two electrodes, one of which injects electrons and the other of which injects holes. The electrons and holes excite the polymer film, emitting photons. These devices have potential as flat panel displays.
Another type of organic light-emitting device is a small molecule device, details of which are given in U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,507. These have a light emitting layer of a small molecule material sandwiched between the two electrodes.
FIG. 1 shows a typical plot of light output against current arid voltage for a light-emitting polymer device. Such devices typically emit light at relatively low voltages (typical turn-on voltages are below 3V). This makes them suitable for simple battery-driven DC drive schemes. However, the devices often have relatively short lives because they degrade during use.
Intermittent drive schemes are used for LCD matrix displays. Typically, the electrode on one side of the display is patterned into rows and the electrode on the other side is patterned into columns. When a suitable voltage is applied to one row and one column light emission occurs where the two strips overlap. Thus, the points of overlap between the column strips and the row strips define the pixels of the display. A multiplexed drive scheme is often used, in which each row is addressed in turn (by scanning the row electrode strips sequentially) and the appropriate data is applied to the column electrode strips to apply data to the pixels of that row. Clearly, the functions of the rows and columns can be reversed; however, for clarity, in this document the convention described above will be maintained. The multiplexed scheme means that each pixel only receives a voltage for a fraction of the time that the display is in use. The fraction is related to the number of rows in the display: if the display has 500 rows then each pixel will be driven for 1/500 of the time that the display is in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,678 and Van Slyke et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 69, 2160 (1996) have described the application of a basic AC drive scheme to an organic small molecule light-emitting device for increasing lifetime due to "catastrophic failure". The degradation mechanisms in the case of small molecule devices are very different from the degradation mechanisms in light emitting polymer devices, for instance because the cause of degradation in small molecules is that they are prongs to re-crystallisation, whereas polymers are not prone to re-crystallisation. Also, the chemical interactions of polymers and small molecules with interfaces in the device structure are very specific and different in the two cases. And the drive voltages used for polymer devices are generally much lower than those used for small molecule devices, which influences their degradation due to electric fields.
Heeks et al., Ferroelectrics 1991 vol. 27, p381 and Heeks et al., SID Digest 91 p404 have described other drive schemes in non-luminescent devices, for example ferroelectric liquid crystal displays. However, up to now there have been no proposals for advanced drive schemes for light-emitting polymer devices.
According to the present invention from one aspect there is provided a light-missive polymer device comprising: an anode; a cathode: a conjugated light-emissive polymer layer located between the anode and the cathode; and a driver for applying a voltage drive scheme between the anode and the cathode of a pattern having relatively high voltage portion which causes the polymer layer to emit light and a relatively low voltage portion during which substantially no light is emitted by the polymer layer.
As will be discussed in more detail below, the applicant has found that a drive scheme of this type has provided surprising increases in the lifetime of conjugated light-emissive polymer devices compared to conventional constant current or constant voltage drive schemes, for the same overall fight output.
According to the present invention from a second aspect there is provided an organic light-emissive device comprising: an anode; a cathode; an organic light-emissive layer located between the anode and the cathode; and a driver for applying a voltage drive scheme between the anode and the cathode of a pattern having a positive voltage portion which causes the organic layer to emit light, a negative voltage portion during which substantially no light is emitted by the organic layer, and a portion of substantially zero voltage during which substantially no light is emitted by the organic layer.
According to the present invention from a third aspect there is provided the use, for the purpose of extending the operating life time of a light-emissive polymer device having a light-emissive layer comprising a conjugated light-emissive polymer material, of a cyclical drive scheme in which a positive voltage sufficient to cause the polymer layer to emit light is applied for only part of the cycle.
The relatively high voltage portion suitably provides a positive voltage. The voltage of the relatively high voltage portion may suitably be at least 1.5, 2, 2.5 or 3 times the turn-on voltage of the polymer layer, preferably in the range from 1.01 to 100 times the turn-on voltage of the polymer layer and most preferably in the range from 2 to 8 times the turn-on voltage. The turn-on voltage is the lowest positive voltage at which the layer emits light. The relatively high voltage portion is preferably greater than 4V, and most preferably greater than 6V. The voltage is preferably sufficient for the device to appear to the eye of a user to give a substantially continuous light output. The relatively high positive voltage is preferably in the range from 1 to 200V.
The off time during the drive scheme cycle is preferably sufficiently short for the device to appear to the eye of a user to give a substantially continuous light output.
The relatively low voltage portion may comprise a portion (in particular an non-instantaneous portion) of zero or substantially zero voltage and/or a portion of negative voltage. The relatively low voltage portion may comprise two or more constant voltage portions each of different voltages. At least one of these voltages is suitably a negative voltage. The amplitude of the negative voltage may be greater than that of the positive voltage, suitably at least 1.5, 2 or 3 times the amplitude of the positive voltage. Alternatively the amplitude of the negative voltage may be less than that of the positive voltage, in which case the amplitude of the positive voltage is suitably at least 3, 4 or 5 times the amplitude of the negative voltage. The amplitude of the negative voltage is suitably in the range from 0.1V to 200V, preferably from 1V to 200V.
The duration of the relatively low voltage portion (and especially any negative voltage portion of that) may be greater than or less than the duration of the relatively high voltage portion. The durations of the portions and their voltage profiles may be selected so that the integrated voltage of the drive scheme over time is zero or substantially zero and/or so that the integrated injected current of the drive scheme over time is zero or substantially zero and/or so that the integrated injected power of the drive scheme over time is minimised or substantially minimised. Instead of selecting any or all of these parameters to be zero they could be minimised or substantially minimised whilst maintaining adequate light output from the device and/or apparently continuous light output from the device and/or whilst maximising the expected time to failure of the device. The drive scheme preferably comprises repeating a cycle of the relatively high and relatively low voltages portions. Any or all of the parameters mentioned above are preferably set to zero or substantially zero or minimised over one such cycle.
One or both of the anode and the cathode is preferably continually connected to the drive means throughout the drive scheme. Alternatively, at least one of them could be periodically disconnected from the drive means, as during the multiplexing of a matrix display.
The drive scheme is preferably cyclical. It preferably comprises repeating a cycle of the positive, negative and substantially zero voltage portions. The cycle preferably includes a negative voltage portion immediately followed bat a positive voltage portion. The cycle preferably includes a positive voltage portion immediately followed by a portion of substantially zero voltage immediately followed by a positive voltage portion. The cycle preferably includes a negative voltage portion immediately followed by a portion of substantially zero voltage immediately followed by a negative voltage portion. The cycle preferably includes a first positive voltage portion immediately followed by a negative voltage portion, and a second positive voltage portion immediately preceded by a negative voltage portion. Alternatively, the drive scheme may comprise a random or pseudo-random series of pulses.
The device may also comprise a drive means for applying a further positive voltage between the anode and the cathode of a voltage less than the turn-on voltage of the polymer light-missive layer.
According to the present invention from a fourth aspect there is provided a light-emissive polymer device comprising: an anode; a cathode; a conjugated light-emissive polymer layer located between the anode and the cathode; and a driver for applying a voltage drive scheme between the anode and the cathode of a pattern having a first, preconditioning positive voltage portion of an amplitude that is insufficient to cause the polymer layer to emit light and a second, activating voltage portion of an amplitude that is sufficient to cause the polymer layer to emit light.
The preconditioning voltage portion is preferably applied before the activating voltage portion.
The organic light-emissive layer preferably comprises a luminescent material. The luminescent material is suitably a conjugated material. The organic light-emissive layer suitably comprises one or more of a conjugated polymer, an organometallic light-emissive material and a non-polymeric material such as a luminescent small molecule (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,507).
Polymeric light-emissive materials suitable for use according to this invention especially include conductive or semi-conductive polymers, for instance semiconductive conjugated polymer materials. The polymer layer preferably comprises one or more luminescent polymers, such as PPV, poly(2-methoxy-5(2'-ethyl)hexyloxyphenylene-viylene) ("MEH-PPV"), polyfluorenes, polyparaphenylenes, etc., or co-polymers thereof, and including substituted and/or unsubstituted versions thereof. It could be deposited by spin-coating, dip-coating, blade-coating, meniscus-coating self-assembly etc. The constituent of the light-emissive layer and/or its precursor is preferably soluble, most preferably in water: examples are precursor-based PPV derivatives such as MEH-PPV. The thickness of the layer is preferably in at least the range from 10 to 200 nm and most preferably around 1000 .ANG..
The term "conjugated" indicates a material which is partially, mostly, fully or substantially fully conjugated. It includes within its scope homopolymers and copolymers.
Suitable small molecule materials include tris(8-hydroxyquineleto)aluminium (alq.sub.3) and derivatives thereof.
The anode is preferably of a high work function material, suitably with a work function greater that 4 eV and most preferably greater than 4.5 eV. The layer is preferably comprised of ITO, or a metal or alloy (e.g. gold) or a suitable conducting material such as e.g. a conducting polymer such as polystyrene sulphonic acid doped polyethylene dioxythiophene ("PEDT/PSS"), polyaniline, a doped alkylthiophene or a doped polypyrrole.
The cathode is preferably of a low work function material, suitably with a work function less than 3.5 eV and most preferably less than 3 eV. The layer may comprise a metal or alloy such as aluminium, lithium and/or calcium. The layer is preferably deposited by for example sputtering or evaporation. The cathode may be provided with a layer of a suitable electron transport material, such as polyoxadiazole, to lie between the cathode and the light-missive layer.
The device preferably comprises a conductive polymer layer between the light-emissive layer and one of the electrodes, especially if the electrode is based on indium tin oxide (ITO). The conductive polymer layer preferably is or comprises polyethylene dioxythiophene ("PEDT"), PEDT/PSS, doped polyaniline, a doped alkylthiophene and/or a doped polypyrrole. The thickness of the layer is suitably less than 200 nm, preferably less than 100 nm and most preferably less than or around 50 nm.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of driving an organic luminescent device by applying a drive scheme as described herein.

Electroluminescent devices with voltage drive scheme


As a removably installable attachment, a float valve arrangement for controlling pouring of liquid from a flexible container is provided with a snap-in connection to the container which provides for relative rotation. A vent hole in the outlet neck regulates pouring, and the float valve ball is flexible for sealing conformation to a non-circular seat. The latter concept also is applicable to a version wherein the floatable ball is provided within the liquid storage space of the container itself.

In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,479, issued Jul. 28, 1992, I have disclosed a flexible container (such as is commonly used for selling motor oil by the quart or liter to be poured through an automotive engine crank case filler spout or valve cover opening), the container being provided with a float valve, closable by squeezing the container body, for facilitating pouring from the container without spilling, despite the need for substantially tilting or inverting the container for pouring, before beginning the pouring.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,535, issued Nov. 9, 1993, I have disclosed an improvement or elaboration of the initial concept, and particularly details for providing the float valve arrangement as a removably installable attachment for the filler neck of a conventional screw cap closed, flexible walled oil container.
Although those inventions, and the present one, have been and are disclosed primarily in the context of an automotive engine oil container, it is believed to be clear that they have broader applicability, not only for use on or with flexible walled containers for other liquids used in a vehicular service context (such as brake fluid, automatic transmission fluid and windshield washer fluid), but in non-vehicular service contexts for controlling the pouring of other pourable liquids, such as liquid detergent, salad oil and floor wax.

Float valve structure for controlling pouring of liquid from resiliently flexible container


The present disclosure encompasses provides thermal stabilizer compositions comprising a phase change material admixed with a support material such as a diatomaceous earth, and a nucleator. The present disclosure further encompasses a heat insulation blanket for reducing heat transfer between adjacent spaces, comprising at least two plies of thermoplastic sheet material in superposed relationship and a seal, wherein the seal connects the plies of sheet material to form a cell containing a volume of a thermal stabilizer comprising a phase change material, a support material such as a diatomaceous earth, and a nucleator.

Building structures constructed for human occupancy typically maintain the temperature and humidity conditions inside the building at a comfortable level for its occupants with the use of heating and air conditioning equipment controlled by a thermostat, whereas the temperature outside the building varies with atmospheric conditions. The roof and/or exterior walls of a modern building usually include at least one layer of thermal insulation material to retard the transfer of heat between the inside and outside surfaces of the structure. If the amount of insulation material is sufficient, the transfer of heat during the day from the hot outside portion of the wall or ceiling to the lower inside temperature portion of the structure will be reduced. The air conditioning unit of the building can then compensate for any undesirable increase in temperature. Later, the exterior portion of the wall and ceiling might cool to a temperature that is lower than the inside temperature of the building. In a like manner, the heating unit of a sufficiently insulated building structure compensates for any undesirable decrease in the internal temperature of the building structure.
The rate of heat will flow through a wall or ceiling into or out of a room is dependent upon at least two factors: the temperature gradient between the inside and the outside of the structure, and the efficiency with which the ceiling or wall conducts heat. To reduce the rate of heat transfer across the ceiling or wall into or out of the building structure, a greater quantity of and/or a more efficient insulating material can be used. Such insulating materials include, for example, fiberglass, mineral wood, urethane foams, cellulose, and other materials known in the art.
Though conventional insulating materials can be effective at reducing heat transfer through the walls or ceilings, etc., conventional insulation materials are expensive, bulky, difficult to install, and in some instances are not very effective for specific commercial and private applications. Also, some structures are not built with enough space to accommodate the quantity of insulation materials necessary to adequately insulate the structure.
Heat applied to a phase change material ("PCM") in a solid state is absorbed by the PCM, resulting in an increase in the temperature of the PCM. As the temperature of the PCM reaches its phase change temperature, i.e., the temperature at which the PCM material changes from a solid state to a liquid state, the PCM stops increasing in temperature and substantially maintains a constant temperature at its phase change temperature, consuming the heat being applied thereto and storing it as latent heat. Latent heat is the heat gained by a substance without any accompanying rise in temperature during a change of state. In essence, it is the amount of heat necessary to change a substance from the solid state to the liquid state. Once the phase change material has completely changed to a liquid state, the temperature of the PCM begins to rise again as the applied heat is now absorbed as sensible heat. In reverse, as the PCM drops in temperature, the latent heat is released at the phase change temperature of the PCM as the PCM changes into its solid state. Examples of PCM's for isothermally storing and releasing heat as described above are paraffin, calcium chloride hexahydrate, sodium carbonate, and Glauber's salt. PCM's have been used in wall structures as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,626,936 and 5,770,295.
A practical issue when using PCM's for isothermally storing and releasing heat in a large structure such as a vertical wall is maintaining the material in a uniform state over a large area. It is desirable that the phase changes occur evenly throughout the PCM, and that there be minimal localized changes that can result in unequal heat distribution. For example, when a PCM liquefies, there is a natural tendency for the liquid to descend under gravity and gather towards the bottom of a vertical wall, or to become absorbed into an adjacent material. Calcium chloride hexahydrate-based PCM, for example, can be made into a super-saturated solution, but when such a PCM mixture goes through the phase change from a solid to a liquid, it will pass through several hydration levels each having a different specific gravity. The liquid mix, as it melts, tends to stratify, with the heavier phases tending to move to the lowest level possible, thereby forming a gradient of layers. A PCM, therefore, should be confined to its intended location and remain in situ, ready for the next (reverse) phase change.
Certain PCM's, when exposed to the atmosphere will either evaporate and dry out or absorb excessive moisture, either event inhibiting or preventing the PCM from functioning as intended to moderate temperature. In particular, PCMs comprising solutions of calcium chloride, if not contained, may be corrosive to metals. Being highly hygroscopic, or deliquescent, if exposed to the atmosphere such PCMs will continue to absorb moisture to the point that that they become dilute aqueous solutions that have lost the desired phase change properties. It is also the case that PCMs may become supercooled and fail to solidify as a result of the lack of nucleation centers.
For these reasons, while the latent heat absorption and release capabilities of certain PCM's have been known and used in limited ways, wide spread practical and commercial use has been hampered.
Confinement or enclosure of the PCM, particularly liquid PCMs such as calcium chloride solutions, is possible in arrays of cells that can be formed between superposed layers of thermoplastic sheets, as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,936. However, by itself this mechanical means of confining the PCM into multiple small volumes reduces, but does not eliminate the problems of uneven melting and freezing or of leakage of the PCM.
What are needed, therefore, are thermal stabilization compositions that undergo efficient and uniform reversible phase changes. Such compositions should not exhibit phase separation due to stratification or settling, and provide uniform heat transfer over the area of a structure in which the composition in its packaged form is installed.

Thermal insulation with thin phase change layer


A cold accumulating material for extremely low temperature cold 1 is formed by filling pores 3 of a porous carrier 2 with magnetic particles 4 containing a rare earth element. The porous carrier 2 is desired to be formed of a sheet-shaped porous metal. A refrigerator according to this invention contains a cold reserving unit 5 filled with the aforementioned cold accumulating material for extremely low temperature cold 1. The above described structure is capable of exerting a sufficient refrigerating capacity with a small pressure loss of refrigerant (operating medium) and providing a cold accumulating material for extremely low temperature cold easy to process to a shape reducing the pressure loss and a refrigerator using the same.

Recently, superconductivity technology has been progressed remarkably and with an expanding application field thereof, development of a small, high performance refrigerator has become indispensable. For such a refrigerator, light weight, small size and high heat efficiency are demanded.
For example in a superconductive MRI apparatus, cryopump and the like, a refrigerator based on such refrigerating cycle as Gifford MacMahon type (GM refrigerator), Starling method has been used. Further, a magnetic floating train absolutely needs a high performance refrigerator. Further, in recent years, a superconductive power storage apparatus (SMES) or a in-magnetic field single crystal pull-up apparatus has been provided with a high performance refrigerator as a main component thereof. Further, to stabilize the temperature of a component material operating under ultra-low temperatures such as a superconductive wire, superconductive device, infrared ray sensor, the cold accumulating material for extremely low temperature cold for a thermal anchor, heat sink and heat shielding has been widely used.
FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a main structure of a conventional two-staged GM refrigerator. This GM refrigerator 10 has a vacuum container 13 containing a first cylinder 11 having a large diameter and a second cylinder 12 connected coaxially to the first cylinder 11. The first cylinder 11 contains a first cold accumulating unit 14 which is freely reciprocatable and the second cylinder 12 also contains a second cold accumulating unit 15 which is freely reciprocatable. Seal rings 16, 17 are disposed between the first cylinder 11 and first cold accumulating unit 14, and between the second cylinder 12 and second cold accumulating unit 15 respectively.
The first cold accumulating unit 14 accommodates a first cold accumulating material 18 made of Cu mesh or the like. The second cold accumulating unit 15 contains a second cold accumulating material 19 made of a cold accumulating material for extremely low temperature cold. The first cold accumulating unit 14 and second cold accumulating unit 15 have operating medium (refrigerant) paths for He gas or the like which are provided in gaps of the first cold accumulating material 18 and cold accumulating material for extremely low temperature cold 19.
A first expansion chamber 20 is provided between the first cold accumulating unit 14 and second cold accumulating unit 15. A second expansion chamber 21 is provided between the second cold accumulating unit 15 and an end wall of the second cylinder 12. A first cooling stage 22 is provided on a bottom of the first expansion chamber 20 and further a second cooling stage 23 which is colder than the first cooling stage 22 is provided on a bottom of the second expansion chamber 21.
A high pressure operating medium (e.g., He gas) is supplied from a compressor 24 to the aforementioned two-staged GM refrigerator 10. The supplied operating medium passes through the first cold accumulating material 18 accommodated in the first cold accumulating unit 14 and reaches the first expansion chamber 20, and further passes through the second cold accumulating material (second cold accumulating material) 19 accommodated in the second cold accumulating unit 15 and reaches the second expansion chamber 21. At this time, the operating medium supplies heat energy to the respective first cold accumulating materials 18, 19 so that they are cooled. The operating medium passing through the respective first cold accumulating materials 18, 19 is expanded in the respective first expansion chambers 20, 21 so as to produce cool atmosphere thereby cooling the respective cooling stages 22, 23. The expanded operating medium flows in the respective cold accumulating materials 18, 19 in opposite direction. The operating medium receives heat energy from the respective cold accumulating materials 18, 19 and is discharged. As recuperation effect is improved in this process, the heat efficiency of the operating medium cycle is improved so that a further lower temperature is realized.
That is, in the above described GM refrigerator, the operating medium such as compressed He gas flows in a single direction in a cold accumulating unit filled with cold accumulating materials so that the heat energy thereof is supplied to the cold accumulating material. Then, the operating medium expanded here flows in an opposite direction and receives heat energy from the cold accumulating material. As the recuperation effect is improved in this process, the heat efficiency of the operating medium cycle is improved so that a further lower temperature is realized.
As a cold accumulating material for use in the above-described refrigerator, conventionally Cu. Pb and the like have been used. However, these cold accumulating materials have a very small volumetric specific heat in extremely low temperatures below 20 K. Therefore, the aforementioned recuperation effect is not exerted sufficiently so that it is difficult to realize the extremely low temperatures.
For the reason, recently to realize temperatures nearer absolute zero, use of magnetic cold accumulating material made of intermetallic compound formed from a rare earth element and transition metal element such as Er.sub.3 Ni, ErNi, ErNi.sub.2, ErRh, HoCu.sub.2 indicating a large volumetric specific heat in an extremely low temperature range has been considered.
The aforementioned magnetic cold accumulating material is usually processed to a sphere of 0.1-0.5 mm in diameter to carry out effective heat exchange with the operating medium such as He gas and actually used in the form of a magnetic particle. By applying the cold accumulating unit filled with the spherical magnetic particles to the GM refrigerator, a refrigerating operation to produce an arrival lowest temperature of 4 K is realized.
FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing an example of a structure of a low temperature cold reserving unit 30 using the aforementioned GM refrigerator 10, specifically a cold reserving unit for a superconductive magnet constituting a major part of a superconductive MRI unit, magnetic floating train, superconductive power storage unit (SMES), in-magnetic field single crystal pull-up apparatus and the like.
The low temperature cold reserving unit 30 in FIG.10, comprises a superconductive magnet 31 which is an object to be cooled, a GM refrigerator 10 for cooling this superconductive magnet 31 at ultra-low temperatures, and a plurality of heat shielding members 32 disposed so as to surround the superconductive magnet 31, these components being disposed within the a vacuum container 33. The aforementioned plurality of the heat shielding members 32 are supported in the vacuum container 33 through a supporting member 34. Further, there is provided a heat switch 35 for thermally cutting off a cooling means such as the refrigerator 10 from an already cooled object.
As the aforementioned heat shielding member 32, a copper (Cu) plate having a thickness of 1-2 mm is widely used. To suppress invasion of heat from outside so as to increase cooling efficiency of the overall cold reserving system, the heat shielding members 32 are disposed in multiple layers.
However, different from the conventional GM refrigerator in which the refrigerating cycle is as low as several Hz, in such a refrigerator carrying out high-speed cycle operation like starling refrigerator or pulse tube refrigerator in which the refrigerating cycle is several 10 Hz, a pressure loss in the cold accumulating unit filled with the aforementioned spherical magnetic particles increases so that heat exchange between the operating medium and magnetic particles becomes insufficient. Therefore, the conventional refrigerator has a problem in which a sufficient refrigerating capacity cannot be exerted.
On the other hand, as a measure for reducing the pressure loss in the aforementioned cold accumulating unit, there has been used as a trial such a method in which the magnetic cold accumulating materials formed in the form of a punched plate or ribbon-shaped plate having a plurality of through holes are wound in the form of a roll or such a method in which mesh-shaped cold accumulating materials are stacked in multiple layers so as to form a laminated screen.
However, because the aforementioned magnetic cold accumulating material has a very high brittleness particular in intermetallic compounds, drilling or bending is very hard, and therefore it is substantially difficult to reduce the pressure loss in the cold accumulating unit by the shape of the cold accumulating material.
On the other hand, if a refrigerator is stopped or low temperature liquefied gas such as helium (He) is evaporated in the conventional low temperature cold reserving unit using copper-made heat shielding material, the temperature of the heat shielding material rises for a short time because the specific heat of copper under low temperatures is small so that an effect of preventing heat invasion from outside is lost.
Further, recently, there has been considered a system in which the cooling means is separated from an already cooled object and such an object to be cooled as the superconductive magnet is operated in a compact condition. However, because the conventional heat shielding material made of only metallic material such as copper has a small specific heat, its cold reservation effect is small so that an object to be cooled cannot be maintained at low temperatures for a long time.
As a countermeasure for the above mentioned problem, the inventors of this invention have considered application of magnetic cold accumulating material made of intermetallic compound containing rare earth elements and transition metallic elements indicating a large specific heat particularly in extremely low temperature range such as Er.sub.3 Ni, ErNi, HoCu.sub.2 to composition material of the heat shielding material. However, because generally the magnetic cold accumulating material is brittle, it is very difficult to process to a sheet-like shape having such a size which is used as the heat shielding material.
A cylindrical heat shielding material as shown in FIG. 10 is preferable for an object to be cooled such as the superconductive coil, and however, processing of the brittle magnetic cold accumulating material to a cylindrical shape or curved shape is more difficult as compared to processing to a flat shape.
On the other hand, the magnetic cold accumulating material made of rare earth elements such as Nd has an inferior specific heat characteristic than the magnetic cold accumulating material made of the intermetallic compound. Further, such material has a relatively larger specific heat in extremely low temperature as compared to ordinary metals such as Cu and can be processed to a sheet like shape. However, generally, the heat shielding material is often used in a relatively large area shape and used under a condition in which the heat shielding material is subjected to application of a large load. However, because the structural strength of the heat shielding material made of single rare earth element such as Nd is insufficient, it cannot be applied to the heat shielding material without any treatment.
The present invention has been achieved to solve the above described problems and a first object of the invention is to provide a cold accumulating material for extremely low temperature cold capable of exerting a sufficient refrigerating performance with a small pressure loss of refrigerant (operating medium) and easy to process to a shape reducing the pressure loss, and a refrigerator using the same.
A second object of the invention is to provide a heat shielding member which is capable of preventing an invasion of heat effectively, easy to process to any shape and has an excellent structural strength.

Cold accumulating material for extremely low temperature cold, refrigerator using the same and heat shielding member


Provided is a QoS control system, a QoS control method, and a program suitable for use in a server virtualization environment in which an I/O virtualization technology can be used. The QoS control system includes a network interface and a network interface management unit. The network interface holds a QoS (Quality of Service) parameter giving identification information for identifying traffic, a priority value to be applied to a packet belonging to the traffic, and information indicating the storage location of the priority value in the packet, stores the priority value in the packet belonging to the traffic, and then transmits a resulting packet. The network interface management unit holds a QoS policy including a QoS parameter to be applied to each traffic, and manages the network interface.

In recent years, due to improvement in performance and reliability of servers, introduction of virtualization of server resources (server virtualization) has been widely spread at a data center and the like. Due to a technology for the server virtualization, a service that has been operated on an individual physical server is operated on a virtual machine, and this virtual machine is held in one physical server. The number of physical servers can be thereby reduced. This makes it possible to reduce the introduction and operation costs of the servers.
FIG. 15 shows an example of a network architecture of a data center before introduction of the server virtualization technology. Referring to FIG. 15, the network of the data center is broadly divided into three layers constituted from Top-of-Rack switches (ToR switches) 12 to which servers 10 are connected, aggregation switches 14 each of which connects the ToR switches 12, and core switches 16 each of which connects the aggregation switch 14 and a network outside the data center. Each server 10 is connected to a corresponding one of the ToR switches 12 through a network interface card (NIC) 18.
On the other hand, FIG. 16 shows a network architecture where the server virtualization technology has been introduced into the environment shown in FIG. 15. Referring to FIG. 16, one or more virtual machines 20 operate within each server 10. Each virtual machine 20 is connected to the network outside the server 10 through a virtual switch 22. The virtual switch 22 is a switch implemented by software. The virtual switch 22 connects each virtual machine 20 and the NIC 18. The virtual switch 22 provides to the virtual machine communication between the virtual machines 20 inside the server 10 and connection to the network outside the server 10. That is, in the data center where the server virtualization technology has been introduced, the architecture in which the network switch is further connected to each ToR switch 12 is formed.
In the server virtualization environment, there is overhead for virtualization. Thus, there is a problem that it is difficult to provide high communication performance to each virtual machine 20. In order to solve this problem, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a chip set, and the NIC 18 have got to support I/O virtualization. As an example of a technology for supporting the I/O virtualization, an I/O virtualization technology such as SR-IOV (Single Route I/O Virtualization) or IOMMU (Input Output Memory Management Unit) is present.
Use of such a technology makes it possible for the virtual machine 20 to directly access the NIC 18 not through the virtual switch 22, so that the overhead for virtualization can be reduced. Consequently, high performance can be provided to the virtual machine 20.
FIG. 17 shows an architecture of the server 10 using the I/O virtualization technology. Referring to FIG. 17, some of the virtual machines 20 that operate in the server 10 are directly connected to the NIC 18 not through the virtual switches 22. Generally, in the server virtualization environment, the virtual switch 22 operates in a region for managing the server virtualization environment, referred to as a virtual machine monitor 24 or a hypervisor. The NIC 18 provides a plurality of interfaces in order to support the I/O virtualization. The NIC 18 includes a physical interface 180 for connection to the virtual machine monitor 24 and virtual interfaces 181 each for connection to the virtual machine 20. The plurality of the virtual interfaces 181 are provided for one NIC 18. Referring to FIG. 17, each of virtual machines denoted VMa and VMb out of the virtual machines 20 is directly connected the NIC 18 through the virtual interface 181.
As one of methods of utilizing the data center as described above, an IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) is present. In the IaaS, physical resources of the data center are logically divided, using the server virtualization technology and a technology such as a VLAN (Virtual LAN), to provide environments of computers and networks for different users. To take an example, the computer environment is provided in the form of the virtual machine 20, while the network is provided in the form of the VLAN. Each user can introduce an OS (Operating System) into the virtual machine 20 and can causes the virtual machines 20 to communicate with each other through the network, thereby enabling implementation of some service.
In the environment such as the IaaS, a plurality of users use the same environment. Thus, appropriate assignment and isolation of computer resources and network resources are important. With respect to the network resources, for example, it is demanded that QoS control be executed for each user to cause communication of a certain user not to affect communication of a different user. When the I/O virtualization technology is not used, the QoS control can be executed by the virtual switch 22. As an example of the QoS control, there is a method of assigning frames or packets to a respective plurality of prioritized queues based on a value set in a CoS (Class of Service) field included in a MAC (Media Access Control) frame, or a ToS (Type of Service) field or a DSCP (DiffServ Code Point) field of an IP (Internet Protocol) packet. These values are set at a switch that servers as an entry of a segment of the network for which the QoS control is to be performed, based on information such as an IP address included in the IP header. The setting process of these values is referred to as marking. The switch schedules transfer of the frames or the packets or performs link bandwidth assignment, based on the priority of each queue. There is an advantage that, when the marking is performed by the virtual switch 22, the ToR switch 12 does not need to support the process of the marking, so that the construction cost of the data center can be reduced.
However, when the I/O virtualization technology is used, a frame or a packet for which setting of the QoS control that should have been originally executed by the virtual switch 22 is not performed will arrive at the ToR switch 12. Further, since each of the virtual machines 20 (denoted VMa and VMb in FIG. 17) that uses the I/O virtualization technology can directly transmit a packet to the network through the NIC 18, a packet that has been marked to be convenient for the user can be transmitted. To take an example, the user of the virtual machine VMa in FIG. 17 can also set all packets to have a highest priority. The packet that is normal in view of the format of the packet is transmitted from the server 10. Thus, the ToR switch 12 cannot determine whether or not the packet transmitted from the server 10 has passed through the virtual switch 22. Consequently, the QoS control that does not satisfy the QoS policy of a data center manager may be executed.
Further, the bandwidth of a physical link between the server 10 and the ToR switch 12 may not be appropriately shared among the users. As described above, when the I/O virtualization technology is used, the virtual machine 20 that uses the I/O virtualization technology can occupy the link because the QoS control to be provided by the virtual switch 22 does not function.
An example of a technology for solving the problem as described above is described in Patent Literature 1. According to the Patent Literature, I/O logical partitions that control I/O of virtual machines of a user are present between the virtual machines and I/O adapters that support the I/O virtualization. By controlling each I/O logical partition by a system manager according to a predetermined policy, appropriate I/O control can be provided to the virtual machine. The I/O logical partition is connected to a virtual interface of I/O devices.
Another example of the technology for solving the problem described above is described in Patent Literature 2. Patent Literature 2 describes a technology in which NICs are virtualized to be set as a plurality of prioritized virtual network devices. By assigning a traffic flow to each virtual network device based on the priority of the traffic flow, influence of a traffic flow with a low priority on a traffic flow with a high priority can be reduced.

QOS control system, QOS control method, and program


A method and apparatus for separating oil and debris from urban water run-off, the apparatus being made up of a chamber which is mounted in a storm drain system and has an inner basin with a tilted wire wedge wire screen filter in the path of flow of the run-off, an organic absorber floats on the water as it is collected in the basin, and a discharge plate has a series of slots which are sized to regulate the flow rate of discharge of the water from the basin for removal through an outlet at the lower end of the chamber. The method and apparatus are conformable for use with existing storm drain systems along curbs or gutters as well as parking lots, runways and the like.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for filtering trash and organic materials; and more particularly relates to a novel and improved method and apparatus for separating oil and debris from urban run-off.
Environmental pollution has become a serious problem for all cities and towns across the country. Urban run-off containing debris and organic oils and other hydrocarbon materials are washing into rivers, bays and estuaries adjacent to the cities and towns. To date there has been little effort to contain this pollution. Recent Federal Regulations have begun to address the problem but, to date, the technology is not adequate. Further, a number of partially effective devices have been developed to catch debris and capture the floating oils to prevent them from moving out of containment and down to the discharge point, representative of such devices being set forth and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,816 to W. Naddy, U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,248 to R. M. Maestro, U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,374 to R. R. Stever et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,325,897 to K. Maxwell, U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,459 to J. K. Williamson, U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,484 to S. J. McInnis, U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,307 to J. F. Morris et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,761 to J. M. Bamer et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,880 to P. C. Mouton, U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,584, H. L. Nurse, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,877 to B. C. Godbeer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,814 to A. Paszye et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,920 to A. Paszye et al and U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,379 to T. D. Sharples.
Of the containment systems presently in use, drainage surfaces adjacent to roads or parking lots are employed to capture storm run-off but are not very effective for containment of the run-off for organic removal. The technique of containment and absorption for organic material is flawed, also, due to the design of the water exit flow plate, since some oils flow through the holes in the plate and into the water course. In addition, the standing water in a pond is a serious problem and provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes including those which may be infected by the West Nile virus. Accordingly, there is a serious need for a containment system capable of completely separating the organic oils from the debris in urban run-off and in such a way that the separation can be carried out efficiently while avoiding standing water for any length of time, requires a minimum number of moving parts, and is readily conformable for use in existing drainage systems, such as, for example, storm drain systems presently in use.

Apparatus for separating oil and debris from water run-off


A method of forming a metal line and a contact plug of a flash memory device, wherein if first, second, and third etch processes are performed on an anti-reflection film and regions (a region in which a contact plug through which a gate is exposed is formed/a region in which a contact plug through which a semiconductor substrate is exposed is formed), which have different etch targets and have an irregular thickness, the loss of a semiconductor substrate can be minimized and an increase in the resistance of the contact plugs can be prevented. Furthermore, by reducing variation in the depth of the contact plugs, the reliability of devices can be improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a method of manufacturing semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to a method of forming a metal line and a contact plug of a flash memory device.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The process of forming a contact plug and a metal line may be performed through a trench first dual damascene process of a flash memory device formation process. The contact plugs are formed in regions having different etch targets at the same time, such as a contact plug through gate electrodes are exposed, and a contact plug through which a semiconductor substrate is exposed.
The trench first dual damascene process includes a contact hole formation process of forming a trench in order to expose an underlying conductive material and forming a mask for defining a contact hole on the resulting surface in which the trench is formed. An anti-reflection film is used in the process of forming the mask. The anti-reflection film is deposited irregularly in terms of its deposition characteristic.
Therefore, an anti-reflection film having an irregular thickness is formed on the walls of the trench, and the mask for defining the contact hole is formed in the irregular anti-reflection film.
If an etch process is performed on the irregular anti-reflection film and the regions, which have different etch targets, however, a problem arises because an unwanted film quality is removed after the formation of the contact hole.
Accordingly, the removal of the unwanted film quality may result in degradation in the reliability of the device.

Method of forming metal line and contact plug of flash memory device


A clamp for overhead assemblies has a clamp portion including a frame with first and second spaced apart side portions connected at respective ends to a top portion. The first and second side portion can have first and second openings therethrough to form a clamp opening. A plate is disposed through third and fourth openings in the first and second spaced apart side portions, respectively. The plate includes a tapped recess for receiving a threaded rod. A screw is disposed in a tapped recess in the top portion. An engagement end of the screw is selectively extendible into the clamp opening to engage a structural member inserted within the clamp opening to couple the structural member to the threaded rod. A longitudinal axis of the screw is aligned with the tapped recess to eliminate eccentric loading of the clamp. A method of stocking clamps is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Disclosure
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to the field of mounting clamps, and more particularly to the field of clamps for use in rod hangers employed to secure loads to overhead structures.
2. Discussion of Related Art
It is desirable in many applications to clamp mounting assemblies to beams or girders in a buildings to provide resilient support structures for pipework and cabling. Often, clamps are secured to a beam or girder using a screw element that engages a portion of the beam or girder, along with a mounting rod extending downward from the clamp upon which a mounting can be secured to support the pipework or cabling.
Traditionally, clamps to be secured to girders or beams include cast elements which are drilled and tapped to threadably engage the drop rod, and a clamp mechanism for securing the clamp to the beam or girder. Such assemblies, however, are expensive to form and manufacture. In addition, these prior clamps are designed for use with specific size rods. This condition requires the manufacturer to build and stock multiple sizes of clamps. Another problem is that traditional clamps of this type are eccentrically loaded, such that the rod axis is offset with respect to the clamp axis as well as the point at which the clamp engages the overhead beam or girder. Such load eccentricity reduces the overall carrying capacity of prior clamps. Eccentric loading can also cause the clamp to rotate and slip off the flange of the beam to which it is attached.
In view of this, there is a need for an improved clamp design that overcomes the above-noted deficiencies in prior designs.


A lid for a container having a built-in opening feature comprises a flexible laminate comprising an upper layer and a lower layer, a pair of radially spaced concentric lines of weakness being formed in the upper and lower layers, respectively, wherein the upper and lower layers in an annular region between the lines of weakness are readily peeled apart, and wherein the upper and lower layers outside the annular region are laminated together with an adhesive providing a bond with a greater peel strength than that required to separate the layers in the annular region. An integral tab is formed in the upper layer by a U-shaped cut line. A distal end of the tab opposite from the two ends of the cut line is within an adhesive-free region of the laminate. The ends of the cut line are in an adhesively laminated area of the laminate.

The present invention relates to containers sealed with flexible lids formed from materials such as polymer film, aluminum foil, paper, and the like.
It is known to seal a container with a lid formed from a heavy-gauge aluminum foil having a heat-sealable material on its underside. The lid is shaped to include a cylindrical skirt that extends upwardly from an outer periphery of a center panel of the lid, such that the heat-sealable material is on the radially outwardly facing side of the skirt. The skirt is heat-sealed to a generally cylindrical inner surface of the container body adjacent the open end of the container, the center panel of the lid thus being recessed below a top edge of the container body. The lid includes a line of weakness such that the center panel can be torn free of the skirt, at least part of which remains attached to the container body. A pull tab is attached to the top surface of the center panel to aid the user in tearing out the center panel. The pull tab typically is heat-sealed to the center panel. For example, a container and lid generally as described above are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,484 to Grabher.
A difficulty associated with such container lids arises because of inevitable variations in the strength of the bond between the tab and the center panel. Such variations are due to mechanical process and material variations that are difficult to control or eliminate. Additionally, it has been found that the tab bond strength tends to diminish with aging of the lid. Accordingly, it can be expected that some proportion of the lids produced according to the conventional process will have a tab bond strength that is less than the force required to detach the center panel from the skirt. When the user pulls on the tab of such a lid, the tab will tend to come off the center panel and the user will then have to resort to other means to open the container, such as puncturing the lid with a sharp implement and then tearing out the lid in pieces. This is inconvenient for the user.

Container lid formed as a laminate having a built-in opening feature, container incorporating same, and method for making same


A system and method for gathering and distributing data. The system is for extracting information from the world wide web and classifying the information in accordance with certain profiles. The information may include business intelligence, which may be categorized according to its relevance to predefined industry profiles or company profiles. The information may be further categorized according to its relevance to particular countries. If the information relates to a new company, the system builds a new company profile based upon the information. Users may create a user profile containing their information preferences, such as industry groups or particular countries or companies, and the system provides reports or alerts to the users referencing extracted information that is filtered by the user profile.

Reference is first made to FIG. 1, which shows a block diagram of a system 10 for data extraction and classification. The system 10 is connected to a public network 14 containing a variety of interconnected sources. In many embodiments, the public network 14 comprises the Internet and the sources comprise websites within the world wide web. The websites may include a plurality of interlinked webpages. Each website is identifiable by an IP address and its associated domain name, such as, for example, <<http://www.uspto.gov>>, which is the website for the United States Patent & Trade-mark Office.
The news feeds available through the world wide web are typically geographically specific and rarely provide a consolidated industry wide view. Globally focused news feeds typically ignore business news of interest unless it has a significant industry-wide impact. Accordingly, articles specific to two different parts of the world, but related to the same industry are rarely available from the same source.
One option is to subscribe to a large number of news services; however, few organizations are capable of processing and filtering the volume of incoming information that would result. It would be advantageous to have access to comprehensive, personalized business intelligence to enable more effective business planning and execution. Such a solution may also be desirable outside of the context of business intelligence, i.e. in any context wherein it would be advantageous to receive information from global online sources synthesized and categorized in accordance with personalized needs.


Systems and methods for providing a game related to fantasy sports is described herein where a database includes information associated with live sporting events, a user module receives information associated with the live sporting events, a gaming server communicatively coupled to the database and the computing device is configured to display a list of the live sporting events, receive selections from teams of event outcomes, receive event outcome information from the database, display event outcome information on the user module, and determine whether the team is a winning team or a losing team. Winning teams are awarded points based on the number of losing teams and a predetermined multiplier. Losing teams are deduced points based on the number of winning teams and a predetermined multiplier. Adjusted spreads associated with the live sporting events may be calculated and applied to confer a competitive advantage to the teams.

Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to fantasy sports leagues. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods related to fantasy sports leagues.
Description of the Related Art
One way to more actively follow sports is through sports betting. Sports betting has become increasingly popular, especially with the promotion of gaming via the Internet. In sports betting, combining two or more games into a single wager is known as a "parlay" wager. Traditional parlay wagers require that all of the two or more games chosen by the bettor beat the predetermined "spread", which is a range of outcomes rather than a "win or lose" outcome. Because it is more difficult to win a parlay wager rather than an individual wager, the payout for parlay wagers is often higher than the payout for an individual wager.
In traditional sports betting, the spread of a particular sporting event changes as a majority of wagers move to one side over the other. This distributes the wagers to level the playing field for subsequent wagers prior to the start of the sporting event. The payout is based on the odds the bettor received at the time of placing the wager.
For sports enthusiasts who cannot or do not want to engage in traditional sports betting, fantasy sports leagues have emerged as an alternative. Fantasy sports participants select individual players from professional sports leagues to create their own teams. Participants manage these teams throughout the course of an entire season, and participants often join fantasy sports leagues with their friends, family members, and/or colleagues. Participants are awarded points based on the real-life performance of the players on their fantasy teams. Fantasy scoring relies on the performance of only a few all-star athletes at a time. This can be frustrating for participants, as the game does not focus on the teams on the field, but only the individuals on the participant's fantasy team. The management of fantasy teams can be a very long and time-consuming process, as participants must manage their fantasy teams on a weekly basis.
As a result, a system that allows league members the ability to participate in a competition that automatically determines a winner without requiring a large investment of time is desirable. Thus, participants may more actively follow sporting events. Finally, it is desirable for a game that utilizes sports betting concepts in a league-based game.
The present invention is aimed at one or more of the problems identified above.

System and methods related to sports leagues


An embodiment includes an exoskeleton robotic system including: a first linkage; a bearing coupled to the first linkage; a joint including a motor configured to move the first linkage along the bearing; an axial load sensor configured to sense an axial force transmitted to the axial load sensor via the joint, the axial force including one of tension or compression but not torque; a bracket including first and second bracket locations and first and second arms; and a housing that includes at least part of the joint and which couples the bracket to the bearing. The bracket couples to the housing at the first bracket location and couples to the axial load sensor at the second bracket location. The first arm couples the second arm to the first bracket location, and the second arm couples the first arm to the second bracket location.

As addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 10,463,560, exoskeletons are mechatronic systems worn by a person in such a way that a direct transfer of mechanical power from the exoskeleton occurs. These robotic mechanisms have been applied in a variety of settings such as, for example, telemanipulation, man-amplification, rehabilitation, and to assist impaired human motor control. However, many of these applications of exoskeleton devices have yet to find widespread use, acceptance, or practicality.
One example area in which these devices have been proposed is the treatment of stroke. Stroke affects thousands of Americans every year and the recovery process is long, difficult, and costly. The use of a robotic exoskeleton may potentially reduce the length, difficulty, and cost of this recovery process. Various efforts have been proposed to provide a robotic exoskeleton for the upper-body.
Such exoskeletons and mechatronic systems may include actuators. Load sensors may be used to detect forces being exerted by robotic actuators. For example, an upper body exoskeleton may use one or more sensors to evaluate the amount of force exerted by a linkage (e.g., a robotic forearm) on a joint (e.g., an elbow). Further, it is often useful for the robotic actuator to know how much force the robotic actuator is imparting on an object. Typical robotic actuators only consider the position of the actuator and can thus inadvertently exert large forces on an object when the actuator moves. Torque sensing actuators (or sensing actuators in general) allow the actuator to consider the force of the interaction in addition to the position and thus help prevent accidents when the actuator moves. In addition, the force sensor can provide feedback to the operator and allow for additional data to be collected.

Compliant mechanism for improving axial load sensing in robotic actuators