A Self-Timed Pulse Control circuit and operating method is highly useful for adjusting delays of timing circuits to prevent logic races. In an illustrative example, the STPC circuit is used to adjust timing in self-timed sense amplifiers. The Self-Timed Pulse Control (STPC) circuit is integrated onto an integrated circuit chip along with the circuit structures that are timed using timing structures that are adjusted using STPC. The STPC is also advantageously used to modify the duty cycle of clocks, determine critical timing paths so that overall circuit speed is optimized, and adjusting dynamic circuit timing so that inoperable circuits become useful.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to timing circuits, systems, and control methods. In more specific applications, the invention relates to timing adjustment circuits for controlling logic races.
2. Description of the Related Art
Microprocessor architectures are continually evolving to improve and extend the capabilities of personal computers. Execution speed, power consumption, and circuit size are aspects of microprocessors and microprocessor performance that are constantly addressed by processor architects and designers in the ongoing quest for an improved product. Execution speed not only depends on the clock rate of a processor, but also upon the speed of interfaces such as cache memories and buses that supply instructions and data for execution by a processor core. The execution speed of microprocessors is heavily analyzed and compared using standard benchmark tests for judging the performance of competing entries into the microprocessor market.
Logic races are conditions that occur in a situation in which logic gates are enabled by signals received from a clocked device. If a data signal that is synchronized by a clock is delayed with respect to the clock, then incorrect data is propagated in a synchronous system.
One example of a circuit that may be affected by logic races is a self-timed regenerative sense amplifier in a memory circuit such as a cache. A memory array is activated by a signal on a word line in a parallel address path. A clock signal is buffered to strobe the self-timed, regenerative sense amplifier. A problem that may arise is that the sense amplifier may be strobed too early, before a sufficient signal is developed on the bit lines, so that an incorrect value is sensed by the sense amplifiers. Since the sense amplifier is regenerative, recovery of the error does not occur.
In manufactured integrated circuits, a sense amplifier has a specific offset voltage that varies as a function of sense amplifier design, layout, process, matching of devices in the process, and the like. Therefore, the offset voltage of the sense amplifiers on a integrated circuit varies within some range. During the design of the integrated circuit, the ultimate matching of devices, the performance resulting from the layout, and other design effects are difficult to anticipate. Therefore, a designer has difficulty ascertaining how aggressively to set device dimensions that determine the timing characteristics in a synchronous system. If the timing is set too aggressively, logical races may result since logic race conditions are generally avoided by delaying clock signals with respect to data. However, if the timing is not sufficiently aggressive, the integrated circuit speed performance is compromised.
What are needed in microprocessors are circuits and operating methods for attaining a fast speed performance while avoid logic races.


A catheter used for diagnosing and treating, for example, atrial fibrillation. The catheter includes a catheter shaft that has a proximal portion and a distal portion. The distal portion is adapted to be inserted into a body cavity having tissue to be diagnosed or treated and is disposed remotely from the proximal portion. The distal portion, which may be curved or straight, comprises an outer peripheral wall having an active region, and the distal portion has a cross-sectional configuration along the active region. The cross-sectional configuration is adapted to bias the active region against the tissue to be diagnosed or treated.

a. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to catheters for diagnosing and treating tissue, particularly human cardiac tissue. In particular, the invention relates to a catheter comprising a distal portion having an active region, and the distal portion is designed to facilitate positioning of the active region at tissue to be diagnosed or treated.
b. Background Art
Catheters have been in use for medical procedures for many years. Catheters can be used for medical procedures to examine, diagnose, and treat while positioned at a specific location within the body that is otherwise inaccessible without more invasive procedures. During these procedures a catheter is inserted into a vessel near the surface of the body and is guided to a specific location within the body for examination, diagnosis, and treatment. For example, one procedure utilizes a catheter to convey an electrical stimulus to a selected location within the human body. Another procedure utilizes a catheter with sensing electrodes to monitor various forms of electrical activity in the human body.
Catheters are also used increasingly for medical procedures involving the human heart. Typically, the catheter is inserted in an artery or vein in the leg, neck, or arm of the patient and threaded, sometimes with the aid of a guide wire or introducer, through the vessels until a distal tip of the catheter reaches the desired location for the medical procedure in the heart.
A typical human heart includes a right ventricle, a right atrium, a left ventricle, and a left atrium. The right atrium is in fluid communication with the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava. The atrioventricular septum separates the right atrium from the right ventricle. The tricuspid valve contained within the atrioventricular septum provides communication between the right atrium and the right ventricle.
In the normal heart, contraction and relaxation of the heart muscle (myocardium) takes place in an organized fashion as electro-chemical signals pass sequentially through the myocardium from the sinoatrial (SA) node, which comprises a bundle of unique cells disposed in the wall of the right atrium, to the atrioventricular (AV) node and then along a well-defined route, which includes the His-Purkinje system, into the left and right ventricles. The AV node lies near the ostium of the coronary sinus in the interatrial septum in the right atrium. Each cell membrane of the SA node has a characteristic tendency to leak sodium ions gradually over time such that the cell membrane periodically breaks down and allows an inflow of sodium ions, thereby causing the SA node cells to depolarize. The SA node cells are in communication with the surrounding atrial muscle cells such that the depolarization of the SA node cells causes the adjacent atrial muscle cells to depolarize. This results in atrial systole, wherein the atria contract to empty and fill blood into the ventricles. The atrial depolarization from the SA node is detected by the AV node which, in turn, communicates the depolarization impulse into the ventricles via the bundle of His and Purkinje fibers following a brief conduction delay. The His-Purkinje system begins at the AV node and follows along the membranous interatrial septum toward the tricuspid valve through the atrioventricular septum and into the membranous interventricular septum. At about the middle of the interventricular septum, the His-Purkinje system splits into right and left branches which straddle the summit of the muscular part of the interventricular septum.
Sometimes abnormal rhythms occur in the heart, which are referred to generally as arrhythmia. For example, a common arrhythmia is Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (W-P-W). The cause of W-P-W is generally believed to be the existence of an anomalous conduction pathway or pathways that connect the atrial muscle tissue directly to the ventricular muscle tissue, thus bypassing the normal His-Purkinje system. These pathways are usually located in the fibrous tissue that connects the atrium and the ventricle.
Other abnormal arrhythmias sometimes occur in the atria, which are referred to as atrial arrhythmia. Three of the most common atrial arrhythmia are ectopic atrial tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, and atrial flutter. Atrial fibrillation can result in significant patient discomfort and even death because of a number of associated problems, including the following: an irregular heart rate, which causes patient discomfort and anxiety; loss of synchronous atrioventricular contractions, which compromises cardiac hemodynamics, resulting in varying levels of congestive heart failure; and stasis of blood flow, which increases the likelihood of thromboembolism.
Efforts to alleviate these problems in the past have included significant usage of pharmacological treatments. While pharmacological treatments are sometimes effective, in some circumstances drug therapy has had only limited effectiveness and is frequently plagued with side effects, such as dizziness, nausea, vision problems, and other difficulties.
An increasingly common medical procedure for the treatment of certain types of cardiac arrhythmia is catheter ablation. During conventional catheter ablation procedures, an energy source is placed in contact with cardiac tissue to heat the tissue and create a permanent scar or lesion that is electrically inactive or noncontractile. During one procedure, the lesions are designed to interrupt existing conduction pathways commonly associated with arrhythmias within the heart. The particular area for ablation depends on the type of underlying arrhythmia. One common ablation procedure treats atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT). Ablation of fast or slow AV nodal pathways is disclosed in Singer, I., et al., "Catheter Ablation for Arrhythmias," Clinical Manual of Electrophysiology, pgs. 421-431 (1993). The use of electrode catheters for ablating specific locations within the heart has also been disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,641,649, 5,228,442, 5,231,995, 5,263,493, and 5,281,217.
Another medical procedure using ablation catheters with sheaths to ablate accessory pathways associated with W-P-W utilizing both a transseptal and retrograde approach is discussed in Saul, J. P., et al., "Catheter Ablation of Accessory Atrioventricular Pathways in Young Patients: Use of long vascular sheaths, the transseptal approach and a retrograde left posterior parallel approach," Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol. 21, no. 3, pgs. 571-583 (1 Mar. 1993). Other catheter ablation procedures are disclosed in Swartz, J. F., "Radiofrequency Endocardial Catheter Ablation of Accessory Atrioventricular Pathway Atrial Insertion Sites," Circulation, Vol. 87, no. 2, pgs. 487-499 (February 1993).
Ablation of a specific location within or near the heart requires the precise placement of the ablation catheter. Precise positioning of the ablation catheter is especially difficult because of the physiology of the heart, particularly because the heart continues to beat throughout the ablation procedures. Commonly, the choice of placement of the catheter is determined by a combination of electrophysiological guidance and fluoroscopy (placement of the catheter in relation to known features of the heart, which are marked by radiopaque diagnostic catheters that are placed in or at known anatomical structures, such as the coronary sinus, high right atrium, and the right ventricle).
Ablation procedures using guiding introducers to guide an ablation catheter to a particular location in the heart for treatment of atrial arrhythmia have been disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,427,119, 5,497,774, 5,564,440, 5,575,766, 5,628,316, and 5,640,955. During these procedures, ablation lesions are produced in the heart as an element of the medical procedure.
The energy necessary to ablate cardiac tissue and create a permanent lesion can be provided from a number of different sources. Originally, direct current was utilized although laser, microwave, ultrasound, and other forms of energy have also been utilized to perform ablation procedures. Because of problems associated with the use of DC current, however, radiofrequency (RF) has become the preferred source of energy for ablation procedures. The use of RF energy for ablation has been disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,945,912, 5,242,441, 5,246,438, 5,281,213, 5,281,218, and 5,293,868. The use of RF energy with an ablation catheter contained within a transseptal sheath for the treatment of W-P-W in the left atrium is disclosed in Swartz, J. F. et al., "Radiofrequency Endocardial Catheter Ablation of Accessory Atrioventricular Pathway Atrial Insertion Sites," Circulation, Vol. 87, pgs. 487-499 (1993). See also Tracey, C. N., "Radio Frequency Catheter Ablation of Ectopic Atrial Tachycardia Using Paced Activation Sequence Mapping," J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. Vol. 21, pgs. 910-917 (1993).
In addition to radiofrequency ablation catheters, thermal ablation catheters have been disclosed. During thermal ablation procedures, a heating element, secured to the distal end of a catheter, heats thermally conductive fluid, which fluid then contacts the human tissue to raise its temperature for a sufficient period of time to ablate the tissue. A method and device for thermal ablation using heat transfer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,708. Another thermal ablation procedure utilizing a thermal electrode secured to a catheter and located within a balloon with openings in that balloon to permit heated conductive fluid introduced into the balloon from the catheter to escape from the balloon for contact with the tissue to be ablated is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,730.
Conventional ablation procedures utilize a single distal electrode secured to the tip of an ablation catheter. Increasingly, however, cardiac ablation procedures utilize multiple electrodes affixed to the catheter body. These ablation catheters often contain a distal tip electrode and a plurality of ring electrodes as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,892,102, 5,228,442, 5,327,905, 5,354,297, 5,487,385, and 5,582,609.
To form linear lesions within the heart using a conventional ablation tip electrode requires the utilization of procedures such as a "drag burn." The term "linear lesion" as used herein means and elongate, continuous lesion, whether straight or curved, that blocks electrical conduction. During a "drag burn" procedure, while ablating energy is supplied to the tip electrode, the tip electrode is drawn across the tissue to be ablated, producing a line of ablation. Alternatively, a series of points of ablation are formed in a line created by moving the tip electrode incremental distances across the cardiac tissue. The effectiveness of these procedures depends on a number of variables including the position and contact pressure of the tip electrode of the ablation catheter against the cardiac tissue, the time that the tip electrode of the ablation catheter is placed against the tissue, the amount of coagulum that is generated as a result of heat generated during the ablation procedure, and other variables associated with a beating heart, especially an erratically beating heart. Unless an uninterrupted track of cardiac tissue is ablated, unablated tissue or incompletely ablated tissue may remain electrically active, permitting the continuation of the stray circuit that causes the arrhythmia.
It has been discovered that more efficient ablation may be achieved if a linear lesion of cardiac tissue is formed during a single ablation procedure. The production of linear lesions in the heart by use of an ablation catheter is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,487,385, 5,582,609, and 5,676,662. A specific series of linear lesions formed in the atria for the treatment of atrial arrhythmia are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,766.
The ablation catheters commonly used to perform these ablation procedures produce electrically inactive or noncontractile tissue at a selected location by physical contact of the cardiac tissue with an electrode of the ablation catheter. Conventional tip electrodes with adjacent ring electrodes cannot perform this type of procedure, however, because of the high amount of energy that is necessary to ablate sufficient tissue to produce a complete linear lesion. Also, conventional ring electrode ablation may leave holes or gaps in a lesion, which can provide a pathway along which unwanted circuits can travel.
An ablation catheter for use in the heart that contains a pair of intertwined helical electrodes is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,193. The helically wound electrode is affixed to the surface of the catheter body over a distance of about eight centimeters from the distal tip of the catheter body. Other helical electrodes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,161,952, 4,776,334, 4,860,769, 4,934,049, 5,047,026, 5,542,928, and WO 95/10319.
During conventional ablation procedures, the ablating energy is delivered directly to the cardiac tissue by an electrode on the catheter placed against the surface of the tissue to raise the temperature of the tissue to be ablated. This rise in tissue temperature also causes a rise in the temperature of blood surrounding the electrode, which often results in the formation of coagulum on the electrode, which reduces the efficiency of the ablation electrode. With direct contact between the electrode and the blood, some of the energy targeted for the tissue ablation is dissipated into the blood.
To achieve efficient and effective ablation, coagulation of blood that is common with conventional ablation catheters should be avoided. This coagulation problem can be especially significant when linear ablation lesions or tracks are produced because such linear ablation procedures conventionally take more time than ablation procedures ablating only a single location.
In some instances, stray electrical signals find a pathway down the pulmonary veins and into the left atrium of the heart. In these instances, it may be advantageous to produce a circumferential lesion at or near the ostium of one or more of the pulmonary veins. Desirably, such a circumferential lesion would electrically isolate a pulmonary vein from the left atrium, completely blocking stray signals from traveling down the pulmonary vein and into the left atrium. It is desirable to have a catheter with a distal portion for forming such circumferential lesions in tissue while avoiding problems with existing designs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Catheter design that facilitates positioning at tissue to be diagnosed or treated

St. Jude Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc.


A new cultivar of Phygelius named ‘YAPYEL’ that is characterized by a compact habit with strong basal branching, and yellow pendulous flowers. In combination these traits set ‘YAPYEL’ apart from all other existing varieties of Phygelius known to the inventor.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Phygelius, that is grown for its ornamental pendulous yellow flowers. The new cultivar is known botanically as Phygelius aequalis×rectus and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name 'YAPYEL'.
The inventor has been interested for some fifteen years in the genus Phygelius, and has collected many named and unnamed plants of the three species of Phygelius, namely Phygelius aequalis, Phygelius capensis, and the inter-specific Phygelius×rectus (P. aequalis×capensis). The inventor has recognized that the genus would be more widely produced and sold commercially if its growth habit would be shorter and more sturdy with natural self-branching. The species of Phygelius and most of the available cultivars, exhibit a vigorous upright growth, such that, although the flowers are much admired, the habit of the plant itself is unappealing to some gardeners. Although it is possible to induce branching and shorter internodes by the application of plant growth regulators during the production cycle, the effect of such applications wears off as the season proceeds and the plants fail to remain upright without staking or support from adjacent plants.
'YAPYEL' was bred by the inventor in a cultivated area of Cheshire, England. 'YAPYEL' is one of three varieties selected for release from the same breeding program. The companion varieties 'YAPCOR' (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 11/053,252) and 'YAPOR' (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 11/053,242) are the subject of contemporaneous applications. The plant habits of 'YAPYEL', 'YAPCOR' and 'YAPOR' are similarly compact, and their flower colors are respectively yellow, dark coral pink, and salmon-orange. 'YAPYEL' arose as follows:
In 1990, the inventor purchased a single plant of Phygelius labeled simply as Phygelius aequalis, that is, without a cultivar designation. This plant carried the characteristic pale yellow flowers of the species Phygelius aequalis but the inventor was attracted by its uncharacteristic compact habit. The inventor allowed the plant to run to seed, then harvested a quantity of seed which was sown and grown out as a seedling population. The inventor selected a single plant from this population and named it "Compact Primrose". Compact Primrose was retained by the inventor as a useful parent for a future breeding program aimed at producing a series of complementary flower colors on plants with natural compactness and good branching. Compact Primrose grows to a height of 40 cm in the season whereas plants of the genus typically achieve heights of or exceeding 70 cm in one growing season. Compact Primrose, which has never been made available to the public, has been maintained and renewed by vegetative propagation at the inventor's nursery in Somerford, Cheshire, England.
In 1998, the inventor commenced his program to derive a series of compact cultivars of Phygelius. The inventor selected a single plant of Phygelius×rectus 'Moonraker' (unpatented) for hand cross-pollination with Compact Primrose. The inventor used flowers from both plants as both pollen donors and pollen receptors and seed was collected from both plants for sowing and seedling grow-out in 1999. From plants selected in 1999 and vegetatively propagated and grown to flowering in 2000, the inventor selected 'YAPYEL' as presenting the best combination of improved plant habit and distinct and clear flower color and overall compatibility with the contemporaneously selected varieties 'YAPCOR' and 'YAPOR' whose breeding had followed the same procedure, namely the use of a promising parent as alternate parent with Compact Primrose as described in the relative applications 'YAPCOR' and 'YAPOR').
Although 'YAPYEL' is similar in flower color to the inventor's unreleased parent named "Compact Primrose", 'YAPYEL' is slightly taller and is more closely compatible in overall shape of plant and density of inflorescence with its intended series companions, 'YAPCOR' and 'YAPOR'. The alternate parent, Phygelius×rectus 'Moonraker' is approximately 70 cm in overall height with sparse basal branching and yellow flowers, whereas 'YAPYEL' is approximately 45 cm in height, exhibits multiple branching and similar yellow flowers. The closest varieties in overall habit known to the inventor are the inventor's varieties 'YAPCOR' and 'YAPOR' which differ in flower coloration.
'YAPYEL' was first asexually propagated by the inventor in Cheshire, England in 1999 using softwood cuttings. Since that time, under careful observation, the distinguishing characteristics have been determined stable and uniform in successive generations.


A portable audio playing device implements a jukebox manager function to permit the simple generation of musical playlists and the alteration or editing of existing playlists. Data, such as MPEG-3 data or other conventional audio format data, may be readily downloaded into the system for storage in a solid state memory or in a spinning media device. The audio tracks are associated with one or more metatags that are used to describe the content of each track. The metatags and associated audio tracks are stored in a data structure that may be implemented as a database or other convenient data structure that readily permits searching by user-specified search terms. The user generates a new playlist by selecting one or more metatags corresponding to the desired musical tracks. The system queries the data structure using the user-specified metatags and automatically generates a playlist containing one or more audio tracks whose metatags correspond to the user-specified metatags. Alternatively, the system may perform the same query and simply generate a results list that will allow the user to manually specify which of the audio tracks identified by the search process will be added to the newly created playlist. The system also permits the simple editing of existing playlists. New audio tracks may be added in the manner described above using metatags for searching or maybe manually added from the list of stored audio tracks. The system readily supports different audio formats and different playlist types.

Portable audio devices have evolved from large cumbersome analog tape players to highly miniaturized digital storage devices. Early portable audio devices were typically in the form of analog tape players that sequentially played musical selections (or other audio presentations). For example, a prerecorded audio tape could be purchased by the user and sequentially played in a portable tape player. However, the user had no control over the sequence of play other than to stop the playing and manually fast forward or rewind to skip over one or more selections.
With the advent of portable digital devices in the form of compact disk (CD) players, the user has additional flexibility in the selections of songs from a CD. For example, some CD players permit the user to manually enter the sequence of musical tracks that will be played rather than play the musical tracks in a predetermined sequence from start to finish. Alternatively, some CD players also include a "random" mode in which musical tracks are randomly selected. However, the CD players described above are still limited to the selection of musical tracks on a single CD. Digital musical devices have been designed to eliminate all moving parts. These devices incorporate solid state memory storage technology and utilize digital processing capabilities, such as data compression, to minimize data storage requirements. A popular musical format, known as Motion Pictures Expert Group layer 3 (MPEG-2 layer 3) defines a digital musical format that plays "near-CD quality" music from a relatively small digital file as compared with the original digital file stored on a CD. Using known data compression techniques, the data structure defined by MPEG-2 layer 3, sometimes abbreviated as MP3, is approximately one tenth the size of a comparable data file on a CD.
With the introduction of large storage capacity MP3 players, the user may record and store a large number of musical data files. However, track selection and organization of such data files cannot be readily accomplished with conventional techniques. Therefore, it can be appreciated that there is a significant need for a system and method that will allow easy organization of data files in a portable digital audio device. The present invention provides this, and other advantages, as will be apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying figures.

System and method for musical playlist selection in a portable audio device


A shade assembly includes a plurality of fastening blocks and a shade with a flexible frame. Each of the plurality of the fastening blocks is adhered onto a top edge or a bottom edge of a window frame of an automobile and has a lengthwise groove with a narrower opening for receiving the shade. Thus, the shade doesn't need to be removed when lifting or lowering the side window. Further, the shade can be easily removed because of the flexible frame.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to shades and, more particularly, to an improved shade assembly having fastening blocks adhered onto a top edge and a bottom edge of a window frame of an automobile for receiving a shade.
2. Related Art
A variety of shades for automobile windows (e.g., side windows) are commercially available. For example, there is one type of shade adapted to be adhered to a side window of a car by taking advantage of static. Also, there is another type of shade adapted to be adhered to a side window of a car by taking advantage of suction cups. However, both types of prior art suffered from a disadvantage. That is, the shade has to be removed prior to lifting or lowering the side window since it is directly adhered on the window. This is quite inconvenient. Thus, a need for improvement exists.


A process for producing an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated nitrile, the process comprising the step of: reacting (1) a hydrocarbon selected from an olefin selected from propylene and isobutylene, a paraffin selected from propane and butane, and tertiary butyl alcohol, (2) ammonia, and (3) an oxygen-containing gas, in a reactor at a high temperature in a gas phase over a fluidized bed, so as to prepare an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated nitrile having the same number of carbon atoms as the hydrocarbon as a starting material, the reactor comprising a reactor vessel having therein, from a bottom of the reactor vessel, an oxygen-containing gas dispersing plate or pipe and a mixed gas dispersing pipe for dispersing a mixed gas of the hydrocarbon and the ammonia, a pressure loss in the oxygen-containing gas dispersing plate or pipe is controlled to the range of from 0.6 to 3.0 times a pressure loss in the fluidized bed.

Ammoxydation has long been industrially practiced. Many improvements have been made for ammoxydation from the standpoint of catalyst. However, few proposals have been made for the structure of an apparatus (sparger) for supplying and spraying the starting material. It is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,731 (JP-A-2-258 (The term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application")). All these proposals feature the disposition of an oxygen gas exit orifice and a propylene/ammonia exit orifice opposed to each other.
British Patent 1,265,770 describes the provision of a sparger disposed in the form of a ring on the peripheral portion of the reactor. However, the object of this arrangement is to prevent the accumulation of a catalyst on the peripheral portion of the reactor. No reference is made to reactivity.
Few proposals have been made for the structure of dispersing plate or dispersing pipe. In particular, the pressure loss in a dispersing plate or dispersing pipe is disclosed in Daizo Kunii, Fluidization Engineering, Octave Levenspiel, John Wiley & Sons. Inc., page 87 (1969). In this reference, 0.1 times the pressure loss in a fluidized bed is recommended as the pressure loss required for fluidized gas dispersing pipe or dispersing plate. However, it was found that if gases are supplied through two systems in an industrial scale apparatus having a column diameter of not less than 3 m, the distribution of the supplied gas concentration is localized under the foregoing conditions, resulting in the reduction of the yield of the objective unsaturated nitrile.

Process for producing .alpha. .beta.-unsaturated nitrile


A connection pin is used to electrically connect a first pattern and a corresponding second pattern of at least one set of patterns formed in a matrix board and crossing one over the other. The connection pin is inserted into a through-hole formed in the matrix board. The through-hole extends through the first and second patterns at an intersection of the first and second patterns. The connection pin includes a fitting portion, abutting portion, and electrical conductor between the fitting portion and abutting portion. The conductor generally extends along the through-hole and has a pair of resiliently deformable ends. One deformable end is mounted to the fitting portion and the other deformable end is mounted to the abutting portion. When the connection pin is inserted into the through-hole, the abutting portion abuts the extreme end of the through-hole. A further insertion of the connection pin causes the fitting and abutting portions to move toward each other. This causes the conductor to resiliently deform so that the conductor laterally extends into electrical contact with the first and second patterns. The connection pin may include a plurality of conductors with an insulating material between adjacent conductors in order to accomplish electrical connection between the first and second patterns of a plurality of sets of patterns.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connection pin and more particularly to a connection pin for use with a main distributing frame (referred to as MDF hereinafter).
2. Description of Related Art
An automatic MDF apparatus is an apparatus which is provided between subscribers and the switching system and automatically performs the installation, move, and removal of a telephone line. The automatic MDF apparatus includes a matrix board which accommodates a plurality of lines on the subscriber side and a plurality of lines on the switching system side, connection pins which are inserted into the through-holes in the matrix board to connect between the subscriber's lines and the switching system's lines, and a robot which manipulates the connection pins.
The matrix board has a layer of parallel pattern traces on the subscriber side and a layer of parallel pattern traces on the switching system side, the layers being in different parallel planes, insulated from each other. The layers are arranged so that the parallel pattern traces of one layer are perpendicular to those of the other. The through-holes are formed which extend through the pattern traces of the two layers at the intersections of the pattern traces.
The through-holes are not electrically conductive and therefore the patterns on the subscriber side are electrically isolated from those on the switching system side. Upon insertion of the connection pin having an electrical conductor or conductors into the through-hole, the conductor of the connection pin establishes electrical connection between the subscriber's pattern trace and the switching system's pattern trace, thereby making a line connection between the subscriber's line and the switching system's line.
A telephone line requires a pair of lines, i.e., a sending line and a receiving line. Thus, the matrix board includes four layers of patterns, i.e., a pair of wires for subscriber side and a pair of wires for the switching system side. The connection pin includes a pair of conductors so that an insertion of the connection pin makes a pair of connections simultaneously. A prior art connection pin is made of a resilient and electrically conductive material and has a diameter slightly larger than that of the through-hole in the matrix board. The prior art connection pin is press-fitted into the through-hole so that the connection pin is in pressure contact with the through-hole.
More specifically, the connection pin is a hollow cylinder with a longitudinal slit, formed therein. The connection pin has a diameter slightly larger than that of the through-hole. When the connection pin is forcibly inserted into the through-hole, the connection pin is resiliently deformed in such a way that the slit becomes narrower. This deformation of the connection pin allows the outer diameter of the connection pin to be adjusted to the inner diameter of the through-hole.
Another example of a connection pin includes a conductor in the form of wire springs having resilience and electrical conductivity. The wire springs are mounted to the connection pin to extend outwardly thereof so that the spring-to-spring distance is slightly longer than the inner diameter of the through-hole. As the connection pin is inserted into the through-hole, the springs are deformed toward each other due to pressures exerted by the inner wall of the through-hole so that the connection pin moves into pressure contact with the through-hole.
Recently, high density package and miniaturization of the switching system have become increasing necessary, and therefore such necessity has placed demands on the miniaturization of connection pins. However, the aforementioned prior art connection pin does not lend itself to miniaturization since the prior art connection pin is difficult to manufacture if it is to be miniaturized.
For example, the hollow cylinder type connection pin having a slit formed therein is manufactured by folding a metal sheet. It is difficult to shape the material into a hollow cylinder with a uniform width of slit, therefore it is difficult to provide a desired contact pressure against the inner wall of the through-hole. A poorly bent cylinder can cause the conductor to be caught by the matrix board when inserted into the through-hole, leading to damages and troubles of connection.
The wire spring type connection pins are also difficult to manufacture and can result in damages and troubles when the connection pins are inserted into or pulled out of the through-hole.


The present invention is directed to the synthesis of 4-[4-[(R)-[1-[cyclopropylsulfonyl)-4-piperidinyl](3-fluorophenyl)methyl]-3(S)-methyl-1-piperazinyl]-1-[(4,6-dimethyl-5-pyrimidinyl)carbonyl]-4-methylpiperidine], and intermediates therefor from readily available starting materials by a novel route.

4-[4-[(R)-[1-[cyclopropylsulfonyl)-4-piperidinyl](3-fluorophenyl)methyl]-3(S)-methyl-1-piperazinyl]-1-[(4,6-dimethyl-5-pyrimidinyl)carbonyl]-4-methylpiperidine] has the structure shown below (Formula I):

The compound of Formula I is an antagonist of the CCR5 receptor and is useful for the treatment of AIDS and related HIV infections. CCR5 receptors have also been reported to mediate cell transfer in inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, asthma and allergies, and inhibitors of such receptors are expected to be useful in the treatment of such diseases, and in the treatment of other inflammatory diseases or conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, solid organ transplant rejection and graft v. host disease. This compound is described and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,720,325, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Reference is also made to patent application Ser. No. 11/326,155, filed concurrently herewith which relates to certain rotamer salts.
In view of the importance of antagonists of the CCR5 receptor, new, novel methods of making such antagonists are always of interest.


An electric power measuring system wherein the watt-hour measurements are adjusted to account for the economic effects of harmonic currents and voltages. Well known techniques are used to acquire frequency spectra that represent the voltages and currents present at the measuring point. These spectra are used to calculate power flow direction and magnitude at various frequencies. Weighting functions are applied to power flows at frequencies other than the fundamental frequency. The weighted power flow is used to calculate an harmonic-adjusted watt measurement, which is then accumulated to form a harmonic-adjusted watt-hour measurement. The weighting functions can be selected to provide an economic incentive for a power consumer to consume power in a way that matches the goals of the power provider.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of electric power measuring devices. More specifically, this invention relates to the accumulating and recording of watt-hours.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electric power is ordinarily delivered to residences, commercial facilities, and industrial facilities as an Alternating Current (AC) voltage that approximates a sine wave with respect to time, and ordinarily flows through consumer premises as an AC current that also approximates a sine wave with respect to time. Ordinarily, a watt-hour meter is used to charge for the power that is consumed.
In an AC power distribution system, the expected frequency of voltage or current (usually 50 Hertz, 60 Hertz, or 400 Hertz) is usually referred to as the fundamental frequency, regardless of the actual spectral amplitude peak. Integer multiples of this "fundamental" are usually referred to as harmonic frequencies, and spectral amplitude peaks at frequencies below the fundamental are often referred to as "sub-harmonics", regardless of their ratio relationship to the fundamental.
It is widely recognized that loads which draw harmonic currents place an increased economic burden on the power distribution system by requiring derating of transformers and increased conductor area. If the non-fundamental currents, harmonics or sub-harmonics, are large relative to the impedance of the distribution system, they can induce harmonic voltages in the voltage delivered to other loads that share the distribution system. It is also possible for a load to accept power at the fundamental frequency and simultaneously act as a power source at a harmonic frequency. Under these circumstances, accurate watt-hour measurements fail to accurately measure the economic impact of the load.
For example, an accurate watt measurement treats the following two loads identically: a load that consumes 80 kilowatts at the fundamental frequency, and a load that consumes 100 kilowatts at the fundamental frequency and sources 20 kilowatts at the fifth harmonic. The latter, almost certainly has an adverse economic impact on the distribution system which traditional watt meters fail to measure.
Harmonic adjustments to watt-hour measurements can provide a better estimate of the economic impact of a non-linear load, and can encourage behavior by electric power consumers that match the goals of the electric power provider.


In a radio mobile system in which the radio signals are received by at least two antenna, the signals are filtered, weighted and then combined before being sent to an equalizer. The weighting coefficients are calculated as a function of signals corresponding to the power level received by each antenna and signals which is represent the quality of reception of each antenna. Furthermore, an equalizer control signal is generated from the combination of signals, weighted by the weighting coefficients, corresponding to the time response of the transmission channel to a single impulse.

In a digital radio mobile system, the signal of a user is coded in digital form and the information relating to a certain number of users, for instance eight users, is multiplexed with time division, forming a frame where each user is assigned a time slot containing a train of bits (burst).
The signal thus formed will modulate the phase of a carrier wave, for instance with a constant envelope modulation or GMSK (Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying) phase modulation and each radio mobile receiver will extract only the relevant information from this flow.
The signals received in a radio mobile system show some distortions due to different causes such as propagation through multiple paths, Doppler effects, local oscillator drifts. These phenomena are emphasized further on in the event of digital signals having a relatively wide band, in the order of 200 KHz each channel. The receiver therefore is to provide for an equalization of the signal received in order to improve the quality of the communication.
According to the known technique, such equalization may be obtained by a transversal filter, with or without decision feedback, or else with a Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimate (MLSE) utilizing a matched filter and a Viterbi processor. In lack of a proper equalization, the quality of the communication may be compromised even if the signal received is powerful enough.
On the other hand, the equalization techniques require certain power values in the signal received for their correct operation, while there is the need of keeping the transmission power within certain limits for various reasons, e.g. to prevent interferences between the various areas and to minimise the consumption and the dimensions of the mobile terminals. When the received signals have a power below the threshold value of the correction system, this is not able any longer to satisfactorily reconstruct the signal, thus causing a deterioration in the quality of the received signal.
It has been suggested that these inconveniences could be avoided by using space diversity techniques in digital radio mobile systems i.e. by using two or-more signals received from the same number of antennae positioned in such a way as to make these signals uncorrelated. The systems used are simple extensions to the digital case of the techniques known for the diversity reception of analog signals and are not devoid of inconveniences and restrictions.
One of these systems provides for the combination at the maximum power, i.e. the timing of the signals received and their subsequent addition, in order to maximize the signal/noise ratio of the combined signal. This system is not obviously capable of considering the distortion of the received signals which is a very important factor in multi-path propagation conditions. According to another technique, switching is provided on the antenna that in turn is receiving the signal at the highest power level.
The selection criterion can alternately be based on a quality estimate, but this requires a complete receiver for each antenna. The switching technique is also involving problems due to the switching transients which should be made to coincide with the inter-burst interval (i.e. between two subsequent bursts), considering also that the variation speed of the propagation conditions may be short as compared with the duration of the burst itself. Not even this technique may effectively allow for the distortion that the signal may show.
U.S. Pat. No. 4 328 585 discloses a receiver system for equalizing time-division digital signals received from a plurality of diversity channels or branches, providing for an estimate of the channel impulse response for each of the receiving branches, an adaptive matched filtering of each received signal, and the calculation of coefficients for the adaptive filtering and the equalizing of the received signals according to the adaptive filter technique, i.e. based upon the generation of an error signal and adaptive loops that lead to the convergence of the coefficients to optimum values.

Space-diversity digital mobile receiver and relevant process

Italtel Societa Italiana Telecommunicazioni s.p.a.


A tool calibration apparatus includes a first measuring device, a second measuring device, a third measuring device, a fourth measuring device and a fifth measuring device. The first measuring device includes a first measuring surface, a first measuring edge and a sensor. The second measuring device includes a second measuring surface, a second measuring edge and a sensor. The third measuring device includes a third measuring edge and a sensor. The fourth measuring device includes a fourth measuring edge and a sensor. The fifth measuring device includes a third measuring surface and a sensor. The first measuring surface, the first measuring edge and the third measuring edge are movable in an X-axis direction. The second measuring surface, the second measuring edge and the fourth measuring edge are movable in a Y-axis direction. The third measuring surface is movable in a Z-axis direction.

With the advancement of industrial technology, a wide variety of robots have been extensively developed for use in lives and industries. Generally, a robotic arm is an important component of the robot, and a tool is assembled with an end of the robotic arm to perform the required tasks. For example, the tool may be a welding tool, a drilling tool, a gripping tool, an abrading tool or a cutting tool. The tool fixed on the end of the robotic arm needs to have a distal end, which is referred as a tool center point (TCP). When the tool is installed on the end of the robotic arm, the relative offset between the TCP of the tool and the end-effect position point of the robotic arm has to be accurately acquired and previously set. Consequently, when the tool is installed on the robotic arm, a robot program is executed to perform a calibrating operation according to the acquired offset amount. In such way, the tool can be operated on the correct path and position.
Nowadays, a tool calibration apparatus is used to calibrate the TCP of the tool. The principles of the calibration process of the conventional tool calibration apparatus will be described as follows. When the tool is installed on the distal end of the robotic arm, the tool is moved toward the tool calibration apparatus. Moreover, a contact point simulation process and a teaching procedure of the tool are performed. That is, the robotic arm drives the movement of the tool within the space of a frame of the tool calibration apparatus. Moreover, according to the movement of the TCP of the tool, the tool calibration apparatus performs a contact point teaching process and create a sample of the tool. In such way, when the tool is replaced with the same type of tool, the tool calibration apparatus compares the offset amount before the replacement with the offset amount after the replacement. After the robotic arm compensates the accuracy of the tool, the tool calibration process is completed.
However, the conventional tool calibration apparatus still has some drawbacks. For example, since the conventional tool calibration apparatus uses infrared sensors to perform the sensing tasks, the fabricating cost of the conventional tool calibration apparatus is high. In some situations or according to some requirements, the robotic arm has to drive movement of the tool on the correct path and position more precisely. In addition to the calibration of the TCP of the tool, it is necessary to realize the axis direction of the tool and the dimension of the tool in advance. Since the conventional tool calibration apparatus does not have the functions of detecting the axis direction of the tool and the dimension of the tool, an additional device or detecting method is used to detect the axis direction of the tool and the dimension of the tool. Under this circumstance, the applications of the conventional tool calibration apparatus are limited, and the positioning precision and the direction precision of the tool cannot be effectively enhanced.
Therefore, there is a need of providing a tool calibration apparatus for a robotic arm so as to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional technologies.

Tool calibration apparatus for robotic arm


Existing coloration of a liquid ring-polyalkyl-substituted aromatic primary diamine is reduced by blending into such diamine a color-reducing amount of at least one dihydrocarbylhydroxylamine. Preferably, the resultant product is stored in a closed container under an inert atmosphere.

Certain highly ring-substituted liquid aromatic diamines such as diethyltoluenediamine are effective curatives (curing agents) for polyurethanes and epoxy resins. Other uses include use as extenders for polyurethane elastomers, particularly in RIM applications, use as monomers, and use as antioxidants for elastomers, lubricants, and industrial oils. Unfortunately such highly substituted liquid aromatic diamines are highly sensitive to development of coloration, so much so that even when such materials are produced under an inert atmosphere such as nitrogen, color can develop when transferring the diamine product into containers. Prevention of such color development in commercial plant facilities cannot be accomplished economically.
During storage after exposure to air the coloration of such highly ring-substituted liquid aromatic diamines typically becomes progressively darker, even to the point at which the material appears almost like black ink to the naked eye. To ameliorate this problem it has been recommended that the purchaser of such a product maintain the product under a nitrogen atmosphere during storage to at least keep the existing yellow or amber coloration from reaching the black stage.
Since coloration in the product can detract from its sales appeal, a need has existed for an effective, economical way of decolorizing such aromatic diamine.
In Japan Kokai No. SHO 59-42346 published on Mar. 8, 1984 it is shown that m-phenylenediamine which initially had a standard color rating of 200 remained at the same color level for 3 days after addition thereto of 0.5% of diethylhydroxylamine, and thereafter suffered an increase in coloration to a rating of 300 at 7 days after the addition.

Reducing the coloration of aromatic diamines


Methods of developing or removing a select region of block copolymer films using a polar supercritical solvent to dissolve a select portion are disclosed. In one embodiment, the polar supercritical solvent includes chlorodifluoromethane, which may be exposed to the block copolymer film using supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) as a carrier or chlorodiflouromethane itself in supercritical form. The invention also includes a method of forming a nano-structure including exposing a polymeric film to a polar supercritical solvent to develop at least a portion of the polymeric film. The invention also includes a method of removing a poly(methyl methacrylate-b-styrene) (PMMA-b-S) based resist using a polar supercritical solvent.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor fabrication, and more particularly, to methods for supercritical development or removal of block copolymer for patterning applications. In addition, the invention relates to removal of poly(methyl methacrylate-b-styrene) (PMMA-b-S) based resists using a polar supercritical solvent.
2. Related Art
The use of bottom-up approaches to semiconductor fabrication has grown in interest within the semiconductor industry. One such approach utilizes block copolymers for generating sub-optical ground rule patterns. In particular, one illustrative use is forming a 'honeycomb' structure with in a poly(methyl methacrylate-b-styrene) (PMMA-b-S) block copolymer. In the case of a cylindrical phase diblock having a minor component of PMMA-b-S, the PMMA-b-S block can phase separately to form vertically oriented cylinders within the matrix of the polystyrene block upon thermal anneal.
FIGS. 1A-C show the above-identified approach. FIG. 1A shows a substrate 10 coated (optionally) with a random copolymer 12, which is affixed to the surface. A block copolymer 14 is then coated on the top surface of the stack, as also shown in FIG. 1A. Block copolymer 14 is annealed with heat allowing for phase separation of the immiscible polymer blocks 18 and 20, as shown in FIG. 1B. As shown in FIG. 1C, the annealed film is then developed (perhaps augmented by using actinic irradiation) to reveal a pattern 30 that is commensurate with the positioning of one of the blocks in the copolymer. For simplicity, the block is shown as completely removed although this is not required.
Since block copolymers have a natural length scale associated with their molecular weight and composition, the morphology of a phase-separated block copolymer can be tuned to generate cylinders of a specific width and on a specific pitch. In one approach, ultraviolet (UV) exposure is used to cause the PMMA to decompose (and polystyrene to crosslink) into smaller molecules and, further, developed using glacial acetic acid to remove the small molecules. In other approaches, development simply uses the acetic acid to reveal the pattern.
For most applications, and in particular bottom-up semiconductor fabrication methodologies, the pattern must be transferred to a substrate. FIGS. 2A-B show a representative procedure in which a substrate 40 and a dielectric material 42 deposited upon it are (optionally) coated with a random copolymer 44, which is affixed to the surface. As shown in FIG. 2A, a block copolymer film 46 is coated on the top surface of the stack, annealed with heat allowing for phase separation of the immiscible polymer blocks, and developed to reveal a pattern having one block 48 remaining as a mask and voids 50 commensurate with the position of a second block of copolymer film 46. Again, for simplicity, the block is shown as completely removed although this is not required. This patterned copolymer film 46 is then used as a mask to transfer into underlying dielectric material 42. As shown in FIG. 2B, the resulting patterned dielectric material 52 is commensurate with the original pattern in copolymer film 46. This type of pattern has been shown, when applied to cylindrical phase PMMA-b-S, to allow for increased surface area, which increases capacitance in storage applications as well as provides 'quantized' wells for flash memory.
While these approaches demonstrate the capability of bottom-up fabrication, there are challenges with respect to implementation in a conventional semiconductor fabrication facility. One challenge relative to the implementation of this particular diblock copolymer is the development of PMMA-b-S without damaging a surrounding matrix while maintaining manufacturing compatible processes. In particular, the conventional approaches use glacial acetic acid to remove the PMMA-b-S using batch processing or liquid coating. Glacial acetic acid implementation requires specialized tooling in order to handle its flammability and corrosiveness. In other approaches, isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is utilized to develop PMMA-b-S e-beam resist. Unfortunately, IPA is not sufficient to remove an unexposed PMMA-b-S film having molecular weights and compositions of interest for semiconductor fabrication. Additionally, in some circumstances a 25 J/cm2 UV exposure is used to develop the block copolymer, which is roughly 1000 times greater than that used for conventional resist.
Another challenge in the semiconductor industry is removing PMMA-b-S-based resist. In particular, plasma stripping of PMMA-b-S-based resist can damage porous interlayer dielectrics in certain integration schemes.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for methods of developing and/or removing select regions of block copolymers that do not suffer from the problems of the related art. In addition, there is a need in the art for a method of removing PMMA-b-S-based resist without damaging porous interlayer dielectrics.

Development or removal of block copolymer or PMMA-b-S-based resist using polar supercritical solvent

International Business Machines Corporation


One aspect of the invention relates to a waveguide assembly. The waveguide assembly comprises a waveguide (120) provided on a substrate (126), a waveguide housing (100) and an embedding layer (138) embedding at 5 least part of the waveguide housing (100). The waveguide housing (100) comprises a waveguide channel (102) for guiding the waveguide (120) from the substrate (126) through the embedding layer (138).

The provision of embedded waveguide structures to provide embedded sensing and/or embedded communications channels provides various known benefits. Where such waveguide structures are provided integrally within, for example, an aircraft, relatively light materials, such as, for example, optical fibres (fibre optics) may be provided, which are not only lighter than traditional metal wiring, but also relatively noise-immune and inexpensive.
While it is desirable to embed waveguide structures within panels that form a larger structure, such as, for example, a building or aircraft it has proved to be reasonably difficult and time consuming to provide reliable connections to such embedded waveguide structures, particularly during the process of manufacturing the larger structure.
Conventionally, to produce a panel, such as a composite panel for an aircraft incorporating an embedded waveguide, a waveguide (such as, for example, a fibre optic) is embedded in the composite panel and emerges from an edge of the panel from where it is terminated into a connector. However, not only are such so-called "edge connectors" labour intensive to produce, but they also place substantial limitations upon any subsequent modification to the panels. This in turn means that it has been necessary to provide a range of different panels in different shapes and sizes to assemble into the larger structure. This not only increased the tooling costs and complexity involved in producing a complex larger structure, but also gave rise to a requirement for intensive use of skilled labour capable of making the edge connectors.
In order to address the problems associated with panels using edge connectors, and in particular in order to provide a panel that could be shaped after manufacture to allow, for example, for the removal of peripheral defects, the Applicants have previously devised various ways of interfacing to embedded waveguides. Various methods are discussed further in the present Applicant's patent applications EP-A1-1,150,145 and EP-A1-1,150,150, the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The aforementioned patent applications describe various ways of interfacing optical fibres, incorporated into components made using composite materials, to surface-mountable interface modules. The optical fibres are accessed from the surface of the components post-manufacture in order to leave the surface of the components free of incisions, cavities and the like during the assembly of various components into a larger structure, such as, for example, an aircraft body.
While embedding of optical fibres and various interfacing components within a substrate, such as a composite material, can facilitate assembly of such a larger structure, since waveguide connections can be made post-assembly, this approach is not without certain drawbacks. Processing of the substrate structure to reveal embedded components with which to interface can be quite difficult and time-consuming. This is partly because the components must first be located and then subsequently exposed. Ease of exposure of components may also be hindered as the substrate structure will already be part of the larger structure which may in turn make accessibility an issue when attempting to "dig out" or expose the interface components. Furthermore, the task of exposing the embedded components calls not only for a skilled technician, but also requires the use of specialist equipment.
Another consideration in relation to conventional embedded connector components is that they may need to be non-standard, and thus may require additional manufacturing facilities to produce them. This can increase the relative cost and complexity when compared to standard type waveguide connectors. Moreover, use of such embedded connector components may also result in sub-optimal alignment, finishing, polishing, etc., thereby leading to relatively high insertion and/or coupling losses. For example, certain conventional connectors use tubing to reinforce an exit point of a waveguide from a composite material. Not only does this damage the composite since the fibres must be teased apart, but it is also very labour intensive and therefore sub-optimal for manufacturing.
Additionally it is generally undesirable, post-assembly into a larger structure, to use complex processing of fibre optic components either near to the edges or the centre of the substrate to produce a suitable connector, since this increases the chance of weakening the fibre optics and/or their support structures and also may mean that they become damaged, possibly resulting in a need for their subsequent removal and replacement. Moreover, waveguide connectors produced by processing exposed fibre optic components post-assembly cannot be tested until they have been formed, thereby introducing a risk that a panel including a defective connector be included in the larger structure. This could in turn require subsequent remedial attention, like replacement of a section of structure, such as, for example, a full aircraft panel, despite the expenditure of the time and effort to produce the defective connector.
Various techniques relating to the use of fibre optic components and/or embedding of fibre optic components into substrate structures may also be found in the following documents, the teachings of all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety: "Termination and connection methods for optical fibres embedded in aerospace composite components," A. K. Green and E. Shafir, Smart Materials and Structures, Volume 8(2), pp. 269-273 (1999); "Optical fiber sensors for spacecraft applications," E. J. Friebele et al, Smart Materials and Structures, Volume 8(6), pp. 813-838 (1999), which discloses use of a rubber tool attached to the surface of a composite material after it is cured; "Development of fibre optic ingress/egress methods for smart composite structures," H. K. Kang et al, Smart Materials and Structures, Volume 9(2), pp. 149-156 (2000); "Infrastructure development for incorporating fibre-optic sensors in composite materials," A. K. Green et al, Smart Materials and Structures, Volume 9(3), pp. 316-321 (2000); and "Manufacturing technique for embedding detachable fiber-optic connections in aircraft composite components," A. Sjögren, Smart Materials and Structures, Volume 9(6), pp. 855-858 (2000).
The aforementioned considerations and documents have been borne in mind when devising the various aspects and embodiments of the invention, as herein described.


The cuff for a sphygmomanometer comprises a flexible cover having an approximately rectangular area when unrolled and comprising a first short side and a second short side. The cover contains an air chamber in its interior which is connectable to a monitoring device. It has fixing means on its surface for fixing the cuff around a body limb. A flap, both sides of which are coated with attaching means for temporary attachment to the holding means, is attached to the second short side of the cover which flap folds both to the one surface and the other surface of the cuff and is attachable thereto by its attaching means.

The present invention relates to a cuff for a sphygmomanometer comprising a flexible cover having an approximately rectangular area when unrolled and comprising a first short side and a second short side, said cover containing an air chamber in its interior comprising a connection to a monitoring device, and having fixing means on both its surfaces for fixing the cuff around a body limb, in which in the zone adjacent to the second short side of the cover attaching means are provided on both surfaces for temporary attachment to the fixing means.
Cuffs for sphygmomanometers have been known for a long time. They are comprised of a flexible cover, an air chamber connectable by a tube to a monitoring device, and a fixing means. The flexible cover is formed by a soft, usually washable material, contains an air chamber and is the carrier of a fixing means. The air chamber is either located in the flexible cover in the form of a bag or is formed by the flexible cover itself. The fixing means has the purpose of bringing and holding the cuff in the right position when it is wrapped around the arm, the leg or another limb. The fixing means itself is designed in different forms depending on the type of cuff.
In case of cuffs which are put on by the patient himself, a loop, for example in the form of a bow, through which the other end of the cuff is pulled is arranged at one end of the flexible cover. The overlapping part of the cuff is attached to that side of the flexible cover facing away from the patient. Shell-type cuffs are also known where one part of the flexible cover consists of a flexible half-shell; said flexible halfshell permits a loose fixation to the limb concerned, a Velcro-type fastener being additionally necessary for final attachment.
Cuffs put on by another person usually consist of a flexible cover only which may be wrapped around the body limb concerned and fixed around said limb by means of a Velcro-type fastener or another fixation means.
All these known cuffs have in common that the flexible cover consists of an inner side facing the patient and an outer side facing away from the patient. Changing the sides is not possible. The inner part of the flexible cuff may only be attached to the outer part thereof. Therefore, they are suitable either for a left body limb only or a right body limb only, because the tube connecting the air chamber and the monitoring device or the air chamber itself cannot be positioned ideally for both body limbs. In addition, the patient must always pull the overlapping part through the loop in the same direction and fix it to the outer side of the flexible cover in a simpler embodiment.
Blood pressure should always be measured on that limb where the higher values are registered. This is different for every person. In addition, the measurement in patients whose blood pressure is taken several times during 24 hours, must always be carried out on that limb which is under the least stress in the normal course of a day (referred to as the "non-dominant" limb in the technical language). Said non-dominant limb also differs individually.
A cuff which may be wrapped both around a left body limb and a right body limb is known from EP-A-0 251 273. The disadvantage of this known cuff is that it requires two non-changeable sides, one facing towards and the other facing away from the body. Since the same side is always facing the body, the inflatable bag must be turned when moving the cuff from the left to the right limb so as to put the tube on the sphygmomanometer into an ideal position.
Another cuff which may be wrapped both around a left and a right body limb is known from EP-A-0 274 735. This is a cuff for ambulant haemodynamometry which is applied by the patient himself. In this embodiment, the overlapping part is pulled through the loop from different directions, depending on whether a left or right body limb is measured. The inflatable bag which is positioned exchangeably in the interior of the flexible cover must be turned to ensure that the tube to the sphygmomanometer runs in an ideal manner.


The invention provides: methods, languages, and systems for parallel algorithmic trading of financial instruments. Each instrument of interest is included in a parallel list, in a reference list, or in both lists. Market data messages are decoded by parallel threads and converted into data series. The number of the threads is preferably equal to the number of the messages in a set of messages. A trader/market regulator selects or creates a trading/overseeing algorithm consisting of expressions based on data series extracted from the messages and on predefined functions. Some of the expressions have outputs representing buy/sell/cancel orders or have outputs aimed for overseeing trading activity. The algorithm is executed by parallel threads. The number of the threads is preferably equal to the number of the instruments in the parallel list.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for algorithmic trading. Particularly, the invention is directed to methods, languages, and systems for parallel algorithmic trading; it significantly enhances the ability of a trader to trade a wide set of financial instruments simultaneously and also allows market regulators to implement effective trading supervision.
2. Description of Related Art
Algorithmic or automated trading has become the most common type of trading in electronic financial markets around the world. More than ⅔ of all NYSE transactions were made electronically in 2009. Algorithmic trading relies on the speed of                receiving and decoding market data messages;        making and processing trading decisions.Thus, there is a need to increase trading functionality with hardware and software solutions available to electronic traders.
The first step of algorithmic trading—receiving and decoding market data messages—can be improved by using parallel processing of messages sent by Exchange servers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,668,840 discloses a system and method for configuring plurality of processing nodes into a parallel-processing database system. U.S. Pat. No. 7,512,660 discloses message handling method based on plurality of conversation threads acting in parallel and asynchronously. A leading market data provider—Thomson Reuters—uses two 4-core Intel processors in parallel to convert market data messages into price quotes and other trading information.
However, these approaches are not satisfactory when trading activity of exchange markets reaches a million market data messages per second or higher. The resulting delays in data feed are absolutely unacceptable from trading point of view.
The second step of algorithmic trading—making and processing trading decisions—can be improved by using parallel processing as well. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,613,647 discloses a system for executing trades of securities based on a network of several servers. Each server is programmed with a specific trading algorithm and receives trade orders and executes them according to the trading algorithm programmed therein. U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,232 discloses a system and a method for parallelizing applications of script-driven software tools. The system has a capability of using multiple processors in parallel for substantial improvements in overall "throughput". MATLAB, SAS, and some other software products provide library functions for fast parallel computing by blocks of threads running on NVIDIA video card with hundreds of coprocessors.
However, these solutions are aimed for working with one or very few trading instruments. There is no language or system support for algorithmic trading which would deal with hundreds or thousands of the instruments simultaneously.
Another known problem in electronic trading is "gaming"—attempts to manipulate a security's price or entire market by artificially generated price swings. U.S. Pat. App. No. 20090125447 discloses a method for mitigating such effects.
However, this method is limited to a narrow problem of eliminating the price spikes. There is a need in a more general tool for anti-gaming supervision.
Accordingly, there is a need in a high performance method, a flexible language, and a powerful system for parallel algorithmic trading of thousands of financial instruments simultaneously and for overseeing of trading activity.

Method, language, and system for parallel algorithmic trading and overseeing trading activity


A semiconductor integrated circuit includes a plurality of semiconductor chips. Each of the plurality of semiconductor chips includes a chip selection unit suitable for generating an internal chip selection signal in response to one or more selective chip selection signals and transferring the selective chip selection signals to an adjacent semiconductor chip of the plurality of semiconductor chips, a selective setting unit suitable for generating a selective internal signal, selectively activated in each semiconductor chip, in response to the internal chip selection signal and an external setting signal, and a common setting unit suitable for generating a common internal signal, activated in common in the plurality of semiconductor chips, in response to the setting signal and an external common chip selection signal.

1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to semiconductor design technology, and more particularly, to a semiconductor integrated circuit including a plurality of semiconductor chips.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, packaging technology for a semiconductor integrated circuit has been continuously developed for reduction in size and increase in mounting reliability. Various techniques for a stack package are being developed in line with a demand for smaller size and higher performance of electrical and electronic products.
A term 'stack' commonly referred in the semiconductor industry means that two or more semiconductor chips or packages are piled up. In accordance with such a stack package, for example, a semiconductor memory device may have a memory capacity twice or more compared to a memory capacity that may be implemented in a semiconductor integration process. Furthermore, researches and development for a stack package are being accelerated because the memory capacity, mounting density, and efficiency in the use of a mounting area may be increased by the stack package.
A stack package may be fabricated using a method of stacking selective semiconductor chips and packaging the stacked semiconductor chips at once or a method of stacking packaged selective semiconductor chips. The selective semiconductor chips of a stack package are electrically coupled through metal wires or chip through vias.


An integrated circuit or chip having a number of bond pads or inputs that may or may not have a bond wire connecting the pad to a supply voltage, ground or via a package pin to an external input when the chip is placed in the package. The circuits such as the input buffer connected to the pad are normally biased in the opposite voltage to that which the bond wire may be connected. For example, the input buffer circuitry connected to the bond pad, may see the pad as being connected to ground if the bond wires are connected, otherwise the input buffer circuitry will see the pad as being connected to VCC. When the pad is connected to a package pin then the end user may apply an electrical signal (e.g., supply voltage or ground) so that the integrated circuit may be configured as any one of a number of possible devices having one of a set of electrical attributes. Typically, the chip will have up to 8 such pads which can be used individually or in combination to configure the device. In one example, the chip would be part of an existing xe2x80x98familyxe2x80x99 of chips which all have, for example, N package pins. The extra package pins used to configure the chip would be added to one or both ends of the package so that the rest of the package looks like a normal non-configurable member of the xe2x80x98familyxe2x80x99.

The present invention relates to functionality of an integrated circuit and, more particularly, to selecting one of a set of possible functionalities or attributes of an integrated circuit chip via the connections to the chip.
Conventional approaches to modifying the functionality of a chip or one of its attributes after fabrication include techniques such as burning through an element on the chip with a laser or a chemical means. However, conventional approaches generally must configure the chip prior to the completion of the packaging process (e.g., sealing the chip in its package).
Similarly, it may be desirable to change some part of the function of the chip such as by converting a simple buffer to a more complex register or to modify an electrical attribute of the chip (e.g., whether an input pin has bus-hold or not). In conventional approaches this type of modification is generally done by changing one or more of the actual interconnect layers of the chip so that the underlying transistors are connected in a different manner. This generally must be done during fabrication of the IC, and not by post-fabrication configuration.
In general, integrated circuits include pads that may be connected to bond wires that may electrically connect the chip to the pins of a package, lead frame or substrate on which the chip is mounted. A pad on an integrated circuit may or may not have a bond wire connecting the pad to a package pin which itself may be connected to a supply voltage (e.g., VCC) or ground or any other electrical signal.
Referring to FIG. 1, a package interconnection 10 is shown. The package interconnection 10 generally comprises a pad 12 on the chip, a bond wire 14, a package pin 24, an input buffer 16, a chip interconnect wire 18, a node 20 and a resistor 22. The circuitry (not shown) connected to the output of the input buffer 16 is normally biased in the opposite voltage to that which the bond wire 14 is connected via the package pin 24. For example, the circuitry connected to the output of the input buffer 16 may see the pad 12 as being connected to ground if the bond wire 14 is connected to a grounded package pin. Otherwise, the circuitry will see the pad as connected to the supply voltage VCC at the node 20. In general, such a technique may be used to select between two operational modes on the circuit. For example, the selection between the normal operating mode of the chip and a special operating mode (e.g., a testing mode) may result. Alternatively, bond pads may receive an external signal that selects between two different electrical operating modes of a chip. For example, the chip may have a chip enable mode which turns off the chip""s output buffers.
Once the chip is packaged, the functionality and basic electrical attributes generally cannot be changed. As a result, the end user generally loses the ability to change the functionality or electrical attributes of the chip after the device is packaged. This, in turn, generally requires the end user (or their supplier) to maintain a sufficient inventory of parts to provide all of the desired chip functions (e.g., buffer, inverter, register, latch, etc.), or basic electrical attributes (e.g., power supply voltage may be 5v, 3.3v, 2.5v etc.).
The present invention concerns an integrated circuit or chip having a number of bond pads or inputs that may or may not have a bond wire connecting the pad to a supply voltage, ground or via a package pin to an external input when the chip is placed in the package. The circuits such as the input buffer connected to the pad are normally biased in the opposite voltage to that which the bond wire may be connected. For example, the input buffer circuitry connected to the bond pad, may see the pad as being connected to ground if the bond wires are connected, otherwise the input buffer circuitry will see the pad as being connected to VCC. When the pad is connected to a package pin then the end user may apply an electrical signal (e.g., supply voltage or ground) so that the integrated circuit may be configured as any one of a number of possible devices having one of a set of electrical attributes. Typically, the chip will have up to 8 such pads which can be used individually or in combination to configure the device. In one example, the chip would be part of an existing xe2x80x98familyxe2x80x99 of chips which all have, for example, N package pins. The extra package pins used to configure the chip would be added to one or both ends of the package so that the rest of the package looks like a normal non-configurable member of the xe2x80x98familyxe2x80x99.
The objects, features and advantages of the present invention include a circuit and method that may change or determine the format, functionality, mode or electrical attributes of a device including three or more of the following attributes: (i) synchronous or asynchronous data transfer; (ii) registered or unregistered data transfer; (iii) one of a set of output drive strengths which may be balanced or unbalanced (e.g., +64 mA and xe2x88x9232 mA, or +24 mA, or +8 mA and xe2x88x928 mA etc.), (iv) whether the inputs have xe2x80x98bus holdxe2x80x99 functionality or not and/or (v) one of 2n functions for the chip (for example, selecting between a buffer and a register).


A joint for coupling corrugated or ribbed pipe segments, including helical ribbed pipe segments, end-to-end includes a segment of corrugated or ribbed pipe having a plurality of corrugations or ribs spaced axially along the segment's outer surface, a spigot portion at an end of the segment where the corrugations or ribs have been partially removed to form annular bosses, an annular gasket positioned in the spigot portion, and a cylindrical coupling positioned over the spigot portion and gasket. The outer diameter of the coupling is substantially equal to the outer diameter of the corrugations or ribs, and the inner diameter of the coupling is larger than the outer diameter of the bosses such that a gap is formed between the coupling and the spigot portion. The gasket is sized to have a radial thickness slightly larger than the gap such that the gasket forms an air-tight seal between the spigot portion and the coupling when the spigot portion and gasket are inserted into the coupling. The gasket includes annular ribs extending from its outer circumference which are tapered at their leading edge to facilitate insertion of the spigot portion into the coupling, and are barb-shaped to resist separation of the spigot portion from the coupling once the joint is assembled.

The present invention relates to pipe joints and couplings and, more particularly, to a joint for coupling corrugated plastic pipe segments.
Plastic pipe is often used to reline worn concrete or tile pipes, such as sewer pipes. It is desirable for such liner pipes to have annular protrusions such as annular corrugations or ribs extending radially from their outer surfaces and axially spaced along their lengths to strengthen the wall of the pipe. Such protrusions may also take the form of a helical corrugation or helical rib spiralling axially along the outer surface of the pipe.
It also is desirable for such liner pipes to have a uniform outer diameter so that the liner pipe can be inserted through or pulled through sewer pipes without edges or projections snagging on or hanging up on protrusions on the interior surface of the pipe or casing to be relined. Therefore, it is preferable to provide a joint for coupling two ends of plastic liner pipe segments which has the same outer diameter as that of the liner pipe segments to be joined.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,173 to Hegler, et al. discloses a corrugated pipe joint having a coupling socket with an outer diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the corrugated pipe segments to be joined. To facilitate assembly of the joint, the joint of the Hegler, et al. patent provides a pipe having two sets of annular corrugations with different outer diameters. The conventional corrugations of the first set form the uniform outer diameter of the pipe segment. The second set of corrugations, which are spigot corrugations, have outer diameters smaller than the uniform outer diameter of the pipe segment and substantially equal to an inner diameter of the coupling socket. This is so that the coupling socket fits tightly over the spigot corrugations.
The smaller spigot corrugations are formed on the same equipment that the entire corrugated pipe segment is fabricated. Therefore, the finished pipe segment of the Hegler et al. patent cannot be selectively cut again to form shorter pipe segments. Furthermore, the Hegler et al. joint requires close tolerances between the joint components to create a tight fit, so that the outer diameters of the spigot corrugations must be substantially the same as the inner diameter of the coupling socket.

Method for making a joint for a corrugated pipe segment


The application describes neutralizing chimeric and humanized anti-human IL-9 antibodies, and the use thereof to identify neutralizing epitopes on human IL-9 and as medicaments to prevent and treat asthma, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, atopic allergy, and other related disorders. Particularly disclosed are recombinant antibodies derived from three murine anti-human IL-9 antibodies identified infra as MH9A3, MH9D1, and MH9L1.

Natural immunoglobulins have been known for many years, as have the various fragments thereof, such as the Fab, (Fab′)2, Fv and Fc fragments, which can be derived by enzymatic cleavage. A natural immunoglobulin consists of a Y-shaped molecule having two protein chains (heavy and light), and having an antigen-binding site towards the end of each upper arm, generally known as the variable region. The remainder of the structure, generally known as the constant region domain, mediates the effector functions associated with immunoglobulins.
Natural immunoglobulins have been used in assay, diagnosis and, to a more limited extent, therapy. However, such uses, especially in therapy, have been hindered by the polyclonal nature of natural immunoglobulins. The advent of monoclonal antibodies of defined specificity increased the opportunities for therapeutic use. However, most monoclonal antibodies are produced following immunization of a rodent host animal with the target protein, and subsequent fusion of a rodent spleen cell producing the antibody of interest with a rodent myeloma cell. They are, therefore, essentially rodent proteins and as such are naturally antigenic in humans, frequently giving rise to an undesirable immune response termed the HAMA (Human Anti-Mouse Antibody) response.
Many groups have devised techniques to decrease the immunogenicity of therapeutic antibodies. These techniques generally involve the use of recombinant DNA technology to manipulate DNA sequences encoding the polypeptide chains of the antibody molecule. Early methods involved production of chimeric antibodies in which an antigen-binding site comprising the complete variable domains of the rodent antibody is linked to constant domains derived from a human antibody. Methods for carrying out such chimerization procedures are now well known in the art. More recent chimerization procedures have resulted in heteroantibodies comprising both the variable region domain of the target specific antibody chimerized with the variable domains of an antibody specific for Fc receptor. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,071,517 (herein incorporated by reference).
Given that chimeric antibodies still contain a significant proportion of non-human amino acid sequences, i.e. the complete non-human variable domains, they may still elicit some HAMA response. Therefore, other groups developed humanized versions of antibodies wherein the complementarity determining regions (CDRs) of a rodent monoclonal antibody are grafted onto the framework regions of the variable domains of a human immunoglobulin. Winter (EP-A-0239400), for instance, proposed performing such an alteration by site-directed mutagenesis using long oligonucleotides in order to graft three complementarity determining regions (CDR 1, CDR2 and CDR3) from each of the heavy and light chain variable regions. Such CDR-grafted humanized antibodies are much less likely to give rise to a HAMA response than chimeric antibodies in view of the much lower proportion of non-human amino acid sequences that they contain.
Although humanized antibodies were less immunogenic than their natural or chimeric counterparts, many groups found that CDR grafted humanized antibodies demonstrated a significantly decreased binding affinity (e.g., Riechmann, et al. Nature 332:323-327 1988). For instance, Reichmann and colleagues found that transfer of the CDR regions alone was not sufficient to provide satisfactory antigen binding activity in the CDR-grafted product, and it was also necessary to convert a serine residue at position 27 of the human sequence to the corresponding rat phenylalanine residue. These results indicated that changes to residues of the human sequence outside the CDR regions, in particular in the loop adjacent to CDR1, may be necessary to obtain effective antigen binding activity. Even so, the binding affinity was still significantly less than that of the original monoclonal antibody.
More recently, Queen et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,101, herein incorporated by reference) described the preparation of a humanized antibody that binds to the interleukin 2 receptor, by combining the CDRs of a murine MAb (anti-Tac) with human immunoglobulin framework and constant regions. The human framework regions were chosen to maximize homology with the anti-Tac MAb sequence. In addition computer modeling was used to identify framework amino acid residues which were likely to interact with the CDRs or antigen, and mouse amino acids were used at these positions in the humanized antibody. The humanized anti-Tac antibody obtained was reported to have an affinity for p55 of 3×109 M−1, which was still only about one-third of that of the murine MAb.
Other groups identified further positions within the framework of the variable regions (i.e. outside the CDRs and structural loops of the variable regions) at which the amino acid identities of the residues may contribute to obtaining CDR-grafted products with satisfactory binding affinity. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,054,297 and 5,929,212, herein incorporated by reference. Still, it is impossible to know before-hand how effective a particular CDR grafting arrangement will be for any given antibody of interest.
Recently, it was shown that interleukin-9 (IL-9) plays a critical role in a number of antigen-induced responses in mice including bronchial hyperresponsiveness, epithelial mucin production, eosinophilia and elevated inflammatory cell counts in bronchial lavage, including T cells, B cells, mast cells, neutrophils and eosinophils and elevated serum total IgE, typifying the allergic inflammation associated with asthma. See Levitt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,559, herein incorporated by reference. Structural similarity has been observed for the human and murine IL-9 genes, suggesting that human IL-9 would be expected to play a similar role in the indication of asthmatic immune responses. IL-9 is expressed by activated T cells and mast cells, with the protein serving as a T cell growth factor and a cytokine that mediates the growth of erythroid progenitors, B cells, eosinophils mast cells, and promoting the production of mucin by lung epithelium.
Levitt and colleagues demonstrated that pretreatment of mice with polyclonal neutralizing antibodies to murine IL-9 resulted in the complete protection of mice from antigen challenge in a mouse asthma model. It would be useful for human patients suffering from diseases or conditions associated with IL-9 expression such as asthma if antibodies having a low immunogenicity and a high binding affinity for human IL-9 could be designed for use in human therapy. The present invention provides for such antibodies, and their use in treating conditions wherein modulation and/or inhibition of IL-9 activity is therapeutically beneficial, e.g., allergic conditions such as bronchial hyperresponsivness, and atopic allergy including asthma.


An air divider having a shutoff plate for converting row spacing on a seeding implement. A reversible shutoff plate has a closed position wherein one end of the plate extends through a slot and completely blocks a leg of a Y-shaped output end of the divider. By reversing the shutoff plate, the leg is opened to air and material flow. The shutoff plate is retained in a clip or post adjacent the slot in both the closed and open positions. A seal closes the slot if the shutoff plate is not inserted and permits the shutoff plate option to be selected at any time.

Seeding equipment such as an air drill often utilizes air flow dividers to direct-air and material from one supply hose to two or more delivery hoses. In some drills, two ranks of openers are offset from each other to provide a relatively narrow row spacing. When a wider row spacing is required, the air delivery hoses to one of the ranks of openers are incapacitated by removing the delivery hoses from the dividers, capping the hoses and reinserting the blocked hoses in the dividers for storage. Alternatively, the operator can remove the divider and directly connect the appropriate delivery hose to the supply hose. Other systems include internal valves having selectively positionable plates or flaps.
Operators are demanding air systems that better facilitate row spacing changes. Manually changing hose routings to achieve the desired spacings can be time consuming and inconvenient. Additional parts including caps are required and are subject to loss. Internal plates or flaps generally require a linkage for external control that can easily become inoperable from product buildup and contamination. Some dividers are costly to mold and time-consuming to assemble. A considerable amount of hardware often is necessary to assure an air-tight assembly. Many operators purchase a machine without a conversion feature but later desire to have the feature.