A battery protection circuit includes a control module, a first switch, and a loading module. The control module includes a second switch. A base terminal of the second switch is connected to a positive terminal of a battery, and an emitter terminal of the second switch is grounded. The first switch includes a gate terminal, a source terminal, and a drain terminal. The gate terminal is connected to the control module and further connected to a collector terminal of the second switch, and the source terminal is grounded. The drain terminal is connected to a first capacitor, and the first capacitor is grounded. The loading module is connected to the battery. When the loading module is abnormal, the gate terminal receives a control signal to switch off the first switch.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to protection circuits, and particularly to a protection circuit for a battery.
2. Description of Related Art
Lithium battery is used in various electronic devices, such as a camera, a mobile phone, and a notebook computer. The lithium battery comprises a chip and a control module connected to the chip. The control module is used to detect the state of the lithium battery, and when the lithium battery is abnormal, such as overvoltage, overcurrent, or short circuit, the chip works with the control module, for protecting the lithium battery from being damaged. However, when the chip is powered up by the control module, the current sinking through the chip is usually an overcurrent which may damage the chip. Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

HONG FU JIN PRECISION INDUSTRY (ShenZhen) CO., LTD.


A method for detecting a boundary of a monetary banknote within an image includes dividing the image into a plurality of sections; generating a color feature map containing color histogram data for each section of the image; generating a gray level feature map indicating a gray level value for each section of the image; recording border sections onto a banknote boundary map, the border sections being sections having color histogram data within a first predetermined range and gray level values within a second predetermined range; removing internal border sections enclosed by perimeter border sections from the banknote boundary map; and dilating the perimeter border sections on the banknote boundary map.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing, more particularly, a method for detecting a boundary of a monetary banknote within an image.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Advancements in image processing systems, including digital color copiers, scanners, and small scale printing presses, has also lead to reproduction of monetary banknotes, currencies, stocks, bonds, and other irreproducible documents by counterfeiters. Obviously illegal, criminals participate in such activities for personal gain or profit.
Because of the presence of such counterfeit and copied items, there is a need to be able to effectively discern and distinguish such fake items from valid and authentic ones. This task however, becomes increasingly difficult as printing and reproduction advancements allow counterfeiters to reproduce copies that are virtually indistinguishable to the human eye.
One aspect of counterfeit currency detection involves identifying a boundary of a monetary banknote. FIG. 1 shows a monetary banknote 110 according to the prior art. Note that the banknote 110 can be separated into two main sections: the banknote boundary 120 and the banknote main body 130. It is therefore important to be able to identify the banknote boundary 120, because once identified, currency verification processes can take place within the banknote main body 130. The banknote main body 130 generally contains more distinguishable features, such as landmarks, holograms, colors, and texture patterns, where more secure counterfeit identification processes can occur. Also, distinguishing the banknote boundary 120 will allow different banknotes to be separated in the case they are overlapping, or if several banknotes are contained within the same scanned image.
Additionally, if the banknote is scanned while embedded in a complicated image background, it may be more difficult to distinguish the actual note from the image background. The image background may also provide additional noise and/or patterns to complicate the detection process and introduce irregularities and errors. Also, variations in the shift, rotation and alignment of the banknote may complicate identification processes. Therefore in these conditions, identification of the banknote boundary is crucial to avoid errors in counterfeit detection.

Method for detecting a boundary of a monetary banknote within an image


A delicate tissue retraction system having a hollow tubular retractor, a hollow tubular introducer that is removably installed within the retractor, and a navigation module that is removably installed within the introducer. The navigation module has a shaft with a proximal shaft end and a distal shaft end, and a navigation unit mounted to the proximal shaft end. When assembled, the distal shaft end is contained generally within the introducer and the navigation module outside the introducer. The navigation module indicates the location of one or more points on at least one of the retractor and the introducer to a navigation system.

A variety of different devices have been used to retract delicate tissue during surgical procedures. One such device is illustrated in United States Patent Publication Number 2010/0010315 ("Mangiardi"), to which this application claims priority and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Mangiardi shows two general versions of a retractor for delicate tissue. One version is a closed-channel retractor in the form of a tube (see, e.g., Mangiardi FIG. 3), and the other is an open-channel retractor in the form of a curved channel (see, e.g., Mangiardi FIG. 23).
FIG. 1 of this application illustrates a soft tissue retractor system such as found in Mangiardi. The retractor system includes a hollow retractor 100, and an introducer 102 that is selectively inserted into the retractor 100. The retractor 100 and/or introducer 102 may include a handle 104 to facilitate manipulation and placement of the retractor system, and a lock to hold the introducer and retractor together. The illustrated handle 104 is molded integrally with the retractor 100, but it may be a separate part. The handle 104 may be configured to connect to a clamp 106, such as the standard surgical clamp 106 shown in FIG. 1. In this example, the handle 104 has a ridge 108 that fits into a corresponding groove 110 on the clamp 106, to prevent relative rotation between the two when engaged. Modifications to this design are described in Mangiardi.
A retractor system such as shown in FIG. 1 is often used by inserting the introducer 102 into the retractor 100 and locking it in place, so the two can be moved and manipulated as a unit. The combined introducer/retractor system is inserted into the patient's body and moved to the surgery site, and then the introducer 102 is unlocked and removed to permit access to the site through the retractor 100. When the unit is in place (either before or after the introducer 102 is removed), the handle 104 may be locked to a clamp 106 to hold the retractor 100 in place. An example of this procedure is shown in FIGS. 16-20 of Mangiardi. Surgeons using the Mangiardi retractor sometimes do not use a clamp to hold the retractor at the surgery site, and often manually manipulate the retractor to access different parts of the surgery site during the surgical procedure. The introducer/retractor system and the retractor may be manipulated by holding the proximal ends of the introducer or retractor or by holding the handle.
The device shown in Mangiardi may have a transparent introducer 102 and/or retractor 100, and surgeons using such devices advantageously use the transparent introducer and retractor to manually guide the unit to the surgery site. While it has been found that visual guidance by looking through the introducer 102 is very beneficial, it also has been found that some form of additional guidance or navigation may be desired in some cases. For example, in some cases, surgeons have used a stylet (a narrow elongated rod) to guide the movement of the introducer/retractor system. In such cases, the stylet is advanced to the surgery site, and then the interlocked introducer/retractor system is slid over the stylet until it reaches the surgery site. This is facilitated by the inclusion of a hole at the tip of the introducer that fits around the stylet. If the hole through the tip of the introducer is absent, this method cannot be used.
It has been found that some surgeons using the above procedure may use a stylet that is integrated into a computer navigation system. For example, the stylet may include a so-called "starburst" or the like, on the stylet's proximal end (i.e., the end opposite the distal end that is inserted to the surgical site). This and other navigation systems are known in the art. For example, frameless navigation systems and other computerized guidance systems and methods are described in U.S. Publication No. 2001/0027271, and others, and are commercially available from companies such as Medtronic, Inc., Stryker, BrainLab, AG, Ge Healthcare. The foregoing reference is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As used herein, "computerized guidance" encompasses any method of guiding a device to or at a surgical site that relies on computer visualization and/or control, as opposed to direct visual inspection and/or manual movement. Mangiardi briefly notes the possibility of using stereotactic guidance or navigation in conjunction with a surgical retractor, but does not illustrate or describe this procedure or any apparatus for accomplishing this objective.
While computerized surgical guidance systems are well-known, a number of limitations exist with respect to their use with introducer/retractor systems, and particularly with systems like those shown in Mangiardi. For example, while some surgeons use computerized guidance to direct a stylet to the surgery site, and then slide the introducer/retractor system over the stylet to the site, the movement of the introducer/retractor may be somewhat imprecise and the process can be unduly cumbersome. This method also is not available if the introducer/retractor system does not have a through-hole that fits over the stylet (due either to the absence of a hole or a hole that is too small). In addition, the stylet does not provide a view of the tissue through which it is advanced, so there is no visual means to perceive and avoid critical tissue (e.g., major blood vessels or nerves) when inserting a stylet before inserting a retractor/introducer system. Also, the small-diameter stylet may sever delicate tissue cells, such as grey or white brain matter, rather than moving the cells aside and passing between them as would be expected to happen when advancing the introducer/retractor system.
While preexisting navigation system devices have been used with delicate tissue introducers and retractors, there still exists a need to provide alternative solutions. In addition, there is a need to provide alternatives to existing systems for manipulating, introducing and holding retractors.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A radiographical image reader for photoelectrically reading a radiographical image of an object. The image reader comprises a radioactive ray irradiator; a radiographical image converting panel which is a radioactive ray absorbent for absorbing the radioactive ray transmitted through through the object so that a radiographical image information is obtained; a scanner to scan the converting panel with exciting light so that the converting panel is subjected to stimulated emission; a reader to read the stimulated emission of the converting panel so that the radiographical image is obtained; a first memory to store at least one of a radioactive ray irradiating condition, object information, and image identification code; a second memory to store a radiographical image information; and a circuit to control the functions of the reader, the first memory, and the second memory in accordance with said irradiation of the radioactive ray by the irradiator.

The present invention relates to a radiographic image data recording and reading apparatus designed in a manner such that: a radiographic image storage panel having a stimulable phosphor is irradiated with radioactive rays which have transmitted a subject so that radiographic image information is recorded; and the radiographic image storage panel is scanned with stimulating light so that the recorded radiographic image information is photoelectrically read out.
In a conventional radiographic image data recording and reading apparatus, operations are conducted as follows. An additional information, which is a radioactive ray irradiating condition, object information, is inputted, and recorded correspondingly to an identification code marked on a radiographic image storage panel. After that, the identification on the radiographic image storage panel is read out with an image playback device. According to the result, photographing data stored in a memory means is detected. (Refer to the official gazette of Japanese Patent Application Open to Public Inspection No. 72040/1983.)
According to the technology disclosed in the aforementioned official gazette, image data and photographing data are linked with each other through the identification code on the radiographic image storage panel Therefore, there is a possibility that image data and photographing data are not linked appropriately when the identification code is erased, or when an error is caused in the reading-out process, or when a mistake occurs in an inputting operation. Further, the cost of the apparatus is increased.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a compact radiographic image data reading apparatus in which image data and photographing data can be positively linked with each other.

Radiographic image data recording and reading apparatus


A motor vehicle seat including a seat part and a foldable seatback including a rear face configured to be situated in a substantially horizontal position when the seatback has been folded. The rear face of the seatback includes an attachment mechanism configured to engage with an independent tray, to hold the tray in an erect position on the rear face once the seatback has been folded.

The invention relates to a vehicle seat which is provided with means for fixing a removable tray. Vehicle seats are unavoidable and imposing elements in a vehicle passenger space and it may therefore be found to be advantageous to configure them so that they can ensure additional functions, whilst retaining a substantially constant spatial requirement. A vehicle seat according to the invention has been modified in relation to a conventional seat in order to fulfill a new function.

Vehicle seat provided with means for attaching a removable tray


The present invention discloses a semiconductor structure avoiding the poly stringer formation in semiconductor processing. A semiconductor device is divided into a memory cell area and a peripheral portion. A plurality of parallel first isolation devices are positioned in the semiconductor substrate in the memory cell area. A second isolation device is positioned in the semiconductor substrate in the peripheral portion, and parallel with the first isolation device. A dummy buried doping region is positioned in the semiconductor substrate, and is positioned between the memory cell device and the peripheral portion and parallel with the second isolation device. An oxide area is formed on the dummy buried doping region. The dummy buried doping region and the oxide region can prevent poly string formation during subsequent processing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor structure design, and more particularly relates to a semiconductor structure avoiding poly stringer formation in the mask read only memory process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Semiconductor devices typically include multiple individual components formed on or within a substrate. Such devices often comprise a high density section and a low density section. For example, a memory device comprises one or more high density core regions and a low density peripheral portion on a single substrate. The memory cell array is positioned in the high density core region.
As the size of the semiconductor structure shrinks, the density of the high density section is relatively raised. However, many problems about the design of the density of the device arise in the process. For example, during the memory cell formation, the etching process of the floating gate of poly I layer is performed to remove the redundant portion. In this moment, since the distance between memory cells is shrunk as the density is raised, poly stringer formation will occur during the etching process. The poly strings are formed due to incomplete removal of the poly I layer of the unmasked portions during the etching process. This phenomenon occurs during the self-aligned etch (SAE) step.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional semiconductor device is shown. The semiconductor device is divided into the memory cell area 10 and the peripheral portion 12 by a dotted line A–A′. In the memory cell area 10, the semiconductor substrate 14 comprises a doped area 16 and a local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) 18 thereon. The oxide layer of the isolation device 18 comprises a gate oxide layer (not shown), a poly I layer 20, an oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) layer (not shown), and a poly II layer 22 in sequence. In the peripheral portion 12, the semiconductor substrate 14 comprises a shallow trench isolation (STI) structure 24. When the surface of the STI structure 24 is higher than the semiconductor substrate 14, poly stringer is formed during the etching process, causing an electrically short of the memory cell. Therefore, for the high-density semiconductor structure, a solution is needed to avoid or reduce the poly stringer formation.

Semiconductor structure avoiding poly stringer formation

Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation


A computer automatically groups IoT devices. The computer identifies at least one individual interaction zone within an operating environment, the at least one individual interaction zone characterized by pre-established device mounting regions each associated with a device category. The computer receives a location indicating signal from an IoT device located within the at least one individual interaction zone. The computer, in response to receiving the location indicating signal and based at least in part thereon, the computer recognizes that the IoT device is occupying one of the device mounting regions. In response to the recognition, the computer determines that the IoT device belongs to the device category associated with the occupied mounting region. In response to the determination, the computer adds the device to an IoT device group associated with the individual interaction zone associated with the occupied mounting region.

The present invention relates generally to the pairing IoT devices, and more specifically, to dynamically linking multiple devices to users.
Sensor and other devices that consume low amounts of power and provide near-constant sources of environmental and other data are often referred to as Internet of Things "IoT" devices. These device are often portable and may, in some cases, be worn or carried by about a user. In some settings, it is common for a user to interact with multiple such devices at one time. In many case, an IoT device is shared by several users over various slices of time. For example, in modern factories, warehouses, hospitals, oil drilling platforms, maintenance services, and several other industries, employees wear various IoT enabled devices to facilitate the ease, accuracy and speed of work. These devices are typically assigned to a specific user, are reusable, and the same user may interact with multiple iterations of a certain kind of device to accomplish tasks at different times (e.g., different days, over the course of multiple shifts, etc.). Examples of such IoT enabled devices include gloves, helmets/caps, body worn cameras, glasses/goggles, virtual reality googles, shoes, safety belts, vests, watches, gas detectors, protective gear, other wearables and so forth.
Unfortunately, the process of associated each of these device can be cumbersome. In certain work settings (e.g., emergency response teams or other groups for whom time is of the essence and quick response is desired), a need to connect multiple devices manually can be prohibitively slow, prohibiting successful completion of work tasks and, in some cases creating danger for the user and those with whom the user interacts.

Dynamically grouping communicatively connected devices based on device location and tracked motion

International Business Machines Corporation


The shapes of the upper tire bead Bu and the lower tire bead Bl of a green tire G and the axial distance between the tire beads Bu and Bl are corrected in a short work time. The green tire G is placed in horizontal attitude on a green tire support table 3 provided with a lower tire bead correcting unit 10. Radially movable pressing members 13 included in the lower tire bead correcting unit 10 are engaged with the inner side of the lower tire bead Bl of the green tire G and stoppers 29 of the upper tire bead correcting unit 20 are engaged with the inner side of the upper tire bead Bu of the green tire G placed on the green tire support table 3. The pressing members 13 of the lower tire bead correcting unit 10 are moved radially outward to shape the lower tire bead Bl into a completely round shape of a predetermined diameter. The stoppers 29 of the upper tire bead correcting unit 20 are moved radially outward to shape the upper tire bead Bu into a completely round shape of a predetermined diameter and, at substantially the same time, the upper tire bead correcting unit 20 or the lower tire bead correcting unit 10 is moved vertically to adjust the axial distance B between the tire beads Bu and Bl to a predetermined axial bead spacing.

The tire beads of a green tire, prior to vulcanization, formed by a tire molding step of a tire manufacturing process are liable to deform due to conditions of storage and temperature difference between the green tire and the ambient air. When a hanger-type carriage is used for storing and carrying green tires, the tire beads expected to be completely round are deformed in an elliptic shape by their own weight.
A vulcanized tire obtained by vulcanizing the deformed green tire is unsatisfactory in quality represented by uniformity and balance and a vulcanized tire of a satisfactory quality cannot be produced.
A tire shape correcting and holding device is proposed in Patent document 1 (JP 2002-79589 A). This tire shape correcting and holding device has a pair of upper and lower arcuate shaping plates divided into a plurality of segments. The pair of arcuate shaping plates are inserted in a green tire to be subjected to a vulcanizing process. The pair of shaping plates are pressed against the axially opposite upper and lower tire beads of a green tire and are expanded to correct the deformed tire beads and to shape the tire beads into a completely round shape.
The pair of shaping plates of the shape correcting and holding device proposed in Patent document 1 are expanded to press the upper and lower tire beads radially outward to shape the tire beads in a completely round shape. The corrected green tire held by the shape correcting and holding device is sent to a vulcanizer.

Method of correcting shape of green tire and apparatus for carrying out the same


A process for operating the brake arrangement of a vehicle is presented, which comprises an electrically controllable service brake system, which is set to generate brake forces independently of driver actuation, and

The invention relates to a process for operating the brake arrangement of a vehicle, which brake arrangement comprises an electrically controllable service brake system, which is set to generate brake forces independently of driver actuation, and which comprises an electrically controllable parking brake system, which is set to generate brake forces and maintain these forces.
The service brake system enables the driver to gradually reduce the speed of the vehicle during its operation or to bring the vehicle to a standstill. Modern vehicles are today equipped with an electrically controllable service brake system in order to enable brake functions which are independent of driver actuation, i.e. automatic brake functions, such as drive slip control (ASR) or driving dynamics control (ESP) to be carried out in addition to the anti-locking control function (ABS). To this end, the service brake system comprises, in known manner, a correspondingly constructed electrohydraulic control unit, an electronically controllable brake booster or it is constructed as a so-called "brake-by-wire" system.
By contrast, the parking brake system also enables the vehicle to be held on a road with an incline, and particularly kept stationary when the driver is absent, using mechanical means. The aim today is also to construct the parking brake system such that its electrically controllable, as already known for example as an "electric parking brake (EPB)". With this, the driver only needs to actuate an electrical control element by way of which at least one electromechanical actuating unit is activated to actuate the actual wheel brakes. Whilst, with the so-called "cable puller", only a central electromechanical actuating unit is used, which replaces the conventional parking brake actuating element (lever or pedal) and acts on the wheel brakes concerned in conventional manner by way of cables, there are also EPB systems with generally two peripheral electromechanical actuating units which are constructed or integrated directly on the wheel brakes concerned.
Therefore, DE 101 50 803 A1 discloses a wheel brake which can be hydraulically actuated in conventional manner for the functional range of the service brake system. To this end, the wheel brake has a brake piston which acts on at least one friction lining and can be displaced by means of a hydraulic pressure introduced into a hydraulic chamber to clamp the at least one friction lining against a rotary element connected in torsion-resistant manner to a wheel of the vehicle in order to generate a brake force. So that the functions of the parking brake system can also be carried out, an electromechanical actuating unit is furthermore integrated in the wheel brake, and this has a gear unit driven by an electric motor, which acts on the brake piston in order to clamp and mechanically fix this against the rotary element connected in torsion-resistant manner to a wheel of the vehicle to generate a brake force, to which end the gear unit is of a self-locking construction.
A brake arrangement having a wheel brake such as that known from DE 101 50 803 A1 is disadvantageous in that the electromechanical actuating unit provided for the parking brake system also has to be designed for load situations such as those for which very high brake forces have to be generated and maintained, for example to safely hold a fully loaded vehicle stationary on a road with a gradient of 30% and steeper. The result of this is that the technology of the electromechanical actuating unit has to be relatively complex, making the brake arrangement significantly more expensive.

Method for operating to brake gear of a vehicle

Abstract: which comprises an electrically controllable parking brake system, which is set to generate brake forces and maintain these forces. So that the parking brake system or its electromechanical actuating unit only needs to cope with relatively small load situations, it is proposed that, when, for certain operating conditions, the parking brake system has to maintain brake forces which are greater than the brake forces it is able to generate itself, the service brake system generates the additionally required brake forces.


A heavy duty, enzyme-containing, aqueous liquid detergent. The detergent includes surfactants, enzymes and an enzyme-stabilizing system. The detergent has a neat liquid pH of 9.5 or greater, a solution pH or 8.5 or greater at 0.2% weight use level and a titratable alkalinity of at least 0.5% weight per gram of product when expressed as % Na.sub.2 O as measured to pH 7.

Liquid laundry detergents provide the same performance benefits as powdered detergents such as whole wash cleaning, whitening, antiredeposition and odor removal, while providing additional benefits such as convenient dispensing, complete solubility and improved stain removal on localized stains. The improved localized cleaning is accomplished by pretreating the stain directly without the need to make a paste as with powder detergents. Liquid laundry detergents have become increasingly popular in recent years due in large part to these advantages over powders.
Liquid detergents encounter formulation difficulties over and above those seen in powders largely due to the desire to keep a wide variety of surfactants, builders and other cleaning agents solubilized for long periods in a homogeneous free flowing form. Many of the chemicals available and desirable for use in liquids are physically as well as chemically incompatible. Much of the skill utilized in formulating liquid detergents goes into keeping these chemicals stable for long periods in intimate contact with incompatible materials.
Over the last ten to twenty years, the addition of enzyme to laundry detergents for stain removal has become commonplace, particularly in Europe. Many laundry detergents now contain one or more proteolytic and/or amylolytic enzymes to improve their performance on stains that are either protein- or starch-based, such as those caused by blood, milk, grass or fruit juices. Incorporation of enzymes into powder detergents has become common, since in powders the enzymes are not in intimate contact with surfactants and other chemicals which cause degradation of the enzyme and consequent loss of enzyme activity as well as decreased effectiveness.
Incorporation of enzymes into liquid detergents remains a difficult problem despite significant improvements in enzyme stabilizing systems. The problem of enzyme stability is increased in high pH systems since the product pH acts to destabilize most common proteolytic enzymes. Many liquid laundry detergents now in the marketplace incorporate enzymes in the formulation. In all cases of which we are aware, the product pH is 8.5 or less.
Many non-enzyme liquid laundry detergents have pH's of 9.0 or greater. A high product pH is desirable because alkaline liquids give improved performance on fatty soils, both in concentrated form during pretreatment with the neat liquid, and in the wash solution where it is used at a concentration of about 0.2%. Wash solution pH's of 8.5 or greater permit improved whole wash detergency on fatty soils by saponifying the fatty materials to form an easily removed soap. Improved performance on both proteinaceous and fatty soils would result from an enzyme-containing, high pH liquid. Furthermore, because fatty soils lower wash solution pH, liquid detergents which resist drops in wash solution pH are preferred. This resistance to lowering of wash solution pH in the presence of fatty soils results from the buffering capacity provided by the detergent.
To date it has been difficult to incorporate a proteolytic enzyme in a high pH liquid and maintain acceptable enzyme stability over the long storage periods that result during the production, distribution and sale of the product.
Liquid laundry detergent systems containing some of the features described by our invention are contained in the patent literature.
Hora et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,868 discloses the use of an enzyme in a high pH (7.5 to 11.0) liquid laundry detergent with a stabilizing system including a polyfunctional amino compound (such as triethanolamine) and borax. Anionic to nonionic surfactant ratios of 1:1 to 1:10 are disclosed. Example 1 includes sodium tripolyphosphate, dimethyl glycine and Alcalase.RTM. enzyme and is said to have a pH of 10.0.
Boskamp U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,922 discloses the use of a high alkaline enzyme in a liquid laundry detergent along with a stabilizing system including borax, a reducing alkali metal salt and a polyol and/or a polyfunctional amino compound. The pH of the '922 composition is said to be near neutral, preferably from 8.0 to 10.0. According to the '922 patent, the composition can be buffered to a value within that range by addition of a suitable buffer system. The pH of the wash liquor is said preferably to be 1 pH unit higher at an in-use concentration of 1%. Boskamp uses the reducing alkali metal salt to provide effective enzyme stabilization.
Boskamp U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,064 teaches the use of a high alkaline enzyme having a maximum activity at pH 8-12 in a liquid laundry detergent along with a stabilizing system including borax, a reducing metal salt, an optional buffer, and the use of a dicarboxylic acid as replacement for the polyol or polyfunctional amino compound. The pH of the final composition is near neutral, preferably 7.5 or higher and may be buffered to a value in that region by addition of a suitable buffer system. The pH of the wash water is about 1 pH unit higher at an in-use concentration of 1%. The pH of Example 1 is 7.5.
Letton et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,318,818 discloses the use of an enzyme in a liquid laundry detergent with a stabilizing system comprising a polyol, calcium and a short chain carboxylic acid. Mono-, di-, and triethanol amines may be used as pH buffers. While Letton et al. disclose a potential product pH range of from 6.5 to 10, they prefer a range of from 7 to about 8.5 to obtain a combination of enzyme stability and detergency.
Example XIII E of Letton et al. includes Maxatase, surfactant, ethanol, sodium formate and triethanolamine, and is said to have a pH of 9.6. Example XIII P includes surfactant, ethanol, Maxatase, sodium carbonate, and sodium formate and is said to have a pH of 10.0.
Tai U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,115 teaches the use of an enzyme in a liquid laundry detergent with a stabilizing system including a polyol (optional), an alkali metal sulphite and an alkaline metal pentaborate. The pentaborate is said to provide a buffering effect on its own at the optimal pH condition to the liquid composition which on dilution in use gives a sufficiently alkaline pH for optimal detergency. The pH of the Tai wash liquor on use of the composition is said to be in the alkaline range of well above 8 at an in-use concentration of about 1%. Example III(6) discloses a metaborate and enzyme-including composition which has a pH of 11.36 and a 1% solution pH of 9.26 but an enzyme stability after 2 weeks of 10% or less. Other ingredients include surfactants + triphosphate builder.
While Tai recognizes the importance of a high wash solution pH, he generally formulates near neutral neat liquids, thus losing the pretreatment benefit of our invention. Additionally, he teaches the use of a pentaborate rather then tetraborate (borax) (page 2, line 5).
Inamorato et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,394 teaches the use of an enzyme in an aqueous laundry detergent with an enzyme stabilizing system including propylene glycol and borax. Inamorato fails to recognize the use of a high pH liquid for fatty soil removal.
In each instance cited, the prior art patents apparently fail to recognize at least one or more critical components which in combination provide the benefits of improved pretreat and whole wash efficacy on fatty soils as well as maintaining the necessary enzyme activity for removal of enzyme-susceptible stains.
The desirability of combining the properties of high alkalinity levels and inclusion of enzymes in detergent products has led to the development of alkaline protease enzymes that are specifically designed to deliver peak effectiveness in wash solutions of pH 8.5 and higher. Many powder detergents now include both high alkalinity sources and enzymes designed to function primarily in high wash solution pH systems. This has allowed the powder detergents to provide maximum benefits for detergency in two areas of primary concern to the consumer. The problem to date has been to combine these two highly desirable properties in a liquid detergent. In a high alkalinity liquid detergent enzymes are in solution at high product pH (>9.0). The high product pH is known to be detrimental to the enzyme stability over the long time periods (often at elevated temperatures) that are seen in normal product storage. We have provided a liquid detergent system which delivers the two aforementioned performance benefits while still retaining sufficient enzyme stability for effective stain removal.
Our invention involves the stable incorporation of enzymes in a high pH liquid laundry detergent and the resultant improvements in detergency on both enzyme-susceptible and fatty soils. It is the stable inclusion of the specified levels of titratable alkalinity in conjunction with an enzyme stabilization system utilizing glycols, calcium and/or borax resulting in improved proteolytic enzyme performance and excellent fatty soil removal (both in the whole wash and in pretreat usage) that forms the basis of our invention.

Enzyme-containing heavy duty liquid detergent


A bearing stiff plate pedestal with cylindrical bore and a separate bearing with shimmed saddle blocks that mate to the bore to permit accurate alignment and with self-aligning Babbitted tilting pad bearings to replace existing bearing spring plates arrangements. A method wherein the bearing stiff plate pedestal is fashioned initially as a drill fixture by drilling mounting holes in the stiff plate pedestal with the diameter of a tap drill for hold down bolts, to permit drilling and tapping holes in the pedestal base plate at proper locations. Subsequently, the mounting holes are enlarged to form clearance holes, and the stiff plate pedestal is mounted, aligned, and bolted into place.

In recent years, there has been a concerted effort on the part of the managements of electrical generating stations to upgrade the steam turbines in many older steam turbine-generator units across the United States and elsewhere. There are two directions, generally, to pursue: (1) Upgrading the steam path components such as the vanes (buckets, blades) on the rotors and/or vanes (partitions) in the stationary components (diaphragms, blade rings) while leaving the existing rotors and shells in place, and upgrading adjacent components such as bearings, and (2) Replacing the existing rotors and shells with upgraded rotors and shells, and replacing adjacent components such as bearings with upgraded bearings. In almost all situations, these upgraded designs result from the use and application of advanced technology that is dependent upon the use of digital computers that were not available when the original steam turbines were designed and built.
A major objective is to maintain tight seal clearances in the steam path in order to improve the steam path efficiency. This requires low amplitude rotor vibrations, which can only result from optimized rotor-bearing dynamics for the turbine rotor and bearings.
Since the beginning of the turbine-generator industry, there has been significant pressure to improve the rotor vibration measuring instrumentation and to improve the calculation capabilities for predicting the vibratory characteristics of the rotors in rotor-bearing systems. In the 1940s and 1950s, the instrumentation was rudimentary at best. For rotor-dynamics and film bearing design, the fundamental equations were known, but only the simplest of equations could be solved with the "closed form" analytical methods. With the introduction of digital computers, rotor-dynamics and film bearing designs for systems other than the simplest could be calculated. As the digital computer technology advanced, larger and more complex rotor-bearing-foundation models could be modeled. The results of computer simulations demonstrate the importance of controlling the stiffness of foundations for film bearings for various steam turbine rotors. At the same time, the introduction of solid-state electronics, and then later, the introduction of computer-based instrumentation and diagnostics provided great advances in the ability to monitor, diagnose, and record vibrations of turbine rotors under a wide range of operating conditions.
The results of almost all of the rotor-dynamic studies of a class of large steam turbine rotors known as "high-pressure steam turbine" rotors clearly show that very stiff pedestals for the oil-film bearings that support these rotors is highly advantageous for minimizing the vibratory amplitudes of the rotors relative to the turbine shells. The vibratory instrumentation and equipment for monitoring, diagnosing, and recording the vibrations of these rotors confirms these results. Because there is great value in optimizing the efficiency, availability, and reliability of these steam turbines and their associated generators, there is considerable justification to improve the design of components when and where possible.
This invention has particular application to the replacement of flexible bearing supports of a type used in Westinghouse Electric Company steam turbines from the late 1940s to the mid 1960s, but its utility is not confined thereto.
These original bearing and support arrangements were simple, comprising a yoke, a bearing mounted in a yoke, a bearing cap to retain the bearing in the yoke, and two flexible I-beams to support a yoke. In this type of steam turbine, the bearing design is typically steel backed, Babbitt lined, oil film lubricated, and not of rolling element design. To change the alignment of the rotors it is necessary to change the position of the bearings supporting the rotors. Shims are used between the yoke and pedestals to adjust the vertical height of the yokes and bearings, and jack screws or shims are used to adjust the horizontal positions of the yokes, and hence, of the bearings. This design is discussed in considerable detail in my U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,516.
In the original arrangement, when a turbine rotor with a total weight on the order of 30,000 lbs (133,440 Newtons) is placed in two bearings of this design, the vertical displacement downward of each bearing is approximately 0.003 to 0.005 inches (0.229-0.635 millimeters). This provides a vertical stiffness of the bearing and flexible support on the order of between 5 million lbs/inch (15,000 lbs/0.003 inches) and 3 million lbs/inch. On the other hand, a vertical stiffness of the bearing support of at least 15 million lbs/inch is required to obtain superior rotor-dynamic characteristics, and even higher vertical stiffnesses of the support structures for the film bearings are preferred.
One object of this invention is to provide a method to replace an existing yoke and mating flexible supports having low stiffness, on the order of 5 million lbs/in with a substantially stiffer pedestal having a desired stiffness of at least about 15 million lbs/in, hereinafter stiff plate.
Another object of this invention is to provide improved means for aligning the bearing and rotor.
Other objects will occur to those skilled in the art in light of the following description and accompanying drawings.
It should be noted that from the perspective of improved rotor-dynamics, another class of bearing support pedestals exists that is superior to the original spring plate pedestals that are being replaced by the stiff pedestal of this invention. This other class of bearing support pedestals uses heavy steel plates welded into, and therefore, integral with, the outer pedestal housings. It has been used by all manufacturers of turbines for at least as long as the spring plate pedestal has been used, and is satisfactory for providing adequate stiffness for the oil film bearings used. Upgraded pedestals using the stiff pedestal design and methods of this invention are comparable in stiffness to this other class of bearing pedestals that were welded into and integral with the outer pedestal housings.


A staple for effecting e.g. an anastomosis between two vascular structures is combined with a delivery system for the staple, the delivery system comprising a suture having a needle connected thereto at one end. The needle is constructed for passage through an edge of each vascular structure, and further is constructed to pull the suture through the vascular structures. The staple according to one embodiment is connected to an end of the suture opposite the needle. After being drawn into place by the suture, the staple is hooked into a desired position with respect to the vascular structures such that the staple is engaged on both sides of the anastomosis. The staple then is crimped to form substantially a loop around the edge of the anastomosis to hold the vascular structures together, both internally and externally. The suture is constructed for ready separation from the staple once the staple is crimped. Once separated, e.g. by cutting, the delivery system is removed from the staple. The staple remains in place to hold the vascular structures together and provide a secure and substantially sealed anastomosis.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to devices and methods for joining two anatomical structures together, and more particularly, according to one embodiment, to devices and methods for effecting an anastomosis of two anatomical structures without multiple knots. Embodiments of the invention are applicable in minimally invasive surgical situations, and in conventional surgical situations as well.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of sutures and staples individually in cardio-thoracic surgical situations is known, of course, in the art. Sutures typically terminate in a curved needle, which is used to pierce the tissue or other anatomical structure and draw the suture therethrough. After placing a desired number of sutures in appropriate locations, as needed for a particular surgical procedure, the surgeon draws each suture tight and ties one or more surgical knots. The surgeon can choose from a wide variety of commercially available sutures, knots and needles.
Similarly, a number of different staples are known for closing surgical incisions and performing other closure functions. The ends of a staple suitable for a particular surgical application are bent or crimped to hold two regions of tissue together or otherwise to fix different tissues in a desired positional relationship.
Known staples generally are placed into proper position from the outside of the incision or other opening to be closed. In other words, the surgeon approaches the incision with the staple externally and crimps the staple, e.g. with a surgical stapling device, to form a seal of external origin. This presents a significant disadvantage, in that the external application of the staple is "blind" and therefore substantially prevents precise approximation (i.e. precise bringing together) of the inner layers of the two tissue structures. This "outside-in" staple application also creates risk of infolding (inversion) of tissue and associated compromise of the anastomosis by obstruction.
For the first time, embodiments of the invention overcome the above and other disadvantages by placing the staple "inside-out," substantially guaranteeing precise approximation of the inner layer of e.g. two structures anastomosed to each other by eversion and substantially preventing inversion of obstructing tissue. Embodiments of the invention also are simpler, more cost-effective and less time-consuming to use, and also can reduce the amount of trauma to which tissues are subjected.


A card insertion system (10) and method in which a free standing inserter module (12) for inserting cards into carriers has a carrier inlet (14) at a preselected elevation (14') for selectively, alternatively interfacing with, and receiving carrier forms (15) from, a free standing in-line carrier form printer module (20) with a carrier form outlet (22) at the preselected elevation (22') to feed in-line carrier forms to the printer inlet when the burster module (32) and printer module (20) are positioned in relative cooperate adjacent alignment and in which a free standing burster (32) for separating preprinted continuous carrier form stock into bursted separate carriers with a bursted carrier form outlet (38) at a preselected elevation (38') substantially the same as that of the carrier inlet (14) of the inserter (12) to enable direct insertion of the preprinted forms ejected from the burster outlet (38) into the carrier inlet (14) of the inserter module (12) when the inserter module (12) and printer module (20) are positioned in relative cooperative adjacent alignment.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to card insertion systems and, more particularly, to modular apparatus and methods for making and using such insertion systems.
2. Description of the related art including information disclosed under 37 C.F.R. 1.97-1.99
Card insertion systems which function to automatically insert one or more credit cards into matching carrier forms are well known.
A disadvantage of known insertion systems is their lack of versatility with respect to printing of the carrier forms. In some systems, the inserters are capable of working only in conjunction with preprinted carrier forms that are fed in continuous fan-folded form to a burster comprising part of the system which is operated to separate the preprinted forms into separated discrete carrier forms which, in turn, are fed seriatim to the inserter one at a time for receipt of inserted cards. These preprinted form systems are not capable of operating in conjunction with in-line carrier form printers.
In other insertion systems, the inserters are contained in a single cabinet with an in-line printer and other apparatus to form a complete card package production system. These card package production systems are not compatible for use with single sheet preprinted carrier forms and operate only with continuous forms.

Inserter module adaptable for use with both preprinted and in-line printed carriers and method


An image capturing apparatus includes an image capturing module and a controller that controls exposure of the image capturing module by dividing a captured image by the image capturing module into a plurality of image areas, weighting brightness of a predetermined pixel in each of the image areas, and being based on the weighted brightness of the predetermined pixel in each image area. The controller performs a weighting correction process that increases weighting to the brightness of the predetermined pixel in each image area when the size of the image area after a correction process in which distortion aberration of the captured image is corrected is larger than the size of the before-corrected image area, and decreases the weighting to the brightness of the predetermined pixel in each image area when the size of the after-corrected image area is smaller than the size of the before-corrected image area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus, an exposure control method, and a computer-readable recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional technologies for controlling exposure in an image capturing apparatus such as a digital camera include a multi-zone metering method that divides a captured image captured and acquired by the image capturing apparatus into a plurality of photometric areas (one example of an image area) and controls the exposure based on the photometric results of the respective photometric areas, a center-weighted metering method that controls the exposure by weighting the brightness of a central portion of the captured image (one example of an image area), a partial metering method that performs photometry on several tens of percent of the captured image in a central portion (one example of an image area) and controls the exposure based on the photometric result thereof, and a spot metering method that performs photometry on several percent of the captured image in a central portion (one example of an image area) and controls the exposure based on the photometric result thereof.
As for the image capturing apparatus used in a television conference system (also referred to as a teleconference system and a video conference system) or the like, an image capturing apparatus equipped with a wide-angle lens is used to capture a wide range so as to capture the images of all of the participants in a conference or to convey a realistic feeling of the conference venue. The captured image captured and acquired by the image capturing apparatus having a wide-angle lens results in a distorted captured image due to the characteristics of the wide-angle lens, and thus the captured image is not transmitted to a destination as it is, but transmitted to the destination in a state of the distortion being suppressed by adding a geometrical deformation to the captured image. When the geometrical distortion is added to the captured image, however, the size of the captured image varies, and thus when the exposure is controlled based on the brightness of the captured image before adding the geometrical deformation without considering the variation, optimal exposure control may not be made.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need to provide an image capturing apparatus, an exposure control method, and a computer-readable recording medium having a computer program that permit optimal exposure control to be achieved when distortion aberration of a captured image captured and acquired by an image capturing module is corrected.

Image capturing apparatus, exposure control method, and computer-readable recording medium


Without carrying out an analysis process of a photographic image, to identify a type of a subject which a terminal device has photographed. Based on data of a timetable format, a specified display device 40 displays the video of the subject of a specified type for a specified display time. A terminal device 10 specifies a photography location and a photography time by a camera 14. Based on the data of a timetable format, an assessment is made as to whether the photography location belongs to the same area as the display device 40 and whether the photography time matches the display time of the video of the specified type subject upon the display device. If it is assessed that said match is true, it is determined that the video of the specified type subject has been photographed by the terminal device.

In recent years, as a diffusion rate of highly functional and multifunctional mobile terminals (so-called smartphones) becomes high, there are many attempts to enhance the ability to attract customers to exhibitions and stores by providing attractive content to mobile terminals owned by users.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a store customer attraction assist system which uses a so-called Augmented Reality (AR) technique. The system according to Patent Literature 1 projects a video image of a predetermined character on a screen provided in an area in which a product in a store is arranged, causes a user to capture this video image by a mobile terminal, specifies a character included in this captured image, and registers the specified character as a captured character in a picture book. This system transmits an image captured by the mobile terminal of the user to a management server via the Internet, causes the management server to analyze the captured image, and specifies the character included in this image. In the video image of the character projected on the screen, marking information (example: the shape of a hat of the character) is embedded. Therefore, by extracting this marking information from the captured image, the management server can specify which type of the character the user has captured.

Collection system, program for terminal, and collection method


A storable biotransformation mixture that can oxidize a drug, comprising a cytochrome P450 enzyme, an electron donor; and, a buffer solution. In a preferred embodiment the mixture also contains liposomes, cytochrome b.sub.5 and NADPH-P450 reductase as the electron donor. The mixture is storable at a temperature less than 8.degree. C. to for at least two weeks and is able to oxidize a drug after storage.

A mammalian liver contains enzymes that convert various chemical compositions to products which can be more easily eliminated from the body. This conversion process, which is also known as chemical metabolism or chemical biotransformation, frequently determines the duration of action of pharmaceuticals or the intensity of the pharmaceutical action. For this reason, many pharmaceuticals must typically be taken several times each day to treat diseases and produce other desirable pharmacological effects.
The liver includes many pharmaceutical-metabolizing enzyme systems such as cytochrome P450, carboxylesterases, UDP-glucuronosyltransferases, sulfotransferases, glutathione S-transferases and many others. These enzyme systems contain numerous individual enzymes, each of which is capable of metabolizing a wide variety of pharmaceuticals and other chemical compositions. Of these various enzyme systems, the P450 enzymes play a major role in determining the rate of elimination of drugs.
Cytochrome P450 enzymes comprise a large family of proteins (Nelson et al 1996) generally called isozymes or isoenzymes. Other new members of this family are still being discovered. In fact, relatively few species have been examined to this date, but, it is expected that the total number of enzymes will eventually be determined to be quite large. Current molecular biological techniques allow the generation of mutants of existing P450 enzymes and the construction of fusion proteins containing parts of P450 enzymes. These generated or constructed proteins still retain P450 function and as such are considered P450 proteins herein. Although liver cells (hepatocytes) contain the most cytochrome P450, other extrahepatic tissues also express other important isozymes, for example adrenals. The primary site for cytochrome P450 isozymes in hepatocytes is the endoplasmic reticulum.
Cytochrome P450 catalytic activity is considered a biotransformation reaction because substrates are changed in some way by the action of the enzyme. Three examples include introduction of a hydroxyl or epoxide functional group and dealkykation. In most cases of P450 biotransformation a source of electrons and molecular oxygen is required. Although hydroperoxides can substitute for both oxygen and electrons, in in vitro systems.
Without cytochrome P450 and related enzymes, naturally occurring and man-made foreign chemicals would accumulate in the body. However, biological or toxic effects of some chemicals are due to metabolites generated by cytochrome P450 and/or related enzymes. For example, the pharmacological effects of the anti-histamine, Seldane, are not due to its main ingredient, terfenadine, but are instead due to a metabolite of terfenadine that is generated by cytochrome P450. Similarly, the liver toxicity that can result from taking acetaminophen, the active ingredient in tylenol, is not due to acetaminophen per se, but is due to a toxic metabolite that is generated by cytochrome P450.
Metabolism by cytochrome P450 often represents the rate-limiting step in pharmaceutical elimination. Consequently, factors that lessen the activity of P450 enzymes usually prolong the effects of pharmaceuticals, whereas factors that increase cytochrome P450 activity have the opposite effect.
Changes in pharmaceutical metabolism may have undesirable or toxic consequences. For example, impaired metabolism of a pharmaceutical by factors that decrease cytochrome P450 activity may lead to symptoms of pharmaceutical overdose. In particular, the anti-coagulant warfarin can cause bleeding disorders when administered to individuals with low cytochrome P450 activity. Since the ulcer treatment drug cimetidine depresses P450 activity, warfarin is not administered to patients on cimetidine. Conversely, the accelerated metabolism of a drug due to increased concentrations of cytochrome P450 can also lead to a lessening of therapeutic effect. For example, pharmaceuticals such as phenobarbital and rifampin that increase cytochrome P450 activity lead to an increased rate of metabolism of contraceptive steroids. When the contraceptive steroids are consumed ovulation, and pregnancy, can result.
The liver converts many chemicals other than pharmaceuticals to metabolites that can be more readily eliminated from the body. Cytochrome P450 and related enzymes facilitate the elimination of endobiotics and of foreign chemicals called xenobiotics. To perform this function in their native environments, other components are often required such as other proteins, lipids, oxygen and electrons. Xenobiotics include environmental pollutants, pesticides, industrial chemicals, household products, cosmetics and non-nutrients in food such as plant alkaloids, flavorings, and chemicals that form during spoilage or cooking. Endobiotics are chemicals made in the body, such as steroid hormones, ecosanoids, and fat-soluble vitamins.
Cytochrome P450 biotransformation of different substrates including endogenous molecules and drugs can have a profound effect on the pharmacological and toxicological responses observed in different species. Because of this fact, pharmaceutical companies spend a considerable amount of their research time identifying the role of drug metabolizing enzymes, in particular cytochrome P450 enzymes, in the metabolism and disposition of novel therapeutics.
The need to determine if an enzyme or enzymes metabolize a drug is long standing. Information on P450 enzymes metabolizing a drug can be used to predict a variety of drug reactions. When administered with ketoconazole or erythromycin, the anti-histamine Seldane (active ingredient, terfenadine) causes Torsades de Points, which in some individuals leads to ventricular arrhythmias and heart failure. Terfenadine is extensively metabolized by intestinal and hepatic enzymes. When enzymes are inhibited by ketoconazole or erythromycin, the plasma levels of terfenadine become sufficiently elevated to block cardiac potassium channels. Such blockage may cause fatal ventricular arrhythmias.
Different sources have been used to measure P450 biotransformation reactions such as whole animals, tissue samples, cell fractions, and highly purified P450s. For example:
i) Radiolabelled drugs such as erythromycin and caffeine can be administered to human patients and P450 biotransformation capacity estimated from the amount of radiolabelled CO.sub.2 exhaled. Drugs are administered to humans and biotransformed by P450 enzymes and the rate of biotransformation determined by measuring parent drug or metabolite concentrations in urine or plasma samples. PA1 ii) Some techniques require the use of whole organ perfusions, tissue slices and cultured cells. PA1 iii) Microsomes, a crude biochemical preparation in which membrane fragments of the endoplasmic reticulum have been selectively enriched from other components of the cell, are prepared from a variety of tissues and are then used as a common source of material. More unrefined techniques use crude cell fractions such as a "S9" fraction. PA1 iv) Recombinant P450s may be generated in a variety of different heterologous expression systems, e.g. insect cells, yeast, E. coli. These eukaryotic and bacterial cells are used to over-express P450s and drug metabolizing enzymes. The cells are then used in a similar fashion as described in ii-iii. PA1 v) Highly purified P450 isozymes have been isolated from both human tissue samples and from heterologous expression systems, however, the P450 does not perform biotransformation reactions alone. The functional biotransformation activity of the P450 has to be reconstituted. In the simplest reconstitution scenario a P450 isozyme is mixed with a substrate and a hydroperoxide chemical (which serves as an electron donor) only then can biotransformation occur. PA1 i) it overcomes the perceived difficulties associated with performing P450 reconstitution reactions; PA1 ii) the error in biotransformation activity is lowered due to a significant decrease in pipetting manipulations; PA1 iii) the ratio of the individual purified enzyme components can easily be optimized to suit specific experimental requirements; PA1 iv) the results demonstrate the feasibility of making similar compositions for other P450 enzymes; PA1 v) a system is provided where catalysis by other drug metabolizing enzymes is prevented allowing for the rapid identification of novel P450 substrates and inhibitors and the development of large scale screening assays.
Traditionally, reconstitution of P450 biotransformation activity has been more complex and has involved the addition of several other components. For example a typical reconstitution reaction might consist of a purified P450, another protein termed P450 reductase (which supplies electrons to the P450) a lipid component, a substrate and an electron source such as NADPH.
Another example indicates how complex some biotransformation reconstitution reactions can be. Using a purified cytochrome P450 which possesses optimal activity toward a substrate testosterone named CYP3A4, three highly purified lipids were pretreated to form a liposomes complex. The liposome complex was then mixed with the purified P450, P450 reductase and another protein cytochrome b.sub.5. Other components at predetermined concentrations such as CHAPS, MgCl.sub.2, GSH, were also required for optimal biotransformation capacity. Most importantly, the way in which all the components were combined was critical for obtaining useable biotransformation capacity. For example, mixing the protein and lipids was the first step and other components for optimal catalytic activity were added at specific points in time. Multiple variations of this reconstitution technique exist in the literature including different ratios of catalytic enzymes, P450 enzymes, lipids, detergent, buffer components, sonicated lipids, nonsonicated lipids, separation of vesicles containing proteins from unincorporated proteins and proteins mixed at high concentrations in the absence of lipid.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method for simplifying the identification of particular drugs and chemicals which are metabolized by a cytochrome P450 enzyme for use in preventing or modifying the administration of the drug to individuals having abnormal concentrations of the enzymes which metabolize the drug.

Compositions for cytochrome P450 biotransformation reactions


A secondary battery comprises a case which includes a frame and a film covering an opening of the frame to form a space inside the frame, and a unit battery cell placed in the space inside the case. The frame has a higher hardness than the film. The frame can be formed with plastic or steel, and the film can be formed of polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), or polyvinylchloride (PVC). The thickness of the film is maintained within 0.03 to 0.3 mm, and a mark can be formed on the film. A contact terminal is formed on the case, and the contact terminal is electrically connected to a unit battery cell so as to connect the battery pack to an applied device. The frame can be formed in a divided manner, and the film can be bound to one surface placed adjacent to the opening of the frame, or on the latter surface and an outer circumferential surface of the frame. The frame can be formed as one body, and the film can be bound to a surface placed adjacent to the frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery pack, and more particularly, to a case structure of a battery pack for sealing a battery assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Unlike a primary battery, a secondary battery may be recharged, and may be made into a battery pack and used as a power source for various portable electronic devices, such as cellular phones, laptop computers, and camcorders.
Among secondary batteries, the lithium secondary battery is more suitable for portable electronic devices since it has high driving voltage and high energy density per unit weight. The lithium polymer battery, which is a lithium battery which uses a polymer electrolyte, has the advantage of making portable electronic devices slim and lightweight since it is flexible so as to take on various shapes, and since it is light in weight.
A typical battery pack is basically formed with a unit battery cell which includes an electrode assembly in which a positive plate and a negative plate are wound with a separating plate, and a case or can (hereinafter "the inner case") which seals the electrode assembly while exposing a positive terminal and a negative terminal. While the unit battery cell is equipped with safety devices, such as a PCM (protecting circuit module), it is assembled into another case (hereinafter "the outer case") so as to be sealed, thereby providing a battery pack.
When a battery pack with the above structure is applied to portable electronic devices, although it is important to provide high efficiency characteristics of the battery itself as a power source, the battery pack should also provide beneficial mechanical aspects, i.e., safety and strength, so as to protect the unit battery cell.
In addition, in order to keep the portable electronic devices slim, slimness of the battery itself is required. To do this, the structure of the battery pack should be such that the outer case structure forming the shape of the pack is a key factor with respect to slimness of the battery pack.
As far as is known, there are two types of outer cases for a battery pack: a label type and an assembly type. In the label type outer case, the inner case is wound with a film type insulation tape; in the assembly type outer case, the outer case is detachable and is made of a material of substantial hardness, such as plastic and steel, and the case receives the unit battery cells inside thereof in order to seal the case. In the latter respect, if the case is made of steel, an insulating tape is adhered to the outward surface of the outer case.
When comparing the above two types in terms of safety, strength and slimness of the battery pack, the label type has the advantage of slimness, but if the unit battery cell is formed in a pouch shape, it has disadvantages in the areas of safety and strength since it is difficult to obtain a predetermined shape of the unit battery cell.
The assembly type has the advantages of safety and strength of the battery pack since its outer case is made of a hard material, but it has a limitation with respect to slimness. The reason is that it is difficult to decrease the thickness of the plastic outer case, which is manufactured by typical molding methods, below a certain thickness, for example 0.4 mm. The steel outer case has the same difficulty with regard to thickness.
In addition to the difficulty in achieving slimness, the assembly type outer case made of steel causes an inconvenience in use due to the increase in weight of the battery pack. Moreover, since such an outer case has a high risk of short circuit when the unit battery cell is placed in it, its circuit structure is unstable. Furthermore, since the assembly type outer case needs an additional step of binding insulation tape as described above, its manufacturing process is complicated.

Gongse-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do


The present invention provides a system for managing cache replacement eligibility. A first address register is configured to request an address from an L1 cache. An L1 cache is configured to determine whether a requested address is in the L1 cache and, in response to a determination that a requested address is not in the L1 cache, is further configured to transmit the requested address to a range register coupled to the L1 cache. The range register is configured to generate a class identifier in response to a received requested address and to transmit the requested address and class identifier to a replacement management table coupled to the range register. The replacement management table is configured to generate L2 tag replacement control indicia in response to a received requested address and class identifier. An L2 address register is coupled to the first address register and configured to request an address from an L2 cache. An L2 cache is coupled to the L2 address register and the replacement management table and is configured to determine whether a requested address is in the L2 cache and is further configured to assign replacement eligibility of at least one set of cache lines in the L2 cache in response to received L2 tag replacement control indicia. In response to a determination that a requested address is not in the L2 cache, the L2 cache is further configured to overwrite a cache line within a set of the L2 cache as a function of the replacement eligibility.

Typically, caches are small, fast storage buffers employable to store information, such as instruction code or data, in order for a processing device to more quickly and efficiently have access to the information. Typically, it is faster for the processing device to read the smaller memory of the cache than to read a main memory. Also, with the rapid increase of intensive computational requirements, such as graphical processing and advanced numerical analysis, their importance in a computing system will only increase.
A cache is a limited resource. One way to allocate sets of a cache is to employ a hardware least recently used (LRU) function to determine replacement of sets. There are other hardware replacement algorithms including most recently used and first in first out. Given the LRU information, the cache determines the last set accessed with the cache in the case of a cache miss. The cache replaces the LRU information in the event of a cache miss, that is, the cache did not have the requested information. This replacement allows the processor to quickly access the selected new information the next time this information is selected. Furthermore, this replacement also increases the chances of the processor finding associated information, as the replaced set cache data is likely to have temporal or spatial locality.
However, there are issues related to the employment of a hardware LRU function in a cache. For instance, some information, such as streaming data, tends to replace large amounts of useful instructions or data in a cache. It would be desirable to isolate this replacement to certain sections of the cache, and leave other sections to be used opportunistically. Furthermore, there are certain critical data and instructions which will be replaced in the cache by the normal LRU. It would be desirable to lock these in the cache and not allow the LRU to replace them. Therefore, what is needed is a cache management scheme which overcomes these limitations.

Software-controlled cache set management


The invention relates to precipitation hardened alloy compositions comprising the following elements, with the contents expressed in % by weight:. ______________________________________ nickel: .gtoreq.52.00% chromium: 20.50%-22.50% iron: 7.00%-13.00% molybdenum: 5.50%-7.0% copper: 1.00%-3.50% niobium: 2.65%-3.50% titanium: 1.0%-2.0% cobalt: 0-3.00% aluminum: 0-0.75% tungsten: 0-0.50% silicon: 0-0.20% manganese: 0-0.20% phosphorous: 0-0.03% carbon: 0-0.02% nitrogen: 0-0.02% magnesium: 0-0.005% sulfur: 0-0.005% ______________________________________. the elements satisfying the following four relationships:. X=(2.271% Ti+1.142% Cr+0.957% Mn+0.858% Fe+0.777% Co+0.717% Ni+2.117% Nb+1.550% Mo+1.655% W+1.90% Al+1.90% Si+0.615% Cu).ltoreq.93.5, the percentages for this relationship being in atomic %; PA1 Y=(% Mo+% W+% Cu).ltoreq.9, the percentages for this relationship being in % by weight; PA1 A=(0.65% Nb+1.25% Ti+2.20% Al).gtoreq.4.4, the percentages for this relationship being in % by weight; ##EQU1## the percentages for this relationship being in % by weight. The invention also relates to a process for transforming this alloy and to very large pieces of up to several tonnes for the oil industry.

Continuous exploitation of fossil energy, gas and oil, has led to a demand for materials which have both high corrosion resistance and sufficient mechanical strength to stand up to the conditions they encounter, but also which are very malleable so that they can be easily transformed using existing techniques to produce pieces which may have complex shapes which necessitate handling several tonnes of these materials, for example "Christmas trees" or offshore well heads, pump bodies, or valves.
The types of corrosion encountered in the fossil energy extraction field, can be classified into three categories: the first, into which the majority of cases fall, being corrosion by CO.sub.2 gas; the second, which is quite frequent, being corrosion by a combination of CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 S gases; and the third class of corrosive environments, which is still in the minority since it is encountered in deep wells, being corrosion by simultaneous concentrations of highly aggressive substances H.sub.2 S, CO.sub.2, and chloride salts mixed with water, methane, and hydrocarbons. These hydrocarbons can sometimes be in a minor proportion in extracted mixtures which are rendered highly acidic by the presence of H.sub.2 S and its chemical reactions.
The increase in pressure and temperature with depth renders these environments even more aggressive against metallic materials: deep wells drilled onshore and offshore in northern USA, in Europe, and in Australia, for example, have experienced high rates of corrosion and premature breakage of ordinary metallic materials. Offshore drilling adds to that the external corrosion of pieces by seawater.
The combination of such very severe conditions means that the materials used must have very good resistance to corrosion in all of its forms. However, generalised corrosion resistance is relatively easy to obtain, and it is necessary to ensure that precautions are taken against localised corrosion, stress corrosion in chloride environments, and against hydrogen embrittlement. Although the oil industry has few corrosion problems in terms of frequency, it encounters just the specific problems described above during offshore production, combined with difficulties in overcoming or evaluating actual deaeration of hot corrosive environments, which are highly acidic and under pressure, and which can lead to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of usual alloys such as stainless steels. Stress corrosion must be distinguished from hydrogen embrittlement which is connected with the presence of H.sub.2 S, although those two mechanisms can occur simultaneously.
Among metallic materials, alloys based on Ni--Cr systems and Ni--Fe--Cr systems are used under such conditions because of the excellent compromise they offer between corrosion resistance and cost compared with other, more costly materials such as titanium. Ni--Cr based alloys with a high nickel content are known to be sensitive to hydrogen, and the severe conditions described above thus direct the choice to Ni--Fe--Cr alloys which have a high iron content which also limits materials costs.
Ni--Fe alloys with nickel contents of over about 40% by weight can be protected against stress corrosion in chloride environments in limited circumstances which depend on complementary additions, in particular of the elements chromium, molybdenum and copper.
In general, nickel based alloys containing the elements Mo, Cu and Fe are suitable for non oxidising corrosive environments, in particular non aerated environments: the synergistic effect of molybdenum and copper is recognised for countering corrosion in reducing acidic environments which are rich in chlorides, the effect of the molybdenum being preponderant.
However, in the most severe oil industry environments described above, which can be partially, temporarily, or even accidentally, oxidising or aerated, chromium, an element which resists oxidation makes an essential contribution to the corrosion resistance of Ni--Fe--Cr--Mo--Cu alloys.
The molybdenum content has a marked effect on alloys containing at least 40% of nickel and 20% of chromium, as regards stress corrosion in oil industry environments containing CO.sub.2, H.sub.2 S, Cl.sup.- and elemental sulfur. Three important criteria can be distinguished in these environments: temperature, acidity, and chloride concentration. In particular, increasing the molybdenum content can increase the maximum service temperature above which stress corrosion occurs.
Similarly, raising the molybdenum content means that higher acidity and higher chloride concentrations can be tolerated, with due allowance being made for localised corrosion of Ni--Fe--Cr--Mo--Cu alloys.
With the aim of satisfying the demand for good mechanical characteristics and creep strength, Ni--Fe--Cr based alloys exist which are precipitation hardened by precipitation of phases which confer high strength while ductility remains good. In the majority of these alloys, used in particular in the aircraft industry in the hot zones in engines or in turbines, the elements niobium, titanium, and aluminum, in suitable proportions, participate in hardening reactions by which the alloy attains its hardness during an aging treatment carried out in a temperature range where those addition elements are supersaturated in the austenitic matrix, which has previously been homogenised at a higher temperature, and which then becomes a metastable solution.
French patents FR-A-2 154 871 and FR-A-2 277 901 indicate that elements Al, Ti and Nb which are supersaturated in austenite form intermetallic compounds with nickel which produce the desired hardening, of which there are two types. Aluminum causes the formation of a face centered cubic phase with crystallographic structure L.sub.12 with an A.sub.3 B type chemical composition where A represents nickel and a small fraction of the other elements of the austenitic matrix (iron, cobalt, chromium, . . .) and B represents aluminum; that phase is termed the .gamma.' phase. Titanium can substitute all or part of the aluminum in the .gamma.' phase and can increase its hardening effect at higher temperatures.
Niobium causes the formation of an intermetallic phase with a Do.sub.22 type centred tetragonal structure, also with a composition A.sub.3 B where this time B represents niobium, the phase being termed the .gamma." phase.
Such alloys are hardened by precipitation of one or other of those phases, or both at once, between 600.degree. C. and 800.degree. C., which constitutes an improvement claimed in FR-A-2 154 871 which is applied to Ni--Fe--Cr based alloys comprising 15% to 25% by weight of iron, 15% to 25% of chromium, 2.5% to 9% of molybdenum, 1.5% to 6.5% of niobium and/or tantalum, 0.5% to 1.5% of titanium, 0.3% to 1.5% of aluminum and 0.03% to 0.2% of carbon. The alloys claimed in that patent are characterized by very precise titanium, aluminum, and niobium (+tantalum) contents, such that their sum in atomic % must be in the range 4% to 6% and such that the (Ti+AI)/(Nb+Ta) ratio of the sums in atomic % is over 0.8, with the precise aims firstly of obtaining good precipitation hardening during an aging cycle carried out in two temperature stages, and secondly of suppressing the overaging effect which occurs in such alloys during high temperature service, and finally to provide good ductility both at room temperature and when hot, for example in creep.
The invention described in FR-A-2 154 871 is based on the following discovery: the claimed properties are due to a particular and very stable morphology of the .gamma.' and .gamma." precipitates in which the six faces of the cubic .gamma.' phase precipitates formed during the highest temperature aging stage are covered with precipitates of platelets of the .gamma." phase formed during the second temperature stage, at a lower temperature than the first.
According to that invention, simultaneous precipitation of carbides in the grain boundaries can further increase the strength at high service temperatures.
European patent EP-A-0 262 673 claims a precipitation hardened nickel based alloy which is resistant to hydrogen embrittlement and to corrosion in chloride media containing H.sub.2 S. That alloy contains 15% to 25% by weight of Cr, 5% to 28% of Fe, 6% to 9% of Mo, 2.5% to 5% of Nb, 0.5% to 2.5% of Ti, up to 0.5% of Al and 54% to 64% of Ni: the claims are directed towards applications in oil industry environments. Supplementary conditions give more precise values for the alloying element contents. The alloys described in EP-A-0 262 673 do not include the addition of copper, or copper addition is limited to less than 1%, but they can be hardened by precipitation of two phases: .gamma.' then .gamma.".
EP-A-0 247 577 claims another nickel based alloy which is precipitation hardened by .gamma.' and .gamma." phases and which is resistant to corrosion in media containing H.sub.2 S and Cl.sup.- at high temperatures; that alloy contains 16% to 24% of chromium, 7% to 12% of molybdenum, less than 4% of tungsten, 2% to 6% of niobium, less than 1% of aluminum, 0.5% to 2.5% of titanium, 0 to 3% of copper, less than 20% of iron, more than 55% of nickel and controlled amounts of carbon, cobalt, silicon, manganese, boron, zirconium, nitrogen, phosphorous and sulfur. Further, the sum (Cr+Mo) is limited to 31% by weight while the sum of the atomic percentages of elements Nb, Ti and Al is kept between 3.5% and 5%.
All of the alloys described in the patents referred to above, in addition to high strength and good corrosion resistance, are easy to work and are insensitive to precipitation of harmful intermetallic phases.
However, manufacturers of pieces from such alloys and from super-alloys in general, whether involved in smelting, forging, or using heat treatment units, encounter insurmountable problems with ingots and semi-finished products weighing several tonnes and with large cross sections.
Typically forging produces pieces by thermo-mechanical transformation of ingots: for nickel based alloys containing the elements titanium, aluminum, or chromium, which have a high affinity for oxygen, ingots are produced in two steps. The first step is the production of electrodes under vacuum and the second step is one or more remelting steps using electrodes using vacuum arc remelting (VAR) or electroslag remelting (ESR). Those two remelting processes affect the quality of the metals by completing primary production (complementary purification and improving inclusion cleanliness); they also affect solidification control by reducing defects and minimising segregation of the alloying elements.
The ESR process currently results in better desulfuration, and is used especially for the production of large ingots where it is irreplaceable. Controlling the remelting parameters can produce the best structural homogeneity in the ingots.
However, as the quantity of alloying elements which are prone to segregation increases, and when the size of the remelted ingots increases, which is possible nowadays with furnaces with ever larger diameters, the risk of defects on solidification grows: defects which can occur in remelted ingots are listed in American Standard Test Method ASTM A604.
There is an absolute limit on the size of a remelted ingot for a given alloy and once the remelting parameters have been optimised, above which the degree of segregation is such that the properties in service can no longer be guaranteed at all points in its volume. The hardening elements titanium, aluminum, and niobium are known to be very limiting as regards the maximum diameter of ingots if a no-defect situation is desired.
In extreme cases, once solidification has finished, segregation of alloying elements generally causes the formation of particular eutectoid or eutectic compositions the nature of which depend on the segregated elements: niobium forms Laves phases with iron (Fe.sub.2 Nb), in which silicon is concentrated; molybdenum produces a p phase (Ni.sub.7 Mo.sub.6) with nickel, and the sigma phase with chromium and iron, while titanium and aluminum produce massive Ni.sub.3 (Ti,Al) type eutectic compositions. Further, all of those elements can form nitrides, carbides, or borides in the presence of nitrogen, carbon, and boron respectively.
Such compositions are harmful since they produce heterogeneous properties in the alloy and fix the alloying elements in the service and forging temperature ranges. Further, the majority have low melting points, which limits the homogenisation and forging temperatures of the ingots.
A further very constricting phenomenon of too much addition of elements titanium, aluminum, niobium, and molybdenum is heat hardening of a solid solution (Mo, W, Nb) or premature precipitation hardening of secondary phases (Ti, Al) which increases as the temperature falls: such hardening effects are such that thermo-mechanical transformation operations require energy which is not available with existing tools in the case of large ingots. This phenomenon limits the forging range to a minimum temperature below which the metal is too hard.
Increasing the addition of alloying elements thus has the effect of reducing the range over which alloys can be subjected to thermo-mechanical transformation, both at low temperatures and at high temperatures.
Finally, when alloys require solution heat treatment and rapid quenching followed by age hardening by precipitation of secondary phases, the size of pieces is again limited, and above that size the rate of cooling during rapid quenching is insufficient at the core of the piece to avoid the onset of coarse and disordered precipitation of the hardening phases: the addition of more alloying elements, which accentuates matrix supersaturation, accelerates precipitation kinetics which are thus out of control and thereby reduces the maximum size of pieces that can be treated.

Nickel-chrome-iron based alloy composition


Systems and methods for controlling the planarity of a conveyance element with respect to a guide while the conveyance element is in motion. This control is achieved by coupling a guide to a conveyance element where the conveyance element is held in a level position by a magnetic force. The attractive force specifically holds the edges of the conveyance element in place, so that they do not lift up or separate from the guide as the guide, by way of a chain coupling the guide to the conveyance element, carries the conveyance element through a defined path over a linear distance or around a corner in, for example, a manufacturing line environment.

The design of suitable systems for moving articles from point A to point B, such as in an assembly line environment, is particularly important in the provision of industrial facilities for manufacturing or processing goods of various kinds. In many cases, these facilities require high production capacity, and these movement systems must be completely automated, highly efficient, and reliable, because any malfunction may halt the entire production. Naturally, the assembly of more complicated articles requires a longer or more complicated assembly line.
Due to limitations such as manufacturing plant size, the assembly line is often forced to follow a curved path around the interior of a building. At high speeds an assembly line may encounter a problem as it rounds a curve. A conveyor belt on the surface of an assembly line, upon which an article may be placed, may become uneven, as forces such as for example centrifugal forces, act on the surface of the conveyor belt and cause a portion of the conveyor belt to raise up from its support structure. The same problem may also occur over linear portions of an assembly line. For example a single edge, such as the inner edge or outer edge of the conveyor belt may lift from the surface of the assembly line so that the entire conveyor belt is no longer flush or level with the surface of the assembly line. In other words, a problem exists where the conveyor belt no longer lies flat on the assembly line as it rounds a corner at high speed, or as slack develops along a linear portion. This raising of the conveyor belt may for example cause a jamming of the assembly line, or may cause the items on the assembly line to fall off the conveyor belt or to shift into an unacceptable position, resulting in a shutting down of the assembly line, and costly repairs, or a delay in the items reaching their end destination. It also prevents the assembly line from operating at an increased speed.
Certain conveyor belts may be may be divided into sections in order to round corners. An example of this would be the conveyor belt at baggage claim terminal at an airport. In other instances, a barrier may be placed along the conveyor belt on the outer edge of the curve to prevent the items from flying off the conveyor belt. However, neither of these situations solves the aforementioned tilting or lifting of the conveyor belt in a high speed manufacturing line environment, both may result in damaging the items or the barrier itself, and neither does anything to prevent the items from shifting as a result of the tilt. The result is increased maintenance cost and reduced performance of the assembly line.
Another known situation involves using magnetic force in an effort to hold the conveyor belt to the assembly line where at least the assembly line and conveyor belt are made of a magnetic material. However, this situation requires that the conveyor belt be made of costly and heavy magnetic material and requires an inefficient lubrication system to ensure regular and smooth operation. Further, such a system may not be used if it is necessary to convey items that may be damaged by contact with metallic surfaces, and the magnets involved must be arranged so that their respective magnetic poles are oppositely orientated, thus increasing the chances of installation error, making it difficult to perform assembly and maintenance, and accordingly increasing the overall production and management costs of the conveyor belt.
Plastic assembly lines still have the shortcoming of oppositely oriented magnetic poles on adjacent magnets, and, importantly, since the attraction force is applied to the center or other single point of the conveyor belt, a level conveyor belt surface around a corner is still not ensured, since the lateral ends, (e.g., edges) of the loading surface still lift from the assembly line when proceeding through a curve at speed, even with the center or the conveyor belt subject to a magnetic field.

Systems and methods for guiding conveyance elements