A door stop adapted for a mounting adjacent a lower edge of a door at a location remote from the hinge, such door stop functioning to prevent an intruder from pushing the door open. This door stop comprises a mounting device adapted to be secured in a fixed position adjacent the lower edge of the door, and an elongate, rigid member operatively associated with the mounting device. One end of the elongate, rigid member has an aperture, enabling it to be pivotally mounted to the mounting device, and the other end of the elongate, rigid member has a component adapted to move, at the behest of the user, into contact with the floor. The elongate member is selectively movable between a raised, substantially vertical storage position residing close to the door, and an active, downwardly angled position in which the other end is in firm contact with the floor. I advantageously utilize a spring bias arrangement serving to hold the other end of the elongate member in such position of firm contact with the floor.

Many doors, both interior doors as well as exterior doors, are not equipped with satisfactory locking means. Accordingly, many travelers stayinq overnight in certain hotels and motels resort to the use of certain door-blocking devices that will provide more security against unauthorized entry. Such door-blocking devices can include the use of a rigid chair wedged under the door knob, a heavy piece of furniture placed against the door, or a type of cable looped over the door handle and affixed to the door casing.
There is a distinct need for a relatively simple, but highly effective door-blocking device for use in conjunction with doors having an insufficient locking arrangement, such a door blocker should be of sturdy construction, be readily installed, be of a configuration that can be readily transported, and be affordable.
It is the purpose of this invention to provide such a device.


Disclosed is a prosthetic device for replacing a portion of the incus when the stapes or a portion of the lenticular process is generally intact. The device comprises an opening for receiving the head of the stapes or a portion of the lenticular process and a channel for receiving the remnant portion of the incus. The opening and the channel are oriented to allow proper functioning of the ossicular chain.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a prosthetic device that is used in the surgical reconstruction of a portion of the small bones that form the ossicular chain in the middle ear. More specifically, a prosthesis has been developed for partially rebuilding the incus when either all or part of the long process or lenticular process of the incus has eroded.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sound waves enter the outer ear canal and cause the tympanic membrane to vibrate at a rate which corresponds to the frequency of the sound waves. The vibrations are transmitted to the middle ear through a series of three tiny bones that form what is called the ossicular chain. These bones are the malleus, incus and the stapes. They operate to transport the vibrations from the tympanic membrane to the cochlea, enabling the hearer to perceive sound.
These bones are connected so the vibrations can be transmitted along the entire chain. The three bones are connected in series through joints that allow the bones to move relative to each other and transmit vibrations through a highly efficient lever action. The malleus is vibrated through its connection with the tympanic membrane. The malleus is connected through the incudo-malleolar joint to the incus, which enables vibrations to be imparted to the incus, through the incudo-stapedial joint and then to the stapes. The incudo-malleolar joint is significant in the faithful transmission of vibrations through the ossicular chain because of the relatively large contact area between the malleus and incus.
One of the most common maladies in the ossicular chain results from a lesion caused by chronic otitis media. This lesion can form on the lenticular process of the incus and causes the lenticular process and the connection between the incus and stapes to deteriorate. However, it can also form along the long process, leaving the incudo-stapedial joint intact.
Medical implants have been developed to reconstruct the ossicular chain when a portion of the incus is missing. However, all of the known implants involve complete replacement of the incus, which destroys the natural joint between the malleus and the incus as well as the joint between the incus and stapes. The resulting structure is less efficient than the natural joints because the implant replaces them with rigid connections.
Techniques have also been developed which use autograph cartilage from the host's body as a wedge between the remnant incus and stapes in order to reconstruct the ossicular chain. This technique also affects the natural action of the incudo-malleolar joint because the wedge is connected to the malleus and incus as well as the stapes. A combined medical prosthesis and magnet is suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,329 to Hough, which is implanted, among other places, between the incus and stapes. However, the device bypasses the normal vibratory function of the bones in the ossicular chain and imparts vibrations directly to the stapes.
In current practice, when the lenticular process of the incus has eroded, but the stapes and the main incus body are generally intact, the incus is surgically removed and entirely replaced with an implant. This practice requires the incudo-malleolar joint to be replaced with a rigid connection that does not effectively transmit the vibratory motion. It would a better practice to utilize the remaining natural bone of the incus without replacing it entirely with a prosthesis, thus leaving the incudo-malleolar joint intact.
Therefore, there is a clinical need for a prosthesis that allows reconstruction of a portion of the incus without complete replacement and connects to either the generally healthy stapes or the healthy portion of the lenticular process for maintaining most of the natural action of the ossicular chain.


The present invention provides a method for adjusting the yield and purity of a proteinase inhibitor extract from plant tissue, preferably potato tubers. The extraction and isolation of the proteinase inhibitor from potatoes begins with the addition of an organic acid, preferably formic acid, and a salt, preferably sodium chloride, to raw potatoes. The mixture is subjected to process steps to extract soluble proteins. The extract is subjected to heat treatment at an adjusted temperature and adjusted duration whereby purity of the proteinase inhibitor is enhanced by heating at a relatively high temperature for a relatively short duration and whereby yield of the proteinase inhibitor is enhanced by heating at a relatively low temperature for a relatively long duration. If the removal of soluble protein impurities that are not denatured during the heat treatment step is desired, ultrafiltration is used. By adjusting the cycles of filtration, purity of the proteinase inhibitor can be adjustably selected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the isolation and purification of a proteinase inhibitor, and more specifically, to a method for controlling the yield and purity of Proteinase Inhibitor-II (PI2) extracted from whole potatoes by adjusting heat treatment and filtration conditions.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Proteins that inhibit proteolytic enzymes are often found in high concentrations in many seeds and other plant storage organs. Inhibitor proteins are also found in virtually all animal tissues and fluids. These proteins have been the object of considerable research for many years because of their ability to complex with and inhibit proteolytic enzymes from animals and microorganisms. The inhibitors have become valuable tools for the study of proteolysis in medicine and biology. Protease inhibitors are of particular interest due to their therapeutic potentials in controlling proteinases involved in a number of disorders such as pancreatitis, shock, and emphysema, and as agents for the regulation of mammalian fertilization. Potato tubers are a rich source of a complex group of proteins and polypeptides that potently inhibit several proteolytic enzymes usually found in animals and microorganisms. In particular, potato inhibitors are known to inhibit human digestive proteinases, and thus have application in the control of obesity and diabetes.
Two broad classes of protease inhibitor superfamilies have been identified from soybean and other legumes with each class having several isoinhibitors. Kunitz-type inhibitor is the major member of the first class whose members have 170-200 amino acids, molecular weights between 20,000 and 25,000, and act principally against trypsin. Kunitz-type proteinase inhibitors are mostly single chain polypeptides with 4 cysteines linked in two disulfide bridges, and with one reactive site located in a loop defined by disulfide bridge. Kunitz inhibitor is capable of inhibiting trypsin derived from a number of animal species as well as bovine chemotrypsin, human plasmin, and plasma kallikrein. The cationic form of human trypsin, which accounts for a majority of trypsin activity, is only weakly inhibited by the Kunitz inhibitor, whereas the anionic form is fully inhibited.
The second class of inhibitors contains 60-85 amino acids, has a range in molecular weight of 6000-10,000, has high proportion of disulfide bonds, is relatively heat-stable, and inhibits both trypsin and chemotrypsin at independent binding sites. Bowman-Birk inhibitor is an example of this class. The Bowman-Birk inhibitor is a 71 amino acid chain protein with 7 disulfide bonds characterized by its low molecular weight of about 8000 (in non-associated monomers), high concentration (about 20%) of cystine, high solubility, resistance to heat denaturation and having the capacity to inhibit trypsin and chymotrypsin at independent inhibitory sites.
Proteinase inhibitors extracted from potatoes have been distinguished into two groups based on their heat stability. The group of inhibitors that is stable at 80° C. for 10 minutes have been identified as inhibitor I (mol. wt. 39,000) (Melville, J. C. and Ryan, C. A. Chymotrypsin inhibitor I from potatoes. J. Biological Chem., 247: 3445-3453, 1972), carboxypeptidase inhibitor (CPI) (mol. wt. 4,100) (Ryan, C. L., Purification and properties of a carboxypeptidase inhibitor from potatoes. J. Biol. Chem. 249: 5495-5499, 1974), inhibitors IIa and IIb (mol. wt. 20,700) (Bryant, J., Green, T. R., Gurusaddaiah, T., Ryan, C. L. Proteinase inhibitor II from potatoes: Isolation and characterization of its protomer components. Biochemistry 15: 3418-3424, 1976), and inhibitor A5 (mol. wt. 26,000).
In 1972, Melville and Ryan (Melville et al.) reported a large-scale preparation for isolating Chymotrypsin Inhibitor I from potato tubers. According to the method of Melville and Ryan, potatoes were sliced with peels intact and soaked in a sodium dithionite solution, homogenized, and expressed through nylon cloth. The resulting juice was adjusted to a pH of 3, centrifuged at 1000×g for 15 minutes at 5° F., and the supernatant collected and fractionated with ammonium sulfate.
Purification was achieved through water washing and heat treatment whereby clear filtrates of heated fractions were pooled and lyophilized. Suspending the lyophilized powder in water, dialyzing it against water for 48 hours, and lyophilizing the resulting clear filtrate obtained a crude extract. Resuspended extract was then centrifuged and applied to a column of Sephadex G-75. Collected fractions containing the Inhibitor I were pooled, evaporated, and desalted on a column of Sephadex G-25. The resulting gel-filtered inhibitor product was determined to be approximately 90% Inhibitor I protein purified by dissociation on a Sephadex G-75 column and desalted on a column of Sephadex G-25.
The Ryan lab followed-up by reporting the isolation and characterization of Proteinase Inhibitor II in much the same manner as described for Inhibitor I (Bryant, J., Green, T. R., Gurusaddaiah, T., Ryan, C. L. Proteinase inhibitor II from potatoes: Isolation and characterization of its protomer components. Biochemistry 15: 3418-3424, 1976). Bryant et al. differentiated potato-derived proteinase inhibitors into two groups based on their respective stabilities to a temperature of 80° C. for 10 minutes. Proteinase Inhibitor I (PI1) is characterized as a tetrameric protein composed of four hybridized isoinhibitor protomer species having a molecular weight of 39,000, whereas PI2 is characterized as a dimeric inhibitor comprising four isoinhibitor promoter species having a molecular weight of 21,000.
The isolation of proteinase inhibitor proteins from potatoes is described in WO 99/01474. Proteins from potato tubers are extracted in soluble form in an aqueous/alcohol extraction medium, such as dilute formic acid and 20% ethanol. The alcohol extract is heated to a first temperature to denature most of the unwanted proteins and cooled to a second temperature to form a precipitate phase constituting the debris and a soluble phase that contains the heat stable proteinase inhibitor proteins. The heat stable proteinase inhibitor proteins are precipitated from the soluble phase by dialysis against a suitable dialysis medium, such as dilute formic acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,154 describes a method for the diagnosis and the treatment of individuals with diabetes or at risk to develop diabetes mellitus. In particular, gastric emptying determinations are used to assess risk. Risk or early symptoms associated with subsequent development of diabetes mellitus may be controlled or alleviated by delaying gastric emptying, which was achieved by the administration of cholecystokinin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,457 describes compositions and methods for reducing the risk of skin cancer. The described compositions included at least one effective protease inhibitor. Preferred protease inhibitors included serine protease inhibitors and metallo-protease inhibitors. The protease inhibitors were preferably included in concentrations ranging from approximately 10 picograms to 10 milligrams per milliliter of the skin-applicable topical mixtures. The topical mixtures preferably included a suitable topical vehicle such as a cream, lotion, or ointment. One class of anti-carcinogenic skin treatment compositions of this invention preferably included the desired protease inhibitors in combination with a suitable sunscreen agent or agents, such as para-amino benzoic acid, to provide particularly advantageous compositions for reducing the risk of sunlight-induced skin cancer.
When applied to mouse epidermal JB6 cells, proteinase inhibitors I and II from potatoes blocked the UV induced transcription factor activator protein-1 (AP-1), which has been shown to be responsible for the tumor promoter action of UV light in mammalian cells. The inhibition appears to be specific for UV induced signal transduction for AP-1 activation. Furthermore, the inhibition of UV induced AP-1 activity occurs through a pathway that is independent of extracellular signal-regulated kinases and c-jun N-terminal kinases as well as P38 kinases (Huang, C., Ma, W. Y., Ryan, C. A., Dong, Z. Proteinase inhibitors I and II from potatoes specifically block UV-induced activator protein-I activation through a pathway that is independent of extracellular signal regulated kinases, c-jun N-terminal kinases, and P38 kinase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., US, 94: 11957-11962, 1997).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,491,578 describes a method of eliciting satiety in mammals through the administration of an effective amount of a trypsin inhibitor. The method was based on the postulate that the enzyme trypsin, normally secreted by the pancreas, constitutes a negative feedback signal for cholecystokinin secretion that in turn comprises a putative satiety signal. Thus, the effect of the trypsin inhibitor is to increase the concentration of cholecystokinin secretion advancing the sensation of satiety resulting in a consequent decrease in food intake and, over time, body weight.
The effect of PI2 extracted from potatoes, which increases CCK release, on food intake was examined in 11 lean subjects. Five minutes before presenting them with a lunchtime test meal, volunteers received 1.5 g PI2 in a high protein soup vehicle (70 kcal), the soup vehicle alone, or a no-soup control, according to a double blind, within subject design. The consumption of the soup alone led to a non-significant 3% reduction in energy intake. The addition of 1.5 g PI2 to the soup significantly reduced energy intake by additional 17.5%. Pre-meal ratings of motivation to eat and food preferences did not predict the reduction in energy intake by the proteinase inhibitor. Based on the results, the authors concluded that endogenous CCK may have an important role in the control of food intake and that proteinase inhibition may have a potential for reducing food intake (Hill et al., 1990).
The efficiency of oral ingestion of trypsin/chemotrypsin inhibitor in delaying the rate of gastric emptying in recently diagnosed type II diabetic patients and improving their post-prandial metabolic parameters have been examined (Schwartz, J. G., Guan, D., Green, G. M., Phillips, W. T.). Treatment with an oral proteinase inhibitor slows gastric emptying and actually reduces glucose and insulin levels after a liquid meal in type II diabetic patients. Diabetes Care, 17: 255-262, 1994). Serum insulin, plasma glucose, plasma gastric inhibitory polypeptide levels, and the rate of gastric emptying were all significantly decreased over the 2 hour testing period in subjects who received proteinase inhibitor in their oral glucose/protein meal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,154 suggests that the administration of CCK can be made through an intramuscular injection or an intranasal spray. Alternatively, an oral administration of an agent that enhances endogenous release of CCK could represent an important approach to the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. One of the agents that may have a therapeutic application in patients with recently diagnosed Type 2 diabetes can be the potato proteinase inhibitor II.
Recently, PI2 has been implicated in playing a role in extending satiety in subjects fed a nutritional drink composition containing PI2. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/624,922 describes that subjects reported a significant reduction in hunger for up to 3½ hours post meal when fed a meal comprising a nutritional drink composition containing PI2. Likewise, fullness ratings were enhanced, and each study subject lost an average of 2 kg over a 30-day period without experiencing the adverse side effects typically associated with appetite suppressing compounds. Mechanistically, it is thought that as a trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitor, when consumed by a subject, PI2 stimulates the release of endogenous cholecystokinin, a known putative feedback agent effective in reducing the desire to intake food.
Proteinase inhibitor II is seen to have potential applicability in a number of areas affecting human health. In addition, PI2 may be administered in a variety of ways, including orally, intramuscularly, intranasally, and topically, and will be provided in a variety of carriers and diluents. In certain applications, for example in the control of satiety, it has been found that a relatively pure form of PI2 is needed and that the presence of impurities, such as Kunitz inhibitors, adversely affects the efficacy of the PI2. In other applications, purity will likely not be as critical so that the extraction process could be simplified, thereby reducing the cost of the PI2 product. Accordingly, a need exists for a large-scale isolation and purification process to extract PI2 in a cost-effective and efficient manner meeting commercial qualitative and quantitative standards.
A technique capable of large-scale isolation and purification is ultrafiltration, a type of membrane filtration and separation technique that utilizes membranes having pore sizes between 0.001 and 0.1 μm. Methodologies utilizing ultrafiltration are particularly useful for concentrating dissolved molecules such as proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and other biomolecules, as well as desalting, exchanging buffer, and gross fractionation. Diafiltration is a selective fractionation process of washing smaller molecules through a membrane, while leaving the larger molecule of interest in the retained solution, also known as retentate. In selecting a membrane suitable for filtering a target molecule, the molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) of a membrane is utilized to define the ability of the membrane to exclude molecules on a size basis. 90% of an ideally globular molecule. MWCO is the size designation (in kilodaltons "KD") for ultrafiltration membranes. The term Nominal Molecular Weight Cutoff (NMWCO) is defined as a membrane's ability to retain 90% of an ideally globular molecule having the designated molecular weight.
As discussed above, ultrafiltration is a technique used for the separation under elevated pressure of dissolved molecules in solution on the basis of size. Molecules larger than the pore size of the membrane will not pass through the membrane surface and will remain in the retentate, and may further be retained on the surface of the membrane. Accumulations of retained molecules on the membrane typically form a gel layer, significantly reducing the separation performance characteristics of the membrane. Separation capacity of a given ultrafiltration system is a function of the ability of the selected membrane to allow the smaller particles to pass through the membrane in the permeate, while minimizing gel formation in the retentate. However, a direct correlation between a molecular weight and size does not always exist.
Molecular conformations (including both intermolecular and intramolecular interactions) can significantly alter the apparent size of a molecule. Having numerous modes of interaction available, proteins are particularly susceptible to conformational changes while dissolved in solution. Solution characteristics such as pH, solute concentration, temperature, and ionic strength significantly affect the apparent size of particles and molecules in solution, and therefore affect conformational characteristics as well.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for controlling the yield and purity of proteinase inhibitor II during extraction


Methods and apparatus for communicating information, e.g., queries and query responses, in a peer to peer communications network are described. Queries include, e.g., queries for a product, service, activity or activity partner. In some embodiments, a query channel is implemented and utilized. The implemented query channel structure is such that multiple query responses may be communicated corresponding to a single transmitted query. Various embodiments employ randomization in transmission segment selection by an individual communications device within a transmission block to decrease the likelihood of collisions. A communication device's access to the query channel is determined by the communications device itself. A communications device's decision as to whether or not to transmit and/or re-transmit a query is based on one or more of: its query transmission statistics, historical query channel loading information, and priority level information corresponding to the communications device.

Users are tending to rely more and more upon wireless communications for all kinds of interactions, business as well as social, in addition to using wireless communications for conventional voice communications. As the number of wireless communications devices in service has continued to increase competition for the limited amount of available air link resources has been growing. One area of wireless communications experiencing growth is peer to peer communications, e.g., in ad hoc networks lacking centralized control or coordination. In such an environment there is a need for devices to be able to communicate information between peers, e.g., queries and query responses. In an environment lacking centralized control in which users may come and go at will, it is problematic to efficiently allocate the scarce amount of available air link resources to the devices in the network at a given time.
Based on the above discussion there is a need for efficient methods and apparatus that allow wireless communications devices to communicate information, e.g. queries and/or query responses, between one another. It would be particularly beneficial if methods and apparatus for communicating queries and/or query responses without the need for a central control device to allocate resources to individual devices for such communications could be developed.

Methods and apparatus for communicating in a wireless system


The hybrid vehicle includes an engine, two motors, and a power distribution integration mechanism arranged coaxially with one another and a transmission. The transmission includes a transmission shaft extended in parallel with a first motor shaft and a second motor shaft, a first coupling gear train in combination with a second coupling gear train and a clutch arranged to selectively connect a ring gear and a sun gear of the power distribution integration mechanism to the transmission shaft, a deceleration mechanism connected with the transmission shaft and arranged to decelerate power from the transmission shaft and output the power of the reduced speed from a carrier, and a clutch arranged to selectively connect the carrier and the ring gear to a driveshaft.

One proposed structure of the power output apparatus includes an internal combustion engine, two motors, a Ravigneaux planetary gear mechanism, and a parallel shaft-type transmission arranged to selectively connect two output elements of the planetary gear mechanism to an output shaft (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Another proposed structure of the power output apparatus has a planetary gear mechanism including an input element connected with an internal combustion engine and two output elements, and a parallel shaft-type transmission including a countershaft connected with the respective output elements of the planetary gear mechanism (see, for example, Patent Document 2). In the power output apparatus of this proposed structure, the two output elements of the planetary gear mechanism are respectively fixed to the inner circumferences of corresponding rotors in an electric driving system. A conventionally known structure of the power output apparatus has a power distribution mechanism including an input element connected with an internal combustion engine, a reactive force element connected with a first motor generator, and an output element connected with a second motor generator, and two clutches arranged to selectively connect an axle as an output member to the output element or the reactive force element of the power distribution mechanism (see, for example, Patent Document 3). In the power output apparatus of this conventional structure, when the first motor generator is rotated at a negative rotation speed to perform power operation, the two clutches are controlled to connect the reactive force element of the power distribution mechanism to the output member and disconnect the output element of the power distribution mechanism from the output member. Such control prevents the occurrence of power circulation where the first motor generator is driven with electric power generated by the second motor generator that uses part of the power of the output member.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-155891    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-106389    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-125876

Power output apparatus and hybrid vehicle


In a process for the use of a hydrocarbon feedstock (10) by reacting the feedstock in a reactor (11) with oxygen (9) to form a synthesis gas containing at least carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen and subjecting the synthesis gas to a conversion process comprising an exothermic reaction to produce methanol as a final product in a converter (15), the converter operating at an operating pressure, the oxygen being provided to the reactor at an oxygen pressure, the synthesis gas is produced at a pressure such that it undergoes at most one compression step with a compression ratio ranging from 1 to 1.7 before entering the converter.

Methanol is produced by contacting a synthesis gas containing at least carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen with a catalyst. This synthesis gas is converted to methanol in a separate vessel.
The synthesis gas (syngas) can be produced either by reforming a hydrocarbon with steam or by reacting hydrocarbons with oxygen or by a mixture of these two technologies used in series or in parallel. The syngas produced in the syngas production unit or units is then compressed with a syngas compressor before being converted to methanol in a converter which is operated at a high pressure in the range of 80–120 bar. The unreacted syngas is then compressed in a syngas recycle compressor, mixed with the syngas coming from the syngas production unit and the mixed stream is sent to the inlet of the methanol converter. The methanol is recovered and purified in a methanol recovery unit made essentially of two or three distillation columns in order to reach the required methanol purity.
Since methanol is produced at high pressures in the range of 65–120 bar, the main process steps usually include syngas production, syngas compression in a dual stage synthesis gas compressor, methanol synthesis and methanol recovery. When oxygen is used to produce synthesis gas, there is an air separation unit upstream of the syngas production unit.
The current trend is to produce methanol in very large quantities, five thousand tonnes of methanol per day or more. Large methanol plants require large syngas production units and the trend is to use oxygen-based technologies in order to produce these large quantities of syngas in a single train unit and to increase the energy efficiency of the overall methanol production process. Alternatively, it is possible to produce large quantities of syngas without using oxygen by injecting large quantities of carbon dioxide in the synthesis gas production unit. The carbon dioxide may come from various sources such as the carbon dioxide present at the outlet of the methanol converter or the carbon dioxide made in nearby ammonia production units or the carbon dioxide naturally present in natural gas. With a large CO2 injection, it is possible to reach an energy efficiency comparable to those obtained with oxygen-based schemes.
Most of these processes use an air separation unit (ASU) to produce oxygen at high pressure to convert natural gas to synthesis gas, the synthesis gas being sent to a single converter where it is converted to methanol.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,916, an ASU produces oxygen at 40 bar and the oxygen reacts with steam and natural gas in a partial oxidation reactor to produce synthesis gas. The synthesis gas at 40 bar is then compressed to 70 bar and is sent to a methanol reactor, thereby producing methanol at 66 bar.
Usually, the synthesis gas compressors have to include two stages since the pressure gap between the current reactor and the current converter is too large for pressure to be met with a single stage compressor. These dual stages compressors are more expensive, both in capital investment and in terms of upkeep. Furthermore, two synthesis gas compressors in parallel are often used to avoid maintenance problems.

Process and apparatus for the production of methanol

L'Air Liquide—Societe Anonyme a Directoire et Counseil de Survelliance pour L'Etude et L'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


A display stand includes a main body of a sleeve-shaped configuration including a first main portion, a second main portion, a pair of foldable side portions pivotably interconnecting the first and second main portions, a first auxiliary portion pivotably connected to the first main portion and extending across at least a part of the open upper end of the tubular formation in the erect condition, and a second auxiliary portion pivotably connecting the first auxiliary portion and depending down from the first auxiliary portion in the erect condition. At least one elastic element is connected to and extends between the lower end of the second main portion and the second auxiliary portion. This element acts directly on the second auxiliary portion and only through the same on the other portions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display stands in general, and more particularly to a display stand capable of prominently displaying the items being offered for sale that is capable of rapid and reliable automatic deployment at the site of and just prior to its use.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are already known various constructions of merchandise display stands, among them such that include respective main portions and foldable side portions that are pivotably connected with said main portions to constitute with them a sleeve-shaped formation, as well as other portions that complement the aforementioned portions and form various item-supporting shelves, platforms or other parts that give the display stand its desired final appearance in the erect condition of the display stand.
It has been also proposed, in order to facilitate the erection process, to interpose one or more elastic elements between certain portions of the display stand such that they are more tensioned in the folded, collapsed position than in the erect position of the display stand. So far, however, such certain portions have been either the foldable side portions themselves, or such side portions and some partitioning walls situated in the space bounded by the tubular formation. Examples of such display stands can be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,646,922; No. 4,723,664; and Re. 32,668.
Experience with at least some display stand constructions employing this principle has shown, however, that this solution leaves much to be desired. The most prominent of the problems encountered in this respect with the prior constructions was that most, if not all, of the available energy accumulated in the elastic element or elements when the display stand is in its folded condition is spent during the deployment of the display stand on overcoming the resistance to movement of the portions constituting the tubular formation and/or the partitioning portions, if any. There is not much stored available energy left for causing the movement of the other portions, especially any item-supporting platforms that may be provided, toward their desired final positions. The end result in many instances is an incomplete deployment of the display stand, which requires extensive and hence cumbersome human intervention for its completion. This, of course, is highly undesirable.


The present invention relates to foam comprising thermoplastic starch, polyolefin, polyolefin wax, ethylene vinyl alkanoate copolymer, and ethylene acrylic copolymer, and also to a method of preparing the same.

Foams comprising polyolefins are used extensively in the packaging and construction industries, and are typically produced by extrusion processes that are well known in the art.
In such processes, a polyolefin resin is introduced to an extruder, typically in the form of pellets. Common polyolefins employed for making the foams include polyethylene, such as low density polyethylene (LDPE), and polypropylene (PP). Once in the extruder, the polyolefin melts and a blowing agent is admixed with the molten polyolefin (typically under high pressure). The blowing agent may be introduced to the extruder with or separate from the polyolefin. The extruder then pumps the melt mixture (i.e. the molten polyolefin and blowing agent) through a die and into a region of reduced temperature and pressure (relative to the temperature and pressure within the extruder).
Generally, the region of reduced temperature and pressure is at ambient conditions. Upon the melt mixture being exposed to reduced pressure, the blowing agent promotes formation of a plurality of gas bubbles, which upon solidification of the molten polymer give rise to a plurality of cells within the polymer to thereby form the foam.
Depending upon the conditions/reagents employed, the resulting foam may have an open cell or closed cell structure. Open cell structured foams have inter-connected pores and generally exhibit a relatively low compressive strength. Closed cell structured foams have pores that are isolated within the polymeric matrix and are therefore not inter-connected. Such foams typically exhibit a relatively high compressive strength.
Polyolefins are particularly well suited for producing in an effective and efficient manner foamed products that exhibit excellent properties. However, with an ever increasing emphasis on sustainability and the environment, there is a concerted effort mounting to develop foam polymer products that are less reliant upon using petroleum derived polymers such as polyolefins.
Foamed products made from renewable materials such as starch have been developed. However, such products generally exhibit inferior properties compared with their polyolefin counterparts.
Polyolefin/starch blends have also been developed. However, combining relatively hydrophilic starch with relatively hydrophobic polyolefins to produce a polymer blend with good mechanical properties has proven difficult in practice. In particular, melt processing starch with a polyolefin generally results in the formation of a polymer blend having a multi-phase discontinuous morphology. Such morphologies are typically unstable and exhibit high interfacial tension, the likes of which are not particularly suitable for use in the formation of foam products.
An opportunity therefore remains to address or ameliorate one or more disadvantages or shortcomings associated with conventional foams and/or their production, or at least to provide a useful alternative foam product and/or method of production.


A Nitinol ice blade includes a blade body having attachment structure by which it is held in a blade holder of an ice travel device, such as an ice skate or ice boat. The processes and products made by the processes. The processes include selecting a Type 60 Nitinol sheet or bar that has been hot-worked at a temperature of above about 900° C. to a reduction of at least 2% in the dimension of said hot-working. Blade blanks are cut from the sheet, and the blade blanks are heated to between 600° C. to about 800° C. and immediately quenched to ambient temperature to produce blanks having a hardness of about 48-53 RC. The running edge of the blade blanks a ground to a desired profile and sharpness. The ground blades may then be heated to an elevated temperature of about 850-1000° C. and immediately quenched to produce a hardness at the edge of above 56 RC.

Ice skating is a widely popular sport in many countries. The evolution of skating has led to many innovative changes in the hardware used in this sport. These innovations include improved designs for skate blades and the metals used for the blades. Existing ice skate blades are presently manufactured from high carbon steels, stainless steels or titanium. Each of these materials has characteristics that are undesired. Corrosion resistance is an important characteristic for ice skate blades. As a blade corrodes, the cutting edge deteriorates, thus becoming dull. When skate cutting edges are dull, they do not effectively cut into the ice. Sharp cutting edges are important, especially when a skater is making turns. Presently, it is not uncommon for hockey players to grind their skates twice during a competition game. All skating rinks have grinding equipment to provide for the regrinding of blades. Improvements in the ability of ice skate blades to retain a sharp edge and resist corrosion would be an important factor in the sports of hockey, speed skating and figure skating.
High carbon steels are subject to corrosion and thus dulling of the running surface of the blade. Stainless steels have better corrosion resistance properties than the high carbon steel blades however, are still subject to corrosion. Corrosion is the primary reason for the dulling of steel ice skate blades. Thus, if a blade had good corrosion resistance, the time between re-grinding could be reduced.
Ice skate blades produced from high carbon steel are normally plated with chrome or other corrosion resistant materials. This plating however, cannot be applied to the running surface of the blade as they are constantly being re-ground to produce two ice cutting edges. Stainless steel blades have better corrosion resistance than high carbon steel, but in order to be heat treatable to high hardness, substantial carbon content in the alloy is required. This high carbon content increases the potential for corrosion.
Titanium skate blades do have good corrosion resistance properties. However, titanium cannot be processed to have high hardness. Titanium can be processed to have a maximum hardness of ˜38 Rockwell C.
An important consideration when selecting a skate blade material, besides hardness of the metal surface that rides on the ice, is brittleness. The skate blade material must be hard enough to minimize erosion of the blade, but not so hard as to be brittle. Hockey blades, especially, must be malleable enough to absorb impacts without shattering.
A third factor, not commonly considered for conventional skate blade design, is the coefficient of friction of the blade on the ice. Skate blades concentrate the weight of the skater in a small area and the resulting pressure produces a film of water, which lubricates the skate blade as it slides over the ice surface. However, there is solid ice contact on skate blade edges during skating, particularly during turning and hard edging while accelerating forward. Improvements to the coefficient of friction of the skate blade on the ice would improve the speed and smooth feel of the skates and would be an improvement much welcomed by skaters.
The same characteristics would also be useful for other ice sliding equipment such as sleds and ice boats, and on other sporting vehicles intended for use on ice, such a luge, bobsled and skeleton.


Ink jet printable compositions comprise an aqueous vehicle, particles of a self-crosslinking polymer, and optional colorant. In one embodiment, an ink jet printable ink may comprise an aqueous vehicle, a colorant, and a silyl-terminated sulfopoly(ester-urethane) polymer. In another embodiment, an ink jet printable ink comprises an aqueous vehicle, colorant, and at least 20 weight percent dispersed shear deformable polymer particles wherein the polymer is self-crosslinking. In another aspect, the invention concerns methods of printing a composition, and printed articles produced thereby.

Ink jet printing is an important digital printing method due to its high resolution, flexibility, high speed, and affordability. Such printing is accomplished by ejecting ink from an ink jet print head of the printing apparatus via numerous methods which employ, for example, pressurized nozzles, electrostatic fields, piezo-electric elements, and/or heaters for vapor phase bubble formation.
Many inks currently used in ink jet printers are either water-based or solvent-based. Of these, water-based inks have been widely accepted in the printing industry due to their environmentally friendly attributes. Typical water-based inks consist of little more than pigment or dye in a water/glycol vehicle.
For outdoor applications, where exposed to the elements (e.g., rain), water resistant printable substrates (e.g., polymer films) are desirable. When used with water-based inks, polymer film substrates may be porous and/or have a specialized receptor coating to absorb the ink vehicle and prevent color bleed, both of which features add additional manufacturing steps and associated cost. Further, in many applications employing water-based inks, the printed surface of the substrate must be laminated to a transparent protective cover layer (i.e., an overlaminate) in order to be usable outdoors. Alternatively, the printed image may be made resistant to the elements by means of an additional processing step such as heating in an oven or exposure to ultraviolet (i.e., UV) light. Such additional materials, equipment, and process steps require additional labor and increase the cost of graphic preparation.
The rate at which graphic articles may be prepared depends, at least in part, on the solids content of the ink being used. High solids inks provide high image density without the need for overprinting. Attempts to prepare high solids inks have met with various problems: flocculation of the pigment, clogging of the ink jet nozzle, poor jetting characteristics, and the like.
For at least these reasons, it would be desirable to have a water-based ink, suitable for outdoor applications, that can be directly printed on a wide range of substrates, including non-porous polymeric films, without the need for a specialized ink receptor coating or additional process steps. Further, it would be desirable that such an ink would have a high solids content.


A tape transport system for positioning magnetic tape moving over a tape head is provided. The tape system includes a carrier ribbon having a width equal to the tape width. Passages through the carrier ribbon permit air, such as might otherwise trapped between the magnetic tape and the carrier ribbon, to pass through the carrier ribbon. At least one carrier ribbon guide is positioned on either side of the tape head. Each carrier ribbon guide has a channel of substantially the same width as the carrier ribbon for positioning the magnetic tape and the carrier ribbon across the tape head. A ribbon drive moves the carrier ribbon past the ribbon guides.

The present invention relates to guiding magnetic tape past a tape access head.
Magnetic tape is commonly used to store voice and data information due to its reliability, cost efficiency, and ease of use. One way in which magnetic tape may be made more useful and cost effective by increasing the density of information stored on the magnetic tape. One method of increasing information density is to decrease the thickness of the tape thereby permitting more tape to be stored in a given volume. Another way of improving magnetic tape storage is to increase the rate of information transfer. This may be accomplished by increasing the speed at which the tape passes the tape access head.
Decreasing the thickness of magnetic tape creates difficulties in a tape transport system. Thin tape stretches, increasing the possibility of read and write errors. Tape stretching is exacerbated by complex tape transport systems which require more tension on the tape. Thin tape also may require mechanical support within the tape transport system to prevent folding, kinking, creasing, curling and other mechanical damage. Further, thin tape is more easily skewed relative to the tape head.
Various tape transport techniques have been proposed. Some of these solutions use a belt or carrier ribbon to support the tape along some portion of the tape path. Previous belt techniques, however, typically fail to provide one or more features necessary for thin, rapidly moving tape. A first feature is to provide support for the magnetic tape to prevent damage. A second feature is to guide the magnetic tape into proper position and alignment with the tape head. A third feature is to dissipate air that may be trapped when the tape contacts the belt.
What is needed is an effective tape transport system for thin tape. The tape transport system must be able to move magnetic tape past the tape head without stretching or mechanical damage. The tape should also be properly aligned with the tape head. The tape transport system should further be simple, inexpensive, and easy to maintain.
It is an object of the present invention to guide thin magnetic tape past a tape head.
It is another object of the present invention to position magnetic tape relative to the tape head.
It is still another object of the present invention to protect magnetic tape along the tape path.
It is yet another object of the present invention to reduce the complexity of the tape path.
In carrying out the above objects and other objects and features of the present invention, a tape transport system for positioning magnetic tape moving over a tape head is provided. The tape system includes a carrier ribbon having a width equal to the tape width. Passages through the carrier ribbon permit air, such as might otherwise trapped between the magnetic tape and the carrier ribbon, to pass through the carrier ribbon. At least one carrier ribbon guide is positioned on either side of the tape head. Each carrier ribbon guide has a channel of substantially the same width as the carrier ribbon for positioning the magnetic tape and the carrier ribbon across the tape head. A ribbon drive moves the carrier ribbon past the ribbon guides.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the carrier ribbon is formed in a continuous loop.
In an another embodiment of the present invention, the carrier ribbon drives the tape at the tape speed past the tape head.
In still another embodiment of the present invention, the tape transport system includes at least one lift-off pin operative to move the magnetic tape and the carrier ribbon away from the tape head such as, for example, during high speed rewind.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the tape transport system includes at least one air jet nozzle for moving the magnetic tape and the carrier ribbon away from the tape head.
A method of transporting magnetic tape past the tape head is also provided. The method includes driving a carrier ribbon in the tape direction. The tape contacts a carrier ribbon in a region of the tape path prior to the tape head. Any air that would otherwise be trapped between the magnetic tape and the carrier ribbon passes through the carrier ribbon. The magnetic tape is guided past the tape head. The tape separates from the carrier ribbon in a region of the tape path after the tape head.
The above objects and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description of the best mode for carrying out the invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.


A wireless phone having an improved SAR includes: a lower plate having a main board; an upper plate having an LCD panel; a hinge provided to open and close the lower plate and the upper plate, the main board and the LCD panel being connected to each other by a flexible PCB; and an antenna feed point formed in the first circuit board. Particularly, ground planes are provided in the main board and the LCD panel and are connected to each other by at least two connection terminals. One of the connection terminals is provided to have a ground contact of the first circuit board within the range of 2 cm away from the antenna feed point. The connection terminal having the ground contact is provided using a central shaft of the hinge or a separator conductor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless phone having an improved specific absorption rate (SAR).
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Examples of a wireless phone include cellular phones with the frequency band of 824–849 MHz and KPCS (Korea personal communication service) phones with the frequency band of 1750–1780 MHz and USPCS (US personal communication service) phones with the frequency band of 1850–1910 MHz based on the transmitting frequency.
The wireless phone that transmits and receives data based on the above frequency bands has problems in that its electromagnetic waves with high frequencies may be harmful to a human body as it is closely touched with an ear of a user.
Considering the harmful electromagnetic waves, many countries including Korea and USA have restricted SAR values to the brain of the human body within the range of 1.6 mW/g or below. In this respect, studies of a wireless phone having an improved SAR have actively advanced.
One example of a related art wireless phone will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
Generally, a related art wireless phone includes a lower plate 120, an upper plate 130, and a hinge 103. The lower plate 120 and the upper plate 130 are opened and closed by the hinge 103. The lower plate 120 includes a lower frame case 108, a main board 106, and a battery 102. The main board 106 is built between the lower frame case 108 and a lower frame 104. The lower frame 104 is provided with an antenna that extends upwardly. The antenna is connected with the main board 106.
Meanwhile, the upper plate 130 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel 109 provided between an upper frame case 113 and an upper frame 101. Since the LCD panel 109 and the main board 106 can be folded, a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) 110 is interposed between them so as to connect them with each other. If the FPCB is connected with the LCD panel 109 by the hinge 103, some problems may occur. That is, a portion of the hinge 103 may become thick and fatigue ratio of the FPCB may increase. Therefore, it is general that the FPCB is connected with the LCD panel 109 by bypassing the hinge 103.
The aforementioned related art wireless phone should be grounded appropriately to remove electromagnetic wave noise caused by inductive electromotive force of the main board and the LCD panel. To this end, the board that constructs a circuit may be used as a ground plane, or a separate ground sheet may be provided. The LCD panel 109 is grounded using a connection terminal formed in the FPCB 10.
As aforementioned, if the wireless phone has a folder type, the FPCB 110 is provided far away from the hinge 103. The antenna 105 is provided on the outer edge of the hinge 103 so as to reduce the effect of the electromagnetic wave noise.
The current distribution of the related art wireless phone will be described with reference to FIG. 2.
The current distribution of the related art wireless phone shown in FIG. 2 was measured using an SAR measurement system which is a Swiss make Dosimetric Assessment System (Model No.: DASY3). In FIG. 2, it is noted that a hot spot on which strong electric field is concentrated exists within the lower plate 120 in which the antenna 105 is positioned. Slant lines in FIG. 2 belong to the hot spot.
As will be apparent from the expression, SAR=σ.E2/ρ(σ: conductive rate (s/m), E: electric field strength, ρ: tissue density (kg/m2), the SAR value is proportional to the electric field strength. Therefore, the greater the electric field strength is, the greater the SAR value is and the more harmful to the human body it is. For these reasons, the user is likely to be exposed to the strong electromagnetic wave in case of using the related art wireless phone.


A desiccant composition having a moderate Langmuir Type 1 moisture adsorption isotherm with a separation factor of from 0.05 to 0.13 is disclosed. The composition contains silica gel, a modified 13.times. molecular sieve (modified by replacing at least 20% of the sodium cations with other metallic cations, e.g., potassium cations), and desirably a hydrophobic adsorbent (desirably a hydrophobic molecular sieve). The composition may be used as the desiccant in a rotary regeneratable dehumidification wheel, thereby significantly enhancing dehumidification performance and simultaneously removing a significant proportion of the airborne pollutants typically contained in indoor and outdoor air.

This invention concerns desiccant mixtures, particularly desiccant mixtures that are useful in gas (e.g., air) treatment systems, for example, in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning ("HVAC") systems, and most particularly desiccant mixtures that are useful in dehumidification systems.
Desiccants, their properties, and their uses (for example, in air treatment) and standards for air treatment and air quality are well-known. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. Re.29,932; 2,723,837; 2,926,502; 3,009,540; 3,009,684; 3,024,867; 3,024,868; 3,125,157; 3,266,973; 3,338,034; 3,528,224; 3,666,007; 3,844,737; 3,889,742; 4,012,206; 4,014,380; 4,021,590; 4,025,668; 4,036,360; 4,040,804; 4,081,024; 4,093,435; 4,109,431; 4,113,004; 4,130,111; 4,134,743; 4,140,458; 4,162,934; 4,172,164; 4,180,126; 4,222,244; 4,246,962; 4,255,171; 4,290,789; 4,325,220; 4,341,539; 4,346,051; 4,365,979; 4,382,807; 4,402,717; 4,431,456; 4,432,409; 4,449,992; 4,460,388; 4,484,938; 4,505,976; 4,527,398; 4,529,420; 4,540,420; 4,582,129; 4,594,860; 4,595,403; 4,635,446; 4,680,248; 4,723,417; 4,729,774; 4,747,346; 4,769,053; 4,808,505; 4,810,609; 4,871,607; 4,875,520; 4,886,769; 4,911,775; 4,919,899; 4,924,934; 4,948,392; 4,959,970; 5,002,116; 5,026,531; 5,045,295; 5,052,188; 5,120,694; 5,122,403; 5,125,195; 5,140,450; and 5,148,374; East Germany patent No. 133855; Japan Application Nos. 53-36359 and 52-83907; EPO Application No. 0 030 863; and non-patent literature, including "EXCLU-SIEVE.TM.--Total Energy Recovery Systems--The Semco Air System," SEMCO Mfg., Inc., 8 pages (1991); "EXCLU-SIEVE.TM.--Heat Wheel Retrofit Program--The Semco Air System," SEMCO Mfg., Inc., 6 pages (1991); "EXCLU-SIEVE.TM.--Design and Selection Manual--The Semco Air System," SEMCO Mfg., Inc., 11 pages (I991); "EXCLU-SIEVE.TM.--Packaged Energy Recovery Systems--The Semco Air System," SEMCO Mfg., Inc., 33 pages (1991); "SEMCO EXCLU-SIEVE.TM.--Technical Bulletin 509," SEMCO Mfg., Inc., 2 pages (1991); "SEMCO EXCLU-SIEVE.TM.--Application Bulletin 508," SEMCO Mfg., Inc., 2 pages (1991); "SEMCO EXCLU-SIEVE.TM.--Application Case History Bulletin 507," SEMCO Mfg., Inc., 2 pages (1991); "SEMCO EXCLU-SIEVE.TM.--Application Case History Bulletin 506," SEMCO Mfg., Inc., 2 pages (1991); "Air exchanger eliminates cross contamination in animal lab," reprint from Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 1 page (January 1990); "IAQ and Office Buildings: An EXCLU-SIEVE.TM. Solution," ASHRAE Journal's Supplier Capabilities Supplement," pages S-44 and S-45 (August 1990); "Affordable Fresh Air is Now a Reality with EXCLU-SIEVE.TM. Total Energy Recovery," 1-page advertisement, SEMCO Mfg., Inc.; "A SEMCO EXCLU-SIEVE.TM. Retrofit . . . the workable solution," 1-page advertisement, SEMCO Mfg., Inc.; "EXCLU-SIEVE.TM. Design Solutions: Animal and Chemical Research Laboratories," Bulletin 504, Issue 1, SEMCO Mfg., Inc., 4 pages (July 1989); "Indoor Air Quality--A Fresh Solution," 1-page advertisement, SEMCO Mfg., Inc.; The Dehumidification Handbook, published by Cargocaire Engineering Corporation, 103 pages (copyright 1982, fourth printing November 1984); C. Bayer et al., "Results of Chemical Cross-contamination Testing of a Total Energy Recovery Wheel--Phase I," Georgia Institute of Technology, 8 pages (June 5, 1991); "Union Carbide Molecular Sieves," page 4; "Molecular Sieves Manufactured by Davison Chemical," page 6; "Ethanol Drying Using Davison Molecular Sieves," Davison Chemical Division of Grace, page 3; "Molecular Sieves--SILIPORITE," page 4; "Davison Silica Gels," Introduction to Silica Gel and Silica Gel Application Guide (3 pages); "Davison 5A Molecular Sieves," Davison Chemical Division of Grace, 4 pages; Energy Recovery Equipment and Systems, SMACNA, Inc., page 6.5; D. W. Breck, Zeolite Molecular Sieves, pages 3, 4, and 636; Methods of Dehumidification, Cargocaire Engineering Corporation handbook, pages 3-17 and 3-18: ASHRAE.TM. STANDARD 62-1989--Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc., pages 1, 6-12, 15, 23, 24 (1989); C. Downing, "Tech Brief #15--Desiccant Air-Conditioning," Industrial Energy Extension Service of Georgia Tech, 4 pages (1989); "Finally. Superior Technology Makes Quality Indoor Air Affordable," SEMCO Incorporated, 1-page advertisement; Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, entry for "molecular sieve," pages 792-793 (11th edition 1987); "Senex Enthalpy Recovery Technical Manual," Cargocaire Engineering Corporation, 27 pages; and "Senex Energy Recovery--Cargocaire Bulletin 3315," Cargocaire Engineering Corporation, 6 pages. All of the documents identified and/or discussed herein, including all of the foregoing documents, are incorporated herein in their entirety for all purposes.
Methods are known for adhering particles of desiccant (e.g., molecular sieve particles, silica gel particles) to substrates to form desiccant-coated substrates used for air treatment, for example, heat and/or moisture recovery wheels that can be used in HVAC systems. Such wheels include total energy recovery (or enthalpy) wheels, which remove heat and moisture from one airstream and transfer them to another airstream, and dehumidification wheels, which transfer a significant amount of moisture while attempting to minimize heat transfer from one airstream to another. For example, it is known to make an enthalpy wheel, which has a thin (one-thousandth of an inch, i.e., 1 mil) layer of desiccant coating on each of the two major faces of its foil-like substrate, by saturating molecular sieve particles with water, dispersing them in an organic solvent containing a polyurethane binder composition to form a slurry, coating the slurry onto one major face of an aluminum foil substrate using a Rotogravure printing-type process, heating the composite sufficiently to set the binder to adhere the particles to the substrate and to cause the water to vaporize to prevent the binder from occluding the pore openings of the desiccant particles, repeating those steps to adhere a layer of desiccant particles to the other major face of the substrate, and then forming the wheel from the final composite. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,338,034; 4,036,360; 4,769,053; 5,052,188; and 5,120,694.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,034 concerns adsorbent-coated thermal panels, specifically non porous panels coated with thin layers of gas adsorbent adapted for rapid heating and cooling. The panels may be made of metal, preferably aluminum, stainless steel, or copper, and zeolite molecular sieves are preferred (column 2, lines 12-41). Preferably the adsorbent is bonded to the panel wall using an inorganic binder (e.g., clays) substantially free of any organic binder (column 3, lines 9-49). After the adsorbent-binder mixture has been applied to the surface of the panel wall, desirably the adsorbent is heated sufficiently to set or cure the binder and thereby bind the adsorbent to the panel. If the adsorbent is a zeolite, the heating also serves to liberate water adsorbed by the zeolite molecular sieve. See column 3, lines 50-62. The adsorbent may be mixed with the binder to form an aqueous slurry (e.g., column 4, lines 35-38). Gases that can be adsorbed include water, carbon dioxide, and vaporized organic liquids (column 5, lines 1-4).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,360 concerns a package having a desiccant composition. This patent refers to prior art packages at column 1, lines 22-41, including one that uses microporous polyurethane bonding a nylon mesh to form a sheet material (U.S. Pat No. 3,326,810). This patent uses prepolymerized polyurethanes to bind large quantities of desiccants such as zeolites (column 2, lines 7-39). Other organic resin can be mixed with the polyurethane (column 3, lines 10-18). Example 1 shows tetrahydrofuran mixed with polyurethane and silica gel and then coated onto polyester film.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,053 (assigned to Semco) concerns total enthalpy air-to-air rotary energy exchangers, also known as total heat wheels, and total heat exchange media employed in those wheels. A layer of coating composition comprising a molecular sieve material is applied to at least a portion of the surface of the sensible heat exchange material. The substrate may be a foil material of, e.g., aluminum, stainless steel, kraft paper, nylon fiber paper, mineral fiber paper, asbestos, or plastic (column 4, lines 56-61). The heat exchange media (molecular sieve material) adsorbs water but not contaminants, such as hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide (column 3, lines 18-30). Suitable molecular sieve materials are described at column 5, line 4, to column 6, line 41, and preferably have a pore diameter of about 3 Angstroms. Suitable binders are set forth at column 6, lines 41-58, and include polyurethanes, nitrile-phenolics, water-based binders, and alkyd-based resins. The binder composition preferably includes a solvent such as toluene (column 6, lines 58-61). Methods of making the heat exchange media are set forth at column 6, line 42, to column 7, line 19. The binder and molecular sieve material should be applied so that the binder does not block the pores of the molecular sieve, which would destroy the ability of the molecular sieve to function (Id.).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,188 concerns a process for reducing the polarity on the internal surfaces of various zeolites having an SiO.sub.2 to Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 ratio of at least about 3 and an average pore diameter size within the range of from about 4 to about 10 Angstroms. The modified zeolites are prepared by heating the starting zeolite in an aqueous medium also containing an acid or a source of ammonium ions to at least partially dealuminize the zeolite and thereby increase the ratio of silicon to aluminum present in the tetrahedral structure. The process also provides for the hydrogen ion exchange with respect to those zeolites that contain significant amounts of metallic cations in the structure, thereby replacing the bulky metallic cations with less bulky hydrogen ions, which in turn increases the water adsorptive capacity of the zeolite. Achievement of the appropriate equilibrium between reduced surface polarity and increased sorptive capacity is said to yield zeolite materials having a isotherm with a separation factor within the range of from about 0.07 to about 0.1. Those modified zeolites are said to be ideal desiccants for gas-fired air conditioning and dehumidification systems, for example, systems using regeneratable rotary desiccant wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,694 concerns a method of coating an aluminum substrate (e.g., a foil) with a solid adsorbent (e.g., silica gel or a molecular sieve) comprising heating the surface of the substrate, contacting the surface with a slurry containing the adsorbent and a binder, and heating the coating to form a hardened surface. Suitable binders include clay (column 5, lines 8-30). The slurry may contain a dispersing agent or surfactant to aid in suspending the particles or to vary the slurry viscosity, e.g., a polymeric carboxylic acid or tetrasodium pyrophosphate (column 6, lines 5-15). The suspending liquid for the slurry is preferably water (column 6, lines 16-43). The coated product may be used in a desiccant wheel for cooling, refrigeration, and dehumidification (column 9, lines 20-29).
Rotary air-to-air total energy exchangers may be used in the HVAC field to recover both sensible energy (from a temperature change) and latent energy (from adsorbing water) from an exhaust air stream and then exchange these with an incoming air supply stream. The ability to recover the latent energy is of significant interest because such recovery occurs when, and as a result of, dehumidifying the outdoor air during a cooling cycle and from humidifying the outdoor air during a heating cycle, thereby reducing the energy demands required to condition outdoor air during those cycles.
The rotary wheel in such a total energy recovery system typically rotates at about 20 revolutions per minute and is commonly a thin substrate (e.g., a 2.mil thick aluminum foil) coated on both sides with a particulate desiccant in a binder matrix (typical coating thickness of about 1 mil on each side). Because the primary function of such a wheel is to recover both energy and moisture, because the desiccant readily picks up moisture and has a relatively low heat capacity, and because the substrate readily picks up heat but not moisture, the mass of desiccant in such a wheel is relatively low (about 15-30% of the total wheel mass) and the mass of the substrate (e.g., aluminum) is relatively high (about 70-85% of the total wheel mass). Additionally, the speed of revolution is necessarily high relative to the flow of air being processed to increase the rate at which heat and mass can be transferred from one air stream to the other air stream.
In contrast, a rotary wheel used for dehumidification only and not for total energy recovery has relatively less substrate mass (40-50%), relatively more desiccant mass (50-60%), and rotates more slowly (e.g., 0.25 revolutions per minute). That increases the amount of water that can be adsorbed and reduces the amount of carry-over heat that is transferred to the cooler air stream. A desiccant used for such a wheel desirably has as high a water adsorption capacity as possible and as much desiccant mass on the wheel as is consistent with technical and economic constraints (desirably, coating thicknesses of more than 1 mil). Furthermore, although some non-desiccant mass must be used to carry and support the desiccant (i.e., the substrate and the binder), the wheel should have as little non-desiccant mass as possible because such mass is dead weight and reduces the wheel's dehumidification efficiency and increases the energy required for regeneration.
Regardless of the type of wheel or other desiccant monolith (i.e., structural unit comprising the substrate carrying the desiccant particles) used or desiccant-based system in question, the binder holding the desiccant particles to the substrate should not significantly interfere with the functioning of the desiccant (e.g., should not occlude the pores of the desiccant or otherwise adversely affect its adsorptive or desorptive capabilities), should facilitate formation of the monolith (e.g., make coating the surface of the substrate with desiccant easy), should adhere to the desiccant tightly (to prevent loss of desiccant from the binder-desiccant coating layer, for example, by dusting), should present a readily cleanable surface, and should adhere the binder-desiccant coating layer tightly to the substrate. The binder must also function under the specified operating conditions, e.g., in the specified thermal and chemical environment. For example, a desiccant-coated total heat wheel is required to operate at temperatures of up to only about 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 38.degree. C.). In contrast, a desiccant-coated dehumidification wheel should not be adversely affected by temperatures up to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit (about 177.degree. C.) and must be able to be repeatedly cycled between first temperatures in the range of 50 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 10.degree. to 38.degree. C.) and second temperatures in the range of 300 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (about 149.degree. to 177.degree. C.) without any adverse consequences, e.g., delamination of the binder-desiccant coating from the substrate.
Some early dehumidification wheels utilized a honeycomb paper impregnated with sodium silicate to form a backbone, which was then impregnated with a desiccant. Because absorbent desiccants such as lithium chloride, calcium chloride, and lithium bromide deliquesce and change from solid to liquid upon saturation, this type of desiccant could be easily deposited into the paper backbone by dipping the honeycomb wheel into a solution of the desiccant.
However, a significant problem with this type of desiccant was its loss from the wheel if the desiccant was allowed to reach saturation, although that usually could be avoided because of the high absorption capacity of such compounds (they can hold up to twice their own weight in water). Even so, problems occurred when such wheels became wet, came into contact with high humidity, or came into contact with pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. Also, manufacturing such wheels required numerous steps, including forming the special paper, winding and corrugating the paper to form the honeycomb, forming a silicon dioxide backbone by dipping the honeycomb into an aqueous sodium silicate solution, heating to drive off the water, impregnating with desiccant (e.g., LiCl) in a water bath, heating to drive off the water, grinding the wheel surface flat to open plugged flutes of the honeycomb, and hardening the surface. Use of that manufacturing procedure made mass production difficult and increased cost.
An advance over wheels utilizing absorbent desiccants is the use of solid adsorbents such as silica gel, activated alumina, and molecular sieves because they are chemically stable and do not deliquesce. Because solid adsorbents adsorb water in an amount equal to only a fraction of the their own weight, wheels using such desiccants must carry significantly more adsorbent mass than the earlier wheels (e.g., four to six times as much desiccant mass). To accommodate this much higher desiccant mass, some current dehumidification wheels are made from sheets formed using papermaking equipment from a mixture of pulp, desiccant, and binder in which the desiccant becomes an integral part of each sheet. However, sheets containing 50% or more desiccant (a desiccant wheel having acceptable performance needs at least 50% of its mass to be active desiccant) are difficult to form into honeycomb media and must be handled carefully because of decreased web strength resulting from the high desiccant loading. This makes mass production difficult and increases costs.
Other current dehumidification wheels utilizing solid adsorbents are made by preparing special paper, winding and corrugating the paper to form the honeycomb wheel, impregnating with sodium or ethyl silicate, converting the silica to Silica gel using an acid or base, heating to dry the silica gel backbone and eliminate organic materials, grinding the wheel surface flat to open plugged flutes of the honeycomb, and hardening the surface. However, the dipping steps result in uneven film coatings and limit the amount of active desiccant that can be deposited on the wheel. Furthermore, the multi-step process is complex and makes the wheels costly to prepare.
The use of desiccant-based drying for, e.g., air conditioning would significantly increase if the cost of such drying could be reduced. Thus, if rotary desiccant-based dehumidification wheels could remove more moisture more efficiently from, e.g., make-up (atmospheric or supply) air from outside a building and transfer it more efficiently to the exhaust air leaving the building and being returned to the atmosphere, the cost of such desiccant-based drying wheels and the cost of operating systems using such wheels would significantly decrease. The Gas Research Institute ("GRI") estimated that a 75 to 80% decrease in the cost of state of the art desiccant-based dehumidification wheels would be required to allow open cycle desiccant-based cooling systems to be mass produced and cost competitive with conventional air conditioning systems.
Research sponsored by GRI and conducted by Enerscope, Inc. concluded that a desiccant material having an adsorption isotherm that differed from the isotherm for currently available desiccant materials could provide the significantly better performance that would help reduce the cost of desiccant-based dehumidification wheels. Specifically, modeling by Enerscope indicated that optimum performance would be provided by a desiccant having a moderate Langmuir Type 1 moisture adsorption isotherm ("Type 1") with a separation factor of approximately 0.1. (U.S. Pat No. 5,052,188, which is assigned to GRI and is discussed above, concerns zeolite materials having an isotherm with a separation factor within the range of about 0.07 to about 0.1 that are said to be ideal desiccants for gas-fired air conditioning and dehumidification systems.)
The modeling suggested about a 30% increase in cooling performance achieved by substituting a Type 1 desiccant (i.e., a desiccant having the above-referenced moderate Langmuir Type 1 moisture adsorption isotherm) for the silica gel desiccant in current dehumidification wheels, all else being equal. That would tend to reduce the fraction of the wheel area for dehumidifying the incoming process air, all else being equal. More importantly, the modeling suggested that because the steep heat and mass transfer wave fronts could be substantially better contained with such a Type 1 desiccant wheel, the Type 1 wheel could maintain a lower moisture level for a longer operating time, all other design parameters being equal. That in turn was predicted to reduce the fraction of the wheel area required for regeneration. Thus, both sections of the dehumidification wheel assembly (the process or drying section, where a lower moisture portion of the wheel dries incoming air and becomes moisture laden, and the regeneration section, where the moisture laden portion of the wheel is heated by the hot air being exhausted to the atmosphere to dry that portion of the wheel) would be reduced in size and allow overall wheel area to be reduced by up to 60%.
In fact, calculations predicted that as compared to a state-of-the-art silica gel dehumidification wheel, at one set of typical conditions a Type 1 desiccant dehumidification wheel needed to be only about half as large in area. That would reduce the cost of the wheel quite substantially if the cost of the desiccant per se and the process for making the wheel containing the desiccant were not significantly greater than for state-of-the-art silica gel wheels. Such a reduction in the size of the wheel would also reduce the size and therefore the cost of other components of the system. It was predicted that the net result of using a Type 1 desiccant would make a Type 1 desiccant-based air conditioning system less expensive than state-of-the art systems using silica gel, lithium chloride, or molecular sieve wheels and would tend to make such a Type 1 air conditioning system cost competitive with conventional air conditioning systems, which use chilled water or vapor compression.
The higher performance of a Type 1 desiccant and its potential for reducing the size of a Type 1 desiccant-based dehumidification wheel would also counteract another factor tending to require future wheels (and systems using them) to be larger in size for a given building than they have had to be. That factor is the recently recognized need to increase the amount of outside air brought into a building per unit time per person to reduce the concentration of contaminants inside the building and to help prevent so-called sick building syndrome.
The only known Type 1 desiccant known to applicants is that of the GRI patent discussed above (U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,188). Unfortunately, the process for making that material requires numerous costly steps, at least on a laboratory scale and, to the best knowledge of the present applicants, has not been commercialized.
Thus, there is a continuing need for a Type 1 desiccant, particularly one that is cost effective and can be made easily. There is also a need for Type 1 desiccant based dehumidification wheels that can be easily and economically produced using environmentally lower-impact production techniques (e.g., without organic solvents) and for Type 1 desiccant-coated substrates that can be used to make those wheels. There is also a need for Type 1 desiccant-coated substrates in general in which the desiccant particles in the coating have a high percentage of their original adsorption capacity, in which the Type 1 desiccant particles in the coating have a high percentage of their original ability to adsorb and desorb, in which the binder matrix has good breathability, and in which the Type 1 desiccant-coated substrate has sufficient flexibility and the coating has sufficient adherence to the substrate so that the desiccant-coated substrate can be formed into shapes having abrupt radii without the coating losing its integrity or its adherence to the substrate. There is also a need for Type 1 desiccant-coated substrates that have thick coatings (i.e., coatings over 2 mil thick per side) and in which the desiccant particles constitute a high percentage by weight of the coating. There is also a need for Type 1 desiccant-coated substrates that have thick even coatings, i.e., a coating that does not vary significantly in its thickness along a given substrate. There is also a need for Type 1 desiccant-coated substrates that can be used at temperatures above 150 degrees Fahrenheit (about 66.degree. C.), preferably above 200 degrees Fahrenheit (about 93.degree. C.), and particularly for substrates that can be repeatedly cycled during use between first temperatures in the range of 50 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 10.degree. to 38.degree. C.) and second temperatures in the range of 300 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (about 149.degree. to 177.degree. C.). There is also a need for Type I desiccants and for substrates, wheels, and gas (e.g., air) treatment devices incorporating such desiccants that can remove contaminants from the air being treated.

Langmuir moderate type 1 desiccant mixture for air treatment


A process for the isolation of cyclosporin A comprising the steps of: adding a lower alkanol solvent to a culture fluid of a mutant of Tolypocladium inflatum to form a mixture, filtering the mixture to form an extract, transferring the extract to methylene chloride as a solvent therefor, and column chromatographing the resultant product on silica gel.

As prior arts concerning the process for preparing cyclosporin A, methods using fermentation by Cylindrocarpon lucidum and Tolypocladium inflatum are disclosed in GB Patent 1,491,509 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,118, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,199. Also, various methods to recover cyclosporin A from the culture fluid are disclosed in these patents.
In the above-mentioned patents, a process comprising the steps of extracting mycellium isolated from the culture fluid with a solvent, and then recovering the product by successively using chromatography media such as sephadex, aluminum oxide and silica gel has been used as a process for recovering cyclosporin A from the culture fluid. In accordance with these processes, solvent is added to mycellium as isolated solid obtained by filtering the culture fluid; the mixture is extracted by solvent by means of centrifugal extracter; the resultant extract is pretreated with water or hexane or the like; and then the product is purified through chromatography media such as sephadex, aluminum oxide and silica gel, etc. to obtain cyclosporin A. However, the procedure is complicated because two or three types of chromatography media including sephadex should be used after extracting the mycellium as isolated solid obtained by filtering the culture fluid with solvent. Besides, the processes may cause problems of process economics and environmental pollution because each eluting solvent shoud be used for each chromatography procedure.
Thus, in order to overcome the complexity of the processes and lighten the economic burden, various methods for purifying cyclosporin A have been studied.
For example, according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,256,547 and European Patent 507,968 A1, mycellium as isolated solid obtained by filtering the culture fluid is dried and then extracted with a solvent to obtain crude cyclosporin A; the product is pretreated without washing with water or the like, and purified by means of chromatography using aluminum oxide and silica gel avoiding the use of expensive sephadex to obtain cyclosporin A. In addition, according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,960, the culture fluid is extracted by directly adding solvent, the extract is transferred to a solvent having higher solubility and dried over a drying agent such as anhydrous magnesium sulfate, and the resultant product is purified by chromatography through sephadex and silica gel etc. to obtain cyclosporin A.
Although the art described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,256,547 has advantages in that content of pigment has been reduced by virtue of the solvent extraction and the process has been simplified in the course of solvent pretreatment and chromatography, it also has disadvantage in that an extra process for drying the mycellium should be performed. On the other hand, the art described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,960 has an advantage in that solvent extraction is carried out directly from the culture fluid by simply adding a solvent instead of solvent extraction from mycellium separated from the culture fluid after filtration, and the processes through chromatography media are performed without pretreatment with solvent. However, there should be an additional process for drying over expensive anhydrous magnesium sulfate because a significant amount of moisture is admixed in the transferring solvent owing to the curtailment of the process, and two chromatography media of sephadex and silica gel are used so that it still involves problems of complexity and economic disadvantage so as to be industrialized.


Service and network management events are correlated, enabling a user to correlate all the application and network events that stem from a common fault without requiring repeated and exhaustive capturing of detailed knowledge of the network assets, the topological relationships and all possible events.

The communications infrastructure is a critical component of any economy. All of today's important scientific, business and consumer applications rely on the telecommunications infrastructure. Since internet services are becoming ubiquitous, more and more businesses and consumers are relying on their internet connections for both voice and data transport needs. The amount of traffic transported on the network continues to grow. Each component of the network is shared by a large number of businesses and consumers. Thus, when network events happen, a significant amount of traffic is impacted. Often a single trouble produces multiple failure events. Network managers review the trouble tickets for route cause analysis. It is very important to identify the related events and remedy the situation as quickly as possible. Traditional event correlation methods require the network provider to define each possible network event, to register each network asset and to establish all the network specific topological relationships. The correlation rules must be defined for every connected asset, which is very time consuming as the size of the network increases.
Thus, there is a need for a method for event correlation that does not depend on repeated and exhaustive capturing of detailed knowledge of each asset in each correlation rule, a complete knowledge of all the possible events, and correlation rules for specific network topologies.

Methods and apparatus for service and network management event correlation


A compact zoom lens including in an order from an object side to an image side, a first lens group having a negative refractive power, a second lens group having a positive refractive power, and a third lens group having a positive refractive power, wherein the first lens group includes two lens, the second lens group includes three lens, and the third lens group includes a single lens, wherein, during zooming from wide angle to telephoto, the distance between the first and second lens groups decreases, the distance between the second and third lens groups increases, and the third lens group moves toward the image side, and wherein the following mathematical inequalities are satisfied:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a compact and inexpensive zoom lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital still cameras or video cameras having a solid-state imaging device such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) are widely used nowadays. In this regard, the demand for megapixel camera modules is increasing. Inexpensive digital cameras have a resolution of five megapixels or greater and provide high-definition performance. Reduction of size, weight, and cost is desired in optical imaging devices including mobile phone cameras or digital cameras using an imaging device such as a CCD or a CMOS.
In order to satisfy demands for size reduction, a retractable lens barrel in which a lens is extended to a certain position in a photographing mode and the lens is retracted into a camera body in a non-photographing mode is widely used. A camera having such a retractable lens barrel may have a small thickness and improved portability only if the distance between lens groups is minimized when the lens barrel is retracted into the camera body. In order to make the retractable lens barrel small and thin, the number of lens groups should be reduced. At the same time, high optical performance has to be provided for a large number of pixels.
In order to satisfy the above-described demand, a zoom lens including three lens groups is widely used. An example of a zoom lens system having a variable magnification of two times or higher and including a compact photographing lens system, is a well-known zoom lens system which includes, in order from object side to image side, a first lens group having a negative refractive power, a second lens group having an overall positive refractive power, and a third lens group having a positive refractive power and varies magnification by varying a distance between lens groups.
Another example is a zoom lens including two lens groups such as a first lens group having a negative refractive power and a second lens group having a positive refractive power. The focal length of the zoom lens system including the two lens groups is determined by multiplying a magnification of the first lens group by the magnification of the second lens group. During zooming from wide to telephoto the distance between the first and second lens groups varies and thus the focal length also varies. Since the magnification power of the back lens group is relatively small, an aberration variation in accordance with a varied magnification is small but the aperture of the front lens group is relatively large and the length of the retro-focus type system is relatively long. Thus, reduction of an optical full length is restrictive and magnification is restricted to approximately two times. However, despite the high magnification achieved, reduction of size and cost may not be easily achieved concurrently.

Abstract: 0.85    <          LII                        f                                                              ω          ×          f                                                              t                      <    1.0              0.3      <              tII                              f                                                                          ω            ×            f                                                                          t                              <      0.4        ,                  where LII indicates the distance the second lens group moves during zooming from a wide-angle position to a telephoto position, tII indicates the thickness of the second lens group from a vertex of the utmost object side of the second lens group to a vertex of the image side of the second lens group, on the optical axis, fw indicates the overall focal distance at the wide-angle position, and ft indicates the overall focal distance at the telephoto position.


A power supply control apparatus, in which a high voltage generated by a switching transistor is prevented from being deviated from a nominal value, includes an arithmetic operator for controlling a duty ratio of switching operation of the switching transistor in response to a feedback value. The arithmetic operator includes a comparator for comparing a reference value with a digitized monitor voltage corresponding to the high voltage, and an adder for adding a minimum unit to the feedback value when the digitized monitor voltage is smaller than the reference value and for subtracting the minimum unit to the feedback value when the digitized monitor voltage is larger than the reference value. The result of addition from the adder is used for controlling the duty ratio of switching operation of the switching transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high voltage power supply control apparatus used in an electrophotographic mechanism section having a photosensitive body in a copying machine, a laser printer, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrophotographic mechanism section used in a copying machine, a laser printer, or the like comprises, e.g., a photosensitive drum. After a photosensitive body of the photosensitive drum is charged by a charging unit, the photosensitive body is exposed by an exposure unit to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive body. A toner is applied to the electrostatic latent image by a developer unit to form a toner image. The toner image is transferred onto transfer paper by a transfer unit.
The electrophotographic mechanism section comprises a high voltage power supply controlling apparatus for applying a high voltage to a charger in the charging unit, a developer sleeve in the developer unit, and a transfer charger in the transfer unit.
In this apparatus, however, since PWM (pulse-width modulation) controllers and A/D (analog-to digital) converters are arranged in correspondence with charging, transferring, and biasing sections, the number of circuit members to be used is undesirably increased, and the apparatus becomes bulky. Since the PWM controllers are independently operated, each PWM controller suffers from a long operation rest period, resulting in poor operation efficiency.
The applicant of the present invention has proposed an improved high voltage power supply control apparatus in which a set of a PWM controller and an A/D converter is commonly used for a plurality of high voltage generating controllers so as to decrease necessary circuit members as well as to reduce the size of the apparatus, thereby increasing the operational efficiency of the PWM controller. (Such an apparatus is disclosed in Japanese patent application No. H 2-197852 which corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/735,300 filed on Jul. 24, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,725, issued Apr. 13, 1993.)
The above apparatus basically performs a comparison between a given reference value and a digital value obtained from the A/D converter so as to add the difference between them to the feedback value or to subtract such difference from the feedback value, so that a duty ratio for controlling the switching operation of switching means varies.
Meanwhile, a monitor voltage of a high voltage power supply controller is liable to be subjected to a noise. If such a noise is contained to the monitor voltage, the magnitude of the difference between the reference value and the digital value obtained by A/D-converting the monitor voltage temporally increases, so that the duty ratio for controlling the switching operation of the switching means changes by a large amount. Then a new problem arises in that a high voltage applied from a high voltage transformer to a load largely deviates from a normal value.

High voltage power supply control apparatus


A container filling apparatus includes a fill turret configured to carry a plurality of containers along a first portion of a path as the containers are filled with liquid. A container guide is mounted in fixed relation to the fill turret, the container guide defining an upper guide surface and a lower guide surface spaced apart from the upper guide surface. The upper and lower guide surfaces cooperate to define an edge of a second portion of the path, where the upper guide surface is located to contact a container at a first location and the lower guide surface is located to contact the container at a second location that is spaced apart from the first location. The upper and lower guide surfaces maintain the container in an upright position as the container moves along the edge of the path.

Products, such as liquids, are frequently transported and/or sold in containers. Often times, these containers are formed to be convenient for consumer handling and attractive for display.
Containers, including flexible containers, are frequently filled using automated processes. Such processes can sometimes operate at relatively high speeds in order to increase productivity and production speed. Additionally, automated processes frequently require the containers to change direction. Due to these relatively high speeds and direction changes, product sometimes spills from open tops of the containers after filling the containers and prior to sealing the containers with a lid. This spillage can be caused, for example, by a sudden direction change, or by deflection of the containers' flexible walls. In some cases, spilled product may remain on the containers' outer surfaces even after the containers are placed on display for sale, which may cause customer dissatisfaction with the product. Container guides formed from various fixtures, rails and brackets are frequently employed to aid in guiding containers during filling processes.

Container guide for a container filling apparatus