A radiating antenna element intended for small-sized radio devices and a method for manufacturing the same. The element (300) is manufactured of a plate comprising a dielectric substrate coated with conductive material on one side. The radiating conductor branches corresponding to the operating bands of the antenna are formed on the plate by removing the conductive coating by laser narrowly from the border line of the area (330) between the designed conductor branches. The conductor area confined by the created border groove can be used as a parasitic additional radiator. If needed, the conductor area confined by the border groove (331) can also be split into a number of small conductor areas (CA1, CA2), in order to make sure that the conductor area does not radiate or have any substantial effect on the coupling between the radiating conductor branches. A relatively wide area “invisible” on the operating frequencies of the radiating branches of the antenna can be formed between the branches by the customary laser technique. This means lower manufacturing costs compared to the use of the etching process, and the creation of problem waste is also avoided.

An internal antenna is generally used in small-sized radio devices, such as mobile phones, in order to avoid a part protruding from the cover of the device. Internal antennas are usually planar antennas, because they have relatively good electric properties. A planar antenna comprises a radiating plane and a ground plane parallel with it. The planes are generally connected to each other by a short-circuit conductor because of the matching of the antenna. The structure is dimensioned so that it functions as a resonator at the operating frequency, which is a prerequisite for effective radiation. In modern mobile stations it is a normal requirement that the antenna must operate on two different frequency bands, in which case two resonators are also required. This requirement is met by dividing the radiating plane into two branches of different lengths by means of a non-conductive slot or area. Together with the ground plane and a medium, each branch forms a resonator, the natural frequency of which is arranged at one operating band of the radio device.
The radiating plane can be a separate metal sheet, in which case its slot is formed by cutting while the whole plane is cut from a larger sheet. Saving of material is achieved by manufacturing the radiating plane of thin metal foil. Then the radiating plane cut from the foil is, for example, glued onto the antenna's dielectric frame or onto the inner surface of the cover of a mobile station. The difficulty is to make the shape of the foil element remain exactly right during fastening. Even a relatively small change in the dimensions of especially the non-conductive area of the plane impairs the characteristics of the antenna significantly. The risk of changing the shape of the foil element is avoided if a dielectric plate coated by a metal foil is used for manufacturing the antenna. The desired radiator pattern is formed on the surface of the plate by etching away the surplus parts from the coating. The resulting antenna element is then fastened at a certain distance from the ground plane.
FIG. 1 shows a radiating antenna element 100 manufactured by the known method described above. It comprises a dielectric substrate 110 and a radiating plane 120, which is a conductor layer on the surface of the substrate. The radiating plane has an antenna feed point FP and a short-circuit point SP close to each other. From the latter, the radiating plane is directly connected to the ground plane when the antenna element is installed on place. The non-conductive area 130 starts from the same edge of the element beside which the feed point and the short-circuit point are, and divides the radiating plane into two conductor branches as seen from the short-circuit point SP. The first conductor branch 221 comprises the peripheral areas of the plane, forming a pattern resembling the letter C. The second, shorter conductor branch 222 comprises the inner area of the plane. The lower operating band of the antenna is based on the first conductor branch, and the upper operating band of the antenna is based on the second conductor branch. The antenna element has been cut to such a shape that it follows the inner space of the end part of the radio device in question. FIG. 1 shows the outline COV of the end part.
The non-conductive area 130 of the antenna element 100 has been formed by removing part of the conductive coating of the substrate by etching. The chemicals needed in the process cause a considerable cost in production. This drawback is emphasized if the area between the conductor branches is made relatively wide in order to increase the bandwidths of the antenna. Besides, the chemicals used are environmental poisons, the disposal of which causes additional costs. In principle, it could also be used laser for removing the conductor material in the known manner. However, laser suits well for making very narrow slots only. Removing a relatively wide conductor area would thus be impractical, i.e. expensive, and it would also impair the mechanical and electrical characteristics of the dielectric plate used as a substrate.

Antenna element and a method for manufacturing the same


A fault sensor device comprising a receiver (3; 3A; 3B) for receiving microwaves (2, 8) radiated from an object to be monitored (1; 1A; 1B; 1C; 1D; 1E; 1F), a detector (4) connected to the receiver (3; 3A; 3B) for converting and outputting the microwaves (2, 8) into a video signal (2S4; 2S21), and a signal processor (5) for converting the video signal (2S4, 2S21) output by the detector (4) into a presentation signal (2S5) and outputting the presentation signal (2S5) to an external presentation device (91; 91A), and for determining whether or not the microwaves (2, 8) received are associated with a fault, based on one of the duration and the frequency of the video signal (2S4; 2S21) and the level of the video signal, and for issuing an alarm signal (2S6) when the determination reveals that the microwaves are associated with the fault.

FIG. 16 is a layout view showing the layout of a known protective relay for detecting an internal fault in an oil-filled transformer having a built-in on-load tap changer. Shown here are a transformer body 30, a radiator 31 mounted on the transformer body 30 for cooling oil, and an oil pump 32 mounted in the oil pipe running between the transformer body 30 and the radiator 31. Also shown are an oil purifier 33, a tap changer chamber 34, and conservators 35 and 36. Also shown are a Buchholtz's relay 37, a sudden pressure relay 38, and an oil flow relay 39. FIGS. 17 and 18 are diagrammatic cross-sectional views showing respectively the internal constructions of the Buchholtz's relay 37 and the sudden pressure relay 38 in FIG. 16. Since the oil flow relay 39 is identical, in construction and principle, to the Buchholtz's relay 37 its explanation is omitted here.
As shown in FIG. 17, a float 37a is provided within the Buchholtz's relay 37, and the float 37a floats or submerges with a floating support 37b depending on whether oil flow 201 is a rapid or slow. When the float 37a is submerged by a rapid oil flow, its associated contact points (contactors) 37c are closed, sending a signal externally via signal lines 37d.
As shown in FIG. 18, a partitioning plate 38a is provided in the middle of the sudden pressure relay 38, and the upper space above the. partitioning plate 38a forms a switch chamber 38b, in which a microswitch 38c is mounted. The partitioning plate 38a is provided with a hole in its center in which a bellows 38d is firmly engaged as shown, so that oil may not ingress into the switch chamber 38b. The partitioning plate 38a is provided with an equalizing capillary 38e which comunicates the switch chamber 38b with the interior of the bellows 38d to equalize both internal pressures. Disposed above the bellows 38d is a microswitch driving bellows 38f which expands upward by means of oil pressure 202 to activate the microswitch 38c when an oil pressure sudden or the like is generated.
The operation will now be discussed. When a fault associated with arcing takes place within the transformer body 30, the surrounding dielectric materials are quickly decomposed thermally and gasified, causing a rapid oil flow toward the conservator 36 and a sudden internal pressure rise. When the rapid oil flow takes place, the float 37a in the Buchholtz's relay 37 is forced to be submerged as shown in FIG. 17 by the dashed line, closing the associated contact points (contactors) 37c, whereby a signal is generated externally via the signal lines 37d. In the sudden pressure relay 38, the microswitch driving bellows 38f is expanded in response to the sudden oil pressure rise, whereby a contact closure signal for microswitch 38c is generated externally.
On the other hand, during normal operation, although a mild thermal expansion of oil takes place in the transformer body 30 as ambient temperature rises or a load increases, the resulting slow oil flow does not force the float 37a of the Buchholtz's relay 37 to submerge, and in the sudden pressure relay 38, the mild pressure change is equalized through the equalizing capillary 38e mounted between the bellows 38d and the switch chamber 38b, whereby the microswitch driving bellows 38f is not expanded upward, and a contact closure signal of the microswitch 38c is never generated.
Since the known protective relays in FIG. 16 are constructed as mentioned above, and the fault in the transformer body 30 is detected by the Buchholtz's relay 37 and the sudden pressure relay 38, the known protective relays suffer from the problem that when a sudden oil flow or a sudden pressure change takes place where the the oil pump 32 is started or stopped or in the event of an earthquake, the known protective relays arise malfunction by mistaking the change for a fault. There is also a considerable time lag from the moment an arc occurs to the moment of thermal decomposition of the dielectric and pressure rise. Furthermore, the mechanical relays mentioned above take time to operate, so a considerable time delay is involved until the transformer body 30 is stopped by the relay signals, whereby the fault area is widened in terms of mean time.
FIG. 19 shows the construction of a known differential relay used for detecting an internal shortcircuit fault in a transformer. In the figure, CT1 and CT2 denote current transformers respectively arranged on the primary side 40 and the secondary side 41 of the transformer, and the secondary windings of the current transformers CT1 and CT2 are connected to the operating coil of the differential relay 43 in a manner so that both transformers conduct current in mutually opposite directions. Current transformation ratios are determined based on the transformation ratio of the transformer so that the secondary currents of the current transformers CT1 and CT2 are approximately equal to each other.
The operation will now be discussed. When the transformer (40, 41) is operating normally, the secondary currents of the current transformers CT1 and CT2 are almost equal to each other, and a current (i1-i2) in the operating coil of the differential relay 43 is too small to activate the differential relay 43. However, when an accident such as shorted layer, grounding or the like takes place in the transformer 40, 41, the ratio of the primary current (I1) to the secondary current (I2) of the transformer becomes different from rated ratio, thereby increasing the current (i1-i2) in the operating coil, activating the differential relay 43, to thereby output the signal.
However the transformer 40, 41 is typically provided with a tap changer 44 and taps 45, thus the current (i1-i2) in the operating coil cannot always be zero when the transformer 40, 41 is operating normally. For this reason, some degree of dead zone should be allowed in the relay itself so that the differential relay 43 may not be activated by the current (i1-i2) in the operating coil during normal operation. Due to the dead zone, the known differential relays suffer from the problem that an initial minor layer short fault goes undetected, and the fault is detected later at its advanced stage in which a substantial number of windings are shorted.
FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing the construction of an internal fault sensor device of electrical equipment disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 63-247674. Shown in the figure are a switchgear 51 as an object to be monitored, and an electromagnetic wave signal 52, which is generated by an internal fault in the switchgear 51, and which has a diversity of frequency components determined by the circuit configuration and the length of line on which the switchgear 51 is placed. Designated 53A and 53B are a pair of loop antennas covering the medium frequency to very high frequency wave bands, which are spaced apart by 1 m or so with the planes of the loops mutually in parallel and at a right angle to a line which connects both loop antennas. The output of each of the loop antennas 53A and 53B is conducted to a junction connector via a coaxial cable. One loop antenna 53B is provided with a polarity changing switch 53b, so that the two loop antennas 53A and 53B can be set to the same or opposite polarities. Numeral 54 denotes a first amplifier which is either of a tuned type or non-tuned type. Also shown are a detector 55 connected to the first amplifier 54, a second amplifier 56 connected to the output side of the detector 55, a sound generator 57 connected to the output side of the second amplifier 56, and a pulse count display means 58 connected to the output side of the detector 55.
The operation will now be discussed. The electromagnetic wave signal 52 generated within the switchgear 51 is received by the antennas 53A and 53B, and fed via the coaxial cables and connectors to the first amplifier 54, where it is amplified into a first signal, and the detector 55 outputs a second signal which is the envelope of the first signal. The second signal contains extremely high frequency components and audio frequency components as well. The second signal is fed to the second amplifier 56 to be amplified there and then output as an audio sound by the sound generator 57, while the second signal is also fed to the pulse count display means 58 which counts and displays a frequency in excess of a set level. When the electromagnetic wave 52 originates in a line vertical to a line which connects the two loop antennas 53A and 53B, the output increases if both loop antennas are set to the same polarity, and the output decreases if both loop antennas are set to be opposite polarity, but as the electromagnetic source recedes from the vertical line, the difference between the same polarity and the opposite polarity is lowered. Taking advantage of this, the direction of radiation of the electromagnetic wave 52 can thus be found and the location of the fault generated detected.
The known internal fault sensor device in the electrical equipment in FIG. 20 is constructed as mentioned above accordingly, such electrical equipment suffers from problems such as noise from broadcasting waves, etc. is likely to interfere since broadcasting systems widely use frequency bands from medium wave to very high frequency wave, the operation is complex since the position and alignment of the pair of loop antennas 53A and 53B need to be changed while manipulating the polarity changing switch 53b to find the direction, the difficulty of minituarizing, handling and mounting the device since the separation dimension between the antennas 53A and 53B, is as large as 1 meter.
FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of a known fault monitoring device used in electrical equipment as disclosed by Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 7-128393. Shown in the figure are a high-voltage bus 61 as an object to be monitored, a voltage transformer 62 connected to the high-voltage bus 61, a switching element 63 connected to the secondary side of the voltage transformer 62 that responds to faults other than dielectric faults, a discharger 64 connected to the secondary side of the voltage transformer 62, in parallel with the switching element 63, an electromagnetic wave 65 generated by the discharge of the discharger 64, an antenna 66 for receiving the electromagnetic wave of a partial discharge, and a fault sensor device 67 connected to the antenna 66.
The operation will now be discussed. When a fault other than a dielectric fault takes place, the switching element 63 is opened, and the voltage into which the voltage transformer 62 divides the voltage of the high-voltage bus 61 is applied to the discharger 64, whereby the discharger 64 starts discharging. The electromagnetic wave 65 is radiated by the discharging and is received by the antenna 66. The received signal at the antenna 66 is sent to the fault sensor device 67, by which the generation of the fault is detected.
Since this known fault monitoring device for use in electrical equipment is constructed as shown in FIG. 21, the electromagnetic wave 65 must be artificially generated by the switching element 63, the voltage transformer 62 and the discharger 64 to detect faults other than partial discharges. Since the device responds to partial discharges, it is difficult to discriminate its fault from partial discharges even though they are completely different phenomenas.
FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing the construction of a known fault sensor device used in a gas insulated switchgear as disclosed by Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 3-139110. Shown in the figure are a gas container 70 of the switchgear, a plurality of main circuit conductors 71 disposed in the gas container 70, and an insulating spacer 72 which passes through and supports the main circuit conductors. Numeral 73 denotes an electric-field moderating electrode embedded in the insulating spacer 72, which is connected to a mounting nut and bolt 75 via a connecting bolt 74 used as an antenna. The mounting nut and bolt 75 is insulated from the gas container 70 by an insulating washer (not shown), and is connected to the ground via a low-pass filter 76. Numeral 77 denotes a receiver for picking up electromagnetic waves of a particular frequency such as 100 MHz or so, for example, and the mounting nut and bolt 75 is connected to the input side of the receiver 77 via a coaxial cable 78. Numeral 79 denotes a signal process determining module connected to the output side of the receiver 77.
The operation will now be discussed. When a partial discharge occurs in the gas container 70, the electromagnetic wave (not shown) generated by the partial discharge is received by the electric-field moderating electrode 73 in the insulating spacer 72, and input to the receiver 77 via the connecting bolt 74 and the mounting nut and bolt 75, and is detected and judged by the signal process determining module 79.
Since the known fault sensor device for the gas insulated switchgear in FIG. 22 is thus constructed, the distance between the main circuit conductors 71 and the electric-field moderating electrode 73 is short compared with the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave to be received (the wavelength is 3 m in the gas and 1.7 m in the spacer material), the fault sensor device responds to a frequency component of the oscillation voltage of the main circuit conductors 71 that happens to be the same frequency as the response frequency of the receiver, rather than to the electromagnetic wave (radiation electric field), and furthermore, since even travelling high-frequency oscillation voltages occuring outside of the switchgear, such as coronas generated on the bus in the air connected to the switchgear are detected, the possibility of erroneous sensing a rises and noise levels cannot be reduced. Since the detection is chiefly dependent on electrostatic coupling with the main circuit conductors 71, a discharge in gas-filled space remote from the main circuit conductors 71 is difficult to detect.
As mentioned above, in the protective relays in FIG. 16, the fault sensor device suffers from the problems that the fault sensor device is activated by an internal oil flow or a change in oil pressure which is not caused by an internal fault in the electrical equipment, and that the fault area is widened since a considerable time is needed until the oil flow and pressure change increase enough and the mechanical operation of the fault sensor device itself is completed. The known differential relay used in the transformer shown in FIG. 19 suffers from the problem that a fault is detected only when the fault area is substantially widened since a dead zone is needed in consideration of the tap change. The known internal fault sensor device shown in FIG. 20 suffers from the problem that a pair of loop antennas are needed for direction finding, thus its operation is complicated involving the polarity changing step, and also its large dimensions present difficulties in handling the device. In the known fault monitoring device for use in electrical equipment in FIG. 21, a special mechanism is needed to artificially generate an electromagnetic wave in response to a fault other than dielectric faults, thus presenting the difficulty of discriminating between a partial discharge and other faults which are the different type of phenomena from the discharge. In the known fault sensor device in gas insulated switchgear shown in FIG. 22, the distance between the antenna and the main circuit conductors to which high-frequency oscillation voltages travelling from outside of the switchgear due to a diversity of causes are fed is short compared with the wavelength, the antenna is placed in the near field where the effect of electrostatic field is dominant, and thus the fault sensor device suffers from the problem that the detection of the fault is influenced by noise propagating from sources other than the subject electrical equipment, and that the level of detection for discharges or the like in the gas-filled space remote from the main circuit conductors is lowered.

Abnormality detection apparatus and abnormality detection method


Provided are a method and apparatus for encoding and decoding images based on constrained offset compensation and a loop filter. The image decoding apparatus: receives, from an encoder, a first indicator indicating whether a sequence, a picture, a frame, a slice, a coding unit (CU), a prediction unit (PU), and/or a transform unit (TU) supports constrained offset compensation; receives, from the encoder, a second indicator indicating whether constrained sample adaptive offset (SAO) compensation or an adaptive loop filter (ALF) is applied; receives a parameter from the encoder; and applies the SAO compensation or the ALF to pixels of a restored image on the basis of the second indicator and the parameter.

Recently, with the expansion of broadcasting services supporting high definition (HD) resolution in the country and around the world, many users have been accustomed to a high resolution and definition video, such that many organizations have conducted many attempts to develop next-generation video devices. In addition, the interest in HDTV and ultra high definition (UHD) having a resolution four times higher than that of HDTV have increased and thus, a compression technology for higher-resolution and higher-definition video have been required.
Examples of the video compression technology may include an inter prediction technology predicting sample values included in a current picture from a picture before and/or after the current picture, an intra prediction technology predicting sample values included in the current picture using sample information in the current picture, a weight prediction technology for preventing deterioration of image quality due to a change in illumination, and the like, an entropy encoding technology allocating a short code to symbols having a high appearance frequency and a long code to symbols having a low appearance frequency, and the like. In particular, when the prediction for the current block is performed in a skip mode, the predicted block is generated by using only predicted values from a previously encoded region and separate motion information or a residual signal is not transmitted from an encoder to a decoder. Video data may be effectively compressed by the video compression technologies.
In order to minimize a difference between an original video and a reconstructed video at the time of encoding and decoding video, offset compensation or a loop filter may be applied. In the case of the offset compensation, and distortion from the original video can be minimized by calculating errors of sample values between the original video and the reconstructed video to obtain offsets and by applying the obtained offsets to the reconstructed video. In the case of the loop filter, the distortion from the original video can be minimized by deriving filter coefficients based on a Wiener filter minimizing errors between the original video and the reconstructed video and then, applying the derived filter coefficients to the reconstructed video.
Meanwhile, the compressed video bit streams may be transmitted through a network channel in which errors easily occur. However, when errors occur in the compressed video bit streams, the offset compensation or the loop filter according to the related art do not have the countermeasures therefore and therefore, the errors may be temporally or spatially propagated by the offset compensation or the loop filter. Therefore, the offset compensation or the loop filter according to the related art may largely degrade the image quality of the reconstructed video and the compressed video bit streams cannot be decoded.
Therefore, there is a need to apply the error-resilient offset compensation or loop filter.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for encoding and decoding images based on constrained offset compensation and loop filter, and apparatus therefor

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


In a double cell the values of d..DELTA.n for both the actual cell (10) and the compensation cell (20) having opposite twist angles .phi. are chosen to be such that they are associated with different Gooch & Tarry extrema for a given wavelength. The compensation cell may then be thicker and can be obtained in a simpler manner. A universal compensation cell may alternatively be used.

The invention relates to a liquid crystal display device having a first liquid crystal cell between two polarizers and comprising a twisted nematic layer of liquid crystalline material having a twist angle .phi..sub.1 and a thickness d.sub.1, while the optical path length difference is d.sub.1..DELTA.n.sub.1 for incident light having a central wavelength .lambda..sub.0, said display device further comprising a compensating layer of optically anisotropic material having a twist angle .phi..sub.2 in the opposite direction.
Display devices of this type are used, for example in projection television. The difference .DELTA.n is the difference in refractive index for the ordinary and the extraordinary wave (anisotropy or birefringence).
A display device of the type described above is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,065. With the aid of such a device, interference effect in a twisted nematic liquid crystal display device are eliminated as much as possible by means of a second twisted nematic liquid crystal cell which has preferably the same twist angle and the same optical path length difference. Notably the last-mentioned condition often imposes stringent requirements on the manufacturing process because a small tolerance in the thicknesses of the two composite cells is permitted when using one and the same liquid in the two cells (the same .DELTA.n).
The interference effects occur to an even stronger extent in liquid crystal display devices having a large twist angle .phi.. For these devices similar solutions have been given for double cells with .phi..sub.1 .noteq..phi..sub.2 in which an optimum relation is given between the twist angles and the associated values of d..DELTA.n. However, since these are passively driven display devices, this optimization focuses on drive properties (particularly a steep transmission/voltage characteristic curve) with which no high contrasts are achieved (they remain limited to about 10:1).

Double TN cell LCD display with different Gooch and Tarry extremes


A polymeric material with a variable modulus of elasticity is described herein. The polymeric material described herein is useful for forming implantable medical devices (e.g. ophthalmic lenses, breast implants, and body augmentation devices). In addition, medical devices formed from the polymer material can be used to controllably release a therapeutic agent. Also, the polymeric material may be used to prepare topical compositions or other applications or devices where control of a mechanical property such as material modulus is important.

The use of polymeric materials for medical devices is an area where vast improvements in polymeric materials have evolved and are still evolving. Physical properties of these polymers can be fine tuned for use in different environments or to behave in a predictable manner. Polymers for use in fabricating IOLs need to be adapted allowing for smaller incisions during implantation.
In addition to polymers with physical properties adapted for use in the optic region, polymeric material can be adapted for various applications elsewhere. Various medical devices other than optic implants can incorporate elastomeric polymeric material, for example, implantable medical device coatings, breast implants, prosthetic joins and other body augmentation implants. These types of applications each require polymeric material that may be vastly different from another. The ability of a skilled artisan is necessary to fine tune the physical properties of the polymers.
In addition to medical devices and medical device coatings, polymeric material can be incorporated into topical formulations. A low degree of polymerization can be used, for example, to form a more liquid polymeric material which can be useful in such formulations as eye drops or hair sprays. Increasing the degree of polymerization can cause the polymer to become more viscous wherein the polymer may be useful in skin creams or lotions. The degree of polymerization can be tailored for the appropriate application and various other variations are possible.
In the area of ophthalmic devices, IOLs have been designed for ever smaller incisions in the eye. Elastomeric IOLs are typically implanted using inserters to roll or fold the IOL, insert the IOL into the capsular sac, and then allow the IOL to unfold once inside. Occasionally, the fold of the IOL before insertion may result in permanent deformation, which adversely affected the implant's optical qualities. Further, while foldable IOLs have eliminated the need for the large incision, foldable IOLs are not without drawbacks. In particular, both non-deformable and foldable IOLs are susceptible to mechanical dislocation resulting in damage to the corneal endothelium.
Another approach to small incision IOL implantation uses an elastomeric polymer that becomes pliable when heated to body temperature or slightly above. Specifically, the IOL is made pliable and is deformed along at least one axis, reducing its size for subsequent insertion through a small incision. The IOL is then cooled to retain the modified shape. The cooled IOL is inserted into the capsular sac and the natural body temperature warms the IOL at which point it returns to its original shape. The primary drawback to this type of thermoplastic IOL is the limited number of polymers that meet the exacting needs of this approach. Most polymers are composed of polymethylacrylate which have solid-elastomeric transition temperatures above 100° C. Modifications of the polymer substrate require the use of plasticizers that may eventually leach into the eye causing harmful effects.
Dehydrated hydrogels have also been used with small incision techniques. Hydrogel IOLs are dehydrated before insertion and naturally rehydrated once inside the capsular sac. However, once fully rehydrated the polymer structure is notoriously weak due to the large amount of water absorbed. The typical dehydrated hydrogel's diameter will expand from 3 mm to 6 mm resulting in an IOL that is 85% water. At this water concentration the refractive index (RI) drops to about 1.36, which is unacceptable for an IOL since lower RI materials require the optic to be thicker to achieve a given optical power.
Modern acrylate IOLs generally possess excellent mechanical properties such as foldability, tear resistance and physical strength. Acrylate IOLs also are known to possess desirable optical properties (transparency, high refractive index, etc.) and biocompatibility. While pure acrylic IOLs have desirable mechanical, optical and biological properties, they may have unacceptable molecular response times such that the folded or compacted IOL may not unfold as quickly as desired. A pure acrylate IOL fabricated to have a relatively fast molecular response time may be extremely tacky and lack the desired mechanical strength. In this case, the resulting IOL may tear and/or the resulting self-tack can unfolding difficult.
Pure silicone IOLs generally possess excellent mechanical, optical and biological properties similar to pure acrylate IOLs. Unlike acrylic IOLs, silicone IOLs generally possess faster molecular response times. In fact, the silicone IOLs may be so responsive that when folded small enough to be inserted through a 3 mm or smaller incision, the stored energy can cause the IOL to unfold more quickly than desired.
There is a need for a polymeric material with a molecular response time which makes it suitable for use near fragile body tissues, such as within the eye of a subject. There is also a need for ophthalmic devices in which one polymeric material is useful for both low modulus and high modulus elements of a single device to, inter alia, simplify the multi-part polymeric article manufacturing process and create better integrated multi-part polymeric articles in which the various elements of the device have a common value of a property such as a refractive index, but a different value of another property such as modulus, tensile strength, resiliency, or the like.


A fixing device includes a fixing device main body and a fixing cover. The fixing device main body has an opening across a back portion and an upper portion of a conveying passage of a recording sheet. The fixing cover openably/closably covers the opening by rotatably supported with a first axle as a rotational central axle. The first axle extends in width direction of the recording sheet in a lower end of the back portion of the opening. The fixing cover includes a first fixing cover portion and a second fixing cover portion. The first fixing cover portion covers the back portion of the conveying passage and its lower end portion is rotatably supported with the first axle as the rotational central axle. The second fixing cover portion covers the upper portion of the conveying passage and has a bendable structure with respect to the first fixing cover portion.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description in this section is not prior art to the claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
As a fixing device, there is known a structure that includes: a fixing device main body having a nip area constituted of a heating roller and a pressure roller and having an opening exposing the nip area; and a fixing cover covering the opening openably/closably. This fixing cover covers a back portion and an upper portion of the fixing device main body and also causes the nip area to expose by rotating around an axle located in a lower portion of the back portion. In such fixing device, when a paper jam (hereinafter referred to as "JAM") of a recording sheet occurs inside, the recording sheet is removed after rotating the fixing cover to cause the nip area to be exposed.

Fixing device that ensures downsized opening/closing space of fixing cover and image forming apparatus


A monitor circuit for supplying a detection voltage reflecting a supply voltage, a reference voltage generation circuit for generating a high-precision reference voltage not depending upon the supply voltage, and a comparator for comparing the detection voltage with the reference voltage and outputting the result of the comparison are provided and, in addition, a controller is provided which is made up of an auxiliary reference voltage generation circuit for generating a low-precision auxiliary reference voltage with less power dissipation and an auxiliary comparator for comparing the detection voltage with the auxiliary reference voltage. The auxiliary reference voltage is set higher than the reference voltage, and when the detection voltage becomes higher than the auxiliary reference voltage to cause the comparison output of the auxiliary comparator to become active, the reference voltage generation circuit is placed in a power-down state, thereby achieving a reduction in current dissipation.

The present invention relates to a supply voltage detection circuit for detecting supply voltage levels.
Recently, many of the processors, such as microcomputers designed for portable equipment, are equipped with a supply voltage detection circuit supply voltage detection circuits find application in detecting the life of a battery, the voltage of a capacitor power source used in a backup mode and so on. In addition to these detection applications, supply voltage detection circuits have been used extensively for generating signals such as a reset signal for initializing the system when the power is turned on and a reset signal for preventing the system from getting out of control when there occur variations in power supply.
A typical supply voltage detection circuit is comprised of a monitor circuit for supplying a detection voltage Vdet reflecting a supply voltage Vdd, a reference voltage generation circuit for generating a given reference voltage Vref not depending upon the supply voltage Vdd, and a comparator for comparing the detection voltage Vdet with the reference voltage Vref and outputting the result of the comparison. For example, the monitor circuit is formed by a resistive potential division circuit which produces the detection voltage Vdet proportional to the supply voltage Vdd. BGR (Band-Gap Reference) circuits have been known in the art as one type of the reference voltage generation circuit. With the BGR circuit, the reference voltage Vref can be obtained with high precision, as shown by Banba et al. in their report entitled xe2x80x9cA CMOS Band-Gap Reference Circuit with Sub 1V Operationxe2x80x9d, 1998 Symposium on VLSI Circuits, Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 228-229. On the other hand, a reference voltage generation circuit of lower precision than the BGR circuit has also been known in the art. Such a low-precision circuit is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,549 to Kim et al.
However, in the above prior art technique, the monitor circuit, the reference voltage generation circuit, and the comparator are all in the operating state at all times. Therefore, the problem of large power dissipation arises. Particularly, when employing a BGR circuit as a reference voltage generation circuit, such a power dissipation problem becomes much serious.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a supply voltage detection circuit capable of high detection precision/low power dissipation compatibility.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a supply voltage detection circuit which employs a configuration comprising a monitor circuit for supplying a detection voltage reflecting a supply voltage, a reference voltage generation circuit for generating a reference voltage, and a comparator for comparing the detection voltage with the reference voltage and outputting the result of the comparison, wherein a first voltage range including the reference voltage and a second voltage range different from the first voltage range are set, and wherein the supply voltage detection circuit further comprises control means for performing control so that the current dissipation of the reference voltage generation circuit is reduced when the detection voltage falls within the second voltage range in comparison with when the detection voltage falls within the first voltage range.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A knowledge worker productivity assessment system (10) includes a database (12, 14, 16) containing survey data (15) generated using a knowledge worker productivity assessment framework (2). A benchmark database (18) contains benchmark values. A retriever (20) is coupled to the databases (12, 14, 16, 18) to retrieve selected survey data (15) and benchmark values. A calculator (38) is coupled to the retriever (20) and generates a comparison value (39) using the selected survey data (15). A relator (40) compares the comparison value (39) to a selected benchmark value to generate a knowledge worker productivity assessment.

Many managers and consultants wish to assess knowledge worker productivity within an organization or other knowledge worker community. It is often desirable to assess knowledge worker productivity by comparing data associated with knowledge workers from one knowledge worker community to benchmark data associated with knowledge workers from the same or different knowledge worker communities. For example, a series of such comparisons might be performed to assess knowledge worker productivity within an organization, relative to other organizations, according to various productivity formulations.
As knowledge worker environments become larger and more complex to serve a variety of tasks and information requirements, managers and consultants may desire to assess knowledge worker productivity using various productivity assessment techniques. A known technique for assessing worker productivity measures worker output for a selected time period. Although this technique may be acceptable for worker communities for which worker output is readily susceptible to quantitative measurement, as within most manufacturing environments, such techniques may not be suitable for environments in which the primary function of workers involves obtaining, manipulating, adding value to, and acting on information.

System and method for generating a knowledge worker productivity assessment


A sheet of flexible material is fastened around the neck of a household pet or other animal to inhibit the animal from bending its neck and thereby biting or licking wounds or other sensitive areas on its body.

It is a well known fact that household pets are apt to lick or nibble at wounds, sores, rashes, sutures, flea bites and other afflicted portions of their bodies. This propensity can not only retard the healing process but also lead to complications which require further medical attention. Therefore, unless the animal is immobilized with some sort of body truss, it must be prevented from reaching the wound or irritated area with its mouth.
At present, one of the most common devices for doing this is the so-called Elizabethan collar, which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,036,554 to F. L. Johnson. A disk in the form of a truncated cone is fitted around the animal's neck and prevents the animal from reaching its body with its mouth. Elizabethan collars, however, are rather cumbersome devices, and they interfere with the ability of the animal to sleep, eat and drink. They also interfere with the animal's mobility, making it difficult to run, climb stairs, and maneuver around corners and through narrow spaces. They act as a barrier between the animal and its owner, preventing the owner from holding the animal and preventing the animal from jumping up on the owner. Finally, Elizabethan collars are unsightly and can be a source of embarrassment to the owner. Other similar collars are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,530 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,072,098.


The present invention relates to lipase variants which exhibit improved properties, detergent compositions comprising said lipase variants, DNA constructs coding for said lipase variants, and methods of making said lipase variants.

For a number of years lipolytic enzymes have been used in detergents to remove lipid or fatty stains from clothes and other textiles.
For instance, various microbial lipases have been suggested as detergent enzymes. Examples of such lipases include a Humicola lanuginosa lipase, e.g., described in EP 258,068 and EP 305,216, a Rhizomucor miehei lipase, e.g., as described in EP 238,023, a Candida lipase, such as a C. antarctica lipase., e.g., the C. antarctica lipase A or B described in EP 214,761, a Pseudomonas lipase such as a P. alcaligenes and P. pseudoalcaligenes lipase, e.g., as described in EP 218,272, a P. cepacia lipase, e.g., as described in EP 331,376, a Bacillus lipase, e.g., a B. subtilis lipase (Dartois et al., Biochemica et Biophysica Acta 1131, pp. 253-260 (1993)), a B. stearothermophilus lipase (JP 64/744992) and a B. pumilus lipase (EP 91 00664).
Furthermore, a number of cloned lipases have been described, including the Penicillium camembertii lipase described by Yamaguchi et al., Gene 103, pp. 61-67 (1991), the Geotricum candidum lipase (Shimada et al., J. Biochem. 106, 383-88 (1989)), and various Rhizopus lipases such as a R. delemar lipase (Hass et al., Gene 109, pp. 107-13 (1991)), a R. niveus lipase (Kugimiya, Biosci. Biotech. Biochem. 56, pp. 716-19 (1992)), and a R. oryzae lipase.
The primary structure of a number of lipases has been determined and described in the literature (Boel et al., Lipids 23, pp 701-06 (1988), de Caro et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 671, pp. 129-38 (1981), Winkler et al., Nature 343, pp. 771-74 (1990)). Furthermore, the tertiary structure of a more limited number of lipases has been elucidated (Brady et al., Nature 343, 767-70 (1990) and Schrag et al., i Nature 351, pp. 761-64 (1991)). From these investigations it appears that lipases seem to have certain structural features in common, but that, on the other hand, major structural variations also exist among the lipases.
Other types of lipolytic enzymes include cutinases, e.g., a cutinase derived from Pseudomonas mendocina (WO 88/09367), or from Fusarium solani pisi (WO 90/09446).
In recent years attempts have been made to prepare lipase variants having improved properties for detergent purposes.
PCT/DK93/00225 describes lipase variants with improved properties, in which an amino acid residue occupying a critical position of the lipase has been modified.
EP 407,225 discloses lipase variants with improved resistance towards proteolytic enzymes, which have been prepared by specifically defined amino acid modifications.
EP 260,105 describe hydrolases in which an amino acid residue within 15 .ANG. from the active site has been substituted.
All of the above mentioned lipase variants have been constructed by use of site-directed mutagenesis resulting in a modification of specific amino acid residues which have been chosen either on the basis of their type or on the basis of their location in the secondary or tertiary structure of the parent lipase.
An alternative approach for constructing mutants or variants of a given protein has been based on random mutagenesis. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,331 and WO 93/01285 disclose such techniques.
It is an object of the present invention to prepare lipolytic enzymes having improved washing and/or dishwashing properties.


A dispenser is provided for dispensing packaged goods such as tea bags, coffee and the like. The dispenser has a base having a horizontal platform portion and a plurality of vertical, upstanding walls wherein each three walls form a vertical compartment having an open side, in which the tea bags are stacked one on top of other and are visible through an open side of the compartment. A slidable tray is positioned at the bottom of each compartment and is adapted to be pulled outwardly when dispensing the tea bag, and inwardly to its initial position after removing the tea bag. A cover member having transparent sidewalls can be placed above the base and locked onto the platform portion.

A variety of dispensers have been widely used over the years for dispensing different size containers and packaged goods. In general, most of these dispensers have been designed for automatically dispensing the packages by activating a push button or by pulling or pushing a lever. The packaged articles themselves are usually stacked in one or more chutes or compartments which are rotatably mounted on a rotatable tray. Because of their sizes, however, such dispensers have been mostly limited in their use to industrial institutions such as supermarkets, commercial buildings and other similar locations.
Numerous patents have described the different packaging and vending machines which have been available in the art. For example, a gum vending machine was described early in U.S. Pat. No. 1,121,804, issued Dec. 22, 1914, and a vending apparatus has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,208,298 issued Jul. 16, 1940. The apparatus described therein dispenses small packages of nuts or confections.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,320 issued Dec. 15, 1964 describes a dispenser which stores bread and dispenses individual slices therefrom.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,594 issued Jan. 1, 1974 describes a chip holder and dispenser. The chips are stacked in vertical chutes and a mechanical chip dispensing means is employed to eject the chips from the chutes one at a time.
A more recent patent, i.e., U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,897 issued Nov. 19, 1991 describes a dispenser for stacked articles such as cigarette box. The dispenser includes two levels of individual dispensing modules, each module containing vertically stacked articles. A dispensing mechanism selectively withdraws an article from one stack holder and conveys the article to an open center from where it is removed. The individual modules are arranged in two levels, and when the open center of the top and bottom modules are aligned, the article dispensed from the top level module falls through the open center of the corresponding bottom level modules.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,564 issued Nov. 16, 1993 describes a drum-type vending machine for vending small articles such as snack-size candy. The articles are held in a plurality of rotating bins, and a dispensing mechanism in the form of a coin slide and a vertical chute permit the lower-most article to be dispensed from the bin which has been rotated to its dispensing position.
Notwithstanding the variety of available dispensers and vending machines, so, far as it is known there is no simple and economical dispenser for dispensing small packages such as tea bags and like articles, for use in various homes and restaurants.
Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide such dispensers which are relatively small, compact and easy to use in homes and restaurants, and thus constitutes another staple home kitchen product.
It is another object of this invention to provide such dispensers which are relatively small, compact and easy to use in homes and restaurants, and thus can constitute another staple home kitchen product.
The foregoing and other objects of this invention will be more fully comprehended from the following detailed description of the drawings.


Disclosed are full-bridge power converters providing DC output power at increased conversion efficiencies, and methods of operating full-bridge power converters providing DC output power at increased conversion efficiencies. In disclosed embodiments, the switches of the full-bridge are operated to reduce conduction losses and to provide for zero-voltage switching.

Many DC to DC power converter topologies, such as forward, flyback, SEPIC, full-bridge, etc., are known to the art. Such converters have power conversion efficiencies that are typically in the range of 70% to 95%. One cause of low power conversion efficiency is the energy wasted in switching the converter's power transistors. To reduce wasted energy, many power converter designs attempt to switch their power transistors to on-states when the voltages across the switches are near zero volts, which is often referred to as "zero-voltage switching". However, true zero-voltage switching designs for full-bridge converter topologies have been difficult to achieve. The basic full-bridge converter simply dumps the transformer's energy into both midpoints of the switching waveform of the primary winding without selective steering. As a result, the basic full-bridge converter is much more prone to "hard switching," which means that a given power transistor is turned on with a significant voltage across its conduction terminals (e.g., drain and source terminals), leading to large power dissipations.

Asymmetric zero-voltage switching full-bridge power converters


A seconductor device (50) includes a semiconductor die (20) having a first surface (14) for forming electronic circuitry. A coating layer (16) formed on a second surface (15) of the semiconductor die has a color that contrasts with the color of the semiconductor die. The coating layer is patterned to expose a portion of the second surface to reveal information pertaining to the semiconductor device. The coating layer is patterned by directing a radiation beam (30) such as a laser to selectively remove material from the coating layer.

The present invention relates in general to semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to semiconductor devices having a backside coating that is patterned to provide information pertaining to the semiconductor.
Electronics system manufacturers continue to demand lower cost integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices in order to reduce the cost of electronics systems. In response, many semiconductor manufacturers are providing unpackaged semiconductor dice or chips which can be mounted in a "flip-chip" fashion with the active die surface attached directly to system circuit boards. This approach reduces the direct cost of the semiconductor devices and also improves their performance by reducing lead inductance and other parasitic elements. However, the "flip-chip" technique often increases the indirect costs because such an unpackaged semiconductor chip reveals little or no information pertaining to the type of die such as its part number or manufacturer. In case of a system malfunction, it is difficult to trace a defect to a particular manufacturer or fabrication process.
To avoid this problem, some chips are fabricated with a thick backside surface coating whose surface is marked with information about the semiconductor device to facilitate tracing the device to its manufacturer in the event of a defect. Other chips use a gold coating which is etched to provide the desired pattern. However, these approaches result in the information having a low contrast and therefore low visibility, in some cases even when viewed through a microscope or other visual tool. To compensate for the low contrast, the prior art coatings are marked with large fonts, which reduces the amount of information that can be provided, especially on a small die. As a result, the ability to trace a defective semiconductor device to a specific processing step is reduced, making it more difficult to prevent future defects that could enhance the die yield and reliability to reduce the overall fabrication cost of the device and system.
Hence, there is a need for a semiconductor device and method of providing easily discernible information pertaining to the semiconductor device in order to reduce the fabrication cost and increase the reliability of the semiconductor device.

Semiconductor device and method of producing a high contrast identification mark

Semiconductor Components Industries, L.L.C.


The roofing system is a system that allows for numerous shingles to be attached to the roof of a house without using nails, releasably interlocking the shingles to each other and also attaching the shingles to the surface of the roof. The roofing system includes a single foundation layer of hook and loop fastening material affixed to the roof, and a plurality of shingles releasably attached to the foundation layer. The shingles are overlapped onto each other in rows and held both to each other and the foundation layer. The shingles may additionally laterally overlap each other to provide a greater level of resistance to the elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to roofing systems, and particularly to a roofing system having shingles or other roof coverings attached to the roof without nails.
2. Description of the Related Art
As housing has evolved over the years, shingles have become the standard in protection of a house's roof. Shingles are generally typically laid onto roofs using thousands of nails for every one thousand square feet of coverage. This method requires that installers secure these thousands of nails to the roof, which involves an inordinate amount of effort. The use of nails also means that once a shingle is laid, it is difficult to remove it if it is damaged. Further, each nail translates into thousands of potential leaks in the roof.
Therefore, a method of affixing shingles to a roof that does away with the use of nails would save a great deal of time and potential roof damage. However, it is essential that any nailless shingle-mounting system provide a very secure way to affix the shingles to the house, because wind, inclement weather, tearing, or curling of the shingles will result in an unprotected roof.
Accordingly, there is a need for a roofing system that does not use nails, but additionally secures the shingles tightly to the roof and also to each other if necessary. Thus, a roofing system solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


A file transfer system including a relay apparatus is provided in which the relay apparatus includes: an incoming file sending part 15 which receives a file identifier I and a downloaded data amount O_R from a receive apparatus 50; and a file storing part 13 which stores the file identifier and file data and passes file data according to the file identifier and the downloaded data amount to the incoming file sending part. The file data F(O_R) is sent to the receive apparatus.

A system which transfers a file from a sending side terminal (which will be called a send apparatus hereinafter) to another terminal which is in a receiving side (which will be called a receive apparatus hereinafter) by using a network is called a file transfer system.
As an example of a conventional file transfer system, there is a method in which a file is directly sent from the send apparatus to the receive apparatus. As another example, there is a method in which a shared server is provided such as an FTP server or an HTTP server which includes a part for storing the file and a part for distributing the stored file to a terminal according to a request from the terminal. In addition, the send apparatus stores the file in the shared server and the receive apparatus receives the file from the shared server.
As an additional example, there is a method in which a file is transferred via a plurality of file relay apparatuses like E-mail.
As for the method in which the file is sent directly from the send apparatus to the receive apparatus, there is a problem in that the send apparatus and the receive apparatus should be activated simultaneously. In addition, as for the method in which the shared server is provided, although the send apparatus and the receive apparatus are not necessarily activated simultaneously, there is a problem in that file sending process by the send apparatus and file receiving process by the receive apparatus take time when the shared server is located far from the send apparatus and the receive apparatus.
Further, as for the method in which the file is transferred via a plurality of file relay apparatuses, the problem of taking time for file sending by the send apparatus and file receiving by the receive apparatus can be solved because the send apparatus and the receive apparatus can send a file to a nearest file relay apparatus and receive a file from a nearest file relay apparatus. However, a first relay apparatus can not send a file to a second file relay apparatus of a next stage until the first relay apparatus receives all of the file. The reason is that the file relay apparatus is forced to stop transferring a file to the next stage at some midpoint when file transfer speed of a file relay apparatus or a send apparatus of a previous stage is slower than file transfer speed to a file relay apparatus or a receive apparatus of a next stage. Thus, waiting time from the time when the send apparatus starts to send a file until the receive apparatus can start to receive the file increases in proportion to the file size and the number of the relay file transfer apparatuses.
In addition, according to a conventional file transfer method, a file transfer can not be performed while suspending and resuming file transfer at some midpoint. The reason is that, according to the conventional file transfer method, the relay apparatus can not send the amount of already stored data of the suspended file to the send apparatus, and, the send apparatus can not send data following data of the amount to the relay apparatus.

File transfer system, apparatus, method and computer readable medium storing file transfer program

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


An embodiment of an improved touch surface controller for controlling a multi-point touch surface such as a touch screen or a touch pad in a computer system is disclosed. The improved touch system controller detects signal capacitance from the pixels in the touch surface digitally, and therefore is easier and simpler to implement then previous approaches relying on analog detection and processing. Specifically, signal capacitance is measured by measuring a number of clock cycles taken to discharge or charge the input node of a comparator. Embodiments of the disclosed touch surface controller are particularly useful in the context of detecting multiple simultaneous touches on the touch surface.

There exist today many styles of input devices for performing operations in a computer system. The operations generally correspond to moving a cursor and/or making selections on a display screen. By way of example, the input devices may include buttons or keys, mice, trackballs, touch pads, joy sticks, touch screens and the like. Touch pads and touch screens (collectively "touch surfaces") are becoming increasingly popular because of their ease and versatility of operation and their declining price. Touch surfaces allow a user to make selections and move a cursor by simply touching the surface, which may be a pad or the display screen, with a finger, stylus, or the like. In general, the touch surface recognizes the touch and position of the touch and the computer system interprets the touch and thereafter performs an action based on the touch.
Touch screens are of particular interest. Various types of touch screens are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,862, filed May 6, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. A touch screen 4 is generally a clear panel with a touch sensitive surface. As shown in FIG. 1, a multi-point capable touch screen 4 generally comprises an array of pixels 83, defined by the intersection of rows 81 and column 82. Specifically, at each pixel 83, a capacitance exists, Csig, which is the capacitance between its associated row and column. As is well known, a touch event in the vicinity of a given pixel 83 will change its capacitance, Csig. A touch surface controller 400 detects the capacitance of each of the pixels 82 in the screen 4, and thus includes detection circuitry 87 for this purpose. Once the capacitances are detected, the capacitance values are typically latched (88) for each column 82 on a row-by-row basis, and then are exported to a system microprocessor 90, e.g., the main microprocessor in the computer (not shown) to which the touch screen 4 is attached. At the system microprocessor 90, the capacitance values for each pixel (e.g., C1 . . . C16 in the simple example shown) are assessed to discern the location of a touch.
There are several types of touch screen technologies including resistive, capacitive, infrared, surface acoustic wave, electromagnetic, near field imaging, etc. Each of these devices has advantages and disadvantages that are considered when designing or configuring a touch screen. One problem found in these prior art technologies is that they are only capable of reporting a single point even when multiple objects are placed on the sensing surface. That is, they lack the ability to track multiple points of contact simultaneously. In resistive and traditional capacitive technologies, an average of all simultaneously occurring touch points are determined and a single point which falls somewhere between the touch points is reported. In surface wave and infrared technologies, it is impossible to discern the exact position of multiple touch points that fall on the same horizontal or vertical lines due to masking. In either case, faulty results are generated.
These problems are particularly problematic in handheld devices, such as tablet PCs, where one hand is used to hold the tablet and the other is used to generate touch events. For example, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, holding a tablet causes the thumb 3 to overlap the edge of the touch screen 4. If the touch technology uses averaging, the technique used by resistive and capacitive panels, then a single point 2 that falls somewhere between the thumb 3 of the left hand and the index finger 6 of the right hand would be reported. As shown in FIG. 2B, if the technology uses projection scanning, the technique used by infrared and surface acoustic wave panels, it is hard to discern the exact vertical position of the index finger 6 due to the large vertical component of the thumb 3. In essence, the thumb 3 masks out the vertical position of the index finger 6.
Solutions to this problem of accurately detecting multiple touches are provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/381,313 (the '313 application), filed May 2, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The '313 application discloses a controller for multi-touch surfaces, and figures taken from that application are shown here in FIGS. 3A and 3B. Because familiarity with the '313 application is assumed, the circuitry of FIGS. 3A and 3B is only briefly explained.
A charge amplifier 401 is used in the input stage of the touch surface controller 400 of the '313 application, which for the most part can be implemented in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). Essentially, the charge amplifier 401 is used to measure the charge of the capacitance Csig one of the pixels 83 of the touch screen 4. Essentially, and as one skilled in the art will realize, the charge amplifier 401 of FIG. 2A comprises integration circuitry.
As shown in FIG. 3B, the output of charge amplifier 401 passes to a demodulator 403. The purpose of demodulator 403 is to reject out-of-band noise sources (from cell phones, microwave ovens, etc.) that are present on the signal entering controller 400. The output of the charge amplifier 401 is mixed with a quantized waveform that is stored in a lookup table 404. More specifically, the shape, amplitude, and frequency of the demodulation waveform are determined by coefficients in the lookup table 404. The demodulation waveform determines pass band, stop band, stop band ripple and other characteristics of the subtractor 402. In a preferred embodiment, a Gaussian shaped sine wave is used as the demodulation waveform, which provides a sharp pass band with reduced stop band ripple.
Another aspect of demodulator 403 relates to demodulator phase delay adjustment. As can be seen with reference to FIGS. 1, 3A, and 3B, the pixels of the touch screen 4 are accompanied by parasitic capacitances, shown as Cstray 460, which would generally be associated with each column 82 in the array. (Parasitic resistance would also be present, but are ignored here for simplicity). Accordingly, the touch screen 4 will impose a phase delay on the stimulus waveform, Vstim passing through it, which stimulus waveform can come from stimulation circuitry 85. This stimulation circuitry 85 can comprise part of the controller 400, or can come from another independent drive source. This phase delay is negligible for traditional opaque touch panels in which the electrode structure is typically formed by PCB traces having negligible resistance. However, for transparent panels, typically constructed using Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) conductive traces, the associated phase delay may be quite large. To compensate for this phase delay, the demodulation waveform is delayed relative to the signal entering the charge amplifier 401 and ultimately the demodulator 403. Again, each pixel 83 of the touch surface may have its own uniquely determined delay parameter, or the delay parameter may be determined on a row-by-row basis.
The demodulated signal is then passed to offset compensation circuitry comprising a subtractor 402 and a programmable offset Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) 405. The compensation circuitry is necessary because the pixel capacitance is comprised of a static part (a function of sensor construction, including Cstray) and a dynamic part (resulting from a touch, such as would vary Csig), and it is desirable to remove the static prior to analog to digital conversion in order to increase the dynamic range of the measurement. Therefore, subtractor 402 takes the output of the demodulator 403 and subtracts an offset voltage. Specifically, offset DAC 405 generates a programmable offset voltage from a digital static offset value, Voff_reg. This digital value is converted into a static analog voltage (or current, if operating in the current domain) by the DAC 405 and then mixed (by multiplier 403b) with a voltage (or current) set by the absolute value (block 404b) of the demodulation waveform. The result is a rectified version of the demodulation waveform, the amplitude of which is set by the static value of Voff_reg and the absolute portion of the demodulation waveform currently retrieved from the demodulator lookup table 404. In short, the offset compensation waveform effectively tracks the demodulation waveform.
The demodulated, offset compensated signal is then processed by a programmable gain Analog-to-Digital (ADC) 406. ADC 406 may comprise a sigma-delta circuit, although this is not strictly necessary. The ADC 406 performs two functions: (1) it converts the offset compensated waveform out of the mixer arrangement (offset and signal mixer) to a digital value; and (2) it performs a low pass filtering function, i.e., it averages the rectified signal coming out of the subtractor 402. The offset compensated, demodulated signal comprises a rectified Gaussian shaped sine wave, whose amplitude is a function of Cfb and Csig. The ADC 406 output, X, comprises the average of that signal, and ultimately comprises a digital representation of Csig. This digital signal X is sent from the controller 400 to a microprocessor in the computer system (not shown), which interprets the signal to arrive at a conclusion of the location of the touch (or touches).
Some products are able to detect multiple touch points, such as the Fingerworks series of touch pad products. Moreover, numerous examples of multiple touch events being used to control a host device have been disclosed in the literature. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,323,846; 6,888,536; 6,677,932; 6,570,557, and U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/015,434; 10/903,964; 11/048,264; 11/038,590; 11/228,758; 11/228,700; 11/228,737; 11/367,749, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. Unfortunately, these products generally only work on opaque surfaces because of the circuitry that must be placed behind the electrode structure. Moreover, historically, the number of touches detectable with such technology has been limited by the size of the detection circuitry.
While the approach of the '313 application (FIGS. 3A and 3B) certainly alleviates these problems to a degree, it still is the case that the analog-based nature of the detection circuitry employed in that application can be difficult or costly to implement. First, the detection circuitry of FIGS. 3A and 3B, being largely analog in nature, takes up significant space on the controller 400. Second, the manner of detection employed by the circuitry is complicated, requiring amplification, demodulation, offset, and delta-sigma conversion, which in total is space- and power-intensive on the controller 400. In short, the detection method employed by the '313 application, while effective in providing an indicia of Csig for each pixel to the microcontroller in the computer system (not shown), is not efficient. Improvements in such a touch surface controller, therefore, would be beneficial.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings.

Digital controller for a true multi-point touch surface useable in a computer system


The invention relates to combinations of peptides derived from a portion of an amino sequence of a grass pollen allergen, e.g. the allergens Phl p 1, Phl p 2, Phl p 3, Phl p 4 and/or Phl p 5, or a peptide variant thereof. Such peptides comprise at least one T cell epitope mid a high number of patients in a worldwide population will have HLA Class II alleles with the potential to bind the peptides of the peptide combinations. The invention also relates to the use of such peptide combinations in relieving an immune response caused by grass pollen species.

Allergy to grass affects populations in many parts of the world. The most common grass species are e.g. Rye grass (Lolium perenne), Timothy grass (Phleum pratense), Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon), Velvet grass (Holcus lanatus), Orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata), Canary grass (Phalaris aquatica), Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum) and Meadow grass/Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), which all have been shown to contain the major allergen of group 1 (Lol p 1, Phl p 1, Cyn d 1, Hol l 1, Dac g 1, Pha a 1, Pas n 1 and Poa p 1). Most of the grasses (except Bermuda grass) have been shown to also contain the major allergen of group 5 (Lol p 5, Phl p 5, Hol l 5, Dac g 5, Pha a 5, and Poa p 5). Most grasses also contain allergens from the minor allergen groups 2/3 and 4. Some grass species are very similar, which gives rise to a high degree of immunological cross reactivity at a level of T cell recognition, but also more distant grass species can lead to high cross reactivity.
Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) is the only disease modifying therapy that is effective for the treatment of IgE mediated allergies thereby leading to induction of long term immunological and clinical tolerance. Currently, grass allergen specific products based on whole, intact or modified allergens are typically administered for the treatment of grass allergy. Typically, such products are administered by subcutaneous injection or by the sublingual route to a subject over an extended period of time, frequently months or years and are now appreciated to induce a state of immunological and clinical "tolerance" in the subject. The mechanism of action is thought to involve induction of IgG inhibitory antibodies, suppression of mast cell/basophil reactivity, suppression of T cell responses, the promotion of T cell anergy, and/or clonal deletion, and in the long term results is a reduction in allergic responses of the patient.
Unfortunately, allergen-specific immunotherapy bears the risk of inducing IgE-mediated adverse events including serious anaphylactic responses. Therefore, this therapy is not as widely offered to allergic subjects as its beneficial effect actually justifies. In recent years, it has been suggested to treat allergy using smaller fragments (peptides) of the primary amino acid sequence of allergens (e.g. of the major allergens), that contain one or more epitope(s) recognized by T cells involved in the allergic reaction. This concept has been termed peptide immunotherapy (PIT), in which, repeated doses of the peptide is administered, typically by intradermal injection, to a subject (Moldaver and Larche 2011).
More specifically on the molecular level, peptides are bound by Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA)MHC (Major histocompatibility Complex) class II molecules (referred to as HLA at gene level) on the surface of Antigen Presenting Cells (APC) which present the peptides for CD4+ T cell surveillance. This peptide-HLA MHC complex is then recognized by specific T cell receptors on the cell surface of T cells that upon interaction, and the complex bearing APCs become activated, leading to the activation of T cells. A major difference of peptide-based immunotherapy versus therapies based on full-length allergens is that this interaction is hypothesized to occur without a concomitant "danger signal" being elicited. This is thought to drive the T cell response in a more tolerogenic direction. It has also been hypothesized that this interaction leads to less activation of the APC compared to whole proteins and thus having the potential to drive the T cell response in a more tolerogenic direction.
Peptide-based immunotherapy (PIT) represents a potentially attractive alternative to allergen extracts, with a more favourable safety profile and a significantly shorter treatment regimen than existing therapies. In contrast to therapies based on intact allergens, PIT solely addresses the T cell compartment of the immune system without engaging existing antibody responses because of the lack of antibody epitopes due to the smaller size of peptides compared to allergens. Consequently, no IgE-mediated adverse events are expected with peptide therapy. Peptide immunotherapy is today in clinical development and does seem to have a favourable safety profile over the whole-allergen based vaccines.
A shortcoming of using the T cell epitope-containing peptides is, however, associated with the restriction of each peptide to only bind a subset of the naturally occurring MHC Class II molecules within the human population. A mix of several peptides covering different HLA Class II alleles is therefore mandatory to generate an immunotherapy allergy treatment acting broadly on a population level. As this antigen repertoire of MHC Class II alleles varies from one individual to another and from one ethnic population to another, it is challenging to provide peptide-based immunotherapies that can be offered to allergic subjects of any geographic region in the world unless numerous peptides are included in the vaccine. Taken into consideration the enormous costs and risks in the clinical development of new vaccines and the increasing demands from regulatory bodies to meet high standards for toxicity testing, dose justification, safety and efficacy trials, it is desirable to provide peptide vaccines containing as few peptides as possible, but at the same time to be able to treat the majority of grass allergic subjects in a worldwide population with a single immunotherapy product as is presently the case with extract based immunotherapy products. Such a product should comprise as a first requirement a combination of peptides that are able to bind the worldwide MHC Class II allele repertoire, and the resulting peptide-MHC complexes should as a second requirement be recognized by the T cells of the subject so as to induce tolerogenic immunological reactions. Research has shown that a single peptide matching the MHC molecule in a mouse model is sufficient to elicit an immunogenic response (or to induce a tolerogenic response) (Cambell et al, 2009). On the other hand, other studies in mice indicate that peptide immunotherapy using one peptide alone did not reduce the severity of allergic airway inflammation, but that it is required that the mice are treated with at least two peptides that match the MHC molecules of the mice being treated (Mackenzie K J et al 2013)".
International patent applications WO 1994/21675, WO 1995/06728, WO 2003/024998, WO 2003/082924 and WO2010/089554, WO 2011/106645, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,721,119, 5,736,362, 5,840,316, 5,869,333, 5,965,368, 6,197,313, 6,239,269, 6,265,566, 6,277,383, 6,451,324, 6,008,340, 6,559,120, 7,148,019, 6,214,358, 6,441,157, 7,514,083, 5,480,972, 5,691,167, 5,736,149, 5,710,126, 7,112,333 all relate to peptides of grass allergens and their use in treating grass allergy. However, a very limited amount of work regarding combinations of grass peptides has been conducted.
It is an object of claims of the present invention to provide improved grass peptide combinations for modulating an immune response, for treating a subject for an allergic response and/or for inducing or promoting immunological tolerance in a subject, and for use in diagnostic methods and kits comprising such grass peptide combinations. It is another object of the invention to provide peptide combinations exhibiting very good HLA Class II coverage in a worldwide population and being immunologically potent in a worldwide population. It is another object of the invention to provide peptide combinations having good cross reactivity to other grass species. It is another object of the invention to provide peptide combinations of only 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 grass peptides yet obtaining at least 70%, and more preferably around 90-100% donor coverage in a donor cohort representative of a worldwide population. Another object of the invention is to provide peptide combinations which are so immunologically potent that even at very low doses of peptides, the percentage of responding donors can be retained at a very high level in a donor cohort representative of a worldwide population. Another object of the invention is to provide peptide combinations which have minor risk of inducing IgE-mediated adverse events. An additional object of the invention is to provide peptide combinations of peptides which have a sufficient solubility profile for being formulated in a pharmaceutical product, preferably which have acceptable estimated in vivo stability.

Peptide combinations and uses thereof for treating grass allergy

LA JOLLA INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY


A fault tolerant method of gear selection which initiates a gear selection search in response to a gear upshift or downshift requirement in an attempt to locate a gear that, if used, would result in an engine speed between both upper and lower engine speed limits. The search progresses from the lowest to the highest gear in the case of an upshift requirement and from the highest to the lowest gear in the case of a downshift requirement.

Automated mechanical transmissions are well known in the art and fault tolerant methods of gear selection for such transmissions have been proposed. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,109,721, 4,922,425 and 4,849,899 all assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosures of which are all hereby incorporated by reference. While such methods have been successful, the approach to fault tolerance has been to either maintain the transmission in the existing gear, limit gear selection to the auxiliary range section of transmission gears or modify the control algorithm to accommodate loss of a sensor.

Fault tolerant method of transmission gear selection


A method for performing a therapeutic treatment on a section of a wall of a body passage, by: isolating a portion of the body passage which encloses the section from the remainder of the body passage; introducing into the isolated portion of the body passage a liquid medium containing a treatment agent; maintaining the treatment agent in the isolated portion for a predetermined time period; during the step of maintaining, periodically withdrawing a sample of the liquid medium from the isolated portion of the body passage, analyzing the sample to determine the proportion of treatment agent present in the liquid medium in the isolated portion and modifying the liquid medium in the isolated portion to establish a desired proportion of the treatment agent in the liquid medium in the isolated portion.

The present invention relates to the therapeutic treatments of blood vessels and possibly other body passages, and particularly treatments in which a chemical agent, antibodies, other biological material, or modified cells are brought into contact with, or implanted in, the wall of a body passage in order to reverse or prevent a pathogenic condition.
Medical research has led to the discovery of a number of treatments of this type which may be developed into clinically useful procedures. Examples of such treatments are described in Nabel et al, Recombinant Gene Expression in Vivo Within Endothelial Cells of the Arterial Wall, SCIENCE, Vol. 244, Jun. 16, 1989, pages 1342-4.
However, clinical application of such treatments requires a procedure which can be performed in vivo without giving rise to any unacceptable side effects.
In the case of blood vessels, this generally means that the material to be applied to the vessel walls must be confined to the treatment site. Otherwise, it would be necessary to introduce a large quantity of treatment material into the vascular system, with the attendant danger of harmful side effects.
A second requirement which exists in the case of treatment of blood vessels is that a sufficient flow of blood be maintained past the treatment site, particularly if the treatment requires a prolonged period of exposure of the vessel wall to the treatment material.
Finally, it appears that many treatments of the type here under consideration can be performed effectively or optimized only if the proportion of treating material in the fluid at the treatment site is maintained within a defined range.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,725, which issued to O. E. Baran on Jan. 3, 1984, describes an intervention device composed of a catheter having a blood flow lumen, a chemical delivery lumen and a suction lumen, associated with two annular cuffs which are inflatable to isolate a blood vessel region containing an obstruction. This patent discloses the treatment of blood vessel obstructions by balloon angioplasty followed by the application of anticoagulant drugs or cholesterol diluting drugs. A similar device for performing chemical dissolution treatments is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,662, which issued to Weikl et al on Sep. 9, 1986.


A superconductive quantum interference device (SQUID) system is provided for measuring the alternating current (AC) magnetic susceptibility of material at a single frequency or a mixing frequency from multiple frequencies, such as mf1+nf2, where f1 and f2 are two excitation frequencies of two primary coils. The system includes a magnetic-flux sourcing unit for producing an AC magnetic flux on a sample and a magnetic-flux reading unit for reading the induced magnetic flux from the sample via a magnetic flux transformer. The magnetic-flux reading unit includes a SQUID set for detecting the induced magnetic flux, so as to obtain the magnetic susceptibility of the sample in converting calculation.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to measuring magnetic susceptibility of material. More particularly, the present invention relates to measuring magnetic susceptibility of material by a superconductive quantum interference device.
2. Description of Related Art
The superconductive quantum interference device (SQUID) has been known with the high capability for sensing magnetic flux, so that many kinds of magnetic detection systems using the SQUIDs have been developed. With its high sensitivity on magnetic flux, SQUID element has been applied to detect very small magnetic signal, such as the magnetic signals generated by bio-activity or nano-blocks, for example.
FIGS. 1A-1C are drawings, schematically illustrating several types of the SQUID design. In FIG. 1A, A SQUID 100 is usually fabricated on a substrate. The substrate has a boundary 101. The boundary 101, for example, forms two grain regions 102a and 102b with a grain boundary. Alternatively for example, the two regions 102a and 102b may have a step height to form a step boundary. The SQUID 100 has the superconductive film as shown in FIG. 1A by shading. The SQUID 100 includes two Josephson junctions 110 connected in parallel. The electrode lead 104a is deposited on the substrate at the region 102a, usually having two lead terminals. One terminal I 108 is for applying a current through the Josephson junctions 110 and the other terminal V 106 is for detecting an induced voltage signal. The electrode lead 104b is grounded.
The basic characteristics of SQUID is introduced as follows. When a bias current a little higher than the critical current is injected at the terminal I 108 and flows through the Josephson junctions 110, the Josephson junctions become resistively shunted junctions and a voltage across the Josephson junctions occurs. Due to the Meissener effect of superconductive material, when an external magnetic flux is shone onto a SQUID, a circulating current through these two junctions is induced to compensate the external magnetic flux within the area enclosed with the superconducting ring having these two Josephson junctions. Thus, an induced current by the external magnetic flux is generated to flow through the effectively shunted resistors of the Josephson junctions. As a result, the voltage detected at the terminal V 106 varies due to the application of an external magnetic flux. The voltage cross the junctions is a periodic function in response to the applied magnetic flux.
In FIG. 1B, with the SQUID design in FIG. 1A, two superconductive coils are connected to the SQUID element so as to have two detection regions 90a and 90b. If the magnetic field is not uniform, then the detection regions 90a and 90b produces unbalance effect. As a result, a magnetic gradient can be detected by the gradiometer. The proceeding SQUID is operated in directly biased current (DC) mode. However, further example in FIG. 1C, a radio-frequency (RF) SQUID magnetometer can be designed. The LC resonant circuit 94 can detect the magnetic field shone onto the superconductive coil 92 with a Josephson junction inserted in the ring. Further, if the superconductive coil 92 is replaced with two coils, which share a common Josephson junction, then a RF SQUID gradiometer can be obtained. The SQUID can be designed in various ways.
By utilizing the ability of SQUID to sense the magnetic flux, especially very weak magnetic flux, various SQUID-based systems have been developed in different aspect of applications, such as magnetocardography, magnetoencephalography, non-destructive detection, picovoltmeter, etc. However, the property of SQUID-based AC magnetic susceptibility χAC has not yet been considered. The present invention is more directed to the measurement of AC magnetic susceptibility χAC.

Superconductive quantum interference device (SQUID) system for measuring magnetic susceptibility of materials


An electric double layer capacitor comprises a pair of polarizable electrodes impregnated with an electrolytic solution comprising an organic solvent and a supporting electrolyte dissolved in the organic solvent, and a gasket comprising a fluororesin. The organic solvent comprises propylene carbonate (PC), and the fluororesin for the gasket comprises a tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkylvinylether copolymer (PFA).

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional electric double layer capacitor. The electric double layer capacitor includes a pair of polarizable electrodes 1, 2 impregnated with an electrolytic solution and stacked with the intervention of a separator 3, and an electrically conductive case 4b housing the polarizable electrodes 1, 2. The upper polarizable electrode 1 is covered with an electrically conductive lid 4a. The lid 4a and the case 4b respectively contact the polarizable electrodes 1 and 2 with the intervention of electric collectors 5 and 6. The peripheral portions of the lid 4a and the case 4b are sealed with a gasket 7. Thus, the lid 4a and the case 4b are electrically isolated from each other by the gasket 7, and the electrolytic solution is prevented from leaking out of the case 4b.
In general, the electric double layer capacitor is soldered to a printed board by the following reflow process. A solder paste is first applied onto the printed board, and the electric double layer capacitor is placed on the solder paste. The electric double layer capacitor and the board are put in a reflow oven, and heated at a high temperature on the order of 250°0 C. in the reflow oven to melt the solder paste. Thus, the electric double layer capacitor is soldered to the board.
An exemplary material conventionally employed for the gasket 7 of the electric double layer capacitor is polypropylene (PP) which is excellent in resilience, creep resistance and formability and less costly (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-232040). However, the polypropylene has a low heat resistant temperature, so that the gasket 7 is liable to be deformed by the heat of the reflow oven.
To solve the problem associated with the reflow heat, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-56827, for example, proposes that a highly heat-resistant fluororesin is employed as a material for a gasket of a secondary battery and a nonaqueous electrolytic solution having a boiling point of not lower than 200° C. at an ordinary pressure is employed.
Where the fluororesin is employed as the material for the gasket 7, however, the fluororesin chemically reacts with the nonaqueous electrolytic solution at a high temperature in the reflow process depending on the kind of the electrolytic solution. This results in deformation of the gasket 7.
Further, the nonaqueous electrolytic solution is degraded by the chemical reaction, whereby the charge/discharge characteristic of the electric double layer capacitor is deteriorated.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electric double layer capacitor which includes a gasket less liable to be deformed at a high temperature in a reflow oven and is excellent in charge/discharge characteristic.


A method for lowering the viscosity of a heavy hydrocarbon in situ in a well formation so as to improve well production wherein the heavy hydrocarbon has an API gravity in the range between 6.degree. and 12.degree. and a dynamic viscosity in the range between 300 and 900 centipoises @ 195.degree. F. comprising lowering the viscosity of a virgin heavy hydrocarbon outside of a well formation wherein said heavy hydrocarbon has an API gravity in the range between 6 and 12 degrees and a dynamic viscosity above 300 centipoises @ 195.degree. F. so as to make pumpable with conventional pumping equipment comprising mixing said hyrdocarbon at a temperature range between 400.degree. and 500.degree. F with steam and an additive selected.

The present invention relates to the production of heavy hydrocarbons and, particularly, with treating heavy hydrocarbons to lower their viscosity either in situ or at surface facilities.
Heavy and extra heavy hydrocarbons with an API.degree. gravity in the range between 6 and 12 and a dynamic viscosity of greater than 300 cps at 195.degree. F. are difficult to produce from a subterranean formation by conventional methods due to their high viscosity. Several methods are disclosed in the art for recovering these heavy hydrocarbons and transporting them to the surface. One of the most used techniques is the steam injection technique wherein the viscosity of the hydrocarbons is temporarily thermally reduced thereby improving the hydrocarbon flowability to the surface. The steam injection into the formation can be done either by continuous steam drive or by cycle injection techniques. Both methods suffer from the disadvantage of a low hydrocarbon recovery and, in most cases the viscosity of the hydrocarbons after treatment is higher than the viscosity of the in situ hydrocarbon in the reservoir.
To overcome the forgoing disadvantages, several steam additives have been disclosed in the art, such as solvents and gases, for simultaneous injection with steam. Solvents, such as kerosene, diesel fuel or the like, are added to the heavy hydrocarbon to reduce the front flow profile and thereby lowering the oil viscosity of same. Gaseous additives, such as carbon dioxide, are used with the steam injection to enhance heavy hydrocarbon recovery in what is known as "gas lifting" processes to assist the hydrocarbon mixture in its way up to the surface of the production well. In these processes, however, the viscosity reduction of the hydrocarbon is temporary and reverts to its original viscosity once at the surface of the well.
Prior art surface treatment of viscous hydrocarbons to make them pumpable include heating the hydrocarbon, high temperature--high pressure treatment of the hydrocarbon and by introduction of a solvent as described above. These prior art systems suffer from a number of disadvantages. Firstly, these treatment processes require complex equipment for the high temperature--high pressure treatments which is quite costly. In addition, it has been found in the case of high temperature treatment processes that there is an increase in coke production when carrying out distillation of the crude.
It is desirable to have a method for the in situ lowering of the heavy hydrocarbon viscosity to enhance its recovery from the subsurface and ensure that the viscosity of, the hydrocarbon does not revert with time after the hydrocarbon has been brought to the surface and later pumped by conventional transportation systems.
At the same time, it is desirable to provide a method of improving the viscosity of a virgin heavy hydrocarbons at the surface so as to allow the hydrocarbon to be transported by conventional pipeline systems and stored and handled by conventional techniques.
Accordingly, it is the principle object of the present invention to provide a method for the in situ lowering of the viscosity of a heavy hydrocarbon downhole at the well formation.
It is a further principle object of the present invention to provide a method for lowering the viscosity of a virgin heavy hydrocarbon, at the surface production facility, so as to allow them to be transported by conventional equipment.
Further objects, advantages and features of this invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and appended claims.

In-situ reduction of oil viscosity during steam injection process in EOR