A multi layered frangible seal is bonded over the pour spout opening of flexible plastic bottles containing pourable products such as motor oil. The seal provides a leak proof closure that is strong enough to remain intact when the filled uncapped container is held in an inverted position, and at the same weak enough to break open and dispense the contents into a fill opening when a consumer squeezes the inverted container. The seal is constructed from a first layer of leak proof frangible sheet material that is bonded to a second layer of strengthening sheet material. The strengthening layer contains a cut out void configuration that forms a breaking pattern which forces the seal to break open only in the weaker single frangible layered configuration of the cut out void forming the breaking pattern when the container is squeezed.

It is highly desirable and beneficial to provide flexible plastic bottles of the type used for the storage and dispensing of diverse products such as motor oil, transmission fluid, and various other types of motor vehicle additives that have to be poured from the container, with an improved leak proof closure seal that includes a pressure activated self opening feature.
Such bottle types are comprised of a tubular body portion with a sealed bottom end. An opposite top end is comprised of a funnel shaped neck forming a pour spout that includes means for securing a closure cap. The pour spout ends with a flat perpendicular exterior rim that provides a surface area for bonding a seal over the pour spout opening.
This one piece container has gained wide acceptance since introduced and was designed to replace the problematic metal and paperboard can type container being used at the time. Not only did the can type container suffer from a high leakage rate, it would also most likely burst when dropped. Additionally, in order to open the container and dispense the contents, a user was required to provide either a can opener and fill funnel, or a reusable metal pour spout attachment that was pushed into the can top, piercing the metal, and secured by a press fit. This was an inconvenience and as can be seen the much stronger and durable plastic bottle was a great improvement that has made the can type container obsolete.
When such flexible plastic bottle type replacements first came into popular use, there were problems associated with the design of the closure caps that caused seepage and leaking of the contents in many containers beyond acceptable limits. To overcome this flaw many manufacturers added a durable foil seal that was bonded over the pour spout opening by induction sealing and was very effective in preventing any leakage prior to the consumer removing the closure cap and seal. Although performing well in this function, these seals proved to be extremely difficult to be removed by hand, requiring the consumer to provide a sharp tool just to open the product.
To correct this fault, and to promote product ease of use and consumer convenience, manufacturers made advances in closure cap technology and sealing materials for preventing leakage. The induction bonded foil seal was phased out by many manufacturers and replaced with a resilient gasket that is bonded to the underside of the container closure cap and is the primary method currently used by most manufacturers to prevent leakage of the contents.
However, despite the advances made in closure caps to prevent leakage, they have fallen far short of solving the problem. Incorrect torqueing of the screw on closure cap, dropping of the container, jarring through shipping or loading, or poor fit of the gasket, can all cause container leakage prior to the removal of the closure cap. Even with the addition of a locking tear strip at the lower outer perimeter of the closure cap, this type of container can still leak and contains no backup provision to prevent it.
In addition to problems with leakage, a second and more serious disadvantage with the flexible plastic container as currently provided, is the extreme difficulty a user experiences when trying to pour the liquid from the container into a narrow fill opening without the contents spilling everywhere.
In order to accomplish this task, a consumer has to judge where to position the container and then begin to slowly invert the container while trying to keep the pour spout exactly in the right place for the liquid to pour into the fill opening. At this point the consumer has to try to bring the pour spout closer to the fill opening so it can be inserted as the container contents continue to pour out. This has to be accomplished as the liquid stream pulses from air being drawn back into the container to equalize the container pressure. An extremely difficult task even in the best of conditions.
When attempting this procedure it becomes obvious that the likely outcome is the container contents end up being spilled into the engine compartment and then drip on to the ground and pollute the environment. A more serious consideration is the possibility of the contents flowing onto hot engine components creating noxious fumes and possible fire.
Although a motorist can avoid this by using a fill funnel, this also has its drawbacks, the funnel becomes covered by the container contents and has to be cleaned after each use, or too often a funnel isn't available when needed. Garages with an attendant to provide this service have largely been replaced by self service facilities where there is usually no funnel available. Recognizing this need, some self serve gas stations provide a disposable paper funnel, but then a further problem is, these paper funnels become hazardous waste when soaked with petroleum products, are a waste of natural resources, and are of a considerable cost to the consumer in the form of higher prices.
These disadvantages are well known and could be effectively eliminated by the bonding of a leak proof frangible seal over the pour spout opening that is only of sufficient strength to remain intact when subjected to the pressure created by the weight of the liquid contents when the filled uncapped container is held in an inverted position. At the same time, the seal would also have to be sufficiently weak enough to fail and burst open from the additional pressure that can be brought to bear against the seal by a consumer squeezing the filled uncapped container when held in the inverted position. A container seal that incorporated this self opening feature would allow a consumer to invert the filled uncapped container and then insert the pour spout into the fill opening without spilling the contents. Then, by squeezing the container, the seal would break open and dispense the contents only into the fill opening thereby eliminating the need of an opening device or fill funnel.
There have been numerous patents granted for container closure seals that include this feature. The prior art patents described herein offer similar and differing designs, materials, and fabrication methods in attempting to provide a pressure activated self opening closure seal that functions in this manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,328 to Rhodes Jr. describes an embodiment of a single layered airtight rupturable plastic container seal that is bonded to the pour spout rim of a flexible oil bottle that stretches, bursts open, and tears apart in an undefined configuration thereby dispensing the contents when the inverted container is squeezed by a consumer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,082 to Sampson describes an embodiment of a single layered seal for an oil bottle consisting of fabric, metal foil, or plastic wherein a first portion of the seal is bonded to the pour spout rim of a flexible container with a releasable adhesive that allows the seal to detach from the rim and dispense the contents when the inverted container is squeezed by a consumer. A second portion of the seal is bonded to the rim with a fixed adhesive which keeps the seal attached to the pour spout after the container is squeezed to open the seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,390 to Markva describes a number of embodiments of a sealing closure for an oil bottle. A first embodiment describes a single layered seal wherein a first portion of the seal is bonded to the pour spout rim of a flexible container with a releasable adhesive that allows the seal to detach from the rim and dispense the contents when the inverted container is squeezed by a consumer. A second portion of the seal is bonded to the rim with a fixed adhesive which keeps the seal attached to the pour spout after the container is squeezed to open the seal. A second embodiment describes a single layered seal with various tear lines that is bonded to the pour spout rim of a flexible container wherein no portion of the seal releases from the rim, but tears open along the lines and dispenses the contents when the inverted container is squeezed by a consumer. A third embodiment describes a single layered seal with a tear line that extends across its diameter that is bonded to the pour spout rim of a flexible container. Portions of the seal are bonded to the rim with a releasable adhesive that allows the seal to tear open in two halves along the tear line and partially detach from the rim and dispense the contents when the inverted container is squeezed by a consumer. A portion of each torn half is bonded to the container rim with a fixed adhesive which keeps the detached portions attached to the pour spout. A fourth embodiment describes a seal that consists of a first layer with tear lines that is bonded to the pour spout rim of a flexible container covering over a portion of the pour spout opening wherein no portion of the layer releases from the rim. The remainder of the pour spout opening is covered over by a second layer that partially overlaps, and is bonded to, the first layer and a portion of the rim with a releasable adhesive that allows the second layer to delaminate from the first layer and a portion of the rim to dispense the contents when the inverted container is squeezed by a consumer. A portion of the second layer is bonded to the container rim with a fixed adhesive which keeps the delaminated layer attached to the pour spout. A fifth embodiment describes a seal that consists of a first layer with an opening and a tear line that is bonded to the pour spout rim of a flexible container wherein no portion of the layer releases from the rim. The opening in the first layer is covered over by a second layer that is bonded to the first layer with a releasable adhesive that allows the second layer to delaminate from the first layer and dispense the contents when the inverted container is squeezed by a user. A portion of the second layer is bonded to the first layer with a fixed adhesive which keeps the delaminated layer attached to the first layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,857 to Russell describes an embodiment of a single layered rupturable seal of non absorbent material that is bonded over the pour spout mouth of a flexible oil bottle. The seal contains an X shaped breaking pattern consisting of weakened lines that rupture and dispense the contents when the inverted container is squeezed by a consumer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,968 to Good Jr. describes a number of embodiments for a single layered closure for a flexible container consisting of varying materials that has lines or areas of relative weakness on its surface. In a first embodiment the lines or weakened portion consists of an X shaped score that can partially penetrate the closure or be a slit, that blows out and dispenses the contents when the inverted container is squeezed by a consumer. In a second embodiment the lines or weakened portion consists of an X shaped series of perforations penetrating the closure that allow the closure to blow out and dispense the contents when the container is squeezed by a consumer. In a third embodiment the weakened portion consists of a thinned central area formed by compression, boring, or any other suitable means that blows out and dispenses the contents when the inverted container is squeezed by a consumer. If any of the above described embodiments of the closure are used on a container of motor oil, the closure may be made of a plastic that melts when any pieces of the closure break off and contaminate the oil going into the engine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,504 to Chandler describes a single layered closure seal consisting of metal foil with a layer of hot melt adhesive used to heat seal the closure to the container rim. The closure seal contains a repeating fracture pattern that allows the seal to burst open and tear along the lines of the fracture pattern when the container is inverted and squeezed by a consumer. The seal contains vent holes to equalize the internal container pressure with the atmospheric pressure.
The prior art patents described herein collectively employ a number of similar and differing seal design and fabrication methods in attempting to construct a container closure that bursts open when subjected to container squeezing pressure. However, each of the embodied design methods employed by the prior art and described herein, manifest similar and differing drawbacks.
A first method makes use of a single layered seal that is bonded over the container opening with a fixed adhesive. The seal bursts open in an undefined configuration when sufficient pressure is applied by squeezing the inverted container such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,328 to Rhodes Jr. However, this method gives no provision for the possibility that portions of the seal material may tear away and contaminate the contents when the seal bursts open, which could damage the motor by clogging the internal flow of lubrication to critical components.
A second method makes use of a single layered seal that is bonded over the container opening with a fixed adhesive. The seal bursts open in a central thinned area when sufficient pressure is applied by squeezing the inverted container such as described in an embodiment of U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,968 to Good Jr. To overcome the drawback that portions of the seal material may tear away and contaminate the contents when opened, which could damage the motor by clogging the internal flow of lubrication, the seal can be made from a material that melts in the heated oil when the motor reaches its operating temperature. However, with this method there is no provision given for the possible damage that may be caused to the motor by altering the lubricating qualities of the oil by repeatedly contaminating it with melted seal material, or that portions of the seal material may tear away when opened and damage the motor during warm up by clogging the internal flow of lubrication to critical components when a consumer inadvertently adds oil to a cold engine. There is also the inconvenience of having to wait for the motor to warm up before being able to add oil.
A third method makes use of a single layered seal that is bonded over the container opening with a releasable adhesive wherein one or more portions of the seal delaminate from the rim when sufficient pressure is applied by squeezing the inverted container. The seal material is kept from completely detaching from the container by bonding one or more portions of the seal to the pour spout with a fixed adhesive such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,082 to Sampson and embodiments of U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,390 to Markva. However, with this method there is no provision given for the possibility that using a releasable adhesive with a bond strength that is weak enough to allow the seal to delaminate from the container rim when the inverted container is squeezed, would also allow the seal to delaminate when the closure cap is rotated. The amount of pressure applied against the seal when the closure cap is torqued on or off is many times greater than the small amount of adhesive strength required to allow the seal to delaminate from the pour spout rim when the inverted container is squeezed. Rotation of the closure cap while it is compressed against the seal during installation or removal produces a shearing force that could force the releasable portion of the seal to lose its bond and rotate with the cap which would cause the seal to pleat against the fixed portion resulting in leakage and opening of the seal. Additionally a tack type releasable adhesive with low adhesion characteristics could also be vulnerable to degradation from the volatile organic compounds present in many petroleum based products that could negatively affect the seals ability to remain bonded to the container rim when a given pressure is brought to bear.
A fourth method makes use of a seal that consists of a first layer with an opening that is bonded to the container rim with a fixed adhesive. The opening is covered over by a second layer that is bonded to the first layer with a releasable adhesive that allows the second layer to delaminate from the first layer when sufficient pressure is applied by squeezing the inverted container. The second layer is kept from completely detaching from the container by bonding a portion of the second layer to the first layer with a fixed adhesive such as described in embodiments of U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,390 to Markva. Again, with this method, there is no provision given for the possibility that using a releasable adhesive with a bond strength that is weak enough to allow the second layer to delaminate from the first layer when the inverted container is squeezed, would also allow the second layer to delaminate from the first layer when the closure cap is rotated. The amount of pressure against the seal when the closure cap is torqued on or off is many times greater than the small amount of pressure required to allow the second layer to delaminate from the first layer when the inverted container is squeezed. Rotation of the closure cap while it is compressed against the seal during installation or removal produces a shearing force that could force the releasable portion of the second layer to lose its bond and rotate with the cap which would cause the second layer to pleat against the fixed portion resulting in leakage and opening of the seal. Additionally a tack type releasable adhesive with low adhesion characteristics could also be vulnerable to degradation from the volatile organic compounds present in many petroleum based products that could negatively affect the second layers ability to remain bonded to the first layer when a given pressure is brought to bear.
A fifth method makes use of a single layered non leak proof seal that is bonded over the container opening with a fixed adhesive. The seal contains a weakened fracture pattern with vent holes or an area that is weakened by perforations or creased slits and when sufficient pressure is applied by squeezing the inverted container the seal is forced to burst open and tear only in the configuration of the fracture pattern, perforations or slits as described in embodiments of U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,390 to Markva, embodiments of U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,968 to Good Jr. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,504 to Chandler. However, with this method there is no provision given for the problem of the seal leaking through the perforations, slits, or vent holes during shipping or handling. To prevent this, it would be necessary to include an additional seal in the form of a resilient gasket between the closure cap and the seal which would increase the cost of the container. Additionally, the vent holes, slits, or perforations would also leak from the pressure created when the container is gripped and inverted by a consumer which would allow the container contents to drip into the motor compartment making a mess or worse drip onto hot engine components creating noxious fumes and possible fire.
A sixth method makes use of a single layered seal that is bonded over the container opening with a fixed adhesive. The seal contains a weakened breaking pattern that is created by thinning the seal material. Various thinning techniques are employed by the prior art to accomplish this, including; scoring, milling, boring, compression, molding or laser cutting. When sufficient pressure is brought to bear against the seal by squeezing the inverted container, the seal is forced to burst open and tear only in the weaker thinned area of the breaking pattern configuration as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,857 to Russell, and embodiments of U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,968 to Good Jr. However, using any of the various techniques described in these two prior art patents to fabricate a thinned breaking pattern that will leave the precise material thickness necessary for the seal to remain intact when the filled container is lightly gripped and inverted, and then consistently burst at a squeezing pressure that by necessity has to be very low, present considerable manufacturing and fabrication drawbacks described herein.
The burst pressure of the seal cannot be determined by the maximum amount of squeezing force that a consumer can comfortably apply to the inverted container. The higher the burst pressure of the seal, the more likely the volume of liquid gushing out of the container pour spout will exceed the inflow capacity of the fill opening which will cause the liquid to back up and overflow when the seal bursts open. Therefore it is essential that the amount of additional squeezing force necessary to burst open the seal when the container is held by a consumer in the inverted position, must be kept as close to zero as possible, while still leaving the seal strong enough to remain intact when the filled uncapped container is gripped and inverted.
Additionally, the laws of fluid dynamics dictate that because the bore of the container is many times greater than the bore of the pour spout opening, the squeezing pressure applied to the container will also be many times greater than the pressure that the squeezing action brings to bear against the seal. This has the effect of multiplying the amount of squeezing pressure necessary to burst the seal and, consequently, will equally increase the internal pressure of the container and the volume of liquid gushing out of the pour spout when the seal breaks open. This further adds to the requirement that any additional thickness of material in the thinned area greater than that necessary for the seal to remain intact when the container is gripped and inverted, must be kept to the absolute minimum that is practically attainable.
When the uncapped container is inverted the weight of the liquid contents, together with the additional pressure created by a consumer gripping the container, produces lateral force that pushes against the seal. This lateral force creates tension in the seal that is opposed by the tensile strength of the seal material. For the seal to burst the lateral force must be increased to a degree sufficient to overcome the tensile strength of the seal material in the thinned area of the breaking pattern. The tensile strength of the seal material, and henceforth the amount of container pressure required to burst the seal, is determined by the type of material used and its thickness in the thinned area. When the tensile strength of the seal material being used and the required burst pressure of the seal are known, the exact minimum material thickness necessary for the seal to remain intact when the container is gripped and inverted, can be determined.
For example, because of its reliability, low cost, and adaptability to high speed fabrication and installation, the packaging industry has universally adopted induction sealing as the method of choice for installing closure seals on many types of containers including those used for pourable motor vehicle additives. An induction bonded type container seal consists of a layer of metal foil with one side coated with a layer of hot melt adhesive. The opposite side of the foil seal is laminated to a layer of absorptive material, such as pulp board, with a layer of heat releasable adhesive, such as micro crystalline wax. The assembled seal disk is inserted into the closure cap which is then installed over the pour spout opening. This presses the hot melt adhesive side of the seal against the container rim. The container is then passed through an induction sealer that generates a high voltage discharge which is conducted by the metal foil layer of the seal causing it to heat up. The hot foil layer in turn melts the hot melt adhesive layer which bonds the seal to the container rim and simultaneously melts the wax layer which is then absorbed into the pulp board thereby releasing the seal. The pulp board is then retained in the cap when it is removed from the container leaving only the foil seal bonded over the container opening.
Because of its high conductivity, high strength to weight ratio, low cost, and other desirable qualities, aluminum is used almost exclusively in the industry for the foil layer. Excluding the hot melt adhesive layer, which is generally thicker and stronger than the foil layer, the aluminum foil used for these seals is typically a few thousandths of an inch thick. Based on the volumetric weight of the contained liquid and the width of the pour spout opening of a typical container of the type described herein, the pressure produced and brought to bear against the seal when the container is lightly gripped and inverted can be held by an adhesive free single layered aluminum foil seal with a thinned breaking pattern that measures approximately one ten thousandth of an inch thick (0.0001″) and is herein referred to as the base thickness. Even a base thickness of two ten thousandths of an inch (0.0002″) produces a bursting pressure that is far too high. Therefore, in order for the seal to consistently burst with the minimal amount of additional squeezing pressure required, the base thickness of the seal material in the thinned area of the breaking pattern must be able to be adjusted upwardly with an accuracy that approaches one one hundredth thousandth of an inch thick (0.00001″), and if other types of seal material are used, the base thickness of the breaking pattern using those materials would also have to be able to be adjusted upwardly with similar dimensional accuracy in order for the seal to burst at the precise pressure required.
As can be seen, setting the exact burst pressure necessary for a self opening seal to function properly requires a seal design that allows the process of thinning the material to form the breaking pattern to be controlled with extreme precision. When a weakened breaking pattern has to be created by thinning an area of the seal material to approximately one ten thousandth of an inch thick, within tolerances approaching one one hundredth thousandth of an inch (0.00001″), as is the case with aluminum foil, each of the various thinning schemes used in the prior art patents such as; scoring, milling, boring, compression, molding, or laser cutting fail to provide the control necessary to meet these requirements.
For example, forming the thinned area of the breaking pattern in the seal material by scoring requires that some type of cutting tool be drawn across the surface of each individual seal. This requires that the scoring tool must be kept approximately one ten thousandth of an inch above the bed of a scoring machine as it cuts a relatively deep breaking pattern into a thin layer of delicate seal material a few thousandths of an inch thick, while also keeping the depth of the score within tolerances approaching one one hundredth thousandth of an inch. It should be immediately obvious even to those unskilled in the art, that the seal material will most likely tear when this is attempted. Even if this could be accomplished at all, it would be a very time consuming process that would most likely produce quality control problems and a high defect rate which would cause inconsistent burst pressures from one seal to the next.
To form the thinned area of the breaking pattern by boring or milling requires that a rotating cutter be kept approximately one ten thousandth of an inch above the bed of a machine tool as it cuts a relatively deep breaking pattern into a thin layer of delicate seal material a few thousandths of an inch thick while also trying to maintain the depth of the cut to within tolerances approaching one one hundredth thousandth of an inch. Again, it should be immediately obvious even to those unskilled in the art that the seal material will most likely tear when this is attempted. Even if this could be accomplished at all, it would also be a very time consuming process that would again, most likely produce quality control problems and a high defect rate which would cause inconsistent burst pressures from one seal to the next.
Creating the thinned area of the breaking pattern by compression would require that some type of die, knife edge or V shaped anvil be pressed into various seal materials. Again, the ability to consistently control the depth of a groove that leaves the thinned area of the breaking pattern with the extremely thin and precise dimension necessary for the seal to function properly is beyond the capabilities of a die press. Drawbacks such as allowable machine tolerances or incremental tool wear alone would be sufficient to produce defects that would cause inconsistent or premature bursting of the seal.
Manufacturing a self opening seal with a thinned breaking pattern using a molding process such as injection or vacuum forming requires the seal to be fabricated from heated plastic material which presents a number of significant disadvantages. Each seal must be made individually and cannot be stamped out from roll stock in a high speed fashion. Because of the elasticity and expansion coefficient of plastic materials, the ability to consistently control the depth of the thinned area of the breaking pattern to the tolerances required is beyond the capabilities of either process. Injection molding and vacuum forming also require expensive multi cavity molds that must be replaced regularly adding to the unit cost of each seal. Manufacturing the closure seal by molding is also a time consuming process which would also add to the unit cost of each seal.
And lastly, creating the thinned area of the breaking pattern by laser cutting would present different but even more intractable problems. Attempting to melt the seal material to a particular depth with a laser will not produce a precisely thinned breaking pattern. An industrial laser is ideally suited to cutting completely through any type of material in a very precise manner, for instance, to create slits or perforations, but it is totally ineffective when attempting to use it as a scoring device or milling machine. The process of thinning the seal material by the use of a laser requires the beam to be of sufficient heat to vaporize the seal material to a precise depth. A laser beam that is hot enough to vaporize any type of seal material would not just stop at a certain depth when the laser is either pulsed or moved across the surface. Vaporizing the seal material with the use of a laser is an explosive event that would not leave the precisely thin and delicate layer of intact material necessary for the seal to function properly, if it left any material at all. This method would also be a time consuming process that would add to the unit cost of each seal.
As can be seen when U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,857 to Russell. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,968 to Good Jr. are closely examined, each falls far short of providing a self opening seal design that allows the thickness of the material in the thinned area of the breaking pattern to be controlled with the precision necessary for the seal to burst at the precise pressure required. Additionally, the design of each of the prior art seal embodiments require fabrication methods do not allow the closure to be easily manufactured in a high speed manner that will produce a defect free seal at the lowest possible cost.
In addition to the aforementioned drawbacks in all of the prior art patents, a further drawback is the inability of any of the closure seal embodiments to be manufactured and bonded over a container opening by using the existing induction sealing process which is a significant disadvantage. To fabricate an induction type seal disk, as previously described herein, a layer of hot melt adhesive is applied to one side of a long continuous roll of metal foil sheet and allowed to dry. A layer of hot, heat releasable adhesive is then applied to the opposite side of the foil sheet which becomes tacky after cooling. A continuous sheet of rigid absorptive pulp board from a second roll is then laminated to the releasable adhesive side of the foil roll by rolling both sheets together under pressure. This process produces a single long roll of laminated sheet material that contains all the necessary layers of foil, adhesives, and pulp board needed to complete the seal. The finished seal disk is then die cut from the roll and installed in the closure cap at the at the assembly point. The prior art patents described herein cannot utilize this efficient fabrication and installation method for a variety of similar and differing reasons thereby preventing the prior art from benefiting from the economies realized.
For instance, the closure seal of U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,328 to Rhodes Jr. is fabricated from thin rupturable plastic that will not conduct a high voltage current. The closure seal of U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,082 to Sampson uses both a first fixed adhesive that would have to be a hot melt type and a second releasable adhesive that could migrate to the area between the fixed adhesive and the rim when the closure cap is rotated under pressure which could degrade the ability of a hot melt adhesive to provide a proper bond. The closure seal of U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,390 to Markva uses variations of two different self opening designs. A first design consists of a one or two layered seal that uses both a first fixed adhesive that would have to be a hot melt type and a second tacky releasable adhesive that could migrate to the area between the fixed adhesive and the rim or between the fixed adhesive of a first layer and a second layer when the closure cap is rotated under pressure which could degrade the ability of a hot melt adhesive to provide a proper bond. A second design consists of a single layered seal containing what appears to be various perforated tear line configurations. The hot melt adhesive layer used to bond an induction seal to a container rim becomes viscous when melted which could cause the adhesive to reseal the perforations of the tear lines and prevent the seal from bursting. To eliminate this requires that the adhesive be zone specific applied to each individual seal only in the area contacting the rim, an inefficient and time consuming process that cannot be incorporated into the existing induction sealing process. The closure seal of U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,857 to Russell uses a weakened breaking pattern that would be prevented from bursting by the underlying layer of hot melt adhesive, also requiring the adhesive to be zone specific applied to each individual seal only in the area contacting the rim, again an inefficient and time consuming process that cannot be incorporated into the existing induction sealing process. The closure seal of U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,968 to Good Jr. uses two variations of two different designs for a self opening seal. A first design consists of a closure seal with a breaking pattern that is weakened by slits or perforations. A second design consists of a closure seal with a breaking pattern that is weakened by being thinned in various ways. Again, the necessary layer of hot melt adhesive prevents both designs from being able to be adapted to the induction sealing process either by resealing the slits or perforations when melted or not allowing the thinned area of the breaking pattern to burst when the container is pressurized. To over come this the hot melt adhesive would also have to be zone specific applied to each individual seal only in the area contacting the rim, again a time consuming process for fabricating large quantities of the closure seal that cannot be incorporated into the existing induction sealing process. The closure seal of U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,504 to Chandler uses a single layered seal that contains vent holes and what appears to be either a perforated or scored fracture pattern. In either case the necessary layer of hot melt adhesive would again prevent the seal from bursting properly by possibly resealing the narrow perforations when the adhesive melts or preventing the seal from bursting at all if just scored, thereby requiring that there be no adhesive in the area of the scores or perforations. Again, the adhesive would have to be applied in a zone specific fashion only in the area where the seal contacts the rim of the container which cannot be incorporated into the existing induction sealing process.

Pressure activated self opening container and seal


A method includes forming a barrier layer in a via hole and over a hard mask layer. The hard mask layer is disposed over a dielectric layer. The via hole is located through the dielectric layer and the hard mask layer. A filler layer is formed in the via hole and over the barrier layer. The filler layer and the hard mask layer are removed. A metal layer is formed in the via hole.

In some integrated circuit fabrication, a hard mask layer in a via structure is removed for metal filling. As the integrated circuit size shrinks, the hard mask removal tends to be helpful to reduce the aspect ratio of the via hole for better via hole metal filling. However, some conventional hard mask removal method may result in via bottom metal damage.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


An inflatable decoy having a main body portion, a connected head portion, a connected rear portion and at least two depending leg portions. A supporting stand is used to support the decoy system and includes a pair of rods which are hingedly mounted to an elongate bracket member so that the rods can hingedly extend outwardly from the elongate bracket member. A strap is mounted to the elongate bracket member and is sized to be positioned around the main body portion of the inflatable decoy. A connector is included for releasably securing the two free ends of the strap together once the strap is positioned around the main body portion of the inflatable decoy. The leg portions of the inflatable decoy are positioned on a ground surface and the pair of rods are swung outwardly with the distal ends of the rods positioned to rest on the ground surface.

The present invention relates to an inflatable decoy provided with a stand to secure the decoy in an upright position.
Inflatable decoys are known such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,178 to Marek; U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,208 to Lessa and U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,693 to Sides.
When hunting big game, it is advantageous to provide a decoy having a general shape of the animal being hunted and providing a place where the hunter can remain concealed behind the decoy so that the target animal comes within close range of the vantage point. It is also advantageous to have an inflatable decoy which will stand alone and will not blow down during windy conditions. The present invention provides an inflatable decoy which is easily transportable and when set up in the field provides an inflatable decoy which is stable even in windy conditions.


A method for automatically adjusting pictures on a display device, by which a plurality of reference points and the corresponding slope values are stored in a memory of the display device. The reference points and the corresponding slope values, as well as the synchronous frequency and the image timing, set by a user are used by a microprocessor within the display to determine whether to adjust the picture frame and the display position of the pictures, so as to fit the preset display values by the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for automatically adjusting picture frames on a display device.
2. Description of Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a computer device 10 comprises a central processing unit 12 (CPU), a display driver 14, a memory 16 and a first communication controller 18. A display device 20 comprises a deflection circuit 22, an imaging circuit 24, a microprocessor 26, a memory 28, a screen 30 and a second communication controller 32. The screen 30 is for displaying picture frames, and the first communication controller 18 and the second communication controller 32 are for exchanging data between the computer device 10 and the display device 20. The display driver 14 outputs synchronous signals to the deflection circuit 22 for determining the horizontal synchronous frequency, the horizontal image timing, the vertical synchronous frequency and the vertical image timing of the displayed picture frame. The display driver 14 also outputs image signals to the imaging circuit 24 for setting the colors of the picture frames to be displayed. The microprocessor 26 can receive the adjusting signals from an on-screen display (OSD) means and change the output signals from the deflection circuit 22 and the imaging circuit 24, so as to adjust the picture frame and the display position of the picture frame to be displayed.
As shown in FIG. 2, the horizontal imaging time corresponding to the displayed picture frame, denoted by C, is set to be covered within the horizontal synchronous time so as to assure normal display of a picture frame. The blanking time is defined to be the sum of the synchronous pulse time (denoted by A), the front entrance time (denoted by B) and the rear entrance time (denoted by D); the blanking time is the flyback time needed for initiating a picture frame. The sum of the synchronous pulse time, the front entrance time, the rear entrance time and the horizontal imaging time defines the horizontal synchronous time, in which the horizontal imaging time is the time required to display a row of picture frames. On the other hand, the vertical imaging time is the time required to display a whole picture frame.
When a user adjusts a picture frame of the display device 20 by OSD means, it is possible that the horizontal imaging time is shifted so that it leads or lags the horizontal synchronous time, and therefore the picture frame cannot be normally displayed. A similar problem may occur in the vertical image timing. So far there is no preferable method to prevent the above-cited problem. There is however a method to adjust the size and position of a picture frame for display entitled "Display" and disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,719. The method is disadvantageous in that the sampling of the synchronous time by a microprocessor causes up and down, right and left shifting of a picture frame before the display is optimized, which is time consuming and not appealing to users.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved method for automatically adjusting picture frames on a display device to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.

Method for automatically adjusting picture frames on a display device


A printing apparatus including a first component having a photosensitive member and a transcribing portion transcribing a toner image formed on the photosensitive member onto a web, and a second component having a web guide portion guiding the web transported to the transcribing portion and a fixing portion fixing the toner image transcribed onto the web, the first component and the second component being able to be connected/divided, the first component is provided with a transcribing portion base supporting the transcribing portion, the second component is provided with a web guide portion base arranged at a position opposed to the transcribing portion base supporting the web guide portion, and an adjusting member for restricting a position of the second component relative to the first component is provided between the transcribing portion base and the web guide portion base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, particularly relates to a printing apparatus having a structure capable of being divided into a plurality of components.
2. Description of the Related Art
In accordance with correspondence to multicolor print or correspondence to large capacity of a recording medium, a printing apparatus causes size increase.
In case that the printing apparatus exceeds a common volume by the size increase, the printing apparatus is restricted by a width and a height of a door, a passage, an elevator or the like at an installing location. Therefore reconstruction of a building for installing the printing apparatus is needed. Also, in the case that the printing apparatus exceeds a common weight by the size increase, transporting means is limited and a number of persons are needed for operation of moving the printing apparatus.
Accordingly, a large printing apparatus is carried in to an installing location in the divided style a plurality of components, and the components are integrated at the installing location.


An electrostatic discharge guide using metal sputtering process and modifying plastic case is applied to an electronic device. The plastic case and a metal case are laminated. The plastic case is defined with a tip portion spaced from the metal case on side wall thereof. A conductive layer formed on the surface of the plastic case opposite to the metal case extends to the tip of the tip portion, and is electrically connected to a ground of the electronic device. Therefore, when electrostatic charges accumulated on the metal case exceed a specific value, the static electricity is discharged to the ground of the electronic device based on the point discharge principle, instead of causing an electric shock to a user.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of eliminating static electricity, and more particularly to an electrostatic discharge guide using metal sputtering process and modifying plastic case.
2. Related Art
In order to meet demands of various appearance designs, different materials, such as metal or plastics, are generally adopted to fabricate the case of an electronic device. In addition, as for the design of fabricating the housing of an electronic device with metal, usually the metal housing is directly electrically connected to a ground terminal of an electronic component inside the device, so as to successfully release the static electricity from a ground terminal of the electronic device. The above manner may not cause any problem in non-portable electronic devices. However, when the same manner is applied to a portable electronic device, due to the current leakage of the electronic component, the user may feel an electric shock when directly contacting the housing of the electronic device. Further, the electrostatic protection should be considered during the design of a portable electronic device. That is, under a particular electrostatic shock (impact) test, the portable electronic device still works normally. Therefore, in the above design (the metal case of the portable electronic device is electrically connected to a ground area of the electronic component), during the electrostatic test, after striking on the metal case, a static electricity of 8 KV is immediately guided to the ground terminal of the electronic component. In this manner, a transient high voltage will directly impact on the electronic component, and thus the electronic component needs to be designed with more protections.
In order to solve the problem of current leakage of the electronic component, in some methods, a plastic case is added between the metal case and the electronic component, so as to electrically insulate the two. Although the above method prevents the user from being electrically shocked by the leakage current of the electronic component, the metal case does not have any ground mechanism, such that the metal case accumulates static electricity when held by the user for a long time or obtains an electrostatic value for absorbing the static electricity from the nature. At this time, when the user again contacts the electronic device, a potential difference exists between the electrostatic value of the user and the electrostatic value of the metal case, and thus the user may feel an electric shock.

Electrostatic guiding device achieved by using metal sputtering and plastic case


The invention relates to methods and reagents for promoting the differentiation of oligodendrocytes from stem cells, by co-activating the Olig genes and the Nkx2.2 genes, and the use of the differentiated oligodendrocytes thus obtained in treating diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The invention also relates to the use of OLPs and oligodendrocytes thus obtained for drug screening.

Oligodendrocytes are the myelinating glial cells of the central nervous system (CNS). The appearance of these myelinating cells during evolution is thought to have enabled the vertebrate nervous system to grow large and complex by allowing saltatory conduction of nervous impulses. These cells arise at discrete places and at discrete times from the ventricular zone of the developing neural tube. The molecular mechanisms that control the initial decision of multipotent CNS neural stem cells to become oligodendrocytes are not fully understood. Some growth factors have been identified that seem to bias stem cells towards an oligodendrocyte (ODC) fate.
Oligodendrocytes and their precursors (oligodendrocyte precursors or OLPs) are highly relevant to human disease. Deficiencies in the number, function or survival of these cells can cause devastating demyelinating diseases. A variety of demyelinating diseases exist in humans, wherein the myelin sheaths are lost, usually through the death of mature oligodendrocytes. One principal example, multiple sclerosis (MS). On the other hand, oncogenic transformation and overproduction of cells in this lineage, conversely, leads to brain tumors such as oligodendrogliomas and glioblastoma multiforme.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the Central Nervous System (CNS). Multiple Sclerosis affects roughly two and a half million people worldwide and is one of the most common causes of neurological disability in young adults. Typically, patients with MS present with a relapsing/remitting form of the disease, characterized by acute demyelinating episodes followed by the generation of new oligodendrocytes, remyelination, and functional recovery. However, remyelination is an inconsistent event in this disease, and the accumulated load of lesions that fail to remyelinate results in progressive neurological deterioration, in part because the capacity to generate new oligodendrocytes becomes limited.
Predominantly, it is a disease of the "white matter" tissue, which comprises nerve fibres responsible for transmitting communication signals both internally within the CNS and between the CNS and the nerves supplying rest of the body. In MS patients, patches of damage or "plaques or lesions" appear in seemingly random areas of the CNS white matter. At the site of a lesion, a nerve insulating material—myelin—is lost. Clinically, MS is a hard condition to characterize because it is very unpredictable and variable. Depending on which areas of the CNS are affected and how badly they are damaged, the type and severity of symptoms can vary greatly. No two people get MS in exactly the same way, and the expression of each individual's disease is as unique as their fingerprints. However, the different courses of the disease, both within an individual and within the whole population, principally differ in their timing, location and severity. Underneath similar processes (including demyelination and sometimes other forms of nerve degeneration) are going on.
Although recent research indicates that the biochemical make-up of lesions may vary between different forms of the disease, this is not the reason why people with MS (PwMS) have such widely differing symptoms—it's because nerve damage to one site usually causes completely different symptoms than damage to another. In general, MS patients can experience partial or complete loss of any function that is controlled by, or passes through, the brain or spinal cord.
There is still no cure for MS, although there are various strategies available to modify the disease course, treat exacerbations, manage symptoms, and improve function and safety. In combination, these treatments enhance the quality of life for people living with MS.
Oligodendrogliomas comprise a class of glial tumors in which the oligodendroglial cell is the cell predominant cell type. Normally, oligodendroglial cells form myelin—the fatty substance which surrounds the axons of nerve cells and provides the insulation which makes nerve cell electrical transmission faster and more efficient. Oligodendrogliomas probably evolve from a mixed glioma which has in turn evolved from primitive precursor or stem cells. The mixed glioma which contains astrocytic and neuronal elements as wells as oligodendroglial cells and is a slow growing tumor. But each of the cell types has a certain percentage of cells capable of mitosis. In the oligodendroglioma the mitotic rate of the oligodendroglial cells has exceeded the mitotic rate of the other cells and eventually the oligodendroglial cells become the most numerous—the predominant cell type and, therefore, an oligodendroglioma.
The speed of this transformation varies widely from patient to patient and there is no consistent way of predicting the behavior of any oligodendroglioma—especially in adult patients. In general, all glial tumors, including oligodendrogliomas, will become malignant, as a matter of time and random evolution in the ability of cells within that tumor to increase their rate of mitosis. The length of time could be 30 years, or it could be 6 months.
Glioblastoma multiforme refers to a malignant neoplasm with abundant glial pleomorphism, numerous mitotic figures and giant cells, vascular hyperplasia, and focal areas of necrosis. Occurring most commonly in the fifth through seventh decades, glioblastoma multiforme usually develops in the cerebral hemispheres (more often in the frontal lobes than the temporal lobes or basal ganglia) but almost never in the cerebellum. It grows as an irregular mass in the white matter and infiltrates the surrounding parenchyma by coursing along white matter tracts, frequently involving the corpus callosum and crossing the midline to produce the characteristic "butterfly" appearance.
Forty to fifty percent of primary central nervous system tumors are gliomas. Approximately 50% of these are glioblastoma multiforme, and 7% are astrocytomas. Oligodendrogliomas and glioblastoma multiforme are some of the most aggressive and intractable forms of cancer known. The prognosis is very poor. Mean survival length after diagnosis is eight to ten months, with less than 10% survival after two years. Unfortunately, the treatments for either of these classes of diseases, at present, are inadequate and unsatisfactory.
Therefore, there is a need to provide additional treatment methods and reagents for diseases related to oligodendrocytes, including demyelination diseases such as MS, and hyperproliferation diseases such as oligodendrogliomas and glioblastoma multiforme.

Oligodendrocyte determination genes and uses thereof


A method for imparting wet strength to paper with improved water absorbency, that comprises adding to an aqueous suspension of cellulosic paper stock a neutral or alkaline-curing thermosetting wet-strength resin, a water-soluble polymer containing carboxyl groups or carboxylate ions as their alkali metal or ammonium salts, and a substantially non-thermosetting tertiary-amino polyamide-epichlorohydrin resin.

Papers used in tissue and toweling grades that require good absorbency also require a high level of wet strength in order to maintain their structural integrity under the mechanical stresses of removing moisture from skin and other surfaces. Measures needed to satisfy both these requirements tend to conflict.
For instance, the rate of absorption of water into paper is generally reduced by such effective wet-strength resins as acid-curing wet-strength resins like urea-formaldehyde and melamine-formaldehyde resins, and neutral- or alkaline-curing resins like polyaminoamide-epichlorohydrin, polyamine-epichlorohydrin, and other amine polymer-epichlorohydrin resins.
Of the permanent wet-strength resins, the neutral or alkaline-curing resins often produce a softer, more absorbent sheet than do the acid-curing urea-formaldehyde and melamine-formaldehyde resins, but they still reduce the rate of water absorption of the paper significantly.
On the other hand, neutral- or acid-curing resins containing aldehyde groups that have a less adverse effect on the rate of absorption, such as dialdehyde starch and glyoxal-modified acrylamide polymers, impart only temporary wet-strength.
With a permanent wet-strength resin, about 80 to 90 percent of the wet strength measured after 10 seconds soaking will persist after two hours soaking, while with a temporary wet-strength resin, typically only one-third to two-thirds of the "10-second" wet strength will persist after two hours.
It is known to use surface-active agents or debonders, dried into the sheet, to facilitate the penetration of water into the paper when it is wet by its use to wipe or dry the skin, but these agents concurrently weaken the dry strength of the sheet, which lowers the wet strength, because the absolute wet strength of a sheet made of a particular pulp under given conditions with a given amount of wet-strength resin will tend to be lowered in direct proportion to its dry strength.
It is known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,058,873, 3,049,469, and 3,998,690, and in the Proceedings of the 1983 TAPPI Papermakers Conference, Portland, Oreg., pp. 191-195, that the neutral or alkaline-curing thermosetting wet-strength resins become more effective in imparting wet strength and increasing dry strength, if they are used in conjunction with a water-soluble carboxyl-bearing polymers, such as carboxymethylcellulose (CMC).
It is also known, for instance from U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,469, to combine a thermosetting cationic wet-strength resin and an anionic polyacrylamide, for improved wet and dry tensile strengths in paper. However, it is also known, for instance from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,332,834, 3,790,514, 3,660,338, and 3,667,888, that combinations of non-thermosetting cationic polymers with anionic water-soluble polymers, those containing carboxyl groups or carboxylate ions and anionic polymers and copolymers of acrylamide, or poly(acrylic acid) or its salts, will increase the dry strength of paper, while imparting little or no wet strength.
With these combinations, it is also known, for instance from Reynolds, Ch. 6 in "Dry Strength Additives", W. F. Reynolds, ed., TAPPI Press, Atlanta, 1980; FIGS. 6-9, p. 141, that the improvement in dry strength rises to a maximum, then declines as the ratio of anionic polymer to cationic polymer increases.
For use in tissue and toweling, it would be desirable to have a paper that, while maintaining needed dry strength, combines high permanent wet strength with rapid absorption of water.

Absorbance and permanent wet-strength in tissue and toweling paper


An at-least dual chamber apparatus and method in which high flux beams of fast moving neutral reactive species are created, collimated and used to etch semiconductor or metal materials from the surface of a workpiece. Beams including halogen atoms are preferably used to achieve anisotropic etching with good selectivity at satisfactory etch rates. Surface damage and undercutting are minimized.

A variety of techniques are currently used to transfer lithographically defined patterns to underlying semiconductors for electronic and optoelectronic applications. Such techniques include solvent etching, plasma etching and ion beam assisted etching. Plasma etching processes are the most extensively used of these techniques.
The most commonly used form of plasma etching is reactive ion etching (RIE). However, there is an urgent need for a substantial reduction in energetic ion bombardment damage and charge-induced damage occurring during RIE. While bombardment damage can be reduced by decoupling the plasma generation means from the processing electrode (typically done with new high-density plasma tools), it cannot be completely avoided as this would require a decrease in the translational energy of the ions to below 20 eV, where space-charge repulsion adversely affects directionality. Furthermore, mitigation of charge-induced damage is inherently more difficult because the very nature of plasmas is based on charged particles.
Winters and Coburn have suggested that neutral fluxes of reactive species with excess translational or internal energy, created using supersonic sources, may provide "new and useful etching methods . . . " Winters, et al. Surface Science Reports 14 161 (1992). NASA Tech Briefs, February 1993, include a description of the use of atomic oxygen to anisotropically etch photoresists from the surface of semiconductor workpieces, see Energetic Atoms Would Etch Photoresists Anisotropically, MSC-21631, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,511 describes an apparatus and method for creating beams of atomic oxygen which are said to be useful for surface erosion, surface coating and the like. Hydrogen, fluorine and chlorine, among others, are mentioned as potentially useful for the same applications. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,608 to Cross et al. describes an apparatus in which laser radiation is used to form a plasma, which, in turn, is used to create a continuous collimated beam of oxygen atoms, in certain cases as mixtures with other gases. This beam is said to be useful for studying the effects of high kinetic energy oxygen atom bombardment on a target material. Each of these patents is also incorporated herein by reference.
Holtzclaw et al., Infrared Emission From The Reaction of High-Velocity Atomic Oxygen With Graphite and Polyethylene, J. Geophysical Research, Vol. 95, No. A4, pages 4147-4153, Apr. 1, 1990, describes an apparatus useful for generating a beam of oxygen atoms. This reference is incorporated herein by reference as background to the present invention.
Any barrier to etching could be overcome by sufficient translational energy of the etchant species in the beam. However, if energetic neutral beams are to be useful, the problem of profile control must be solved. Some progress has already been made toward the goal of profile control during etching with neutral beams. Anisotropic etching of semiconductors (Si, GaAs) with a supersonic beam of neutral Cl.sub.2 molecules has been demonstrated. In addition, work from the space environmental effects community has shown that a beam of energetic oxygen atoms can etch 0.3 .mu.m-wide features in an organic polymer with insignificant undercutting. An observation common to both types of etching is the existence of a dependence of the etch rate on initial collision energy. Typically, when energy dependent etching data are fit with an Arrhenius-like expression, activation energies in the range of 0.2-0.4 eV are derived. In the case of silicon etching with Cl.sub.2, a threshold to etching of 2.0 eV has been observed. These findings indicate that practical etching with neutral beams may only be achieved with hyperthermal translational energies greater than 2 eV, however, in order to avoid bombardment damage, energies should be kept below the lattice displacement damage threshold, which for silicon is 12.9 eV. The hyperthermal regime of 2-12 eV is not easily accessible.
Conventional supersonic and effusive beam techniques, as well as a laser blow-off technique, have been used to study the interaction of neutral species with semiconductor surfaces. Although these experiments reveal much about the interaction mechanisms under the conditions studied, the practical range of incident-kinetic energies is limited to a few electron volts or less, and the combination of energy and incident flux usually results in too low an etch rate for a study of etch profiles. Furthermore, achievable exposure areas are less than 1 cm.sup.2, making it difficult to fabricate even a prototype device for testing.
Thus, a technique is needed not only to accelerate selected neutral species to these kinetic energies but also to generate a collimated beam of these species over an area that would permit fabrication of a real chip (>5 cm.sup.2).

Semiconductor etching by hyperthermal neutral beams


A control logic unit generates a control signal which is activated while a power supply normally operates. A charge circuit is connected to a first node on a voltage control line supplied with a voltage generated by a voltage generation circuit, so that its capacitive element is charged with electric charge. A first discharge circuit is connected to a charge storage node of the charge circuit and discharges the stored electric charge when the control signal is activated. A second discharge circuit discharges the first node when the charge storage node has a potential exceeding a predetermined potential.

A microcomputer is provided with a power-on reset circuit or LVD (Low Voltage Detection) circuit for detecting reduction or interruption of a power supply of the microcomputer. In some cases, however, the state of a power supply in a nonvolatile semiconductor memory which is included in the microcomputer cannot be detected by this power-on reset circuit or LVD circuit, due to a variety of factors such as use of different power supplies, difference in sensitivity to noise, arrangement of components, interconnect lines, for example.
In the nonvolatile semiconductor memory, a variety of voltages are required and generated for controlling write and erase operations. If short interruption of an internal power supply occurs due to a certain factor, failure to be able to detect this abnormality may disadvantageously result in a long time to be taken to discharge remaining electric charge from a specific node to which the generated voltage has been supplied.
In order to overcome the above disadvantage, a scheme for discharging remaining electric charge after interruption of a power supply has been proposed.
For example, PTD 1 (Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-232848) discloses a scheme for discharging, in the following manner, electric charge remaining after interruption of a power supply.
A discharge circuit is configured so that it includes a plurality of NMOS transistors for the sake of discharge, an NMOS transistor for the sake of potential compensation, and a DMOS transistor for reducing the potential of an interconnect line by a coupling capacitor. When a power supply voltage is interrupted, the DMOS transistor and the potential-compensation NMOS transistor reduce the potential of the interconnect line to a negative potential, and a plurality of discharge NMOS transistors operate to reduce and discharge remaining electric charge of the interconnect line.

Semiconductor memory device with power interruption detection and reset circuit


Disclosed is a photovoltaic system including a power optimizer, capable of minimizing noise occurring due to shading, an error in an output power of a photovoltaic module, etc. while a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm is performed. The photovoltaic system includes a photovoltaic module; a power optimizer; and an inverter, wherein the power optimizer includes: an input unit configured to receive an output power of the photovoltaic module; a sensing unit configured to sense an output voltage and an output current of the photovoltaic module; and a controller configured to control an output of the power optimizer, by comparing the presently-sensed current with a previously-sensed current.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a photovoltaic system, and particularly, to a photovoltaic system including a power optimizer, capable of minimizing noise occurring while a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm is performed, due to shading, an error in an output power of a photovoltaic module, etc.
2. Background of the Disclosure
Generally, a photovoltaic system includes a plurality of photovoltaic modules connected to each other in series, and an inverter configured to convert a DC voltage output from the plurality of photovoltaic modules into an AC voltage, and configured to output the AC power.
However, the conventional photovoltaic system may have the following problems.
When an output power of one of the plurality of photovoltaic modules is drastically decreased, noise occurs during a process of searching for (tracking) a maximum power of a plurality of photovoltaic modules connected to each other in series. In this case, an inverter positioned at the next stage of the photovoltaic modules may be damaged.


An explosive logic network, including a first explosive path which is crod by second explosive paths such at a detonation propagating along the second path in either direction would cut and open a first end of the first path, and will be propagated at an opposite second end of the first path. The two paths are connected by explosive logic elements such that a detonation propagating from the first end to the second end of the first path will also be propagated in both directions along the second path, and a detonation propagating from the second end to the first end of the first path will cut and open both ends of the second path.

The invention relates generally to explosives and particularly to explosive initiation mechanisms, specifically explosive logic networks.
In the past, explosive logic systems have been used as explosive mechanisms or in safe-and-arm devices for missiles, projectiles, or other weapon systems. Null gates are included in some systems, which function to switch off, or disrupt, a circuit. This is accomplished by breaking through the explosive material in a trail with a detonation from another intersecting trail. One type of null gate, utilizing the "corner effect" principle, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,493, issued Nov. 1, 1983 to Silvia. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,409, issued Oct. 30, 1973 to Menz et al describes destructive crossovers which utilize the "corner effect". However, in both of these explosive logic devices, it is difficult to assure very high reliability, approaching 100%, because of variability in the corner radius and explosive materials. In explosive logic systems which require large numbers of such null gates or destructive crossovers, these elements must have a very high reliability in order to ensure an acceptable overall system reliability.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,564, issued Mar. 4, 1969 to Silvia et al, discloses another type of explosive logic device wherein a point contact from an explosive trail with a constricted region of another explosive trail produces a destructive crossover, in which a detonation through the point contact of the one trail physically disrupts the constricted region of the other trail. However, explosive logic devices utilizing this principle tend to be much slower than corner base logic. Consequently, when a large number of such devices are required in an explosive logic network, their slowness can degrade system performance.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A power on reset circuit that incorporates a voltage divider, and current reference generator and a switching circuit. The voltage divider generates an output voltage which is a predefined fraction of the supply voltage. The current reference generator generates a reference current which controls a first current mirror in the switching circuit. The switching circuit, which has a sharply sloped voltage transfer characteristic, includes a first transistor that is gated by the voltage divider output and coupled to the first current mirror at a first circuit node. The first transistor draws current from the first current mirror only when the voltage divider output exceeds a threshold voltage, causing the switching circuit to develop a first reset voltage on the first circuit node. The power on reset circuit may also include an inverter having an input coupled to the first circuit node and producing a second reset voltage on a second circuit node. The inverter comprises a current mirror coupled to the current reference generator and a transistor gated by the first reset voltage and coupled the to current mirror at the second circuit node to draw current from the current mirror only when the first reset voltage exceeds the threshold voltage. Additionally, the power on reset circuit may include various types of filters coupled to the voltage divider output and/or the first circuit node to suppress noise in the voltage supply.

Most prior art power on reset circuits produce a reset signal using time delay schemes. For instance, a time delay circuit could be used to generate a reset signal a certain number of microseconds after the circuit is powered on.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a power on reset circuit with a very sharp voltage transfer function, such that a reset signal is generated when, and only when, the power supply voltage exceeds a specified voltage level.

Power on reset circuit with sharply sloped voltage transfer function


Accordingly, one embodiment of the invention provides a method for testing a network comprising multiple nodes. The network conforms to a formal specification. The method includes defining a blueprint comprising a set of one or more possible topological configurations for connecting a node to the network. The one or more possible topological configurations represent a subset of the topological configurations permitted by the formal specification. When connectivity is initiated between a node and the network, it is confirmed that the connectivity for the node conforms to the blueprint.

The InfiniBand (IB) Architecture defines a computer networking architecture that allows end nodes to communicate with one another via a fabric or subnetwork (subnet) comprising one or more switches. A full definition of the IB Architecture may be found in the InfiniBand Architecture Specification Volumes 1 and 2, available from the InfiniBand Trade Association (www.infinibandta.org), which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The IB specification does not define any inherent restrictions on how to construct subnet topologies in terms of interconnecting switches, apart from the main requirement that the resulting routes between end-nodes in the subnet must be free of potential deadlocks. This implies that a large number of configurations in terms of inter-switch connectivity may be legal according to the formal IB specification. However, such configurations may be sub-optimal or inadequately tested by a system vendor.
In addition, since the IB specification does not impose any real restrictions in terms of switch topology, a standard subnet manager implementation typically by default does not enforce any such restrictions. Indeed, the subnet manager may not even have support for explicit instructions to impose such restrictions. Consequently, if it is desired to select a routing through a particular set of links, it may not be possible to prevent the subnet manager from taking other (legal) switch-to-switch links into consideration within the routing logic.

Method and apparatus for testing a network


A system and method uses a communication request and/or historical data collected by one or more devices to identify whether to fulfill the request using ad hoc networking or access points. If an access point is determined to be used, the system and method attempts to identify those access points that can best fulfill the request and then attempts to use such access points to fulfill the request.

Many computer systems communicate using wireless network communications defined by the 802.11 family of specifications. Wireless communication under 802.11 may be made via either of two types of networking. One type of networking uses a conventional access point that operates as a base station to receive communications from one or more devices and forward the communications to another device, or to a network such as the Internet, local area network or both. Another type of networking is referred to as ad hoc networking, in which two wireless devices communicate with one another without the need for a separate access point. In this form of networking, each communicating computer handles the networking functions to allow the two computers to communicate.
To use wireless networking, the user of a computer system specifies an access point or a computer system to use for wireless communications and begins communicating with that access point or computer system. If an access point is specified that has access to a network such as the Internet, communication may be made via the network. In both cases, communications may continue for as long as desired, provided both devices remain in range to one another and the quality of the wireless communications is sufficient.
If the user does not know of an access point, the user may request that the user's computer system scan for an access point. The computer system may then scan for all access points across the various frequencies that access points use, listening for a beacon that some access points will periodically broadcast to advertise their presence. The beacon may include the name of the access point to use as a reference.
When the computer system is in an automobile, access point discovery and use is much more complex. There may be thousands of access points available along a route being traveled, though the user may not know of any of them. In some cases, by the time the user could scan for an access point, receive the names, select one and begin communicating using it, the automobile may have traveled out of range of the access point.
If the user of the network is an application program, the process can be automated to occur more rapidly so that there is at least a chance that an access point can be located and used before the access point is out of range. However, there are still problems with such an arrangement. The access point scanning and discovery process still takes time, and so by the time an access point is found, much of the time the access point is available can be consumed in the discovery process. Once an access point is discovered, it may not be appropriate for use by the application, for example, because the available bandwidth on the back end of the access point is too low, or the quality of the signal is too erratic to be useful, in spite of the fact that a different application, or the same application under different circumstances, may have been able to use that same access point. There may be multiple access points available at a given location, and determining which one is appropriate for the application by testing each of them just before use would again consume too much of the time the access point is available for use and may not identify issues such as reliability problems.
If the requirements of the application can be met using an ad-hoc network or an access point, it may be possible to try to scan for an ad hoc network to fulfill the request. However, if the automobile is on a residential road in a suburban environment, it may be unlikely that such a network can be located rapidly. In such an environment, if the application requires communication with either an access point or an ad hoc network, it would be desirable to start searching for an access point before searching for an ad hoc network connection.
What is needed is a system and method that can help avoid the discovery process when the need arises to communicate with an access point from a vehicle, thereby leaving more of the time for which a useful access point is available for the purpose desired by the application requesting it; can select the proper access point for the needs of an application; and can determine whether it can be more productive to start searching for an ad hoc network or access point.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for matching capabilities of access points with those required by an application


A method and a device are disclosed for processing available time/phase-dependent primary data sets of a computer tomography of a displaced object, preferably a beating heart, in order to produce an image sequence 3D-recording set records for representing the displacement of an object. The method includes the following steps: calculating and representing of a 3D reference display of any particular orientation in relation to any particular displacement phase of an available present primary data sequence of a CT-scan, determining the desired calculation parameters of the image sequence which is to be calculated, single transfer of the calculation parameter to the calculation process and automatic creation of the entire image sequence with the predetermined calculation parameters.

The technology of computed tomography units is generally known. Reference may be made in this context to two papers entitled "Bildgebende Systeme für medizinische Diagnostik" ["Imaging systems for medical diagnostics"], ISBN 3-89578-002-0, in particular Chapters 5 and 9, and to "Computertomographie" ["Computed tomography"], ISBN 3-89578-082-0, in particular Chapter 3, preferably to Chapter 3.4.
Cardiac computed tomography units that are suitable for the three-dimensional display of the periodic heart movement are likewise described in patent literature. Reference may be made by way of example to the applicant's laid-open patent applications DE 199 57 082 A1, DE 199 57 083 A1, DE 198 42 238 A1, DE 198 42 240 A1, DE 197 40 214 A1 and DE 196 22 075 A1.
The use of such cardiac CT units renders it possible to represent the movement of the heart by making three-dimensional recordings of the heart over the entire course of the movement. That is to say, it is therefore possible to produce an image sequence that displays the movement of the heart three-dimensionally in the manner of a film by juxtaposing a multiplicity of temporally offset 3D image sets.
When viewing such a series diagnostically, the problem arises that the images recorded by the computed tomograph are basically at first available in views which correspond to the patient's longitudinal axis, since this corresponds to the normal infeed direction of the patient couch when making CT recordings. However, it is advantageous for the diagnostic assessment to view a display of the heart in specific preferred directions such as, for example, the "long heart axis", the "short heart axis" or a recording axis that corresponds to the so called "4-chamber view or 5-chamber view".
With the units currently on the market, these recording sequences are produced in the desired viewing mode by respectively producing the individual 3-dimensional recordings of the desired image sequence individually from the primary data of the CT and reproducing them on a monitor, the operator subsequently having to input the desired image parameters such as slice thickness, axis orientation etc. These inputs are used to calculate and store the desired view from the available 3D display in z-direction.
During the conversion process of the image sequence into the desired view, this procedure repeatedly requires the desired recording parameters to be input manually. Thus, in this case the process of reconstructing a 3D recording set of a specific cardiac phase by inputting the desired image parameters, converting the view in accordance with the desired image parameters and subsequently storing this changed 3D recording set is repeated until all the individual phases of the heart have been represented such that an entire image sequence composed of a multiplicity of 3D recording sets with the desired image parameters is subsequently present.
Such a method is complicated and affected by error. Furthermore, this entails a high arithmetic capability that is not mandatory.

Method for processing available time/phase-dependent primary data sets of a computer tomograph of a displaced object to form a three-dimensional image sequence


A magnetic balance type current sensor includes a magnetic balance type current sensor including a magnetoresistance effect element whose characteristic changes owing to an induction magnetic field from a current to be measured flowing through a conductor, a feedback coil configured to be disposed in the vicinity of the magnetoresistance effect element and generate a cancelling magnetic field cancelling out the induction magnetic field, a magnetic shield configured to attenuate the induction magnetic field and enhance the cancelling magnetic field, and a hard bias layer configured to be provided on or above the magnetic shield.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic balance type current sensor utilizing a magnetoresistance effect element.
2. Description of the Related Art
The intensity of a current used for driving a motor in an electric automobile is detected by, for example, a current sensor. As such a current sensor, there is a magnetic balance type current sensor. In the magnetic balance type current sensor, if a current to be measured flows, an output voltage occurs in a magnetic detecting element owing to an induction magnetic field according to the current, and a voltage signal output from the magnetic detecting element is converted into a current and fed back to a feedback coil. In addition to this, an operation is performed so that a magnetic field (cancelling magnetic field) occurring owing to the feedback coil and the induction magnetic field occurring owing to the current to be measured cancel out each other and hence a magnetic field constantly becomes zero. At this time, a feedback current flowing through the feedback coil is subjected to voltage conversion and extracted as an output.
As a magnetic detecting element in the above-mentioned magnetic balance type current sensor, for example, a magnetoresistance effect element such as a Giant Magneto Resistance (GMR) element is used. An example of such a magnetic detecting element is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2000-516714. In such a magnetic balance type current sensor, a magnetic shield is provided that is used for attenuating the induction magnetic field due to the current to be measured and enhancing the cancelling magnetic field.


A drive transmission mechanism in a recording apparatus in which after a drive force transmission gear is meshed with a negative pressure gear, the meshing state of both the gears can be held during maintenance operation irrespective of movement and position of a carriage. When a rib of the carriage kicks a kick portion, a drive force distributing gear (a drive force transmission gear) is released from a pressing force of an idle kicker and slidably moved by being biased by a compression spring. In a notch (cutaway) portion, meshing teeth are meshed with a purge gear (negative pressure gear). By this meshing, when the purge gear starts rotate, even if an idle kicker presses the meshing teeth during rotation, a collar portion suppresses the sliding movement of the meshing teeth, unless the notch portion rotates to a position corresponding to the meshing teeth (a home position), so that the purge gear is not disengaged from the meshing teeth.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a drive transmission switching mechanism in a recording apparatus, such as an ink jet printer, a facsimile and the like, and particularly to a drive transmission switching mechanism for switching to a state for transmitting a drive force of a driving source to negative pressure generating means and to a state for not transmitting it.
2. Description of Related Art
In the past, in recording apparatuses, such as an ink jet printer, a defective discharge occurs because bubbles occur in a printing head during use or ink droplets adhere to the surface of a nozzle. For the purpose of overcoming these problems and restoring a state to a good discharge state, the apparatus is provided with a maintenance device called a purge device. The purge device is designed so that a suction cap is placed over the printing head, and a negative pressure is generated by a pump to suck defective ink from within the printing head. It is known that a driving source, as means for generating the negative pressure, is used in common with a driving source for carrying a recording medium, such as printing paper, to reduce the number of parts and to reduce the cost.
The recording apparatus which uses in common the driving sources for the negative pressure generating means and the recording medium carrying means is provided with a drive transmission switching mechanism for switching the transmission of the drive force to the state where, when the negative pressure generating means is actuated, the drive force of the driving source can be a negative pressure transmitted to the generating means. In the drive transmission switching mechanism, a drive force transmission gear to which the drive force of the driving source is transmitted is selectively meshed with a drive gear of negative pressure generating means (hereinafter referred to as a negative pressure gear) or a drive gear of recording medium carrying means (hereinafter referred to as a carrying gear) whereby the drive force is transmitted to one or both of the gears. The transmission of the drive force to the negative pressure generating means by the drive force transmission gear is accomplished by moving the drive force transmission gear to a position meshed with the negative pressure gear when a carriage, having a printing head mounted thereon, moves to a position at which the printing head is capped by a protective cap provided on the recording apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a capping position).
However, in the above-described conventional drive transmission switching mechanism, in the case where the carriage moves from the capping position to another position, the drive force transmission gear is disengaged from the negative pressure gear even during the operation of the negative pressure generating means. Accordingly, in the case where the carriage is at the capping position, the power supply is turned off during the restoring operation with respect to the nozzle portion, and the user manually moves the carriage to a position other than the capping position during the turning-off of the power supply, the drive force transmission gear is disengaged from the negative pressure gear despite the fact that the restoring operation is not yet finished. Thus, it is difficult to return to the original operating state causing problems with recording by the recording apparatus. Further, in the case where the drive transmission switching mechanism as described above is provided on the color printer having a plurality of printing heads for jetting a plurality of colors of ink drops, when the restoring operation is sequentially carried out with respect to the nozzle portions of the printing heads by a single purge device, the carriage needs to sequentially move the nozzle portions of each of the printing heads to the position opposed to the purge device. Therefore, when the drive force transmission gear is disengaged from the negative pressure gear, it is not possible to smoothly carry out the restoring operation with respect to all the nozzle portions.

Drive transmission switching mechanism for switching between paper feed and print head recovery


Fibers that exhibit good elasticity or extensibility and tenacity, and low modulus are prepared from propylene-based copolymers. The propylene-based copolymers comprise at least about 50 weight percent (wt %) of units derived from propylene and at least about 8 wt % of units derived from one or more comonomers other than propylene, e.g., ethylene. Particularly preferred propylene copolymers are characterized as having 13C NMR peaks corresponding to a regio-error at about 14.6 and about 15.7 ppm, the peaks of about equal intensity. In one aspect of the invention, fibers are subjected to stress-induced crystallization by subjecting the fiber to tensile elongation during draw.

Propylene-based polymers, particularly homo-polypropylene (hPP) are well known in the art, and have long been used in the manufacture of fibers. Fabrics made from hPP, particularly nonwoven fabrics, exhibit high modulus but poor elasticity. These fabrics are commonly incorporated into multicomponent articles, e.g., diapers, wound dressings, feminine hygiene products and the like. While polyethylene-based elastomers, and the fibers and fabrics made from these polymers, exhibit low modulus and good elasticity, they also exhibit a tenacity, stickiness and hand feel which are generally considered to be unacceptable for commercial applications.
Tenacity is important because the manufacture of multicomponent articles typically involves multiple steps (e.g., rolling/unrolling, cutting, adhesion, etc.). Fibers with a high tensile strength are advantaged over fibers with a low tensile strength because the former will experience fewer line breaks (and thus greater productivity). Moreover, the end-use typically requires a level of tensile strength specific to the function of the component. Optimized fabrics have the minimum material consumption (basis weight) to achieve the minimum required tensile strength for the manufacture and end-use of the fiber, component (e.g., nonwoven fabric) and article.
Low modulus is one aspect of hand feel. Fabrics made from fibers with a low modulus will feel "softer", all else equal, than fabrics made from fibers with a high modulus. A fabric comprised of lower modulus fibers will also exhibit lower flexural rigidity which translates to better drapability and better fit. In contrast, a fabric made from a higher modulus fiber, e.g., hPP, will feel harsher (stiffer) and will drape less well (e.g., it will have a poorer fit). Fabrics made from polyethylene-based elastomers feels very tacky and clammy to the skin.
Fiber elasticity is important because it translates to better comfort-fit as the article made from the fiber will be more body conforming. Diapers with elastic components will have less sagging in general as body size and shape and movement vary. With improved fit, the general well being of the user is improved through improved comfort, reduced leakage and a closer resemblance of the article to cotton underwear.
Accordingly, interest remains high in a polymer that exhibits good elasticity and tenacity and low modulus when in the form of a fiber, and articles made from such fibers.

Propylene-based copolymers, a method of making the fibers and articles made from the fibers


A portable folding seat has a fabric seat supported in an open position by support rods and a rigid canister. In an open position, the canister functions as a pedestal for the seat and is removably affixed to a mounting surface. The folding seat may be folded into a retracted position such that the fabric seat is completely enclosed within the canister. A removable cap is provided to close the top opening of the canister when the folding boat seat is in the retracted position.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a folding seat. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable, folding seat suitable for use on open-deck boats.
2. Description of Related Art
Seats of various types and configurations are well known in the art. Similarly, folding seats and chairs of various designs are also well known. On boats, such as open-deck boats used primarily for fishing and recreational purposes, boat chairs typically comprise a hard seat base and back rest structure, often covered with padding. Such seat structures are typically supported by a pedestal, and are rotatably mounted to the deck of a boat. A common means of mounting said pedestal to the boat deck comprises a rod extending vertically downward from the seat structure which is received within a mounting bracket on the deck of the boat.
On boats designed primarily for fishing, especially vessels commonly referred to as "bass boats," seats are positioned toward the bow of the boat for use during fishing. However, when the boat is underway, standard seats may obstruct the visibility of the boat driver. While some existing seats are removable from their deck mounting, frequently there is no safe or secure position in which to stow them while the boat is underway.
During the fishing process, it is often desirable to move about the deck of the boat. The large size of existing boat seats of the prior art reduce available deck space and may make such movement inconvenient or even dangerous. Moreover, due to the nature of existing boat seats, such seats are typically exposed to sunlight and weather for extended periods of time. Such exposure can damage and significantly reduce the usable life of such seats.
Open-deck fishing boats, as described herein, are often used by fishermen who compete in fishing tournaments and/or other events. Sponsors and/or other parties frequently seek to achieve advertising exposure by prominently displaying their names, logos or marks during such events, or at other similar times. One of the most prominent features of a fishing boat upon which names, logos and/or marks can be displayed is the seat. However, materials and construction of such prior art seats do not readily lend themselves to such display.