A decorative illuminating mobile apparatus includes a support member that has an engaging surface that fits a generally flat adjacent anchoring surface such as a ceiling, floor, wall or the like. A first swivel member extends away from the support member. A plurality of separately rotatable appendages are connection sequentially together by a series of addition swivel members that space each appendage a part from another adjacent appendage and away from the support member engaging surface. This arrangement stacks the rotatable appendages vertically so there is a highest appendage and a lowest appendage with a plurality of appendages therebetween for example. At least some of the appendages include a light source that is powered by electricity. An electrical supply is provided for illuminating each light source, the electrical supply including rotational light electrical supply connection at the swivels. At least a plurality of the appendages have two rotational connections that are spaced apart along the length of the appendage to ensure a non-coaxial rotation of each appendage relative to its adjacent appendages.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to kinetic wind driven mobiles that include a luminair for providing useful indirect room lighting. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved decorative illuminating light mobile apparatus that includes a support member affixable to a floor, wall, ceiling, or the like, a first swivel that extends away from the support member, and a plurality of serially stacked and connected appendages that are independently rotatable with respect to an adjacent appendage in a non-axial fashion. At least some of the appendages include a light source that is powered by electricity. At least a plurality of the appendages have two rotational connections that are spaced apart along the length of the appendage.
2. General Background
Kinetic art has been around since the turn of the century. The artist Alexander Calder invented what has commonly been called the mobile. A mobile can be defined as a decorative, three dimensional art object mounted in a hanging position and is free to move in any of its planes. The mobile has pleased countless amounts of people with its ability to transform itself into an infinite amount of configurations holding ones interest the same as the sight of clouds on a lazy summer day.
The effect can also be quite soothing and almost mesmerizing because it transforms itself gracefully with the slightest breeze.
Patents have issued for mobiles and artistic sculptures having a series of independently rotating arms some of which carry light emitting sources (e.g. candles).
One mobile is a design patent to Blake (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 229,576 issued 1973), which shows a "candle chandelier mobile" in which a calder-type mobile includes a number of somewhat independently movable, laterally extended arms (e.g. two or four), each of which carries at least one candle at the end of the arm or candles at both ends of each arm. Presumably the moving candles would create changing patterns of light on the ceiling, if there was a feature that was built into the design that would cause it to move with ambient air currents. In the '576 patent, a mechanical chandelier device uses S-hooks to form connections between each of a plurality of beams wherein the lowest beam has a counterweight in one embodiment and wherein each beam supports a candlestick at one end. In a second embodiment, there are two beams that are connected with a cable that is pinned or bolted to brackets that attach to horizontal beams having candlesticks at each end. The arms of the design are made of nothing more than metal rods with little surface area to catch the wind, and there is no provision to shield the candle flame from being extinguished from the wind necessary to move the arms of the mobile. It is unlikely that this device could be moved to change shape with anything other than a direct and steady human touch.
The novelty and desirability of producing light patterns on a ceiling using electric lights was noted in the patent to Cilurzo (U.S. Pat. No. 2,818,770 issued in 1958), which discloses the use of such a light inside a container with a lens at its upper end. Cilurzo also suggest a combined use of a plurality of such "mood" lights "mounted together on a standard by swivel means" (col. 4, lines 21+). This design relies on a fixed lens mounted next to the light source in the same way that a movie projector is configured.
A support for holding candles and the like is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. D 275,627. In the '627 patent, hooks attach one ring to another ring so that a plurality of rings are spaced vertically apart. Each ring carries a support that can hold a plant or candleholder.
A mobile ornament is disclosed in U.S. Pat. D 171,594 wherein one of the members is an elongated triangular shaped appendage that supports other articles from its two end portions with cables.
A lighted fiberoptic mobile is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,047. In the '047 patent, the mobile has objects or characters attached to its appendages and can emit active (twinkling or sequencing) colorful light. This is accomplished by utilizing optic fibers to transmit light from a light source in the mobiles central housing to objects or characters or a given location on the appendages. The light is made active and colorful at the output end of the optic fibers by placing a light influencing slide between the light source and the input end of the revolving optic fibers that are routed from the appendages and are grouped together in front of the light source. Four arms extend radially from a central hub. Each of the arms carries a single star. The stars are at the same elevation and the stars do not support additional portions of the mobile. This differs from the present invention in that the present invention uses a series of vertically stacked and separated appendages each of which carries a light source and each of which rotates 360 degrees with respect to the other appendages in a non-coaxial fashion.
Other patents possibly relevant to the present invention include U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,645 entitled "Illuminating Earring with Coaxial Conductor Arrangement". The '645 patent includes a light emitting diode (LED) mounted upon a base. A battery containing cases electrically and mechanically connected to the base through a hollow shaft and conductor coaxial arrangement dimensioned to pass through a hole in a pierced ear so that current flow between the LED and the batteries takes place only through the hole in the ear when the earring is worn and operational.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,818,770 issued to V. F. Cilurzo provides a "Abstract Pattern Lamp Projecting Means".


A first apparatus in an optical communications network, the first apparatus comprises a transmitter; a receiver; a first MAC; and a first oDSP coupled to the transmitter, the receiver, and the first MAC and configured to communicate a message via a dedicated C&M channel with at least one of the first MAC, a second MAC in a second apparatus in the optical communications network, or a second oDSP in the second apparatus. A method comprises receiving an FS message comprising a PLOAM field, the PLOAM field contains oDSP-related C&M information, and the oDSP-related C&M information comprises a message type ID field and a Message_Content field; reading the message type ID field; and deciding, based on the message type ID field, whether to read the Message_Content field.

Optical communications networks are networks that use light waves, or optical signals, to carry data. Light sources such as lasers generate optical signals; modulators modulate the optical signals with data to generate modulated optical signals; and various components transmit, propagate, amplify, receive, and process the modulated optical signals. Optical communications networks implement WDM and other forms of multiplexing to achieve high bandwidths. Optical communications networks implement data centers, metropolitan networks, PONs, longhauls, and other applications.

Communication in passive optical networks (PONs) related to digital signal processing for optical signal (oDSP)


A manually manipulatable tool for removing a fecal impaction, the tool is adapted for insertion into a patient's rectum to engage and penetrate the impaction. The tool is fitted with flexible, arcuately configured elements collapsible at least partially during insertion into the rectum and penetration of the fecal impaction, withdrawal of the tool deploying the elements to exert traction on the impaction thus facilitating withdrawal of at least portions of the impaction. A body member of the tool is preferably elongated and can optionally be provided with a longitudinally extending lumen for introduction of an enema solution concurrently with or independently of impaction removal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to tools for removal of fecal impactions and particularly to such a tool configured for ease of useage and safety of operation for rapid and reliable removal of a fecal impaction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Patients often present in clinical settings with impacted stools that can only be evacuated spontaneously with extreme difficulty if at all. Such blockages are typically referred to as fecal impactions and result from the inability to spontaneously empty the rectum of accumulated stool. A fecal impaction occurs due to excessive and continuing fecal mass accumulation in the rectal vault such that the large and growing fecal bolus cannot be readily passed through the anus. The impaction worsens as additional stool is produced and typically hardens with drying of distal portions of the impacted stool, thereby creating an increasingly uncomfortable and potentially dangerous emergency condition. Medical intervention is often required for removal of the impaction from the rectum especially once the density and mass of the accumulating stool precludes passage spontaneously.
While fecal impactions can occur in otherwise healthy individuals, those suffering from certain medical conditions including neuromuscular diseases and severe debilitation as well as those in the general geriatric population are susceptible to the spontaneous development of fecal impactions. Accordingly, fecal impaction is a commonly encountered condition in patients not only presenting in an emergency situation at a medical facility but also for patients hospitalized for other conditions.
Current clinical practice typically relies on repeated insertions of a finger of a medical practitioner through the anus and into the rectum of a patient for removal of the impaction. Practitioners called upon to accomplish this task include nurses, paramedics, medical technicians as well as physicians. As presently practiced, a clinician inserts a gloved finger through the patient's anus and into the rectum in an effort to manually dislodge the stool mass either entirely or in fragments. The gloved finger probes the fecal mass in an effort to break up the mass followed by retrieval of fragmented portions of the mass. The patient may become capable of spontaneous defecation once a sufficient portion of the mass has been removed manually. Removal of such sufficient portions or of the entire mass usually necessitates repeated manual interventions coupled with supplemental use of one or more fluid enemas. Hospital admission may be required for more intensive efforts to free an impaction.
Manual manipulation of an impacted fecal mass is subject to failure since utilization of a single, gloved finger weighs against application to the impaction of a mechanical advantage sufficient to relieve the condition. A finger is simply not configured to grasp the fecal mass or to gain attachment thereto due to the shape of a finger and the inability to frictionally engage the mass. Probing of the fecal mass with the finger of a clinician involves blind sweeps and stirring motions that are not easily directed advantageously and thus can prove ineffective. Patient discomfort is often increased by attempts of the attending clinician to curl the inserted finger in an effort to improve connection with the fecal mass. This flexion motion, though essential to the effort to grasp a portion of the fecal mass, causes further distention of an already distended bowel. Pain thus unavoidably accompanies inefficiency during attempts to remove the impaction and often results in the necessity to abort the procedure. Once an ineffective manual procedure is discontinued, hospitalization for repeated enema treatment becomes necessary with reliance then being placed on hydrodynamic dissolution of the impaction.
Such manual techniques while imperfect are commonly used in spite of the existence in the prior art of devices of varying complexity intended to address the task of fecal impaction removal. Examples of such devices include the apparatus disclosed by Klingenstein in U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,726, the disclosed apparatus comprising a shaft having flexible spines that can be bowed away from the shaft to engage the fecal mass after insertion into a patient's rectum. Smith, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,037, discloses a fecal impaction removal device comprising a plunger assembly adopted for introduction into the rectum of a patient and having prongs intended to engage an impacted fecal mass. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,912, Whitaker discloses a device insertable into the rectum followed by extension of a hinged scoop-like element intended to capture a portion of an impaction for removal. Sourwine, in U.S. Pat. No. 833,759, discloses a double loop handle connected to a distal and proximal dilator as well as expandable blade elements intended to permit more ready insertion and engagement of the impaction. Sims, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,448,158, discloses blades disposed closely along a shaft for insertion into the rectum with spreading of the blade after insertion to engage the fecal mass. The patents to Sourwine and Smith further disclose use of central channels in the respectively disclosed devices for introduction of enema solutions while said devices are contained within the rectal vault.
While fecal disimpaction devices have previously been suggested in the art, the art still experiences a need for a simple, inexpensive, safe and efficacious tool for removal of fecal disimpactions, the fecal disimpaction tool disclosed herein meeting these needs long-felt in the art through provision of a tool having distal and proximal dilators facilitating insertion into and withdrawal from the anus of a patient as well as flexible, arcuately configured finger-like elements formed of a flexible though non-elastic material collapsible against a central shaft during insertion and opening once within the rectal vault to engage the fecal mass for removal. The fecal disimpactor of the invention is shown to produce the functions and advantages thus referred to as is shown and described herein.


Opposite ends of a first film-like damper with a plurality of air vents defined therein at a given position are wound respectively on first and second takeup shafts, and a drive wire is coupled to the first and second takeup shafts. A wire has an end directly coupled to the drive wire at substantially intermediate position between the first and second takeup shafts. The other end of the wire is connected to a manually operable knob. When the knob is manually turned, the wire directly displaces the drive wire in the direction indicated by the arrow A or B, moving the film-like damper.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a damper mechanism for use in an automotive air-conditioner, which includes a film-like damper having air vents defined therein and opposite ends wound around first and second takeup shafts, respectively.
2. Description of the Related Art
Air-conditioners for use on motor vehicles such as automobiles comprise a blower unit, a cooler unit, an a heater unit. Such air-conditioners have an air-mixing damper for mixing hot air and cold air to determine the temperature of air to be introduced into a passenger's compartment and a mode-selecting damper for selecting one of air flow modes "VENT", "FOOT", and "DEF".
Those dampers have conventionally comprised plate-like dampers. However, damper mechanisms comprising film-like dampers have recently been used instead of plate-like dampers. One conventional damper mechanism comprising film-like dampers is shown in FIG. 23 of the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIG. 23, a film-like air-mixing damper 3 has opposite ends wound around drive and driven shafts 1, 2 which serve as takeup shafts, and also has a plurality of air vents 4 defined therein at a given position and extending over a predetermined length. The drive shaft 1 has an end fixed to a drive pulley 5 which is connected to the shaft of a stepping motor 6. The driven shaft 2 supports on one end thereof a driven pulley 7 on which a tension spring (not shown) acts. A wire 8 is trained around the drive pulley 5 and the driven pulley 7.
A film-like mode-selection damper 9 is similar in structure to the film-like air-mixing damper 3. Those parts of the film-like mode-selection damper 9 which are identical to those of the film-like air-mixing damper 3 are denoted by identical reference numerals, and will not be described in detail.
When the stepping motor 6 is energized, the drive shaft 1 is rotated in unison with the drive pulley 5 in one direction, winding or unreeling the film-like air-mixing damper 3. At the same time, the driven shaft 2 is rotated by the driven pulley 7 which is rotated by the wire 8, unreeling or winding the film-like air-mixing damper 3. The film-like air-mixing damper 3 is thus moved until the air vents 4 in the film-like air-mixing damper 3 reach a desired position. The air vents 4 thus positioned varies the ratio at which hot air and cold air are mixed, thereby adjusting the temperature of air introduced into the passenger's compartment.
When the driven shaft 2 winds up the film-like air-mixing damper 3 by rotation of the drive shaft 1, since the diameter of the roll of the film-like air-mixing damper 3 wound on the driven shaft 2 progressively increases, the angular displacement of the driven shaft 2 becomes smaller than the angular displacement of the drive shaft 1. Conversely, when the drive shaft 1 winds up the film-like air-mixing damper 3, since the diameter of the roll of the film-like air-mixing damper 3 wound on the drive shaft 1 progressively increases, the angular displacement of the driven shaft 2 becomes greater than the angular displacement of the drive shaft 1, resulting in a torque variation. To absorb such a torque variation, the stepping motor 6 is required to be of a large size capable of generating a torque sufficiently greater than a minimum drive torque which is necessary to rotate the drive and driven shafts 1, 2. Furthermore, a process of controlling the stepping motor 6 is considerably complex in order to position the air vents 4 in an accurate location for desired temperature adjustment.

Damper mechanism for automotive air-conditioner


A track lining machine comprises a machine frame supported on the track by undercarriages, a track stabilization assembly vertically adjustably mounted on the machine frame and engaging the track, the track stabilization assembly comprising a vibrator for generating oscillations of the track engaged by the assembly, a reference system comprising a lining reference base, a lining drive linking the track stabilization assembly to the machine frame for displacing the track engaged by the track stabilization assembly in a direction extending transversely to the track into a position controlled by the lining reference base, and a spacing member interposed between the lining drive and the track stabilization assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a machine for lining a track, which comprises a machine frame supported on the track by undercarriages, a track stabilization assembly vertically adjustably mounted on the machine frame and engaging the track, the track stabilization assembly comprising vibrating means for generating oscillations of the track engaged by the assembly, a reference system comprising a lining reference base, and lining drive means linking the track stabilization assembly to the machine frame for displacing the track engaged by the track stabilization assembly in a direction extending transversely to the track into a position controlled by the lining reference base.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,079 discloses a machine of this general type. It comprises a machine frame extending in a longitudinal direction and supported on the track by undercarriages and a track stabilization assembly mounted on the machine frame, which incorporates vibrating means for imparting to the track oscillations extending horizontally and perpendicularly to the track, i.e. to the longitudinal direction. The track stabilization assembly comprises adjustable roller clamps and flanged wheels wherebetween the track rails are firmly held while the track is oscillated. Hydraulic lining drives controlled by a lining reference system directly link the track stabilization assembly to the machine frame. These drives are accordingly subjected to the high vibration forces generated by the track stabilization assembly.
A continuously advancing track working machine for compacting ballast and lining the track is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,767. Two such track stabilization assemblies are mounted on the machine frame between the undercarriages supporting respective ends of the machine frame on the track, and a measuring device is arranged on the machine frame between the assemblies for measuring the transverse track displacement.

Franz Plasser Bahnbaumaschinen-Industriegesellschaft m.b.H.


An improved wave plate and associated method are provided. The wave plate includes a plurality of layers of uniaxial crystal including at least one layer of positive uniaxial crystal and at least one layer of negative uniaxial crystal. The thicknesses of the layers are configured to achieve both a desired retardance and an insensitivity to angle of incidence.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to wave plates and, more particularly, to wave plates including uniaxial crystals for achieving an insensitivity to angle of incidence.
2. Description of Related Art
Wave plates are devices that alter the polarization of optical signals when optical signals pass through the wave plate. Birefringent materials, which are refractive materials typically used for wave plates, exhibit an anisotropic index of refraction or velocity of propagation of optical signals passing therethrough. The index of refraction varies for different polarizations, and the relative amount of phase shift of the polarized optical signals through the birefringent material is generally referred to as retardance. At any specific wavelength, the phase difference is governed by the thickness of the wave plate.
Birefringent materials separate incoming signals into orthogonally polarized beams that propagate with their polarization directions along different axes, namely extraordinary and ordinary axes. Uniaxial birefringent materials include a single axis (i.e., extraordinary axis) that defines a direction along which signals propagate differently than along the remaining two axes (i.e., ordinary axes). Some uniaxial birefringent materials, such as quartz, include a symmetry axis (i.e., optic axis) having two principal indices of refraction: a slow axis and a fast axis. The axis along which the material has the smallest refractive index is the fast axis, such that optical signals polarized parallel to the fast axis travel faster than optical signals parallel to the slow axis. With respect to positive uniaxial crystals, such as quartz, the extraordinary axis is the slow axis, while the ordinary axis is the fast axis. In contrast, the extraordinary axis of negative uniaxial crystals, such as sapphire, is the fast axis, while the ordinary axis is the slow axis.
The design of optical systems that employ polarization wave plates can be unduly limited by changes in wave plate performance with angle of incidence of the incoming signals. In general, systems employing a wave plate require the retardance to be constant independent of angle, otherwise system performance is degraded as the angle of the optical signal changes. However, the amount of retardation of a conventional wave plate changes as the angle of the optical signals passing through it changes. This effect can sometimes be made small by using a true zero-order wave plate, but these wave plates are extremely thin and delicate if made of conventional birefringent crystals. Multi-order or compound pseudo zero-order wave plates are made of crystals with more reasonable (practical) thicknesses, but the range of angles they can be used over is undesirably limited by the angular dependence of their retardance.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide an improved wave plate capable of compensating for angular sensitivity. In addition, it would be advantageous to provide a wave plate capable of achieving a desired retardance. Furthermore, it would be advantageous to provide a wave plate that is durable and practical for various applications over a greater range of angles.


The disclosure relates to a system having an image capturing device and an object-oriented motion detector with a motion analysis algorithm that detects motion of a subject and signals the image capturing device responsive to the motion of the subject.

Cameras and/or other image capturing devices may require a user to perform certain procedures to take a photograph. However, some portions of the picture taking process may be automated in certain image capturing systems. For example, some cameras may have auto-focus and auto-exposure-adjustment.
Cameras may be used to capture images of objects in motion. For example, a user may wish to capture an image of a baseball at the moment that a bat strikes it. Accordingly, the user may employ a camera to photograph such an image by activating the camera at the appropriate moment. This approach is risky, however, because the user may not adequately estimate the appropriate moment. Unless the user activates the camera at exactly the correct moment, the image captured may not be the desired moment of impact.
Alternatively, the user may improve the chances of capturing the desired moment by taking a series of pictures. For example, a user may employ a video camera to capture a series of images before and after the bat contacts the baseball. The images thus captured may then be analyzed to determine at what moment the ball changed direction. Accordingly, the appropriate image may be selected. However, while this approach improves the likelihood that the correct image will be captured, it requires time for analysis, more storage space (e.g. film or electronic storage), and additional energy consumption. In addition, a video sequence may not contain the best moment because the shutter of a video camera is released at equal time intervals and has no correlation with the state of the moving object being captured.

System and method for employing an object-oriented motion detector to capture images

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present invention is a method for scheduling of plural packet data flows transmitted via a single transmission resource, wherein each data flow uses a retransmission scheme providing for retransmission of packet data of a respective flow for which a positive acknowledgment of delivery of packet data to a destination was not obtained. The method includes allocating one of the plural data flows to the single transmission resource for transmission, the data flow comprising a number of data packets, first detecting that a number of data packets has been transmitted via the transmission resource, and in response thereto, generating an acknowledgment message including the acknowledgment status of each of number of data packets and allocating another one of the plural data flows to the single transmission resource.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for scheduling of plural packet data flows.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the recent progress of communication technology, transmission techniques adopting a transmission of information in units of packets have become more and more popular. The packet data are transmitted via a transmission resource, i.e. a physical channel, such as a radio channel. Note that a radio channel may also be represented by a time slot of a radio channel in case of a TDMA transmission principle.
The more users access the common single transmission resource, the more important becomes the question of controlling access of individual users to the common resource, as each user generates a corresponding packet data flow to be transmitted.

Method for scheduling of plural packet data flows


A route display device is provided. The device includes an acquirer installed in a movable body and configured to acquire a position and a direction of the movable body. The device also includes a route memory configured to store a route with a plurality of waypoints. The device also includes a display unit including a display screen having a linear route display section and configured to linearly display the route in a vertical axis of the linear route display section and positional relation of either one of the movable body and one or more targets with respect to the route in left-and-right directions of the route in a horizontal axis of the linear route display section. The device also includes a display controller configured to control a display position of either one of the movable body and the target with respect to the route.

Conventionally, route display devices (navigation devices) which display set routes and positions of moving bodies on the routes have been known. Generally, a route display device displays a route on a map or a nautical chart, and displays a mark indicating a moving body on the map or the like.
However, in a case where only this kind of display method is used, the following problems arise. Specifically, since a route is set curvy in many cases, it is difficult to grasp traveling status on the route at a glance. Moreover, when a long distance route is set, in order to grasp the traveling status on the route, it is required to zoom out the map or the nautical chart to display the entire route. On the other hand, in order to check the situation around the movable body, it is required to zoom in the map or the nautical chart. Thus, the zooming operation needs to be performed frequently, and this has been a stress to the operator.
JP3410028B and JP3381511B disclose arts which solve these problems. In JP3410028B and JP3381511B, a set route and another route which is the set route with its shape converted into a linear shape are displayed, and a position of a movable body on the route is displayed. Hereinafter, these arts are described in detail.
JP3410028B discloses a navigation device for automobiles. The navigation device can be set with predetermined passing points (waypoints) between a departing position and a destination. The navigation device can display a route including the waypoints and another route indicating the same route described above, with the waypoints arranged linearly. The navigation device also displays an estimated time of arrival at each waypoint, a period of time required to travel between adjacent waypoints, and the like. Moreover, when a traveling schedule is delayed, the navigation device notifies it to an operator by changing a display color of a mark indicating the position of the automobile.
JP3381511B, similarly to JP3410028B, discloses a navigation device for automobiles which can display a route and another route which is the same route with its shape converted into a linear shape. The navigation device displays details and a start time of a schedule on the linear route. Moreover, once the automobile goes off the route, the navigation device reroutes and displays a new route on a map.
Moreover, although it is not configured to perform a voyage of a movable body, JP2004-030457A discloses a handheld terminal which displays a stopover and the like linearly and also displays associated information. Specifically, in the handheld terminal of JP2004-030457A, a departing station, a transfer station, and a destination are arranged linearly, and a train situation, an arrival time, a fare, and the like are displayed therearound.
However, in JP3410028B, JP3381511B, and JP2004-030457A, only the traveling situation on the route, the estimated time of arrival, the schedule and the like are displayed on the linear-shaped route, and information that is required in traveling on the route is not displayed sufficiently.
Specifically, in JP3381511B, although the navigation device reroutes when the movable body goes off the route, there is no description regarding a method of displaying, on the linear route, the situation that the movable body is off the route and how to fix the situation. Especially, in the fields of ships and aircrafts, since there is no concept of moving along the street as automobiles do, it is hard to know that the ship or the aircraft is off the route. Therefore, when the ship or the aircraft goes off the route, notifying this situation is particularly needed. Moreover, in JP3410028B, JP3381511B, and JP2004-030457A, positional relation of other target(s) with the linear route is not displayed.
Due to such situations, the operator has been required to frequently check both the route displayed on the map and the linearly-converted route.
Moreover, in JP3410028B, JP3381511B, and JP2004-030457A, circumferential information of the route (e.g., a landmark and a shop) is not displayed on the linear route. Therefore, also in this regard, the operator has been required to frequently check both the surrounding of the route displayed on the map and the linearly-converted route, and there has been a room for improvement.


The present invention discloses a replication-deficient pseudoinfective virus belonging to the Flaviviridae family that lack the capsid gene, where the replication-deficient pseudoinfective virus propagates only in cells expressing the capsid or capsid, prM and envelope protein of the flavivirus. The present also discloses the method of producing such viruses on a large scale and the use of these pseudoinfective viruses as vaccines for preventing diseases caused by infections of humans or animals by the viruses belonging to this family.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the fields of molecular biology, virology and immunology. In general, the present invention discloses construction of replication-deficient viruses belonging to the Flaviviridae family and their use as vaccine in prevention of diseases caused by viruses belonging to this family. More specifically, the present invention provides replication-deficient flaviviruses or pseudoinfectious flaviviruses (PIV aka RepliVAX) and discloses its use as preventive vaccines against flavivirus-associated diseases.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Flavivirus genus of the Flaviviridae family contains a variety of important human and animal pathogens and have been classified into four distinct antigenic complexes based on differences in reactivity in immunological tests. Generally, the flaviviruses circulate between avian or mammalian amplifying hosts and mosquito or tick vectors.
The flavivirus genome is a single-stranded capped RNA of positive polarity lacking a 3′ terminal poly(A) sequence. It encodes a single polypeptide that is co- and post-translationally processed into viral structural proteins, C, prM/M, and E, forming viral particles, and the nonstructural proteins, NS1, NS2A, NS2B, NS3, NS4A, NS4B and NS5, required for replication of viral genome and its packaging into infectious virions (Chambers, 1990). Virions contain a single copy of viral genomic RNA packaged into a C protein-containing nucleocapsid, surrounded by lipid envelope holding heterodimers of M and E proteins. In contrast to many other enveloped viruses, interaction between nucleocapsid and envelope spikes is not very specific and M/E-containing envelope can efficiently form around nucleocapsid derived from heterologous flavivirus, demonstrating limited level of homology in capsid sequence (Lorenz, 2002). Alternatively, expression of prM and E in the absence of C can lead to formation of subviral particles (SVPs), containing no RNA or C protein (Mason, 1991).
PrM/M-E cassettes producing subviral particles have been the basis of several vaccine candidates that are known in the art. These vaccine candidates include subunit (Konishi, 1992; 2001; 2002; Qiao, 2004), DNA (Phillpotts, 1996; Kochel, 1997; Schmaljohn, 1997; Colombage, 1998; Aberle, 1999; Konishi, 2000; Konishi, 2000; Kochel, 2000; Davis, 2001), and live-vectored (Mason, 1991; Konishi, 1992; Pincus, 1992; Fonseca, 1994; Pugachev, 1995; Colombage, 1998; Kanesa, 2000; Minke, 2004) vaccines. However, these vaccines have serious disadvantages. For instance, the subunit vaccines are safe to use but difficult to produce large quantities; the DNA vaccines are poorly immunogenic, and the viral vectored vaccines suffer from lack of potency in the presence of vector immunity.
Therefore, in spite of a great concern about flavivirus-associated diseases and continuing spread of the flaviviruses into the new areas, antiviral therapeutics have not yet been developed for these infections, and a very limited number of approved vaccines have been produced to-date. Inactivated viral vaccines (INVs) have been licensed to prevent tick-borne encephalitis (TBEV) and Japanese encephalitis (JEV). However, like other inactivated viral vaccines, these vaccines have low limited potency and require multiple vaccinations. Despite these drawbacks the Japanese encephalitis and tick-borne encephalitis INVs have an advantage of good safety records. The only licensed live-attenuated vaccine (LAV) for a flavivirus is the widely utilized live-attenuated vaccine based on the yellow fever virus (YFV) 17D strain that was developed by serial passaging of the wild type Asibi strain of yellow fever virus in chicken embryo tissues. Although this live-attenuated vaccine is considered very safe and effective, cases of yellow fever in vaccinees have been reported, including a recent case in a US military recruit (Gerasimon, 2005). Furthermore, this vaccine is not recommended for use in infants, pregnant women or the immunocompromised individuals due to adverse effects, including vaccine-associated encephalitis.
However, the development of the reverse genetics systems for flaviviruses has led to the production and designing of new types of live-attenuated vaccine, based on rational attenuation of these viruses. This new class of vaccines includes yellow fever virus 17D-based chimeras, in which the yellow fever virus prM-E-encoding genome fragment cassette has been replaced with the prM-E-cassette derived from heterologous flaviviruses (Chambers, 1999). Similar chimeric virus-based approach was applied for dengue- and TBE-based backbones (Pletnev, 2002; Huang, 2003). In most cases, chimeric flaviviruses demonstrate a highly attenuated phenotype and are capable of eliciting efficient protective immune response and protect against following infection with viruses, whose structural proteins are expressed by the chimeras (Monath, 2002). Effective vaccination with these chimeric vaccine candidates appears not to be prevented by pre-existing "vector" immunity (Monath, 2002), which has interfered with potency of recombinant viral vaccines based on other viral vectors. Further, although chimeric flaviviruses might provide a reasonably universal approach to producing new vaccines, there are concerns that the chimeras themselves might be pathogenic (Chambers, 1999) at least in the immunocompromised individuals, or that pathogenic chimeras might arise, since mutations have been detected during the process of propagation of these viruses (Pugachev, 2004).
Another promising direction in vaccine development is based on creating of irreparable deletions in flavivirus genome that make productive virus replication in the vaccinated host either a less efficient or an impossible event. In the latter case, viral genomes encoding the entire replicative machinery, but lacking, for instance, the C-coding region, can be delivered for in vivo immunization either as in vitro-synthesized RNA, capable of self-replication (Kofler, 2004; Aberle, 2005), or, probably, in DNA form (under control of the RNA polymerase II promoters or as in vitro-synthesized RNA, capable of self-replication (Kofler, 2004; Aberle, 2005). Direct immunization with in vitro synthesized defective RNA genomes, which specifies the production of SVPs in the absence of a complete viral replication cycle, has been demonstrated to be safe and effective in producing protective immunity (Kofler, 2004; Aberle, 2005). However, there may be significant obstacles in producing an RNA-based vaccine candidate, due to synthesis, stability, and delivery issues.
Thus, prior art is deficient is deficient in a safe, potent and effective type of vaccine that can be used against diseases caused by infection with viruses belonging to the Flaviviridae family. The present invention fulfills this long-standing need and desire in the art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Pseudoinfectious flavivirus and uses thereof

The Board of Regents of The University of Texas System


Provided is a rotating electric machine the interior of which can be suitably cooled. A coolant supply means of the rotating electric machine supplies a cooling fluid to the bottom of a tubular member from a location closer to one end of a rotary shaft than the bottom, and the bottom of the tubular member is equipped with through-holes that run in the axial direction of the rotary shaft, with the cooling fluid being supplied to the interior of the tubular member through the through-holes.

According to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-324901 (hereinafter referred to as "JP 2003-324901 A"), several structures for cooling the inside of the rotary electric machine are disclosed (see FIGS. 1 through 11). In some of the disclosed structures, an oil coolant is supplied radially outward of the rotary electric machine from the inside thereof, such that an oil coolant is circulated through the inside of a shaft 28 (see FIGS. 7 and 8).


Space of a data storage memory of a data storage memory system is reclaimed by determining heat metrics of data stored in the data storage memory; determining relocation metrics related to relocation of the data within the data storage memory; determining utility metrics of the data relating the heat metrics to the relocation metrics for the data; and making the data whose utility metric fails a utility metric threshold, available for space reclamation. Thus, data that otherwise may be evicted or demoted, but that meets or exceeds the utility metric threshold, is exempted from space reclamation and is instead maintained in the data storage memory.

Computer-implemented data storage systems typically comprise various types of data storage in which data is stored on behalf of host computer systems. Storage controls control access to data storage media and memories in response to read and write requests. The storage controls may direct the data in accordance with data storage memories and devices such as cache, non-volatile storage, RAID (redundant array of independent disks), JBOD (just a bunch of disks), etc. arranged into various redundancy, access speed and security levels.
As an example, an International Business Machines Corp. (IBM®) ESS (Enterprise Storage Server) such as a DS8000™ has redundant clusters of computer entities, cache memories, non-volatile storage, etc., called "central electronics complexes" or "CECs".
Within a data storage system, fast memories may be employed as cache used to store data or instructions that were accessed recently, are accessed frequently, or are likely to be accessed in the near future. Data stored in cache memories can be accessed quickly instead of being fetched or recomputed, saving both time and resources.
Cache memories can be provided in multiple levels. For example, a cache data storage system may comprise both a "first" or "primary" cache memory and a "secondary" cache memory. Typically, the first cache memory has faster access and is more costly per unit of data than a secondary cache memory, and the secondary cache memory has greater storage capacity than the first cache memory. For example, a first cache memory comprises DRAM ("dynamic random access memory"), while the secondary cache comprises flash memory solid-state drives (SSDs) such as "Flash_Cache" (TM International Business Corp.). When accessing data, a computing system or device may first look for data in the first cache memory and, if the data is not present there, look for the data in the secondary cache memory. When data is not available in either memory, it typically is accessed from the major data storage which comprises slower access speed data storage such as RAID, JBOD, etc. When data is read, it typically remains in the major data storage and is copied to the first cache memory and/or the secondary cache memory. If read data in the first cache memory is not accessed promptly or frequently, it may be demoted to the secondary cache memory or evicted. If read data in the secondary cache memory is not accessed promptly or frequently, it may be evicted. When writing data, a computing system or device may write data to the first cache memory. If write data in the first cache is not accessed promptly or frequently, this data may be demoted to the secondary cache memory. If data is not accessed promptly or frequently from the secondary cache memory, it may be demoted to the slower access speed data storage such as RAID, JBOD, etc. Alternatively, write data may be written to the major data storage as soon as possible after being received by the data storage system.
Typically, a LRU (least recently used) algorithm is employed to demote data to the next lower level or to evict data from the first cache memory or the secondary cache memory.
In some memories, such as a secondary cache memory, the data is stored in log-structured fashion (written sequentially, requiring a log to determine where data is stored on a logical basis) as pages in large extents of data. The data pages are reviewed under a LRU algorithm, and the least recently used pages are invalidated. To reclaim space, the system will select the log-structured extents (LSEs) that have the most invalidated pages and compact the valid pages, relocating them in new LSEs, leaving one or more LSEs free. The relocations incur a large number of I/O (input/output) relocation operations, as many LSEs need to be read and one or more LSEs written at each iteration of the reclamation process.

Selective space reclamation of data storage memory employing heat and relocation metrics

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A disk storage system is disclosed, in which disk storage units themselves can autonomously transmit data to complement storage of data between the disk storage units without provision of an exclusive device for managing those disk storage units. The disk storage system includes a disk array system. The disk storage units are connected to one or more host computers and to at least two other disk storage units, the disk storage units comprising a data transmission means for executing the processing of transmission of data between them and the other disk storage units, and a connecting adapter retaining management information of data having been subjected to transmission processing by the data transmission means.

Large enterprises typified by banks, securities companies, telephone companies, and so on tend to reduce expenses required for operation, maintenance, and management of a computer system and a storage system by configuring the computer system and the storage system such that computers and storages, which have been conventionally dispersed in various placed, are concentrated in a data center, and it is specifically demanded that mainframe/high-end storage system support a channel interface for connection to several hundreds or more of host computers (connectivity) and storage capacity of several hundreds or more tera-bytes.
Furthermore, progress in information-oriented society has no bounds to a rapid increase in amount of communication and data. However, due to an unpredictable increase in amount of data, physical extension increases cost and labor required for operation, maintenance, and management of a storage system.
Hereupon, free system configurations meeting with various needs have recently been demanded of as a storage pool by needs of users, and among these configurations, it has been demanded to construct a virtual volume so as to make effective use of a vacant capacity between a plurality of storages.
Also, for the sake of maintenance, a demand has been made for extendability, such as flexibility or the like, enabling construction of highly reliable configuration modules, a clustered system, a highly available system produced by a system construction technique to combine them, and a system meeting customer's needs and enabling easily accommodating extension and configurational modification, and operativity of compressing a total storage capacity and facilitating extension and configurational modification.
Conventionally, there has been a structure, in which a plurality of host computers and disk storage units are connected to each other through a switch router as shown in, for example, FIG. 23 and a plurality of host computers and disk storage units are connected to each other through fiber channels as shown in, for example, FIG. 24.
Under present circumstances, extension of volume is not achieved until setting is modified and corrected on a user's side, but restrictions due to operating system (OS) and middle ware lead to damage to open quality and extension on a user's part, and in order to perform a flexible and dynamic modification on time, cost is small in operation when such modification is autonomously enabled on a storage unit side.
However, a conventional disk array system shown in FIG. 23 involves a problem that since correspondence between host computers and disk storage units is fundamentally 1 versus 1 and maintenance must be performed in respective units when a single disk storage unit is an obstacle to cause incapability of storage of data, or insufficiency of capacity causes incapability of storage of data, there is a need of modifying an address to a separate unit to change a data storage place, and a configuration shown in FIG. 24 involves a problem that while disaster recovery such as backup and restoration of a virtual volume is demanded in order to prevent a data center from being paralyzed due to sudden accidents, an increase in standing operating cost and complexity in management are made unavoidable by newly installing an increased groups of disk storage units and management units for managing them, or storage switches.

Storage system with disk array controllers that independently manage data transfer


A rewritable thermosensitive recording medium having a recording layer, the transparency of which reversibly changes depending on the temperature thereof. Further, the recording layer contains a matrix material and an organic low-molecular-weight material dispersed in the matrix material as main components thereof. Moreover, an alicyclic dicarboxylic acid compound is added to the organic low-molecular-weight material dispersed in the matrix material. Furthermore, by adding the alicyclic dicarboxylic acid compound to the organic low-molecular-weight material, the eutectic point of the organic low-molecular-weight material and the alicyclic dicarboxylic acid compound becomes higher than the melting point of the organic low-molecular-weight material. Additionally, in spite of the fact that the amount of the alicyclic dicarboxylic acid compound to be added to the organic low-molecular-weight material is small, the difference between the eutectic point of the organic low-molecular-weight material and the alicyclic dicarboxylic acid compound and the melting point of the organic low-molecular-weight material is much larger than those obtained in cases of conventional recording materials. Consequently, the range of temperature, to which the recording layer should be heated for changing a state thereof from an opaque state to a transparent state, can be considerably enlarged without reducing the opacity of the recording layer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a rewritable thermosensitive recording medium provided with a recording layer, the transparency of which reversibly changes depending on the temperature thereof. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved thermosensitive recording medium that can considerably enlarge the range of a transparent state in terms of the temperature, namely, the range (hereunder referred to simply as a transparency temperature range) of temperature, to which a recording layer should be heated for changing a state thereof from an opaque state to a transparent state, and moreover can hardly cause reduction in contrast between a portion of an image corresponding to an object (hereunder sometimes referred to simply as an object image portion) and the remaining portion (hereunder sometimes referred to simply as a ground image portion) thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,268,413 and 4,695,528, a conventional thermosensitive recording medium of this kind has a structure in which a recording layer containing a thermoplastic resin (for example, polyvinyl chloride) and organic low-molecular-weight materials (for instance, a higher fatty acid) dispersed in the thermoplastic resin as principal components thereof is formed on a support.
Further, this conventional thermosensitive recording medium is made by dexterously utilizing the property of the recording layer that the light absorption characteristic of the recording layer (namely, the intensity of light scattered by the recording layer) varies reversibly depending on the temperature thereof. Namely, in case of this recording layer, there are two state conversion temperatures T.sub.1 and T.sub.2 (incidentally, T.sub.1 <T.sub.2), which are higher than a specific temperature T.sub.0 close to room temperature. When this recording layer is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the temperature T.sub.2, this recording layer becomes translucent. Thereafter, when this recording layer is cooled to the temperature T.sub.0 or below, this recording layer becomes whitely opaque. Thus the intensity of light scattered by the recording layer increases and the recording layer reaches a maximum light extinction state (namely, a maximum opacity state). In contrast, when this recording layer is heated to a temperature, which is equal to or higher than the state conversion temperature T.sub.1 and lower than that T.sub.2, the intensity of light scattered by this recording layer decreases and thus this recording layer enters a transparent state. Further, such a transparent state is maintained when this recording layer is cooled to the temperature T.sub.0 or below. Moreover, the maximum light extinction state and the transparent state of this recording layer can be maintained at the specific temperature T.sub.0 or below. Furthermore, the state of this recording layer can be reversibly changed between these states. Additionally, an opaque portion of this recording layer (namely, a portion put in the maximum light extinction state) can be distinguished from a transparent portion of this recording layer (namely, another portion put in the transparent state). Therefore, by setting one of these states as a base state (for example, by setting the maximum light extinction state as a base state corresponding to a white ground portion of an image), the conventional thermosensitive recording medium can be used as a rewritable recording medium.
Incidentally, hereinafter, the temperature range between the state conversion temperatures T.sub.1 and T.sub.2 will be sometimes referred to as the transparency temperature-range because the recording layer can be put in the transparent state by heating the recording layer to any temperature of this temperature range.
Such a conventional thermosensitive recording medium, however, has a drawback in that the transparency temperature range is very narrow, namely, 2 to 4 degrees or so in case of employing the centigrade scale and thus the control of the temperature thereof is extremely difficult when the whole or a part of the recording layer, which is in a whitely opaque state (namely, a milky white state), is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the temperature T.sub.1 and lower than the temperature T.sub.2 to put the recording layer in the transparent state.
Then, in order to enlarge the transparent-state realization temperature-range, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,948 has proposed a reversible thermosensitive recording medium in which at least one higher fatty acid having 16 or more carbon atoms and at least one aliphatic saturated dicarboxylic acid or a derivative thereof are employed as the organic low-molecular-weight materials. Further, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,934 has proposed another reversible thermosensitive recording medium in which at least one higher fatty acid having 16 or more carbon atoms and at least one aliphatic saturated dicarboxylic acid having 20 or more carbon atoms are employed as the organic low-molecular-weight materials.
Thereby, the transparency temperature-range can be indeed enlarged a little.
However, as is apparent from data on the transparency temperature ranges of comparative examples (to be described later), the enlarged transparency temperature ranges are 20 degrees or so in case of employing the centigrade scale and thus are yet too narrow to completely eliminate the foregoing drawback of the conventional thermosensitive recording medium. Moreover, this results in that the conventional thermosensitive recording medium has another drawback as will be described hereinbelow. Namely, although it is theoretically possible that a transparent portion representing an object is formed in whitely opaque portions representing white grounds in such a thermosensitive recording medium by using a heating means such as a thermal head, the transparency temperature state is narrow yet and thus it is practically difficult to set a heating temperature of the heating means such as a thermal head within the transparency temperature range at a high speed. Therefore, it is usual to perform a method in which the thermosensitive recording medium is first inserted between heating rollers preliminarily heated to a suitable temperature within the transparency temperature range and as a result, becomes uniformly transparent and thereafter a portion of the recording layer is selectively put into the whitely opaque state by using the heating means such as the thermal head preliminarily heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the temperature T.sub.2 and as a result, a whitely opaque portion representing the object is formed in portions representing transparent grounds or bases.
Thus the image formed and recorded by effecting such a method is a reverse image (namely, what is called a negative pattern) of an ordinary picture draft. Therefore, the conventional thermosensitive recording medium has another fatal drawback in that the application thereof is limited to a special technical field.
Moreover, in case of enlarging the transparency temperature range by employing the reversible thermosensitive recording medium proposed in the official gazettes of the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,917,948 and 5,085,934, as is apparent from data on the transparency temperature range described in the official gazettes of the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,917,948 and 5,085,934, if a mixing rate of the amount of the aliphatic saturated dicarboxylic acid to that of the higher fatty acid is low, the transparency temperature range is enlarged only a little.
In contrast, as the mixing rate of the amount of the aliphatic saturated dicarboxylic acid to that of the higher fatty acid increases, the transparency temperature range becomes larger. On the other hand, as the mixing rate of the amount of the aliphatic saturated dicarboxylic acid increases and that of the higher fatty acid decreases, the opacity of the object image portion of the recording layer is liable to decrease (see TABLE 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,934). Therefore, the conventional thermosensitive recording medium has another drawback in that the sufficient contrast between the whitely opaque portion and the transparent portion, which correspond to the object image portion and the ground image portion, respectively, cannot be obtained. The present invention is accomplished to eliminate the foregoing drawbacks of the conventional thermosensitive recording medium.

Rewritable thermosensitive recording medium


A method for heating a catalyst includes maintaining engine speed at a high rpm when the engine is started. The high rpm is maintained even if the driver shifts the transmission out of neutral. Engine speed is lowered when there is an indication that the driver wishes to drive off, such as the driver releasing the brake pedal. Maintaining the high rpm during the time between shifting the transmission out of neutral and providing an indication that drive off is desired contributes to additional catalyst warm up. The high rpm may be disabled if the catalyst temperature is sufficiently high or if the vehicle is parked on a slope, for example.

Vehicle emissions legislation prescribes certain limits for the emission of noxious gases in the exhaust stream of an internal combustion engine. Typically a catalytic converter is provided in the vehicle exhaust system, and operates to chemically convert noxious gases to relatively benign alternatives.
A catalytic converter requires a minimum temperature for effective operation, and this is achieved in a short period by heat transfer from the hot exhaust stream. When a vehicle starts in relatively cold conditions, the effective operation of the catalytic converter may be delayed. It would be desirable to reduce this delay so as to minimize emissions of untreated exhaust gas upon cold start.

Controlling internal combustion engine emissions


A sheet metal member thickening method according to the present invention comprises the steps of rotating a disc-shaped sheet metal member held between rotating dies, and pressing a first forming roller and a second forming roller subsequently against a periphery thereof while rotating it, thereby forming a base plate and a thickened peripheral wall thereof. A first forming step comprises plural small steps, including a previous small step in the first forming step and a post small step following the previous one. Between the previous small step and the post small step, a radius of curvature of the annular bottom surface of the forming surface of the first forming roller is greater than that of the annular bottom surface of the forming surface of the first forming roller employed in the previous small step, and an opening angle between a pair of annular forming surfaces of the forming surface of the first forming roller employed in the post steps is smaller than that between the pair of annular forming surfaces of the forming surface of the first forming roller employed in the previous small step.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet metal member integrally having a peripheral wall surrounding a base plate, such as in piston components and a drive plate employed in the automatic transmission of an automobile, and a method of thickening a peripheral wall thereof. Specifically, the present invention relates to the employment of a thin disc-shaped sheet metal material, thereby forming a peripheral wall whose thickness is several times the thickness of the disc-shaped sheet metal material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a technique for roll forming a sheet metal member integrated with a peripheral wall which is slightly thicker than a base plate, and surrounding the base plate by means of a forming roller, is often employed. However, it has been impossible to provide a method of thickening the peripheral wall of the sheet metal member so as to be several or more times the thickness of the base plate by employing the conventional roll forming method, and it has not been thought of to form the sheet metal member having a peripheral wall whose thickness reaches a value which is several times more than that of the base plate.
Therefore, in the sheet metal member integrally having a peripheral wall surrounding the base plate, such as in piston components, the sheet metal member having the peripheral wall whose thickness is increased several times the thickness of the base plate is conventionally formed by a cutting process. However, the yield on material in the cutting process is low, thereby causing an uneconomical state.
The present invention has been developed in view of the above mentioned circumstances. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet metal member integrally having a peripheral wall, surrounding the base plate, whose thickness is increased so as to be several times the thickness of the base plate.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of thickening a peripheral wall of the sheet metal member, enabling the thickness of the peripheral wall to be increased so that it is several times the thickness of the base plate.

Sheet metal member having a peripheral wall and method of thickening the peripheral wall thereof


Portable information terminal equipment having a function to perform the informing process at the time of reception in cooperation with a connecting section driving mechanism as well as a function to enable the open/close movement of the upper and lower units through one-touch operation making use of the connecting section driving mechanism. Depending on informing modes, a motor drive circuit drives a motor under the control of a controller on receipt of a call or a message to apply a driving force to the open/close mechanism of a hinge unit. Thereby, the portable information terminal equipment is folded/unfolded, that is, the posture of the portable information terminal equipment is changed, and a user is informed of the receipt of the call or the message. Besides, the portable information terminal equipment performs conventional informing processes, such as ringing, light emitting, message or image display and the like, in combination with the open/close or rotative operation.

Folding cellular phones have been in widespread use. A general folding cellular phone is comprised of an upper unit having a display, etc. and a lower unit having an operating section, etc., which are rotationally connected to each other with a hinge so as to be foldable (openable and closable). Besides, there has been proposed a folding cellular phone provided with a hinge driving mechanism. The folding cellular phone has a built-in hinge driving mechanism including a motor and the like to enable the opening/closing or rotational movement of the upper and lower units round the axis of a hinge unit.
The aforementioned folding cellular phone with a hinge driving mechanism has a switch to drive the motor for opening/closing the upper and lower units so that a user can open/close the units at the flip of the switch. However, the functions of the folding cellular phone have not been fully developed, and the cellular phone is insufficient in usability and the like. Much the same is true for various portable information terminals, having two bodies (units) connected to one another by means other than a hinge.
On the other hand, portable information terminal equipment such as a folding cellular phone informs a user of the receipt of a call or an e-mail message, etc. in a prescribed manner, as for example by a ring tone, flashing lights, vibrations, and a display of characters or images.
There is found folding portable communication equipment having an upper body and a lower body, which are immediately opened when receiving a transmission in Japanese Patent Application laid open No. 2002-281116. In the folding portable communication equipment, when a reception detecting means detects the receipt of a transmission, a control means controls a drive means to open the upper and lower bodies. However, the folding portable communication equipment does not perform the informing process at the time of reception in cooperation with the drive means to improve usability.


Disclosed herein are a plastic molded type semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes a semiconductor element having electrodes provided on a surface thereof, a dambar formed along the outer periphery of the surface of the semiconductor element, a plurality of leads respectively electrically connected to the electrodes and provided inside the dambar but electrically independent of the dambar, and a mold resin body within a region surrounded by the dambar and formed so as to expose parts of the leads.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a plastic molded type semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing it.
2. Description of the Related Art
With rapid advances in ICs and memory cards, there has recently been a demand for thin ones as plastic molded type semiconductor devices installed in the cards. As methods of realizing the thin-type semiconductor devices, a vast number of proposals have been made. One example is shown in FIGS. 25(a) and 25(b).
In FIGS. 25(a) and 25(b), reference numeral 1 indicates a plastic molded type semiconductor device and reference numeral 2 indicates a semiconductor element. The semiconductor element 2 has one surface to which a chip support 4 is bonded and fixed by an insulating adhesive tape 3. Further, leads 6 are electrically connected to the semiconductor element 2 through gold wires 5 connected to both sides of the chip support 4. The plastic molded type semiconductor device 1 is formed by sealing the semiconductor element 2 with a mold resin 7 so that the upper surface of the chip support 4 and the bottom face of the semiconductor element 2 are exposed.
According to such a structure, since the bottom face of the semiconductor element 2 is not covered with the mold resin 7 in particular, the semiconductor device can be made thin correspondingly.
However, if consideration is given to an area for the implementation of the semiconductor device 1 on a printed board even though the thickness of the plastic molded type semiconductor device 1 can be thinned, an area much wider than the size of the semiconductor element 2 is required as its implementation area because the leads 6 extend long toward the outside of the mold resin 7. Thus, if the implementation of the plastic molded type semiconductor device 1 on the printed board is taken into consideration, then problems to be improved still remain to realize denser packing.

Plastic molded type semiconductor device


A boron-nitride-containing material of multi-component system is obtained at a low cost by heating a mixed powder containing a boride and an oxide in a nitrifying atmosphere, whereby a part or the whole of the oxide is reduced with the element bonded to boron of the boride to convert the raw materials to one or more kinds of an oxide having less bonded oxygen, an acid nitride, a nitride, a carbide, and a boride and also boron nitride is formed. A sintered product of a boron-nitride-containing material is obtained by packing a mixed powder containing borides in a heat-resistant mold and heating the packed powders in a nitrifying atmosphere while restraining the packed powders by the mold. The sintered product is obtained in which neither expansion nor deformation occurred and no cracks formed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a boron-nitride-containing material and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Hexagonal boron nitride is known to be a chemically stable material which has a high heat conductivity, an excellent electrical insulating property, and an excellent lubricating property and does not react with a molten product of iron, copper, nickel, zinc, gallium, arsenic, glass, cryolite, etc. Also, hexagonal boron nitride is stable in air until 950.degree. C. and in an inert gas or nitrogen gas atmosphere until 2,200.degree. C. Also, hexagonal boron nitride has the feature that machining such as cutting, grinding, etc., can be easily performed as in the case of metals. Boron nitride itself or material containing boron nitride has been supplied for various uses by utilizing that feature.
The uses as the powder of hexagonal boron nitride, has been used as additives for plastics, lubricants, mold releasing agents for aluminum die casting and a glass molding, etc. Also, sintered hexagonal boron nitride, has been used for insulating parts, heat-resistant parts, crucibles for molten metals, brake rings for horizontal continuous casting, heat-emitting members, setters for sintering the powder moldings of metals or ceramics, mold materials, etc. Also the application thereof for refractories for casting, such as upper nozzles, immersion nozzles, etc., has been attempted.
As a method of synthesizing the powder of hexagonal boron nitride having a wide use as described above, the following methods are known.
(1) A method of synthesizing the powder thereof by heating borax and urea to a temperature of at least 800.degree. C. in an ammonia atmosphere as described in JP-B-38-1610 (the term "JP-B" as used herein means "examined Japanese Patent Publication"). PA1 (2) A method of synthesizing the powder thereof by heating a mixture of boric acid or boron oxide and calcium phosphate in an ammonia atmosphere as descried in JP-B-42-24669. PA1 (3) A method of synthesizing the powder thereof by heating boric acid and a nitrogen-containing compound (urea, melamine, dicyandiamide, etc.) to a temperature of at least 1600.degree. C. as described in JP-B-48-14559. PA1 preparing a mixed powder including a boride and a first oxide, the boride consisting of boron and another element; PA1 heating the mixed powder in a nitriding atmosphere to reduce the first oxide by said another element in the boride, to a boron nitride and at least one selected from the group consisting of a second oxide having less bonded oxygen than the first oxide, a oxynitride, a nitride and a boride, resulting in a boron nitride containing material. PA1 preparing a mixed powder including at least two borides; and PA1 heating the mixed powder in a nitriding atmosphere to produce a boron nitride and a compound which comprises elements bonding to boron in said at least two borides. PA1 preparing a mixed powder including a boride and Al; and PA1 heating the mixed powder in a nitriding atmosphere to produce a boron nitride and AlN.
Also, a boron nitride powder synthesized at a low temperature of 1400.degree. C. or less contains unreacted materials, boron oxide, and B--N--O series intermediates in addition to boron nitride (BN) and also the boron nitride powder has an insufficient crystallization and is chemically unstable. Thus, the crude boron nitride powder is once cooled and washed with water followed by drying, and subjected to a heat treatment again for purification and crystallization. As one of these methods, a method of mixing the powder with a carbonaceous powder and heating the mixture to a temperature of at least 1500.degree. C. in an ammonia gas is known as described in JP-A-61-256905 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means "unexamined Japanese patent application").
The boron nitride thus obtained has a difficult sintering property and does not shape a sintered product by itself. Thus, for producing a sintered product of boron nitride, it is general to add a sintering aid to such a boron nitride powder and apply thereto a hot press and, for example, a method of adding a borate of an alkaline earth metal to boron nitride and hot-pressing the mixture is known as described in JP-B-49-40124.
For the production of a sintered material of a boron-nitride-containing complex material, a hot press method is applied. For example, a method of obtaining a BN--TiB.sub.2 --AlN three-component series container for metal vapor deposition by hot-pressing a mixed powder composed of titanium diborate, boron nitride, boron carbide and metallic aluminum in vacuum is disclosed in JP-A-62-139866.
However, the hot-pressing method is problematic in that the production efficiency is poor and the method can be applied to a simple-shape part only and the industrial utilization of the method is limited. For example, it is very difficult to produce a long product such as a thermocouple protective tube of a boron-nitride-containing complex material.
Thus, a technique capable of normal-pressure sintering of these parts by using a complex material of boron nitride and other material(s) as such parts and also, at the same time, improving the sintering property thereof has been developed. For example, JP-A-61-132564 discloses a method of CIP molding a mixed powder of BN, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, and B.sub.2 O.sub.3 and sintering the mixed powder in a non-oxidizing atmosphere at normal pressure. In this way normal-pressure sintering is applied to the boron-nitride-containing complex material capable of being normal-pressure sintered as described above, the fault (the low productivity and the restriction on the shape of the parts) in the hot press method can be avoided.
Also, a method wherein a phenol resin is added, as a binder, to a boron-nitride-containing material, the material is molded, and thereafter the material is bonded with residual carbon obtained by thermal decomposition is known. For example, JP-A-3-268849 discloses a method of adding from 8 to 15% by weight a liquid phenol resin to a mixed powder of boron nitride and partially stabilized zirconia followed by kneading and decomposing the phenol resin by sintering the kneaded product at a temperature of from 1,000.degree. C. to 1,200.degree. C. to obtain an immersion nozzle for continuous casting.
Now, as described above, for the hexagonal boron nitride material, the market expansion of the powder or the sintered product has been expected owing to its specific characteristics, and the practical use thereof has proceeded owing to the technology as described above but the market thereof has not progressed at present as expected. The main cause thereof is that the hexagonal boron nitride powder is expensive.
The reason that the hexagonal boron nitride powder is expensive is that since the purity of boron nitride as the product is low because borax and boron oxide as the raw materials are softened in the course of the reaction during which they become glassy, which hinders the nitriding, and also the nitriding and the crystallization cannot be simultaneously carried out. Therefor, for the production of the hexagonal boron nitride powder, many steps are required as described above and the production steps become troublesome.
Thus, a method of forming hexagonal boron nitride in the sintered product without using the expensive hexagonal boron nitride powder has been proposed. For example, JP-A-4-325461 disclosed that by molding a mixed powder of silicon and B.sub.4 C and heating the mixed powder in a nitrogen gas atmosphere, a sintered product containing BN and C formed by the nitriding of B.sub.4 C, SiC formed by the carbonization of silicon, and Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 formed by the nitriding of silicon can be produced.
Also, JP-A-5-201771 discloses a method of forming a boron-nitride-containing sintered product by reaction sintering. Practically, using at least one material selected from the group consisting of silicon, SiB.sub.4, SiB.sub.6, AlB.sub.2, AlB.sub.12, CaB.sub.6, silicon oxide, and alumina as the starting powders, a molding having a shape resembling the final shape is obtained by casting and the molding is nitrided for from 5 to 100 hours, at a temperature of from 1,000.degree. C. to 1,400.degree. C., and a nitrogen gas pressure of from 500 to 1,000 mbar or is nitrided for from 1 to 20 hours at a nitrogen gas pressure of from 2 to 20 bar. By forming Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 from silicon and forming a nitride of an element bonded to boron and BN from the boride (SiB.sub.6 shapes Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 and BN, and AlB.sub.12 shapes AlN and BN) in the nitriding step, Si.sub.3 N.sub.4, BN, and AlN are formed. After the nitriding step, by sintering the products formed in the temperature range of from 1,500.degree. C. to 1,900.degree. C., .beta.'-sialon is formed from Si.sub.3 N.sub.4, AlN, and previously added Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 is formed and silicon oxynitride (Si.sub.2 N.sub.2 O) is formed from Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 and previously added SiO.sub.2, whereby a sintered product composed of .beta.'-sialon, acid silicon nitride, and boron nitride as the main components is obtained. In this case, it is described that, the carbon content of the boride is preferably required to be 0.1% or less and also B.sub.4 C is excluded from the objects. Also, it is described that oxide(s) such as alumina, silicon dioxide, mullite, zirconia, yttrium oxide, YAG (yttrium-aluminum garnet 3Y.sub.2 O.sub.3.5Al.sub.2 O.sub.3), calcium oxide, and magnesium oxide may be added to the starting materials, but B.sub.2 O.sub.3 must not be present. Also, it is limited that these oxide additives are not reacted with the remaining starting powders in the nitriding step and during the sintering treatment.
Both JP-A-4-325461 and JP-A-5-201771 disclose that a sintered product of the complex material containing silicon nitride and boron nitride is obtained by the nitriding of silicon and the boride(s) as described above.
Also, it is known that the powders are formed prior to the nitriding step as described in the patent publications mentioned above and, in particular, it is described in the latter that a shaped material having a shape resembling the final shape is formed by casting the mixture of the starting materials and then applying nitriding to the shaped product.
As described above, the market expansion of the hexagonal boron nitride material is expected as the powder or the sintered product thereof owing to the specific characteristics of the material but the market thereof has not expanded as expected by reason that the hexagonal boron nitride powder is expensive.
In regard to the problem, as to the sintered product, a method of using a boride powder in place of the hexagonal boron nitride powder as a raw material and forming a hexagonal boron nitride by the nitriding of a molding containing the boride powder to produce a complex material containing boron nitride is proposed in JP-A-4-325461 and JP-A-5-201771 as described above, and if an inexpensive boride is obtained, the method leads the solving of the cost problem described above.
However, the method is applied to a limited composition system only to obtain the sintered material of the complex material containing silicon nitride and boron nitride by the nitriding of metallic silicon and a boride and does not project the various possibilities of a boron-nitride-containing complex material.
Also, when various reactions given in JP-A-4-325461 and JP-A-5-201771 are carried out, a problem occurs in that the product exhibits a volume increase of from 20 to 80%. That is, as described in the patent publications, when the starting materials are molded and the foregoing reaction is performed on to the molding in the state of the free surface thereof, the molding is expanded and deformed and in this step, cracks occur in many cases. Accordingly, it is difficult to obtain a sintered product capable of being used practically as it is.


A lighting arrangement for presentation of a first object is disclosed. The arrangement comprises an accent lighting assembly and a decoration lighting assembly. The accent lighting assembly is arranged to provide illumination of the first object, has at least one accent light characteristic, and comprises at least one accent light generating device. The decoration lighting assembly is arranged to provide background lighting of the first object, has at least one decoration light characteristic, and comprises at least one decoration light generating device. The arrangement also comprises at least one sensor, arranged to detect a distance between the sensor and a second object and to generate a signal value representing the distance, and a controller arranged to receive the signal value from the at least one sensor and to adapt the accent light characteristic and the decoration light characteristic based on the signal value. Corresponding use, method and computer program product are also disclosed.

When a product is to be presented, for example to a customer or potential buyer, parameters not directly linked to the product itself may create visible effects in relation to the product presentation. For example, a particular background color or pattern may enhance the colors of the product itself and make the product stand out from the environment. Another example is that light having particular wavelengths and/or having a particular angle of incidence in relation to the product may also create effects of the product display.
A problem related to product presentation is that a parameter setting that is optimal for attracting distant viewers of the product on display may not be optimal for presenting the product to a nearby viewer and vice versa.
Therefore, there is a need for improved and more dynamic lighting arrangements (i.e. systems) for product presentation.

Dynamic lighting arrangement for product presentation


An object oriented programming (OOP) framework includes an Order Management (OM) mechanism that tracks sales orders received and matches them to warehouse inventory, a Sales Order (SA) mechanism that processes sales orders, and a Purchase Order (PU) mechanism that processes purchase orders. The OM mechanism comprises a category of OOP classes that provide the primary interface between the framework classes and underlying business objects that provide accounting functions and warehouse management interfaces, and the SA and PU mechanisms comprise respective categories of OOP classes that keep track of sales orders received and purchase orders issued.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to data processing systems and, more particularly, to object oriented programming systems and processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer programs have typically been developed using procedural programming techniques. Procedural programming techniques emphasize structuring the data processing procedures to which data values are subjected. Efforts to reduce long software development times and high software maintenance costs have resulted in structured programming techniques that attempt to reuse blocks of programming code. For example, tasks or processes that must be repeated can be written as system programming routines or program library functions. Program developers then provide an application program to accomplish a desired result using calls to the system routines and library functions.
System routines and library functions provide only a limited reduction in software development time-and maintenance costs. Once a procedural application program is written, it is relatively difficult to incorporate new features or additional data types. There are many processes in an application program that cannot be easily extracted from program code and reused. Additional data types often cannot be inserted into procedural program code without extensive rewriting of the original program code. Thus, even if new features in a program can be implemented using processes similar to those already in the application, the programming for such processes must be largely duplicated, with slight modifications, to provide the new features. This increases program development time. Moreover, if such programs must operate with other applications, it can be difficult to ensure that the changes will interface properly.
Another problem confronting program developers is that of providing program versions capable of operating with the various platforms used by customers. The different platforms encompass different operating systems as well as different companion applications with which the application must interface. With respect to operating systems, for example, a program developer might have to write different versions for satisfactory operation under the "Windows 95" operating system by Microsoft Corp., the UNIX system, the "MacIntosh" operating system by Apple Computer Corp., or the "OS/2" operating system by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM Corporation). In a similar fashion, a program developer might want to provide the ability to interface with application programs such as word processor programs, spreadsheet programs, and the like, meaning that the program developer must provide the ability to accept files (and produce files) in different file formats. Different platforms use different data formats and procedural operations, so program developers must provide different program versions or routines for each platform.
Object oriented programming (OOP) techniques encapsulate, or bind together, data and the methods that operate on them. This permits program development to more closely model real-world systems for problem solution and breaks up program development efforts into smaller, more manageable pieces. OOP programs are developed around object classes that have attributes, also called data values, and methods, also called functions. Although OOP techniques have done much to improve program development efficiency, such techniques still require a great degree of code generation on the part of application developers and limit program reuse among different classes.
OOP frameworks have been developed in an effort to further reduce program development costs. A framework is a set of OOP classes that embodies a predetermined set of attributes and methods for providing a common group of behaviors. An application program developer utilizes the framework and builds upon it, adding subclasses and attributes and modifying methods depending on the problem to be solved. Such changes to the framework are typically referred to as framework extensions, and are made possible by the OOP notions of inheritance and polymorphism. The challenge confronting framework developers, then, is to arrive at a set of classes and methods that will best provide the desired problem solution and will accept the most likely framework extensions. Thus, the designer of a framework must carefully assess what framework users will most likely need in the way of classes and attributes.
One area in which there is a great need for application program development is in the order processing domain. In particular, many businesses have computerized the functions of order processing. Applications exist, for example, that provide computer controlled order management of sales orders and purchase orders. Many company-specific features are needed for management of order reception, processing, warehouse functions, and tracking of products, all of which are continually changing, so that program development and software maintenance of applications for order processing are critical. Thus, a great deal of cost and effort are devoted to developing and maintaining application programs that perform order processing functions.
From the discussion above, it should be apparent that there is a need for an order processing application program development tool that permits application program developers to more quickly develop and more easily maintain order processing applications. The present invention fulfills this need.

Object oriented technology framework for order processing


The invention relates to an improvement in apparatus and process for the formation of a complex of Lewis acidic or Lewis basic gases in a reactive liquid of opposite character and for the breaking (fragmentation) of said complex associated with the recovery of the Lewis gas therefrom. The improvement resides in forming finely divided droplets of reactive liquid and controlling the temperature, pressure and concentration of said Lewis gas of opposite character to provide for (a) the formation of said complex between said gas and reactive liquid or (b) the breaking of said complex and the recovery of the atomized droplets of reactive liquid.

Many processes in the semiconductor industry require a reliable source of process gases for a wide variety of applications. Often these gases are stored in cylinders or vessels and then delivered to the process under controlled conditions from the cylinder. The semiconductor manufacturing industry, for example, uses a number of hazardous specialty gases such as phosphine (PH3), arsine (AsH3), and boron trifluoride (BF3) for doping, etching, and thin-film deposition. These gases pose significant safety and environmental challenges due to their high toxicity and pyrophoricity (spontaneous flammability in air). In addition to the toxicity factor, many of these gases are compressed and liquefied for storage in cylinders under high pressure. Storage of toxic gases under high pressure in metal cylinders is often unacceptable because of the possibility of developing a leak or catastrophic rupture of the cylinder.
One recent approach to storage and delivery of Lewis acid and Lewis base gases (e.g., PH3, AsH3, and BF3) resides in the complexing of the Lewis base or Lewis acid in a reactive liquid of opposite Lewis character, e.g., an ionic liquid (e.g., a salt of alkylphosphonium or alkylammonium) of opposite Lewis character. Such liquid adduct complexes provide a safe, low pressure method of storage, transporting and handling highly toxic and volatile compounds.
The following reference illustrates a delivery system for Lewis basic and acidic gases from reactive liquids and proposed mechanisms for the formation of Lewis complexes of Lewis gases with reactive liquids and for recovering the gases from the reactive liquids and delivering the respective gases to the onsite facility:
US 2004/0206241 (the subject matter of which is incorporated by reference) discloses a system for storing Lewis base and Lewis acidic gases in a nonvolatile, reactive liquid having opposing Lewis acidity and Lewis basicity. Preferred systems employ the storage and delivery of arsine, phosphine and BF3 in an ionic liquid.

Contact methods for formation of Lewis gas/liquid systems and recovery of Lewis gas therefrom