A diversion device capable of generating a disorientating flash and a disorientating sound without an explosion has a housing with a cavity containing an inert gas, a piston and a powder. The powder creates the flash via ignition after exiting the device. The device also includes a mechanism configured to ensure the powder encompasses the device upon exit and does is not dispersed in a substantially horizontal plane. In addition, the device may include devices capable of creating a disorientating sound as the inert gas escapes the device.

This invention relates to diversionary devices used in a variety of military and law enforcement situations. Specifically, the device provides a mechanism to disorientate an adversary without inflicting permanent damage or harm. The device accomplishes this by producing a disorientating flash of light and a confusingly loud noise. Devices of this sort are often referred to as "stun grenades" or "flash grenades."
Several patents disclose hand held diversionary devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,753 granted to Nixon discloses a "stun grenade" configured to produce non-lethal explosions. The disclosed stun grenade includes an elongated body having a hollow interior with an explosive substance located therein. The stun grenade further includes an igniter fuse attached to the grenade body for creating an ignition spark. The ignition spark causes the explosive substance to explode in a non-lethal manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,654,523 granted to Brunn also teaches a "stun grenade." The stun grenade generates an explosion accompanied by light and/or blaring sound. The stun grenade comprises a housing having an interior cavity defined by a base and a cover. A cartridge including an explosive charge is also located within the housing. The housing further includes a plurality of vents angularly offset from the longitudinal axis of the cavity. The orientation of the vents with respect to the longitudinal axis of the cavity allows for the radial discharge of the explosive. In some embodiments, the explosives are connected to a tear gas container allowing for the dispersal of tear gas when the explosives discharge.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,680 granted to Grubelich teaches a "diversionary device." The disclosed diversionary device includes a housing with an opening. The housing contains a non-explosive propellant and a quantity of fine powder located intermediate the propellant and the opening. The device also includes means of activating the propellant, which in turn, drives the fine powder through the opening. In addition, the device further includes an igniter capable of igniting the fine powder, as the powder travels through the opening in order to create a diversionary flash and bang.
It is an object of the invention to provide embodiments of a diversionary device that provides a large flash and a distracting noise in order to create a diversion.


The prevent invention provides an AC-DC flyback converter and a loop compensation method thereof. The AD-DC flyback converter comprises an isolating transformer, a power switch, and a feed control module. The feed control module includes a compensating circuit, a voltage buffer, and an error amplifier having a first resistor and a second resistor, and a pulse width modulation controller. With the AC-DC flyback converter and the loop compensating method, the system stability can be improved and the loop bandwidth can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related generally to the area of circuit designs, particularly to an AC-DC (Alternating Current to Direct Current) flyback converter and a loop compensation method thereof in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM).
2. Description of Related Art
In the electronic industry, higher performance of high-frequency switching power supply is always demanded. In the prior art, flyback converters are widely used for various low power supplies and power adapters due to simple circuit structure and inherent low cost.
These flyback converters are also referred to as buck-boost converters. An AC-DC flyback converter is derived from a buck-boost converter by adding an isolation transformer. The AC-DC flyback converters are configured for converting the alternating current into the direct current and are widely used in chargers for various portable devices and power adapters. Generally, the AC-DC flyback converters have two working modes, one is discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) and the other is continuous conduction mode (CCM). The AC-DC flyback converters work in the DCM mode for most applications. Thus, the AC-DC flyback converters in the present invention work in the DCM mode except for special cases.
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary circuit diagram of a conventional AC-DC flyback converter 100. The AC-DC flyback converter 100 includes a transformer T which includes a primary winding, a secondary winding, and an auxiliary winding. A controller 102 and a power switch 101 are provided one the side of the primary winding of the voltage transformer T. A rectifier diode D, an output capacitor Gout, an equivalent series resistor Resr of the output capacitor Gout, and a loading resistor Rload are provided on the side of the secondary winding of the voltage transformer T. Two divider resistors Rfb1 and Rfb2 are provided at the side of the auxiliary winding of the voltage transformer T.
When the power switch 101 is turned on upon a pulse width modulation signal sent from the controller 102, an electric current runs through the primary winding of the voltage transformer T, where the voltage polarity of the upper end of the primary winding is positive, and the voltage polarity of the lower end of the primary winding is negative. However, the conducted voltage polarity of the upper end of the secondary winding is negative, the conducted voltage polarity of the lower end of the secondary winding is positive, and then the rectifier diode D is reverse biased to be turned off, thereby the power energy is stored in the voltage transformer T in the form of magnetic energy. When the power switch 101 is turned off, the voltage polarities of the two ends of the primary winding reverse, i.e., the polarity of the upper end of the primary winding is negative, and the polarity of the lower end of the primary winding is positive. The voltage polarities of the secondary winding also reverse, i.e., the polarity of the upper end of the secondary winding is positive, the polarity of the lower end of the secondary winding is negative, the rectifier diode D is turned on, and then the energy stored in the voltage transformer is delivered to the loading resistor Rload. The conversion from AC to DC is achieved.
Furthermore, the divider resistors Rfb1 and Rf at the side of the auxiliary winding are provided for detecting the output voltage and providing a feedback voltage to the controller 102. Under lower power application environment in the prior art, the AC-DC flyback converter generally works on the discontinuous conduction mode (DCM), thereby the output voltage can be adjusted accurately, and some peripheral components with low cost and small size can use to reduce the production cost.
However, equivalent inductance L of the transformer T used in the AC-DC flyback converter 100 is usually larger (e.g., L=1.5 mH). A working frequency of the AC-DC flyback converter is usually from 40 KHz to 200 KHz in order to avoid electromagnetic interference (EMI). In real applications, the bandwidth of the system loop is required to be among ⅕ to 1/10 of the working frequency in order to keep stability of the feedback loop and depress noise interference. In other words, a high performance (stable and low noise) AC-DC flyback converter could be obtained if there is an enough phase margin in the lower unity gain bandwidth of the system loop. However, the AC-DC flyback converter in the prior art usually has a larger bandwidth of the system loop and a lower system stability.

AC-DC flyback converter and loop compensation method thereof


A process for the hydrogenation of substituted aromatic compounds, with particular reference to esters of aromatic carboxylic acids, for example of aromatic esters used commonly as plasticizers in polymers having wide commercial application (see, in particular, esters of phthalic acid and trimellitic acid).

Several processes for the hydrogenation of esters of aromatic carboxylic acids (where the expression "carboxylic acids" is understood to reference both monocarboxylic acids and polycarboxylic acids) to yield the corresponding saturated homologues (i.e., where applicable, mixtures thereof of isomers produced by hydrogenation) have been known now for almost 100 years in the background art. Many of such processes are based on heterogeneous catalysis with active metals and are performed in the liquid or gaseous phase with or without the use of reaction solvents/diluents, exposing the initial aromatic ester and a hydrogen source (almost always a hydrogenating gas, which often but not necessarily is constituted by pure hydrogen) to contact with the active metal catalyst, conducting the consequent exothermic hydrogenation reaction in semi-continuous or continuous conditions.
A common factor of such known processes for hydrogenation of aromatic acid esters is the use of rather high hydrogenating gas pressures during the reaction, especially if the reaction is performed in the liquid phase, and this occurs in most processes used on an industrial scale, in particular if related to scarcely volatile aromatic carboxylic acid esters.
For example, GB 286,201 discloses a reaction of aromatic carboxylic acid esters conducted at temperatures comprised between 120° and 150° C. and at pressures between 25 and 40 bars in the presence of nickel catalysts.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,070,770 notes that the reactions according to GB 286,201 are considered slow and not quantitative, in addition to being limited to the corresponding ethyl esters, and therefore teaches a process for the hydrogenation of dialkyl esters of phthalic acid with alcohols comprising at least 8 carbon atoms, performed at 160-260° C. and at 750 psi (51.7 bar)-5000 psi (344.7 bar).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,027,398 relates instead to the catalytic hydrogenation of dimethyl terephthalate performed at 110-140° C. at 500 psi (34.5 bar)-1500 psi (103.4 bar), in which the initial dimethyl terephthalate is dissolved in dimethyl 1,4 cyclohexane dicarboxylate (which is the saturated product) as reaction solvent.
DE 1 154 096 discloses the hydrogenation of C1-C5 alkyl terephthalate at temperatures comprised between 150° C. and 250° C. and at hydrogen pressures comprised between 20 and 300 atmospheres, with the addition of 10-25% by weight (relative to the terephthalate) of alkyl ester of p-toluic acid and/or ester of 4-methyl cyclohexanecarboxylic acid in the presence of nickel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,334,149 teaches the hydrogenation of molten alkyl terephthalate at pressures comprised between 50 and 500 atmospheres and temperatures comprised between 100° C. and 400° C., preferably 150-275° C., on a fixed bed palladium catalyst.
DE 2 132 547 relates instead to the hydrogenation of aromatic compounds (including benzoic acid esters or phthalic acid esters and isomers) at temperatures comprised between 30° and 250° C. and at pressures in excess of 50 bars with ruthenium catalysts.
DE 28 23 165 teaches the catalytic hydrogenation of esters of aromatic carboxylic acids on a fixed bed of catalyst of nickel, ruthenium, rhodium or palladium, at temperatures between 70° C. and 250° C. and at pressures between 30 and 200 bars in the liquid phase or at the same temperature and at pressures between 1 and 10 bar in the gaseous phase.
WO 99/32427 discloses the hydrogenation of esters and anhydrides of benzene polycarboxylic acids at temperatures comprised between 50° C. and 250° C. at pressures in excess of 10 bar, comprised preferably between 20 and 300 bar, using three different types of catalyst. The reactions exemplified in WO 99/32427 are performed in the liquid phase and at pressures of 100 or 200 bar.
US52869898 concerns a process for the preparation of dimethyl cyclohexane carboxylate by hydrogenation of dimethyl benzenedicarboxylate. The preferred temperature is in the range of 140-220° C. and the preferred pressure range is 50-170 bars absolute. The catalyst employed comprises palladium and a second Group VIII metal. According to the optimum conditions detailed, the reactions are carried out in continuous modus at a pressure of 125.1 bars.
US2005/101800 concerns the preparation of cycloaliphatic polycarboxylic esters by hydrogenating a partial ester of the corresponding aromatic carboxylic acid or of the corresponding aromatic polycarboxylic anhydride, and, thereafter, reacting the resultant cycloaliphatic partial ester with an alcohol to give the sought full ester.
WO 94/29261 reports on the low yields obtained applying the processes described in older patent literature when the hydrogen pressure employed for the hydrogenation of dimethyl terephtalate is lower than about 135 bars absolute. Before this background, WO 94/29261 proposes a continuous process for the manufacture of a cyclohexanedicarboxylate.
WO 2004/046078 concerns hydrogenation of benzenepolycarboxylic acid derivatives to give corresponding cyclohexylderivatives. The most preferred pressures applied exceed 100 or 130 bar, with a maximum of about 300 bar. Preferably, the process is carried out continuously and in the presence of a solvent.
US 57208545 concerns the hydrogenation of novel substrates substrates which are different from diesters of phthalic acid and from triesters of 1,2,4-benzene tricarboxylic acid
It is thus evident that the pressures of hydrogenating gas commonly used in the background art to saturate polycarboxylic acid esters in the liquid phase exceed on average 20-30 bar, often exceed even at least 50 bar, and therefore require an adequate mechanical sizing of the equipment used, which must withstand such pressures, and must be protected adequately against the risk of hydrogen embrittlement.
On this background, in the background art there is the need to provide new processes for the liquid phase hydrogenation of aromatic carboxylic acid esters that do not entail these disadvantages and therefore provide improved or alternative access to the respective hydrogenated products.
This occurs because in recent times cyclohexanecarboxylic esters, particularly esters of hexahydrophthalic acid with C1-C16 alkanols or mixtures thereof, have generated considerable commercial interest as products that can be used potentially to replace at least partially certain phthalic plasticizers that are traditionally used widely in plastic materials but were subjected to restrictions by the European Union in 2007, for example as regards use in toys, in articles for babies and in articles intended for contact with food. Potential risks arising from phthalic plasticizers that are widely used have also been hypothesized for medical articles and devices (blood bags, enteral nutrition kits, etc.). Several phthalic plasticizers, such as for example di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (identified below as "DEHP" and also sometimes termed less specifically in the literature as DOP—di-ocytl phthalate), di-isobutyl phthalate (DIBP), and n-butyl phthalate (DBP), are therefore currently included in the so-called "SVHC List" (Substances of Very High Concern) prepared by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). For this reason, the assessment of replacement of these substances with other alternative ones that do not have toxicological problems is already in progress. Consequently, the identification of molecules that are alternative to those included in the SVHC list is of considerable interest for modern chemical industry.
Necessarily, it is essential that the identified molecules have technical characteristics that are comparable to the extremely advantageous and particular ones of traditional phthalic plasticizers. As regards for example the processing behavior characteristics (or "workability") of esters of cyclohexanedicarboxylic acids, the "PVC Handbook" by Charles E. Wilkes et al. (ISBN 3-446-22714-8), in its 2005 edition, predicted on page 185 that for example di-isononyl cyclohexane 1,2 dicarboxylate (HDINP), a hydrogenated product that is "homologous" to traditional di-isononyl phthalate (DINP), recently introduced on the market for some of the most sensitive plastic material applications in the pediatric and medical field, will have a performance that is substantially similar to the respective phthalate, except for the expectation of a reduced dissolving power of the polymer where it comprises PVC, which can be deduced from the loss of the aromaticity of the ring in di-isononyl cyclohexane 1,2 dicarboxylate.
However, it was found subsequently that the differences between phthalate and direct hexahydrophthalic homologue can be even considerable in practice, especially as regards the processing behavior of the mixtures between plasticizer and polymer. The former is of interest since the processing behavior, especially the incorporation time of the plasticizers into the most employed types of polymer preparations (such as e.g. dry-blend or plastisol) is a critical parameter for the efficiency (either in terms of energy consumption or output) of the overall polymer working process aiming at the provision of objects made from plasticized polymer.
Thus, for example, a study entitled "Plastisol ReFlex™ 100 Evaluation" published in May 2011 by the Pasadena Plasticizer Application Lab (PPL) on the Internet for PolyOne at the address http://www.polyone.com/en-us/docs/Documents/Plastisol_reFlex %28TM %29_100_Evaluation.pdf teaches that in order to obtain processing behavior characteristics that can be compared to the use of pure DINP as plasticizer (in particular in order to obtain the same processing temperature of the respective PVC plastisols) it is necessary to use mixtures between 65% by weight of di-isononyl cyclohexane 1,2 dicarboxylate (HDINP) and 35% by weight of epoxidized fatty acid monoester, since the melting point of the plastisols prepared only with di-isononyl cyclohexane 1,2 dicarboxylate (HDINP) exceeds by as much as 15° the fusion temperature of conventional plastisols, i.e., those that contain the same quantity of pure DINP.
Therefore, the recent study by PPAL confirms that the processing behavior of di-isononyl cyclohexane 1,2 dicarboxylate (HDINP) in PVC is actually reduced with respect to DINP, a fact which leads subsequently, for example, to a reduced production rate and/or to a higher energy expenditure in plastisol processing applications.
Besides the comparison with its direct "homologue" DINP, the industrial applicability of di-isononyl cyclohexane 1,2 dicarboxylate (HDINP) on a more general scale, potentially almost a universal one, is to be evaluated also—in view of its compatibility with an already broad and rapidly growing range of toxicologically safer products—with respect to DEHP, which is instead the current plasticizer of reference in very wide generic use. According to the above cited PVC Handbook (see in particular Chapter 5.4, "Types of plasticizers", specifically the discussion of phthalates on page 177 and table 5.2 on pages 179-180), di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) is used historically as a common reference standard to evaluate the performance of all other plasticizers, both phthalic and otherwise, and is used further as a standard to conceive theoretically mixtures of plasticizers for specific applications.
As explained below in the present application, the inventors of the present invention have been able to confirm, as part of their studies, that di-isononyl cyclohexane 1,2 dicarboxylate (HDINP) is inferior, as regards some particular characteristics related to processing, specifically to its incorporation time in the polymer or in the polymeric mixture, such as the dry blend time or the gel time or fusion time, both to DOP (or DEHP), i.e., the current plasticizer of reference, and to DINP (its direct aromatic homologue), especially as regards applications for PVC.
It is therefore evident that the hydrogenation of the aromatic system in certain aromatic plasticizers, more concretely the transition from DINP to HDINP, can compromise the processing behavior of the resulting polymer/plasticizer mixture; in particular, hydrogenation can compromise the processing behavior in dry blends and in plastisols of PVC, and consequently can lower the production rate in PVC applications. This loss of performance in PVC can constitute, at least for less sensitive generic applications (i.e., of the general-purpose type, as classified by the PVC Handbook), especially if subject to large-scale production, an obstacle to a wider establishment of di-isononyl cyclohexane 1,2 dicarboxylate (HDINP) or similar products on the market.
As regards instead special or very special applications (so-called "specialty plasticizers" (SP), according to the PVC Handbook), it should be noted that in some fields of technology, for example where plasticizers with extremely low diffusivity are required (see SP-LD plasticizers, again as in the PVC Handbook), plasticizers are already in use which are free or substantially free from phthalates and therefore are already compatible with 2007 UE standards et seq.
This is the case, for example, of trimellitates, which are triesters of 1,2,4-benzene tricarboxylic acid (comprising, for example tri-2-ethylhexyl trimellitate or TOTM, tri-isooctyl trimellitate or TIOTM, tri-n-octyl trimellitate or TM8, tri-isononyl trimellitate or TINTM, tributyl trimellitate or TM4, trimellitate of C7-C9 linear alkanols or TM7-9, trimellitate of C8-C10 linear alkanols or TM8-10 and others) and are distinguished—with respect to the reference DEHP—by extremely reduced volatility and higher resistance to extraction, exhibiting at the same time excellent electrical properties.
These characteristics qualify trimellitates traditionally for use in insulators, for example for electrical cables, especially if rated for high temperatures, for use in leathers and in synthetic coverings for car interiors—and more generally for all applications in which one wishes to minimize the release of plasticizer from the mixture with the polymer, especially if exposed to heat sources (see PVC Handbook, page 330).
However, the processing behavior of plasticizers of the trimellitate class is reduced with respect to DEHP of common reference, especially if the trimellitates are used in a mixture with PVC.
Therefore, it would be desirable to identify, preferably in the field of special applications, particularly in the field of SP-LD plasticizers to which trimellitates belong, alternative plasticizers that are still free from phthalates but improve the processing behavior of the polymer/plasticizer mixtures that contain them, in particular of PVC-based plastic mixtures. This would make available new mixtures between SP-LD plasticizer and polymer, in particular new mixtures comprising plasticizer and PVC, free from phthalates but at the same time characterized by better processing behavior.
Moreover, as seen above, although the study of hydrogenation of aromatic esters is in progress since the 1920s and despite the many possibilities developed for plasticizing synthetic polymers that appeared after the Second World War, in the background art there is still considerable interest
in identifying new advantageous technical applications of plasticizers (or mixtures thereof) with reduced toxicity, preferably free from phthalates, applications that entail performances comparable or improved with respect to traditional plasticizers,
in providing new processes for the hydrogenation of esters of aromatic carboxylic acids, as an alternative or as an improvement to known hydrogenation processes, in order to facilitate the provision of plasticizers with reduced toxicity and thus have available additional sources of said plasticizers that can be used for the above-cited new applications, and
in providing new plasticized polymeric mixtures comprising polymers and plasticizers with reduced toxicity, particularly free from phthalates, that have improved applicability.
The aim of the present invention is therefore to solve the problems observed in the background art.

Process for hydrogenation of esters of aromatic carboxylic acids to yield saturated homologues thereof


Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for receiving an input from an agent during a call with a caller where the input directs one or more processors to inject a recorded statement in the agent's voice into the call, and where the recorded statement in the agent's voice is stored in a computer-readable file. Obtaining the recorded statement in the agent's voice based on data associated with the input and in response to receiving the input. And causing the recorded statement in the agent's voice to be inserted into a media stream of the call.

Call centers are used to provide, among other services, customer support, technical support, and product/service ordering services to callers. Call center customer service representatives (CSRs) may handle on the order of ten to twenty thousand calls per year, or thirty to sixty calls per day. Moreover, content of each call that a CSR answers is repeated in all or most call center calls.

United Services Automobile Association (USAA)


An intelligent hub for protocol-agnostic file transfer. The hub may include a transceiver, an interrogator processor, an intelligence engine processor, a data translation processor and a hashing processor. The hub may utilize artificial intelligence processes to perform real-time networking or file transfer protocol conversion.

Networked computer systems use various types of networking protocols, which are sets of standards/policies and formatting rules that facilitate communication between two or more devices over a network. In order to facilitate communication, both a sender and a recipient must be configured to use a given networking protocol. For example, a first business sending a collection of digital files to a second business should communicate using a same networking protocol. In many instances, manual intervention is used to ensure that this type of network communication can be accomplished. Currently, however, no device exists that can automatically accommodate data received using various different networking protocols and automatically convert the networking protocol to another protocol suitable for a destination device, using artificial intelligence processes.


A chip device that includes a leadframe that has a die attach cavity. The memory device further includes a die that is placed within the die attach cavity. The die attach cavity is substantially the same thickness as the die. The die is positioned within the cavity and is attached therein with a standard die attachment procedure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip device, and more particularly, to discrete power components such as MOSFETs, as well as ICs such as memory circuits that include a leadframe that includes a cavity for receiving the die.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Chip devices generally include a leadframe and a bumped die attached thereto. Many of the packages are multiple pieces and rely on wire bonding as the interconnect between the die and the package. Additionally, many BGA (ball grid array) substrates do not have the capability for solder balls to be pre-attached or for a cavity to be milled in the substrate to facilitate die attach.
These prior art packages limit the ability to form thin packages. Additionally, the manufacturing processes for these devices are inefficient.


A day/night weapon sight assembly that consists of daytime sight and a nighttime sight allows the use of both sights without change in eye relief even when the nighttime sight is attached to the rear end of the daytime sight. This is achieved by supporting the daytime sight moveably in the direction of the optical axis and by supporting the nighttime sight with the use of a plane-parallel motion mechanism that allows switching of the nighttime sight between the upper inoperative position and the operative position behind and coaxially with the daytime sight.

There exists a great variety of optical sights of different types, in particular for installation on hunting, combat, or training weapons. In general a sight is utilized for aiming a weapon during daytime operation at a directly visible target and during nighttime operation at a target, which is only visible through the use of some vision-aiding devices.
Daytime sight devices range from simple front and rear sights like those on ordinary rifles to complex optical systems in combination with laser range finders and laser aiming devices. Certain sophisticated types such as telescopes are utilized to magnify a target and to enable the user during normal daytime operation to view a magnification of the target area at which the viewer is aiming.
There are also nighttime vision devices or sights, which employ image intensifiers or similar structures. The function of an image intensifier is to multiply the amount of incident light received to produce a signal that is bright enough for presentation to the eyes of a viewer. As such, these devices have been employed by the military and in commercial products as well. Sights vary in size, magnification, type of reticle, weapon application and level of performance.
An image intensifier tube (IIT) is a vacuum photoelectronic device intended either for transformation of an invisible IR, UV, or X-ray image of an object into a visible image or for intensification of a visible image. An IIT normally consists of a photocathode, an image intensification system, and a cathode-luminescent screen. The photocathode transforms the original optical image into a so-called electronic image. With the use of the image-intensifying system, the electronic image is transferred to the screen where this image, in turn, is converted into a visible original image. In the IIT, the light reflected from the object causes emission of electrons (photocurrent) from the surface of the photocathode. In this case, a magnitude of photocurrent generated by various areas of the photocathode depends on distribution of density of images projected onto these areas. Photoelectrons accelerated and focused by the IIT's field bombard the screen, thus causing it to luminesce. Since brightness on individual areas of the screen depends on density of the photocurrent, the screen reproduces a visible image of the object.
There exists a great variety of IIT's that have different constructions, methods of attachment to the weapon, and principles of use and operation.
Since it is advantageous to use the same weapon with daytime and nighttime vision devices, many contemporary weapons are provided with possibility of installing both daytime and nighttime sights.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,994 discloses a configuration in which the front end of a telescopic sight is separable from the rest of the sight. For nighttime use an image-intensifier module is inserted between the sections. However, for daytime operation, the user must disassemble the sight and remove and store the image-intensifier module.
One disadvantage to having separate daytime and nighttime sights is that the sights must be individually boresighted to the weapon whenever the sight is initially installed, and must be checked for boresight whenever the sight is reinstalled on the weapon. Current use of weapon sights by law enforcement and military personnel and by civilian users involves the careful mounting and boresighting of a day and/or night vision sight to the weapon. For maximum accuracy, actual firing of the weapon is required during the boresighting process. This is not generally feasible under combat conditions. Separate weapon sights are also disadvantageous because the sights must be interchanged for day or night use. In addition, the separate night vision sight adds an additional three to four pounds, which must be carried and handled separately by the user.
On the other hand, it is understood that the lenses of the objective lens unit and of the ocular lens unit may form a conventional optical daytime sight, which comprises a conventional telescopic tube with adjustable magnification. It is obvious that such daytime conventional telescopic sight can be combined with a night vision device such as IIT to form a self-contained device, and a great variety of optical sight systems which can at the same time be used both in daytime and nighttime merely by switching and without disconnection have recently appeared on the market and became a subject of new patents.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,780 issued in 1992 to E. Phillips and U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,132 issued to the same inventor in 1999 disclose a telescopic sight that can be used for either nighttime or daytime operation and is particularly adaptable for use on weapons ranging from rifles to anti-tank weapons. A first embodiment includes a single objective and two parallel light paths, one for day viewing and one for night viewing. The objective forms the beginning of the night path. Separating dichroic mirrors transmit light from the objective along the night path and reflect light from the objective to the day path. The night path includes an IIT. A mirror at the end of the night path reflects the light from the IIT to a beamsplitter/combiner on the day path. The beamsplitter/combiner transmits the light from the day path and reflects the light from the night path along the same path to an ocular assembly for viewing. A second embodiment of the telescopic sight is similar to the first embodiment but contains two objective lens assemblies for collecting light, one for the night path and one for the day path. Because the sight has two separate objective lens assemblies, separating mirrors are not included. A third embodiment includes a projected aiming reticle and a direct view capability for day viewing which replaces one of the objective lens assemblies. The direct view channel includes a beamsplitter/combiner.
Furthermore, both patents of Phillips describe various methods for introducing an image of a reticle to the combined day and night optical path.
In spite of all advantages of the aforementioned optical sight system, it utilizes two parallel optical paths always used simultaneously irrespective of nighttime or daytime application. It is obvious that the use of two separate optical paths at the same time makes the sight optics large and heavy, which is a significant drawback for weapons, which are manually carried by the user.
The device based on the same principle of simultaneous and constant use of daytime and nighttime optical paths is disclosed in another U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,996 issued in 1999 to K. Sauter. This device is provided with two rotating mirrors, which can be rotated simultaneously for opening or closing the night vision system. Although this system is more reliable than the previous one, in general it entails the same disadvantages since it does not suggest any other new solutions of the problems inherent in the sight with two parallel and simultaneously working optical paths.
The above problem is solved by the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,294 issued in 2000 to U. Jibiki. This device comprises a telescopic sight with a small, separate night-vision block insertable into the daytime optical path between the ocular lens and the objective lens. A special recess is formed in the sight housing for fitting the insertable block into this recess with alignment of the optical path of the night-vision insert with that of the daytime sight portion. Insertion is carried out without the use of any special instruments or fasteners.
Although the U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,294 solves the problems of the earlier described devices by providing a single-path day/night vision optics, it is still possesses a number of significant disadvantages, which are the following.
Disconnection of the night-vision device, such as the image intensifier, exposes two optical surfaces on the opposite sides of the recess. During the use of the sight in the daytime mode these optical surfaces remain unprotected. Penetration of scattered day light into the aforementioned recess contributes to decrease in contrast of the image. Furthermore, the night-vision device, such as an image intensifier tube, is a very delicate optical instrument, which requires accurate handling after replacement. Therefore the use of the device of U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,294 is unsuitable for combat field conditions.
When the night-vision insert has a temperature different from the temperature of the stationary part of the sight, insertion of the night-vision block may cause fogging of the sight optics, which can make the sight inoperative for a substantial period of time.
Another problem associated with the use of the insertable night-vision block consists in that each insertion and removal requires readjustment of the optical system for refocusing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,278 issued in 1990 to Ch. Johnson, et al., describes a sight apparatus for selective daytime and nighttime use due to provision of a rotating housing located between the ocular and objective of the telescopic sight assembly. This housing contains an image-intensifier unit for nighttime use and a lens coupling assembly for daytime use which are rigidly attached to opposite arms of a two-arm lever so that rotation of this level by about 180° will alternatingly align the optical axis of the sight either with the image-intensifier unit or with the daytime lens coupling assembly which is placed in the optical path of the sight. A disadvantage of this device consists in that in addition to an image-intensifier unit it requires the use of an auxiliary daytime coupling assembly, both of which must be attached to opposite arms of a pivotable lever. The use of the auxiliary daytime coupling contributes to an increase in the weight of the sight. Furthermore, as the coupling assembly and the image intensifier have diametrically opposite positions and the lever that supports these units has to be rotated by 180° in order to have enough room for such rotation the sight should have increased overall dimensions. Moreover, switching between the daytime optics and nighttime optics requires manual focusing and magnification with the use of a focusing and magnification mechanism. Another disadvantage of the design described in the aforementioned patent is that switching between the daytime use and the nighttime use requires rotation of the aforementioned lever with the entire housing and with switchable optics respective to the sight housing. This means that the housing of the sight consists of two separate parts, one of which is rotatingly installed on the other. Another essential disadvantage of the sight disclosed by the aforementioned patent consists of the arrangement of rotatable optics for rotation in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the sight. Such an arrangement contributes to an additional and significant increase in the sight dimensions because for efficient operation the image intensifier requires a high aperture ratio and this, in turn, requires the use of electrooptics of large diameter. This leads to an increase in the vertical dimension of the sight.
The problems of the above patent are solved in a self-contained day/night optical sight disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,298 issued in 2003 to Leonid Gaber, who is an applicant of the present patent application. The apparatus is comprised of a telescopic sight assembly unit having a pivotable housing section located between the ocular and objective of the telescopic sight assembly. The aforementioned housing section contains an image intensifier tube for nighttime use and a mechanism coupled to the aforementioned housing section for pivoting it between a first and second positions indicative of a daytime and a nighttime mode, whereby when installed in the second position, the image intensifier tube is aligned with the optical axis of the telescope to provide nighttime operation and where it is installed in the first position, the image intensifier tube is removed from the optical axis to provide daytime operation.
A disadvantage of such an apparatus is that it is self-contained with the built-in image intensifier tube. This means that the image intensifier tube cannot be separated and removed from the sight, e.g., for replacement with another image intensifier tube or an optical device of another type. In other words, when a telescopic part or IIT requires maintenance or replacement, the entire apparatus has to be replaced.
Nevertheless, all day/night sights for weapons described above and those known to the applicant, including those that contain removable IIT's or IIT's switchable between the operative and inoperative positions, have complicated and relatively expensive construction and significant weight and are not universal in the sense that in the majority of cases they are bound to weapons of specific models.
For the solution of the problems inherent in the prior art technique, Tactic Solutions, LLC of Nevada, USA has developed a universal IIT known as Model PVS-14 Series Monoloc on the Leupold M1 Long Range Optics attachable to the rear side of a tubular sight optics so that the image intensifier tube is located between the viewer's eye and the ocular of the tubular sight (see http:monoloc.com/main.php?id_page=72).
In spite of the fact that this device is not of the type permanently installed together with the tubular optics and is not switchable between operative and inoperative positions, it is advantageous in that it is extremely light in weight, small in size, and, most importantly, quickly and easily attachable to rifle scopes of many models of military and hunting rifles, digital cameras, camcorders, Close Quarters Battle (COB) optics, and laser rangefinders, or spotting scopes, for night and reduced-ambient lighting conditions.
Although these advantages to some extent compensate for the necessity of frequent attaching/detaching operations, a serious disadvantage of the universal IIT of the above type is that it must be installed between the viewer eye and the ocular of the tubular optics, and this changes the eye-relief distance. Eye relief is the distance from the observer's cornea to the nearest optical surface of the eyepiece; this is the distance at which the entire (or largest) field of view is visible. In other words, the IIT attached to the rear end of the conventional tubular optics significantly shortens the eye-relief distance to the extent that in some cases the recoil at the moment of shooting hits the user between the eyes. In order to eliminate this problem, the user has to move the eye further away from the IIT's ocular, and in this case he/she cannot see the entire field of observation, and shooting conditions become inconvenient. This is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, where FIG. 1 is a view of a conventional daytime tubular optical sight 20 with the eye relief H1 that corresponds to use of the sight 20 without an IIT, and FIG. 2 is a view of the tubular optical sight 20 with the eye relief H2 that corresponds to use of the sight 20 when the IIT 22 is attached to the rear end of the optical sight 20. Reference numeral 24 designates a viewer's eye. It can be seen that with the IIT 22 attached to the optical sight 20, the eye relief H2 becomes significantly shorter than the eye relief H1 required for normal shooting. Therefore, the user has to move the weapon forward and cannot have normal conditions under which the weapon can rest on the user's shoulder.
The problems experienced by a shooter in using a rearwardly attached night scope are well described By Craig Boddington in his articles at http://www.gunsandammomag.com/gun_columns/relief—1021/.

Day/night weapon sight assembly for use on weapon without change in eye relief


An interdental brush wire and an interdental brush which are not buckled or broken, are excellent in durability and manipulation ease due to the springy brush as well as the ability of insertion between teeth characterized in that the wire is a stainless steel wire having a diameter of 0.15 to 0.35 mm and containing nitrogen and a controlled amount of manganese.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interdental brush wire and an interdental brush which are excellent in durability and manipulation ease as well as ability of insertion between teeth.
2. Description of the Related Art
An interdental brush is mainly composed of a brush and a handle for supporting this brush. The brush is produced by folding a single wire at an intermediate portion, sandwiching bundles of filaments between folded portions of the wire and twisting the wire. As the wire is frequently used a stainless steel wire having a diameter of 0.25 to 0.35 mm, particularly, a JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) SUS304 stainless steel wire.
The interdental brush is used to remove plaque and tartar which accumulate between teeth by pushing and pulling the brush inserted between teeth. Therefore, the wire must be thin enough to be inserted between teeth and hard not to be buckled by this push-pull operation. Also, since the interdental brush is positioned between teeth by bending the base of the brush, it must be durable not to be broken by this bending operation.
Since the interdental brush of the prior art is not sufficiently hard, a buckling phenomenon that the wire is easily bent like a letter S easily occurs. Further, when the base of the brush is bent repeatedly, it may be broken while it is in use due to insufficient durability. To improve the ability of insertion between teeth, a thin wire must be used. However, when the diameter of the wire is reduced, the above buckling phenomenon and break phenomena will become more serious.
The inventor of the present invention has conducted investigations on the requirements of an interdental brush wire and confirmed that the following conditions are required for the interdental brush wire.
(1) The wire must be chemically nontoxic to human body.
(2) The wire must not be sprung back and can be twisted.
(3) The wire must not be broken even when it is bent repeatedly.
(4) The wire must not be buckled by a brushing operation along the axial direction of the wire.
An interdental brush which satisfies the above requirements is proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 317123 of 1993. The present invention discloses a wire which has a large flexural strength, that is, a wire having a large Young's modulus to improve the effect of preventing the buckling and break of the wire and is coated with a low-melting thermoplastic resin which is fused and solidificated after twisting to prevent a spring-back phenomenon.
According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the tensile strength and buckling strength of the wire while the wire is twisted as in the prior art because twisting can prevent the spring-back phenomenon of the wire. However, the technique of the present invention involves such problems that the number of production steps increases because resin coating to the wire and fusion and solidification of the coated resin are required and that the ability of insertion between teeth deteriorates because of a substantial increase in the diameter of the wire due to the presence of the coated resin.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 227315 of 1995 (Registration No.2538533), an interdental brush which satisfies the above requirements and uses a cobalt-based alloy wire without coating a resin on the wire has been proposed. However, in the present invention, to improve the tensile strength and buckling strength of the wire, the wire must contain expensive cobalt in an amount of 30 to 60 wt %, resulting in an increase in the material costs of the wire, thereby boosting the production costs of the interdental brush.

Interdental brush wire and interdental brush


A semiconductor integrated circuit disclosed herein comprising: a phase control circuit which shifts a phase of a first clock signal based on a phase control signal and outputs a second clock signal; a first flip-flop to which one of the first clock signal and the second clock signal is inputted as a first operation clock signal, and which outputs evaluation data; a circuit under test which performs a predetermined process based on the evaluation data and outputs a result of the process as output data; and a second flip-flop to which the other of the first clock signal and the second clock signal is inputted as a second operation clock signal and the output data is inputted, and which outputs the output data inputted from the circuit under test.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit including an operation test circuit and an operation test method thereof.
2. Related Background Art
Hitherto, an operation test of an semiconductor integrate circuit (hereinafter referred to as an LSI) has been generally performed by supplying an operation test clock signal to the LSI by an external LSI tester.
Recently, however, the operation performance of the LSI has achieved further development, and consequently the frequency of the clock signal supplied from the external LSI tester and an operating frequency in an actual operation become widely different, whereby the operation test of the LSI on the assumption of the actual operation is becoming more and more difficult.
Against this background, an operation test circuit for apparently realizing an operation test by a high-frequency clock signal by using a relatively low-frequency operation test clock signal is proposed (for example, see pages 3 and 4 and FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 of Japanese Patent No. 2953435 which corresponds to Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H10-339769).
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a related operation test circuit. A first and second flip-flops 102 and 103 are provided at both ends of a path, which is to be subjected to an operation test, of a circuit under test 101. Evaluation data D is inputted to the circuit under test 101 via the first flip-flop 102, and output data D′ is outputted therefrom via the second flip-flop 103. Moreover, the evaluation data D, a normal clock C, and a test clock C2 are inputted to each of the first and second flip-flops 102 and 103. The circuit under test 101 here is, for example, a logic circuit.
The first and second flip-flops 102 and 103 are each composed of a master latch and a slave latch, and at a point in time when the logical value of at least one of the normal clock C and the test clock C2 changes from a state of 0 to a state of 1, the evaluation data D is inputted and held in the master latch, whereas at a point in time when the normal clock C changes to the logical value 1, the evaluation data D is outputted via the slave latch. Namely, in a normal operation, the first and second flip-flops 102 and 103 operate as one-phase synchronous flip-flops by maintaining the test clock C2 at the logical value 0, whereas in an operation test, they operate as two-phase synchronous flip-flops by controlling the normal clock C and the test clock C2, whereby the master latch and the slave latch can be controlled separately.
Now, the operation of these flip-flops when the normal clock C and the test clock C2 are inputted at timing shown in FIG. 11 will be considered.
First, attention is focused on the operation of the former-stage flip-flop 102. When the test clock C2 rises from the logical value 0 to the logical value 1 at a point in time t11, the evaluation data D is inputted to the master latch and held therein. Then, when the normal clock C rises at a point in time t12 later than the rising edge of the test clock C2, the evaluation data D held in the master latch is outputted from the slave latch and inputted to a path inside the circuit under test 101 which is to be subjected to the operation test. Next, the operation of the latter-stage flip-flop 103 of the path to be tested will be considered. The evaluation data D is inputted to the master latch when the test clock C2 rises again at a point in time t13.
From the aforementioned operations of the flip-flops, it is understood that the evaluation data D is inputted to the path to be tested at the point in time t12 and outputted therefrom at the point in time t13. When viewed from the path to be tested, this case can be substantially regarded as the same as a case where the flip-flops are operated by a clock with a time interval between the point in time t12 and the point in time t13 as a period. The time interval between the point in time t12 and the point in time t13 is shorter than an actual clock period, and hence it becomes possible to apparently realize the operation test by a high-frequency clock signal by using a relatively low-frequency operation test clock signal.
However, the object of the aforementioned related operation test circuit is only to apparently realize the operation test by the high-frequency clock signal by using the relatively low-frequency clock signal. Therefore, a maximum operating frequency fmax at which the circuit to be tested normally operates cannot be found out.
Moreover, in the aforementioned related operation test circuit, only one path to be evaluated is fixed by positions where two-phase synchronous flip-flops are provided, which cannot cope with a case where the path to be evaluated needs to be changed in the operation test.

Semiconductor integrated circuit including operation test circuit and operation test method thereof


According to the invention, a new sounding operation changes a solo being played, and various ways of sounding musical tones are permitted by a selection of whether or not a chord being played is to be changed. In response to an instruction for sounding a musical tone, chord tone data is provided together with tone data indicating a single key number, to thereby determine whether or not the chord is to be detected, and whether or not chord tone data is be output. Accordingly, ways of sounding musical tones, such as changing a chord being played together with a solo being played, or not changing a chord being played but changing only the solo being played.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for and method of supplying sounding instructions in an electronic musical instrument.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, various electronic musical instruments have been proposed which facilitate and simplify the playing of chords; an auto chord operation is one such way of easily playing a chord. In an auto chord operation, while using an auto rhythm operation, a key of a component tone of a chord played on a keyboard as an accompaniment is depressed or depressed and immediately released, whereby an auto chord operation is repeatedly executed.
Another type of auto chord operation is a one finger chord operation. Again, in this one finger chord operation, while using an auto rhythm operation, a key of the keyboard for a chord accompaniment is depressed or depressed and immediately released, whereby a chord type, for example, a major chord, is automatically played repeatedly using the "on" key as a chord root. By simultaneously depressing another key or depressing and immediately releasing that key, the chord type is changed to a minor chord, and by simultaneously depressing a further key or depressing and immediately releasing that key, the chord type is changed to a seventh. Namely, the chord type is changed according to the number of "on" keys.
An example of this chord selection system is disclosed in the specification of U.S. patent Ser. No. 07/706,010.

Device for and method of detecting and supplying chord and solo sounding instructions in an electronic musical instrument


Disclosed are a system and a method for performing a timing analysis of an integrated circuit (IC). An internal timing constraint of a logic device in a first signal pathway of a hierarchical entity in an IC design is determined based on a reference value and, if necessary, on library information. A first boundary timing constraint associated with the first signal pathway is derived based on the internal timing constraint and a second boundary timing constraint associated with the first signal pathway is derived based on the first boundary timing constraint and a target slack value for the internal timing constraint. A static timing analysis is performed using the second boundary timing constraint. Based on the analysis, a timing abstraction for the hierarchical entity is generated. A timing model for the IC design is generated using the timing abstraction and other timing abstractions for other hierarchical entities in the design.

The present invention relates to integrated circuit design and, more particularly, to a method, a system and a computer program product for performing a static timing analysis (STA) of an integrated circuit using a hierarchical approach.
In integrated circuit design, static timing analysis (STA) is used to predict the performance of an integrated circuit and to verify that the integrated circuit will function correctly. Specifically, STA is used to predict the arrival times of clock and data signals and the results can be compared against established timing requirements (e.g., required arrival times (RATs)) to see if the integrated circuit, as designed, will function properly with a sufficiently high probability. As integrated circuit designs become more and more complex, performing STA on the full top-level design (also referred to herein as the full design) of an integrated circuit is no longer a viable option due to the large runtime and memory requirements for completing the analysis. Therefore, integrated circuit designers have turned to a hierarchical approach for performing a STA.
With a hierarchical approach, STA is performed on hierarchical entities (i.e., individual blocks of logic, also referred to herein as lower-level entities or macros) that can form any number of hierarchical levels within the full top-level design. Based on the results of the STA at the lower levels of hierarchy, the hierarchical entities are abstracted (i.e., timing abstractions are generated for the hierarchical entities) and these timing abstractions are subsequently used to analyze an overall timing model for the full top-level design. In the hierarchical approach described above, each timing abstraction for each specific hierarchical entity only contains relevant timing information required for incorporating that specific hierarchical entity into the full top-level design or into a block at the higher level of hierarchy. That is, each timing abstraction for each specific hierarchical entity only contains periphery timing information that will impact adjacent hierarchical entities within the design (i.e., that will impact other hierarchical entities that interface with the specific hierarchical entity in the design) and does not include internal timing information. The runtime and memory requirements can be further reduced by allowing a single out-of-context (OOC) timing run to generate a timing abstract that can replace potentially numerous instances of the given hierarchical entity at the next level of hierarchy.
While the overall runtime and memory requirements are reduced with the hierarchical approach, the overall accuracy is also reduced. Specifically, in order to generate an accurate timing abstract for a specific hierarchical entity, some knowledge of timing constraints at the boundary of that specific hierarchical entity (i.e., some knowledge of in-context boundary timing constraints) is required. These in-context boundary timing constraints can include, for example, the arrival times (ATs) of primary inputs (PIs) to the specific hierarchical entity and the required arrival times (RATs) specifying the expected signal arrival time at the primary outputs (POs) of the specific hierarchical entity. Since such boundary timing constraints necessarily impact any timing analysis of the specific hierarchical entity and since boundary timing constraints will vary for different instances of the specific hierarchical entity at different locations within the full top-level design, assumptions must be made about the boundary timing constraints to ensure that the analysis and resulting timing abstraction for the specific hierarchical entity is valid for any possible context (i.e., for any instance of the specific hierarchical entity anywhere in the integrated circuit). In addition, as top-level logic changes are made to address functional or performance issues, the boundary timing constraints of any hierarchical entity (whether used multiple times at the chip level or not) can be impacted. To avoid significant impact, the boundary timing constraints used in an OOC timing run are generally assumed to be overly pessimistic. As a result, timing fails for instances of the specific hierarchical entity are often reported based on conditions that would not occur in any actual context. Consequently, hierarchical entities, which would in fact function properly within the full top-level design, must be redesigned, thereby impacting over-all circuit performance and time-to-market. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved technique for performing a static timing analysis (STA) of an integrated circuit using a hierarchical approach, wherein the assumptions made regarding boundary timing constraints during an out-of-context STA of the hierarchical entity are less pessimistic, but still valid for any possible context.

Static timing analysis (STA) using derived boundary timing constraints for out-of-context (OOC) hierarchical entity analysis and abstraction

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention relates to a drive with an energy recovery and retarder function. The drive (1) comprises a hydrostatic piston engine (12) which is connected to an accumulator (16) for storing pressure energy and to a pressure limiting valve (19) for generating a braking action. Arranged downstream of the pressure limiting valve (19) is a cooler (45). The drive (1) also comprises a hydraulic motor (35) for driving a cooler fan (33), wherein the hydraulic motor (35) is acted on with a pressure medium which is delivered by the hydrostatic piston engine (12).

The invention relates to a drive having an energy recovery and retarder function.
In utility vehicles, such as, for example, construction site vehicles or fork lift trucks, the vehicle is often accelerated and subsequently braked again during working operation. In addition to the primary drive, working hydraulic units are provided in most cases and are operated by means of an additional hydrostatic piston engine. For the driving operation, these hydrostatic piston engines can be connected to the drive and consequently to the primary energy source of the drive. In order to store the energy which is released during the braking of either an operating device or the travel drive, it is known from DE 32 47 335 C2 to connect a store to the hydrostatic piston engine. By charging the store, kinetic energy is converted into pressure energy. To this end, the hydrostatic piston engine draws pressure medium from a pressure medium reservoir and conveys it into the store with the pressure being increased. Owing to the increasing pressure as the pressure medium is conveyed, the vehicle or the operating device is subjected to a braking effect. In addition, it is possible to use a pressure limitation valve in order to brake the operating device or the vehicle. The pressure medium conveyed by the hydrostatic piston engine is depressurised via the pressure limitation valve.
The drive known from DE 32 47 335 C2 has the disadvantage that, for example, in the event of a relatively long hill start, the capacity of the store is reached. Further braking of the vehicle or only maintaining the selected travel speed by conveying pressure medium counter to the pressure in the store then becomes impossible. In order to achieve an adequate braking effect, the corresponding kinetic energy at the pressure limitation valve must consequently be converted into heat. This leads to a significant rise in the temperature of the pressure medium.

Drive having an energy recovery and retarder function


An electromechanical bicycle transmission (10) comprises an electric motor (16) controlling through a first rigid mechanism (29) the movement of a first element (28) connected through preloaded yielding springs (24,25) to a second movement element (21) through another rigid mechanism (18,19,20) of a sprocket change mechanism member (11) moving to engage a transmission chain (12) opposite a predetermined sprocket of a plurality of coaxial sprockets (13) of different diameters.

The present invention relates to an electromechanical bicycle transmission.
In the art of the bicycle the structure of a transmission with sprockets in which a sprocket change mechanism shifts the chain upon command onto a selected sprocket of a plurality of sprockets of different diameters arranged concentrically and integral through an idling gear system with the rear wheel is well known.
Although generally the sprocket change mechanism is controlled by the cyclist through a control lever connected thereto through a cable there have been proposed electromechanical devices in which the sprocket change mechanism is operated substantially in simulation of the movement of the lever, through a gearmotor in turn operated on command of the cyclist by means of push buttons located on the handlebar. Such embodiments are however not popular because of the peculiar operation through which the sprocket change mechanisms shift the chain among the various sprockets and which makes unsatisfactory the simple replacement of the lever by an electric motor. Indeed, in a transmission using a sprocket change mechanism it can happen that during passage between the sprockets the sprocket change mechanism encounters temporary high resistances. For example, a necessary condition for correct gear shifting is that the pedals be operated for the entire duration of the transition between the sprockets to ensure correct engagement between the destination sprocket and the chain links. Irregularities or temporary interruption of pedalling during shifting leads to the rise of the above mentioned resistances in the movement of the transmission.
In manual shifting, the cyclist perceives through the mechanical connection of the lever the changes in resistance opposed by the chain to movement of the transmission and is thus able to control pedalling and the operation of the lever. With known electromechanical gear shifting devices such a feedback through the lever is completely lacking and hence, during shifting, the gearmotor often works for a period of time of variable length under conditions of excessive resistance and this can bring errors of positioning, wear and failure. In addition, the shift takes place with low speed and accuracy. These defects have until now limited the use of electromechanical transmissions in cycling.

Societa Italiano Cantene Calibrate Regina S.P.A.


The invention provides conjugates of fatty acids and anticancer agents useful in treating cancer, and compositions and formulations thereof. Methods for using the conjugates also are provided.

Improving drug selectivity for target tissue is an established goal in the medical arts. In general, it is desirable to deliver a drug selectively to its target, so that dosage and, consequently, side effects can be reduced. This is particularly the case for toxic agents such as anti-cancer agents because achieving therapeutic doses effective for treating the cancer is often limited by the toxic side effects of the anti-cancer agent on normal, healthy tissue. The problems relating to lack of drug selectivity can be exemplified by Taxol.
Taxol® (paclitaxel) was first isolated in 1971 from the bark of Taxus brevifolia and was approved in 1992 by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of metastatic ovarian cancer and later for breast cancer. Its mechanism of action is believed to involve promoting formation and hvperstabilization of microtubules, thereby preventing the disassembly of microtubules necessary for completion of cell division. It also has been reported that Taxol induces expression of cytokines, affects the activity of kinases and blocks processes essential for metastasis, in as yet uncharacterized mechanisms of action.
Taxol has attracted unusually strong scientific attention, not only because of its unique antiproliferative mechanism of action, but also because it is active against nearly all cancers against which it has been tested and because it has been discovered to be an analog of numerous closely related compounds occurring naturally. These compounds, taxanes, are now recognized as a new class of anticancer compounds.
Taxol's strength against cancers of diverse tissue origin also represents a significant drawback. An ideal anticancer agent has tissue specificity, thereby reducing side-effects on normal (dividing) cells. Taxol analogs with tissue specificity therefore are desired. Another drawback of Taxol is its extreme insolubility. Taxol can be administered effectively in a solvent including Cremophor® EL (polyoxyethylated castor oil), which combination can provoke severe hypersensitive immune responses. As a result of these drawbacks, and also as a result of the potential for modifying Taxol at numerous sites as demonstrated by other naturally-occurring taxanes with anticancer activity, a search for more selective taxanes was launched.
To date, more than 200 taxanes have been synthesized (or isolated) and tested in vitro or in vivo for anticancer activity. The results, however, have been so disappointing that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) generally no longer is interested in testing Taxol analogs. In general with Taxol analogs, the solubility problems remain, and/or potency is sharply reduced, and/or selectivity is not improved, and/or the ratio of the median toxic dose to the median effective dose ("therapeutic index") is unacceptably reduced.
Taxol has the following formula:
Taxanes have the basic three ring structure (A, B and C), substituted or unsubstituted.
Taxol's carbons are numbered conventionally as follows:
Based upon the taxanes tested to date, as many questions have been raised as have been answered, and general rules have not been fashioned easily in predicting selectivity, activity and solubility. Firstly, no rules have emerged regarding selectivity. Those taxanes that are strongly active appear to have activity as broad as Taxol's activity, and no headway appears to have been made in terms of developing a more selective Taxol analog.
Some information about activity has emerged. Numerous substitutions have been made at C7, C9, C10, C19, R1 and combinations thereof while retaining significant, but usually reduced, activity. Substitutions at C2, C4 and 2′OH, however, are generally not tolerated. These conclusions are only generalities, for example, because some substitutions at C9-C10 (cyclic derivatives) are not tolerated and some substitutions at C2 (meta substitutions on the phenyl) are tolerated. Likewise, the C13 side chain and, in particular, the 2′OH are required, although the minimum structural requirements of the side chain have not been determined for therapeutic efficacy.
Attempts to improve Taxol's solubility have not resulted in successful clinical products. One approach has been to manufacture prodrugs of Taxol, which prodrugs undergo in vivo transformation into Taxol and some other product. Attempts were made to esterify the C7 hydroxy and 2′ hydroxy groups, with the hope that the bond would be stable in solution (to permit preferred administration modes—i.v. over at least 24 hours) but would cleave readily in vivo. The groups tested were all hydrophilic and included amines, short carboxylic acids (using e.g. succinic anhydride and glutaric anhydride), sulfonic acids, amino acids and phosphates. Generally, activity was reduced although some success was obtained with certain derivatives. Again, no particular pattern emerged permitting one to predict reliably which groups could be substituted on Taxol to yield a therapeutically useful product, although it was suggested that the 2′ OH derivatives may cleave more easily than the C7 OH derivatives.
Several other factors add to the problem of predicting which Taxol analogs will be effective. Multiple mechanisms of action have been proposed in the literature, and a change in one position may have no effect on activity on one such mechanism but may eliminate activity on another mechanism. In addition, changes that favorably influence activity may unfavorably influence bioavailability. For example, Taxol affects microtubule formation inside a cell, but a change in structure that increases intracellular activity may adversely affect the ability of Taxol to gain entry into a cell. Taxol also is known to bind to proteins, and the effect on activity that results from a change in Taxol's binding to protein (in terms of conformation, cellular absorption and solubility) is unknown.
It has been reported that Taxol does not get into the brain, apparently excluded by the blood brain barrier. It is not known why this is so, as Taxol is lipophilic, gets into cells and might be expected to cross the blood brain barrier.
Among the most promising of the two hundred analogs tested is Taxotere® (docetaxel), because of its slightly increased activity and solubility. Oddly, however, Taxotere differs from Taxol at sites which typically do not have a strong influence on activity, and one would not predict the improvements in Taxotere from these differences, even in hindsight.
Taxotere has the following formula:
Fatty acids previously have been conjugated with drugs to help the drugs as conjugates cross the blood brain barrier. DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is a 22 carbon naturally-occurring, unbranched fatty acid that previously has been shown to be unusually effective, when conjugated to a drug, in crossing the blood brain barrier. DHA is attached via the acid group to hydrophilic drugs and renders these drugs more hydrophobic (lipophilic). DHA is an important constituent of the brain and recently has been approved as an additive to infant formula. It is present in the milk of lactating women. The mechanism of action by which DHA helps drugs conjugated to it cross the blood brain barrier is unknown.
Another example of the conjugation of fatty acids to a drug is the attachment of pipotiazine to stearic acid, palmitic acid, enanthic acid, undecylenic acid or 2,2-dimethyl-palmitic acid. Pipotiazine is a drug that acts within the central nervous system. The purpose of conjugating pipotiazine to the fatty acids was to create an oily solution of the drug as a liquid implant for slow release of the drug when injected intramuscularly. The release of the drug appeared to depend on the particular fatty acid selected, and the drug was tested for its activity in the central nervous system.
Lipidic molecules, including the fatty acids, also have been conjugated with drugs to render the conjugates more lipophilic than the drug. In general, increased lipophilicity has been suggested as a mechanism for enhancing intestinal uptake of drugs into the lymphatic system, thereby enhancing the entry of the conjugate into the brain and also thereby avoiding first-pass metabolism of the conjugate in the liver. The type of lipidic molecules employed have included phospholipids, non-naturally occurring branched and unbranched fatty acids, and naturally occurring branched and unbranched fatty acids ranging from as few as 4 carbon atoms to more than 30 carbon atoms. In one instance, enhanced receptor binding activity was observed (for an adenosine receptor agonist), and it was postulated that the pendant lipid molecule interacted with the phospholipid membrane to act as a distal anchor for the receptor ligand in the membrane micro environment of the receptor. This increase in potency, however, was not observed when the same lipid derivatives of adenosine receptor antagonists were used, and generalizations thus were not made possible by those studies.

Fatty acid-anticancer conjugates and uses thereof


A method of writing and searching index data for a DVCR is disclosed. The method of writing index data for a DVCR includes the steps of writing a program number and performing a program writing at a position of a program start mark of a current program if a program writing command is input in the course of viewing a program, determining whether or not there is a program start mark of a program erased in the course of performing the program writing, writing a program end mark and index data if there is the program start mark of the erased program, and writing a program start mark of a next program. The method of searching index data for a DVCR includes the steps of displaying index data if an index reproduction key is input, searching and reproducing a program selected by a user among the displayed index data, and ejecting a tape after writing a new index data by moving the tape to a program end mark of a current program if an ejection key is input. The method of writing and searching index data for a DVCR has an advantage that it is easy to search a newly written program, in case that a new program is written on a program already written on the tape.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital video cassette recorder (DVCR) and more particularly, to a method of writing and searching index data for a DVCR.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
For an index search, a video cassette recorder (VCR) displays various programs written on a tape to permit a user to select a desired program and reproduce the program selected by moving the tape to the selected program.
VCR generally modulates a pulse width of a control signal in response to an index signal which is indicative of a start position each of program written on a magnetic tape, and searches for the programs using the modulated control signal and the index signal.
To display a program selected by the user, the index search is performed and a reproducing mode is then performed.
Generally, a video index search system (VISS) and a video address search system (VASS) are used for index search. The VISS performs the index search using only an index signal. The VASS performs the index search using an address signal which is indicative of an absolute address of a tape in addition to the index signal.
An apparatus for writing and searching index data for a DVCR according to the background art will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an apparatus for writing and searching index data for a DVCR according to a background art.
Index data is not stored in a certain position of a tape but stored in a cassette memory to which a nonvolatile memory is attached.
In other words, the apparatus for writing and searching index data for a DVCR according to the background art includes a cassette memory (nonvolatile memory) 109 mounted in a certain position of a cassette 101, for writing index data, rotation speed detectors 106 and 107 respectively mounted in a supply reel 104 and a winding reel 105 of the cassette 101, for detecting a rotation speed, a control signal writing/reproducing portion 112 for reproducing and writing a control signal of a cassette tape 102 through a control head 108, an SRAM 115 for temporarily storing the index data in a program writing mode to forward the index data to the cassette memory 109 when ejecting a tape, and a microprocessor 111 for controlling writing/reproduction of the index data in response to an external key signal.
Reference numerals 113 and 114 represent a tape driving portion and a key input portion, respectively. Reference numerals 119, 118 and 117 represent a system controller, a monitor, and a video signal processor, respectively. Reference numeral 116 represents an on screen display (OSD) portion. Also reference numeral 103 represents a rotation drum.
The operation of the apparatus for writing and searching index data for a DVCR according to the background art will be described below.
The microprocessor 111 writes the index data in the SRAM 115 and forwards the same to the cassette memory 109 when ejecting the cassette.
To reproduce the index data in the cassette memory 109, the microprocessor 111 reads the index data stored in the cassette memory 109 and stores the same in the SRAM 15. At the same time, the microprocessor 111 displays the index data in a screen to be recognized by the user. Then, if the user selects a desired program, the microprocessor 111 searches the position of the program selected by the user by checking the remaining amount of the tape in response to a signal input through the rotation speed detectors 106 and 107.
FIG. 2 shows a method of writing and searching index data for a DVCR according to the background art. An additional data region 304 is formed on a tape to write index data. For writing the index data, data in a data signal region 303 is maintained as is, while the index data is written in the additional data region 304.
Reference numerals 301, 302, 305 and 306 represent a magnetic tape, a track, a header region, and a positioning signal, respectively.
The method of writing and searching index data for a DVCR according to the background art has several problems.
The index data is stored in the memory attached to the cassette and read in a reproducing mode. The cassette memory is used for index search. Therefore, it is not economical and some error may occur when checking the remaining amount of the tape and performing the index search. In addition, if the index data is not exactly written in the additional data region on the tape, there is a problem that the index data may be overwritten on video data.

Method for writing and searching on a tape for a digital signal writing and reproducing device


Remote configuration and utilization of a virtual tape management system via communication of encrypted data. At least one security administrator CPU is communicably attached to a virtual tape management CPU. At least one remote data storage CPU is communicably attached to the virtual tape management CPU and to the security administrator. First software within the virtual tape management CPU validates authorized remote access to at least one remote data storage CPU and encrypts the data. Second software facilitates remote configuration and utilization of the virtual tape management CPU. At least one hardware adaptor card connects the virtual tape management CPU to a host.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention related to a system and a method capable of emulating existing tape drive systems and to also remotely archive and retrieve data files via encrypted validation communication protocol.
2. Prior Art
It is necessary to store and backup data for many mainframe computer installations primarily for the purpose of safekeeping critical information to be used in the event of an unexpected loss of the primary copy. The backups are often remotely stored offsite of the mainframe installation.
At one time, ten inch, round reel tape drives were utilized on mainframe installations. The well known tape itself consists of a thin plastic base material with a coating of ferromagnetic ferric oxide powder. The round reel tapes were physically transported to an offsite location. Periodically, the tapes would be returned and then reused.
In the 1980's, cartridge tape units replaced the round reel tape drives. The tape cartridge system had fewer moving parts and was less prone to failure. Additionally, the tape cartridge system occupies a smaller floor footprint and consumed less power than the round reel drives. Additionally, the media itself was improved over time. Denser recording techniques allowed the cartridges to be smaller, yet hold the same amount of data. To improve cataloging and indexing functions, and facilitate data accessibility, typically one data set is placed on one tape volume. Some tape data sets span multiple volumes while others occupy less than a single volume. This can result in a significant waste of tape as most data sets occupy only a small portion of the media and the rest of the volume remains unused. Estimates are that industry norms are for tape cartridges to be less than 50% utilized. With a cartridge tape system, the same procedures for physically pulling certain cartridges and moving them to an offsite location would be performed.
More recently, virtual tape servers have been introduced which place a controller between a mainframe and the cartridge tape devices and attach a disk cache area from and to which data can be read and written. The controller handles the migration of data between the disk cache and the tape media in an optimal space and time fashion. The data is actually being read from and to disks. The disks are typically faster than tape devices.
Information regarding tape volumes is stored in a tape catalog, maintained by a tape management system running on the host mainframe. The tape management system associates a particular tape using its primary identifier, the tape's volume serial number, with the data sets stored onto it along with its retention, or expiration date. In order to manage the re-use of tapes, the retention date indicates when the data on a tape is no longer required and at such point in time, the tape may have its data overwritten or "scratched" out. Scratch tape is a common mainframe term for a tape available to be written upon, regardless of its prior contents if any.
A scratch list is a report that is generally prepared on a daily basis that includes all of the volume serial numbers whose retention date expired on that day. A human typically refers to this report while walking through a tape library, pulling those tapes on the report so that they may be placed into the scratch pool for reuse. The tape management system imposes a safe guard against non-expired tapes being mounted in place of a scratch tape by comparing the tape's volume serial number against its catalog expiration date. This volume serial number, in addition to being hand written onto the exterior of the tape, is on the beginning of the tape prior to the start of data set information in a section known as a "header". When a scratch tape is mounted for writing, the tape management system inspects the tape catalog to verify that the tape is truly a scratch. If not, then it is rejected and a different scratch tape requested.
A vault list is a report prepared at some particular time interval that includes all of the volume serial numbers that are to be removed from the tape library and physically taken offsite. Mainframe data centers have the need to move or copy data to off site locations, primarily for the for the purpose of safe keeping critical information to be used in the event of an unexpected loss of the primary copy of that information. This typically involves physical transportation of the mainframe tapes, an error prone process in that sometimes all the required tapes are not sent or sometimes a tape sent in error that is later required to be retrieved in order to complete the processing of a mainframe job. Further, the data on these tapes is typically un-encrypted and therefore vulnerable to anyone being able to read it.
The tape management system is primarily used to cross-reference the location of a desired data set to a tape volume serial number. It is secondarily used to manage scratch lists and vault lists.
The present invention advances the art by allowing its practice to be supported via an encrypted communications protocol interfacing with, and relying upon, the teachings, practices and claims disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,108 (hereinafter synonymously referred to as "Secure Agent™" or "SA").

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for virtual tape management with remote archival and retrieval via an encrypted validation communication protocol


A method for registering and provisioning an electronic device is provided. The method includes a step of inserting a first keypair into a secure element of the electronic device. The first keypair includes a public key and a private key. The method further includes a step of requesting, from a remote server configured to register and provision connected devices, a provisioning of credentials of the electronic device. The method further includes a step of verifying, by the remote server, the electronic device credentials. The method further includes a step of registering, by the remote server, the electronic device. The method further includes a step of transmitting, from the remote server to the electronic device, a device certificate. The method further includes steps of installing the transmitted device certificate within the secure element of the electronic device, and provisioning the electronic device according to the installed device certificate.

The field of the disclosure relates generally to the management of device registration, and more particularly, to systems and methods for securely registering and provisioning electronic devices.
Many conventional electronic devices interact with secure electronic networks and computer systems. Many of these networks and systems are subject to significant security protections, however, the electronic devices that interact with the systems may not be subject to the same levels of security. Therefore, it is important to be able to reliably determine the identity of such electronic devices in order to provision the devices for use within a particular network, system, or ecosystem. Such provisioning techniques are not trivial. Many conventional electronic devices utilize a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to validate an electronic signature of the device in a variety of technology fields, such as telecommunications (e.g., mobile communication devices), the Internet of Things (IoT), online banking, secure email, and e-commerce.
At present, conventional IoT infrastructures are known to employ hardware roots of trust that aim to establish a tamper-resistant secure element, that is, a "black box," that use built-in cryptographic keys to perform cryptographic operations, such as encryption, decryption, and hashing. Examples of such hardware roots of trust include the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and the Hardware Security Module (HSM). These trust models/schemes are used for remote attestation, with the attestation being typically performed by a third party and/or a Cloud services user. Conventional HSM infrastructures often utilize PKI.
PKI uses a pair of cryptographic keys (e.g., one public and one private) to encrypt and decrypt data. PKI utilization enables, for example, devices to obtain and renew X.509 certificates, which are used to establish trust between devices and encrypt communications using such protocols as Transport Layer Security (TLS), etc. A PKI includes policies and procedures for encrypting public keys, as well as the creation, management, distribution, usage, storage, and revocation of digital certificates. The PKI binds the public keys to the identity of a person or legal entity, typically through a trusted Certificate Authority (CA). The PKI hierarchy identifies a chain of trust for a device or program, and further may provide secure software download requirements for the devices, and/or secure certificate injection requirements on the device manufacturers. The CA, the electronic devices, the device manufacturers, and users of the device interact over a PKI ecosystem.
In conventional PKI ecosystems, the management of keys, as well as the process of inserting the keys into the devices or secure elements, is problematic, expensive, and difficult to audit. Because of these difficulties, device manufacturers that utilize PKI are today required to add PKI costs to the bill of materials of each device at the time of manufacture, irrespective of whether the device may be eventually sold to, or activated by, a consumer. Nevertheless, the security benefits provided to the device are often considered to outweigh the risk of purchasing a PKI keypair that might not be sold. However, the risk of not recouping the PKI bill of materials investment, which is often compounded by the inability of the device manufacturers to charge a premium for the added security, has been an obstacle to the utilization of PKY by many industries.
Where manufacturers undertake the burden to provision a secure element of an electronic device, the manufacturer is subject to the additional costs a manufacturing production-line hardware elements, such as HSMs, for example. The requirements to provision PKI at the manufacturing level were therefore often difficult to implement, particularly with respect to such PKI requirements as revocation, potential auditing, and the ability/inability of the manufacturer to share CA keys. These difficulties increase significantly wherein electronic device is manufactured using a secure element from a different manufacturer, when multiple secure elements may be used within a single electronic device, and/or when an electronic device/secure element is provisioned and registered in more than one ecosystem.
In particular, many conventional IoT devices may be deployed in more than one ecosystem (e.g., Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF), AllSeen/AllJoyn, Nest/Thread, Zigbee, etc.), and a different key may be inserted at the time of manufacture on a device for each ecosystem into which deployment is desired. The manufacturers must add to the PKI bill of materials the cost for each such inserted keypair, even if the device is never activated in the corresponding ecosystems. Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a simplified provisioning and registration approach for manufacturers and for cross-manufacturer support.

Systems and methods for secure element registration and provisioning