A registration system (10) maintains registration of colors printed on a lenticular material (M) by a printing press (P) to form an image (I). A predetermined pattern (12) is printed on the material together with the image. A camera (36) obtains an image of each printed pattern as the lenticular material moves from one end of the press to the other, a strobe (40) and an image magnifier (34) also being used for this purpose. A monitor (32) displays the image for an observer to determine if the printed colors are properly registering with each other. A controller (46) for adjusting the position of print rollers (R) is operable by the observer to adjust the rollers, as necessary, for an observed printed color determined to be not properly registering with the other printed colors to be brought into registry therewith. A baseline pattern (14) is printed as are bars (28) for each printed color. By monitoring the relative position of the bars to the baseline pattern, the alignment of each color is readily determined and appropriate adjustments made, if necessary.

This invention relates to the printing of thin sheet lenticular lens materials, and more particularly, to a registration system for aligning a web of lenticular material on which images are printed with print rolls of a printing press so to adjust the lens material and printing plates for printing various of the colors used to print the images on the material. The registration system allows these adjustments to be made dynamically during an actual print run.
In co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 082,715/09, there is described a method for printing images on thin sheet lenticular materials. A key feature of this method is the alignment of the color negatives, or plates made from the negatives, both to each other and to the lens material on which the images are printed. An alignment system is employed by which the registry of the colors are checked against a reference color so the plates can be adjusted orthogonally, laterally, and rotationally as need be. While the alignment described therein works well for its intended purpose, use of the system necessitates that a few images be printed on the flat side of the lenticular material, the color registration be checked using the system, adjustments to the plates alignments be made, if necessary, and additional images be printed to verify that the revised alignment indeed corrects whatever minor misalignments there may have been.
Most printing presses, and particularly those used for volume printing, have some type of system, usually hydraulic, by which the print rolls can be adjusted while a job is being run. The hydraulic or other control system permits minor adjustments in the rolls up and done, back and forth, and in and out. As described in the co-pending application, the thinness of the material and the number of lenticules per inch (LPI) of the material means that there is almost no margin for error in alignment in order to provide a quality lenticular product. It will be appreciated that despite the care and precision with which the process described in the copending application is carried out, that once a print run begins, changes may still occur which effect the registration. If the run must be stopped to make necessary adjustments, this creates delays and adds to the cost of the job.

Registration system for lenticular printing


A friction stir weld apparatus having a linear drive actuator and a separate friction stir weld device. The linear actuator and the friction stir weld device are driven by concentric motors. In the preferred embodiment, the thrust member of the actuator is connected to the friction stir weld device within or adjacent to the friction stir weld device motor to advance and retract the friction stir weld device along a linear axis concentric with the actuator and friction stir weld device motors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotatable tool and apparatus therefor, and more specifically to a rotatable, linearly moveable tool and apparatus such as an apparatus and device for friction stir spot and/or stitch welding.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various tools or devices with rotatable tool heads are also linearly moveable, or designed for linear movement, between operative and non-operative positions or between various linear stages of operative positions. Examples include tools and devices for friction stir welding, machining/milling, boring/drilling, routing, screw fastening and lift and rotate operations, among others. Desired characteristics of all such tools and devices is that they exhibit excellent stability and balance and are as linearly compact as possible. Although the present invention has potential applicability to all of the above, it has particular applicability to friction stir welding and more specifically to an apparatus and device for friction stir spot and/or stitch welding. Accordingly, the summary of the invention and the preferred embodiment will be described with respect to an apparatus and device for friction stir spot and/or stitch welding.
Friction stir welding (FSW) is a material joining technique invented by the Welding Institute of England in 1991. The process involves applying a rotating tool or tool head of various configurations to the abutting faces of two or more workpieces, thereby generating frictional heat. The frictional heat in turn creates a softened plasticized region around the immersed rotating tool which is extruded from the leading side to the trailing side of the tool as the tool traverses along the joint. Friction stir welding is attractive for its ability to join various metals including various aluminum alloys, lead, magnesium, steel, titanium, zinc, copper, various metal matrix composites and various other metals often considered as being difficult to weld.
Friction stir welding has been used extensively to perform seam welding either to join two pieces of material together along a lap seam or joint or along a butt seam or joint. More recently, friction stir welding has been applied to spot welds by pressing the rotating head of the FSW tool against the outer surface of two or more layers of material. During the friction stir spot welding process, the rotating head creates friction to plasticize the various layers of material, after which the tool is withdrawn, leaving a spot weld joining the two or more layers of material.
Conventional spot welding involves positioning a pair of electrodes on opposite sides of two or more layers of material and applying sufficient welding energy and pressure to join the layers together. Conventional spot welding is widely used in various industries and applications including the automotive industry. While the use of friction stir spot welding has significant potential applicability for use in the automotive and these various other industries, it also faces several obstacles. These include, among others, the large size and payload of existing FSW equipment and the cost of such equipment as compared to equipment for other conventional joining or spot welding techniques.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a compact, low cost friction stir weld device and apparatus which can be used for spot and/or stitch welding applications.


The apparatus enables grasping a predetermined number of objects infed in a row and placing the grasped objects into a row arrangement containing a predetermined spacing from one another. There are provided tools containing displaceable object carriers and non-displaceable object carriers. The objects which are present in a predetermined pattern spacing are received by one of the tools and transferred to the object carriers of another one of the tools. By shifting the object carriers the objects are placed in a desired pattern having a predetermined pattern spacing, then transferred to the one tool and further processed by such one tool. The apparatus is particularly suitable, for instance, for the mounting of contact elements in insulating bodies of plug and socket connectors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention broadly relates to a new and improved apparatus for receiving and delivering objects and to a method of using such apparatus. In its more specific aspects, the apparatus of the present development serves for receiving objects arranged in a first pattern and delivering such objects arranged in a second pattern.
2. Discussion of the Background and Material Information
In different fields of application of automatic series or mass production, there frequently exists the problem of removing objects from an infeed or delivery device within an operating cycle and to deliver a predetermined number of such objects to a subsequent processing station. A typical field of application is the fitting of components of electro-technical products with connection elements which serve for the production of electrical connections with other components. Thus, for example, printed circuit boards or plug and socket connectors must be fitted with a multiplicity of metallic contact elements which are soldered or pressed into openings provided for this purpose. As a general rule, the contact elements or contacts are infed upon bands, removed from such bands and delivered for further processing.
In German Published Patent No. 2,950,460, published Jun. 26, 1980, there is disclosed an apparatus for the insertion of connection pins into a workpiece. A clamping device removes the connection pins from a carrier or support strip and individually delivers the connection pins to an insertion device. Only one connection pin after the other can be inserted into the workpiece. When confronted with large scale series or mass production of plug and socket connectors or the like, this technique no longer affords economically acceptable production times.
It is also known to the art to completely fit individual contact rows of plug and socket connectors during one working operation, that is to say, to simultaneously provide all of the contact positions of a row with a contact element. In many fields of application not all of the contact elements are required. This results in the need to fit the actually required position with a contact element during the production operation, so that there can arise different "patterns" of the contact occupancy.
In the prior filed, commonly assigned, copending U.S. application Ser. No. 07/634,214, filed Feb. 1, 1991 (herein "the commonly assigned apparatus"), entitled "Device For Handling Objects and Use of Said Device", the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, there is disclosed an apparatus or device where not only a plurality of objects are simultaneously grasped, but additionally, placed in a freely selectable mutual spacing from one another and in that condition can be thereafter delivered for further processing. This commonly assigned apparatus enables simultaneously incorporating a random number of objects into a processing or operating cycle, and the number of objects and their mutual spacing from one another can be freely selected within a predetermined pattern or array as a function of the momentarily encountered requirements. The pattern resolution is chosen such that each desired pattern, that is, every desired arrangement of the objects can be produced. As a result, it is possible in a very simple manner, for instance, in the previously mentioned specific field of application, to fit the rows of contacts or contact elements of plug and socket connectors according to a random desired pattern or configuration, that is to say, to also selectively leave predetermined or random desired contact positions devoid of contacts. The use of this commonly assigned apparatus renders possible, especially in the case of random patterns, to simultaneously prepare a set or package of contact elements corresponding to the desired contact element pattern, so that this previously prepared set of contact elements can be conjointly mounted, during a single operation, in appropriate openings of a carrier or support. In contrast to other mounting or fitting methods, the mounting or fitting method which can be performed with this commonly assigned apparatus results in an appreciable reduction in the time required for mounting or fitting of the contact elements.
It is to be mentioned, however, that such type of apparatus is not capable of withstanding too great mechanical loads. Thus, upon breakdown of such apparatus there results an appreciable downtime in the fabrication operation, usually accompanied by expensive repair work. Defects tend to especially occur during insertion or pressing-in of the objects into a body member. Thus, clamps or tongs which are used, for instance, in such apparatus for the handling of contact elements, are bent by the high thrust or pushing forces which arise when pressing these contact elements into the insulating body member of a plug and socket connector. As a result, it is not possible to precisely mount further contacts or contact elements. Moreover, the commonly assigned apparatus is itself even then subjected to load when the objects are only grasped and again delivered or outfed however, not mutually shifted with respect to one another.

Apparatus for receiving and delivering objects and method of using such apparatus


A passenger seat for use in a motor vehicle includes a first and a second substantially planar region. The seat is pivotable about a horizontal axis between a first position and a second position. In the first position, the first region is horizontal and acts as the seat, and the second region is vertical and acts as the seat back, such that the passenger is facing forward. In the second position, the first region is vertical and acts as the seat back, and the second region is horizontal and acts as the seat, such that the passenger is facing backward.

(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a passenger seat device for motor vehicles.
(b) Description of the Related Art
It is desirable, particularly in vehicles with three or more rows of seats, e.g. vans, for the passenger seats to be able to adopt several seat positions, e.g. forward-facing and backward-facing.
Passenger seats which can be rotated about a vertical axis of rotation to alter the seat position are generally known. However, this solution requires a great deal of lateral space because the seats are generally longer than they are wide.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Passenger seat device for motor vehicles

Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center GmbH


An image pickup lens includes: a first lens group having positive refractive power; a second lens group having negative refractive power; a third lens group having positive refractive power; and a fourth lens group having negative refractive power, arranged in order from an object side to an image side, the fourth lens group being configured to travel along an optical axis through focusing operation. In the image pickup lens, following conditional expression (1) is satisfied,f/f4<−0.35  (1)where f is a total focal length of the image pickup lens, and f4 is a focal length of the fourth lens group.

The present technology relates to technical fields of an image pickup lens and an image pickup apparatus. Specifically, the present technology relates to technical fields of an image pickup lens and an image pickup apparatus that have a shooting angle of view from about 40° to about 90° and F number of 2.8 or smaller.
Various types of bright lenses exist, for example, that have a shooting angle of view from about 40° to about 90° and F number of 2.8 or smaller for an image pickup apparatus with interchangeable lenses. As such a type of lens, a Gauss lens is widely known (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. H06-337348 and 2009-58651 (JP H06-337348A and JP 2009-58651A)).
The Gauss lens has a configuration in which a convex lens and a concave lens are arranged symmetrically with an aperture stop in between. In the Gauss lens, whole of the lens system or part of lens groups travels along an optical axis at the time of focusing operation.
In recent years, digital cameras with interchangeable lenses have been rapidly in wide use. In particular, it has been possible to shoot moving images with the use of the image pickup apparatus with interchangeable lenses. Therefore, a lens suitable not only for shooting still images but for shooting moving images is desired. Accordingly, it is necessary to allow the lens group used for performing focusing operation to travel at high speed in accordance with rapid movement of a subject when shooting moving images.
The Gauss lenses disclosed in JP H06-337348A and JP 2009-58651A are each configured to allow whole of the lens system to travel along an optical axis at the time of focusing operation.
In a case where focusing operation is performed through allowing whole of the lens system to travel at high speed for shooting moving images in such a manner, weight of the focus lens group used for performing the focusing operation is increased. Therefore, an actuator for allowing the focusing lens groups to travel becomes large, and disadvantageously, a lens barrel becomes large.
On the other hand, an image pickup lens disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-68448 (JP 2012-68448A) adopts rear-focus scheme. In the image pickup lens disclosed in JP 2012-68448A, a most-image-sided lens group is used as a focusing lens group, and thereby, focusing operation is achieved at high speed.
However, refractive power of the focusing lens group is set small in order to suppress variation in aberration during the focusing operation, and it is necessary to enlarge a traveling range of the focusing lens group accordingly. Therefore, an exit pupil becomes long, which disadvantageously prevents reduction in total length of the lens.

Image pickup lens and image pickup apparatus


Disclosed are enantiomers, diastereomers, salts, solvates, hydrates and mixtures thereof, of formula I: ##STR1## The core moiety is a monocyclic ring structure having five to six ring atoms and two nitrogen atoms at the 1 and 3 positions, n is an integer from 4 to 16, R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are hydrogen, halogen or C.sub.1-12 alkyl or alkenyl, and (CH.sub.2).sub.n may be optionally substituted by a hydroxyl, halogen, oxygen, a C.sub.1-4 alkyl group or a dimethylamino group. The compounds and pharmaceutical composition thereof are useful in methods for treating an individual having a disease or treatment-induced toxicity mediated through a second messenger.

Pentoxifylline (1-(5-oxohexyl)-3,7-dimethylxanthine), abbreviated PTX, is a xanthine derivative which has seen widespread medical use for the increase of blood flow. PTX is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,422,107 and 3,737,433. Metabolites of PTX were summarized in Davis et al., Applied Environment Microbiol. 48:327, 1984. A metabolite of PTX is 1-(5-hydroxyhexyl)-3,7-dimethylxanthine, designated M1. M1 was also disclosed as increasing cerebral blood flow in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,515,795 and 4,576,947. In addition, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,833,146 and 5,039,666 disclose use of tertiary alcohol analogs of xanthine for enhancing cerebral blood flow.
Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,507 describes an ability of PTX and M1, to stimulate chemotaxis in polymorphonuclear leukocytes in response to a stimulator of chemotaxis. PTX and related tertiary alcohol substituted xanthines inhibit activity of certain cytokines to affect chemotaxis (U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,271 and U.S. Pat. No.5,096,906). Administration of PTX and GM-CSF decrease tumor necrosis factor (TNF) levels in patients undergoing allogeneic bone marrow transplant (Bianco et al., Blood 76: Supplement 1 (522A), 1990). Reduction in assayable levels of TNF was accompanied by reduction in bone marrow transplant-related complications. However, in normal volunteers, TNF levels were higher among PTX recipients. Therefore, elevated levels of TNF are not the primary cause of such complications.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to discover effective therapeutic compounds that are safe and effective for human or animal administration and that maintain cellular homeostasis in the face of a variety of inflammatory or noxious stimuli. The invention results from investigations of such compounds.


In the method and a device for detecting the phase of a moving object using a heterodyne interferometer, a heterogeneous mode helium-neon laser is used as a direct light source to increase a measuring speed, a measuring resolution, and minimize the loss of the light source. Signals, which have only a frequency difference between reference signals or measured signals and arbitrary signals, are extracted from signals which are obtained by multiplying the arbitrary frequency signals by the reference or measured signals. After frequencies of the reference and measured signals are converted, a phase difference of the extracted signals and displacement of the moving object is measured. The system includes a laser light source, an optical interferometer, a frequency converter, and a phase measurer. The light source uses output light, emitted from the laser generator, which is stabilized in frequency, and has two frequencies which are at right angles to each other and linearly polarized.

First of all, the technique and principle of a conventional heterodyne displacement measuring interferometer will be explained hereinafter in order to improve the understanding of the present invention. The present technical situation of a laser light source of the heterodyne interferometer is described first. As implied by the word "heterodyne", a laser light source of the heterodyne interferometer must output light having two frequencies which are at right angles to each other and linearly polarized, as shown in FIG. 1. There are two typical methods for generating this light. The first one is a method using the Zeeman effect, which applies a magnetic field to a gain material to generate two frequencies and the second one is a method using an acousto-optic modulator (hereinafter, referred to as "AOM").
Specifically, the first method applies a magnetic field to a laser operating in a single mode using the Zeeman effect by which the spectrum of an atom is divided into two when a magnetic field is applied to the gain material, to thereby obtain light having two frequencies whose polarized beams are perpendicular to each other. This method can relatively easily construct a heterodyne light source. However, the maximum difference between the two frequencies is merely 3 MHz so that the maximum measuring speed is limited to 475 mm/s when a plane mirror interferometer is used.
The second method for obtaining a light source using an AOM became commercially available by Zygo, Co., of America. This method passes one of two frequencies of light that oscillate in a heterogeneous-mode laser through a polarizer and inputs the resultant frequencies to the AOM to obtain linearly polarized light having two frequency components with a frequency difference of 20 MHz between them. The light source obtained through this method has a high beat frequency so that a measuring band of the light source becomes larger than that of the light source acquired according to the Zeeman effect. Furthermore, even in the case where the beat frequency is stabilized and the laser is changed into another one, the beat frequency can be controlled to be identical to the stabilized one. However, the loss of light is considerable because one of the two frequencies should pass through the polarizer. Moreover, a polarization prism cannot perfectly align two beams with one axis, so measurement becomes difficult when a measuring distance is longer than 10 m.
Next, a phase measuring method and the technical situation of a conventional heterodyne interferometer will be explained. A phase measurer measures a frequency difference between a reference signal having a specific frequency and a measured signal obtained by adding the Doppler frequency to the frequency of the reference signal according to movement of an object and continuously adds up the measured frequency difference, to detect the displacement of the moving object. When a reflecting mirror moves at a rate v, Doppler frequency Δƒ according to the movement of the reflecting mirror is represented by the following Expression:Δƒ=2nv(t)/λ  (Expression 1)where n is the refractive index of air and λ is wavelength of light. When the reflecting mirror moves at 1 m/s, the Doppler frequency caused by the movement of the reflecting mirror is 3.16 MHz. In the case of a plane mirror interferometer where light reaches the reflecting mirror twice, the Doppler frequency becomes 6.32 MHz, which is twice the Doppler frequency of the above-described case. This means that 6.32×106 interference patterns pass for one second. The phase measurer must have a high frequency band so as not to miss the number of interference patterns.
The phase measurer mostly measures the ratio of the cycle of the reference signal to a zero crossing time difference of the reference signal and the measured signal, to obtain a phase value. The phase of the two signals is defined as follows:
                    ϕ        =                              360            °                    ×                                    T              +                                      T              R                                                          (                  Expression                                                              2                )            where TR is the cycle of the reference signal VR, and T+ is the zero crossing time difference of the reference signal VR and the measured signal Vm. The phase measurer counts internal clocks during T+ and TR to obtain the phase value. Accordingly, the resolution of the phase measurer is determined by the cycle of the reference signal and a time resolution of the phase measurer. That is, the following relationship is accomplished:Δθ=360° ƒRΔτ  (Expression 3)where Δθ is an angle resolution of the phase measurer, ƒR is the frequency of the reference signal, and Δτ is the time resolution of the phase measurer. According to Expression 3, the phase resolution becomes 3.6+ when the time resolution of the phase measurer is 1 nsec and the frequency of the reference signal is 10 MHz, and the phase resolution is 0.36° when the frequency of the reference signal is 1 MHz. This means that the phase resolution increases as the frequency of the reference signal decreases. However, the phase resolution is limited by a measuring speed. In general, phase measurement is carried out for every one cycle of the reference signal so that the frequency of the reference signal becomes a sampling frequency of the phase value. When a phase variation is more than ⅔ during one sampling period, phase unwrapping becomes difficult. This can be represented by the following Expression:Δφ<|2π/3|  (Expression 4)where Δφ is a phase variation during a sampling period.
The limit of measurable Doppler frequency Δƒ can be obtained when both sides of Expression 4 are divided by sampling time, that is, half the cycle of the reference signal.
                                                    Δ                                                                          f                                    =                                                        Δϕ                              2                                                  π                                                        (                                                                  T                        R                                            2                                        )                                                                                            <                                    2              3                                                  f              R                                                          (                  Expression                                                              5                )            where ƒR is the frequency of the reference signal, which is obtained through ƒ1−ƒ2.
In the case where the frequency of the reference is 1 MHz and the plane mirror interferometer is used, a maximum measurable movement speed is approximately 104 mm/s from Expressions 1 and 5. Because a maximum movement speed is proportional to the frequency of the reference signal, the frequency of the reference signal should be increased in order to measure an object moving rapidly. In this case, however, resolution is decreased. The relationship between the measuring speed v and a length resolution ΔL is represented as follows:
                    Δτ        <                  2                    Δ                                L                          3                            v                                                          (                  Expression                                                              6                )
The conventional phase measuring method must satisfy the relationship of Expression 6. Accordingly, increasing the time resolution is the only way to improve both the measuring speed and the measuring resolution. To obtain the resolution of 0.3 mm at the movement speed of 2 m/s, a time resolution of at least 100 ps is needed. Thus, it is difficult and costly to obtain such resolution.
As described above, the conventional heterodyne interferometer has a large loss of light during generation of the light source so a light source with high power is difficult to obtain. In addition, the time resolution should be increased in order to acquire a high measuring speed and measuring resolution in the conventional heterodyne interferometer. However, there are limits in the time resolution, so it is difficult to actually construct a laser interferometer system.

Heterodyne laser interferometer using heterogenous mode helium-neon laser and super heterodyne phase measuring method

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology


The present invention relates to spectroscopic methods and systems for collecting electromagnetic radiation from an object using a continuously-spinning wavelength-selecting (CSWS) device, e.g., an interference filter(s) or grating. One embodiment of the invention provides a spectroscopic system for collecting electromagnetic radiation from a target. The spectroscopic system has at least one beam of electromagnetic radiation that interacts with the target. The system includes a continuously spinning wavelength-selecting (CSWS) device, e.g., a continuously spinning interference filter/grating driven by a DC motor, in the path of the at least one beam. The device filters the radiation with regard to wavelength to produce filtered radiation. The system further includes at least one detector in the path of the at least one beam for detecting the filtered radiation.

This invention relates to a spectroscopic system having an improved spectral signal-to-noise ratio and a simpler configuration involving fewer mechanical parts than current grating-based instruments.
At a minimum, a spectrometer (e.g., a Raman, fluorescence, absorption or reflectance spectrometer) includes a light source, a photo-detector and a wavelength-selecting device. A wavelength-selecting device is often called a spectroscope. Depending on the application, the sample can be inserted between the source and the spectroscope or between the spectroscope and the detector.
There are different types of spectrometers. One type of spectrometer is a wavelength-scanning instrument. A wavelength-scanning instrument acquires one wavelength band at any given time. Examples of this type of device are monochromators, tunable interference filters (tunable through various techniques such as mechanical tilting, thermal variation, and opto-acoustical variation) and discrete-filters-spinning-wheel instruments. A discrete-filters-spinning-wheel instrument includes a wheel with a number of discrete filters. The wheel is oriented substantially perpendicular to the path of an optical beam so that the axis of rotation of the wheel is substantially parallel to the optical beam and so that by rotating the wheel one can alternately bring each of the discrete filters into the path of the optical beam. In other words, only one of the discrete narrow bandpass filters is in the path of the light beam at a time.
There are two common methods of sampling and acquiring a radiation signal using a monochromator and at least one of these two common methods is also applicable to tunable interference filters and discrete-filters-spinning-wheel instruments. The first method, termed continuous-scan, controls the wavelength-selecting device to continuously vary the output wavelength. In a monochromator-based instrument, for example, the continuous-scan method smoothly varies the grating angle as a function of time. The continuous-scan method acquires and digitizes the signal while the grating is rotating. One usually performs a rotation cycle, i.e., a cycle involving moving a grating through the grating's range of motion (less than 90 degrees), a number of times. One then averages the acquired data to improve the resulting signal-to-noise ratio. In other words, such a monochromator-based system needs to slow down the rotation of the grating, bring the grating to a stop and start rotating the grating in the opposite direction and the system typically needs to repeat this process many times.
The second method, termed step-and-scan, rotates the grating/filter (in a tilt-tuned instrument) step-wise to a new location and lets the grating/filter settle before starting data acquisition. The method integrates (averages) the signal while the grating is at rest.
Current wavelength-selecting devices, such as monochromators, have some inherent drawbacks:    1. Measurements are usually slow. The inertia of the moving parts (gratings, gear-reduction mechanisms, etc) usually limits the speed of rotation of the moving parts. For the continuous scan method, significant delay occurs as a result of the need to let the grating or filter come to a stop and start moving in the opposite direction with precision and without causing large vibrations. For the step-scan method, significant delay occurs as a result of the need to let the grating or filter settle to within a certain permissible angular window before starting data acquisition.    2. For monochromator and tilting filter instruments, the precision of the rotary stage at least partially determines wavelength repeatability. The rotary stage of such instruments is typically not precise enough for most high-SNR or low-noise applications, requiring high spectral repeatability such as quantitative spectroscopy measurements Other scanning systems (e.g., thermal and opto-acoustic systems) have their own inherent limitations in regard to their ability to reliably and accurately reproduce a specified wavelength.    3. Systems designed for high SNR applications are expensive due to a need for high-precision mechanical and electrical components.    4. Current wavelength-selecting systems are highly sensitive to mechanical vibrations.
For applications requiring high SNR(i.e., most applications today, especially quantitative applications), one typically employs modulation and bandwidth-narrowing techniques. These techniques commonly involve modulating the radiation signal so that one can apply electrical bandwidth-narrowing techniques, such as band-pass filtering and phase-locking techniques, to the resulting signal.
To expand on this last point, in a grating-based spectrometer that does not use modulation, one can tilt the grating to select a particular narrow band of wavelengths and then one integrates the signal over time. Such a method has the disadvantage that the sources of noise regardless of their respective frequencies add on to the resulting signal, negatively impacting the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, by applying modulation at a frequency distinct from the frequencies of most sources of noise, one can increase the resulting SNR.
Spectroscopy practitioners commonly use a mechanical chopper to modulate the radiation arriving at the photo-detector. A mechanical chopper works by mechanically "chopping" (or blocking) the beam path periodically at a predetermined frequency.
Light modulation using such a device has some disadvantages:
                1. A mechanical chopper adds complexity to a spectroscopic system. Besides the chopper wheel itself (and other components needed to support rotation of the wheel), the device needs its own electromechanical and electrical components to drive and control the rotation of the chopper wheel and to synchronize the chopper wheel with an associated wavelength-selecting instrument. Thus, modulation using a mechanical chopper can add significant cost to a spectroscopic system.        2. Mechanical choppers are typically bulky and difficult to miniaturize.        3. Measurement becomes slower, because the wavelength-scanning device needs to "wait" for the light chopper to produce enough turns/modulations before proceeding to the next wavelength segment. The slower the modulation frequency, the longer the mechanical-chopper-modulated system needs to obtain a given number of signals. This type of chopping device is usually limited to only a few hundred hertz.        4. Modulation using a mechanical chopper does not eliminate the low frequency (close to DC frequency) stability error, such as those caused by temperature variations or power drifts.Thus, a need remains for inexpensive spectroscopic systems that have an improved spectral signal-to-noise ratio and a simpler configuration involving fewer mechanical parts than current grating-based instruments.


The present invention provides a heat spreader with a bypass capacitor to provide substantially instant power and/or to control simultaneous switching noise (SSN). The present invention also provides a semiconductor device package incorporating this heat spreader. In addition, fabrication methods for such heat spreaders and packages are provided. Generally, the heat spreaders and packages of the present invention include an embedded bypass capacitor that can provide decoupling capacitance in order to deliver near instant power to the die and/or minimize SSN. In a preferred embodiment, the embedded bypass capacitor is connected to terminals integrated with the heat spreader (e.g., lid; stiffener) and/or to a package plane (e.g., power plane or ground plane) in the package substrate for connection via the flip chip package's power delivery system to a power source and/or component.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to semiconductor device packages, and in particular to flip chip packages. More specifically, the invention relates to heat spreaders embedded with a bypass capacitor and their corresponding methods of fabrication.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a semiconductor device package, a semiconductor chip (also referred to as an integrated circuit (IC) chip or "die") may be bonded directly to a package substrate. Such a die is formed with ball-shaped beads or bumps of solder affixed to its I/O bonding pads. During packaging, the die is "flipped" onto its front surface (e.g., active surface) so that the bumps form electrical connections between the die and conductive metal pads on a package substrate. A semiconductor device package of this type is commonly called a "flip chip package". As used herein, a flip chip package may include the packaging, the die, and/or their corresponding components.
A flip chip package is generally coupled to a printed circuit board (PCB) and powered by a system power supply located thereon. The system power supply is often connected to a system ground (ideally at 0V). The system power supply is also connected through power and ground leads to the flip chip package's power and ground planes for operating the flip chip package. Since the system power supply is often located a substantial distance away from the flip chip package, a long time delay and large inductance associated with the power and ground leads are introduced into the flip chip package's power delivery system. The flip chip package's power delivery system includes among other things all the connections between the flip chip package components (e.g., drivers) and their power sources (e.g., system power supply). As a result, the flip chip package components as well as the flip chip package as a whole operate in a suboptimal manner.
During its operation, a flip chip package may experience some degree of simultaneous switching noise (SSN). This may occur when multiple drivers switch simultaneously causing a voltage ripple in the flip chip package's power delivery system and offsetting the voltage reference within the flip chip package from its specified value. This voltage reference shift is commonly known as SSN and is exacerbated by the increased number of multiple drivers switching simultaneously in today's flip chip packages and the large inductance introduced by the earlier mentioned power and ground leads. As a result, SSN may cause errors in the operation of the die (e.g., drivers not responding correctly). Therefore, the more SSN present, the less reliable the flip chip package will become.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide improved flip chip packages and corresponding packaging methods that can provide substantially instant power and/or control the amount of SSN, thereby, improving package performance.

Bypass capacitor embedded flip chip package lid and stiffener


The invention relates to a multi-layer decoupling system, in particular for the laying of ceramic paving according to a thin-bed method. Said system comprises a layered construction containing, from the base upwards, an anchoring fleece made of non-woven material, an anchorage layer that is configured from a lattice-type structural element and that is used to hold a filler material, which is to be incorporated into the upper face of the decoupling system and which is plastic during processing and subsequently cures, in addition to a reinforcement layer, which is fixed, at least in some sections, to the anchorage layer. This improves the load-bearing capacity of the decoupling system and the bonding properties of ceramic paving that is laid in a conventional manner on the decoupling system.

Today, ceramic paving, in particular ceramic tiles, is usually laid using the so-called thin-bed method, in which the ceramic paving is laid in a thin, adhesive layer of tile mortar. This method, which is satisfactory for interior applications, is problematic when ceramic paving is to be laid in an exterior area, because the effects of moisture and temperature on paving of this kind frequently result in the gradual destruction of the tiles or the base in which they are laid, and it becomes impossible to avoid the diminished reliability of this type of paving, with the result that costly repair work may be required. Moisture that penetrates through the tile paving into the substratum frequently results in damage to the building itself because the moisture cannot escape easily. This occurs frequently in the case of balconies that are to be sealed.
In addition to the foregoing, it is difficult to control the crack behavior of the ceramic paving and of the substratum because of the very different coefficients of expansion of the substratum, the thin-bed mortar, and the ceramic paving, which are brought about by the very high temperature differences between the high temperatures caused by solar radiation and the low temperatures caused by frost that occur in the exterior area. For this reason, there is frequently cracking in the tile paving if it is joined rigidly to the substratum.
For this reason, it has frequently been proposed that ceramic paving of this type that is laid in an exterior area can be laid in a more durable fashion in that the ceramic paving is deliberately decoupled from the substratum. It is true that such decoupling ensures that mechanical decoupling is effected transversely to the area that is paved; it also entails the disadvantage that the mechanical load-bearing capacity of the tile paving is inadequate. On the one hand, the tiles are not anchored firmly enough to the decoupling system, and on the other hand, the pressure strength of the decoupling system itself is not optimal.
This type of configuration for a decoupling and sealing system is described in DE 100 60 751 C1. In this configuration, what is proposed is a decoupling and sealing system that has a plastic or bitumen layer underneath, above which are disposed a first non-woven layer that is of a first hydrophobic polymer; above this there is a drainage layer that is of a second hydrophobic polymer, and then, above this, a second non-woven layer that is of the first hydrophobic polymer. It is true that, within certain limits, this layered construction permits moisture that has penetrated to drain out of the substratum of a tile layer; however, the mechanical load-bearing capacity of a layered, construction of this kind is unsatisfactory since embedding the uppermost non-woven layer in the tile mortar does not permit adequate anchoring or reinforcing function. The drainage layer is in the form of a lattice-type layer, although no exact details for forming the lattice-type layer are provided.
EP 0 386 324 A2 describes a bituminous adhesive agent that has a non-woven layer laminated onto a bitumen carrier layer, upon which there is a lattice-type fabric as a reinforcing layer for the improved attachment of a cement mortar for a tile layer that is to be applied thereto.
FR 2 774 715 A1, like DE 88 14 650.2, describes a layered structure for covering cracks, with a lattice-like reinforcing structure for embedding tile mortar.


Where a thin film formed on a glass substrate is etched with a solution containing a fluoride, insoluble residues formed by the reaction of the solution with glass substrate components adhere to the back of the substrate to cause etching non-uniformity called roller marks. So, a solution is supplied directly to supporting members for supporting the glass substrate, or concentratedly to a region where the substrate and the supporting members come into contact and from a position opposite to the transporting direction of the substrate, or to both the supporting members and regions where the substrate and the supporting members come into contact. This enables the roller marks to be kept from forming, consequently making it possible to improve display quality of display devices.

This invention is concerned with treatment for etching or cleaning a thin film formed on a platelike glass substrate for use in flat-panel display, and more particularly relates to a method for manufacturing a display device in which marks of rollers for supporting and transporting glass substrate have been kept from forming on the back of the glass substrate, and an apparatus for manufacturing such a display device.
In general, in methods for manufacturing liquid-crystal display devices, an etching step of processing into stated shapes semiconductor films such as thin films formed on glass substrates, as exemplified by an amorphous silicon film, a polycrystalline silicon film and also a silicon oxide film, is the step of etching and removing the thin film by means of a solution, using as a mask a resist film formed on the thin film. A cleaning step is also the step of applying a solution to the thin film to remove foreign matters and contaminants present on its surface. Herein, the solution is meant to be a chemical solution used in treatment such as etching or cleaning.
The above etching step and cleaning step are treatment steps making use of solutions, and a spin system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-228526, in which a glass substrate is rotated during which a chemical solution, pure water, nitrogen and so forth are supplied onto the glass substrate.
In the case of a large-size glass substrate such as a glass substrate having a size of 1 m×1 m, a flat-flow system is also disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-open Publications No. H10-79371 and No. 2000-303191, in which the glass substrate is transported onto rollers in the state of which a chemical solution, pure water and so forth are supplied onto a thin film formed on the glass substrate to carry out treatment.
In the case when the flat-flow system is used, the chemical solution used in etching or cleaning the thin film formed on the glass substrate surface comes around to the back side as well of the glass substrate, and hence the chemical solution is often so supplied as to spread as possible as uniformly to the glass substrate back side as well. Accordingly, it is common to dispose nozzles in such a way that they stay away from glass-substrate-supporting members which may block the supplying of the chemical solution.

Method for manufacturing display device that includes supplying solution to the underside of a glass substrate


The present invention provides methods for preventing or treating a disease in a subject which is caused by an inflammatory response to a disease or syndrome which is mediated by endogenous substance P. These methods comprise the administration to the subject of a pharmaceutically-effective amount of anti-substance P antibodies, or anti-substance P antibody fragments, such as F(ab)2 fragments, thereby inhibiting the activity of endogenous substance P in the subject. By inhibiting the activity of endogenous substance P in the subject, the levels of cytokines produced by T lymphocytes present in the subject are reduced, the signals which direct the inflammatory response to the infection become altered, and the amount of cytokine-induced inflammation becomes reduced. Respiratory syncytial virus is one example of an agent which causes an infection which often results in a disease caused by an inflammatory response to the infection mediated by endogenous substance P. Generally, from about 0.001 mg to about 10 g of anti-substance P antibodies, or anti-substance P antibody fragments, per kilogram of body weight per day are administered to a mammalian subject, with from about 1 mg to about 1000 mg of anti-substance P antibodies, or anti-substance P antibody fragments, per kilogram of body weight per day being preferred.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for preventing and/or treating diseases caused by an inflammatory response mediated by endogenous substance P. The methods comprise the administration to a subject of a pharmaceutically-effective amount of anti-substance P antibodies, or anti-substance P antibody fragments, thereby inhibiting the activity of endogenous substance P. Such inhibition reduces the levels of cytokines produced by T lymphocytes, alters the signals which direct the inflammatory response to the infection, and reduces cytokine-induced inflammation. The present invention especially relates to methods for preventing and treating diseases caused by an inflammatory response to viral or bacterial infections. Moreover, the present invention especially relates to methods for preventing and treating diseases caused by an inflammatory response to respiratory syncytial virus.
2. Background
Inflammation. Inflammation is a localized, protective response of the immune system which is produced to protect a subject from disease. It is elicited by destruction of tissues, foreign substances such as allergens, infectious agents and cells such as viruses and bacteria. The inflammatory response destroys, dilutes or sequesters both the injurious agent and the injured tissue. It is characterized in the acute form by the classical signs of pain, heat, redness, swelling and loss of function. Histologically, it involves a complex series of events, including dilatation of arterioles, capillaries and venules, with increased permeability and blood flow, exudation of fluids, including plasma proteins, and leukocytic migration into the inflammatory focus.
T lymphocytes, which are products of lymphoid tissue, and their soluble protein products, known as cytokines, participate in humoral and cell-mediated immunity, and mediate the inflammatory response. T lymphocytes can suppress or assist the stimulation of antibody production in the presence of antigen, and can kill tumor and transplant tissue cells. Cytokines made by T lymphocytes, such as the intracellular cytokines interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interferon-γ (IFNγ), function to augment or suppress the immune response, or to change the type of immune response.
The immune-system-mediated inflammatory response, however, can also cause, or contribute to, disease, rather than prevent it. Some diseases, such as those caused by infection by respiratory syncytial virus appear to be caused in part by the inflammatory response. Small molecule anti-inflammatory agents which are currently employed to treat inflammation, disadvantageously have adverse side effects, such as gastrointestinal discomfort and decreased blood clotting efficiency. Steroid-based anti-inflammatory drugs also have adverse side effects, such as reduced adrenal gland function and generalized immune system inhibition.
Substance P. Substance P is a naturally-occurring, endogenously-released, undecapeptide which has multiple sites of action as a major pro-inflammatory neuromediator or neuromodulator, both in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Substance P is known to have regulatory effects upon several cell types present in the immune system, and to regulate the inflammatory response to foreign substances or pathogens by altering the expression of proinflammatory cytokines, which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of different neuropathologies. High levels of substance P have been implicated in the pathogenesis of diseases associated with inflammation. Substance P is also known to modulate the activity of cells affiliated with respiratory inflammation (neutrophils, mast cells and alveolar macrophages). Elevated concentrations of substance P and cytokines have been associated in the pathogenesis of a wide variety of diseases, including arthritis, experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, altered immunoregulation during human immunodeficiency virus infection, irritable bowel syndrome and airway hyperactivity.
Substance P has the following amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:1 in the Sequence Listing):
H-Arg-Pro-Lys-Pro-Gln-Gln-Phe-Phe-Gly-Leu-Met-NH2,
and belongs to a family of closely-related peptides known as the tachykinins (neurokinins), along with two other related, endogenously-released peptides, neurokinin A (NKA) and neurokinin B (NKB). Neurokinins are a group of structurally-related peptides characterized by a similar C-terminal pentapeptide that interacts with different receptor subtypes. The amidated C-terminal portion of the substance P neuropeptide is responsible for receptor binding (Otsuka et al., "Neurotransmitter Functions of Mammalian-Tachykinins," Physiological Reviews 73:229–307 (1993)). Substance P and neurokinin A are widely distributed in the airways and lungs of several species, including humans and guinea pigs.
Substance P is known to participate in inflammatory processes, and in the immune response, and appears to be involved in the process of neurogenic inflammation, pain transmission, regulation of blood pressure, inflammation processes and endocrine and exocrine secretion. Substance P has been strongly implicated in the transmission of pain, being coreleased alongside other transmitters and peptides, from small-diameter primary afferents. The primary role of substance P in neurogenic inflammation, smooth muscle contraction, and vasodilation is well established. In the central nervous system, where substance P and its receptors are widely distributed, its functional roles are less clear. Given parenterally, substance P and neurokinin A induce a variety of responses, including contraction of bronchial smooth muscle, mucus secretion, vasodilation, extravasation of plasma proteins and recruitment of inflammatory cells. The principal biological activity of these tachykinins resides in their structurally similar carboxyl sequence, . . . Phe-X-Gly-Leu-Met-COOH (SEQ ID NO. 2). Several binding experiments have shown that intestinal and vascular substance P receptors bind to the C-terminal pentapeptide of substance P. It has been suggested that the release of endogenous substance P and neurokinin A from pulmonary afferent C-fibers contributes to bronchial obstruction in asthma.
Specific membrane receptors for substance P have been found in neurons, and in muscular, glandular and immunocompetent cells, which helps to explain the diversity and importance of the physiological roles of substance P. Substance P effects its biological activity by ligation with these receptors, and the binding of substance P to its receptors enhances the incorporation of phosphate or inositol into phosphatidylinositol. Substance P, neurokinin A and neurokinin B appear to exert their biological effects primarily through interactions with three distinct receptors of the neurokinin family, named neurokinin receptor-1 (NK1), neurokinin receptor-2 (NK2) and neurokinin receptor-3 (NK3), respectively. Substance P affects antibody synthesis, or promotes cytokine production, through NK1 receptors which are well-characterized on T- and B-lymphocytes, monocytes and astrocytes, and possibly also via nonneurokinin receptors. While substance P preferentially binds to the NK1 receptor, its binding is not limited to this receptor. Further, the cationic, amphiphilic nature of the substance P molecule allows it to bypass the NK1 receptor and insert itself into the cell membrane, where it can directly interact with proteins. Thus, any inflammation-reduction therapy which targets the NK1 receptors (i.e., the use of compound or antibody NK1 receptor antagonists) will not fully inhibit the substance P pathway of inflammation, or be effective in preventing the pro-inflammatory actions of substance P.
The functional roles of substance P in the mammalian central nervous system and peripheral nervous system are currently being investigated by a variety of experimental approaches, including the use of antibodies and pharmacological agonists and antagonists. However, a continuous delivery of pharmaceutical drugs to the nervous tissue poses several practical problems, including limited diffusion and half-life of the drugs, secondary, non-specific effects of the drugs (because the endogenous neurokinins are preferential, but not selective agonists) and side-effects of the drugs. While studies have been performed with pharmaceutical antagonists of substance P receptors, studies in this area have been limited by the lack of efficacious antagonists specific for the NK1 receptors, and by the difficulty of using these antagonists in vivo, due to short half-lives, and the resulting lack of effect, and non-specific effects. Thus, the use of antibodies and antibody fragments which bind directly with substance P, as is done in the methods of the present invention, rather than using substance P receptor antagonists, is believed to be a preferable approach for inhibiting the action of endogenous substance P and, consequently for reducing the levels of cytokine production and cytokine-induced inflammation.
Additional information concerning substance P is present in the following publications: U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,283; Mantyh, "Substance P and the Inflammatory and Immune Response," Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 632:263–271 (1991); Ho et al., "Substance P Modulates Human Immunodeficiency Virus Replication in Human Peripheral Blood Monocyte-Derived Macrophages," AIDS Research & Human Retroviruses 12:195 (1996); Kudlacz et al., "Parainfluenza Virus Type 3 Induced Alterations in Tachykinin NK1 Receptors, Substance P Levels and Respiratory Functions in Guinea Pig Airways," European Journal of Pharmacology 270:291 (1994); Yamawaki et al., "Viral Infection Potentiates the Increase in Airway Blood Flow Produced by Substance P," Journal of Applied Physiology 79:398 (1995); Ben-Jebria et al., "Effect of Passive Sensitization on the Mechanical Activity of Human Isolated Bronchial Smooth Muscle Induced by Substance P, Neurokinin A and VIP," British Journal of Pharmacology 109:131 (1993); Boichot et al., "Inhaled substance P Induces Activation of Alveolar Macrophages and Increases Airway Responses in the Guinea-Pig," Neuropeptides 25:307 (1993); Cheung et al., "Effects of Inhaled Substance P on Airway Responsiveness to Methacholine in Asthmatic Subjects In Vivo," Journal of Applied Physiology 77:1325 (1994); Heaney et al., "Substance P induces Histamine Release from Human Pulmonary Mast Cells," Clinical & Experimental Allergy 25:179 (1995); Murris-Espin et al., "Substance P and Alveolar Macrophages: Effects on Oxidative Metabolism and Eicosanoid Production." Allergy 50:334 (1995); Tomaki et al., "Elevated Substance P Content in Induced Sputum from Patients with Asthma and Patients with Chronic Bronchitis," American Journal of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine 151:613 (1995); Yoshihara et al., "Involvement of Substance P in the Paroxysmal Cough of Pertussis," Regulatory Peptides 46:238 (1993); Ahmed et al., "Capsaicin Effects on Substance P and CGRP in Rat Adjuvant Arthritis," Regulatory Peptides 55:85 (1995); Jarrah et al., "Cholecystokinin-Octapeptide (CCK-OP) and Substance P(SP) Influence Immune Response to Cholera Toxin in Live Animals," Advances in Experimental Medicine & Biology 371A:563 (1995); Kincy-Cain et al., "Substance P-Induced IL-12 Production by Murine Macrophages," Journal of Immunology 158:2334 (1997); Palma et al., "Interleukin-6 Production by U373 MG, a Human Astrocytoma Cell Line; Different Pathways Involved in Substance P and Lipopolysaccharide Activation," Journal of Immunology 59:155 (1995); and Shadiack et al., "Lipopolysaccharide Induces Substance P in Sympathetic Ganglia Via Ganglionic Interleukin-1 Production," Journal of Neuroimmunology 49:51 (1994).
Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Respiratory syncytial virus is one example of an agent which causes an infection which, in turn, often results in a disease produced by an inflammatory response to the infection that may be mediated by endogenous substance P. The immune response to respiratory syncytial virus infection is characterized by the enhanced production of cytokines, increased levels of substance P, and bronchial inflammation. Respiratory syncytial virus is the most important cause of pneumonia and bronchiolitis in infants, and can result in death.
The only available treatment for respiratory syncytial virus is ribavirin, a purine nucleoside analog which inhibits the replication of a wide range of RNA and DNA viruses, and which has many disadvantages. The administration of ribavirin to patients in the form of an aerosol is costly and difficult, and limits its therapeutic efficacy. Furthermore, ribavirin antagonizes the activity of the antiviral agent zidovudine against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the causative agent of AIDS. When administered orally or intravenously, ribavirin causes anemia due to extravascular hemolysis and suppression of the bone marrow. Further, ribavirin is mutagenic in small animals, and the oral bioavailability of ribavirin is only about 45 percent. The long-term oral therapy of ribavirin is associated with both gastrointestinal and adverse symptoms in the central nervous system.
A need presently exists for an efficacious and convenient method for treating and preventing diseases which are caused by an inflammatory response mediated by substance P. Accordingly, the present invention provides an effective and convenient method for preventing and treating diseases caused by an inflammatory response to a variety of conditions that is mediated by substance P comprising inhibiting the activity of endogenous substance P with anti-substance P antibodies and/or anti-substance P antibody fragments. The data presented in the examples set forth below show that the inhibition of the biological activity of substance P with anti-substance P F(ab)2 antibody fragments reduces the production of cytokines by T lymphocytes, thereby altering the signals which direct the inflammatory response to an infection caused by respiratory syncytial virus, and reducing potential cytokine-induced inflammation.
In accordance with the methods of the present invention, blocking the activity of endogenous substance P can potentially be employed to prevent or treat a wide variety of diseases or syndromes caused in whole or part by an inflammatory response mediated by substance P. Such diseases or syndromes include, by way of nonlimiting example, diseases ascribable to viral or bacterial infection such as infections associated with inflammatory bowel disease, virus-mediated bronchiolitis including that mediated by respiratory syncytial virus, bacterial colitis, inflammation associated with chlamydial diseases, lung injury associated with staphylococcal enterotoxin B, inflammation due to cytomegalovirus or hepatitis B virus, and sepsis, allergic diseases such as asthma, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, pancreatitis, and inflammation associated with multiple sclerosis, and rejection of allografts and other transplanted tissues or organs. The prevention, reduction or elimination of the substance P-mediated inflammatory response can also be used to prevent adverse effects which may otherwise result from tissue or organ transplantation.
The administration of anti-substance P antibodies, or anti-substance P antibody fragments, to a subject to inhibit the activity of endogenous substance P is preferential to the administration of substance P NK1 receptor antagonists to the subject because, unlike substance P NK1 receptor antagonists, anti-substance P antibodies and anti-substance P antibody fragments inhibit the activity of substance P without receptor ligation, and before the substance P can cross the cell membrane in a receptor-independent manner.

Method for the prevention and treatment of diseases caused by an inflammatory response mediated by endogenous substance P by using anti-substance P antibodies

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services


A composition is disclosed which comprises an aryl perfluoropolyether, optionally a halogenated oil, and further optionally a thickening agent. The composition can be used as a lubricant itself or as an additive to an oil or grease lubricant and can withstand temperatures higher than 300° C. without decomposition. The halogenated oil can be a perfluoropolyether, a fluorosilicone, a polytrifluorochloroethylene, or combinations of two or more thereof. The thickening agent can be finely divided silica, boron nitride, clay, soap, poly(tetrafluoroethylene), clay, talc, silica, titanium dioxide, polydimethylsiloxane, polyurea, polyurethane, or combinations of two or more thereof.

Trademarks and trade names used herein are shown in upper case.
Perfluoropolyether oils with exceptionally high thermal stability are useful for extreme conditions. Greases are made by the addition of thickening agents, for instance, finely divided silica, boron nitride, clay, soaps, or poly(tetrafluoroethylene) to oils. Both oils and greases tend to corrode metals at elevated temperatures, thus anticorrosion additives are included. An example of such an anticorrosion additive is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,187. The stability of this phosphorus-containing anticorrosion additive has an upper temperature limit in service of about 180° C., whereas the perfluoropolyethers are stable at temperatures over 300° C. Though U.S. Pat. No. 6,653,511 discloses perfluoropolyether primary bromides and iodides useful, for example, to prepare lubricants, surfactants, and additives for lubricants and surfactants, development of more thermally stable anticorrosion additives that extend the use at higher temperatures without corrosion occurring is highly desirable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The subject invention provides a thrust bearing assembly having only three thrust flanges in total. One portion of the thrust bearing assembly comprises a main bearing having an arcuate bearing shell with a concave inner surface and a convex outer surface. A thrust washer having hydrodynamic features abuts one of the edges of the main bearing and extends radially outwardly from the outer surface thereof forming a thrust surface. The other of the edges of the main bearing is free of a flange. The free edge of the main bearing is preferably spaced inward from other thrust surfaces and the edge has a substantially narrower width than the other thrust surfaces. The other portion of the assembly may include a traditional thrust bearing having one thrust flange with hydrodynamic features and another thrust flange free of hydrodynamic features, both extending radially outwardly therefrom or may include another main bearing abutting a pair of thrust washers, one having hydrodynamic features and one free of hydrodynamic features, extending radially outwardly from the other main bearing. In either configuration, the thrust flange or thrust washer that is free of hydrodynamic features is opposite the thrust washer having hydrodynamic features of the main bearing.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a thrust bearing assembly as part of an engine assembly for use in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Crankshafts are journaled in engine blocks by a series of axially spaced engine bearing assemblies. Each engine bearing assembly includes an upper portion seated in an arcuate recess of the block and an accompanying lower portion clamped tightly against the upper bearing half by a supportive bearing cap bolted to the engine block. At least one of the engine bearings in the set is designed to absorb axial thrust forces imported by the crankshaft during operation. The so-called thrust bearing differs from the other engine bearing in that it has two axially spaced thrust flanges that project radially outwardly. The thrust bearing presents opposite axially outwardly directed thrust faces which are seated on their backsides against the support surfaces of the block and engage associated thrust surfaces of the crankshaft, when necessary, to provide the thrust support. These thrust flanges typically have a uniform thickness and often are formed with oil grooves and contours to impart a hydrodynamic oil film action to the bearing.
During operation of the engine, loads on the crankshaft tend to force the crankshaft in axially opposite directions, accounting for the aforementioned thrust loads imparted to the thrust flanges of the thrust bearing. As the thrust loads are applied in one axial direction, it will be appreciated that the forward-most set of upper and lower thrust flanges will be confronted by the crankshaft thrust surface and will be seated tightly against the associated support surface of the block. It will be further appreciated that when a thrust force is applied by the crankshaft in the axially opposite direction that the opposite set of thrust flanges will be tightly seated against their associated support surfaces of the block. This constant force has the detrimental effect of stressing the thrust bearing of the base of the thrust flanges, which can lead to premature failure of the thrust bearing.
Most related art assemblies have hydrodynamic features on all thrust flanges or at least on three of the thrust flanges with two flanges having hydrodynamic features axially aligned. One such related art assembly is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective view of a thrust bearing assembly 100 having a thrust bearing 102 with one flange 104 having hydrodynamic features 106 and one flange 108 free of hydrodynamic features, a main bearing 110, and a thrust washer 112 having hydrodynamic features 114. The assembly 100 has an orientation device 116 that requires the assembly 100 to be positioned with the flanges having hydrodynamic features 104, 112 directly opposite one another such that the flanges 104, 112 are axially aligned. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the thrust bearing assembly 100 of FIG. 6. The two axially aligned flanges 104, 112 having hydrodynamic features absorb the major thrust forces of the engine. However, the axially spaced flange 108 free of hydrodynamic features is subjected to the minor thrust forces. These forces stress the other flange 108 which causes premature failure of the assembly 100.
The related art assemblies are characterized by one or more inadequacies as described above. It is an object of the present invention to reduce the cost of manufacturing the bearing assembly, while also absorbing the thrust forces generated by the engine.


The invention relates to sub macro cellular layers of a wireless communications system. An object of wireless communications system design is to reduce the number of base station sites required by increasing their range and or capacity. The term, xe2x80x9ccapacityxe2x80x9d is used herein to refer to any suitable measure which provides an indication of how many conventional mobile terminals or other terminals are able to communicate effectively with a given antenna arrangement. Macro base station sites for cellular systems are particularly expensive, both in terms of the equipment required and the need for a geographical site for each cell site where, inter alia, large structures are frequently employed where planning permission is required. The present invention seeks to provide a system and method for reducing the effects of adjacent channel interference, especially in 3G CDMA base stations.

The invention relates to sub-macro cellular layers of a wireless communications system. In particular, the invention relates to a sub-macro cellular base station network for third generation cellular and TDD mode cellular wireless communications, for the communication of voice and data. The invention also relates to sub-macro cellular communications networks and Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) capable of supporting discontinuous and/or bursty data transmission.
The term xe2x80x9cwireless communications networkxe2x80x9d is used to refer to a communications network which is divided into geographical cells or areas. For example, cellular communications networks are usually divided into cells which are geographical areas each of which contains a base station transceiver (BST). Mobile and fixed subscriber stations located in the communications network communicate with one or more base station transceivers, for example, the closest base station transceiver. Each base station transceiver has a limited range and a cell can be thought of as a geographical region over which a base station transceiver is intended to operate effectively. Cellular communication network cells can be split up further in regions of poor coverage and/or high demand: sub-cells in the region of 100-400 metres radius are known as micro-cells; sub-cells in the region of 50-100 metres are known as pico-cells. For convenience the largest cell unit shall be referred to as a macro-cell smaller cells either pico or micro are hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x98sub-macroxe2x80x99 cells. FIG. 1 shows the inter-relationship of the various cells in a cellular communications system 10. Macro-cells are identified as 12, within which micro-cells 14 lie: within the micro-cells lie pico-cells 16. These can provide overlapping coverage between themselves and the overlying cell. Similarly in a WLAN, mobile and fixed subscriber stations (which will be referred to hereinafter as terminals) communicate with base stations, the number of WLAN base stations per terminal typically being greater than is the case for cellular communication networks, to cater for the smaller size of areas of coverage and to take into account the greater effect of the internal walls of buildings and the like which block or reduce signal propagation and, indeed, are present as signal reflectors.
Mobile terminals such as mobile telephones may be located within a cellular communications network and send radio signals to and receive radio signals from base station transceivers. Each mobile station operating within a cell requires a certain amount of bandwidth to operate and because the total bandwidth of base station transceivers is limited the number of mobile terminals which can operate within a cell is limited.
In general an object of wireless communications system design is to reduce the number of base station sites required by increasing their range and or capacity. The term, xe2x80x9ccapacityxe2x80x9d is used herein to refer to any suitable measure which provides an indication of how many conventional mobile terminals or other terminals are able to communicate effectively with a given antenna arrangement. Macro base station sites for cellular systems are particularly expensive, both in terms of the equipment required and the need for a geographical site for each cell site where, inter alia, large structures are frequently employed where planning permission is required. In the case of micro-cell and pico-cell applications which are frequently indoors, the installation costs can be moderate. In the case of data communications, the requirement for an instantaneous high bandwidth of, typically, short duration can cause problems. That is to say, systems are increasingly required to operate under bursty traffic conditions where the number of active users is only a fraction of the potential ones.
Various TDD modes have been proposed for the 3rd generation cellular mobile radio component of the ITUR International Telecommunications Union (Radio) IMT 2000 concept. Due to implementation technology constraints, it has proven difficult to prevent or reduce spurious emission from a mobile transmitter power amplifier, the levels of which can rise as high as xe2x88x9228 dB in the adjacent frequency channel relative to the level in the nominal band. i(his would tend to happen under conditions of worst case manufacturing tolerance and low battery voltage. There are also constraints on the frequency filtering of receivers which mean that the in-band transmission of an ideal mobile can cause interference in adjacent channels.
Statistically these problems are normally unlikely in a random distribution of users in an area served by two (or more) operators, but become significant when a second operator""s mobile happens to come physically close to a first operators base station receiver. Reception of spurious emissions due to a second operator""s mobile at a base station will appear as additional noise and will reduce the base station""s sensitivity resulting either in a reduction of capacity, an increase in the transmission power requirement of its mobiles, and a consequential increase of interference to other nearby cells. The problem, when it does happen, is significant because a large number of users have their communication degraded by a single interfering mobile.
It is believed that the indoor applications of 3G base stations and cells are at particular risk since the physical density of mobile users in, for example, rail stations, shopping malls, is high. Nevertheless, outdoor applications are not immune to such problems.
The areas where it is applicable is in the reduction of interference to the receiver of a base station belonging to a first operator arising from uncontrollable mobile stations subscribing to a second operator which can operate at high level powers, be physically close to, and use an adjacent frequency channel for their transmission. These effects are most likely to arise in time division duplex modes (TDD) of the cellular system but can also arise as a mixed frequency division duplex FDD/TDD situation. Also interference from a second operator""s base station can arise at the first operator""s base station but this issue is limited to TDD mode.
The invention also seeks to provide a system and method for reducing the effects of adjacent channel interference (ACI) in third generation code-division multiple access (CDMA) base station.
The invention also seeks to provide a system and method for reducing the effects of co-channel interference especially in unsynchronized networks and of adjacent channel interference from other operator""s base stations and terminals in TDD mode and from terminals in FDD mode.
In accordance with a first aspect of the invention there is provided a sub-macro base station arrangement for a wireless communication system, the base station comprising a distributed antenna arrangement comprising at least two antennas, wherein the spacing between at least one pair of antennas is at least twice the minimum allowable range for a source of interference to one antenna.
This minimises the risk that more than one antenna is close to a source of interference. This has the advantage that the effective interference from sources of interference can be reduced. The source of interference could be a mobile terminal or a base station. For a frequency of 1900 MHz, a distance of around 15 m will provide sufficient separation for seducing the effects of adjacent channel interference.
The system is suitable for micro-cells, pico-cells and local area networks.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention at least one of the antennas of the distributed antennas comprises two or more antenna elements having variable phase feeds whereby said antenna is operable to form nulls in its radiation pattern.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of communicating in a sub-macro wireless communication cell, wherein the sub-macro base station comprises a distributed antenna arrangement comprising at least two antennas, wherein there is a spacing between at least one pair of antennas is at least twice the minimum allowable range for a source of interference for one antenna, the method comprising, the step of providing simultaneous links between the distributed antennas to a terminal whereby to ameliorate the effect of a source of interference.


A report publication system includes a first set of report management servers defining a first cluster supporting a common report management architecture. A first set of client machines operate in accordance with the common report management architecture. The first client machines are configured to access the first cluster. A second set of report management servers defines a second cluster supporting the common report management architecture. A second set of client machines operate in accordance with the common report management architecture. The second client machines are configured to access the second cluster. A first client machine of the first set of client machines invokes a report on the first cluster to form a published report with a designated destination address. The published report is exchanged between the first cluster and the second cluster via the Internet in accordance with the destination address. A second client machine of the second set of client machines accesses the published report through the second cluster.

The term report refers to structured information generated from a data source, such as a database. Reporting is a process of accessing, formatting, and delivering data as information inside and outside an organization. Report accessing and formatting techniques are well developed. The current invention is directed toward resolving some of the shortcomings associated with existing report delivery techniques.
Before the advent of the corporate intranet, the principal challenge for enterprise reporting systems was to create useful reports and distribute them effectively. At the time, client based departmental solutions worked acceptably with standard databases in a local area network, but information administrators would encounter problems when legacy systems, distributed networks, different machine types, manual installation, and related issues emerged. The corporate intranet offered the promise of a solution to these complexities, introducing technologies that would make it possible to disseminate reporting information throughout an organization—even to disparate platforms—without the burdensome manual overhead that client-based packages involved.
Early releases of web-based reporting solutions, such as Crystal Enterprise®, sold by Business Objects Americas, Inc., San Jose, Calif., provided functionality to facilitate some forms of enterprise reporting. The corporate intranet provided a vehicle to facilitate the transport of information, but the reporting systems themselves were reliant on back-end servers to orchestrate the presentation and delivery of reports. In the absence of server hardware that could match the exponential growth of client requests in a corporate enterprise, the new challenge became not so much "distributing reports," but distributing thousands upon thousands of reports to thousands of users. That is, the current challenge is distributing information in a highly scalable environment.
To address the challenge of scalability, Crystal Enterprise was implemented using server cluster technology. The clustering paradigm is simple: a cluster consists of a collection of interconnected servers deployed as a single, unified computing resource. Users of Crystal Enterprise access, for example, a server cluster, rather than a single management server machine within the cluster framework.
Because each member of a server cluster remains, effectively, anonymous and interchangeable from a client's perspective, the methodology creates the illusion of a singular system—presented to the desktop user—while servicing the client needs with the power of distributed processing.
This cluster technology made it possible for Crystal Enterprise to attain very high availability using what is generally termed failover. Failover refers to an architecture in which server machines are coupled together to listen for a "heartbeat" signal, which is broadcast from each machine in the cluster to the others. When a heartbeat 'stops', the workload of the failed server is automatically transferred to an operative server.
Advantageously, cluster technology allows for additional machines to be added to a cluster while it continues to perform its operations. This dynamic scaling equips information technology departments with the means to scale to significant levels without disrupting client service. However, existing solutions have limitations. In particular, existing solutions are designed only to satisfy the typical linear scaling model. In addition, the technology is not able to effectively meet the needs of growing enterprises that include geographically dispersed data systems.
In view of the foregoing, it would be highly advantageous to provide improved cluster technology. In particular, it would be highly advantageous to provide an improved cluster technology for the efficient publication of reports.

Apparatus and method for report publication in a federated cluster


A method for diagnosing the operating condition of an internal combustion engine exhaust gas recycling valve. The method acquires a measurement value of a reference position of the recycling valve at a predetermined time corresponding to a normally closed position of the valve, calculates the difference between the acquired reference value and a reference value acquired during a diagnostic cycle previously carried out, and compares the calculated difference with a threshold value for detecting opening of the valve.

The object of the invention is therefore to alleviate the aforesaid disadvantages.
Thus, according to the invention, there is proposed a method for diagnosing the operating condition of an exhaust-gas recirculation valve of an internal combustion engine, comprising acquisition of a measured value of a reference position of the recirculation valve at a predetermined moment corresponding to a normally closed position of the valve, calculation of the difference between the acquired reference value and a reference value acquired during a previously completed diagnostic cycle, and comparison of the calculated difference with a threshold value for detection of opening of the valve.
In this way, with each acquisition of the closed position of the valve, it is verified that the said valve is effectively closed.
According to one embodiment of this method, there is additionally calculated, following the step of acquisition of the reference value, the difference between the reference value acquired during a current diagnostic cycle and a reference value corresponding to a new recirculation valve of the same type, and the calculated difference is compared with a threshold value for detection of a malfunction of the valve.
Preferably, the reference value corresponding to a new recirculation valve of the same type is acquired during the first start of the engine.
Preferably, the values of the detection threshold for opening and malfunction each include a first term that is variable as a function of temperature and a second term corresponding to a detection threshold that is independent of temperature.
According to another characteristic of this method, the said threshold values are variable as a function of operating parameters of the engine.
The reference value acquired during the diagnostic cycle in progress is additionally stored in memory in view of a subsequent diagnostic cycle, if correct closing of the valve and the absence of malfunctions were detected during that diagnostic cycle.
According to the invention, there is also proposed a device for diagnosing the operating condition of an exhaust-gas recirculation valve of an internal combustion engine, for use of a method such as described hereinabove.
This device is provided with means for measuring the valve position, the said means being connected to a central processing unit in order to deliver thereto a measured value of the reference position of the valve, the central unit being provided with means for calculating the difference between the reference value and a reference value acquired during a previously completed diagnostic cycle, and with means for comparing the calculated difference with a threshold value for detection of opening of the valve.
According to another characteristic of this device, the central unit is provided with means for calculating the difference between the reference value and a reference value corresponding to a new recirculation valve of the same type and with means for comparing the calculated difference with a threshold value for detection of a malfunction of the valve.
For example, the means for measuring the valve position contain a measuring potentiometer.

Method and device for diagnosing the operating condition of an internal combustion engine exhaust gas recycling valve


A connector assembly adapted to be disposed in a casing of an electronic device is provided. The connector assembly includes a connector and a locking member. The locking member includes a supporting portion and a holding portion connected to the supporting portion. The connector is disposed on the supporting portion. The locking member is adapted to clamp at an end of a substrate disposed in the casing, and the supporting portion and the holding portion lean against an upper side and a lower side of the end of the substrate respectively. An electronic device including the connector assembly aforementioned is also provided.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The application is directed to a connector assembly and more particularly, to a connector assembly applied to an electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, electronic devices, such as notebooks (NB), tablet computers, and smart phones, have been widely used in our daily life along with the development of technologies. Types and functions of the electronic devices are increasingly diversified, and the electronic devices are more popular due to convenience and practicality thereof and can be used for different purposes.
In addition to the functions of electronic products themselves, a connector is commonly installed in an electronic device, such that an electronic card (E-card) (e.g., a subscriber identity module (SIM) card or a memory card) can be inserted into the electronic device for expanding functions, or the electronic device can be connected to other external devices, such as a universal serial bus (USB) connector. Taking an E-card connector as an example, such type of connector is commonly fixed to a printed circuit board (PCB) in a casing so as to be electrically connected with the PCB. Due to the current electronic devices trending toward being light and thin, a glass cover, a touch panel, a display and any other component are commonly adhered to the PCB, such that the internal components of an electronic device can be disposed closely. However, when the connector is damaged, during the repair process, most of the components (e.g., the display) have to be detached before disassembling the connector, such that the internal portion of the electronic device can be exposed. The aforementioned detachment way is more complicated and leads the increase of the repair cost of the electronic device.

Connector assembly and electronic device


An image forming apparatus includes image forming unit, frame structure, a plurality of rotational shafts, a plurality of drive gears, resin drive housing, and high voltage substrate. The frame structure includes at least one metal side plate frame having inner side surface facing internal space that accommodates the aforementioned unit and outer side surface opposite the inner side surface. The plurality of drive gears each rotate about an axis of the rotational shaft. The drive housing includes supporting side surface that supports one end of the rotational shaft and cavity in which the plurality of drive gears is accommodated, and the drive housing is open at the other end of the rotational shaft. The drive housing includes substrate supporting portion that supports the high voltage substrate, and is attached to the side plate frame such that the opening is sealed by the inner side surface of the side plate frame.

The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus that performs image forming processing on a sheet.
Image forming apparatuses such as a copier, a printer, and a facsimile include a housing structure that is formed by a sheet metal frame structure generally including a side plate frame, and a plurality of processing units for performing image forming processing are disposed in the internal space of the housing structure. The above-mentioned processing units may be, for example, a drum unit including a photosensitive drum that forms a toner image, and a developing unit that supplies toner to the photosensitive drum and forms a toner image on the photosensitive drum. For example, a high voltage substrate that supplies an operating voltage to the processing units and a drive gear unit that transmits driving force to driven members (e.g., a photosensitive drum and a developing roller) provided in the processing units may be assembled to the side plate frame.

Image forming apparatus with sealing frame structure


A contoured composite structure includes an axis of curvature and at least one curved leg. The structure is fabricated by laying up a flat stack of prepreg fiber plies each having non-zero degree fiber orientations relative to an axis of curvature, and laying up at least one prepreg fiber ply on the stack having a zero degree fiber orientation. Laying up the zero degree ply includes placing prepreg tows in segments arranged end-to-end on at least a portion of the stack. The stack is formed into a web and a curved leg.

Highly contoured, multi-leg composite structures may be used in a variety of applications, such as in aerospace vehicles. Aerospace vehicle frames, spars, ribs, stringers and similar structures may have multiple legs which are contoured along the length of the structure. One known technique for fabricating such structures involves hot drape forming a flat composite charge over multiple contoured tools in order to form one or more curved legs in the structure. A charge typically comprises multiple plies of unidirectional prepreg fiber laid up according to a predetermined ply schedule. Difficulty may be encountered however, when attempting to hot drape form flat charges that contain zero degree plies, i.e. plies having a fiber orientation that is aligned substantially parallel with the axis of curvature of the structure. This difficulty stems from the fact that where zero degree fibers are used that are substantially inextensible, such as carbon fibers, the fibers may not undergo a change in geometry, i.e. bunching, stretching or spreading during the forming process. Consequently, zero degree fibers may not be moved from one plane to a different plane that possesses a substantially different arc length. If the leg is too convex, the fibers may wrinkle, whereas if the leg is too concave, the fibers may lock in place and resist out-of-plane forming pressures.
To overcome the above-mentioned problem, zero degree plies are hand-placed on the charge after the non-zero plies have been formed into curved legs. The need to place the zero degree plies on a leg after it has been drape formed must be repeated each time a zero degree ply is required by the layup schedule. These multiple operations increase costs, complicate tooling, may add to floor space requirements and may adversely affect manufacturing flow times.
Another disadvantage of known techniques for forming highly contoured composite structures having multiple legs relates to the need for forming each of the legs in a separate forming operation using different sets of tools. Forming the legs of the structure using different sets of tools also may contribute to higher costs and longer production flow times.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for producing contoured composite structures having one or more legs that reduce the number of operations required to form the legs, while avoiding bunching or wrinkling of the zero degree plies during forming. There is also a need for apparatus for forming such structures that allows forming two curved legs on the structure using a single tool in a single forming operation.

Method and apparatus for producing contoured composite structures and structures produced thereby