Disclosed is an emulsified alkenylsuccinic acid sizing agent useful for acid papermaking. The sizing agent has a solid concentration of at least 25% by weight and comprises an alkenylsuccinic acid which is the reaction product of a branched internal olefin and maleic anhydride and which has been dispersed in water by an emulsifying and dispersing agent comprising polyvinyl alcohol. The sizing agent results in good storage stability and has an excellent sizing effect at a low addition ratio immediately after completion of high-temperature papermaking and over a wide pH range.

Saponification type (or solution type) rosin sizing agents have been employed for a long time as an internal paper sizing agent in so-called acid papermaking with aluminum sulfate. It is known, however, that these sizing agents produce limited sizing effects at a low addition rate and that the sizing effects are decreased at higher water temperatures in a closed drainage system, which has been employed in recent years, or within an almost neutral pH range. In order to improve the essential disadvantages of these rosin sizing agents as described above, dispersed rosin sizing agents have been developed. However, they exert only limited sizing effects at a low addition rate and, therefore, are not satisfactory.
In order to overcome the disadvantages of these rosin sizing agents, sizing agents obtained from alkali-saponification of alkenylsuccinic acids have been used in recent years that are excellent in sizing effect at a low addition ratio (refer to JP-A-58-214598; the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"). However, they are deficient because the sizing effects deteriorate during high-temperature papermaking or within an almost neutral papermaking pH range (e.g., 5.5 to 7.0), similar to the above-mentioned saponified rosin-series agents.
Regarding production of an emulsion-type alkenylsuccinic acid sizing agent, one known method comprises an alkenylsuccinic anhydride blended with an emulsifier and emulsified in a cationized starch solution, or water, at a low concentration of from 0.5 to 3%. The product thus obtained is used as a sizing agent for neutral paper, defined as paper with a neutral pH range (refer to U.S. Pat. No. 3,821,069).
The chemical mechanism of an alkenylsuccinic anhydride in neutral papermaking proceeds as follows. Namely, an anhydride group of the alkenylsuccinic anhydride directly reacts with a hydroxyl group of pulp resulting in a sizing effect, which is fixed on pulp fibers. In conventional neutral papermaking, therefore, an alkenylsuccinic anhydride should be added to a pulp slurry in the form of the anhydride. When previously emulsified and dispersed in water, however the alkenylsuccinic anhydride, which is highly reactive with water too, would react with water within several hours to several days and thus lose the acid anhydride group. As a result, the alkenylsuccinic anhydride not only loses its neutral sizing agent function, but also suffers from changes in the emulsion state during the course of the conversion into the corresponding alkenylsuccinic acid. This conversion causes aggregation, precipitation and separation. When used in neutral papermaking, thus, an alkenylsuccinic anhydride emulsion sizing agent in the form of an aqueous dispersion can only be stored for several hours. Accordingly, there is a technical problem because (1) it cannot be supplied in the form of a commercial product that has been formerly formulated into an emulsion of a high concentration; and (2) it should be emulsified and dispersed with the use of an emulsifying machine immediately before the papermaking. When used in an acidic region with aluminum sulfate as a fixing agent, furthermore, the alkenylsuccinic anhydride emulsion sizing agent is deficient because the sizing effect requires several days for its improvement to a sufficient level. Therefore a poor sizing effect is obtained immediately after the papermaking.
As described above, a conventional alkenylsuccinic anhydride emulsion imparts a poor sizing effect immediately after acid papermaking. This results because the emulsion sizing agent is fixed on pulp fibers in the form of the acid anhydride, and yet the alkenylsuccinic anhydride reacts slowly with the pulp within an acidic region. In addition, alkenylsuccinic anhydride appears to require a long time to react with water, form the corresponding alkenylsuccinic acid, and then further reacts with the aluminum sulfate to produce the sizing effect. It is, therefore, expected that when an alkenylsuccinic anhydride is previously converted into the corresponding alkenylsuccinic acid and emulsified, reaction with the aluminum sulfate can quickly proceed and thus a good sizing effect can be obtained even in an acidic region.
However, an alkenylsuccinic acid is highly hydrophilic, which makes it very difficult to emulsify. Thus it is very difficult in the prior art to obtain an emulsion which has a high concentration and can be stored for a long period of time without separating. When an alkenylsuccinic anhydride is emulsified by the conventional method described above, the alkenylsuccinic anhydride reacts with water in the emulsion to form an alkenylsuccinic acid, which results in an emulsion of the alkenylsuccinic acid. However, the emulsion state is changed during the course of the conversion of the alkenylsuccinic anhydride into the alkenylsuccinic acid and, therefore, no stable emulsion of the alkenylsuccinic acid can be obtained. That is to say, even though an emulsion of the alkenylsuccinic anhydride of a high concentration could be formed tentatively, the alkenylsuccinic anhydride would react with water in the emulsion and thus form an alkenylsuccinic acid while simultaneously causing aggregation, precipitation and separation and, therefore, the emulsion can never be maintained in a stable state. Thus, no stable emulsion containing an alkenylsuccinic acid at a high concentration can be obtained.

Emulsified alkenylsuccinic acid sizing agent


A body with a coating comprising one or more refractory layers of which at least one layer is a layer of .alpha.-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 textured in the (110) direction is disclosed. Said alumina layer which is essentially free of cooling cracks, comprises platelike grains with a length of 2-8 .mu.m and a length/width ratio of 1-10, preferably 3-7. The coated tools according to the presently claimed invention show improved tool lives compared to prior art tools when used for machining steel or cast iron material.

The presently claimed invention relates to an alumina coated cutting tool for chipforming machining.
Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of alumina on cutting tools has been an industrial practice for more than 15 years. The wear properties of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 as well as of other refractory materials have been discussed extensively in the literature.
The CVD-technique has also been used to produce coatings of other metal oxides, carbides and nitrides, the metal being selected from transition metals of the IVB, VB and VIB groups of the Periodic Table. Many of these compounds have found practical applications as wear resistant or protective coatings, but few have received as much attention as TiC, TiN and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3.
Cemented carbide cutting tools coated with various types of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -coatings, e.g., pure .kappa.-AL.sub.2 O.sub.3, mixtures of .kappa.- and .alpha.-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 and very coarse-grained .alpha.-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 have been commercially available for many years. Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 crystallizes in several different phases: .alpha., .kappa., .gamma., .beta., .theta., etc. The two most frequently occurring phases in CVD of wear resistant Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -coatings are the thermodynamically stable, hexagonal .alpha.-phase and the metastable .kappa.-phase. Generally, the .kappa.-phase is fine-grained with a grain size in the range 0.5-2.0 .mu.m and often exhibits a columnar coating morphology. Furthermore, .kappa.-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 coatings are free from crystallographic defects and free from micropores or voids.
The .alpha.-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 grains are usually coarser with a grain size of 1-6 .mu.m depending upon the deposition conditions. Porosity and crystallographic defects are in this case more common.
Often, both .alpha.- and .kappa.-phase are present in a CVD alumina coating deposited onto a cutting tool. In commercial cutting tools, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 is always applied on TiC coated carbide or ceramic substrates (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,896, now Reissue U.S. Pat. No. 29,420) and therefore the interfacial chemical reactions between the TiC-surface and the alumina coating are of particular importance. In this context, the TiC layer should also be understood to include layers having the formula TiC.sub.x N.sub.y O.sub.z in which the carbon in TiC is completely or partly substituted by oxygen and/or nitrogen.
The practice of coating cemented carbide cutting tools with oxides to further increase their wear resistance is in itself well-known as is evidenced in e.g., U.S. Pat. Reissue No. 29,420 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,399,168; 4,018,631; 4,490,191 and 4,463,033. These patents disclose oxide coated bodies and how different pretreatments, e.g., of TiC-coated cemented carbide, enhance the adherence of the subsequently deposited oxide layer. Alumina coated bodies are further disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,736,107; 5,071,696 and 5,137,774 wherein the Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 layers comprise .alpha., .kappa. and respective .alpha.+.kappa. combinations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,866 describes a method for producing fast growing Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 layers by utilizing a hydrolysis reaction of a metal halide under the influence of a dopant selected from the groups consisting of sulphur, selenium, tellurium, phosphorous, arsenic, antimony, bismuth and mixtures thereof. A few examples of sulphur-based dopants are H.sub.2 S, COS, CS.sub.2, SF.sub.6, SF.sub.4, SO.sub.2 Cl.sub.2 and SO.sub.2. Under these process conditions, essentially two phases of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, the .alpha.- and .kappa.-phases, are produced. The resulting coating consists of a mixture of the smaller .kappa.-grains and the larger .alpha.-grains. The process yields coatings with an even layer thickness distribution around the coated body.
U.S. Ser. No. 08/238,341 (our reference: 024000-881) discloses a method of growing a fine-grained .kappa.-alumina coated.
U.S. Ser. No. 08/159,217 (our reference: 024000-993) discloses a method for obtaining a fine-grained, (012)-textured a-Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 coating. This particular Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -coating applied on cemented carbide tools has been found particularly useful for cast-iron machining.
Due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient of alumina and a cemented carbide substrate, cooling cracks, forming an interconnected network, are frequently present in an Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -coating, see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,934, FIG. 4 herein. During certain cutting operations with Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -coated tools, the cooling cracks propagate into the cemented carbide substrate and cause premature tool failure. The cooling cracks may also initiate spot-wise flaking of the entire coating structure.


A scanning antenna diversity system for mobile FM radio having an antenna system with controllable logic switch, wherein a different high-frequency reception signal is passed to a receiver. An IF signal turns on a diversity processor, which switches the logic switch into a different switching position in response to reception interference. The diversity processor has two interference detectors whose signals are passed to a logic circuit for evaluation and to produce a logic control signal, so that a different switching positions are selected at the earliest possible time after the occurrence of interference in the reception signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a scanning antenna diversity system for FM radio for vehicles, having an antenna system with a controllable logic switching device, in which a different high-frequency reception signal, in terms of diversity, is passed to a receiver with different switching positions, in each instance, and an intermediate frequency signal derived from this reception signal turns on a diversity processor, which switches the logic switching device into different switching position if there is reception interference.
2. The Prior Art
Switching arrangements for antenna systems are generally known from German patents DE 35 17 247 A1, and DE 101 02 616 A1. In the case of the antenna diversity reception systems for the elimination of interference during the reception of frequency-modulated radio broadcasts described there, a number of antenna signals are passed to a diversity processor, wherein a selected antenna signal is switched through to the receiver at any point in time. This high-frequency signal is converted to the intermediate frequency range (IF) in the receiver, and this IF signal is passed to the diversity processor for the recognition of interference. If interference is recognized, switching signals for switching to a different antenna signal are derived in the diversity processor. In this way, audio-frequency interference caused by multi-path reception can be avoided, if adequate signal reception conditions are present.
The scanning antenna diversity systems of the prior art, such as that known from German Patent DE 44 03 612, receive interference at an antenna due to the superimposition of several partial waves having different amplitudes, phase differences and time differences at the reception location. The resulting level collapses are correlated with frequency interference dispersion peaks, and cause undesirable linear signal distortions as a function of the modulation content in the audio frequency range. If a certain predetermined frequency interference dispersion peak is exceeded, i.e. if an interference-related amplitude modulation is exceeded, the system's interference detector recognizes interference directly, and causes a switch to be made to another available antenna signal, or to a different linear combination formed in an antenna matrix. In this manner, all of the available RF signals are checked for interference and switched through to the receiver, one after the other. The interference energy taken up during the interference recognition time becomes audible, and further reduces the audio signal quality as this search process repeats itself in rapid sequence, and more interference energy falls into the audio channel due to an extended interference recognition time. Therefore the interference recognition time must be made as short as possible. These processors indicate the interference particularly accurately if they are set for simultaneity of the interference in the frequency deviation and the interference amplitude modulation
Prior art diversity processors having a momentary interference indicator, recognize interference if, for example, the frequency deviation threshold or the amplitude interference modulation threshold is exceeded. Noise interference is recognized in the momentary interference indicator only if the actual momentary value exceeds the predetermined threshold by which the interference is being measured. The minimal interference recognition time for a sudden interference that exceeds the predetermined thresholds, e.g. on the basis of adjacent channel, same channel, or intermodulation interference, is limited by the bandwidth of the intermediate frequency channel in processors of this type, and amounts to 30 to 50 μs. An interference recognition time of <100 μs can therefore be assured. For interference intervals of the high-frequency carrier, or intermediate-frequency carrier, at values between 6 dB and 12 dB, the actual value of a frequency deviation of 75 kHz, for example, is connected with undesirable long recognition times.
Particularly in the case of stereo reception, such (S/N)IF values acoustically already result in a clearly noisy signal and are significantly too long to achieve a satisfactory diversity function for this operating state. In the case a prior art interference detector, it is therefore practical if the frequency deviation threshold is regulated as a function of the actual average frequency deviation, in accordance with frequency modulation. Even in the case of slight average frequency deviations (e.g. program contents having a low volume) and a frequency deviation threshold regulated to 40 kHz, for example, the response time is typically 500 μs at a signal of (S/N)IF=9 dB and typically 10 ms at (S/N)IF=12 dB. There are therefore reception situations in which the actual reception signal is clearly noisy, and the interference detector is too slow in time in order to recognize interference, and switch the high-frequency reception signal to a better reception signal. These response times all exceed the tolerable measure for guaranteeing perfect reception behavior in the presence of a noisy signal. It is true that the bandwidth of the IF channel is large enough so that the aforementioned interference caused by adjacent channel, same channel, or intermodulation interference can be recognized at a sufficiently early point in time, but because of the particular statistical properties of a noisy signal, an interference detector of this type is suitable for the recognition of noise only under certain conditions.

Scanning antenna diversity system for FM radio for vehicles


The biochemical analysis unit has a base plate and absorptive regions. The absorptive regions are surrounded by the base plate formed of materials which shield a radioactive ray and a light. In the absorptive regions are applied and absorbed specific binding substances to be bound with substances derived from a living organism that are labeled with labeling substances for generating the radioactive ray or the light. The base plate prevents the specific binding substances from penetrating in the other absorptive regions. When an analysis of data of the radioactive ray and the light is carried out, an image of the radioactive ray and the light is generated without noises.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a biochemical analysis unit and a method of producing it, and more particularly to a biochemical analysis unit used for analyzing substances derived from a living organism bound with the spot like specific-binding substances and a method of the producing thereof.
2. Description Related to the Prior Art
Recently, in biology and a medical science studies of genes are progressed. In order to analyze the genes, a radioactive labeling substance is applied as a labeling substance to a substance derived from a living organism. Thereafter the substance derived from the living organism emits a radioactive ray.
A stimulable phosphor sheet is to the substance derived from the living organism so as to absorb, store and record energies of the radioactive ray. Thus the stimulable phosphor sheet is stimulated by an electromagnetic wave having a specified wavelength. Thereafter, the stimulable phosphor can release stimulated emission into an emitted light.
In order to analyze the genes, an autoradiographic analyzing system, as known in Japanese Patent Publications No. 1-70884, 1-70882, 4-3962, is used for detecting the radioactive ray emitted from a stimulable phosphor sheet.
The autoradiographic analyzing system has merits. Unlike a system in which a photographic film is used, in the autoradiographic analyzing system, development of a chemical processing is not necessary. Further, it is possible to reproduce a desired image by effecting image processing on the obtained image data and carry out quantitative analysis by using a computer.
On the other hand, a fluorescent analyzing system is known. In the fluorescent analyzing system, a fluorescent substance is applied as the labeling substance to the substance derived from the living organism. With the fluorescent analyzing system, it is possible to study genetic sequence, the expression level of a gene, routs of metabolism, absorbance, and discharge, and to separate or identify proteins, or estimates the molecular weight or properties of the proteins or the like. As the fluorescent analyzing system, there are, for example, a western blotting method, southern blotting method and the like. In the fluorescent analyzing system, a DNA probe, which is complement to DNA containing a target gene labeled by the labeling substance, is hybridized with DNA on a transfer support. The DNA labeled by the labeling substance is combined with enzyme such that the enzyme may contact a fluorescent substance. The fluorescent substance is excited by a stimutating light to emit fluorescence, and the fluorescence is detected to produce an image and the distribution of a target DNA on the transfer support. There is a merit of the fluorescent analyzing system in which a genetic sequence or the like can be easily detected without using radioactive labeling substances.
Similarly, there is known a chemiluminescence detecting system. In the chemiluminescence detecting system is used the substance derived from a living organism that is labeled with a chemiluminescent labeling substance. The chemiluminescent labeling substance generates chemiluminescence when it contacts a chemiluminescent substrate. The chemiluminescence is detected in the wavelength of visible light to reproduce an image of the chemiluminescence on a displaying means such as a CRT or a recording material such as a photographic film. Thereby, information relating to the high molecular substance is obtained such as genetic information.
Further, a micro-array analyzing system has been recently developed for analyzing a protein such as a nucleic acid, or fragments thereof. The micro-array analyzing system comprises following steps:                (1) using a spotting device to drop specific binding substances at different positions on a surface of a carrier such as a slide glass plate, a membrane filter or the like. The specific binding substances can bind with the substance derived from a living organism such as a hormone, tumor marker, enzyme, antibody, antigen, abzyme, other protein, a nucleic acid, cDNA, DNA, RNA, or the like, whose sequence, base length, composition and the like are known;        (2) forming thereby independent spots of the specific binding substance;        (3)binding or hybridizing, in using a hybridization method, the specific binding substances with the substances which are derived from a living organism and labeled with the labeling substance such as the fluorescent substance, a dye or the like, so as to produce a micro-array;        (4)irradiating the micro-array with a stimulating ray;        (5)photoelectrically detecting light such as the fluorescence emitted from the labeling substances to generate biochemical analysis data; and        (6)analyzing the biochemical analysis data.The micro-array analyzing system has a merit in that substances derived from a living organism can be analyzed in a short time as many sorts of specific binding substances are spotted at different positions on a carrier such as a slide glass plate at high density, and further hybridized with the substance from a living organism and labeled with the labeling substances.
Note that, in the micro-array analyzing system, a micro filtration membrane is used as the biochemical analysis unit for removing particles and bacteria. A method of producing the micro filtration membrane is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publications No. 48-40050 and 58-37842.
Further, a macro-array analyzing system has been recently developed for analyzing a protein such as a nucleic acid, or fragments thereof. The macro-array analyzing system comprises following steps:                (1)using a spotting device to drop specific binding substances at different positions on a surface of a carrier such as a slide glass plate, a membrane filter or the like. The specific binding substances can bind with the substance derived from the living organism such as a hormone, tumor marker, enzyme, antibody, antigen, abzyme, other protein, a nucleic acid, cDNA, DNA, RNA, or the like, whose sequence, base length, composition and the like are known;        (2) forming thereby independent spots of the specific living substances;        (3)binding or hybridizing, in using a hybridization method, the specific binding substances with the substances which are derived from a living organism and labeled with the radioactive labeling substances, so as to produce a macro-array;        (4)superposing the macro-array and a stimulable phosphor sheet formed with a stimulable phosphor layer;        (5)exposing the stimulable phosphor layer to radioactive labeling substance;        (6) irradiating the stimulable phosphor layer with a stimulating ray to excite the stimulable phosphor;        (7)photoelectrically detecting the stimulated emission released from the stimulable phosphor to generate the biochemical analysis data; and        (8)analyzing the biochemical analysis data.
In the macro-array analyzing system, when the stimulable labeling substances are exposed to the radioactive labeling substances, an electron beam (β-ray) released from the radioactive labeling substance are scattered in the carrier to impinge on a region in the stimulable phosphor layer. However, the radiation energy of the radioactive labeling substances is very large. Accordingly, the electron beams are scattered and mixed with the other electron beams emitted from the neighboring spots and then impinge on the region of the stimulable phosphor layer. Thus a noise is generated in a biochemical analysis data to make the accuracy of the biochemical analysis lower when the substances from the living organism is analyzed by quantifying the radiation amount of each spot. The accuracy of biochemical analysis is markedly degraded when spots are disposed closely to each other at high density.
Further, in the fluorescent analyzing system and the chemiluminescence detecting system, there is a similar problem. The fluorescence and the chemiluminescence are scattered in the carrier such as the membrane filter. Furthermore, the fluorescence and the chemiluminescence emitted from any particular spots is scattered and mixed with chemiluminescence or the fluorescence emitted from the neighboring spots. Accordingly, a noise is generated in the biochemical analysis data.

Biochemical analysis unit and method of producing thereof


An improved fertilizer knife presents a leading edge and rear tube receiving portion. The rear tube receiving portion is precision cast to frictionally receive the distal end of a flexible polymer fertilizer tube which is connected, at least indirectly, to an implement fertilizer tank. The rear tube receiving portion also has at least one opening at the lower end thereof for allowing fertilizer to escape from the flexible polymer fertilizer tube into the surrounding soil during a fertilizing operation.

Fertilizer knives are employed by farmers to deliver nitrogen enriching fertilizers such as anhydrous ammonia or liquid fertilizers to a targeted zone beneath the surface of the soil of a crop field while minimizing disruption to the structure of the upper layer of the topsoil. Typically, a fertilizer implement carries a pattern of fertilizer knives spaced for simultaneously delivering fertilizer to a plurality of parallel furrows.
Typical prior art fertilizer knives are cast as one piece or are more commonly a combination of a tough steel knife blank and cast iron knife point that is welded to the knife blank. The cast iron knife point has a wedge-shaped leading edge for cutting through soil. With a typical prior art fertilizer knife, a steel fertilizer tube is welded to the trailing edge of the knife blank. For most fertilizer knives, the steel fertilizer tube is welded to the back surface of the knife blank and the fertilizer tube terminates at the base of the knife. Because the fertilizer knife is usually fashioned from a combination of steel and cast iron, the fertilizer tube is fashioned from steel so it can be welded to the trailing portion of the fertilizer knife. The use of a steel fertilizer knife tube presents two disadvantages. First, the skilled reader may recall that the knife shank is bolted to an implement shank with two bolts—an upper bolt and a lower bolt. The lower bolt is designed to function as a structural fuse. If the fertilizer knife encounters an obstacle during use, the lower bolt fails and allows the fertilizer knife to swing back without damaging the fertilizer implement. However, when the lower attachment bolt fails, and, as the fertilizer knife swings back, the steel fertilizer knife tube is often damaged beyond repair. While this action has protected the implement from damage, a damaged fertilizer knife tube makes it necessary to replace the knife. Although an operator will often have spare shank bolts on hand, an operator will usually not have a replacement fertilizer knife available. Accordingly, the damaged fertilizer tube often causes a delay in operations. Second, in the case of anhydrous ammonia, NH3, which boils at approximately −30° F., it is highly advantageous to deliver NH3 to the soil in liquid form. This is because the liquid NH3 absorbs large amounts of heat when it boils. Further, vaporization of NH3 in the highly thermally conductive steel fertilizer knife tube causes great amounts of heat to be transferred into the fertilizer knife tube from the steel and cast iron knife. This is because the heat of vaporization of liquid NH3 is far greater than its specific heat. In relatively cool soil conditions, this can cause ice to accumulate at the lower end of the fertilizer knife which greatly reduces the utility and function of the fertilizer knife. What is needed is a fertilizer knife that eliminates the above noted disadvantages inherent in a fertilizer knife having a steel fertilizer tube.


The present invention provides a method of treating of subterranean formation using a gel of a graft copolymer of a hydroxyalkyl cellulose, guar or hydroxypropyl guar prepared by a redox reaction with vinyl phosphonic acid. The gel is formed by hydrating the graft copolymer in an aqueous liquid containing at least a trace amount of at least one divalent cation. The gel is crosslinked by the addition of a Lewis base or Bronsted-Lowry base, which is substantially free of polyvalent metal ions, to the gel in an amount sufficient to effect crosslinking of the graft copolymer.

This invention relates to methods of crosslinking select copolymers of cellulose ether derivatives to form crosslinked aqueous gels which are useful in petroleum recovery operations and any other application requiring a crosslinked viscoelastic gel.
Petroleum recovery operations, such as well stimulation and gravel packing, often require the use of fluid compositions capable of suspending particles. In gravel packing operations, a pack of gravel is placed on the exterior of a perforated or slotted liner or screen which is positioned across an unconsolidated formation. The resulting structure presents a barrier to migrating sand from the formation while still permitting fluid flow. The gravel is carried to the formation in the form of a slurry by mixing gravel with a viscosified fluid. Once the gravel is placed in the wellbore, the viscosified carrier fluid is degraded and returned to the surface.
Treating fluids are used similarly in stimulating subterranean formations. The viscosified fluid carries a propping agent through the wellbore and into both natural fractures and fractures in the formation caused by hydraulic pressure. Once the desired fracture occurs, the fluid is degraded and returned to the surface leaving the proppant in the formation to provide a conductive channel through which formation fluids can flow. In both stimulation and gravel packing operations, the most desirable treating fluid reduces friction pressure as the fluid is pumped through the tubular goods ana transports the propping agent or gravel to the formation without particle settling in the wellbore during placement.
Treating fluids with these properties are generally comprised of a hydratable polysaccharide, including but not limited to guar, guar derivatives, and cellulose derivatives. These polymers viscosify aqueous liquids to form solutions which inhibit particle settling to a limited extent by virtue of viscosity. However, these polymer solutions can approach near zero particle settling rates upon crosslinking with multivalent metal cations to form highly viscoelastic gels. The utility of these gels is well known in the art of petroleum recovery operations.
Cellulose derivatives are the preferred viscosifying polymers for certain petroleum recovery operations because they degrade, i.e., lose viscosity without generating water insoluble particles or residue. The water insoluble particles are believed to remain in the formation and may cause formation plugging or impair the permeability of sand or gravel packs. However, cellulose derivatives have had limited use in many petroleum applications because most derivatives are either salt sensitive or not crosslinkable. Non-ionic derivatives of cellulose are generally not crosslinkable because the polymer lacks a site for attachment of a multivalent metal cation. Examples of this type include hydroxyalkyl cellulose ethers, methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, and hydroxyalkyl methyl cellulose. A crosslinkable non-ionic cellulose derivative has been prepared and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,523,010 and 4,552,215 which are herein incorporated by reference. In these disclosures, dihydroxypropyl hydroxyalkyl cellulose is prepared by a condensation reaction of glycidol with hydroxyethyl cellulose under alkaline conditions. The glycidol addition along the HEC polymer chain provides a site of attachment for multivalent metal cations.
Anionic cellulose derivatives are normally substituted with carboxyl groups along the polymer chain. The carboxyl groups complex with polyvalent metal cations, such as aluminum. Gels formed with this chemistry tend to have limited structural stability at formation temperatures of about 250.degree. F. In addition, carboxylate substituents render the polymer salt sensitive, i.e., the viscosity of the polymer in a salt solution is less than the viscosity in water. Salt sensitivity is not a desirable property because the aqueous liquids used in recovery operations most generally contain chloride salts to inhibit the swelling of formation clays.
The present invention provides new and useful methods of effecting crosslinking in selected graft copolymers of cellulose derivatives, which are generally non-ionic in character. Methods of grafting monomers on polyhydroxy containing compounds are well known in the art. The process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,922,768, herein incorporated by reference. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,982,783; 5,067,565; and 5,122,549, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, describe processes by which crosslinkable cellulose derivatives are prepared by grafting vinyl or allyl monomers having a crosslinkable substituent onto the cellulose derivative. The resulting copolymer is non-ionic and crosslinks readily with polyvalent metal cations to form stable viscoelastic gels.

Method of crosslinking cellulose and guar derivatives for treating subterranean formations


The present invention provides a method and composition for controlling the growth of microorganisms in aqueous systems, such as industrial process waters. The method includes the steps of adding a synergistically effective amount of a biocide, 2-bromo-2-nitrostyrene ("BNS"), and an oxidant, peracetic acid, to industrial process waters to control microorganism growth. The composition of the present invention comprises a synergistically effective amount of a biocide, 2-bromo-2-nitrostyrene, and an oxidant, peracetic acid, to control microorganism growth. The method and composition of the present invention are particularly effective in the treatment of pulp and paper water processing systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to controlling and inhibiting the growth of microorganisms in various types of aqueous systems. More specifically, it concerns methods and compositions for inhibiting the growth of microorganisms in industrial process waters and, in particular, in pulp and paper water processing systems.
2. Description of Related Art
A major problem in industrial manufacturing is control in the growth of microorganisms in aqueous systems, especially industrial process waters. Industrial process water includes pulp and paper process water, cooling tower water, waste water, food processing water, mineral slurries, air wash water, etc.
In pulp and paper water processing systems, the warm temperatures and the high carbohydrate content result in the constant growth of microorganisms. The presence of these microorganisms presents various difficulties for paper processors. The slime caused by the presence of microorganisms results in the formation of deposits. Slime can be defined as an "accretion or accumulation caused by certain microorganisms in the presence of pulp fiber, filler, dirt and other materials, mixed in varied proportions, having variable physical characteristics and accumulating at continuously changing rates."Safade, Tackling the Slime Problem in a Paper Mill, PTI, p. 280 (September 1988). The deposits which form cause fouling, plugging, clogging, system corrosion, and breakdowns of the paper machines which result in lost production time due to work stoppages. The breaking off of loose deposits causes defective, unsalable end products which result in an economic loss for the manufacturer.
In cooling tower water, growth of microorganisms can result in loss of heat transfer efficiency, clogged tubes, and corrosion.
In mineral slurries, microorganisms can lead to discoloration and can cause odor problems. Microbiological contamination can render mineral slurries unsalable, leading to economic loss for the manufacturer.
Industrial manufacturers have conventionally dealt with these problems by applying biocides to the process waters. Biocides are typically divided into two types: oxidizing biocides such as chlorine, bromine, chlorine dioxide, ozone, and peracetic acid; and non-oxidizing biocides such as isothiazolin, methylene bisthiocyanate, glutaraldehyde, quaternary ammonium compounds, DBNPA, and bromonitrostyrene. Both types of biocides operate on microorganisms by attacking the cell wall, the cytoplasmic membrane or the cellular constituents. Although individual biocides are sometimes used by themselves, there are numerous literature references disclosing the benefits of using synergistic combinations of biocides. The benefits of synergistic combinations include reduced use rates of biocides and broader spectrum of activity, i.e., such combinations are effective against a larger number of microorganisms than each of the individual biocides alone.
Numerous references disclose the use of bromonitrostyrene with other industrial biocides for control of microbial growth. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,212 (Donofrio et al.) discloses the use of bromonitrostyrene and a biocide, such as n-tributyltetradecylphosphonium chloride. U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,164 (Whitekettle et al.) discloses the use of bromonitrostyrene and a biocide, such as 2-(decylthio)ethanamine hydrochloride. U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,708 (Donofrio et al.) discloses the use of bromonitrostyrene and a biocide, such as 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol. U.S. Pat. No. 3,898,343 (Swered et al.) discloses the use of bromonitrostyrene and a biocide, such as methylene bisthiocyanate.
Numerous references disclose the use of peracetic acid with other industrial biocides for control of microbial growth. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,749 (LaZonby) discloses the use of sufficient amounts of an oxidant, such as peracetic acid, and glutaraldehyde. U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,775 (Donofrio et al.) discloses the use of 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3 diol and an oxidizing biocide, such as peracetic acid. U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,588 (LaZonby) discloses the use of an oxidant, peracetic acid, and a biocide, such as isothiazolin, methylene bisthiocyanate, glutaraldehyde, DBNPA, carbamate, quaternary ammonium compounds, 4,5-dichloro 1,2 dithio-3-one, and 4,5-dichloro-2-N-octyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one or mixtures of such biocides. U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,467 (LaZonby et al.) discloses the use of an oxidant, peracetic acid, and a biocide, such as isothiazolin, methylene bisthiocyanate, glutaraldehyde, DBNPA, carbamate, quaternary ammonium compounds, 4,5-dichloro 1,2 dithio-3-one, 4,5-dichloro-2-N-octyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one, decylthioethylamine, orthophthaldehyde, 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol, 4,5-dichloro- 1,2-dithiol-3-one, dodecylguanidine hydrochloride, 1-(3-chloroallyl)-3,5,7-triaza-1-azoniaadamantane chloride, dibromo dicyanobutane and bis(trichloromethyl)sulfone or mixtures of such biocides. However, none of these references disclose the combination of bromonitrostyrene and peracetic acid.

Method and composition for controlling microbial growth using bromontrostyene and peracetic acid


A system for managing a prescribed drug regimen for a user, the system including at least one electronic device (Pod) for interactive communication with at least one user, a Pod server coupled via a communication link to each Pod, said Pod server including an analysis unit, the analysis unit including a database of drug characteristics, and a processor for comparing sensed characteristics of a drug in one of the Pods with characteristics in the drug characteristics database, so as to identify the drug, and to provide to the Pod an indication of compatibility of the drug with the drug regimen.

Drugs are effective in treating a wide range of diseases and medical conditions. They are designed to be consumed according to a defined protocol, which includes dosing and timing. Demand for prescription drugs is growing at a rate that exceeds the capacity and numbers of licensed pharmacists. Currently more than 200 million prescriptions are filled in the US alone every week. The number of prescriptions filled between 2000 and 2005 increased roughly by 41%, while the number of retail pharmacists increased roughly by 4.5%.
However, there are a few major problems associated with prescribed and non prescribed drugs, which create a safety risk or reduced efficacy:                1. Drug—drug interactions which occur when actually consuming the drugs        2. Medication errors made by physicians        3. Non compliance and non-adherence by patients        4. Vending errors by pharmacists        5. Drug counterfeit
Errors can be made in any stage of the drug cascade: manufacturing, prescribing, dispensing and consumption. They can occur at the manufacturing site, in hospitals, pharmacies, community clinics and at home. Two in-patient studies, one in adults and one in pediatrics, have found that about half of medication errors occur at the stage of drug ordering, and direct observation studies have indicated that many errors also occur at the administration stage.
The purpose of the invention described herein is to assist patients and people who consume medications to considerably reduce the risk associated with these factors.
1. Drug-Drug Interactions:
All drugs affect multiple organs and many systems, and have different mechanisms of absorption, distribution metabolism and elimination. However, many, if not most, individuals take more than one drug at a time. Once a drug is consumed, it may alter one or more of the mechanism of action of another drug causing a reduction of efficacy or a toxic effect.
While clinicians are in general familiar with the concept of cross activities of drugs, which are mentioned in the summary of product characteristics (SmPC) and prescribing information (PI), in many cases they are unaware of specific potential interactions while prescribing a drug for one of the following reasons: The clinician is prescribing the drug only in rare cases, the drug is new on the market, the patient did not disclose all drugs he/she is taking (or was not asked about them), personal habits are not disclosed (dietary, alcohol, smoking, etc.) or the clinician or the pharmacist is not familiar with many of the possible combinations of drug interactions
2. Medication Errors
Medication errors are errors in the processes of ordering, transcribing, dispensing, administering, or monitoring drugs, irrespective of the outcome (i.e. injury to the patient).
3. Non-Compliance and Non-Adherence
Non-compliance and non-adherence errors are made by the patient. The principal types of non-compliance errors are: missing a dose, incorrect drug, incorrect frequency of administration, or completely stop taking the drug
4. Vending Errors
This type of errors occurs when drugs are sold by a pharmacist to the patient. Typically, these errors occur due to similar names or similar packages of drugs. A high work load on pharmacists also contributes to the error rate.
5. Drug Counterfeit
This is a growing issue where a look-alike drug, which may contain an inert or a different material, is sold on the market as if it were the original drug. The danger here is that the patient will not get the benefits of the proper drug, at all.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for real time identification of a drug


A mounting device for a rigid member such as a stone or concrete slab is disclosed. The slab has an opening which receives a sleeve. A continuous locking member has an inner surface complementary with the sleeve and an outer inclined surface adjacent the slab. A ring member has a flange mounted on the top of the slab and a hub connected to the sleeve. An object such as a cemetery vase is mounted in the ring member. A connector joins the vase to the ring member.

The present invention relates to a mounting device for connection to a rigid member having an opening therethrough. Such mounting devices are utilized, for example, to mount a container or sleeve to a stone or concrete slab, which is positioned adjacent a grave in a cemetery. The container or sleeve includes an outer mounting ring which receives a base of a cemetery vase. Normally, a chain or other device is connected between the vase and the ring to protect against theft.
A prior art mounting device is shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. A ring or flange member is mounted at the upper end of a sleeve and is positioned within an opening provided in a slab. A second ring member surrounds the sleeve at the bottom of the slab. A plurality of bolts extend between the upper flange member and the lower ring member securing the mounting device to the slab.
While the present invention is directed to a cemetery usage where the slab is, for example, a granite slab, the mounting device of the present invention is also suitable for other uses, such as attaching a metal pipe to a concrete slab.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved mounting device for attaching a ring and connected sleeve to a slab.


A tillage apparatus includes a wheeled frame configured with a plurality of concave blades arranged in a plurality of longitudinally extending columns and transversely extending rows. The rows are longitudinally spaced apart by a progressively increasing distance. The blades of each column are transversely tilted alternately to the left and right. The blades of each column are transversely offset from one another to create a swath of tilled ground along the width of the column. In operation, soil is thrown left and right between successive blades of a column to till the soil across the width of the column and leave a substantially level soil surface.

A tillage implement equipped with rows of spaced apart individually mounted coulter wheel assemblies is known in the art for use in conservation tillage. An example is provided in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,762,345, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Some coulter wheel assemblies are known to use springs having a horizontal spring axis, such as is shown in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,571, which is incorporated herein by reference.
An example of a tillage implement comprising spaced apart rows of individually mounted tillage blade assemblies having a concave disc blade and a shank with a spring having a horizontal spring axis is provided in commonly owned US patent application published as US 2011/0132628, which is incorporated herein by reference.
An example of a blade assembly and tillage implement equipped therewith comprising a resilient element in place of the coil spring is provided in commonly owned US patent application published as US 2011/0132627, which is incorporated herein by reference.
In conventional tillage operations using implements equipped with concave disc shaped tillage blades (for example, disc harrows), the soil is turned at the site of the disc and crop residue between the discs is buried by thrown soil. In such conventional tillage implements, the disc shaped blades are normally oriented with the concave side of adjacent discs facing the same direction. For example, referring to prior art FIG. 9, a disc harrow is equipped with a first set of concave disc shaped blades 300 mounted on a first common gang shaft 301 with the concave side of the blades facing towards the center of the implement, while a second set of concave disc shaped blades 310 is mounted on a second common gang shaft 311 with their concave sides facing away from the center of the implement. This causes soil to be transferred either towards the center of the implement, leaving a ridge, or away from the center, leaving a valley. In practice, a more acute angle between the gang shafts 301, 310 and the direction of travel of the implement leads to greater soil throw and greater coverage of crop residue between the disc shaped blades, but also leads to larger center ridges and larger valleys at the outside edges of the disc harrow. The farmer is therefore always forced to strike a compromise between effective crop residue coverage and the levelness of the soil surface following tillage.
There is a need for improved tillage implements and methods of use thereof that provide both effective crop residue coverage and a level soil surface following tillage.

Apparatus and method for soil tillage and levelling


A method of extracting the dominant colors from a set of target images and storing those colors in a database is described. A method of comparing colors stored in a database with a set of colors extracted from a query image. Also, a method of comparing colors stored in the database with a set of colors defined by a user using a color picker. The user defined colors may or may not include a wildcard color. The list of matching database images may or may no be filtered using metadata.

Among the most important features of an image is its color distribution. Some research has been done about extracting dominant colors from a particular image and then describing how those colors are distributed across the image. Also a few comparison methods have been developed for comparing images based on the extracted colors and their distribution.
All known existing color search implementations assume that the user knows exactly all colors he or she wishes to search for, and needs to retrieve images containing only those colors. In many cases this is not true, or possible; and the user may want to find images containing one or more known colors and one or more 'other,' unknown or unspecified colors. This scenario is not yet addressed by existing color comparisons methods, and therefore is not yet implemented by existing computer programs or web search engines.


An electronic coffee maker having a control circuit that allows for selective warming of brewed coffee. The control circuit has a micro-control unit that controls the heating coils of the coffee maker. Selector buttons allow the user to choose the delay time and the power levels for keeping the brewed coffee warm. This selectivity prevents the brewed coffee from becoming overly cooked.

The electronic coffee maker has become a ubiquitous household item. There are many different commercial coffee makers. Some brew coffee from grinds. Other coffee makers grind the coffee beans and then brew the coffee. Some coffee makers allow the user to set the time when brewing is to begin. The coffee maker is set prior to going to sleep. This has the advantage of providing freshly brewed coffee when the user wakes in the morning. The user wakes to the scent of freshly brewed coffee and is able to enjoy a fresh cup without the usual morning fuss.
All of the aforementioned coffee makers suffer from one annoying deficiency: the coffee is kept warm indefinitely after the brewing has terminated. After several hours, the coffee develops a "cooked" smell and taste, and the operator usually discards any coffee that has not been used. Not only is this wasteful, but the smell of the cooked coffee creates a negative impression upon the taste buds and olfactory senses of the coffee aficionado.
The present invention provides a coffee maker, the circuitry and control unit of which allow for selective brewing and warming of the coffee. Coffee is prepared and kept warm for a selected time, so that the coffee never becomes overly cooked or overly strong. In addition, the warming cycle has three different power levels, so that the coffee loses water by heated evaporation at three different selective rates. In this regard, the "cooking effect" can be substantially diminished or eliminated.


In a printer apparatus according to the present invention, the amount of charge applied to a photoconductor is measured at at least two points. A variation in dark decay which controls an image density, is recognized for the developing position of each developing unit. The grid bias voltage applied to the grid screen of the main charging device and the developing bias voltage applied to each of the developing units are set so as to satisfy the intensities of the contrast voltage and background voltage predetermined for each of the developing positions of the developing units.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image forming apparatus and, more specifically, to an image forming apparatus such as a multicolor printer apparatus or a full-color copying apparatus utilizing an electrophotographic process.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the copying (printer) apparatus, it is known that the surface potential applied to the photoconductor depends on its environmental temperature, and moisture and on the number of accumulated copying sheets.
The surface potential of the photoconductor is particularly important in a full-color process. A variation in an amount of toner degrades the color balance of a formed image. Consequently, the intensity of the developing voltage applied to each developing device for every process has to be set to a fixed value, irrespective of the number of times the process is repeated.
Therefore, in the copying (printer) apparatus, a given allowable margin is provided to image forming materials and an image forming process itself, and image stabilization is attained by maintenance within this allowable margin.
However, the allowable margin to be provided to the image forming materials and image forming process itself is limited, and the maintenance required much labor and cost. Furthermore, the image density drift cycle is shorter than a maintenance cycle, and a stable image density cannot always be obtained by only the maintenance.
A method has been so far proposed to keep the surface potential applied to the photoconductor to a fixed value.
The method is that the surface potentials applied to a photoconductor are measured directly after charge is supplied from the charging device. A decay curve is obtained by the measured surface potentials to control the intensity of charge supplied from the charging device to the photoconductor. This method is disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 61-238070 and 2-77766.
However, the above methods have the following drawbacks.
In the method of Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 61-238070, since the sensors for sensing the surface potential are very expensive, production costs greatly increase. If a sensor is provided for each of the developing devices, the production costs excessively increase. Further, the apparatus has to increase in size because it includes plural sensors. If the apparatus includes a plurality of developing devices the expensive sensors have to be protected from movement of the developing devices.
In the method of Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 2-77766, the photoconductor is intermittent and, in this case, no image can be formed during the measurement of potentials.

Image forming apparatus for correcting image density drift


A fan assisted heat sink cooling device is disclosed in which the heat sink assembly also forms the housing surrounding the fan. The housing is constructed of a plurality of cooling vanes which have elongated openings therebetween allowing air to pass between and cool the vanes. The vanes are angled in an approximately opposite manner to the orientation of the fan blades in order to minimize the noise generated by the cooling device when in operation. The cooling device operates in an extremely efficient manner by causing air to pass over the cooling vanes twice.

Integrated circuit devices are increasingly being used in modern electronic applications. One prevalent example is the computer. The central processing unit or units of most computers, including personal computers, is constructed from an integrated circuit device.
During normal operation, integrated circuit devices generate significant amounts of heat. If this heat is not continuously removed, the integrated circuit device may overheat, resulting in damage to the device and/or a reduction in operating performance. In order to avoid such overheating, integrated circuit cooling devices are often used in conjunction with integrated circuit devices.
One such cooling device is a fan assisted heat sink cooling device. In such a device, a heat sink is formed of a material, such as aluminum, which readily conducts heat. The heat sink is usually placed on top of and in contact with the integrated circuit device. Due to this contact, heat generated by the integrated circuit is conducted into the heat sink and away from the integrated circuit.
The heat sink may include a plurality of cooling fins in order to increase the surface area of the heat sink and, thus, maximize the transfer of heat from the heat sink device into the surrounding air. In this manner, the heat sink draws heat away from the integrated circuit and transfers the heat into the surrounding air.
In order to enhance the cooling capacity of such a heat sink device, an electrically powered fan is often mounted on top of the heat sink. In operation, the fan causes air to move over and around the fins of the heat sink device, thus cooling the fins by enhancing the transfer of heat from the fins into the ambient air.
Over the years, as the power of integrated circuit devices has increased, so has the amount of heat generated by these devices. In order to adequately cool these higher powered integrated circuit devices, integrated circuit cooling devices with greater cooling capacities are required.
Conventionally, the cooling capacity of fan assisted heat sink cooling devices has been increased by making the devices larger. Specifically, cooling devices are often made larger by the incorporation of larger heat sinks and larger fans. This increase in size, however, has been found to present a problem. Increasing the size of the cooling device in a vertical direction (i.e. in a direction transverse to the orientation of the integrated circuit device) is often a problem because of the limited envelope available in many applications, such as in the computer case of a desktop personal computer. This is an even greater problem because, in most situations, a fairly substantial clearance area is required between the fan opening and the computer case to allow adequate airflow into or out of the fan.
Increasing the size of the cooling device in a horizontal direction (i.e. in a direction parallel to the orientation of the circuit board) is also often a problem because this limits the number of integrated circuit devices (and other electronic devices) which may be incorporated into the computer case.
Another problem with fan assisted heat sink cooling devices is the noise generated by the fans, particularly in situations where larger fans are used to achieve increased cooling capacity. This is particularly a problem in desktop computers where a user is commonly in close proximity to the machine. The problem is further aggravated in situations where multiple integrated circuit devices, and, thus, multiple cooling devices, are mounted in the same computer case, as occurs in many high power computers.
Thus, it would be generally desirable to provide an apparatus which overcomes these problems associated with fan assisted heat sink devices.


A technique according to the present specification relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting control information, which support carrier aggregation, through an uplink. Particularly, bits to be transmitted through a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) are acquired, and at least one channel state information (CSI) bit indicating a wireless channel state and a plurality of ACK/NACK bits related to a plurality of carriers are acquired and transmitted. In addition, the plurality of ACK/NACK bits and the CSI bit are encoded using different Reed-Muller coding blocks (a first Reed-Muller coding block and a second Reed-Muller coding block).

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless communication, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for transmitting control information in a wireless communication system which supports carrier aggregation (CA).
Related Art
One of requirements of a wireless communication system is to support a high data transmission ratio. To this end, various technologies such as multiple input multiple output, MIMO), cooperative multiple point transmission (CoMP), a relay, and carrier aggregation have been researched.
The carrier aggregation is a concept of aggregating a plurality of bands to one system. In this case, each independently operable band may be called a component carrier (CC).
Meanwhile, user equipment may transmit various control information through an uplink. An example of the control information includes ACK/NACK information or channel state information (CSI) for HARQ operation. The user equipment may include a plurality of channel state information (CSI) feed-backing a base station, and one channel state information may be generated and analyzed based on another channel state information.

Method and apparatus for transmitting control information through uplink


One type of kaleidoscope has an object cell that contains a multitude of small objects immersed in a viscous liquid. By inverting the object cell, a user can enjoy a continuous ever-changing display of pleasing and colorful symmetrical images as the objects cascade through the viscous liquid under the influence of gravity. Eventually the objects settle to the top or bottom of the object cell as determined by their densities, and the viewer needs to invert the object cell again. It is desirable to prolong each cascade so as to reduce the frequency with which the object cell must be inverted. Several ways of accomplishing this are disclosed. The walls of the cell may converge and may be provided with bumps or other surface irregularities. The movement of the objects may be impeded by the provision of fixed obstacles within the object cell. In another approach, an upwelling and circulation of the viscous liquid is produced by a simple pump that is mobilized by inverting the object cell.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of optical toys and amusement devices. More specifically, this invention relates to a kaleidoscope wherein the shape, structural design and contents of the object cell (typically a clear transparent viscous liquid and a plurality of colored discrete particles commonly referred to as "objects") cause these "objects" to move from one part of the object cell (for example the top) to another part of the object cell (for example the bottom) under the force of gravity following an initial turnover in a length of time that is controllable by design. Consequently, during this preselected length of time, typically several minutes, eye-pleasing symmetrical patterns, as observed through the eyepiece of the kaleidoscope, can be attained as the liquid and "objects" settle without the viewer having to rotate or re-orient the object cell with respect to the mirror system of the kaleidoscope.
2. The Prior Art
The kaleidoscope is an optical instrument invented and patented by Sir David Brewster circa 1816. In its simplest forms, it comprises either of two basic systems of mirrors, namely the 2-mirror system, which produces one central image and the 3-mirror system, which produces images reflected throughout the entire field of view. The mirrors in both systems are set up in a triangular configuration in a tube similar to a hollow prism.
In the following discussion, the end of the kaleidoscope housing the eyepiece and therefore nearer the viewer will be referred to as the proximal end. The opposite end, farther away from the viewer, will be referred to as the distal end.
Located at the distal end is an object chamber or cell in the form of a short hollow cylinder containing a plurality of small contrasting colored discrete particles in a clear transparent viscous liquid. These discrete particles, commonly referred to as the "objects" of the object chamber, are imaged by the mirror system. The totality of a kaleidoscope comprises the object chamber, the mirror system and the eyepiece, all housed inside a cylindrical tube, which is usually decorated externally to enhance the appearance of the instrument. It is the design of the object chamber, however, that governs the lighting of the colored "objects" inside, whose eye-pleasing symmetrical pattern images are seen by the viewer through the eyepiece of the kaleidoscope.
For most hand-held kaleidoscopes, the object chamber has two transparent ends. Light enters the object chamber through its exposed end. Alternatively, the exposed end of the object chamber is blackened to be opaque to light, and the cylindrical side wall of the chamber is made transparent to allow external light to enter the object chamber only from the side. Yet another configuration for this type of hand-held kaleidoscope calls for all faces of the object chamber disc to be transparent so that light can enter the object chamber not only through the exposed end, but also from the cylindrical side wall of the disc as well.
For a long time after the invention of the kaleidoscope, the illumination of the images created by the colored "objects" inside the object chamber of hand-held kaleidoscopes was mostly derived from natural lighting, either directly through the distal face or the periphery of the object chamber, or both. The advent of a new time and intensity variant artificial illumination system, complete with full audio sound effects, is the subject of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/971,092 filed Nov. 14, 1997 as ILLUMINATION SYSTEM FOR KALEIDOSCOPES of which the present application is a continuation-in-part. Most of the kaleidoscopes known in the art for many years have object cells that are affixed to the tube-like body of the kaleidoscope. Upon rotation of the entire kaleidoscope tube, the random distribution of "objects" inside the object cell is disturbed, thereby presenting a variety of pleasing and symmetrical images to the viewer. One such kaleidoscope was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,294,967 issued Feb. 18, 1919 to Anton Stabla. This patent shows an exceedingly simple and elegant construction of the kaleidoscope with the use of an inexpensive tube made from a single piece of material. The object chamber is formed by a pair of transparent plates, separated by a spacer, with a plurality of colored "fragments" disposed between them. Natural lighting is used to illuminate the object chamber through the transparent plate that closes the end of the tube. Upon rotating the entire kaleidoscope tube, the "fragments" inside the object chamber can be caused to tumble and thereby to create different images for the viewer of the kaleidoscope.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,020,796 issued Feb. 13, 1962, Kaplan advanced the idea of incorporating a single electric lamp under the translucent object chamber of a stationary or table kaleidoscope as a means of illumination in lieu of natural light. A disk, which is made out of a variety of colorful patterns and figures, is interposed between the object chamber and the electric lamp and rotated to produce the desirable visual effects to be viewed. Although this idea of an effectively rotating object chamber for a table kaleidoscope by Kaplan is not applicable to hand-held kaleidoscopes, it did nevertheless represent the first rotating object chamber on record.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,772 issued Nov. 9, 1976, Knott was the first to introduce an effective rotating object chamber for a hand-held kaleidoscope in the form of a rotating carriage retained at the distal end of the kaleidoscope tube and carrying with it a color disc and an opaque object box. As the carriage is made to rotate about the axis of the kaleidoscope tube, the colorful "objects" inside the object box are caused to tumble and thereby to produce a variation of continuously changing colorful patterns for the viewer.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,734 issued Jul. 21, 1992, Hausner describes an improved objective illumination assembly for the hand-held kaleidoscope. Hausner includes an electric light source within the kaleidoscope tube body between the viewing end (eye-piece) and the object chamber. Furthermore, to rotate the object chamber, he devised a special mechanical assembly including a small electric motor, a drive shaft and a rubber band harness. Hausner's invention represents the first power-assisted hand-held kaleidoscope on record; it not only provided an artificial illumination system for the object chamber in lieu of natural lighting, but also provided a motorized mechanical assembly for producing an everchanging display of symmetrical images for the viewer. Unfortunately such a device was relatively fragile and yet complicated to build, making it costly to manufacture. Such an assessment of Hausner's invention is borne out by the fact that to date it remains mainly a curiosity piece and has never been widely adopted and copied in the industry.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,046 issued Apr. 26, 1988, MacCarthy introduced a so-called "liquid" kaleidoscope wherein the object chamber consists of one or more tubular sections in which a liquid and colored solids are constrained to flow in spatially confined volumes and in controlled directions. MacCarthy's tubular object chambers do not entirely fill the whole field of view, and they confine the liquid and solids to move in plug-like flow along the channels defined by the tubes. The object chamber which contains this assembly of closed tubes can be rotated in a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction.
In 1993, Eikich and Baker in U.S. Pat. No. B1-5,029,954(originally issued Jul. 9, 1991 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,954 and reexamined in 1993) advanced the idea of a kaleidoscope having a removable object tube in lieu of a stationary object chamber. The length of this object tube whose mid section acts as the object chamber for the hand-held kaleidoscope can be many times the diameter of the kaleidoscope tube itself. The extent of the object tube's diameter, on the other hand, is not critical as long as it is larger than the aperture of the prism mirror system of the kaleidoscope. The object tube is filled with a clear transparent fluid having a plurality of discrete contrasting colored elements whose movements are subjected to the force of gravity. Thus when the object tube is being held with its axis vertical, all the discrete contrasting colored elements tend to drift downwards in the fluid towards its bottom. As these particles drift down through the aperture of the prism mirror system of the kaleidoscope, the effect created is equivalent to that of an object cell with its contents changing as a function of time. Thus in this manner the viewer is presented with a variety of changing colorful symmetrical images.
However, after a certain period of time has elapsed, typically one to two minutes, all the particles will have drifted downwards to the bottom of the object tube. At this point the object tube will cease to function as the object cell for the kaleidoscope because there are no more particles in the field of view of the prism mirror system. The viewer would have to flip the object tube with the kaleidoscope from end to end in order that the particles inside the tube can once again drift downwards towards its bottom.
It is clear from the discussion of the prior art presented above that several attempts have been made to simulate the visual effects of a "rotating object cell" for a hand-held kaleidoscope with the use of a single removable object tube (U.S. Pat. No. B1-5,029,954 to Eilrich and Baker) or an assembly of fixed ones filled inside with a clear transparent viscous fluid and a plurality of colorful particles (U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,046 to MacCarthy). In both cases the force of gravity is relied upon to act on the particles inside the tube in order to induce motional effects for the objects thereby requiring the viewer to physically re-orient the kaleidoscope from time to time. The elapsed time after which the viewer has to rotate or re-orient the kaleidoscope depends upon the viscosity and density of the liquid inside the object cell, the density or buoyancy of the objects in suspension and the physical length of the object cell itself. In the case of Eilrich and Baker's invention, even though the period or duration of motion is relatively long because of the very long object tube being used, it is nevertheless very cumbersome since it extends symmetrically and perpendicularly to the kaleidoscope tube at the distal end of the instrument.
Thus there exists a need for a kaleidoscope that has a specially designed object cell that is compact and capable of providing a very long duration of motional effects, thereby greatly reducing the frequency with which the object cell must be inverted to present the viewer a continuous ever-changing display of pleasing and colorful symmetrical images. The present invention with its novel object cell structural design serves to fill this need.

Object cells for hand-held kaleidoscopes


A switch panel for use in dispensing equipment which includes a switch plate having a plurality of switch positions with each having an area for receiving and mounting a first electrical switch component thereat, and at least one switch activating selector button having a second electrical switch component fixed thereto. Mounting means are provided for pivotally mounting a selector button at each selected switch position by pressing mounting ears on the selector button through appropriate slots in the switch plate until openings in the selector button are engaged by pivot pins in the switch plate, all without using any tools or connecting elements. A flat membrane switch is used as one switch component, and the selector button is designed so that when contact is made with the flat membrane switch a flange on the selector button also engages the surface of the switch plate to absorb any excessive or abusive force exerted on the selector button, and a sealing flange may be mounted behind all of the slots in the switch plate to provide a seal preventing moisture from passing through the slots in the switch plate.

The present invention relates generally to dispensing and vending equipment, and more particularly to equipment of this sort which utilizes selector buttons mounted in the equipment and arranged to be moved by a user in selecting the product to be disbursed or vended.
Manufacturers of dispensing and vending equipment usually make such equipment for a number of different customers, each of which has its own specifications for certain aspects of the equipment. However, manufacturing economy requires that the equipment for each customer be made with as little variation as possible in manufacturing and assembly procedures so as to eliminate as much customizing expenses as possible, and in some instances these competing interests are difficult to reconcile.
For example, manufacturers of gasoline dispensing pumps which are ultimately placed at service stations and the like generally make such pumps for a number of different oil and petroleum companies, many of which dispense different grades of gasolines. Thus, one such customer may require a gasoline dispensing station which pumps five different grades of gasoline from the same dispensing station, while another customer may pump only three or less different grades from the same dispensing station.
Heretofore, such gasoline dispensing stations, while having many components in common, generally require that the manufacturer customize at least the part of the gasoline dispensing station which includes the selector buttons which are to be pressed by the ultimate customer (e.g., the motorist purchasing the gasoline) so that the number and location of the selector buttons would meet the individual requirements for a particular gasoline dispensing station. This customization is relatively expensive in that it requires the switch plate for a particular dispensing station to be individually manufactured and installed in the dispensing station, and each selector button is then individually mounted at particular locations on the switch plate as specified by the customer using a large number of screws, bolts, and similar attachment devices that are installed utilizing conventional and generally tedious manual installation techniques, all of which significantly increases the costs of manufacture of the dispensing stations.
Additionally, each location at which a selector button is installed requires a number of slots for receiving the aforesaid screws, bolts, and the like, and more importantly, slots are formed in the switch plate to accommodate the movement of the selector button when it is pressed by the motorist, and conventional selector buttons are arranged in the switch plate so that they seal these slots only when the selector buttons are in their normal open position from which they are pressed by the motorists. Therefore, if the selector buttons are pressed when there is significant moisture from rainfall and the like, water frequently passes through the slots and into the space behind the switch plate where a variety of electrical components are located to thereby create a potentially hazardous situation for the motorists. Heretofore, the only solution to this problem has been to provide a trough for collecting and channeling away any water that passes through the slots and openings in the switch plate, which has not proved to be a very effective solution to a serious problem.
Finally, conventional selector buttons are designed to close a conventional mechanical/electrical switch when it is pushed to its innermost position by the motorist, and these selector buttons are frequently abused, either intentionally or accidentally, by motorist who push the selector button inwardly with too much force, which often results in the selector switch sticking in its innermost position, in which case the entire dispensing station is out of commission until a repairman can correct the problem. Experience has shown that this abuse of the selector switch is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, maintenance problems associated with gasoline dispensing stations.

Selection switch panel for vending and dispensing equipment


A camera has a control device (MCU) for controlling magnetic recording of photographing data in units of photographing frames stored upon photographing onto the corresponding photographing frames on the film upon film rewinding. The camera has a photographable frame number detection device for detecting the number of photographable frames of the film from an information device provided to a film cartridge, and a film counter device for incrementing the count number every time one frame is photographed. Also, the camera has a film end detection device for detecting the film end, and a comparison device for comparing the number of photographable frames detected by the photographable frame number detection device with the count number of the film counter device when the film end detection device detects the film end. Furthermore, the camera has an alarm display device (DSP) for producing an alarm indicating errors in magnetic recording when the comparison device detects a non-coincidence between the two values. With this arrangement, a problem posed upon magnetically recording the photographing data during film rewinding when the film counter has caused errors during film forwarding can be solved, and an alarm display can be performed for the photographer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera which can magnetically record information such as photographing data on a magnetic recording region formed on a film.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, a film which has a magnetic recording region, and can magnetically record information such as various photographing data in units of photographing frames, and a camera using such film have been proposed. The photographing data to be recorded on such magnetic recording region include, e.g., various kinds of photographing data information such as the exposure condition upon taking a picture, the photographing magnification, the presence/absence of flash light, the photographing date, and the like.
Also, a film cartridge that stores such film has an information device of photographing data. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-199329 proposes a film cartridge on a portion of which a bar-code data indicator is pivotally arranged. In such film cartridge, a "fully exposed film", "unexposed film", "partially exposed film", and the like can be identified depending on the initial stop position of the bar-code data indicator as the information device. Also, the number of photographable frames of a film can be read from a code pattern on the bar-code data indicator.
In a camera using a film having such magnetic recording region, magnetic recording is done during film forwarding or rewinding. When magnetic recording is done during film forwarding, it is difficult to increase the film feed speed too much to attain stable write. Hence, in a camera which is required to have a continuous photographing function that requires a particularly high frame feed speed, magnetic recording is preferably inhibited during film forwarding. In this case, photographing data are temporarily stored in another storage device, and are simultaneously written in the individual frames upon film rewinding.
In the above-mentioned camera, when photographing data are written upon film rewinding, the photographing data stored in units of frames must be written in the corresponding frames during film rewinding.
However, if rewinding errors have occurred due to, e.g., the use-up state of the battery during film rewinding, the film counter number is often different from the actual frame number. In such case, if magnetic recording is performed during film rewinding irrespective of errors, the photographed pictures have photographing data different from their own data, and unwanted prints may be obtained. When the photographed pictures have photographing data different from their own data, if the bar-code data indicator as the information device of the cartridge is set to indicate the "unexposed" or "partially exposed" state, the film may be loaded into the camera again, and exposed frames may be double-exposed.


A holder for retaining an item, particularly a turkey call, other game call, clipboard, pad or the like on the limb of a user while leaving his or her hands free. The holder includes a base having a hollow center. Rubber feet are arranged about the hollow center to support the item. The item is held against the rubber feet by an elastic band. A nylon web strap, provided with a snap buckle, is used to secure the holder to the user's limb. A belt attached tether may be provided to assist in retaining the holder on a limb (e.g., the thigh) of the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game call holder for a turkey call, for example, by which a turkey call or other items (e.g., a pilot's clipboard) can be strapped onto a limb of a user.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various hand-operated devices that imitate mating calls and other sounds made by turkeys have been used by hunters to attract turkeys. Hunters have had to put down the turkey call before shooting, so as to be able to hold their gun with both hands. The interruption of the calling sound and the hunter's movement in putting down the turkey call tends to startle the turkeys, allowing them to escape into cover or out of the gun's range before a shot can be taken.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,733, issued to Alvin D. Willis, on Aug. 19, 1986, discloses a slate box turkey call, that is useful for illustrating the state of the art of turkey calls, but does not have a means for attaching the call to the body of the hunter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,845, issued to Frank R. Piper, on Sep. 11, 1990, discloses a game calling device, with a flexible pouch in which to enclose the device when it is not being used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,390, issued to Joseph Sanders, on Jul. 30, 1991, discloses an adapter for attaching an animal call to firearm, rather than the body of the hunter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,981, issued to Melvin L. Allen, on May 12, 1992, discloses a game call holder, for holding a game call on the user's chest or shoulder. The game call holder of Allen does not provide for the acoustic isolation of the call, unlike the game call holder of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,575, issued to Clarence E. Koch, on Jan. 12, 1993, discloses a game call having glass and slate frictional striking surfaces, but no means for attaching it to a hunter's body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,430, issued to Roy A. Legursky, on Sep. 14, 1993, discloses a turkey caller and support apparatus, which does not provide for the complete acoustic isolation of the turkey caller.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.


Processes are disclosed for converting heat stable amine salts to heat regenerable amine salts using a modified electrodialysis zone. The processes of the present invention can be used to reduce the level of heat stable salts in a lean solvent stream in an acid gas removal process and can be integrated with the acid gas removal process to utilize process streams as a source of ions.

A wide variety of absorption processes have been proposed for removing acid gases such as, for example, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide, carbon disulfide, hydrogen cyanide, and carbonyl sulfide from process gas streams using absorbents comprising amines.
Such absorption processes typically involve passing the process gas stream containing one or more of the acid gases to an absorption zone wherein it is contacted with a lean solvent comprising the amine absorbent. A product gas stream, depleted in the acid gases relative to the process gas stream, is withdrawn from the absorption zone as a product. A rich solvent stream comprising the amine absorbent and the absorbed acid gases is also withdrawn from the absorption zone and passed to a regeneration zone, e.g., a steam stripping column, wherein the absorbed acid gases are desorbed from the solvent to provide a tail gas stream comprising the acid gases and the lean solvent stream hereinbefore described.
A common problem in such acid gas absorption processes is that heat stable salts of the amine are often formed during one or both of the absorption and regeneration steps as a by-product. Heat stable salts can be formed, for example, when strong acids such as hydrochloric acid or sulfuric acid are present in the process gas. Heat stable salts can also be formed when sulfite anions are oxidized to sulfate anions. Typical ions which form heat stable salts, i.e., heat stable anions, include, for example, sulfate anions, thiosulfate anions, polythionate anions, thiocyanate ions, acetate ions, formate ions and oxylate ions.
Heat stable salts generally do not have absorption capacity for the acid gases and are not regenerable under the conditions of the process. Therefore, the level of heat stable salts needs to be controlled in order to retain an adequate degree of absorption capacity for the acid gases.
Electrodialysis has been proposed as a method for removing heat stable salts from amine containing streams. In a typical electrodialysis process, caustic, e.g., sodium hydroxide, is added to the stream containing the heat stable amine salt in order to dissociate the heat stable anion from the heat stable salt and provide an amine in free base form and a simple heat stable salt, e.g., sodium sulfate. The simple salt is then separated by electrodialysis wherein the charged ions permeate through anion- and cation-selective membranes. The amine, which is non-ionic, does not permeate through the membranes and is discharged from the electrodialysis zone as a product. Often, conventional electrodialysis processes operate in a batch mode wherein the process streams are recirculated until the desired amount of heat stable salts is removed.
Certain problems can result from the use of electrodialysis processes such as described above. For example, since the amine product from the electrodialysis zone is provided in free base form, it can have excessive volatility which can lead to solvent losses during absorption. In addition, since the process is a batch process, the pH and ionic strength within the compartments of the electrolysis zone vary with the discontinuous operation. As a result, the membranes in the electrodialysis zone often experience shrinking and swelling and, ultimately, are subject to mechanical failure. Moreover, to the extent that the amine is not converted to free base form in the caustic treatment step, there can be substantial losses of the amine due to permeation through the membranes in the electrodialysis zone. In addition, conventional electrodialysis requires a source of caustic.

Process for converting heat stable amine salts to heat regenerable amine salts

Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation


The invention relates to a silicone composition comprising components bearing ≡SiH/≡SiOH groups, which can be polymerized/cross-linked by means of a dehydrogenative condensation reaction in the presence of a carbene-type catalyst in solution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of the catalysis of dehydrogenative condensation reactions enabling the polymerization/crosslinking of silicone. The reactive species involved are monomers, oligomers, and/or polymers of polyorganosiloxane nature.
2. Description of Related Art
The reactive units concerned in these species are ≡SiH units and ≡SiOH units. Dehydrogenative condensation between these reactive silicone units results in the formation of ≡Si—O—Si≡ bonds and in the release of hydrogen gas.
This dehydrogenative condensation is an alternative to the polymerization/crosslinking routes known in the silicone field, namely the polyaddition route by reaction between ≡SiH and ≡Si-alkenyl(vinyl) units, and also the polycondensation route by reaction between ≡SiOR and ≡SiOR units (with R=alkyl). All these polymerization/crosslinking routes result in silicone products which are more or less polymerized and more or less crosslinked, which can constitute products that can be used in many applications: adhesives, sealing products, pointing products, adhesion primers, release coatings, foams, etc.
It is known according to French patent FR-B-1 209 131 that a reaction between a silanol Ph2Si(OH)2 and a said organosiloxane [(Me2HSi)2O] with Me=methyl and Ph=phenyl, by means of dehydrogenative condensation, can be catalyzed by a chloroplatinic acid (H2PtCl6.6H2O).
It is also known practice to use a rhodium complex (RhCl3[(C8H17)2S]3), for example as mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,107, a platinum complex such as the Karstedt catalyst, or metal catalysts based on platinum, rhodium, palladium or iridium. As iridium-based catalyst, mention may be made of the following compounds: IrCl(CO)(TPP)2, Ir(CO)2 (acac), IrH(Cl)2(TPP)3, [IrCl(Cyclooctene)2]2, IrI(CO)(TPP)2 and IrH(CO)(TPP)3, in which formulae TPP signifies a triphenylphosphine group and acac an acetylacetonate group.
Other examples are catalysts such as amines, colloidal nickel or dibutyltin dilaurate (see the book by Noll, "Chemistry and technology of silicones", page 205, Academic Press, 1968-2nd edition). However, the alkyltin-based catalysts, although very effective, usually colorless, liquid and soluble in silicone oils, have the drawback of being toxic (CMR2 toxic for reproduction).
Other catalysts, such as boron derivatives of tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane type, are described in French patent application FR-A-2 806 930.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,107 describes a silicone composition comprising a polydimethyldisiloxane comprising silanol ends, a crosslinking agent consisting of a polyorganosiloxane comprising ≡SiH units in the chain and comprising trimethylsilyl ends and a catalyst consisting of a rhodium complex (RhCl3[(C8H17)2S]3). This silicone composition that can be crosslinked by means of dehydrogenative condensation in the presence of a rhodium complex can be used for producing release coatings on flexible supports such as paper and plastic or metal films. The crosslinking is carried out at a temperature of 150° C.
European patent application EP-A-1 167 424 describes the obtaining of linear silicone block copolymers by means of the dehydrogenative condensation of a polydimethylsiloxane comprising silanol ends and of a polyorganosiloxane comprising aromatic groups and comprising ≡SiH ends in the presence of a metal catalyst which may be based on platinum, rhodium, palladium or iridium, platinum being particularly preferred.
French patent application FR-A-2 806 930 describes the use of boron derivatives of tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane type as a thermoactivatable catalyst for dehydrogenative condensation between a polyorganosiloxane comprising ≡SiH units and a polyorganosiloxane comprising ≡SiOH end units. Such silicone compositions that can be crosslinked by means of dehydrogenative condensation in the presence of Lewis acids of boron derivative type can be used for the manufacture of release coatings on flexible supports, in particular on paper, and also in the manufacture of crosslinked silicone foams in which the release of hydrogen and the quality of the crosslinking network are controlled.
It emerges from this review of the prior art, relating to the catalysis of dehydrogenative condensation between a polyorganosiloxane comprising a siloxyl ≡SiOH unit and a polyorganosiloxane comprising a siloxyl ≡SiH unit, that there is a significant need to:
1) find new nontoxic catalysts,
2) reduce the catalyst activation temperature, and
3) limit the side reactions.
Application FR 03 41232 relates to a process for preparing a polyorganosiloxane by polymerization via ring opening and/or redistribution of polyorganosiloxane, in the presence of a catalyst (or initiator) consisting of at least one nucleophilic carbene.
Application FR 06 03563 relates to a process for polycondensation of a polyorganosiloxane between at least one ≡SiOH unit and at least one ≡SiOR unit also using catalysts with a carbene structure.
However, the carbene catalysts described in the abovementioned two applications are unstable and must generally be either used in a crystalline form, or generated in situ from precursor salts. As it happens, carbenes are highly reactive species that degrade in the open air, which implies storing them and handing them under an inert atmosphere.

Silicone composition that can be cross-linked by means of dehydrogenative condensation in the presence of a carbene-type catalyst