Various implementations include headphone systems. In one implementation, a headband for a headphone system, includes: a continuous spring section sized to extend over a head of a user; an earcup mount coupled with an end of the continuous spring section, where the earcup mount allows for both translation and rotation of an earcup relative to the continuous spring section without altering a length of the continuous spring section; and a friction assembly spanning between the continuous spring section and the earcup mount.

Conventional headphones include a set of earcups joined by a headband. In some of those conventional configurations, the headband is segmented and affixed to the earcups. The segmented headband can allow for adjustment of the earcup position by moving one or more segments of the headband relative to the other segments. In other conventional configurations, the earcup is attached to a headband via an actuator such as a knob/screw or pin mechanism. In these configurations, the position of the earcup can be adjusted via the actuator (e.g., by twisting the knob/screw to loosen and then tightening after adjustment). These conventional configurations can be unwieldy. Additionally, these conventional configurations can be difficult to accurately adjust in order to provide a desirable fit for the user. While advanced designs may enable smoother earcup adjustment, these designs may not adequately control multi-dimensional adjustment of those earcups.

Headphone earcup mount in continuous headband-spring headphone system


A power backfeed apparatus includes a housing configured be removably positioned in a compartment of a motor control center (MCC), a contact assembly supported by the housing and comprising at least one contact configured to face a corresponding at least one power conductor of the MCC when the housing is disposed in the compartment and a power cable connector supported by the housing and configured to support connection of an external power cable thereto when the housing is disposed in the compartment, the power cable connector configured to be electrically coupled to the at least one contact of the contact assembly. A contact engagement mechanism forces the at least one contact into contact with the at least one power conductor to electrically couple the at least one contact and the at least one power conductor.

Motor control centers (MCCs) are assemblies designed to contain motor starters, variable frequency drives, programmable controllers, meters and other industrial electrical equipment. MCCs are commonly used in manufacturing facilities, power plants and other industrial locations.
A typical MCC includes one or more cabinet-like enclosures, each including a plurality of compartments or "buckets" configured to receive motor controllers and/or other types of modules. MCCs typically include one or more power bus bars to which these modules are connected. For example, a module may include "stab" contacts that extend from a rear face of the module and that are configured to engage power bus bars located proximate a rear section of the bucket into which the module is placed. These contacts may be moveable and may be actuated to engage with and disengage from the power bus bars using a motor drive and/or a tool interface at a front face of the module. MCC and module configurations are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No, 8,054,606 to Morris et al. and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0149480 to Leeman et al.
Within a given MCC, certain loads may be more critical than others. For example, in a nuclear power plant, motor controllers that control motor operated valves (MOVs) that control flow of cooling water to the reactors may be more critical than other loads. Under emergency conditions, it is generally desirable to keep these critical loads on line. Accordingly, nuclear power plants typically have redundant power systems that are configured to power critical loads from a secondary power source, such as a permanently-installed backup diesel engine-generator set. Unfortunately, however, these secondary power systems may also fail, as was the case, for example, in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of 2011.

Apparatus and methods for powering motor control centers using backfeed modules


A system and a method for the notes of one track to move in a harmonically separate manner from the notes of another track when the notes of each track are played against a chord progression. Each track is associated with a chord function. The notes of the tracks are then played against a progression of polychords, where each polychord consists of one or more chords. In addition, each chord of a polychord is associated with one or more chord functions. During operation, each note of a track is mapped against a chord of the currently playing polychord. The chord for each track is selected by identifying the chord of the polychord that is associated with the same chord function as the track. Furthermore, individual tracks, groups of notes, or single notes can be assigned to one of several playback modes. Each note includes a field that identifies a playback mode. In addition, each track is associated with a playback mode. Prior to generating a performance note, the playback mode for the note is determined, and the note is transposed or mapped against the currently playing chord in accordance with the playback mode.

Context-sensitive musical performances have become a key component of electronic and multimedia products such as stand-alone video games, computer based video games, computer based slide show presentations, computer animation, and other similar products and applications. As a result, music generating devices and/or music playback devices have been more highly integrated into electronic and multimedia products.
Previously, musical accompaniment for multimedia products was provided in the form of pre-recorded music that could be retrieved and performed under various circumstances. Using pre-recorded music for providing context-sensitive musical performances has several disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the pre-recorded music requires a substantial amount of memory storage. Another disadvantage is that the variety of music that can be provided using this approach is limited due to memory constraints. Thus, the musical accompaniment for multimedia devices utilizing this approach is wasteful of memory resources and can be very repetitious.
Today, music generating devices are directly integrated into electronic and multimedia products for composing and providing context-sensitive, musical performances. These musical performances can be dynamically generated in response to various input parameters, real-time events, and conditions. For instance, in a graphically based adventure game, the background music can change from a happy, upbeat sound to a dark, eerie sound in response to a user entering into a cave, a basement, or some other generally mystical area. Thus, a user can experience the sensation of live musical accompaniment as he engages in a multimedia experience.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/384,668 entitled "Music Composition System for Enhancing a Multimedia Presentation" discloses a music generating device that can be integrated into multimedia products. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system incorporating this music generating device. In general, the system includes a composing component, a performance component, a musical instrument interface component and a control component. The system in FIG. 1 illustrates the composing component as a composition engine 14, the performance component as a performance engine 16, the instrument interface component as an MIDI interface 39, and the control component as an arbitrator 12 interacting with an application program 36 and data storage 27. The application program 36 operates to control a multimedia presentation such as a video game or a slide show presentation.
During the multimedia presentation, the arbitrator 12 receives from the application program 36, input parameters and information that can be interpreted for selecting or modifying the shape, style and personality of the musical performance. Based on the interpretation of this information, the arbitrator 12 may access data storage 27 to obtain musical sections and styles (to be defined following) to be passed to performance engine 16. Alternatively, the arbitrator 12 can pass composition parameters to composition engine 14. In response, the composition engine 14 composes musical sections and passes them to performance engine 16 for being performed or to arbitrator 12 for storage.
The performance engine 16 receives musical sections and musical styles as inputs. A musical style contains a series of time-stamped musical data including musical notes, with each note being associated with a specific track or channel number. The time-stamp indicates the order and relative timing for playing the notes. The track or channel number is used to identify a group of notes that are intended for a specific instrument or musical function such as a melodic line. For instance, one track may be associated with the piano part, another track the bass part, and another track the strings part, etc. A musical section includes a chord progression that the musical notes of the musical style are played against.
The performance engine 16, generates a musical sequence (also referred to herein as a sequence of performance notes) based on the input of a musical style and a chord progression in the musical section. The musical sequence identifies the notes to be played by a musical device driven by the performance engine 16. For instance, the musical sequence may contain data to be provided to a musical device through an instrument interface 39 such as a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI).
During a performance, one of the functions of the performance engine 16, or a similar performance component in a comparable system, is to adjust the pitch of the notes based on the chords of the chord progression that they are being played against. In musical terminology, the notes of each musical track are transposed or mapped to a different pitch when played against various chords. Current techniques allow for the notes of a style to be mapped against a single chord. However, in some instances, it is desirable for notes associated with different tracks to be mapped against different chords. If multiple chords are simultaneously played during a musical performance, this technique would allow the notes to have independent, complex harmonic movements. With complex harmonic movements, the notes of each track in a musical style can be played against a different chord and follow a different chord progression. This results in producing richer harmonic value in the musical performance. However, providing this capability increases the complexity of mapping the notes of a track to the chords in the progression. Thus, there is a need for a system and a method for independently mapping the notes of one or more tracks of a musical style against the chords of a multiple chord progressions.
In some circumstances, it is desirable for the notes associated with one track of a musical style to be mapped against a chord in a different manner than the notes associated with other tracks. For instance, if one track contains notes representing a drum part, then typically, the notes should not be transposed over the course of the chord progression. Transposing the notes of a drum part, for instance, may result in changing a snare drum note into a bongo. Thus, each of the notes of the drum part should be played as their original value. However, if a second track contains a piano accompaniment, it is desirable to transpose the notes of this track to different keys over the course of a chord progression.
Various algorithms or techniques can be used when transposing the notes of a musical style. In the systems defining the current state of the art, the flexibility in mapping the notes of a musical style in various methods are limited. For instance, melodic lines such as the bass part, do not sound proper when mapped to a complex chord that is not defined in equal intervals. However, if the bass part could be mapped to the chord in one manner, while the other tracks are mapped in a different manner, the overall sound of the musical performance can be improved. Thus, there is a need in the art for a system and a method that allows each track of a musical style to be individually associated with a mapping technique.
During a single musical performance, it is desirable to modify the mood or Personality of the musical performance. Generally, these modifications may require a change in the mapping technique of a series of notes within a track. Thus, there is a need in the art for a system and a method that allows groups of notes or even single notes to be individually associated with a mapping technique.
Therefore, there may be seen a need in the art for a system and method for mapping the notes of a musical section against multiple chords and for individual tracks, groups of notes and notes of a musical section to be individually associated with a mapping technique.

System and method for enhancing musical performances in computer based musical devices


The present invention relates to a lamp lighting technique for lighting multiple lamps safely without luminance irregularities. The present lamp lighting circuit includes multiple closed loops wherein a predetermined number of lamps and the secondary windings of the predetermined number of transformers are connected serially. At least one of the primary windings of the transformers employed for each closed loop is connected to the primary winding of the transformer employed for another closed loop serially. Thus, current of the lamps included in the closed loop is made uniform, and also current is made uniform even between the closed loops by connecting the primary windings of the transformers serially. According to the present invention, with regard to serial connection of the primary windings of the transformers, even if the number of transformers is limited, current uniformity can be propagated to the entirety by subjecting closed loops to catenation consecutively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lamp (e.g., discharge tube) lighting circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, discharge tubes such as cold cathode fluorescent tubes have been frequently employed for the backlight of liquid crystal display devices, for example. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a basic lighting circuit for a discharge tube. The lighting circuit shown in FIG. 1 includes an inverter V1001, a transformer T1001, and a discharge tube LP1001. The inverter V1001 is connected to terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1001, and one end of the discharge tube LP1001 is connected to a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1001. The other end of the discharge tube LP1001 and a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1001 are grounded. Boosting the output voltage of the inverter V1001 at the transformer T1001 lights the discharge tube.
Also, a lighting circuit according to another conventional technique is shown in FIG. 2. The lighting circuit shown in FIG. 2 includes an inverter V1002, transformers T1002 and T1003, and a discharge tube LP1002. The inverter V1002 is connected to terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1002, and terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1003. That is to say, the transformers T1002 and T1003 are connected to the inverter V1002 in parallel. Also, one end of the discharge tube LP1002 is connected to a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1002, and the other end of the discharge tube LP1002 is connected to a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1003. Note that the terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1002 and the terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1003 are grounded. That is to say, the left and right terminals of the discharge tube LP1002 are connected such that a reverse polarity voltage is applied thereto, thereby differentially driving the discharge tube LP1002. Accordingly, the leakage current as to stray capacitance is small, and also has a reversed phase, so becomes 0 in total, and a stable current flows, and accordingly, the luminance difference between the left and right of the discharge tube LP1002 is eliminated. However, in the event of employing two or more discharge tubes, the current between the discharge tubes cannot be made uniform without any change, resulting in increase of the number of inverters as well.
In recent years, around several through twenty discharge tubes have been employed for a single backlight due to the increased screen size of liquid crystal display devices and the like. At this time, the discharge tubes such as cold cathode fluorescent tubes have negative resistance properties wherein, upon current flowing, the voltage thereof suddenly drops, and increasing current causes the impedance thereof to gradually drop. Also, each discharge tube has an individual irregularity in impedance. These factors cause a problem wherein it is difficult to realize stable lighting and emission of each discharge tube. Accordingly, the following circuits have been employed.
FIG. 3 illustrates a lighting circuit according to a conventional technique for lighting a plurality of discharge tubes. The lighting circuit shown in FIG. 3 is a circuit for lighting four discharge tubes LP1004 through LP1007, and comprises a first circuit including an inverter V1004, a transformer T1004, a discharge tube LP1004, a resistance R1004, and a current detecting feedback line 1004, a second circuit including an inverter V1005, a transformer T1005, a discharge tube LP1005, a resistance R1005, and a current detecting feedback line 1005, a third circuit including an inverter V1006, a transformer T1006, a discharge tube LP1006, a resistance R1006, and a current detecting feedback line 1006, and a fourth circuit including an inverter V1007, a transformer T1007, a discharge tube LP1007, a resistance R1007, and a current detecting feedback line 1007. The inverter V1004 is connected to terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1004, one end of the discharge tube LP1004 is connected to a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1004, and the other end of the discharge tube LP1004 is connected to one end of the current detecting resistance R1004 and one end of the current detecting feedback line 1004. The other end of the resistance R1004 and a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1004 are grounded. The other end of the current detecting feedback line 1004 is connected to the inverter V1004. Hereafter, the connection relations regarding the second through fourth circuits are also the same as the first circuit, so description thereof will be omitted. With this lighting circuit, lighting of each discharge tube is controlled by controlling the inverter thereof according to current detected at the current detecting feedback line thereof. Thus, all of the discharge tubes are lit in a sure manner, whereby the current of all the discharge tubes can be made uniform.
FIG. 4 illustrates a lighting circuit according to another conventional technique. The lighting circuit shown in FIG. 4 is a circuit for lighting four discharge tubes LP1008 through LP1011, and includes an inverter V1008, transformers T1008 through T1011, capacitors C1008 through C1011, and discharge tubes LP1008 through LP011. The inverter V1008 is connected to terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1008; terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1009, terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1010, and terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1011. That is to say, the transformers T1008 through T1011 are connected to the inverter V1008 in parallel. Also, one end of the discharge tube LP1008 is connected to a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1008 via the capacitor C1008. That is to say, the discharge tube LP1008 and the capacitor C1008 are connected in series. Also, the other end of the discharge tube LP1008 and a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1008 are grounded. Further, one end of the discharge tube LP1009 is connected to a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1009 via the capacitor C1009. That is to say, the discharge tube LP1009 and the capacitor C1009 are connected in series. Also, the other end of the discharge tube LP1009 and a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1009 are grounded. One end of the discharge tube LP1010 is connected to a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1010 via the capacitor C1010. That is to say, the discharge tube LP1010 and the capacitor C1010 are connected in series. Also, the other end of the discharge tube LP1010 and a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1010 are grounded. One end of the discharge tube LP101 is connected to a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1011 via the capacitor C1011. That is to say, the discharge tube LP1011 and the capacitor C1011 are connected in series. Also, the other end of the discharge tube LP1011 and a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1011 are grounded. Thus, irregularities regarding current are suppressed by connecting a plurality of discharge tubes as to a single inverter in parallel, and inserting ballast condensers as to the respective discharge tubes in series for stable lighting and uniformity. Note that coils may be inserted instead of ballast condensers, or transformers also serving as ballast coils, which generate leakage inductance by intentionally deteriorating a coupling coefficient, may be provided as to the respective discharge tubes.
FIG. 5 illustrates a lighting circuit according to yet another conventional technique. The lighting circuit shown in FIG. 5 includes an inverter V1012, transformers T1012 through T0116, and discharge tubes LP1012 through LP1015. The inverter V1012 is connected to terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1012, and terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1016. That is to say, the transformers T1012 and T1016 are connected to the inverter V1012 in parallel, which realizes differential driving. Also, a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1012 is connected to a terminal P2 of the primary winding and a terminal S1 of the second winding of the transformer T1013. Also, a terminal P1 of the primary winding of the transformer T1013 is connected to one ends of the discharge tubes LP1014 and LP1015. Further, a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1013 is connected to one of the ends of the discharge tubes LP1012 and LP1013. On the other hand, the other end of the discharge tube LP1015 is connected to a terminal P1 of the primary winding of the transformer T11015, and the other end of the discharge tube LP1014 is connected to a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1015. A terminal P2 of the primary winding and a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1015 are connected to a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1016 and a terminal P1 of the primary winding and a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1014. Also, the other end of the discharge tube LP1012 is connected to a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1014, and the other end of the discharge tube LP1013 is connected to a terminal P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1014. A terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1016 and a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1012 are grounded. Thus, with this lighting circuit, three common mode chokes, i.e., one-on-one transformers (transformers T1013 through T1015) are employed for the four discharge tubes LP1012 through LP1015, thereby realizing stable lighting and uniformity.
FIG. 6 illustrates a lighting circuit according to yet another conventional technique. The lighting circuit shown in FIG. 6 includes an inverter V1017, transformers T1017 through T1020, and discharge tubes LP1017 through LP1020. The inverter V1017 is connected to a terminal P1 of the primary winding of the transformer T1020, and a terminal P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1017. Also, a terminal P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1020 and a terminal P1 of the primary winding of the transformer T1019 are connected, a terminal P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1019 and a terminal P1 of the primary winding of the transformer T1018 are connected, and a terminal P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1018 and a terminal P1 of the primary winding of the transformer T1017 are connected. That is to say, the transformers T1017 through T1020 and the inverter V1017 are connected in series. Further, a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1017 is connected to one end of the discharge tube LP1017, a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1018 is connected to one end of the discharge tube LP1018, a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1019 is connected to one end of the discharge tube LP1019, and a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1020 is connected to one end of the discharge tube LP1020. The other ends of the discharge tubes LP1017 through LP1020 and terminals S1 of the secondary windings of the transformers T1017 through T1020 are grounded. Thus, the secondary windings of the transformers and the discharge tubes are connected independently, thereby essentially yielding the same advantage as when connecting discharge tubes themselves to the inverter in series.
FIG. 7 illustrates a lighting circuit according to a conventional technique for lighting a plurality of discharge tubes. The lighting circuit shown in FIG. 7 is a circuit for lighting four discharge tubes LP1021 through LP1024, and comprises a first circuit including an inverter V1021, transformers T1021 and T1025, a discharge tube LP1021, a resistance R1021, and a current detecting feedback line 1021, a second circuit including an inverter V1022, transformers T1022 and T1026, a discharge tube LP1022, a resistance R1022, and a current detecting feedback line 1022, a third circuit including an inverter V1023, transformers T1023 and T1027, a discharge tube LP1023, a resistance R1023, and a current detecting feedback line 1023, and a fourth circuit including an inverter V1024, transformers T1024 and T1028, a discharge tube LP1024, a resistance R1024, and a current detecting feedback line 1024. The inverter V1021 is connected to terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1021, and terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1025. However, the inverter V1021 and the transformer T1021, and the inverter V1021 and the transformer T1025 are connected so as to generate a reversed phase. A terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1021 is connected to a first terminal of the discharge tube LP1021, and a second terminal of the discharge tube LP1021 is connected to a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the of the transformer T1025. A terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1021 is grounded via the resistance R1021, and a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1025 is directly grounded. Also, the current detecting feedback line 1021 is connected to a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1021 and the inverter V1021. Hereafter, the connection relations regarding the second through fourth circuits are also the same as the first circuit, so description thereof will be omitted. With this lighting circuit, lighting of each discharge tube is controlled by controlling the inverter thereof according to current detected at the current detecting feedback line thereof. Thus, all of the discharge tubes are lit in a sure manner, whereby the current of all the discharge tubes can be made uniform. However, this technique requires many more inverters, thereby leading prohibitively high costs.
FIG. 8 illustrates a lighting circuit according to another conventional technique. The lighting circuit shown in FIG. 8 is a circuit for lighting four discharge tubes LP1025 through LP1028, and includes an inverter V1025, transformers T1029 through T1036, ballast condensers C1025 through C1028, and discharge tubes LP1025 through LP1028. The inverter V1025 is connected to terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1029, terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1030, terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1031, and terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1032. Also, the inverter V1025 is, so as to generate the reversed phase as to the phase of the above transformers, connected to terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1033, terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1034, terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1035, and terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1036. A terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1029 is connected to a first terminal of the discharge tube LP1025 via the ballast condenser C1025, and a second terminal of the discharge tube LP1025 is connected to a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1033. A terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1030 is connected to a first terminal of the discharge tube LP1026 via the ballast condenser C1026, and a second terminal of the discharge tube LP1026 is connected to a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1034. A terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1031 is connected to a first terminal of the discharge tube LP1027 via the ballast condenser C1027, and a second terminal of the discharge tube LP1027 is connected to a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1035. A terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1032 is connected to a first terminal of the discharge tube LP1028 via the ballast condenser C1028, and a second terminal of the discharge tube LP1028 is connected to a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1036. Note that the residual terminals S1 of the secondary windings of the transformers T1029 through T1036 are grounded. Employing such a lighting circuit can reduce the number of inverters, but only the irregularities of discharge tube impedance are alleviated by ballast condenser impedance, so current cannot be sufficiently made uniform. Also, a high-voltage capacity power is necessary for maintaining a high voltage even when a large current flows into a lit discharge tube to eliminate partial non-lighting of discharge tubes on startup, which deteriorates electrocution safety.
FIG. 9 illustrates a lighting circuit disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 59-187097. The lighting circuit shown in FIG. 9 includes an inverter V1027, transformers T1039 and T1040, discharge tubes LP1031 and LP1032, capacitors C1029 through C1031. The inverter V1027 is connected to terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1039, and terminals P1 and P2 of the primary winding of the transformer T1040. Note that a terminal P1 of the primary winding and a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1039 are connected via the capacitor C1030, and a terminal P1 of the primary winding and a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1040 are also connected via the capacitor C1031. Further, a first terminal of the discharge tube LP1031 is connected to a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1039, and a second terminal of the discharge tube LP1039 is connected to a terminal S1 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1040. A first terminal of the discharge tube LP1032 is connected to a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1039, and a second terminal of the discharge tube LP1032 is connected to a terminal S2 of the secondary winding of the transformer T1040 via the capacitor C1029. Thus, the discharge tubes LP1031 and LP1032 are configured such that the left and right bipolarities are driven with anti-polarity floating differential driving. However, the secondary windings of the transformers T1039 and T1040 are connected to the capacitors, which provides a problem wherein current balance between both the discharge tubes LP1031 and LP1032 is shifted by only the amount of capacities of these capacitors, resulting in difference between luminance of the discharge tubes. Also, consideration is not made regarding whether or not what kind of configuration is preferable in the event of employing three or more discharge tubes.
Note that though not shown in the drawing, with Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 61-195592, a discharge tube lighting device comprising an AC power source, a series circuit made up of a plurality of discharge lamps connected to this AC power source, sequence impedance connected to at least one of the plurality of discharge lamps in parallel, a preheating transformer of which the primary winding is connected to the AC power source, and the secondary winding is connected to each filament of the plurality of discharge lamps, a prior preheating switch subjected to through-insertion connection between the AC power source and the primary winding of the preheating transformer, and a short switch, which is connected to the primary winding of the preheating transformer in parallel, and turned on following the plurality of discharge lamps being turned on. However, this publication aims at preventing the preheating transformer from heat generation due to iron losses when the lighted discharge lamp connected to the sequence impedance in parallel is removed, which includes some description for attempting sharing of the transformer, but degree of reduction thereof is insufficient. Also, the configuration at the time of lighting the three or more discharge lamps is not necessarily cleared.
Further, as for the simplest method for subjecting current which flows into a discharge tube to uniformity, there is a method for connecting a plurality of discharge tubes to the secondary winding of a transformer in series, but voltage for the worth of the number of discharge tubes is accumulated, and accordingly, resulting in extremely high voltage, so extreme withstanding high-power is required for the transformer and wiring. Moreover, danger of electrocution increases. Further, lighting using a high-frequency inverter causes a problem wherein brightness is not made uniform since current made to flow differs according to the position of a discharge tube due to the influence of a leakage current made to flow into stray capacitance such as an electroconductive backplane and the like from a discharge tube or a lead wire.
See Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-237686, Japanese Examined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 64-005360, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 59-187097, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 61-195592, regarding the conventional art described here.
In the case of the lighting circuit such as shown in FIG. 3, current made to flow into each discharge tube is independently controlled, thereby achieving stable lighting and uniformity with ease, but this needs to provide an expensive inverter for each discharge tube, so as a whole, resulting in too expensive costs.
Also, in the case of the lighting circuit such as shown in FIG. 4, the lighting circuit can be configured at low costs, but this simply alleviates the irregularities of the total impedance as to the discharge tubes by series impedance, so ballast effects are limited, and the irregularities of loading for each discharge tube cannot be sufficiently absorbed, and accordingly, uniformity is limited. Also, the voltage of previously lighted discharge tubes deteriorates at the time of lighting, which attempts to prevent the other unlighted discharge tubes from lighting, so it is necessary to provide a powerful inverter circuit so as to prevent deterioration of the voltage, and accordingly, a great current is necessary at the moment of start-up. Also, the output voltage of the inverter needs to be increased for the worth of ballast, resulting in increase of power loss.
Further, in the case of the lighting circuit such as shown in FIG. 5, the light circuit can be configured at low cost, and uniformity can be achieved as well, but the inverter has a large-current driving capability appropriate for high-voltage output and the number of the discharge tubes, which is very dangerous when short-circuiting electrocution.
Also, the lighting circuit such as shown in FIG. 6 has various excellent features, but as liquid crystal display devices increase in size and finer definition, the number of cold cathode fluorescent tubes to be employed as a backlight increases, and realizing a circuit having also more uniform brightness and less noise than the circuit such as shown in FIG. 6 is demanded.
Further, as described above, in the event of lighting three or more discharge tubes, the conventional lighting circuits cause various problems such as increase of the number of transformers, problems regarding reliability and safety of lighting, difficulty in uniformity of current made to flow into each discharge tube, and the like.

Lamp lighting circuit and device, and lamp lighting apparatus and device


Methods and apparatus to design a wheel of a multiple-axle vehicle are disclosed. A disclosed method analyzes fatigue damage values of wheels, each to be installed at a number of axle positions on a vehicle, and includes determining for each wheel a fatigue damage value for each of a plurality of critical locations at the wheel during an installation and determining whether at least a subset of total fatigue damage values at critical locations for each wheel installation exceeds a respective threshold total fatigue damage value.

The aerospace industry has designed and manufactured increasingly larger new aircraft. Typically, these large aircraft have multiple sets of main landing gears, each including multiple-axles. Generally, each main landing gear axle has at least one main wheel and brake assembly, and most axles (in many cases all of the axles of the main landing gears) include two main wheel and brake assemblies. The main wheel assemblies of the main wheel and brake assemblies are designed to handle the aircraft loads experienced during landing, braking, taxiing and take-off operations. However, the loads transmitted by the axles of the main landing gears to the main wheel assemblies, and vice versa, are usually not the same at each of the axles of the multiple-axle aircraft. Additionally, the main wheel assemblies are designed to be installed on any axle of the main landing gears of the aircraft. Thus, it has been a common practice to provide one structural design of the main wheel assembly to enable use of the main wheel assembly on any axle of the main landing gears. However, the one structural design is configured to withstand the static and fatigue loads of the axle or axles experiencing the greatest loads (e.g., the axle that is imposing the greatest amount of fatigue load or stress upon the main wheel). This structural design approach can result in the main wheel assemblies having a weight that contributes substantially to the overall weight of the landing gears of the aircraft.


A rubber composition which can be used in particular in tires, based on at least one diene elastomer, one reinforcing filler, one crosslinking system, one phenolic resin and one polyaldehyde. The use of a polyaldehyde makes it possible to advantageously replace conventional methylene donors while preventing the production of formaldehyde during the vulcanization of the rubber compositions and thus to limit the environmental impact of these compounds. Furthermore, these polyaldehyde compounds make it possible not only to obtain rubber compositions exhibiting the same low-strain stiffness as conventional rubber compositions using HMT or H3M methylene donors but also, surprisingly, to greatly improve the fatigue strength of the rubber compositions and thus the endurance of the tires.

It is known to use, in some parts of the tires, rubber compositions exhibiting a high stiffness during small deformations of the tire (cf. WO 02/10269). The resistance to small deformations is one of the properties which a tire has to exhibit in order to respond to the stresses to which it is subjected.
This stiffening can be obtained by increasing the level of reinforcing filler or by incorporating certain reinforcing resins in the constituent rubber compositions of the parts of the tire.
However, in a known way, the increase in the stiffness of a rubber composition by increasing the level of filler can be disadvantageous to the hysteresis properties and thus rolling resistance properties of the tires. In point of fact, it is an ongoing aim to lower the rolling resistance of tires in order to reduce the consumption of fuel and thus to protect the environment.
Conventionally, this increase in the stiffness is obtained by incorporating reinforcing resins based on a methylene acceptor/donor system. The terms "methylene acceptor" and "methylene donor" are well known to a person skilled in the art and are widely used to denote compounds capable of reacting together to generate, by condensation, a three-dimensional reinforcing resin which will become superimposed and interpenetrated with the reinforcing filler/elastomer network, on the one hand, and with the elastomer/sulphur network, on the other hand (if the crosslinking agent is sulphur). The methylene acceptor described above is combined with a curing agent, capable of crosslinking or curing it, also commonly known as "methylene donor". Crosslinking of the resin is then brought about during the curing of the rubber matrix by formation of bridges (—CH2—) between the carbons in the ortho and para positions of the phenolic nuclei of the resin and the methylene donor, thus creating a three-dimensional resin network.
The methylene donors conventionally used in rubber compositions for tires are hexamethylenetetramine (abbreviated to HMT) or hexamethoxymethylmelamine (abbreviated to HMMM or H3M) or hexaethoxymethylmelamine.
However, the combination of phenolic resin conventionally used, which is a methylene acceptor, with HMT or H3M, which is a methylene donor, produces formaldehyde during the vulcanization of the rubber composition. In point of fact, it is desirable to reduce, indeed even in the long run to eliminate, the formaldehyde of rubber compositions due to the environmental impact of this compound.
Unexpectedly, applicants have discovered, during their research, that polyaldehydes can advantageously replace conventional methylene donors while preventing the production of formaldehyde. The use of these polyaldehyde compounds makes it possible not only to obtain rubber compositions exhibiting the same low-strain stiffness as the conventional rubber compositions which comprise HMT or H3M methylene donors but, surprisingly, to greatly improve the fatigue strength of the rubber compositions and thus the endurance of the tires.

Rubber composition including a phenolic resin

COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN


A server connectable to a device through a network is disclosed. The server includes a designation section and a transmission section. The designation section designates a first time interval for which the device repeatedly reconnects the server. The transmission section transmits an information corresponding to the designated first time interval to the device while the server is being connected to the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a server, a reconnection control method, a device, a reconnection method, a program, and a record medium that allow a constant connection session to be established with a device connected through a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a controlling apparatus controls an in-home device through the Internet, the controlling apparatus accesses the in-home device using for example DDNS (Dynamic Domain Name System) or mail system.
In the DDNS, the in-home device registers its address to a DDNS server and receives a domain name and a port number from the controlling apparatus on the Internet side assigns. As a result, the controlling apparatus can access the in-home device.
As a protocol that accomplishes a real-time communication, XMPP (extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) is known (see "Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Core", RFC3920, The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), October 2004, hereinafter this document is referred to as non-patent document 1). One of modes of real-time communications is instant messaging (IM) (see "Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP): Instant Messaging and Presence", RFC3921, The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), October 2004, hereinafter, this document is referred to as non-patent document 2). In the instant messaging (IM), it is determined whether or not an IM client (a member who can exchange an instant message with another member) is on line over the Internet. When the IM client is on line, it can chat and exchange a file with another IM client.
As another protocol that can invoke data and a service from another computer, SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is known (see "SOAP Version 1.2", W3C Recommendation, World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), June 2003, hereinafter, this document is referred to as non-patent document 3). In a communication using the SOAP, a message of which additional information called envelop is added to an XML (extensible Markup Language) document is exchanged corresponding to a predetermined protocol for example HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). When both a client that uses a service and a server that provides the service have a SOAP generating/parsing engine, an object can be invoked between different environments.
In addition, a system of which a session is established between a server and a client terminal and the server distributes content to the client terminal over a network and when the session is disconnected and the distribution of content is stopped, a new session is established and content is restored is known (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-050761, hereinafter, this document is referred to as patent document 1).

Server, reconnection control method, device, reconnection method, program, and record medium


A tangle catching device is configured to prevent a tangle of fishing line from entering a fishing reel of a fishing rod. The device includes a tangle catcher that defines at least in part a line opening through which the fishing line from the fishing reel extends. The tangle catcher has one or more teeth extending radially inward into the line opening from the tangle catcher. The teeth are hook shaped to catch the tangled fishing line.

Anyone who goes fishing will eventually experience the frustration associated with their fishing line becoming tangled, either as a result of their own fault or not. For those inexperienced in fishing, such as children, this problem can be further exacerbated by the child continuing to reel in the tangled section, or what is commonly called a "birds nest", into the reel. Once this birds nest of tangled line enters the reel, it is very difficult to remove, and significant amounts of fishing time may be wasted trying to remove this birds nest from the reel instead of fishing. Thus, there is a need for improvement in this field.

Device for preventing tangled line from entering a fishing reel


A wireless communication system and a method for switching a base station (BS) thereof are provided. In the present invention, a globe positioning system (GPS) of a mobile apparatus is capable of obtaining a location information about the mobile apparatus. On receiving the location information transmitted from the mobile apparatus, a server end apparatus switches to a corresponding BS of a serving area where the mobile apparatus is located so as to serve the mobile apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for switching a base station (BS), in particular, to a method for switching a BS according to the location of a mobile apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
The wireless local area network (WLAN) is designed based on a cellular architecture. The WLAN contains a plurality of serving areas, i.e., cells. Each serving area is controlled by a base station (BS). In the cellular architecture, when a mobile apparatus moves from a serving area covered by a BS to a serving area covered by another BS, a server end apparatus monitors the signal intensity of the mobile apparatus, then automatically switches the mobile apparatus to another BS having a higher signal intensity, and automatically adapts the mobile apparatus to a suitable channel, so as to ensure the continuity of the communication of the mobile apparatus.
For example, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional wireless communication system. Referring to FIG. 1, it is assumed that a mobile apparatus intends to move from a point A to a point B. Here, the point A and the point B are located in a serving area 110 and a serving area 130, respectively. The serving area 110 and the serving area 130 are covered by a BS 120 and a BS 140, respectively.
It is assumed that the BS 120 provides services for the mobile apparatus. When a signal intensity of the BS 120 received by the mobile apparatus at the point A is higher than a switching threshold value, and a signal intensity of the BS 140 received by the mobile apparatus at the point B is lower than the switching threshold value, the server end apparatus will not switch the mobile apparatus to the BS 140, and the mobile apparatus is still served by the BS 120.
On the contrary, when the signal intensity of the BS 120 received by the mobile apparatus at the point A is lower than the switching threshold value, and the signal intensity of the BS 140 received by the mobile apparatus at the point B is higher than the switching threshold value, the server end apparatus switches the mobile apparatus to the BS 140.
However, if the switching threshold value is set too low, the switching may not occur even if the voltage of a neighboring BS is much higher than that of a current BS. Thus, the communication quality of the mobile apparatus is severely affected. Additionally, as the signal intensity is adopted to determine whether to switch a BS or not in the prior art, switching errors may easily occur.

Wireless communication system and method for switching base station thereof


An engine includes an engine housing having an oil pan with an amount of oil therein. An oil lubricating system for the engine has a low pressure pump attached to the engine housing. A hydraulic system, which uses the same oil as the lubricating system, has a high pressure pump positioned in the oil pan, attached to the engine housing, and at least partially submerged in the oil.

Engines have long utilized a variety of devices that draw power directly or indirectly from the engine for their operation. Among these devices are fuel injectors, gas intake and exhaust valves, exhaust brakes, etc. In the past, these devices were typically actuated by a cam that is driven directly by the engine. In order to improve engine performance across its operating spectrum, there has been a trend in the industry toward the adoption of electronically controlled hydraulic devices. An example of this trend is the hydraulically-actuated electronically-controlled unit injector (HEUI) system utilized by Caterpillar Inc. of Peoria, Ill. in their diesel engines.
In a typical HEUI system, a high pressure pump maintains a manifold at a relatively high pressure that is sufficient to actuate the hydraulic fuel injectors. The high pressure pump draws oil from a reservoir that is filled by the engine's low pressure oil circulation pump. After the high pressure oil is utilized by the fuel injectors, it is circulated back to the oil pan. Thus, a portion of the oil moved by the low pressure oil lubrication pump is circulated through the engine for lubrication, and another portion is pumped into the reservoir that supplies the high pressure pump.
In this current system, the high pressure pump is attached to the outside the engine, and thus any noise emitted from the pump is easily detectable. In addition, the reservoir that supplies the high pressure pump is above the engine's oil pan. This can result in excessive engine cranking from a cold start while the low pressure pump provides enough oil to the reservoir for the high pressure hydraulic system to achieve the relatively high pressures necessary for its operation. Not only does the high pressure pump tend to emit noise, but its location on the outside of the engine creates a protrusion that undermines the ability to position the engine in a confined space.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the engine packaging, noise reduction and other undesirable attributes associated with prior art engines that utilize hydraulic devices.

Engine having a high pressure hydraulic system and low pressure lubricating system


The present disclosure relates to systems, non-transitory computer-readable media, and methods for improving hand input detection in a virtual environment based on small and/or rapid hand inputs. For instance, a hybrid hand input detection system can utilize a hybrid hand input model that incorporates a machine-learning hand pose model with an optical flow network to recognize fine degrees of hand movement corresponding to input commands within a virtual environment. In this manner, the hybrid hand input detection system can utilize a hybrid hand input model to recognize small and rapid hand inputs in virtual reality or augmented reality without requiring a physical input device.

Recent years have seen significant technological improvements in hardware and software platforms for engaging in virtual environments (e.g., virtual reality and augmented reality). Indeed, computing devices that enable users to immerse themselves in virtual environments are becoming smaller and more portable. Further, software advances are enabling increasingly sophisticated and lifelike experiences with respect to virtual environments.
Despite these advancements, conventional virtual reality systems have a number of problems in relation to accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility of operations in the areas of recognizing hand input controls within a virtual environment. For instance, conventional systems suffer from a number of drawbacks in detecting user inputs in a virtual environment without the assistance of a physical device. More particularly, conventional systems often fail to detect small or quick hand inputs provided in a virtual environment when the user is not using a physical input device, such as a controller or a remote.
As mentioned above, conventional systems struggle with accurately detecting hand inputs that include discrete hand and finger movements, such as hand inputs common to gaming and text entry. For instance, many conventional systems can detect large and distinct hand movements within a virtual environment; however, these conventional systems struggle to accurately detect small, fast, and precise hand inputs. Rather, these conventional systems miss small and discrete hand movements such as button taps or keystrokes.
As a further issue with accuracy, the variation of human hands (e.g., size, shape, resting position, and proportions) further cause conventional systems to inaccurately detect hand and finger inputs. Indeed, the variation among human hands compounds the accuracy problem and adds to the challenge of making generalized models that isolate fine degrees of movement for hand input recognition. In addition, conventional systems also perform poorly with respect to accuracy in low light conditions
Regarding the efficiency of operation, some conventional systems employ image processing approaches to detect discrete hand and finger movements representing a hand input. However, image processing commonly requires larger amounts of computational resources. Indeed, to detect movement of a finger from one frame to the next often requires a pixel-to-pixel analysis of every pixel from the two images.
In addition, the processing requirements further compound when pixels drastically change from one frame to the next, such as when the user is moving within the virtual environment causing everything in the virtual environment to move, which increases the complexity in detecting small or rapid hand movements representing inputs. Moreover, conventional systems are inefficient due to processing latency and delays. For instance, a full gesture pipeline can introduce too much processing latency to allow for precision detection. In particular, by the time the conventional systems have processed a hand input, the processed user input is too late, and the user is left waiting for the input to be executed.
Conventional systems are also inflexible. For instance, many conventional systems employ a rigid model that is suited for a particular type of hand input. While some conventional systems are trained to recognize a small number of hand poses within small a tolerance of variation, variations in hand types can cause these conventional systems to fail to detect hand poses, let alone discrete movements with respect to the hand poses.
These, along with additional problems and issues, exist with regard to conventional hand gesture detection systems.

Utilizing a hybrid model to recognize fast and precise hand inputs in a virtual environment


The invention relates to a light redirecting film comprising a thin optically transparent substrate having opposite sides, one side of the substrate substantially covered by elongated individual optical elements whose longest dimensions are substantially aligned in a lengthwise direction, wherein the shape of at least some of the optical elements have a visually significant difference, and wherein the layout of optical element shapes and locations is such that objectionable patterns are not visible in the film under standard LCD backlight viewing conditions.

The use of a variety of light redirecting films in backlit displays is well known. Light redirecting films are typically thin transparent optical films or substrates that redirect the light passing through the films such that the distribution of the light exiting the films is directed more normal to the surface of the films. The output light intensity normal to the film divided by input light intensity normal to the film is called the "on-axis gain" of the film. Typically, light redirecting films are provided with ordered prismatic grooves, lenticular grooves, or pyramids on the light exit surface of the films which change the angle of the film/air interface for light rays exiting the films and cause the components of the incident light distribution traveling in a plane perpendicular to the refracting surfaces of the grooves to be redistributed in a direction more normal to the surface of the films. Such light redirecting films are used, for example, to increase brightness in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in laptop computers, televisions, desktop monitors, cell phones and the like.
Previous light redirecting films suffer from visible Moiré patterns when the light redirecting film is used with a liquid crystal or other display. The surface elements of the light redirecting film interact with other optical films, the pattern of printed dots or three-dimensional elements on the back of the light guide plate, or the pixel pattern inside the liquid crystal modulator to create Moiré, an undesirable effect. Methods known in the art for reducing Moiré include die cutting the light redirecting films at an angle to change the average pitch of the linear array, randomizing the linear array by widths of the linear array elements, varying the height along the linear array, or adding diffusing films to the display assembly. The above techniques to reduce Moiré also cause a decrease in on-axis brightness or do not work to adequately solve the Moiré problem. Moiré and on-axis brightness tend to be related, meaning that a film with high on-axis gain would have high Moiré in a system. It would be beneficial to be able to reduce the Moiré while maintaining sufficient on-axis gain.
Previous light redirecting films also suffer from high quality requirements and production costs. Very small defects in linear arrays of prisms, stray contamination particles, and small scratches can be visible in the film and assembled display. In addition, defects on lower layers of the display assembly are often visible through the light redirecting film. As a result the films suffer from high reject rates and low yield, or they must be manufactured to exacting standards, in clean rooms, and with great care in handling during fabrication and assembly into displays. Methods known in the art for making the films more resistant to defect visibility include varying the height of the prisms along the linear array, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,709 (Campbell et al.), or adding diffusing films to the display assembly. The above techniques increase cost, cause a decrease in on-axis brightness, or do not adequately hide defects. It would be beneficial to be able to hide defects in and under the light redirecting film while maintaining high on-axis gain.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,551 (Cobb, et al) claims a linear array film with variable pitch peaks and/or grooves to reduce the visibility of Moiré interference patterns. The pitch variations can be over groups of adjacent peaks and/or valleys or between adjacent pairs of peaks and/or valleys. While this varying of the pitch of the linear array elements does reduce Moiré, the linear elements of the film still interact with the dot pattern on the backlight light guide and the electronics inside the liquid crystal section of the display. It would be desirable to break up the linear array of elements to reduce or eliminate this interaction.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,505 (Parker et al.), incorporated herein by reference, discloses the use of individual optical elements for redirecting light, including individual optical elements of varying size and shape. However, light redirecting films with varying individual optical elements can have unexpected problems that can be difficult to solve, including loss of gain, varying gain, cosmetic defects, and visually objectionable patterns. It would be desirable to have a film that achieves the advantages of varying individual optical elements yet avoids these problems.

Light redirecting film having varying optical elements


The present invention provides a method for producing an organic EL element capable of shortening the film formation time while suppressing an increase in the blur width; and an organic EL display device. The method is for producing an organic EL element by scanning vapor deposition, in which one or more vapor deposition sources each are provided with ejection orifices that face the respective openings of a limiting plate, and the ejection orifices facing the same opening are spaced from each other to give a sum of distributions.

Flat-panel displays have recently been utilized in various products and fields. These flat-panel displays have been desired to have a larger size, higher display qualities, and lower power consumption.
Organic electroluminescent display devices including organic EL elements that utilize electroluminescence (hereinafter, also abbreviated as "EL") of an organic material have drawn much attention as an all-solid-state flat-panel display with excellent properties of low voltage driving, high-speed response, and a self-luminous property.
An organic EL display device includes thin-film transistors (TFTs) and organic EL elements connected to the TFTs on a substrate such as a glass substrate.
The organic EL elements are light-emitting elements capable of providing a high-luminance light when driven by low-voltage direct current, and each have a structure in which the first electrode, an organic EL layer, and the second electrode are laminated in the stated order. The first electrodes are connected to the TFTs. The organic EL layers each have a structure in which organic layers such as a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron blocking layer, a light-emitting layer, a hole blocking layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer are laminated.
A full-color organic EL display device typically includes organic EL elements in three colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), as the sub-pixels. The sub-pixels are aligned in a matrix on a substrate, and sub-pixels in these three colors constitute each pixel. The display device provides images by selectively allowing the organic EL elements to emit light with the desired luminance values, using the TFTs.
In production of such an organic EL display device, patterned light-emitting layers corresponding to sub-pixels are formed from organic light-emitting materials.
One method for forming the light-emitting layer by patterning having been developed recently utilizes a mask smaller than the substrate to carry out vapor deposition while moving the substrate relative to the mask and the vapor deposition source, so that organic EL elements are formed on the substrate that is larger than the mask (e.g. Patent Literatures 1, 2).
A technique related to such a method is an in-line film-forming apparatus which does not produce a mono-content film and can perform vapor co-deposition without causing density unevenness (e.g., Patent Literature 3).    Patent Literature 1: WO 2011/034011 A    Patent Literature 2: JP 2012-193391 A    Patent Literature 3: JP 2009-127066 A

Method for producing organic electroluminescent element, and organic electroluminescent display device


The present invention relates to a novel phospholipase A2 polypeptide, DNA encoding the polypeptide, a vector comprising the DNA, a transformant transformed with the vector, and a process for producing the phospholipase A2 polypeptide. The present invention also relates to a method of utilizing the polypeptide, e.g., a method of screening for a compound having agonist or antagonist activity by using the polypeptide or an antibody to the polypeptide, and a pharmaceutical comprising the polypeptide or an antibody to the polypeptide. The present invention further relates to a polypeptide inhibiting the phospholipase A2 activity of a phospholipase A2 polypeptide (hereinafter referred to as inhibitor polypeptide), DNA encoding the inhibitor polypeptide, a vector comprising the DNA encoding the inhibitor polypeptide, a transformant transformed with the vector, a pharmaceutical comprising the inhibitor polypeptide, and a process for producing the inhibitor polypeptide.

"Phospholipase" is a general term for enzymes hydrolyzing the ester bonds in glycerophospholipid, which is a biomembrane component. Phospholipase is classified into phospholipase A1, phospholipase A2, phospholipase B, phospholipase C and phospholipase D, according to the position of hydrolysis.
Phospholipase A2 hydrolyzes the ester bond at the sn-2-position in glycerophospholipid to form fatty acid and lysophospholipid. Among the released fatty acids, arachidonic acid is metabolized into prostaglandin and leukotriene via cyclooxygenase and 5-lipoxygenase, respectively. Lysophospholipid is also metabolized into a platelet-activating factor.
That is, phospholipase A2 is considered as an enzyme initiating the formation of such lipid mediators. Inhibitors of cyclooxygenase and 5-lipoxygenase have already been used clinically as antiinflammatory drugs, and therefore, an inhibitor of phospholipase A2 located upstream of them is expected to be a potent antiinflammatory drug capable of simultaneously blocking the formation of them.
Phospholipase A2 is broadly classified into three subfamilies, i.e., secretory phospholipase A2, cytoplasmic phospholipase A2 and Ca2+ independent phospholipase A2, according to the structure and properties [J. Biol. Chem., 269, 13057 (1994)].
As to cytoplasmic phospholipase A2, three subtypes, α, β and γ, are known. Cytoplasmic phospholipase A2α, A2β and A2γ are enzymes respectively having the molecular weight of 85 kilodaltons, 110 kilodaltons and 60 kilodaltons, all of which are generally expressed in most tissues. Arginine at position 200, serine at position 228 and aspartic acid at position 549 of the amino acid sequence of cytoplasmic phospholipase A2α are essential for its activity [J. Biol. Chem., 271, 19225 (1996)] and are conserved in cytoplasmic phospholipase A2β and A2γ.
Cytoplasmic phospholipase A2α and A2β have C2 domain in the N-terminal region and Ca2+-dependently bind to phospholipid membrane via the domain. Cytoplasmic phospholipase A2γ does not have C2 domain [J. Biol. Chem., 273, 21926 (1998); J. Biol. Chem., 274, 8823 (1999); J. Biol. Chem., 274, 17063 (1999)].
Cytoplasmic phospholipase A2α is considered to participate in formation of lipid mediators by stimulus [J. Biol. Chem., 272, 16709 (1997)]. Physiological functions of cytoplasmic phospholipase A2β and A2γ have not been clarified yet.
It can be assumed that production of lipid mediators is concerned in the occurrence and progress of some diseases such as inflammation and allergy. In order to prevent or treat such diseases, there exists a need for inhibitors specific to phospholipase A2 subtype which is concerned in the diseases.
On the contrary, in view of the report that phospholipase A2 acts as a promoter of insulin secretion in pancreas [Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1390, 301 (1998); Biochemical Society Transactions, 25, 213S (1997); Biochemical Pharmacology, 53, 1077 (1997)], it is expected that enhancement of phospholipase A2 activity is effective for the prevention or treatment of diabetes.
In either case of inhibiting or enhancing phospholipase A2 activity, use of nonspecific chemicals is undesirable because of effect on the phospholipid metabolism in tissues and cells other than target tissues and cells.
However, the expression of cytoplasmic phospholipase A2α, β and γ is ubiquitous, and no tissue- or cell-specific cytoplasmic phospholipase A2 has so far been known.
Therefore, in order to attain the object of the present invention, it is necessary to identify and isolate phospholipase A2 concerned in specific diseases.
In the case of cytoplasmic phospholipase A2, purification and isolation from tissues or cells is not easy because it exists only in extremely small amounts. The limitation of currently employed purification methods and the difficulty in confirming that a single purified enzyme preparation has been obtained hinder the isolation of a novel subtype using conventional enzymological techniques.
Accordingly, it is expected that if a novel tissue- or cell-specific phospholipase subtype can be found and prepared in large amounts using recombinant DNA techniques, the use of such phospholipase subtype will enable the development of more specific and safer inhibitors.


In-situ plasticized thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) compositions are made by a process which involves reacting a polyol, glycol chain extender and a polyisocyanate where the reaction is conducted in the presence of a plasticizer. The reactants together with the plasticizer are added to a reaction extruder and reacted to form the in-situ plasticized TPU.

It is sometimes desirable to add plasticizer to TPU formulations to make the TPU softer. The prior art method to add plasticizer to TPU is to melt mix the plasticizer into the TPU using compounding equipment such as twin screw extruders, and the like, or to swell the TPU pellets with the plasticizer in a heated blender. The compounding step involves an extra operation and adds to the cost of making the final composition. Putting the TPU through an additional melt mixing step can also reduce the molecular weight of the TPU polymer. Plasticizers can also have a tendency to bleed out of the TPU composition, which can cause other problems. It has also been observed that TPU products having plasticizer added by conventional methods exhibit slow snap-back when exposed to cold temperatures.
It would be desirable to have a TPU composition that is plasticized without having to go through a compounding step and to improve the cold temperature properties, especially cold snap-back, of the TPU.


A method of forming a gypsum-based panel product including the steps of: mixing calcined gypsum, water, a foaming agent and a core strengthening agent to form a foamed slurry; depositing the slurry; shaping the slurry to form a board having a core and core surfaces, optionally sandwiched between sheets of liner; and allowing the core to set, and drying the board, wherein the strengthening agent is dextrin, used in an amount not less than 0.1% by weight, based on the amount of calcined gypsum, so that, after drying, there is provided a strengthening dispersion of dextrin throughout the core. Less than 5% dextrin in preferred.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gypsum-based panel such as plasterboard, for example, and a method for making such a gypsum-based panel.
2. Related Art
Plasterboard is well known for its uses in the construction industry. It may be used in interior wall and ceiling construction. Its main advantages over more traditional materials are its low manufacturing cost, low installation cost and fire retardance.
Plasterboard typically has a gypsum-based core sandwiched between two sheets of liner paper. However, it is possible to form a similar product using different liners, or with no liners. For this reason, the more general term "gypsum-based panel" is used herein. It is to be understood that plasterboard is one class of gypsum-based panel.
Plasterboard is typically formed in a continuous process in which a slurry is provided by mixing dry ingredients with water and a foaming agent. Mixing techniques for providing the slurry vary by region, but generally the slurry is mixed and then continuously deposited between two continuously supplied sheets of liner paper. One of the sheets of liner paper (typically the face paper) is folded and bonded to the other sheet of liner paper (typically the backing paper). The product of this process is pressed to the required thickness by a forming plate. The slurry is then allowed to set between the two liner paper sheets. The continuously-produced board is then cut into panels of a predetermined length which are then dried in kilns to remove excess water.
Typically, the dry ingredients of the slurry include calcium sulphate hemihydrate (CaSO4.0.5H2O), also known as calcined gypsum, acid-modified starch for promoting the bond between the liner paper and the core, and optional other additives. These are mixed with water and foam or a foaming agent. The purpose of the foam is to include voids in the slurry in order to reduce the density of the set core of the plasterboard.
The calcined gypsum undergoes a hydration reaction in the presence of water to form calcium sulphate dihydrate (CaSO4.2H2O), or gypsum. Needle-like crystals of gypsum form and it is the resultant network of these crystals that lends the finished product the basis for the compressive strength of the core.
The acid modified (thinned) starch added to the slurry promotes the adhesion of the liner paper to the core. It is believed that the acid modified starch migrates with water during the board manufacturing process to the paper-core interface to promote adhesion, as explained in U.S. Pat. No. 2,207,339, in which an acid modified starch is prepared by modifying raw starch using dilute nitric acid.
It is also known to apply starches directly to the liner paper, to improve adhesion of the liner paper to the core. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,291, U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,183, U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,752.
WO 02/12141 discloses the use of starch in plasterboard and explains that the starch migrates to the core-paper interface to help the liner paper bind to the core.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,534 suggests that a film former may be added to a gypsum slurry in order to improve the stability of a foam introduced into the slurry to reduce the final density of the product. Suitable film formers are cold-water soluble organic compounds such as pregelatinized starch, guar gum or xanthan gum.
FR-A-1412596 discloses the use of dextrins (a form of starch) in jointing compounds for use with prefabricated gypsum boards. Similarly AU 9221039 discloses the use of a combination of PVA, methyl cellulose and yellow dextrin (see below) in a jointing composition.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,747 discloses an accelerator composition for plasterboard, the accelerator comprising finely ground hydrated gypsum and an additive for preserving the gypsum from calcination. The additive may be lignosulfate, starch, dextrin or sucrose.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,979, U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,388, U.S. Pat. No. 6,391,958 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,403,688 briefly discuss the use of starches or dextrins as an adhesive agent to promote the bonding of liner paper to the core in plasterboard.
DE-A-3246534 also disclose the use of adhesives in wallboard manufacture, the adhesive acting to adhere the core to the liner paper, and being one of starch, dextrin or synthetic resin. JP-B-72-051086 contains similar disclosure.
WO 97/35888 discloses methods for starch degradation, for use in wallboard.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,312 discloses a plasterboard formulation including an expanded mineral such as perlite in order to reduce the amount of gypsum required. The formulation requires a combination of synthetic binders that form a crosslinked network in the plasterboard. The combination of synthetic binders is a vinyl acetate emulsion in the form of poly(vinyl acetate) particles in polyvinyl alcohol and water, a source of boron (e.g. borax) and starch. It is suggested that the starch could be dextrin, although this is not exemplified. The use of perlite (in effect, a lightweight aggregate) in the board required the use of the synthetic binders in order to bond the core. Failure to use the synthetic binders would likely have led to a core with unsuitably low strength. It has been found that the formulation exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,312 is not effective in providing a suitable plasterboard structure, for reasons that are not well understood at this time. Furthermore, it is not preferred to use synthetic binders such as PVA in plasterboard made using normal foamed gypsum slurry, since the synthetic binder is not cost-effective for large-scale industrial plasterboard manufacture.
WO 99/08978 discloses the addition of trimetaphosphate ions to a plasterboard slurry, to provide an increase in strength of the core. In addition, that document discloses that the typical use of a nonpregelatinized starch (e.g. an acid modified starch) to promote the paper-core bond may not be sufficient to prevent weakening of that bond when the board becomes wet. Thus, as well as the use of trimetaphosphate ion, WO 99/08978 discloses the addition of pregelatinized starch to the slurry. The result of this is that the weakening of the paper-core bond is reduced. The mechanism for this beneficial effect is not explained in WO 99/08978, but it is observed that the pregelatinized starch becomes distributed throughout the core. Raw starch is pregelatinized by cooking in water at temperatures of at least 185° F. (about 85° C.). The pregelatinized starch is included in the slurry in an amount between 0.08-0.5% by weight, based on the weight of gypsum.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,922,447 discloses the uses of a partially cooked starch in wallboard. The wallboard core contained both gypsum and perlite. The starch binds the gypsum particles and perlite spheres and does not tend to migrate to the paper-core interface. The starch is partially cooked in water at temperatures between 150° F. and 185° F. (between about 65° C. and about 85° C.). The starch used is pearl starch (in this case a combination of starch made from corn, potato and/or wheat stock), although acid-modified starches are also suggested.
One measure of the core strength of plasterboard is nail pull resistance. Methods for testing the nail pull resistance of plasterboard are set out in ASTM C473-03 (Standard Test Methods for Physical Testing of Gypsum Panel Products). Ideally, for many applications, plasterboard should have a low density (usually referred to by the weight per area for a particular board thickness, e.g. pounds per thousand square feet (lb/MSF)) and a high nail pull resistance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,783,587 discloses a plasterboard in which starch is added in an amount between 1.5-3.0% by weight, based on the amount of gypsum, in order to increase the nail pull resistance of the board. The starch used is acid modified starch, of the type typically used to promote binding of the liner paper to the core.
US-A-2003/0084980 discloses a plasterboard formulation including acid-modified starch and a starch crosslinking agent (e.g. type N hydrated lime). The cross-linking agent is believed to lock some of the starch in the core, the remainder migrating to the paper-core interface to promote bonding.
US-A-2003/0092784 discloses a polymer-reinforced gypsum material, the polymer being crosslinked in situ. The polymer used is a synthetic polymer such as PVP (poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)) and the crosslinking component is PSS (poly(sodium 4-styrene sulfonate)).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,825 discloses the addition of an acrylic polymer composition, having a glass transition temperature of 15° C. or greater, to plasterboard in order to increase the core strength of the plasterboard.
US-A-2004/0092625, US-A-2004/0092624 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,841,232 disclose a gypsum based composite structure such as plasterboard with a cellulose ether additive (other than carboxymethylecellulose (CMC)), in order to improve nail pull resistance and flexural strength.
US-A-2005/0126437 discloses a wallboard core composition including a substituted starch. The properties of the starch (degree of substitution, degree of polymerization and viscosity) are selected so that the starch does not dissolve in water at the slurry mixing temperature, but does dissolve at higher temperatures. In this way, excessive migration of the starch to the core-paper interface is avoided.

Gypsum based panel and method for making gypsum based panel


A stent for a vessel implanted in the vessel of the living body including a main body portion of the stent formed into a tube by a yarn, which is formed of a biodegradable polymer, exhibiting a shape memory function. The main body portion of the stent is shape-memorized to a size that can be implanted in the vessel. The main body portion of the stent is implanted in the vessel of the living body as it is contracted in diameter by an external force, and is enlarged in diameter by being heated with the body temperature of the living body. The main body portion of the stent is formed by winding a yarn formed of a biodegradable polymer in a tube form as the yarn is bent in a zigzag design. The main body portion of the stent is enlarged or contracted in diameter with the bends of the yarn as the displacing portions.

This invention relates to a stent for the vessel mounted in the vessel, such as blood vessel, lymphatic vessel, bile duct or urinary duct to maintain a constant state in the lumen of the vessel.
Heretofore, if a stenosis portion has occurred in the vessel of a living body, in particular the blood vessel, such as artery, a balloon forming portion provided in the vicinity of the distal end of the balloon catheter is inserted into this stenosis portion. This balloon forming portion is expanded to form a balloon to expand the stenosis portion of the blood vessel to improve the blood flow, by way of the transcutaneous blood vessel forming technique (PTA).
It has been clarified that, if the PTA is applied, stenosis tends to be produced at a high probability in the once stenosis portion.
In order to prevent this restenosis, the current practice is to apply a tubular stent in the site processed with the PTA. This stent is inserted into the blood vessel in a diameter-contracted state and subsequently implanted in the blood vessel as it is expanded in diameter to support the blood vessel from its inside to prevent restenosis from being produced in the blood vessel.
As this sort of the stent, there have so far been proposed a balloon expanding stent and a self-expanding stent.
The balloon expanding stent is applied over a balloon provided in a folded and diameter-contracted state in a catheter and, after being inserted in the targeted site for implantation, such as a site of lesion, where the blood vessel is stenosis, the balloon is expanded and increased in diameter to support the inner surface of the blood vessel. Once expanded in diameter, the balloon expanding stent is fixed in this expanded state and cannot be deformed in keeping with the pulsations of the blood vessel wall. On the other hand, if the balloon expanding stent is deformed after being expanded in diameter and implanted in this condition in the blood vessel, it cannot be restored to its original expanded state, such that there is the risk that the stent cannot support the inner surface of the blood vessel reliably.
The self-expanding stent is housed in the diameter-contracted state in a holder, such as a tube, having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the targeted site for implantation in the blood vessel, and is inserted in the targeted site for implantation in the blood vessel as it is housed in a holder. The stent, thus inserted in the targeted site for implantation in the blood vessel, is extruded or extracted from the holder so as to be expanded in diameter to the pre-contracted state, by exploiting the force of restoration proper to the stent, thus continuing to support the inner wall of the blood vessel.
As this sort of the self-expanding stent, there is proposed such a one obtained on warping a linear member of metal, such as stainless steel, into a sinusoidal or zig-zag design, to form a tube.
With the self-expanding stent formed from a metal linear member, the outer diameter prevailing at the time of expansion is difficult to control precisely, such that the stent is likely to be expanded excessively in comparison with the inner diameter of the blood vessel in which it is implanted. Moreover, if the force of holding the stent in the contracted state is removed, the stent is expanded abruptly. If the stent inserted into the blood vessel is expanded abruptly, the inner wall of the blood vessel is likely to be injured.
As the self-expanding stent, those formed of shape memory alloys, such as Txe2x80x94Ni, Tixe2x80x94Nixe2x80x94Cu or Tixe2x80x94Nixe2x80x94Fe based alloys, have been proposed.
The stent, formed of shape memory alloys, is kept to its size when it is implanted in the targeted loading site in the blood vessel, by the shape memory action, and is subsequently contracted in diameter, so as to be inserted in this diameter-contracted state in the blood vessel. After insertion into the targeted loading site in the blood vessel, this stent is expanded to the size of the shape memory and subsequently exhibits super-elasticity under the body temperature of the living body to continue supporting the inner wall of the blood vessel.
Since the shape memory alloy has extremely high tenacity, such that it exerts an extremely large mechanical pressure to a portion of the inner wall of the blood vessel, thus possibly damaging the blood vessel. Moreover, there are occasions wherein the stent formed of a shape memory alloy is not uniformly expanded in diameter against the inner wall of the blood vessel when implanted in the blood vessel. If a portion of the stent compresses against the inner wall of the blood vessel prematurely to commence to be expanded in diameter, the blood vessel cannot be expanded uniformly. In this case, the portion of the blood vessel, against which a portion of the stent has compressed prematurely, is enlarged excessively in diameter, and hence is likely to be damaged.
The stent formed of metal such as shape memory alloy, once implanted in the vessel, such as blood vessel, is permanently left in the living body unless it is taken out by surgical operations.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a stent for a vessel, such as blood vessel, which is able to keep the vessel in the expanded state reliably without injuring the vessel.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a stent for a vessel which disappears after lapse of a pre-set period after implantation in the vessel to eliminate the necessity of executing a surgical operation of taking out the stent from the vessel after restoration of the site of lesion.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a stent for a vessel which is able to support the vessel, such as blood vessel, with a uniform force.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a stent for a vessel which can be inserted into a meandering vessel, such as blood vessel, with good trackability, and which can be easily and reliably implanted in the targeted site in the vessel.
For accomplishing the above object, the present invention provides a stent for a vessel implanted in the vessel of the living body including a main body portion of the stent formed into a tube by a yarn, which is formed of a biodegradable polymer, exhibiting a shape memory function. The main body portion of the stent is shape-memorized to a size that can be retained in the vessel. The main body portion of the stent is implanted in the vessel of the living body as it is contracted in diameter by an external force, and is enlarged in diameter by being heated with the body temperature of the living body.
The yarn used is a concatenated continuous monofilament yarn or a multi-filament yarn made up of a plurality of monofilament yarns unified together.
The main body portion of the stent is formed by the yarn formed of a biodegradable polymer being wound to a tube as the yarn is bent in a zigzag design and is enlarged or contracted in diameter with the bends of the yarn as displacing portions.
In the main body portion of the stent, at least part of neighboring bends of the yarns wound to a tube as the yarns are bent in a zigzag design are connected to one another so that a pre-set tubular shape of the main body portion of the stent is positively maintained on contracting or enlarging its diameter.
The tubular main body portion of the stent is formed by arraying plural yarns each connected to form a ring as each yarn is bent in a zigzag design, these yarns being juxtaposed along the axial direction of the main body portion of the stent to form a tube.
Each yarn making up the main body portion of the stent is formed of a biodegradable polymer having the glass transition temperature not higher than approximately 70xc2x0 C. Thus, the main body portion of the stent is enlarged in diameter to its shape-memorized state at a temperature close to the body temperature.
Each yarn making up the main body portion of the stent is formed of a biodegradable polymer compounded from one or more of polylactic acid (PLLA), polyglycolic acid (PGA), a copolymer of polyglycolic acid and polylactic acid, polydioxanone, a copolymer of trimethylene carbonate and glycolid, and a copolymer of polyglycolic acid or polylactic acid and xcex5-caprolactone.
If an radiopaque medium is mixed into or deposited on the yarn, the state of implantation of the stent in the vessel can be easily checked from outside the living body using X-rays.
If antithrombotic drugs or drugs for suppressing neointimal formation are mixed into or deposited on the yarn formed by the biodegradable polymer, these drugs can be administered in a sustained fashion as the stent is dissolved.
Moreover, if a radiation source radiating xcex2-rays or a radiation source radiating xcex3-rays is mixed into or deposited on the yarn formed of the biodegradable polymer, these rays can be radiated to the lesion as the stent is inserted into the living body, thus assuring sustained irradiation of radiation rays.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description which is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.


A thermoplastic composition including a) a1) a thermoplastic resin and a2) a silicon containing rubber and/or b) a polysiloxane-polycarbonate copolymer; and c) a metal (oxy)hydroxide with BET surface area of at least 10 as determined by DIN ISO 9277: 2010.

An impact resistant, flame retardant thermoplastic composition is for example described in EP 2336247. EP 2336247 discloses a polycarbonate resin composition comprising at least a polycarbonate resin (A), a metal organic sulfonate (B), a fluoropolymer (C), a polyalkylsilsesquioxane particle having an average particle diameter of 0.6 to 5 micrometres (D), and a graft copolymer having a butadiene content of 50 percent or more (E). EP 2336247 mentions that the composition has an extremely high flame resistance and is also excellent in the impact resistance and the external appearance.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,985,788 discloses a flame retardant resin composition comprising a polyalkylene furan dicarboxylate, an aromatic polycarbonate, a phosphazene compound, a fluorine-containing compound and a silicone/acrylic core-shell rubber. U.S. Pat. No. 7,985,788 states that the composition is excellent in both impact resistance and flame retardancy.
WO 1110365 discloses an ignition resistant carbonate polymer composition consisting of: (i) an aromatic polycarbonate or an aromatic polyester carbonate, (ii) a non-silicon-containing graft (co)polymer produced by mass polymerization, (iii) a silicon-containing graft (co)polymer having a core-shell morphology, (iv) an oligomeric aromatic phosphorous compound, (v) a polytetrafluoroethylene polymer, a fluorothermoplast, or mixture thereof, and (vi) one or more of a thermoplastic vinyl (co)polymer, an impact modifier different from (iii), a filler, a reinforcing material, a stabilizer, a pigment, a dye, a mold release, a lubricant, or an anti-static agent. WO 1110365 states that the composition has excellent ignition resistance, in particular short burn time, and good mechanical properties and elevated heat resistance.
WO 09024496 discloses a polymer composition containing a) 30-97 mass percent of aromatic polycarbonate, b) 0.5-20 mass percent of a metal compound capable of being activated by electromagnetic radiation and thereby forming elemental metal nuclei, and c) 2.5-50 mass percent of at least one rubber-like polymer, wherein the sum of a)-c) is 100 percent. The rubber may be siloxane based rubbers. A polymer composition was provided which can be used for a laser direct structuring process and in which the degradation of the aromatic polycarbonate is reduced.
Although known compositions are satisfactory in certain situations, there is a constant need for a thermoplastic composition which shows a good flame retardancy and a good impact strength.