A method of manufacturing an active panel results in a gate pad being formed so as to prevent being damaged by a probe pin during an auto probe testing process. An active panel made by the method includes a pad including a first conductive material an insulating layer on the pad, at least one contact hole exposing a portion of the pad, the insulating Layer covering a middle portion of the pad and a pad terminal connected to the pad through the at least one contact hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an active matrix display panel (or active panel) used for a liquid crystal display device (or LCD) and a method of manufacturing the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an active panel in which a structure of a gate pad and a source pad connected to a gate line and a source line, respectively, is arranged to protect against damage to the gate pad caused by a probe pin during an auto probe process done for testing quality of the active panel.
2. Description of Related Art
A CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) has recently been replaced by a thin flat panel display device because the thin flat panel display device is thinner and lighter than the CRT such that the thin flat panel display can be used in any space. Active research activities have focused on developing liquid crystal display devices because of the high resolution and fast response time suitable for display of motion pictures which are achieved by liquid crystal display devices. Furthermore, the active panel comprising an active switching element such as a thin film transistor (or TFT) is more frequently applied to the LCD.
The general structure of the active panel having a plurality of TFTs is shown in FIG. 1. A plurality of gate lines 13 extending in a horizontal direction are arranged in a column direction so as to be parallel to each other and a plurality of source lines 23 are arranged to extend vertically in the row direction parallel to each other. The gate lines 13 and source lines 23 are provided on a transparent insulating substrate 1 such as a non-alkalic glass. A gate pad 15 and a source pad 25 are located at each end of the gate lines 13 and source lines 23. The TFT includes a gate electrode 11, a gate insulating layer (not shown), a semiconductor layer 33, a source electrode 21 and a drain electrode 31. The gate electrode 11 of the TFT extends from the gate line 13 and the source electrode 21 is extends from the source line 23. The drain electrode 31 is electrically connected to a pixel electrode 41 located at the area surrounded by each gate line 13 and each source line 23.
FIGS. 2-4 are cross-sectional views along section lines II--II, III--III and IV--IV of FIG. 1, respectively, and illustrate a method of manufacturing a conventional active panel.
Aluminum or an aluminum alloy is deposited on a transparent insulating substrate 1 using a sputtering process in order to form an aluminum layer. A low resistance gate line 13a and a low resistance gate pad 15a (hereinafter referred to as a first gate pad 15a) are formed by patterning the aluminum layer using a photolithography process. The low resistance gate line 13a extends along a row direction of the pixel array A plurality of the low resistance gate lines 13a are arranged in a column direction of the pixel array The first gate pad 15a is formed at each low resistance gate line 13a, as shown in FIGS. 2a and 3a.
A gate electrode 11, a gate line 13 and a second gate pad 15 are formed by depositing a metal layer including at least one of chromium, molybdenum, tantalum or antimony and also by patterning the metal layer. In contrast to the first gate pad 15a, the second gate pad is not formed of a low resistance metal but instead is formed of one of the highly reflective metals such as chromium, molybdenum, tantalum or antimony. The gate line 13 is arranged so as to cover the lower resistance gate line 13a. The gate electrode 11 extends from the gate line 13 and is arranged at one corner of the pixel array. The second gate pad 15 is arranged to cover the first gate pad 15a and to be electrically connected to the gate line 15, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2b and 3b.
A gate insulating layer 17 is formed by depositing a silicon nitride (SiN.sub.x) or silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) on the substrate using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, as shown in FIGS. 2c, 3c and 4a.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2d, a semiconductor layer 33 and a doped semiconductor layer 35 are formed by depositing an amorphous silicon and n+ amorphous silicon layer sequentially on the gate insulating layer 17 using a CVD and then patterning these layers using a photo-lithography technique The semiconductor layer 33 defines a channel layer. The doped semiconductor layer 35 helps the source electrode 21 and the drain electrode 31, which are formed later, to be in ohmic contact with the semiconductor layer 33.
A source electrode 21, a drain electrode 31, a source line 23 and a source pad 25 are formed by depositing chromium or a chromium alloy to form a chromium layer using a sputtering method and then patterning the chromium layer using a photolithography technique. Then, the exposed doped semiconductor layer 35 located between the source electrode 21 and the drain electrode 31 is removed by using a dry etching method while using the source electrode 21 and the drain electrode 31 as a mask. The source electrode 21 is overlapped with one side of the gate electrode 11 located between the doped semiconductor layer 35. The drain electrode 31 facing the source electrode 21 is overlapped with the other side of the gate electrode 11 between the doped semiconductor layer 35. The source line 23 extends along a column direction of the pixel array and a plurality of source lines 23 are arranged at intervals along the row direction. The source pad 25 is formed at the end of the source line 23, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2e and 4b.
A passivation layer 37 is formed by depositing a silicon nitride material on the resulting substrate using a CVD process A drain contact hole 71, a gate contact hole 59 and a source contact hole 69 are formed by patterning the passivation layer 37 using a photolithography process. The drain contact hole exposes a portion of the drain electrode 31. The gate contact hole 59 and the source contact hole 69 expose a portion of the second gate pad 15 and the source pad 25, respectively, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2f, 3d and 4c.
Finally, a pixel electrode 41, a gate pad terminal 57 and a source pad terminal 67 are formed by depositing and patterning a transparent conductive material such as an indium-tin-oxide (or ITO) on the passivation layer 37. The pixel electrode 41 is electrically connected to the drain electrode 31 through the drain contact hole 71. The gate pad terminal 57 and the source pad terminal 67 are connected to the second gate pad 15 and the source pad 25 through the gate contact hole 59 and the source contact hole 69, respectively, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2g, 3e and 4d.
The structure of the conventional active panel of an LCD manufactured according to the method described above includes a gate electrode 11 made of at least one of chromium, molybdenum, tantalum or antimony and is disposed on a transparent insulating substrate 1. A gate insulating layer 17 comprising silicon nitride or silicon oxide covers the surface of the substrate 1 including the gate electrode 11. A semiconductor layer 33 is formed on the gate insulating layer 17 so as to cover the gate electrode 11. Two doped semiconductor layers 35 including an impurity doped semiconductor material made of phosphorous, such as an n+ amorphous silicon, are formed on the two sides of the semiconductor layer 33. A source electrode 21 and a drain electrode 31 including chromium or molybdenum are formed on the two doped semiconductor layers 35. A passivation layer 37 is formed on the substrate 1 including the source electrode 21 and the drain electrode 31. The drain electrode 31 is electrically connected to the pixel electrode 41 including an ITO through the drain contact hole 71.
The first gate pad 15a made of low resistance material such as aluminum is formed on the substrate 1. A second gate pad 15 including at least one of chromium, molybdenum, tantalum or antimony is formed on the first gate pad 15a. A gate insulating layer 17 and a passivation layer 37 exposing a portion of a surface of the second gate pad 15 is formed so as to cover other parts of the substrate 1. A gate pad terminal 57 including an ITO used for the pixel electrode 41 is connected to the exposed surface of the gate pad 15.
The gate insulating layer 17 including silicon nitride is formed on a transparent insulating layer 1. A source pad 25 including chromium is formed on the gate insulating layer 17. The passivation layer 37 exposing a portion of the surface of the source pad 25 is formed so as to cover other parts of the gate insulating layer 17. A source pad terminal 67 is connected to the exposed surface of the source pad 25.
Generally, after the active parel is completed, a test process is performed using an auto probe process to determine whether any bus line of the active panel is shorted or open. During the auto probe process, a damaged or defective active panel can be detected by connecting probe pins to each pad and applying a voltage signal to the pads through the pins. During the auto probe process, the gate pad made of aluminum and the gate pad terminal made of an ITO can be damaged by the pressure or contact of the probe pins. This may result in damage such as scratching or tearing off of the gate pad and gate pad terminal during the auto probe process. Also, when the TAB repairing process is performed, the gate pad can also be damaged. Even if a probe pin only contacts the second gate pad 15 and does not directly contact the first gate pad 15a made of low resistance material, the force applied by the probe pin may be sufficient to tear away or damage the low resistance material forming the first gate pad 15a.
In one actual experiment, when the first gate pad is made of aluminum with 2000 .ANG. thickness, the second gate pad is made of molybdenum with 1000 .ANG. thickness and the gate pad terminal is made of ITO with 500 .ANG. thickness, the number of damaged pads was 20 in a test batch of 392 such that the damage rate is about 5%. Thus, it was determined that the aluminum layer included in the first gate pad has too soft of material to avoid damage during the auto probe process. Therefore, the soft aluminum material used in the first gate pad does not resist contact pressure of the probe pin sufficiently and as a result, the aluminum material is easily scratched or peeled off. If the gate pad has any defect after the testing is completed, the testing process can not detect such defect and the test process is useless.

Liquid crystal display device and a method for manufacturing the same


This invention is directed to a lattice touch-sensing system for detecting a position of a touch on a touch-sensitive surface. The lattice touch-sensing system may include two capacitive sensing layers, separated by an insulating material, where each layer consists of substantially parallel conducting elements, and the conducting elements of the two sensing layers are substantially orthogonal to each other. Each element may comprise a series of diamond shaped patches that are connected together with narrow conductive rectangular strips. Each conducting element of a given sensing layer is electrically connected at one or both ends to a lead line of a corresponding set of lead lines. A control circuit may also be included to provide an excitation signal to both sets of conducting elements through the corresponding sets of lead lines, to receive sensing signals generated by sensor elements when a touch on the surface occurs, and to determine a position of the touch based on the position of the affected bars in each layer.

As computers and other electronic devices become more ubiquitous, touch-sensing systems are becoming more prevalent as a means for inputting data. For example, touch-sensing systems may now be found in workshops, warehouses, manufacturing facilities, restaurants, on hand-held personal digital assistants, automatic teller machines, casino game-machines, and the like.
Capacitive touch sensing is one of the most widely used techniques in touch screen industries. Capacitive touch sensors are mainly divided in two groups, namely, the continuous capacitive sensors, and discontinuous (patterned) capacitive sensors. In a continuous capacitive sensor, the sensor consists of a sheet of conducting thin film that is excited from four corners. The signals induced by a touch are transmitted from the corners to a controller, where they are decoded and translated to coordinates. In a typical patterned capacitive touch screen the sensor consists of a series of parallel conductive bars that are driven from both ends with an excitation signal from the controller. The signals induced by a touch are transmitted to the controller with the same lead lines that excite the sensor bars. These signals are then decoded in the controller and the touch coordinates are reported to a computer. For examples of this type of sensor refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,597, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/176,564.
In patterned capacitive screens different methods are used to calculate the touch coordinates. For example, in capacitive screens using near field imaging (NFI) the coordinate along the parallel bars, the X-axis, is determined by ratio of the voltage drops on left and right of the touch. The coordinate in the direction perpendicular to the bars, the Y-axis, is determined by finding the location of the touched bar combined by interpolation methods.
Touch sensors utilizing more than one patterned sensing layer can be used to determine the coordinates of a touch with high accuracy in both directions, provided that the sensing layers have the proper pattern geometry. Examples of multi-layered capacitive touch sensors are U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,332, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,427. The challenge of capacitively coupling to more than one sensing layer has forced the designers either to use very narrow conducting bars, or to use bars with vastly different widths on the two layers. The former design suffers from a very low signal level, and the latter design has significant error due to sparse distribution of the bars.


The present invention is a dual-chamber multi-channel speaker for an audio system which has four stereo surround sound channels including a right front channel, a left front channel, a rear surround channel and a center channel. The preferred embodiment of the present invention speaker dual-chamber multi-channel speaker comprises a VCR shaped cabinet having a front chamber and a rear chamber, each being an independently sealed enclosure. A tweeter and two midranges are installed in the front chamber for producing sound effects of the center channel of the audio system. A subwoofer is installed in the rear chamber for producing low frequency sound effects of the right and left front channels. The center channel drivers are front-firing. The subwoofer may be up-firing or down-firing. The present invention dual-chamber multi-channel speaker further comprises a center channel crossover network for connecting the center channel drivers with the center channel of the audio system, and a separate front channels crossover network for connecting the subwoofer with the right and left front channels of the audio system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of modern electronic audio/video home entertainment systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of speaker arrangements for stereo surround sound audio systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern electronic audio/video home entertainment systems have become very popular today. Many people desire to have complete audio/video systems installed at their own homes to make so called "home theaters" for enjoying individualized entertainment.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a typical set up of a "home theater" entertainment system for user 10. The system includes a television (TV) set 12 and an audio/video components rack 14. The TV 12 may be a big screen or projection TV. The audio/video components rack 14 may comprise various audio/video components. One critical component is a receiver 16 which serves as the control center of all the audio and video components of the entire audio/video system. The audio components of the rack 14 may include a compact disc (CD) player, cassette tape recorder/player, digital audio tape (DAT) recorder/player, and turntable. The video components of the rack 14 may include video cassette recorder (VCR) and laser disc (LD) player.
The home theater system further comprises a speaker system, including a right front speaker 22, a left front speaker 24 and two rear speakers 26, all connected to receiver 16 by wires 28. The term "speaker" used throughout this application does not refer to a single loudspeaker, but rather a unit of loudspeakers. A "speaker" used in this sense typically comprises three basic parts. The first part includes one or more loudspeaker drivers, such as a "tweeter" which reproduces high frequency sounds, a "midrange" which reproduces mid-frequency sounds, and a "subwoofer" which reproduces low frequency sounds. The second part includes a crossover network which divides the input frequencies into two or more bands for their appropriate drivers. The third part is an acoustic cabinet which houses the loudspeaker drivers.
Therefore, in this application the term "speaker" refers to the independent cabinet in which one or more drivers and crossover networks are installed. The term "driver" then refers to the single push-pull loudspeaker driver such as a tweeter, a midrange, a full-range, a woofer and a subwoofer.
Right front speaker 22 shown in FIG. 1 is a typical example of a traditional "3-way" speaker. It has a rectangular box shaped cabinet 30. Three drivers are mounted inside the cabinet 30. The three drivers are: tweeter 32, midrange 34 and subwoofer 36. The physical dimensions of the drivers are often measured by the diameters of their respective diaphragms. For a home stereo system, the size of the tweeter 32 may be between 1/2 and 2 inches, the size of the midrange 34 may be between 31/2 and 6 inches, and the size of the subwoofer may be between 6 and 10 inches. The right front speaker 22 also includes a crossover network which is usually located on the back side of the speaker and has two terminals for accommodating wires 28.
Early home stereo systems reproduce stereo sound effect through two separate channels: a right front channel and a left front channel. The advanced home stereo systems now typically reproduce surround sound effect in four separate channels. Two more channels are provided in addition to the right and left front channels, including a rear surround channel and a center channel. The rear surround channel is used primarily for time-delay surround effect, and the center channel is used primarily for on-screen dialogue. Almost all CDs, LDs and DAT music tapes, most VCR movie tapes and audio cassette music tapes, and many TV and radio programs broadcast on network or cable systems are now encoded with all four channels.
In the systems shown in FIG. 1, right front speaker 22 is connected to the right front channel of receiver 16, left front speaker 24 is connected to the left front channel of receiver 16, and the two rear speakers 26 are connected to the rear surround channel of the receiver 16. The speaker built into TV 12 may be used as a center channel speaker and connected to the center channel of receiver 16, if input terminals are provided on TV 12. Otherwise a separate speaker may be used as the center channel speaker (not shown).
There are two common problems in most of the conventional home entertainment systems. The first common problem is that the conventional home entertainment systems usually has no separate center channel speaker. Additional center channel speakers become more desirable because they produce much clearer sound effect for dialogue, and deliver more realistic sound effects because the sound is coming from the center, where the TV is placed and where the sound of dialogue is supposed to come from. Separate center channel speakers also become more desirable because the speakers built into TVs usually produce less effective sound effects than separate speakers. Some receivers in conventional home entertainment systems have a so-called "phantom" mode to solve the problem of having no center speaker. In such "phantom" mode the signal of the center channel is sent to the two front speakers. The two front speakers then reproduce synthesized sound for the non-existing center channel speaker. However, the quality of the synthesized "phantom" sound produced by the front speakers cannot be as good as the quality of the real sound produced by a real center channel speaker.
The second common problem is that in most of the conventional home entertainment systems, each front speaker is a large cabinet housing directional and non-directional drivers. The tweeter and midrange drivers are directional drivers which require careful placement of the front speakers so their sound can be properly delivered to the user. On the other hand, the subwoofers are non-directional drivers and may be placed at any location. Because the front speakers include directional drivers, they have to be placed in certain locations. However, their large physical dimensions often make it hard to arrange the speaker with existing furniture. The placement of the speakers are often awkward and alter the arrangement and appearance of the user's living room dramatically. Some home entertainment systems have utilized a so-called "satellite" speaker system to solve the placement problem. In such satellite speaker system the directional and non-directional drivers in each of the front speakers are separated and installed in a separate cabinet. The smaller-sized directional drivers, including tweeter and midrange, are installed in a small cabinet. The larger-sized non-directional driver, the subwoofer, is installed in a large cabinet. The small cabinets of the directional drivers are the "satellite" of the speaker system. Since they are smaller, it is much easier to place them according to the set up and location of the user's listening area. The large subwoofer cabinets, on the other hand, do not have to be placed at a certain location and may even be placed behind furniture. However, having many separate speaker cabinets undoubtedly increases the complexity of installation and maintenance of the speaker system.
Therefore, it will be desirable to provide surround sound stereo audio systems for people's home theater entertainment systems, which not only provide additional and separate center channel speakers, but also provide effective as well as efficient arrangement of the speakers.

Dual-chamber multi-channel speaker for surround sound stereo audio systems


A user terminal device including a display, a sensor configured to detect a user input on the display, a controller configured to extract objects displayed within an area on the display indicated by the user input on the display and add the objects to a wish list, and a memory configured to store the wish list. The user terminal device executes a method for providing an electronic shopping service, the method including receiving a user input at a user terminal device, determining a selection area on a screen of the user terminal device corresponding to the user input, determining a shopping object within the selection area, extracting information of the shopping object within the selection area, and adding the information to a wish list.

1. Field
Devices and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments disclosed herein relate to a user terminal device which provides an electronic shopping service, a server, and methods thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Strengthened with development of electronic technologies, various types of user terminal devices are now used. Further, the distribution of user terminal devices having high performance, such as smart phone and tablet PC, has greatly expanded.
Additionally, the types of services provided by user terminal devices have also been enhanced. Specifically, the intention of a user using the user terminal device has changed to favor faster, easier, and simpler services. In view of this situation, services that can be provided from the user terminal devices are continuously researched in many places.
One such exemplary service is a shopping service. Historically, shopping can be done by using cash or credit cards at offline locations. However, customers recently began shopping in a way that allows products to be ordered at an online shopping mall with a personal computer where payment uses a credit card authentication method, a cellular phone authentication method, or a deposit without a bankbook.
When using these online shopping services, customers may find the online shopping services inconvenient to have credit cards or other payment tools for payment. Thus, the user terminal device has limits when providing shopping services.
Therefore, there is a growing need for the development of new technology so that shopping services can be provided to a user more conveniently and efficiently by using the user terminal device.

User terminal device for providing electronic shopping service and methods thereof


The subject invention relates to a novel means of producing mellein and 4-hydroxymellein. The subject invention further concerns a novel means for introducing phytotoxin, disrupting nutrient flow, and inducing selective mortality for population control of a pest plant species.

Beneficial uses of microorganisms are well known in the art and have been documented at great length. Many patents have issued which claim new microbial processes pertaining to the production of antibiotics, enzymes, ethanol, and a multitude of other useful products. Microorganisms are also used to clean up toxic wastes and oil spills, mill pests, recover minerals, and provide nutrients to plants. It has been known for many years that some organisms produce compounds which are toxic to other organisms. The production of the antimicrobial compound penicillin by penicillium mold is one such example.
Microorganisms are particularly attractive candidates for use in making and delivering organic compounds because they can be extremely efficient and safe. The modern tools of genetic engineering have greatly enhanced the ability to exploit the efficiency and relative safety of microbes. Even in the absence of genetic manipulation, however, microbes can perform highly specific tasks which make them indispensable in certain applications. Thus, there is a constant ongoing search in many areas of research for new microbes with specific advantageous properties. The subject invention concerns the discovery of one such microbe.
The tree species Melaleuca quinquenervia (Cam.) Blake (Melaleuca) is an exotic pest species which is native to Australia and was introduced into Florida in the early 1900's as an ornamental tree and possibly as a commercial source of wood. Several of Melaleuca's innate characteristics have facilitated its spread throughout South Florida. Melaleuca grows more densely in Florida than in Australia and "crowds out" native plants. Prolific seed production, fire adaptation and release from natural competition, insect feeding and disease further abet its competitive ability. The Melaleuca may become a large tree exceeding 50 feet in height. The tree may have a single trunk or have multiple stems arising from the base of the tree. The bark covering the trunk is white to cream-colored and is very thick and soft, and easily peels in multiple layers from the tree. The tree is easily recognized when flowering, being covered with clusters of white flowers born on the ends of the twigs. Melaleuca flowers throughout the year in Florida, with heavier blooms reported during the wet season with lighter blooms occurring throughout the winter. Individual trees have been reported to bloom as many as five times a year and an individual branch may have three or more blooms each year. Seed capsules which are formed on the flower spike, are from 0.1 to 0.2 inches long and are short and cylindrical. Each capsule, which contains over 200 seeds, may remain attached to the branch for an extended period of time.
A large, mature melaleuca tree has a high reproductive potential as the branches contain millions of seeds stored in the capsules. By flowering three to five times yearly, large numbers of seedlings are produced. These seedlings can, in turn, produce seeds within two to three years, and a mature tree can store over 20 million seeds. Encroachment into ecosystems formerly devoid of Melaleuca is irreversible, permanently replacing natural plant communities and the animals that live in them. Melaleuca was planted from seeds obtained from Australia in the early 1900's at two coastal locations. The present distribution of melaleuca is predominantly centered around the areas of original introduction. Its spread was enhanced through its use as wind breaks and fence rows, and its popularity as a fast growing ornamental. Canals have most likely facilitated the spread of the buoyant seeds in to the interior of conservation areas where relatively undisturbed inland wetlands have been invaded. Sites conducive to Melaleuca development are usually poorly-drained areas which have high water table levels or are flooded periodically each year. These sites comprise much of the ecologically-sensitive wetland areas of South Florida, including the Everglades National Park, the Big Cypress Preserve, and the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.
Melaleuca is highly resistant to stress, including herbicides and fire. Not only is this species physically resistant to fire, but the seed capsules are stimulated to open by the extreme heat and drying produced by fire. The trees grow rapidly, even when completely submerged in flood waters for periods of six months or longer, and they resume vigorous growth after the water recedes.
Melaleuca has been identified as a potential threat to South Florida's water supply. Future spread of melaleuca throughout the Everglades has the potential to impact regional surface water supplies by replacing open grassy paries with forest.
A task force assigned to study the melaleuca problem has concluded:
"It is the consensus opinion of the [task force] that the uncontrolled expansion of melaleuca constitutes one of the most serious ecological threats to the biological integrity of South Florida's natural systems."
Control of this encroachment is a formidable task, even when chemical herbicides are applied either to individual trees or to groups of trees by aerial spraying. Eradication frequently requires two or three applications of herbicides which increases herbicidal contamination of wetlands. Thus, chemical weed control programs are seriously inadequate for the control of Melaleuca.
Also, the use of chemical pesticides in agriculture is currently a major concern in the U.S. For example, pesticides are being blamed for an epidemic of cancer in children and young adults in the San Joaquin Valley (Weisskopf, M. [1988] The Washington Post Weekly Edition 5(47):10-11, Washington, D.C.). New technologies in detection methods are enabling researchers to find pesticides in the environment that were previously thought to be totally degraded. Perhaps the major public concern of the 1980's is protection of groundwater. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 100,000 of the nation's 1.3 million wells are contaminated with pesticides (Fleming, M. H. [1987] Amer. J. Alterative Agriculture 2:124-130). This has alarmed the general public since 50% of all Americans depend on groundwater wells for their fresh water supplies. Because herbicides are so widely used in agriculture, and because they are often applied directly to the soil, the potential for movement into groundwater by leaching is perhaps greater than any other pesticide. Other inadequacies of chemical controls include lack of residual control, injury to non-target organisms, undesirable residues in harvested products, and carryover in subsequent crops. Among the chemical herbicides now being used in efforts to control Melaleuca are Arsenal (isopropylamine salt of 2-[4,5-dihydro-4-methyl-4-91-methylethyl)-5-oxo-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-3-pyridi necarboxylic acid), Bonvel 720 (diethylamine salt of 2,4-dichlorophenoxy-acetic acid+dimethylamine salt of 3,6-dichloro-0-anisic acid), Garlon 3A (triethylamine salt of 3,5,6,-tricloro-2-pyridinyloxyacetic acid), Rodeo (isopropylamineamine salt of N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine), Spike (N-[5-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-1,3,4,-thiadiazol-Z-yl]-N,N'dimethylurea), and Velpar (3-cyclohexyl-6-dimethylamino) 1-methyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione). Certainly, the use of chemical herbicides must be avoided or reduced to the extent possible in the environmentally sensitive wetlands of South Florida.
Therefore, the use of bioherbicides is becoming an increasingly important alternative to chemical herbicides. This importance is exemplified by several patents which have been issued for bioherbicides and their use. Some of these patents, by way of illustration, are as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,104 (control of northern jointvetch with Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz. aeschynomene); U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,973 (control of prickly sida [teaweed] and other weeds with Colletotrichum malvarum); U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,912 (control of milkweed vine with Araujia mosaic virus); U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,271 (Cyanobacterin Herbicide); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,726 (Biological Control of Dodder).
Melaleuca quinquenervia has not been reported to have any natural enemies in Florida capable of inducing mortality. Fungi of the genus Botryosphaeria, including B. ribis, have been shown to grow on other species of plants (Ramos, L. J., S. P. Lara, R. T. McMillan, Jr., K. R. Narayanan [1991] Plant Dis. 75:315-318; Venkatasubbaiah, P., T. B. Sutton, W. S. Chilton [1991] Phytopath. 81:243-247; Webb, R. S. [1983] Plant Dis. 67:108-109). However, the fungus is not shown to cause sufficient damage to induce mortality in any of the specifies shown to be infected with the fungus.
Mellein and 4-hydroxymellein are isocoumarin compounds which have previously been described (Moore, J. H., N. D. Davis, and U. L. Diener [1972] "Mellein and 4-hydroxymellein production by Aspergillus ochraceus wilhem,' Microbiology 23(6):1067-1072; Cole, R. J., J. H. Moore, N. D. Davis J. W. Kirksey, and U. L. Diener [1971] "4-hydroxymellein: A new metabolite of Aspergillus ochraceus J. Agr. Food Chem., 19(5):909). Phytotoxic properties have not previously been reported for these compounds. Nor has there been any report that these compounds are produced by Botryosphaeria ribis.

Process for the production of mellein and 4-hydroxymellein


In an internal combustion engine a spark plug is disposed at a nearly central position of a combustion chamber formed between the underside of a cylinder head and a crown of a piston. Intake valves are disposed on one side of the cylinder head, while exhaust valves are disposed on the other side of the cylinder head. A recess having a generally rectangular bottom is formed in the piston crown and extends in a slap direction connecting the intake and exhaust valves. The recess has vertical wall portions for the formation of squish flows at both ends thereof in the slap direction. The vertical wall portions are contiguous to the piston crown and connect both ends of the recess smoothly with the piston crown. Thus, the piston realizes a stratified charge without obstructing reverse tumbling flows. The symmetric shape of the piston in a slap direction maintains the piston in good weight balance, and thereby eliminates mechanical loss, such as oscillation.

In conventional direct injection type internal combustion engines, for realizing a stratified charge, a ball-like depression or a horseshoe-shaped enclosure generally is formed at the crown of a piston to trap fuel.
An example of a combustion chamber structure in the above conventional type of an internal combustion engine is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-166872. In a four-valve type internal combustion engine disclosed in this publication, two intake ports each provided with an intake valve and two exhaust ports each provided with an exhaust valve are formed in positions substantially opposed to each other for a combustion chamber with a spark plug provided nearly centrally. Both intake ports are constituted as tumbling ports for imparting vertical tumbling flows to intake air which is introduced into a cylinder from the intake ports. Further, a slot is formed in a portion of the crown of a piston adapted to reciprocate within the cylinder which portion is positioned under the spark plug. The slot is formed so as to extend from a lower position between both exhaust valves toward a lower position between both intake valves, with one or more protuberances being formed on both right and left sides of the slot of the piston crown so as to extend from the exhaust valve side toward the intake valve side in an inwardly inclined manner in plan, to make the air-fuel ratio of introduced air-fuel mixture lean, thereby attaining low fuel consumption and low pollution.
Another example of a combustion chamber structure in such conventional type of an internal combustion engine is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-246877. In the combustion chamber structure disclosed therein, a combustion chamber is defined between a recess formed in the underside of a cylinder head and a piston. A spark plug is disposed nearly centrally of a cylinder and one or plural intake valves are disposed at a position offset to one side of the cylinder. An intake port or ports are formed so that a tumbling flow is formed within the combustion chamber by an intake flow which enters the combustion chamber through the intake valve or valves. Further, a recess is formed radially in the piston crown so as to be narrower on the intake valve side and wider on the opposite side, thereby realizing a stratified charge of a rich air-fuel mixture in the vicinity of the spark plug positioned centrally of the cylinder.
A further conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-105330. In a four-valve type internal combustion engine disclosed in this publication, two intake ports each provided with an intake valve and two exhaust ports each provided with an exhaust valve are disposed at positions substantially opposed to each other for a combustion chamber with a spark plug provided nearly centrally. Both intake ports are constituted as tumbling ports for imparting vertical tumbling flows to intake air which is introduced into a cylinder from the intake ports. Further, a first recess is formed in the crown of a piston in the cylinder at a position approximately just under both exhaust valves, the first recess being formed wide so as to serve also as a valve recess for both exhaust valves, while a second recess narrower and shallower than the first recess is formed in the crown of the piston at a position between and approximately just under both intake valves, the second recess being formed so as to communicate with the first recess, to prevent deceleration of both tumbling flows and enhancing the influence of both tumbling flows on the vicinity of the spark plug, thereby making the air-fuel ratio leaner.
A still further conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-8968. A piston for an internal combustion engine disclosed in this publication includes two ridge portions each having an edge line extending in parallel with a crank axis. The ridge portions are formed on the piston crown in a sandwiching relation to a central part of the crown, and a recess constituted by a cylindrical surface having an axis parallel to the crank axis is formed between the ridge portions.
A still further conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-6827. According to this publication, a combustion chamber structure in an engine is formed in a pent roof shape whose section in a direction orthogonal to the direction of a cylinder row is generally triangular, while on a piston crown located at a lower position of the combustion chamber, and constituting part of the same chamber, there are formed squish zones at both side positions in conformity with the pent roof shape. The squish zones extend in the cylinder row direction, and with a recess formed between the squish zones. The recess extends up to piston ends in the cylinder row direction and is formed in an elliptic shape which is curved so that the outer periphery of the recess expands toward the exterior of the piston. The bottom of the recess has a spherical shape which gradually deepens toward the inner periphery from the outer periphery of the ellipse. Further, a spark plug is disposed nearly centrally of the recess to decrease the amount of hydrocarbon discharged.
A still further conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-57528. A combustion chamber in a direct injection type internal combustion engine is disclosed in this publication. An edge portion of a piston cavity is projected toward a cylinder head to form a weir portion for minimizing the gap between it and the cylinder head when the piston reaches its top dead center.
A still further conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-22958. A piston in an internal combustion engine, disclosed in this publication, has a ring-like protuberance and is formed on a piston crown.
A still further conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-56816. According to a combustion chamber structure in an internal combustion engine disclosed in this publication, a spark plug is disposed nearly centrally of an upper wall of a cylinder head, the upper wall defining a combustion chamber and being formed in a pent roof shape. Three intake valves are disposed on one side of the upper wall. Of the three intake valves, the one located at the center is larger in diameter than the other intake valves located on both sides, and in a piston crown portion to which the central intake port faces, there is formed a curved recess extending in the axial direction of the same port.
A still further conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-21132. According to a combustion chamber in an internal combustion engine disclosed in this publication, there is a cylinder head wherein intake valves and exhaust valves are arranged in a generally symmetric shape. A recess having a deep portion on the exhaust valve side is formed in a piston crown to increase the amount of an air-fuel mixture which reverse tumbles under the exhaust valves, thereby improving the state of combustion.
A still further conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-12724. According to a combustion chamber structure in an internal combustion engine disclosed in this publication, a depression-like cavity is formed in a piston crown and two spark plugs are disposed in a cylinder head in such a manner that the respective tips face the interior of the cavity in a radially spaced relation to each other on one side in the cylinder. The cavity is formed in a sectorial shape in plan so as to be narrow toward the center of the piston in an area spaced radially away from the two spark plugs and wider toward the peripheral edge portion of the piston in an opposite area. This shape of the cavity is effective in increasing the burning speed in the area where the flame propagation distance is long.
In the conventional internal combustion engines, as shown in FIGS. 54 and 55, two layers of tumbling flows are created within a combustion chamber 218 of an internal combustion engine 202 when intake air is fed into the combustion chamber 218 form intake ports 214-1 and 214-2 through two intake valves 222-1 and 222-2. In this case, if a crown 208a of a piston 208 is formed flat as in FIGS. 54 and 55, there arises an inconvenience in that trapping of fuel is not carried out effectively.
In an effort to eliminate such inconvenience it has been proposed to form a ball-like depression or a horseshoe-shaped enclosure at the piston crown to trap fuel by the depression or the enclosure and realize a stratified charge.
In an internal combustion engine having a large bore diameter, a ball-like depression or a horseshoe-shaped enclosure is formed so as to effect trapping of fuel relatively easily. But in an internal combustion engine having a small bore diameter, say, 80 mm or less, it is difficult to retain an air layer around an air-fuel mixture present at a central part and thus difficult to realize a stratified charge. It has been desired to remedy this point.
Additionally, in the case where a ball-like depression or a horseshoe-shaped enclosure is formed at the piston crown of the internal combustion engine, the weight balance of the piston is lost and causes a mechanical loss such as an increase of piston side thrust.

Combustion chamber structure in an internal combustion engine


An echo cancellation system for detecting and canceling echo from a network speech path, comprising a pool of echo locators for detecting pure echo delay and dispersion of time, a pool of echo cancellers, a pool of line watchdogs for detecting presence or absence of echo in the network speech path, and a control system for (i) locating and applying an echo locator from the pool of echo locators to the network speech path for detecting the pure echo delay and dispersion of time of any echo in the network speech path, and thereafter returning the echo locator to the pool of echo locators; (ii) locating and applying an echo canceller from the pool of echo cancellers to the network speech path for canceling the echo using the pure delay and dispersion time, and thereafter returning the echo canceller to the pool of echo cancellers; and (iii) locating and applying a line watchdog from the pool of line watchdogs to the network speech path for detecting said presence or absence of echo, and in the event the presence of said echo is detected then re-executing (i).

Echo cancellers are well known in the art for providing cancellation of echoes resulting from imperfect impedance matching by hybrids in two-to-four wire signal conversion. Prior art adaptive linear echo cancellers (LECs) employing the Least Mean Square (LMS) algorithm are useful in quickly adapting to changes in the echo path response. However, such systems are computationally complex and slow in adapting to changes in the echo path or a sudden onset of echo during a call.
It is also known from the prior art to use complex and expensive echo locators for the purpose of determining echo delay and the dispersion time.
The following patents are exemplary of the prior art:    CA2319639 entitled Locating Network Echos, by Popovic et al, dated Mar. 14, 2000.    U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,782 entitled Partitioned Echo Canceller Utilizing Decimation Echo Location, by Piket et al, dated Feb. 24, 1998.    U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,638 entitled Telephone Network Apparatus and Method Using Echo Delay and Attenuation, by Knittle et al, dated Jun. 2, 1998.    U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,901 entitled Telephone Network Apparatus and Method Using Echo Delay and Attenuation, by Knittle et al, dated Dec. 7, 1999.    U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,064 entitled Speech Path Switching Control Apparatus and Method for Making Maintenance of Speech Possible Upon Occurrence of Fault in Echo Cancellation, by Oh et. al, dated Apr. 23, 1996.


This invention provides composition and methods to prevent, treat or alleviate a symptom of ulcerative colitis comprising administering to a patient dolcanatide.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease that primarily affects the colonic mucosa and sub-mucosa. The most common symptoms of ulcerative colitis are ulcers and inflammation of the inner lining of the colon that lead to symptoms of bloody diarrhea, passage of pus, mucus, and abdominal cramping during bowel movements. Currently, there is no effective therapy to cure the disease. As such, treatment mainly depends on reduction of the symptoms. Most people with mild or moderate ulcerative colitis are treated with corticosteroids (dexamethasone, prednisone, methylprednisone, and hydrocortisone) to reduce inflammation and relieve symptoms. Other drugs typically used to treat symptoms include immunomodulators (azathioprine and 6-mercapto-purine) and aminosalicylates. Many of these drugs are associated with numerous side effects. Dexamethasone, for example, has many side effects on liver and kidney functions.
A need exists for compositions and methods to treat, prevent and alleviate one or more symptoms of ulcerative colitis without side effects

Formulations and methods for treating ulcerative colitis


A side-look sonar system and method apply a spotlight-mode synthetic aperture technique to provide increased image resolution and a long receive aperture. A control circuit activates mechanical drives to rotate projecting and receiving sonar transducers as the carrier vehicle on which the transducers are mounted moves relative to a target. The mechanical drives rotate the transducers as a function of the rate of movement of the carrier vehicle to direct receiving and projecting surfaces of the transducers at the target for an extended period of time. An image processor uses conventional beamforming techniques to form a high resolution image of the target based on the acoustic energy samples acquired by the receiving transducer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to side-look sonar systems, and more particularly to high resolution side-look sonar systems.
2. Description of Related Art
In a side-look sonar system, a sonar transducer transported by an underwater carrier vehicle projects pulses of acoustic energy laterally as the carrier vehicle moves relative to a target area. A beam of acoustic energy is reflected back from the target area and received by the receiving surface of a receiver transducer mounted on the side of the carrier vehicle. The side-look sonar system includes circuitry for processing the received acoustic energy to form an image of the target area on a display device. The displayed image consists of a pattern of highlights and shadows outlined to permit identification of the target area.
An increased demand for automatic target detection in side-look sonar systems has led to a need for extremely high resolution systems capable of providing precise target classification. For increased resolution, there have been developed side-look sonar systems that use a curved transducer formed by transducer segments arranged along the arc of a circle. In such a system, the curved transducer serves to focus acoustic energy reflected from the target area. Although the focused transducer may increase resolution, the acoustic energy is focused in a very small aperture.
High resolution can also be achieved in a side-look sonar system by extending the length of the transducer in a straight line. A longer transducer provides an increased receive aperture. However, practical limits on transducer length dictate that longer transducers be formed by a linear array of transducer segments. An excessive number of transducer segments undesirably complicates the system by necessitating additional processing channels. The increased size of a longer transducer also may lead to destabilization of the carrier vehicle. Moreover, acoustic energy having a curved wavefront may generate an unacceptable phase differential between individual transducer segments in the linear array.

Spotlight-mode synthetic aperture side-look sonar


A material handling system comprising one or more sub-systems and one or more sensing panels is provided. Each sensing panel may determine whether a mode control token is within a vicinity of the respective sensing panel. When the mode control token is within the vicinity of the respective sensing panel, the sensing panel may generate a signal, and when the mode is outside of the vicinity of the respective sensing panel, the generation of the signal is halted. The material handling system may further include a processor that enables at least one of the one or more sub-systems of the material handling system in response to the generated signal and disables each of the one or more sub-systems of the material handling system in response to a halting of the generation of the signal.

In warehouses and other worksites, the loading and unloading of objects such as cartons may require a material handling system that is able to move cartons from one location to another. One such example of a material handling system may include, but is not limited to, a robotic carton unloader. A robotic carton unloader may include one or more sub-systems such as, but not limited to, a robotic arm assembly and a conveyor system. A robotic arm assembly may be adapted to retrieve the carton from a carton pile and place the carton on a conveyor system. Thereafter, the conveyor system may be adapted to convey the carton to another location.
In some instances, some of the sub-systems of a material handling system may operate autonomously without manual intervention, and in other instances, some of the sub-systems of the material handling system may be disabled or carried out manually by a human operator. In these cases, the human operator may operate in tandem with the sub-systems that are enabled in the material handling system to perform a predetermined operation (e.g., moving the cartons from one location to another). Given that autonomous systems are used in conjunction with a human operator, these systems often fail to provide adequate safety measures to prevent injury to the human operator.

Methods and systems for operating a material handling system


This invention provides an ultrasonic phantom that can respond to different ultrasonic intensities. Such ultrasonic phantom comprises a gel comprising a low-boiling compound in the form of droplets sealed therein. The invention also provides an assay technique using such phantom. This invention enables regulation of components of droplets, droplet size, and the ultrasonic intensity at which droplets are vaporized upon mixing of droplets with different sizes. This enables visualization of whether or not ultrasound beams that exceed relevant different ultrasonic intensities have been applied.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a phantom that indicates a dose of ultrasound beams radiated from an ultrasonic device used for measurement, diagnosis, medical treatment, or other purposes.
2. Prior Art
In recent years, great importance tends to be attached to the quality of life of a patient after medical treatment for a disease. In the case of serious diseases such as cancer, the social demand for minimally invasive therapeutic methods is also increasing. At present, endoscopic operations or laparoscopic operations that involve insertion of a tubular guide into the body or radio-wave cautery that involves insertion of a needle-like therapeutic instrument into the body are mainly employed as minimally invasive treatment techniques in clinical practice, although such techniques involve invasion of the body with an instrument. In contrast, ultrasound beams can converge in an area of 1 cm×1 cm or smaller in the body from the outside of the body without insertion of an instrument into the body, based on the relation between wavelength and attenuation inside body. With the utilization of such properties, clinical application of minimally invasive ultrasonic therapy has begun. At present, the most clinically advanced ultrasonic therapeutic technique is the high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy, which is targeted at treating hysteromyoma and breast carcinoma. This therapeutic technique involves irradiation of an affected area with high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to raise the temperature at the affected area to a protein aggregation temperature or higher within several seconds, thereby cauterizing the tissue at the affected area. In addition to HIFU therapy, the following ultrasonic therapeutic techniques are available; for example, sonodynamic therapy that involves cauterization of a target such as a tumor using active oxygen resulting from a phenomenon referred to as acoustic cavitation with the utilization of the interaction between a sensitizer and a ultrasonic beam and ultrasound-accelerated drug therapy, which is intended to accelerate drug efficacy by improving the ability of a drug to permeate an affected area with the use of ultrasound beams in combination with an existing drug.
In these therapeutic techniques involving the use of ultrasound beams, an ultrasonic generator is not brought into contact with the area to be treated. This requires monitoring of the area of treatment via a diagnostic imaging apparatus or the like. In addition to monitoring, it is important that a treatment plan be designed in advance so as to apply an adequate dose of ultrasound beams to the area of treatment and so as to prevent an inadequately large dose of ultrasound beams from irradiating areas other than the area of treatment, in order to more accurately perform selective treatment.
A treatment plan refers to predetermination of an area that is to be irradiated with ultrasound beams. In order to confirm the effectiveness of the plan and whether or not the apparatus would function as planed, it is required to prepare an ultrasonic phantom that can mimic a living organism and that is constructed to indicate the degree of ultrasonic irradiation. It is also necessary to irradiate the ultrasonic phantom with ultrasound beams to confirm the conditions of ultrasonic irradiation with the use of the ultrasonic phantom, prior to the application of the treatment plan to a human body.
Up to the present, an ultrasonic phantom that allows visualization of secondary actions resulting from ultrasonic application instead of ultrasonic energy has been devised as ultrasonic phantom as mentioned above. An example thereof is an ultrasonic phantom that uses a soluble protein as an indicator to detect temperature increase resulting from ultrasonic irradiation (C. Lafon et al., Proc., IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium, pp. 1295-1298, 2001). This utilizes the phenomenon whereby a protein is solidified and aggregated upon thermal denaturation, which increases the light scattering intensity compared with that before denaturation. Also, with the utilization of the phenomenon whereby a substance having a higher oxidizing power, such as a hydroxyl radical, is generated as a result of acoustic cavitation upon ultrasonic irradiation, a reaction substrate that develops color upon oxidation may be used as an indicator to detect the degree of chemical reactions caused by ultrasonic irradiation (JP Patent Publication (kokai) No. H04-332541 A (1992)).


A specimen carrier for transporting conventional specimen tubes throughout an automatic laboratory conveyance system includes a generally rectilinear carrier body with a forward face having an identification zone delimited thereon. An identification code is marked in the identification zone so as to permit mechanical sensing and identification of the carrier on a conveyor system. A plurality of holes of various diameters and depths are provided in the top surface of the carrier to receive conventional specimen tubes of various types with the top ends of the specimen tubes located at a predetermined height above the top surface of the carrier.

Clinical laboratory testing has changed and improved remarkably over the past 70 years. Initially, tests or assays were performed manually, and generally utilized large quantities of serum, blood or other materials/body fluids. As mechanical technology developed in the industrial work place, similar technology was introduced into the clinical laboratory. With the introduction of new technology, methodologies were also improved in an effort to improve the quality of the results produced by the individual instruments, and to minimize the amount of specimen required to perform each test.
More recently, instruments have been developed to increase the efficiency of testing procedures by reducing turnaround time and decreasing the volumes necessary to perform various assays. Present directions in laboratory testing focus on cost containment procedures and instrumentation. Laboratory automation is one area in which cost containment procedures are currently being explored. Robotic engineering has evolved to such a degree that various types of robots have been applied in the clinical laboratory setting.
The main focus of prior art laboratory automation relies on the implementation of conveyor systems to connect areas of a clinical laboratory. Known conveyor systems in the laboratory setting utilize separate conveyor segments to move specimens from a processing station to a specific laboratory work station. In order to obtain cost savings, the specimens are sorted manually, and test tubes carrying the specimens are grouped in a carrier rack to be conveyed to a single specific location. In this way, a carrier will move a group of 5-20 specimens from a processing location to a specific work station for the performance of a single test on each of the specimens within the carrier rack.
With the advent of the inventor's new laboratory automation system as described in co-pending patent application Ser. No. 07/997,281, entitled "METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC TESTING OF LABORATORY SPECIMENS" the inventor has provided a laboratory automation system which requires a different type of specimen carrier. Because the new laboratory automation system of the co-pending patent application calls for identification and conveyance of an individual patient's specimens throughout the laboratory system, it is no longer feasible to utilize conventional specimen tube carrier racks.
Conventional specimen tube carrier racks suffer several drawbacks when considering use in the inventor's new laboratory automation system. First, prior art carrier racks were designed to hold a single type of specimen tube within a rack. Thus, more than one rack would be required for different sizes and types of specimen tubes.
Also, it was not possible to identify the specimen rack and correlate specific test tubes with an individual rack, for independent conveyance throughout a laboratory system.
Finally, in the automated laboratory setting, prior art racks were not provided with structure for permitting separation of the racks for individual guidance through a conveyor system.

Board of Regents - University of Nebraska


A terahertz quantum cascade laser device includes a substrate, q semiconductor stacked body and a first electrode. The semiconductor stacked body includes an active layer and a first clad layer. The active layer is provided on the substrate and is configured to emit infrared laser light by an intersubband optical transition. The first clad layer is provided on the active layer. A ridge waveguide is provided in the semiconductor stacked body. A first distributed feedback region and a second distributed feedback region are provided at an upper surface of the first clad layer to be separated from each other along an extension direction of the ridge waveguide. The first electrode is provided at the upper surface of the first clad layer. A planar size of the first distributed feedback region is smaller than a planar size of the second distributed feedback region.

For example, a designated substance inside a paper bag, etc., can be detected using a terahertz wave of a frequency of 30 GHz to 30 THz.
However, it is difficult to generate a terahertz wave using a high frequency circuit.
A terahertz wave is generated as a difference frequency wave when dual-wavelength infrared laser light is generated from a KTP (KTiOP4)-OPO (Optical Parametric Oscillator) and irradiated on a nonlinear crystal. However, the configuration is complex.


For the continuous wet heat treatment in the processing of a cloth comprising transporting the cloth continuously through a plurality of high pressure steamer bodies having different functions and being connected directly with each other under a saturated water vapor at a relatively low temperature of about 130.degree. C. to subject the cloth to different kinds of treatments therein. A plurality of high pressure steamer bodies, which may have different functions, transport a cloth continuously therethrough, the steamer bodies are composed of universal units arranged transversely, provided respectively with a cloth inlet and a cloth outlet situated at the same level and connected directly with each other by joining the cloth inlet and outlet of the adjacent steamer bodies, and with the cloth inlet and the cloth outlet situated at the opposite ends of the combined steam bodies each having a seal mechanism. A modification involves dividing the high pressure steamer bodies into at least one steamer body for preliminary wet heat treatment of a cloth and two or more steamer bodies for final wet heat treatment thereof, and this arrangement is particularly suitable for dyeing a cloth containing polyester fibers by wet heat treatment to render the surface of the cloth rough by the preliminary wet heat treatment.

The present invention relates to a method of performing continuous wet heat treatment of a cloth advantageously in the processing thereof, such as in scouring, bleaching, desizing, weight reduction and dyeing. The present inventive method is particularly suitable for dyeing a cloth containing polyester fibers by wet heat treatment.
In dyeing cloths such as woven and knitted goods, for instance, it has been well known that an excellent and high speed dyeing can be done, giving a superior dye fixability, by subjecting a cloth impregnated with a dye solution to a wet heat treatment in a high pressure steamer under high temperature and high pressure water vapor to fix the dye firmly on the cloth, and a discontinuous dyeing method such as a batch process has been adopted therefor conventionally. However, in such a discontinuous method, there are useless features, such as the energy loss in replacing cloth and the loss of dye solution. Particularly, in a commercial mass production, the replacement of cloth in a batch consumes largely labor and cost, and moreover, uniform dyeing cannot be expected.
Under such circumstances, a high pressure steamer for continuous use has been developed by the present applicant, in which a cloth impregnated with a dye solution is transported continuously through the high pressure steamer body by maintaining the interior thereof with a saturated water vapor at about 160.degree. C., and the apparatus is under practical application.
However, since the apparatus is capable of raising the temperature of the interior very high, for instance up to about 160.degree. C. and the wet heat treatment is done at about this temperature, the apparatus becomes a giant one chiefly from the point of the resistance against pressure, and consequently there occur such defects that the construction cost is high, the transportation and establishment of the apparatus are not convenient and a large space is needed for its establishment, thus elevating the fixed costs remarkably.
In the high pressure steamer, further, whereas liquid tanks are provided in the steamer body to take in treating liquids so as to finish the dyeing and preliminary washing of the cloth in the course of transporting the cloth through the steamer body, the size of a liquid tank is unavoidably restricted in a steamer body with a limited space and consequently boiling treatment and particularly preliminary washing can hardly be done sufficiently in situ in the steamer body, so that there occurs such a drawback that it needs a a large amount of water and a prolonged time in washing the cloth after it is taken out from the steamer.

Method of continuously effecting the wet heat treatment of a cloth


A pattern can be precisely formed by irradiating, with an active energy beam, a positive sensitive resin composition according to this invention comprising a base polymer, an ether-bond-containing olefinic unsaturated compound and an acid-generating agent, where the base polymer is a copolymer comprising the structural units represented by formulas (1) to (3):

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a positive sensitive resin composition comprising a novel copolymer of 4-(1-methylethenyl)phenol, a (meth)acrylate and a (meth)acrylic acid (PIPE copolymer), an ether-bond-containing olefinic unsaturated compound and an acid-generating agent, as well as a process for forming a resist pattern therewith. In particular, it relates to a positive sensitive resin composition comprising a copolymer of 4-(1-methylethenyl)phenol, a (meth)acrylate and a (meth)acrylic acid useful as a base polymer, an ether-bond-containing olefinic unsaturated compound and an acid-generating agent, as well as a process for forming a resist pattern by applying or adhering the composition to a substrate and then irradiating it with an active energy beam such as ultraviolet rays, visible light and heat rays for developing it.
2. Description of the Related Art
A resist material in combination with an exposure technique has been utilized in lithography such as patterned circuit formation in an electron device and printing.
An application of such patterned circuit formation in an electron device may be, for example, a process for manufacturing a color filter for a variety of multicolored liquid-crystal color displays such as a liquid-crystal color television.
Such a color filter has been conventionally manufactured by, for example, screen printing and electrodeposition. However, as a color display has been improved for its resolution, it has been more important to refine a pattern. Thus, a variety of patterning processes utilizing photolithography has been investigated.
For example, JP-A 8-94827 has disclosed a process for manufacturing a color filter comprising the steps of [1] forming a transparent conductive layer on a transparent substrate; [2] forming a positive photosensitive coating layer; [3] exposing a part of the transparent conductive layer; [4] forming a colored area by electrodeposition; and [5] repeating the steps [3] and [4] as required. Of these steps, a pattern refinement level depends on the steps [2] and [3], in which photolithography is used. In particular, it significantly depends on a positive photosensitive composition applied on the transparent conductive layer. The above invention employs a positive photosensitive composition essentially comprising (a) a polymer containing both carboxyl and hydroxyphenyl groups in one molecule, (b) a compound containing two or more vinyl ether groups in one molecule, and (c) a compound generating an acid by irradiating an active energy beam.
This photosensitive composition is developed as follows; by heating the film on which the positive photosensitive composition has been applied, an addition reaction of the carboxyl group and/or hydroxyphenyl group with the vinyl ether group forms a crosslink, which is insoluble to a solvent or an alkali developing solution, and then, after irradiating with an active energy beam and then, as necessary, heating the film, an acid generated in the irradiated area acts as a catalyst to cleave the crosslink structure and thus to again make the irradiated area soluble to a solvent or an alkali developing solution. For further improving a resolution, a preferable polymer (base polymer) in a positive photosensitive composition is one containing both carboxyl and hydroxyphenyl groups in one molecule which meets all the following five requirements as much as possible;    (a) a higher solubility to a solution which solves a crosslinking agent, an acid-generating agent and others (solvent solubility);    (b) a certain dissolution rate of the cloven crosslink moieties in an alkali developing solution after exposure (dissolution rate in an alkali developing solution);    (c) good diffusivity of an acid generated by irradiation with an active energy beam (acid diffusivity);    (d) transparency of a photosensitive coating at an exposure wavelength (transparency); and    (e) thermal stability during the heating step after application of the film and exposure (thermal stability).
As an example of a polymer meeting these requirements somewhat, a copolymer from p-hydroxystyrene, n-butyl acrylate and acrylic acid has been disclosed in, for example, JP-As 8-94827 and 8-94829. We have, however, investigated the copolymer for its performance and have concluded that it is insufficiently soluble in a solvent or thermally stable.
JP-A 61-293249 has disclosed a binary copolymer of 4-(1-methylethenyl)phenol and n-butyl acrylate as an example of a copolymer for a resin composition exhibiting damping property. The copolymer has an extremely lower dissolution rate in an alkali developing solution and is poorly compatible with a vinyl ether compound. It cannot be, therefore, used as it is.

Positive sensitive resin composition and a process for forming a resist pattern therewith

Abstract: where R1 and R3 are each independently hydrogen or methyl and R2 is C1-C6 straight or branched unsubstituted alkyl or C1-C6 straight or branched substituted alkyl,

Abstract: wherein a, b and c are 0.05 to 0.7, 0.15 to 0.8 and 0.01 to 0.5, respectively and a+b+c=1.


The present invention provides a support duct for a gas turbine engine. The supported duct comprises at least one support frame having an aperture defined by an upper aperture wall, a lower aperture wall and opposing aperture side walls. It further comprises a duct extending through aperture, the duct comprising an upper panel in abutment with the upper aperture wall, a lower panel in abutment with the lower aperture wall and opposing side walls extending between the upper and lower panels. The opposing side walls of the duct are spaced from the opposing aperture side walls.

With reference to FIG. 1, a two spool low bypass ratio engine is generally indicated at 10 and has a principal and rotational axis X-X. The engine comprises, in axial flow series, an air intake 11, a propulsive fan 12, a high-pressure compressor 14, combustion equipment 15, a high-pressure turbine 16, a low-pressure turbine 18, and an exhaust duct 19.
During operation, air entering the intake 11 is accelerated by the fan 12 to produce two air flows: a first air flow A into the high pressure compressor 14 and a second air flow B which passes through the bypass duct 22 to provide propulsive thrust. The high pressure compressor 14 compresses the air flow A directed into it.
The compressed air exhausted from the high-pressure compressor 14 is directed into the combustion equipment 15 where it is mixed with fuel and the mixture combusted. The resultant hot combustion products then expand through, and thereby drive the high and low-pressure turbines 16, 18 before being exhausted through the duct 19 to provide additional propulsive thrust. The high and low-pressure turbines respectively drive the high pressure compressor 14, and the fan 12 by suitable interconnecting shafts.
The exhaust duct 19 is typically circular in cross-section and therefore force concentrations and excessive hoop stress are avoided. The duct does not need additional support from the airframe and so the duct can be sufficiently isolated from the airframe to avoid any problems arising from differences in thermal expansion/contraction between the duct and airframe.
It is known to provide an exhaust duct with a non-circular cross-sectional profile. For example, in stealth applications it is desirable to reduce the radar visibility of the exhaust duct. A non-circular exhaust duct introduces additional hoop stresses which must either be accommodated by support from the airframe or the duct must be thickened or reinforcement in the form of stringers must be provided. The thickening/reinforcement increases manufacturing costs and engine operating costs due to the increased weight of material. Providing support from the airframe is problematic owing to the differences in thermal expansion/contraction between the exhaust duct and the airframe.


A humidifier comprising a bucket housing, a fan for producing a flow of air between an inlet port and an outlet port defined by the humidifier, a motor having a shaft disposed within the humidifier, and an impeller assembly coupled to the shaft of the motor, the impeller assembly comprising a hollow stem extending into the bucket housing and having longitudinal ribs disposed within the stem, and a disk disposed on an upper end of the stem, the disk defining an inner annular shoulder, an outer annular shoulder, a circumferential edge and a plurality of circumferentially spaced apertures disposed between the inner and outer annular shoulders.

Mechanical spin disk type humidifiers are generally known and have enjoyed commercial success due to their ability to introduce a considerable volume of water into a room without materially influencing the ambient temperature therein. Longstanding problems associated with known mechanical spin disk humidifiers which inject water droplets upwardly into a room include "spitting" and "weeping." Spitting may be defined as the falling to the floor or other surfaces of large droplets before evaporation occurs. Further, water droplets which were small enough to be lifted by the rising air column would collide with other medium-sized droplets to form large droplets which would again fall before evaporating. Weeping occurs when large water droplets form within the humidifier housing near the exhaust port and the rush of forced air egressing therefrom lifts the large water droplets out of the housing where they subsequently fall onto the top of the housing giving the appearance that the housing was weeping.
Another problem associated with known spin disk or "heatless" humidifiers, due in part to the spitting and weeping problems previously discussed, is their inability to discharge a satisfactory amount of water into the atmosphere over a given period of time. Such known spin disk humidifiers do not effectively humidify the air, especially as the air in the room becomes more humid since the larger water particles produced by known spin disk humidifiers do not readily evaporate and fall out of the air.
Thus, there is a need for an improved humidifier which consistently produces and emits a satisfactory volume of very fine water particles in order to overcome spitting, weeping and poor humidification problems associated with known spin disk humidifiers.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide an improved spin disk humidifier which atomizes and introduces into the ambient air a profusion of very fine water particles which readily evaporate before falling.
It is also desirable to provide an improved spin disk humidifier which prevents large droplets of water from forming within the housing and being carried by forced air through the discharge port.
It is further desirable to provide a spin disk humidifier in which the air flow therethrough has been maximized to propel the atomized water particles higher into the air to increase the chances that they will evaporate before falling.


A Rho kinase inhibitor is provided as a novel pharmaceutical agent, particularly as a therapeutic agent of hypertension, a therapeutic agent of angina pectoris, a suppressive agent of cerebrovascular contraction, a therapeutic agent of asthma, a therapeutic agent of peripheral circulation disorder, a prophylactic agent of immature birth, a therapeutic agent of arteriosclerosis, an anti-cancer drug, an anti-inflammatory agent, an immunosuppressant, a therapeutic agent of autoimmune disease, an anti-AIDS drug, a contraceptive, a prophylactic agent of digestive tract infection, a therapeutic agent of osteoporosis, a therapeutic agent of retinopathy and a brain function improving drug. In addition, the Rho kinase inhibitor is provided as a reagent and a diagnostic.

Ever since the discovery of Ras in 1981, a number of small GTP binding proteins (small G proteins) similar to Ras have been found, and many physiological functions they possess have been studied. These small G proteins have a molecular weight of 20,000-30,000 and do not have a subunit structure. They all specifically bind GDP and GTP, and hydrolyze the thus-bound GTP (GTPase activity) (Hall, A., Science, 249, 635-640, 1990; Bourne, H. R. et al., Nature, 349, 117-127, 1991).
To date, more than 50 kinds of genes encoding these small G proteins have been found from yeast to mammals, forming a superfamily. These small G proteins are largely divided into 5 groups of Ras, Rho, Rab, Arf and others, according to the similarity of amino acid sequences.
Of these, Rho was named so because its gene isolated in the form of cDNA from sea hare neuromuscle encodes a polypeptide having about 35% homology with Ras (Ras homologue) (Madaule, P., Cell, 41, 31-40, 1985).
Rho is specifically ADP ribosylated by C3 enzyme, which is one of the botulinum toxins, and Staphylococcal toxin EDIN, and inactivated (Narumiya, S. and Morii, S., Cell Signal, 5, 9-19, 1993; Sekine, A. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 264, 8602-8605, 1989). Hence, the C3 enme and EDIN were used to study the involvement of Rho in cell functions from various aspects.
For example, phosphorylation by myosin light chain (MLC) kinase is considered to enable actin * myosin interaction and initiate contraction of smooth muscle, and the structure of smooth muscle myosin phosphatase which dephosphorylates MLC has been clarified (Shimizu, H. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 269, 30407-30411, 1994). It has been clarified that the activity of myosin phosphatase is, like MLC kinase, under the control of the intracellular signal transduction system and Rho is involved in this mechanism. Moreover, an active Rho bound with GTP has been found to enhance Ca-dependent contraction in a smooth muscle skinned fiber specimen (Hirata, K., J. Biol. Chem., 267,8719-8722, 1992), thereby suggesting that the increase in Ca sensitivity in smooth muscle contraction is caused by the inhibition of myosin phosphatase activity via Rho.
In Swiss 3T3 cell and 3Y 1 cell, moreover, Rho-dependent promotion of tyrosine phosphorylation (Kumagai, N. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270, 8466-8473, 1993) and activation of many kinds of serine/threonine kinases (Kumagai, N. et al., FEBS Lett., 366, 11-16, 1995) have been acknowledged. From this, the presence of plural protein kinases in the downstream of Rho in the signal transduction pathway via Rho has been suggested and, actually, ROC.alpha. (Leung, T. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270,29051-29054, 1995) [another name Rho-kinase, ROCK-II] and p160ROCK (Ishizaki, T. et al., The EMBO J., 15(8), 1885-1893, 1996) [another name ROC.beta., ROCK-I] have been reported as serine/threonine kinase (Rho kinase) activated along with the activation of Rho. It has been also reported that biological distribution of the both enzymes is different (Nakagawa, O. et al., FEBS Lett. 392 189-193, 1996). In addition, it has been reported that this Rho kinase directly phosphorylates myosin phosphatase and inhibits its activity (Kimura, K. et al., Science, 273, 245-248, 1996).
Rho has been documented to be responsible for the activation of not only protein kinase but also lipid kinase (Zang, J. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 268, 22251-22254, 1993), and the presence of phospholipase (PLD) activated by Rho has been also suggested (Siddiqi, A. R. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 268, 24535-24538, 1995).
Control by Rho of the motility of Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts in the presence of serum, motility of keratinocyte 303R by HGF and TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate), spontaneously occurred and chemoatractant mediated motility of neutrophils have been reported (Takai, Y. et al., Trends Biochem. Sci., 20,227-231, 1995), and control of the permeation of liver cancer cell (MM1 cell), which is one of the metastatic cancer models, through cultured mesothelial layer by the activation of Rho has been reported (Yoshioka, K. et al., FEBS Lett., 372, 25-28, 1995), thereby suggesting the involvement of Rho in cell motility.
Meanwhile, in the cells derived from nerves, such as neuroblastoma, PC-12 cells and the like, retraction of neurite and rounding of the cell by lysophosphatidic acid, which is an activation stimulant of Rho, have been acknowledged. Inasmuch as this retraction can be inhibited by C3 enzyme treatment (Jalink, K. et al., J. Cell Biol., 126, 801-810, 1994) and the formation of ringed structure of podosome, which separates the site where dissolution and absorption of bone take place in the clear zone of osteoclast from the surrounding, is inhibited by C3 enzyme treatment (Zhang, D. et al., J. Cell Sci., 108, 2285-2292, 1995), a deep involvement of Rho in the morphological changes in cells has been suggested.
In addition, C3 enzyme treatment reportedly inhibits activation of an adhesion molecule such as LFA (leukocyte function-associated antigen) and the like, and C3 enzyme treatment reportedly inhibits proliferation of Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts (Yamamoto, M. et al., Oncogene, 8, 1449-1455, 1993). Thus, Rho reportedly controls cell adhesion and cell division via actin cytoskeleton, and is also concerned with the transcription control of c-fos gene (Hill, C. S. et al., Cell, 81, 1159-1170, 1995) and transformation of cell (Khosravi-Far, R. et al., Mol. Cell Biol., 15(11), 6443-6453, 1995).
In view of the inhibition of invasion of dysentery bacillus into epithelial cells by C3 enzyme, a recent report has documented the deep involvement of Rho in bacterial infection (Adam, T. et al., The EMBO J., 15(13), 3315, 1996).
In pregnant rats, moreover, the levels of Rho and Rho kinase are reported to be higher as compared to nonpregnant rats (Niiro, N. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 230, 356-359, 1997), and deep involvement of Rho and Rho kinase in muscle contraction of uterus for childbirth has been known. Further, integrin (Sueoka, K. et al., Fertility & Sterility, 67(5) 799-811, 1997) considered to be involved in the cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix adhesion during the stages of fertilization, embryogenesis and embryonidation is known to be activated by Rho (Morii, N. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 267, 20921-20926, 1992).
Hence, it has been made clear that Rho is activated upon receipt of signals from various cell membrane receptors and the activated Rho functions as a molecule switch of a broad range of cell phenomena, such as smooth muscle contraction, cell motility, cell adhesion, morphological changes of cell, cell growth and the like, via actomyosin system.
Smooth muscle contraction is significantly involved in the disease states of hypertension, angina pectoris, cerebrovascular contraction, asthma, peripheral circulation disorder, imminent immature birth and the like; cell motility plays an important role in invasion and metastasis of cancer, arteriosclerosis, retinopathy, immune response and the like; cell adhesion is deeply involved in metastasis of cancer, inflammation, autoimmune disease, AIDS, fertilization and nidation of fertilized egg and the like; morphological change of cell is deeply involved in brain function disorder, osteoporosis, bacterial infection of digestive tract and the like; and cell growth is deeply involved in cancer, arteriosclerosis and the like. Therefore, a drug that blocks the functions of Rho is considered to make a therapeutic agent for these diseases in which Rho plays some role.
At present, however, only C3 enzyme and EDIN can inhibit the actions of Rho. These are proteins which cannot permeate cytoplasm, which prevents their development as a pharmaceutical agent.
On the other hand, inhibition of Rho kinase, which is considered to be present downstream of the signal transduction pathway via Rho, is considered to lead to the inhibition of responses of various cell phenomena due to Rho. However, a specific inhibitor of Rho kinase has not been known to date.
It is expected, therefore, that by searching a compound that inhibits Rho kinase, such Rho kinase inhibitor will be an effective agent for the prophylaxis and/or treatment of the above-mentioned diseases and phenomena relating to Rho, such as hypertension, angina pectoris, cerebrovascular contraction, asthma, peripheral circulation disorder, immature birth, arteriosclerosis, cancer, inflammation, immune disease, autoimmune disease, AIDS, fertilization and nidation of fertilzed egg, osteoporosis, retinopathy, brain function disorder, bacterial infection of digestive tract and the like.
The compound of the formula (I) is already known to be useful as an agent for the prophylaxis and treatment of circulatory disorder in coronary, cerebral, renal and peripheral arteries and the like (e.g., a potent and long lasting therapeutic agent of hypertension, angina pectoris, renal and peripheral circulation disorder, and suppressive agent of cerebrovascular contraction and the like), as well as a therapeutic agent of asthma (Japanese Patent Unexined Publication No. 62-89679, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 3-218356, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 4-273821, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 5-194401, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 6-41080 and WO95/28387 and the like).
The compound of the formula (II) is already known to be useful as a vasodilator, a therapeutic agent of hypertension, a brain function improving agent, an anti-asthma agent, a heart protection agent, a platelet aggregation inhibitor, a psychosyndrome treating agent, an anti-inflammatory agent and an agent for the prophylaxis and treatment of hyperviscosity syndrome (Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 57-200366, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 61-227581, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2-256617, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 4-264030, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 6-56668, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No.6-80569, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 6-293643, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 7-41424 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 7-277979).
However, these compounds of the formula (I) or (II) are not known to block the functions of Rho or to have Rho kinase inhibitory action.

Medicines comprising Rho kinase inhibitor

Yoshitomi Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd.


The present disclosure provides a pressure peak reduction valve for an excavator. The pressure peak reduction valve includes at least: a poppet seat which has an inlet port, and at least one communication hole which communicates with a hydraulic tank and is formed in an outer circumferential surface of the poppet seat; a main poppet which slides in the poppet seat; a poppet spring which is provided in the main poppet; a valve seat which has one end portion inserted into the main poppet so as to be in contact with one end portion of the poppet spring; a cone which is provided to be inserted into an openable hole formed at an end portion of the valve seat; an adjustment screw which is provided in the valve seat; and a piston which slides in the adjustment screw.

In general, as a hydraulic system for a construction machine, an open center type hydraulic system and a closed center type hydraulic system are used. There is a negative control system as the open center type hydraulic system, and there are a positive control system and a load sensing system as the closed center type hydraulic system.
Typically, in a case in which the closed center type hydraulic system for an excavator, which uses a pressure control type electrohydraulic pump, is suddenly stopped or a hydraulic cylinder reaches an end stroke during operation, a swash plate angle of the hydraulic pump is decreased.
As the swash plate angle of the hydraulic pump is decreased, a pressure peak instantaneously occurs due to the amount of oil discharged from the hydraulic pump.
The pressure peak, which occurs as described above, has an adverse effect on hydraulic components of the hydraulic system, and as a result, there are problems in that durability of the components deteriorate, and noise occurs due to friction between the hydraulic components.
To solve the aforementioned problems, a relief valve, which has constant operating pressure, is widely used. However, there is a problem in that there is no method of removing a pressure peak in a case in which the pressure peak occurs below pressure set for the relief valve.

Pressure peak reduction valve for excavator and pressure peak reduction system for excavator comprising same


A lighting device includes a power converter, a second switching element and a microcomputer. The power converter is configured to convert DC power that is received from a power supply, and supply an output obtained by the conversion to a load. The second switching element is configured to short-circuit at least one LED of a plurality of LEDs, as part of the load. The microcomputer is configured to control the power converter, and control switching on/off of the second switching element. The microcomputer is configured to reduce an output current of the power converter, in a case where a power supply voltage of the battery is a reference voltage or less. A reduction amount of the output current in an on-state of the second switching element is lower than the reduction amount of the output current in an off-state of the second switching element.

Conventionally, the number of vehicles including, as a headlight, an HID (High Intensity Discharged) lamp instead of a halogen lamp had been increased, in order to improve the visibility (brightness). However, recently, due to the improvement of luminous efficiency of an LED (light emitting diode), mass production of vehicles including, as the headlight, the LED has been already started. For example, JP2011-113643A (hereinafter, referred to as "document 1") discloses a lighting device, which is configured to light a headlight that is an LED.
The lighting device in the document 1 includes a converter, a voltage detector, a current detector, a controller and a temperature detector. The converter is configured to convert a DC voltage, received from a DC power supply, into a voltage at which a load (LED) can be lighted. The voltage detector is configured to detect an output voltage of the converter, or a value corresponding to the output voltage. The current detector is configured to detect an output current of the converter, or a value corresponding to the output current. The controller is configured to control the converter based on a value detected by the voltage detector and/or the current detector. The temperature detector is configured to detect the temperature of the lighting device, or a value corresponding to the temperature.
When the temperature detected by the temperature detector becomes higher than a predetermined temperature, the controller is configured to reduce the output current according to the elapsed time. Therefore, this lighting device can suppress an increase of a circuit loss at a high temperature, and prevent a failure in the device.
However, if the output current to be supplied to the load is reduced as the above conventional example, luminous flux of the load is decreased, and accordingly, there is a possibility that sufficient illumination cannot be provided. For example, in a case where the load is a headlight, the luminous flux of the load upon lighting of a passing light (so-called low-beam) is lower than that upon lighting of a running light (so-called high-beam). In addition, a lighting distribution area upon lighting of the low-beam is more strictly limited depending on the standard, compared with that upon lighting of the high-beam. Therefore, if the control of reducing the output current is performed upon lighting of the low-beam, illumination of the low-beam cannot be provided sufficiently, and accordingly, there is a possibility that visibility of a driver is reduced.

Lighting device, headlight apparatus using the same, and vehicle using the same

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.