A compacting granulator for continuous, compacting granulation comprises a substantially horizontal rotatable drum, through which an eccentric shaft extends, which carries compacting means which partly transfer substantial amounts of energy to the granulate possible for attainment of a high degree of compacting, partly hurl up the material under treatment, so that the material, while hurled up, is brought in intimate contact with a treatment liquid sprayed through the nozzle. A stationary scraper as well as nozzles with individual feed supply ensures great flexibility and a reliable operation.

The invention relates to a compacting granulator for continuous, compacting granulation and possible simultaneous mixing of at least one powdery or pasty material under supply of at least one fluid in a drum.
In many industries producing or handling powdery materials a granulating or agglomerating treatment is performed for making the materials less dusty, to increase their flowability, to make them easier to dose or in general easier to handle or to give them a desired appearance, by which treatment the primary particles and/or small agglomerate granules are united for the formation of bigger agglomerate granules. It may also be of interest to produce granulate on the basis of pasty starting materials, possibly with the addition of dry, powdery components.
Examples of such industrial branches, in which such processes take place, are the detergent industry, the fertilizer industry and the food, drink and tobacco industry as well as the pharmaceuticals industry and the metallurgical industry.
The attainment of agglomerated particles is achieved by use of widely differing measures either as part of a drying or production process or as a pre-treatment and by use of binding forces which are either present spontaneously or provided by the supply of suitable liquid or vaporous auxiliary means.
Many agglomeration processes, as for instance those performed in connection with a spray drying or a subsequent treatment in a fluidized bed, however, entail a reduction of the powder density of the material, also called the bulk weight, which in respect of a lot of products is undesirable, i.e. on account of increased packing and transport costs. To this may be added that the consumers wishes for instance within the detergent area tend to go towards more concentrated products, for the production of which components with relatively high powder density are used.
It is known that in connection with the selection of detergent components in a particular ratio, by mechanical treatment of the powdery material derived from spray drying by addition of a tenside acting as a binding agent, a detergent agglomerate with increased powder density is obtained, presumably because the mechanical treatment results in dense agglomerates with comparatively little interspace air between the primary particles.
Such a treatment is disclosed in published Danish Patent Application No. 1823/89, in which it is proposed to perform the agglomeration or the granulation while the material passes through a horizontal or slightly tilting mixing drum, in the interior of which a central, rotatable shaft is provided, the shaft carrying several radially directed impact tools. The mixing drum itself is stationary, and the passage of the material through the drum is therefore exclusively controlled by the impact tools.
Related apparatuses are known which have a horizontal, rotating mixing drum, in which a stirring shaft, which is parallel to the axis of the cylinder, but positioned under and at the side thereof, rotates in the same direction as the drum, see Japanese Patent Application 79-23438 (publication no. 80-116690). The described apparatus is for use in the manufacture of phosphate fertilizer with a surface layer of water-soluble phosphoric acid, the most important task being to distribute the liquid phosphoric acid on the phosphate granules. Inter alia as a consequence of the fact that the mixing shaft is adapted to rotate fairly slowly and that the design of the apparatus does not make an effective control possible of the staying time of the material in the apparatus and consequently the particle size, it will be obvious that this known apparatus is not suited for a real compacting granulation for the attainment of dense agglomerate particles with high density. Furthermore, the apparatus is not suited for treating material which consists of so small particles, that it is not flowing freely.
In addition to this many mixing apparatuses are known, in which large shear forces are exerted on the material to be mixed (high shear mixers) and which are provided with a fast rotating impeller, which apparatuses may also be used for agglomeration, for instance in connection with the spraying of a suitable liquid. However, it is here substantially the question of apparatuses working batchwise and which are less suited for industrial production on a large scale.
Within the detergent industry the apparatuses used for agglomeration and compacting comprise i.a. an apparatus which combines a mixing in a V-shaped chamber with the impact from an impeller. The compacting ability of these apparatuses does not, however, reach the desired level.
A granulator is required which combines the following properties or characteristics:
1. Continuous operation PA1 2. The possibility of obtaining more compact agglomerates than can be obtained with known apparatuses with a single passage of the material to be treated PA1 3. Big production capacity PA1 4. The possibility of obtaining a narrow granule size distribution, and PA1 5. General applicability for treatment of very differing materials without operational complications. PA1 i) a drum rotatable around a substantially horizontal longitudinal axis, said drum having a length which is bigger than its diameter, and means for introducing pasty or powdery material at one end and means for removing granulate at the opposite end, PA1 (ii) a shaft extending parallel with the longitudinal axis of the drum through the length of the drum placed eccentrically in the drum in a level below the longitudinal axis of the drum and displaced laterally in the rotational direction of the bottom part of the drum relative to the vertical plane through the longitudinal axis, said shaft being at at least the major part of its length present in the drum provided with compacting means, the parts of which that are farthest away from the shaft passing, when the shaft is rotating, through an area near the part of the drum wall which is closest to the shaft, PA1 iv) means for rotating the drum around its longitudinal axis as well as means for rotating said shaft in the same direction and with a number of revolutions, which may be adjusted to a value which during the running of the granulator is from 10 to 1000 times bigger than the number of revolutions of the drum for hurling up the tumbled material present in the drum such that it is thrown through a path outside the area, where the product would be present in the drum, was it not influenced by the compacting means, PA1 iv) at least one scraper arranged stationarily in the drum for removing material from the inner wall of the drum for uniting it with material uphurled by the compacting means and PA1 v) at least one nozzle for distributing at least one fluid in the part of the drum which is passed by the material in uphurled state.
It has turned out that the possibility of meeting the requirements 2 and 4, i.e. the attainment of particularly compact agglomerates with narrow granule size distribution, does not solely have as a prerequisite that the mechanical conditions are present, in this respect the sufficient working energy, to obtain an effective compacting, but also to a very high extent the prerequisite of imparting to the material being treated a particularly homogenous moistening or contact with the agglomeration fluid used in the process.
In the known apparatuses of the type comprising a drum, the granulation fluid is introduced in form of a liquid or vapour, the latter being condensed on the powdery material, by means of nozzles which are either placed where the very powder mass is present during the operation of the apparatus or placed above the powder and adapted to distribute fluid on the surface formed by the powdery layer during its tumbling in the drum. Since the speed of the turning over of the powder is limited, the distribution of the liquid sprayed on or condensed becomes insufficient in the powder mass, the particles close to the surface of the powder layer being strongly moistened, whereas the particles positioned deeper in the powdery layer will have to participate in the tumbling process caused by the rotation of the drum for a long time before ending in the surface layer, where the moistening takes place. Thus, there are in the known apparatuses far from optimum conditions in respect of obtaining a homogenous moistening.
A more homogenous contact between the material in the drum and the agglomeration fluid blown in is achieved when this contact takes place while the material is projected in the air space in the drum, such that the powdery particles do not touch each other at the time of contact. As in the case in the known agglomeration processes in a fluidized bed, a considerably more homogenous moistening is obtained than would be the case if it took place while the particles were in mutual contact. When a particle projected in the air contacts a drop of liquid, the drop is evenly distributed on the surface of the particle. If, however, a drop of liquid hits a material which is in such a condition that the particles are in contact, the liquid will first and foremost penetrate into the interspaces between the particles and cause a very random and inhomogeneous conglomeration thereof.
This perception is used in the granulator according to the invention which better than any known apparatus is capable of meeting the combination of requirements listed above under 1-5. This granulator is according to the invention characteristic in comprising


The invention relates to compositions in the form of a powder or granules containing L-ascorbic acid and/or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and pectin in a quantity within the range of about 0.1 to about 10% by weight.

Different methods have been suggested for producing L-ascorbic acid powder or granules, which are directly compressible into tablets. Today, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) and starch are considered standard binders for producing such powders and granules. For sugar-free and starch-free tablets, the powder or granules are generally produced with HPMC as a binder, although the color stability of such powders or granules, and tablets obtained therefrom, is not sufficient.


The present invention is directed to methods of treating autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss in a patient by orally administering a human immunoglobulin preparation to the patient.

Of the 25 million people who are hearing impaired, 85% suffer from sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), a loss of hearing due to decreased hearing nerve function. There are various forms of inner ear disorders causing SNHL, including Meniere's disease, viral labyrinthitis, perilymph fistula, otosyphilis, and congenial or hereditary deafness. Sensorineural hearing loss is generally accompanied by ear fullness, tinnitus and disturbance of balance. A number of medical, dietary and surgical treatments are available for SNHL. See, e.g., Hicks and Wright III (1991) Indiana Medicine 84(8): 450-544.
Autoimmune sensorineural hearing loss (ASNHL) has been considered by some as a separate entity of SNHL and by others as a cause for various forms of SNHL. ASNHL is characterized by progressive unilateral or bilateral deafness that, in its incipient stages, may fluctuate or become sudden and profound. The symptoms of ASNHL are quite similar to other forms of SNHL. ASNHL is believed to occur when the body's immune system attacks and progressively destroys the inner ear. The pathogenesis of ASNHL includes vasculitis of vessels supplying the inner ear, autoantibodies directed against inner ear antigenic epitopes or cross-reacting antibodies. See, e.g., Hicks and Wright III (1991) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,282 to Harris.
A traditional line of therapy for ASNHL has been oral or parenteral administration of various immunosuppressants including steroids, cytotoxic drugs (such as cyclophosphamide) or methotrexate. Steroid therapy is associated with various side effects, such as weight gain, facial puffiness and constitutional changes (Sismanis et al., Laryngoscope 104: 932-934, 1994). Cyclophosphamide has dramatic adverse effects as well, e.g., severe nausea and vomiting, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia and hemorrhagic cystitis (Sismanis et al., 1994). Methotrexate appears to be less toxic. However, large scale studies are required to confirm the efficacy of methotrexate for treating ASNHL (Sismanis et al., 1994). Plasmapheresis has been suggested as an alternative therapy for patients who are intolerant to steroids and/or cyclophosphamide, but has been considered as impractical (Luetje Laryngoscope 99: 1137-1146, 1989).
Despite the different therapies currently available, there is a need for more effective methods of treating ASNHL with fewer accompanying side effects. The present invention provides effective methods for treating ASNHL by oral administration of a human immunoglobulin preparation.

Oral administration of immunoglobulins for treating autoimmune hearing loss


A handheld defibrillation device is disclosed, operated by a single battery cell, and configured to deliver a defibrillation pulse to a subject via defibrillation pads. The defibrillator comprises an energy storage unit comprising a plurality of capacitive elements, a plurality of charger units, each charger unit being electrically connected to the battery cell for electrically charging a respective one of the capacitive elements, and a pulse delivery unit configured and arranged to discharge the electrical charges of the capacitive elements through the defibrillation pads. The charging units and the pulse delivery unit, and various other parts of the defibrillator are specially designed to permit compactly packaging the defibrillator inside a handheld pocketsize housing.

The present disclosure provides techniques for externally generating and delivering electrical stimulation to a user/patient, particularly useful for external defibrillation of cardiac tissue. In external defibrillation applications, high voltage electrical pulses are generated to apply high joule (150 to 360 joules) shocks to the heart of a treated user/patient through electrodes connected to the chest area of the user/patient for treating cardiac dysrhythmias and ventricular fibrillation (e.g., sudden cardiac arrest). The electrical pulse generated by external defibrillators (also referred to herein as defibrillation pulse) is typically a decaying capacitive discharge pulse having a peak voltage between 1000 to 2000 volts, and a time duration of about 10 milliseconds.
The conventional external defibrillators, typically consisted of bulky hospital equipment confined for use in healthcare centers. Technological developments in capacitors and batteries production enabled development of portable defibrillators for use out of healthcare centers (e.g., in ambulances). The introduction of the biphasic defibrillation pulses allowed to significantly decrease defibrillation energy levels, which further led to development of automated external defibrillators that can be used without requiring any clinical skills.
Defibrillation devices and techniques known from the patent literature are briefly described herein below.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,395 describes a method for increasing the energy output from a number of charged capacitors each of the capacitors is discharged, one after another, through a load. The capacitors are then coupled in series in successive, different combination, each of which includes a part or all of the capacitors. These combinations are and being discharged, one after another, through the load. Also described an apparatus for increasing the energy output from a number of charged capacitors utilizing a charging circuit, arranged to control the charging of the capacitors, and a controllable switching device, arranged to first connect each of the capacitors to a load for discharge of the capacitors, on after another. The switching device then couples the capacitors in series in successive, different combinations, each of which includes a part or all of the capacitors, and connects the respective combinations to the load for discharge of the series couplings, on after another.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,781 suggests to use switches to set the topology and polarity of a circuit that includes capacitors to deliver an electric pulse to a heart during a defibrillation procedure. The waveform of the electric pulse is bi-phasic, in that it is a positive portion of the pulse followed by a negative portion of the pulse. The topology and polarity of the circuit are utilized to produce a waveform that approximates the ideal waveform for the specific situation. The circuit provides for combinations of capacitors variously in series and in parallel and changing the topology and polarity of the circuit during discharge of the capacitors.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,751 a defibrillator having an energy storage capacitor network with multiple configurations selected according to patient impedance and desired energy level for delivery of an impedance-compensated defibrillation pulse. The set of configurations may include series, parallel, and series/parallel combinations of energy storage capacitors within the energy storage capacitor network. The impedance-compensated defibrillation pulse may be delivered over an expanded range of energy levels while limiting the peak current to levels that are safe for the patient using configurations tailored for lower impedance patients and limiting the range of defibrillation pulse durations and providing adequate current levels for higher impedance patients. Configurations of the energy storage capacitor network may be readily added to extend the range of energy levels well above 200 joules.
General Description
Automated external defibrillation (AED) devices configured for home use are life saving devices designed to be applied on a chest area of a user by electrode pads, sense heart rhythm of the user, and deliver electric shocks to the user's body if certain cardiac arrest conditions are identified. These devices are typically arranged in form of a suitcase designed for household storage, but they are not designed to be comfortably carried by a user during outdoor activities.
Embodiments of the present application provide a handheld lightweight (e.g. of about 350 grams) AED device of substantially reduced size/dimension, that can be easily placed in a front pocket of a shirt or a pouch, or attached to the user's body by belt and/or straps i.e., freeing the user's hands. Thus, the AED device disclosed herein can be easily carried on (e.g., in/on a clothing article or on the user's body) during day and night time activities, or sleep, and instantly activated by the user, and/or a helper e.g., family member, work colleague, passer-by, to deliver defibrillation shocks to the heart of the user in cardiac specific arrhythmias events.
The size and weight of the defibrillators disclosed herein are considerably reduced in some embodiments by, at least, special designs and arrangements of an energy storage unit (ESU) of the defibrillator, and/or of a pulse delivery unit thereof. In some embodiments, the defibrillator is configured to enter first into a standby mode upon activation of the device, in which the ESU is partially charged to a predefine percentage of the required defibrillation voltage, and thereafter it is fully charged to the defibrillation voltage whenever it is determined that a defibrillation pulse is to be applied to the user's body.
Optionally, and in some embodiments preferably, in comparison with the previous art using bulky relays physically disconnect the pads from the rest of the defibrillator to prevent an accidental electrocution, this invention discloses a miniature motorized electro-mechanical contactor to physically isolates the defibrillation pads from the electronic circuits of the defibrillator at any time except when needed, to prevent an accidental electrocution.
In the following disclosure, the ESU comprises a plurality of serially connected small sized capacitive elements (also referred to herein as a capacitor bank), each having a relatively large capacitance value (e.g., about few hundreds of μF) and its own respective charging unit configured to controllably charge each capacitive element of the capacitor bank to a predefined portion of the total voltage needed for defibrillation. In this way, the serially connected capacitive elements can be safely charged to their maximal required voltage levels (e.g., about 2,000 Volts) without using the voltage equalizing resistors ladder, typically required in such serial connection of capacitive cells, thereby compacting the geometrical dimensions and minimizing power loses of the capacitor bank that, typically, occur in conventional designs due to the discharge currents through the voltage equalizing resistors ladder.
Optionally, and in some embodiments, preferably, the capacitive elements used in the ESU (also referred to herein as "storage capacitors") are meticulously examined for selecting capacitive elements having a leakage current within a 5% limit, which, thus, allow constructing the capacitors bank without the conventional equalizing resistors ladder typically required in such implementations. Thus, in some embodiments, when repairing is needed due to a defective capacitive element of the ESU, the entire capacitors bank is replaced to assure that all capacitive elements of the capacitors bank have the same leakage current characteristics. Thus, in some embodiments, the capacitors bank is a removable unit. Optionally, and in some embodiments, preferably, the capacitive elements in the capacitors bank are inseparably attached to each other (e.g., glued together) to prevent separately replacing a defective capacitive element thereof, and assure that the entire capacitors bank is replaced.
In the ESU, the use of a plurality of capacitive elements having, each, a relatively large capacitance value and small geometrical dimensions (relative to capacitive elements used in the previous art), permits substantial compact designs of the charging units of the defibrillators disclosed herein. Further compactness is achieved by utilizing significantly small sized voltage converters (DC/DC converters) to charge each of the storage capacitors.
As described herein below in details, and illustrated in the drawings, this ESU configuration enables substantially compact arrangements of the plurality of relatively small sized storage capacitors and their respective compact charging units into a compact unit. The pulse delivery unit (also referred to herein as an insulated gate IGBT transistor unit) comprises, in some embodiments, a specially designed low power H-bridge circuit configured to convey the electric charges stored in the storage capacitors bank to the electrode pads of the device as a bi-polar defibrillation pulse. Switching circuitries of the H-bridge are activated in some embodiments, by respective isolated drivers powered by respective driver capacitors. In this way, a single and small voltage converter (DC/DC converter) device is used in the pulse delivery unit to electrically charge the driver capacitors to a level sufficient to drive the IGBT transistors of the H-bridge circuit. With this design, the pulse delivery unit can be also arranged to provide small-sized compact structures.
The small-sized compact arrangements of the ESU, of the pulse delivery unit, and of other components of the defibrillator, as described herein below in details, permits small-sized compact arrangements enabling minimizing the geometrical dimensions of the defibrillator into a handheld device e.g., like a thicker smartphone in shape and size.
In a broad aspect, there is provided a handheld defibrillation device connectable to defibrillation pads and comprising a single low voltage and small size battery cell for supplying electrical power the entire defibrillator device, an energy storage unit comprising a plurality of capacitive elements, and a charger setup configured to independently and separately charge each of the plurality of the capacitive elements for outputting by the energy storage unit a determined high voltage level. Optionally, and in some embodiment preferably, the voltage of the single battery cell is smaller than 5 volts. In some embodiments, the determined high voltage level outputted by the energy storage unit is greater than 1,000 volts.
The charger setup can comprise a plurality of charging circuitries, each of the charger circuitries being electrically connected to the single battery cell and configured to charge a respective one of the plurality of capacitive elements of the energy storage unit. A pulse delivery unit is used, in some embodiments, to discharge the capacitive elements through the defibrillation pads in a desired pulse form into a body of a subject.
Optionally, and in some embodiments preferably, each capacitive element of the energy storage unit is serially electrically connected to at least one other capacitive element of the energy storage unit, and wherein, each charging circuitry of the charger setup is being configured to independently and separately deliver electrical charges from the single battery cell to its respective capacitive element in the energy storage unit, to thereby, build the determined high voltage level over the plurality of serially connected capacitive elements.
One inventive aspect of the subject matter disclosed herein relates to a handheld defibrillation device connectable to defibrillation pads for the application of one or more defibrillation pulses. The defibrillation device comprises in some embodiments a single low voltage small size battery cell, an energy storage unit comprising a plurality of capacitive elements, a charger setup comprising a plurality of electric charger circuitries/charging cells, each of said charger circuitries being electrically connected to the battery cell and configured to charge a respective one of the plurality of capacitive elements, and a pulse delivery unit configured to discharge the capacitive elements through the defibrillation pads in a desired pulse form into a body of a subject.
The capacitive elements can be arranged to implement a capacitors bank using a respective plurality of serially connected storage capacitors as its capacitive elements. The pulse delivery unit can be configured and arranged to discharge electrical charges of the serially connected storage capacitors through the defibrillation pads to a body of a subject.
In some embodiments, the defibrillation device is a handheld flat device having a smartphone-like shape and a thickness smaller than 25 mm.
In some embodiments, each electric charging cell comprises a respective one of the storage capacitors serially connected to at least one other storage capacitor of another cell. Each charging circuitry can be configured to, independently and separately, deliver electrical charges from the battery cell to its respective storage capacitor for obtaining a determined voltage level over the capacitors bank. The charging circuitry of each charging cell is configured, in some embodiments, to independently prevent the voltage level over its respective storage capacitor from exceeding a maximal allowable voltage level on the storage capacitor. Optionally and in some embodiments, preferably, operational features of the storage capacitors are selected to permit the energy storage unit to charge the storage capacitors without a voltage equalizing resistors ladder.
Optionally, and in some embodiments, preferably, the number of serially connected storage capacitors in the energy storage unit varies according to properties of the subject, such as, but not limited to, age and/or weight. Thus, the defibrillation device can be a modular device, which may be manufactured in various, different dimensions and energy storage capacitors.
In some possible embodiments, the pulse delivery unit comprises two upper and two lower IGBT blocks (also referred to herein as switching blocks) arranged in a H-bridge structure configured to discharge the charge stored in the plurality of serially connected storage capacitors through the defibrillation pads in a form of a bi-polar defibrillation pulse. Each IGBT block of the pulse delivery unit can comprise a switching circuitry and a respective capacitive element (also referred to herein as a "driver capacitor") configured to store electrical charge for generating a driving current sufficient for changing the IGBT block into an electrically conducting state for delivering the defibrillation pulse. In this way, the IGBT blocks can be arranged to form a H-bridge circuit configured to couple the defibrillation pads to the energy storage unit (ESU). Each IGBT block comprises a controllable driver unit for the IGBT transistor and a driver capacitor configured to power the controllable driver unit to controllably generate the driving current for changing the state of the respective IGBT block into the electrically conducting state when needed.
Advantageously, the H-bridge comprises a single and small power regulator using a voltage converter to supply electric power from the battery cell to the IGBT blocks of the H-Bridge for charging their driver capacitors. Optionally, and in some, embodiments preferably, the voltage converter comprises a small sized flyback converter (403 in FIG. 4A). In some possible embodiments, the ground terminal of the driver capacitor of each IGBT block is electrically connected to a respective rail of said IGBT block, the high voltage terminals of the switching circuitries of the upper IGBT blocks are electrically connected to the energy storage unit for discharging its capacitive elements, a rail of each one of the upper IGBT blocks is electrically connectable to a respective one of the defibrillation pads, a high voltage terminal of the switching circuitry of each one of the lower IGBT blocks is electrically connected to the rail of a respective upper IGBT block, and the lower rails of the lower IGBT block are electrically connected to an electrical ground of the device
The pulse delivery unit is configured in some embodiments, to charge the driver capacitors of the lower IGBT blocks of the H-bridge structure upon activation of the single power regulator/voltage converter. The pulse delivery unit can be configured to charge the driver capacitors of the upper IGBT blocks of the H-bridge structure only after charging the driver capacitors of the lower IGBT blocks, by changing the switching circuitries of the lower IGBT blocks into an electrically conducting state.
In some embodiments, the defibrillation device comprises a control unit configured and operable to activate the charging circuitries of the charger setup of the energy storage unit, activate the power regulator/voltage converter for powering the pulse delivery unit, and to generate control signals for the controllable driver units of the lower switching blocks to charge the driver capacitors of the upper switching blocks after the charging of the driver capacitors of the lower switching blocks. Optionally, and in some embodiments, preferably, the control unit is configured and operable to generate control signals for the controllable drivers to activate a predetermined switching sequence of the switching circuitries of the IGBT blocks and thereby, to discharge the storage capacitors of the energy storage unit in a form of a bi-polar defibrillation pulse. The control unit can be configured to activate the charging circuitries of the charger setup of the energy storage unit and to activate the predetermined switching sequence of the IGBT blocks in response to either a user input or an alarm indication received from an external device.
In a possible embodiment, an impedance measurement unit is used for measuring impedance between the defibrillation pads and for generating measurement data indicative thereof. The control unit is configured and operable to process the measurement data obtained from the impedance measurement unit and to activate the predetermined switching sequence of the IGBT blocks if the measured impedance is within a predetermined range.
The device can also comprise a wireless communication module configured and operable to exchange data with and through a data network. The control unit can be configured and operable to communicate data with a computerized device (e.g., a smart device, such a smartphone of the user) during operation of the defibrillation device.
The device comprises, in some embodiments, a case, a display unit provided in the case, and a movable capsule (also referred to herein as cover) having closed and open states relative to the case. The capsule can be configured and arranged to accommodate the defibrillation pads and their connecting cables and to cover a portion of a display area of the display device in the closed state, to thereby provide at least part of the display visible for displaying information in the closed state. Optionally, and in some embodiments, preferably, the capsule is configured and arranged to hermetically seal the defibrillation pads and the connecting cables contained therein while in the closed state.
The capsule comprises, in some embodiments, at least one charging induction coil configured and arranged to wirelessly charge an external device (e.g., a heart monitor configured to provide wirelessly the ECG related signals of the subject to the defibrillation device). One or more support elements can be provided on the capsule for positioning the external device in proximity to the charging induction coil to maximize the wireless transfer of charging energy thereto. Optionally, the capsule and/or the case of the defibrillator unit may comprise wireless circuitry for wirelessly charging the defibrillator internal single cell battery. Both the capsule and the case may comprise guiding mechanical elements to precisely position the external wireless charger with the respective charging device to maximize the magnetic flux for charging.
Advantageously, the storage capacitors of the ESU may have a leakage current in the range of tens of microamperes, to thereby provide a relatively sure and short self-discharge time for reducing electrical shock hazards.
Another inventive aspect of the subject matter disclosed herein relates to a method of applying a defibrillation pulse to a subject via electrode pads. The method comprising separately and independently charging a plurality of serially connected storage capacitors by a plurality of respective charging units, measuring the overall voltage over the plurality of serially connected storage capacitors and generating measurement data indicative thereof, and processing the measurement data and discharging electrical charges accumulated in the serially connected storage capacitors via the electrode pads upon determining that the voltage over the serially connected storage capacitors reached a predetermined defibrillation voltage level.
In some possible embodiments, the method comprises charging the plurality of serially connected storage capacitors until a predefined standby voltage level is obtained over the serially connected storage capacitors, receiving an indication that the defibrillation pulse is to be applied (e.g., a user input and/or an alarm/alert from an external device), charging the plurality of serially connected storage capacitors until the predetermined defibrillation voltage level is obtained over the serially connected storage capacitors, and discharging electrical charges accumulated in the serially connected storage capacitors via the electrode pads.
To permit the charging of the storage capacitors without a voltage equalizing resistors ladder, the charging process comprises, in some embodiments, comparing the voltage over each storage capacitor with an allowable reference voltage, and halting operation of the respective charging unit used for the charging of the storage capacitor whenever the voltage thereover reaches, or exceeds, the allowable reference voltage. The method may further comprise selecting and matching features of the capacitive elements, such as capacity and leakage current, so as to prevent possible damages that may be caused due to overcharging them. Once matching each other, the capacitive elements can be safely charged to voltage levels of about their maximal allowable voltages without a voltage equalizing resistors ladder.
Optionally, and in some embodiments, preferably, the discharging of the electrical charge accumulated in the storage capacitors comprises using a H-bridge structure of two upper and two lower IGBT blocks powered by a single power source/voltage converter to deliver a bi-polar defibrillation pulse. Each of the IGBT blocks comprises an IGBT transistor circuitry and a respective driver capacitor electrically connected to the power source and configured to accumulate electrical charges for changing the state of the respective IGBT transistor to a conductive state. The method can, thus, comprise activating the voltage converter of the single power source for charging the driver capacitors of the lower IGBT blocks and thereafter turning the switching circuitries of the lower IGBT blocks into a conductive state for charging of the driver capacitors of the upper IGBT blocks by providing an indirect path to the ground through the IGBT's transistors of the lower switching blocks.
The method comprises, in some embodiments, measuring the electric impedance between the electrode pads and applying the defibrillation pulse if the measured impedance is within a predefined impedance range. Additionally, or alternatively, the method comprises measuring ECG signals of the subject and applying the defibrillation pulse if the measured ECG signals are indicative of irregular, or specific abnormality of heart activity.
Yet, another inventive aspect of the subject matter disclosed herein relates to a pulse delivery device for discharging the electrical charge from a capacitors bank through two electrodes. The pulse delivery device comprises two upper and two lower IGBT blocks arranged to form a H-bridge structure and a single power source. Each of the IGBT blocks comprises a controllable IGBT based circuitry, a respective driver capacitor configured to store electrical charges from the power source for changing the IGBT based circuitry into an electrically conducting state, a rail for connecting between ground terminals of the controllable switching circuitry and of the respective driver capacitor. The rails of the lower IGBT blocks being connectable to an electrical ground, and the rail of each upper IGBT block being configured to establish electrical connection with said electrical ground via a controllable switching circuitry of respective one of the lower IGBT blocks.
The pulse delivery circuitry is configured, in some embodiments, to charge the driver capacitors of the lower IGBT blocks of the H-bridge structure upon activation of the single voltage converter. The circuit can be configured to charge the driver capacitors of the upper IGBT blocks of the H-bridge structure after charging the driver capacitors of the lower IGBT blocks, by changing the IGBT transistors of the lower IGBT blocks into an electrically conducting state.
Optionally, and in some embodiments, preferably, the device comprises a controllable driver unit in each of the IGBT blocks. The driver capacitor of each one of the IGBT blocks is configured to power its respective controllable driver unit to controllably generate a driving current for changing the state of the respective IGBT transistor of the IGBT block into the electrically conducting state.
In some embodiments, the common ground terminal of both the driver capacitor of the controllable driver and of the IGBT transistor, of each IGBT block, is electrically connected to the respective rail of the IGBT block, high voltage terminals of the switching circuitries of the upper IGBT blocks are electrically connected to the capacitors bank, the rail of each one of the upper IGBT blocks is electrically connectable to a respective one of the electrode pads, a high voltage terminal of the switching circuitry of each one of the lower IGBT blocks is electrically connected to the rail of a respective upper IGBT block, and the rails of the lower IGBT block are electrically connected to the electrical ground of the device.
In some embodiments, each IGBT block comprises a small sized flyback converter configured to use the same single small size and low voltage battery cell of the device for the simultaneous charging of the respective storage capacitors. The term single cell battery as used herein, means a battery whose voltage is dictated by the manufacturing chemistry, and not by interconnecting it serially with other cells to increase the overall voltage of the battery. By example, typically, a single cell battery based on Li chemistry has a voltage of 3.7V.
It is thus appreciated that the defibrillator devices disclosed herein are powered entirely by a single cell battery.

Device and method for generating electrical stimulation


A process for the production of chlorine dioxide by reacting an alkali metal chlorate, mineral acid and a reducing agent in such proportions that chlorine dioxide is produced in a reaction medium which is maintained at a temperature of 50.degree. C.-100.degree. C. and at an acidity within a range of 2-12 N and which is subjected to subatmospheric pressure sufficient for evaporating water. A mixture of chlorine dioxide and water vapour is withdrawn from an evaporation zone in the reaction vessel, and alkali metal sulphate is precipitated in a crystallization zone in the reaction vessel. The precipitated alkali metal sulphate is contacted with a saturated water solution of alkali metal sulphate whereafter neutral alkali metal sulphate is precipitated and dissolved in water. The water solution is brought to an electrochemical membrane cell in which sulphuric acid is formed in the anode compartment and alkali metal hydroxide in the cathode compartment.

The present invention relates to a process for the production of chlorine dioxide from an alkali metal chlorate, a mineral acid and a reducing agent. The process is carried out in a vessel operated under subatmospheric pressure, whereby water is evaporated and withdrawn together with chlorine dioxide and the alkali metal salt of the mineral acid is crystallized within the reaction vessel and withdrawn therefrom. According to the invention the precipitated alkali metal sulphate is contacted with a saturated water solution of alkali metal sulphate, whereafter neutral alkali metal sulphate is obtained. A water solution of this alkali metal sulphate is brought to an electrochemical membrane cell in which sulphuric acid is formed in the anode compartment and alkali metal hydroxide in the cathode compartment.
Chlorine dioxide used as an aqueous solution is of considerable commercial interest, mainly in pulp bleaching but also in water purification, fat bleaching, removal of phenols from industrial wastes, etc. It is therefore desirable to provide processes by which chlorine dioxide can be efficiently produced.
Chlorine dioxide is prepared by reduction of chlorate with a reducing agent in acid media. The most common reducing agents are chloride ions, sulphur dioxide and methanol and the processes can be summarized according to the following formulas: EQU NaClO.sub.3 +NaCl+H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 .fwdarw.ClO.sub.2 +1/2 Cl.sub.2 +H.sub.2 O+Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 2 NaClO.sub.3 +SO.sub.2 .fwdarw.2 ClO.sub.2 +Na.sub.2 SO.sub.4 EQU 6 NaClO.sub.3 +CH.sub.3 OH+4 H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 .fwdarw.6 ClO.sub.2 +CO.sub.2 +5 H.sub.2 O+2 Na.sub.3 H(SO.sub.4).sub.2
The chlorate ions are provided by alkali metal chlorate, preferably sodium chlorate, the chloride ions by alkali metal chloride, preferably sodium chloride, or by hydrogen chloride, and the hydrogen ions are provided by mineral acids, generally sulfuric acid and/or hydrochloric acid.
These processes can be run at a normal pressure and usually the acid strength is high in the reaction medium to obtain sufficient efficiency in the process. Because of the high acid strength of the reaction medium the spent acid liquor from the reactor will consist of alkali metal sulphate in strong sulphuric acid. This spent acid liquor is a waste product which it is necessary to take care of. Depositing the spent acid liquor in the waste water system is neither possible nor desirable as the environmental demands do not permit depositing and the acid content of the liquor then gets lost.
It is also known to run the above mentioned processes at a subatmospheric pressure by using a combined reactor/evaporator. Alkali metal chlorate, reducing agent and mineral acid solutions are fed to a single vessel generator-evaporator-crystallizer in proportions sufficient to generate chlorine dioxide and chlorine, at a temperature of from about 50 to about 100 degrees centigrade, and an acidity of from about 2 to about 12 normal, with or without a catalyst. Water is removed by vacuum-induced evaporation at about 100 to 400 millimeters of mercury absolute, with concurrent withdrawal of chlorine dioxide and chlorine. The salt of the mineral acid is crystallized within the generator and the crystals withdrawn from the vessel. These crystals contain more or less acid depending on the acid strength of the reaction medium. It is only when the acid strength is below 4.8 N that a neutral sulphate is obtained, otherwise the precipitated crystals consist of sesquisulphate (Na.sub.3 H(SO.sub.4).sub.2) or bisulphate (NaHSO.sub.4).
The usual way to take care of the sulphate product has hitherto been to use it for tall oil splitting and as a "make up" in the cellulose plant, but in the latter case the acid content of the sulphate has not been utilized, but the sulphate crystals have been neutralized. Another field of use for the neutral sulphate waste product has been as a filler in detergents. However, the amount of sulphate used in both these fields decreases steadily because of change of production processes.
One advantageous way of utilize the spent liquor from the chlorine dioxide process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,484. This patent describes a process in which the spent acid liquor from a chlorine dioxide reactor is brought to an electrochemical membrane cell. According to one embodiment the cell comprises, besides the anode and cathode, at least one anion selective membrane and one cation selective membrane. Then at the electrolysis sodium hydroxide and hydrogen gas is formed in the cathode compartment and sulphuric acid and oxygen gas in the anode compartment. Thus only valuable chemicals are produced. The acid can be brought back to the chlorine dioxide reactor and the hydroxide can be used in the cellulose plant for example.
Although the manner of dealing with the sulphate residue according to the process in U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,484 is favourable it appeared that the process had certain draw backs. The spent acid liquor contains besides sulphate also chlorate and chloride ions and the solution is often very acidic. When this liquor is brought to the cell the chlorate ions will also migrate to the anode compartment and will there easily be transformed to chlorine dioxide in the acidic solution. Also chloride ions will be transformed to chlorine gas. Thus the reaction gas from the anode compartment will be a mixture of chlorine dioxide, chlorine and oxygen in stead of pure oxygen. It also appeared that it was difficult to run the electrochemical membrane cell for a time of any substantial length. After a while the voltage tended to rise, resulting in increased energy consumption and the membrane stopped to function. The reason for this was precipitations on the cathode and in the cathode membrane due to the use of the spent acid liquor. This liquor besides the sulphate and chlorate ions also often contains different metal ions such as Ca, Fe, Mg, Cr etc. being impurities emanating from the process water. At the electrolysis hydroxide ions are formed on the cathode surface and hence the solution on the surface will be very basic. Then the hydroxides of the metal impurities mentioned above will easily be precipitated. The same will also happen in the cathode membrane which will ultimately break down.

Process for the production of chlorine dioxide


The subject invention relates to integrating agents, control logic, and simulations in order to simulate and validate a control strategy for a physical system. The systems and methods integrate agents and control logic with simulations, and utilize the integrated agents, control logic, and simulations to generate a proxy. The proxy can be employed to couple one or more controllers executing the agents and control logic with the simulations. Visualization is utilized to visualize the simulation, including the agents and the control logic. In addition, the systems and methods utilize a synchronization algorithm to synchronize the execution times of the controllers and the simulations. The foregoing mitigates validation through building and testing physical system and/or test beds. Upon validating control strategies, associated agents and logic can be loaded in one or more industrial controllers controlling the physical system, and the simulation can be utilized to represent the physical system.

Automation and manufacturing industries have evolved into members of a global economy in which formation of strategic partnerships amongst companies and associated components has become increasingly more important. Traditional, centralized, sequential information-processing methodologies commonly no longer meet the demands of rapidly changing manufacturing environments. The ability of an organization to quickly respond to changes and maintain productivity is increasingly limited by its information processing capabilities. Evolving distributed organizations promise high decentralization of operations. In such organizations, there are neither predefined hierarchies nor rigid structures. Instead, the organization emerges as a result of dynamic interactions of its intelligent components. Supporting infrastructures should be capable of providing timely communication and accessible resources based on the needs of an emergent organization. Constraints and information should be efficiently propagated throughout the system using mechanisms that do not fracture the enterprise. A collaborative intelligent architecture is required to enable real-time evaluation of tasks, wherein each member of the collaboration environment must adapt to the needs and regulations of its partners.
The automation and manufacturing industries commonly utilize industrial controllers to control systems therein. In general, industrial controllers are special purpose processing devices used for controlling (e.g., automated and semi-automated) industrial processes, machines, manufacturing equipment, plants, and the like. A typical controller executes a control program or routine in order to measure one or more process variables or inputs representative of the status of a controlled process and/or effectuate outputs associated with control of the process. Such inputs and outputs can be digital and/or analog, assuming a continuous range of values. A typical control routine can be created in a controller configuration environment that has various tools and interfaces whereby a developer can construct and implement a control strategy using industrial and conventional programming languages or graphical representations of control functionality. Such control routine can be downloaded from the configuration system into one or more controllers for implementation of the control strategy in controlling a process or machine.
Measured inputs received from a controlled process and outputs transmitted to the process can pass through one or more input/output (I/O) modules in a control system. Such modules can serve in the capacity of an electrical interface between the controller and the controlled process and can be located local or remote from the controller. Inputs and outputs can be recorded in an I/O memory. The input values can be asynchronously or synchronously read from the controlled process by one or more input modules and output values can be written directly to memory by a processor for subsequent communication to the process by specialized communications circuitry. An output module can interface directly with a controlled process by providing an output from memory to an actuator such as a motor, drive, valve, solenoid, and the like.
In distributed control systems, controller hardware configuration can be facilitated by separating the industrial controller into a number of control elements, each of which performs a different function. Particular control modules needed for the control task can then be connected together on a common backplane within a rack and/or through a network or other communications medium. The control modules can include processors, power supplies, network communication modules, and I/O modules exchanging input and output signals directly with the controlled process. Data can be exchanged between modules using a backplane communications bus, which can be serial or parallel, or via a network. In addition to performing I/O operations based solely on network communications, smart modules exist which can execute autonomous logical or other control programs or routines. Various control modules of a distributed industrial control system can be spatially distributed along a common communication link in several locations. Certain I/O modules can thus be located proximate a portion of the controlled equipment, and away from the controller. Data can be communicated with these remote modules over a common communication link, or network, wherein all modules on the network communicate via standard communication protocols.
Intelligent agent technology can be utilized in connection with industrial controllers to render highly decentralized, distributed, robust and flexible control of systems. In such systems, the intelligent agents can execute within industrial controllers along with control routines. Such systems can be considered a community of integrated (e.g., via plug-and-play) autonomous and efficiently cooperating units, or agents. The agents are autonomous in the sense that they independently make local decisions. Although autonomous, such agents also cooperate with each other to achieve global-level goals. Unlike classical control systems that have a centralized control system, the autonomous agent-based technique does not utilize a central control element to affect the behavior of any agent. For example, there is no control element that would be aware of all the particular states or patterns of behavior of the overall system. The overall behavior of such a system emerges from asynchronously executed decision-making processes of particular agents and from dynamically changing patterns of inter-agent interactions.
Conventional techniques utilized to validate control strategies for such agent-based systems typically utilize experimental testing with a physical target system prior to commissioning a solution for deployment. Such testing can be relatively expensive and time intensive and, for certain applications, not realistic. In addition, modifying such systems (agents, control routines and/or the physical system) and/or injecting error conditions may require new software, builds and reloads and re-design of the physical target system, leading to further costs and time consumption.

Agent simulation development environment


A serial data link (10) includes a transmitter (12) using a differential transmitter cell (20) to transmit data using differential signals and a receiver (14) using a differential receiver cell (22) to receive differential signals. When the transmitter (12) is in a power-down state, the differential signals from the differential transmitter cell (20) are set to an illegal state that is detected by the receiver cell (22). Upon detecting the illegal state, unnecessary circuitry in the receiver (14) is shut off or placed in a low power state to conserve energy. When data transmission resumes, the receiver cell (22) automatically restores power to its circuitry and resumes receiving data.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to communications and, more particularly, to a serial data link with automatic power down.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical electronic circuit, it is often necessary to communicate data between various devices in the circuit. One technique for communicating between devices is a serial data link.
Mobile electronic devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, smart phones, notebook computers and the like, have special needs. Importantly, these devices need to conserve power as much as possible, since they use a battery for a power source. Battery life is an important criterion in selecting a mobile electronic device and, therefore, manufacturers seek to reduce power consumption as much as possible.
Maintaining multiple communications links between devices, however, can consume significant amounts of power, particularly for high-speed communications links.
Therefore, a need has arisen for a high-speed serial data link that optimizes power consumption.

Serial data link with automatic power down


Systems and methods for detecting and removing metadata and hidden information from a file. A system can include a review module to identify metadata and hidden information, and a scrubber module for removing the metadata and hidden information from the file. The scrubber module can remove the metadata and hidden information automatically or upon prompting the user. The file can be a file attached to an electronic mail. The file can also be a file uploaded to a server.

A computer file includes both the information (or data) making up the file as well as metadata, or data relating to attributes of the file itself. For example, a file typically includes metadata such as the document creator's name, the date the file was last saved, and the date the file was last printed. In addition, some files such as, for example, a Microsoft® Word document, can include hidden information that is not readily apparent to a user. For example, a Word document can include hidden information in the form of tracked changes and comments that may not be visible when the document is opened in certain document views.
When documents are shared between individuals, the metadata and/or hidden information in the documents can be problematic. For example, many important documents are communicated between individuals by attaching the documents to electronic mails. However, whenever a document is shared in its electronic form, the document has the potential of containing embarrassing or otherwise problematic metadata and hidden information.
For example, a consultant may take a document previously created for a first client and revise portions of the document with information related to a project for a second client. The consultant may not realize that the "track changes" option has been turned on before the revisions are made, especially if the consultant's document view is set to hide the tracked changes on the screen. When the consultant electronically mails the revised document to the second client, the second client can merely switch document views to view information relating to the first client that was deleted during revision of the document by the consultant. This can potentially lead to the inadvertent disclosure of the first client's confidential information to the second client.
Tools are available to assist a user in stripping metadata and hidden information from files. However, such tools are typically manual in nature and require the user to remember to run the tools to remove metadata and hidden information from the file before the file is shared with others. Further, such tools may not efficiently function in different types of collaboration environments.
It is therefore desirable to provide systems and methods that can efficiently detect and remove metadata and hidden information in files.

Systems and methods for detection and removal of metadata and hidden information in files


A container for flowable materials including liquids such as fruit juices and other beverages comprises a tubular body member composed of five plies bonded to each other, the first, third and fifth plies being each formed of an elongated helically wound polyolefin whose edges are overlapped and bonded with those of adjacent convolutions to form a cylindrical layer. The second and fourth plies are formed of a helically wound elongated cup paper sheet material which is thicker than the polyolefin sheet material and whose edges are in abutment with those of adjacent convolutions to form a cylindrical layer. In another container, the tubular body member is composed of a first (innermost) ply of polyolefin sheet material having overlapped convolutions, a second ply of aluminum sheet both sides of which are laminated by thin paper, a third ply of kraft paper liner having butted convolutions, and a fourth ply of polyolefin sheet material having overlapped convolutions. In yet another container, the tubular body member is composed of at least two layers, the innermost layer being formed from a sheet of synthetic resin having overlapped convolutions and provided with a continuous bond or weld along the overlapped portion and a second bond adjacent to the first so as to form and define a slack portion of the overlap adapted to be taken up inwardly in response to negative pressure in the container. The tubular body member of the container is hermetically sealed with end-closures at least one of which can be formed of rigid sheet material of sufficient flexibility and provided with an initially outwardly bulged dish-shaped portion whereby the dish-shaped portion can be inwardly deflected to relieve negative internal pressure, such as results from thermal contraction of the contents of the container.

Heretofore, containers or "cans" for packaging flowable or pourable materials including liquids, particularly beverages such as fruit juice and other food-stuffs, have been generally formed of glass, tinplate, aluminum and the like. Although these materials are satisfactory from the standpoint of airtighness and strength, difficulty is often encountered in disposing of these materials after use, in a manner consistent with environmental considerations, and a long-felt need has therefore existed for a container which can be so readily disposed of. From the standpoint of economy of resources, it is also desirable that containers be made of inexpensive substitutes for increasingly expensive conventional materials.
In addition, the laws in many jurisdictions require that, in the processing of certain foodstuffs such as fruit or fruit juice, the product be heated or pasteurized at or above a certain temperature before being put in containers and sealed. However, some foodstuffs, for example, beverages, when processed in this manner will often contract upon cooling in the container, thereby creating negative pressure, i.e., a pressure below atmospheric. If such containers are formed of materials having little rigidity such as thin aluminum, synthetic resins or plastics, the negative pressure must be relieved without breaking the seal in order to avoid the buildup of unwanted stress on the container and consequent strain leading to unsightly deformation of the container wall, structural damage or even failure of the unit. Alternatively, if the container is made of laminated paper, kraft paper, cup paper or other like sheet material, it may not only be deformed but also, due to the pressure differential between the interior and the exterior of the container, may rupture at the seal between the lid and side wall, thereby exposing the contents to infection by infiltration from without, e.g., by bacteria, mal-odorants and the like, with resulting curtailment of shelf storage life. For this reason, it has been customary to use materials of such lower rigidity only for containers intended, e.g., for non-pasteurized or carbonated beverages and the like which provide a neutral or positive pressure within the container.
In the past, tinplate has been the material of choice in making blanks for "tin cans" designed to withstand the aforementioned negative pressure due to its greater rigidity, and for airtightness. However, tinplate is relatively expensive compared to cup paper and the newer synthetic resins and the like and also requires greater effort in its disposal after use. Furthermore, even in the case of tinplate, some deformation of the can or container as a result of negative pressure cannot be avoided. In the past, ways of coping with this problem have included the means shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. In particular, end-closure 2 of can body 1 is not flattened but rather, is provided with, say, two concentric convex circular ribs 3 and 4 to provide flexibility and permit the closure to deform in response to the internal negative pressure and decrease the latter, thereby preventing container wall 5 from being dented. The small degree of deformation permitted in closure cover 2 limits reduction in the negative pressure but is enough in the case of containers made of conventional tinplate. However, in the case of containers or cans made of thin aluminum, plastics, cellulose-based sheet material and the like, this approach has not proven satisfactory and does not contribute to a solution of the problem. Therefore, containers designed for packaging materials which normally tend to develop substantial internal negative pressures have not heretofore been made successfully of these materials. Other previous attempts at solving the foregoing problems, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,963,795; 1,987,817; 2,012,213; 2,027,430; 2,115,340; 2,623,681; 2,982,457; 3,089,630; 3,105,765; 3,160,302; 3,247,869; 3,400,853; 3,457,130; 3,687,351; and 3,716,435, have likewise not proven adequate for their solution.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tubular member or element which defines the wall of a fully airtight and easily disposable container for sealingly packaging flowable materials including beverages and other foodstuffs for long-term storage.
Another object is to provide an improved tubular container wall member or element which effectively protects the contents of the container from impregnation by offensive odors and infectious organisms from without, and which is made of relatively inexpensive and easily disposable materials.
Another object is to provide an improved tubular container and a process for hermetically sealing therein a flowable material such as a beverage or other foodstuff, e.g., fruit juice, which are adapted to respond to and relieve internal negative or sub-atmospheric pressure without breaking the seal.
Another object is to provide a container cover or closure member adapted to respond to and relieve internal negative pressure created, for example, by thermal contraction of the contents of the container, without breaking the seal.
Another object is to provide a container cover or closure member designed so that internal negative pressure created, for example, by thermal contraction within the container, causes the closure cover to become depressed inwardly to an extent not exceeding the degree of thermal contraction, thereby substantially relieving such negative pressure.
Yet another object is to provide fully airtight and easily disposable liquid containers made of materials such as thin aluminum, plastic or synthetic resins, laminated paper, kraft paper, cup paper and the like, which containers are defined by a tubular wall member and by two cover or end-closure members at least one of which end-closure members is adapted to relieve negative pressure generated within the container.
These and other objects of the invention as well as a fuller understanding of the advantages thereof can be had by reference to the following description, drawings and claims.


Images taken before a surgical procedure by an imager are displayed by a computer and overlaid with graphical representations of instruments and/or surgical implants. The graphical representations can be used to determined appropriate sizes of the surgical implants and trajectories for placement. Also, the images can be used in the operating room. The graphical representations can be updated in real-time to correspond to movement of the instruments in the operating room.

Modern diagnostic medicine has benefited significantly from radiology, which is the use of radiation, such as x-rays, to generate images of internal body structures. In general, to create an x-ray image, x-ray beams are passed through the body and absorbed, in varying amounts, by tissues in the body. An x-ray image is created based on the relative differences in the transmitted x-ray intensities.
Techniques are known through which x-ray images are used to locate the real-time position of surgical instruments in the patient anatomy represented by the x-ray image without requiring x-rays to be continually taken. In one such system, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,594 to Barrick, light emitting diodes (LEDs) are placed on a C-arm fluoroscope x-ray imager, on a drill, and on a reference bar positioned on the bone to be studied. A three-dimensional optical digitizer senses the position of the LEDs, and hence the position of the drill, the C-arm fluoroscope, and the object bone. Based on this information, the real-time position of the drill in anatomy represented by the x-ray image is determined, and a corresponding representation of the drill in the x-ray image is displayed. This allows the surgeon to continually observe the progress of the surgery without necessitating additional x-ray images.
Surgical navigational guidance, as discussed above, can provide a tool for helping the physician perform surgery. It is an object of the present invention to provide several enhancements to traditional surgical navigational guidance techniques.

System and method for placing and determining an appropriately sized surgical implant


A new and distinct cultivar of Zonal Geranium plant named ‘Pacwu’, characterized by its upright and rounded plant habit; vigorous growth habit; freely branching and flowering habit; light purple-colored flowers with whitish centers arranged in rounded umbels held above and beyond the foliage on strong peduncles; and good garden performance.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Zonal Geranium plant, botanically known as Pelargonium×hortorum, and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Pacwu'.
The new Zonal Geranium is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Dresden, Germany. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new Zonal Geraniums with vigorous growth habit and interesting flower and foliage colors.
The new Zonal Geranium originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor during the summer of 2000 of the Pelargonium×hortorum, cultivar Penblue, not patented, with an unknown seedling selection of Pelarglonium×hortorum, not patented. The cultivar Pacwu was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny from this cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Dresden, Germany in June, 2001.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in Dresden, Germany since January, 2002 has shown that the unique features of this new Zonal Geranium are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.


A sales promotional system includes a first sheet having an incomplete check having certain information missing therefrom. A participant obtains the missing information (e.g. by purchasing a designated product or service) and, if the information matches the check, adds it by hand to the first sheet to create a bankable entity. Validation procedures are employed to assure that submitted check combinations are genuine.

Numerous sales promotion systems are in use in the marketplace today. One common promotional activity is a sweepstakes offer in which consumers are invited to mail in entries, the winners to be chosen in a lottery style selection. However, this system encourages many non-buyers of the item being promoted to take advantage of the sweepstakes but not to purchase the item being promoted.
Another promotional system includes product producers mailing samples to home occupants when introducing new products. Commonly an insert is provided with a cents-off coupon enclosed to encourage a store sale.
Conventional promotional systems have the disadvantage of being single step in nature with the consequential disadvantage that either nominal sums are offered, as in the case of a cents-off coupon, or, as in a sweepstakes, the consumer is merely one of a large pool of participants having no advantage over the others. In addition, the selection process is a far future event.
As can be seen from the above, current sales promotional methods are limited in application and level of encouragement to a consumer.


A conveyor of leaves and other products on a belt for laying the same products as a single layer, includes at least a perforated collection belt, at least a suction hood having a surface provided with holes for passage of air flow, an air suction device coupled to the hood, and dragging elements for the collection belt. The collection belt slides by the dragging elements along the perforated surface of the suction hood. The suction device generates an air flow both through the holes of the surface of the suction hood, and through the holes of the collection belt, allowing the coupling on the collection belt of a single layer of the leaves and other products due to their passage close to the collection belt.

The present invention relates to a conveyor of leaves and other products on a belt for laying the same products as a single layer.
More specifically, the invention concerns a device allowing to lay on a belt leaves and other products for feeding purposes, so as to make it easier and faster possible transportation, lifting, cleaning, washing, drying, ecc.
At present, it exists the needing in industrial processes to convey leaf products such as salads, lettuce, radicchio, spinaches and other food products, toward the transformation lines according an ordered mode, in order to simplify the working and/or packaging.
In fact, said products are generally provided loosely or within bags or tanks to the transformation industries by stores or directly from the fields.
First working step usually provides removal of external foreign bodies and washing of the products suitable for use.
During this step, it arises the needing of uniformly distributing the product, also to more efficiently carry out the cleaning and visual choice operations.
In view of the above, it is well evident the needing of having at disposal a device as suggested by the present invention, allowing to collect leaf product from a conveyor belt on which it is loosely provided to transfer the same on another belt or transportation device, thus realising a single product layer.

Conveyor of leaves and other products on a belt for laying the same products as a single layer


A transmission mechanism is used in a bicycle having a frame. The transmission mechanism includes a quick assembly device including a central shaft, threaded collars, and a clip bracket, which is adapted to mount to a lower frame portion of the bicycle frame and a multi-mode mechanism, which is supported and fixed by the quick assembly device to provide the bicycle with multiple modes of pedaling.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multipurpose transmission mechanism for a bicycle, and in particular to a transmission mechanism comprising a clip bracket that can be easily mounted to the bicycle frame to couple a multi-mode mechanism to the bicycle frame.
2. The Related Arts
Bicycles equipped with a gear-shifting mechanism are available in the market. The gear-shifting mechanism functions to switch the operation of the bicycle among different sprockets of different speed ratios. Besides switching among different sprockets of different speed ratios, the conventional gear-shifting mechanism does not function to alert operation mode of the bicycle. This makes it only possible to exercise particular muscles in riding the bicycle. Further, a single, fixed operation mode also makes long term riding boring.
Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,340, entitled "Multipurpose Transmission Mechanism for Bicycles", filed by the present inventor discloses a bicycle of which the operation mode can be changed. In other words, besides the conventional operation of continuous rotation of the pedals, other operation modes, including leverage mode and independent pedaling mode, are also available. Such variety of operation modes allows a bicycle rider to select the most suitable mode for riding and exercising. Such a transmission mechanism is also applicable to stationary bicycles.
However, the conventional multipurpose suffers some drawbacks:
(A) The bicycle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,340 requires a particular-purpose hub mounted in a rear wheel in order to allow the bicycle to carry out leverage mode operation and the particular-purpose hub is of high manufacturing costs as compared to regular hubs.
(B) The rear wheel hub of the bicycle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,340 is of heavy weight, which makes it difficult to operate for certain users.
(C) The multipurpose transmission mechanism of the bicycle disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,340 is easy to malfunction.
In view of the drawbacks, the present inventor teaches in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/281,470, entitled "Improved Multifunctional Pedaling Motion Bicycle" a bicycle transmission mechanism that effectively overcomes the drawbacks discussed above. However, the known transmission mechanism must work with a particular-purpose bicycle frame. Since it does not work with regular bicycle frame, it is difficult to get popularized. In addition, it is not possible for general consumers to do assembling by themselves.
Thus, it is desired to further improve the bicycle transmission mechanism to allow easy and quick assembling and compatible wit the conventional bicycle frames.

Multipurpose transmission mechanism for bicycle with quick assembly device


A synthetic instrument known as a “Total Fair Value Swap” is disclosed. According to one embodiment, the Total Fair Value Swap may comprise an agreement between two counterparties, a “Fixed Rate Payer” and a “Floating Rate Payer”. According to the agreement, the Fixed Rate Payer makes a stream of payments to the Floating Rate Payer based on a fixed rate, and the Floating Rate Payer makes a second stream of payments to the Fixed Rate Payer based on a floating rate, wherein a first portion of the floating rate is based on a reference interest rate, and wherein a second portion of the floating rate is based on a credit spread associated with the Floating Rate Payer. The reference interest rate may be, for example, London Inter-Bank Offer Rate (LIBOR), prime interest rate, the US dollar swap rate, the U.S. Treasury Bond rate or any other widely traded interest rate that is reset periodically. The credit spread may be observed from the Credit Default Swap (CDS) market.

Apart from issuing equity securities, corporations can fund themselves by issuing long-term and/or short-term debt. In the long-term debt market, a company can issue one or more fixed-rate bonds to investors for a tenor of 2-30 years, for example. During the term of a fixed-rate bond, the company makes periodic coupon payments to the bondholders based on a fixed interest rate. In the short-term debt market, a company can issue short-term floating-rate instruments or commercial paper which provide short-term liquidity, wherein the interest rates may be reset, for example, on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis.
Historically, floating-rate funding has been (almost invariably) cheaper than fixed-rate funding. However, long-term funding provides a corporation with greater certainty as to cash flow. There is significant demand for the low cost offered by floating-rate funding to be combined with the certainty offered by fixed-rate funding. No existing financial instrument appears to meet that demand.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a funding solution which overcomes the above-described deficiencies and shortcomings.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A display device includes a substrate that is formed of a plurality of layers stacked together and a circuit layer. A circuit layer includes a display element area in which a plurality of pixel electrodes corresponding to a plurality of unit pixels and a self-luminous element layer are provided, and a peripheral area that has a wiring to the display element area and a terminal and is at least partially bent. The substrate includes a first area that overlaps the display element area of the circuit layer and a second area that overlaps the peripheral area and is at least partially bent. The layers include at least one inorganic layer and a plurality of organic layers. The number of the organic layers in the first area is greater than the number of the organic layers in the second area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, flexible display devices have been developed. For example, such a display device includes a flexible resin substrate on which a circuit layer and an organic electroluminescence layer are formed (JP2011-227369A). The flexible substrate has been manufactured by forming an organic layer on a glass substrate and hardening the organic layer to be removed from the glass substrate.
The organic layer is irradiated with a laser beam when being removed from the glass substrate. As such, if the thickness of the organic layer is thin, deformation of the organic layer is large at the laser-irradiated area, and large stress is applied to the boundary between the irradiated area and the non-irradiated area. This causes the organic electroluminescence layer on the boundary to flake off. For this reason, an organic layer needs to have a thickness in a certain extent. However, the thickness of the organic layer is the most dominant parameter particularly for bending resistance of a terminal part, and the bending resistance is reduced as the thickness of the layer is larger.

Flexible display device including bent flexible substrate and bent circuit layer


A reduced calorie fruit spread comprising the gelled product of:. a. water; PA1 b. fruit or fruit flavoring; PA1 c. one or more high intensity sweeteners selected from the group consisting of aspartame; saccharin; acesulfame-K; mixtures thereof; and mixtures of aspartame, saccharin, or acesulfame-K with sucralose; PA1 d. low methoxy pectin or carrageenan; PA1 e. carboxymethylcellulose; PA1 f. guar gum; and PA1 g. locust bean gum.

Traditional reduced-calorie, low-solids fruit spread products are inherently low in sweetness intensity, poor in sweetness quality and possess a number of textural defects in comparison to their full-calorie counterparts. These defects are characterized by a grainy, brittle, thin texture which lacks the desired spreadability and mouthfeel associated with full-calorie, high-solids products. Carbohydrate sweeteners such as sucrose provide many of the desired textural and flavor attributes. Likewise, traditional low calorie, artificially sweetened fruit spread products possess many of the same textural and flavor defects as the low-sugar products.
High methoxy pectins are used in conventional full calorie high-solids fruit spread products. These pectins are stable to low pH and high temperature conditions; however, they do not gel in the absence of high solids. Most artificially sweetened and low-sugar fruit spread products (which have lower solids content than full calorie spreads because of the reduced sugar content) utilize low methoxy pectin (set with calcium) or carrageenan as the gelling agent. However, textural defects are apparent in products formulated with these gelling agents.
The use of conventional hydrocolloid systems such as carrageenan and low methoxy pectin in reduced calorie (low solids) fruit spreads only provide a gel structure of poor body and mouthfeel. Conventional low-solids formulations do not match the textural quality of high-solids products.
Over the past few years, several reduced-calorie aspartame sweetened fruit spreads have become commercially available. There is significant room for improvement in the storage stability and organoleptic properties of these products. Traditional full calorie fruit spreads usually have pH values of about 3.0-3.2. The commercially available aspartame fruit spreads have pH values of about 3.6-3.7, because at the traditional pH values aspartame would lack sufficient stability to have a reasonable shelf life. However, at the higher pH of 3.6-3.7, for grape products in particular, the characteristic tartness/flavor profile exhibited by traditional products at a pH of 3.0-3.2 is lacking. Also, at the higher pH values, color stability is decreased for certain fruit spreads such as grape jelly. The presently available aspartame-containing spreads, even at the higher pH, are less than fully acceptable because of poor sweetener stability, poor flavor, and (regardless of the pH) poor textural properties.
In the U.S., saccharin also is available in a number of reduced calorie fruit spreads. Saccharin products have good stability; however, they often have a bitter, lingering aftertaste and poor textural qualities.
It is an objective of the invention to provide reduced-calorie, reduced-solids fruit spread products which approach the overall organoleptic quality to full-calorie, high-solids products. This objective is accomplished by use of a multi-component gum system in combination with one or more high intensity sweeteners selected from the group consisting of aspartame; saccharin; acesulfame-K; mixtures thereof; and mixtures of aspartame, saccharin, or acesulfame-K with sucralose. The multi-component hydrocolloid system provides the desired textural attributes that have been missing from the heretofore available reduced calorie fruit spreads.


A turntable acceleration generating apparatus includes a first servo motor, a large-diameter turntable rotated by the first servo motor, and a small-diameter turntable being mounted on the large-diameter turntable at a position offset from the central axis of the large-diameter turntable such that the small-diameter turntable is rotated by a rotary shaft. Furthermore, the turntable acceleration generating apparatus includes a signal line for deriving signals from an acceleration sensor located on one of the sides of the large-diameter turntable, and a control signal line for applying control signal to a second servo motor located on the other side of the large-diameter turntable, wherein the large-diameter turntable is grounded such that the large-diameter turntable prevents noise leakage from the control signal line to the signal line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a centrifugal acceleration tester, and more particularly to a turntable type acceleration generating apparatus applicable for examining characteristics of an acceleration sensor for sensing an acceleration, e.g., force, acceleration, and magnetism, which is capable of reducing noise generated during the measurement for examining characteristics of an acceleration sensor or reducing noise, i.e., undesirable acceleration generated due to the drive torque of a servo motor for a rotating small-diameter turntable.
2. Related Art
The following control is widely conducted. Force, acceleration, magnetism of an object moving in a three dimensional space, e.g., robots and air planes, and another object moving in two-dimensional space, e.g., motor vehicles, are sensed by an acceleration sensor. Motions of the object or various devices carried on the object are controlled in accordance with the thus gathered data, for intended purposes. Various types of acceleration sensors are currently used for this type of control. It is necessity to know the characteristics of the acceleration sensors before the sensors are assembled into the control devices.
A vibration tester is currently used for examining the characteristics of the acceleration sensor. The examining method using the vibration tester has the following problems, however.
1) The method examines an acceleration characteristic of an object to be examined, i.e., an acceleration sensor, in a manner that the object is located on a testing table and subjected to a reciprocative acceleration. The testing table somewhat slants during the reciprocative operation (vertical vibration) of the testing table. The table slanting makes it difficult to secure an exact reciprocative motion. Where the table slants, a force component is additionally applied to the acceleration sensor under test in the directions different from those of the reciprocative forces. The resultant of the measurement includes an interference component in addition to an acceleration of the sensor. The interference component contained in the measurement result impairs the examination of the characteristics of the acceleration sensor in examination exactness.
2) In the vibration tester, the acceleration sensor actually vibrates by use of a vibration generator. Therefore, the test per se is inevitably large in scale. Further, it is necessary to actually apply a dynamic acceleration of vibration to the acceleration sensor. This results in complexity of the testing procedure.
For this background, the inventors of the present Patent Application proposed the solution to the problems. The solution takes the form of a centrifugal acceleration tester capable of remarkably improving the testing accuracy in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei. 7-110342. In the tester, an object to be tested, i.e., a acceleration sensor, is placed on a testing table, and a predetermined acceleration (i.e., a DC component of acceleration) is applied to the object, whereby the characteristics of the acceleration sensor are examined with high precision.
FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the centrifugal acceleration tester. As shown, a signal line 51 is used for deriving an acceleration signal from a sensor table placed on the turntable. A control signal line 52 feeds a control signal to the servo motor to drive the sensor table for its turn. The signal line 51 and the control signal line 52 are gathered together and located on one of the sides (usually the underside) of the turntable, and a coupling ring 53 is applied to the bundle of the lines. In the wiring, noise derived from the control signal line 52 to the servo motor leaks into the signal line 51, viz., it is superposed on a signal traveling through the signal line 51 as shown in FIG. 6. The actual use of the acceleration test showed the fact that this noise makes it difficult to exactly measure the characteristics of the acceleration sensor.
In addition, when the small-diameter turntable is turned to examine the characteristics of the acceleration sensor by use of the centrifugal acceleration tester, an acceleration is generated by a starting torque of the servo motor. This acceleration serves as noise to thereby deteriorate an accuracy of the measurement. In measuring the characteristics of the acceleration sensor, the small-diameter turntable needs to shift its operation mode from a non-rotation mode to a rotation mode by the drive of the second servo motor. At this time, friction resistance of the bearing, weight of the small-diameter turntable, and other factors cause a starting torque. This starting torque serves as noise to deteriorate an accuracy of the measurement for examining the characteristics of the acceleration sensor.

Turntable acceleration generating apparatus


A method for setting addresses of slave devices in a communication network is provided. In the communication network, a master device identifies address-collided slave devices and requests the address-collided slave devices to return their unique identification data. The master device sets addresses of the address-collided slave devices so that each of the slave devices in the communication network has a different address from one another.

1. Field of the Application
The application relates to a method for setting addresses of slave devices in a communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
A communication system, e.g., a communication system compliant to Modbus specifications, includes a master device and one or multiple slave devices. In the Modbus communication system, in each communication, the master device initiatively sends a message and then a target slave device responses. More specifically, only one communication can be performed at a time. In the event of two or multiple slave devices having the same address, these slave devices simultaneously return data to the master device to lead to erroneous returned data and thus a communication failure. Such occurrence is referred as a communication collision.
For communication, the master device sets addresses of the slave devices, generally by manual or automatic means. In manual setting, operating staff manually sets an address for each of the slave devices. However, in communication collision, the operating staff first connects one of the slave devices involved in the communication collision to the master device and modifies the address of the connected slave device. Thus, the operating staff may spend a substantial amount of time to solve the communication collision if the communication collision involves a large number of slave devices.
The communication collision may also be solved by automatic means. Yet, it remains a target of industrialists to provide a solution for further reducing a search time for finding the slave devices involved in the communication collision.

Method for setting addresses of slave devices in communication network


A gas filter device, adapted to be installed between an exhaust emission control device and an intake manifold of an internal combustion engine for filtration of the intake manifold gases which pass to the control device upon variations in vacuum, is comprised of a filtering chamber having an inlet port for connection to the intake manifold and an outlet port for connection to the control device, a first filter element positioned in the chamber and including glass fiber, metallic wire, and sintered bronze, a second filter element positioned in the chamber between the outlet port and the first filter element and made of non-woven cloth having a fine texture, a retaining late located between the inlet port and the first filter element and having multiple passageways, and a hat-shaped separating disc having multiple passageways and a head portion installed between the first filter element and the second filter element for keeping the second filter element away from the first filter element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas filter device and more particularly to an improved gas filter device adapted to be installed between an exhaust emission control device and an intake manifold.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,360,131 and 3,782,083 each disclose a filter device having a single filter element to be used in the passageway of a gas utilization system for filtering the gas. It is difficult to sufficiently filter the gas by such filter devices. Therefore, a prior art gas filter device having two filter elements has been proposed as shown in FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawings of this application. In this type of gas filter device 140, a first filter element 165 is located on a retaining plate 160 having multiple passageways 161, which is mounted on a flange 145 of a body member 141. A second filter element 168 engages the first filter element 165 opposite plate 160. The intake atmospheric gases including petrol mist, dust, soot, and other foreign materials pass from an inlet port 143 of a screw nipple 142 to an outlet port 152 of extension nipple 151 through the passageways 161 and the two filter elements 165 and 168. Consequently, such foreign materials are channeled or forced through the two filter elements and will flow to the outlet port 152 as shown by the arrows in FIG. 4. As a result, the outlet port 152 is likely to clog with the foreign materials so that the durability of the filter element in the conventional gas filter device as shown in FIG. 4 is poor.