An electronic conference aiding system having a structure in which one common information processing apparatus having a common display unit having a size sufficiently large for attendants to commonly watch display and a plurality of personal information processing apparatuses each having a personal display unit for exclusively creating and displaying information at a position adjacent to each attendant are connected into a network through data communication passage, wherein a comment, a reference material or the like is, as an object, related to a file displayed on the common display unit or the personal display unit in such a manner that the object is displayed at an unspecific position on the file to indicate the relation as a previous step in place of immediately embedding the object at a specific position of the file. The necessity of considering the position on the displayed file can be eliminated and the object is related to the overall portion of the file when the object is displayed. Thus, a larger number of objects are related to the file and displayed in a short time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conference aiding system for realizing an electronic conference and improving an efficiency to perform the conference, and more particularly to a conference aiding system for easily relating an object to a file on a display screen for use in the conference.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electronic conference aiding system has been developed which uses a work station or personal computer to electronically create, display, instruct and move information items, which are opinions of attendants of a conference. The system to causes opinions of the attendants to smoothly communicated and proceedings of the conference to be satisfactorily stored in order to improve the quality of the conference. A conference aiding system of the foregoing type usually has a. structure in which one common information processing apparatus comprises a monitor having a large size and arranged to display information of attendants, i.e. large size information for use in place of a blackboard. A monitor control unit for controls the monitor to cause the monitor to display various information items and input means shared by the attendants and plurality of personal information processing apparatuses are used in the conference aiding system. Each comprises a personal computer, a monitor having a small size to display various information items, and input means provided for the respective attendants to input information. The personal information apparatuses are connected to one another through a serial synchronized communication line, such as a LAN. To aid the conference, which is a coordinated operation, the shared input means or the individual input means are used to enable each attendant to arbitrarily create, instruct and move information.
If a file started up by an arbitrary application having a function (for example, OLE: Object Linking and Embedding, Microsoft, U.S.) of embedding an object (a unit for controlling information with a unified attribute and operating information) can be displayed on the large monitor in the above conference aiding system, a tentative file is displayed on the large monitor to request comments from the attendants in such a manner that the comments from the attendants can be embedded at arbitrary relevant positions of the file and displayed on the monitor. Specifically, attendants required to make comments use a shared input means of the common information processing apparatus or the individual input means of the personal information processing apparatus to create objects (opinions of the attendant and/or relevant information). If the object is created by the personal information processing apparatus, the attendant sends the created object to the common information processing apparatus. Then, the attendant embeds the object at an arbitrary position of the file on the large monitor so that the object is displayed on the monitor.
If each attendant displays a file, to which a reference is required to be made, on the small monitor adjacent to the attendant, the attendant creates an object (a memorandum or reference material) relating to the file. Then, if the attendant determines that the object relates to the file, the created object can be embedded at an arbitrary position of the file so as to be displayed on the small monitor in a case where the starting application of the file has the function of making arbitrary information to be relevant to the object and embedding it in the file.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic views showing examples of display of an embedded object in the file. Although an object m and a file A are initially displayed in such a manner that they are not related to each other (see FIG. 1A), selection of an embedding process causes display to be performed in such a manner that the object m is embedded at an arbitrary position in the file A (see FIG. 1B). In this case, the object m is inserted into an arbitrary position in the file A.
When a comment or a reference material relating to the file displayed on the large common monitor is, by the attendant, made to be relevant as an object and embedded so as to be displayed, the above-mentioned conventional conference aiding system is structured to determine information items in the file between which the object is embedded. Then, the object is inserted into the determined position. However, the above-mentioned method of making the object to be relevant to the file has the following problem.
Since the object is inserted between information items in the file, the position of information of the file, which has been displayed, will considerably be shifted. Therefore, an object, which does not considerably related to the file, and an object (for example, an opinion about the file), the position of which to be embedded cannot precisely be specified, cannot easily be presented to the other attendants. If an object of the foregoing type is forcibly embedded into an arbitrary position and displayed on the monitor, a reason why the object is embedded into the position cannot be detected later. Thus, confusion will happen.
An object can be displayed adjacent to a file without use of the embedding function in such a manner that the object does not relate to the file. When the file has been erased or moved, there arises a problem in that the object is not erased or moved corresponding to the file. Another problem arises in that the file to which the displayed object corresponds cannot be detected if a plurality of files are opened.
As described above, use of only the embedding function to make the object relevant to the file is insufficient to easily present objects, such as comments or reference materials, relating to the file serving as a tentative file and displayed on the common monitor having a large size. Thus, the conference cannot smoothly be performed. Also in a case where the attendants add objects, such as memorandums or reference materials, to the file of the reference material displayed on the individual monitors each having a small size, a problem experienced with the common monitor hating the large size arises. As described above, use of the function of embedding an object into a file to make the object relevant to the file is insufficient to efficiently perform an electronic conference. Therefore, an electronic conference aiding system having a new method for making an object relevant to a file has been required.

Conference aiding system and computer memory product for relating an object to a file on a display screen


A driver circuit suitable for use to secure output characteristics higher than the element breakdown voltage in an output circuit. The driver circuit includes first and second switching elements connected between a first supply voltage and an outward terminal for driving a load, a relaxation voltage applying section for applying a voltage lower than the first supply voltage to a junction point between the first and second switching elements and a back gate of the second switching element, and a control section for turning on the second switching element and then the first switching element in sequence when the driver circuit is turned on, and turning off the first switching element and then the second switching element in sequence when the driver circuit is turned off.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of an example of conventional driver circuits, which shows a configuration of a source type driver circuit, in particular. In the following description, the reference symbol M denotes a field effect transistor and Q denotes a bipolar transistor. As shown in FIG. 4, a high potential supply voltage Vcc (e.g., 5 V) is supplied to a supply voltage terminal VCC of an integrated circuit IC to drive a plurality of external circuits through driver output terminals D1, D2, D3, . . . , respectively. Here, for instance, the driver output terminal D3 is connected to the base of a PNP type bipolar transistor Q14 whose collector is connected to an output terminal Out4. The emitter of this transistor Q14 is connected to the high potential supply voltage Vcc and the base thereof is connected to the same high potential supply voltage Vcc through a resistor R14. Further, a load resistance RL is connected as a load to the output terminal Out4 connected to the collector of the transistor Q14. Further, the transistor Q14, the resistor R14 and the output terminal Out4 are all discrete parts connected as an external circuit of the integrated circuit IC.
The operation of the circuit as shown in FIG. 4 will be described hereinbelow. The integrated circuit IC is a circuit formed by integrating a plurality of functional elements, which executes predetermined various functions internally on the basis of the high potential supply voltage Vcc supplied to the supply voltage terminal VCC. When the integrated circuit IC outputs drive signals (e.g., displaying, printing, driving, etc.) to the outside, these drive signals are outputted through the driver output terminals D1, D2, D3, . . . , respectively.
In this case, if a driven element connected to the driver output terminal D3 of the integrated circuit IC is a load resistance RL, for instance and further the driving capability of the driver output terminal D3 is enough to drive the load resistance RL, it is possible to directly connect the load resistance RL to the output terminal D3 in such a way that a required driving current can be supplied directly from the integrated circuit IC to the load resistance RL.
In practice, however, there exist some cases where the driving capability of the driver output terminal D of the integrated circuit IC is not enough to drive the load resistance RL directly due to the microminiaturization of the integrated circuit IC. In this case, it is necessary to connect an additional driver circuit composed of discrete parts externally to the integrated circuit IC.
That is, the transistor Q14 is connected to the driver output terminal D3 for the purpose as described above. Here, when the driver output terminal D3 is at a high level, the base of the transistor Q14 is held at the high potential supply voltage Vcc through the resistor R14, so that the transistor Q14 is kept turned off. As a result, no current is supplied from the output terminal Out4 to the load resistance RL. In contrast with this, when the driver output terminal D3 changes to a low level, a base current flows from the emitter to the base of the transistor Q14 toward the driver output terminal D3, so that the transistor Q14 is turned on. As a result, a load current flows from the high potential supply voltage Vcc to the load resistance RL through the transistor Q14 and the output terminal Out4. In other words, as far as the output terminal D3 of the integrated circuit IC is provided with a base current absorbing capability sufficient to turn on the transistor Q14, it is possible to drive the load resistance RL.
As described above, in the circuit as described above, the capability of each of the driver output terminals D1, D2 and D3 of the integrated circuit IC is such an extent as to activate each of the external PNP transistors. In other words, since it is unnecessary for the integrated circuit IC to drive other circuits directly, a high breakdown voltage is not required for the integrated circuit. On the other hand, since the PNP transistor connected externally is a discrete part, there exists no problem with respect to the breakdown voltage of the transistor. Accordingly, this method of increasing the driving capability of the integrated circuit IC by connecting discrete parts externally thereto has been so far widely adopted to improve the driving capability of the integrated circuits.
On the other hand, however, since the PNP transistor is low in current amplification factor h.sub.fe, it is necessary to supply a sufficiently large base current to the transistor in order to obtain a large driving current. However, when a large driving current is supplied from the output terminal Out4 to the load resistance RL, since the current flowing through the driver output terminals D1, D2, D3, . . . of the integrated circuit IC also increases, there exists a problem in that the power consumption of the integrated circuit IC inevitably increases. In addition, since discrete parts must be connected externally, there exists another problem in that the circuit configuration is complicated externally and the size thereof increases.
To overcome these problems, a source type driver circuit is well known such that the load can be directly driven by turning on or off a transistor provided in the integrated circuit itself. FIG. 5 shows an example of the conventional driver circuits as described above. In FIG. 5, two N-channel MOS transistors M15 and M 25 are connected in series to each other. The source of the transistor M25 is grounded. The drain of the transistor M15 is connected to a supply voltage VDD via a resistance R15 and further to the gate of a P-channel transistor M35. The source of the transistor M35 is connected to the supply voltage VDD, and the drain thereof is connected to an output terminal Out. A load resistance RL is connected to the output terminal Out as a load.
The circuit shown in FIG. 5 is integrated together with another integrated circuit. The gate of the transistor M35 is controlled by controlling the gates of the series-connected transistors M15 and M25 on the basis of the internal operation of the integrated circuit. That is, when the two transistors M15 and M25 are kept turned off, since the supply voltage VDD is applied to the gate of the transistor M35 through the resistance R15, the transistor M35 is turned off, so that no current flows through the load resistance RL connected to the output terminal Out. On the other hand, when the two transistors M15 and M25 are turned on, since the gate of the transistor M35 is set to the ground level in potential through the resistance R15, the transistor M35 is turned on, so that a drive current flows from the supply voltage VDD to the load resistance RL through the transistor M35 and the output terminal Out.
In the above-mentioned driver circuit constructed as shown in FIG. 5, since an external driver circuit composed of discrete parts is not connected to the integrated circuit, the load resistance RL can be driven directly by the transistor M35 formed in the integrated circuit, with the result that there exists such an advantage that the circuit configuration can be simplified. On the other hand, however, since a higher voltage (an addition of the supply voltage VDD and another voltage (e.g., supply voltage) of the integrated circuit) is applied to the transistor M35 when the transistor M35 is kept turned off, there exists a problem in that the transistor M35 must be high in breakdown voltage.

Output driver circuit with high breakdown voltage


The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an aerogel sheet and comprises: a step (a) of impregnating an acid solution into a fiber sheet to clean the fiber sheet by using the acid solution and impregnating a binder solution into the fiber sheet that is cleaned by using the acid solution to manufacture a pre-processed fiber sheet; a step (b) of impregnating a silica precursor into the pre-processed fiber sheet; and a step (c) of a gelling catalyst into the fiber sheet into which the silica precursor is impregnated to gelate the silica precursor.

In general, aerogel is a high porosity material having high porosity of about 90% to about 99% in solids that are known up to date. A silica precursor solution is subjected to sol-gel polymerization reaction to prepare gel, and then, a drying process is performed on the prepared gel under supercritical or atmospheric conditions to obtain the aerogel. That is, the aerogel has a pore structure filled with air.
Such the aerogel is lightweight and has physical properties such as heat insulation and sound absorption due to the unique pore structure in which 90% to 99% of an internal space is empty. The greatest advantage of the above-described advantages is the high heat insulation having thermal conductivity of 30 mW/m·k or less, which is significantly lower than thermal conductivity of 36 mW/m·k that is thermal conductivity of an organic insulation material such as conventional Styrofoam and the like.

Apparatus and method for manufacturing aerogel sheet


A system for and method of assigning frequencies in a mobile telephone communication system wherein there is no central control of frequency channel allocations and wherein such assignment is made by real time signal comparisons without reference to geographical patterns.

In order to achieve better use of the limited frequency resource, cellular mobile telephone systems have a planned reuse pattern for the frequencies. Cellular systems and other radio telephone systems have relied on geographic patterns that guarantee adequate geographical separation of users which wish to use the same frequency. Another method whereby assignments can be made solely on signal strength without reference to geographic separations and geographic patterns is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,453. In the approach disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,453 and in other cellular systems, a central computer and voting system receivers are used to make calculations to determine how the frequencies will be assigned.
It would thus be desirable to have an approach that eliminates the dependency on fixed geographic patterns that could be made practical without a central frequency allocation computer. The requirement for a central frequency allocation computer would be eliminated and mobile and the local base site would make the necessary frequency channel assignments.

System for and method of assigning frequencies in a communications system with no central control of frequency allocation


If a total power consumption of the high- and low-voltage auxiliary machinery is greater than a first reference value when the high-voltage secondary battery is disconnected from the high-voltage wiring by the relay, the power supply control apparatus sets a lower value to a target control value of the generator output voltage, compared with the total power consumption is less than or equal to the first reference value. If the total power consumption of the high- and low-voltage auxiliary machinery is less than a second reference value that is less than or equal to the first reference value when the high-voltage secondary battery is disconnected from the high-voltage wiring by the relay, the power supply control apparatus sets a higher value to the target control value of the generator output voltage, compared with the total power consumption is more than or equal to the second reference value.

Field
The present disclosure relates to a power supply control apparatus, a vehicle and a method of controlling a power supply.
Related Art
JP 2013-103514A describes a hybrid vehicle configured to perform "batteryless drive control" to be driven in a state that a battery is disconnected from a motor and a generator in the case of a failure of the battery. The batteryless drive control causes the generator to generate electric power with feedback control of the throttle position of an engine to make the rotation speed of the engine approach to a target value, and drives the motor with the electric power generated by the generator, so as to drive the vehicle. JP 2013-103514A also discloses a technique of enhancing the responsiveness of the feedback control of the throttle position during batteryless drive control, in order to prevent the voltage of a power supply system from becoming unstable during high-speed drive.
The latest vehicle may be equipped with both high-voltage auxiliary machinery operated at high voltage and low-voltage auxiliary machinery operated at low voltage. When the power consumption of the high-voltage auxiliary machinery rapidly increases or decreases during batteryless drive control, the voltage of the high-voltage system is likely to be rapidly varied with this rapid increase or decrease of the power consumption and to deviate from its allowable range. The same applies when the power consumption of the low-voltage auxiliary machinery is rapidly varied. The technique of enhancing the responsiveness of the feedback control of the throttle position described in JP 2013-103514A fails to sufficiently reduce such a variation in the voltage of the high-voltage system. The voltage of the high-voltage system is thus likely to deviate from the allowable range. This problem is not limited to the hybrid vehicle but is commonly found in any vehicle having two power supply systems, i.e., a high-voltage system and a low-voltage system.

Power supply control apparatus, vehicle and method of controlling power supply


In a fender panel fixing structure of a passenger vehicle according to the present invention, a notch portion of a fender panel is provided with a first flat plate-shaped projection strip that is capable of being inserted into a space between an upper end periphery of a fixed window and a side body and has an engagement portion, and a second flat plate-shaped projection strip that is capable of being inserted into a space between a lower end periphery of the fixed window and the side body and has an engagement portion. The side body has a first engaging portion and a second engaging portion that are disposed in portions covered by the upper end periphery and the lower end periphery of the fixed window. The first and second engaging portions are respectively capable of engaging the first flat plate-shaped projection strip and the second flat plate-shaped projection strip.

A related conventional fender panel fixing structure of a passenger vehicle is described in JP 2005-96502A.
As shown in FIG. 5, a fender panel 100 of a passenger vehicle is provided with a flat plate-shaped projection strip 103 that is positioned in an upper periphery of a notch portion 101 formed therein. The projection strip 103 has a hook-shaped engagement portion 104 that is formed in a distal end portion thereof. The projection strip 103 is constructed to be inserted into a space between a triangular fixed window (not shown) and a side body (not shown), so that the engagement portion 104 formed in the distal end portion thereof engages a clip 108 that is secured in the space. Thus, a circumferential periphery of the notch portion 101 of the fender panel 100 can be secured to the side body, so that rattle cannot be easily generated around the circumferential periphery of the notch portion 101, e.g., when the vehicle is moving.

Structure for fixing fender panel in car


Circuit breaker with two ON and OFF control buttons. The ON (14) and OFF (13) buttons are pivotably mounted in the box of the circuit breaker and have, in front projection, a difference in height (h) between their lower ends (20b, 20b'). Their upper ends (20a, 20a') alternately reveal and hide visualization elements (32, 32') provided on the front side (17) of the box.

This invention relates to a circuit breaker comprising a box containing a triggering and resetting mechanism susceptible of acting on separable contacts for opening and closing at least one electric current path. Openings are provided on the front side of the box for the passage of an "ON" control button and an "OFF" control button accessible to an operator.
Such a circuit breaker is described notably in French document No. 2,448,216. The control buttons are push buttons mounted in the box so as to slide in alternate manner between two operational positions, and having a front pressing side for the operator's finger. When the operator wants to close the contacts, he presses the ON push button which remains pressed in, whereas the OFF push button is automatically put into an outward position in relation to the box. Conversely, to open the contacts, the operator presses the OFF push button which remains pressed in, whereas the ON push button is automatically returned to the outward position. The alternating position of the push buttons thus gives the operator a clear idea of the status of the circuit breaker.
Though such a manual control device is satisfactory, it would be desirable, to provide a more ergonomic device having an accentuated visualization of its "ON" or "OFF" status.
French document No. 1,558,448 discloses the control of an electric switch by means of a pivoting button fitted with a transparent window; this window enables visualization of inscriptions representative of two operational positions of said switch. The control of a circuit breaker is also known by means of a pivoting control button called a "tumbler" with which a triggering visualization means is associated. However, the known pivoting control buttons do not fully provide the desirable working safety and clearness of visualization.

Circuit breaker with pivoting control buttons


An ink jet recording material excellent in all characteristics including drying property, ink absorbency, water resistance and the like, is provided. The ink jet recording material has an ink-receiving layer comprising hydrophilic resin and inorganic pigment, the ink-receiving layer containing silica particles surface-doped with alumina as the inorganic pigment. The alumina-doped silica is prepared by a process employing flame hydrolysis techniques combined with pyrolysis. The ink-receiving layer preferably contains the alumina-doped silica in an amount ranging from 5 to 200 weight parts based on 100 weight parts of the hydrophilic resin.

The present invention relates to ink jet recording materials (recording materials for ink jet printing), particularly to ink jet recording materials excellent in ink drying property and glossiness.
Ink-jet printing ranks with electrophotography (PPC) as one of the most popular recording processes. Various kinds of top-coated materials for ink-jet printing have been proposed to obtain an image of high quality. As the top-coating for image receiving, a resin having both good water resistance and ink absorbency is generally used as borne on a substrate such as a paper sheet or a film. There have been proposed materials using a graft-polymer or a block polymer (Japanese Patent Application laid-open Publication No. 61-21780), materials using a polyvinyl pyrrolidone and an acrylic acid polymer (Japanese Patent Application laid-open Publication No. 62-218181) and materials used for both ink-jet printing and PPC (Japanese Patent Application laid-open Publication No. 5-177921).
In most of the conventional ink jet recording materials, inorganic pigments such as clay, talc, silica, alumina (aluminum oxide) and titanium oxide are added to the coating in order to improve the ink absorbency of the material. The inorganic pigments are selected considering their transparency or color (transparent or white).
For example, when transparency of the ink jet recording material is required for the application to CHP etc., a transparent crystalline pigment such as alumina or the like is selected. When the ink jet printing material should be white, a white pigment such as talc, titanium oxide or the like is selected.
When the inorganic pigment is selected, consideration should be given not only to the color of the inorganic pigment but also to the dispersability in a coating solution, its effect on the fluidity of the coating solution, and its effects on ink absorbency or drying property of the ink-receiving layer. However, each of the aforementioned inorganic pigments has different characteristics and does not satisfy all of the requirements.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording material excellent in all of the characteristics such as drying property, ink absorbency, water resistance and the like. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet recording material capable of providing an image of a high quality.
In order to attain the aforementioned objects, the inventors conducted research on inorganic pigments used for the ink-receiving layer of the ink jet recording material and, as the result, found that silica particles surface-doped with alumina (alumina-doped silica) have both characteristics of silica and those of alumina and that their properties are superior to the two inorganic pigments individually or in mixture.
The ink jet recording material according to the present invention has an ink-receiving layer comprising hydrophilic resin and inorganic pigment, wherein the ink-receiving layer contains silica particles surface-doped with alumina as the inorganic pigment. The amount of the alumina is preferably 0.00001 to 20 wt %.
The alumina-doped silica exhibits good fluidity and good dispersability when it is dispersed in a coating solution, and enables formation of a strong coating layer. The ink-receiving layer containing the alumina-doped silica has high water resistance and excellent ink absorbency and is capable of producing an image of high quality.
The amount of the alumina-doped silica is not particularly limited but is preferably 5-200 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the resin.
According to one preferable embodiment of the present invention, the ink receiving layer is formed on a substrate. As the substrate, plastic film and paper sheet are typical.
When a paper sheet is employed, the ink receiving layer may be formed thereon by coating. Alternatively, the paper itself can be the ink receiving layer. In the latter case, the alumina-doped silica can be added to pulps as a loading material for inner sizing or added to a sizing coating as a pigment thereof in a paper manufacturing process.


A shear band comprising a three-dimensional spacer structure, wherein the three-dimensional spacer structure is formed from a first and second layer of material, each layer of material having first reinforcement members which extend in a first and direction, and second reinforcement members which extend in a second direction, wherein each layer of material is connected to each other by a plurality of connecting reinforcement members which extend in a third direction, wherein the shear band further comprises a first membrane layer located radially outward of the three-dimensional spacer structure. The invention further comprises a non-pneumatic tire which includes the above described shear band.

The pneumatic tire has been the solution of choice for vehicular mobility for over a century. The pneumatic tire is a tensile structure. The pneumatic tire has at least four characteristics that make the pneumatic tire so dominant today. Pneumatic tires are efficient at carrying loads, because all of the tire structure is involved in carrying the load. Pneumatic tires are also desirable because they have low contact pressure, resulting in lower wear on roads due to the distribution of the load of the vehicle. Pneumatic tires also have low stiffness, which ensures a comfortable ride in a vehicle. The primary drawback to a pneumatic tire is that it requires compressed gasses. A conventional pneumatic tire is rendered useless after a complete loss of inflation pressure.
A tire designed to operate without inflation pressure may eliminate many of the problems and compromises associated with a pneumatic tire. Neither pressure maintenance nor pressure monitoring is required. Structurally supported tires such as solid tires or other elastomeric structures to date have not provided the levels of performance required from a conventional pneumatic tire. A structurally supported tire solution that delivers pneumatic tire-like performance would be a desirous improvement.
Non pneumatic tires are typically defined by their load carrying efficiency. "Bottom loaders" are essentially rigid structures that carry a majority of the load in the portion of the structure below the hub. "Top loaders" are designed so that all of the structure is involved in carrying the load. Top loaders thus have a higher load carrying efficiency than bottom loaders, allowing a design that has less mass.
The purpose of the shear band is to transfer the load from contact with the ground through tension in the spokes or connecting web to the hub 512, creating a top loading structure. When the shear band deforms, its preferred form of deformation is shear over bending. The shear mode of deformation occurs because of the inextensible membranes located on the outer portions of the shear band. Prior art non-pneumatic tire typically have a shear band made from rubber materials sandwiched between at least two layers of inextensible belts or membranes. The disadvantage to this type of construction is that the use of rubber significantly increases the cost and weight of the non-pneumatic tire. Another disadvantage to the use of rubber is that is generates heat, particularly in the shear band. Furthermore, the rubber in the shear band needs to be soft in shear, which makes it difficult to find the desired compound.
Thus an improved non-pneumatic tire is desired that has all the features of the pneumatic tires without the drawback of the need for air inflation is desired.


A passively cooled pipe made of a material with a high coefficient of thermal conductivity that has a lockable, invertable, combustion bowl/storage compartment. The pipe is designed for the combustion of dry organic matter. It has a series of passive radiator fins about the outer faces of its sides for the dissipation of heat there along its body, and an aggressive smoke mixing design in the bore of the shank section that aids in the removal of tar and smoke particles. The inside volume of the shank also has a series of passive radiator fins in operational contact with the sides of the shank. There is a removable locking tool housed in the passive radiator fins on one of the outer faces, used to lock the combustion bowl in either of its positions. The locking tool also disassembles the two halves of the pipe for cleaning.

In all devices for smoking dry, inorganic and organic material there is the requirement of a heat source to initiate and possibly propagate combustion of the material. This source of heat is commonly from a flame or an electric resistance element directed onto or into a combustion chamber (located within the pipe bowl) that holds a slug of material for combustion. This necessary combustion heat has two side effects. First, it heats up the charge such that there must be a length or distance between the combustion bowl outlet (draw hole) and the mouthpiece, sufficient to allow the smoke charge to cool enough to prevent discomfort at the users mouth or lungs. Second, it slowly transfers heat from the combustion bowl to the remainder of the device as the heated smoke passes down the bore (from the draught hole to the lip) further exacerbating the first condition and making the device uncomfortable to hold and uncomfortable on the lips.
Many conventional pipes use a water cooling system or an ice packed recess to drop the temperature of the smoke charge, however, these devices are not portable, not concealable, require a fluid and regular cleaning. To date the problem has generally been remedied by allowing a sufficient amount of time for cooling between combustions. This makes use a lengthy procedure when there is multiple users, and the device large and cumbersome.
As a final drawback to conventional pipes, tar and smoke particles build up in the smoke passage choking off the flow path, or alternatively, the pipe allows an excess of the tar and smoke particles to exit the pipe.
Thus, a pipe with a more efficient cooling system in a smaller profile, as provided by the embodiments set forth below, would be a welcomed improvement to the pipe smoking industry.


P-glycoprotein transporter (P-gp) acts as a pump at the blood-brain barrier to exclude a wide range of xenobiotics (e.g., toxins, drugs, etc.) from the brain and is also expressed in a tumor in response to exposure to established or prospective chemotherapeutics (a phenomenon known as multidrug resistance). This invention concerns the preparation and use of radiotracers for imaging P-gp function in vitro and in vivo. Radiotracers of the present invention are avid substrates for P-gp and have structures based on N-Desmethyl-loperamide.

The human multidrug resistance protein family is composed of a number of well characterized members (See, e.g., Borst et al., 2000, J Natl Cancer Inst 92:1295-1302). Originally implicated in the resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic agents, the multidrug resistance protein P-glycoprotein (P-gp), an ATP-driven transmembrane efflux pump and a product of the multiple drug resistance 1 (MDR1) gene, belongs to the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family of proteins. P-gp is an ATP-dependent drug transporter that is predominantly found in the apical membranes of a number of epithelial cell types in the body, including the luminal membrane of the brain capillary endothelial cells that make up the blood-brain barrier. While humans have only one drug-transporting P-gp (MDR1), mice have two, mdr1a (also called mdr3) and mdr1b (also called mdr1) (Gros et al., 1986, Cell 47:371-380; Hsu et al., 1989, J Biol Chem 264:12053-12062; Devault et al., 1990, Mol Cell Biol 10:1652-1663). The tissue distributions of these proteins suggest that the mouse isoforms together perform the same function(s) as the single human MDR1 protein. P-gp is expressed in the human intestine, blood-brain barrier, liver, kidneys, testes and other tissues (Matheny et al., 2001, Pharmacology 21(7):778-796; Nolnar et al., 1997, Anticancer Res 17(1A):481-486; Bradbury, 1993, Exp Physiol 78:453-472; Sugawara, 1990, Acta Pathol Jpn 40:545-553; Cordon-Cardo et al., 1990, J Histochem Cytochem 9:1277-1287).
Expression of P-gp, localized to cell membranes may affect the bioavailability and biodistribution of drug molecules that are substrates for this transporter. Drugs that inhibit P-gp can alter the absorption, metabolism, disposition, and elimination of co-administered drugs and can enhance bioavailability or cause unwanted drug-drug interactions.
Over the last decade, a large number of structurally diverse compounds has been shown to be transported out of cells by P-gp, leading to a much lower availability of these compounds in their intended tissues than would be expected from the physical properties of the compounds (Schinkel et al., 1996, J Clin Invest 97:2517-2524) which only share the properties of being small (usually <2 kDa) hydrophobic amphipathic molecules that are usually not negatively charged.
Classes of small molecule therapeutics that are substrates of P-gp include anticancer, immunosuppressive, cardiac, anti-histamine and a number of anti-infective types including compounds effective against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The activity of P-gp also decreases the intracellular availability of a variety of anticancer drugs, leading to the development of resistance to them. The same appears to be true for HIV protease and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (Fellay et. al., 2002, Lancet 359:30-36). For example, P-gp limits the intestinal absorption of digoxin, talinolol and cyclosporine after oral dosing, limits the central nervous system penetration of human immunodeficiency virus protease inhibitors, and excretes paclitaxel (taxol) into the intestine (Lown et al., 1997, Clin Pharmacol Ther 62:248-260; Sparreboom et al., 1997, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94:2031-2035; Kim et al., 1998, J Clin Invest 101:289-294; Schwarz et al., 2000, Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther 38:61-167). Apical expression of P-gp in tissues such as liver, kidney and intestine results in reduced drug absorption from the gastrointestinal tract and enhanced drug elimination into bile and urine. Moreover, expression of this glycoprotein in the endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier prevents entry of certain drugs into the central nervous system.
The major documented cause of the multidrug resistance of cancers is the overexpression of P-gp, which is capable of pumping structurally diverse anti-tumor drugs from cells (Houseman et al., A Molecular Genetic Approach to the Problem of Drug Resistance in Chemotherapy, 504-517 (1987) (Academic Press, Inc. ); Fine and Chabner, Multidrug Resistance, in Cancer Chemotherapy 8,117-128 (Pinedo and Chabner eds. 1986)). Increased expression of the gene encoding P-gp is found in many malignant cells, including leukemia, lymphoma, sarcoma and carcinoma (Cordon-Cardo et al., 1990, J Histochem Cytochem 9:1277-1287). Active P-gp is believed to function as a "hydrophobic vacuum cleaner" which expels hydrophobic drugs from targeted cells. Such drugs include many anti-cancer drugs and cytotoxic agents, such as vinca alkaloids, anthracyclines, epipodophyllotoxins, taxanes, actinomycins, colchicine, puromycin, toxic peptides (e.g., valinomycin), topotecan, and ethidium bromide (See, Pastan and Gottesman, 1987, New England J Med 316(22):1388-1393). Thus, tumor cells expressing elevated levels of the multiple drug transporter accumulate far less anti-tumor agents intracellularly than tumor cells having low levels of this transporter. The degree of resistance of certain tumor cells has been documented to correlate with both elevated expression of the drug transporter and reduced accumulation of the anti-tumor drugs (Gottesman and Pastan, 1988, J Biol Chem 263,12163; Fojo et al., 1985, Cancer Res 45:3002).
Noninvasive, nuclear imaging techniques can be used to obtain basic and diagnostic information about the physiology and biochemistry of living subjects in general, including experimental animals, normal humans and patients, and for P-gp function in particular, including experimental animals, normal humans and patients. These techniques, including PET (positron emission tomography) and SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) rely on the use of imaging instruments that can detect radiation emitted from radiotracers administered to living subjects. The information obtained can be reconstructed to provide planar and tomographic images that reveal the distribution and/or concentration of the radiotracer as a function of time.
PET is a noninvasive imaging technique that offers the highest spatial and temporal resolution of all nuclear medicine imaging modalities and has the added advantage that it can allow for true quantitation of tracer concentrations in tissues. The technique involves the use of radiotracers, labeled with positron-emitting radionuclides, that are designed to have in vivo properties that permit measurement of parameters regarding the physiology or biochemistry of a variety of processes in living tissue. SPECT is a nuclear medicine tomographic imaging technique using gamma rays arising from administered radiotracers. It is very similar to conventional nuclear medicine planar imaging using a gamma camera. However, SPECT is able to provide true 3D information.
Radiotracers can be labeled with positron- or gamma-emitting radionuclides. The most commonly used positron-emitting radionuclides are 15O, 13N, 11C and 18F, which are usually accelerator-produced and have a half life of 2, 10, 20 and 110 minutes, respectively. The most widely used gamma-emitting radionuclides are 18F, 99mTc, 201TI and 123I.
Several radiotracers have been developed for PET that are ligands for specific neuroreceptor subtypes such as [11C]raclopride and [18F]fallypride for dopamine D2/D3 receptors, [11C]WAY-100635 for serotonin 5-HT1A receptors, [11C]McN 5652 and [11C]DASB for serotonin transporters, [18F]altanserin and [3H]ketanserin for serotonin 5-HT2A receptors, or enzyme substrates (e.g., 6-FDOPA for the enzyme, aromatic amino acid decarboxylase) (e.g., Ehrin et al., 1985, Int J Appl Radiat Isot 36(4):269-73; Mukherjee et al., 1997, Synapse 27(1):1-13; Suehiro et al., 1993, Life Sci 53(11):883-92; Houle et al., 2000, Eur J Nucl Med. 27(11):1719-22; Meyer et al., 2004, Am J Psychiatry 161(5):826-35; Simon et al., 2007, NeuroImage 34:1317-1330; Lemaire et al., 1991, J Nucl Med 32(12):2266-72; Biver et al., 1997, Nucl Med Biol 24(4):357-60; Pike et al., 1995, Eur J Pharmacol 283(1-3):R1-3; Gunther et al., 1995, Nucl Med Biol 22(7):921-7). These agents permit the visualization of neuroreceptor or enzyme pools in the context of a plurality of neuropsychiatric and neurologic illnesses.
A number of PET and SPECT radiotracers have been developed to demonstrate the presence of P-gp in tissue, but none of these are applied to drug development or currently used as routine clinical diagnostic tool (Del Vecchio et al., 2000, Cancer Biother Radiopharm 15:327-337; Hendrikse and Vaalburg, 2002, Methods 27:228-233; Levchenko et al., 2000, J Nucl Med 41:493-501). Although these imaging tools have their utility, their sensitivity and therefore their scope for research purposes is limited. At most, a 2-3 fold increase of uptake in the P-gp expressing tissue (brain/tumor) is observed at an assumed 100% inhibition dose. This means that if small changes (e.g., <20%) in P-gp functionality suffice for co-treatment in, for example, tumor therapy, current imaging tools may not be sensitive enough to establish the change in P-gp functionality with sufficient confidence and may therefore not be suitable for establishing the required dose of a P-gp inhibitor or competitive substrate.
The most widely examined radiotracers for P-gp imaging include [11C]colchicine (Levchenko et al., 2000, J Nucl Med 41:493-501), [11C]verapamil (Elsinga et al., 1996, J Nucl Med 37:1571-1575; Takano et al., 2006, J Nucl Med 47:1427-1433), [11C]daunorubicin (Elsinga et al., 1996, J Nucl Med 37:1571-1575; Takano et al., 2006, J Nucl Med 47:1427-1433), [18F]paclitaxel (Kurdziel et al., 2003, J Nucl Med 44:1330-1339), [94mTc]sestamibi (Bigott et al., 2005, Mol Imaging 4:30-39), and [11C]loperamide (Passchier et al., 2003, Mol Imaging Biol 5:121 (abstract); Wilson et al., 2005, J Labelled Compd Radiopharm 48:S142 (abstract)) for PET, and [99mTc]sestamibi (Piwnica-Worms et al, 1993, Cancer Res 53:977-984) for SPECT (Del Vecchio et al., 1997, Eur J Nucl Med 24:150-159). All of these radiotracers suffer from one or more limitations, such as (i) difficult radiosynthesis (e.g., [94mTc]sestamibi), (ii) troublesome metabolism resulting in significant contamination by radiometabolites (e.g., [11C]verapamil), or (iii) low sensitivity, i.e., a low signal to noise ratio because of modest increase of brain uptake after P-gp inhibition. These limitations have so far compromised their use for sensitive and quantitative assessment of P-gp function in vivo, especially in human subjects.
Loperamide, 4-(p-chlorophenyl)-4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyl-α,α-diphenyl-1-piperidinebutyramide hydrochloride, a synthetic piperidine derivative, is a drug effective against diarrhea resulting from gastroenteritis or inflammatory bowel disease. In most countries loperamide is available generically and under brand names such as Lopex™, Imodium™, Dimor™ and Pepto Diarrhea Control™. Loperamide is an opioid receptor agonist and acts on the μ-opioid receptors in the myenteric plexus large intestines (Awouters et al., 1993, Digestive Diseases and Sciences 38:977-995). Loperamide does not cross the blood-brain barrier in significant amounts. Any loperamide molecules that do cross the blood-brain barrier are quickly exported from the brain by the P-gp (Sadeque et al., 2000, Clin Pharmacol Therapeutics 68:231-237).
Loperamide (free base) has the following formula (XV):

Pharmacokinetic studies have been performed in rats and human using [3H]loperamide labeled at the metabolically unstable methyl groups of the tertiary amide, and in rats using [3H]loperamide labeled at the position adjacent to the chlorine substitution (Heykants et al., 1974, Arzneim.-Forsch 24:1649; Heykants et al., 1977, Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet 2:81-91). Metabolites of loperamide, such as, desmethyl-loperamide (dLop) and didesmethyl-loperamide have been described (Yoshida et al., 1979, Biomedical Mass Spectrometry Vol 6, No. 6. 253-259; Heykants et al., 1977, European Journal of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics 2:81-91; Miyazaki et al., 1982, Life Sciences 30:2203-2206). Oxidative N-dealkylation, including demethylation, seemed to be the major metabolic pathway.
As described herein, Applicants have performed PET studies in non-human primates using 11C-labeled loperamide having the formula (XVI):
In these studies it was found that [11C]loperamide was heavily metabolized and resulted in several undesirable radiometabolites which precluded any possibility of quantitative analysis of P-gp function with [11C]loperamide and PET.
Modification of P-gp function is an important underlying mechanism of drug interactions in humans; both inhibition and induction of the protein having been reported as the cause of drug-drug interactions. Compounds which act as P-gp substrates potentially have an increased risk of pharmacokinetic problems in man. There is therefore considerable interest in the pharmaceutical field in determining, at an early stage, whether new drug candidates are potential P-gp substrates as this may significantly reduce their biological efficacy. Due to its importance in pharmacokinetics, P-gp transport screening has now become an integral part of the drug discovery process. However, existing technology for quantifying P-gp transport is generally low through-put, labor-intensive and expensive, characteristics which are far from optimal for meeting the demands of high-throughput screening of the pharmaceutical industry.
The P-gp transport system is complex and poorly understood in man in vivo. Highly sensitive radiotracers which could be used in vivo would be especially beneficial in elucidating P-gp's role in drug and toxin resistance, immunity, apoptosis or cell differentiation. The present invention provides effective new radiotracers and methods for imaging P-gp function. One of the radiotracers of the present invention, [11C]N-desmethyl-loperamide, a metabolite of [11C]loperamide, surprisingly was identified by the inventors to also be a P-gp substrate, and superior to [11C]loperamide for imaging P-gp function.

Radiotracers for imaging P-glycoprotein function

National Institutes of Health Represented by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health


An apparatus for cleaning the cylinders of the printing units of a printing machine is disclosed. The cleaning apparatus is provided with three subassemblies. Specifically, it includes a cleaning subassembly having at least one washing roller for washing the cylinder to be cleaned. The cleaning apparatus also includes a conveying subassembly for transporting the cleaning subassembly into and out of the printing unit. The conveying subassembly is dimensioned to slide into the service orifice in the frame of the printing unit while supporting the cleaning subassembly. The cleaning apparatus is also provided with an actuating subassembly mounted on the frame of the printing unit for removably receiving the cleaning subassembly and for selectively moving the cleaning subassembly between a first position wherein the cleaning subassembly is disposed on the conveying subassembly within the service orifice, a second position wherein the cleaning subassembly is separated from the conveying subassembly and displaced laterally from the service orifice, and a third position wherein the at least one washing roller of the cleaning subassembly engages the cylinder to be cleaned.

DE 3,614,542 A1 discloses a cleaning apparatus for cleaning a plurality of cylinders within a rotary printing machine. In order to permit the device to be used with several different printing units in a printing machine, the disclosed cleaning apparatus is adapted to be moved in succession from one printing unit to another via a transport device. To this end, the transport device is associated with a guide system. The guide system is provided with a conveyor with an associated drive unit to provide the force for moving the transport device along the guide system from printing unit to printing unit.
The cleaning apparatus disclosed in DE 3,614,542 A1 has several disadvantages. For example, the disclosed apparatus is highly complicated and it takes a considerable amount of time to move the device from one printing unit to the next.
Another device for cleaning the cylinders of a printing machine is known from EP 0,591,634 A1. The device disclosed in EP 0,591,634 A1 can be moved into and out of an orifice formed in a machine frame parallel to the axis of a cylinder to be cleaned. When moved into the orifice, the washing device is received in a suspension device having linear guides. The suspension device possesses end-face connections for the coupling and uncoupling of supply lines such that, when the washing device engages the suspension device, it is automatically connected to the supply lines. After the washing device is coupled to the suspension device, both the suspension device and the washing device can be moved relative to the cylinder to be cleaned by compressed-air cylinders and coupler mechanisms.
The cleaning apparatus disclosed in EP 0,591,634 A1 has several disadvantages. For example, the compressed-air cylinders and the suspension devices considerably restrict the space available for performing servicing work within the orifice, and the linear guides and the coupler mechanism are complicated.

Apparatus for the cleaning of cylinders of a printing machine


There are provided measures for improvements in small cell mobility with dual/multi connectivity. Such measures exemplarily comprise terminating at least one control plane signaling connection from said terminal for said at least first network access entity and second network access entity, maintaining a terminal related access stratum context commonly for radio accesses of said terminal to said at least first network access entity and second network access entity, and initiating switching of said radio access of said terminal from said first network access entity to said second network access entity for user plane data transfer with said control plane signaling connection for said second network access entity being applied unchanged, thereby providing, in a control plane for a terminal, connection management for at least a first network access entity and a second network access entity, wherein said at least first network access entity and second network access entity providing radio access for user plane data transfer for said terminal, wherein said terminal being capable of having radio access to said at least first network access entity and second network access entity for user plane data transfer.

Mobile data transmission and data services are constantly making progress. With the increasing penetration of such services, different access networks may coexist in parallel. Typically, in relation to mobile communication systems, an access network is represented by a radio access network (RAN) which is based on a certain radio access technology (RAT). While "radio" is a typical medium for mobile communication, other media are intended to be also covered by the principles taught herein. For example, Infrared or Bluetooth® or other media and/or wavelengths of radio are possible to represent the access network. As there has to be a (downward) compatibility between newly developed and pre-existing access networks and/or access networks technologies, terminals often have a capability to communicate based on one or more access networks technologies. Also, when a new access network is developed and launched, the network is not immediately available in the entire country of deployment, but its coverage may be limited to certain areas and be successively expanded over time.
The present invention will herein below be explained with reference to Long Term Evolution (LTE) as one example of a access network or radio access technology (LTE is also known as fourth generation 4G mobile communication) and its successor or improvement which is currently being developed and referred to as 5G (fifth generation mobile communication) as a further access network or radio access technology, but also with reference to predecessors thereof. Though, principles set out herein below are applicable to other scenarios than explained, too. Typically, a mobile communication network consists of an access network establishing the physical transport of data (payload (user) data and control data) and a core network establishing the control functionality for the entire network and the interoperability of the network with other networks, e.g. via gateways. References to specific network entities or nodes and their names are intended as mere example only. Other network node names may apply in different scenarios while still accomplishing the same functionality. Also, the same functionality may be moved to another network entity. Therefore, the principles as taught herein below are not to be understood as being limited to the specific scenario referred to for explanation purposes.
For example, the Evolved Packet System (EPS) is the successor of General Packet Radio System (GPRS). It provides a new radio interface and new packet core network functions for broadband wireless data access. Such EPS core network functions are the Mobility Management Entity (MME), Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN-GW, P-GW) and Serving Gateway (S-GW).
FIG. 1 illustrates the Evolved Packet Core architecture as introduced and defined by 3GPP TS 23.401 v13.0.0.
The entities involved and interfaces there between are defined in that document and reference is made thereto for further details. Acronyms used in the Figure are listed at the end of this specification.
A common packet domain Core Network (CN) is used for both RANs, the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) Enhanced Radio Access Network (GERAN) and the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). This common CN provides GPRS services.
It is envisioned that a 5G system will provide the new mobile, low-latency and ultra-reliable services, and some services like Vehicle-To-X (V2X) will be more efficiently provided by 5G system.
A reference to 5G architecture that is envisioned is depicted in FIG. 2.
Acronyms used in the Figure are listed at the end of this specification.
In brief, a terminal such as a 5G NT (network terminal or user equipment) is provided with an internet protocol IP user network interface (IP UNI) and an Ethernet user network interface (ETH UNI) and may communicate via a Uu* interface with an Access Point (AP) in the mobile access network. The entire network has a mobile access part, a networks service part and an application part. Within each of those parts, there exists a control plane and a user (data) plane. The AP is located in both planes.
It is evident that interworking of 5G with the existing RAT technologies like LTE is needed
FIG. 3 schematically illustrates possible inter RAT architecture following traditional concepts applied to a scenario with LTE and 5G mobile communication system.
Here, a terminal (user equipment, UE) capable of accessing to LTE network and 5G network is connected to a 5GAP being an access point of a 5G mobile communication system and to an evolved NodeB (eNB) being an access point of a 3.9/4G mobile communication system (LTE). The control plane (dotted lines) as well as the user plane (solid lines) of both mobile communication systems is handled by a control plane mobile gateway (cMGW) and a user plane gateway (uGW), respectively, via respective interfaces (S1*, S1-U, S1-C).
3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) switched from the distributed architecture of wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) to a flat architecture of LTE which allowed a reduction of the number of hardware boxes, a reduction of intermediate nodes, and a minimization of Access Stratum (AS) signaling during mobility.
The introduction of small cells with limited coverage compared to a large macro cell results in that the frequency of mobility events involving change of small cell base stations increases. That is, AS mobility events causes excessive signaling on the network, which consumes additional processing, additional signaling, and may cause service interruption during the mobility events.
However, it is expected that 5G is to have multiple flavors of small cells in centimeter wave and millimeter wave. Accordingly, the mentioned problem resulting from small cells is likely to be considerably increased.
Hence, there is a need to reduce signaling and to minimize service disruption during mobility events.
In particular, there is a need to provide for improvements in small cell mobility with dual/multi connectivity.
In this regard it is noted that dual connectivity means that a terminal moves between two radio access coverage areas having different RATs (here LTE and 5G), establishing simultaneous connections with both networks before seamlessly handing over.
Further, multi connectivity means that a terminal connects to two base stations of a RAT (here 5G) simultaneously, improving bit rate performance through multiple downlink streams, as well as signal strength and resilience.

Small cell mobility with dual/multi connectivity


Sulfur dioxide is scrubbed from boiler flue gases in a double-loop alkali scrubber, one a quencher loop and the other an absorption loop. Preferably, the reagent flow of the two loops is isolated so that none of the reagent from the quencher loop is cycled to the absorber loop. A substantial portion of the make-up water for the quencher loop is received from the absorber loop and solids are concentrated in a dewatering system which includes a hydroclone.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to a unique double-loop SO.sub.2 scrubbing system for flue gas desulfurization which achieves substantially complete lime or limestone utilization concurrently with high SO.sub.2 scrubbing efficiency, and excellent corrosion control.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Scrubbing of boiler flue gases with slurries of limestone (CaCO.sub.3) or calcined limestone products, lime and hydrated lime, is a known and simple method for the removal of sulfur dioxide (SO.sub.2) from these combustion gases. The system does, however, require makeup water for operation and therefore increases the total plant demand for water. As suitable quality water is often available to the plant only in limited quantities, it is essential that the scrubbing system use a minimum of high quality makeup water.
Makeup water is required in sulfur dioxide scrubbing systems to replace water lost in two areas: (1) water lost through evaporation as a means of saturating the incoming gases; and (2) water lost with the solid waste product composed of unreacted reagent, calcium sulfite hydrates and calcium sulfate hydrites that are discharged from the system. The total makeup water requirements for the system can, therefore, be minimized by reducing these water losses.
Generally makeup water enters the sulfur dioxide scrubbing system in several areas: (1) water entering with the reagent; (2) water for slurry pump packing glands; (3) wash water to remove solids that have built up on impingement-type demisters; (4) quencher makeup water, which replaces most of the evaporative losses. Most of the makeup water is either demister wash water or quencher makeup water. The water used as demister wash water must be of sufficiently high quality so as not to contribute to the solids build-up it is designated to wash away. Its solids content and pH must be kept within limits. The quencher makeup water, on the other hand, can be of considerably lesser quality.
One prior art method for minimizing system water losses (i.e. process makeup water requirements) is to operate the scrubbing system in a closed loop manner. In closed loop operation, the discharge slurry from the scrubbing system is partially dewatered to generate two new streams: a high solids stream that is sent to disposal; and a low quality water stream that is recycled to the scrubbing system.
Utilization of this recycled water can reduce the overall process fresh makeup water requirements by up to 50%. However, the recycled water is saturated in sulfates - which increases the potential for scaling in the flue gas desulfurization system. In addition, impurities including corrosive chlorides are concentrated within the SO.sub.2 Removal System during closed loop operation. These impurities force the use of exotic and expensive materials of construction and often preclude closed loop operation in single loop desulfurization systems.

Sulfur dioxide scrubber with hyroclone separator


A supercharged internal combustion engine is provided having a common exhaust manifold and a common combustion air manifold for all engine cylinders. The engine has a plurality of exhaust-driven superchargers that are staggered as a function of the engine output. Each supercharger is engageable or disengageable with the exhaust manifold via its exhaust-driven turbine. Each supercharger, at an input side of its compressor, has a line connection, via a respective valve mechanism, to the output of a charging fan disposed upstream and in series with the compressor. For an oppositely directed changeover between supply air compressed by the charging fan, and ambient air, all of the valve mechanisms are adjusted as a function of the speed of an associated supercharger and a combustion air operating pressure. A processor having a stored requirements profile is provided for the sole release of the valve mechanism of a given supercharger.

The present invention relates to a supercharged internal combustion engine having a common exhaust manifold and a common combustion air manifold for all combustion chambers. The engine also has a plurality of exhaust-driven superchargers that are staggered as a function of the output of the internal combustion engine, wherein the superchargers are engageable or disengageable with the exhaust manifold via their exhaust-driven turbine. The engine also has a charging fan that is driven by a separate motor and that is disposed upstream and in series with the compressor of one of the superchargers.
With the aid of the supercharging, it is possible to realize in a small internal combustion engine the output of an otherwise considerably larger internal combustion engine. In the case of a prescribed rated output, the engine can be considerably smaller due to its supercharging. During the supercharging of internal combustion engines having exhaust-driven superchargers, there results the conflicting objectives that on the one hand due to the supercharging an increase of the rated output is possible, and on the other hand for this purpose the geometrical/mechanical compression must be proportionally reduced relative to the desired increase in rated output. Due to the reduction of the geometrical/mechanical compression, however, the output or torque of the supercharged internal combustion engine drops in an over-proportional manner in the lower speed range, which is attributable to the operating speed plot of the output curve, which for exhaust-driven superchargers is very steep. A fluid-producing mechanism can bring about an optimal flow, and hence a high output, only within a very narrow speed range. This is the opposite of the desire in internal combustion engines of land vehicles for the production of a propulsion hyperbola. However, by the use of a plurality of exhaust-driven superchargers, not only the operating speed range of the internal combustion engine, but also the special volumetric operating size of the exhaust-driven superchargers, can be divided. However, the resulting, chronologically offset engagement of the superchargers easily leads the supercharging system into the range of the pumping and to the collapse of the combustion air flow in the compressor that is to be engaged if, for example, the air, which initially flows from the second compressor at very low pressure via a discharge valve into the atmosphere, is intended to pass into the combustion air manifold of the internal combustion engine that is already under the full pressure of the first compressor, in other words from a flow-producing mechanism having a relatively high flow velocity and little possibility for building up pressure to a reciprocating engine having relative low flow velocity and a relatively high possibility for building up pressure.
Mechanical positive-displacement chargers, which can be driven by the internal combustion engine itself or by a separate motor, easily convey the air required for idling of the internal combustion engine, but in the high output/high speed range of the internal combustion engine cannot compete with an exhaust-driven supercharger. Therefore, it is customary on an internal combustion engine to combine the respective advantages of an exhaust-driven supercharger and a positive-displacement compressor by a series connection or a parallel connection of the two chargers. This is particularly applicable for counteracting the so-called turbo hole or leak, which results when upon start-up of the internal combustion engine, a single or first exhaust-driven supercharger comes only slowly up to speed due to the slowly increasing generation of exhaust gas.
A supercharged internal combustion engine of the aforementioned type is known from the publication DE 40 40 939 C1. With this internal combustion engine, as a separate motor for the preliminary blower, and as the main motor, a respective rotary piston diesel engine having a low compression is used, with greatly unequal output dimensioning for the main motor and the smaller preliminary blower motor; for the drive of the preliminary blower, an electrical starter motor is additionally provided. From an output signal of the main motor, at least one two-stage exhaust-driven turbo charger is connectable parallel to the series connection of the preliminary blower and of the charging blower that is driven by the exhaust-driven turbine. In this way, the preliminary blower motor can be reduced in size in conformity with its proportional contribution to the charge output. With a connectability of merely one two-stage exhaust-driven turbo charger, the necessary size of the preliminary blower motor can be cut in half, and with the staggered connectability of two two-stage exhaust-driven turbo chargers, the necessary size of the preliminary blower motor can be one third. The so-called pumping during the chronologically offset additional connection of exhaust-driven turbo chargers is not addressed. However, a loss of compressed air from the region of the combustion air manifold due to a backward flowing of combustion air in each of the exhaust-driven turbo chargers that is to be connected or engaged is to be avoided. This is particularly applicable to diesel engines having a pressure threshold that is critical for its spontaneous ignition.
It is an object of the present invention, for a supercharged internal combustion engine, in conjunction with an increase of output, to provide an improved acceleration characteristic in the starting range, and a transition-harmonic operating spectrum from very low speed at partial load and full throttle up to high speed at partial load and full throttle, and to enable a staggered engagement and disengagement of exhaust-driven superchargers without the aforementioned pump effect.


A lumber stacking apparatus for successively placing layers of boards one on another to form a vertical stack, and for automatically placing stickers between successive layers of boards to vertically separate the layers within the stack. The successive layers of boards are formed along a layer support surface adjacent the stack. A forked arm assembly is raised to lift the formed layer from the layer support and carry the lifted layer to the stack and deposit the layer on the stack. The stickers are initially moved transverse to the movement of the fork arms to selected sticker positions. The stickers are then lifted up and over sticker supports provided on the sides of the fork arms. As the fork arms are raised to lift of layer of boards from the layer support surface, the sticker supports simultaneously lift a layer of stickers against the bottom side of the board layer. Both layers are then moved outward over the stack, lowered, and stripped from the fork arms and sticker supports onto the stack as the fork arms are drawn back past stripping surfaces. The stripping surfaces are vertically movable in response to movement of the fork arms between positions clear of the layers to allow outward movement of the layers over the stack, and positions intersecting the paths of the layers as the fork arms are retracted.

The present invention is related to automatic lumber stacking apparatus with layer spacing stickers situated between the layers of boards.
In the lumber industry, boards that have been freshly cut from logs are generally sorted and stacked for drying in a dry kiln. During the stacking operation, stickers or elongated wooden slats are placed transversely between layers at spaced intervals. Usually, the stickers have lengths equal to the width of the stack and are situated transverse to the boards in the stack. The stickers are spaced at longitudinal intervals along the layers of boards to separate the layers and enable drying gases within the kiln to circulate through the stack and uniformly dry the boards.
In many stacking operations today, stickers are placed manually between the layers of boards. Such manual placement of stickers is costly, tedious and often dangerous.
Automatic sticker placing equipment has been developed although many such forms of this equipment can only be justified in the largest of operations. Most existing automatic sticker placing apparatus include individual sticker magazines adajcent each sticker placement station for storing the stickers to be placed between layers of boards. Loading these magazines often requires the full attention of at least one worker while another is required to operate the stacking machine. Furthermore, it is frequent that such magazines are situated adjacent one side of the stack that is opposite to the lumber stacking apparatus. Therefore, such placement apparatus requires additional space and operating equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,044 granted to applicant, Sidney L. Lunden, on Sept. 9, 1975 describes a sticker placing device for lumber stacking apparatus that automatically delivers stickers from a single magazine to successive locations along the length of a layer of boards. The sticker magazine and sticker indexing conveyor are located behind the stacking apparatus and require additional intermediate handling prior to placement beneath a layer being carried to the stack. The selected group of spaced stickers is lifted from the rear sticker supply conveyor and moved forward to an intermediate position between the sticker conveyor and the lumber stack. Then, in another step, the stickers are lifted to spaced locations below a layer of boards and finally transferred over and onto the stack. This apparatus is entirely effective and greatly reduces the necessary equipment and space previously required for auxiliary automatic sticker placing apparatus.
However, the applicant has discovered a substantial improvement which greatly simplifies the apparatus and increases the sticker placement reliability. Such improvement is the subject of this application. Additionally the lumber stacking machine is produced with fewer component parts and will operate in a relatively smaller area.


Compounds of the formula: ##STR1## in which R.sup.1 is alkylsulfonamido of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, arylsulfonamido of 6 to 10 carbon atoms, --NO.sub.2,--CN, 1-imidazolyl or 1,2,4-triazol-1-yl;. Y is ##STR2## --CH.sub.2 --, --O--, --S--, or --SO.sub.2 --; X is --CH.dbd. or --N.dbd.; PA0 R.sup.2 is hydrogen when n is 0, otherwise it is hydrogen or --OH; PA0 n is one of the integers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6; PA0 A is ##STR3## where R.sup.3 is alkylsulfonamido of 1 to 6 carbons atoms, arylsulfonamido of 6 to 10 carbon atoms, --NO.sub.2, --CN, 1-imidazolyl or 1,2,4-triazol-1-yl; or ##STR4## where R.sup.4 is hydrogen or alkyl of 1 to 6 carbon atoms; with the provisos that; PA0 a) X is --CH.dbd. when Y is ##STR5## --O-- or --S-- and when Y is ##STR6## and R.sup.2 is --OH; b) X is --N.dbd. when A is ##STR7## c) A is ##STR8## when Y is --S-- or --SO.sub.2 -- and X is --CH.dbd., and their pharmaceutically acceptable salts are Class III antiarrhythmic agents.

Class III antiarrhythmic agents are recognized as having the ability to markedly prolong dog Purkinje fiber action potential duration without producing significant changes in maximal upstroke velocity. Unlike Class I antiarrhythmic agents, a pure Class III agent displays no effect on cardiac sodium channels. The electrophysiologic properties of a compound defining a Class III activity profile are observed in vivo as negligible effects on atrial, ventricular and H-V conduction times while producing a marked increase (greater than 20 percent) in both the atrial and ventricular refractory periods. In contrast, Class 1 agents demonstrate a marked slowing of ventricular conduction velocity, generally without significant changes in the refractory period. Recent reviews of these agents are: Bexton et al.; Pharmac. Ther. 1982, 17, 315-55; Vaughan-Williams, J. Clin. Pharmacol, 1984, 24, 129-47; Steinberg et al.; Ann. Rep. Med. Chem. 1986, 21, 95-108.
Oinuma et al. have disclosed 4'-[[1-[2-(6-methyl-2-pyridyl)ethyl]-4-piperidyl]carbonyl]methanesulfonami de (E-4031) and related piperidine derivatives as potential Class III antiarrhythmic agents in European Patent Application 0235752, Sep. 9, 1987, and further describe their pharmacology in J. Med. Chem, 1990, 33, 903. Closely related thio-substituted piperidines with similar activity are disclosed by Oinuma et al. in European Patent Application 0304888, Mar. 1, 1989.
Carr et al. have disclosed various 1,4-disubstituted piperidine derivatives possessing the acetamide moiety with similar Class III effects in European Patent Application 0320983, Jun. 21, 1989.
Lis et al. have disclosed derivatized alkanolamines possessing the piperazine moiety in WO 90/00548, Jan. 25, 1990 and further describe their Class III antiarrhythmic activity in J. Med. Chem. 1990, 33, 2883.


A flare gas burner is provided which is less susceptible to damage caused by internal and/or external burning. An internal protective liner is attached within the burner and an external protective covering is attached over the exterior of the burner and conduits associated therewith whereby the burner is shielded from flame impingement and excessive heat and an aerodynamically improved exterior surface is provided on the burner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a flare gas burner, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an improved flare gas burner adapted to be connected to a flare gas conduit or stack.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Flares are commonly utilized for disposing of gases, both waste gases and gases flared as a result of equipment shut-downs, plant upsets, etc. The flared gases are burned by a flare burner either continuously or intermittently, and to insure that the flared gases are ignited and that the burning thereof is maintained, continuously burning pilot flames are provided at the flare gas burner.
While a variety of flare gas burner designs and multiple burner arrangements have been developed and used heretofore, in applications where a high maximum flow rate of flare gas is to be handled by the flare, a single flare gas burner of relatively large diameter is often used. Unfortunately, most of such flares seldom, if ever, operate at the maximum flow condition, and consequently, the flares frequently handle gas flow rates which are only small fractions of the maximum. The low flow rates in combination with wind acting on the flare gas burner often cause internal and external burning which bring about the early failure of the burner.
Internal burning occurs as a result of wind blowing transversely to the longitudinal axis of a flare gas burner when a low rate of gas is flowing through the burner. The wind causes a low pressure zone to develop within the open discharge end of the burner which in turn causes air to be drawn into the burner. As the air and gas mix within the burner, internal burning takes place. Such internal burning can cause flame impingement and excessive heat damage to the internal walls of the burner which can and usually does drastically shorten the life of the burner.
While increased gas flow rates overcome the problem with internal burning, the combination of a gas flow rate which is still less than maximum and wind can bring about an undesirable condition of external burning. That is, as wind strikes a flare gas burner, a high pressure zone is developed on the windward side and a low pressure zone is developed on the leeward side. At certain less than maximum flow rates of gas through the flare gas burner, the low pressure zone created by the wind and the wind force against the flame above the burner cause a portion of the flame to move or to be pulled into the low pressure zone on the leeward side of the flare burner. This in turn brings about flame impingement and excessive heat damage to wall portions of the burner and its appurtenances.
Low pressure zones which promote external burning are also readily formed by wind acting on the portions of flare burners which extend outwardly from the external sides of the burners such as pilot flame fuel gas conduits, ignitor apparatus and the like. External burning in such low pressure zones brings about damage to the burner as well as to the conduits and other protruding portions thereof.
By the present invention, an improved flare gas burner is provided which is shielded from flame impingement, heat, etc., brought about by internal and/or external burning thereby significantly increasing the operational life of the burner.


Upon exposure initiation, a shutter opens abruptly, an exposure-light diaphragm begins to open progressively, and a control diaphragm, behind whose aperture the light sensor is located, also begins to open progressively. The signal from the light sensor is integrated, and when the requisite total-light amount is reached the shutter falls closed abruptly. Accordingly, the system decides, on its own, what the exposure duration and exposure-light aperture size upon exposure termination will be. The user, however, can modify this fully automatic selection in the sense of longer exposures and smaller aperture, or else shorter exposures and larger aperture, by varying the motion-retarding force supplied by an electromagnetic motion retarder, which controls the speed at which the exposure-light aperture opens up. Prior to exposure initiation, the control aperture is at a minimum, but non-zero size, permitting scene-light-sufficiency measurement. The motion-retarding force is automatically lowered in response to temperature decreases and automatically boosted in response to scene-light increases, to counteract low-temperature slowness of mechanical movements and to prevent the need for unrealizably brief exposure durations. The electromagnetic motion-retarder is not connected to a current source, but instead generates magnetic motion-retarding force in response to movement of inductance-modifying structure in accordance with Lenz' law. When the user wishes to predispose the fully automatic system towards longer or shorter exposure durations or larger or smaller aperture sizes, the light-sufficiency indicator is automatically adjusted to take this into account.

The present invention concerns programmable, fully automatic shutter systems for photographic cameras, of the type in which the user is provided with at least some preselectability of exposure-aperture size or exposure duration, and cooperating with an electronic exposureduration control system of the type which activates, e.g., deenergizes, a holding electromagnet to permit the shutter to close at the moment when the totalized or integrated amount of light incident upon the camera's light sensor has reached a predetermined value. Also, shutter systems of the type in question are typically provided with means automatically operative for indicating to the user whether the prevailing scene-light level, i.e., taken in conjunction with further exposure parameters such as film sensitivity and the preselected shutter speed or aperture size, does or does not permit hand-held shooting or whether instead a tripod or flash illumination would be required.
The preferred embodiment of the invention, as explained much more fully below, makes use of an electromagnetic braking or retarding mechanism in conjunction with a shutter and a double diaphragm, one of the apertures of the double diaphragm being located in line with the shutter in the path of exposure light and the other aperture of the double diaphragm being located to control the incidence of light on the camera's light sensor. This basic approach results in a very considerable number of system flexibilities, which will be explained further below. However, inasmuch as electromagnetic braking or motion-retarding is involved, a brief discussion of the relevant prior-art aspects of such technique is in order.
In photographic cameras, braking or motion-retarding mechanisms are known, in a considerable variety of forms, for the purpose of controlling the speed of shutter movement and thereby exposure duration. For such purposes, it is also known in the prior art to make use of electromagnetic braking or motion-retarding systems. In general, these are so designed that the motion-retarding action is automatically controlled in dependence upon the light incident upon the camera's light sensor; e.g., the motion-retarding electromagnet, a current source, a photoresistor, and a control switch are connected in series, and variations in the level of light incident on the photoresistor result in corresponding variations of the motion-retarding action afforded by the electromagnet. The control switch is closed when the user depresses the camera release button, or other such user-activated member. Such a system is disclosed, by way of example, in published Federal Republic of Germany allowed patent application DT-AS No. 1,258,258.
Such shutter systems, i.e., wherein the control of shutter operation includes the use of an electromagnetic braking or motion-retarding force, can be designed in various ways from various viewpoints, for example depending upon the number of blades with which the shutter is provided, and depending upon what special functions or particular modifications of shutter performance the electromagnetic motion-retarding force is to be called upon to provide.
It is also known to use such electromagnetic motion-retarding systems, and to vary the intensity of their electromagnetic fields, for the purpose of controlling the distance through which the structure defining the exposure aperture moves, i.e., in order to determine or control exposure-aperture size. However, these known systems can only be used for pure and simple diaphragm-aperture regulation of the type which does not exhibit real functional dependence upon, or in particular complicated functional dependence, upon one or more further exposure parameters.
In view of such recognized flexibility limitations of shutter systems relying on magnetic-force motion retardation, attempts have been made to develop special-purpose motion-retarding and control systems specifically adapted for controlling the motions of mechanical components in photographic cameras, in which a permanent magnet connected to a moving component cooperates with one or more further, magnetically interconnected permanent magnets located along a motion-retarding path in such a manner that the particular motion-retarding function, e.g., the motion-retarding force as a function of displacement, or the like, is determined by the dimensions and configuration of a flux-return yoke cooperating with such permanent magnets; or else, the permanent magnet is provided with one or more specially configured shaped portions of cut-outs in its magnetic material whose configuration is then relied on to establish the particular motion-retarding function desired by the designer. However, even with that prior-art technique, the manner in which the motion-retarding function is generated, and the resulting exposure durations corresponding to such function, cannot be realized if the system is additionally to afford user-selectability of exposure duration and/or exposure-aperture size.

Programmable fully automatic shutter system for photographic cameras


A status data repository operable with a distributed processing environment including a plurality of processing regions. The status data repository includes a data storage unit adapted to store status data representative of the availability of the plurality of processing regions. The status data repository is adapted to share stored status data with a client device so as to enable the client device to obtain information regarding the availability of one or more of the plurality of processing regions.

One or more aspects of the invention relate to distributed processing environments, and more particularly, to a distributed processing environment comprising a plurality of processing regions.
It is known to provide a distributed processing environment comprising a plurality of processing regions. Such a distributed processing environment can provide increased availability while the availability of the underlying individual processing regions may change. For example, servers that control a common set of resources can be clustered together and accessed via a single network address, allowing a client to access the resources even when individual servers in the cluster are not available.
If a processing region fails, then any clients that were connected to it can then choose to connect to another processing region of the distributed processing environment to carry out further processing of a transaction for example. However, during a synchronization operation, affinities are created between the components that make up a distributed transaction, and these affinities then have to be maintained or honored following a system or network failure. Affinities thus refer to the processing relationships or requirements that are adhered to (such as a specific order of accessing data or processes for example), and these affinities can restrict the ability to dynamically route work and/or quickly recover from failures.
A client views the distributed processing environment as a single node, and so can only have one connection active at any time, which links the client to one of the processing regions. Thus, when connected to a processing region, a client is unable to re-synchronize outstanding work or transaction with another processing region without dropping the current connection.
Also, a client is unable to discover the availability of a specific processing region unless it tries to connect to it directly. To address this, a client may periodically drop its connection to allow it to attempt to connect back to a specific processing region in the distributed processing environment. However, this approach is not guaranteed to succeed, and the overall performance of a client is adversely affected every time a connection is dropped.

Data repository for a distributed processing environment

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


Apparatus and method are provided for saving and (upon demand) restoring a control signal for a signal-controlled system. A control signal generated by or within that system is provided to a multiplexer, which normally produces that control signal. That control signal is digitized and stored by a storage device as follows. The output of the storage device is provided both to the multiplexer and to a comparator. The comparator also receives the output of the multiplexer, and compares the output of the storage device and the multiplexer. The comparator provides a signal to the storage device to increment or decrement the storage device based on whether the signal produced by the storage device is less than, or greater than or equal to, the control signal produced by the multiplexer. The multiplexer output is also provided to the signal-controlled system to provide the control signal thereto. Upon demand as indicated by a selection signal provided to the multiplexer, the stored signal from the storage device is outputted by the multiplexer, and is accordingly provided by the multiplexer to the system as the control signal. The storage device includes a resistor ladder having a plurality of evenly or unevenly incremented outputs, a selector for selecting one of those outputs to be provided to the multiplexer and to the comparator, and a counter controlled by the comparator for controlling operation of the selector.

Those concerned with the development of signal-controlled electrical devices have long recognized the need to conserve power by temporarily restricting operation of such devices, while retaining the value(s) of such control signal(s) for use when full operation is restored The present invention fulfills this need.
It is often desirable for the user of electronic equipment to have the ability to partially shut down such equipment, such as during periods of relative inactivity, in order to conserve power. Often, such equipment utilizes one or more internally generated or externally provided control signals for controlling some aspect of operation of that equipment. One example of such a control signal is a feedback control signal, such as the voltage or other control in a phase locked loop, or the reference voltage controlling the amount of delay produced by a synchronous delay line. If there is to be a partial shutdown of equipment so controlled, then there will be a need to reduce power to various parts of the system. As a result, the control voltage or other control signal would not be maintained, and so would be lost. If full power is thereafter restored, it will then be necessary to completely redetermine the lost control signal. Particularly if a feedback control signal is involved, such as in a phase-locked loop or in a synchronous delay line, redetermining the lost control signal can require a substantial number of system cycles. As a result, relatively substantial delays can be encountered in such restart of signal-controlled equipment. This situation is made more difficult if the signal or signals involved are analog signals, especially if they were generated by analog circuitry such as an operational amplifier. Such signals are more easily lost, and the static power consumption of an operational amplifier is sufficiently relatively substantial that a partial shutdown would most desirably involve stopping operation of the operational amplifier.
There exist applications in which there is a need to generate multiple internal clock phases or sub phases from a single input clock, all of which are synchronized together, wherein the generated clock signals are corrected for phase and frequency errors, particularly phase errors of integral multiples of 360.degree..
It has been a general practice to employ MOS synchronous delay lines to provide additional timing edges from a reference clock signal. Although such devices have served the purpose, they have not proven entirely satisfactory under all conditions of service because, particularly with larger frequency range requirements, there is a need to correct the outputs of such delay lines for phase not only within a range of 0.degree.-360.degree., but also to correct phase errors which are integral multiples of 360.degree.. Such correction is needed so that the outputs remain relatively in phase with each other.
One such synchronous delay line is described in Bazes, M., "A Novel Precision MOS Synchronous Delay Line" in IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits, Vol. SC-20, No. 6, December 1985, pp. 1265-1271, which is hereby incorporated by reference. An integrated phase-locked loop including phase detection is described in Johnson, M. G. and Hudson, E. L., "A Variable Delay Line PLL for CPU-Coprocessor Synchronization" in IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits, Vol. 23, No. 5, October 1988, pp. 1218-1223, which is also hereby incorporated by reference. However, the delay lines, and the phase detectors of Johnson and Hudson, and of Bazes, can be operated over only a limited frequency range, and are subject to start-up or fractional frequency lock-up problems, since a known precision clock input is reguired. If the user needs more flexible clocking requirements, then problems can occur. In Bazes and especially in Johnson and Hudson, the clock waveform input is very controlled and limited to a very small frequency variation. If the user, erroneously or otherwise, would alter the clock frequency in the middle of a cycle, or power the system up and down, then the system of Bazes, and the system of Johnson and Hudson, would likely not operate properly.
Furthermore, in both Bazes and in Johnson and Hudson, if there is a user requirement to substantially reduce power consumption, such that the clock input ceases, then once full power is regained and clock operation is restarted, the system must completely restart as if there had been no previous operation of the system. Such reinitialization of the system introduces delays. This problem is overcome by the present invention.

Control apparatus with improved recovery from power reduction, and storage device therefor