The invention relates to an apparatus for forming, filling and sealing bag-type packages. For certain filling products it is advantageous to "strip" or flatten the bag-type package prior to sealing, i.e. to ensure that the bag is volumetrically displaced. As a result all bag-type packages are tightly filled despite varying specific weight of the filling product. This object of the invention is achieved by return conveyance or feed of the bag hose or tube and passage of the latter through a constrictive location. An advantage of the apparatus resides in the possibility of achieving high production speeds by virtue of small moved masses.

The present invention broadly relates to apparatus or machines for the manufacture of sealingly filled bags and, more specifically, pertains to a new and improved construction of an apparatus for forming, filling and sealing bag-type packages.
Generally speaking, the new and improved construction of an apparatus for forming, filling and sealing bag-type packages is of the type comprising means for infeeding a foil web from a supply roll or roller, a feed pipe or conduit for infeeding the product or material to be packed in the bag-type packages to be formed and sealed, and a formed or shaped shoulder arranged at the top or upper end of the feed pipe, the foil web being drawn over the formed or shaped shoulder in order to coil the foil web and form a foil hose or tube. Furthermore, the apparatus is provided with longitudinal sealing means for sealing the foil hose or tube in the lengthwise direction, hose conveying means for conveying the foil hose or tube along the feed pipe, and transverse sealing means for sealing the foil hose or tube at predetermined package distances and in a transverse direction relative to the lengthwise direction thereof. The transverse sealing means comprise a sealing mechanism with sealing elements operating in two stages. The transverse sealing means also are provided with stripping means which are located downstream of the sealing elements. Such stripping means are yieldable or resiliently biasable with respect to the sealing elements such that, during the first stage of operation of the sealing elements of the sealing mechanism to form the transversely disposed constrictive location in the hose, the stripping means move first up to the predetermined gap width while the sealing elements are located at a larger mutual spacing.
An apparatus of the above type is disclosed, for example, in German Patent No. 3,031,399, published Mar. 19, 1981.
This prior art apparatus comprises a feed pipe for filling or pouring in the product to be packed in packages to be fabricated of a web of flexible packing material, and a formed or shaped shoulder located at the upper end of the feed pipe. The web is drawn over the formed or shaped shoulder in order to form the web into a hose or tube. This apparatus also comprises a web forward-feed device which draws off the web from a supply or stock and conveys the same to the formed or shaped shoulder, and a hose forward-feed device arranged at the feed pipe in order to provide forward or downstream travel of the hose or tube along the feed pipe. Finally, the known apparatus comprises a transverse sealing device which is provided downstream of the feed pipe for sealing the hose or tube in package-length intervals determined by the hose forward feed. The hose forward-feed device contains a drive having a slip mechanism or device, such drive allowing for conveyance of the web in only one direction, namely in the feed or downstream direction.
It is further known, for example, from Swiss Patent No. 656,362, published June 30, 1986, to operate with so-called register or index markings, i.e. markings placed upon the web foil in adequate evenly spaced distances. Such pre-printed markings correspond with a predetermined bag or sack length and normally serve to automatically control the web forward feed of the bag forming, filling and sealing machine.
Known apparatuses or machines for fabricating bag-type packages do render possible the manufacture of bags or sacks or the like of substantially uniform length, without however taking into consideration the varying qualities and characteristics of the filling material or product.
Therefore, it can occur that the filling weight of the product or material actually remains substantially constant, this normally being the fixed parameter as required by law for the filling operation, while the volume of the product or material can substantially fluctuate or vary for a great number of reasons.
Since the bag-type package length is given by the markings on the foil web, a varying and undesired degree of filling of the bag-type package is the result of the fluctuating product volume. In order not to produce half-empty packages, also known as fraudulent or untrue weight packages, it is absolutely necessary to select the product filling quantity as a function of the smallest occurring product filling volume for the respective filling product or material. A larger product filling volume would mean that less space in the bag is available for the product, such that serious difficulties arise during the sealing operation for the bag or sack. The filling material, particularly highly voluminous and highly elastic products such as, for example, potato chips, has the tendency to expand in the region or zone of the predetermined sealing seam, so that the sealing operation, whether by sealing, welding or by any other suitable method, is rendered more difficult or even impossible.
An attempt was made to solve this problem associated with the same type of vertical bag forming, filling and sealing machines as the present development in that a so-called "stripping flat" or flattening of the package end is accomplished after filling the bag or sack with filling material but prior to carrying out the sealing operation resulting in the formation of the upper transverse seam.
A machine for accomplishing the operation of stripping or stripping-flat is shown, for example, in German Published Patent Application No. 3,046,710, published Sept. 10, 1981. This prior art machine is provided with an apparatus for stripping-flat and sealing the package end. This apparatus includes a frame, a front sealing jaw and a rear sealing jaw, the jaws being displaceable in a generally horizontal direction between an open and a closed position, whereby an actuating element is provided at the frame for moving the sealing jaws between the open and the closed positions as well as a partially open position, in which the sealing jaws approach each other but are still not completely closed in a manner suitable for sealing a package. In this partially open position, stripping elements are arranged at the sealing jaws and movable with the latter in order to grasp from opposite sides the hose or tube of packing material and nearly completely close the hose or tube, while the sealing jaws are in their intermediate position. In this intermediate position, means are connected to the frame, such means being suitable to move the frame together with the actuating element, the sealing jaws and the stripping elements, the latter being in their intermediate position. These aforesaid means are suited to effect a generally vertical and downwardly directed movement of the sealing jaws and the stripping elements relative to the hose or tube formed of packing material. In this manner, the hose or tube is internally cleared and flattened for the actual sealing operation to be accomplished by the sealing jaws which are subsequently in their completely closed position.
This known apparatus does solve the aforementioned problems of bag forming, filling and sealing apparatus of the type of the present development, but still has the disadvantage in that the entire mechanism of the transverse sealing device must be moved up and down in the vertical direction and at the high pace of bag fabrication. Due to the fact that the transverse sealing device normally possesses a relatively great mass, very high forces occur during the aforementioned up-and-down motion. Such forces must be overcome and are, in any case, detrimental with regard to the mode of operation of the machine. As a result, the maximum possible production of a bag forming, filling and sealing machine equipped with this apparatus for stripping-flat and sealing the hose forming the bags is limited by the occurring high forces.

Apparatus for forming, filling and sealing bag-type packages


An image forming apparatus comprises a photoreceptor, a developing roller for forming a layer of developer on a surface thereof to supply toner to the photoreceptor at a developing position, a bias supply for applying bias voltage between the developing roller and a ground, a conductive line for electrically connecting the developer layer with the ground, a detector for detecting toner density of the developer layer based on an amount of electric current flowing through the conductive line, and a voltage controller for preventing surface voltage of the developer layer from falling below a predetermined level despite the electric current flowing into the conductive line at least during a developing operation. Accordingly, there can be reliably prevented formation of fog on a copy because the surface voltage of the developer layer is maintained above the specified level at least during the developing operation.

This invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a toner density detecting device.
Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus using bicomponent developer consisting of toner and carrier, a developing unit is provided with a toner density sensor for detecting toner density of the developer. Supply of the toner is controlled in accordance with a sensor signal from the toner density sensor to maintain a proper toner density, thereby preventing the toner from being excessively or deficiently fed to a photosensitive drum.
A low cost image forming apparatus requires assemblage from low cost parts. However, toner density sensors are generally relatively expensive because they include a magnetic sensor or like sensor. Accordingly, there has been an increasing demand for a toner density sensor which can be fabricated at low cost, instead of the existing expensive toner density sensors.
It is a well-known concept that a resistance value of developer varies according to a mixing ratio of toner to carrier, namely toner density, in the developer.
In view of the above concept, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication 58-169161 has proposed an image forming apparatus including a detector circuit in which a resistor is connected between a regulating member for regulating thickness of a layer of developer formed on the surface of a developing roller and a ground to detect the toner density. More specifically, a bias voltage is applied to the developing roller in order to prevent formation of fog on a copy. The detector circuit detects an electric current caused by the bias voltage and flowing into the resistor through the developing roller, developer layer and regulating member, whereby to detect the toner density.
However, in the above detector circuit, the bias voltage is divided by the resistance of the developer and the resistor. The surface voltage of the developer layer formed on the developer roller is reduced, thereby making it difficult to reliably prevent formation of the fog on the copy.
In order to avoid the above drawback, it may be considered to increase the level of the bias voltage. However, this necessitates fabrication of the developing roller having improved resistance against voltage at an increased cost.

Image forming apparatus having a toner density detecting device


The acoustic pressure sensitivity of an optical fiber waveguide is maximized by surrounding it with an outer coating which is selected from a material having high Young's modulus and low bulk modulus.

Phase modulation in single-mode optical fibers has been successfully used as a transduction mechanism for detecting environmental changes such as pressure, acoustic fields, magnetic and electric fields, and temperature. Mach-Zehnder interferometric fiber-optic sensors have been studied analytically and have been tested both in the laboratory and in real environments and demonstrate very promising performance.
With an interferometric fiber optic sensor as shown in FIG. 1, optimum performance is achieved with maximum signal to noise ratio which signal is obtained by maximizing the sensitivity of the sensing fiber and desensitizing the sensitivity of the lead and reference fibers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,263 issued to Lagakos et al. on Jan. 24, 1984, discloses pressure insensitive optical fibers for use in the reference and lead arms of the interferometer.
The acoustic sensitivity of an optical fiber can be maximized by appropriately selecting the fiber composition and design, as will be disclosed.
The pressure sensitivity of the optical phase in a fiber is defined as the magnitude of .DELTA..phi./.phi..DELTA.P, where .DELTA..phi. is the shift in the phase delay .phi. due to a pressure change .DELTA.P. If a given pressure change, .DELTA.P, results in a fiber core axial strain .epsilon..sub.z and radial strain .epsilon..sub.r, then it can be shown that: ##EQU1## Here P.sub.11 and P.sub.12 are the elasto-optic coefficients of the core and n is the refractive index of the core. The first term in equation (1) is the part of .DELTA..phi./.phi..DELTA.P which is due to the fiber length change, while the second and third terms are the parts due to the refractive index modulation of the core, which is related to the photoelastic effect. Stated another way .DELTA..phi./.phi..DELTA.P=the algebraic sum of the phase change due to the fiber length change plus phase change due to refractive index change. The objective is to maximize the fiber sensitivity .DELTA..phi./.phi..DELTA.P.
A typical optical fiber (FIG. 2a) is composed of a core, cladding, and a substrate from glasses having similar properties. This glass fiber is usually coated with a soft rubber and then with a hard plastic. In order to calculate the sensitivity as given in Eq.(1) the strains in the core .epsilon..sub.z and .epsilon..sub.r must be related to properties of the various layer of the fiber. The strains .epsilon..sub.z and .epsilon..sub.r, which are related to the geometry and composition of the fiber, can be calculated from the stresses and displacements in the various fiber layers by applying the appropriate boundary conditions. In this analysis we have taken into account the exact geometry of a typical four layer fiber as shown in FIG. 2a.
The polar stresses .tau..sub.r, .tau..sub..theta., and .tau..sub.z in the fiber are related to the strains .epsilon..sub.r, .epsilon..sub..theta., and .epsilon..sub.z as follows: ##EQU2## where i is the layer index (0 for the core, 1 for the cladding, etc.) and .lambda..sup.i and .mu..sup.i are the Lame parameters which are related to the Young's modulus, E.sup.i, and Poisson's ratio, V.sup.i, as follows: ##EQU3##
For a cylinder the strains can be obtained from the Lame solutions ##EQU4## where U.sub.o.sup.i, U.sub.l.sup.i, and W.sub.o.sup.i are constants to be determined. Since the strains must be finite at the center of the core, U.sub.l.sup.o =0.
For a fiber with m layers, the constants U.sub.o.sup.i, U.sub.l.sup.i, and W.sub.o.sup.i in Eq. (4) are determined from the boundary conditions: EQU .tau..sub.r.sup.i .vertline..sub.r=ri =.tau..sub.r.sup.i+1 .vertline..sub.r=ri,(i=0,1, . . . . , m-1) (5) EQU .mu..sub.r.sup.i .vertline..sub.r=ri =.mu..sub.r.sup.i+1 .vertline..sub.r=ri,(i=0,1, . . . . , m-1) (6) EQU .tau..sub.r.sup.m .vertline..sub.r=rm =-P, (7) ##EQU5## EQU .epsilon..sub.z.sup.o =.epsilon..sub.z.sup.1 =. . . =.epsilon..sub.z.sup.m( 9)
where u.sub.r.sup.j (=.intg..epsilon..sub.r.sup.i dr) is the radial displacement in the i.sup.th layer, and r.sub.i and A.sub.i are the radius and the cross section area of the i.sup.th layer respectively. Equations (5) and (6) describe the radial stress and displacement continuity across the boundaries of the layers. Equations (7) and (8) assume that the applied pressure is hydrostatic. Equation (9) is the plane strain approximation which ignores end effects. For long thin cylinders, such as fibers, it introduces an error of less than 1%. Using the boundary conditions described by Eqs. (5)-(9), the constants U.sub.o.sup.i, U.sub.l.sup.i, and W.sub.o.sup.i are determined and .epsilon..sub.r.sup.o and .epsilon..sub.z.sup.o are calculated from Eq.(4). Then, from Eq.(1) the sensitivity, .DELTA..phi./.DELTA..phi.P, can be found.
In the past no one has recognized the relationship between the bulk modulus, Young's modulus of the fiber coating, the fiber thickness, and the the resultant acoustic pressure sensitivity of the optical fiber.

Pressure sensitive optical fiber having optimized coatings

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


The present invention relates to a halogen-free flame-retardant resin composition, based on the weight parts of organic solids, comprising (A) from 1 to 10 parts by weight of bismaleimide resin, (B) from 30 to 60 parts by weight of benzoxazine resin, (C) from 10 to 40 parts by weight of polyepoxy compound, (D) from 5 to 25 parts by weight of phosphorous-containing flame retardant, and (E) from 1 to 25 parts by weight of curing agent, which is amine curing agent and/or phenolic resin curing agent. The present invention further provides prepregs, laminates, laminates for printed circuits prepared from said resin composition.

With the technical development in recent years, especially after Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive and the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment were implemented by European Union on Jul. 1, 2006, halogen-free flame-retardant laminates for printed circuits become main laminates in the market. In order to achieve halogen-free of laminates for printed circuits, the compounds containing dihydrobenzoxazine ring, and phosphorous-containing compounds may be used to achieve phosphorous-nitrogen synergistic flame retardancy. The laminates for printed circuits prepared by using benzoxazines have lower water absorption, excellent heat resistance and higher reliability, so as to occupy a certain market scale. However, benzoxazine resin has a higher hardness after curing, and a higher fragility than epoxy resin, so as to readily result in more drill abrasion and more processing difficulties when the laminates are processed. Correspondingly, toughening modification of benzoxazines becomes a research key point in the art.
One of the common methods for toughening is to add thermoplastic resins as modifying toughening agent, e.g. blending polyaryletherketone and polyarylethersulfone thermoplastic resins with benzoxazines and modifying. Such method can effectively form phase separation structure, reduce the expansion of cracks inside the material, and absorb the impact energy suffered by the material. Another method is to add rubber for toughening, e.g. amino-terminated butyronitrile rubber (ATBN), carboxyl-terminated butyronitrile rubber (CTBN) and other core-shell rubbers. Such method can also effectively absorb the impact energy suffered by the material, and increase the elongation at break. However, the laminates made by the modified benzoxazines with said methods all have a reduced glass transmission temperature, a greatly reduced and unstable heat resistance, and a sharply reduced humidity resistance. Due to the complicated system structure, the Anti-CAF cannot be ensured.
In conclusion, it is important to effectively modify benzoxazine resins used in the laminates for printed circuits, and to improve the toughness of the material while ensuring the heat resistance and glass transmission temperature. CN102850545A mentions preparing blended resins having high toughness and heat resistance by melt-blending/solution blending trimethyl hexamethylene bismaleimide resin with benzoxazine resin. However, there are more side chains in the bismaleimide resin structure, and the resin mixture cannot form specific phases unless in specific ratio. For such phases, phase separation readily takes place after these two resins are blended with other components during actual applications, which severely restricts the application prospect thereof in the electronic industry.
CN102134375 provides a halogen-free high Tg resin composition, and prepregs and laminates prepared therefrom. Although the resin composition provided therein has a high Tg, a low water absorption, low CET and better dielectric properties, it has a worse toughness and is difficult for mechanical processing, so that the industrialization thereof cannot be achieved.
CN102977551A provides a halogen-free resin composition, and a process for preparing copper-clad laminates by using the same. The halogen-free resin composition provided therein has excellent heat resistance and better processability, but the toughness thereof is worse and need to be further improved.
Therefore, it is required in the art to develop a halogen-free resin composition having excellent comprehensive properties, wherein the halogen-free resin composition shall have high glass transmission temperature, high reliability, inflaming retarding, dip soldering resistance, chemical resistance, low water absorption, lower dielectric dissipation factor, but have a lower brittleness and a higher toughness at the same time.

Halogen-free flame retardant type resin composition


A method of controlling an electrosurgical HF apparatus, as well as an HF apparatus, includes an electrosurgical instrument and an HF generator for generating an HF current. The HF generator is in a locked state in which its activation is not possible. An application to be carried out is to be selected prior to a user-side activation of the HF generator, whereby the HF generator is unlocked.

Surgical HF apparatuses are commonly known. As part of high-frequency surgery, they are increasingly applied apart from standard applications such as cutting or coagulating in further fields such as for closing hollow organs, connecting biological tissue or in the context of an ablation. In doing so, an electrosurgical instrument directs a high-frequency current (HF current) through tissue to be treated, which is altered thereby. In the course of these special applications, the HF delivery is automatically controlled, metered and ended by an HF generator to which the instrument is electrically connected, and not by the surgeon.
If in the context of the above-mentioned applications of ever increasing variety the electrosurgical instrument is to be variably applicable for differing types of tissue (small intestine, large intestine, rectum, stomach, esophagus), for varying numbers of tissue layers or different application types (resection, anastomosis), it is a must that there is the possibility to be able to make pre-adjustments on the associated HF generator/electrical current source, so that it can make specific or special process settings for the respective application. A wrong setting of certain process parameters may lead in some circumstances to an unsatisfactory result or even to damages on the patient. This is why it has to be ensured at any time that all process parameters are correctly adjusted before an activation of the apparatus.
The concepts for HF activation, i.e. for supplying the HF current to the instrument, are a central topic with HF apparatuses and are known from prior art. An HF activation without a corresponding operation by the user is prevented by various safety functions on the electrosurgical instrument and/or on the HF generator of the apparatus.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,695, there is known a method and an instrument for electro-cauterizing including locking functions which allow for a safe operation of the instrument in case of manual control. By means of a manually operable slide, an electrode of the instrument can be moved from a rest position where it is retracted into the instrument to a cauterizing position in which it projects from the instrument. Here, a lockout switch automatically disconnects the electrode from an HF current source/HF generator, if it is in the rest position. If the electrode is in the rest position, the slide additionally represents a mechanical locking means for activation switches for the manual activation of the electrode, whereas the activation switches are released by the slide in the cauterizing position and can be manually operated. It is a disadvantage that locking and releasing the instrument is carried out manually by the user without consideration of a generator setting.
From the European patent application EP 2 168 517 A1, there is known a system and a method for the manual locking of hand switches of a manually operated electrosurgical clamp for coagulating and severing tissue. The clamp comprises two mutually movable jaw parts which are to be supplied with electric current for the coagulation of tissue. A hand switch has to be selectively and manually operated by the user of the clamp for its activation. A lockout switch is also to be manually operated by the user of the clamp from a first position in which an operation of the hand switch is possible, to a second position in which an operation of the hand switch and an activation of the clamp are not possible. In an alternative embodiment, both the hand switch and the lockout switch have to be electrically closed in order to allow for an activation of the clamp. It is a disadvantage that the manual locking and releasing of the instrument by the user is likewise performed without any feedback to the generator.
From WO2009/149799 A1 there is known a surgical apparatus for coagulation and/or for cutting biological tissue. It comprises a bipolar clamp with two jaw parts for applying HF current, an activation circuitry and an HF generator. The supply of the HF current to the clamp can be controlled by means of the activation switch. In order to guard against operating errors, the apparatus comprises a safety means which cuts off the supply of electric current to the clamp if its jaw parts assume a position which is unsuitable for coagulation. This is merely to prevent an unintentional activation of the clamp.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,215 discloses a monopolar electrosurgical scalpel including a manual control for selective cutting or coagulating processes, with the option that specific operational modes can be deliberately suppressed. The scalpel comprises a slide switch which can be moved to three different positions by the user and via which an activation switch can be locked or released. In a first position, the activation switch is blocked. In a second position, it is to be operated such that the blade of the scalpel is either provided with a coagulation current or with zero current. In a third position, the activation switch is released, so that the blade of the scalpel is supplied either with a coagulation current or a cutting current or also with zero current. Thus, the manual control ensures that any coagulation or cutting currents can be delivered to the scalpel only after a corresponding release by the surgeon. It is a disadvantage here that the activation/setting is performed manually by the user of the scalpel, without said process being linked with a safety function against a false setting.
If an HF apparatus, as described at the outset, is supposed to be used in numerous different applications, a variable and wide range of selecting process parameters is required. It has to be guaranteed, however, that prior to an HF activation of the apparatus or of the process, namely before suppling the HF current to the instrument, an input or a monitoring of the corresponding process parameters by the user of the apparatus has been made in order to avoid a false generator setting, as the case may be.
In the known solutions, HF instruments or apparatuses are operated with fixed process parameters and/or flows. Depending on the respective application, however, single or several of these parameters (e.g. the level and progression of the HF energy) may vary and have to or would have to be correspondingly adapted in order to successfully carry out the desired operation, on the one hand, and to avoid further damages to the tissue, on the other hand.
Apparatuses are also known which allow for a setting of the intensity of the HF process on the HF generator. This gives the operator the possibility to correct the output of the HF energy (slightly) upwards or downwards. After an alteration of process parameters, all subsequent activations will then be carried out with these parameters until a new setting is made. There is the risk to forget to manually/visually check the process parameters or to adjust them correspondingly, although the conditions or requirements in the applications to be performed subsequently may differ from those of the previous application.

Method and device for controlling an electrosurgical HF apparatus and HF apparatus


A frequency, voltage and waveshape converter is placed between the terminals of an ordinary single-phase power line and the power input terminals of a three-phase induction motor. The converter is operable to provide to the power input terminals of the induction motor a three-phase AC voltage of frequency, magnitude and/or waveshape controllably different from those of the power line voltage, thereby to permit effective control of motor speed and power factor. The frequency of the AC voltage is adjustable over the range of 12-120 Hz, with the effective magnitude of the AC voltage being automatically adjusted in proportion therewith, thereby providing for a very wide range of motor speed control without incurring reduced motor operating efficiency.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to means operable: i) to be interposed between the power line and the power input terminals of a three-phase induction motor, and ii) to control the frequency, magnitude and/or waveshape of the voltage provided to the power input terminals of this three-phase induction motor.
2. Elements of Prior Art
A three-phase induction motor is basically a synchronous device. However, most commonly available means for controlling its speed are based on controlling the magnitude of the current supplied to the motor, thereby attaining but a very modest degree of speed control in return for a significant reduction in motor efficiency.

Frequency, voltage and waveshape converter for a three phase induction motor


Methods and apparatus that provide for inertial sensing. In one example, a method for inertial sensing includes trapping and cooling a cloud of atoms, applying a first beam splitter pulse sequence to the cloud of atoms, applying one or more augmentation pulses to the cloud of atoms subsequent to applying the first beam splitter pulse sequence, applying a mirror sequence to the cloud of atoms, applying a one or more augmentation pulses to the cloud of atoms subsequent to applying the mirror sequence, applying a second beam splitter pulse sequence to the cloud of atoms subsequent to applying the second augmentation pulse, modulating at least one of a phase and an intensity of at least one of the first and the second beam splitter pulse sequences, performing at least one measurement on the cloud of atoms, and generating a control signal based on the at least one measurement.

Atom interferometry provides a useful tool for precision measurements in geodesy, inertial navigation, and fundamental physics. In light-pulse atom interferometers, stimulated Raman transitions commonly provide the atom optics that coherently split, reflect, and recombine atom wavepackets. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,274,231 and 5,274,232, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, disclose examples of methods and apparatus for manipulating quantum objects, such as atoms, using stimulated Raman transitions. The conventional Raman beamsplitter implementation, which uses resonant pulses to drive atomic transitions, is sensitive to variations in the intensity and difference frequency of the Raman optical fields. These variations can be minimized in a laboratory setting, but will be unavoidably larger in dynamic environments, degrading the performance of practical sensors. In addition, Raman pulses are limited in the thermal velocity range of atoms that can be effectively addressed.
Adiabatic rapid passage (ARP; also known as adiabatic fast passage (AFP)) is a technique used in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to produce rotation of the macroscopic magnetization vector by shifting the frequency of radio frequency (RF) energy pulses (or the strength of the magnetic field) through resonance (the Larmor frequency) in a time that is short compared to the relaxation times. Rather than applying an RF tipping field of fixed orientation and magnitude orthogonal to the holding magnetic field, a field of variable direction is initially applied parallel to an initial polarization and swept into the desired orientation. The polarization is "dragged" while preserving its relative orientation angle with the RF field if the sweep occurs on a timescale much longer than a period of precession about the RF field. One method of varying the RF tipping field direction is by sweeping the RF frequency, as discussed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,799. U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,799 discloses various frequency sweep regimens in the context of NMR.
An optical beamsplitter method using adiabatic rapid passage is discussed in Atomic interferometer based on adiabatic population transfer, Weitz et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. Vol. 73, pp 2563-2566 (1994), and in Precision atom interferometry with light pulses, B. Young et al., in Atom Interferometry, ed. P. Berman (Academic Press, 1996), p. 363. In this method, a pair of laser beams with a fixed laser frequency difference, but having variable laser beam power, was used to achieve atomic population transfer.

Atom interferometry in dynamic environments

THE CHARLES STARK DRAPER LABORATORY, INC.


A read signal processor includes an output unit that serializes a plurality of bits of digital data for each of the colors to obtain a plurality of serial signals, converts the serial signals to a plurality of low-amplitude differential signals, and outputs the serial low-amplitude differential signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a read signal processor, an image reading apparatus, and an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 23 is a schematic block diagram of a typical signal processor in a typical image reading apparatus. In the example shown in FIG. 23, an analog signal processing IC 10 having three inputs, RIN for red (R), GIN for green (G), and BIN for blue (B), is used corresponding to a color linear image sensor 1 having three outputs: RO for red, GO for green, and BO for blue. The analog signal processing IC 10 includes, with respect to each of the inputs, a clamp circuit (CLMP) 11 for setting an input terminal potential after alternate-current coupling, a sample-hold (SH) circuit 12 for extracting signal components of only the output signal of the color linear image sensor 1, and a variable gain amplifier (VGA) 13 for amplifying sample-hold signals based on a designated amplification rate. Subsequently, an analog multiplex circuit (AMPX) 14 switches variable gain amplifier outputs for each color and converts them to point sequential signals in the order of RGB, and an analog-digital converter (ADC) 15 converts the analog signals to digital signals and outputs the digital signals as point sequential image data (DO[9:0]).
The analog signal processing IC 10 includes a timing generator & interface (TG&IF) 16 that receives from outside a CLMPIN signal, an SH signal, and an MCLK signal. The CLMPIN signal is a gate signal for controlling the clamp circuits 11. The SH signal is a sample clock for sampling a signal area of image signals in the SH circuits 12. The MCLK signal is a reference clock for controlling the AMPX 14 and the ADC 15. An RMB signal is an identification signal for indicating timing of RED data. The variable gain amplifier 13 includes a register for holding a gain set value received through a data/address bus. FIG. 24 is timing chart for explaining output timings of the signals RIN, GIN, BIN, SH, MCLK, M1, M2, DO[9:0], and RMB.
For example, Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open Nos. 2002-199213 (patent document 1) and 2002-281325 (patent document 2) disclose related technology. The technology disclosed in the patent document 1 provides an image reading apparatus capable of alleviating an output difference between an odd pixel and an even pixel. Specifically, the image reading apparatus disclosed in the patent document 1 includes an optical unit (a halogen lamp and a lens unit) for reading an image on a document, a solid image sensor (CCD) for performing photoelectric conversion to optical data and outputting image data that corresponds to the document image when the optical data read by the optical unit is input, an analog signal processor (a sample-hold circuit, a black-level correction circuit, an amplification circuit) that processes image signals output from the solid image sensor in an analog way, and two of A/D converters that are arranged for each channel of RGB and A/D convert image signals processed by the analog signal processor. The two of A/D converters include two types of input clocks that are different in phase.
On the other hand, the technology disclosed in the patent document 2 provides a color image reading apparatus that can exchange R/B image data with a simple configuration and performs signal processing with respect to image data read from a RGB 3 line linear sensor. Specifically, the image reading apparatus disclosed in the patent document 2 includes the internal function of exchanging R/B image data with an ASIC for performing signal processing to a CCD, motor, and lamp driving signal and image data and R/G image data is exchanged through the function.
The conventional signal processing IC is effective for a color linear image sensor with a relatively low pixel rate (up to about 10 megahertz per color), that is, when the output from a color linear image sensor is through one channel per one color. However, if the pixel rate is higher, or if image data is to be transmitted for a longer distance (a few tens of centimeters or more), it is necessary not only to provide another driver but also to perform processing of resolving point sequential image data for each color. Thus, the conventional signal processing IC is disadvantageous in terms of mounting area and component costs.

Read signal processor, image reading apparatus, and image forming apparatus


A method and apparatus for forming articles, used as dunnage material, from pulped paper products includes a paper shredder that forms the pulped paper and delivers it to a slurry tank. The slurry tank gravity feeds the slurry into a slurry reservoir where a pump pumps the slurry into molds. A plunger delivers compressed air to the slurry blobs contained within each molds to expand the slurry blobs to the shape of the molds and to force the water in the slurry through an outlet in the bottom of the molds to a vacuum chamber connected to the molds. The delivery of compressed air further forms a cavity within the expanded slurry blobs. During the next four steps, the molds again connect to the vacuum so that additional water is forced from the pulp into the vacuum chamber. Finally, an ejector supplies compressed air to the bottom of the molds such that the finished articles are propelled from the molds onto a conveyor which delivers the cubes to packaging machines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to articles which may be used as dunnage material and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a method and apparatus for manufacturing the articles utilizing biodegradable, recyclable material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Packaging material is a necessity because a large percentage of shipped goods require protection during transportation. For example, certain goods such as glass, clocks, lamps, crystal, and china are extremely delicate and, therefore, require careful handling and packaging to avoid damage during transport. Furthermore, even goods which are less delicate such as books often need special packaging to prevent damage during shipping. Accordingly, many shipped goods are packed in a dunnage material which acts as a lightweight, shock absorbing cushion to prevent those goods from being damaged during transit.
The most common dunnage material in use today comprises pellets formed from foamed polymerized plastics such as polystyrene. The foamed plastic pellets are typically fabricated in a variety of configurations, such as concave disks, peanut shapes, and clover leaf structures, in order to produce a shock absorbing effect. Specifically, the odd configurations of the foamed plastic pellets produce shock absorbing air spaces between them when they are packed about a good placed in a shipping container. That is, if a force is exerted against the shipping container, the air spaces between the pellets absorb the shock, thereby preventing damage to the shipped good.
Although foamed plastic pellets provide effective dunnage material because they are lightweight, resilient, and shock absorbing, they suffer disadvantages which makes their use undesirable. First, foamed plastic pellets are bulky, thus making their storage and shipment before use burdensome and uneconomical. That is, the containers required to store and transport large amounts of the foamed plastic pellets are either unnecessarily large or extremely numerous. Second, foamed plastic pellets exhibit static forces that cause them to cling to one another. As a result, the foamed plastic pellets agglomerate to disrupt the operation of automatic dunnage dispensing machines. Third, foamed plastic pellets are environmentally unsound because they are fabricated from non-renewable resources which do not safely biodegrade. Accordingly, both the production and subsequent disposal of foamed plastic pellets result in damage to the environment. Finally, foamed plastic pellets fabricated from polystyrene are highly flammable and, therefore, present a significant fire hazard.
A specific example of foamed plastic pellets utilized as dunnage material is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,022, issued on Nov. 4, 1986 to Kohaut et al. Kohaut et al. disclose a packing material constructed from a foamed plastics granular material. The foamed plastics granular material is shaped into particles which form a star-shaped basic body having at least one orifice and at least three limbs lying in a common plane.
Another example of a synthetic dunnage material is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,579,036, issued on Dec. 18, 1951 to Edelman. Edelman discloses a prefabricated packing briquette that is formed of synthetic fibers impregnated with a water proof binder such as a vulcanized rubber adhesive. Although the dunnage material disclosed in Edelman is useful for insulating purposes and for padding furniture, it is not well adapted for packaging objects for shipment because of its weight.
Although the majority of dunnage material is formed from foamed polymerized plastics, it may also be fabricated from paper products. An example of paper dunnage material is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,091, issued Mar. 5, 1991 to McCrea. McCrea discloses a free flowing dunnage packing material formed in small pellet-like particles from recycled scrap paper. The dunnage material is formed by first mixing paper and heated water to produce a pulp, and then extruding the pulp fiber for fabrication into the small pellet-like particles. Unfortunately, production of dunnage material of this type is expensive as well as labor intensive.
Furthermore, solid particulate dunnage material is unacceptable for protecting delicate goods because it permits a shipped good to move about its packaging container during transport. Movement of the shipped good about its packaging container may be prevented by tightly packing the solid particulates around the good. However, any tight packing of the solid particulates results in their directly transmitting any jarring forces to the packed good rather than their absorbing the impact. Thus, damage to the shipped good may occur even though it is prevented from moving about the packaging container.
In addition, waste paper used in making the dunnage material often has printing on it which tends to come off on the packed good or on the person packing or unpacking the shipped good. Also, because the dunnage particles are solid, they are relatively heavy which makes their use in packaging goods for shipping economically inefficient.
Moreover, similar to foamed plastic pellets, solid paper particulate dunnage material is bulky which causes its shipping before use both difficult and uneconomical. That is, solid paper particulate dunnage material also fails to overcome the problems of pre-use shipping experienced by foamed plastic pellets. Essentially, the solid particulates are difficult and clumsy to ship because they are formed in uneven and unstackable shapes. Thus, the boxes in which the solid particulates are shipped are either unnecessarily large or exceptionally numerous. Accordingly, although the solid paper particulates do have the advantage of being biodegradable, their disadvantages make them inadequate as a dunnage material.
The present invention, therefore, sets forth a method and apparatus for manufacturing an article suitable for use as a dunnage material which improves over foamed plastic and solid paper particulate dunnage materials by being recyclable, biodegradable, and formed into hollow shapes which allow even stacking so that economical pre-use shipping may be accomplished.

Method and apparatus for manufacturing dunnage material


Protruding portions are formed on outflow ends of slider rails on a floating magnetic head slider. This floating magnetic head slider is of rails type. Each of the protruding portion extends farther to the outside as it approaches the outflow end. Or the external sides of the rails on the magnetic head slider are so arranged that angles formed thereat diverge from the side of the inflow end to the side of the outflow end, and a pressure adjusting aperture is formed on the outflow side of each of the rails. Because of the above arrangement, it is possible to provide a magnetic head unit in which particles, such as dust, adhering to the disk surface are effectively removed, and in which floating stability is not impaired. Removing the particles on the disk surface is not limited by seeking directions even while the magnetic disk unit is in operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic head slider for a floating magnetic head. More particularly, it relates to a magnetic head slider for a floating magnetic head which is especially suitable for removing particles, such as dust, adhering to the disk surface of a magnetic disk unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, to achieve high recording density in magnetic head units, the float gap (flying height) between a magnetic head and the recording medium of a magnetic disk unit tends to be narrow. Because of this narrowness, particles on the magnetic disk surface may become caught by tapered portions on inflow ends of magnetic heads, and intrude into the float gap between the magnetic head and the magnetic disk, thereby causing recorded information temporarily not to be read. Particles adhering to the magnetic disk surface may further be buried in a magnetic film of the magnetic disk, thereby leading to the problem of sliding. The possibility of such a problem has been increasing.
There are two methods of removing particles adhering to the magnetic disk surface. One is to clean the single magnetic disk before the disk is incorporated into an HDA (Head Disk Assembly). The other is to remove micro-particles, such as dust, present on the magnetic disk after the disk has been incorporated into the HDA, whereby the magnetic disk is prevented from being damaged.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 57-179969 discloses a method of preventing abrasion. In this method, rails, which act as floating faces of a magnetic head slider, have hitherto been substantially parallel to a tangential velocity vector line of the rotatable magnetic disk. Skew angles are formed on the magnetic head slider so that slightly oblique angles are formed with respect to the tangential velocity vector line on the track of the magnetic disk. Because of the above arrangement of the magnetic head slider, micro-particles such as dust strike against the back edge of the magnetic head slider having the magnetic head, thereby preventing the magnetic disk from abrasion.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 58-111164 discloses a method of cleaning a magnetic disk surface. In this method, a substantially square magnetic head slider is provided at slightly oblique angles, or skew angles, with respect to a tangential direction on the track of a magnetic disk surface. Because of the skew angles in this arrangement, for a seeking direction in which slider sides are positioned in front of inflow ends, particles adhering to the magnetic disk first come in contact with the slider sides. These particles which are in contact with the slider sides are scraped away by the slider sides, and are then carried along the surfaces of the slider sides, whereby the magnetic disk surface is cleaned.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 60-47278 discloses a method of preventing the abrasion of a magnetic head element. In this method, a magnetic head slider is constructed in such a manner that the width of the magnetic head slider on its front end is the same as that of the magnetic head slider on its back end with respect to movement directions of a magnetic recording medium. A longitudinal sharp line is so formed as not to be parallel to an outline. Thus, a floating face is formed on which pressure is generated to maintain the small gap between the surface of the magnetic recording medium and the head slider.
In addition, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 61-230687 discloses a head slider. In a magnetic head for an air floating magnetic disk, this head slider, composed of a single rail, is provided with tapered portions so that the width of the rail becomes wider as it approaches an outflow end of the slider. Thus, the entire head slider is shaped into a trapezoid. Because of this shape, the head slider is insensitive to air flowing at an angle oblique to relative movement directions of the slider and of the disk.
In all of the conventional art disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Nos. 57-179969, 58-111164, and 60-47278, when a magnetic head slider having a plurality of rails which are parallel to each other is positioned over a magnetic recording medium, the rails are arranged at slightly oblique angles so that the rails are not parallel to a tangential vector line on the rotatable magnetic recording medium, or the rails are previously arranged so that they are not parallel to the external sides of the magnetic head slider. Skew angles are thus formed, whereby the slider sides scrape away particles adhering to the magnetic disk surface. For the above reasons, the seeking direction limits the effects of cleaning.
In other words, when seeking is made in one direction in which the slider side is scraping away particles adhering to the magnetic disk surface, the adhering particles are removed from the magnetic disk surface, whereby the magnetic disk surface is cleaned. On the contrary, when seeking is made in the opposite direction, particles adhering to the magnetic disk surface are not scraped away. These adhering particles are caught by the tapered portions on the head inflow ends, and are then buried in a magnetic film of the magnetic disk. The particles thus buried in the magnetic film of the magnetic disk cause damage to the magnetic disk and the head surface, whereby the magnetic disk surface is not cleaned.
However, while the magnetic head unit is in operation, powder and dust caused by abrasion of the unit components are constantly generated. Moreover, the magnetic head performs seeking operations very frequently in both directions. The cleaning methods of the conventional art are not sufficient for cleaning the magnetic disk surface.
Furthermore, in the conventional art disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 61-230687, a method of removing particles adhering to the disk surface is not considered. In addition, since the head slider is of single rail type, the floating stability of the head is low while the head is operating, as compared with the floating stability of a head having a plurality of rails such as a two-body type head. Thus, this head slider is not suitable for low floating heads.


A pie making toy includes a generally rectangular base having an angularly disposed roller bed surface and a pair of upwardly extending side walls on either side thereof. A generally cylindrical roller is movable upon the roller bed surface to facilitate the flattening or compressing of a bread slice placed upon the roller bed. The rectangular base further supports an upwardly extending rectangular die having an outer cutting edge and a recess formed in the interior portion thereof. A pivotally supported crimper is pivotally secured to the base proximate the upwardly extending die. A crimping die extends downwardly from the pivotal crimper and is configured to be received upon the upwardly extending die in a precision fit. The flattened bread slice is placed within the pie making toy so as to overlie the upwardly extending die and a quantity of filling material is deposited upon the upper surface of the bread slice. Thereafter, the bread slice is folded over and the crimper is pivoted downwardly to cause the crimping die and upwardly extending die to mesh crimping the edges of the bread slice and forming an enclosing pie which captivates the filling deposit therein. A quantity of coloring material such as cinnamon or the like is then deposited upon the upper surface of the completed pie to impart a realistic baked appearance to the completed pie.

Perhaps one of the most popular types of toys through the years may generally be described as food product or food preparation type toys. Such toys are available to produce both genuine food articles which may be consumed by the child as well as those utilizing simulated nonedible type articles. Children of a broad age group seem to enjoy making food treats and the like with particular enthusiasm when an edible food treat is produced. This enthusiasm seems to be particularly evident in connection with toys which mimic food preparation activities to which the child can readily relate and which bear similarity to the adult world about the child.
Faced with the popularity of food preparation toys, practitioners in the art have endeavored to create a great variety of such toy products. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,171,636 issued to Barlow, et al. sets forth a TOY having a base supporting a food scale and a mixing bowl. A mixing assembly having a hand crank apparatus and a pair of downwardly extending mixer beaters is supported proximate the mixing bowl such that the beaters extend thereto. The scale is operative and provides information as to the "secret recipe".
U.S. Pat. Des. No. 183,650 issued to Gaston sets forth a CHILDREN'S TOY having a food hopper within which an extruder mechanism is operative to provide motion of material placed within the hopper through a plurality of frontal holes in the hopper housing. A hand crank is coupled to the extruder apparatus and it would appear that the toy utilizes a plurality of spherical objects which are moved by the extruder as the crank is turned.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,083,651 issued to Cooper sets forth a SANDWICH MAKING DEVICE having a support base upon which a sandwich die is supported. The support base further supports an upwardly extending anvil upon which a hand operated press is supported. The press controls the motion of a second sandwich die such that the handle movement drives the second die downwardly upon the first die to form a sandwich of material placed within the first die. In its anticipated use, a plurality of bread slices having a filler therebetween is positioned within the first die prior to the pressing operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,388,675 issued to Marshall, et al. sets forth a PASTRY FORMING MACHINE having an automated progressive apparatus for forming a plurality of semicircular pastries having a filling formed therein. The pastry forming machine folds a circular outer "crust" to enclose the filling and crimps the outer edges together to complete the filling seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,053 issued to Jasniewski sets forth a TOOL FOR FORMING A FOLDED PASTRY operative upon a quantity of rolled out pastry dough having an edge for cutting the dough being formed in the shape of the peripheral outline of a pair of circles intersecting at two points. The two points of intersection define a line along which the dough having been cut out by the tool may be folded.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,756 issued to Lindee sets forth a FOOD PRODUCT CRIMPING MECHANISM having a horizontally disposed stationary die and a frame supporting a movable die in position above the stationary die. Actuation means are provided for driving the upper die downwardly upon the stationary die to captivate a sandwich-type product supported upon the stationary die and crimp the edges thereof in a sealing operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,768 issued to Lifshitz, et al. sets forth an APPARATUS FOR MAKING DOUGH ENVELOPES CONTAINING FILLING formed from molded plastic components which includes a frame structure having a plurality of interconnected hexagonal molds so as to form a honeycomb-type structure. Each hexagonal mold includes six inclined cutting edges which are connected about a central inverted conical chamber. The inverted conical chamber partially supports the dough envelope during formation to produce uniformly shaped and pleasing envelopes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,518 issued to Roth, et al. sets forth an APPARATUS FOR FORMING A VARIETY OF SHAPED BODIES WITH AN INTERNAL FILLING having a generally cylindrical forming mechanism in communication with a pressurized source of filling material. The filling forming mechanism includes an inner chamber which receives the filling material, means defining a filling material transporting channel to permit the filling material to flow and a generally cylindrical shell member which is supported to obstruct the filling material transporting channel. Means are provided for opening and closing the filling material transporting channel to produce the shaped filled bodies.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,906 issued to Mancini sets forth an APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING RAVIOLI AND THE LIKE having a base, sidewalls rising from the base, a forming roller rotatably coupled to the sidewalls, a platen roller rotatably coupled to the sidewalls and means for feeding two sheets of ravioli dough and associated filling between the rollers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,576 issued to Liu sets forth a PASTRY AND DUMPLING MAKER for shaping and forming filled pastries such as dumplings and the like. A pair of cooperating mold sections each defining a pastry shape therebetween are relatively moved into cooperative engagement after each pastry is formed. A flexible strap is suspended above the mold sections and supports a dough skin with the filling placed thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,670 issued to Rodriguez sets forth a TAMALE MAKING METHOD in which a support panel is provided which includes a smooth upper surface and an upstanding abutment or bar extending along one margin of the panel. An open frame is pivotally supported from the upper surface of the panel adjacent the bar and is movable between a closed position and an open position.
Various other food processing apparatus are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,248 issued to Schaffer which sets forth an SANITIZABLE PASTRY FOLDING MECHANISM, U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,271 issued to Tobey, et al. which sets forth an AUTOMATIC PIE APPARATUS, U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,455 issued to Figueras, et al. which sets forth a FOOD WRAPPER APPARATUS, U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,918 issued to Funabashi, et al. which sets forth an APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SEALED SANDWICH STYLE BUNS and a PCT application number PCT/AU86/00046 in the name of Merdy which sets forth a MACHINE FOR MAKING CREPES.
Despite the creation of the prior art devices such as those set forth above, there remains nonetheless a continuing need in the art for evermore amusing and enjoyable food preparation type toys.

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The present invention relates to an inrush current limiter device (4) for limiting inrushing current to a connectable load (3) comprising: at least one switchable IGBT-based limiter unit (5) for selectively limiting the inrushing current, having at least one current limiting conductor element for a limited leading of current and at least an IGBT-based switch (Q2), whereby the IGBT-based switch (Q2) is used as well as a controlled current limiter and as a by-pass element, and at least one control device (7) for controlling the IGBT-based switch (Q2), whereby the control device (7) comprises at least one IGBT-based switch supply (6) and means for realizing (8) a smooth flank of an output signal at the selected conductor element.

The present invention relates to an inrush current limiter device for limiting inrushing current to a connectable load comprising: at least one switchable IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor)-based limiter unit for selectively limiting the inrushing current, having at least one current limiting conductor element for limited leading of current, and at least an IGBT-based switch, whereby the IGBT(Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor)-based switch (Q2) is used as well as a controlled current limiter and as a by-pass element, and at least one control device for controlling the IGBT-based switch, whereby the control device comprises at least one IGBT-based switch supply and means for realizing a smooth flank of an output signal at the selected conductor element.
The present invention further relates to a power factor control circuit connectable to and/or between a main fed and a load comprising: an AC/DC converter with a capacitive buffer unit, and an inrush current limiter device.
Such well known power factor control circuits and inrush current limiters are used in a wide application area, where a load operating at high level of power and/or voltage has to be protected from damages by inrushing current. Modern loads are optimized for maximum electrical efficiency by minimizing consumption of electrical power. Unfortunately, the changes made to improve the efficiency of the ballast reduce certain external electrical resistances. This gives rise to a new problem: the occurrence of a large inrush off-current upon the first application of electrical power. This inrush current flows as a main filter capacitor and the ballast charges to its steady state value. For lighting circuit that contains a multiplicity of ballasts, the combined magnitude of the inrush is potentially large enough to cause contact failure of the switching device due to arching and contact welding.
To protect the load from damage by inrushing current, special power factor control circuits having inrush current limiters, are used.
Well known power factor control circuits for loads usually comprise an AC/DC converter followed by an inrush current limiter comprising an IGBT based switch supplied by an IGBT gate supply. For controlling the IGBT-switch, especially for switching, complex integrated circuits are used. Classically, the inrush current at switch-on is limited by either a NTC (Negative Temperature Coefficient) resistor, or a power resistor, which is short circuited by a relay or an IGBT after switch-on. While a NTC is only usable for lower power levels around a few hundred Watts due to its power losses, a relay has a low loss but a lifetime that is limited. The use of IGBT-based switches is a good solution with low losses for use at several thousand Watts and a long lifetime, but the timing and speed of switching it from off-state to a on-state is very critical. If this happens too soon or too abruptly, the IGBT- switch will break down due to excess current and power dissipation at the moment of switch-on.
Some very complex circuits and driver have been worked out to handle this switching, with still possible failure at repeated switch-on and -off. Another drawback is, that the circuits for controlling the IGBT are very complex and susceptible to damages.
Furthermore, the power factor control circuit known by the prior art works abruptly and produces drop-outs during the start period of the load due to a lack of synchronization between the load and an upstream arranged buffer.

Inrush current limiter device and power factor control (PFC) circuit having an improved inrush current limiter device


A display system is a display system which is installed in a vehicle and includes a liquid crystal display unit which outputs information representing a deviation amount of the current running speed of the vehicle from a speed limit set for an area where the vehicle is currently running.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a display system.
2. Background Art
In general, a display system, such as a display device for a vehicle, which functions to display a visual read-out of speed information to the driver is installed in a vehicle.
Speed limits are set for roads on which vehicles are driven according to types of roads and segments of a road from the viewpoint of traffic safety. The driver grasps the current running speed of a vehicle he or she drives by looking at a display system of the vehicle and drives the vehicle so that the running speed remains equal to or slower than a speed limit set for the road on which the driver is driving the vehicle.
In contrast with the display system described above, Patent Literature JP-A-2007-264774 discloses an in-vehicle system (for example, a navigation system) which has a function to compare the current vehicle running speed with a speed limit set for the road on which the driver drives the vehicle to determine whether or not the running speed exceeds the speed limit and to warn the driver when the running speed exceeds the speed limit.
According to the in-vehicle system disclosed by Patent Literature JP-A-2007-264774, the driver is able to be advised to drive the vehicle safely by being warned when the vehicle running speed exceeds the speed limit.
In recent years, drivers have been encouraged more and more to do the safety driving.


An improvement of addition polyimides wherein an essentially solventless, high viscosity laminating resin is synthesized from low-cost liquid monomers. The improved process takes advantage of a reactive, liquid plasticizer such as monoethylphthalate (MEP) which is used in lieu of an alcohol solvent, and helps solve a major problem of maintaining good prepreg tack and drape, or the ability of the prepreg to adhere to adjacent plies and conform to a desired shape during the layup process. This improvement results in both longer life of the polymer prepreg and the processing of low-void laminates and appears to be applicable to all addition polyimide systems.

The present invention relates to improved polyimide composites and methods of utilizing same for composite structural application. Specifically, the present invention is an improvement in that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,170 issued Aug. 28, 1979 and incorporated herein by reference.
Most addition type polyimide systems suffer from being a dry, powdery solid at room temperature. This requires these systems be dissolved in a solvent before they can be applied to glass or graphite to form an impregnated fiber or fabric called "prepreg" (pre-impregnated). Once the polyimide resin system has been made into prepreg, some of the solvent has to be retained in order to cause these sheets of prepreg to stick together and be flexible enough to work into complex shapes, for example, the fabrication of structural components for aircraft. If this solvent is lost due to volatility the result is a dry and brittle prepreg that is nearly impossible to work. The use of a solvent for this application, however, leads to another major problem--the removal of this liquid before the component is subjected to a 500.degree.-700.degree. F. cure (the reactive end groups cure through a vinyl-type polymerization at these temperatures). If all of the solvent is not removed, it will create void-areas in the cured part. These void-areas always cause the strengths of the resulting parts to be low.
All of the solvents that have been used with additiontype polyimides in the past are of the type that generate these volatiles during the cure of the resin. In the present invention, an approach is presented which eliminates this solvent problem.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an addition type polyimide having improved physical property characteristics of tack and drape, i.e., the ability to stick and conform to complex shapes.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide an addition type polyimide resin system for providing laminates having excellent strength retention and improved thermooxidative stability.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive polyimide resin system that is easy to fabricate and uses a high boiling point reacting solvent.
Another object of the present invention is a process for increasing the shelf life of an improved prepreg for use in fabricating composite structures.
Another object of the present invention is a novel process of preparing prepreg having enhanced tackiness property characteristics for use in fabricating composite structures.

Tackifier for addition polyimides containing monoethylphthalate

Frosch; Robert A. Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, with respect to an invention of


A temperature indicator for a motor vehicle arranged to indicate, to the driver of the vehicle, the ambient temperature either inside or outside the vehicle. The temperature indicator comprises thermochromic material (36-46) applied to the reflective member (30) of a rear view mirror (10) and arranged in a line, locations along which are arranged to change colour at successively increasing temperatures. The line of thermochromic material (36-46) may be positioned to separate zones (32, 34) of the reflective member which differ in curvature.

This invention relates to a temperature indicator for a motor vehicle arranged to indicate, to the driver of the vehicle, the ambient temperature either inside or outside the vehicle, the temperature indicator comprising thermochromic material applied to a reflective member of a rear view mirror and positioned so as to be visible to the driver of the motor vehicle.
FR-A-2386028 discloses a temperature indicator of this type in which the mirror glass of an exterior mirror has a coating which is clear and transparent when a threshold temperature is exceeded and which becomes opaque or coloured at temperatures below this threshold.
According to the invention, in a temperature indicator of the type described above, the thermochromic material is arranged in a line, locations along which are arranged to change colour at successively increasing temperatures.
The successively increasing temperatures may be in accordance with a standard scale, for example xc2x0C.
The invention also provides a rear view mirror having a temperature indicator of the type described above.


An N-channel, double level poly, MOS read only memory or ROM array is electrically programmable by floating gates, and electrically erased power voltages applied to the source, drain, control gate and substrate. The floating gate discharges through the insulator between the floating gate and the control gate, i.e., between first and second level polysilicon. An enhancement mode transistor in series with the floating gate device in each cell provides an improved voltage window for deprogramming by allowing the transistor created by the floating gate to go into the depletion mode. The threshold of this series enhancement transistor is lowered by an implant step in the process which is self-aligning.

This invention relates to semiconductor memory devices and more particularly to an MOS ROM which is electrically erasable and/or electrically programmable.
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices are those in which the information stored is not lost when the power supply is removed. The classic example of a nonvolatile memory is the MOS ROM wherein the stored information is permanently fixed upon manufacture by the gate level mask or moat mask as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,541,543, assigned to Texas Instruments, as widely used in calculators and microprocessor systems to store programs. However, it is preferable to be able to program the ROM devices after manufacture rather than during manufacture, so that no unique masks are required. Various electrically programmable ROM devices have been developed such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,822 which employs a floating gate in a double level polysilicon MOS ROM; the floating gate is charged by injection of electrons from the channel, and remains charged even when no power supplies are present. Other devices of this type have employed charge storage on a nitride-oxide interface. Even though the devices are electrically programmable, some are not electrically alterable or deprogrammable (except by exposing the semiconductor chip to ultraviolet light, for example). Electrically alterable ROM's have been developed as set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,881,180, issued Apr. 29, 1975, and 3,882,469, issued May 6, 1975, as well as application Ser. No. 644,982, filed Dec. 29, 1975, all by M. W. Gosney and assigned to Texas Instruments; the Gosney devices are floating gate cells with dual injection (both holes and elctrons) so that the gates may be charged or discharged. Prior cells have exhibited some undesirable characteristic such as large cell size, process incompatible with standard techniques, high voltages needed for programming, low yields due to close parametric dependency of critical voltage levels, etc.
In copending application Ser. No. 754,207, filed Dec. 27, 1976, by David J. McElroy, assigned to Texas Instruments, an electrically erasable floating gate memory device is described which employs a series enhancement transistor to eliminate the undesirable effect of the floating gate cell going into depletion mode when erased; in the McElroy device, constraints on the erase voltages are reduced so yields are increased and the electrical specifications are improved. However, threshold voltage of the series enhancement device will be dictated by the P+ tank doping, for a given gate oxide thickness. For proper programming, the P+ tank must have a surface concentration of 1 to 2.times.10.sup.16 /cc, causing the threshold voltage of the series enhancement device to be +2 to +3 v. with typical gate oxide thickness. Particularly for devices using a single +5 v. supply, it is preferable that the threshold be lower, about +1 or +0.8 v., but at the same time additional masking steps are undersirable as the yield decreases for each mask step added so costs go up.
It is therefore the principal object of the invention to provide an improved electrically programmable and electrically alterable semiconductor memory cell, particularly a cell with improved electrical specifications. Another object is to provide an electrically alterable cell which is of small cell size when formed in a semiconductor integrated circuit. A further object is to provide a process for making electrically alterable memory cells compatible with N-channel silicon gate technology and of high yield and lost cost.

Electrically alterable floating gate memory with self-aligned low-threshold series enhancement transistor


A two-step method is disclosed that enables in the first step to optimize facilities layout on the scale of miles with regard to, among others, population density and that enables in the second step to optimize intrafacilities layout on the scale of feet with regard to, among others, population density using non-metric multidimensional scaling (MDS) matrices in both the first and second steps.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention provides a process which enables to construct large-area facilities and small-area intrafacilities equipment optimized by user population density.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The conventional formula to measure or model two-dimensional discrete spatial density, i.e., population density or physical crowding is defined as the average number of objects (n) per unit area of space (A): EQU D=n/A (1)
This definition has severe shortcomings since actual spatial orientation within a specified area is disregarded. As an example of this shortcoming, refer to FIG. 1 which displays three different configurations of objects or density points. In each case, the "perceived density" of the four points is obviously different. Since the number of points and area are identical in each depiction, there is a constant value of 0.25 for population density. FIG. 2 depicts geometrically the population demographer's model of population density shown for the distributions in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows that each point occupies four space units (such as feet); hence, population density or physical crowdedness (D=n/A) equals one object per four square feet. FIG. 2 represents the model for each depiction of FIG. 1. However, large differences in perceived physical crowding clearly exist among the three configurations shown in FIG. 1.
A formula was then derived by the inventor to capture the differences shown in FIG. 1 more accurately by taking the actual spatial orientation of objects into account See O'Brien, F., "A Crowding Index for Finite Populations", Perceptual and Motor Skills, February 1990, 70, pp. 3-11 which is incorporated into this disclosure in its entirety by reference.
This formula, referred to as the Population Density Index (PDI), is as follows: ##EQU1## where n=number of objects
A=the geometric area, and PA1 d=average Euclidean distance among all possible pairs of n objects. PA1 n=the number of objects within one area. PA1 (1) To provide a process which aids in the laying out of the locations of building and other large structures where the layout is on the order of miles in a functional organization in a quadrilateral area. PA1 (2) To provide a process which aids in the laying out of the locations in a functional organization in a quadrilateral area, in a two-step process where the first step lays out the global structure of a military base or other large-scale objects, and in a second step, to lay out objects locally, for example, personnel and equipments, after the global layout has been set forth. PA1 (3) To provide a process in a first step which aids in the laying out of the locations of buildings and other structures on a functional military reservation or base in a quadrilateral area, and which provides a high level of precision in the discrimination of adverse crowding effects as between compared layout solutions in which miles is the mathematical unit of measurement. PA1 (4) To provide a process in a second step which aids in the laying out of locations of personnel and equipments in the buildings and other structures of a functional military reservation or base in a quadrilateral area, and which provides a high level of precision in the discrimination of adverse crowding effects as between compared layout solutions in which feet is the mathematical unit of measurement. PA1 (5) To provide a process in a first step which aids in the laying out of locations of buildings and other structures on a functional military reservation or base in a quadrilateral area, and which is applicable for a range of personnel/equipment data items of unlimited number with area units of miles. PA1 (6) To provide a process in a second step which aids in the laying out of locations of personnel and equipments in the buildings and structures of a functional military reservation or base in a quadrilateral area, and which is applicable for a range of personnel/equipment data items of unlimited number with area units of feet. PA1 (7) To provide a process in a first step which aids in the laying out of locations of buildings and other structures on a functional military reservation or base in a quadrilateral area, with miles as the dimensional unit, and which is universal in its applicability to subject matters that can be modeled as discrete spatial population density points where miles is the mathematical unit of measurement. PA1 (8) To provide a process in a second step which aids in the laying out of locations of personnel and equipments in the buildings and other structures of a functional military reservation or base in a quadrilateral area, with feet as the dimensional unit, and which is universal in its applicability to subject matters thatcan be modeled as discrete spatial population density points where feet is the mathematical unit of measurement.
Basically, the above proposed formula is a generalization of the bivariate Euclidean distance formula. The derivation of the proposed density formula is patterned on the well known square-root law used in the physical sciences. It may be noted in passing that PDI has the conceptual meaning: ##EQU2##
Assume two objects are plotted on an X, Y Cartesian coordinate system with a fixed origin O. The mathematical distance between the two objects is measurable by simple analytic geometry using the Pythagorean distance formula: EQU d.sub.12 =[(X.sub.1 -X.sub.2).sup.2 +(Y.sub.1 -Y.sub.2).sup.2 ].sup.1/2( 4)
where (X.sub.1,Y.sub.1); (X.sub.2,Y.sub.2) represent each object's coordinates.
If, now, we conceive of n objects, each given coordinates within the same geometric plane such as a room, it is possible to generalize the above formula to obtain an average Euclidean distance among the n objects. The average Euclidean distance of n points, considered pairwise, is given by: ##EQU3## where d.sub.ij is the Euclidean distance between any two objects. Note that for n=2 objects, d;d.sub.12 are equivalent.
The last step in deriving a density index is to scale d to adjust for a given number of objects residing within a specific area. A proposed general formula based on the square-root inverse law for distances incorporating size of area and the number of objects is: ##EQU4## where A=the geometric area in which objects reside, and
Dimensional analysis, as well as empirical Monte Carlo simulation investigations, of .DELTA. shows that the units are: ##EQU5## Essentially, .DELTA. is the average pairwise Euclidean distance among n objects scaled for a given unit area. As will become evident in the following numerical example, .DELTA. is inversely related to the average geometric distances among n points. Calculating the reciprocal of .DELTA., 1/.DELTA. will make the relationship monotonically increasing, that is, the more densely packed the objects, the higher the value of the index. This reciprocal of .DELTA., or 1/.DELTA., is arbitrarily referred to as the population density index, or PDI. The units for PDI are .sqroot.n/A.
A computational example is provided with the aid of FIG. 3. For four points, there are 4.times.3/2=6 pairwise distances to calculate. The coordinate points for the 4 units are (1,1), (1,3), (2,4) and (3,2). The area shown is 16 units. Applying .DELTA., Calculating the reciprocal of .DELTA. and multiplying by 10 to give integer results, PDI=2.3. ##EQU6##
The .DELTA. index appears to be valid even when areas differ by a large amount. To demonstrate this, consider FIGS. 4A and 4B. The average Euclidean distances are identical (1.6) in each situation depicted. The smaller value of .DELTA. in FIG. 4A (3.7) is in accord with the basic interpretation of .DELTA., that is, the smaller the value of .DELTA., the more densely packed are the points relative to the allowed area. The results also correspond to the intuitive notion of density.
The proposed crowding index, .DELTA. or PDI, should be interpreted as a relative measure much like a standard deviation in statistics. The theoretical mathematical minimum value of .DELTA. or PDI is always 0, a condition realizable with dimensionless points but not realizable with solid objects such as people.
The maximum value depends on the number of objects and the geometric area. Beyond three or four objects, it becomes difficult and perhaps meaningless to attempt calculating a precise maximum value of .DELTA. or PDI. For these reasons, hypothetical minimum and maximum bounds of the PDI formula are derived below and presented as an integral component of the disclosure of the last named application in the section "cross-reference" above. Three additional properties derived from the square-root law for average distances of .DELTA. or PDI appear to be critical to the usefulness and interpretability of the index: 1) for constant area, PDI varies directly with the number of objects; 2) for a constant number of objects, PDI varies indirectly with area; and 3) for a constant number of objects and constant area, PDI varies indirectly with distance. Small sample Monte Carlo simulations performed by the inventor have supported these square-root properties for the PDI formula. The values of PDI computed from randomly selected uniform distributions correlated 0.96 with the conventional formula for population density (n/A). In addition, the PDI formula can be evaluated on three key scientific criteria. First, the model is very simple. It connects population density to three key variables--distance, number of points and area--through an equation that can be readily calculated. Second, the formula is justified by mathematical analysis. The inverse square-root properties of the index stated as conjectures are very reasonable and provide a context for prediction and explanation of observed results. Monte Carlo simulations support each conjecture, thereby providing preliminary justification until large scale simulations can be conducted. Third, the formula has been tested and verified by empirical research. The use of the formula in hypothetical military settings has produced results that were readily interpretable and which correlated with qualitative estimates of crowding made by independent expert observers.
The population density formula attempts to express differences such as those shown in FIG. 1 more accurately than the conventional population density formula. Since the index can vary widely, as indicated in FIG. 1, it was necessary to develop a new model to predict minimum and maximum bounds of the population density index values. The model was then expanded to accommodate any number of density points, and both of these models are discussed below. However, these new models were useful only if the actual PDI (Population Density Index) could be calculated. Thus, a new approximation method has been devised in the last named patent application in the "cross-references" section above where it is not possible to calculate the actual PDI.

Two-step method constructing large-area facilities and small-area intrafacilities equipments optimized by user population density


A component kit allowing a user to removably attach a gasoline engine weed trimmer to a push-type deck lawnmower allowing a user to activate the weed trimmer during the mowing of a yard to trim areas beside the mower while mowing the yard, eliminating duplicate effort and also to relieve the stress of carrying the weed trimmer, the component kit placing the vertical weight of the weed trimmer on the lawnmower.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is a component kit allowing a user to removably attach a gasoline engine weed trimmer to a push type deck lawnmower allowing a user to activate the weed trimmer during the mowing of a yard to trim areas beside the mower while mowing the yard, eliminating duplicate effort and also to relieve the stress of carrying the weed trimmer, the component kit placing the vertical weight of the weed trimmer on the lawnmower.
2. Description of Prior Art
The following United States patents are identified and disclosed herein. Several devices are disclosed relating to lawnmowers incorporating a weed trimming component in addition to the mowing apparatus. However, all of them tend to incorporate such weed trimming component as a permanent installation or an integrated component, unlike the present invention which is a removable installation, allowing for the quick removal and attachment of most gasoline engine weed trimming devices.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,014 to Conboy, Jr., appears to convert a regular rotary mower to a cord line trimmer, replacing the blade with a cord reel with some form of line release. U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,147 to Savell, a wheeled attachment for a weed trimmer is provided, converting a standard weed trimmer into a wheeled line trimmer allowing the trimmer to be rolled instead of carried. Several rotary trimmers under a singular deck are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,668 to Gullett.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,728 to Koka and U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,100 to Wassenberg, combination mower and trimmer devices are disclosed feeding trimming lines along the blade of a rotary mower, allowing the rotary mower to be used as a line trimmer, the line extending beyond the radius of the rotary cutting blade. In U.S. Design Pat. Nos. D 304,728 to Piorkowski and U.S. Pat. No. D 359,291 to Tihonovich, apparently permanent trimmer attachments are disclosed, with ""728 to Piorkowski disclosing a front attachment which maybe adjustable and ""291 to Tihonovich which is set on the left front of the mower deck, such attachment being originally integrated into the mower deck. A fully adjustable line trimmer mounted to a mower deck is disclosed with the line trimmer being height, angle and directionally adjustable deriving the power source from either the mower engine shaft or electrical power from the mower. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,566 to Gates, a flexible line trimmer attachment for a tractor driven mower deck for trimming while mowing is disclosed, having a boom which is deflected up to a 180 degree angle, such boom having a spring attaching to the boom to return the boom to a resting position.
The primary objective of the current invention is to provide a means to allow a gasoline powered line trimmer to be removably attached to the deck of a lawnmower wherein the gasoline powered line trimmer may be removed for independent line trimming or attached to provide line trimming while mowing. A second objective of the invention is to provide such attachment means on either the right or left side of the mower deck to accommodate the choice of the user. A third objective is to provide the control trigger of the gasoline powered line trimmer in a location on the handle of the lawnmower to easily activate the attached line trimmer while mowing without distracting the user from attention to safety, placing such control trigger of the attached line trimmer in a location on the lawnmower handle where the user normally placed their hands and fingers.


A tactile sensation providing apparatus determines a touched object and stores touch information based on the object in a memory unit 16. When an object in current touch information does not match an object in previous touch information stored in the memory unit 16, the tactile sensation providing unit 12 provides a first tactile sensation. When these objects match each other, the tactile sensation providing unit 12, based on the current touch information and the previous touch information, provides the first tactile sensation or a second tactile sensation, which is different from the first tactile sensation and provided with lower power than that for providing the first tactile sensation.

In recent years, a touch panel as an input apparatus such as an operation unit for receiving an input operation by an operator has been popularly used for mobile terminals such as mobile phones and gaming machines; information equipments such as calculators and ticket vending machines; home electric appliances such as microwaves, TV sets, lighting equipments; industrial equipment (FA equipment) and the like. Generally, the touch panel is constituted by using a touch sensor disposed on a display unit such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel or an EL (Electroluminescence Display) panel.
There are known a variety of types of the touch sensor, such as a resistive film type, a capacitive type, an optical type and the like. However, touch sensors of these types receive a touch input (the input operation) by a touch object such as a finger or a stylus pen and, unlike push-button switches, the touch sensors themselves are not physically displaced when being touched. Since the operator may not obtain feedback to the input when the touch input is received, the operator may not obtain sufficient operability and may feel stressful.
As such, there are suggested a number of techniques to improve the operability by, for example, adding a function to provide feedback to the operator through vibration and the like upon input to the touch sensor and notifying the operator that the input operation is received. For example, there are known techniques that, by changing a pattern of a tactile sensation provided to the operator as feedback based on a position and a pressure on the touch sensor touched, touching duration and the like, increases an information quantity obtained by the operator through tactile sensations in response to an operation and thus further improves the operability (for example, see Patent Documents 1, 2).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A process which involves the step of contacting, in a methanolic solvent system, a metal salt, preferably a Group 1 or 2 metal salt, of the anion of formula II ##STR1## with at least one compound containing an R-group under conditions sufficient to form a symmetrical or unsymmetrical compound of formula I ##STR2## where the R-group is any suitable substituent group.

Disubstituted N-cyanodithioiminocarbonates have utility as intermediates in organic synthesis. For example, dimethyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate is an intermediate in the preparation of H2-antihistamines, such as cimetidine. Dimethyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate is also used in the manufacture of antiulcer and antisecretory compounds and is an intermediate in the preparation of many heterocycles.
Hantzsch and Wolvekamp, Liebigs Ann. Chem. 331:265 (1904) and Timmons and Wittenbrook, J. Org. Chem. 32:1566 (1967) describe the preparation of dimethyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate by the methylation of dipotassium N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate. The process of Timmons and Wittenbrook involves the methylation of the dipotassium N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate in aqueous acetone with one equivalent of methyl iodide. The potassium methyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate product is then isolated in about 95% yield. Then, the potassium methyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate is treated with another equivalent of methyl iodide in acetone which produces dimethyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate in about 58% yield.
Wittenbrook, J. Heterocyclic Chem. 12:37 (1975) describes the preparation of dimethyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate from the dipotassium salt of N-cyanodithioiminocarbonic acid by a simultaneous addition of two molar equivalents of methyl iodide to an acetone suspension of the dipotassium salt of N-cyanodithioiminocarbonic acid. Hungarian Patent No. 181,743 (Reiter) describes a reaction with an aqueous ethanol solution of the dipotassium salt of N-cyanodithioiminocarbonic acid. Wieland, Ph.D. dissertation, West Virginia University (1971) describes a reaction with an ethanol suspension of the dipotassium salt of N-cyanodithioiminocarbonic acid. Suyama and Odo, J. Syn. Org. Chem., Japan, 29:65 (1971) describe the addition of two molar equivalents of base to a suspension of carbon disulfide (CS.sub.2), cyanamide (H.sub.2 NCN) and methyl iodide (CH.sub.3 I).
Walek, Preiss, and Dietzel, Z. Chem. 18(4):144 (1978) describe the preparation of dimethyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate by adding one equivalent of dimethyl sulfate to a mono-methyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate dissolved in acetone. Trompen, Geevers, and Hackmann, Rec. Trav. Chim. 90:463 (1971) describe a methylation of the dipotassium salt of N-cyanodithioiminocarbonic acid in water. Hungarian Patent No. 181743 (Reiter) describes a reaction with the addition of two molar equivalents of dimethyl sulfate or a methyl halide in a solvent of aqueous ethanol, aqueous 1-propanol or aqueous 2-propanol. Czechoslovakian Patent No. 221221 (Vejdelek et al.) describes the addition of two molar equivalents of a methyl halide or dimethyl sulfate in a solvent of aqueous ethanol, aqueous 1-propanol or aqueous 2-propanol.
For the purposes of the invention the term "symmetrical" characterizes a disubstituted N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate as having two identical substituent groups R. For the purposes of the invention the term "unsymmetrical" characterizes a disubstituted N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate as having two different substituent groups R. For example, a compound of the general formula I ##STR5## may be a symmetrical or unsymmetrical compound because each R may be independently defined, for example, as any suitable substituent group. A compound of the following formula I-A ##STR6## is a symmetrical disubstituted N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate because both of the substituent groups are methyl. A compound of the following formula I-B ##STR7## is an unsymmetrical disubstituted N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate because one substituent group is methyl and the other substituent group is ethyl.
For the purposes of the invention, the term "metal salts" includes metal salts having monovalent, bivalent and fractions of polyvalent metals sufficient to balance the anionic charge in the salt. Mixed metal salts are also contemplated. Also, the term "metal hydroxide" includes hydroxides of monovalent, bivalent and fractions of polyvalent metals.
For the purposes of the invention, the term "Group 1 or Group 2 metals" includes all metals from Groups 1 and 2 of the Periodic Table.
Also, for the purposes of the invention, the term "methanolic solvent system" includes methanol, aqueous methanol, or any mixture of solvents including methanol. For example, a methanolic solvent system may include methanol and one or more other solvents, such as water, ethanol or acetone.

Preparation of symmetrical or unsymmetrical disubstituted n-cyanodithioiminocarbonates

Buckman Laboratories International, Inc.