A method for fabricating a phase change memory pore cell that includes forming a bottom electrode, forming a first dielectric layer on the bottom electrode, forming a sacrificial layer on the first dielectric layer, forming an isolation layer on the sacrificial layer, and forming a second dielectric layer on the isolation layer. The method further includes forming a via overlying the bottom electrode, the via extending to the sacrificial layer, etching through the sacrificial layer to the first dielectric layer to form a pore defined extending through the sacrificial layer and the first dielectric layer, depositing phase change material on the sacrificial layer and into the pore and removing the phase change material formed outside the pore, removing the sacrificial layer to expose the pore, the pore being vertically aligned, and forming a top electrode over the pore.

The present invention relates to a phase change memory cell, and more specifically, to a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) stop layer for fully amorphous phase change memory pore cell. By fully amorphous phase change memory pore cell it is meant that the phase change material, which is located within the pore, is completely converted to the amorphous phase leaving no partially crystalline phase change material within the volume of the pore during the reset operation (where the reset operation is the operation which converts the state of the memory cell to the high resistance state).
High temperature data retention is a desirable characteristic for phase change memory. Retention is limited by unintended recrystallization of the amorphized phase change material. Crystallization can occur at an amorphous-crystallize boundary. The absence of an amorphous-crystalline boundary within the phase change material eliminates this cause for data loss. Hence, a phase change memory cell which converts all of the phase change material into the amorphous state during the reset operation will have better data retention characteristics. In phase change memory, data is stored by causing transitions in the phase change material between amorphous and crystalline states using current. Current heats the material causing transitions between the two states. The change from the amorphous state to the crystalline state is a low current operation in comparison to the change from the crystalline state to the amorphous state (which is referred to as a reset current). It is desirable to minimize the reset current.
FIGS. 1A through 1I illustrate a method for fabricating a conventional phase change memory pore cell 1. Specifically, FIGS. 1A through 1I illustrate a typical keyhole transfer method. In FIG. 1A, a bottom electrode layer 10 and a memory cell layer 12 on top of the bottom electrode layer 10 are provided. The bottom electrode layer 10 includes a dielectric fill layer 13 and a bottom electrode 14 typically made of tungsten or titanium nitride, within the dielectric fill layer 13. A first dielectric layer 15 is formed on the bottom electrode layer 10 and an isolation layer 16 is formed on the first dielectric layer 15, and a second dielectric layer 17 is formed on the isolation layer 16. A photo resist layer 18 is formed over the second dielectric layer 17. A via 20 is formed to extend to the first dielectric layer 15. In FIG. 1B, the photo resist layer 18 is removed and the isolation layer 16 is recessed, creating overhang portions 17a and 17b of the second dielectric layer 17. In FIG. 1C, a conformal film 22 is deposited within the via 20 and pinched to form a void (i.e., a keyhole structure 24) in a lower region of the via 20. In FIG. 1D, the conformal film 22 is recessed and the keyhole structure 24 is transferred down into the first dielectric layer 15 to form a pore 26. In FIG. 1E, the isolation layer 16, the second dielectric layer 17 and the conformal film 22 are removed thereby exposing the pore 26 formed within the first dielectric layer 15. In FIG. 1F, phase change material 28 is deposited over the first dielectric layer 15 and filled in the pore 26. Next, in FIG. 1G, a planarizing process is performed to remove the phase change material 28 formed outside of the pore 26. Next, in FIG. 1H, a top electrode layer 30 is then formed over the first dielectric layer 15. In FIG. 1I, the top electrode layer 30 is then etched to form a top electrode 31 which is in electrical communication with the pore 26 and the bottom electrode 14.
There are several problems associated with the fabrication method shown in FIGS. 1A through 1I. For example, after the pore 26 is etched and the isolation layer 16, the second dielectric layer 17, and the conformal film 22 are removed, in order to ensure sufficient electrical conduction between the phase change material 28 and the bottom electrode 14, a sputtering process is utilized prior to the phase change material 28 deposition. As shown in FIG. 1F, the sputtering process increases a taper angle 26a and 26b and rounded top corners 26c of the pore 26. The more rounded the pore 26, the higher the reset current required in order to make the phase change memory pore cell 1 fully amorphous. If the pore 26 is too rounded then the cell 1 may fail to become fully amorphous.

Chemical mechanical polishing stop layer for fully amorphous phase change memory pore cell

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and apparatus are disclosed for maintaining the referential integrity of a relational database by determining the validity of each new referential constraint which is brought about by the proposed creation or alteration of a data table within the database. All relationships of a newly created or altered data table are first examined for known non-error conditions in which the new referential constraint will not affect other data tables. Next, self-referencing relationships are examined to detect known error situations. Thereafter, a model is created of a selected portion of the database which includes the newly created or altered data table; all data tables dependent from the newly created or altered data table; all data tables descendant from those dependent tables which are delete-connected to the newly created or altered data table; all data tables which are the parent tables for any data table previously included; and, any ancestor data table having a Cascade delete rule relationship with a parent table previously included. The validity of the new referential constraint is then verified by examining only that portion of the database represented by the model to determine if the proposed relationship allows referential integrity to be maintained.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to improvements in data processing systems and in particular to improvements in relational databases within a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to methods for maintaining referential integrity within a relational database despite the creation or alteration of a data table within that database.
2. Background Art
One clear advantage in the utilization of data processing systems is the systematic manipulation and utilization of large quantities of data. Typically, these large quantities are arranged in an orderly manner in a so-called database which may be rapidly accessed either directly or indirectly by any processor within the data processing system.
More recently, the utilization of database management systems has reached a new level of sophistication with the advent of the relational database. A relational database is a database composed of multiple data tables. The relational model which forms the basis for such a database includes three major subsections. A structural subsection which addresses the structure a relational database must conform to, a data manipulation subsection which governs the manner in which data must be manipulated within a relational database and a referential integrity subsection which controls the manner in which changes in one area of the database affect the remainder of the database.
Referential integrity may be achieved by adhering to selected constraints which, while difficult to implement, are well known in the literature. For example, the major referential constraint is the assertion that non-null values of a designated "foreign key" are valid only if they also appear as values of the "primary key" of a designated data table. In the terminology of relational databases, the "parent" data table is the data table in a relationship of two data tables which contains the designated primary key. Similarly, the "dependent" data table is the data table in the aforementioned relationship which contains the foreign key.
It should be clear upon reflection that a single data table may be both a parent table and a dependent table in an arbitrary number of relationships. A data table may be said to be a "descendant" of a parent data table if it is a dependent of that data table or a descendant of a dependent of the parent data table. Conversely, a data table is said to be an "ancestor" of a second data table if it is a parent of that table or a parent of a table which includes the second table as a descendant. Also, a data table may be a descendant and an ancestor of itself if it is interconnected in a so-called "cycle" with multiple other data tables. A data table may also be both a parent data table and a dependent data table for a single constraint in a so-called "self-referencing" table.
In order to control the referential integrity of a relational database it is necessary to associate a relationship rule with each referential constraint. The three activities which must be addressed in such relationships are the results of an update, an insertion or a deletion operation. In view of the relational nature of the data tables in such a database it should be obvious that any one of these three activities in one data table may have an effect on another data table within the database. Thus, a series of rules is generally associated with each such activity.
The rule governing insertions is quite simple. A primary key may be inserted; however, a foreign key may only be inserted if it meets the basic referential constraint. That is, a non-null value of a foreign key may only be inserted if it also appears as a value of the primary key. Similarly, updates to a foreign key are only possible if the new foreign key also appears as a valid primary key. In the depicted embodiment of the present method, updates to a primary key are "Restricted," that is, they are only permitted where that primary key does not have any dependants. Of course, a system could be implemented such that updates to a primary key will automatically be implemented in each dependent key in a so-called "Cascade" mode of operation, or will cause each dependent key to be "Set Null."
The delete operation in the depicted embodiment of the present invention will utilize all three of the aforementioned relationship rules. Therefore, it is possible to have a delete rule of "Restrict," "Cascade" or "Set Null." In this manner, the effect of a deletion anywhere in the database is clearly defined in terms of its effect on dependent data tables. In the terminology of relational databases, any data table which is involved in a delete operation with a second data table is said to be "delete connected" to the second data table.
Two additional restrictions are generally applied to the relationships among a set of data tables with respect to delete connections. Firstly, a table may not be delete connected to itself in a cycle of two or more tables. Secondly, if a data table is delete connected to another data table through multiple paths, the relationship rules governing the delete operations must be identical and must not be Set Null.
Thus, any attempted modification to the structure of a relational database must carefully traverse each of these relationship rules to maintain referential integrity. The large numbers of related data tables contained within a relational database and the multiple relationships which may exist between those tables make the verification of the relationships after an attempted modification to the structure of the database quite difficult. It should therefore be obvious that a need exists for a method which may be utilized to efficiently and rapidly ascertain whether or not an attempted modification to the structure of a relational database will allow consistent referential integrity.

Method and apparatus for maintaining referential integrity within a relational database

International Business Machines Corporation


A support device for stabilizing a hanging wall above a floating slab. In areas having expansive soils, basement slabs and surface slabs will rise and fall with increases and decreases in soil moisture. Walls mounted on such slabs would be damaged when the slab rises. Therefore, such walls are made to hang from overhead structures such as joists with the bottom wall end spaced from the slab. The support device is mounted on a bottom plate within such a wall above a base plate fastened to the slab. The device includes a bracket having a flange for fastening to the bottom plate and an tubular extension extending downwardly through a hole in the bottom plate. A sleeve slidingly fits through the tubular extension and includes at least one nail (preferably two nails) extending through the sleeve and engaging the base plate. When the nails are hammered into the base plate, the wall can move up and down with the slab, but is stabilized against lateral movement due to lateral forces on the wall.

This invention relates to the provision of lateral support for xe2x80x9cfloating wallsxe2x80x9d above a floating concrete slab.
Expansive or swelling soils are present at many locations across the United States and around the world. Expansive soils expand when the water content of the soil increases. Expansive soils create the greater problems when they are present in semi-arid climates where a water deficit normally exist prior to the development of residential communities.
When a residential community is built in an area of expansive soils, the soil environment is dramatically changed. Much of the ground surface, which was previously open to the atmosphere, is covered by houses, driveways, streets and sidewalks. These pavements and strictures limit the amount of moisture that can evaporate from the ground. Additionally, homeowners typically plant a grass yard or create other landscaping that requires irrigation during the summer season. For example, it is not uncommon for homeowners in semi-arid climates, which normally receive less than 20 inches of annual precipitation, to add an additional 40 to 60 inches of water to their lawns during the summer season.
This combination of covering the soil, which reduces natural evaporation, and adding additional irrigation water, combined with the tendency of normally dry soils to draw the water below the surface before it can evaporate greatly increases the moisture levels in the soil below buildings. The increased soil moisture causes the soil to swell or heave upward. As the expansive soils swell, they exert upward forces on surface structures such as streets, buried utilities and, most significantly, concrete slab floors. These lifting forces are powerful enough to actually lift such surface structures.
To accommodate upward heaving of basement slab-on-grade floor, building codes typically require the use of slip joints between the basement slab and the foundation walls of a house to allow the basement slab to rise and fall relative to the foundation walls. The foundation walls are supported on caissons that are preferably anchored to bedrock below the level of soil wetting to make the walls immune to swelling soils. Thus, the slip joints provide tolerance for swelling soils and allow the slab to xe2x80x9cfloatxe2x80x9d.
Because the slip joints allow the concrete slab to rise and fall as the moisture content of the under lying soil varies, any walls constructed immediately above the floating slab must be constructed in such a manner that when the slabs rise the walls are not deformed or crushed between the concrete slab and the house above. Building codes typically require that all walls constructed on concrete floors that are designed as xe2x80x9cfloating slabsxe2x80x9d also be xe2x80x9cfloated.xe2x80x9d
A xe2x80x9cfloating wallxe2x80x9d is typically constructed of vertical studs that are secured only to the joists of the floor above with a gap between the lower end of the wall and the floor. Because the floor joists are typically supported by the concrete foundation walls which are anchored to bedrock below the level of the expansive soil, they do not rise or fall with the floating slab. As the floor rises and falls, the gap between the wall lower end and the slab will narrow and widen correspondingly.
Since a xe2x80x9cfloatingxe2x80x9d wall has no vertical support at its base, the bottom of the floating wall must be stabilized against lateral movement. Typically, a nail is driven through a hole (having a diameter greater that the nail) in the bottom plate of the wall and into a plate fastened to the floating wall. As the slab rises and falls, the nail will slide upward and downward in the bottom plate hole, while resisting, to a degree, sideways forces exerted against the wall.
While this arrangement is generally accepted under local building codes, the lateral support provided is minimal and any significant lateral force applied to the floating wall will cause the wall to deflect, resulting in damage to the floating wall.
Wall construction techniques have been developed to accommodate seismic movement, such as that disclosed by Rasmussen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,103 and by Gilmour in U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,345, neither of these has application to a stud wall hung from joists above a floating slab.
Thus, there is a continuing need for improved need for improved lateral support system for walls hung above a floating slab that are inexpensive, easily installed and have greater resistance to lateral forces.
The above-noted problems, and others, are overcome by a device for providing lateral support to the base of a wall hung over a floating slab, which comprises an elongated fitting having at least one longitudinal tube, each for receiving a nail having a length greater than the longitudinal tube, a bracket having an opening for receiving the elongated fitting in a slidable relationship parallel to said nail, means for securing the bracket to a bottom plate in a hanging wall adjacent to the bottom of the hanging wall so that said nails may be driven downwardly into an adjacent baseplate secured to a floating slab.
For maximum lateral support, two parallel longitudinal tubes and two nails are preferred. While additional nails may be used, the slightly greater lateral support is generally not sufficient to justify the additional cost, complexity and difficulty in driving closely adjacent nails.
Although the bracket can be fastened to the bottom plate in any suitable manner, a flange extending generally perpendicular to the bracket at the nail head end with means to fasten the flange to the bottom plate with the longitudinal tube(s) extending through the bottom plate provides optimum strength and ease of installation.

Support for a wall above a floating slab


Disclosed is a composite magnetic developer which consists essentially of a homogeneous intimate mixture comprising a plurality of electrically insulating magnetic particulate developers comprising a binder medium and a finely divided magnetic material dispersed in the binder medium, in which the difference of the dielectric constant between the developers is in the range of from 0.2 to 0.85.. This composite magnetic developer can provide a clear transferred image having a high density on a transfer sheet such as plain paper, and even if the copying operation is conducted continuously for a long time by using this developer, excellent transferred images can be obtained without substantial change of the composition of the composite developer or substantial reduction of the image density.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel composite one-component type magnetic developer. More particularly, the present invention relates to a composite one-component type magnetic developer which can form on a plain paper a clear transferred image having a high density.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
One-component type magnetic developers consisting of particles comprising a finely divided magnetic material dispersed in a binder medium have been used widely in the field of electrophotographic reproduction because any particular magnetic carrier need not be incorporated in these developers at the step of magnetic brush development. In a one-component type magnetic developer of the type used most frequently in the art, the surfaces of the developer particles are rendered electrically conductive so as to prevent the edge effect and fogging. However, if an electrically conductive magnetic developer of this type is transferred onto a copy paper having a relatively low electric resistance such as a plain paper, only an obscure image having broadened contours is obtained. This is a fatal defect of developers of this type.
It has already been known that a one-component type magnetic developer having a high electric resistance is used as the one-component type magnetic developer. For example, the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 3,645,770 discloses a process in which a magnetic brush of a one-component type magnetic developer having a high electric resistance is charged by corona discharge and an electrostatic latent image is developed by the charged magnetic brush of the magnetic developer. However, this process is still insufficient in various points. For example, it is very difficult to charge the magnetic brush uniformly, and a special charging mechanism should be arranged in the development apparatus zone and the development apparatus becomes complicated. Furthermore, the charging mechanism is readily contaminated with the developer and troubles are often caused by contamination of the charging mechanism.
Recently, there have been proposed a process in which an electrically non-conductive developer is charged by frictional contact with the surface of a support carrying thereon an electrostatic latent image to visualize the latent image by the thus charged developer (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. 62638/75) and a process in which development is accomplished by dielectric polarization of an electrically non-conductive developer (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. 133028/76). These processes, however, are still insufficient.
In the former process, the development conditions should be strictly controlled. More specifically, if the development conditions are not strictly controlled, fogging is readily caused in non-image areas (especially conspicuous when the degree of contact between the surface of a photosensitive material and the top ends of spikes of magnetic toner particles is high), and magnetic toner particles are fixed to a development sleeve and blocking of the toner particles is readily caused. Occurrence of these troubles is especially serious when the copying operation is performed continuously.
In the latter process, the trouble of fogging is not serious, but since a visible image is formed by utilization of a dielectric polarizing effect induced in the magnetic toner to an electrostatic latent image, a low-potential part of the latent image area is not effectively developed and therefore, the obtained copy has a hard tone and it is impossible to reproduce a half-tone in prints.
Moreover, images of prints obtained according to these conventional processes are poor in sharpness and according to these conventional processes, it is very difficult to form images having a sufficiently high density.
As another one-component type magnetic developer, there has been proposed a composite magnetic developer consisting of a homogeneous mixture comprising a magnetic developer having a high electric resistance and an electrically conductive magnetic developer. Furthermore, a composite developer consisting of a homogeneous mixture comprising a magnetic developer and a non-magnetic developer. However, these known composite developers are defective in that the composition is gradually changed while the copying operation is conducted continuously and the density of transferred images is considerably reduced.


The present invention relates to Coix seed oil extracted from Semen Coicis, pharmaceutical preparations thereof, and the use thereof in the treatment of tumors and inflammation. Specifically, the Coix seed oil contains 8 triglyceride ingredients in the following mass percentages: trilinolein 4.87-6.99%, 1-olein-2,3-dilinolein 13.00-18.69%, 1-palmitin-2,3-dilinolein 5.25-7.54%, 1,3-diolein-2-linolein 13.23-19.02%, 1-palmitin-2-linolein-3-olein 10.26-14.75%, 1,3-dipalmitin-2-linolein 2.28-3.28%, triolein 14.44-20.76%, and 1-palmitin-2,3-diolein 8.06-11.58%.

Coix seeds are dried ripe seeds of Coix lacryma-jobi L. var ma-yuen (Roman.), Stapf, a genus of plant in the Poaceae family. It is a dampness-eliminating drug and has been used as a medicinal and edible plant for a long time. Modern researches have found that Coix seeds have many pharmacological effects, such as analgesic anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-ulcer, hypolipidemic and anti-obesity effects. In recent years, researchers around the world have studied the chemical composition of the Coix seed by using TLC, HPLC-MS, GC, etc., and found a variety of active ingredients in it, including coixenolide, triglycerides, fatty acids, lactams, coix lactones, saccharides, sterols and triterpenoids. Among them, esters are the first discovered components having anti-tumor activities and the most reported chemical composition attracting the most attention. Kanglaite injection, in which the active ingredient is Coix seed oil, has been widely used in present Chinese clinical applications, but the Coix seed oil used in the Kanglaite injection comprises complex components. In addition to triglycerides, it also contains monoglycerides, diglycerides and fatty acid esters, etc. This will inevitably be a great challenge for the quality control in the practical production process and the safety in clinical applications.
In the present invention, the raw material Coix seed powder underwent supercritical carbon dioxide extraction, basification, neutral alumina purification and mixed adsorbent purification of kaolin:activated carbon=1:1 to afford an effective part, Coix seed oil. With the active ingredients' isolation and identification, it is determined that the Coix seed oil comprises mainly eight triglyceride components. Further determination of physicochemical constants has confirmed the optimal acid value, iodine value, saponification value, refractive index and specific gravity, etc. The use of the Coix seed oil of the invention in medication has advantages such as the confirmed composition of ingredients, ensuring quality stability in every batch in the industrial production.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Coix seed oil containing 8 triglycerides, and pharmaceutical preparation and use thereof


A signal emitting stylus for operation with a digitizer system includes a resonant circuit including a first capacitor and an inductor, the circuit operative to alternate between receiving a wirelessly transmitted first signal and generating electrical field; a controller and a power source. The controller operates the resonant circuit in a receive mode for receiving the first signal, decodes the received first signal and switches operation of the resonant circuit to a transmit mode for generating the electrical field and coupling the electrical field to a digitizer system in response to detecting the first signal. The power source powers generation of the electrical field.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to an electromagnetic signal-emitting stylus used for interaction with a digitizer system and more particularly, but not exclusively to an active and/or self powered stylus.
Styluses are known in the art for use with digitizer systems such as with digitizer systems that are integrated with a display screen, e.g. a touch screen. Stylus position is sensed by the digitizer system and used to provide input to a computing device associated with the display screen. Position of the stylus is typically correlated with virtual information displayed on the display screen. Inputs originating from the stylus are typically interpreted as user commands or user inputs for commands. Typically, a signal emitted by the stylus is detected by the digitizer system both while a writing tip of the stylus is touching and hovering over a detection surface of the digitizer system.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,292,229 entitled "Transparent Digitiser," assigned to N-Trig Ltd., the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes passive stylus that is a stylus with no internal power source and no wired connection for interaction with a digitizer sensor. It is described that the stylus is energized by a triggering pulse provided with an excitation coil which surrounds the sensor and thereby energizes the stylus resonance circuit. An advantage of external excitation is that it inherently provides synchronization of the stylus to the digitizer, since both components are aware of the excitation pulse timing. It is stated that in alternative embodiments, the stylus may be internally powered using a battery. The stylus further comprises a touch switch and a right click switch. Each of the touch switches when closed have the effect of altering the resonant frequency so that the digitizer system can recognize touch and right click.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,536,471 entitled "Pressure Sensitive Stylus for a Digitizer," assigned to N-Trig Ltd., the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a pressure sensitive stylus with a movable tip that recedes within a housing of the stylus in response to user applied contact pressure and an optical sensor enclosed within the housing for optically sensing the displacement of the tip and for providing output in response to the sensing. There is also described a capacitive based displacement sensor including variable capacitor with one conductive plate in physical communication with stylus tip so that it moves in accordance with the stylus tip movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,481,872 entitled "Digitizer, Stylus and Method of Synchronization Therewith," assigned to N-Trig Ltd., the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a method for operating a digitizer with an autonomous asynchronous stylus includes sampling outputs from a digitizer, detecting from the outputs at least one pulsed signal transmitted from an autonomous asynchronous stylus at a defined rate, determining a location of the stylus interaction with respect to the digitizer, and tracking stylus interaction with the digitizer over subsequent pulsed signals transmitted from the stylus.


A system and method for using a mobile device to cause a vending machine to provide access to a product. After a calibration position is established within the mobile device, an accelerometer of the mobile device is used to determine a current location of the mobile device relative to the vending machine resulting from a movement of the mobile device from the calibration position. A product location to mobile device location mapping is then used to determine a one of a plurality of vending mechanisms associated with the vending machine that is to be activated given the determined current location of the mobile device. A signal may then be sent from the mobile device to the vending machine to instruct the vending machine to activate the determined one of the plurality of vending mechanisms.

In various environments or contexts, products need to be accessed and/or ordered. This can be at home, in an office, in a business-to-business (B2B) setting, e.g., in a tool crib or in a vending machine, etc. Currently, one solution to this need is to place an order button in the vicinity of the product to be ordered. In a domestic setting, an order button to order laundry detergent can be placed on or near the washing machine. In a B2B tool crib setting, an order button can be place on or near the bin holding the product for which ordering is needed.
Current order buttons contain a battery and a means for using a protocol for transmitting a signal (e.g., via WiFi, cell network, Bluetooth, etc.) to a network and subsequently to a vendor's server, which will process the "order transaction" and, in one scenario, ship the product to the destination corresponding to the order button and, in another scenario, to a location that has holding lockers from which the customer will pick up the product(s).

System and method for using a mobile device to access inventory


A complete injection signal is provided having a digital spectrum formed from components weighted by a set of coefficients, in a preliminary step, the coefficients of the components included within a frequency band are attenuated resulting in an incomplete digital spectrum being obtained; in a next step, the analog signal composed from the incomplete digital spectrum is injected into the electrical line; in a next step, the echo corresponding to the injected signal is measured; in a next step, the digital spectrum of the echo is calculated; in a next step, the digital spectrum of the echo of the complete analog signal if the latter had been injected is estimated, the kth component of the estimated complete digital spectrum being equal to the kth component of the digital spectrum of the echo received multiplied by the ratio between the kth component of the digital spectrum of the complete injection signal over the kth component of the incomplete digital spectrum; in a next step, the measurement of the reflectogram of the line is obtained based on the estimated complete digital spectrum.

The diagnosis of a line or of an electrical cable by reflectometry is a well known method consisting in the injection of a wideband signal into the line and in the detection of the echoes, in order to track the variations of characteristic impedance of the line corresponding to irregularities, notably defects such as for example open circuits or short-circuits.
In its simplest version, the probe signal is a pulse whose duration depends on the bandwidth and of the length of the cable to be diagnosed.
Amongst the known reflectometry methods, the multicarrier reflectometry method known as MCTDR (Multi-Carrier Time-Domain Reflectometry) offers the advantage of being able to precisely control the spectrum of the injected signal and thus to be able to respond to imposed constraints on electromagnetic compatibility (EMC).
Henceforth, the following conventions will be adopted:
* denotes the convolution product
★ denotes the cross-correlation (inter-correlation)
h denotes the pulse response of the cable
ĥ denotes the estimated response of the cable: the reflectogram
x denotes the injected signal
y denotes the reflected signal
The notations in capitals denote the Fourier transforms of those in lower case
F{ } denotes the Fourier transform operation
F−1{ } denotes the inverse Fourier transform operation
The injected signal x and reflected signal y are linked via the following equation: y=x*h.
The aim of a reflectometry measurement is notably to measure the signal h, if possible with maximum precision.
h may be considered as a parsimonious signal, in other words it only contains peaks at the location of the irregularities on the cable.
In an ideal simplified case for a cable whose end is in open circuit, the difference in position between the first two peaks of h allows the knowledge of the length of the cable to be deduced.
When it is desired to monitor or diagnose a cable in use, at least one non-invasive measurement needs to be carried out, if it cannot be non-intrusive. Two conditions must then be met:
a suitable coupling means needs to be found, notably in terms of impedance;
signals having frequency components covering bands of frequencies already used in the target application must not be injected. In other words, any interference between the signals associated with the operation of the target application and the signals associated with the reflectometry is to be avoided, this leading to various constraints for the EMC, spectral occupation and robustness to noise.
The second condition notably allows the following double guarantee to be obtained:
the diagnostic signals do not interfere with those of the application in use, in transmission;
the signals of the application do not degrade the quality of the diagnosis, in terms of susceptibility.
By way of example:
for the diagnosis of an antenna cable for the application of an FM radio reception, the frequency band 88-108 MHz must be avoided for the diagnostic signal;
for the diagnosis of the CAN bus of a vehicle, the band 0.1-2 MHz must similarly be avoided.
The MCTDR technique, notably described in the patent application FR 2 931 323 A1, allows a probe signal to be constructed that meets a given spectral range requirement. The solution described can manage any given number of frequency bands with a variable attenuation coefficient within each band, which may go as far as total extinction.
However, in the solution described, an important technical limitation needs to be confronted. This is because, the more frequency bands are attenuated or suppressed, the poorer the abundance of the frequency content on the measurement of the reflected signal y, and the more the quality of the diagnosis is degraded.
In particular, if an ideal pulse were considered, represented by a Dirac function x=δ, for diagnosing the cable, h=y would be obtained. However, MCTDR is a pulse compression technique. In other words, the energy is not concentrated over a very short time period but distributed over the whole duration of the signal. It may be demonstrated mathematically, in this case, that: ĥ=Rxx*h, with Rxx=x★x, this auto correlation being called the pattern. The ideal case Rxx=δ is only possible if x contains all the frequencies. However, the more of the frequency components that are removed, the less the pattern resembles a pulse.
There exist several diagnostic techniques that do not interfere with a target application.
The reflectometry known as SSTDR (Spread Spectrum Time Domain Reflectometry) is a variant of STDR (Sequence Time Domain Reflectometry) reflectometry. STDR is also a pulse-compression technique. With this technique, instead of injecting a pulse, a binary sequence of square pulses, composed of +1 and −1, is injected into the cable in such a manner that the auto-correlation of the sequence is close to a pulse.
STDR does not allow the EMC constraints to be overcome but SSTDR provides an answer to this. For this purpose, the STDR sequence is modulated by a sinusoidal carrier of frequency f0. It is therefore, in fact, a modulated STDR sequence. In order to meet the operational constraints, f0 is chosen so as to move the modulated signal away from the forbidden bands.
A reflectometry method described in the document FR 2 931 323 A1 is an iterative method aiming to calculate h starting from the estimated pulse response ĥ. This is a post-processing algorithm which can take as input a reflectometry measurement made with a signal probe of the MCTDR type. It therefore benefits from being innocuous from the EMC point of view.
Multicarrier reflectometry, or MCR, uses the same waveforms as MCTDR, with a weighted sum of sinusoidal waves. For this reason, it provides the same quality of response to the EMC problems.
The processing of the reflected signal is however very different, since it uses an optimization algorithm (of the least-squares type) directly applied in the frequency domain in order to adapt the coefficients (α; τ) of a model of simplified parsimonious pulse response for the cable:
            h      ^                  (      t      )        =            ∑      i                          α        i                          δ                          (                      t            -                          2                            i                                                                                τ                                )
This processing offers the advantage of being able to be carried out for a limited number of excitation frequencies.
The MCR technique is notably described in the article "Multicarrier Reflectometry", IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 6, No. 3, June 2006.
One problem to be solved is notably to allow the flexibility of the injection methods with a controlled spectral width, such as notably MCTDR, while at the same time overcoming the problems of denaturation of the pattern which introduce a bias into the result of the diagnosis.
The reflectometry methods previously described do not solve this problem or solve it insufficiently.
SSTDR reflectometry seems to address this problem, but it does however have several drawbacks:                The modulation system around the frequency f0 introduces a complexity of implementation and additional costs.        It is complicated to change f0 "on the fly", which does not allow a dynamic reconfiguration of the diagnostic system.        In certain applications, it may even be difficult to find an available frequency f0; it should be noted that the bandwidth of the cable is a limiting factor and f0 cannot be chosen to be arbitrarily high.
Similarly, the algorithm described in the document FR 2 931 323 A1 for post-processing could be suitable. However, its robustness is compromised when peaks are located too close to one another in the pulse response h of the cable. Furthermore, it begins to converge in an erroneous manner when more than about one sixth (⅙) of the useful band of the test signal has been eliminated.
As far as the MCR method is concerned, although it appears to be insensitive to the cancelling of its coefficients, it suffers notably from the following prohibitive deficiencies:                Its use is limited to point-to-point cables.        It leads to an imprecision in localization which can reach 3% to 5% of the length of a cable.

Reflectometry method and device for diagnosing cables in use


A device for solidifying a layer of a liquid that solidifies upon cooling, such as agar, the liquid being contained in a row of petri-dishes or the like. The device utilizes a horizontally rotatable disc for receiving the dishes, a mechanism for supplying dishes to the disc, and a mechanism for removing the dishes, with solidified liquid, from the disc. A cooling mechanism is positioned below the disc to cool the disc and thereby cool the dishes. A mechanism is provided for slowly rotating the disc so that surfaces of materials in the dishes solidify in a non-rippled manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for solidifying a layer of a liquid that solidifies upon cooling, such as agar contained in a row of petri-dishes or the like. The invention particularly relates to a device which may be combined with existing apparatuses for the preparation of agar plates in petri-dishes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern apparatuses enable the manufacture of agar plates in petri-dishes in large numbers, so that a laboratory worker may quickly have large numbers thereof at his disposal for testing large series of microbiological activities and other purposes. Dishes are filled automatically with a predetermined amount of liquid agar. The dishes are supplied to a stacker until a predetermined height is reached. Those stacks may then be taken from the apparatus for further use. In this automatic process, when the dishes leave the supplier, the agar contained therein is still in a liquid state. Thus, the dishes are stacked while the agar is liquid, so that the agar solidifies in stacked condition. Since the dishes are steadily in motion during stacking, i.e., during solidifying, a rippled surface is caused. It is evident that this rippled surfface is not desired, since it influences in general, inadmissibly disadvantageously the accuracy of biological activity measurements to be made afterwards.
The above mentioned disadvantage could be avoided by placing, between the supplier and the stacker, a cooling zone, in order that the petri dishes reach the stacker when the agar is solidified. To achieve such purpose, a relatively long cooling zone would be necessary, resulting in much occupied room.


A pressure welding method and a pressure welding device (1) includes a plasticizing unit (7), a compression unit (8), a machine head (13) that includes a spindle (54) and a component holder (34). The pressure welding device (1) further includes a spindle drive (56) and an actuation mechanism (41) that includes an actuation drive (65) for the component holder (34). The actuation drive (65) is placed between the spindle drive (56) and the spindle (54) within a drive train (57).

Such a pressure welding device is known from DE 91 15 951 U1. It has a machine head with a rotating spindle and with a component mount for the component to be welded as well as a spindle drive and an actuating device with an actuating drive for the component mount. The spindle is configured as a hollow motor shaft of the spindle drive and carries a part of the motor winding. The actuating drive for the component mount is arranged at the rear end of the spindle or motor shaft, which end projects rearwardly from the motor housing.

Pressure welding device and pressure welding method


The present invention is a method and apparatus for non-contact cleaning of a web. The method and apparatus involves producing alternating electrostatic forces to separate particles from the surface of the web. The apparatus utilizes an electrode to produce a corona discharge in a gap formed between the electrode and the surface of the moving web being treated. An air supply arrangement is provided to supply air to and remove air from the gap to remove the particles which have been lifted from the surface of the web due to the corona discharge.

In known non-contact web cleaners, clean air at high velocity is passed over the surface of the web to remove debris. It is also known to utilise electrostatic charges to neutralise the charge which may be attracting the debris or dirt to the surface of the web.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,920,987 describes an arrangement which can be used to clean the surface of a non-conducting material. A high alternating voltage supply is applied to the material by means of an electrode positioned adjacent one surface of the web. This alternating voltage damps out the static charge present on the surface of the material due to a previous operation, for example, a grinding operation. Arranged on the opposite side of the material to the electrode is a series of projections which contact the material. Particles on the material after the grinding operation, say, are removed due to the electrostatic effect produced by the electrode and the physical contact of the projections with the material itself. Loosened particles are removed from the surface of the material by suction.
Another arrangement in which alternating voltages are used to assist in the removal of particles from the surface of a web is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,980,933. In this arrangement, the web is passed through two static electrostatic fields of opposite charge, an air stream being used to remove the particles loosened by the oppositely charged electrostatic fields.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,167 discloses an arrangement in which both surfaces of a web are cleaned by causing air to flow over both surfaces, and introducing ions into the air flow to neutralise static charge on the web. Other examples of the use of ionised air streams to remove dust are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,454,621 and 4,241,377.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,808 discloses an arrangement which utilises both suction and blowing to remove particles from the surface of a web. A field plate is also used to charge the web and an electrode is used to discharge the web thereby removing the particles. U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,528 also discloses the use of suction and blowing to remove particles from the surface of a web, but in this case, the charge on the web is neutralised after cleaning.
In arrangements which utilise air at high velocity to remove loosened particles from the surface of a web, there is a lower limit to the size of particle which can be removed. This limit is due to the thickness of the boundary layer produced over the surface of the web by the high velocity air stream. The thickness of the boundary layer can be reduced by increasing the air velocity, but a practical limit is approximately 30 mm on a smooth surface and more than this on a rough one.
French Patent Specification FR-A-2179707 discloses apparatus and method for cleaning glass sheets. Electrostatic charge is generated on the sheet by means of corona discharge as it passes between two electrode strips arranged transverse to the direction of motion of the glass sheets, each strip having a plurality of needle electrodes arranged along its length. These electrode strips are used to discharge particles adhering to the glass sheet and once discharged, the particles are removed using an airstream.
Web cleaners which use ions to discharge the electrostatic charges holding particles against the surface of the web are only effective at low web speeds. However, this may prevent particles being reattracted to the web after they have been loosened.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improved web cleaning apparatus which produces sufficient force using alternating electrostatic fields to separate particles from the surface of the web, in the boundary layer region, so that they can be removed from the surface of the web.


A seal device of the non-contact type having seal faces formed by those end faces of a rotating seal ring and a stationary ring which are perpendicular to axes of the two rings, and also having dynamic pressure generating grooves formed in one of the seal faces at a certain interval in the circumferential direction of the seal face each groove having a first spiral groove portion and a second terminal portion being formed continuous from the front end of each of the first spiral groove portions, extending along the circumferential direction of the seal face but across its corresponding first spiral groove portion, and provided with a closed front end. The seal device can be used at high speed and under high pressure and it can correct the tilting of its seal faces, which is caused by pressure and heat added, to prevent them from being contacted with each other. Even when the difference of pressures added to them changes, the seal device can keep them parallel to each other to reduce the amount of liquid leaked to a greater extent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seal device of the non-contact type used for rotary air machines such as a turbine, blower and compressor to limit the amount of liquid leaked through those faces which are perpendicular to a rotating axis. More particularly, it relates to a seal device of the non-contact type which is held by a casing, wherein seal faces of the non-contact type are formed by an end face of a seal ring perpendicular to the axis of a rotating shaft and rotatable together with the rotating shaft and an end face of a stationary ring also perpendicular to the axis of the rotating shaft.
2. Prior Art
FIG. 8 shows a typical one of the conventional seal devices of the above noted non-contact type. In the case of this conventional seal device, dynamic pressure generating grooves 82 are formed in a seal face 81a of a rotating seal ring 81, extending at a certain interval along the circumferential direction of the seal face 81a. When the rotating seal ring 81 is rotated, sealed liquid is forceably taken in between the seal faces by the pumping action of the grooves 82 in the seal face 81a, so that a gap is formed between the seal faces, which are opposed to each other, to keep them out of contact.
In the case of this conventional seal device, however, it is difficult to keep the seal faces stably parallel to each other so as to produce excellent sealing capacity when the seal device is operated at high speed and under high pressure in the gas turbine, compressor or others. In other words, when the seal faces are distorted by pressure and heat they partly contact each other, because the gap between them is small. The distribution of pressures exerted on the seal faces is thus made unbalanced and they are therefore increasingly heated and develop distortions. They are thus damaged and are not able to produce any sealing capacity.
In order to solve this problem, Japanese Patent Publication Hei 1-22509 discloses another seal device wherein a rotating seal ring and a stationary ring are designed to have self aligning seal faces. In this seal device, three parameters such as the depth of each of the grooves in the seal face, the ratio at which the width of the seal face relative to the width of the groove in the radial direction of the seal face and the balance ratio are set in such a manner that, when the seal faces are to be distorted, a moment is automatically provided to prevent the seal faces from being distorted and keep them parallel to each other.
In the seal device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Hei 1-22509 having self aligning seal faces has its limits, however, because the values of the three parameters have limits. When the machine is not operated, therefore, the seal faces contact each other, but when the machine is operating, dynamic pressure is created to promote the leakage of sealed liquid. This increases the amount of liquid leaked.


A variable capacity compressor comprises a control element for determining the timing of start of compression of refrigerant gas. Control pressure which acts on the control element to displace same between the minimum capacity position and the maximum capacity position is created in a high-pressure chamber by introducing discharge pressure thereinto. An electromagnetic valve opens and closes a passageway which commincates between the high-pressure chamber and a suction chamber by a pulse signal supplied from an ECU to control an amount of refrigerant gas leaking from the former into the latter to thereby control the level of the control pressure. The ECU makes the width of at least a first pulse or at least a first pulse base of the pulse signal wider than that of the following pulses or pulse bases, when the control element should start to be displaced between the minimum capacity position and the maximum capacity position. The control pressure is introduced to act on both ends of a valve body of the electromagnetic valve, whereby it is made possible to open the valve by a small driving force of an electromagnetic actuator thereof.

This invention relates to variable capacity compressors for compressing refrigerant gas circulating in an air conditioner adapted especially for use in automotive vehicles, and more particularly to improvements in or to a capacity control system of a compressor of this kind, employing an electromagnetic valve which is opened and closed to control the delivery quantity or capacity of the compressor.
Conventionally, a capacity control system of a variable capacity vane compressor of this kind has been proposed, e.g. by Japanese Provisional Utility Model Publication (Kokai) No. 2-64779 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,990 to Nakajima), which comprises a control element disposed to rotate between the minimum capacity position and the maximum capacity position for controlling the timing of start of compression, a low-pressure chamber which is defined on one side of a pressure-receiving protuberance of the control element and into which is introduced suction pressure Ps as low pressure, a high-pressure chamber defind on the other side of the pressure-receiving protuberance and into which is introduced discharge pressure Pd as high pressure via a restriction passage to create control pressure Pc therein, the control element being rotated in response to the difference between the sum of the suction pressure Ps introduced into the low-pressure chamber and the urging force of urging means, and the control pressure Pc, and an electromagnetic valve for opening and closing a passageway which communicates between the high-pressure chamber and a suction chamber, wherein the opening and closing of the passageway by the electromagnetic valve is controlled by a pulse signal to control the flow rate of refrigerant gas leaking from the high-pressure chamber into the suction chamber through the passageway to vary the control pressure within the high-pressure chamber such that the control element is rotated in accordance with variation in the control pressure, to thereby control the capacity of the compressor in a continuous manner.
According to this conventional capacity control system, the passageway is opened when a pulse signal supplied to the solenoid of the electromagnetic valve is on, while it is closed when the pulse signal is off. The duty ratio of the pulse signal is controlled in accordance with thermal load on the compressor, whereby the leak amount per unit time of the refrigerant gas is controlled to thereby control the angular position of the control element.
In this prior art, when the angular position of the control element is changed, the duty ratio is maintained at a constant value during a time period between the start of rotation of the control element from a stationary state and stoppage of rotation of same in a desired position. However, this system has the drawback that it is incapable of quickly starting rotation of the control element from a stationary state. More specifically, no countermeasure has been taken against the frictional force (static frictional force) between a seal member mounted on the periphery of the control member and opposed walls of the compressor, and the hysteresis characteristic of the seal member, so that the capacity control system suffers from poor responsiveness and cannot effect smooth and delicate control of the delivery quantity or capacity of the compressor.
In the meanwhile, an electromagnetic valve for use in a capacity control system of this kind has been proposed e.g. by Japanese Utility Model Application No. 2-49277 (corresponding to Japanese Published Utility Model Application (Kokai) No. 4-8790), which comprises a spool valve having a spool valve body which is displaceable between an open position, in which a high-pressure chamber is communicated with a suction chamber, and a closed position, in which the communication between the chambers is cut off, a spring urging the spool valve body toward the closed position, and an electromagnetic actuator which generates an electromagnetic force in response to an external control signal for magnetically attracting the spool valve body toward the open position against the force of the spring.
However, according to this proposed electromagnetic valve, the spool valve body allows control pressure to leak into the suction chamber. This structure requires high airtightness between the spool valve body and its associated parts for prevention of undesired leakage of control pressure through clearances between the spool valve body and its associated parts, which necessitates the use of a spool valve in which the spool valve body has a long stroke. This results in an increased size of the electromagnetic actuator, and hence in an increased size of the compressor. Further, this capacity control system has the drawbacks of increased electric power consumption and poor responsiveness.

Variable capacity compressor having a capacity control system using an electromagnetic valve


A DNA fragment derived from plasmid pBY503 obtained from Brevibacterium stationis IF012144, said DNA fragment containing a gene which encodes for the function of maintaining a plasmid, capable of replicating and proliferating at least in a Coryneform bacteria of the genus Brevibacterium, stably in said bacteria; and a vector DNA capable of replicating and proliferating in a Coryneform bacteria into which the above DNA fragment is introduced.

This invention relates to a DNA fragment containing a gene which encodes the function of stabilizing a plasmid in a host microorganism. More specifically, it relates to a DNA fragment which contains a gene encoding a stabilizing function, and is derived from plasmid pBY503 obtained from Brevibacterium stationis IF012144, and to its use.
Coryneform bacteria including bacteria of the genus Brevibacterium are industrially useful microorganisms which produce amino acids, organic acids and purine nucleotide. The molecular breeding of Coryneform bacterial strains by the introduction of the recombinant DNA technology is still behind that of Escherichia coli strains. Particularly, it is strongly desired to develop industrially useful vectors of excellent stability using Coryneform bacteria as hosts.
Generally, with regard to the stability of constructed plasmids in hosts, various cases of genetic instability, such as segregating of a plasmid from a host during cultivation or deletion of an inserted gene, have been reported, and countermeasures against it have been considered.
For example, there was proposed a method of stabilizing the properties of a microorganism containing a plasmid, in which a plasmid having inserted thereinto a chromosomal gene DNA fragment coding for the property of not depending upon streptomycin derived from Escherichia coli is included in a streptomycin-dependent mutant of the genus Escherichia (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 156591/1980). This method, however, is economically disadvantageous. Furthermore, since it is necessary to insert complex functions into the plasmid, it is foreseen that the plasmid will have difficulty in being distributed stably to daughter cells at the time of fission and proliferation of the host. Accordingly, it would encounter various problems before it could be successfully applied industrially.
Most of commercially useful natural plasmids obtained from Coryneform bacteria including bacteria of the genus Brevibacterium do not have a drug-resistant gene which can be a plasmid marker and are devoid of cloning sites to which useful genes can be bound. Accordingly, although these natural plasmids have a possibility of genetically improving bacteria of this genus, they are unsuitable for molecular breeding of Coryneform bacteria.
The present inventors previously developed industrially useful plasmid vectors such as pCRY2 and pCRY3 by introducing a drug-resistant marker, cloning sites, and a gene region necessary for replication in Escherichia coli into natural plasmid pBY502 or pBY503 (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 191686/1989). However, these plasmid vectors show considerable instability in bacterial cells and are not fully efficient in producing gene products in large quantities within the cells.
It is desired therefore to develop a method of stabilizing a plasmid, in which the plasmid is accurately distributed through generations from parent cells to daughter cells within cells of a transformed microorganism.

DNA fragment containing gene which encodes the function of stabilizing plasmid in host microorganism


An LED illuminating device includes a mounting module and a lamp unit mounted in the mounting module. The lamp unit includes a light-emitting module and a heat sink. The light-emitting module includes a light source having a plurality of LEDs, and a light penetrable cover located below the light source and defining a plurality of air venting holes therein. The heat sink includes an elongated base defining a plurality of air exchanging holes therein and a plurality of fins. The base has an outer convex surface and an opposite inner concave surface defining an elongated recess. The light source is received in the recess and thermally attached to the concave surface. Air flows into and out of a chamber defined between the base and the cover via the venting holes of the cover and the air exchanging holes of the base.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to light emitting diode (LED) illuminating device, and particularly to an LED illuminating device and a lamp unit thereof with high heat dissipating efficiency and wide illumination area.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, LEDs are preferred for use in illuminating devices rather than CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescent lamps) due to their excellent properties, including high brightness, long lifespan, wide color range, and etc.
For an LED, about eighty percents of the power consumed thereby is converted into heat. Generally, the illuminating device includes a plurality of LEDs and the LEDs are arranged on a flat surface whereby an illumination area of the LEDs is limited. Thus, the illuminating device cannot obtain a desired illumination area. In addition, heat dissipation of the LED illuminating device is a problem inhibiting the application of the LED illuminating device, which requires to be resolved.
For the foregoing reasons, therefore, there is a need in the art for an LED illuminating device which overcomes the limitations described.

LED illuminating device and lamp unit thereof

Fu Zhun Precision Industry (Shen Zhen) Co., Ltd.


A yarn brake which may be utilized on a textile yarn processing machine, such as a two-for-one twister, for applying tension to a moving yarn and wherein a movable braking body is held in applied position against a braking surface and is separated therefrom during threading of the yarn through the yarn brake. An intercepting means is provided for receiving and holding the braking body, upon separation thereof from the braking surface during threading, in a position in which the braking body and braking surface remain substantially aligned for easily returning to braking engagement after the yarn threading.

Heretofore, yarn brakes of this type have been proposed, as for example in German Patent Specifications OS No. 2 309 578, AS Nos. 25 43 018 and 1 510 807, which utilize a brake housing defining a yarn passageway therethrough and having a braking body movably positioned within the passageway for contact with upper and lower braking rings surrounding the passageway to apply tension to a yarn moving through the brake mechanism. One of the braking rings may be axially movable in this type of brake mechanism under the influence of a mechanical or pneumatic force or other mechanisms may be provided for separation of the braking body from the braking rings to open the passageway through the brake mechanism for manual or pneumatic threading of the yarn through the brake mechanism.
All of the yarn brakes of the above-discussed general type known to applicant, and including the yarn brakes of the aforementioned German Patent Specifications, are susceptible to problems with respect to re-establishing good or proper braking engagement between the braking body and the braking rings. In all of these types of yarn brakes, the braking body is laterally moved to some extent out of alignment with the braking surfaces of the braking rings during the threading operation of the yarn brake and may become tilted or inclined during return of the braking body into its axially-aligned position with the braking surfaces of the braking rings. This is particularly acute in the case of the use of a magnetic means for holding the braking body out of braking position with the braking rings during threading up of the yarn brake, such as is disclosed in German Patent Specification OS No. 2 309 578, due to the possibility of the braking body being unevenly detatched from the magnetic means retaining it when it is desired to return the braking body to an axially-aligned position in braking engagement with the braking rings. Additionally, the provision of such a magnetic means involves additional constructional expenses.


A device for impacting a fastener in one embodiment includes a drive channel, a cylinder opening at an end portion to the drive channel, a microcellular polyurethane elastomer (MPE) bumper fixedly positioned at the end portion of the cylinder, the MPE bumper including a drive bore extending therethrough and aligned with the drive channel, and an outer wall defining a plurality of grooves extending radially about the MPE bumper, and a drive mechanism including a drive blade aligned with the drive bore.

Fasteners such as nails and staples are commonly used in projects ranging from crafts to building construction. While manually driving such fasteners into a work piece is effective, a user may quickly become fatigued when involved in projects requiring a large number of fasteners and/or large fasteners. Moreover, proper driving of larger fasteners into a work piece frequently requires more than a single impact from a manual tool.
In response to the shortcomings of manual driving tools, power-assisted devices for driving fasteners into wood and other materials have been developed. Contractors and homeowners commonly use such devices for driving fasteners ranging from brad nails used in small projects to common nails which are used in framing and other construction projects. Compressed air has been traditionally used to provide power for the power-assisted devices. Specifically, a source of compressed air is used to actuate a piston assembly which impacts a nail into the work-piece.
The energy stored within the piston assembly is typically more than the amount of energy required to drive a nail or other fastener into a work piece. Accordingly, as the piston assembly reaches the end of a full stroke, a substantial amount of energy remains in the moving components of the piston assembly. A bumper is commonly located at the end of the piston assembly to arrest the moving components and to absorb the energy stored therein. Nitrile rubber is commonly used to fabricate such bumpers.
Nitrile rubber bumpers are very effective at absorbing the kinetic energy from the piston assembly. The heavy shock loads to which the bumper is subjected, however, ultimately results in wear and eventual disintegration of the bumper. Accordingly, the bumper component is prone to frequent failure and is one of the most frequently serviced components of a pneumatic nailer. A typical service life of a nitrile rubber bumper is on the order of 150,000 to 250,000 firings.
What is needed is a device incorporating an element which can be used to absorb kinetic energy from a drive mechanism. What is further needed is a device incorporating an element which is simple, reliable, lightweight, and compact. A further need exists for a device that incorporates a energy absorbing element that has a long useful lifetime.


Bidirectional addressable repeaters of a power line carrier communication system each include an address recognition and a receive and transmit control logic circuit having programmable zone and address identifying states for connection in plural repeating levels defining branch paths linking a central control terminal with multiple remote terminals via a distribution line network. Each repeater retransmits an interrogation message, provides its own repeater address modification, and remains in a response-wait status. The alerted repeaters define the predetermined route of branch paths for being sequentially activated by a response message. Simplified repeater response address formats are used and each repeater modified its address data upon response message retransmission. The desired sequentially occurring repeating transmissions are assured upon retransmission of both the interrogation and response messages.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to power line carrier communication systems generally and, more specifically, to distribution network power line communication systems having bidirectionally addressable repeaters for providing bidirectional signal transmissions between a central control terminal and remote terminals in different geographical zones.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Considerable effort has been devoted in recent years to develop distribution network carrier communication systems due to the increased desirability of performing certain distribution automation functions, such as automatic reading of utility meters, selective load control, performing load continuity checks, and the like. However, using the distribution network as a communication link presents several problems not encountered in transmission through paths exclusively intended for communication signals nor in existing high voltage transmission line communication systems. The distribution line, along with the large number of distribution transformers attached thereto, present poor and erratically varying high frequency impedance characteristics which rapidly attenuate the communication signals, as well as introducing electrical noise and signal interference.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,967,264; 3,942,168 and 3,911,415, all assigned to the assignee of the present application, disclose some form of communication system via the distribution network of an electrical utility. U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,415 discloses a power line communication system having signal reconditioning and frequency translating signal repeaters coupled to the conductors of a distribution network. Remote home terminals of different geographical zones are addressable at different frequencies to simplify address coding and isolation of potentially interfering carrier signals. U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,264 describes a power line communication system which transmits carrier communication signals through addressable repeaters defining communication zones including remote terminals in corresponding geographical zones or subregions. The unique addressed repeaters modify their own address as repeated transmissions are propagated between a central control terminal and uniquely addressed remote terminals. Time delay in the repeater retransmissions avoids interfering signal reception and assurance of maintaining a single repeater in operation each repeating cycle thereof. Timed waiting is provided at last repeater for response from the remote terminal. The remote terminal logic is activated without requiring the repeater code. The repeater receivers are always on except during retransmission.
In the carrier communication system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,168, signal repeaters are disposed in signal communication with distribution network power line conductors at each distribution transformer site. In this system, the repeater, in addition to amplifying a signal, provides a bypass circuit for the interrogation and response signals around the associated distribution transformer which present a significant attenuation at the frequencies of the communication signals, especially in the direction from the primary to secondary winding. The repeaters also include means for delaying a received signal, with the delay time interval selected such that the amplified signal is not applied to the power line at the same time the repeater is to receive another signal. Each repeater includes two channels, each comprised of a receiver, logic and transmitter sections, for handling the bidirectinal flow of interrogation and response signals between the central communication terminal and the remote communication terminals at the customer premises.
It is desired to implement bidirectionally addressable repeaters for use in the most economical and efficient manner to assure minimum errors in message transmissions due to signal attenuation and mutual repeater interferences by utilizing the minimum of address information in a message having a predetermined message length and to require only the simplest of logic circuit arrangements for address recognition and response at each of the repeaters and at the remote terminals. Accordingly, it is required that the maximum number of repeaters be utilized at optimally spaced distances for retransmission over extended lengths of distribution network power line conductors serving locations having remote communication terminals in geographical zones each progressively further from a central control communication terminal typically located at the distribution network substation. Reduction of address information in a given message format concurrently affords more interrogating and responding data information which is generally desirable.

Distribution network communication system having branch connected repeaters


A pallet conveyor has spaced pinion drives which engage racks mounted on the pallets to move the pallets along the conveyor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a conveyor system. More particularly, this invention relates to a conveyor in which pallets are conveyed along a fixed track or ways.
2. State of the Art
There is a wide variety of pallet conveyors available. Some of these conveyors use self-propelled pallets having a drive motor mounted on the pallet. Examples of this type of conveyor are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,307,922 and 4,987,834. In other pallet conveying systems, the drive or drives are located along the conveyor path such as the conveyor of U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,260.


Administration of a folate binding protein binding agent in conjunction with use of an antitumor agent which is an inhibitor of glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase or other antifolate reduces the toxic effects of such agent and provides an enhanced therapeutic index.

Lometrexol is the generic name given to 5,10-dideazatetrahydrofolic acid, also referred to as DDATHF. Lometrexol is a member of a new class of antitumor agents which have been found to specifically inhibit glycinamide ribonucleotide (GAR) transformylase, an enzyme required in the initial stages of purine biosynthesis, see J. Med. Chem., 28, 914 (1985). Several of these GAR-transformylase inhibitors are described, along with their antitumor utilities, by Taylor et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,684,653, 4,833,145, 4,902,796, 4,871,743 and 4,882,334. GAR-transformylase inhibitors are also known to be useful in treating conditions such as gout, psoriasis, mycosis fungoides, autoimmune disorders, rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory disorders, and during organ transplantation and other related immunosuppressant related conditions.
Lometrexol has been studied clinically and shown to be a potent antitumor agent, especially against solid tumors such as colorectal, lung, breast, head and neck and pancreatic; Young et al., Proc. Amer. Assoc. Cancer Research, 31, 1053 (1990). Like most other antitumor agents, Lometrexol exhibits some undesirable side effects, in addition to its efficacy against tumors; Muggia et al., Proc. Amer. Soc. Clinical Oncology, 9, 1285 (1990). Typical side effects observed to date include anorexia, weight loss, mucositis, leukopenia, anemia, hypoactivity and dehydration.
We have now discovered that the toxic effects of lometrexol and related GAR-transformylase inhibitors and other antifolate agents which bind to folate binding protein (FBP) (see, e.g., Kane, et al., Laboratory Investigation, 60, 737 (1989)) can be significantly reduced by the presence of a FBP binding agent, without adversely affecting therapeutic efficacy. The present invention thus provides a method for improving the therapeutic utility of GAR-transformylase inhibitors and other antifolates by co-administering a FBP binding agent to the host under going treatment.

Method for treating gar-transformylase tumors in mammals and reducing mammalian toxicity


A belt rotating device includes: a meandering correction roller that is rotatably supported within a support frame and is one of a plurality of rollers that stretch an endless belt; a supporting portion that is provided at the support frame and supports a rotating shaft of the meandering correction roller so as to be able to incline the rotating shaft of the meandering correction roller in a one direction; a collar member that is provided on the rotating shaft of the meandering correction roller, contacts the side end of the endless belt in which meandering has occurred, and moves in an axial direction; and an inclination guide portion that is supported by the support frame and has an inclined surface downward and inclined with respect to the shaft of the meandering correction roller, in a position in which the contact portion of the collar member contacts the inclination guide portion.

The present invention relates to a device of rotating an endless belt, a transfer device that corrects the meandering of a transfer belt, for example, and an image forming apparatus provided with such a transfer device.
Conventionally, an image forming apparatus that transfers a toner image on a recording paper sheet through a transfer belt has been proposed (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-10429, for example). The transfer belt is stretched over a plurality of rollers arranged side by side, performs a rotating movement with rotation of the rollers, and transfers a toner image by this rotating movement. However, if a shift occurs in parallelism among the rollers due to a change with the passage of time of the rollers, each member that rotatably supports the rollers, or the like, the transfer belt may shift accordingly, that is, may meander in the axial (thrust) direction of the rollers, which may thus cause breakage of the transfer belt or deterioration of image quality. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-10429 discloses a meandering correction technique for returning the meandering transfer belt to the original position. In other words, a meandering correction technique includes: a belt butt portion that is provided in the end portion in the axial direction of a roller and moves in the axial direction in response to the press of the side end of a meandering transfer belt, a shaft displacement portion that has an inclined surface and moves in the axial direction according to the movement of the belt butt portion, a shaft guide portion that is fixedly arranged radially outwardly as opposed to the inclined surface, and a configuration in which the shaft of the roller is inclined in the opposite direction by the reaction force received from the contact of the inclined surface of the shaft displacement portion and the shaft guide portion. According to this configuration, when the transfer belt meanders, the inclined surface changes a position of contact with the shaft guide portion, that is, the shaft of the roller is inclined, and, as a result, the meandering is corrected in response to the force with which the transfer belt returns in a direction opposite to the meandering direction.
However, the meandering correction technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-10429 has the following problems. A description is given below using FIG. 6B that simply illustrates a configuration disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-10429. On the assumption that the meandering to the left has occurred in a transfer belt 202 that rotates by rotation of a roller 201, a shaft displacement portion 203 moves to the left, a inclined surface 204 contacts a shaft guide portion 205, and the roller 201 inclines the shaft downward in the radial direction in response to the reaction force. Therefore, a position in which the shaft guide portion 205 and the inclined surface 204 contact is displaced in the radial direction of the shaft of the roller 201. For example, in the state in which a meandering quantity is small, as illustrated in FIG. 6B, a reaction force F1 occurs in a position P1 near the shaft of the roller 201, and the roller 201 receives a load in the direction of the reaction force F1. On the other hand, in the state in which the meandering quantity is large, although not illustrated in FIG. 6B, the shaft of the roller 201 is, in practice, made to be inclined more downward, accordingly, a reaction force F2 occurs in a position P2 farther away from the shaft of the roller 201, and the roller 201 receives a load in the direction of the reaction force F2. In this manner, since the roller 201 is different in the direction that receives a load according to the magnitude of the meandering quantity, smooth rotation may be damaged under a meandering state.
In view of the problems described above, various preferred embodiments of the present invention are directed to provide a belt rotating device, a transfer device, and an image forming apparatus that stabilize the rotating operation of a meandering correction roller by keeping the direction of a load constant, the load being applied to the meandering correction roller when the rotating shaft is inclined regardless of the magnitude of the meandering quantity of an endless belt.

Belt rotating device, transfer device, and image forming apparatus


A process for producing a low-oxygen metal powder, comprising passing a raw metal powder coated by hot melting of a hydrocarbon organic compound through thermal plasma flame composed mainly of an inert gas so as to reduce the content of oxygen in the raw metal powder. Preferably, the obtained metal powder is subjected to heat treatment in vacuum or hydrogen atmosphere. Preferred example of the hydrocarbon organic compound is stearic acid.

Recently, a thin film produced by a sputtering process is widely used in electronic devices such as a semiconductor device, a liquid crystal display, and a magnetic recording device. In the sputtering process, a base material referred to as a target material and a substrate are positioned to face each other in a vacuum vessel, and glow discharge is generated on a surface of the target material while introducing an inert gas, such as Ar, into the vacuum vessel, whereby forming a thin film of an element on the substrate, which element forms the target material.
A target material used as a base material in a sputtering process is required to have a uniform structure and a reduced content of impurities. Oxygen, amongst impurities, is caught in the thin film whereby deteriorating properties thereof. If oxygen is present as an oxide included in a structure of the target material, it is considered that abnormal electric discharge occurs during sputtering, so that an oxygen decrease is strongly desired.
A process of producing a target material is generally classified to be a melting method and a powder sintering method. However, in the case of a target material made of a metal element having a high melting point, it is hard to melt the target material, and also to subject the target material to plastic working in order to homogenize the material structure, so that such a target material has been often produced by the powder sintering method. However, the powder sintering method involves a defect that since powder particles of a powder used in the method have a large specific surface area, a relative amount of oxidized layers formed on the surfaces of the powder particle is high, the target material produced by the powder sintering method is liable to contain a higher amount of oxygen than that produced by the melting method. Especially, in the case where the powder particles have a porous structure, a sponge like structure or a dendritic structure each having a large specific surface area, the above defect is liable to be outstanding.
Accordingly, in general there has been adopted an oxygen decreasing method according to which a powder is subjected to heat treatment in an atmosphere, in which a reducing gas, such as hydrogen, is introduced, whereby reducing the oxidized layers on the powder particles.
Alternatively, the present applicant proposed a new method of decreasing oxygen content in a refractory metal powder, according to which method the refractory metal powder is introduced into thermal plasma flame, in which a hydrogen gas is introduced, whereby refining (i.e. deoxidizing) the refractory metal powder (see JP-A-2001-20065, for example).

Process for producing low-oxygen metal powder


A cast house emissions recycle system for a blast furnace including a housing surrounding and enclosing the lower portion of the blast furnace and the tap holes and runners therefor and the hot metal ladle associated therewith, structure collecting the emissions from the housing, and a blower having an inlet duct communicating with the collecting structure and an outlet duct communicating with the cold air blast inlet to a hot blast stove for heating the air stream flowing therethrough and returning the heated air stream to the interior of the blast furnace; in an alternative construction, the output from the blower is connected to the combustion chamber of an associated hot blast stove as part of the fuel combustion air input thereto.

The present invention relates generally to improvements in cast houses for blast furnaces, and specifically to an emissions recycle system for blast furnace cast houses.
A blast furnace in the steel industry is used to melt down iron ore, fluxes for forming slag, and other additions such as manganese ore or phosphoric rock, commonly called the "burden", to extract iron from the iron ore, the iron being in the form of pig iron. There is charged into the furnace in addition to the burden, fuel which is generally coke, and the air blast which is injected into the furnace to burn the fuel and to maintain a sufficiently high temperature to render both the iron metal and the resultant slag freely molten. The air blast at the requisite pressure is provided by a blower, which may be a steam-driven reciprocating engine, a steam-driven turboblower or a gas-driven reciprocating engine. Hot blast stoves are used for heating the air blast and each stove is composed of a mass of brickwork, arranged as checquer work, contained in a steel casing. The temperature of the brickwork is raised to the required level by the combustion of gaseous fuels therein. The gases are then shut off and the air blast from the blower is allowed to pass through the hot blast stoves on its way to the blast furnace. Two or more stoves are required in order that the process may be continuous.
The gases leaving the blast furnace at the top thereof, which gases are particulate laden, are passed through primary dust catchers and ultimately through gas washer towers where they are washed with water before use as one of the fuels fed to the hot blast stoves for heating the brickwork therein. The air which is heated in the hot blast stoves is introduced into the lower portion of the blast furnace for heating the burden which is introduced at the top of the blast furnace and works its way down into the lower portion of the blast furnace as it melts and as hot molten iron and hot molten slag are removed from the furnace. A tap hole is provided in the lower portion of the blast furnace that is opened periodically to allow molten metal to pour from the blast furnace. A cast house is provided adjacent to the blast furnace and contains runners into which the molten metal is poured. The runners in turn direct the molten metal to hot metal ladles or other containers which can then be removed from the cast house for use in steel making or in casting of the pig iron into small pieces called pigs. When the molten metal pours from the blast furnace, fumes are emitted in the cast house, and the total emissions during the process are substantial, and some emissions escape to the atmosphere through the roof monitor of the cast house.
Prior practice has dealt extensively with the collection and cleaning of the fumes from the top of the blast furnace, the following patents being exemplary of such prior art emissions collecting and cleaning systems: U.S. Pat. No. 2,345,067 granted Mar. 28, 1944 to B. Osann; U.S. Pat. No. 2,790,711 granted Apr. 30, 1957 to F. B. Sellers et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,041,059 granted June 26, 1962 to R. A. Powell; U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,934 granted Aug. 12, 1969 to J. J. Kelmar; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,928,023 granted Dec. 23, 1975 to H. B. Claflin. The problems of dealing with the fume emissions from the cast house monitor has not been successfully dealt with heretofore. Further, these prior systems are expensive because they require high volume blowers which consume large amounts of energy. They also require large spaces because of the use of large filter systems which also are expensive to install and operate.


A process for hydrodehalogenating halogenated organic compounds present in a contaminated aqueous environmental source in which the halogenated organic compounds are reacted with hydrogen gas or a source of hydrogen gas in the presence of a catalyst of palladium on carbon.

The removal of halogenated organic compounds from aqueous environmental sources including halogenated aromatic compounds such as chlorobenzenes and chlorophenols and halogenated aliphatic compounds such as methylene chloride, trichloroethanes and trichloroethylene has posed serious problems. Typically, the halogenated compounds have been disposed of by separating, such as by steam stripping, using a microporous hollow-fiber membrane, or carbon adsorption, the contaminants from their aqueous environment and then subjecting the resulting concentrated levels of contaminants to incineration. However, the combustion of halogenated organic compounds often results in the production of highly toxic by-products such as dioxins. Thus, incineration can itself become an environmentally unsafe practice and its use for the disposal of halogenated organic compounds problematical.
Industry has therefore looked to alternative techniques for the destruction of halogenated hydrocarbons found in the environment. Among the techniques which have been studied are biological treatment and chemical dehalogenation.
Chemical dehalogenation methods have been developed as an alternative to incineration and land disposal because they convert the halogenated organic compounds to less toxic non-halogenated compounds. One such process employs a sodiumnaphthalene reagent to form sodium chloride and an inert sludge. While the sludge can be safely incinerated, the process is complicated by requiring an air-free reaction vessel which limits its application for on-site treatment of contaminated environmental sources. In another approach, a dechlorination reagent is formed by reacting an alkali metal with polyethylene glycol in the presence of heat and oxygen.
The above-mentioned processes, which involve the oxidative dechlorination of halogenated organic compounds, are generally highly sensitive to water. Such processes require a separation step to remove the halogenated compounds from the aqueous environment before they can be treated. In addition, elevated temperatures are often required to carry out the reaction [See S. Tabaei et al., "Dehalogenation of Organic Compounds" Tetra. Let. 32(24) pp. 2727-30 (Sept. 1991); M. Uhlir et al., "Recovery of Biphenyl by Catalytic Hydrogenolysis of Chlorinated Biphenyls" Chem. Abstr. 114 (23): 228496Z; and processes referred to in N. Surprenant et al., "Halogenated-Organic Containing Wastes" pp. 224-231 Noyes Data Corp. (1988)]. Accordingly, these processes have not been widely accepted for the decontamination of environmental sites.
There has been developed a reductive process for the dehalogenation of halogenated organic compounds. J. F. A. Kitchen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,152 discloses a process for the treatment of halogenated organic compounds with UV radiation and hydrogen in the absence of an oxidizing agent. While this process may be conducted in an aqueous environment, the requirement of a UV radiation reactor has made light activated reduction of chemicals (LARC) processes of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,152 of limited commercial value.
There is therefore a need for processes in which halogenated organic compounds can be removed directly from aqueous contaminated environmental sources in a safe and cost effective manner. Such processes should be able to be conducted under mild reaction conditions and be effective in treating contaminated sources having very low concentrations of contaminants as is likely to be found in waste streams.

Method of hydrodehalogenating halogenated organic compounds in aqueous environmental sources