The retention of oral drug dosage forms in the stomach is improved by using swellable dosage forms that are shaped in a manner that will prevent them from inadvertently passing through the pylorus as a result of being in a particular orientation. The planar projection of the shape is one that has two orthogonal axes of different lengths, the longer being short enough to permit easy swallowing prior to swelling while the shorter is long enough within one-half hour of swelling to prevent passage through the pylorus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the general field of pharmaceuticals, and relates in particular to formulations for drugs that benefit from a prolonged time of controlled release in the stomach and upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and from an enhanced opportunity for absorption in the stomach and upper GI tract rather than the lower portions of the GI tract. One goal of this invention is to release drugs in a controlled manner over an extended period of time. Another goal is to extend the time of delivery into the stomach of drugs that are preferentially absorbed high in the GI tract, and thereby to achieve a greater and more prolonged therapeutic effect with potentially diminished side effects. This will reduce the frequency of administration required and achieve a more efficient use of the drugs and a more effective treatment of local stomach disorders. A third goal is to minimize both lower-GI tract inactivation of the drug and drug effects on the lower intestinal flora.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many drugs have their greatest therapeutic effect when released in the stomach, particularly when the release is prolonged in a continuous, controlled manner. Drugs delivered in this manner have a lower level of side effects and provide their therapeutic effects without the need for repeated dosages, or with a low dosage frequency. Localization of the drug delivery in the stomach is an advantage for the treatment of local disorders of the stomach such as esophageal reflux disease, for the eradication of ulcer-causing bacteria in the gastric mucosa, and for the treatment of disorders that require sustained antacid action. Sustained release in the stomach is also useful for therapeutic agents that the stomach does not readily absorb, since sustained release prolongs the contact time of the agent in the stomach or in the upper part of the small intestine, which is where absorption occurs and contact time is limited. Under normal or average conditions, for example, material passes through the small intestine in as little as 1 to 3 hours. For drugs that are absorbed almost exclusively in the small intestine, such as captopril and the cephalosporins, this short contact time limits the bioavailability of these drugs, particularly when the drugs are administered in a controlled-release dosage form.
The passage of matter through the stomach can be delayed in the normal digestive process by the physiological condition that is variously referred to as the digestive mode, the postprandial mode, or the xe2x80x9cfed modexe2x80x9d (the latter term is used in the remainder of this specification for convenience). When the stomach is not in this mode, it is in the interdigestive or xe2x80x9cfastingxe2x80x9d mode. The difference between the two modes lies in the pattern of gastroduodenal motor activity.
In the fasting mode, the stomach exhibits a cyclic activity called the interdigestive migrating motor complex (IMMC). This activity occurs in four phases:
In Phase I, which lasts 45 to 60 minutes and is the most quiescent, few or no contractions occur.
In Phase II, irregular intermittent sweeping contractions occur that gradually increase in magnitude.
In Phase III, intense bursts of peristaltic waves appear in both the stomach and the small bowel. This lasts for 5 to 15 minutes.
Phase IV is a transition period of decreasing activity which lasts until the next cycle begins.
The total cycle time is approximately 90 minutes, and the contents of the stomach are swept out by the powerful peristaltic waves that occur during Phase III. Phase III of the IMMC thus functions as an intestinal housekeeper, sweeping swallowed saliva, gastric secretions, food particles, and particulate debris to the small intestine and colon, and preparing the upper tract for the next meal while preventing bacterial overgrowth. Pancreatic exocrine secretion of pancreatic peptide and motilin also cycle in synchrony with the motor pattern.
The fed mode is induced by nutritive elements immediately after food ingestion, and begins with a rapid and profound change in the motor pattern of the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract, the change occurring over a period of 30 seconds to one minute. The change occurs almost simultaneously at all sites of the GI tract, before the stomach contents have reached the distal small intestine. Once the fed mode is established, the stomach generates 3-4 continuous and regular contractions per minute, similar to those of the fasting mode but with about half the amplitude. The pylorus is partially open, causing a sieving effect in which liquids and small particles flow continuously from the stomach into the intestine while indigestible particles greater in size than the pyloric opening are retropelled and retained in the stomach. This sieving effect thus causes the stomach to retain particles exceeding about 1 cm in size for approximately 4 to 6 hours.
The minimum particle size that will be retained in the stomach is thus substantially smaller in the fed mode than in the fasting mode. Particles large enough to be retained in the fasting mode are too large for practical administration in most patients. Particles of a smaller particle size can be retained in the stomach if they are administered to a patient who is in the fed mode, and this serves as an effective and feasible means of prolonging the residence time of these particles in the stomach.
Whether the subject is in the fed mode or the fasting mode, a further means of prolonging the residence time of particles in the stomach is to use particles that are initially small enough for comfortable ingestion but swell to a larger size upon contact with the gastric fluid in the stomach. The swelling can occur as a result of hydration of the particle material upon absorption of water from the gastric fluid, or as a result of gas generation, such as carbon dioxide for example, by contact of gastric fluid with the dosage form, the gas generation occurring in a membrane bag or otherwise within the dosage form. Swelling can also be achieved by placing a large tablet in a compressed condition under mechanical tension inside a small capsule which will release the tablet when the capsule contacts gastric fluid, permitting the released tablet to expand to its full relaxed size.
Disclosures of oral dosage forms that swell to sizes that will prolong the residence time in the stomach are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,790 (xe2x80x9cSustained-Release Oral Drug Dosage Form;xe2x80x9d Shell, inventor; Apr. 16, 1991), U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,837 (xe2x80x9cAlkyl-Substituted Cellulose-Based Sustained-Release Oral Drug Dosage Forms;xe2x80x9d Shell, inventor: Dec. 10, 1996): U.S. Pat. No. 5,972,389 (xe2x80x9cGastric-Retentive Oral Drug Dosage Forms for the Controlled Release of Sparingly Soluble Drugs and Insoluble Matter;xe2x80x9d Shell et al., inventors; Oct. 26, 1999); International (PCT) Patent Application WO 98/55107 (xe2x80x9cGastric-Retentive Oral Drug Dosage Forms for Controlled Release of Highly Soluble Drugs;xe2x80x9d Shell et al., inventors; publication date Dec. 10, 1998); and International (PCT) Patent Application WO 96/26718 (xe2x80x9cControlled Release Tablet;xe2x80x9d Kim, inventor: publication date Sep. 6, 1996).
Even with swelling, a certain proportion of particles can pass through the pylorus regardless of whether the subject is in the fed mode or the fasting mode, if the particles become oriented when in the vicinity of the pylorus such that their longest dimension is in alignment with the pyloric axis. This is particularly true of tablets or caplets (cylindrical tablets with rounded ends) that are elongated in shape to facilitate swallowing. When dosage forms such as these swell due to imbibition of water, one dimension may achieve a length great enough to exceed the pyloric opening while the others may be significantly smaller. The dosage form will thus be retained in the stomach only if the form is oriented with the long dimension transverse to the pyloric opening. Accordingly, for a certain percentage of the administered units of these swellable forms, prolonged retention in the stomach is not achieved and the beneficial effect of the swelling is lost. There is thus only a limited assurance that the swelling will result in gastric retention of the dosage form.
It has now been discovered that by using a solid water-swellable dosage form of a particular shape, the proportion of these dosage forms that escapes through the pylorus due to a fortuitous orientation at the pylorus can be reduced or eliminated entirely while still having a dosage form that is easily swallowed. The shape that achieves this result is a non-circular and non-spherical shape which, when projected onto a planar surface, has two orthogonal axes of different lengths, the longer axis being at most 3.0 cm in length, preferably 2.5 cm or less in length, when the dosage form is in the unswollen state, and the shorter axis being long enough to achieve a length of at least 1.2 cm, preferably at least 1.3 cm, within the first one hour, and preferably thirty minutes of swelling time. In addition to enhancing gastric retention, the non-circular and non-spherical shape render the tablets of this invention convenient to swallow. The tablets are also smaller than many tablets of the prior art that were designed for a similar effect, and this offers an advantage for people who suffer from a psychological difficulty when attempting to swallow a tablet.
The improvement offered by this invention provides benefits to many types of drugs, including those whose activity is lessened for various reasons once they pass into regions of the gastrointestinal tract that are downstream of the stomach and upper regions of the small intestine, as well as those that give rise to detrimental physiological effects in these regions. These drugs range in solubility from those that are only sparingly soluble in water to those that are highly soluble.
The dosage form is a swellable body, preferably a polymeric matrix in which the drug is dispersed. The polymer is swellable upon imbibition of water and thus upon contact with gastric fluid when reaching the stomach. In certain embodiments of the invention, the polymer is erodible as well. When an erodible polymer is used, the polymer is one whose erosion rate is substantially slower than the swelling rate. In some cases, the erosion of the polymer is used as a means of releasing the drug to the stomach, and at times a combination of erosion and dissolution/diffusion is used.
In certain embodiments of this invention, the dosage form is a multilayered tablet in which one or more of the layers swells while the others do not. In further embodiments of the invention, the dosage form is a tablet with a core surrounded by a shell, and the core swells while the shell remains relatively dimensionally stable, or vice versa.
These and other features, characteristics, and embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the description that follows.

Tablet shapes to enhance gastric retention of swellable controlled-release oral dosage forms


A method of designing an integrated circuit (IC) device includes specifying a set of criteria corresponding to an IC manufacturing process, using a processor to generate a design rule by applying a design rule instruction to the set of criteria, generating a design rule manual (DRM), the DRM being an electronic file comprising the design rule, using the design rule from the DRM to perform a design rule check (DRC) on a layout of at least a portion of the IC device, and, based on verifying the layout by performing the DRC, storing an IC layout diagram comprising the layout on a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

The ongoing trend in miniaturizing integrated circuits (ICs) has resulted in progressively smaller and lower power devices that provide increased functionality at high speeds. The miniaturization process has also resulted in increasingly strict design and manufacturing specifications. Various electronic design automation (EDA) tools are developed to generate, optimize, and verify designs for semiconductor devices while ensuring that the design and manufacturing specifications are met.

Integrated circuit device design method and system

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.


A plurality of same ink nozzle arrays are provided, and multiple color patches are printed with mutually different dot recording rates respectively using one of the same ink nozzle arrays. Color specification value of the plurality of color patches is measured for each same ink nozzle array. The ink ejection amount error of each same ink nozzle array is determined based on the color specification values of the plurality of color patches for each same ink nozzle array. It is also possible to select among the plurality of color patches a preferable color patch that is closest to a specified reference color patch, and to determine the ink ejection amount error from the dot recording rate of the preferable color patch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technology for calibrating ink ejection amount for a printer that forms ink dots on a printing medium while scanning a print head unit in the main scan direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inkjet printers print images by ejecting ink from nozzles provided on a print head. The same as with other types of printers, for inkjet printers as well, there is always a pursuit of improvements in quality and improvements in printing speed. In recent years, the inkjet printer image quality has improved at about the same level as silver salt photographs, so improvement of the printing speed is a bigger problem.
To improve printing speed, the easiest measure is to increase the number of nozzles per color. As a method of increasing the nozzle count, it is possible to use a method that uses a plurality of print heads, for example.
However, it is normal for the ink ejection amount from a print head nozzle to contain manufacturing discrepancies. JP5-162338A and JP10-795A each describes a method of calibrating ink ejection amount that takes this kind of error into consideration.
Calibration of ink ejection amount is performed according to an ink ejection amount error. However, sufficient mechanisms were not implemented for determining an ink ejection amount error with respect to each print head. In particular, after assembling printers which comprise a plurality of print heads, there were cases when it was not easy to determine an ink ejection amount error for each of the print heads of that printer. Also, this kind of problem is not limited to printers that use a plurality of printing heads, but generally is a problem that is common to printers that comprise a printing head unit that has a plurality of nozzle arrays for ejecting same ink (called a "same ink nozzle array").

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Determination of ink ejection amount error for a printer


Provided are a method of interpolating an image by determining interpolation filter coefficients, and an apparatus for performing the same. The method includes: differently selecting an interpolation filter, from among interpolation filters for generating at least one sub-pel-unit pixel value located between integer-pel-unit pixels, based on a sub-pel-unit interpolation location and a smoothness; and generating the at least one sub-pel-unit pixel value by interpolating, using the selected interpolation filter, pixel values of the integer-pel-unit pixels.

1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to prediction encoding using motion compensation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In related art image encoding and decoding methods, in order to encode an image, one picture is split into macro blocks. After that, prediction encoding is performed on each macro block by using inter prediction or intra prediction.
Inter prediction refers to a method of compressing an image by removing temporal redundancy between pictures and a representative example thereof is motion estimation encoding. In motion estimation encoding, each block of a current picture is predicted by using at least one reference picture. A reference block that is most similar to a current block is found within a predetermined search range by using a predetermined evaluation function.
A current block is predicted based on a reference block, and a residual block obtained by subtracting, from the current block, a prediction block generated as a prediction result is encoded. In this case, in order to more accurately perform prediction, interpolation is performed on a range of searching the reference picture, sub-pel-unit pixels smaller than integer-pel-unit pixels are generated, and inter prediction is performed on the generated sub-pel-unit pixels.

Method and device for interpolating images by using a smoothing interpolation filter


Embodiments of methods and apparatus for filling a feature disposed in a substrate are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a method for filling a feature disposed in a substrate includes (a) depositing a metal within the feature to a first predetermined thickness in a first process chamber; (b) depositing the metal within the feature to a second predetermined thickness in a second process chamber; (c) etching the metal deposited in (b) to remove an overhang of the metal at a top of the feature in a third process chamber different than the first and second process chambers; and (d) subsequent to (c), filling the feature with the metal in a fourth process chamber different than the first and third process chambers.

Fabrication of integrated circuits and other microelectronic devices include processes to fill features formed in or on a substrate. Dimensions of the contacts to the source and drain regions, as well as the contact to the metal gate, have drastically decreased to less than 10 nm. The inventors have observed that conventional methods of filling contact plugs produces unacceptably high resistance because a deposited barrier layer occupies a substantial volume of the contact and, when coupled with the high resistivity of certain conventional fill materials, makes the resistance of the contact unacceptable for advanced applications.
The inventors have further observed that using typical deposition processes with ever-shrinking semiconductor devices results in the buildup of overhang in the features and the incapability to provide sufficient step coverage (e.g., coverage on bottom and sidewalls of the feature as compared to the top surface of the substrate), or more specifically, sidewall coverage with no overhang on the feature top. In particular, the undesirable buildup of material near the upper opening of the features, referred to as overhang, can cause the opening of the feature to be closed off prematurely, undesirably forming a pocket, or void, where no material is present.
Accordingly, the inventors have developed improved techniques to fill features with a conductive material.

Methods and apparatus for filling a feature disposed in a substrate


The present invention relates to a method for dynamically allocating bandwidth to each encoder in an ensemble of video encoders whose output bit streams share a single communications channel. In accordance with the present invention, the channel bandwidth is allocated to the individual encoders in the ensemble in such a way that differences in a quality measure among the decoders are reduced. The quality measure includes a term that behaves like a peak-signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and a term that measures the "masking effect" in a video signal. The "masking effect" results because an encoded frame with a high visual complexity masks coding artifacts from the viewer when it is decoded and displayed.

An ensemble of video encoder systems is illustrated in FIG. 1. The ensemble 10 comprises a plurality of video encoder systems 20-i, i=0, 1, 2, . . . , P-1. Each encoder system receives uncompressed video at an input 22-i and outputs a compressed digital video bitstream at an output 24-i. Illustratively, each encoder system 20-i outputs a compressed digital bit stream which complies with the syntax specified in the MPEG-2 video specification (ISO.backslash.IEC13818-2; Recommendation ITU-TH.262 (1995E) produced by ISO, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference).
The digital bit streams output by the encoder systems 20-i are multiplexed together by the system multiplexer 30 and the multiplexed bitstream is transmitted to one or more decoders via the common channel 40. A system controller 50 controls the system multiplexer 30. The system controller 50 allocates a fraction of the bandwidth of the channel 40 to each of the encoder systems. The system controller 50 may be implemented as a microprocessor or microcontroller. The present invention relates to a novel method for allocating the bandwidth of the channel 40 among the encoder systems 20-i.
A video encoder system 20 is illustrated in FIG. 2. The system 20 includes a preprocessor 14, a video encoder 16, a rate buffer 18 and a rate controller 19. The preprocessor 14 receives a digital video signal comprising a sequence of frames from a source 12. The source 12 of video is, for example, a video camera, or a telecine machine which converts a sequence of film images into a sequence of video frames, or other device which outputs a sequence of video frames. The preprocessor 14 performs a variety of functions to place the sequence of video frames into a format in which the frames can be compressed by the encoder. For example, in case the video source is a telecine machine which outputs 30 frames per second, the preprocessor 14 converts the video signal into 24 frames per second for compression in the encoder 16 by detecting and eliminating duplicate fields produced by the telecine machine.
In addition, the preprocessor may spatially scale each frame of the source video so that it has a format which meets the parameter ranges specified by the encoder 16.
The video encoder 16 is preferably an encoder which utilizes a video compression algorithm to provide an MPEG-2 compatible bit stream. The MPEG-2 bit stream has six layers of syntax. There are a sequence layer (random access unit, context), Group of Pictures layer (random access unit, video coding), picture layer (primary coding layer), slice layer (resynchronization unit), macroblock (motion compensation unit), and block layer (DCT unit). A group of pictures (GOP) is a set of frames which starts with an I-frame and includes a certain number of P and B frames. The number of frames in a GOP may be fixed. A macroblock in a video frame illustratively comprises four 8.times.8 pixel blocks of luminance information and two 8.times.8 pixel blocks of chrominance information.
The encoder distinguishes between three kinds of frames, (i.e., pictures) I, P, and B. The coding of I frames results in the most bits. In an I-frame, each macroblock is coded as follows. Each 8.times.8 block of pixels in a macroblock undergoes a DCT (discrete cosine) transform to form an 8.times.8 array of transform coefficients. The transform coefficients are then quantized with a variable quantizer matrix. The resulting quantized DCT coefficients are zig-zag scanned to form a sequence of DCT coefficients. The DCT coefficients are then organized into run, level pairs. The run, level pairs are then entropy encoded. In an I-frame, each macroblock is encoded according to this technique. It should be noted that the quantizer matrix used to quantize each macroblock is multiplied by a scale factor which can vary from one macroblock to the next.
In a P-frame, a decision is made to code each macroblock as an I macroblock, which is then encoded according to the technique described above, or to code the macroblock as a P macroblock. For each P macroblock, a prediction of the macroblock in a previous video frame is obtained. The prediction is identified by a motion vector which indicates the translation between the macroblock to be coded in the current frame and its prediction in the previous frame. (A variety of block matching algorithms can be used to find the particular macroblock in the previous frame which is the best match with the macroblock to be coded in the current frame. This "best match" macroblock becomes the prediction for the current macroblock.) The predictive error between the predictive macroblock and the current macroblock is then coded using the DCT, quantization, zig-zag scanning, run, level pair encoding, and entropy encoding. In order to do predictive encoding of this type, the video encoder 16 inherently includes a decoder. This decoder decodes a frame which is compressed by the encoder. The decoded frame is then stored and used to make the motion compensated predictions described above.
In the coding of a B-frame, a decision has to be made as to the coding of each macroblock. The choices are (a) intracoding (as in an I macroblock), (b) unidirectional backward predictive coding using a subsequent frame to obtain a motion compensated prediction, (c) unidirectional forward predictive coding using a previous frame to obtain a motion compensated prediction, and (d) bidirectional predictive coding wherein a motion compensated prediction is obtained by interpolating a backward motion compensated prediction and a forward motion compensated prediction. In the cases of forward, backward, and bidirectional motion compensated prediction, the predictive error is encoded using DCT, quantization, zig-zag scanning, run, level pair encoding and entropy encoding.
B frames have the smallest number of bits when encoded, then P frames, with I frames having the most bits when encoded. Thus, the greatest degree of compression is achieved for B frames. For each of the I, B, and P frames, the number of bits resulting from the encoding process can be controlled by controlling the quantization step size. A macroblock of pixels or pixel errors which is coded using a large quantizer step size results in fewer bits than if a smaller quantizer step size is used.
After encoding by the video encoder, the bit stream is stored in the encoder rate buffer 18. Then, the encoded bits are transmitted via the system multiplexer 30 and channel 40 (see FIG. 1) to a decoder, where the encoded bits are received in a buffer of a decoder.
Each individual encoder system 20 has its own rate controller 19. The purpose of the rate controller 19 is to maximize the perceived quality of the encoded video sequence when it is decoded at a decoder by intelligently allocating the number of bits used to encode each frame. The sequence of bit allocations to successive frames preferably ensures that a channel bit rate assigned by the system controller 50 of FIG. 1 is maintained and that decoder buffer exceptions (overflow or underflow) are avoided. The process of allocating bits to individual frames takes into account the frame type (I, P or B) and scene dependent coding complexity. To accomplish rate control at each individual encoder system 20, the rate controller 19 receives input information indicating the occupancy of the rate buffer 18. The rate controller 19 executes a rate control algorithm and feeds back control signals to the encoder 16 (and possibly to the preprocessor 14, as well) to control the number of bits generated by the encoder for succeeding frames.
Several rate control algorithms are known. An illustrative rate control algorithm is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/573,933 entitled RATE CONTROL FOR A VIDEO CONTROLLER, filed for Michael Perkins and David Arnstein on even date herewith and assigned to the assignee hereof. The contents of this related application are incorporated herein by reference.
Dynamic rate optimization or statistical multiplexing is a method for making more effective use of the bandwidth of a single communication channel through which several MPEG-2 or other digital video bitstreams are transmitted. A satellite transponder is an example of such a communication channel. Such a channel typically has a bandwidth of 40 MHz which is shared among 10-15 bitstreams. A dynamic rate optimizing or statistical multiplexing strategy dynamically allocates the channel bandwidth among several encoder systems that share the communication channel. Each encoder system 20-i transmits periodically (e.g., once per frame interval) a measure of video quality via a communication path to the system controller 50. The system controller 50 determines adjusted bitrate allocations for the individual video encoder systems 20. The system controller 50 transmits the adjusted bit rate allocations to the rate controllers of the individual encoder systems 20 in order to drive the video quality measurements to equality. Naturally, the sum of these bitrate allocations must equal the total channel bitrate. The rate controller at the individual encoder systems take into account the adjustments in allocation of channel bitrate when allocating bits to the frames that are encoded by the encoder systems.
In conventional video encoder ensembles, the quality measure outputted by each individual video encoder system to the system controller is a Peak-Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR). The encoder can output this information because, as indicated above, it has available both the encoded and decoded frames. The system controller determines channel bandwidth allocation adjustments so as to equalize the average Peak-Signal-to-Noise Ratio across all of the video encoder systems. More bitrate is allocated to encoders with a small PSNR and less bit rate is allocated to encoders with large PSNR.
The problem with using PSNR as a quality measure is that the "masking effect" is not taken into account. A frame with a lot of visual complexity can hide coding artifacts from the viewer when the frame is decoded and displayed. It is well known that a quality measure in the form of a PSNR does not take into account the masking effect and does not take into account subjective image quality.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a dynamic rate optimizing or statistical multiplexing process for an ensemble of video encoder systems, which overcomes the shortcomings of the above-described prior art dynamic rate optimizing or statistical multiplexing process.
In particular, it is an object of the invention to allocate bandwidth to a plurality of video encoder systems which share a common transmission channel in a manner which takes into account the masking effect and subjective image quality.

Dynamic rate optimization for an ensemble of video encoders


A partial lock portion 11c is provided on an inner surface of a connector receptacle 11 provided in a container 10 for a lever connector. A lever 12 is rotatably mounted on the connector housing 13, and is formed with a lock portion 12a thereon. When the lever 12 is inclined in one direction, the lock portion 12a of the lever 12 is partially locked with the partial lock portion 11c of the container 10. When the lever 12 inclined in the other direction, the connector housing 13 is accommodated in the receptacle 11 with the lock portion 11c of the lever 12 partially locked with a partial lock portion 13a of the connector housing 13.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lever partial locking construction provided in a container for a lever connector and is particularly designed to partially lock the lever to prevent its movement regardless of the direction in which the lever is inclined when the connector is accommodated.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a plurality of connectors used in an automotive wiring harness are accommodated in a container. The container is secured to a large electrical connection box via a bracket. In recent years, the connectors for an automotive vehicle have had a multitude of contacts, and thereby have become larger. Accordingly, a large force has become necessary to couple these connectors with their mating connectors. Thus, in many cases, a lever connector is employed in which a lever on one connector housing is rotated to couple one connector with the other connector.
In the prior art lever connector, as shown in FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B), a U-shaped lever 3 is rotatably mounted on the outer surface of one connector housing 2A. In a partial lock position with the connector housing 2A shown in FIG. 5(A), a lock projection 3a provided on the lever 3 is engaged with a partial lock slot 2A-a formed in the outer surface of the connector housing 2A.
The connector housing 2A is fully connected with another connector housing 2B by rotating the lever 3. In this fully connected condition, the lock projection 3a of the lever 3 is locked by the engagement of a lock portion 2B-a on the connector housing 2B.
The connector housing 2A provided with the lever 3 may be accommodated in a container 5 as shown in FIG. 6. If the lock projection 3a of the lever 3 is engaged with the partial lock groove 2A-a, there is no likelihood that the lever 3 inadvertently moves inside the container 5. However, depending upon a shipment condition required by a car manufacturer, there are cases where the lever 3 should be inclined to a side (X) opposite to the side where it can be partially locked with the connector housing 3.
In the case that the lever 3 is accommodated in the container 5 with the lever 3 inclined to the side where it cannot be partially locked with the connector housing 2A, the lever 3 is free to move in a direction of the arrow of FIG. 6 and may move during shipment since the lever 3 is not partly locked. Accordingly, the lever may be damaged.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to partially lock a lever in the case that the lever is accommodated in a container, while being inclined in such a direction that it cannot be partially locked with a connector housing.

Lever partial locking construction provided in a container for a level connector


A printing cylinder for accepting an axially-removable printing sleeve includes a cylinder body having an outer surface, the outer surface having at least one hole and a supply line in the cylinder body for supplying fluid to the at least one hole. The supply line has at least one flow restrictor designed to alter fluid flow as a function of the at least one hole being covered by an axially-removable printing sleeve. Also provided is a printing press having two such cylinders and a common pressure source. A method for axially removing a printing sleeve over a printing cylinder includes the steps of applying fluid pressure to an inside of a printing sleeve located on a printing cylinder through holes at a work side end of the printing cylinder and through other holes between the holes at the work side end and a gear side end of the printing cylinder, sliding the printing sleeve in a direction of the work side end of the printing cylinder, and automatically restricting flow through the other holes when the printing sleeve no longer is located over the other holes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to printing presses and more particularly to printing presses having printing sleeves that are placed on or removed from a cylinder with the aid of air or other fluid pressure.
2. Background of the Invention
Tubular-shaped printing sleeves, such as offset lithographic printing blankets described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,013, are placed and removed axially over a printing cylinder. As described with respect to a blanket in the '013 patent, air holes typically are located on a work side end of the blanket cylinder to provide pressure to the inside of the blanket as the blanket is removed or placed axially over the blanket cylinder.
However, blankets can become stuck when mounted for too long, as air pressure from the air holes can be blocked and not reach the gear side end of the cylinder. Moreover, the use of only one set of air holes on the work side end makes hole placement critical, or the sleeve will not inflate or expand at all. With improperly placed holes, the air may simply rush out of the work side end without inflating the gear side end.
Also, it may be desirable to place multiple blankets side-by-side over a single blanket cylinder. A single set of work side holes can inflate only one of the blankets at the work side, thus not permitting the other blankets closer to the gear side to be removed.
It has been attempted to place additional air holes along the length of the body of the printing cylinder. However, when the sleeve is in a partially removed or placed position, these air holes remain uncovered while the work side air holes are covered. A large pressure reduction results as the air rushes out the uncovered holes and the flow drops at the work side holes, thus making blanket placement or removal difficult or impossible. Thus the additional holes require the use of multiple plumbing fixtures, solenoids and valves to control the air flow properly. These features tend to be expensive and are complicated, especially because the cylinder must rotate.
In a 1981 textbook entitled, Beruehrungsfreie Dichtungen (Contactless Seals), the authors describe labyrinth seals, in which fluid flow can be blocked or reduced using vortices. In FIG. 3-56 at pages 174–176, the effect of placement of fins on air flow and vortex generation is shown. However, the use of these seals in printing machines or for printing cylinders is not discussed.

Flow-restricted printing cylinder for a removable printing sleeve


A method and apparatus for efficient uplink scheduling grant and scheduling request signaling for evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) are disclosed. A wireless transmit/receive unit sends an uplink scheduling request to a Node-B, whereby the Node-B sends the uplink scheduling grant in response to the uplink scheduling request. The uplink scheduling request includes a data buffer occupancy value that indicates the amount of data that needs to be transmitted in the uplink. The amount of data is quantized to integer factors of the number of bits that may be supported by one RB, and mapped to an index value with N-bit mapping having less than full resolution. The uplink scheduling grant assigns a number of resource blocks to the WTRU for uplink transmission. The number of RBs allocated is mapped to an index value using N-bit mapping having less than full resolution.

In order to keep the technology competitive for a much longer time period, both third generation partnership project (3GPP) and 3GPP2 are considering long term evolution (LTE), in which evolution of radio interface and network architecture are necessary.
Currently, LTE specifies that uplink transmissions are to be based on single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA). One method for generating an SC-FDMA signal is to use a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) processing. An N-size DFT is applied to a block of N modulation symbols, transforming the modulation symbols into the frequency domain. The result of the DFT is mapped onto the available subcarriers.
For the mapping, a basic scheduling unit in LTE is a resource block (RB), where uplink data is allocated to each WTRU in multiples of RBs. One RB typically consists of 12 subcarriers in the frequency domain. For wireless communications using a 20 MHz bandwidth, the channel is typically divided into 1200 subcarriers with 100 RBs available. As each wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) may have any number of RBs assigned to it for uplink transmission, the following constraints arise.
For a UE with N subcarriers (that is N/12 RBs) allocated in the uplink, a DFT precoding with a size of N will be applied, where N can be decomposed as the product of M prime factors' power and defined by the following equation:
                    N        =                              ∏                          i              =              1                        M                                                                                K              i                              L                i                                      .                                              Equation                                                  1            In Equation 1 above, M represents the number of prime factors, K1, K2, . . . , KM are prime factors and L1, L2, . . . , LM are the corresponding powers.The number of required complex multiplications, denoted by NDFT, is given by the following equation:
                              ND                                                              F                                                              T                =                  N                                              ∑                              i                =                1                            M                                                                                K                i                                                                            L                  i                                .                                                                        Equation                                                  2            Since a DFT precoding size N with large prime number factors causes very high transmitter implementation complexity, it is preferable to limit N to an integer that has only prime factors of 2, 3 and 5.
Secondly, in order to represent all integer numbers of RBs from 1 (or 0) to N/12, an n-bit mapping (n=┌log2(N/12)┐) is required if full resolution is used. In a LTE with 20 MHz, there are 100 available RBs. Therefore, a 7-bit mapping is required (i.e., 26<100<27) if full resolution is used. However, 7 bits results in a relatively large overhead for a scheduling request by the WTRU and an uplink scheduling grant by the network.
In order to support a variety of uplink data rates with low transmitter complexity and low signaling overhead, a method is needed to reduce overhead in uplink scheduling grant mapping and uplink scheduling request signaling.

Method and apparatus for uplink scheduling signaling in a wireless communication


A .beta.-galactosidase having a high thermostability is produced by Thermus sp. FERM BP-1678, FERM BP-1679, and FERM BP-1680. The .beta.-galactosidase has an optimum temperature of 75 to 85 degrees celsius, and an optimum pH of 4.5 to 6.5 and an enzymatic activity which is not lowered substantially by 50 mM each of galactose and glucose. The .beta.-galactosidase is used to hydrolyze lactose in foods, such as milk, at a high temperature at which the putrefaction by saprophytes is difficult.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new strain belonging to genus Thermus which produces a new .beta.-galactosidase, a new .beta.-galactosidase and a process for producing the same.
2. Prior Art
.beta.-galactosidase is an enzyme which decomposes lactose into glucose and galactose, and is used for the production of foods such as lactose-hydrolyzed milk, lactose-hydrolyzed solution, etc. The .beta.-galactosidase widely exists in from animals and plants to microorganisms such as fungus, yeast, bacterium, etc., and enzymes which are now used in the food industry are relatively less thermostable .beta.-galactosidases mainly derived from fungus or yeast. These .beta.-galactosidases are disclosed in the official gazette of Jap. Pat. Publin. No 24094/1978 (Precedent 1) and the official gazette of Jap. Pat. Appln. Laid open (Kokai) No. 44287/1977 (Precedent 2).
On the other hand, thermostable .beta.-galactosidases are disclosed in Biotechnology and Bioengineering [vol. 26, p. 1141 (1984)](Precedent 3), Journal of Applied Microbiology [vol. 2, p. 390 (1980)](Precedent 4), Canadian Journal of Microbiology [vol. 22, p. 817 (817)](Precedent 5), the official gazette of Jap. Pat. Appln. Laid-open (Kokai) No. 154991/1981 (Precedent 6) and Journal of Bacteriology [vol. 110. P. 691 (1972)](Precedent 7). However, these conventional .beta.-galactosidases all have one or more disadvantages such as low thermostability, narrow range of optimum pH and the inhibition of enzymatic action by a reaction product, as will be described later (see Table 2). Thus, the fact is that the conventional .beta.-galactosidases are not put into practical use.
3. Problems to be Solved by the Invention
As described above, .beta.-galactosidases now used for the production of foods on an industrial scale are relatively less thermostable enzymes, so that the lactose decomposition treatment is carried out generally at 55.degree. C. or less. In addition, milk or lactose solution as a raw material is a preferable nutrition source for bacteria. As the result, the putrefaction owing to the saprophyte contamination during the treatment is a serious problem in the food production. Furthermore, an immobilized .beta.-galactosidase results in its being insufficiently washed and sterilized after the completion of the production, as is also a serious problem in the food production. In order to solve these problems, the treatment of an object by using a thermostable .beta.-galactosidase or the washing and the sterilization at a high temperature at which saparophytes are difficult to proliferate is desired, and the development of industrially applicable thermostable .beta.-galactosidase is strongly demanded.
In order to meet such a demand, the search for the foregoing thermostable galactosidase had been attempted, and various thermostable .beta.-galactosidases were found. However, there is no conventionally obtained thermostable .beta.-galactosidase which has all of enzymological properties described in the following Items (1) to (3) required for the industrial use. That is, there is no thermostable .beta.-galactosidase which attains the level of practical application:
(1) Having sufficient thermostability:
Because the thermocoagulation of milk or defatted milk takes place at 78.degree. C. to 80.degree. C., it is desired that the enzymatic treatment is carried out at a temperature as higher as possible below said temperature. Thus, the enzyme is required to have a sufficient thermostability in the neighborhood of 70.degree. C. to 75.degree. C.
(2) Having an optimum pH in the range of neutrality to acidity:
As raw materials to be treated with .beta.-galactosidase, milk, defatted milk, cheese whey, lactose solution, etc. are assumed. These are raw materials in the neutral (ph 6.5) to acidic (pH 4.5) range, and thus are required to have sufficient enzymatic activities in said range.
(3) Low inhibition of enzymatic activity by reaction products:
It is required that the lowering of the enzymatic activity by galactose and glucose as reaction products is small when .beta.-galactosidase acts on lactose.
With an intention of creating a .beta.-galactosidase having the properties described above, the present inventors tried to purely isolate a microorganism producing such a .beta.-galactosidase from nature. As a result of it, they found that a microorganism belonging to genus Thermus as an extreme thermophille produced the .beta.-galactosidase having the properties described above from among a large number of microorganisms producing .beta.-galactosidase, and have completed the present invention.

Research Development Corporation of Japan


A sample observation method uses a charged particle beam apparatus comprising a charged particle optical column irradiating a charged particle beam, a vacuum chamber, and a sample chamber being capable of storing a sample. The method includes maintaining a pressure of the sample chamber higher than that of the vacuum chamber by a thin film which permits the charged particle beam to be transmitted, determining a relation between a height of a lower surface of the thin film and a height of a lower end of a lens barrel of an optical microscope, measuring a distance between the sample and the lens barrel, and setting a distance between the sample and thin film based on the relation and the distance.

For observation of a microscopic region of an object, scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) and transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) and the like are used. Generally, in these apparatuses, a second casing in which to dispose a sample is evacuated to establish a vacuum state as an atmosphere for the sample, before imaging. On the other hand, there has been a great need to observe samples such as biochemical samples and liquid samples with the use of both an optical microscope and an electron microscope in an atmospheric pressure, and not in a vacuum where those samples will be deteriorated or state-changed. In recent years, SEM apparatuses have been developed to observe an objective sample under an atmospheric pressure.
These apparatuses, in principle, have a configuration wherein a diaphragm permitting transmission of an electron beam therethrough is provided between an electrooptic system and a sample to partition part of a vacuum state and part of an atmospheric air state from each other. Thus, all these apparatuses have a common feature that a thin film is provided between a sample and an electrooptic system.
Patent Document 1 describes an atmospheric-pressure SEM having a configuration wherein an electron optical column is disposed with its electron source side directed downward and with its objective lens side directed upward, and a thin film transmissive to an electron beam is provided on the side of an electron beam emission hole at the terminal end of the electron optical column. In the invention described in Patent Document 1, the objective sample to be observed is mounted directly on the thin film, the sample is irradiated with a primary electron beam from below, and reflected electrons or secondary electrons are detected, thereby performing SEM observation. The sample is disposed inside an annular member (which is placed in the periphery of the thin film) but in a thin film-formed liquid. Thus, the document describes an atmospheric-pressure SEM suitable for use to observe a sample in a liquid, particularly. In addition, it is described that the optical microscope and the electron microscope are so disposed that their optical axes are coaxial, whereby both optical microscope observation and electron microscope observation can be performed.
In addition, Patent Document 2 describes an apparatus configuration wherein an optical microscope and an electron microscope equipped with a diaphragm are aligned, whereby a sample placed under an atmospheric pressure is observed alternately by the optical microscope and an electron microscope.

Inspection or observation apparatus and sample inspection or observation method


A service recommendation method includes, when a user of a terminal requests a first service from an intelligent assistant, selecting, according to a name of the first service and by using a pre-established service relationship model, a potential service with a degree of relevance to the first service that meets a preset condition from multiple services that the intelligent assistant can provide, where names of the multiple services and degrees of relevance of the multiple services to each other are recorded in the service relationship model; and recommending the potential service to the user.

In the prior art, an intelligent assistant is widely applied on a terminal, such as Siri of the Apple® Inc., Google Now® of the Google®, Sogou Voice Assistant of the Sogou Inc., or iFLYTEK Voice Touch of the iFLYTEK CO., LTD.
The intelligent assistant can acquire information entered by a user, such as text, speech, an image, and parse out an intention of the user. Then, the intelligent assistant invokes a local application or a network-side application, such as an application (APP) or an application programming interface (API), to acquire a request result, and return the request result to the user. For example, the user enters "weather for tomorrow" by using a microphone on a terminal. The intelligent assistant converts speech into text by using a speech recognition technology; understands, by using a natural language processing technology, that the intention of the user is "querying weather", and that corresponding time is "tomorrow"; generates a corresponding instruction, acquires a weather result from a third-party application, and displays the result on a screen of the terminal; and in addition, broadcasts the result by using a speech generation technology.
In the prior art, when a user requests an intelligent assistant to provide a service, another potential service requirement still exists. For example, after the user requests the intelligent assistant to provide a navigation service, there may be further a service requirement of acquiring a traffic condition on a navigation path in real time. Alternatively, after the user requests the intelligent assistant to provide a movie ticket reservation service, there is further a service requirement of setting a reminder and sending a short message service message to notify a friend. In the prior art, after requesting a service from the intelligent assistant, the user still needs to actively and repeatedly request a potential service related to the service from the intelligent assistant, and an operation is complex.

Service recommendation method and apparatus with intelligent assistant


In the present invention, the vacuum packaging of a field emission display (FED) is achieved in a high vacuum apparatus using a glass-to-glass bonding. The apparatus may eliminate the problems encountered in the conventional art in which a ventilation tube is used, so that vacuum degree of the interior of panels of the FED is affected (decreased) by the gases generated in sealing the ventilation tube. Furthermore, in the prior art, a part of the ventilation tube remains on the panel of the FED for thereby increasing the thickness of the panels, and the ventilating of gases is not effectively performed by the extension of the tube and a big size hole. The vacuum packaging apparatus of the FED and method therefor according to the present invention are capable of more effectively packaging FED by implementing a glass-to-glass bonding by ventilating gases from the interior of the panel of the FED in a manner of a high temperature ventilation in a high vacuum apparatus, contacting a glass substrate piece with a hole formed in the panel of the FED and applying a DC voltage thereto. Therefore, it is possible to easily implement a vacuum packaging of the FED and vacuum degree of the interior of the FED panel may be increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum packing apparatus for a field emission display (FED) and a method thereof, in particular, to a tubeless vacuum packing for a FED using a glass-to-glass bonding in the high vacuum apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A cathode tube vacuum packaging method is a typical vacuum packaging technique for the FED. In this method, a gas existing in the interior of the FED is ventilated to the outside using a ventilation tube, and then the ventilation tube is cut to separate the FED from a pumping apparatus and then the cut ventilation tube is sealed. The above-described procedure is known as a sealing process. The sealing process is divided into two steps. In the first step, when the state the pump is operated, a predetermined portion of the ventilation tube is heated and made into a semi-melted state. In the second step, the ventilation tube is cut and then the cut ventilation tube is sealed for thereby maintaining a sealed state for the FED. When sealing the cut ventilation tube, since the ventilation tube is in a semi-melted state and then hardened, a predetermined amount of gases is generated during the above-described sealing procedure.
When vacuum packaging the FED using a ventilation tube according to the prior art, since the inner volume of the FED is relatively smaller compared to the cathode tube, the vacuum degree of the interior between the panels of the FED is significantly affected by the gases generated in sealing the ventilation tube, although the type of gas is not an important factor for the relatively large cathode tubes. In addition, the vacuum degree which is required for the interior of the FED should be more than 10.sup.-6 torr. However, the gases generated inside of the FED during vacuum packaging, in particular, when the ventilation tube is sealed may not be effectively ventilated, the vacuum degree of the interior of the FED is decreased. Furthermore, a part of the cut ventilation tube remains in the panel of the FED, so that the thickness of the panel increases. In addition, the ventilation operation of the gas may be affected by the extension of the ventilation tube.

Vacuum packaging apparatus for a field emission display and a method thereof using a glass-to-glass bonding

Korea Institute of Science and Technology


Surface mined lands are reseeded by dispensing grass, forb and shrub seed from a seed drill with seed-dispensing boxes connected to plural dispensing tubes which drop seed on the earth's surface and wherein at least one seed box is operable to dispense cool season grass seed through conventional opener assemblies into furrows formed thereby. An English tine harrow drag is pulled behind the seed drill to cover and distribute seed to provide improved species diversity and desired shrub density on the seeded area. Fine seed shrubs are broadcast by the drill during traversal of the seeded area in a direction generally perpendicular to the first seeding operation. Companion crops of annual grain are seeded with native grass, forb and shrub seed and mowed prior to seedhead maturity to prevent reseeding and to provide cover and protection for native seedlings. Improved species diversity, shrub density and overall revegetation success is provided for semi-arid lands, in particular.

Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a revegetation method for establishing a diverse vegetation community of warm and cool season grasses, forbs and shrubs on reclaimed surface mined lands in a semi-arid climate.
Revegetation of surface mined lands has been somewhat challenging in the semi-arid climate of the Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming. Historically, it has been difficult to attain a suitable diversity of warm and cool season grasses, forbs and shrubs. Cool season grasses have often dominated the reclaimed vegetation community. Regulatory requirements and conservation efforts directed to revegetating disturbed lands have been attempted using commercially available native seeding equipment and standard mulching practices of applying two tons/acre of straw/mulch on seeded areas to retain soil moisture and prevent rill and gully erosion. These efforts have not been entirely successful or cost-effective. Improved methods of establishing diverse vegetative communities have been sought along with reduced cost of the revegetation effort. The present invention is directed to improving the establishment of diverse vegetation on reclaimed surface mined lands in semi-arid climates with a successful method described herein.


A bag supply apparatus for supplying bags onto a conveyer for transporting a bag bundle stacked such that an upper level bag is shifted forward, including a bag lifting device, which is provided with a pair of bag support members disposed facing one another on the left and right sides near the rear edge of a belt conveyor, and a rotation mechanism, which imparts translational motion of rotation in symmetric in a vertical plane with respect to the conveyance direction of the belt conveyor. The bag supporting portions of the bag support members contact the bag bundle from below to lift up the rear edge portion of the bag bundle and then separated from the bag bundle outwardly. While the bag supporting portions thus lifting the bag bundle, a new bag is fed into the space between the conveyance surface of the belt conveyor and the bag bundle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bag supply apparatus for supplying bags to a conveyer for transporting a bag bundle stacked in such a format that the upper level bag is shifted in a forward direction and more specifically to a bag supply apparatus that supplies bags to a belt conveyor of a conveyer magazine type bag supply apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A bag supply apparatus of the type described above is disclosed in, for instance, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Nos. 8-337217 and 2004-210473.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 8-337217, a bag bundle (a group of bags stacked in a manner that the upper level bag is shifted in a forward direction with respect to the conveying direction of the belt conveyor of the bag supply apparatus) transported on the belt conveyor of a conveyer magazine type bag supply apparatus is transported forward; and when the bag bundle has passed a prescribed point, a push-up rods disposed below the belt conveyor is moved upward and lifts up the rear edge of the bag bundle (FIGS. 1 through 6 in this laid-open publication), or a drop-down rods disposed above the belt conveyor is lowered, engaged with both edges of the proximity of the rear edge of the bag bundle, and then raised to lift up the rear edge of the bag bundle (FIGS. 7 and 8). A replenishing bundle of stacked bags is fed from the rear into the empty space formed between the lifted-up bag bundle and the conveyance surface of the conveyer.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2004-210473, a bag bundle (a group of bags stacked in a such format that an upper level bag is shifted in a forward direction) transported on a belt conveyor of a conveyer magazine type bag supply apparatus is transported forward; and when the bag bundle has passed a prescribed point, a push-up rods disposed below the belt conveyor is moved upward and then a support arms disposed above the belt conveyor rotates to lift up the rear edge of the bag bundle from the rear (FIGS. 1 and 2 in this laid-open publication), or a support arms disposed above the belt conveyor is lowered and rotates at the lower edge to pull the rear edge of the bag bundle from the rear and then is moved upward to lift up the rear edge of the bag bundle (FIGS. 5 and 6). A replenishing bundle of stacked bags is fed from the rear into the empty space between the lifted-up bag bundle and the conveyance surface of the conveyer.
The apparatuses disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 8-337217 have problems. In the bag supply apparatus that uses the push-up rods, the push-up rods interferes with the pushing-in motion of the replenishing bag bundle; while in the bag supply apparatus that uses the pull-up rods, a complicated operation is involved for the pull-up rods that make a drive mechanism thereof more complicated as well. In addition, in the bag supply apparatus of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2004-210473, a 3-step operation is required to raise the rear edge of the bag bundle; and in the system that uses the push-up rods and the support arms makes the apparatus more complicated, while in the system that uses just the support arms, the actuation mechanism is more complicated. Furthermore, the apparatuses in the above-described two related arts both involve reciprocating actions; and thus, these apparatuses are not suited for high-speed operation and unavoidably generate vibrations and noise when stopped.
Furthermore, in the apparatuses of the above-described two related arts, since a stacked bag bundle (a group of bags simply layered top to bottom) is fed onto the belt conveyor of the conveyer magazine type bag supply apparatus, the upper level bag needs to be arranged by hand on the belt conveyor so that it is shifted in a forward direction. On the other hand, there is such a strong demand for a conveyer magazine type bag supply apparatus that the bag bundle is automatically formed in such a format as described above with at a predetermined pitch (interval) on the belt conveyor; as a result, such attempts have been made that one bag is fed at a time at a predetermined pitch (time interval) for that purpose. In that instance, the pulling-up or pushing-down processing capability for the bag bundle needs to be improved further compared to a case that feeds a stacked bag bundle. However, the processing capability in the apparatuses described in the above-described two related arts, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Nos. 8-337217 and 2004-210473 is inadequate.


An insulating adhesive film is formed by laminating a first insulating adhesive layer which contains a filler in an insulating adhesive composition and a second insulating adhesive layer which contains no filler in an insulating adhesive composition. H/2<Tf<H≦Tf+Tn is satisfied, wherein H is the height of the bump of the IC chip, Tf is the thickness of the first insulating adhesive layer, and the Tn is the thickness of the second insulating adhesive layer. The side of the substrate on which an electrode is formed and the side of an IC chip on which a bump is formed are connected via the insulating adhesion film arranged such that the first insulating adhesive layer and the electrode-forming side of the electronic component are opposed to thereby connect the electrode of the substrate and the bump of the IC chip.

Conventionally, in semiconductor implementation, a flip chip method is carried out, wherein a side of an IC (Integrated Circuit) on which electrodes (bumps) are formed and the side of a substrate on which electrodes (electrode pads) are formed are opposed to each other to electrically connect the bumps of the IC chip and the electrode pads of the substrate.
In this flip chip method, in order to externally protect the connection between the electrodes and to relax the stress attributable to the difference in the linear expansion coefficients of the IC chip and the substrate, a liquid thermosetting adhesive called an underfill agent is poured between the semiconductor chip and the substrate and allowed to be cured, usually after the electrodes are connected.
In recent years, miniaturization of IC chips has been rapidly advanced. With this advancement, pitches between adjoining electrodes and gaps between semiconductor chips and substrates tend to be increasingly narrower. Thus, if an underfill agent is poured in between an IC chip and a substrate by using the capillarity phenomenon, problems are caused, such as occurrence of a void or a long time required for pouring an underfill agent.
Thus, the so-called pre-placement method has be attempted, wherein a liquid adhesive, such as NCPs (Non Conductive Pastes) and non-underfill agents, or a film adhesive, such as NCFs (Non Conductive Films) is applied or adhered on a substrate in advance, and a resin is then cured with thermocompression from a thermocompression bonder to thereby connect the bumps of an IC chip and the electrode pads of a substrate.
Also, a method for applying an NCP on a wafer before cutting into IC chips and half-curing the NCP, and the so-called pre-adhesion method, wherein an NCF is adhered, the thickness of the wafer is then thinned by back-grinding, and the wafer is individualized into pieces by dicing to provide IC chips having an NCF, one of which is implemented on an organic substrate and the like with a flip chip bonder, have been carried out.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a pre-adhesion method using ACFs (Anisotropic Conductive Films). Also, Patent Document 2 discloses a method for pre-laminating an NCF on a wafer. Also, Patent Document 3 discloses that the thickness of an NCF is set to the height of a bump±30 μm.

Connection method, connection structure, insulating adhesive member, electronic component having adhesive member, and method for manufacturing same


A transducer assembly includes a cap readily removable from a housing and enclosing a pressure transducer and a main valve body. Seals are located inside the housing which often are elastomeric or otherwise heat damageable. A top cartridge together with all of the seals inside the housing is readily disconnectable from the housing to separate the seals from the transducer assembly first end. This first end may then be heat sealed by soldering, brazing, or welding to a manifold or the like without any heat damage to the various seals. The transducer assembly then may be readily reassembled to form an operative transducer assembly. The foregoing Abstract is merely a resume of general applications, is not a complete discussion of all principles of operation or applications, and is not to be construed as a limitation on the scope of the claimed subject matter.

The U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,784 discloses a transducer assembly wherein the assembly may be easily serviced. The initial unthreading of a cartridge in the housing closes a first valve so that refrigeration fluid will not leak out of the assembly.
Other prior art using a transducer assembly to be assembled in the field to a manifold or the like first assembled a manual shut off valve to the manifold and then screwing the transducer assembly into the manual shut off valve. This was undesirable because it merely added another part to leak, especially the leakage along the valve stem of refrigerant fluid which was a danger to the ozone layer in the atmosphere. Additionally, the operator might not open the hand valve fully once the combination was assembled and this could adversely affect the pressure applied to the pressure transducer.
The prior art also utilized a pressure transducer such as a strain gage in the transducer assembly and then this change of resistance was fed out through a shielded cable to a external conditioning circuit. The cable had to be shielded because this was a high impedance circuit between the strain gage and the external conditioning circuit which was extremely sensitive and could pick up static or electromagnetic radiation.


A secondary battery includes an electrode assembly; a laminated container laminated with flexible films, which encloses the electrode assembly while the electrode tabs are drawn out of the laminated container and is sealed by fusing resulting structure within a sealed portion; and a safety unit in the sealed portion, capable of being melted by excess heat generated from the secondary battery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a secondary battery, and more particularly, to a lithium-ion secondary battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lithium secondary batteries have high energy densities per unit weight and operating voltages, which are typically three times higher than other secondary batteries, such as nickel-cadmium (Ni—Cd) batteries and nickel-metal hydride (Ni—MH) batteries. For these reasons, research and development thereof have constantly increased.
Lithium secondary batteries can be classified into liquid electrolyte batteries and solid polymeric electrolyte batteries according to the electrolyte used. In general, batteries using a liquid electrolyte are called as lithium-ion batteries, and batteries using a polymeric electrolyte are called as lithium polymer batteries.
Lithium secondary batteries can be manufactured in various shapes. Cylindrical and rectangular shapes are frequently used for lithium-ion batteries. Since lithium polymer batteries are rather safe, light, and can be molded in various shapes, they can be more advantageously used for slim, lightweight portable electronic devices, compared to other secondary batteries.
However, when a lithium secondary battery is overcharged or short-circuited between the anode and cathode plates while assembling electrodes, an electrolyte containing lithium salts in an organic solvent decomposes at the cathode plate and the lithium metal is separated at the anode plate. This degrades battery properties and causes internal short circuits in a battery. Furthermore, heats and gases generated when the lithium secondary battery is overcharged increase the internal pressure of the battery, risking explosions or fire.
To eliminate these problems of overcharging and short circuits in the lithium secondary battery, a general canned lithium-ion battery has an internal safety device, such as a shut-down separator, a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) device for cutting off the supplied electric current when the internal temperature rises above its limit, or a safety vent for ventilation when the internal pressure rises above its limit.
The typical safety device adapted for a canned lithium-ion battery can endure an internal pressure of up to 20 kg /cm2 when overcharged. However, it has a complicated structure and is difficult to manufacture.
While canned lithium-ion batteries use a nickel-plated metal as a packaging material, plastic lithium-ion batteries are enclosed within an aluminum pouch formed by coating aluminum foil with nylon, polyethylene-co-acrylic acid (EAA), or polyethylene (PE) films. Although applications of such a metal container for secondary batteries are limited due to its rigidity, since the aluminum pouch as a packaging material for batteries is flexible, the aluminum pouch can be more easily adjusted to accommodate various sizes.
Also, the aluminum pouch is less resistant to the internal pressure increases due to the gas generation as described above than metal canning materials, so it can easily burst even with a relatively small increase in the internal pressure. Furthermore, since the gases generated within the aluminum pouch are flammable, the risk of explosion is even higher.
An example of an aluminum pouch for secondary lithium polymer batteries, capable of eliminating those problems, is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. hei 2000-100399. In the disclosure, the aluminum pouch includes thermally fusible layers capable of sealing the accommodation space of an assembly of electrode plates bound together when fused, and a region of the aluminum pouch is formed to rupture easily. The rupture-susceptible region is melted at a lower temperature than other regions and thus has a small binding strength to rupture when the internal pressure of the battery rises above a predetermined level.
However, it is difficult to form the rupture-susceptible region by selectively melting it at a lower temperature and to control the binding strength at the rupture-susceptible region according to rupture pressures. Accordingly, it is more likely to fail thereby lowering productivity.
Other examples of secondary lithium batteries are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,040,081 and 6,145,280.

Secondary battery having a container with a safety unit


A composition comprising

This invention relates to compositions which are suitable for refrigeration applications and to the use of such compositions in heat transfer devices such as refrigeration and air conditioning systems. The invention relates, in particular, to refrigerant compositions which can be used in the applications currently satisfied by trichlorofluoromethane (refrigerant R-11).
Heat transfer devices of the mechanical compression type such as refrigerators, freezers, heat pumps and air conditioning systems are well known. In such devices a refrigerant liquid of a suitable boiling point evaporates at low pressure taking heat from a neighbouring heat transfer fluid. The resulting vapour is then compressed and passes to a condenser where it condenses and gives off heat to another heat transfer fluid. The condensate is then returned through an expansion valve to the evaporator so completing the cycle. The mechanical energy required for compressing the vapour and pumping the liquid may be provided by an electric motor or an internal combustion engine.
In addition to having a suitable boiling point and a high latent heat of vaporisation, the properties preferred of a refrigerant include low toxicity, non-flammability, non-corrosivity, high stability and freedom from objectionable odour.
Hitherto, heat transfer devices have tended to use fully and partially halogenated chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants such as bromotrifluoromethane (refrigerant R-13B1), trichlorofluoromethane (refrigerant R-11), dichlorodifluoromethane (refrigerant R-12), chlorodifluoromethane (refrigerant R-22) and the azeotropic mixture of chlorodifluoromethane and chloropentafluoroethane (refrigerant R-115); the azeotrope being refrigerant R-502. Refrigerant R-11, for example, has been widely used in chillers.
However, the fully halogenated chlorofluorocarbons in particular have been implicated in the destruction of the earth""s protective ozone layer and as a result the use and production thereof has been limited by international agreement.
Whilst heat transfer devices of the type to which the present invention relates are essentially closed systems, loss of refrigerant to the atmosphere can occur due to leakage during operation of the equipment or during maintenance procedures. It is important, therefore, to replace fully halogenated chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants by materials having low or zero ozone depletion potentials.
In addition to the possibility of ozone depletion, it has been suggested that significant concentrations of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants in the atmosphere might contribute to global warming (the so-called greenhouse effect). It is desirable, therefore, to use refrigerants which have relatively short atmospheric lifetimes as a result of their ability to react with other atmospheric constituents such as hydroxyl radicals.
Replacements for some of the chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants presently in use have already been developed. These replacement refrigerants tend to comprise selected hydrofluoroalkanes, i.e. compounds which contain only carbon, hydrogen and fluorine atoms in their structure. Thus, refrigerant R-12 is generally being replaced by 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (R-134a).
Although suitable replacement refrigerants are available, there is always a need for new refrigerants having a low or zero ozone depletion potential that are capable of replacing the chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants presently in use such as R-11. Furthermore, very real benefits could be realised by a new replacement refrigerant having a higher refrigeration capacity than the chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant it is replacing.
The present invention provides a composition comprising a mixture of compounds having zero ozone depletion potentials which can be used, for example, in chillers as a replacement for refrigerant R-11. The composition of the invention can exhibit an advantageously high refrigeration capacity.
According to the present invention there is provided a composition comprising:
(A) 1,1,2,2,3-pentafluoropropane (CF2HCF2CFH2); and
(B) at least one hydrofluorocarbon selected from the group consisting of 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane (CF3CH2CF2H) and 1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nonafluorobutane (CF3CF2CF2CF2H).
The present invention also provides a heat transfer device, such as a chiller, comprising an evaporator, a condenser, a compressor and an expansion valve in which there is contained a refrigerant composition comprising:
(A) 1,1,2,2,3-pentafluoropropane (CF2HCF2CFH2); and
(B) at least one hydrofluorocarbon selected from the group consisting of 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane (CF3CH2CF2H) and 1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nonafluorobutane (CF3CF2CF2CF2H).
The composition of the invention comprises (A) 1,1,2,2,3-pentafluoropropane (R-245ca) which has a boiling point of about 25xc2x0 C. and (B) at least one hydrofluorocarbon selected from 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane (R-245fa) and 1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nonafluorobutane (R-329ccb), both of which have a boiling point of about 15xc2x0 C. Although component (B) may comprise a mixture of R-245fa and R-329ccb, it will preferably comprise just one of these compounds and more preferably will comprise just R-329ccb.
The composition of the invention tends to boil and condense over a fairly narrow temperature range and, as a result, tends to exhibit fairly small temperature glides in both the evaporator and condenser. Furthermore, the composition tends not to fractionate (separate) into its constituent components to any significant degree on boiling so that the liquid and vapour phases that will be present in the refrigeration cycle will tend to have similar compositions. The terms azeotrope and azeotropic are well known of course and refer to compositions comprising two or more components which exhibit constant boiling behaviour and which do not fractionate into their constituent components upon boiling or evaporation. Thus, the composition of the invention exhibits properties which are not too far removed from that of a true azeotrope and in this regard may be termed azeotrope-like or near-azeotropic.
The amounts of the R-245ca and of the at least one hydrofluorocarbon selected from R-245fa and R-329ccb in the composition of the invention may be varied within wide limits, but typically the composition will comprise from 10 to 90% by weight of R-245ca and from 10 to 90% by weight of at least one hydrofluorocarbon selected from R-245fa and R-329ccb.
When component (B) is R-245fa, a preferred composition of the invention in terms of its suitability as a replacement for refrigerant R-11 is one comprising from 15 to 85% by weight of R-245ca and from 15 to 85% by weight of R-245fa.
When component (B) is R-245fa, a particularly preferred composition of the invention in terms of its suitability as a replacement for refrigerant R-11 is one comprising from 20 to 30% by weight, more particularly about 25% by weight, of R-245ca and from 70 to 80% by weight, more particularly about 75% by weight, of R-245fa.
When component (B) is R-245fa, another particularly preferred composition of the invention in terms of its suitability as a replacement for refrigerant R-11 is one comprising from 45 to 55% by weight, more particularly about 50% by weight, of R-245ca and from 45 to 55% by weight, more particularly about 50% by weight, of R-245fa.
When component (B) is R-245fa, a further particularly preferred composition of the invention in terms of its suitability as a replacement for refrigerant R-11 is one comprising from 70 to 80% by weight, more particularly about 75% by weight, of R-245ca and from 20 to 30% by weight, more particularly about 25% by weight, of R-245fa.
When component (B) is R-329ccb, a preferred composition of the invention in terms of its suitability as a replacement for refrigerant R-11 is one comprising from 40 to 95% by weight of R-245ca and from 5 to 60% by weight of R-329ccb.
When component (B) is R-329ccb, a particularly preferred composition of the invention in terms of its suitability as a replacement for refrigerant R-11 is one comprising from 40 to 80% by weight, more particularly from 70 to 80% by weight, of R-245ca and from 20 to 60% by weight, more particularly from 20 to 30% by weight, of R-329ccb. An especially preferred composition of the invention in terms of its suitability as a replacement for refrigerant R-11 is one comprising about 75% by weight of R-245ca and about 25% by weight of R-329ccb.
The refrigerant composition of the invention may also be combined with one or more hydrocarbons in an amount which is sufficient to allow the composition to transport a mineral oil or alkyl benzene type lubricant around a refrigeration circuit and return it to the compressor. In this way, inexpensive lubricants based on mineral oils or alkyl benzenes may be used to lubricate the compressor.
Suitable hydrocarbons for inclusion in the refrigerant composition of the invention are those containing from 2 to 6 carbon atoms, with hydrocarbons containing from 3 to 5 carbon atoms being preferred. Hydrocarbons that will not significantly alter the refrigerant thermophysical properties at the level at which they provide for oil transport, such as the linear and branched isomers of butane and pentane are particularly preferred, with pentane being especially preferred.
Where a hydrocarbon is included, it will preferably be present in an amount of from 1 to 10% by weight on the total weight of the refrigerant composition.
The refrigerant composition of the invention may also be used in combination with the types of lubricants which have been specially developed for use with hydrofluorocarbon based refrigerants. Such lubricants include those comprising a polyoxyalkylene glycol base oil. Suitable polyoxyalkylene glycols include hydroxyl group initiated polyoxyalkylene glycols, e.g. ethylene and/or propylene oxide oligomers/polymers initiated on mono- or polyhydric alcohols such as methanol, butanol, pentaerythritol and glycerol. Such polyoxyalkylene glycols may also be end-capped with suitable terminal groups such as alkyl, e.g. methyl groups. Another class of lubricants which have been developed for use with hydrofluorocarbon based refrigerants and which may be used in combination with the present refrigerant compositions are those comprising a neopentyl polyol ester base oil derived from the reaction of at least one neopentyl polyol and at least one aliphatic carboxylic acid or an esterifiable derivative thereof. Suitable neopentyl polyols for the formation of the ester base oil include pentaerythritol, polypentaerythritols such as di- and tripentaerythritol, trimethylol alkanes such as trimethylol ethane and trimethylol propane, and neopentyl glycol. The esters may be formed with linear and/or branched aliphatic carboxylic acids, such as linear and/or branched alkanoic acids. Preferred acids are selected from the C5-8, particularly the C5-7, linear alkanoic acids and the C5-10, particularly the C5-9, branched alkanoic acids. A minor proportion of an aliphatic polycarboxylic acid, e.g. an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid, may also be used in the synthesis of the ester in order to increase the viscosity thereof. Usually, the amount of the carboxylic acid(s) which is used in the synthesis will be sufficient to esterify all of the hydroxyl groups contained in the polyol, although residual hydroxyl functionality may be acceptable.
The composition of the present invention may be used to provide the desired cooling in heat transfer devices such as chillers by a method which involves condensing the composition and thereafter evaporating it in a heat exchange relationship with a heat transfer fluid to be cooled. In particular, the composition of the invention may be employed as a replacement for refrigerant R-11 in chillers.
In addition to its use as a refrigerant, the composition of the invention may also be used as an aerosol propellant, as a foam blowing agent for blowing polyolefin, polyurethane and related foams, or as a solvent in degreasing or extraction applications.
The present invention is now illustrated but not limited with reference to the following examples.

Abstract: A composition comprising

Abstract: (A) 1,1,2,2,3-pentafluoropropane(CF2HCF2CFH2) and

Abstract: (B) at least one hydrofluorocarbon selected from the group consisting of 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane (CF3CH2CF2H) and 1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nonafluorobutane (CF3CF2CF2CF2H) is described. The composition is useful as a refrigerant and may be used in chillers as a replacement for refrigerant R-11.


Disclosed is a magnetic tape which contributes to a high recording density, and which achieves an enhanced flexibility in a width of a data track and a data format. The magnetic tape includes servo tracks being recorded thereon. These servo tracks contain respective servo signals, and are arranged lengthwise and adjacent to one another over a whole of a width or a part of the magnetic tape. Further, each of the servo tracks includes address signals being recorded thereon at predetermined intervals in isolation from the corresponding servo signals. These address signals indicate their respective locations of corresponding one of the servo tracks and their respective lengthwise locations on the magnetic tape. In addition, the servo signals are read from the respective servo bands, and are used to adjust tracking of a magnetic head on the magnetic tape.

1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and a method consistent with the present invention relate to a magnetic tape, a magnetic tape cartridge, a magnetic tape drive, and a method for recording data on a magnetic tape.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the high recording density of magnetic tapes advances, a demand for an accurate tracking technique becomes stronger. To meet this demand, at present, servo-tracking signals (servo signals) are recorded on a magnetic tape beforehand, and data is recorded/reproduced on/from the magnetic tape, while the servo signals are read and the tracking on the tape is then adjusted based on the servo signals read.
However, as the recording density is further increased, the time that is required to pinpoint the location of data from a magnetic tape ends up being longer when the data is searched through the tape or when new data is appended thereon. This lowers the level of operating convenience. To prevent this degradation, information regarding the location of data is encoded into servo signals of a magnetic tape, so that data detection is made faster and more efficient. The above servo signals, however, occupy a large area of a magnetic tape, because servo signals and data are typically positioned on the tape, while being separated from each other. This may inhibit the high recording density, thereby causing a problem.
On the other hand, within the content of the current technique, a width (pitch) of a data track and a location of the track on a magnetic tape depend on a magnetic tape drive, thereby making it difficult to produce different widths and locations on a single magnetic tape. To give an example, if a magnetic tape is recorded by a drive in such a way that the width of the data track is formed to be Tw (μm), then this tape cannot be recorded to form a Tw/2 (μm) width. Similarly, a magnetic tape, on which an old model of a magnetic tape drive has recorded data, may not always be recorded by a current model even if it can be reproduced. In other words, compatibility among models, systems, etc. of drives is lacking, thereby causing an additional problem.
Conventionally, methods for sequentially recording data on a magnetic tape have been applied, because it is difficult to record data at desired locations on the track, that is, randomly record data on the tape. Such a sequential data format seems inefficient in view of data accessibility. As methods for improving data accessibility, servo tracking techniques are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,172,837 and 6,411,460. In these methods, servo bands are formed over a full width of a magnetic tape in advance, and by use of a magnetic tape drive, parts of the servo bands are erased and data is recorded on the erased parts.
However, even with these methods, the structure of the erased servo bands and the data format are still determined by a magnetic tape drive. Once a magnetic tape is recorded by a certain drive model, it may not be recorded by another model. In other words, neither different structures of the servo bands nor different data formats are allowed on a single magnetic tape.

Magnetic tape, magnetic tape cartridge, magnetic tape drive, and method for recording data on magnetic tape


An articulated self-propelled tug and boat trailer. The trailer is mounted on wheels and includes a laterally opposed pair of generally parallel spaced apart longitudinally extending hull supporting members connected by cross members. The hull supporting members are pivotable about the trailer wheels. Independently actuable hydraulic rams selectively or simultaneously elevate either or both of the longitudinally extending hull supporting members relative to the trailer wheels. The cross members which rigidly mount the hull supporting members to a universal articulatable joint having three rotational degrees of freedom. A self-propelled tug is the opposite side of the universal articulatable joint. Independent hydraulic rams independently and selectively pivot the trailer and the tug relative to each other about each of the three rotational degrees of freedom. The tug has drive wheels for selectively self-propelled translation of the tug and the trailer. The drive wheels are selectively pivotable to steer the tug.

Many marinas, instead of mooring boats, offer the service for their customers of dry land storage. In such facilities, a customer phones ahead to the marina when the customer desires to use the boat and the marina will then remove the boat from storage in a timely fashion, so that the customer does not have to wait for the boat to be put into the water. In many such marinas, space is at a premium and the greater the number of boats that may be stored in a particular facility, the greater the cost efficiency to the owner of the marina. Thus, the pressure is to increase the density of the dry land storage facilities. One limiting factor in the storage facility density is the size of the access lanes which must be provided to enable parking and removal of a boat from a storage slot. Conventional boat trailers and conventional propulsion devices for those trailers, such as trucks or other conventionally steered vehicles, require considerable access room in order to position a conventional trailer For boats other than very small boats, removing a boat trailer manually is not a viable option.
Consequently, there is a need in the marina service industry for a fully-articulated combination trailer and motorized tug which, because of its maneouverability, requires a decreased access lane size to insert or remove a boat carried thereon into a dry land storage slot
Additionally, if the trailer is also selectively elevatable, then, once the boat is positioned in the storage slot, the boat may be elevated and static stands placed beneath the hull so that the articulated trailer may be removed. It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide such a device.
Applicant is aware of U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,754 which issued Nov. 5, 1996, to Stimson for a Tractor and Trailer for Moving Loads in Confined Spaces. Stimson discloses independently-steerable wheels on the tractor. Applicant is also aware of U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,065 for a Trailer and U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,577 for a Self-propelled Mobile Cradle for Boats which teaches a trailer independently elevatable at its rear wheels. Applicant is also aware of U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,182 for a Multi-directional Adjustable Towing Hitch which discloses an trailer hitch articulated joint with two degrees of freedom.

Articulated self-propelled boat trailer and tug