An adjuvant composition which comprises an anionic macromolecule component particularly an ionic polysaccharide such as DEAE-dextran, and a saponin component, particularly an immunostimulating complex component. Immunogenic compositions comprising an immunogen and this adjuvant composition are also disclosed together with methods of use thereof.

Bibliographic details of the publications referred to by author in this specification are collected at the end of the description.
Adjuvants are included or added to vaccines and other immunogenic formulations, to increase and in some cases direct the immune response (see reviews by Gupta, 1998, Cox and Coulter, 1992, Azuma, 1992 and Aguado et al, 1999). It will be appreciated that some adjuvants, for example the oil in water and water in oil emulsions, are widely considered as strong adjuvants as they stimulate high levels of antibody, but the reactogenicity of such adjuvants precludes their routine use in many animal species or in man. The unacceptable reactogenicity has been demonstrated in many animals with the traditional Freunds' oil in water emulsion, to the extent that the use of this adjuvant in animals has been prohibited or discouraged in some countries, even for experimental purposes. The use of a combined oil in water/DEAE-dextran adjuvant in cattle (Hodgkinson et al, 1990) resulted in significant and undesirable reactions in 30% of the vaccinated animals.
The most widely used adjuvants in man and animals are based on insoluble aluminium salts, particularly the hydroxide and phosphate forms, commonly and collectively termed "alum". The recent review by Aguado et al (1999) highlights the ongoing need for stronger adjuvants in both man and animals for the development of more effective vaccines.
For example, with a wide range of soluble antigens, the immune response to such an antigen delivered alone is very poor, and in many cases is undetectable even after two vaccinations. Such antigens require the use of an adjuvant to stimulate a consistent immune response. It will be appreciated that known adjuvants offer a range of abilities to stimulate an immune response, most usually defined in terms of antibody response to the immunising antigen.
For haptens coupled to a carrier protein, it is widely recognised that a powerful adjuvant is required. For example, the hypothalmic peptide hormone LHRH is a 10 amino acid peptide that by itself is non-immunogenic. Coupling of LHRH to carrier proteins, for example diphtheria toxoid or ovalbumin provides the necessary T-cell help for an immune response to the LHRH hapten. For other large molecular weight and complex antigens, the T cell help is usually provided by T-cell epitopes within the molecule itself.
The use of DEAE-dextran as an adjuvant has been well described in the scientific literature. Wittman et al (1975), used DEAE-dextran to adjuvant a Foot and Mouth Virus (FMDV) vaccine in pigs, and showed that it induced very high levels of immunity. Houston et al (1976) used this adjuvant at a dose rate of 1-5 mg/kg body weight, to vaccinate monkeys with an equine virus and showed that it induced high titres of antibody. Beh and Lascelles (1985) have also used this adjuvant to immunise sheep with ovalbumin, and showed that it induced higher antibody titres than other soluble adjuvants. None of these studies considered the site reactivity of DEAE-dextran, but they did describe the significant adjuvant effects of DEAE-dextran in these animal species. DEAE-dextran has been used in deer with keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH) antigen (Hibma and Griffin, 1992). In this study, DEAE-dextran induced greater IgG responses to KLH than did Freunds adjuvant or alum.
The adjuvant properties of saponin have been long known, as has its ability to increase antibody titres to immunogens. As used herein, the term "saponin" refers to a group of surface-active glycosides of plant origin composed of a hydrophilic region (usually several sugar chains) in association with a hydrophobic region of either steroid or triterpenoid structure. Although saponin is available from a number of diverse sources, saponins with useful adjuvant activity have been derived from the South American tree Quillaja saponaria (Molina). Saponin from this source was used to isolate a "homogeneous" fraction denoted "Quil A" (Dalsgaard, 1974).
Dose-site reactivity is a major concern for both the veterinary and human use of Quil A in vaccine preparations. One way to avoid this toxicity of Quil A is the use of immunostimulating complexes (known as Iscoms™, an abbreviation for Immuno Stimulating COMplexes). This is primarily because Quil A is less reactive when incorporated into immunostimulating complexes, because its association with cholesterol in the complex reduces its ability to bind to cholesterol in cell membranes and hence its cell lytic effects. In addition, a lesser amount of Quil A is required to generate a similar level of adjuvant effect.
The immunomodulatory properties of the Quil A saponins and the additional benefits to be derived from these saponins when they are incorporated into an immunostimulating complex have been described in various publications, e.g. Cox and Coulter, 1992; Dalsgaard, 1974; Morein et al., Australian Patent Specifications Nos. 558258, 589915, 590904 and 632067.
Vaccination against the hypothalamic hormone luteinising hormone releasing hormone (referred to herein as "LHRH", also known as GnRH) has been demonstrated as an immunological method of controlling reproduction since the early 1970's (Fraser 1975, Jeffcoate et al 1982). Eliciting an immune response to LHRH prevents the release from the anterior pituitary of the hormones LH and FSH, which are required for the development and maintenance of the gonads—the testes in the male and ovaries in the female. Thus reduction of LH and FSH levels leads to loss of reproductive function.
De-sexing (or neutering) operations are the most widely practised surgical procedures in veterinary medicine and livestock animal management. A significant proportion of both sexes of domestic livestock and companion animals are routinely surgically de-sexed to prevent a variety of undesirable characteristics which accompany sexual maturity. The traits include fighting, wandering, sexual behaviour, loss of condition, tumours of reproductive organs and pregnancy.
The control of mating behaviour by vaccination with LHRH-conjugate vaccines in companion animals such as dogs, cats and horses, and in livestock specifically in male pigs and male and female cattle, has been identified as a goal as significant as the control of fertility.
Similarly, the control and treatment of disorders of the gonads and other reproductive organs, of both humans and animals, such as testicular cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate enlargement or endometriosis is of significance.
International Patent Application No. PCT/AU98/00532, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses that the efficacy of vaccination against LHRH is significantly improved when LHRH is administered as a conjugate with diphtheria toxoid and an ionic polysaccharide such as DEAE-dextran. However, although the efficacy is improved, this formulation nevertheless induces reactogenicity such as visible swelling, that may belong-lasting, at the site of administration. In some instances, such as where the formulation is used to vaccinate domestic pets (for example, dogs) or livestock destined for consumption the occurrence of such reactogenicity following vaccination against LHRH utilising this formulation is unacceptable. Accordingly, there is a need to develop a LHRH vaccine which exhibits both efficacy and low reactogenicity.
In one aspect of the work leading up to the present invention, it has been determined that reactogenicity of LHRH conjugated to diphtheria toxoid and an ionic polysaccharide can be reduced when a proportion of the ionic polysaccharide component is replaced with a saponin component, particularly an immunostimulating complex.

Saponin adjuvant compositions and methods relating thereto


A handrail for a gangway and a method for manufacturing the same where the handrail comprises a single, continuous piece of plastic.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of fall restraint equipment 100 comprising a stairwell 102, a platform 104, handrails 106, and a gangway 108. Stairwell 102 ascends to platform 104, where gangway 108 is connected. An optional cage 110 may be connected to gangway 108 if desired. Handrails 106 are located on the sides of platform 104 that are not connected to either gangway 108 or stairwell 102 in order to prevent a user from proceeding in a direction from the platform that does not lead to the gangway or the stairwell. In this example, the fall restraint equipment provides a user with access to a top 112 of a container 114 (such as a railway car).
FIG. 2 illustrates a gangway 200 that may be used as gangway 108 of FIG. 1. Gangway 200 comprises a base tread 202, which includes two posts or "uprights" 204 connected to base tread support 206. Uprights 204 are typically welded to base tread support 206 but may be connected to the support by other suitable means, such as by bolting. Base tread 202 is conventionally connected to a fixed structure, such as platform 18 (FIG. 1). A support structure or "underbody" 208 is pivotally connected to base tread support 206 at one end and is pivotally connected to another tread 210, such as a seatainer tread, at the other end. Seatainer tread 210 is comprised of uprights 212 and 214 connected to each side of a tread support 216. Each set of uprights 212 and 214 are interconnected by lateral posts 218 and 220. Lateral posts 218 and 220 may be referred to as "joiners," "connectors," or "spacer tubes." In this example, gangway 200 additionally comprises a pair of self-leveling supports 222 pivotally connected to underbody 208. Uprights 212 include top portions 226 that are configured to pivotally receive respective portions of a pair of handrails 224. Likewise, uprights 204 are configured to pivotally receive opposite ends of handrails 224. Gangway 200 may comprise additional components, such as a pair of supports, handrails, or "blocking rails" 228, as desired or needed.
FIG. 3 is a side view of a handrail 300 that may be used as handrail 224 of FIG. 2. Handrail 300 comprises a main body portion 302, a handle portion 304, a pair of end caps 306, a pair of lugs 308, and a pair of bronze bushings 310. Main body portion 302 is a metal tube that is sawed to a specific size from larger metal tubing stock material. As should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, the length of main body portion 302 depends on the size of the gangway to which it is attached. Similarly, handle portion 304 is manufactured from a metal tube exhibiting a diameter relatively smaller than that exhibited by the metal tubing used to manufacture main body portion 302. The metal tube is sawed to a specific size from larger stock material and is then bent near both ends at approximately 45° angles. The ends of handle portion 304 are then welded to main body portion 302.
Lugs 308 are also manufactured from larger pieces of stock metal. The stock metal is typically rectangular by nature and must therefore be plasma cut to form lugs 308. Each of lugs 308 is additionally plasma cut in order to define an aperture within the lug. Bronze bushings 310 are then pushed into the aperture, and lugs 308 are welded to main body portion 302. Ends caps 306 are specifically manufactured to fit the distal ends of main body portion 302. After caps 306 have been applied to the ends of main body portion 302, they are welded to the main body portion. Handrail 300 is then powder coated, which also requires heating the handrail. Lugs 308 and bronze bushings 310 are designed to allow handrail 300 to be connected to a gangway. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, for instance, the top portions of uprights 204 and 212, such as portions 226, are configured to receive lugs 308. For example, a connecting mechanism such as a carriage bolt or rod is inserted through apertures defined in one side of top portions 226, through bronze bushings 310, and through apertures defined in the other side of the top portions. Handrail 300 is connected to gangway 200 in this manner.
Manufacturing handrail 300 in this manner is both time-consuming and costly. Additionally, the drilling and cutting of the stock materials must be accomplished with precision in order to create a stable end product. Variances greater than an acceptable level render the smaller pieces unusable, which are typically discarded as it is often unfeasible to use them in another product once they have been drilled or cut. Moreover, if other parts cannot be cut or drilled from the remaining portions of the stock materials, they too are discarded. Further, different types and sizes of the metal stock material must be kept on hand in order to form the components of handrail 300 to be welded together. The inefficient yet inescapable use of stock material also increases the costs associated with manufacturing handrail 300.
FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary rotational molding process for creating a product comprised primarily of plastic. The rotational molding process consists of four separate steps. First, a hollow mold is made of the desired end product. Next, the mold is filled with a predetermined amount of polymer powder or resin. The powder can be pre-compounded to the desired color of the end product. Typically, the powdered resin is polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride ("PVC"), or nylons. An oven is preheated by convection, conduction, radiation, or any other suitable means to a temperature ranging between 500 and 700° F. (260 to 370° C.) depending on the polymer used. Once the powder is loaded into the mold, the mold is closed, locked, and loaded into the oven.
Inside the oven, the mold is rotated about two axes so that the polymer melts and coats the inside of the mold. The rotation speed is relatively slow, such as less than 20 rotations per minute. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the process does not involve centrifugal rotation. Alternatively, the polymer may be melted before rotation of the mold begins. It should be further understood that if the mold is heated for too long a period of time, the polymer will degrade, thereby reducing its impact strength. In contrast, if the mold is heated for too short of a period of time, the polymer will not melt completely and will not fully coalesce on the mold's walls. As a result, large bubbles may be created within the end product. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the amount of time the mold should be heated depends on certain variables including the shape, size, and configuration of the mold, as well as the polymer used. Heat transfer causes the plastic charge inside the mold to melt and uniformly coat or fill the interior of the mold. Additionally, applying a small amount of pressure internally to the mold during the heating process accelerates coalescence of the polymer. As a result, the end product is produced with fewer bubbles and in less time.
Once the heating process is complete, the mold is removed from the oven and cooled, which is typically accomplished though the use of fans. However, water cooling or a combination of the two may be used. Cooling allows the polymer to solidify to the desired shape, as well as shrink slightly so that it may then be handled and removed from the mold. As should be understood, the amount of time required to cool the polymer varies depending on the shape, size, and configuration of the mold, as well as the type of polymer used and the temperature to which it has been heated. It should be further understood that cooling the polymer at a pace too rapid may cause the polymer to shrink too fast and warp the end product.
Once the polymer has cooled sufficiently to be handled so that it can retain the end product's shape, the mold is opened and the product is removed. The process may then be repeated by adding the polymer powder to the mold and repeating.

Gangway handrail and method for manufacturing the same


A device (10) for use in the verification of handwriting, comprising: a body (12) having a surface (11) over which a writing instrument (8) is moved during the generation of a piece of handwriting; a transducer (14) for transducing stress-wave activity in the body (12) to an analogue time varying signal (15); and digitizing means (22) for converting the analogue time varying signal (15) into a digital signal (27, 31, 11), the digitizing means (22) comprising a sampler (22) arranged to under-sample the analogue time varying signal (15).

It is known from GB 2159998B to detect and store a time varying reference characteristic such as stress wave activity produced in a body by a writing instrument during the generation of a piece of handwriting e.g. a signature.
A contemporaneously created time varying test characteristic, such as stress wave activity produced in a body by a writing instrument during the generation of the same piece of handwriting, is then compared with the stored time varying reference characteristic. The comparison determines whether the reference and test characteristics have a common origination e.g. whether the pieces of handwriting have a common author.
It would be desirable to convert the analogue time varying signals into the digital domain. This would provide improved error correction facilities which would in turn enable the transmission of the time varying characteristic over a communication channel.
To achieve this, it would be necessary to add an analogue to digital conversion step to the above described process. For example, a time varying reference characteristic such as a stress wave activity produced in a body by a writing instrument during the generation of a piece of handwriting would be detected and converted to a digital reference signal. The digital reference signal would then be stored. A contemporaneously created time varying test characteristic, such as stress wave activity produced in a body by a writing instrument during the generation of the same piece of handwriting, would be converted to a digital test signal. The digital test signal would then be compared with the stored digital reference signal. The comparison would determine whether the time varying reference and test characteristics have a common origination e.g. whether the pieces of handwriting have a common author.
Nyquist's sampling criterion dictates the sampling rates required to convert an analogue signal to a digital signal. The criterion states "A signal having no significant spectral components above a frequency fH Hz is specified completely by its value at uniform spacings, no more than 1/(2 fH) seconds apart". This corresponds to fs ≧2fH (Hz) where fs is the sampling frequency and fH is the highest frequency component of the analogue time varying signal.
The analogue time varying signal described in GB 2159998B has a maximum frequency component typically in the range of 100 kHz. The analogue time varying signal should, according to Nyquist's sampling criterion, be sampled at greater than twice its frequency i.e. at a rate of at least 200 kHz. The digital representation of a 2 sec portion of the analogue time varying reference signal at a resolution of 32 bits would require 1.6 MB of memory and 400,000 samples. Consequently, if a substantial number of digital reference signals are to be stored together, significant storage capacity would be required. Furthermore, the comparison of the digital reference signal and the digital test signal at 400,000 points would be processor intensive, and may be difficult to perform in real time.
Nyquist's criterion is fundamental to digital electronics, so any reduction in bandwidth of the digital signal would traditionally have come from reducing the resolution to 8 or 16 bits.

Device and method for use in the verification of handwriting


A multi-color pixel array and method includes an organic active layer of a material emitting a first spectral distribution of visible light having a first color; a transparent conducting layer, each of which include portions that correspond to individual pixels and sub-pixels of the array; one or more pairs of electrodes for selectively energizing sub-pixel areas of the organic active layer to generate an emission of visible light of a first spectral distribution; wherein different sub-pixels within individual pixels of the array have different optical thicknesses based at least on corresponding sub-pixel portions of the transparent conducting layer having different optical thicknesses; and wherein at least one sub-pixel of has a selected color different from the first color due to at least one narrowed spectral band being selected out of the first spectral distribution as emitted light is coupled out of the display through the transparent conducting layer.

Electronic devices, in particular, organic electronic devices such as light emitting devices are used in a variety of applications, including, for example, flat panel displays, due to their high efficiency, low operation voltage, high brightness and easy fabrication process. Although polymeric light emitting diodes (PLEDs) with different emitting colors have been demonstrated, integration of color pixels of three primary colors onto a single substrate presents challenges, particularly with regard to ink-jet printing techniques and microcavity structures.
Organic light emitting devices in microcavity structures include an active layer disposed between two optical mirrors. The emitting color can be varied not only by the choice of active material used, but also by tuning the optical length between the two mirrors. The cavity may be constructed on a glass or quartz substrate with a dielectric mirror. The dielectric mirrors are made of alternating layers of titanium oxide or silicon nitride of high refractive index media and silicon oxide of low refractive index media which are deposited by electron beam, sputtering or laser ablation.
There remains a need for a method and device that provides a full color display.

Organic electronic device with microcavity structure


A charge-perpendicular-to-plane self-pinned magnetic tunnel junction sensor is provided. Additionally, a disk drive using a charge-perpendicular-to-plane self-pinned magnetic tunnel junction sensor as the read element is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to magnetic tunnel junction sensors typically used in magnetic disk drives and MRAM memory devices; and, more specifically to self-pinned magnetic tunnel junction sensors.
2. Description of the Background Art
Disk drives using magnetic recording of digital information store most of the information in contemporary computer systems. A disk drive has at least one rotating disk with discrete concentric tracks of data. Each disk drive also has at least one recording head typically having a separate write element and read element for writing and reading the data on the tracks. The recording head is constructed on a slider and the slider is attached to a suspension. The combination of the recording head, slider, and suspension is called a head gimbal assembly. In addition, there is an actuator which positions the recording head over the specific track of interest. The actuator first rotates to seek the track of interest and after positioning the recording head over the track, maintains the recording head in close registration to that track. The disk in a disk drive has a substrate and a magnetic layer formed over the substrate for magnetic recording. The slider carrying the recording head has a disk facing surface upon which an air bearing is constructed. The air bearing allows the slider to float on a cushion of air and to be positioned close to the disk surface. Alternatively, the slider surface facing the disk can be adapted for partial or continuous contact with the disk.
The read element in most contemporary disk drives is a current-in-plane (CIP) spin valve sensor. A spin valve sensor is a sandwich of layers including a ferromagnetic pinned layer, a nonmagnetic electrically conducting layer, and a ferromagnetic free layer. The resistance of the spin valve sensor changes with respect to the direction and magnitude of an applied magnetic field such as the field from a written magnetic transition on a disk. To detect the change in resistance, sense current is passed through the sensor. The sense current is passed along the plane defined by the sandwich of layers and accordingly the sensor is referred to as a current-in-plane (CIP) sensor. Generally, any other layers such as the substrate or seed layers associated with a CIP spin valve sensor should be formed from an electrically insulating material to avoid current shunting and subsequent loss of sensitivity of the sensor.
Current-perpendicular-to-plane (CPP) magnetic tunnel junction sensors are more sensitive than CIP spin valve sensors. Each new generation of disk drives generally has a higher density of recorded information. As the size of recorded bits of information on the disk is reduced, the sensitivity of the read element becomes more important. Thus, CPP magnetic tunnel junction sensors are desirable for high density magnetic recording applications. A CPP magnetic tunnel junction sensor operates according to a different physical principle than a CIP spin valve sensor. A CPP magnetic tunnel junction sensor includes a sandwich of layers including a pinned layer and free layer. The pinned layer is separated from the free layer by a thin nonmagnetic, insulating layer. Sense current is applied perpendicular to the plane of the sandwich of layers. The electrons of the sense current pass through the thin insulating layer according to a quantum mechanical effect called tunneling. The magnitude of the tunneling current depends on the direction of the magnetization in the free layer relative to the direction of the net magnetization in the pinned layer.
The direction of net magnetization in the pinned layer is typically held in place with an adjacent antiferromagnetic layer which is exchange coupled with the pinned layer. The antiferromagnetic layer is relatively thick and requires initialization to be effective. The initialization usually requires the antiferromagnetic layer be annealed at an elevated temperature in the presence of a magnetic field. Some tunnel junction sensors employ a second antiferromagnetic layer indirectly coupled to the free layer for magnetic bias stabilization of the free layer. This second antiferromagnetic layer also requires initialization and the required direction of the second magnetic annealing field is orthogonal to the direction of the magnetic annealing field used for the antiferromagnetic layer coupled to the pinned layer. Thus two initialization steps are required for a conventional magnetic tunnel junction sensor. Because of the complexity of using two orthogonal initialization magnetic fields, a conventional magnetic tunnel junction sensor with two antiferromagnetic layers is difficult to manufacture. All the layers in a CPP tunnel junction sensor except for the insulating layer between the pinned layer and the free layer are necessarily electrically conductive.
A CPP magnetic tunnel junction sensor is constructed between two magnetic shields in order to control the spatial resolution along the direction of the recorded track on the disk. As the gap between the two magnetic shields is reduced, the spatial resolution improves and the recording head is better able to support higher recorded densities. Thus it is very desirable for the sandwich of layers which comprise the sensor be as thin as possible. Thus what is needed is a CPP magnetic tunnel junction sensor which is very thin and easy to manufacture.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A priority determining unit determines a priority of a status of a device connected to a second bus that is connected, via a bridge, to a first bus to which a central processing unit and a storage unit are connected. A bus-status determining unit determines a use status of the second bus. A status writing unit writes the status to the storage unit based on a result of determination by the priority determining unit and a result of determination by the bus-status determining unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for reporting a status of a device connected to a second bus that is connected, through a bridge, to a first bus to which a central processing unit and a storage unit are connected, with a capability of improving the usability of the second bus by eliminating the nonessential use of the second bus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional technology, when a central processing unit (CPU) connected to a host bus (first bus) acquires a status of a device connected to a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus (second bus) that is connected to the host bus via a bridge, the CPU polls the status of the device.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a conventional device status reporting system. When a CPU 10 acquires, through a bridge 40, a status of a device C 800 that is connected to a PCI bus 50, the CPU 10 reads a status register 810 of the device C 800 through a host bus 30, the bridge 40, and the PCI bus 50. The technology in which the CPU reads the status of the device by polling is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S59-122257.
Instead of the CPU 10 that polls the device C 800, the device C 800 writes the status to a memory 20 using a direct memory access (DMA) function and the CPU 10 reads the memory 20, thereby acquiring the status of the device C 800. The technologies for writing a device status to a memory using the DMA function is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S57-103530, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-45095, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H09-204311.
In the case of a polling system, however, reading the status from the status register 810 is performed through the PCI bus 50 ((1) of FIG. 8), and in the case of a DMA system, writing the status to the memory 20 is performed through the PCI bus 50 ((2) of FIG. 8). Therefore, if an event of polling or DMA occurs during data transfer ((3) of FIG. 8) from a device A 60 to a device B 70, both of which are connected to the PCI bus 50, the data transfer is interrupted each time the event occurs, which leads to deterioration in data transfer efficiency of the PCI bus 50.

Status reporting apparatus and status reporting method


A vacuum conveyor made up of a plenum and a moving plastic chain with attached buckets shaped to guide and accept and emerging molded article which travelling at zero relative velocity operates as a picker device for a blow molding machine of the type having a rotating mold wheel.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to blow molding machine technology and more particularly to a vacuum picker for a blow bottle container which is adapted to take-off a bottle from the wheel of a blow molding machine and to place that container on a conveyor or other transport mechanism for subsequent handling.
2. The Prior Art
The prior art is exemplified by prior issued patents owned by the assignee of the present invention, and particularly U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,834,641, 4,919,879, 4,973,241, and 5,028,229. In those patents there is disclosed the utilization of a continuous drive closed circuit which is provided by a guide track means and forms a secondary path in which a carriage or trolley carrying an air actuated means for picking and holding a label for transport to a matched segmental transfer station at which the mold parts and the carriage move in unison at zero relative velocity during which the label is automatically deposited in a mold for application to the plastic part being formed by the mold. Such machines are so-called "in-mold labeling machines", (IML machines). However, whether the particular blow molding machines are IML machines or machines for blowing containers without labels pre-affixed to the container, some form of picker device must be utilized to facilitate the removal of the molded article from the wheel and to place it on a transport means, such as a conveyor belt, or some other form of mechanical transport means.
Most of the prior art machines presently in use utilize a reciprocating picker device which must be closely coordinated with the movement of the wheel or a vacuum arrangement which must likewise be coordinated with the movement of the wheel. With such prior art devices a reciprocating arm moves in and out of a retrieving zone, or the vacuum device, if such be used, is alternately turned on and off. Thus the molded article is more or less forcibly removed from the wheel. Oftentimes, in such prior art arrangements, the picker action utilizes a free gravitational fall in the course of transporting the molded article to a point of further utilization.

Method of picking blow molded articles from a blow molding machine


An image forming apparatus is disclosed. The image forming apparatus includes a photosensitive body, a magnetic roller disposed at a predetermined distance from the photosensitive body, and a donor roller disposed between the photosensitive body and the magnetic roller. The donor roller has a diameter larger than the closest distance between the photosensitive body and the magnetic roller. The image forming apparatus includes gap rings and pressing device to maintain desired gaps between the magnetic roller and the donor roller and between the donor roller and the photosensitive body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus capable of maintaining a gap between a donor roller and a magnetic roller and a gap between a donor roller and a photosensitive body to a predetermined gap.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus refers to an apparatus, in which an electrostatic latent image corresponding to a desired image is formed on a photosensitive body by an exposure unit, such as, e.g., a laser scanning unit. The electrostatic latent image is developed into a visible image by the use of developer, and the visible image is transferred and fused onto a printing medium. The image forming apparatus includes a developing unit which supplies the developer to the photosensitive body and develops the electrostatic latent image into a visible image.
For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a developing unit generally in use in an image forming apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the relevant portions of the developing unit depicted in FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a developing unit 200 includes a photosensitive body 220, a magnetic roller 240 to supply a developer to the photosensitive body 220, and a donor roller 230 mounted between the magnetic roller 240 and the photosensitive body 220.
In a one-component developing system, either using an insulating developer or a conductive developer, the donor roller 230 serves to make an image of high quality. In a two-component developing system using a magnetic carrier and a toner, the donor roller 230 serves to prevent the carrier of the magnetic roller 240 from moving to the photosensitive body 220.
To obtain a desired image quality, the developing unit 200 should maintain each of the gap between the donor roller 230 and the photosensitive body 220 (i.e., the developing gap) and the gap between the donor roller 230 and the magnetic roller 240 to be uniform. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates a holding member 281 formed with a pair of through-holes 282 and 283, through which the rotating shaft 231 of the donor roller and the rotating shaft 241 of the magnetic roller are respectively received and supported. This holding member 281 maintains uniform gaps between the donor roller 230 and the magnetic roller 240.
Also provided is an elastic member 285, which elastically supports one side of the holding member 281 and pushes the holding member 281 toward the photosensitive body 220. By the elastic bias imparted by the elastic member 285 on the holding member 281 toward the photosensitive body 220, the gap between the donor roller 230 and the photosensitive body 220 are maintained.
An image forming apparatus with the above described configuration, however, unfortunately, relies on the precisely formed through-holes and/or the rotating shafts to maintain the gaps, and thus often fails to maintain the gaps to the desired preset gaps.

Image forming apparatus including pressing unit to maintain gap between rollers


A power converter includes an inverter in an inverter case, and a DC/DC converter in a converter case detachably fixed to the inverter case. The inverter includes power semiconductor modules, and the DC/DC converter includes a down-converter circuit and/or a boost converter circuit. The inverter case includes first and second path-forming members thermally contacting the converter case. In the first path-forming member, the power semiconductor module is inserted into a first coolant path. In the second path-forming member, the power semiconductor module inserted into the second coolant path, which is parallel to the first coolant path. The DC/DC converter includes an inductance device, and a switching device board on which a switching device con rolling electric current in the inductance device is mounted. The inductance and switching devices are in an area of the converter case thermally contacting first and second path forming members.

An electric vehicle or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle is equipped with an inverter and a low voltage battery. The inverter is used to drive a motor with a high voltage battery for power-driving, and the low voltage battery is used to actuate auxiliary machines such as a vehicle light and a radio. This type of vehicle is equipped with a DC/DC converter which converts the power from the high voltage battery to the low voltage battery, or from the low voltage battery to the high voltage battery (see PTL 1, for example).
In such a vehicle, it is desired to improve the inhabitability by maximizing the proportion of interior room space to an entire vehicle volume. Therefore, it is desired that the inverter and the DC/DC converter be mounted in a minimum space outside the vehicle room, especially in an engine room.


A process for production of propylene can include simultaneously subjecting isobutanol to dehydration and skeletal isomerization to make a mixture of n-butenes and iso-butene. The n-butenes can be subjected to methathesis. The process can include introducing isobutanol into a dehydration/isomerization reactor and contacting the isobutanol with a catalyst at conditions effective to dehydrate and skeletal isomerase the isobutanol to make a mixture of n-butenes and iso-butene. A mixture of n-butenes and iso-butene can be recovered and fractionated to produce an n-butenes stream. The n-butenes stream can be sent to a methathesis reactor and contacted with a catalyst at conditions effective to produce propylene. A stream can be recovered from the methathesis reactor that includes propylene, unreacted n-butenes, heavies, and optionally unreacted ethylene. The stream can be fractionated to recover propylene, and the unreacted n-butenes and unreacted ethylene can optionally be recycled to the methathesis reactor.

Isobutanol (2-methyl-1-propanol) has historically found limited applications and its use resembles that of 1-butanol. It has been used as solvent, diluent, wetting agent, cleaner additive and as additive for inks and polymers. Recently, isobutanol has gained interest as fuel or fuel component as it exhibits a high octane number (Blend Octane R+M/2 is 102-103) and a low vapor pressure (RVP is 3.8-5.2 psi).
Isobutanol is often considered as a byproduct of the industrial production of 1-butanol (Ullmann's encyclopedia of industrial chemistry, 6th edition, 2002). It is produced from propylene via hydroformylation in the oxo-process (Rh-based catalyst) or via carbonylation in the Reppe-process (Co-based catalyst). Hydroformylation or carbonylation makes n-butanal and iso-butanal in ratios going from 92/8 to 75/25. To obtain isobutanol, the iso-butanal is hydrogenated over a metal catalyst. Isobutanol can also be produced from synthesis gas (mixture of CO, H2 and CO2) by a process similar to Fischer-Tropsch, resulting in a mixture of higher alcohols, although often a preferential formation of isobutanol occurs (Applied Catalysis A, general, 186, p. 407, 1999 and Chemiker Zeitung, 106, p. 249, 1982). Still another route to obtain isobutanol, is the base-catalysed Guerbet condensation of methanol with ethanol and/or propanol (J. of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical 200, 137, 2003 and Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 113-116, p. 913, 2004).
Recently, new biochemical routes have been developed to produce selectively isobutanol from carbohydrates. The new strategy uses the highly active amino acid biosynthetic pathway of microorganisms and diverts its 2-keto acid intermediates for alcohol synthesis. 2-Keto acids are intermediates in amino acid biosynthesis pathways. These metabolites can be converted to aldehydes by 2-keto-acid decarboxylases (KDCs) and then to alcohols by alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs). Two non-native steps are required to produce alcohols by shunting intermediates from amino acid biosynthesis pathways to alcohol production (Nature, 451, p. 86, 2008 and US patent 2008/0261230). Recombinant microorganisms are required to enhance the flux of carbon towards the synthesis of 2-keto-acids. In the valine biosynthesis 2-ketoisovalerate is on intermediate. Glycolyse of carbohydrates results in pyruvate that is converted into acetolactate by acetolactate synthase. 2,4-dihydroxyisovalerate is formed out of acetolactate, catalysed by isomeroreductase. A dehydratase converts the 2,4-dihydroxyisovalerate into 2-keto-isovalerate. In the next step, a keto acid decarboxylase makes isobutyraldehyde from 2-keto-isovalerate. The last step is the hydrogenation of isobutyraldehyde by a dehydrogenase into isobutanol.
Of the described routes towards isobutanol above, the Guerbet condensation, the synthesis gas hydrogenation and the 2-keto acid pathway from carbohydrates are routes that can use biomass as primary feedstock. Gasification of biomass results in synthesis gas that can be converted into methanol or directly into isobutanol. Ethanol is already at very large scale produced by fermentation of carbohydrates or via direct fermentation of synthesis gas into ethanol. So methanol and ethanol resourced from biomass can be further condensed to isobutanol. The direct 2-keto acid pathway can produce isobutanol from carbohydrates that are isolated from biomass. Simple carbohydrates can be obtained from plants like sugar cane, sugar beet. More complex carbohydrates can be obtained from plants like maize, wheat and other grain bearing plants. Even more complex carbohydrates can be isolated from substantially any biomass, through unlocking of cellulose and hemicellulose from lignocelluloses.
In the mid nineties, many petroleum companies attempted to produce more isobutene for the production of MTBE. Hence many skeletal isomerisation catalysts for the conversion of n-butenes into iso-butene have been developed (Adv. Catal. 44, p. 505, 1999; Oil & Gas Science and Technology, 54 (1) p. 23, 1999 and Applied Catalysis A: General 212, 97, 2001). Among promising catalysts are 10-membered ring zeolites and modified alumina's. The reverse skeletal isomerisation of iso-butene into n-butenes has not been mentioned.
The dehydration reactions of alcohols to produce alkenes have been known for a long time (J. Catal. 7, p. 163, 1967 and J. Am. Chem. Soc. 83, p. 2847, 1961). Many available solid acid catalysts can be used for alcohol dehydration (Stud. Surf. Sci. Catal. 51, p. 260, 1989). However, γ-aluminas are the most commonly used, especially for the longer chain alcohols (with more than three carbon atoms). This is because catalysts with stronger acidity, such as the silica-aluminas, molecular sieves, zeolites or resin catalysts can promote double-bond shift, skeletal isomerization and other olefin inter-conversion reactions. The primary product of the acid-catalysed dehydration of isobutanol is iso-butene:

The dehydration of alcohols with four or more carbons over solid acid catalysts is expected to be accompanied by the double-bond shift reaction of the alkene product. This is because the two reactions occur readily and at comparable rates (Carboniogenic Activity of Zeolites, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam (1977) p. 169). The primary product, iso-butene is very reactive in presence of acid catalyst because of the presence of a double bond linked to a tertiary carbon. This allows easy protonation, as the tertiary structure of the resulting carbocation is the most favourable one among the possible carbocation structures (tertiary>secondary>primary carbocations). The resulting t-butyl-cation undergoes easy oligo/polymerisation or other electrophilic substitution on aromatics or aliphatics or electrophilic addition reactions. The rearrangement of t-butyl-cation is not a straightforward reaction as, without willing to be bound to any theory, involves an intermediate formation of secondary or primary butyl-cation and hence the probability of secondary reactions (substitutions or additions) is very high and would reduce the selectivity for the desired product.
Dehydration of butanols has been described on alumina-type catalysts (Applied Catalysis A, General, 214, p. 251, 2001). Both double-bond shift and skeletal isomerisation has been obtained at very low space velocity (or very long reaction time) corresponding to a GHSV (Gas Hourly Space Velocity=ratio of feed rate (gram/h) to weight of catalyst (ml)) of less than 1 gram·ml−1·h−1.
The U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,513 discloses that tungsten on silica is a suitable metathesis catalyst.
The FR2608595 patent discloses a process for making propylene by metathesis of 2-butene with ethylene over a catalyst containing Rhenium supported on a alumina containing carrier in a moving bed reaction zone at from 0 to 100° C., followed by a reoxidation of the catalyst at a higher temperature and reusing the catalyst.
EP304515 discloses a metathesis process for reacting 1-butene with 2-butene to give propene and pentenes, which is carried out in a reactive distillation apparatus using Re2O7/Al2O3 as catalyst.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,676 discloses the metathesis over MoO3 and CoO on Al2O3 of 1-butene with 2-butene to give propene and pentene.
The U.S. Pat. No. 7,473,812 discloses a process to remove iso-butene from a butenes mixture by a process for coproducing butene oligomers and tert-butyl ethers by partly oligomerizing the iso-butene over an acidic catalyst to give butene oligomers and subsequently etherifying the remaining isobutene with an alcohol under acidic catalysis to give tert-butyl ethers.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,433 discloses a process for the conversion of C4 or C5 cuts to an alkyl-t-butylether or alkyl-t-amylether and propylene by metathesis. The plant comprises four successive stages: (i) selective hydrogenation of diolefins with simultaneous isomerisation of the alpha olefins into internal olefins, (ii) etherification of the iso-olefins, (3) elimination of oxygen-containing impurities and (4) metathesis of internal olefins with ethylene.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,495,732 describes a process to isomerise mono-olefins in aliphatic hydrocarbon streams at 40 to 300° F. under low hydrogen partial pressure in the range of about 0.1 psi to less than 70 psi at 0 to 350 psig in a distillation column reactor containing a hydrogenation catalyst which serves as a component of a distillation structure, such as supported PdO encased in tubular wire mesh. Essentially no hydrogenation of the mono-olefins occurs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,911 discloses a process for isobutene oligomerization in the presence of a fixed bed cation exchange resin at a temperature in the range from 30° to 60° C. and a LHSV of from 2.5 to 12 h−1.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,830 describes an enhanced dimer selectivity of a butene oligomerization process using SPA (supported phosphoric acid) catalyst, by diluting the butene feed with a heavy saturate stream comprising paraffins having a carbon number of at least 8.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,877,372 discloses dimerization of isobutene in the presence of isooctane diluent and tert-butyl alcohol (at least 1 wt-% and preferably 5 to 15 wt-%), over a sulfonic acid type ion exchange resin such as Amberlyst A-15, Dowex 50 or the like, at temperatures in the range 10° to 200° C. and pressures in the range of 50 to 500 psig. It is suggested that tert-butyl alcohol improves the selectivity of dimer formation and reduces the formation of trimer and higher oligomers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,689,927 describes a low temperature butene oligomerization process having improved selectivity for dimerization and improved selectivity for the preferred 2,4,4-trimethylpentene isomer, caused by carrying out oligomerization in the presence of an SPA catalyst at a temperature below 112° C. in the presence of a saturated hydrocarbon diluent having a carbon number of at least 6.
The U.S. Pat. No. 7,220,886 discloses a process for the production of propylene from the metathesis of ethylene and 2-butene wherein a mixed C4 stream is first treated to enrich and separate the 2-butene from 1-butene and iso-butene and concurrent fractional distillation of the 2-butene and iso-butene to provide the 2-butene feed the metathesis with ethylene. In addition the mixed C4 stream may be treated to remove mercaptans and dienes prior to 2-butene enrichment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,686,510 discloses a process for pretreating a metathesis feed and forming a high purity isobutene product. The olefinic C4 stream is selectively hydrogenated to remove dienes and butynes and then distilled in a reaction distillation column that incorporates a catalyst for hydroisomerization of butene-1 to butene 2.
The international patent application W0 2005-110951 describes a process for the production of propylene via metathesis of n-butenes that have been obtained via skeletal isomerisation of iso-butene which is produced from t-butanol via dehydration.
Metathesis (co-metathesis) reaction between ethylene and butene-2 allows producing propylene from n-butenes. However, the presence of iso-butene has to be minimised in a metathesis reaction as iso-butene results in heavier hydrocarbons and hence loss of potential butene-2 that can make more propylene. The following show various metathesis reactions:
Co-Metathesis
Autometathesis
Heavies Formation During Metathesis in Presence of Iso-Butene

Tungsten based catalyst are one of the most preferred catalyst used in the industry. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,575 and Journal of Molecular Catalysis, Vol. 28, p. 117 (1985) describe the metathesis reaction between ethylene and 2-butene at 330° C. over silica-supported tungsten oxide catalyst, the conversion of butene being only 31%, while when magnesium oxide is used as a co-catalyst, the conversion increases to 67%. Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,098 reports that for metathesis reaction at 330° C., the use of magnesium oxide, supported on γ-alumina increases the conversion of butene to 75%. It is also reported in U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,760 that lower temperature of 270° C. (the butene conversion is maintained at 74%) can be used when both magnesium oxide and lithium hydroxide are supported on γ-alumina.
Several techniques have been proposed to remove iso-butene upstream of a metathesis reactor. A first one is to convert the iso-butene into methyl-t-butyl-ether or ethyl-t-butyl-ether by reaction with methanol or ethanol respectively over acid-type catalysts. The ethers can be used as gasoline components. A second one is to convert iso-butene into oligomers over acid-type catalysts. The oligomers, mainly iso-octenes and iso-dodecenes can be used as gasoline component, either as such or after hydrogenation. A third one is the catalytic hydration of iso-butene into tertiary butylalcohol over acid-type catalyst. A fourth one is to distil the C4 fraction in a superfractionator. As the boiling points of iso-butene and 1-butene are very close, this can be done in a catalytic distillation column that converts the 1-butene continuously into 2-butene over a catalyst, the latter being significantly heavier than the iso-butene and goes to the bottom of the distillation tower. In a preferred method the isobutene is removed by catalytic distillation combining hydroisomerization and superfractionation. The hydroisomerization converts 1-butene to 2-butene, and the superfractionation removes the isobutene, leaving a relatively pure 2-butene stream. The advantage to converting the 1-butene to 2-butene in this system is that the boiling point of 2-butene (1° C. for the trans isomer, 4° C. for the cis isomer) is further away from the boiling point of isobutylene (−7° C.) than that of 1-butene (−6° C.), thereby rendering the removal of isobutene by superfractionation easier and less costly and avoiding the loss of 1-butene overhead with the isobutylene. The isomerisation catalyst, placed in the distillation column can be any catalyst that has isomerisation activity under the typical conditions of the distillation column. Preferred catalysts are palladium containing catalysts that are known to isomerise mono-olefins in the presence of small amounts of hydrogen. Often at the same time traces of diolefins can be converted into mono-olefins in presence of hydrogen.
It has now been discovered that the dehydration of isobutanol and the skeletal isomerisation of the iso-butyl moiety of isobutanol can be carried out simultaneously and that the resulting mixture of iso-butene and n-butenes, optionally depleted from iso-butene so that the remaining n-butenes can be efficiently used in the metathesis with ethylene or in autometathesis to produce propylene.
It is also part of the present invention that in the case an iso-butene enriched fraction is produced by distillation that this iso-butene fraction can be further converted into n-butenes by recycling it over the simultaneous dehydration/isomerisation reactor.
By way of example it has been discovered that for the simultaneous dehydration and skeletal isomerisation of isobutanol, crystalline silicates of the group FER, MWW, EUO, MFS, ZSM-48, MTT, MFI, MEL or TON having Si/Al higher than 10,
or a dealuminated crystalline silicate of the group FER, MWW, EUO, MFS, ZSM-48, MIT, MFI, MEL or TON having Si/Al higher than 10,
or a phosphorus modified crystalline silicate of the group FER, MWW, EUO, MFS, ZSM-48, MIT, MFI, MEL or TON having Si/Al higher than 10,
or molecular sieves of the type silicoaluminophosphate of the group AEL
or silicated, zirconated, titanated or fluorinated alumina's,
have many advantages.
Said dehydration can be made with a WHSV (Weight Hourly Space Velocity=ratio of feed flow rate (gram/h) to catalyst weight) of at least 1 h−1, at a temperature from 200 to 600° C. and using a isobutanol-diluent composition from 30 to 100% isobutanol at a total operating pressure from 0.05 to 1.0 MPa.
By way of example, in the dehydration/isomerisation of isobutanol on a ferrierite having a Si/Al ratio from 10 to 90 and with a WHSV of at least 2 h−1 to make n-butenes beside iso-butene, the isobutanol conversion is at least 98% and often 99%, advantageously the butenes (iso and n-butenes) yield is at least 90%, the n-butenes selectivity is between 5% and the thermodynamic equilibrium at the given reaction conditions.
The isobutanol conversion is the ratio (isobutanol introduced in the reactor−isobutanol leaving the reactor)/(isobutanol introduced in the reactor).
The n-butenes yield is the ratio, on carbon basis, (n-butenes leaving the reactor)/(isobutanol introduced in the reactor).
The n-butenes selectivity is the ratio, on carbon basis, (n-butenes leaving the reactor)/(isobutanol converted in the reactor).
The simultaneous dehydration/isomerisation of isobutanol results in a mixture of n-butenes (but-1-ene and but-2-ene) and iso-butene. According to the present invention, often a composition close to thermodynamic equilibrium is obtained while maintaining the high yield of total butenes. The thermodynamic equilibrium for n-butenes varies between 50 and 65% and for iso-butene between 35 and 50% depending on operating conditions. An important advantage of the present invention is that the composition resembles the composition of a raffinate I C4 cut obtained from a steam naphtha cracker. Raffinate I is obtained by removing butadiene from the raw C4 cut produced on a steam naphtha cracker. Typical compositions are: 35-45% isobutane, 3-15% butanes and the remaining 52-40% n-butenes. Said product from the simultaneous dehydration/isomerisation can readily replace the use of raffinate I in existing petrochemical plants. The result is that capital investment can be minimised and that the derivatives from such iso-butene/n-butenes mixture can hence be produced from renewable resources instead of fossil resources simply by substituting fossil raffinate I by the product of the present invention.
EP 2090561 A1 describes the dehydration of an alcohol on crystalline silicates to get the corresponding olefin. Ethanol, propanol, butanol and phenylethanol are cited. Only ethanol is used in the examples. Nothing is cited about isobutanol and isomerisation thereof.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Production of propylene via simultaneous dehydration and skeletal isomerisation of isobutanol on acid catalysts followed by metathesis


The present invention relates to a prism sheet employed in a backlight unit. The prism sheet according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a coating layer having a resin transmitting the incident light from the outside; and a plurality of beads contained in the resin and scattering the incident light; a base film disposed on the coating layer and transmitting the light; and a plurality of prisms disposed on the base film, and refracting and condensing the light transmitted from the base film. The prism sheet of the present invention may not be deformed even if the temperature of the backlight unit is increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a prism sheet employed in a backlight unit, particularly a prism sheet having no structural deformation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (hereinafter, referred to as "LCD") device is an electronic device changing and conveying various electric information generated from various apparatuses to visual information by using change of transmissivity of liquid crystals.
The LCD device is a device displaying information, but has no self-light emitting source. Thus, the LCD device needs a separate device in the backside in order to brighten the whole screen of the LCD device uniformly. The device providing a light is a backlight unit (hereinafter, referred to as "BLU").
According to the installation method of cold cathode fluorescent lamp (hereinafter, referred to as "CCFL"), the BLU may be made in two methods: a direct-light method in which a lamp is located under an LCD panel, and an edge-light method in which a lamp is disposed on the side of a light guiding plate.
FIG. 1 is a cross-cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional BLU of a LCD device, and FIG. 2 is a cross-cross-sectional view illustrating the constitution of a prism sheet in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, the BLU is driven by the edge-light method, and includes a light source unit 110, a light guiding plate 120, a reflective sheet 130, and an optical film 140.
The light source unit 110 includes at least one CCFL 112 and a light source reflector 114.
The CCFL 112 generates a light having a predetermined wavelength.
The light source reflector 114 reflects the light generated from the CCFL 112 to the light guiding plate 120, and then the amount of incident light to the light guiding plate 120 is increased.
The light generated from the CCFL 112 is reflected by the light source reflector 114 and the reflective sheet 130. Then, the reflecting light is diffused uniformly through the light guiding plate 120.
The optical film 140 includes a diffuser 142, a prism sheet 144 and a protection sheet 146.
The light which is diffused uniformly in the light guiding plate 120 passes through the diffuser 142. The diffuser 142 makes the brightness uniformly, and widens the viewing angle of the LCD.
The brightness of light passed through the diffuser 142 is decreased rapidly. To prevent it, a prism sheet 144 is used.
In FIG. 2, the prism sheet 144 includes a base film 150, a prism base 152, and a plurality of prisms 154. Here, the prism base 152 and the prisms 154 are formed in sequence on the base film 150. The prism sheet 144 refracts the light that is transmitted from the diffuser 142, is incident to the base film 150, and passes through the prisms 154. Then, the incident light with low angle is condensed in the direction of the protection sheet 146, and the brightness is increased within effective viewing angle of the LCD.
The protection sheet 146 is disposed on the prism sheet 144, and prevents the prism sheet 144 from scratch, and widens the viewing angle of the LCD which is narrowed by the prism sheet 144.
In case BLU 100 continues to be used, the temperature of BLU 100 is increased by heat generated from CCFL 112.
Accordingly, the prism sheet 144 was deformed or rumpled by heat, and the function of the prism sheet 144 is deteriorated.
Also, the prism sheet 144 may be scratched by a slight impact.

Prism sheet employed in a backlight unit


Described herein are methods to enhance the production of more highly fermentable carbohydrates in plants, especially forage grasses. The invention provides for transgenic plants transformed with expression vectors containing a DNA sequence encoding ferulic acid esterase I from Aspergillus, preferably A. niger. The expression vectors may optionally comprise a DNA sequence encoding xylanase from Trichoderma, preferably T. reesei. Expression of the enzyme(s) is targeted to specific cellular compartments, in specific tissues and under specific environmental conditions. Uses of this invention include, but are not limited to, forage with improved digestibility for livestock, and enhanced biomass conversion.

The present crisis in livestock agriculture has prompted a resurgence of interest in grass-fed animals. However, while a high-forage diet may be desirable, it does not currently satisfy the demands of modern animal production. For the animal to make efficient use of the forage it consumes, the energy demands of the microorganisms in the rumen must be met and synchronized with the availability of plant proteins. Otherwise this lack of synchrony will lead to (a) proteins and other nutrients being poorly utilized in the rumen, (b) loss of nitrogen, in urine and feces and therefore, the environment and (c) the need to feed excessive amounts of protein concentrates as supplements to the ruminant diet.
Cellulose and hemicellulose in grass and maize tissues could meet the energy requirements of the ruminant or provide new feed-stocks for industrial fermentation to ethanol. This potential is not currently realized because the cell walls are lignified and the cell wall polysaccharides highly cross-linked with phenolic residues and lignin, resulting in low rates of plant cell wall digestion in comparison to rates of protein breakdown in ruminants. This is a particular problem for the most important forages in Europe, the ryegrasses Lolium perenne and L. mutiflorum as well as one of the major impediments to the wider use of better adapted species, such as Festuca arundinacea, as a forage crop. Increasing the digestibility index of grasses has therefore been a major breeding objective for several decades but progress has been slow due to difficulties in fixing natural variation in the synthetic varieties derived from these outbreeding species (Hayward, et al., TAG 70:48 (1985)).
Removing labile phenolics by chemical treatment with alkali is known to increase the biodegradability and nutritional value of low-quality feed such as cereal straw, and is employed commercially for feed upgrading. Reducing phenolic cross-linking of cell wall carbohydrates is therefore a predictable way of improving the rate of digestion and digestibility of ryegrass. However chemical modification may have other disadvantages. Therefore, genetic modification would be a preferable method of changing the cell wall chemistry of highly digestible varieties. Many in the field are pursuing this approach. An alternative, however, is to use genetic modification to reduce the levels of phenolic acids in the cell walls available for crosslinking either by directly disrupting ester bonds linking phenolics and lignins to cell wall polysaccharides or by preventing excessive ferulation of cell wall carbohydrates prior to their incorporation into the cell wall.
This invention meets this and other needs by using targeted or inducible expression of cell wall degrading enzymes in plants.

Manipulation of the phenolic acid content and digestibility of plant cell walls by targeted expression of genes encoding cell wall degrading enzymes


A charging cable has a current sensor, a charging state indicator and logic circuitry to operate the indicator based on detected levels of current flow to a chargeable device. If the sensor detects current is below a low threshold, the logic circuitry operates the indicator to indicate that the cable is not connected to any chargeable device. If the sensor detects current at or above a higher threshold, the logic circuitry operates the indicator to provide a perceptible output indicating that the cable is connected to the chargeable device and the current is charging the battery. If the sensor detects current at or above the low threshold but below the high threshold, the logic circuitry operates the indicator to provide a perceptible output indicating that the cable is connected to a chargeable device but is not charging the battery of the device, e.g. when the battery is, or is nearly, fully charged.

Many types of electronic devices, such as portable or wearable devices, have integrated electronics requiring an onboard power supply in the form of a battery. From time to time, such a device is coupled to a source of power to charge the battery. This approach to charging for electronic devices often uses a charging cable connected to a suitable receiver on the electronic device. The chargeable device may provide an indication to the user of the state of the charge on the battery, including during progress of battery charging.

Charging cable with charge state indication


An oil-pump drive for an internal-combustion engine, in particular for a motorcycle. The drive includes an oil pump, in the housing of which is arranged at least one rotor member for supplying a volumetric flow of oil, wherein the rotor is driven via the crankshaft of the internal-combustion engine. It is proposed that the rotor of the oil pump is connected to a shaft driven directly by the crankshaft. In this way, the oil pump is directly driven in a simple manner.

This invention relates to an oil-pump drive for an internal-combustion engine and a method of making an oil-pump drive for an internal combustion engine, in particular for a motorcycle.
It is known from the prior art to ensure the oil supply in an internal-combustion engine by means of gear pumps (see e.g. EP 0 451 684 A1) or internally-geared rotor pumps. It is also known to drive such oil pumps indirectly via the crankshaft using a chain or gear transmission. However, these arrangements are expensive because they require corresponding transmission members, require additional installation space, and play an important role in noise generation. Furthermore, internally-geared rotor-pump arrangements are known in which the inner rotor is pressed onto the crankshaft and is mounted in the oil-pump housing together with the outer rotor.
The present invention provides an improved motorcycle engine having a crankshaft, an oil pump coupled for rotation with the crankshaft, and a primary gear positioned between the oil pump and the crankshaft. Because the rotor of the oil pump is driven directly by a shaft via the crankshaft, additional drive components such as chains, gears and the like can be dispensed with.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a particularly simple and inexpensive connection of the oil-pump rotor to the crankshaft can be achieved if a gear arranged on the crankshaft collar has a central opening into which the shaft of the oil pump is inserted in a rotationally fixed manner. A simple positive connection between the gear and the rotor shaft can be achieved if the inserted end of the shaft and the opening in the gear are square. In alternative embodiments of the present invention, this same positive connection can be achieved by inserting a shaft having any other shape that can transmit torque into a similarly shaped opening in the primary gear.
In the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, the gear arranged on the crankshaft collar is advantageously fixed thereto by fasteners (for example bolts, screws, pins, and the like) arranged radially around the central opening, the gear simultaneously being usable as a drive for an intermediate shaft and a coupling. However, in a second preferred embodiment, the primary gear is integral with the crankshaft collar, thus eliminating the need for fasteners.
The oil pump is advantageously formed as an internally-geared rotor pump in which the inner rotor is driven by the shaft inserted into the gear of the crankshaft. Further advantageous embodiments and improvements of the oil-pump drive according to the invention for an internal-combustion engine are described below.

Oil-pump drive for an internal-combustion engine

Harley-Davidson Motor Company Group, Inc.


Methods for characterizing a geological formation, the methods include retrieving measured data provided by a measuring tool along one or more logged borehole length for a borehole, another borehole or both in order to produce a borehole imaging log. Selecting depth-defined intervals of the borehole imaging log as training images for inputting in a multi-point geostatistical model. Determining pattern based simulations for each training image using a pixel-based template of the multi-point geostatistical model so as to obtain training image patterns. Using the pattern based simulation of each training image to assign to each of the training image a corresponding training image pattern. Constructing from the training image patterns one or more fullbore image log of a borehole wall of the borehole. Repeat the second to fourth steps through the one or more logged borehole length in order to construct fullbore images from successive, adjacent training images.

Electrical and acoustic borehole-imaging tools are widely used to log subsurface boreholes to locate and map the boundaries between rock layers (i.e., bed boundaries), and to visualize and orient fractures and faults
Electrical borehole images run in water-based mud, such as Schlumberger's FMI (Formation MicroImager) log, are based on dipmeter technology that has been commercially available since the 1950's (Bigelow, 1985a, b, c, d, e; Gilreath, 1987; Adams et al., 1987; Hurley, 2004). FIG. 1 is an illustration of the tool configuration and basic principles behind dipmeter logs. Electrical borehole-imaging tools are, in essence, sophisticated dipmeters. The imaging tools have micro resistivity electrodes arranged around the wellbore on pads that are pressed against the borehole wall. The evolutionary trend from dipmeters to borehole images has been from a few electrodes to complex arrays of electrodes on multiple pads (between 4 to 6 pads, with or without flaps).
The data acquisition sequence for these tools generally runs as follows. Tools are first run into the hole with the pads closed. At the start of the log run, either four, six, or eight pads are pressed against the borehole wall. The number of pads depends on the logging device which is being used. Electrical current is forced into the rock through the electrodes, and remote sensors measure the current after it interacts with the formation (FIG. 2). Raw data include multiple electrode readings, calliper readings from individual pads or pairs of pads, and x-, y-, and z-axis accelerometer and magnetometer readings. Borehole deviation and the first pad (pad 1 for the tool) orientation are determined from the magnetometers. The sample rate for electrode and accelerometer data can be high, of the order of 120 samples/ft (400 samples/m).
Areal coverage of the borehole face is a function of width of the electrode arrays, number of pads, and borehole diameter. In general, 40 to 80% of the borehole face is imaged in typical boreholes. Non-imaged parts of the borehole appear as blank strips between the pads on the resulting borehole log.
Depth of investigation is small, generally less than 1 in (2.5 cm) into the formation (Williams, C. G., Jackson, P. D., Lovell, M. A., and Harvey, P. K., 1997, Assessment and interpretation of electrical borehole images using numerical simulations: The Log Analyst, v. 38, No. 6, p. 34-44). Logging rate, which is comparable to other openhole logs, is 1,600 to 1,800 ft/hr (500 to 550 m/hr). Pressure and temperature limitations are comparable to those placed on conventional logging tools.
Typically, a processed electrical borehole image is basically a map of resistivity of the rock-fluid system at the borehole face. Because it is more difficult to examine borehole images in 3-D, it is common to split the borehole along true north, then unroll the cylinder until it becomes a 2-D view. FIG. 3 represents the schematic diagram of a vertical, cylindrical borehole intersected by a planar feature such as a steeply dipping fracture. The intersection between the plane and the cylinder is either a circle or an oval. To view the borehole in two dimensions, the cylinder is generally cut along a line with an azimuth of true north (N). When the cylinder is flattened, the line of intersection of an oval trace becomes a sinusoidal curve. In highly deviated and horizontal wells, it is common to split the borehole image along the top of the hole. Planar features that intersect the cylindrical borehole appear as sine waves in the 2-D view.
Data processing is done on workstation, PC, or mainframe computers using commercially available software. Processing steps involve correcting the directional data, that is, first pad (pad 1) azimuth (tool orientation) and hole azimuth, for magnetic declination. Some programs also correct for magnetic inclination. Note that magnetic declination varies with time and space. Charts and computer programs are available to compute magnetic declination for any location in the world on any logging date. Next, accelerometer corrections are applied, making sure that the accelerometer curve is depth matched with the resistivity traces. The accelerometer accounts for differential sticking, speed variations, and resonant vibrations that occur as the tool moves up the hole. Finally, resistivity traces must be depth shifted using physical tool specifications, so that different rows of buttons are in line where the same slice of the borehole, perpendicular to the tool, was imaged. At very small scales (less than 6 in; 15 cm), nonlinear depth shifts occur that may not be correctable by conventional data-processing algorithms. As a result, not every surface that shows electrical contrast is exactly on depth.
Typically, borehole images are created by assigning colour maps to different bins or ranges of resistivity values. Colour pixels are then arranged in their proper geometric position around the wellbore. By convention, low-resistivity features, such as shales or fluid-filled fractures, are displayed as dark colours. High-resistivity features, such as sandstones and limestones, are displayed as shades of brown, yellow, and white (FIG. 4, representing small-scale fault, or microfault (M), and bed boundaries (B) in a sand and shale interval). Note the images can also be on gray scale wherein black corresponds to low resistivity and white to high resistivity. The shales occur in the lower part of the section. Examples for creating borehole images can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,406,776, 4,567,759 and 5,200,705.
Two main types of processed borehole images are available: static and dynamic. Static images are those which have had one contrast setting applied to the entire well. They provide useful views of relative changes in rock resistivity throughout the borehole. Static images can be calibrated in ohm-m to devices such as the Schlumberger's LLS log(Shallow Latero-log), a shallow-reading resistivity log. With normal processing, borehole images are uncalibrated. Images can be corrected for EMEX voltage, a background voltage that is adjusted on the logging truck to improve image quality. Dynamic images, which have had variable contrast applied in a moving window, provide enhanced views of features such as vugs, fractures, and bed boundaries. Dynamic images bring out subtle features in rocks that have very low resistivities, such as shales, and very high resistivities, such as carbonates and crystalline rocks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,163, herein incorporated by reference, relates to the analysis of textural features, specifically vugs, using borehole images.
High mud resistivities (greater than 50 ohm-m), typical of oil-based muds, are unsuitable for most electrical borehole images. Since 2001, Schlumberger's OBMI (Oil-Base MicroImager), has been available for oil-based muds. This tool generates borehole images by passing electrical current into the formation from two large electrodes on each pad, which is at a high voltage (about 300V). There is a series of closely spaced buttons, located in two rows of 5 on each of the 4 pads. Borehole images are generated from the potential difference (voltage drop) between the closely spaced electrodes. Wide gaps, corresponding to non-imaged parts of the borehole, are common between pads. This problem can be partially addressed by using 2 passes of the OBMI. An alternative is to use the Dual OBMI, a tool string with 2 OBMI tools mounted adjacent to each other, with the pads of one tool rotated with respect to the other.
Borehole images can be acquired during drilling (LWD, logging-while-drilling). Examples of Schlumberger logging tools are the GVR (GeoVision Resistivity) and ADN (Azimuthal Density Neutron) tools. The GVR uses rotating electrodes, and works in water-based mud. The ADN generates images from azimuthal density readings, and works in any mud. Borehole coverage is complete, with no gaps. However, downward-facing results are generally more reliable because of minimized tool standoff from the borehole wall.
Acoustic borehole images, also known as borehole televiewers, are based on technology first developed in the 1960's (Zemanek, J., Glenn, E. E., Norton, L. J., and Caldwell, R. L., 1970, Formation evaluation by inspection with the borehole televiewer: Geophysics, v. 35, p. 254-269). The UBI (Ultrasonic Borehole Imager) is Schlumberger's primary acoustic tool for open-hole applications. The UBI tool, which is centralized in the well, has a rotating transducer that emits and records sound waves that bounce off of the borehole wall. Both acoustic amplitude and travel time are recorded and processed into images. Normally, borehole coverage is 100%, with no gaps in the images. However, poor-quality images may result when the tool is decentralized, or the borehole wall is irregular.
Therefore, as discussed above, because electrical logging tools are pad-type devices with fixed arrays of electrodes, it is common to have gaps with missing information between the pads. Electrical and acoustic logs commonly have intervals with poor data quality due to non-functioning electrodes, insufficient pad pressure, borehole irregularities, rock debris, decentralized tools, and poor acoustic reflections.
Geostatistics is a discipline concerned with spatially distributed random variables (also called "regionalized variables"), usually applied to problems in the earth sciences, such as estimation of mineral reserves and delineation of mineral deposits, hydrocarbon reservoirs, and groundwater aquifers. Typically it makes use of two-point statistics summarized in a variogram. Multipoint (or multiple-point) geostatistics (MPS) differs from the rest of variogram-based geostatistics primarily in that it characterizes spatial variability using patterns (sets of points) that involve higher order (much greater than order 2) statistics.
Multipoint geostatistical methods have been demonstrated to be computationally feasible and have been tested on real datasets as set forth in i) Strebelle, "Conditional simulation of complex geological structures using multiple-point statistics", Mathematical Geology, v. 34, n. 1, 2002, pp. 1-22, ii) Strebelle et al., "Modeling of a deepwater turbidite reservoir conditional to seismic data using principal component analysis and multiple-point geostatistics," SPE Journal, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2003, pp. 227-235, and iii) Liu et al., "Multiple-point simulation integrating wells, three-dimensional seismic data, and geology," American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin v. 88, no. 7, 2004, pp. 905-921.
Multipoint geostatistical methods use a numerical training image to represent the spatial variability of geological information. The training image provides a conceptual quantitative description of the subsurface geological heterogeneity, containing possibly complex multipoint patterns of geological heterogeneity. Multipoint statistics conditional simulation anchors these patterns to well data (and/or outcrop data) and to the seismic-derived information (and/or probability field information or constraint grid(s)). An example of such method is described in US-2007-0014435, assigned to Schlumberger Technology Corporation.
Geostatistics relies on the well-known concept of random variables. In simple terms, continuous or discrete properties at various spatial locations are largely unknown or uncertain; hence each property of interest at each spatial location is figured into a random variable whose variability is described by a probability function. In order to perform any type of geostatistical simulation, one requires a decision or assumption of stationarity. In multipoint geostatistical methods, the use of training images is bound by the principle of stationarity as described by Caers, J., and T. Zhang, 2004, "Multiple-point geostatistics: a quantitative vehicle for integrating geologic analogs into multiple reservoir models", in M. Grammer, P. M. Harris, and G. P. Eberli, eds., Integration of Outcrop and Modern Analogs in Reservoir Modeling, Memoir 80: Tulsa, Okla., AAPG. A random spatial field is said to be stationary if all of its statistical parameters are independent of location (invariant according to any translation). In the case of training images, this stationarity can consist of, but is not limited to, orientation stationarity, where directional elements do not rotate across the training image; and scale stationarity (where the size of elements on the image does not change across the training image).
One multipoint geostatistics method is well known in academia and industry by the name of "Single Normal Equation Simulation" (SNESIM) (Strebelle, S., 2000, "Sequential simulation drawing structures from training images, PhD thesis, Stanford University, 200p). The SNESIM method is generally considered useful for practical applications such as modeling categorical or discrete data types, especially for categorical data in 3D property modeling. In the SNESIM method, the conditional probability density function of all categories at one point is computed using knowledge of the value at a number of nearby points and statistics provided by the training image. SNESIM works with discrete values only (i.e., a finite and usually small number of categories, such as for example five different rock types).
Such methodology was well known in the early 1990's (before it was known as "SNESIM") (Guardiano, F., and R. M. Srivastava, 1993, Multivariate geostatistics: beyond bivariate moments, in A. Soares, ed., Geostatistics-Troia, v. 1: Dordrecht, Netherlands, Kluwer Academic Publications, p. 133-144). One of the limitations of the first MPS approach, however, was that it was extremely computationally intensive to consult the training image multiple times. In 2000, Strebelle developed a technique to store the information contained in the training image in a special tree-like structure that reduced computations enormously (Strebelle, S., 2000, Sequential simulation drawing structure from training images: PhD Thesis, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., USA). With this improvement, the methodology was commonly referred to as the SNESIM method.
The SNESIM code is faster than Guardiano and Srivastava's (1993) original algorithm, but it is computer random-access memory (RAM) demanding, especially in 3D for a large training image. This RAM limitation in 3D requires compromises that may lead to inadequate shape reproduction of 3D objects. The RAM limitation also prevents from considering too many categories or classes jointly, thus limiting SNESIM to the simulation of categorical variables. The SNESIM algorithm searches for exact replicates of the conditioning data event, builds the reservoir model one pixel at a time, conditioned to a multiple-point data event, and does not allow any filtering or averaging of the patterns found in the training image.
In order to deal with both categorical and continuous variable training images and reduce RAM cost and improve shape reproduction in 3D applications, a new MPS algorithm named FILTERSIM (FILTER-based SIMulation) was proposed by Zhang and described and incorporated herein in Zhang et al. (Zhang T., Switzer P., and Journel A., 2006, Filter-based classification of training image patterns for spatial pattern simulation: Mathematical Geology, v. 38, p. 63-80). The FILTERSIM algorithm applies a set of local filters to the training image, which can be either categorical or continuous, to group local patterns into pattern classes. It then proceeds to simulate patterns on the basis of that classification. A filter is a local template (window) with a set of weights associated to each pixel location of the template. Applying a filter to a local pattern results in a filter score, the score is viewed as a numerical summary of that local pattern. A set of default or use-defined filters is designed such that each filter can record different aspects of the training pattern seen within the template. These filters are used to transform training patterns into a filter score space. This pattern scoring provides a remarkable dimension reduction of patterns. By partitioning that score space of limited dimension, similar training patterns are classified based on their filter scores.
The FILTERSIM algorithm starts with a classification of local training patterns in a filter score space of reduced dimension. Simulation proceeds along a sequential path through the simulation space, by determining which pattern class is most similar to the local conditioning data event, sampling a specific pattern from the pattern class, and then patching the sampled pattern onto the image at the simulation sites. The simulation random path and the sampling of patterns from pattern classes allow for different simulated realizations, yet all are conditional to the same original data. Because of the dimension reduction brought by the filter summaries of any pattern, and because patterns are grouped into classes, the algorithm is fast and reasonable in terms of RAM demand.
The SNESIM and FILTERSIM algorithms are able to honour absolute or so-called "hard" constraints from data acquired in wells or outcrops, and conditional or "soft" constraints from seismic data, facies probability fields, and rotation and affinity (or scale) constraint grids. All of these data are used in the stochastic modeling process to generate 1D, 2D, or 3D maps of geological facies or rock properties. Because there is a random component involved in MPS simulations, individual realizations of property fields created by MPS algorithms differ, but the ensemble of realizations provides geoscientists and reservoir engineers with improved quantitative estimates of the spatial distribution and uncertainty of geological facies in a modeled reservoir volume. Moreover, these algorithms honour both hard and soft input data constraints.
Directional 2D default colour filter may then be used according to the FILTERSIM algorithm (see an example in FIG. 5, showing 6 directional 2D filters wherein the 1st and 2nd filters are average filters; 3rd and 4th are gradient filters; the 5th and 6th are curvature filters). There are three types of filters: average filter, gradient filter and curvature filter, and each type of filter is used for both horizontal and vertical directions. Average filters aim at localizing features; gradient filters are used to detect feature boundaries by highlighting the contrast of different features (the first-order difference); curvature filters supply the second-order difference of features.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart that summarizes the process involved in FILTERSIM simulations. In order to reflect large-scale structure, multi-grid simulation is used, which progressively simulates each level of the multi-grid from coarser to finer with the finer-grid simulation being constrained by previously simulated values at coarser grids. At each level of the simulation, rescaled filters are applied over the respective grid.
There are two types of training images: one with a very limited number of categories and another for continuous variables such as reservoir petrophysical properties. Multipoint geostatistical methods require 1D, 2D, or 3D grids of training images as prior conceptual geological models that contain patterns of the spatial attributes under study. The shapes of different features appearing on the images are supposed to represent a model of real geological features, with each category typically representing a different geological facies or different kind of geological body. Training images are typically required to contain "stationary" patterns, i.e., the patterns must be independent of their location in space (invariant according to any translation) and must be repetitive over the training image area. In the case of training images used for geological modeling, this stationarity can consist, but is not limited to, geological object orientation stationarity (where directional objects/features do not rotate across the image) and geological scale stationarity (where the size of objects/features on the image does not change across the image) (Caers, J. and Zhang, T., 2004, Multiple-point geostatistics: A quantitative vehicle for integration of geologic analogs into multiple reservoir models, in M. Grammer, P. M. Harris and G. P. Eberli, eds.: Integration of Outcrop and Modern Analogs in Reservoir Modeling, AAPG. Memoir 80, p. 383-394).
An issue raised implicitly by current MPS algorithms is how to generate training images. Training images are supposed to model or reproduce real geological features and should as much as possible be derived from existing geologically meaningful images. This requires research on statistical and image-processing methods that will allow use of images from any source, e.g., hand-drawn sketches, aerial photographs, satellite images, seismic volumes, geological object models, physical scale models, or forward geological process models. Compared to the creation of continuously variable training images, generating categorically variable training images is easier. An object-based approach is commonly used to generate training images with categorical variables. A region-based approach, combined with adding desired constraints, can be used to generate continuously variable training images.
In particular, Multipoint geostatistics (MPS) is a new advanced geostatistics approach. It allows reservoir modelers to incorporate their prior knowledge, interpretations, or conceptual models into the reservoir modeling process through training images. These training images are numerical representations of the structures/features that are believed to exist in the reservoir under study. Once we have the training images, MPS can extract curvilinear structures or complex features from the training images and anchor them to the reservoir locations where the samples/observations are collected, leading to more realistic reservoir models. Introducing training images into reservoir modeling is a milestone. Note that there are two ingredients in the use of MPS: training images (conceptual models) and the real data (observations). These two pieces are typically separated.
However, in realistic applications, generating representative training images, in particular in 3D, has proved to be a bottleneck in MPS applications. Generating a continuous variable training image is even more difficult than the creation of categorical training image.

Method for characterizing a geological formation traversed by a borehole