Based on measurement reports reported to a base station by a plurality of UEs, the base station or a data system may dynamically configure a location of a physical random access control channel (PRACH) defined by the base station such that the PRACH is located in an optimal location. In one example, a data system may receive a plurality of subband CQI reports that includes one or more subband CQI values reported to the base station by each of a plurality of UEs served by the base station. The data system may determine, based on the plurality of subband CQI reports, that a particular range of resource blocks has a highest reported downlink air interface quality. And the data system may cause the base station define a PRACH instance in the particular range of resource blocks for carrying random access requests from the plurality of UEs to the base station.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description provided in this section is not itself prior art to the claims and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
A typical cellular wireless communication system includes a number of base stations each radiating to define a respective coverage area in which user equipment devices (UEs) such as cell phones, tablet computers, tracking devices, embedded wireless modules, and other wirelessly equipped communication devices, can operate. In turn, each base station may be coupled with network infrastructure that provides connectivity with one or more transport networks, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and/or the Internet for instance. With this arrangement, a UE within coverage of the network may engage in air interface communication with a base station and may thereby communicate via the base station with various remote network entities or with other UEs served by the base station.
Further, in a cellular wireless communication system, the air interface between a base station and served user equipment devices (UEs) may define a downlink (or "forward link") for carrying communications from the base station to the UEs and an uplink (or "reverse link") for carrying communications from the UEs to the base station. In various implementations, these links may be defined on one or more carrier frequencies or blocks of frequencies. Furthermore, on each link, various channels may be defined through techniques such as time division multiplexing, code division multiplexing, and/or frequency division multiplexing.
In one implementation, the downlink and uplink may each be divided over time into a continuum of timeslots for carrying communications between the base station and the UEs. UEs may be arranged to transmit data, such as bearer traffic (e.g., user data) and control signaling (e.g., access requests and the like), to the base station in such timeslots on the uplink, and the base station may be arranged to transmit data, such as bearer data and control signaling (e.g., paging and other overhead messages) to the UEs in such timeslots on the downlink. Further the base station or associated equipment may dynamically schedule transmissions of data in particular timeslots, and the base station and UEs may transmit according to that schedule.
When a UE is within coverage of a base station, the UE may from time to time transmit to the base station an access request message. The purpose of such an access request message may depend on the air interface protocol and the circumstances. By way of example, a UE may transmit an access request as a request to gain initial access to communication with a base station, such as to transition from an idle state to a connected state for instance or to facilitate handover to the base station. As another example, a UE may transmit an access request as a response to a page message and/or as a request to establish a particular communication connection such as a call or data session. As still another example, a UE may transmit an access request to register or reregister with a base station and/or to provide a location or tracking area update. And as still another example, a UE may transmit an access request to provide the base station with timing advance information or the like, to facilitate positioning. Once the base station receives a UE's access request, perhaps after further processing by the base station and/or associated infrastructure, the base station may then transmit an access response message to the UE.
By way of example, the initial access request that a UE transmits to the base station may take the form of a signature or pattern that is randomly selected from a plurality of signatures. For instance, in an LTE system, 64 signatures, referred to as preambles, are available, and the UE may randomly select one of the preambles to transmit to the base station. Since multiple UEs may be transmitting access requests at the same time, the preamble may serve to differentiate the request transmitted by the UE from other requests originating from different UEs. Once the base station receives the preamble, the base station may transmit an access response message corresponding to the received preamble. For instance, the response message may include an assignment of an initial uplink resource for the UE to use to communicate with the base station. In response to detecting the access response message corresponding to the preamble, the UE may then communicate with the base station on the assigned uplink resource to complete the communication connection.
In practice, when a UE transmits an access request to a base station, the UE does not have a specific resource that is allocated to the UE for use to transmit the access request. Rather, the UE transmits the access request over a shared resource that is simultaneously shared with other UEs and designated for carrying random access requests from UEs to the base station. Further, the shared resource can take any of a variety of forms depending on the air interface protocol. By way of example, in an LTE system, UEs may transmit access requests over a physical random access channel (PRACH) instance: a sequence of six contiguous physical resource blocks.
In some implementations, a base station may be configured to define at least one PRACH instance, per frame, in a particular range of resource blocks of the frame. As an example, the base station may define a single PRACH instance per frame in a particular range of resource blocks of a particular subframe. Or the base station may define multiple PRACH instances per frame in a particular range of resource blocks of multiple subframes (e.g., a first PRACH instance in a particular range of resource blocks within subframe one and a second PRACH instance in the same range of resource blocks within subframe six).
In order to inform the UEs served by the base station of the location of the PRACH instance(s), the base station may include in a system information message a designation of the location of the PRACH instance(s). In one example, the designation may take the form of two parameters that identify placement of the PRACH instance(s) in both the time domain and frequency domain respectively. For instance, the system information message may specify (i) a PRACH configuration index that indicates in which subframe(s) the PRACH instance(s) are located and (ii) a PRACH frequency offset that defines a location of the PRACH instance(s) along a carrier bandwidth (i.e., which resource block is the first of six contiguous resource blocks that define the PRACH instance(s)).
Additionally, a UE being served by a base station may, from time to time, determine its channel quality based on downlink air interface quality (e.g., downlink reference signal strength) and one or more other factors (e.g., the UE's specific antenna structure and receiver capability) and transmit to the base station a channel quality indicator (CQI) report indicating the UE's determined channel quality. The base station may then determine from the CQI report a particular modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to use for communication with the UE, and the base station may allocate air interface resources and schedule transmissions of data accordingly.
Some air interface protocols support both wideband CQI reporting and subband CQI reporting. With wideband CQI reporting, a UE may be arranged to evaluate a received downlink reference signal over the entire channel bandwidth, and to provide the base station with a wideband CQI report specifying a single CQI value that represents an effective signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), for example, as observed by the UE. While a wideband CQI value may reveal an overall channel quality, a wideband CQI value may also mask variations in SINR across the channel that may be present due to frequency selective fading (fading that is different across various frequencies in a frequency band) and/or inter-cell interference (interference from an adjacent base station that is communicating with other UEs).
On the other hand, with subband CQI reporting, a UE may be arranged to evaluate a received downlink reference signal in particular subbands of the channel bandwidth, and to provide the base station with a subband CQI report specifying CQI values respectively for various subbands. Such subband CQI reports may therefore be of a finer frequency granularity than wideband CQI reports.

Optimizing uplink synchronization via dynamic PRACH configuration


The present invention provides a sustained drug delivery system for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), comprising corticosteroid encapsulated nanoparticles incorporated into a thermoreversible hydrogel. The corticosteroid may be triamcinolone acetate (TA), dexamethasone, or loteprednol etabonate (LE). The proposed drug delivery system is nontoxic to ARPE-19 (retinal pigment epithelium) cells and significantly reduces VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) expression as compared to solutions of the coticosteroids. The present invention provides sustained delivery of the corticosteroid to the posterior segment of the eye, reducing the frequency of intraocular injections necessary to maintain therapeutic concentrations.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of visual loss in adults over the age of 50. Neovascular AMD is characterized by choroidal neovascularization (CNV), the growth of abnormal blood vessels under the retina which can leak blood and fluid, causing deterioration to the macula over time. Current treatment involves frequent intravitreal injections resulting in side effects, such as retinal detachment and low patient compliance.
Accordingly, a method of sustained drug delivery for the treatment of AMD is needed in the art that does not result in undesirable side effects or low patient compliance.

Loteprednol etabonate nanoparticles in thermoreversible gels for enhanced therapeutics


Conditioning secondary lithium ion cells at elevated temperatures above ambient reduces the time required to complete this process and produces cells and batteries which demonstrate improved electrochemical performance. Conditioning includes subjecting an electrochemical cell to at least one full charge/discharge cycle whereby gases generated and removed before the cell is sealed and ready for use.

Electrochemical cells comprise a cathode, an anode and an electrolyte interposed therebetween. The electrochemical cells are often defined as liquid or solid cells and this refers merely to whether the electrolyte interposed between the anode and the cathode is a liquid or a solid. Solid electrochemical cells are well known in the art and present many advantages over conventional liquid batteries such as improved safety features, lighter weight, etc. Non-aqueous lithium electrochemical cells are discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,472,487, 4,668,595, 5,028,500, 5,441,830, 5,460,904, and 5,540,741.
The anode comprises a compatible anodic material which is any material which functions as an anode in an electrochemical cell. Such compatible anodic materials are well known in the art and include, by way of example, lithium, lithium alloys, such as alloys of lithium with aluminum, mercury, nickel, zinc, and the like, and intercalation based anodes such as carbon, WO.sub.3, and the like. The cathode comprises a compatible cathodic material which refers to any material which functions as a positive pole (cathode) in an electrochemical cell. Such compatible cathodic materials are well known in the art and include, by way of example, manganese dioxide, molybdenum trioxide, sulfides of titanium and niobium, chromium oxide, copper oxide, vanadium oxides such as V.sub.2 O.sub.5, V.sub.6 O.sub.13, LiV.sub.3 O.sub.8 and the like. The particular compatible cathodic material employed is not critical. When the electrochemical cell is a secondary cell, then the compatible cathodic material employed is one which is capable of being recharged (e.g., LiV.sub.3 O.sub.8, V.sub.6 O.sub.13, MoO.sub.3, and the like).
Composite electrode refers to cathodes and anodes wherein the cathode includes materials in addition to compatible cathodic materials and the anode includes materials in addition to compatible anodic materials. Typically, the composite electrode contains a polymer which acts to bind the composite materials together and an electrolytic solvent. Composite electrodes are well known in the art. For example, a composite cathode can comprise a compatible cathodic material, a conductive material, an electrolytic solvent, an alkali salt, and a solid matrix forming polymer. Similarly, for example, a composite anode can comprise a compatible intercalation anodic material, an electrolyte solvent and a solid matrix forming polymer.
Secondary lithium ion cells and batteries employing composite electrodes are typically fabricated in the discharged state which means that the anode comprises intercalation carbon materials and the cathode comprises a suitable lithiated cathodic material, e.g., lithiated manganese oxide. Prior to use, the cell must be charged with external energy so that lithium ions from the cathodic material are intercalated into the carbon material of the anode. It has been found that during the initial charge/discharge cycles the cell generates a considerable amount of gases. These gases would be entrapped in the cell unless they are removed by a conditioning process prior to sealing the package encasing the cell.

Methods of fabricating electrochemical cells


A light source module comprises a plurality of laser light sources, a lens module, a plurality of optical components, and a light guiding plate. The lens module includes a first lens having a rear arced plane and a plurality of second lenses each having a front arced plane, and the second lenses are positioned on the first lens and protruded forwardly from the first lens toward the optical components. The optical components are positioned on light path of light emitted from the laser light sources in sequence and each correspond to one second lens, and the optical components are, except the farthest one from the laser light sources, beamsplitters, respectively and used for reflecting a part of the light emitted from the laser light sources to the second lenses and permitting another part of the light to penetrate therethrough to a next optical component.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to a light source module, and particularly to an edge-type backlight module which uses lasers as a light source.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, due to excellent light quality and high luminous efficiency, light emitting diodes (LEDs) have increasingly been used as substitutes for incandescent bulbs, compact fluorescent lamps and fluorescent tubes as light sources of illumination devices.
Generally, white LEDs (light emitting diodes) have replaced CCFLs (cold-cathode fluorescent lamps) as a light source for a light source module such as a backlight module. The continuous, whole spectrum white light generated by the LEDs or the CCFLs cannot be effectively used by the LCD (liquid crystal display) which is lightened by the light source module whereby energy is wasted and the color saturation of the image from the LCD is not satisfied.
What is needed, therefore, is a light source module which can overcome the disadvantages as described above.

Light source module using laser as light source


A wearable book. A wearable book, comprising a plurality of pages and a loop adapted for encircling a body portion for attaching said pages to the body, is provided. The pages are preferably bound together at one edge and preferably are of substantially the same size. The loop preferably has at least about 50% elasticity for stretching the loop over a second body portion such as a hand having a substantially larger circumference than a first body portion such as a wrist, and thereafter snugly circumferentially contacting the first body portion to secure the book in place.

There are a number of different methods that have been used by people who wish to carry an information source such as a book with them as they walk, travel, etc. Book bags and briefcases are frequently used for this purpose, but there are a number of more specialized solutions that have been devised. For example, Jarvis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,759, describes a combined book cover and book carrier whereby books may be carried by the user in the hand, on the wrist, over the shoulder or as a backpack. However using this method, the book is inaccessible while being carried and must be removed from the carrier before it can be consulted. This inaccessibility is a problem common to many of the usual methods for carrying books such as book bags or briefcases, all of which do not provide for access to the information contained within the book while the book is in the carrying device. Another problem with these common methods for carrying information is in the nature of the book itself, books often being made of paper unsuitable for use in poor weather, such as under wet conditions. Books are often difficult to use when it is desired to keep at least one hand free of the book for holding other objects. It is often difficult to turn the pages of books without use of both hands, and many books cannot be kept open at a given page without constant holding by the hands or by the use of a clip or other similar device.
Attempts have been made to solve the problems of difficult access, weather resistance, and the freeing of hands for other uses while accessing the printed material. Greene, U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,933 proposes a "map mounting system for strap application", which is an integral map holding and mounting system that allows a map or other printed matter to be enclosed within a holder and worn on a user's limb for immediate referral during activities such as skiing. The holder is adapted to display a map or printed matter such as a trail map under a transparent sheet of plastic. However the area available for display of the map or printed matter is extremely limited, the apparatus only being able to display a single small area sealed within the holder and with no provision being made for readily changing the page while under wet or otherwise adverse conditions. The strap, which is attached to the wearer and tightened by means of a buckle, makes it relatively difficult to take the holder off, put it one, or to reposition the holder from one part of the body to another when the wearer wishes to do so.
Seawright, U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,694 describes a foldable, weather-resistant reference guide for wearing on an arm, torso, or leg. The reference material it carries, such as a map, folds up when not in use. The reference material after folding is secured by a keeping member into a small packet which is secured to the user's body by a buckled strap. However here the reference material must be unfolded to view the data recorded on it, which is disadvantageous for convenient use. Furthermore, the amount of information that may be displayed is limited by the size of the single, folded surface. Also, the totality of information that the user might wish to access must be displayed on the single surface, and it is impossible to change one portion of the display without changing the entire display. It is also inconvenient under some circumstances to unfold a relatively large single sheet, for example under windy conditions. The means of attachment to the wearer also suffers from the defect of being difficult to don, doff, or reposition, requiring unbuckling and re-buckling, which can be a troublesome operation to carry out with a single hand if the apparatus is worn around a wrist.
Therefore, there is a need for a wearable book of pages that provides a readily accessible source of reference information that may be accessed under conditions when the user is also engaged in other activities or is under wet or otherwise adverse conditions, that is easy to don, doff, or reposition, that is attached to the wearer's body in a comfortable, secure way, and that is capable of providing a relatively large selection of images and information under those conditions.


The present invention relates to a system and method for distributing audio based data tags in the field of computer technologies. The system includes an audio processing device, an audio playing device, a user terminal, and a data tag server. In the disclosed method, the audio processing device associates a data tag in an audio to produce an associated audio. The audio playback device plays the associated audio as background music. The user terminal identified the associated audio in the background music and acquires associated data tag through a computer network. In the disclosed system and method, an audience can obtain product information from background music while enjoying music. The customers can thus quickly access to a large amount of product information. The disclosed audio based data tags distribution system has a simple structure and is widely applicable. The disclosed method can be easily implemented at low cost.

The invention relates to the computer technologies, and in particular, to audio processing technologies and to a system and method for creating, distributing, and utilizing audio based data tags.
In fashion and product launch shows, when models demonstrate clothing or products on stage, the audience has a real need to obtain better understanding of the clothing or products. The background commentary is usually not intuitive or specific enough for the audience to grasp all the product information. The product information on the display screen also does not allow audience to concentrate on the demonstration and performances of the models. Therefore, a long-felt need exists for allowing the audience to obtain comprehensive fashion or product information while without interfering with enjoying the performance and demonstration.
Similarly, in large retail stores and shopping malls, every store hopes passing customer to pay more attention to its own products, and to convey as much product information to the customers as possible, which presents a major challenge to the sales staff. Although sales personnel can pass brochures and introduces product face to face with customers, the product information conveyed is often very limited and sales results are not effective. There is therefore also a need for timely passing a large amount of product information to customers.
Data tags that can be read by dedicated devices or programs can include NFC, RFID, bar codes, two-dimensional matrix code, and so on. In the present disclosure, data tags mainly refer to patterns of bar codes and two-dimensional codes that are transmitted over the computer networks.

System and method for distributing audio-based data tags


The present invention generally relates to a high-frequency pulse oscillator, and more particularly to a high-frequency pulse oscillator adapted to provide pulse currents having a high frequency and large amplitude so as to transition metallic materials into a plastic state for ease of processing or for closing microcracks formed in metallic parts in order to recover mechanical characteristics thereof. The high-frequency pulse oscillator of the present invention comprises a controllable rectifier, a switching section, and a control system. The controllable rectifier rectifies alternating currents supplied from a current source to output currents having a predetermined waveform, according to a control signal from the control system. The switching section generates pulse currents using the currents from the rectifier, according to another control signal from the control system. The switching section comprises at least one switching block, which is connected so that the amplitude of the pulse currents is increased. The control system controls the rectifier and the switching section according to the signals to start, stop, and reset the operation of generating the pulse currents and the signals to specify or change the frequency and amplitude of the pulse currents, so that the generated pulse currents may have desired frequency and amplitude. The pulse currents generated in the high-frequency pulse oscillator enable the manufacture of various structural parts without degrading their structure.

Metal works (rolling process in particular), in which a high-frequency pulse oscillator of the present invention may be employed, will be discussed below. Rolling refers to a process that induces plastic deformation of metallic materials by compressing and squeezing the materials between work rolls. Rolling is a type of plastic processing wherein production speed is high and dimensional accuracy can be easily controlled. Since rolling requires relatively lower production costs and provides products having more uniform dimensional accuracy and quality than molding or casting, it is most frequently used. In a rolling process, materials to be processed receive compressive stress caused by the pressing force of the rolls while they pass through the rolls, and further undergo shear stress on the interfaces with the rolls. The shear stress acts to thrust the materials between the rolls.
There are essentially two types of rolling process, i.e., hot rolling and cold rolling. Cold rolling refers to rolling the materials to be processed, such as ingots, at a normal temperature and is used for providing products such as sheets, strips and foils, which have high strength and good dimensional accuracy. On the other hand, hot rolling refers to rolling metallic materials after applying heat with a heating furnace. Generally, through hot rolling, ingots are processed into blooms or billets and are further processed into boards, sheets, bars, pipes and rails.
Since cold rolling is performed at a normal temperature, it is advantageous in that there is no need for any special equipments for heating materials such as strips. However, cold rolling typically requires an annealing process. As such, the entire rolling process time becomes lengthened while the productivity is lowered.
In hot rolling, a metal strip is heated in a heating furnace and is then fed to a rolling device. It is extremely important to heat the metal strip to a specified temperature before rolling. That is, if the heating temperature is much lower than the specified temperature, then various problems may occur (e.g., difficulty in carrying out rolling, excessive loads are imposed on the rolling device, and desirable properties cannot be obtained for the rolled strip). However, if an excessively high temperature is set as the heating temperature (considering that temperature decreases during the transfer of the heated metal strip to the rolling device), then there is an increase in the oxidization of the metal strip. Thus, the resulting energy costs inevitably increase and may even become burdensome. Under these circumstances, it is advisable in hot rolling to heat the metal strips as closely as possible to the work rolls. For such purpose, it is plausible to employ a high-frequency induction heating method and an electric heating method.
However, a high-frequency induction heating device is usually complicated, expensive and consumes too much power.
On the other hand, in the electric heating method, the work rolls and the metal strip are heated by their respective electrical resistance when direct currents from a power source are applied to the upper/lower work rolls and the strip. Thus, their temperatures tend to rise. An example of an electric heating type rolling device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1998-180317. However, the prior art electric heating type rolling device consumes too much power. For instance, when a steel strip having a width of 100 mm and a thickness of 2 mm (i.e., a cross-sectional area of 2 cm2) is rolled to have a thickness of 0.25˜0.3 mm by electric-heating, a current density of about 104 A/cm2 is required. If a direct current is applied, then the current strength reaches 20 kA, which is a multiplication between the current density and the cross-sectional area of the strip to be rolled. In addition to such excessive power-consumption, the steel strip is heated to a temperature ranging from 400° C. to 500° C., which causes oxidization and discoloration on the strip surface. Further, since the work rolls are included in the electric circuit, the life of work rolls may be shortened due to electric corrosion. Also, a cooling device, which prevents the work rolls from being damaged due to heat transfer from the steel strip, is additionally required. Moreover, adverse effects upon the environment may occur around the production premises.


Systems and techniques are described for automated zoom and selection of content on a touch screen device. A described technique includes receiving a first touch input contacting a touch screen display of a user device at a first position in a user interface presented at a first magnification, while continuing to receive the first touch input determining that a duration of the first touch input has exceeded a predetermined threshold duration, and increasing, based on determining that the duration of the first touch input has exceeded than the predetermined threshold duration, the magnification of the user interface to a second magnification, and performing an action based on the first touch input.

This document relates to automatically increasing the magnification of a user interface.
A virtual machine is a software-based abstraction of a physical computer system. In general, any computer program that can be executed on a physical computer system can be executed in a virtual machine using virtualization software. Virtualization software is software that is logically interposed and interfaces with a virtual machine and a physical computer system. Each virtual machine is configured to execute an operating system and applications. A physical computer system, referred to herein as a host machine, can execute one or more virtual machines.
A remote desktop client is a computer program that communicates user interface information with a remote computer system. Generally, the user interface information includes display data, which is received from the remote computer system and displayed on the computer local to the user, and sends inputs generated by the user, e.g., inputs received from a mouse, keyboard, or touch screen, to the remote computer system. In this way, applications executing remotely from the user can be accessed and interacted with by the user.


An apparatus, product monitoring system, and a method of measuring an amount of product on a roller are provided. The method includes receiving a first position distance between a position sensor and an exterior edge of the roller. The method also includes comparing the first position distance with a predetermined position distance. The predetermined position distance defines the distance between the position sensor and the exterior edge of the roller at a specific amount of product left on the roller. The method further includes determining the amount of product left on the roller based on the comparison of the first position distance and the predetermined position distance. The method still further includes causing the transmission of a signal relating to the amount of product left on the roller.

It can be difficult to be aware of the status of product rolls, such as toilet paper, in public restrooms at a given time. Consumers are often left without toilet paper in public restrooms. Currently, time is often wasted for busy employees to monitor the levels of products remaining in restrooms. Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, many of these identified problems have been solved by the methods and apparatus of the present disclosure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention concerns the compounds of formula

The present invention concerns tricyclic xcex943-piperidines having central xcex12-adrenoceptor antagonist activity. It further relates to their preparation, compositions comprising them and their use as a medicine.
Central xcex12-adrenoceptor antagonists are known to increase noradrenaline release by blocking presynaptic xcex12-receptors which exert an inhibiting control over the release of the neurotransmitter. By increasing the noradrenaline concentrations, xcex12-antagonists can be used clinically for the treatment or prophylaxis of depression, cognitive disturbances, Parkinson""s disease, diabetes mellitus, sexual dysfunction and impotence, elevated intraocular pressure, and diseases related to disturbed enterokinesia, since all these conditions are associated with a deficiency of noradrenaline in the central or peripheral nervous system.
The compounds of the present invention are novel and have a specific and selective binding affinity for the different known subtypes of the xcex12-adrenoceptors, i.e. the xcex12A, xcex12B and xcex12C-adrenoceptor.
The present invention concerns the compounds of formula
the N-oxide forms, the pharmaceutically acceptable addition salts and the stereochemically isomeric forms thereof, wherein:
Alk is C1-6alkanediyl;
n is 1 or 2;
X1 is xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)2xe2x80x94;
each R1 is independently hydrogen, halogen, C1-6alkyl, nitro, hydroxy or
C1-4alkyloxy;
D is a radical of formula
wherein
each m independently is 0, 1 or 2;
X2 is xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94NR11xe2x80x94;
each X3 independently is xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94NR11xe2x80x94;
X4 is xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94NR12xe2x80x94;
X5 and X6 each independently are xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94NR11xe2x80x94;
R2 is hydrogen, C1-6alkyl, aryl or arylC1-6alkyl;
R3 is hydrogen, C1-6alkyl, C1-6alkyloxy, C1-6alkylthio, amino or mono- or di(C1-6alkyl)amino;
R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, R10, R11 and R15 each independently are hydrogen or C1-6alkyl;
R12 is hydrogen, C1-6alkyl, C1-6alkyloxyC1-6alkyl or pyridinylC1-6alkyl;
R13, R14 sand R16 each independently are halo or C1-6alkyl;
R3 and R4 taken together may form a bivalent radical xe2x80x94R3xe2x80x94R4xe2x80x94 of formula
xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-1);
xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-2);
xe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90CHxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-3);
xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90CHxe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-4) or
xe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90CHxe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90CHxe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-5);
wherein one or two hydrogen atoms of said radicals (a-1) to (a-5) each independently may be replaced by halo, C1-6alkyl, arylC1-6alkyl, trifluoromethyl, amino, hydroxy, C1-6alalkyloxy or C1-10alkylcarbonyloxy; or
where possible, two geminal hydrogen atoms may be replaced by C1-6alalkylidene or arylC1-6alkylidene; or
xe2x80x94R3xe2x80x94R4xe2x80x94 may also be
xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-6);
xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-7);
xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90CHxe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-9);
xe2x80x94NHxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-9);
xe2x80x94NHxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-10);
xe2x80x94NHxe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90CHxe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-11);
xe2x80x94NHxe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90Nxe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-12);
xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90Nxe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-13) or
xe2x80x94CHxe2x95x90CHxe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(a-14);
wherein one or where possible two or three hydrogen atoms in said radicals (a-6) to (a-14) each independently may be replaced by C1-6alkyl or aryl; and
aryl is phenyl or phenyl substituted with one, two or three substituents selected from halo, hydroxy, nitro, cyano, trifluoromethyl, C1-6alkyl, C1-6alkyloxy, C1-6alkylthio, mercapto, amino, mono- and di(C1-6alkyl)amino, carboxyl, C1-6alkyloxycarbonyl and C1-6alkylcarbonyl.
As used in the foregoing definitions the term halogen is generic to fluoro, chloro, bromo and iodo. The term C1-4alkyl defines straight and branched saturated hydro-carbons, having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms such as, for example, methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, 1-methylethyl, 1,1-dimethylethyl, 2-methylpropyl and the like. The term C1-6alkyl is meant to include C1-4alkyl radicals and the higher homologues thereof having 5 or 6 carbon atoms such as, for example, pentyl, hexyl and the like. The term C1-10alkyl is meant to include C1-6alkyl radicals and the higher homologues thereof having 7 to 10 carbon atoms such as, for example, heptyl, octyl, nonyl, decyl and the like. The term C1-5alkanediyl defines bivalent straight or branch chained alkanediyl radicals having from 1 to 5 carbon atoms such as, for example, methylene, 1,2-ethane-diyl, 1,3-propanediyl, 1,4-butanediyl, 1,5-pentanediyl and the like. C1-6alkanediyl is meant to include C1-5alkanediyl and the higher homologue thereof havin 6 carbon atoms such as 1,6-hexanediyl and the like. The term C1-6alkylidene defines bivalent straight or branch chained alkylidene radicals having from 1 to 6 carbon atoms such as, for example, methylene, ethylidene, 1-propylidene, 1-butylidene, 1-pentylidene, 1-hexylidene and the like.
The addition salts as mentioned herein are meant to comprise the therapeutically active addition salt forms which the compounds of formula (I) are able to form with appropriate acids, such as, for example, inorganic acids such as hydrohalic acids, e.g. hydrochloric or hydrobromic acid; sulfuric; nitric; phosphoric and the like acids; or organic acids such as, for example, acetic, propanoic, hydroxyacetic, lactic, pyruvic, oxalic, malonic, succinic, maleic, fumaric, malic, tartaric, citric, methanesulfonic, ethanesulfonic, benzenesulfonic, p-toluenesulfonic, cyclamic, salicylic, p-aminosalicylic, pamoic and the like acids.
The pharmaceutically acceptable addition salts as mentioned hereinabove are also meant to comprise the therapeutically active non-toxic base, in particular, a metal or amine addition salt forms which the compounds of formula (I) are able to form. Said salts can conveniently be obtained by treating the compounds of formula (I) containing acidic hydrogen atoms with appropriate organic and inorganic bases such as, for example, the ammonium salts, the alkali and earth alkaline metal salts, e.g. the lithium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium salts and the like, salts with organic bases, e.g. the benzathine, N-methyl-D-glucamine, hydrabamine salts, and salts with amino acids such as, for example, arginine, lysine and the like. Conversely said salt forms can be converted by treatment with an appropriate base or acid into the free acid or base form.
The term addition salt as used hereinabove also comprises the solvates which the compounds of formula (I) are able to form and said solvates are meant to be included within the scope of the present invention. Examples of such solvates are, e.g. the hydrates, alcoholates and the like.
The N-oxide forms of the compounds of formula (I) are meant to comprise those compounds of formula (I) wherein one or several nitrogen atoms are oxidized to the so-called N-oxide.
The term stereochemically isomeric forms as used herein defines all the possible isomeric forms in which the compounds of formula (I) may occur. Unless otherwise mentioned or indicated, the chemical designation of compounds denotes the mixture of all possible stereochemically isomeric forms, said mixtures containing all diastereomers and enantiomers of the basic molecular structure.
Some of the compounds of formula (I) may also exist in their tautomeric forms. Such forms although not explicitly indicated in the above formula are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.
As used hereinafter, when the position of the R1 substitutent is referred to, the following numbering is used:
Whenever used hereinafter, the term compounds of formula (I) is meant to include also the N-oxide forms, the pharmaceutically acceptable addition salts and all stereoisomeric forms.
Special compounds are those compounds of formula (I) wherein D is a radical of formula (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k) or (I); m is 0; and aryl is phenyl or phenyl substituted with halo or C1-6alkyl.
An interesting group of compounds are those compounds of formula (I) wherein n is 1 and R1 is hydrogen, chloro, fluoro, methyl, methoxy or nitro, in particular R1 is hydrogen, chloro, fluoro, methyl or methoxy.
In case R1 is other than hydrogen, then R1 is suitably connected to the tricyclic ring system in the 6 or 7 position.
Another interesting group of compounds are those compounds of formula (I) wherein Alk is methylene, 1,2-ethanediyl, 1,3-propanediyl, 1,4-butanediyl or 1,5-pentanediyl.
Still another interesting group of compounds are those compounds of formula (I) wherein D is a radical of formula (a) wherein R2 is aryl or methyl and wherein R3 and R4 are taken together to form a bivalent radical of formula (a-5) or (a-8); or D is a radical of formula (b) wherein R5 and R6 are C1-6alkyl, preferably R5 and R6 are methyl; or D is a radical of formula (c) wherein R7 is hydrogen; or D is a radical of formula (d) wherein X2 is xe2x80x94NR11xe2x80x94 and R11 is hydrogen; or D is a radical of formula (e); or D is a radical of formula (f) wherein X3 is xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94 and R8 is hydrogen or C1-6alkyl, preferably R8 is methyl; or D is a radical of formula (g) wherein X4 is xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94NR12xe2x80x94 and R12 is C1-6alkyloxyC1-6alkyl or pyridinylC1-6alkyl, preferable R12 is ethyloxyethyl or pyridinylmethyl; or D is a radical of formula (h) wherein X5 is xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94 and R10 is hydrogen; or D is a radical of formula (); or D is a radical of formula (k) wherein m is preferably 1 and R13 is halo.
Particular compounds are those compounds of formula (I) wherein n is X1 is xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94.
Preferred compounds are those compounds of formula (I) wherein n is 1, R1 is hydrogen, chloro, fluoro, methoxy or methyl, X1 is xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94 and D is a radical of formula (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (j) or (k).
More preferred compounds are those compounds of formula (I) wherein D is a radical of formula (a), (c), (d), (f) and (h); X1 is O or S; n is 1; R1 is hydrogen, halo or methyl and is substituted in the 6 position; and Alk is 1,2-ethanediyl, 1,3-propanediyl or 1,4-butanediyl.
Most preferred compounds are the compounds depicted below or their N-oxide forms, the pharmaceutically acceptable addition salts and the stereochemically isomeric forms thereof:
The compounds of formula (I) can generally be prepared by N-alkylating an intermediate of formula (II) with an alkylating reagent of formula (II) following the procedure described in EP-A-0,037,265, EP-A-0,070,053, EP-A-0,196,132 and in EP-A-0,378,255. In particular, the N-alkylation may be performed in a reaction-inert solvent such as, methyl isobutyl keton, N,N-dimethylformamide or N,N-dimethyl-acetamide, in the presence of a base, for example, triethylamine, sodium carbonate or sodiumbicarbonate, and optionally in the presence of a catalyst such as potassium iodide.
In intermediate (III), W1 represents an appropriate reactive leaving group such as, halo, e.g. chloro, bromo or iodo; sulfonyloxy, e.g. methanesulfonyloxy, 4-methyl-benzenesulfonyloxy.
In this and the following reactions, the reaction products may be isolated from the reaction medium and, if necessary, further purified according to methodologies generally known in the art such as extraction, crystallization, trituration and chromatography.
The compounds of formula (I) wherein D is a radical of formula (f), being represented by formula (I-f), can be prepared by N-alkylating an amine of formula (IV) with an intermediate of formula (V) wherein W2 is an appropriate reactive leaving group such as, for example, a halogen.
A specific way of preparing the compounds of formula (I) wherein D is a radical of formula (j) and Alk is xe2x80x94(Alkxe2x80x2)pxe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94 wherein Alkxe2x80x2 is C1-5alkanediyl and p is 0 or 1, said compounds being represented by formula (I-j), involves the reductive N-alkylation of an intermediate of formula (II) with an aldehyde derivative of formula (VI).
Said reductive N-alkylation reaction may conveniently be carried out by reducing a mixture of the reactants in a suitable reaction-inert solvent following art-known reductive N-alkylation procedures. In particular, the reaction mixture maybe stirred and/or heated in order to enhance the reaction rate. Suitable solvents are, for example, water; methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol and the like. The reaction is conveniently carried out either with sodium cyanoborohydride, sodium borohydride, formic acid or a salt thereof and the like reducing agents, or alternatively under hydrogen atmosphere, optionally at an increased temperature and/or pressure, in the presence of an appropriate catalyst such as, for example, palladium-on-charcoal, platinum-on-charcoal and the like. In order to prevent the undesired further hydrogenation of certain functional groups in the reactants and the reaction products, it may be advantageous to add an appropriate catalyst-poison to the reaction mixture, e.g., thiophene, quinoline-sulphur and the like. In some instances it may also be advantageous to add an alkali metal salt to the reaction mixture such as, for example, potassium fluoride, potassium acetate and the like salts.
The compounds of formula (I) may be converted into each other following art-known functional group transformation reactions.
The compounds of formula (I) may also be converted to the corresponding N-oxide forms following art-known procedures for converting a trivalent nitrogen into its N-oxide form. Said N-oxidation reaction may generally be carried out by reacting the starting material of formula (I) with an appropriate organic or inorganic peroxide. Appropriate inorganic peroxides comprise, for example, hydrogen peroxide, alkali metal or earth alkaline metal peroxides, e.g. sodium peroxide, potassium peroxide; appropriate organic peroxides may comprise peroxy acids such as, for example, benzenecarboperoxoic acid or halo substtituted benzenecarboperoxoic acid, e.g. 3-chlorobenzenecarboperoxoic acid, peroxoalkanoic acids, e.g. peroxoacetic acid, alkylhydroperoxides, e.g. tert-butyl hydroperoxide. Suitable solvents are, for example, water, lower alkanols, e.g. ethanol and the like, hydrocarbons, e.g. toluene, ketones, e.g. 2-butanone, halogenated hydrocarbons, e.g. dichloromethane, and mixtures of such solvents.
A number of intermediates and starting materials are commercially available or are known compounds which may be prepared according to art-known methodologies.
For example, some of the intermediates of formula (III) and their preparations are described in EP-A-0,037,265, EP-A-0,070,053, EP-A-0,196,132 and in EP-A-0,378,255.
Intermediates of formula (II) wherein X1 is xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94 can be prepared as described in Syn. Comm. (1995), p3883-3900 and J. Chem. Soc., 1965, p4939-4953 and using methods known in the art. A general procedure is depicted in scheme 1.
Intermediates of formula (II) wherein X1 is xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94 can be prepared according to J. Med. Chem., 1992, 35(7), p1176-1182 and using methods known in the art. A general procedure is depicted in scheme 2.
Alternatively, intermediates of formula (II) can be prepared according to Synth. Comm., 1995, p3883-3900 and using methods known in the art. A general procedure is depicted in scheme 3.
Intermediates of formula (III) wherein D is a radical of formula (h), said intermediates being represented by formula (III-h), can be prepared by reacting a benzisoxazole or benzisothiazole of formula (VI) wherein W3 is a suitable leaving group such as, a halogen, with an amino-alcohol derivative of formula (VIII) in the presence of a catalyst such as, potassium iodide. Conveniently, the reaction mixture is stirred at elevated temperatures. Subsequently, a suitable leaving group such as, a halogen, e.g. chloro, can be introduced in the thus formed alcohol derivative using art-known techniques, for instance, reacting the alcohol with thionylchloride in a solvent such as chloroform.
Some of the compounds of formula (I) and some of the intermediates in the present invention contain at least one asymmetric carbon atom. Pure stereo chemically isomeric forms of said compounds and said intermediates can be obtained by the application of art-known procedures. For example, diastereoisomers can be separated by physical methods such as selective crystallization or chromatographic techniques, e.g. counter current distribution, liquid chromatography and the like methods. Enantiomers can be obtained from racemic mixtures by first converting said racemic mixtures with suitable resolving agents such as, for example, chiral acids, to mixtures of diastereomeric salts or compounds; then physically separating said mixtures of diastereomeric salts or compounds by, for example, selective crystallization or chromatographic techniques, e.g. liquid chromatography and the like methods; and finally converting said separated diastereomeric salts or compounds into the corresponding enantiomers.
Pure stereochemically isomeric forms of the compounds of formula (I) may also be obtained from the pure stereochemically isomeric forms of the appropriate intermediates and starting materials, provided that the intervening reactions occur stereospecifically. The pure and mixed stereochemically isomeric forms of the compounds of formula (I) are intended to be embraced within the scope of the present invention.
The compounds of formula (I), the N-oxides, the pharmaceutically acceptable addition salts and stereochemically isomeric forms thereof, block the presynaptic xcex12-receptors on central noradrenergic neurons thus increasing the noradrenaline release. Blocking said receptors will suppress or relieve a variety of symptoms associated with a deficiency of noradrenaline in the central or peripheral nervous system. Therapeutic indications for using the present compounds are depression, cognitive disturbances, Parkinson""s disease, diabetes mellitus, sexual dysfunction and impotence and elevated intraocular pressure.
Blocking xcex12 receptors in the central nervous system has also been shown to enhance the release of serotonine which may add to the therapeutic action in depression (Maura et al., 1992, Naunyn-Schmiedeberg""s Arch. Pharmacol., 345:410-416).
It has also been shown that blocking xcex12 receptors may induce an increase of extracellular DOPAC (3,4-dihydro-phenylacetic acid) which is a metabolite of dopamine and noradrenaline.
In view of the usefulness of the subject compounds in the treatment of diseases associated with a deficiency of noradrenaline in the central nervous system, in particular depression and Parkinson""s disease, the present invention provides a method of treating warm-blooded animals suffering from such diseases, in particular depression and Parkinson""s disease, said method comprising the systemic administration of an therapeutically effective amount of a compound of formula (I) or a pharmaceutically acceptable addition salt thereof.
The present compounds are also potentially useful in the treatment of Alzheimer""s disease and dementia as it is known that xcex12-antagonists promote the release of acetylcholine (Tellez et al. 1997, J. Neurochem. 68:778-785).
In general it is contemplated that an effective therapeutic daily amount would be from about 0.01 mg/kg to about 4 mg/kg body weight.
The present invention thus also relates to compounds of formula (I) as defined hereinabove for use as a medicine. Further, the present invention also relates to the use of a compound of formula (I) for the manufacture of a medicament for treating depression or Parkinson""s disease.
Ex vivo as well as in vitro receptor signal-transduction and receptor binding studies can be used to evaluate the xcex12 adrenoceptor antagonism of the present compounds. As indices of central (xcex12-adrenoceptor blockade in vivo, the reversal of the loss of righting reflex observed in rats after intravenous injection of xylazine and inhibition of the tremors induced by reserpine in rats can be used.
The compounds of the present invention also have the ability to rapidly penetrate into the central nervous system.
For administration purposes, the subject compounds may be formulated into various pharmaceutical compositions comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and, as active ingredient, a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of formula (I). To prepare the pharmaceutical compositions of this invention, an effective amount of the particular compound, in addition salt or in free acid or base form, as the active ingredient is combined in intimate admixture with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, which may take a wide variety of forms depending on the form of preparation desired for administration. These pharmaceutical compositions are desirably in unitary dosage form suitable, preferably, for administration orally, percutaneously, or by parenteral injection. For example, in preparing the compositions in oral dosage form, any of the usual pharmaceutical media may be employed, such as, for example, water, glycols, oils, alcohols and the like in the case of oral liquid preparations such as suspensions, syrups, elixirs and solutions; or solid carriers such as starches, sugars, kaolin, lubricants, binders, disintegrating agents and the like in the case of powders, pills, capsules and tablets. Because of their ease in administration, tablets and capsules represent the most advantageous oral dosage unit form, in which case solid pharmaceutical carriers are obviously employed. For parenteral compositions, the carrier will usually comprise sterile water, at least in large part, though other ingredients, for example, to aid solubility, may be included. Injectable solutions, for example, may be prepared in which the carrier comprises saline solution, glucose solution or a mixture of saline and glucose solution. Injectable solutions containing compounds of formula (I) may be formulated in an oil for prolonged action. Appropriate oils for this purpose are, for example, peanut oil, sesame oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, soybean oil, synthetic glycerol esters of long chain fatty acids and mixtures of these and other oils. Injectable suspensions may also be prepared in which case appropriate liquid carriers, suspending agents and the like may be employed. In the compositions suitable for percutaneous administration, the carrier optionally comprises a penetration enhancing agent and/or a suitable wettable agent, optionally combined with suitable additives of any nature in minor proportions, which additives do not cause any significant deleterious effects on the skin. Said additives may facilitate the administration to the skin and/or may be helpful for preparing the desired compositions. These compositions may be administered in various ways, e.g., as a transdermal patch, as a spot-on or as an ointment. Addition salts of (I) due to their increased water solubility over the corresponding free base or free acid form, are obviously more suitable in the preparation of aqueous compositions.
It is especially advantageous to formulate the aforementioned pharmaceutical compositions in dosage unit form for ease of administration and uniformity of dosage. Dosage unit form as used in the specification and claims herein refers to physically discrete units suitable as unitary dosages, each unit containing a predetermined quantity of active ingredient calculated to produce the desired therapeutic effect, in association with the required pharmaceutical carrier. Examples of such dosage unit forms are tablets (including scored or coated tablets), capsules, pills, powder packets, wafers, injectable solutions or suspensions, teaspoonfuls, tablespoonfuls and the like, and segregated multiples thereof.

Tricyclic xcex94-3-piperidines as xcex12-antagonists

Abstract: the N-oxide forms, the pharmaceutically acceptable addition salts and the stereochemically isomeric forms thereof, wherein Alk is C1-6alkanediyl; n is 1 or 2; X1 is xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94, xe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94S(xe2x95x90O)2xe2x80x94; each R1 is independently hydrogen, halogen, C1-6alkyl, nitro, hydroxy or C1-4alkyloxy; D is an optionally substituted mono, bi- or tricyclic nitrogen containing heterocycle, a 2H-benzopyranone, a benzamide, a benzophenone or a phenoxyphenyl having central xcex12-adrenoceptor antagonist activity. It further relates to their preparation, pharmaceutical use and compositions.


A timing recovery device for receiver installations using oversampling and adaptive equalization in association with differentially coherent demodulation, applicable in particular to receivers operating in diversity mode, derives a transition coding signal from the output signal of the adaptive equalizer. Channel estimator circuits receive this coding signal and digital signals supplied by oversampling devices on the diversity channels. The timing error is calculated from signals supplied by the estimators. The error calculation circuit controls an oscillator which generates a clock signal corresponding to the recovered symbol timing rate.

1. Field of the invention
The invention concerns a timing recovery device for receiver installations using adaptive equalization and oversampling associated with differentially coherent demodulation. It applies in particular to dispersive multipath digital data transmission causing intersymbol interference in the received data, for example digital microwave transmission on a long line of sight path or a tropospheric path. It is applicable to transmission systems which use differentially demodulatable linear modulation such as QPSK or MPSK and advantageously receiver installations which can operate in diversity mode.
2. Description of the prior art
The presence of intersymbol interference tends to degrade significantly the performance of the receiver installations used in digital microwave transmission. A known way to remedy this drawback in the case of coherent modulation is to use adaptive equalization by means of an adaptive filter whose function is to minimize intersymbol interference. In the systems that are the most widespread because they are the simplest the filter optimization criterion is the mean square error (which is to be minimized) and the filter coefficients are updated by the stochastic gradient algorithm.
A known way to improve further the performance of receiver installations using coherent demodulation and adaptive equalization is to use the diversity technique by including in each receive channel an adaptive equalization filter processing the received signal and to connect the output of the demodulator to a so-called decision feedback adaptive filter which processes the symbols decided on. In the case of coherent demodulation the filter coefficient adaptation algorithm is well known and many receiver installations have been implemented to date. One example of a receiver installation using diversity and adaptive equalization is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,664.
The drawback of coherent demodulation is that the phase of the received signal must be estimated. This is particularly difficult because the paths in question cause fast variations in phase which can desynchronize the receiver.
One known solution to the problem of avoiding this estimation of the phase of the received signal is to use differentially coherent demodulation, more usually referred to as "differential demodulation". In this technique the previous sample is used as a phase reference for the signal sample being processed. A receiver installation using adaptive equalization in association with differential demodulation is described in French patent application FR-88 17507.
For receiver installations using adaptive equalization in association with differential demodulation the receiver clock or timebase must be synchronized to the transmitter timebase which controls the timing of data symbol transmission. Timing recovery devices are known which operate on the complex envelope of the received signal prior to equalization.
These known devices offer poor performance in the case of a dispersive transmission path, however.
Also, diversity mode operation of the receiver requires a combination of estimates and this makes the receiver complex. Furthermore, because sampling time control is independent of equalization, the sampling time set by the timing recovery device means that the equalizer cannot operate under optimum conditions. In particular, skipping of successive cycles (occurring after a particular time) tends to desynchronize the equalizer which makes it impossible to guarantee correct operation of the receiver in the long term.
This type of timing recovery device is suitable for equalizers with a low correction capacity for digital transmission via low dispersion paths but not equalizers for digital transmission via highly dispersive paths such as the tropospheric path.
Other known timing recovery devices use the coefficients of the transversal filters of the equalizer to correct the phase of the recovered timing on the basis of a filter group propagation time control criterion as described in the document IEEE Transaction of Communication, vol--COM-24, No 8, August 1976.
Timing recovery devices of this kind have various drawbacks:
For an equalizer operating in diversity mode and governed by a single error which is generated after combination, the group propagation time of each filter no longer conveys data and not all combinations of data are able to supply a usable recovered timing phase error estimate signal.
The acquisition range and bandwidth performance of the timing control loop are limited by the loop bandwidth of the equalizer which is just a few hertz. A timing recovery device of this kind requires the use of highly stable clocks if the performance of the equalizer is not to be degraded because the coeffients of the filters are varied to adapt to random variations in the phase of the clock.
One solution to making the adaptive equalizer relatively insensitive to the signal sampling time is to oversample the received signal prior to equalization at a frequency which is a multiple of the symbol frequency. Two times oversampling is most commonly used. In such a scheme it might be thought that timing recovery is no longer necessary because it is carried out by the equalizer.
However, this would require the use of an equalizer with an unlimited number of coefficients. This solution is not feasible because the number of filter coefficients must be finite.
An object of the invention is to remedy this drawback.

Timing recovery device for receiver installation using adaptive equalization and oversampling associated with differentially coherent demodulation


The present disclosure relates to viral delivery of RNA utilizing self-cleaving ribozymes and applications of such, including but not limited to CRISPR-Cas related applications.

Gene therapies broadly involve the delivery of nucleic acid polymers (e.g. RNA or DNA) into a cell in order to treat an underlying disease or condition. One such gene therapy which has gained much attention over the last several years is CRISPR/Cas9. CRISPR/Cas9 technology promises to revolutionize genomics and modern medicine by allowing for the introduction of point-level mutations into a host genome, e.g. allowing the host genome to be cut at a desired location and then allowing genes to be removed or added. The CRISPR/Cas9 system generally relies on delivery of a specific nuclease, typically Cas9, into a cell, which is guided by guide RNA ("gRNA") to the appropriate section of the genome for cutting. Known viral vector systems for delivery of CRISPR/Cas9, e.g. lentivirus and adeno-associated virus (AAV), have successfully modified cells both ex vivo and in vivo; however, the DNA-based replication of these viruses carries the risk of unwanted integration into the host genome and thus genotoxicity or oncogenesis. Despite much attention to this problem and innovations such as the use of integration-defective lentivirus, undesirable integration remains a carefully monitored risk that may affect the success of future gene therapy trials. These drawbacks are not simply unique to CRISPR/Cas9. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for improved viral vector delivery systems, including for delivery of CRISPR-based technology.

Viral delivery of RNA utilizing self-cleaving ribozymes and CRISPR-based applications thereof


A semiconductor device mountable to a substrate includes a semiconductor die and an electrically conductive attachment region having a first attachment surface and a second attachment surface. The first attachment surface is arranged for electrical communication with the semiconductor die. A housing at least in part encloses the semiconductor die and the interlayer material. The housing has a recess disposed through the second attachment surface of the electrically conductive attachment region. A dielectric, thermally conductive interlayer material is located in the recess and secured to the housing. A metallic plate is located in the recess and secured to the interlayer material.

A major cause of reduced efficiency in semiconductor devices such as rectifiers is inadequate cooling during normal operation. Two ways to alleviate this problem involve the use of a heat sink and a reduction in the wall thickness of the housing that encapsulates the semiconductor device.
FIGS. 1a and 1b are perspective and side views, respectively, of a Vishay® Semiconductor brand single phase inline bridge rectifier device 10 having four semiconductor die inside (not shown), manufactured by Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. Device 10 is through-hole mountable via leads 14, and includes an exterior epoxy housing 12 that protects the semiconductor dies—during operation of device 10, heat generated by the semiconductor dies is transferred through leads 14 and housing 12. FIG. 1B is a side view of device 10, illustrating the through-hole mounting thereof to a substrate 11 (a circuit board, for example), and further illustrating how a heat sink (such as a finned aluminum plate) 13 may be used to increase the thermal dissipation performance of housing 12—heat generated by dies within housing 12 is transferred to substrate 11 via leads 14, and through housing 12 to heat sink 13 and/or the ambient environment. Device 10, substrate 11, and heat sink 13 are cooled using a cooling technique such as natural or forced-air convection. The thermal conductivity of epoxy housing 12 is much less than that of heat sink 13, however, which often results in device 10 having poor thermal dissipation performance. Unfortunately, the housing 12 is necessary to protect the semiconductor device against moisture as well as assembly process and other environmental contaminants. The housing 12 is commonly formed by encapsulating the semiconductor device in a mold compound, such as a thermosetting plastic, applied by a transfer molding process.
In a typical transfer molding machine used in the semiconductors industry, a thin electronic workpiece mounted on a lead frame is clamped between two halves of a split mold. The mold defines a mold cavity around the device with sufficient clearance to allow mold compound to be injected and flow around the device to encapsulate it. During the molding process mold compound is injected into an inlet and air inside the mold escapes from a vent. A plunger drives the liquefied mold compound into the mold cavity. The mold compound is allowed cure and the mold is opened, releasing the encapsulated semiconductor device.
As previously mentioned, to increase heat dissipation device manufacturers would like to reduce the thickness of the encapsulating layer of the mold compound which encases each device. Thinner encapsulating layers also aid in improving device performance or reliability with regard, resistance to coating damage under thermal stress and other parameters. Another reason thinner encapsulating layers are desired is that in general smaller semiconductor devices are preferred over larger device. However, as the distance between the inner mold surfaces and the electronic workpiece is decreased, it becomes more difficult to obtain a high quality void-free encapsulant around the entire device.
To obtain a void-free seal, the liquefied mold compound must enter the mold inlet and entirely fill the space in the mold cavity before the mold compound flow front arrives at the mold vent. If the mold compound reaches the vent before the mold is completely filled, an air bubble is trapped in the mold, creating a void.
To completely fill the mold cavity, the mold compound must flow between the upper mold surface and the upper surface of the device, between the lower mold surface and the lower surface of the device, and into the space surrounding the outer perimeter of the device. However, as the distance between the upper and lower mold surfaces and the device is reduced, so as to make the encapsulating coating thinner, it becomes more difficult for the mold compound to penetrate these regions.
If this distance is reduced too far, the mold compound will flow around the outer perimeter of the device before the mold compound flow front has displaced the air in the space above and below the device. The result is a void in the encapsulation material as an air bubble is pinched off in the center of the device.
As a result, transfer molding of semiconductor devices with conventional equipment has required that the distance from the inner mold surfaces to the device be at least about 200-250 micrometers. This ensures that there will be laminar flow of the molding compound into the mold and around the device. The exact minimum distance limit is, of course, a function of the specific mold compound used, the fillers it contains and process parameters, such as temperature, but, in general, reducing the distance from the inner mold surfaces to the device to less than some minimum distance results in unacceptable manufacturing losses due to the formation of voids.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor device 10 such as depicted in FIGS. 1a and 1b. Similar to the device in FIG. 1, device 10 is through-hole mountable via leads 112, and includes an exterior epoxy housing 110 that protects the semiconductor dies 106—during operation of device 10, heat generated by the semiconductor dies 106 is transferred through leads 112 and housing 110. The thermal conductivity of epoxy housing 110 often results in device 10 having poor thermal dissipation performance. A major cause of reduced efficiency in semiconductor devices such as rectifiers is inadequate cooling during normal operation. Unfortunately, as discussed above, if the thickness of the housing is reduced to achieve better thermal conduction, molding failures such as IPE or voids 130 (see FIG. 2) tend to increase, leading to problems such as a failure of a high-potential (hipot) test or electric strength test, which is caused by a breakdown in insulation.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to accommodate both a heat sink and a thinner housing wall in order to adequately dissipate her in a semiconductor device such as a bridge rectifier.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having improved heat dissipation capabilities


A control device is provided for a vehicle drive apparatus, which includes a differential mechanism distributing an output of an engine to a first electric motor and an output shaft, and an electric motor provided on the output shaft, for miniaturizing the drive apparatus and/or providing improved fuel economy while preventing switching shocks from occurring in starting or stopping the engine. A switching clutch C0 or switching brake B0 is provided for placing a shifting mechanism 10 in a continuously variable shifting state and a step-variable shifting state, enabling the vehicle drive apparatus to have combined advantages including a fuel economy improving effect of a transmission, enabled to electrically change a speed ratio, and a high transmitting efficiency of a gear type transmitting device enabled to mechanically transmit drive power. During the occurrence of overlapping phases between operation of switching control mean 50 for switching a shifting state and operation of engine starting and stopping control means 90 for starting or stopping the engine, execution control means 82 enables the operations to be sequentially executed so as to avoid overlapping executions, thereby suppressing the switching shocks.

There has heretofore been known a drive apparatus of a vehicle including a differential device through which an output of a drive power source, such as an engine or the like, is distributed to a first electric motor and an output member, and a second electric motor disposed between the output member and drive wheels. Such drive apparatus for a hybrid vehicle is disclosed for example in the Patent Literature 1 (JP 2003-127697A). It includes a differential mechanism being comprised of a planetary gear unit and performing a differential action for mechanically transmitting a major part of power outputted from the engine to drive wheels. A remaining part of power from the engine is electrically transmitted from the first electric motor to the second electric motor using an electrical path. Thus, the drive apparatus operates a transmission of which shifting ratio is electrically changed, for example as an electrically controlled continuously variable automatic transmission. The drive apparatus is controlled by the control device so that the vehicle runs with the optimum operation state of the engine, thus improving fuel consumption, i.e., mileage.

Control device for vehicle drive apparatus


Method and apparatus for controlling a display device displaying a plurality of display elements, such as character strings, fields, icons, buttons and so forth. Responsive to user entry of a display indicia, such as a character string entered at a keyboard, or a field or button activated at the screen by a cursor or mouse pointer, determining if at least one display element corresponds to the display indicia; and if so temporarily highlighting that display element.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a method for controlling a computer display. In particular, this invention provides for temporarily highlighting prior instances of displayed input.
2. Background Art
Sometimes a relatively inexperienced computer user will be observing a more experienced user, attempting to learn by watching. The experienced user will be interacting with the computer and may fail to completely explain the reason for each command typed. The inexperienced user may be unable to keep up. One particular problem occurs when the experienced user sees something on the screen and uses it as input to a command. The inexperienced user needs to see the text in the command, recognize it as potentially coming from data that is already on or has just previously been on the screen somewhere, and locate it on the screen. The time and effort required to do that inhibits learning on the part of the inexperienced user or slows down the experienced user.
Typically, a personal computer (PC) is connected to a host computer and displays a terminal emulation session 150. A person interacts with the host computer via the PC's terminal emulation program. When the person types something on the emulation screen, it is desirable to spotlight numbers or other special data elsewhere on the screen when it matches what the person has just entered. The reason for this desirability is that while the person presumably obtained the data from the screen, other people trying to watch and learn may not know this unless the source of the data is pointed out to them.
Consequently, there is a need in the art for hastening human recognition of on-screen data that is being used in an interactive situation, and to do so in a relatively non-intrusive manner.
It is an object of the invention to facilitate faster human recognition of on-screen data without significantly slowing down the operation of a computer display by experienced users.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a method and apparatus for controlling a display device displaying a plurality of display elements, comprising the steps of receiving a display indicia; determining if at least one display element corresponds to the display indicia; and if so temporarily highlighting that display element.
Other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

International Business Machines Corporation


A conveyor includes floor slats 36 connected to transverse drive beams 20 by connectors 22. Each connector 22 comprises a base 24 secured to the corresponding drive beam 20 and a nut element 30. Laterally elongated openings in the base allow the base and nut element to move laterally in relation to one another during attachment of the floor slat 36 to the drive beam 20. The base and nut element may have a laterally extending tongue and groove interface 42. Each slat has longitudinally spaced preformed openings at least one of which is positioned over each drive beam to allow the slat to be connected to any one of the drive beams.

A substantially complete reciprocating slat conveyor system is disclosed by my U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,524, granted Nov. 24, 1992 and entitled Reciprocating Floor Conveyor. A reciprocating slat conveyor comprises a plurality of floor slats mounted adjacent each other for longitudinal reciprocation. The typical operation of a reciprocating slat conveyor is illustrated in my aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,524, FIGS. 2-6. The floor slats are divided into three sets, identified by the numerals "1", "2", and "3", respectively. The slats are arranged in a plurality of groups, with each group including adjacent slats, one from each set. Translation of a load "L" is accomplished by the simultaneous movement of all three sets of slats. The slats are then retracted, one set at a time. The conveyor includes three transverse drive beams, one for each set of slats. The slats of each set are connected to the corresponding drive beam by a plurality of connectors attached to the drive beam. Each drive beam is connected to a drive motor for selectively reciprocating the slats. The slats are also supported by bearings positioned over longitudinal guide beams.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art conveyor having a drive assembly including a frame 2, three drive units 4, three transverse drive beams 6, and connectors 8. Referring to FIG. 1, in the conventional procedure for installing a reciprocating slat conveyor, the drive assembly is first installed. Then, the conveyor slats are positioned above the drive assembly. A worker gets below the drive assembly and drills upwardly through holes in the connectors 8 to form corresponding holes in each slat. Then, a nut is held in place below the connector 8 while a bolt is inserted through the drilled slat hole from above the slat and is threaded into the nut. This conventional procedure is cumbersome due to the need to drill metal parts at a location removed from the fabrication facility, and the necessity for a worker to access the area below the drive assembly.

Drive beam connector and connection method


An image capture apparatus which is compact and structurally simple and allows for prevention of a flicker noise, a method of capturing an image which allows for prevention of a flicker noise, and a mobile terminal using the apparatus and the method, are provided. In the image capture apparatus, a vertical cycle is adjusted so as to maintain 20 fps or 20/2m (m is an integer) fps, thereby to prevent a flicker noise in an image as obtained. To this end, in the image capture apparatus, a frequency of a horizontal transfer clock, a horizontal count level and a vertical line count level may be adjusted. Further, a fraction count is provided to adjust the length of one vertical cycle. Moreover, the image capture apparatus may be incorporated in a mobile terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capture apparatus which allows for prevention of a flicker noise, more particularly to a compact image capture apparatus which is suitably combined with a mobile terminal such as an information technology equipment or a mobile phone.
2. Description of the Background Art
As generally known, an image of one subject which is captured under illumination provided using an alternating current (ac) power is liable to contain a flicker noise in an image signal thereof. One conventional solution to correct such a flicker noise is as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 52-122039, for example. This reference discloses a method as follows. First, a waveform having a phase reverse to that of a flicker noise is obtained by synthesizing a vertical scanning frequency of an image capture apparatus and an ac power frequency while synchronizing the frequencies to each other. Next, the obtained waveform is superposed on an image signal containing the flicker noise. In this manner, the flicker noise contained in the image signal can be eliminated.
Alternatively, a conventional image capture apparatus including a circuit functioning to eliminate a flicker noise is as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-038078, for example. In the image capture apparatus disclosed in this reference, a signal level of an image signal actually output from an imaging device (hereinafter also referred to as a "CCD imaging device") is compared with a reference signal level of an image signal to be obtained by capturing an image using the CCD device in an appropriate (reference) exposure time, to find a difference between an actual exposure time and the reference exposure time. Next, calculation is carried out using two data of: data of the reference exposure time which corresponds to an exposure time of one cycle before a cycle where a flicker noise is caused due to a difference between a vertical scanning cycle actually employed in the image capture apparatus and a variation cycle of change in light intensity of illumination provided to a subject; and data of the difference between the actual exposure time and the reference exposure time. As a result of the calculation, a new exposure time to be set in the CCD imaging device is determined. Further, data of a drive timing is obtained in order to implement the new exposure time to be set. On the other hand, the image capture apparatus is provided with an oscillator for generating a pulse occurring plural times at constant intervals which are counted by a counter. Then, the counted times of the pulse and the data of a drive timing are compared with each other by a comparator, to detect a coincidence point at which any of the counted times of the pulse coincides with any value of the data of a timing for driving. Thereafter, in the image capture apparatus, an information about an optical image of the subject is stored in the CCD imaging device during a period of time from the coincidence point to a point at which a stored charge is read out during a vertical retrace period. In this manner, the conventional image capture apparatus eliminates the flicker noise contained in the output image signal.
In accordance with the above-described conventional method of correcting a flicker noise which is disclosed in the first-cited reference, a waveform having a phase reverse to that of the flicker noise is obtained by synthesizing and synchronizing operations, which requires detection of an ac power frequency. For this reason, there is a need of additionally providing a device for detecting an ac power frequency in an image capture apparatus employing the conventional method. This complicates a structure of the image capture apparatus, as well as increases the size thereof.
On the other hand, in accordance with the above-described conventional image capture apparatus which is disclosed in the second-cited reference, a signal level of an image signal actually output from a CCD imaging device is compared with a reference signal level of an image signal to be obtained by capturing an image using the CCD element in an appropriate (reference) exposure time, to find a difference between an actual exposure time and the reference exposure time. Such procedure together with the other procedures is so complicated as to necessitate an additional process time for eliminating a flicker noise.

Image capturing apparatus and method for reducing a flicker effect


A method of manufacturing an array substrate 20 according to the present invention includes a line forming step, and line forming step includes following performances. A plurality of source lines 27 are formed on a glass substrate GS so as to extend from a first region A1 on the glass substrate GS to a second region A2 that is adjacent to the first region on an outer side thereof. A plurality of source driver side check lines 45A are formed on the glass substrate GS so as to extend from the second region A2 to a third region that is adjacent to the first region A1 on an outer side thereof and adjacent to the second region A2. A plurality of first line connection portions 49 are formed in the second region A2 and the first line connection portions 49 connect the source lines 27 and the first source driver side check lines 45A. A capacity stem line 43 and a common line 44 are formed to extend from the first region A1 to the third region A3. A second source driver side check line 45B and a second line connection portion 50 that connects each of the capacity stem line 43 and the common line 44 and the source driver side check line 45B are formed in the third region A3.

A liquid crystal panel used in a liquid crystal display device includes a pair of glass substrates and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the glass substrates. One of the glass substrates is an array substrate including TFTs as an active element that controls operations of each pixel. A plurality of gate lines and source lines are arranged in a matrix in a display area of the array substrate and the TFT is arranged at each intersection of the gate lines and the source lines. A check line, a line connection portion, and a check signal input portion are arranged in a non-display area that surrounds the display area of the array substrate. The check line is used for checking disconnection or short-circuit of the gate lines or the source lines in the process of manufacturing the array substrate. The line connection portion connects the check line and each line. The check signal input portion is connected to the check line and a check signal is input from via the check signal input portion. The check line, the line connection portion and the check signal input portion are removed after a checking step in the process of manufacturing the array substrate. The method of manufacturing the array substrate is described in Patent Document 1.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-90424

Method of manufacturing element substrate


A stacked power amplifier is provided in which an input signal is independently coupled to each of a series of amplifying devices in the stack. A transformer is used at the input circuit of each device to create an RF swing across each amplifying device which is substantially equal. This results in an equal distribution of RF and DC voltage among the devices in the stack.

High power amplifiers are often designed by combining active devices in parallel. A number of devices combined in parallel behave electrically similar to one larger device and can be used in a similar manner. A major difficulty with existing techniques for combining devices in parallel is that they increase only the maximum operating current, not the voltage.
A further disadvantage with existing designs is that the output impedance (both the actual impedance seen looking into the output, and the impedance required for maximum power or efficiency) is related to the voltage and current such that it decreases for large numbers of devices combined in parallel. For low frequency applications, this is not a problem, but for RF applications where it is mandatory to drive a load on the order of 50 ohms, it is an important consideration, as low loss matching networks that can transform low impedances to 50 ohms are difficult to realize. Compounding this problem is the fact that higher frequency devices need smaller geometries (for example, base width, or channel length) to achieve high gain. These small geometries tend to reduce device breakdown voltage, so for a given output power, the output impedance decreases even further.
One existing method of overcoming these problems is to connect the devices in series, or to make a combination of series and parallel connections. Specifically, the devices are placed so that the Emitter-Collector (or Source Drain) junctions are in series, sharing the power supply voltage. This technique has been described in "Amplifying Devices and Low-pass Amplifier Design", E. Cherry, D. Hooper, published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, and has been used to a small extent at lower frequencies. In the same publication, totem pole amplifiers, or bean-stalk amplifiers have been described, but it appears that practical implementations based upon this publication have not been realized. Totem-pole amplifiers for use at microwave frequencies have been described in "A New Power Amplifier Topology and Series Biasing and Power Combining of Transistors", M. Shifrin, Y. Ayasli, P. Katzin, in the proceedings of the 1992 Microwave and mm-wave Monolithics Symposium.
Another widely used attempt to solve these problems is the "Cascode" configuration in which a "top" device is driven only through the "common" terminal. This has been described in "Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory" by R. Boylestad and L. Natelsky, Prentice-Hall Inc., 1982, pages 334-335.
A problem with some of the existing stacked amplifiers referred to above lies in the drive of the base (or gate) of certain of the amplifiers in the stack. The drive of the bottom device is not a problem as an input signal is connected directly to the device. The next device up is more difficult to drive because the drive voltage must be referenced to the emitter (or source) of that device, but this electrode already has a high RF swing on it due to its connection to the bottom device. The next device is even more difficult to drive.

Transformer coupled stacked power amplifier


A mop having a base plate, a top plate, a handle, and a lock assembly to connect the top plate to the base plate. The base plate has a lower surface configured to face a surface to be cleaned, and an upper surface opposite the lower surface. The handle has a proximal end connected to the top plate by a joint, and a distal with a grip at the distal end. The lock assembly includes one or more slots on one of the base plate and the top plate, and one or more projections on the other of the base plate and the top plate. The one or more projections are movable between an engaged position in which the one or more projections are in the one or more slots, and a disengaged position in which the one or more projections are not in the one or more slots.

Spray Mops are simple cleaning tools that have gained favor by consumers following a recent trend in the popularity of hard floor surfaces (e.g., tile, wood, stone, marble, linoleum etc.) within the housing market. Early hard floor cleaning tools typically comprised a string mop, rag mop, or sponge mop that was used in conjunction with a separate bucket of cleaning solution. Such devices are still in use today, and can be effective, but they are often considered cumbersome to use.
The foregoing mopping devices have been replaced in the marketplace with increasing frequency by flat mops having a flat plate mounted to a long handle, with a removable cleaning pad attached to the plate. Such cleaning pads have included traditional woven fabrics (e.g., string or a knit fabric), sponges, nonwoven fabrics made of polymers, wood pulp, and the like. Woven and sponge mop pads are generally considered to be reusable, whereas nonwoven pads are often considered to be "disposable" because they are difficult or impossible to effectively clean for multiple reuses.
Flat mops may be used with a separate supply of cleaning fluid (water, detergent or the like), but some are equipped as a "spray mop" having a built-in fluid deposition system including a spray nozzle attached either to the plate or the handle, a vessel filled with liquid cleaning fluid, and mechanism to control the flow of cleaning fluid. Such mechanisms have included, among other things, manually- and electrically-operated pumps, and gravity-operated systems controlled by a valve. The spray frequency and duration are controlled by the user using a hand trigger located on or close to the handle grip. Once the vessel is filled with the cleaning solution of choice and the cleaning pad is installed, the user places the plate on the target surface (typically a floor) and energizes the spray system by squeezing the hand trigger or other mechanism to wet the surface. Once the surface is wetted, the user moves the spray mop pad across the wet surface in forward/aft or left/right directions to wick up the cleaning solution, and applies a light downward force to transfer the dirt from the floor to the (now wet) pad.
The plate of a flat mop typically has a large surface (e.g., ˜400 mm wideט100 mm deep). The large surface area provided by the plate and underlying pad provides a large cleaning path, which reduces the time required to clean large areas and provides a significant transfer surface to pick up dirt and liquid. Often, much of the floor area covered by a typical flat mop is large spans of non-obstructed space (e.g., a living room, a hallway, a kitchen area, etc.). However, it is frequently the case that the flat plate is too large to access areas that are obstructed, such as spaces between furniture, under tables, corners and the like. This poses a problem to the user, which is often resolved by either omitting those areas or cleaning those areas by hand. Additionally, there are times when the user does not want to use the same mop pad in multiple rooms. Users often resolved this problem by using two separate spray mops or by changing pads.
There exists a need to provide alternative solutions to the problems of cleaning obstructed floor space using flat mops, spray mops, and the like.