The present invention relates to an ultrasound treatment device for HIFU and an ultrasound image, and to a control method therefor. The ultrasound treatment device comprises: a plurality of image converters disposed on one surface of a probe assembly to transmit ultrasound signals to a target and receive signals reflected by the target to create an ultrasound image; a plurality of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) converters disposed on the surface of the probe assembly so as to be located in different positions from the image converters, wherein the HIFU converters transmit ultrasound signals to a target to generate heat energy, thereby treating a tissue within a focusing area; and a control unit performing control such that the difference between apertures of converter arrays constituted by the image converters and the HIFU converters, respectively, is less than a predetermined value.

Ultrasound (US) imaging is the technique of imaging the structure and characteristics of a monitoring region in the human body by applying an ultrasonic signal to the monitoring region using an ultrasound probe, receiving the ultrasonic signal reflected back from the tissue and extracting information included in the signal. This has an advantage that real-time images harmless for the human body can be obtained at low costs, compared other medical imaging systems including X-ray, CT, MRI and PET.
It is known that human body tissues are necrotized when the temperature of the part is 60-85° C. Using this phenomenon, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) treatment is the technique of focusing ultrasound energy on one point (focal point) to necrotize the lesion tissue by heat (thermal coagulation) and mechanical energy (cavitation). With the development of ultrasound treatment, a specific ultrasound treatment, especially, HIFU, is applied to damaging dose to effectively treat many types of diseases, especially tumors. When comparing to the conventional surgery and chemotherapy, HIFU treatment causes less damage to patients and achieves non-invasive treatment. Accordingly, the clinical applications of HIFU are developed fast. The symptoms include liver cancer, bone sarcoma, breast cancer, pancreas cancer, kidney cancer, soft tissue tumor and pelvic tumor.
In general, an ultrasound tumor treatment device employs sphere focusing. Ultrasound emitted from all points is focused on the center of a sphere. The emitter on the ultrasound treatment device emits ultrasound from the outside of the body to the inside of the body, and the ultrasound is focused to form a high energy focal point during emission and transmission. Accordingly, high intensity and continuous ultrasound energy is applied to the patient's lesion region.
The effect of too high temperature (65-100° C.), the cavitation effect, the mechanical effect and the sonochemical effect generated from the focal point are used to selectively cause coagulative necrosis of the affected tissue, and prevent the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of tumor.
The accurate, safe and effective localization of the focal point is essential for successful treatment while applying HIFU treatment, and there is a need to further improve the convenience of operation for positioning the target. Accordingly, treatment may be performed through HIFU signals without damaging the important vessels and organs, and it is necessary to monitor accurate focusing of HIFU treatment signals to improve the stability and accuracy of HIFU treatment.
However, when high intensity ultrasound energy used for HIFU treatment is focused on an unwanted region, there is a problem that tissues other than the lesion part are necrotized, and accordingly there is a strong need for HIFU treatment technology in conjunction with ultrasound technology for imaging to obtain ultrasound images. The prior art document presented below introduces technical means for combining ultrasound imaging technology with HIFU treatment technology.

Ultrasound treatment device for HIFU and ultrasound image, and control method therefor


An ignition coil for an internal combustion engine includes: a center core arranged on an inner side of a primary coil and an inner side of a secondary coil; a side core arranged on an outer side of the primary coil and an outer side of the secondary coil, and combined with the center core to form a closed magnetic circuit; one or a plurality of gaps provided between the center core and the side core, or in the side core; and a magnet arranged in each of the one or a plurality of gaps, in which a sum of cross-sectional areas of the respective magnets is set to be three times or more and less than seven times of a cross-sectional area of the center core.

Hitherto, various means have been taken for the ignition coil for an internal combustion engine in order to increase efficiency and the amount of a generated voltage (see, for example, Patent Literatures 1 and 2).
However, hitherto, the ignition coil for an internal combustion engine is designed in consideration only of a peak performance of the ignition coil.

Ignition coil for internal combustion engine


A photosensitive composition can be used to prepare negative-working photosensitive elements such as lithographic printing plates. The composition includes a first photocrosslinkable aromatic resin having photocrosslinkable groups and a number average molecular weight of at least about 1500. Also included is a polymerizable monomer, a photocrosslinkable polyester and a photoinitiator. The photosensitive resins are present at a total weight ratio to the monomer of at least 1.5:1.

The art of lithographic printing is based upon the immiscibility of oil and water, wherein the oily material or ink is preferentially retained by the image area and the water or fountain solution is preferentially retained by the non-image areas. When a suitably prepared surface is moistened with water and an ink is then applied, the background or non-image areas accept the ink and repel the water. The ink on the image areas is then transferred to the surface of a material in which the image is to be reproduced, such as paper or cloth.
Negative-working lithographic printing plates are prepared from negative-working radiation-sensitive compositions that are formed from polymers that crosslink in radiation-exposed areas. A developing solution is used to remove the unexposed areas of the plates to thereby form a negative image.
The most widely used type of negative-working lithographic printing plates comprises a layer of a radiation-sensitive composition applied to an aluminum substrate and commonly includes a subbing layer or interlayer to control the bonding of the radiation-sensitive layer to the substrate. The aluminum substrate is typically provided with an anodized coating formed by anodically oxidizing the aluminum in an aqueous electrolyte solution.
It is well known to prepare negative-working lithographic printing plates using a radiation-sensitive composition that includes a photocrosslinkable polymer containing the photosensitive group, --CH.dbd.CH--CO-- as an integral part of the polymer backbone see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,208 (Schellenberg et al), U.S. Pat. No. 3,622,320 (Allen), U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,765 (Laakso) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,489 (Arcesi et al)!. A very common commercially useful photocrosslinkable polymer in lithographic printing plates is a polyester prepared from diethyl p-phenylenediacrylate and 1,4-bis(.beta.-hydroxyethoxy)cyclohexane.
Polyesters in addition to Polymer A that are especially useful in the preparation of lithographic printing plates are those which incorporate ionic moieties derived from monomers such as dimethyl-3,3'-(sodioimino)disulfonyl!dibenzoate and dimethyl-5-sodiosulfoisophthalate. Polyesters of this type are well known and are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,489 (Arcesi). A preferred polyester of this type, known in the art as "Polymer B", is poly1,4-cyclohexylene-bis(oxyethylene)-p-phenylenediacrylate!-co-3,3'(so dioimino)disulfonyl!dibenzoate. Another preferred polyester of this type is known in the art as "Polymer C" and is defined as poly1,4-cyclohexylene-bis(oxyethylene)-p-phenylenediacrylate!-co-3,3'-(s odioimino)disulfonyl!dibenzoate-co-3-hydroxyisophthalate.
Various other photocrosslinkable polymers are known for use in lithographic printing plates including the polyimide precursors described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,973 (Goff). Such compositions are known for durability, chemical resistance, adhesion to metals and high mechanical strength when photocrosslinked. Well-known sensitizers including coumarins and halogenated triazines, as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,793 (Tamoto et al), can also be used in photocrosslinkable compositions.
Modern commercial printing plates often require a blend of polymers in the photosensitive layer. Unfortunately, some of those required polymers are incompatible with each other or insoluble in coating solvents, thus necessitating multilayer coatings. Thus, there is a need for a photosensitive formulation that can be used to provide a single-layer element.
There is also a need to have a photosensitive formulation that can be processed using environmentally friendly aqueous developer solutions. It is further desired that the resulting printing plate have chemical resistance to chemicals used during printing.
Thus, there is a need to provide a highly durable, long-running negative-working lithographic printing plate that is simple to make and use, and is readily prepared in a single-layer formulation.

Photosensitive polymer composition containing photosensitive polyamide and negative working photosensitive element


A system and method of monitoring a plurality of electrical assets comprise an electricity distribution infrastructure, including a plurality of electrical asset sensors coupled to the electrical assets for monitoring an operating condition of the electrical assets as well as any fault conditions. The sensors may include a current transformer for obtaining a current waveform, a GPS receiver for applying a synchronized time-stamp to the waveform data, and a mesh network radio for transmitting the time-stamped waveform data. Data from the plurality of sensors may be encrypted and transmitted over a mesh network to one or more gateways that are in communication with a central command processor. In response to an abnormal operating condition of any electrical asset, the central command processor may determine a probable fault location, a probable fault type, and a fault response.

Based, in part, on the recent deregulation of the electrical supply market, increased competition amongst electricity providers has prompted the need for increased efficiency in electricity distribution as well as increased quality of service. In the event of a fault condition, for example, there is a need for rapid determination of the fault location and fault type so that work crews may be dispatched for rapid response to a fault or outage. Within dense urban areas, in particular, there is a need for precise power distribution asset monitoring due to the sheer number of electrical assets (e.g., power lines, transformers, etc.) that may be the cause or location of a fault condition, and the concomitant difficulty in pin-pointing the location of such a fault condition. Generally, fault conditions may arise from such events as lightning strikes, fallen trees, blown transformers, and strong winds, for example.
Aside from determining fault locations for rapid-response by work crews, there is also a need to improve the efficiency of electricity distribution. This may be done by power factor correction and load monitoring, for example. In order to achieve desirable levels of efficiency (e.g., 99% power factor correction), however, utilities require accurate monitoring of electrical assets in their electricity distribution infrastructure.
Electrical utilities are responsible for management and control of the electricity distribution assets and, thus, monitor these assets and coordinate field personnel in a variety of maintenance and fault-response activities via a central command center. Many such central command centers isolate outage or fault locations based on customer complaints and reports of outages. Some utilities also implement sensors for monitoring electrical assets and reporting faults and/or outages. These existing monitoring systems, however, are unable to pin-point the source of a fault, identify the probable cause of the fault, or identify the chain of events leading to the fault.
A further problem faced by the utilities includes theft and inaccuracy in existing electricity meters, whereby customers are either consistently under-billed or over-billed due to inaccurate usage metering. Currently, this problem may be addressed by implementing one or more sensors on power lines leading to a customer, whereby the sensor readings are compared to electric meter readings. This presents an additional cost to utilities, however, as they incur overhead associated with hiring workers to drive around and collect meter and sensor readings, making such an implementation undesirably cost-prohibitive.

Monitoring electrical assets for fault and efficiency correction


The object of the invention is to provide a display apparatus that can partially eliminate the need for a backlight unit and that achieves a corresponding reduction in thickness. The display apparatus includes two display panels arranged one on top of the other and each having two transparent substrates disposed opposite each other with a liquid crystal layer provided therebetween, and the first display panel has a reflective layer, a light-guiding transparent substrate, and a light control layer, and the second transparent substrate, reflective layer, light control layer, and light source together constitute an illuminating means for illuminating the second display panel which is an illuminated member, with provisions made to illuminate the second display panel by the light emerging from the light-guiding transparent substrate.

The use of liquid crystal displays has been rapidly increasing in a variety of fields as low-power, thin and light-weight displays. In particular, in the mobile phone field which has seen an explosive growth in recent years, every mobile unit is equipped with a liquid crystal display.
In mobile phones, reflective liquid crystal displays are often employed because of their low power consumption in order to extend battery life. Most of them are transflective liquid crystal displays equipped with backlighting. Since liquid crystal displays are not self-luminous displays, the backlight is used to enhance visibility in a low-light environment where a sufficient amount of ambient light is not available for viewing the screen.
In recent years, as information communications such as electronic mail develop, the screen size of the liquid crystal display has been increasing and, as a result, the size of the mobile phone also has been increasing. In view of this, folding mobile phones have been developed that offer the advantage of being able to protect the display screen as well as the advantage of enhancing the portability.
Since this type of mobile phone is usually folded up when not in use, the user has had to unfold the phone each time he or she wants to check the current time or to check for an incoming call. To eliminate such inconvenience, recent mobile phones have come to be equipped with, in addition to a first liquid crystal display which is viewed with the mobile phone unfolded, a second liquid crystal display which is mounted in a position where the display can be viewed with the mobile phone folded up, thus enabling the user to check various kinds of information displayed thereon anytime he or she desires.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the construction of a commonly used mobile phone.
The mobile phone 1000 comprises a main body 1100 and a cover 1200 joined together by a hinge 1300 in such a manner that the cover can be turned to open and close relative to the main body. A keypad 1109 is provided on the top of the main body 1100, and a first liquid crystal display 1101 and a second liquid crystal display 1102 are mounted in the cover 1200 in a back-to-back arrangement thus forming a double-sided display apparatus.
The first liquid crystal display 1101 comprises a first display panel 1103 and a first backlight 1104, and the second liquid crystal display 1102 comprises a second display panel 1105 and a second backlight 1106. A first windshield 1107 and a second windshield 1108 are provided on the casing of the cover 1200, the former on the inside (the right side in the figure) and the latter on the outside (the left side in the figure), in order to allow the respective display panels 1103 and 1105 to be viewed therethrough.
The display functions of the mobile phone 1000 shown in FIG. 16 will be described. When the user uses the mobile phone 1000, the user opens the cover 1200 folded over the main body 1100 by turning the cover 1200 in the direction indicated by arrow. In this case, the first display panel 1103 produces the display, and the first backlight 1104 is turned on. At this time, the second display panel 1105 also produces a display, but the second backlight 1106 is off. In this condition, the user can operate the keypad 1109 on the main body 1100 while viewing the display produced on the first liquid crystal display 1101.
When folding up the mobile phone 1000 for portability, the user turns the cover 1200 in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow and thus folds it over the main body 1100. Thereupon, the display on the first display panel 1103 turns off, and the first backlight 1104 also turns off. On the other hand, the display on the second display panel 1105 remains on, and the second backlight 1106 now turns on. The second backlight 1106, however, turns off several tens of seconds after that. The second backlight 1106 also turns on when an incoming call arrives or when the user operates a key or the like.
FIG. 17 is a diagram schematically showing another prior art liquid crystal display apparatus (see patent document 1).
In the liquid crystal display apparatus shown in FIG. 17, a light source 58 as a backlight 51 and a light-guide member 49 are provided between a first display panel 40 and a second display panel 50.
The first display panel 40 is a monochrome transflective liquid crystal display. A liquid crystal layer 44 is sealed between a transparent front substrate 41 and a transparent rear substrate 42 by means of a seal member 43. A transflective film 45 is provided on the surface of the transparent rear substrate 42 that faces the liquid crystal layer 44, and a polarizer 46 is provided on the front surface of the transparent front substrate 41.
The second display panel 50 is a transmissive color liquid crystal display. A liquid crystal layer 55 is sealed between a transparent front substrate 52 and a transparent rear substrate 53 by means of a seal member 54. Color filters 56 are provided on the surface of the transparent rear substrate 53 that faces the liquid crystal layer 55, and polarizers 57 and 58 are provided on the front surface of the transparent front substrate 52 and the back surface of the transparent rear substrate 53, respectively.
In FIG. 17, electrodes and alignment films or insulating films (or planarizing films) are provided on the liquid crystal sides of the respective substrates.
In FIG. 17, external light S incident on the first display panel 40 passes through the polarizer 46, the liquid crystal layer 44, etc. and is reflected by the transflective film 45; the reflected light passes through the liquid crystal layer 44 and through the polarizer 46 for viewing by the viewer. In this way, the first display panel 40 functions as a reflective liquid crystal display.
On the other hand, when the backlight 51 is turned on, the light from the backlight, when directed toward the first display panel, passes through the light-guide member 49, the transflective film 45, and the liquid crystal layer 44, and is thus viewed as light S′ by the viewer.
The second display panel 50 is a transmissive color liquid crystal display. When the backlight 51 is turned on, the light S1 directed in the direction of the second display panel 50 travels in that direction to provide a light source for the second display panel 50. The light directed in the direction of the first display panel 40 passes through the transparent substrate 42 of the first display panel 40, but a portion of the light here is reflected by the transflective film of the first display panel 40 back into the direction of the second display panel 50 to provide a light source for the second display panel 50. On the other hand, the remaining light that passed through the transflective film is blocked by the liquid crystal layer 44 and does not reach the viewer. In this way, half of the light emitted from the backlight 51 is used as the light source for the second display panel 50.
FIG. 18 is a diagram schematically showing still another prior art liquid crystal display apparatus (see patent document 2).
The liquid crystal display apparatus shown in FIG. 18 comprises a liquid crystal panel 64 which is constructed by sealing the outer peripheral edges of a first transparent substrate 60 and second transparent substrate 61 by a seal member 62, with a liquid crystal material, as a liquid crystal layer 63, sandwiched therebetween.
An integrated circuit 65 for driving the liquid crystal display is connected, via an anisotropic conductive layer 67 containing conductive particles 66, to the underside of the first transparent substrate 60 at a position outwardly to the right of the seal member 62 as seen in the figure. A light control layer 68 is formed on the viewer side (the upper side in the figure) of the first transparent substrate 60. The light control layer 68 is formed over the entire area on the surface of the first transparent substrate 60 except the portion thereof to which the integrated circuit 65 is connected.
A first polarizing member 71 comprising a first polarizer 69 and a retardation film 70 is disposed above the light control layer 68. An internal reflective layer 72 is formed on the surface of the second transparent substrate 61 that faces the liquid crystal layer 63. A light source 73 is disposed in such a manner as to closely contact the left end face of the first transparent substrate 60 via a second polarizer 74 and a second retardation film 75.
In the structure of FIG. 18, the first transparent substrate 60 is formed thicker than the second transparent substrate 61. The first transparent substrate 60, on the upper surface of which the light control layer 68 having projections and depressions is formed, is attached to the first polarizing member 74 by means of a attaching member 76 on the light control layer 68.
Patent document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-45727
Patent document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-75087


A release mechanism for use with an explosives disposal robot having an elongated boom includes a latch member secured to an outer end of the boom, the latch member having a fixed portion and movable latch or lever members. A flexible strap extends between the lever members, with one end being attached to one of the lever members and the other end being releasably attached to the other lever member. When the other lever member is moved to a release position the other end of the strap falls from the other lever member so as to release, for example, a firing line cradled in the strap. The one lever member can be actuated by way of a remote controlled solenoid connected thereto via a flexible cable or by way of an elastic member connected thereto. The elastic member is particularly useful when the elongated boom is telescopic in nature, as the latch member will be secured to one of the boom members and one end of the elastic member will be connected to another of the boom members with the other end of the elastic member being connected to the one lever member. When there is telescopic extension movement between the boom members the elastic member will act on the one lever member to cause it to move so as to release the strap from the other lever member.

Explosives disposal robots are well known to police forces and the military and are utilized around the world for dealing with bombs and other hazardous items at a distance from the operators thereof. Typical of such robots is an extensible boom arrangement with controllable grasping means at the outermost end thereof. The extensible boom allows the robot to carry and deliver explosives counter charges to Improvised Explosive Devices.
When a robot is being used to counteract a suspected explosives device it will be moved into a position spaced from it following the placement of a counter charge adjacent the alleged device. The counter charge would typically be suspended from the free end of the extensible boom, deposited and released from the boom at the appropriate time. The explosive counter charge would typically include a detonator and a firing line. The firing line extends from the detonator to the initiation mechanism of the robot, safely positioned away from the suspect device. The firing line is used to send an electrical pulse to fire electric detonators or a shock wave when using non-electric detonators to effect detonation.
It is important during the delivery phase of the operation that there be a certain degree of slack associated with the firing line. The slack is typically maintained by looping the line through a cradle formed from a length of adhesive tape applied to telescoping portions of the extensible boom. When the counter charge is properly positioned and the robot is withdrawing from the danger zone, the boom is extended further so as to stretch the tape and thus permit it to become detached from one or both of the telescoping boom portions. When the tape becomes detached, the firing line should fall to the ground and then the robot can withdraw fully from the firing line without fear of accidentally stretching the firing line and upsetting the counter charge.
Unfortunately, the operation as described above does not always work in the desired manner. In some instances the firing line remains adhered to the tape even after one end of the tape has disengaged from the respective boom portion and withdrawal of the robot could cause the line to stretch and cause it to be moved away from the suspect device. This can considerably frustrate the officers who are charged with dealing with the suspect device in the safest manner possible, since it may mean that an officer will have to approach the suspect device in order to reposition the counter charge.

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Solicitor General of Canada


A semiconductor device is formed of two or more dice of similar dimensions and bond pad arrangement, in which bond pads are located in fields along less than three edges of the active surface of each die. A first die is attached to a substrate and subsequent die or dice are attached in a vertical sequence atop the first die, each in an offset configuration from the next lower die to expose the bond pads thereof for conductive bonding to metallization of the substrate. The multiple chip device permits a plurality of dice to be stacked in a maximum density low profile device. A particularly useful application is the formation of stacked mass storage flash memory package.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to packaged semiconductor devices. More particularly, the invention pertains to flash memory devices having high memory density.
2. State of the Art
The use of semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) chips is widespread, in both commercial grade and specific high reliability applications. Continuing progress in the manufacture of IC chips has resulted in chips of greatly increased density, i.e., higher number of devices per footprint area of each chip. In addition, to produce increasingly complex electronic components, it is necessary to include a much greater number of IC chips on a substrate, e.g., a circuit board. One solution to this dilemma is to form a stack of chips on a substrate, creating what is known in the art as a multi-chip package.
The state of the art in vertically stacked multi-chip module (MCM) devices is illustrated by representative prior art devices shown in drawing FIGS. 1 through 11.
A representative example of a known multi-chip module semiconductor device 10, prior to packaging, is shown in drawing FIG. 1.
A plurality of chips or dice 12A, 12B and 12C (identified as dice 12) are mounted in a pyramidal stack on a substrate 14. Each die is mounted with an adhesive material 16 to the next lower die or substrate and is electrically connected to the substrate 14 by bond wires 18 using known wire bonding methods. Variants of this multi-chip configuration are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,435 to Takiar et al., Japan Patent 62-8534(A) to Tsukahara and Japan Patent 3-165550(A) to Yashiro. In each of these references, a pyramidal stack is formed of increasingly smaller chips or dice 12, in order to accommodate the placement of bond wires 18 on peripheral portions of each die 12. This configuration is not generally useful where dice of equal dimensions are to be placed in a multi-chip module (MCM), such as in a memory device.
In drawing FIG. 2, a pyramidal stack of chips in device 10 is shown as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,898 to Rostoker. In these references, the dice 12A, 12B, 12C comprise "flip-chips" with solder bumps or balls 20 joined to conductive areas on the back side 22 of the underlying flip-chip.
Depicted in drawing FIG. 3 is an MCM device 10 in which a first die 12A is attached to a substrate 14 with adhesive material 16 and is electrically connected to the substrate 14 with bond wires 18. A second die 12B is stacked atop the first die 12A and connected to it by solder balls 20. The second die 12B is smaller than the first die 12A, in order to leave access to the first die's 12A conductive areas. This type of arrangement is depicted in Japan Patent 56-158467(A) to Tsubouchi, and a variant thereof is described in Japan Patent 63-104343 to Kuranaga.
Depicted in drawing FIG. 4 is an MCM device 10 formed of dice 12A and 12D mounted on opposite surfaces of a substrate 14. In this example, the substrate 14 is a lead frame, and the construction permits both of the dice 12A, 12D to be connected to a metallization on one surface of the lead frame. This construction is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,323 to Farnworth.
Each of the above stacking configurations requires that the dice be of differing sizes. This is mandated by the need to leave the bond pads of each die unobstructed for wire attachment.
There have been various configurations of MCM devices in which chips of equal dimensions are stacked. Several such configurations are shown in drawing FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 and described below.
In one MCM device configuration shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,403 to Wark and Japan Patent 5-13665(A) to Yamauchi, a flip-chip die 12A is electrically bonded to a substrate 14 by posts, solder bumps or balls 20 or other connectors, and a second chip, i.e., die 12B, is attached back-to-back to the flip-chip die 12A (with an intervening insulation layer 24) and connected by bond wires 18 to the substrate 14. This particular MCM device 10 is illustrated in drawing FIG. 5.
In another form depicted in drawing FIG. 6, two dice 12A, 12B are mounted on opposite sides of a substrate 14, with intervening insulation layers 24. The dice 12A, 12B are shown with bond wires 18. This general dice-to-substrate configuration with variants is pictured in U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,815 to Casto, U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,135 to Ball, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,705 to Akram.
An MCM device 10 that combines various die configurations already described above in drawing FIGS. 1 through 6 is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,878 to Akram et al. The apparatus uses conductive column-like structures to connect substrates that carry the dice.
As shown in drawing FIG. 7, an MCM device 10 described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,024 to Russell et al. has two identical dice 12A, 12B with central bond pads. The dice are sandwiched between and attached to two lead frames 14A, 14B with discontinuous adhesive layers 16A and 16B. The dice 12A, 12B are joined by an intervening insulation layer 24. Bond wires 18 connect each die to the corresponding lead frame.
In drawing FIG. 8, a stacked MCM device 10 is depicted in accordance with the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,060 to Fogal et al. In this device, dice 12A, 12B, 12C, and 12D are vertically alternated with adhesive layers 16A, 16B and 16C. The thickness of the adhesive layers is enhanced to be greater than the bond wire loop height, so that bond wires 18 may be attached to the active surfaces of the dice, for connection to the substrate 14.
Described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,061 to Ball is a similar stacked device 10 in which the thickness of the adhesive layers 16A, 16B and 16C is reduced, using a low-loop-profile wire-bonding operation.
As shown in drawing FIG. 9, a device configuration generally shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,898 to Rostoker uses an upper flip-chip die 12E to join dice 12A mounted on a substrate 14. The dice 12A are connected to substrate metallization with bond wires 18. Thus, the device 10 comprises three dice connected serially.
There are various forms of an MCM device in which separate enclosed units are first formed and then stacked. Examples are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,745 to Shokrgozar et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,831 to Fox, m et al. A typical stacked device 10 of this construction is depicted in drawing FIG. 10, showing three units. Each unit comprises an intermediate substrate 15A with a metalized surface. A die 12A, 12B or 12C is mounted on the intermediate substrate 15A and connected to the metallization 30 by bond wires 18. A wall 32 surrounding each die 12 encloses the die 12, bond wires 18, and metallization 30. The various metallization leads extend to conductive columns 34 within the wall 32, the latter connected to metallization 40 on substrate 14. An insulative cover 38 protects the upper unit and forms a protective shell about the device.
In another design of MCM package device 10 shown in drawing FIG. 11, a plurality of dice 12A, 12B, . . . have beveled edges 28 that permit the bonding of wires to edge bond pads on the active surfaces 26. This design requires that the die thickness 36 be sufficiently great to accommodate wire loop height in the beveled regions. If the die thickness 36 is insufficient, the thickness of adhesive material 16 must be increased. Thus, the device height will be increased. Also, the beveled edges 28 are weak and subject to breakage.
In each of the above prior art configurations for forming MCM devices containing a stack of identically configured dice, various limitations and/or problems exist as indicated above. A new device design is needed in which a plurality of identical dice with bond pads along one edge or two edges may be readily stacked for parallel operation. The new design must provide a device requiring fewer manufacturing steps and providing high density with enhanced reliability.

Method of forming a semiconductor device


A mixer base assembly is provided comprising: (a) a body having an upper end including a mating face for mixing vessel connection; a lower end including a cavity; a first side wall, a second side wall, a third side wall, and a fourth side wall; an inlet port arranged in the first side wall; an outlet port arranged in the third side wall; a sampling port arranged in the fourth side wall; a probe port arranged in the third side wall; and, a fluid mixing chamber having a bottom wall; (b) an impeller seat arranged in the cavity in the lower end of the body; and, (c) a levitating magnetic impeller arranged in the impeller seat, the impeller comprising a magnet, a base, and at least two blades, wherein the at least two blades extend above the bottom wall of the fluid mixing chamber into the fluid mixing chamber.

Mixing vessels are mounted to mixer bases for use. However, different mixing vessels have different shapes and/or configurations and can require specialized mixer bases for use.
The present invention provides for ameliorating at least some of the disadvantages of the prior art. These and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the description as set forth below.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Mixer base assembly for mixing vessels and method of use


A cryogenic air separation system wherein a portion of the feed air is compressed to a very high pressure, bypasses the primary heat exchanger, and is turboexpanded to a low pressure to supply refrigeration in one step from the warm end temperature to the cryogenic temperature of the cryogenic air separation plant.

The cryogenic rectification of feed air to produce at least one of product oxygen and product nitrogen is a well established industrial process. The feed air is separated in a cryogenic air separation plant, such as a double column plant having a higher pressure column and a lower pressure column. Refrigeration for the system is generally provided by the turboexpansion of a process stream such as a cooled feed air stream. Turboexpansion is an energy intensive operation and therefore any improvement to the energy efficiency of the refrigeration generation operation of a cryogenic air separation system would be very desirable.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a cryogenic air separation system which can generate refrigeration by feed air turboexpansion with lower unit power requirements than comparable conventional systems.

Cryogenic air separation system with high ratio turboexpansion


An optical frequency conversion method and device are provided by which a component other than a desired harmonic component can be eliminated with high precision and an output lightwave with the desired frequency component can be easily extracted even if the frequency of a modulation signal is changed. A plurality of phase control sections (101-1 to 101-n) that respectively generate a plurality of individual modulation signals with different phases from a modulation signal, a plurality of optical single sideband modulation sections (MOD1 to MODn) that respectively modulate an input lightwave in accordance with the plurality of individual modulation signals, and a plurality of optical phase control sections (201-1 to 201-n) that respectively give optical phase differences to a plurality of lightwaves that are respectively output from the plurality of optical single sideband modulation sections, an output lightwave is generated by multiplexing a plurality of lightwaves that are output from the plurality of optical phase control sections, wherein phase differences among the plurality of individual modulation signals and the optical phase differences are set so that a predetermined harmonic component other than a target frequency in the output lightwave will be eliminated.

Conventionally, in the optical communication field and optical measurement field, devices have been studied that convert optical frequency by an arbitrary shift amount with high precision and at high speed. For WDM cross-connects in the optical communication field in particular, there are demands for optical frequency conversion devices with which a desired optical frequency component can be stably obtained, with which a shift amount of optical frequency can be fine-tuned, and with which little loss of optical intensity is incurred. For methods of converting the frequency of an input lightwave, a generally known method is that the frequency of an input lightwave is shifted by using an optical single sideband modulator (for example, NPL 1). Hereinafter, an optical frequency shifter disclosed in NPL 1 will be described briefly.
Referring to FIG. 1A, an optical single sideband modulator 10 includes two resonant type intensity modulators 30-1 and 30-2 that are provided to the arms of a main Mach-Zehnder (MZ) waveguide, respectively, and an optical phase shifter 32 that is connected to the resonant type intensity modulator 30-2 in series, wherein the resonant type intensity modulators themselves are made up of the MZ waveguide. A modulation signal is input to each of an input terminal RFA of the resonant type intensity modulator 30-1 and an input terminal RFB of the resonant type intensity modulator 30-2, and bias voltage for control is input to each of input terminals BiasA and BiasB thereof. A control signal for phase adjustment is input to an input terminal Phase of the optical phase shifter 32.
Referring to FIG. 1B, an optical frequency shifter 38 includes the above-described optical single sideband modulator 10, a modulation signal oscillator 11, an optical phase shift amount adjustment section 13, and a phase control section 14. The modulation signal oscillator 11 generates a modulation signal, and the modulation signal is directly input to the terminal RFA of the optical single sideband modulator 10 while it is input to the terminal RFB thereof through the phase control section 14. The modulation signal is assumed to be a sine wave of a single frequency f. The phase control section 14 is controlled so as to give a phase difference of −π/2 between the modulation signals to be respectively input to the terminals RFA and RFB of the optical single sideband modulator 10. Moreover, the optical phase shift amount adjustment section 13 controls the optical phase shifter 32 so as to give a phase difference of π/2 between an output lightwave of the resonant type optical intensity modulator 30-1 and an output lightwave of the resonant type optical intensity modulator 30-2.
It is assumed that continuous-wave laser light of a carrier frequency f0 that has a frequency spectrum as shown in FIG. 2A is input to the optical frequency shifter 38 having such a configuration. At this time, an output lightwave of the resonant type optical intensity modulator 30-1 of the optical single sideband modulator 10 has a frequency spectrum including frequency components of f0+(2n−1)f (n is an integer) in which the harmonics of the carrier wave and of even orders are suppressed as shown in FIG. 2B.
On the other hand, an output lightwave of the optical phase shifter 32, which has shifted an output of the resonant type optical intensity modulator 30-2 by π/2, similarly includes the frequency components of f0+(2n−1)f as shown in FIG. 2B, but of them, the phases of frequency components of f0+(4n−1)f are inverted by π. Hereinafter, if the phases of certain components are inverted in a regular manner even though a frequency spectrum is the same as another one as descried above, the formula of such frequency components will be represented by being enclosed by [ ]. Here, the frequency components of the output lightwave of the optical phase shifter 32 are represented by [f0+(2n−1)f] because only the phases of the frequency components of f0+(4n−1)f are inverted by π with respect to the frequency components of f0+(2n−1)f of the output lightwave of the resonant type optical intensity modulator 30-1.
When such output lightwaves of the resonant type optical intensity modulator 30-1 and of the optical phase shifter 32 are multiplexed, the frequency components whose phases are mutually inverted by π are canceled out, and a frequency spectrum including frequency components of f0+(4n+1)f as shown in FIG. 2C is obtained as an output lightwave of the optical frequency shifter 38. Accordingly, by using an optical band-pass filter having a characteristic as indicated by a dashed line in FIG. 2D, an output lightwave can be obtained in which the carrier wave frequency f0 is shifted to a frequency component of (f0+f) as shown in FIG. 2D.
According to the optical frequency shifter 38 as described above, the −3rd frequency component has high optical intensity as can be seen from FIG. 2C, and an optical band-pass filter is required to eliminate the −3rd frequency component. However, PTL 1 proposes an optical frequency conversion device that does not require such an optical band-pass filter.
A low-noise optical frequency conversion device disclosed in PTL 1 is provided with a driving system which includes a phase-locked tripler that triples the frequency of a fundamental wave, an amplitude adjustor that adjusts the amplitudes of the fundamental wave and the triple wave, and a 90-degree hybrid, thereby suppressing a third-order harmonic component among harmonics as shown in FIG. 2C. More specifically, this driving system applies a multiplexed wave of the fundamental wave and its triple wave to the terminal RFA of the optical single sideband modulator 10 shown in FIG. 1A and applies a multiplexed wave having a phase difference of −π/2 from that multiplexed wave to the terminal RFB. Then, the amplitudes and phases of these two multiplexed waves are appropriately selected, whereby the third harmonic is suppressed as shown in FIG. 2E.

Method and device for converting optical frequency


A separator assembly operative to separate and feed individual documents from a storage tray of an inset feeder apparatus. The separator assembly including an adjustment assembly configured to adjustably position the separator roller relative to the separator stone. The separator assembly further includes a leverage assembly configured to raise the separator roller from an adjusted position to a height suitable for clearing a paper jam and to return the separator roller to the adjusted position relative to the separator stone. The leverage assembly and adjustment assembly both having respective operator actuated mechanisms positioned atop one of the first and second side portions of the feeder apparatus.

Multi-station document inserting systems generally include a plurality of various stations that are configured for specific applications. Typically, such inserting systems, also known as console inserting machines, are manufactured to perform operations customized for a particular customer. Such machines are known in the art and are generally used by organizations, which produce a large volume of mailings where the content of each mail piece may vary.
For instance, inserter systems are used by organizations such as banks, insurance companies and utility companies for producing a large volume of specific mailings where the contents of each mail item are directed to a particular addressee. Additionally, other organizations, such as direct mailers, use inserts for producing a large volume of generic mailings where the contents of each mail item are substantially identical for each addressee. Examples of such inserter systems are the 8 series and 9 series inserter systems available from Pitney Bowes, Inc., Stamford, Conn.
In many respects the typical inserter system resembles a manufacturing assembly line. Sheets and other raw materials (other sheets, enclosures, and envelopes) enter the inserter system as inputs. Then, a plurality of different modules or workstations in the inserter system work cooperatively to process the sheets until a finished mailpiece is produced. The exact configuration of each inserter system depends upon the needs of each particular customer or installation. For example, a typical inserter system includes a plurality of serially arranged stations including an envelope feeder, a plurality of insert feeder stations and a burster-folder station. There is a computer generated form or web feeder that feeds continuous form control documents having control coded marks printed thereon to the burster-folder station for separating and folding. A control scanner located in the burster-folder station senses the control marks on the control documents. Thereafter, the serially arranged insert feeder stations sequentially feed the necessary documents onto a transport deck at each station as the control document arrives at the respective station to form a precisely collated stack of documents. The collated stack is then transported to the envelope feeder-insert station where the stack is inserted into the envelope. The transport deck preferably includes a ramp feed so that the control documents always remain on top of the stack of advancing documents. A typical modern inserter system also includes a control system to synchronize the operation of the overall inserter system to ensure that the collations are properly assembled.
Specifically regarding insert feeder stations, it is known in the art to use a separator wheel assembly for separating and feeding individual sheets from a stack of sheets. One type of separator, known as an interference type separator includes a separator wheel which operates in cooperation with a separator stone extending through the feed deck for performing the separating task. Generally, in an interference type separator, the separator wheel includes a plurality of angular grooves into which a plurality of inclined raised members, commonly referred to as fingers, of the separator stone protrude. The documents are fed through the bite between the separator wheel and the separator stone with the grooves in the feed roller. An example of such an interference type separator is shown in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,501,417 and 5,120,043, both hereby incorporated by reference.
The nature of separator assemblies, and in the particular with the interference type separator, is that an adjustment must be made to the spaced relationship or "bite" between the separator wheel and the separator stone whenever there is a change in documents to be fed. Typically, the bite between the separator wheel and the separator stone is adjustable for the purpose of feeding documents of various thicknesses. The adjustment once made is locked into place until documents of other thicknesses are to be fed.
Generally, when a paper jam occurs at the separator assembly, the jam cannot be cleared without some damage to the jammed sheet. The most reliable way for clearing jams at the separator assembly is through the feed path downstream from the separator assembly. However, in many instances this may require the removal of a machine cover over the downstream feed path, and may require reaching into the rollers and belts in the feed path to retrieve the jammed sheet. Even in this instance, the sheet may be damaged because of the interference relationship of the stone fingers and the separator wheel.
Another problem encountered with such insert feeders is that the adjustment mechanism for setting the bite between the separator roller and separator stone is typically atop the insert feeder which location is directly above the main deck of the inserter system. This location is disadvantageous in that each time an operator desires to change the bite between the separator roller and separator stone, the operator is required to at least partially lean over the main deck which is both awkward and potentially dangerous in view of the various moving assemblies on the main deck of the inserter system.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the difficulties associated with feeder assemblies for conveying an insert from a storage tray onto a high speed paper deck of a document inserting system.


The invention of the present application provides a system of brick and rod for the construction of inclined walls, with great rigidity and lateral resistance, and great resistance to extreme uniform, cyclic, and gravitational forces. The brick of this system is a block with horizontal and vertical protuberances and cavities which permits horizontal and vertical interlocks with the adjacent bricks of the wall. The brick is also perforated by holes that are aligned with the holes of the vertically adjacent bricks of the wall, thus forming continuous holes which go throughout the entire height of the wall. The rods of the system cross the bricks through the continuous holes of the wall. This system allows the construction of an inclined wall made of bricks reinforced with a skeleton of rods. The resulting wall is suitable for retaining walls.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of construction of inclined walls with bricks which interlock horizontally and vertically.
In the field of the present invention, walls have been described that are constructed with bricks having protuberances and cavities which interlock horizontally and vertically with the objective of reducing the use of adhesives or mortar. Bricks with protuberances and cavities which interlock horizontally and vertically have also been described with the aim of constructing walls with high lateral resistance to uniform and cyclic forces of nature. However, a system of bricks and rods has not been described for the construction of inclined walls in which there are no need for adhesive or mortar, which results in walls with great rigidity and lateral resistance, and great resistance to extreme uniform, cyclic and gravitational forces.
2. Description of Prior Art
In the prior art construction of walls have been described using bricks with protuberances and cavities that interlock horizontally and vertically resulting in walls in which the use of adhesive or mortar is reduced, with high resistance to uniform and cyclic forces of nature.
Specifically, Nanayakkara describes in his patents, U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,208 B2 (Apr. 22, 2003), U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,330 (Aug. 22, 2000), y U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,338 B1 (Jun. 17, 2003), bricks or blocks with a system of horizontal and vertical interlocks, with reduction in the use of mortar, resulting in walls with high lateral resistance to natural uniform and cyclic forces. U.S. Pat. No. 6,550,208 B2 describes a brick having external positive and negative geometries that are complementary, and a continuous vertical cavity, resulting in horizontal and vertical interlocks between adjacent bricks for construction of walls which would have continuous vertical cavities.
The Nanayakkara's patents do not describe a brick or block like the one described in the system of brick with rod of the present invention. The brick or block described in Nanayakkara's patents is not adequate for inclined walls. Nanayakkara does not describe a brick with perforations or holes that are specifically adapted to the diameter of a rod which function is to reinforce the interlocks formed by the protuberances and cavities of the horizontally and vertically adjacent bricks of a wall.
The inventor of the present invention, in the Colombia Patent Application No. 06-049234 (May 23, 2006), which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, describes a brick with perforations or holes that are specifically adapted to the diameter of rods which function is to reinforce the interlocks formed by the protuberances and cavities of the horizontally and vertically adjacent bricks of a wall.
However, in the prior art, there has not been described a system of brick with rod that allows the construction of inclined walls. The system of brick with rod of the present invention permits the construction of inclined walls, as for example, retaining walls with great rigidity and lateral resistance, and great resistance to extreme uniform, cyclic and gravitational forces.

System of brick with rod for retaining wall


An example system may include a plurality of print devices, a supply attachment, and a device remote to the plurality of print devices. The plurality of print devices may receive the supply attachment. The device remote to the plurality of print devices may receive signals via the supply attachment that are indicative of print device information data from the plurality of print devices.

At times, service providers and device manufacturers may place print devices in customer premises under a service contract. At times, technicians may visit customer premises to check on print device status, perform repairs and/or upgrades, and replace consumable components (e.g., consumable print substances), by way of example.
Reference is made in the following detailed description to accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, wherein like numerals may designate like parts throughout that are corresponding and/or analogous. It will be appreciated that the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale, such as for simplicity and/or clarity of illustration.

Supply attachments for transmitting print device information data of a plurality of print devices to a device

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A package transfer system having a package elevator located between an overhead conveyor and stock conveyors. Withdrawable delivery members are installed on the runway of the package elevator. When in an up position, the delivery members function to deliver packages from the descending elevator to the stock conveyor. When in a down position, the delivery members allow the downward passage of the packages on the elevator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a package transfer equipment for receiving packages from an overhead conveyor and delivering them to a stock conveyor located below the overhead conveyor.
2. Prior Art
Packages produced by a winder are suspended and transported by an overhead conveyor, being stocked on a multiple-stage stock conveyors located below the overhead conveyor. That is, for transportation, there is required such a device that receives packages from the overhead conveyor and transfers them over onto the stock conveyor. As this type of package transfer equipment, "a package transfer equipment" disclosed in Laid-Open Japanese Patent No. Hei 1-96472 has already been developed by the present applicant.
The package transfer equipment mentioned above, however, has the disadvantages that since packages suspended from the overhead conveyor are transferred by a package receiving-delivering means onto a package receiving table, which is then lowered to carry the packages downwardly, and are delivered to a stock conveyor by a two-step motion, the whole equipment will become costly, and that package transfer motion can not quickly be performed.


Method and apparatus for reliable splices to be made in hard-rolled copper and alloy tapes without buckling or overlap and with splices that are stronger than the tape metal, itself. The invention permits an operator to load a second reel of tape in position such that when a first reel is exhausted, the system will automatically butt splice the tail end of the first tape to the front end of the second tape without the presence of the operator.

It has been known to end-splice copper or copper-alloy tapes by means of apparatus that inserts appropriate lengths of silver solder between the cut ends of said tapes while they are positioned over the flat surface of an electrode, lowering another electrode over the area to be spliced and then passing a sufficient current through the two electrodes. Such apparatus performs satisfactorily for small widths of soft copper as described in below named patents but if the copper or alloy is hard rolled or is very wide, consistently satisfactory splices may not be obtained due to buckling of the tape edges or, if the tapes are of fine gauge, areas where they overlap at the seam. Such buckling or overlapping is, of course, intolerable, if the tape is being fed into a punch press or the like.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,563,563 and 5,125,559, issued to one of the applicants of the present invention, disclosures are made that are now part of the industrial art and may be described as part of the procedures herein practiced, but novel improvements, herein disclosed make it practical to apply these butt splicing procedures to hard or especially wide tapes.
A most important industrial application for butt splicing metal tapes is in the metal stamping and punching arts. A coil or reel of the metal tape is fed into the metal punch or stamping machine. After each actuation of the press, the tape is advanced a preset distance and the press actuates again. When the last of the tape leaves the reel, the process can only continue without interruption if a new real of tape is provided and the tail end of the earlier tape is butt spliced to the new tape. An accumulator storing a length of the tape gives the operator only a short time to make the splice. He must be present when the changeover is required, which makes him unavailable for other duties.

Automated butt splicer for copper-based tapes


To provide a novel process for producing ramosetron or its salt that is useful as a pharmaceutical, especially as a therapeutic and/or preventive agent for digestive symptoms caused by administration of an anti-malignant tumor agent, diarrheal-type irritable bowel syndrome, diarrheal symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, etc.

The chemical name of ramosetron is (−)-(R)-5-[(1-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl)carbonyl]-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1H-benzimidazole, and it has the structure represented by the formula (II).

It is known that ramosetron or a salt thereof has a potent 5-HT3 receptor antagonism (Patent Reference 1, Non-patent references 1 and 2), and it is on the market as a preventive or therapeutic agent for digestive symptoms (nausea, emesis) caused by administration of an anti-malignant tumor agent (cisplatin or the like). In addition, a possibility has been reported that ramosetron or a salt thereof may be useful as an agent for treating diarrheal-type irritable bowel syndrome or an agent for improving diarrheal symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (Patent Reference 1), and its clinical trials are now in progress as an agent for treating diarrheal-type irritable bowel syndrome or an agent for improving diarrheal symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
As a process for producing ramosetron or a salt thereof, the following production methods are known.
Patent Reference 1 describes a production method shown by the following Production method A, namely a method for producing a tetrahydrobenzimidazole derivative (V) by allowing a heterocyclic compound (III) to react with a carboxylic acid represented by a formula (IV) or its reactive derivative.
(Production Method A)
(In the formula, X2 is a single bond and binds to a carbon atom on the heterocyclic ring represented by Het.)
As an illustrative production method of ramosetron, Patent Reference 1 describes a production method (Production method A-1) in which racemic ramosetron are obtained by using 1-methyl-1H-indole as the compound (III), and N,N-diethyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzimidazole-5-carboxamide or N-[(4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzimidazol-5-yl)carbonyl]pyrrolidine, which are acid amides, as the reactive derivative of compound (IV), and allowing them to undergo treatment with phosphorus oxychloride (Vilsmeyer reaction), and then their optical resolution is carried out by fractional crystallization using (+)-dibenzoyltartaric acid.
In addition, the Patent Reference 1 exemplifies an acid halide as one of the reactive derivatives of the compound (IV), and also describes another production method of the compound (V) (Production method A-2) in which the heterocyclic compound (III) is condensed with an acid halide of the compound (IV) by the Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction using a Lewis acid as the catalyst. However, illustrative production example of ramosetron by the Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction is not described therein.
Also, a method similar to the Production example A-1 is described in Non-patent References 1 and 2 as a production method of ramosetron.
In addition, Non-patent Reference 3 describes a method for producing ramosetron labeled with 11C, represented by a Production method B. However, it discloses only the methylation step, and does not disclose a production method of nor-YM060 as the starting material.
(Production Method B)
(In the formula, nor-YM060 means (R)-5-[(1H-indol-3-yl)carbonyl]-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1H-benzimidazole which was provided by the present applicant, DMF means dimethylformamide.)    Non-patent Reference 1: Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 1996, vol. 44, no. 9, p. 1707-1716    Non-patent Reference 2: Drugs of the Future, 1992, vol. 17, no. 1, p. 28-29    Non-patent Reference 3: Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 1995, vol. 46, no. 9, p. 907-910    Patent Reference 1: JP-B-6-25153

Process for producing ramosetron or its salt

Abstract: Ramosetron or its salt can be produced by reacting a compound of the formula (I):

Abstract: [wherein X is a halogen] or a salt thereof with 1-methyl-1H-indole in the presence of a Lewis acid selected from the group consisting of a lower alkylaluminum dihalide, a di-lower alkylaluminum halide, a tri-lower alkylaluminum and a lower alkylaluminum sesquihalide.


Disclosed are methods and circuit configurations for reference frequency signal distribution circuitry that suppress unwanted spurious components introduced by way of RF signal leakage. The methods and circuitry may include relocating components of a buffer along a reference frequency signal path, thereby suppressing conductive and inductive components associated with RF leakage paths entering the circuitry. A filter also may be used after the buffer to suppress spurious components resulting from subsampling of unwanted tones in a phase frequency detector or intermodulation between the reference signal and interference tones in the signal-path of the buffer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and devices that suppress interference in RF circuitry, and more particularly, to circuits and layout techniques for distributing an oscillator reference signal while suppressing unwanted spurious signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated radio receivers cannot easily implement radio-frequency (RF) synthesizers that are robust to interference while having a fast settling time. Interference robustness requires that all frequencies be synchronized. This typically requires that the frequency synthesizer reference frequency be equal to the RF channel spacing and that the reference oscillator frequency, generally generated by a crystal oscillator, be an integer multiple of the channel spacing. Such an arrangement would be virtually spurious free, since all frequencies are harmonically related. However, the settling time of a synthesizer having this reference frequency and channel spacing relationship would be undesirably long because settling time is proportional to the reciprocal of the channel spacing (i.e., the reference frequency).
Because of these conflicting requirements, which are further aggravated by the necessity support frequency generation for various standards with unrelated channel spacings, fractional-N synthesizers are commonly used. Fractional-N synthesizers, however, are prone to generating spurious components when the generated radio carrier frequency is close, but not equal to, an integer multiple of the synthesizer reference frequency. Consequently, spurs at offsets equal to the difference between the carrier and the reference harmonic will accompany the carrier. See, Jan-Wim Eikenbroek and Sven Mattisson, "Frequency Synthesis for Integrated Transceivers," chapter Part III, pages 339–355, in High-Speed Analog-to-Digital Converters: Mixed-Signal Design; PLLs and Synthesizers, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Suppressing these spurious components is very difficult and time consuming, often requiring many applications specific integrated circuit (ASIC) iterations that increase the complexity and cost associated with these devices.
Fractional-N synthesizers typically take the reference frequency from either an on-chip or an off-chip crystal oscillator (XO), which is supplied to the phase frequency detector via one or more buffers. These buffers are needed to guarantee sufficiently low noise levels by boosting the crystal signal power and by making the reference zero crossings as short as possible (e.g., a sharp square wave). Modern radio transceivers (i.e., transmitter plus receiver) often are formed as integrated circuits (e.g., as an ASIC) including one or more RF oscillator(s) on-chip. RF oscillators, however, are sources of undesirable signal and supply leakage that introduce performance-degrading interference, not only into their associated circuits, but also into nearby circuits. One source of interference from an on-chip RF oscillator is the inductor of the oscillator's LC tank circuit, which is tuned to a particular frequency based on an applied control voltage (e.g., by controlling a voltage of varactor that changes the capacitance of the LC tank).
FIG. 1 depicts interference scenarios that can occur with respect to a conventional fractional-N phase locked loop (PLL) frequency synthesizer. As shown in FIG. 1, a crystal oscillator (XO) 110 generates a reference signal 112, which is fed into a buffer 114. The reference signal is preferably a sinusoidal signal having a frequency denoted by fxo (or more generally, fref, to indicate the frequency of any type of reference frequency signal). The buffer 114 may be a limiter that produces a version of the XO reference frequency signal φR 116 at the frequency fref and having a steep zero-crossing characteristic. The reference signal output from the XO-buffer is fed to a phase frequency detector (PFD) 118 together with the phase and frequency of the output of the frequency divider 132. The output of the PFD is a pulse that is related to the phase and frequency difference between the reference frequency signal φR 116 and the output of the frequency divider 132. The output from the phase detector 118 is applied to a charge pump (not shown) and then filtered by a loop filter 122. The output of the loop filter 122 is then applied to a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) 126. The output signal φ0 128 of the VCO 126 is supplied to the input of the frequency divider 132. The frequency divider receives a control signal supplied to the control input 134.
As a result of this feedback arrangement, the frequency, f0, of the VCO 126 output signal φ0 is driven to equal the frequency of the reference signal times the division factor of the frequency divider 132. Hence, the frequency of the VCO 126 can be controlled by controlling the division factor via the control input 134 of the frequency divider 132.
The frequency divider 132 dynamically divides the frequency f0 of the VCO output signal φ0 by N and N plus or minus some integer (i.e., N±M, where N and M are integers) in a proportion that results in an average division ratio N plus the fraction, K/F (K and F integers). K/F is the duty cycle that determines the fractional value, where F is the fractional modulus of the circuit (e.g., 8 would indicate a ⅛th fractional resolution) and K is the fractional channel of operation. By applying K and F values pertaining to a particular desired frequency to the frequency divider control input 134, the frequency of the signal φ0 at the VCO 126 output can be set to a frequency of f0=fref(N+K/F).
As shown by the dashed paths in FIG. 1, inductive coupling from the VCO inductor will find its way into the crystal oscillator bonding wires (not shown), the reference-frequency signal path 112 along path 140, the PFD input paths 116 and 136 along paths 142 and 144, respectively, and the supply rails (not shown) along path 146. The supplies may also be disturbed by VCO currents, which cause voltage drops between VCC, ground, and substrate. When the VCO frequency leaks into either PFD input, undesirable low-frequency mixing products may result.
The PFD inputs of a frequency synthesizer are typically connected to latches. For instance, edge-triggered latches are widely used in the PFD of fractional-N synthesizers. The basic form of this type of PFD includes a pair of edge-triggered, resettable D-flip flops having their D inputs set to logical ONE. The clock inputs of the D-flip flop respectively receive a signal having a frequency of the voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) divided by some number set in a frequency divider. The Q outputs of the D-flip flops are input to an AND gate, which when high, outputs a reset signal to both D-flip flops. The states of the Q outputs from the D-flip flops produce respective "UP" and "DOWN" pulses with a duration corresponding to whether the frequency of the reference frequency leads or lags the frequency of the frequency divided VCO signal. The PFD output is used in a known manner to control a charge pump, which outputs a signal that is low pass filtered and applied to the VCO input. A more detailed description of edge-triggered PFDs can be found in T. H. Lee, "The Design of CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits," Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998, and B. Razavi, "RF Microelectronics," Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, 1998, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The latches of an edge-triggered PFD are wideband. When the VCO signal leaks into any of the latch clocks, timing jitter appears in the VCO control voltage generated by the PFD. Jitter on the VCO control voltage will cause mixing of the VCO with the closest harmonic of the reference. When the difference between the two is sufficiently small, two undesirable in-band spurious tones will appear on either side of the VCO output frequency.
Without loss of generality, the interference scenario shown in FIG. 1 can be modeled as shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the XO-buffer 114 of FIG. 1 is modeled as a differential pair 210 including transistors Q1 and Q2. Each collector of transistors Q1 and Q2 is connected to a load resistor, Ro, and the emitters of transistors Q1 and Q2 are commonly connected to a constant current source 212. The input of the phase frequency detector 118 also is shown as a differential pair 220 including transistors Q3 and Q4 having their collector connected to a load resistor R and their emitters commonly connected to a constant current source 222. The load resistors Ro of differential pair 210 and the load resistors R of the phase frequency detector input 220 are connected to the VCC supply voltage rail 226. The input reference frequency signal, νxo, from the XO source (in FIG. 1, from XO 110 along path 112) is applied to the buffer input at the bases of transistors Q1 and Q2 of differential pair 210.
Returning to FIG. 1, output signal generated by the XO-buffer is supplied to the input of the phase frequency detector 118 along path 116. Along this path, interference resulting from VCO leakage is modeled in FIG. 2 as two interfering components 230 and 232. This first interfering component 230 is represented by voltage source 230 having voltage νccx in series with the VCC line between the XO-buffer 210 and the input of the PFD 220. The second interfering component 232 is represented by a three-coil transformer 232 producing inductive interference voltage νx in series with the path from the XO-buffer output to the PFD input. When these interfering components 230 and 232 are present, the input signal νi applied to the PFD input 220 will be different from the output signal νb generated by the XO-buffer.
Problems caused by VCO leakage are presently addressed by employing balanced signal paths in conjunction with circuits having high common-mode and power-supply rejection ratios (CMRR and PSRR, respectively). Balanced layout schemes are effective in some respects because they cause most of the interference into the signal path to be common-mode, and only a small imbalance term, either due to some layout asymmetry or finite CMRR, will interfere with the reference. Such schemes typically suppress interference in the signal path by 20 to 40 dB. Interference entering the supply rails will similarly be suppressed by a high PSRR, typically of the same order as the CMRR. However, with ever-increasing levels of integration, on-chip distances become smaller and smaller. At the same time, because on-chip inductors do not scale with the rest of the circuit technology, the relative spacing of inductors and wires also becomes smaller, further aggravating the inductively coupled interference. For instance, a GSM frequency synthesizer must have output spurious levels more than 44 dB below the carrier at a 400 kHz offset, given a loop-filter attenuation of 23 dB at that offset, which corresponds to reference frequency spuriouses below −88 dBc for the DCS band using a 13 MHz crystal reference. Achieving these spurious frequency levels is becoming increasingly difficult, even with current layout and circuit techniques. Hence, there is a need in the art for a more robust reference frequency distribution scheme.


A television tuner contains a mixer 4 for converting a television signal into an intermediate frequency signal and outputting it, an intermediate frequency tuning circuit 5 for tuning the intermediate frequency signal, an intermediate frequency amplifier 7 provided in an integrated circuit 10 and connected to the intermediate frequency tuning circuit 5, and option circuits 2 and 3 provided at the side of the front stage of the mixer 4 for being switched into the operational state or non-operational state at a specific receiving band or channel. The integrated circuit 10 is provided with input terminals 10a and 10b for inputting the intermediate frequency signal output from the intermediate frequency tuning circuit 5 to the intermediate frequency amplifier 7 and a switch control circuit 9 for switching the operation of the option circuits 2 and 3, where the switch voltage output from the switch control circuit 9 is supplied to the option circuits 2 and 3 through the input terminals 10a and 10b.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a television tuner, and, more particularly, to a television tuner in which the operation switching of the attached option circuit is simple.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 2 shows the primary portion of a conventional television tuner. A mixer 42 and an intermediate frequency amplifier 43 are included within an integrated circuit 41. The mixer 42 is composed of a balanced circuit, and the balanced output ports thereof are connected to two output terminals 41a and 41b provided in the integrated circuit 41. Also, a selected television signal and a local oscillating signal are input to the mixer 42 and the intermediate frequency signal is output to the output terminals 41a and 41b. The intermediate frequency amplifier 43 is composed of a balanced circuit, and the balanced input ports thereof are connected to two input terminals 41c and 41d provided in the integrated circuit 41.
An intermediate frequency tuning circuit 44 provided outside of the integrated circuit 41 is composed of a parallel tuning circuit comprised of a capacitive element 44a and serially connected inductance elements 44b and 44c, and is connected between the output terminals 41a and 41b. Also, the power supply voltage Vcc applied to the connection point of the two inductance elements 44b and 44c is fed to the mixer 42. In addition, two parallel resonance circuits 45 and 46 are provided outside of the integrated circuit 41. The first parallel resonance circuit 45 is coupled between the output terminal 41a and the input terminal 41c, and the second parallel resonance circuit 46 is coupled between the output terminal 41b and the input terminal 41d.
In the above-described construction, the intermediate frequency tuning circuit 44 tunes at the intermediate frequency band, the first parallel resonance circuit 45 resonates at a video intermediate frequency of a different channel adjacent to the intermediate frequency band, and the second parallel resonance circuit 46 resonates at an audio intermediate frequency of a different channel adjacent to the intermediate frequency band. Thereby, the interference from the adjacent channel is eliminated (For example, refer to Japanese unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-153107 (FIG. 3))
In such a television tuner, in addition to the interference from the adjacent channel, an FM trap circuit may be provided in the input portion of the tuner (the front stage of the mixer) so as to attenuate a FM broadcasting band in order to avoid the interference due to, for example, the FM broadcasting signal, or an attenuator may be provided to attenuate the strong electric field television signal in order to prevent the distortion generated due to the strong electric field television signal. However, since it is needed to be switched such that the FM trap circuit or the attenuator is not operated in accordance with the usage purpose, a switch control circuit must be provided in the integrated circuit and the operation of the FM trap circuit or the attenuator must be switched according to the switch voltage output from the switch control circuit.
FIG. 3 shows the construction for switching the operation of an option circuit such as the FM trap circuit or the attenuator. Used for connecting an antenna, terminal 21 is connected in cascade with two option circuits 22 and 23 each having a different function. The first option circuit 22 is, for example, an attenuator of which the attenuated amount can be switched. The first option circuit 22 is switched to attenuate the received signal when the strength of the electric field of the received television signal is large, and is switched not to attenuate the signal when the electric field thereof is small. The second option circuit 23 is, for example, an FM trap circuit. The second option circuit 23 is switched to attenuate the FM broadcasting band by the trap function in case of receiving the television signal of the ground wave, and is switched to invalidate the trap function in the case of receiving the CATV television signal.
An input tuning circuit, a high frequency amplifier, and the interstage tuning circuit (not shown) are connected in cascade between the second option circuit 23 and the balanced mixer 24. The mixer 24 is supplied with a local oscillating signal (L.O) from an oscillator (not shown). The output side of the mixer 24 is connected with an intermediate frequency tuning circuit 25 and an adjacent channel trap circuit 26. The balance type intermediate frequency tuning circuit 25 is composed of a parallel tuning circuit comprised of a capacitive element 25a and two serially connected inductance elements 25b and 25c, which are connected in parallel to the capacitive element 25a, and it tunes at the frequency close to the center of the intermediate frequency band. In addition, the parallel tuning circuit is connected in parallel with a resistor 25d in order to adjust the Q of the tuning adequately.
Further, the power supply voltage Vcc applied to the connection point of the two inductance elements 25b and 25c is supplied to the mixer 24 through the two inductance elements 25b and 25c. The adjacent channel trap circuit 26 is comprised of a parallel resonance circuit formed of an inductance element 26a and a capacitive element 26b, and attenuates the video signal of the intermediate frequency band corresponding to the channel adjacent to the high frequency to eliminate the interference.
The integrated circuit 20 comprises an intermediate frequency amplifier 27, a bias circuit 28 and a switch control circuit 29. The intermediate frequency amplifier 27 is composed of a balanced circuit. In addition, the integrated circuit 20 is provided with parallel input terminals 20a and 20b, a power supply terminal 20c, and two switch terminals 20d and 20e. Also, one end of the intermediate frequency tuning circuit 25 is AC-connected to the input terminal 20a through the adjacent channel trap circuit 26, and the other end thereof is AC-connected to the input terminal 20b. The power supply terminal 20c is supplied with the power supply voltage Vcc.
In the integrated circuit 20, the input port of the intermediate frequency amplifier 27 is connected to the parallel input terminals 20a and 20b. In addition, the bias circuit 28 generates a bias voltage from the power supply voltage Vcc to supply it to the input port of the intermediate frequency amplifier 27. Thereby, the intermediate frequency signal output from the mixer 24 is input from the input terminals 20a and 20b to the intermediate frequency amplifier 27 through the intermediate frequency tuning circuit 25 and the adjacent channel trap circuit 26 and it is amplified therein.
The switch control circuit 29 has two switch transistors 29a and 29b, of which the collector is applied with the power supply voltage Vcc. The emitter of the switch transistor 29a is connected to the switch terminal 20d, and the emitter of the switch transistor 29b is connected to the switch terminal 20e. Moreover, each of the bases is applied with a switch signal (voltage) for turning on/off each of the switch transistors 29a and 29b, thereby the switch voltage is output from each emitter to the switch terminals 20d and 20e.
The switch voltage of the switch terminal 20d is supplied to the second option circuit 23 through two serially connected resistors 30 and 31. The connection point of the two resistors 30 and 31 is high-frequency-grounded by a capacitive element 32. Similarly, the switch voltage of the switch terminal 20e is supplied to the first option circuit 22 through the two resistors 33 and 34. The connection point of the two resistors 33 and 34 is high-frequency-grounded by a capacitive element 35.
In the above-mentioned construction, upon operating the first option circuit 22 to attenuate the television signal, the switch transistor 29b is turned on and the switch voltage output from the emitter thereof is applied to the first option circuit 22. Similarly, upon operating the second option circuit 23 to attenuate the FM broadcasting band, the switch transistor 29a is turned on and the switch voltage output from the emitter thereof is applied to the second option circuit 23. When each of the option circuits 22 and 23 is not operated, the switch transistors 29a and 29b are turned off.
Several switch signals among the switch signals for switching the operation of the option circuit are output from the integrated circuit. Hence, the integrated circuit is provided with a terminal for outputting the switch voltage. Generally, if the number of integrated circuits is increased, the package size becomes increased and the scale of the circuit becomes increased, Hence increasing the manufacturing cost thereof. In addition, the option circuit is not necessarily needed, and is provided based in the type of the receiver used in the television tuner. Thereby, if it is planned to have one common integrated circuit, the integrated circuit corresponding to the option circuit is used even in the case where it is not necessary to include the option circuit, hence further increasing the manufacturing cost thereof.

Television tuner in which the number of integrated circuits can be reduced


To form a temperature-responsive surface for cell culture by simple processes, said temperature-responsive surface for cell culture being capable of efficiently culturing cells. Cultured cells or a cell sheet can be efficiently removed from the temperature-responsive surface for cell culture by merely changing the temperature of the substrate surface. To coat the substrate surface with a block copolymer, in which a water insoluble polymer segment is coupled with a temperature-responsive polymer segment, in an amount of 0.8 to 3.0 μg/cm2 of the temperature-responsive polymer.

Recently, animal cell culture techniques have been remarkably developed, and also research and development related to animal cells have been carried out in a wide variety of fields. The animal cells have been used not only for commercializing them at the early stage of development or for commercializing products from the cells, but also for analyzing cells and their surface proteins to design useful medicines or for performing treatment by growing the cells of patients in vitro or enhancing the function of the cells, followed by returning the cells into the bodies of the patients. At present, many researchers pay attention to the techniques for culturing animal cells.
Many animal cells including human cells are anchorage-dependent cells. Therefore, in order to culture animal cells in vitro, the cells need to be once attached to a scaffold substrate. Under such a background, many researchers have previously designed and devised substrate surfaces that are more desirable for cells. However, all these techniques are involved in those during cell culture. Cultured anchorage-dependent cells produce adhesive proteins when they adhere to a substrate. Therefore, in conventional techniques, the adhesive proteins need to be destroyed, e.g., by enzymatic treatment or the like for detaching the cells. Consequently, these techniques have a drawback in that cell surface proteins, which are specific for each cell and are produced from the cells during culturing them, are also simultaneously destroyed. However, any countermeasures against this problem have not been found or investigated.
Under such a background, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2-211865 (Patent Literature 1) describes a novel method of culturing cells, comprising the step of culturing cells on a cell culture support coated with a polymer whose upper or lower critical solution temperature in water is 0 to 80° C., at the upper critical solution temperature or less, or the lower critical solution temperature or more, and then detaching the cultured cells without enzymatic treatment by increasing the culturing temperature to the upper critical solution temperature or more, or decreasing the culturing temperature to the lower critical solution temperature or less. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 05-192138 (Patent Literature 2) describes that skin cells are detached with low damage from a cell culture substrate, by culturing skin cells on the temperature-responsive cell culture substrate described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2-211865 (Patent Literature 1), at the upper critical solution temperature or less, or the lower critical solution temperature or more, and then increasing the culturing temperature to the upper critical solution temperature or more, or decreasing the culturing temperature to the lower critical solution temperature or less. In addition, Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-105311 (Patent Literature 3) describes a method of repairing the surface protein of the cultured cells using the temperature-responsive cell culture substrate described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2-211865 (Patent Literature 1). Such use of the temperature-responsive cell culture substrate has allowed various developments of conventional culture techniques.
However, the conventional techniques have problems in that the surface of a chemically inert engineering plastic must be coated with a polymer by using high energy such as electron beams, a large-scale apparatus such as an electron beam irradiation apparatus is needed for coating the surface, and thus the cell culture substrate inevitably becomes expensive.
In order to solve such problems, some techniques have been previously developed. As described in, e.g., Soft Matter, 5, 2937-2946 (2009) (Non Patent Literature 1) or Interface, 4, 1151-1157 (2007) (Non Patent Literature 2), a method of coating a substrate surface with a polymer having a particular molecular structure is known. However, all the techniques do not reach the technical level in which cells can be cultured, similarly to a case where the conventional cell culture substrates are used, and the level in which the cells can be detached only by changing temperature, similarly to a case where the temperature-responsive cell culture substrate which is produced by using the above-described electron beams, or the level in which cultured cells can be detached as a cell sheet when they become confluent.

Temperature-responsive substrate for cell culture and production method thereof


A tip assembly for an edge of an implement of a work machine includes an adapter secured to the edge of the implement. The adapter has an adapter aperture extending therethrough. The tip assembly also includes an implement tip having a tip aperture extending therethrough, the implement tip is positioned relative to the adapter such that the adapter aperture and the tip aperture align to form a passageway. The tip assembly further includes a sleeve subassembly positioned within the passageway. The sleeve subassembly includes (i) a first member, (ii) an intermediate member, and (iii) a second member. In addition, the tip assembly includes a fastener mechanically coupled to the sleeve subassembly wherein rotation of the fastener causes (i) the intermediate member to move in a first direction, and (ii) the first and second members to move in a second direction so as to tightly secure the sleeve subassembly within the adapter aperture.

A work machine, such as an excavator, may include a bucket for moving or excavating dirt or other types of material. A number of implement tips or teeth are attached to an edge of the bucket in order to facilitate the excavating process. The implement tips also protect the edge of the bucket from wear and tear encountered during the excavation process. Protection of the edge extends the life of the bucket and reduces maintenance cost of the work machine. However, implement tips have to be periodically replaced due to wear and tear to which they are subjected during the excavation process.
Heretofore, implement tips have been secured to a bucket by first attaching an adapter to the edge thereof and then securing the implement tip to the adapter via a pin assembly. Typically, these pin assemblies include a number of parts which contact and exert a force on both the adapter and the implement tip in order to effect the securement therebetween.
One disadvantage of having a pin assembly in contact with both the implement tip and the adapter to effect securement therebetween is that the pin assembly may become loose as the implement tip is subjected to substantial forces during a work operation. In particular, forces that are applied to the implement tip during a work operation would then be transmitted to the pin assembly. Thereafter, forces which are applied to the pin assembly would be transmitted to the adapter. Consequently, the pin assembly would be subjected to a continuous compressing force during the work operation which may cause the pin assembly to become loose within the tip assembly over a period of time.
The presence of a loose pin assembly in the tip assembly may cause inadvertent separation of the implement tip from the adapter. In addition, having the pin assembly in contact with the implement tip causes the pin assembly to wear away at a relatively fast rate. This increases the maintenance cost of operating the work machine. Furthermore, these types of pin assemblies typically include a relatively large number of parts which makes them relatively expensive, mechanically complex, and difficult to install.
What is needed therefore is a tip assembly for an edge of an implement of a work machine which overcomes one or more of the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Tip assembly for an edge of an implement of a work machine


This disclosure provides systems, methods, and devices for connecting optical fibers. In one aspect, a connector includes a transfer tube for equalizing the pressure between two chambers within the two connectors when the connectors are mated. The chambers may house biasing elements coupled to optical fiber holders to provide a pressure independent force against optical fiber terminals. The optical fiber holders may include side openings for receiving optical fibers.

1. Field
The inventions disclosed herein relate generally to the field of connectors and more specifically to fiber-optic and/or electrical connectors for use in deep sea applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Underwater connectors are used extensively in ocean related applications including, for example, military submarines, research submarines, ocean science observatories, towed arrays, drilling systems, production control systems, remotely operated vehicles ("ROVS"), other mobile vehicle applications, underwater research and exploration activities, ocean mining, and offshore oil production.
In the design of underwater deep-sea connectors, several environmental parameters must be considered. A serious consideration is the exposure to extremely high water pressure at great ocean operating depths. These pressures can crush or otherwise deform connectors that are not properly designed to withstand such pressure. High pressure and water tight seals may also be provided to prevent water ingress that may lead to short circuiting of electrical contacts and otherwise foul the connector components. Connector materials in contact with salt water experience corrosion processes as well. At very great depths below the surface of the sea, the temperature of the seawater may approach freezing temperatures. Thus, connectors used in such environments will experience extreme external temperatures and pressures as well as hostile corrosive effects.
Many subsea electrical and optical cable and connection systems now utilize Pressure Balanced Oil Filled ("PBOF") cabling solutions. These cables utilize an elastomeric tube as a conduit for electric wires, copper conductors, and/or fiber optic lines. The elastomeric conduit is filled with a compensating fluid, allowing the sea pressure to freely communicate with the interior oil volume, equalizing the pressure in the assembly. This equalized differential pressure eliminates any motive force for seawater introduction resulting in sustained performance and operating lifetimes. Thus, PBOF cabling provides for a reliable and configurable cable system suitable for many subsea applications.