A husking apparatus for cereals comprises a pair of rolls provided parallel to each other with a clearance therebetween, and an inclined guide chute situated above the rolls. The guide chute slides down cereal grains between the rolls, and the rolls rotate in opposite directions, respectively, to nip and shell the cereal grains therebetween. The guide chute and the rolls are located so that a guide surface of the guide chute is substantially perpendicular to a line connecting the centers of rotational shafts, and that an extension line from the guide surface passes within a range of .+-.10 mm on both sides of a middle point of the clearance between the first and second rolls. The guide surface of the guide chute has such an inclination that the cereal grains spread all over a width of the guide surface in the substantially single layer of a band-like shape and are accelerated up to a speed less than peripheral speeds of the rolls while they slide down along the guide surface. The cereal grains are thus uniformly fed between the rolls in regular postures and have less irregular reflection due to collision with the rolls, and it is possible to perform reliable husking which causes less broken grains.

The present invention relates to a roll type husking apparatus for cereal grains.
This type of husking apparatus includes a pair of rubber rolls having an adjustable spacing or clearance between them, and a cereal hopper or tank disposed above the rubber rolls. The apparatus is adapted to feed cereal grains from the tank, through a feeding adjustment device such as a transfer roll and a flow adjusting valve, between the rubber rolls. The rubber rolls rotate inward with a difference between their peripheral speeds, respectively, and the cereal grains, when passing between the rolls, are husked by the pressure and rotation of the rolls. In this case, when the cereal grains are directly provided between the rolls through the transfer roll and the flow adjusting valve, they reach the rolls in irregular postures and in a layer of non-uniform thickness.
The cereal grains, thus fed in irregular postures and with non-uniform thickness, overlap each other between the rubber rolls and are liable to become broken grains due to the pressure and velocity differential of the rubber rolls. Further, as the quantity of cereal grains being fed is irregular, the husking is not carried out uniformly. Moreover, a high pressure is required between the rolls, that is, the roll clearance has to be set narrow, and therefore, broken grains tend to be produced.
On the other hand, there is another roll type husking apparatus which uses an inclined chute in the feeding adjustment device to attempt providing cereal grains in a thin layer. Such an apparatus is illustrated, for instance, in FIGS. 9 and 10 of GB2054346A and described in the associated description.

Roll type husking apparatus with inclined guide chute


A water-swellable polymer gel prepared by reacting an ester of a carboxyl group-containing polysaccharide with a compound having at least two xcex1-amino groups, which is derived from a natural amino acid, and a foamed article thereof. The water-swellable polymer gel can be used in the fields such as industry, agriculture, food and medicine. The applications of the water-swellable gel in the medical field include wound dressings, adhesion-preventing materials, dialysis membranes, hemostatic materials, adhesive materials, sealants, contact lenses, materials for tissue regeneration, microcapsule materials and drug delivery systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water-swellable polymer gel and a process for preparing the water-swellable polymer gel. More particularly, the present invention relates to a water-swellable polymer gel which is excellent in safety for human bodies, water absorbability, transparency and mechanical properties, and a process for preparing the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A water-swellable hydrogel obtained by chemically crosslinking a polysaccharide has been widely utilized in the fields such as industry, agriculture, food and medicine. The applications of the water-swellable gel in the medical field include, for instance, wound dressings, adhesion-preventing materials, dialysis membranes, hemostatic materials, adhesive materials, sealants, contact lenses, materials for tissue regeneration, microcapsule materials, drug delivery systems (DDS), and the like.
The chemical crosslinking of the polysaccharide can be carried out by a chemical reaction, e.g. gelation with a polyfunctional reagent; crosslinking using a coordinate bond, e.g. gelation by calcium ions of alginic acid; crosslinking using a hydrophobic bond, e.g. gelation by heating methyl cellulose or hydroxypropyl cellulose; crosslinking using intermolecular association, e.g. cooling of agar or carrageenan to cause the gelation, or the like. Among them, the crosslinking by a chemical reaction has an advantageous merit in that water absorbability and strength of the resulting polysaccharide gel can be easily controlled depending upon its purposes.
The crosslinking of the polysaccharide by a chemical reaction can be carried out by treating a polysaccharide solution with a crosslinking reagent having at least two functional groups. However, there are some defects in the crosslinking such that the crosslinking cannot be efficiently progressed in water, because many of the polysaccharides are substantially dissolved only in water.
As a process for crosslinking a polysaccharide by a chemical reaction, there has been known a process comprising crosslinking a polysaccharide with a bifunctional low-molecular weight reagent in an aqueous solvent (hereinafter simply referred to as xe2x80x9clow-molecular weight crosslinking agent processxe2x80x9d). Among them, as a process for crosslinking a water-soluble polysaccharide by a chemical reaction, there have been known a process comprising crosslinking a polysaccharide with an epoxy compound in an aqueous, acidic or basic solution (Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. Hei 6-69490 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 11-509256); a process comprising crosslinking a polysaccharide with divinyl sulfone in an aqueous basic solution (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 2-138346), and the like.
However, there are some defects in the low-molecular weight crosslinking process such that the resulting gel is extremely brittle, while the gel tends to exhibit a relatively high water absorption, and that there is necessitated a complicated procedure for thoroughly washing the polymer gel after its preparation in order to remove a crosslinking agent and a catalyst remaining in large amounts in the internal of the gel.
Therefore, the low-molecular weight crosslinking agent process cannot be necessarily considered to be a useful process from the viewpoints of physical properties and productivity of the hydrogel.
Recently, there has been developed a process comprising crosslinking a polysaccharide with a polyfunctional high-molecular weight crosslinking agent (hereinafter simply referred to as xe2x80x9chigh-molecular weight crosslinking agent processxe2x80x9d).
As the high-molecular weight crosslinking agent process, there have been known a process comprising crosslinking an ester of a carboxyl group-containing polysaccharide, for instance, propylene glycol alginate (hereinafter simply referred to as xe2x80x9cPGAxe2x80x9d), with a water-soluble polymer having amino group such as gelatin to cause insolubilization as disclosed in British Patent No. 962483; Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 8-508933; S. B. Mohamed and G. Stainsby, Food Chemistry, 13, 241 (1984); J. E. McKay, G. Stainsby, E. L. Wilson, Carbohyd. Polym., 5, 223 (1985), and the like.
According to the above-mentioned process, it is thought that the gelation is caused via the aminolysis (amidation) of xcex5-amino group derived from lysine residue of a polyamino acid (protein) with an ester moiety of the PGA in water.
However, there are some defects in the gel made from PGA and a protein such as gelatin, such that water absorbability of the gel is low, because a protein solution having a high concentration is required for the preparation of the gel, so that a large amount of the protein is inevitably contained in the gel. In addition, there is also a defect in this gel such that the gel cannot be formed in a neutral aqueous solution which is suitable for materials for medical use.
Also, it has been proposed that a synthetic high-molecular weight compound having amino groups as repeating units, such as a polyethyleneimine, is used as a crosslinking agent for the PGA as disclosed in British Patent No. 962483. However, this process necessitates a treatment with a basic substance for the formation of a gel. Therefore, there are some defects in this process that pinholes are apt to be generated in the resulting gel, as well as some practical problems that the water absorbability and strength of the gel are remarkably low.
An object of the present invention is to provide a water-swellable polymer gel having high water absorbability and gel strength, the essential component of which comprises a natural ingredient, and a foam of a water-swellable polymer gel.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for readily preparing a water-swellable polymer gel in an aqueous solvent in high productivity and safety for human bodies.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.
According to the present invention, there is provided a water-swellable polymer gel prepared by reacting an ester of a carboxyl group-containing polysaccharide with a compound having at least two xcex1-amino groups, which is derived from a natural amino acid, and a foam made thereof.
In addition, the present invention provides a process for preparing a water-swellable polymer gel, comprising reacting an ester of a carboxyl group-containing polysaccharide with a compound having at least two xcex1-amino groups, which is derived from a natural amino acid.
The ester of a carboxyl group-containing polysaccharide (hereinafter simply referred to as xe2x80x9cesterified polysaccharidexe2x80x9d) means a compound formed by bonding at least one of the carboxyl groups of the carboxyl group-containing polysaccharide, preferably at least two of the carboxyl groups of the carboxyl group-containing polysaccharide, with hydroxyl groups of an alcohol to form ester bonds. Among the esterified polysaccharides, those substantially water-soluble are preferable.
The alcohol includes aliphatic alcohols, aromatic aliphatic alcohols, cyclic aliphatic alcohols and heterocyclic alcohols. Among them, in consideration of the water-solubility of the esterified polysaccharide, there can be cited, for instance, aliphatic alcohols having 1 to 16 carbon atoms such as methanol, ethanol and propanol; and polyhydric alcohols having at least two hydroxyl groups and 2 to 16 carbon atoms such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol and glycerol. As to the polyhydric alcohol, it is required that only one of hydroxyl groups of the polyhydric alcohol forms an ester bond together with carboxyl group of the carboxyl group-containing polysaccharide.
The carboxyl group-containing polysaccharide includes, for instance, carboxyl group-containing polysaccharides, such as alginic acid, xanthane gum, gellan gum, hyaluronic acid, and their physiologically acceptable artificial derivatives; artificial derivatives of polysaccharides which do not usually have any carboxyl groups, such as carboxymethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl dextran and carboxymethyl pullulan; chitin or chitosan derivatives into which carboxyl groups are introduced, such as partially maleylated chitosan, partially succinylated chitosan, carboxymethyl chitosan and carboxymethyl chitin; and the like. Among them, alginic acid and hyaluronic acid are preferable, from the viewpoint of safety for human bodies and decomposability in human bodies.
Processes for preparing an esterified polysaccharide includes, for instance, a general process described in Jikken Kagaku Koza 22, Yuki Gosei IVxe2x80x94San, Aminosan, Pepuchido (Experimental Chemistry Lecture 22, Organic Synthesis IVxe2x80x94Acids, Amino Acids, Peptides), Fourth Edition, edited by Nippon Kagaku Kai, published by Maruzen Publishing Company, 1992, 43-83; and a process described in M. Yalpani, Tetrahedron, 41, 2957 (1985) and the like. Particularly preferable processes include, for instance, a process of treating a carboxyl group-containing polysaccharide with an 1,2-epoxide such as ethylene oxide or propylene oxide or an 1,3-epoxide such as triethylene oxide, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,494,912, A. B. Steiner and W. H. McNeely, Ind. Eng. Chem., 43, 2073 (1951), or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 52-36177. Kinds of the esterified polysaccharide prepared by the aforementioned process are not limited to specified ones, and any kinds can be used as long as they are within the scope of the above concept.
When the carboxyl group-containing polysaccharide is alginic acid, the esterified polysaccharide includes PGA, ethylene glycol alginate, trimethylene glycol alginate, butylene glycol alginate, pentylene glycol alginate, and the like.
When the carboxyl group-containing polysaccharide is hyaluronic acid, the esterified polysaccharide includes propylene glycol hyaluronate, ethylene glycol hyaluronate, trimethylene glycol hyaluronate, butylene glycol hyaluronate, pentylene glycol hyaluronate, and the like.
Among the esterified polysaccharides, the PGA and propylene glycol hyaluronate are preferable, from the viewpoints of safety for human bodies and decomposability in human bodies.
The compound having at least two xcex1-amino groups, which is derived from a natural amino acid used as another essential component of the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention (hereinafter simply referred to as xe2x80x9cpolyaminexe2x80x9d) means a compound having at least two primary or secondary amino groups, wherein the amino group is an xcex1-amino group of an amino acid found in nature, such as alanine, glycine, phenylalanine, serine, valine, lysine or glutamic acid.
Kinds of the polyamine which can be used in the present invention are not limited to specified ones. The polysaccharides, the polyamino acids, or those derivatives are preferable in the present invention. The polyamine can be prepared by introducing a natural amino acid derivative of which functional groups are most appropriately protected into a polysaccharide, a polyamino acid or the like by chemical modification, and thereafter deprotecting the protecting groups.
Among the polyamines, xcex5-poly(lysine) is preferable, from the viewpoint of availability and safety for human bodies. The xcex5-poly(lysine) is a water-soluble polymer compound, as represented by the formula:
Hxe2x80x94[NHxe2x80x94CH2CH2CH2CH2xe2x80x94CH(NH2)xe2x80x94CO]nxe2x80x94OH
wherein n is an integer of 2 to 500, which is prepared by the condensation reaction of amino group at xcex5-position of lysine with carboxyl group at xcex1-position of the lysine to form an amide bond, and xcex1-amino group of the lysine exists on the polymer chain.
The water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention may contain at least one of other water-soluble polymers (hereinafter simply referred to as xe2x80x9cother water-soluble polymerxe2x80x9d) as a third component other than the esterified polysaccharide and the polyamine.
Kinds of the other water-soluble polymers are not limited to specified ones. The other water-soluble polymer includes, for instance, water-soluble polysaccharides such as agarose, sodium alginate, agar, carrageenan, xanthane gum, gellan gum, dextran, hyaluronic acid, pullulan and heparin, and their physiologically acceptable artificial derivatives; chitin or chitosan derivatives, such as partially deacetylated chitin, chitosan, partially maleylated chitosan, partially succinylated chitosan and carboxymethyl chitosan; cellulose derivatives such as carboxymethyl cellulose; polyamino acids (proteins) such as collagen, atelocollagen, gelatin and casein, and their physiologically acceptable artificial derivatives, and the like.
Between the molecules of at least two other water-soluble polymers, crosslinking other than the crosslinking bond formed between the esterified polysaccharide and the polyamine can be existed. Method for forming the crosslinking includes, for instance, a method described in xe2x80x9cGel Handbookxe2x80x9d (NTS, 1997), edited by Nagata and Kajiwara, or the like, that is, crosslinking of the functional groups of the water-soluble polymer, using an aldehyde compound, an epoxy compound, an isocyanate compound or the like; photo-crosslinking using a photodimerizable group or polymerizable group; crosslinking by coordination bonding with polyvalent metal ions, and the like, without intending to limit the present invention to those exemplified ones.
The water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention can further contain salts such as inorganic salts and organic salts, from the viewpoints of improving gel strength of the water-swellable polymer gel, and dispersion stability of a mixed solution containing the esterified polysaccharide and the polyamine. Examples of the salts include inorganic salts such as sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium chloride and sodium sulfate; and organic salts such as sodium acetate, sodium citrate and sodium succinate.
The water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention can be obtained by reacting the esterified polysaccharide with the polyamine. This reaction is an aminolysis reaction of the ester moiety of the esterified polysaccharide with xcex1-amino group of the polyamine, namely a crosslinking reaction by amidation, as in the gel formed from the PGA and gelatin described previously.
The mixing ratio for the esterified polysaccharide and the polyamine in the reaction can be arbitrarily determined depending upon gelafion time, mechanical strength and water absorbability of the polymer gel. In order to make the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention substantially water insoluble and exhibit its high water absorbability, it is desired that the molar ratio of an ester group to xcex1-amino group [ester group (mol)/xcex1-amino group (mol)] is 1 to 100. The higher its molar ratio is, the higher the water absorbability of the water-swellable polymer gel becomes.
The processes for reacting the esterified polysaccharide with the polyamine to cause gelation include a process comprising reacting the esterified polysaccharide with the polyamine in solution states to cause gelation; a process comprising immersing or dipping an esterified polysaccharide in the solution of the polyamine and reacting them with each other to cause gelation; a process comprising immersing or dipping a polyamine in the solution of the esterified polysaccharide and reacting them with each other to cause gelation; and the like. The temperature during the reaction is not limited to specified ones, and can be freely controlled.
As a solvent for dissolving the esterified polysaccharide and the polyamine, water is preferable. However, an aqueous solvent prepared by adding an organic solvent to water can be used for the purpose of controlling the gelation speed or the like. Examples of the organic solvent include, for instance, alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, ethylene glycol and propylene glycol; ether solvents such as tetrahydrofuran and dioxane; amide solvents such as dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide and N-methylpyrrolidone; ketone solvents such as acetone and methyl ethyl ketone; dimethyl sulfoxide, and the like. The mixing ratio of the organic solvent to water is not limited to specified ones, and can be arbitrarily determined.
In addition, pH of the solution of the esterified polysaccharide and the polyamine can be appropriately adjusted, so that gelation can be carried out under mild conditions or rapidly. When adjusting the pH, there can be used, for instance, an acidic substance such as hydrochloric acid or acetic acid; a basic substance such as sodium hydroxide; or a buffer such as phosphate buffer or borate buffer as a pH regulator.
By reacting the esterified polysaccharide with the polyamine as described above, the water-swellable polymer gel can be obtained.
The water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention can be appropriately formed into a shape depending upon its purposes. Examples of the shape include, for instance, filamentous, membraneous, tubular (hollow fibers, tubes), granular (microcapsule-like), nonwoven fabrillar, doughy, honeycomb-like, or foamed article-like (spongy), and the like. It is preferable that the water swellable polymer gel of the present invention is in the form of a foam when used for applications requiring flexibility, packability to defects, high water absorbability, and the like. This foam can be molded into filamentous, membraneous, tubular, granular, nonwoven fabrillar, doughy, honeycomb-like, or the like. Alternatively, the foam can be used by applying to, coating on, impregnating in, depositing on or embedding in other substrates and places.
Further, the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention can be used by applying to, coating on, impregnating in, depositing on or embedding in other substrates or places. The other substrates and places include for instance, gauze, knitted fabrics, nonwoven fabrics, cotton materials, filamentous materials, films, meshes, porous sponges, rubbers, plastics, metals, artificial organs, and surface, cut surface and wounds of living tissues, and the like. Size, thickness, length, diameter, and the like of the other substrates or places are not limited to specified ones.
The molded water-swellable polymer gel can be prepared by, for instance, a process comprising extruding an esterified polysaccharide solution or a polyamine solution from a nozzle or a die or pouring the solution into a mold, thereby molding it into the aforementioned shape, and thereafter bringing the resulting molded article into contact with a polyamine solution or an esterified polysaccharide, respectively, to cause gelation; a method comprising preparing a mixed solution of an esterified polysaccharide and an polyamine, extruding the resulting mixed solution from a nozzle or a die or pouring the mixed solution into a mold, to cause gelation at the same time that the mixed solution is molded into the above-mentioned shape; and the like.
The foam of the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention can be prepared by a general process comprising lyophilizing a gel swollen with water, or a process comprising introducing bubbles into the internal of the gel.
Examples of the process for preparing a foam comprising introducing bubbles into the internal of the gel include those processes disclosed in British Patent No. 574,382, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. Hei 5-254029, 8-208868 and 8-337674 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 6-510330, and the like. When the foam of the water-swellable gel of the present invention is prepared by the above process, there can be obtained a foam of a water-swellable polymer gel having higher water absorbability and higher stability as compared to those foams disclosed in those publications.
Specific examples for the process for preparing a foam comprising introducing bubbles into the internal of the gel include a process comprising introducing bubbles into an esterified polysaccharide solution or a polyamine solution to foam, and thereafter bringing the foamed solution into contact with a polyamine solution or an esterified polysaccharide, respectively, to cause gelation; a process comprising introducing bubbles into a mixed solution of an esterified polysaccharide and a polyamine to foam, and thereafter completing its gelation.
The process comprising introducing bubbles into the solution to foam include a process comprising adding a foaming agent which generates a water-insoluble gas with heating or reaction, for instance, a decomposable blowing agent such as ammonium carbonate, azodicarbonamide, p-toluenesulfonyl hydrazide; a volatile blowing agent such as butane, hexane, an ether, or the like to foam; a process comprising mechanically stirring the solution, thereby diffusing a fed gas into the aqueous solution to foam; and the like.
The above-mentioned solution may contain an ionic or nonionic surfactant, which is a bubble-forming agent, as occasion demands, in order to stabilize the foam.
The ionic surfactant includes, for instance, anionic surfactants such as sodium stearate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, xcex1-olefinsulfonate and sulfoalkylamides; cationic surfactants such as alkyldimethylbenzylammonium salts, alkyltrimethylammonium salts and alkylpyridinium salts; and amphoteric surfactants such as imidazoline surfactants.
The nonionic surfactant includes, for instance, polyethylene oxide alkyl ethers, polyethylene oxide alkylphenyl ethers, glycerol fatty acid esters, sorbitan fatty acid esters, sucrose fatty acid esters, and the like.
Among the surfactants, those having a low molecular weight would impart irritation and denaturing actions to a living tissue or a physiologically active substance (an enzyme or the like). Therefore, it is preferable to avoid using such a surfactant when the foam of the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention is used in the applications for materials for medical use.
The esterified polysaccharide itself exhibits amphipatic property, so that the esterified polysaccharide functions as a bubble-forming agent for stabilizing gas-liquid interface. Accordingly, the surfactant may not be necessarily used since the esterified polysaccharide has a property for stably introducing (foaming) bubbles. Since the esterified polysaccharide has reactivity in addition to the amphipatic property, the esterified polysaccharide can be referred to as xe2x80x9creactive surfactant polysaccharide.xe2x80x9d
In addition, as the surfactant, there can be also used a protein such as albumen, gelatin or albumin, or lecithin.
When the above solution is foamed, the foam stability might not become sufficiently high in some cases. For instance, when the bubbles disappear before the completion of crosslinking, there can be added to this solution as a stabilizer of bubbles, a higher alcohol such as dodecyl alcohol, tetradecanol or hexadecanol; an amino alcohol such as ethanolamine; a water-soluble polymer such as carboxymethyl cellulose; and the like.
The foam can also be stabilized by adding a polysaccharide, which dissolves in water when heated and which is gelated when cooled, to the aqueous solution of the esterified polysaccharide to once cause the gelation of the entire solution. The polysaccharide includes natural polysaccharides such as agarose, agaropectin, amylose, amylopectin, arabinan, isolichenan, curdlan, agar, carrageenan, gellan gum, nigeran and laminaran.
The water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention is molded into a formed article as described above, but the process for molding is not limited to those described ones.
The polymer gel contains unreacted ester groups derived from the esterified polysaccharide and unreacted xcex1-amino groups derived from the polyamine not participating in the amide bonding. Therefore, from the viewpoints of improvements in function and water absorbability of the polymer gel, after the esterified polysaccharide and the polyamine are reacted to form a water-swellable polymer gel, the water-swellable polymer gel is impregnated with a compound reactive with ester group or xcex1-amino group to react the compound with the gel having unreacted ester groups or unreacted xcex1-amino groups.
Since the xcex1-amino group of the water-swellable polymer gel is highly reactive to various compounds, the water-swellable polymer gel can be subjected to, for instance, acylation, alkylation, formation of imine(Schiff base), reductive alkylation, or the like. The compound reactive with xcex1-amino group includes, for instance, acid anhydrides such as acetic anhydride and succinic anhydride; aldehydes such as acetaldehyde and glyoxylic acid; alkylating agents such as alkyl halides and dimethyl sulfate; and the like, without intending to limit to those exemplified ones.
In addition, the ester group of the water-swellable polymer gel is reacted with a compound having an amino group to form amide bonding. The compound having amino group includes, for instance, ethanolamine, phosphoryl ethanolamine, taurine, amino acids, proteins and oligopeptides. It is preferable that the reaction of the water-swellable polymer gel with the compound having an amino group is carried out under basic conditions such as pH of not less than 7.
The water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention can be used as it is. Alternatively, the gel can be used after the gel is washed by immersing the gel in the aqueous solvent. In addition, the gel can be used after a part or all of the aqueous solvent is removed from the gel by means of drying with heating, drying under reduced pressure or lyophilization.
Washing the water-swellable polymer gel is an effective means for removing toxic additives and by-products when those ingredients are incorporated in the internal of the gel.
The process for drying the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention is not limited to specified ones, and can be appropriately selected depending upon the applications of the water-swellable polymer gel. The water-swellable polymer gel can be dried after immersing the water-swellable polymer gel in a water-miscible organic solvent, for instance, an alcohol solvent such as methanol, ethanol or propanol, or an acetone solvent, thereby replacing at least a part of the aqueous solvent contained in the water-swellable polymer gel by the water-miscible organic solvent. The temperature during drying the water-swellable polymer gel is not limited to specified ones, and the temperature can be appropriately selected within the range so that the object of the present invention would not be hindered.
In order to improve flexibility of the dried water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention, a plasticizing agent can be used. The plasticizing agent includes, for instance, polyhydric alcohols such as glycerol, ethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, sorbitol, propylene glycol and polypropylene glycol, dimethyl sulfoxide, water and the like. The plasticizing agent can be incorporated into the water-swellable polymer gel by adding the plasticizing agent to the solution before gelation, impregnating the plasticizing agent in the internal of the water-swellable polymer gel after gelation, or adding the plasticizing agent to the water-swellable polymer gel after drying the gel.
In addition to the method using the above-mentioned plasticizing agent as a method for softening the foam of the water-swellable polymer gel, there can be cited a process comprising compressing the foam of the water-swellable polymer gel into a relatively thin sheet. When the foam of the water-swellable polymer gel is compressed, since a three-dimensional supporting structure of the foam of the polymer gel is partially destroyed, it is thought that flexibility can be imparted to the gel. The compression can be carried out with a pressing machine, a roller, or the like. Also, the thickness of the foam of the water-swellable polymer gel can be controlled by the adjustment of a spacer, a gap or the like. The thickness of the foam of the water-swellable polymer gel after compression is not limited to specified ones, and the thickness can be appropriately adjusted in accordance with the applications of the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention.
The water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention is a hydrogel material which has both high gel strength and high water absorbability. Therefore, the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention can be applied to a wide scope of fields such as industry, agriculture, foods, medicine, and the like. Among them, the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention can be suitably applied especially to materials for medical use, from the viewpoints of water absorbability, safety and mechanical properties.
The material for medical use includes, for instance, wound dressings, adhesion-preventing materials, dialysis membranes, hemostatic materials, adhesive materials, sealants, contact lenses, materials for tissue regeneration, microcapsule materials, drug delivery systems (DDS), and the like. The material for medical use may incorporate a physiologically active substance (for instance, heparin, dermatan sulfate, heparan sulfate, cytokine, an anti-inflammatory agent, a growth factor, an enzyme or the like), an anti-bacterial agent, a living cell, or the like.
When the wound dressing is used for the treatment of lesion such as trauma, burn or ulcer, the lesion can be treated with effectively maintaining the growth factor by applying the gel to the wound site. When the amount of exudates from the wound site is relatively large, it is preferable to use a foam of the water-swellable polymer gel in order to carry out the filling of apellous wounds, and absorbing, retaining and draining of the excess exudates.
The water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention may contain, or can be bonded to, at least one member selected from the group consisting of disinfectants, antibiotics, anti-bacterial agents, growth factors [for instance, fibroblast growth factor (FGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and the like], structure proteins (for instance, fibrin, collagen, and the like), and various amino acids and vitamins for the purposes of accelerating the cure of the lesion and preventing the infection of bacteria.
When the foam of the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention is used for the above applications, it is desired that the gel is used in a state in which at least a part of water is removed. When the dried foam is softened by the compression treatment, the foam can be easily deformed along the wound, so that it is not necessarily required to contain in the foam a low molecular weight compound having eluting property, such as a plasticizing agent. Therefore, the wet environment of the wound can be maintained to a level of the original living body, so that there is little risk for inhibiting the cure of the wound.
In addition, a water-containing water-swellable polymer gel or a dried membraneous water-swellable polymer gel can be applied to a wound site in which exudates are existed in a relatively small amount. Alternatively, the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention or its foam can be formed at the wound site.
The adhesion-preventing material is a material which prevents adhesion of a surgical wound during the surgery, so that the recovery of the wound is accelerated. The water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention can also be used as the adhesion-preventing material. In this case, the adhesion can also be prevented by pasting the water-swellable polymer gel to a site where adhesion should be prevented such as abdominal wall or intraperitoneal organs, or forming the water-swellable polymer gel in situ, thereby covering and protecting the site with the gel. The water-swellable polymer gel can be used in any forms such as films, coatings and foams. When the water-swellable polymer gel is formed in situ, its coating can be easily formed by supplying the water-swellable polymer gel to the site in the form of a liquid. Therefore, this method is particularly useful for surgeries under an endoscope or the like.
The water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention can be also used as a material for tissue regeneration, i.e. as an extracellular matrix for regeneration of skins, mucosa, bones, cartilage, blood vessels, valves, nerves, and cornea. In this case, the material for tissue regeneration may contain or can be bonded to a cell growth factor, such as FGF or BMP; a structure protein, such as fibrin or collagen; a cell adhesion molecule, such as RGD peptide; a living cell, such as hepatocyte, fibroblast, osteoblast or cartilage cell. When the water-swellable polymer gel is used as a material for tissue regeneration, the water-swellable polymer gel can be pasted to the site for regenerating the tissue, or the gel can be formed in situ. In addition, the wounded living tissue would recover by autotherapy, if the invasion of the fibrous tissue to a defective site can be prevented. Therefore, the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention can be used as a barrier for preventing invasion of the fibrous tissue.
When the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention is used for applications in which an adhesion-preventing material, a hemostatic material, an adhesive material, a sealant or a material for tissue regeneration is embedded in a living body, it is desired that the water-swellable polymer gel exhibits each of the functions, and thereafter is rapidly biodegraded and absorbed. Therefore, it is preferable that the esterified polysaccharide used in the water-swellable polymer gel is decomposed to low-molecular weight compounds in the living body. The esterified polysaccharide which can be suitable used for this application includes, for instance, esterified alginate, esterified hyaluronate, and the like.
It is preferable that the material for medical use made of the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention is used after sterilization. The method for sterilization is not limited to specified ones, and any methods can be appropriately employed in accordance with the kinds of the materials for medical use. The method for sterilization includes, for instance, sterilization by autoclaving (for instance, 121xc2x0 C. for 20 minutes), sterilization with ethylene oxide gas, sterilization with xcex3-rays, sterilization with electron beams, or the like.
As explained above, since the water-swellable polymer gel of the present invention is obtained by reacting the esterified polysaccharide with the polyamine, the gel can be efficiently formed even in an aqueous solvent near neutral pH. Also, since an ingredient derived from nature is used in the gel as raw materials, the gel is excellent in biodegradability and safety for human bodies, and moreover control of physical properties such as gelation time, water absorbability and gel strength can be facilitated. It is thought that the above advantages are derived from the fact that the basicity of the xcex1-amino group of the polyamine is considerably lower than that of xcex5-amino group of lysine or an alkylamine employed in the prior art. In other words, it is deduced that the above advantages are derived from the fact that the concentration of free amino groups which can participate in crosslinking is higher in the case of xcex1-amino group even under low pH conditions, as compared to that in the case of xcex5-amimo group or the alkylamine.

Water-swellable polymer gel and process for preparing the same


A photothermographic material comprising a photosensitive silver halide, an organic silver salt, a reducing agent, and an ultrahigh contrast promoting agent, typically a hydrazine derivative. In one embodiment, a compound having a group for promoting adsorption to the silver halide is contained for suppressing occurrence of pepper fog. In another embodiment, a 5- or 6-membered heterocyclic mercapto compound having at least two nitrogen atoms or a tetraazaindene compound is contained for suppressing a change of photographic properties, typically image enlargement with a variation of developing conditions. In either case, the photothermographic material can form super-high contrast images of quality.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a photothermographic photosensitive material, especially suited for the manufacture of printing plates.
2. Prior Art
Photothermographic photosensitive materials which are processed by a photothermographic process to form photographic images are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,152,904 and 3,457,075, D. Morgan and B. Shely, "Thermally Processed Silver Systems" in "Imaging Processes and Materials," Neblette, 8th Ed., Sturge, V. Walworth and A. Shepp Ed., page 2, 1969.
These photothermographic photosensitive materials generally contain a reducible silver source (e.g., organic silver salt), a catalytic amount of a photocatalyst (e.g., silver halide), a toner for controlling the tonality of silver, and a reducing agent, typically dispersed in a binder matrix. They are generally known as dry silver. Photothermographic photosensitive materials are stable at room temperature. When they are heated at an elevated temperature (e.g., 80.degree. C. or higher) after exposure, redox reaction takes place between the reducible silver source (functioning as an oxidizing agent) and the reducing agent to form silver. This redox reaction is promoted by the catalysis of a latent image produced by exposure. Silver formed by reaction of the organic silver salt in exposed regions provides black images in contrast to unexposed regions, eventually forming an image.
Such photothermographic photosensitive materials have been used as microphotographic and radiographic photosensitive materials. However, only a few have been used as a graphic printing photosensitive material because the image quality is poor for the printing purpose as demonstrated by low maximum density (Dmax) and soft gradation.
With the recent advance of lasers and light-emitting diodes, scanners and image setters having an oscillation wavelength of 600 to 800 nm find widespread use. There is a strong desire to have a high contrast photosensitive material which has so high sensitivity and Dmax that it may comply with such output devices. Also a need for easy and dry processing is increasing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,738 describes that high contrast images are obtainable using sulfonyl hydrazide as a reducing agent for dry silver. U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,695 describes that high contrast images are obtainable using hindered phenol and formylhydrazine or tritylhydrazine as a reducing agent for dry silver.
These image forming processes are characterized by heat development at a high temperature of 120.degree. C. or higher and suffer from several problems associated with formation of high contrast images. One problem is noise known as pepper fog occurring when hydrazines are used. While black pepper is a phenomenon well known for conventional wet development using hydrazines, pepper fog occurring in a dry photothermographic system is considerably different from black pepper of the wet development system in that the occurrence of pepper fog largely depends on heat development temperature and becomes more frequent at higher temperature. In the wet development system wherein black pepper largely depends on the pH of developer, the occurrence of black spots or black pepper can be suppressed by containing an acidic compound or acidic polymer in a photosensitive emulsion layer of photosensitive material. The photothermographic system, on the other hand, has a fully acidic atmosphere because the photosensitive material contains large amounts of an organic fatty acid and an aromatic carboxylic acid (e.g., phthalic acid derivatives) and a bisphenol derivative as a reducing agent. Despite the acidic atmosphere, pepper fog occurs upon heat development at high temperature.


The present application relates to a fluorine-based resin having a novel structure and a photosensitive resin composition including the same. The photosensitive resin composition including the fluorine-based resin according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application has excellent photosensitivity and developability and can increase a contact angle of a coating film to prevent a water stain. Accordingly, the photosensitive resin composition including the fluorine-based resin according to the exemplary embodiment of the present application may be applied to various photosensitive materials, and particularly, may be preferably applied when a color filter pattern for LCD is manufactured.

A photosensitive resin composition may be applied on a substrate to form a paint film and used to form a pattern by subjecting a specific portion of the paint film to exposure by light irradiation using a photomask and the like and then subjecting a non-exposure portion to a development treatment to remove the non-exposure portion. This photosensitive resin composition has been used for a photocurable ink, a photosensitive printing plate, various photoresists, a color filter photoresist for a LCD, a photoresist for a resin black matrix, a transparent photosensitive material or the like since the photosensitive resin composition may be polymerized and cured by light irradiation.
The photosensitive resin composition usually includes an alkali soluble resin, a polymerizable compound including an ethylenically unsaturated bond, a photopolymerization initiator and a solvent.
In the photosensitive resin composition, an alkali soluble resin allows the photosensitive resin composition to have adhesive strength with a substrate and thus a coating may be formed, is dissolved in an alkali liquid developer to allow a fine pattern to be formed, and simultaneously serves to prevent an obtained pattern from being broken during a post-treatment process by imparting strength to the pattern. Further, the alkali soluble resin has great effects even on heat resistance and chemical resistance.
In general, the photosensitive resin composition is formed as a coating film having a thickness of 3 μm or more and most of the coating film needs to be developed, and thus the photosensitive resin composition needs to be dissolved in a large amount in a liquid developer within a short time period. In addition, when development is not clearly performed, various display defects such as direct spots due to residues and alignment defects of liquid crystals may occur. Therefore, the photosensitive resin composition needs to have excellent developability. Moreover, when a photosensitive resin composition is applied on a glass substrate with a large surface area, it is difficult for the substrate to be subjected to full-surface exposure, and thus the substrate is subjected to exposure in multiple sequences. Thus, when the photosensitive resin composition has low sensitivity, the time needed for the exposure process becomes longer, resulting in a drop in productivity, and thus high sensitivity is required.
Moreover, even in a high temperature process at 200° C. or higher, excellent thermal stability for maintaining the shape and thickness, high compress strength sufficient to resist against external pressure and excellent chemical resistance are required. In addition, excellent stability with time may stably exhibit characteristics which are constantly required without any changes even under long-term storage conditions, and thus excellent stability with time is required. However, a photosensitive resin composition that meets all the standards in terms of heat resistance, chemical resistance, developability, sensitivity and stability with time has not been yet developed.
Furthermore, in a process of using the above-described photosensitive resin composition, in order to improve a yield per unit time of the process, exposure time and development time are reduced. Thus, there is a need for improving sensitivity and developability, compared to photosensitive resin compositions that are known in the art.
A method of using a photoactive compounds with high sensitivity or increasing the amount of the photoactive compound has been used to increase sensitivity of a photosensitive resin composition. However, the photoactive compounds with high sensitivity has a relatively expensive problem. In addition, when the amount of the photoactive compound is increased, a lot of sublimate foreign bodies occurred in the process of post baking may contaminate the oven or contaminate the components such as liquid crystal in the LCD panel.
Recently, a method of photocrosslinking an alkali-soluble resin and an ethylenically unsaturated compound has been made in an effort to introduce a photopolymerizable functional group to a side chain of an alkali-soluble resin used in a photosensitive resin composition.
However, even though photosensitivity and a ratio of the photopolymerizable reactive group introduced into the alkali-soluble resin are in a positive relationship, since the photopolymerizable reactive group is introduced into an acid group portion of the alkali-soluble resin, if the ratio of the photopolymerizable reactive group in the alkali-soluble resin is increased, the ratio of the remaining acid group is relatively reduced to reduce developability.
Meanwhile, a contact angle of a known photosensitive resin composition is controlled by a kind and an amount of surfactant. However, there are many cases where the contact angle is not controlled by the surfactant due to a limitation of raw material of the photosensitive resin composition. This is because the surfactant is partially removed during a manufacturing process of a color filter.
Accordingly, there is a demand for developing the photosensitive resin composition increasing the contact angle while the surfactant is not removed during the manufacturing process of the color filter in the art.

Fluorine-based resins and photosensitive resin composition comprising the same


An input digital video signal is converted to an output digital video signal having a different frame rate and a different number of pixel lines per frame. A first series of progressive scan format frames is formed from the input signal. Then a second series of frames is formed from the first series of frames using motion compensated temporal interpolation between successive frames of the first series in producing at least some of the frames of the second series so as to provide the difference in frame rate. Before or after the second series of frames is formed, vertical spatial interpolation is performed so as to provide the difference in the number of pixel lines per frame.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to standards conversion of digital video signals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Different format standards for high definition digital video are being established in different parts of the world. For example, the SMPTE 240M format has become established in the USA and is characterised by 1125 lines per frame, 2:1 interlace, 60 fields per second and an active pixel area of 1920 pixels (horizontally) by 1035 pixels (vertically) per frame. On the other hand, one of the "European" standards which is proposed is characterised by 1250 lines per frame, 2:1 interlace, 50 fields per second and an active pixel area of 1920 pixels (horizontally) by 1152 pixels (vertically) per frame. There will become a need for a gateway between two standard formats such as these, so that material originated in or converted to one of these high definition standards can be converted to the other standard.

Standards conversion of digital video signals


A method is for operating a burner of a gas turbine. A fossil fuel is gasified and the gasified fossil fuel is fed as synthesis gas into the burner for combustion. The burner is connected to the gas turbine. The synthesis gas is divided into a first partial current and a second partial current and the partial currents are each fed into the burner for combustion. A power plant, particularly a gas and steam turbine system, includes a gasification device for a fossil fuel.

A gas and steam turbine installation with integrated gasification of fossil fuel usually includes a gasification device for the fuel, which on the outlet side is connected to the combustion chamber of the gas turbine via a number of components provided for gas purification purposes. A heat recovery steam generator, the heating surfaces of which are connected into the water steam circuit of a steam turbine, may be connected downstream of the gas turbine on the flue gas side. An installation of this type is known, for example, from GB A 2 234 984 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,415.
To reduce the emission of pollutants during the combustion of the gasified fossil fuel or synthesis gas, a saturator, in which the synthesis gas is laden with steam when the installation is operating, may be connected into the gas line. For this purpose, the gasified fuel flows through the saturator in countercurrent to a flow of water which is passed through a water circuit referred to as the saturator circuit. To achieve a particularly high level of efficiency, there is provision for heat from the water steam circuit of a gas and steam turbine installation to be introduced into the saturator circuit.
As a result of contact with the heated flow of water guided in the saturator circuit in the saturator, the gasified fuel is saturated with steam and is heated to a limited extent. For thermal reasons and also for operating reasons, it may be necessary to further heat the fuel before it is fed into the combustion chamber of the gas turbine.
DE 19 832 293 A1 has described a gas and steam turbine installation having a heat recovery steam generator connected downstream of the gas turbine on the flue gas side. The heating surfaces of the heat recovery steam generator are in this case connected into the water steam circuit of the steam turbine. A gasification device for fuel is connected upstream of the combustion chamber, via a fuel line, for the purpose of integrated gasification of a fossil fuel for the combustion chamber. To achieve a particularly high efficiency in the installation, the fuel line, between the gasification device and the saturator, includes, in addition to a mixing device for admixing nitrogen, a heat exchanger on the primary side, which on the secondary side is likewise connected into the fuel line, between the saturator and the combustion chamber.
A similar gas and steam turbine installation to that described in DE 19 832 293 A1 is disclosed by WO 00/20728. It is intended for it to be possible for the gas and steam turbine installation described in that document to be operated with a particularly high level of efficiency even when oil is used as fossil fuel.
For this purpose, in WO/20728, a heat exchanger is connected into the fuel line on the primary side, upstream of a mixing device for admixing nitrogen to the gasified fuel, as seen in the direction of flow of the gasified fuel, which heat exchanger, on the secondary side, is designed as an evaporator for a flow medium. On the steam side, the heat exchanger is connected to the combustion chamber of the gas turbine.
To ensure particularly reliable operation of the gas and steam turbine installation, it should be possible for a feed of the synthesis gas into the combustion chamber of the gas turbine to be stopped at any time. For this purpose, a quick closing fitting should usually be connected into the gas line upstream of the combustion chamber. When required, the quick closing fitting blocks off the gas line within a particularly short time, so that it is impossible for any synthesis gas to enter the combustion chamber assigned to the gas turbine.
On account of the relevant safety regulations, the fuel system usually includes a gas lock. A gas lock includes two fittings, for example ball valves, which can be opened or closed to a flow of gas. An intermediate relief or a pressure line is connected in between these two fittings. The intermediate relief may be connected to an excess gas burner, via which excess gas can be burnt off. As an alternative to the intermediate relief, the pressure line can be connected up, ensuring that it is impossible for any gas to flow in via the gas lock fittings. The gas lock therefore separates the fuel system in gastight manner in a first region or the gasification system upstream of the gas lock and in a second region or what is known as the gas turbine fuel system downstream of the gas lock.
A gas and steam turbine installation with gasification device can be operated both with the synthesis gas, which is generated, for example, from coal, industrial residues or garbage, and with a second fuel, such as for example natural gas or oil. In the event of a changeover from synthesis gas to second fuel or vice versa, it is for safety reasons necessary for the region between the gas lock and the combustion chamber, i.e. the gas turbine fuel system, to be purged with an inert medium, such as nitrogen or steam.
To allow a gas and steam turbine installation to be optionally operated with the synthesis gas from a gasification device or a second or substitute fuel, the burner in the combustion chamber assigned to the gas turbine has to be designed as a two fuel or multi fuel burner, to which both the synthesis gas and the second fuel, e.g. natural gas or fuel oil, can be fed according to the particular requirements. The corresponding fuel is in this case supplied to the combustion zone via a fuel passage in the burner.

Method for operating a burner of a gas turbine and a power plant


Disclosed are a transflective liquid crystal display device and a method for manufacturing the same, capable of simply forming a reflection section and driving a liquid crystal display device with a transmission mode or a transflective mode by using the same array substrate. After preparing the upper substrate, the thin film transistor is formed in the switching region of the upper substrate. Color resin is coated on the thin film transistor, and is developed to form the color filter. The light-shielding layer is formed on the color filter to prevent current from being leaked from the thin film transistor. The lower substrate is formed in such a manner that the lower substrate is spaced by a predetermined distance from the upper substrate. The reflection plate is formed on the reflection section. The transparent electrode is formed on the reflection plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display device integrated with a color filter and capable of simultaneously performing a transmission mode and a reflection mode.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A transflective TFT-LCD can display an image in an indoor place while turning on a backlight, and can display the image in an outdoor place without incurring power consumption caused by the backlight and an image distortion caused by a surface reflection caused by a polarizing plate. Also, the transflective TFT-LCD can ensure a coupling margin for upper and lower plates and decrease the cost required for manufacturing a separated color filter by integrally forming a color filter.
As technology for transflective liquid crystal display devices has been developed, color filters have been integrally formed with transflective liquid crystal display devices through a simple masking process. Also, driving substrates each of the transflective liquid crystal display devices are manufactured such that driving substrates can be used for transmission liquid crystal display devices as well as for transflective liquid crystal display devices, thereby improving productivity. According to conventional technology for transflective liquid crystal display devices, a resin process for fabricating a reflection section is necessary, so that the manufacturing process is complicated. Differently from a transmission TFT-LCD, the transflective liquid crystal display device requires separate fabrication of a transmission array substrate and a color filter substrate, so equipment in a manufacturing line is easily damaged while increasing manufacturing costs.
In addition, when the resin process is performed in order to form a reflection plate on a conventional array substrate, a high fault rate of articles and a low yield rate thereof may occur because it is required to form a convex-concave section and a hole pattern of a TFT, and an embossing pattern. Also, when a color filter is integrated on the array substrate on which such a reflection plate is formed, productivity is decreased due to an addition of the resin process and a high step difference caused by the reflection plate. In addition, it is impossible to realize the same color tone even if the same RGB color resin of the color filter is used due to a higher resin step difference formed between a transmission section and a reflection section by the reflection plate.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are sectional views of a conventional transflective TFT-LCD.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a TFT unit, a resin unit, a resin pattern, and a reflection plate are formed in order to form an array substrate. When the array substrate of the conventional transflective TFT-LCD is manufactured, the manufacturing process may be complicated due to a high surface step difference and hole formation, so that a high fault rate may result. In addition, a color filter 104 is formed on an upper substrate 102, and a TFT 108 is formed on a lower substrate 106, respectively, so that a width of a black matrix for ensuring a coupling margin is relatively enlarged, thereby increasing an aperture ratio.
In color filter integration technology applied to a transflective LCD or a reflection LCD, a color resin unit, though which light is transmitted, is shielded by the reflection plate made of a metal, so that the color resin unit cannot be formed on the array substrate together with the reflection plate. Also, when color resin is formed on the array substrate so as to utilize the color resin for the reflection section, the color resin may become a dual parameter for adjusting thickness of the reflection section and the color filter, so it is impossible to achieve a proper color characteristic or a cell gap of the reflection section.

LCD with TFT on upper substrate and color filter on each substrate


Methods, systems, and computer program products to obtain a color image from a color filter array, such as, for example, a color filter array comprising a Bayer pattern. A method of image processing includes, for each pixel location (i,j) and for each color channel in a color image, determining a warped location (i′,j′) in a color filter array, and determining a color value of the color channel at location (i′,j′) in the color filter array. The method may further include storing the determined color value. The determining of the color value may include interpolating the color value of the color channel at location (i′,j′) in the color filter array. In this manner, a single interpolation operation set may be needed and an intermediate image may be avoided, saving memory, reducing processing time, minimizing artifacts, and reducing cost.

In order to produce color images, such as photograph and video images, demosaicing and image warping are often performed in succession on images resulting in rectified color images.
A demosaicing algorithm is a digital image process that is used to reconstruct a full color image from incomplete color output from an image sensor overlaid with a color filter array in order to render the image into a viewable format. As the raw color image includes an intensity of only one color of the three filter colors (red, blue, and green) per pixel, demosaicing is used to determine intensities of the other two colors for each pixel. Many algorithms exist for demosaicing a color image. These algorithms vary in complexity and may result in a tripling of the data involved.
Image warping is the process of smoothly displacing the pixels in an image. In a warped image, the value at each pixel is usually computed from values sampled in the original image. Since the location in the raw image does not necessarily have integer coordinates, some interpolation is typically needed. Warping is used, for example, to correct for distortions present in an image. An image produced by an optical system is subject to various forms of geometric distortion. The distortion is often significant enough that it is desirable to warp the image into a more usable form. For example, objects in the center of an image obtained using a wide-angle or fish-eye lens will appear enlarged compared to objects at the edges. This is called barrel distortion. Warping the image may correct for the barrel distortion, resulting in a proportionally correct image that would appear to have been produced by a perspective camera. Warping can also be used to correct other types of distortions, or even to purposely cause distortions.
Both demosaicing and warping introduce some image defects, or artifacts, because they typically each involve interpolation. Performing demosaicing and warping individually in succession compounds this issue. In addition to the processing time needed to perform the two operations, demosaicing and warping in succession requires computer memory to store an intermediate image and also requires interpolations being performed twice.
In the drawings, the leftmost digit(s) of a reference number may identify the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

Systems, methods, and computer program products for compound image demosaicing and warping


A hand-operated stapler comprises an arm, a sliding belt and a blocking member, wherein the arm comprises a front end which acts as an effort, a rear end which acts as a fulcrum, and a load portion in between the front end and the rear end of the arm; and the rear end of the blocking member is connected to a front end of the sliding belt. At a non-stapling default position a front end of the blocking member is biased to be disposed above the stopper and blocks the upper clincher member from engaging with the lower clincher member. At a stapling position the rear end of the sliding belt is pulled upward, thereby pulling the blocking member rearward and away from the stopper and thus allowing the upper clincher member to engage with the lower clincher member.

The present invention relates to a hand-operated stapler for stapling sheets of paper and more particularly pertains to a hand-operated stapler that requires exertion of less effort than a standard typical hand-operated stapler to bind multi-page documents by flat clinching and which is susceptible of a lower cost of manufacture with regard to materials than a standard typical hand-operated flat-clinch stapler.
Staplers are commonly found in offices, schools or other places that process large amounts of paper. There have been different improvements made to increase staplers' efficiency and effectiveness. Various power-operated staplers have been introduced to the market to save effort but they have electrical components and are thus more costly for production and purchase and more susceptible of being broken and irreparable. Hand-operated staplers are less expensive and more durable and are good for operations that do not require frequent stapling or stapling of thick documents. Repeated use of such a hand-operated stapler within a short period of time may easily cause muscle strain or even injury. Various improvements have been made to hand-operated staplers which mainly focus on making them requiring exertion of less effort and producing fewer incidents of squiggled clinches. However, existing hand-operated staplers remains to fall short of users' expectations.
Flat-clinch staplers have been getting popular in offices and schools. Unlike conventional staplers which do not flatten the staples completely, flat-clinch staplers completely flatten the ends of the staples making them fold up tight against the sheets of paper. FIGS. 1 to 3 illustrate a conventional flat-clinch stapler. To use the stapler, the user presses the front part of the pressing cap, thereby driving the metal head 7′ downward. The crank 71′ which connects the metal head 7′ and the blocking member 12′ is then driven to move the blocking member 12′ backward, thereby allowing the lower clincher member 4′ to move upward and eventually bend over the ends of the staple and flatten the ends, making them folding tight against the sheets of paper.
Flat clinching eliminates the crimps and curls of conventional stapling. This reduces the thickness of the paper stapled as the staple is totally flat and this allows neater stacking up of the paper documents with no protruding edges. This also avoids the sharp points or edges that can sometimes snag clothing, scratch other surfaces or even cause finger cuts. Despite the advantages of flat-clinch staplers over the conventional staplers, repeated use of the same may still cause muscle strain or injury. Further, the construction of a flat-clinch stapler is more complicated than a conventional stapler. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the major parts for achieving the flat-clinching effect, i.e. the crank 71′ and the blocking member 12′, are made of metal and so flat-clinch staplers are susceptible of a higher manufacturing cost and accordingly a higher price of sale to the consuming public. Therefore, users are looking forward to hand-operated staplers which require exertion of less effort to make flat clinches and which is susceptible of lower prices of sale to the buying public.


A fusible print medium for use in inkjet printing. The fusible print medium includes a substrate and a fusible layer, the fusible layer comprising at least one organic pigment and at least one solid plasticizer. A method of producing the fusible print medium and a method of producing a photographic quality image are also disclosed.

The use of inkjet printing in offices and homes has grown dramatically in recent years. The growth can be attributed to drastic reductions in cost of inkjet printers and substantial improvements in print resolution and overall print quality. While the print quality has improved drastically, research and development efforts continue toward further improving the print quality to achieve images having photographic quality. A photographic quality image includes saturated colors, high gloss and gloss uniformity, freedom from grain and coalescence, and a high degree of permanence. To achieve photographic image quality, the print medium must be fast drying and resist smearing, air, light, and moisture. In addition, the print medium should provide good color fidelity and high image resolution.
In order to obtain printed images that dry quickly and have good image quality, durability, and permanence, microporous inkjet print media with thermally laminated barrier layers have been developed. While lamination of the printed image provides very good image quality and permanence, the cost of producing the laminated images is increased due to the cost of the laminator and the additional supplies that are necessary. In addition, lamination produces haze and air bubbles, which become trapped, decreasing the image quality of the printed images.
Print media that are capable of producing images having photographic image quality are typically categorized into two groups: porous media and swellable media. Porous media generally have an ink-receiving layer that is formed from porous, inorganic particles bound with a polymer binder. An inkjet ink is absorbed into the pores of the inorganic particles and the colorant is fixed by mordants incorporated in the ink-receiving layer or by the surface of the inorganic particles. Porous media have a short dry time and good resistance to smearing because the inkjet ink is easily absorbed into the pores of the ink-receiving layer. However, porous media do not exhibit good resistance to fade. In swellable media, the ink-receiving layer is a continuous layer of a swellable, polymer matrix. When the inkjet ink is applied, the inkjet ink is absorbed by swelling of the polymer matrix and the colorant is immobilized inside the continuous layer. Since the colorant is protected from the outside environment, swellable media have greater resistance to light and dark/air fade than the porous media. However, the swellable media generally have reduced smearfastness and a longer drytime than porous media.
To overcome the problems with porous and swellable media, fusible or sealable print media have been developed and continue to be researched. After a desired image is printed, the fusible print medium is exposed to heat and/or pressure to seal a fusible layer over the printed image. The sealed, fusible layer forms a protective film over the printed image, helping to protect the printed image from scratches or fading. While this printed image has a greater resistance to light and dark/air fade, the image is typically non-glossy and has a low gamut. The fusible layer is typically formed from a polymeric material that has a high glass transition temperature ("Tg"), such as a high Tg latex. The polymeric material prevents the polymer from coalescing at ambient temperature and improves scratch resistance of the printed image. However, a large amount of energy is used to fuse the fusible layer. The amount of energy or heat required to fuse the fusible layer is referred to herein as a fusing energy. The fusible layer typically requires that a temperature of greater than approximately 90° C. is reached and maintained for 30 seconds or more to fuse the fusible layer. Since a long dwell time at an elevated temperature is required, printing throughput on the fusible print medium is low and is limited by the print speed of the inkjet printer. As such, the fusible print medium is used with a slow inkjet printer or a slow inkjet print mode. Therefore, fusible print media typically have a low fusing efficiency. As used herein, the term "fusing efficiency" refers to an amount of time that is used to fuse the fusible layer of the fusible print medium. If less time is needed to fuse the fusible layer, throughput is increased.
To improve the fusing efficiency of fusible print medium, low Tg polymers have been incorporated into the fusible layer. However, the low Tg polymers are problematic because the fusible print medium may be prematurely fused, which damages print quality and image quality. The surface of the fusible print medium is also more prone to scratch damage. Infrared absorbers have also been included in the fusible layer to improve the fusing efficiency. However, the infrared absorbers require radiative heat to become activated and, therefore, are not practical for home use. In addition, the infrared absorbers are expensive, are soluble in solvents, and impart a color to the fusible layer. Liquid plasticizers have also been added to inkjet inks to improve the fusing efficiency of fusible print medium. Since the liquid plasticizer is a component of the inkjet ink, it passes through the fusible layer with the inkjet ink. Therefore, the liquid plasticizer does not remain in contact with the fusible layer for a sufficient amount of time to aid the fusing of the fusible print medium.

Fusible inkjet media including solid plasticizer particles and methods of forming and using the fusible inkjet media

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A light emitting diode lamp string driving system includes a plurality of light emitting diode driving apparatuses and a plurality of light emitting diode lamp strings. The light emitting diode lamp string includes a plurality of light emitting diodes. The light emitting diode driving apparatus includes a switch unit, a control unit and a voltage level generating unit. An anode of a last of the light emitting diodes of the light emitting diode lamp string connected to a first of the light emitting diode driving apparatuses is connected to the control unit of a second of the light emitting diode driving apparatuses.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lamp string driving system, and especially relates to a light emitting diode lamp string driving system.
Description of the Related Art
Currently, the light emitting diode lamp string driving system includes a plurality of light emitting diode driving apparatuses and a plurality of light emitting diode lamp strings. Each of the light emitting diode lamp string includes a plurality of light emitting diodes connected to each other in series. In order to achieve the synchronization effect or the point control effect for the light emitting diode lamp strings, each of the light emitting diodes in each of the light emitting diode lamp strings has an addressing code. The quantity of the addressing codes of the light emitting diodes in each of the light emitting diode lamp strings is equal to or less than the quantity of the light emitting diodes. For example, if the quantity of the light emitting diodes in each of the light emitting diode lamp strings is 24, the addressing codes of the light emitting diodes can be from 1 to 24, or can be 1 to 8 repeated. When lightening the light emitting diodes, the light emitting diode driving apparatus sends the control commands to drive the light emitting diodes which can interpret the control commands to light diversely.
Because each of the control commands can only drive the light emitting diodes with a specific addressing code, when the light emitting diode lamp string comprises a lot of the light emitting diodes or there are a lot of the addressing codes, the control commands will be complicated. Moreover, when the light emitting diodes are assembled, if the sequence of the light emitting diodes is incorrect, the whole light emitting diode lamp string will be determined as fail. If there are more light emitting diodes in the light emitting diode lamp string, the fail rate of the light emitting diode lamp string is higher.

Light emitting diode lamp string driving system


An optical encoder includes a code strip having a first side, a second side, a first track comprising indicia thereon, and a second track comprising indicia thereon. The code strip is moveable along a displacement path with respect to the optical encoder. A light source positioned on the first side of the code strip directs light toward the code strip. A first detector element is positioned on the second side of the code strip and is generally aligned with the first track of the code strip. A second detector element is positioned on the second side of the code strip and is generally aligned with the second track of the code strip. The second detector element is also positioned so that the second detector element is located a spaced distance along the displacement path from the first detector element.

Position and/or motion encoders provide a means for determining the position and/or motion of moveable components. While a wide variety of position encoder systems have been developed and are being used, most position encoder systems can be placed into one of two categories: linear and rotary. As their respective names imply, linear encoder systems may be used to provide an indication of linear or straight-line motion whereas rotary encoders may be used to provide an indication of rotary motion.
Encoder systems of the type described above may be further characterized as analog encoder systems or digital encoder systems. Analog encoder systems provide an analog output signal, such as a voltage or current that is related to the motion detected by the encoder. Analog encoder systems typically utilize a variable resistor or resistance element that is operatively associated with the moveable element. The variable resistor converts the motion of the moveable component into the analog signal.
Digital encoder systems provide a digital output signal that is related to the motion detected by the encoder. Most digital encoder systems are optical in nature, although non-optical digital encoders are also known. An optical digital encoder typically utilizes a light source, a detector, and a code wheel or code strip. The code wheel or code strip is provided with markings or indicia thereon. The detector detects the indicia provided on the code wheel or code strip and produces a digital output signal that is related to the position or movement of the code strip with respect to the detector.
Digital encoders may provide a relative or absolute indication of the relative position of the code wheel or code strip. Generally speaking, relative encoders provide a single set of markings or indicia on the code strip. Because the single set of markings is not unique to the particular position of the code strip, relative encoder systems must utilize a homing routine on start-up in order to derive the actual position of the moveable component. Absolute position encoders typically rely on several sets of indicia on the code strip. The indicia are such that a unique signal is associated with each position of the code strip. Thus, such absolute position encoders can provide an indication of the absolute position of the moveable element without the need to first perform a homing routine.

Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A method of determining preferred WIFI hotspots. The method includes the steps of: detecting, by a computer processor, an attempt to connect to a first WIFI hotspot by a wireless device in a first area; and in response to detecting the attempt to connect to the first WIFI hotspot: identifying, by the computer processor, at least one bandwidth requirement of the wireless device; determining, by the computer processor, preferences based on contextual information corresponding to the wireless device and its user; collecting, by the computer processor, a plurality of WIFI hotspots available in the first area and identify prices and network bandwidth offered by each of the plurality of WIFI hotspots; and recommending, by the computer processor, preferred WIFI hotspots in the first area based on the identified bandwidth requirements, the determined preferences, and the process and network bandwidth offered by each of the plurality of WIFI hotspots.

Wireless computer networks are increasingly being implemented and used as computer (and other device) users become more and more mobile. Wireless fidelity ("WIFI") networks, in particular, have seen a surge in consumer use and have become the most widely utilized standard for wireless networking. WIFI networks operate according to Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers ("IEEE") 802.11 standard, which is supported by most hardware vendors. These WIFI networks typically have an indoor range of one hundred and fifty to three hundred feet, with performance likely to degrade as the distance increases. Also, typical outdoor ranges for these WIFI networks are approximately one thousand feet. The strength and performance of the outdoor WIFI network typically also degrade as the distance increases, depending also on a number of factors such as atmosphere conditions and physical obstructions.
In order to provide distributed wireless access to a network, network service providers typically provide a plurality of geographically-dispersed wireless access ports. These wireless access ports provide WIFI access points that allow computer users to access the Internet via laptop and/or hand-held (or portable) computers/devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones, cellular phones, and the like. These WIFI access points are referred to as "hotspots" and are currently located in many airports, hotels, restaurants, coffee shops and convention centers, for example.
As used herein, the term hotspot refers to the area extending from the wireless access port within which the wireless signal is broadcasted and can be detected by a wireless-enabled/capable user device. Hotspot based wireless services are provided by adhoc networks using short-range wireless systems, such as Bluetooth, 802.11 and wireless local area network (WLAN) technology/protocol and provide proximity-based wireless services to mobile terminals at the associated hotspots. The short range wireless systems are provided via a hotspot access point/port or hotspot server. Each working wireless access port thus emits a wireless signal recognized by wireless-capable mobile devices. The wireless devices then latch onto the wireless signals and are able to access the network via a series of authentication procedures with the background network, depending on whether the network is openly available (or free) or requires some form of payment or subscription.

International Business Machines Corporation


Multi-layer composite structures offer improved weatherability and adhesion to fiber-reinforced plastic substrates when compared to structures now available. These composites have an outer layer made from a polyacrylate, a second layer made from an acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate rubber terpolymer; a third layer made from an ABS polymer; and optionally a fourth layer made from a polyacrylate. The layers include one or more layers having an improvement selected from among: (a) the improvement wherein the second layer is made from an acrylate-modified acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate rubber terpolymer; (b) the improvement wherein the third layer is a modified ABS that further includes a polymer modifier that decreases the softening of the ABS on contact with styrene, and an acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate rubber terpolymer; and (c) the improvement wherein the fourth layer is present and is a polyacrylate. This composite can be applied to a fiber-reinforced plastic substrate such as fiberglass as a coating.

This application relates to composites having improved characteristics that have improved weatherability and inter-layer adhesion when a fiber-reinforced plastic substrate is part of the composite.
FIG. 1 shows the structure of a composite that is known in the art. The composite has four layers, a top layer 11, which is comprising an acrylic, a second layer 12 which is formed from an amorphous acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate rubber terpolymer (ASA), a third layer 13 comprising acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer (ABS) and a fiber-reinforced plastic substrate 14.
Material consisting of layers 11, 12 and 13 is marketed in sheet form under the tradename Weather-Pro G by Spartech Corporation, and the sheets of material are thermoformed into boat hulls and other shapes to be the outer skin on fiber reinforced plastic substrate 14.


A computer system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention may have either a local or a remote low-voltage power button. The arrangement is freely reconfigurable by the end user. A socket or plug is accessible from the exterior of the enclosure of a main unit. On the inside of the enclosure, the socket or plug is coupled to circuitry for sensing activity in a power button. The socket or plug is adapted to removably mate with a corresponding socket or plug on either a low-voltage power button or a low-voltage power button extender assembly. The low-voltage power button may comprise simply a switch integrated with a socket or plug. The low-voltage power button extender assembly may comprise a switch coupled to a socket or plug by means of a flexible cable.

Virtually all computers include a low-voltage on/off switch or power button (hereinafter "power button" or "button") configured so that a human user may manually activate the button to change the state of the computer from off to on or vice versa. In the vast majority of computers, the button is permanently mounted to the computer's enclosure at or near its exterior. For example, a very common configuration for desk-top and tower computers is shown schematically in FIG. 1. In the configuration of FIG. 1, a power button 100 is located on the front chassis wall or bezel 102 of an enclosure 104. Button 100 is directly coupled to the motherboard 106 by means of a 2-conductor cable 108. Motherboard 106, in turn, is connected to a DC supply output 110 of a power supply 112, which receives its power from an AC supply 114. Typically, sensing circuitry on motherboard 106 detects activity in power button 100 and causes the computer system to power up or down depending on its previous state.
Unfortunately, any such configuration wherein the power button is permanently mounted to the enclosure imposes constraints on where the computer may be located and how it may be oriented. In short, most prior art designs require that the enclosure be located and oriented such that the power button remains accessible to the user at all times. This makes it very inconvenient to deploy a prior art computer for applications requiring the computer to be located in an "out-of-the-way" location such as in a point-of-sale environment. On the other hand, such prior art designs are convenient when the computer is used in traditional desk-top or desk-side locations.
One or more "Macintosh" models from Apple Computer, Inc., provided a power button 200 that was permanently integrated with the computer's keyboard 202, as shown in FIG. 2. Signals describing activity on button 200 were relayed to circuitry within the computer's enclosure 204 by means of the keyboard's universal serial bus ("USB") interface. The USB interface included a flexible cable 206 and a USB connector 208 designed to mate with a corresponding USB socket mounted to enclosure 204. While this configuration provided some flexibility regarding the location of the power button, in every case the button necessarily had to be co-located with the keyboard because the button was permanently integrated therein.

Computer system having a local or remote low-voltage power button


A cassette insertion control method, wherein when a cassette (1) is sent to the storage part (41) of a garage (8a), the cassette (1) is tilted without positioning the garage (8a) and the cassette (1) to oppose to each other, and sent to the front opening part (40) of the garage (8a) from a tip corner part (45) of the cassette (1), thereby to securely store the cassette (1) in the garage (8a). Thus, even if the accuracy of the stop position of a picker running in a direction parallel with the arranged direction of the garage is not so high, the cassette can be securely stored in the garage.

In a cassette library device of this type, as illustrated in FIG. 15, a plurality of garages 4 are annularly mounted on a turn table 2, and a cassette 1 is stored in each garage 4. Then, a drive mechanism 3 rotates the turn table 2 such that a garage 4 having a target cassette 1 stored therein faces an elevator mechanism 5. The elevator mechanism 5 takes out the target cassette 1 from the garage 4, and inserts/removes the cassette 1 into/from a tape drive 6; thus, information is read from/written to the cassette 1 (Non-Patent Document 1).
With this configuration, a cassette can be automatically inserted into/removed from the tape drive 6 within a range of a data library contained in the turn table 2. However, in order to increase, in number, cassettes 1 to be stored as a data library in a limited space, a magazine-type cassette library device illustrated in FIG. 16 is suitable as compared with the aforementioned turn table-type cassette library device.
The magazine-type cassette library device has a configuration that a tape drive 6 and a pair of magazine-type garages 8a and 8b are mounted in a casing 7.
A plurality of cassettes 1 arranged in a line are stored in each of the garages 8a and 8b. A picker 9 interposed between the pair of garages 8a and 8b transfers a cassette 1 between the garage 8a (8b) and the tape drive 6.
FIGS. 17(a), 17(b), 17(c) and 18 illustrate one example of a cassette 1.
The cassette 1 is formed into a thin, rectangular parallelepiped shape as illustrated in FIGS. 17(a) to 17(c). Recesses 10a and 10b are formed at both ends on a bottom side of the cassette 1. The cassette 1 includes a bottom face 11 and side faces 12a and 12b.
As illustrated in FIG. 16, a cassette 1 is stored in one of the garages 8a and 8b such that recesses 10a and 10b thereof are located at an open side of the garage 8a (8b), that is, the recesses 10a and 10b are located near the picker 9.
As illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 19, the picker 9 includes a movable unit 15 capable of moving in a horizontal direction. As illustrated in FIGS. 16 to 19, the movable unit 15 has a pair of rocking arms 16a and 16b each capable of rocking in a vertical direction. As illustrated in FIG. 18, each of the rocking arms 16a and 16b includes a main body 17 extending in the horizontal direction and a tip end 18 bent upward at one end of the main body 17.
When the rocking arms 16a and 16b rock upward in a state that the movable unit 15 of the picker 9 approaches the cassette 1 stored in the garage 8a (8b) as illustrated in FIG. 19, the main bodies 17 come into contact with the bottom face 11 of the cassette 1 and the tip ends 18 are fitted into the recesses 10a and 10b. Thus, the rocking arms 16a and 16b chuck the cassette 1.
In this state, the movable body 15 moves so as to be away from the garages 8a and 8b, so that the cassette 1 can be taken out from the garage 8a (8b).
As illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 19, the movable unit 15 has guide rails 19, and the cassette 1 taken out from the garage 8a (8b) is placed on the guide rails 19. Thus, transfer of the cassette 1 from one of the garages 8a and 8b to the picker 9 is completed.
Non-Patent Document 1: "2002 New Technology of Matsushita Electric", May 2003, pp. 155-159, (DDS-Equipped Backup Library), issued by R&D Planning Office of Matsushita Electric Industrial


An electrical circuit and method of power management of a cellular telephone includes a battery adapted to produce a battery voltage; a LDO regulator operatively connected to the battery and adapted to provide a constant supply voltage from the battery voltage; and a DC-DC converter operatively connected to the LDO regulator, wherein the DC-DC converter is adapted to step down the constant supply voltage to a lower voltage level, wherein the LDO regulator and the DC-DC converter are embedded on a single integrated circuit chip. The constant supply voltage equals 3.6V at an output of the LDO, and the constant supply voltage is applied to an input of the DC-DC converter. Moreover, the battery voltage equals at most 5.5V.

1. Technical Field
The embodiments herein generally relate to complementary metal oxide semiconductor integrated circuit (CMOS IC) technologies, and, more particularly, to power management systems used in CMOS IC technologies.
2. Description of the Related Art
In modern CMOS IC technologies, as MOS transistor oxide thickness scales down, the breakdown voltage becomes lower. The scaling breakdown voltage makes the circuit design challenging especially in portable applications such as cell phones where battery voltage does not scale down. Voltage regulators are used to regulate the battery voltage down to a level which is suitable for the CMOS technology used. DC-DC converters are typically used because of their good efficiency versus low dropout (LDO) regulators. In cell phone applications, the battery voltage is normally 3.6V. With a careful design, it is possible to implement an integrated CMOS DC-DC converter with 3.6V input in 0.13 um CMOS technology. However, when the battery is being charged, the voltage can increase to 4.2V and sometimes to 5.5V in pulse-mode chargers. Moreover, it is difficult to design the integrated CMOS DC-DC converter that operates from this high input voltage.
There are two alternative solutions that are currently being used. The first solution is to use a discrete DC-DC converter that is built using technology that tolerates high operating voltages. The size and cost of such a solution tends to be relatively high. The second solution is to use system-in-package (SIP) technology to reduce the size of the overall system. However, SIP solutions tend to have a large size, and high cost (due to packaging complexity in SIP), and low yield. The conventional synchronous design of a DC-DC converter is shown in FIG. 1. When the input is 0V, the NMOS switch is OFF and the PMOS switch is ON, then Vdg of the NMOS is at 3.6V which can easily destroy the device. Therefore, using a single NMOS and PMOS switch is not possible for the 3.6V level in this technology that has devices rated at much lower operating voltages. Accordingly, there remains a need for a converter capable of properly regulating battery voltage levels in a cellular telephone.

Integrated CMOS DC-DC converter implementation in low-voltage CMOS technology using LDO regulator


According to at least one aspect of the present invention, a rubber composition is provided. In at least one embodiment, the rubber composition comprises a rubber, an oil blend of a petroleum oil and a bio-based oil, the bio-based oil being non-hydroxyl-functionalized, hydroxyl-functionalized, or combinations thereof; and a filler. In certain instances, the bio-based oil includes a soy oil. In certain other instances, the soy oil is hydroxyl-functionalized having a hydroxyl number of from 10 to 350 KOH/g, 40 to 150 KOH/g, or 25 to 200 KOH/g. According to at least another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method comprising providing a rubber composition as described herein and molding the rubber composition to form the rubber article.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relate to rubber compositions containing an oil blend of a petroleum oil and a bio-based oil, the bio-based oil being non-hydroxyl-functionalized, hydroxyl-functionalized, or combinations thereof. In certain particular instances, the bio-based oil includes a soy oil.
2. Background Art
Typical rubber formulations for automotive applications such as gaskets, floor mats, splash shields and radiator shields use petroleum-derived materials. For example, EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer), formulations often incorporate equal portions of petroleum oil, synthetic rubber and carbon black.
Conventional rubber formulations using petroleum oil have been met with limited use. Being derived from petroleum, petroleum oil is a non-renewable resource. Many uncertainties associated with the use of petroleum-derived materials reside in the long-term economic instability and limited reserves of fossil fuels and oils. The production of the petroleum-derived materials requires a great deal of energy, as the raw petroleum oils are drilled, extracted from the ground, transported to refineries, refined, and processed to yield the petroleum oils. These efforts add to the cost of petroleum oils and hence the cost of the final rubber products.
There is a continuing need for "greener" rubber products made from raw materials that are more versatile, renewable, less costly, and more environmental friendly.

Rubber compositions containing an oil blend of a petroleum oil and a biobased oil and methods of making the same