A reusable isolation enclosure has a closure member adapted for purging gases from the enclosure. The closure member includes filters and vapor and moisture drains. Replacement of ambient environmental gases in the sealed enclosure is provided. A purge gas is provided by the gas replacement system which quickly connects to the enclosure and quickly disconnects from the enclosure. Suction cups surrounding the ends of gas connection lines form the interface to the filter membrane and form a sealed connection with the closure member. No other mechanical connection than the suction cups is required. The outlets and inlets of the purging system and the exhausting system are automatically disconnected by a spring valve when the isolation container to be purged is removed. When the closure member of the isolation enclosure is placed upon the purge system the weight of the package compresses the valve spring opening the valves, permitting the purge gas to flow. An empty isolation enclosure has insufficient weight to open the spring actuated valve system. Only enclosures carrying the weight of a product are purged. A flow indicator for measuring the rate of flow of gas through the quick connection means is connected thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to enclosures for the packaging of items in isolation from contamination for use with sensitive items such as electronic components, and more particularly such enclosures including facilities for purging a sealed container.
2. Description of related art.
Packaging is an integral part of the transportation and delivery of products during the course of manufacturing. One important requirement for packaging has been to provide ease of handling and space efficient storage of the product free from contamination, during manufacturing, between manufacturing processes and prior to use.
An important function of such packaging is the protection of a product from contamination during the process of production or manufacturing between manufacturing steps. Such protection has become particularly critical for electronic circuit components which are often subject to damage from a wide range of environmental conditions including contamination by vapors and particles present in containers or evolved within those containers when an article is stored therein.
Maintaining clean conditions has become more important during recent years with the increase of storage and transportation of intermediate products for electronic devices which must be maintained in a clean condition when removed from the packaging for further processing. Further, the maintenance of an adequately clean manufacturing environment has led to increased manipulation of the packaging and items contained therein by automated processing equipment. Therefore, isolation structures used in such manufacturing processes must be adapted to be manipulated by such equipment in addition to providing the required types of protection for the packaged items. This adaptation often requires both the packaging and the automated equipment to be specially modified and standardized, increasing costs and reducing the generality of application of the automated equipment.
A Standard Mechanical Interface (SMIF) is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,532,970 of Tullis et al for "Particle Free Dockable Interface for Integrated Circuit Processing" states at Col. 3, lines 50-64 that the SMIF box does "not utilize constantly moving filtered air to decrease particles on the IC wafer surfaces. Rather, IC cleanliness is achieved by maintaining a still-air interior environment." In summary, such SMIF interfaces are to be used with semiconductor wafers, to protect them from contaminants by preventing circulation of air about the wafers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,874 of Parikh et al for "Sealable Transportable Container Having a Particle Filtering System" describes a filtering system and an air circulation system for at Col. 7, lines 57 et seq. "filtering and analyzing having an inlet . . . and an outlet . . . . Clean air or free N.sub.2 is pumped by pump P into the interior space . . . , circulated through conduit tubing . . . and then exhausted through an outlet. A filter . . . for trapping any particles in the interior space . . . is provided at the outlet . . . . Additionally the inlet could also have a filter. Each of the inlet . . . and outlet . . . are one-way valves so that unwanted fluids can not enter the first environment . . . ."
This invention is based on a realization by the inventors of a need for a simpler structure which operates more quickly, with minimal interaction instead of more elaborate mechanisms used to perform such functions in the past. It would be desirable to be able to make a quick connection and quick removal of work from the purging station where articles in an enclosed chamber are to be purged of unwanted gases, etc., during storage, when off line from a manufacturing process.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system for quickly connecting and removing a source of purging gases to an isolation structure containing an item therein from contamination by particles or vapors generated either internally or externally of the isolation structure.
Still another object of this invention is automatically disconnecting the outlets and inlets of the purging system and the exhausting system when the closed container to be purged is removed.
In accordance with this invention, a reusable isolation enclosure has a closure member carrying filters and vapor and moisture drains. Replacement of ambient environmental gases in the sealed enclosure is provided. A replacement or inert gas is provided by the gas replacement system which quickly connects to the enclosure and quickly disconnects from the enclosure. Suction cups surrounding the ends of gas connection lines form the interface to the filter membrane and form a seal with the closure member. No other mechanical connection than the suction cups is required. The outlets and inlets of the purging system and the exhausting system are automatically disconnected by a spring valve when the isolation container to be purged is removed. When the closure member of the isolation enclosure is placed upon on the purge system the weight of the package overcomes the spring force and thus opens the valves and permits the replacement gas to flow. If the empty isolation enclosure is placed on the system the weight is insufficient to open the spring actuated valve system, therefore only enclosures carrying the weight of a product will be purged by the gas replacement system.
The solution in accordance with this invention can be used in the business of providing closed containers to the semiconductor industry, and this solution has applications in other areas beyond semiconductor products.
Further in accordance with this invention, an isolation structure includes a) a shell having a opening, b) a closure member dimensioned to be received within the opening, the closure member including i) a closure member body having an outer periphery and a resilient seal on the outer periphery of the closure member body, ii) a gas exchange system for the structure including (1) a gas inlet port for the structure having an inlet filter membrane, and (2) a gas outlet port for the structure having an outlet filter membrane, e) quick connection supply means for supplying a source of gas to be introduced to purge the chamber by means of a quick mechanical connection, f) the supply means including i) a spring actuated inlet valve with a self-sealing interface, and ii) a spring actuated outlet valve with a self-sealing interface adapted to for providing quick connection to the gas inlet port and the gas outlet port respectively. Preferably the means for locating at least one of the front plate and the back plate includes a pair of breather bodies containing the filter membranes; and the front plate has at least one aperture formed therein.
Preferably the closure member includes means for locating at least one of the front plate and the back plate relative to the backbone further includes a breather body.
In another aspect of the invention, a gas exchange system for a sealed chamber comprises the chamber, a) an inlet filter membrane in the wall of the chamber, b) an outlet filter membrane in the wall of the chamber, c) supply means having a source of a gas to be exchanged into the chamber, and d) an inlet line and an outlet line each being connected to the the supply means and each terminating in a self sealing connection to the inlet or outlet filter respectively.
In still another aspect of this invention, an isolation structure includes a) a shell having a opening, b) a closure member dimensioned to be received within the opening, the closure member including i) a closure member body having an outer periphery and a resilient seal on the outer periphery of the closure member body, ii) a gas exchange system for the structure including a gas port for the structure having a filter membrane, the port extending from the exterior to the interior of the structure, c) quick connection supply means including a spring actuated valve with a self-sealing interface adapted for providing quick connection to the gas port in response to the presence of an article in the chamber, preferably as a function of the contents of the chamber exceeding a predetermined weight. In short, the quick connection of the gas port is responsive to the weight of the article in the chamber.

Gas purge system for isolation enclosure for contamination sensitive items

International Business Machines Corporation


An auto document feeder includes a movable document table on which documents are stacked, a pickup roller that feeds a topmost document among the documents on the movable document table to a feed position via a feed opening, and a shielding member that is arranged on the upstream side of the pickup roller and above the topmost document, and that shields the feed opening. At least an end portion of the shielding member on the document table side is made of a flexible member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auto document feeder and an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, apparatuses equipped with various driving systems have disadvantages in that noise, such as drive noise, generated inside the apparatuses may be leaked and disturb the environment.
Furthermore, if openings are formed on main bodies of the apparatuses, a shielding member that opens and closes the openings as needed is generally provided in order to prevent noise generated inside the apparatuses from being leaked from the opening.
However, in sheet conveying apparatuses, such as an auto document feeder (ADF), that sequentially feed and discharge sheets, it is difficult to shield a feed opening and a discharge opening, from which noise inside the apparatuses is leaked, while the apparatuses are running.
This is because, in a configuration in which an outlet is shielded by a discharge shielding member in a normal state and the discharge shielding member is rotated to open the outlet by a conveying force of a sheet being conveyed, it is difficult to cope with thin papers or the like. Furthermore, the stackability is not adequate.
Moreover, it may be possible to shield the outlet by the discharge shielding member in a normal state and open the outlet based on a detection result obtained by a detecting means disposed in a conveying path. However, in this case, a time lag occurs before the shielding member is opened. In this case, it may be possible that the shielding member may not be opened when a sheet reaches the outlet and such a configuration is not practical.
To cope with the above disadvantages, a sheet conveying apparatus has been proposed, in which a shielding member for shielding a feed opening moves according to the number of sheets stacked on a feed tray (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-334920).
According to the sheet conveying apparatus, the shielding member moves according to the number of sheets stacked on the feed tray, so that the shielding member can move to an appropriate position and shield the feed opening. Therefore, it is possible to prevent leakage of noise from the feed opening.
However, in the sheet conveying apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-334920, the shielding member moves to a position close to the sheet at the time of sheet feeding. Therefore, a space between the shielding member and the sheet is narrow and the operability of user's operation for, for example, pushing the sheet by his/her finger at the time of sheet feeding is reduced.
Therefore, it is desirable to improve a noise insulation effect by shielding the feed opening and to improve the operability of user's feed operation.

Auto document feeder and image forming apparatus


A cassette adapter has a cassette which is inserted into a cassette insertion portion of a signal playback device. The cassette is provided with an operation state detection means and a control signal output means. An acoustic device is controlled corresponding to an operation state on the basis of the signal detected with the control signal output means, thereby controlling the operation of the acoustic device in synchronization with the playback device.

This invention relates to a cassette adapter for a signal playback apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to such an apparatus which is suitable for application wherein a compact disc player is connected to an audio cassette tape recorder which is mounted, for example, in a car.
A known construction wherein a cassette adapter, in the form of cassette, is inserted in a cassette insertion port of an audio cassette tape recorder, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,897. A cable terminal extending from the cassette adapter is connected to an audio output terminal of, for example, a portable compact disc player, thereby supplying an audio signal produced by the compact disc player to the audio cassette tape recorder.
The cassette adapter is provided with an impedance conversion circuit for adjusting the impedance level of the audio signal outputted from the compact disc player and which is fed to a magnetic head on the cassette tape recorder side. Thus the audio signal reproduced by the compact disc player can be heard by means of a cassette tape recorder mounted on the car side.
As is well known, automotive vehicles are usually provided with a so-called ACC power-terminal which is interconnected with an engine ignition switch to control the supply of voltage.
In this prior art arrangement, electric power (e.g. 12 volts) is supplied to the audio cassette tape recorder from the ACC power source, and therefore is controlled in an on/off manner depending on the position of the ignition key.
On the other hand, the compact disc player is provided with its own battery, for example, of the re-chargeable type.
Thus, power is supplied to the compact disc player even in the case wherein the ACC power is cut-off to the cassette tape recorder by the manipulation of the ignition key and the associated opening of the engine ignition switch.
Consequently, there is a problem that a battery of the compact disc player becomes completely discharged if the compact disc player is left switched on for a long time.

Cassette adapter for signal playback apparatus


A method for treating or mitigating Parkinson's disease (PD) symptoms or progression, including administering an effective amount of nicotine to a subject in need thereof, via inhalation using a nicotine inhaler or via nasal spray using a nicotine nasal spray. Significant dose-dependent improvement of all symptoms by nicotine inhaler or nicotine nasal spray is expected. A novel treatment in PD is thus provided.

Nicotine and Nicotinic Receptors
Nicotine's main targets are nicotinic receptors that are widely distributed in the central nervous system. These receptors have been directly implicated not only in reward pathway and addiction to nicotine, but also in a variety of central functions such as cognitive and attention processes, pain, mood regulation and neuronal plasticity (Campbell V C, Taylor R E, Tizabi Y. Antinociceptive effects of alcohol and nicotine: involvement of the opioid system. Brain Res. 2006, 1097(1):71-77; Tizabi Y. Nicotine and nicotinic system in hypoglutamatergic models of schizophrenia. Neurotox Res. 2007, 12(4):233-46; Tizabi Y et al. Antidepressant-like effects of nicotine and reduced nicotinic receptor binding in the Fawn-Hooded rat, an animal model of co-morbid depression and alcoholism. Prog Neuropsych Biol Psych. 2009, 33(3):398-402; Tizabi Y et al. Effects of nicotine on depressive-like behavior and hippocampal volume of female WKY rats. Prog Neuropsych Biol Psych. 2010, 34(1):62-69; Dani J A. Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor structure and function and response to nicotine. Int Rev Neurobiol. 2015; 124:3-19; Gandelman J A, Newhouse P, Taylor W D. Nicotine and networks: Potential for enhancement of mood and cognition in late-life depression. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2018, 84:289-298; Tizabi et al. Novel targets for parkinsonism-depression comorbidity. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 2019, 167:1-24; Lewis A S and Picciotto M R. Regulation of aggressive behaviors by nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: Animal models, human genetics, and clinical studies. Neuropharmacology. 2020, 167:107929; Terry A V Jr and Callahan P M. α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors as therapeutic targets in schizophrenia: Update on animal and clinical studies and strategies for the future. Neuropharmacology. 2020, 15; 170:108053). This latter effect may be directly responsible for the neuroprotective effects of nicotine (Barreto G E, Iarkov A, Moran V E. Beneficial effects of nicotine, cotinine and its metabolites as potential agents for Parkinson's disease. Front Aging Neurosci. 2015, 6:340; Tizabi Y, Getachew B. Nicotinic receptor intervention in Parkinson's disease: future directions. Cin Pharm Transl Med. 2017, 1:1-7; Tizabi Y, Getachew B, Csoka A B, Manaye K F, Copeland R L. Novel targets for parkinsonism-depression comorbidity. Prog Molec Biol Trans Sci. 2019; 167:1-24).
Nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) belong to ionotropic class of receptors. These receptors act by regulating directly the opening of a cation channel in the neuronal membrane (Dani J A. Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor structure and function and response to nicotine. Int Rev Neurobiol. 2015; 124:3-19; Papke R L, Lindstrom J M. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: Conventional and unconventional ligands and signaling. Neuropharmacology. 2020, 168:10802). Considerable information on interaction between these receptors and other neurotransmitter systems is now available and as indicated above therapeutic potentials for selective nicotinic receptor agonists in various neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders have been suggested. Various subtypes of these receptors with distinct anatomical, physiological, and pharmacological characteristics have been identified (see latest reviews by: Dani J A. Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor structure and function and response to nicotine. Int Rev Neurobiol. 2015; 124:3-19). The most predominant and most extensively studied subtype in the brain has a high affinity for cytisine, nicotine or acetylcholine and is formed from α4 and β2 subunits. This subtype is commonly referred to as high-affinity binding site. The other major class with a high affinity for α-bungarotoxin but low affinity for nicotine is formed from α7 subunits and can be labeled by [125I]α-bungarotoxin. This subtype is commonly referred to as low-affinity binding site. It should be noted that [125I]α-bungarotoxin also binds to neuro-muscular nicotinic receptors and in some cases to ganglionic nicotinic receptors. However, the subunit structures of the nicotinic receptors in the muscle are different from those in the ganglia, which are different from those in the CNS. Further distinction between nicotinic receptor subtypes is evident in their central distribution as well as their physiological roles. For example, [125I]α-bungarotoxin binding sites in the brain are most abundant in hippocampus and are believed to have a prominent role in neuronal growth and survival. Furthermore, these receptors appear to be involved in cognitive functions, particularly attentional processes. A role for α7 receptor subtype in central reward pathway has also been suggested. High-affinity nicotinic receptors (e.g., α4-β2 or α3 containing receptors), on the other hand, are more prominent in mesolimbic or nigro-striatal pathways and appear to be more involved in rewarding or addictive behavior, locomotor activity and antinociception or pain reduction. Both receptors appear to be involved in neuroprotection as well (Belluardo N, Mudo G, Blum M, Fuxe K. Central nicotinic receptors, neurotrophic factors and neuroprotection. Behav Brain Res. 2000, 113(1-2):21-34; Tizabi Y et al. Nicotine inhibits ethanol-induced toxicity in cultured cerebral cortical cells. Neurotoxicity Research. 2004, 6(4):311-316; Picciotto M R and Zoli M. Neuroprotection via nAChRs: the role of nAChRs in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Front Biosci. 2008, 13:492-504; Tizabi Y, Getachew B, Csoka A B, Manaye K F, Copeland R L. Novel targets for parkinsonism-depression comorbidity. Prog Molec Biol Trans Sci. 2019; 167:1-24).
Interestingly, nicotine may also exert antidepressant-like effects that are likely mediated through high-affinity nicotinic receptors. Thus, preclinical and limited clinical studies suggest that nAChR agonists can improve depressive behavior not only in animal models but can also improve mood in depressed individuals. (Tizabi Y et al. Antidepressant-like effects of nicotine and reduced nicotinic receptor binding in the Fawn-Hooded rat, an animal model of co-morbid depression and alcoholism. Prog Neuropsych Biol Psych. 2009, 33(3):398-402; Tizabi Y et al. Effects of nicotine on depressive-like behavior and hippocampal volume of female WKY rats. Prog Neuropsych Biol Psych. 2010, 34(1):62-69; Gandelman J A, Newhouse P, Taylor W D. Nicotine and networks: Potential for enhancement of mood and cognition in late-life depression. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2018, 84:289-298; Tizabi Y et al. Novel targets for parkinsonism-depression comorbidity. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 2019, 167:1-24).
Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder, is associated with loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) that leads to striatal dopamine (D A) deficiency (Schaeffer E, et al. Pharmacological strategies for the management of levodopa-induced dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson's disease. CNS Drugs. 2014; 28: 1155-1184). This dopaminergic loss results in motor deficits characterized by akinesia, rigidity, resting tremor and postural instability as well as non-motor symptoms that might also involve other neurotransmitter systems (Perez X A. Preclinical evidence for a role of the nicotinic cholinergic system in Parkinson's disease, Neuropsychol Rev. 2015; 25:371-383). The non-motor symptoms may include: cognitive deficits (e.g., mild to severe memory impairment), emotional changes (e.g., depression, apathy and anxiety), sleep perturbations (e.g., insomnia/hypersomnia), autonomic dysfunction (e.g., bladder disturbances, orthostatic hypotension, sweating), sensory symptoms (e.g., pain, visual and olfactory deficits) and gastrointestinal symptoms (e.g., constipation, nausea) (Perez X A, 2015). The most common treatment is focused on dopamine replacement (e.g. levodopa=L-Dopa) which unfortunately losses its full efficacy in a few years and can induce severe dyskinesia. Hence more efficacious interventions without such severe side effects are urgently needed.

Method for treating or mitigating Parkinson's disease using nicotine inhaler or nicotine nasal spray


A semiconductor device includes a display device and a source driver. Each of a plurality of pixels included in the display device is supplied with a first data potential and a second data potential included in a range of a first potential or higher to a second potential or lower. The first data potential makes the pixel display an image with a first gray level. The pixel performs calculation with the first data potential and the second data potential to generate a third data potential. The third data potential makes the pixel display an image with a second gray level. A reference potential of the first data potential is an intermediate potential between the first potential and the second potential, and the gray level width that can be displayed by the second data potential is larger than the gray level width that can be displayed by the first data potential.

A silicon-based semiconductor material is widely known as a semiconductor thin film that can be used in a transistor; in addition, an oxide semiconductor has been attracting attention as another material. As an example of the oxide semiconductor, not only single-component metal oxides such as indium oxide and zinc oxide but also multi-component metal oxides are known. Among the multi-component metal oxides, in particular, an In—Ga—Zn oxide (hereinafter also referred to as IGZO) has been actively studied.
From the studies on IGZO, a CAAC (c-axis aligned crystalline) structure and an nc (nanocrystalline) structure, which are not single crystal nor amorphous, have been found in an oxide semiconductor (see Non-Patent Document 1 to Non-Patent Document 3). Non-Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 2 also disclose a technique for fabricating a transistor using an oxide semiconductor having a CAAC structure. Moreover, Non-Patent Document 4 and Non-Patent Document 5 show that a fine crystal is included even in an oxide semiconductor which has lower crystallinity than the CAAC structure or the nc structure.
In addition, a transistor that uses IGZO for an active layer has an extremely low off-state current (see Non-Patent Document 6), and an LSI and a display utilizing the characteristics have been reported (see Non-Patent Document 7 and Non-Patent Document 8).
In addition, a driver circuit has been reported in which data corresponding to a gamma value of a display element can be output owing to a high-resolution digital-analog converter circuit included in the driver circuit (see Non-Patent Document 9).
In addition, Patent Document 1 discloses a semiconductor device in which a display element included in a display device can be driven at a high voltage.

Display device, semiconductor device, and electronic device


A holder for an annuloplasty ring is disclosed. It comprises a plurality of linked-together suture platforms, wherein said holder comprises an upper face, a lower face, and a closed peripheral edge with means for accommodating and supporting said suture platforms of said annuloplasty ring.

The invention relates generally to a holder for an annuloplasty ring which consists in a plurality of linked-together suture platforms.
Modern ring annuloplasty techniques originate from Carpentier's original concept of "valvular remodeling on a frame" published in French in 1969 and in English in 1971 (Carpentier A, et al, A new reconstructive operation for correction of mitral and tricuspid insufficiency. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1971; 61:1-13). His idea was to permanently correct the valvular insufficiency by resizing and reshaping the dilated annulus with a preformed rigid ("non-deformable") ring affixed to the annulus with numerous interrupted horizontal mattress sutures.
In the interest of preserving the flexibility of the mitral annulus, Duran and Ubago (Duran C G, Ubago J L, Clinical and hemodynamic performance of a totally flexible prosthetic ring for atrioventricular valve reconstruction. Ann Thorac Surg 1976; 22:458-463) introduced a completely circumferential flexible ring in 1976. In 1995, Cosgrove et al (Cosgrove D M III, et al, Initial experience with the Cosgrove-Edwards annuloplasty system. Ann Thorac Surg 1995; 60:499-504) introduced a partially circumferential flexible band attached only to the posterior mitral leaflet of the annulus. In the same year, Carpentier et al. (Carpentier, A F, et al. The "Physio-Ring": An advanced concept in mitral valve annuloplasty. Ann Thorac Surg 1995; 60:1177-1186) introduced the "Physio-Ring," i.e. a complete ring with a "combination of selective rigidity at the anterior section and selective flexibility at the posterior section.
The short- and long-term results of mitral repair are impressive. It appears to be the only heart valve operation which has the potential to return patients to expected survival at least for 10 years, and possibly longer, if performed before significant left ventricular dysfunction and symptoms. It has a lower operative mortality rate and better long-term survival than replacement and has long-term re-operation rates comparable to those of mechanical valve replacement, and much better than tissue valve replacement. The durability of repair is impressive as evidenced by the very low long-term re-operation rates in Carpentier's original series.
It is quite possible that an annuloplasty ring with overall flexibility and segmental rigidity, which preserves the normal three-dimensional shape of the annulus, prevents crimping upon implantation, maximizes apposition of the ring to the tissue annulus with each individual suture, minimizes shared tensions between individual sutures and (in the case of the mitral annulus) fully engages the intertrigonal fibrous skeleton, will qualify as a "next generation" ring.
In 1998, Northrup and al introduced the concept of a suture-platform, which forms the basis of the "Northrup Universal Annuloplasty System". When the suture-platforms were placed in series and covered with a flexible material, a unique annuloplasty concept with segmental rigidity and overall flexibility was achieved.
In the case of the suture-platform, foreshortening or crimping of the overlying flexible ring material is impossible because each mattress suture engages an individual rigid suture-platform within the mattress suture loop.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,961,539 is disclosed an annuloplasty ring which consists in a plurality of discrete segments which remain isolated from each other, even after having been sutured. Each segment rests on an individual holder.
This ring is suitable for the annuloplasty of said mitral and tricuspid valves. But it can also be used with other valves, for example aortic and pulmonary valves.
Another type of known ring is made, for example, with fifteen implantable rigid oval-platforms in sequence, plus two ending suture platforms. Two of these platforms are visible on FIG. 5 of the present application.
The length d1 of each platform 40 is 5.5 mm±1 mm, with two suture holes 42, approximately 3.0 mm apart (d2) in sequence.
They are linked by a joint 41, whose length d3 is approximately 2 mm.
Such platforms 40 and joints 41 are integral and preferably injection-molded from polyester, including 20% of barium sulphate for radio-opacity.
As can be seen in FIG. 6 of this application, polyester thread 43 is braided over the platforms 40, leaving flexible joints 41 between said platforms. The joints are heat-sealed to prevent fraying of the polyester thread when unused suture-platforms are cut away.
Because the rigidity of the ring 4 is segmental and not continuous, with intervening segmental flexibility at the joints 41, the ring is able to maintain its normal three-dimensional shape. The rigidity of the suture-platforms 40 also guarantees either a measured plication or stabilization of annular tissue beneath the suture-platform with a mattress suture.
The rigid suture-platforms 40 categorically prevent any crimping or foreshortening of the longitudinal dimension of the ring 4, since each suture incorporates a single separate non-deformable rigid element (i.e. a platform 40), guaranteeing precision of the final implant dimension. Since the polyester braiding has almost no elasticity, the ring 4 also guarantees a fixed maximum circumference, preventing late annular dilatation in whatever portion of the annulus the ring is attached.
The overall 7.5 mm. interval spacing of the suture-platforms 40 guarantees secure apposition of the ring 4 to the tissue annulus, since nearly 75% of the circumferential length of the annuloplasty ring 4 consists of the sum total of all the suture-platforms 40, each of which engages the tissue annulus by an individual mattress suture.
The implantable length of the ring is 112.5 mm, long enough to accommodate valves of any size, even if complete circumferential coverage of the annulus is required.
The heat-sealed joints 41 create overall flexibility and allow the ring 4 to be customized to any size to cover any percentage circumference of the mitral or tricuspid annulus, by simply cutting away the unwanted suture-platforms 40.
Flexible joints 41 also reduce overall tension on each of the individual sutures by reducing any shared tension from other sutures, which would be the case with any rigid ring possessing continuous rigidity and forcing the annulus into a prescribed shape.
Nevertheless, because of the flexibility of the ring, a great dexterity is needed to implant it, without any help.
So there exists a need for a support for this type of ring which could help the surgeon for its implantation in an annuloplasty surgery.
Another need exists for a support than can be used whatever the final number of platforms which will be implanted.


A method, system, and program for rating parties according to party identities are provided. A second party to a call may rate the first party to the call. For subsequent calls by the first party, the rating by the second party of the first party may be displayed to subsequent called parties. In addition, the ratings by subsequent called parties may be accumulated for the first party. Ratings may be stored according to the identity of the individual representing the first party, according to the identity of the business representing the first party, or according to the context of a call.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to telecommunications and, in particular, to call party identification. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to rating calling parties according to party identifiers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephone service has created communication channels worldwide, and those channels continue to expand with the advent of cellular and other wireless services. A person can simply take a telephone off-hook and dial a destination number or press a send button and be connected to a telephone line around the world.
Telephone communication channels are often utilized as a resource for selling products and services. For example, a sales person may call a list of potential purchasers with a product offer. In another example, an individual may call a business and reach a sales associate.
Use of telephone lines originated by a business for sales purposes is often referred to as telemarketing. Many telephone subscribers find telemarketing calls to be an annoyance and find ways to screen calls and avoid telemarketers. For example, telephone subscribers may subscribe to a caller ID service providing for the display of the line number from which a call is placed. However, a limitation of caller ID is that the identity of the actual caller is not provided and telemarketing business may block the line number ID from display.
A further limitation of telemarketing and phone sales is the identity of the telemarketer is not verifiable. Further, the expertise and sales ability of the sales person are not provided to the potential customer.
Therefore, in view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for rating parties to a call according to each party's identity. In particular, it would be advantageous to provide telemarketer ratings to a potential customer with the telemarketer identity. Further, it would be advantageous to allow each potential customer contacted by a telemarketer to rate the telemarketer and the business, whether the ratings are provided to future potential customers.

Rating parties according to party identities

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed is a method of manufacturing an air separation module (ASM) of a nitrogen generation system (NGS), the method providing: determining an at least partially nonlinear shape between opposing ends of a canister, the canister being configured to fit within an installation envelope for the ASM in the NGS and configured to have installed therein an air separating membrane; and additively manufacturing the canister.

Exemplary embodiments pertain to the art of nitrogen generation systems and more specifically to an additively manufactured air separation module for a nitrogen generation system of an aircraft.
A flammability reduction system (FRS), also known as a nitrogen generation system (NGS) for aircrafts comprises components that route a portion of bleed air from an engine, separate inert air from the bleed air, and deliver the inert air to the fuel tank. The inert gas displaces other existing gases in the fuel tank, creating a layer of inert gas on top of the liquid fuel. This layer reduces the flammability of the fuel tank.
One component of the NGS includes an air separation module (ASM). The ASM separates the flammable gas (oxygen) from the inert gas (nitrogen), and passes the inert gas through an outlet port to the fuel tank. Typical embodiments of currently operated NGSs utilize one or more straight canisters that contain synthetic flexible membrane fibers that separate the oxygen from the nitrogen in the engine bleed air.

Additively manufactured canister for a nitrogen generation system


A high melting point and/or low ductility metal or alloy is investment cast in a refractory mold including a facecoat layer and a plurality of back-up layers wherein at least one back-up layer is a relatively weak, sacrificial layer. This latter layer is crushed as necessary as the casting cools below its ductile-to-brittle transition temperature to avoid hot tearing or cracking of the solidified metal or alloy during cooling in the mold.

Commercial investment casting typically involves use of a shell mold formed by the "lost wax process" wherein a fugitive pattern of the article to be cast is repeatedly dipped in ceramic slurry and stuccoed to build up the shell mold. The pattern is then removed, and the green mold fired to develop adequate strength for casting. Such shell molds provide good control over casting chemistry, dimensions, heat removal/solidification rates, and cooling stresses. These factors are especially important to directionally solidified and single crystal (DS/SC) castings. To date, most DS/SC castings are made of nickel-based superalloys. Even with various mold materials and casting methods, castings sometimes have hot tearing or hot cracking problems due to excessive shell strength following melt solidification. Furthermore, if a DS/SC casting is excessively stressed during mold removal, it may be subject to cracks or grain recrystallization.
Various mold compositions have been proposed for use in high temperature DS/SC casting processes.
Greskovich (U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,450) and Takayanagi (U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,172) disclose refractory mold compositions of alumina with a silica binder, which form mullite on firing above 1400.degree. C. These molds have only fair sag resistance at intermediate temperatures (1200.degree.-1400.degree. C.) encountered during the DS/SC casting process due to binder softening before the mullite forms. Their excellent hot strength is retained upon cooling from the casting cycle. This can damage the casting on cooling or during shell removal. Furthermore, the silica or mullite is reactive with several common alloying elements. Svec et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,333) describes removal of the silica from such molds by firing in a reducing atmosphere, but the method disclosed is slow and costly, and does not address the problems of excessive mold strength after casting.
Fassler et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,190) disclose an all-alumina shell mold bonded by aluminum oxychloride. This shell mold has low green strength, is not suitable for autoclave dewaxing, and requires a high firing temperature prior to use. This shell mold also becomes excessively strong, due to sintering, during exposure to DS/SC casting temperatures.
Feagin (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,196,769 and 4,216,815) describes a shell mold material with an alumina binder, producing a mold green strength of only about 50% of that of conventional shell molds. Shell mold strength was found to increase with firing temperature such that these shell molds have exhibited excessively high strength following DS/SC casting, possibly leading to casting defects. Shell molds made by this art have not been found to be autoclavable, since the binder swells on exposure to steam.
Mills (U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,977) describes an injection or transfer shaped mold body that is fired to an elevated temperature. This process can yield dimensionally precise, thin walled casting molds. However, the process requires more tooling than a slurry dipped/stuccoed shell mold process. Also, time and equipment intensive firing steps are required. The resulting fine grained mold can have extensive firing shrinkage, and can be too strong to be removed effectively after casting.
In general, nickel aluminide (NiAl) is an intermetallic compound with potential for use in gas turbine engines. In particular, turbine blades and vanes of this material offer significant opportunities for improving gas turbine engine performance. NiAl based alloys exhibit lower densities, higher thermal conductivities, higher melting temperatures, and greater oxidation resistance than the most advanced directionally solidified/single (DS/SC) crystal nickel based superalloys. The NiAl alloys exhibit high melting points which may allow their use at higher operating temperatures than the aforementioned conventional nickel based superalloys.
However, even in alloyed compositions, NiAl has limited ductility, and near zero ductility below the ductile to brittle transition temperature (DBTT) of about 1000.degree. F. Although it is desirable to make net shape single crystal NiAl turbine components by investment casting, conventional mold technology is limited in at least four respects with respect to this material: 1) the molds do not retain dimensional stability at the high (>3000.degree. F.) casting temperatures required for NiAl, 2) the molds have excessive reaction with the NiAl melt and this results in contamination of the casting, 3) the molds may cause hot tearing/hot cracking due to excessive mold strength during cooling, and 4) the molds are difficult to remove without damaging the casting.
For example, current silica bonded ceramic shell mold technology has been unable to yield cast NiAl based alloys without hot tearing and cracking of the casting. In particular, as a result of its high melting temperature (about 2990.degree. F.), low ductility below about 1000.degree. F., and low strength relative to the conventional silica bonded zircon shell mold systems, DS/SC castings of NiAl alloys hot tear and crack during solidification and cooling in the ceramic mold. Moreover, slumping, bulging and even melting of conventional silica bonded zircon molds has occurred during investment casting of NiAl alloys when the mold is exposed to temperatures above 2900.degree. F. for a prolonged time. This behavior is attributed to the relatively low creep strength and of such molds at the casting temperatures involved. Mold slumping, bulging, or melting produces castings which are not dimensionally accurate. Furthermore, prior art workers are concerned about silicon pick-up in the casting using this conventional mold technology.
With respect to current silica bonded alumina shell mold systems, some of the silica binder volatizes during exposure at NiAl casting temperatures and contaminates the furnace atmosphere with silicon. Moreover, silica bonded alumina shell molds become sintered at NiAl alloy casting temperatures and, as a result, become much stronger than the casting. Castings hot tear or crack during cooling in the mold as a result.
Investment casting of NiAl based alloys in conventional silica bonded zircon and alumina mold systems is not viable for producing turbine airfoils (blades and vanes) as a result of the cracking or hot tearing observed. Likewise, sintering of alumina or zirconia bonded shell molds can cause high strengths which lead to cracks in the NiAl castings. While these types of shell molds do not have the problems of slump, limited refractoriness, or contamination of the silica bonded molds, they still present a cracking problem. Also, the green strength of alumina or zirconia bonded shell molds produced by the prior art have been deficient. Moreover, they are easily damaged in handling or from wax expansion stresses, and some of these mold systems can not be autoclave dewaxed. Such disadvantages of alumina or zirconia bonded shell molds detracts from their use as a production mold system.
Various mold systems have been proposed for reducing mold strength after casting solidification.
Watts (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,533,394 and 4,689,081) discloses an artificial stucco material, comprising a refractory powder and an organic binder. The binder is burned out during mold firing. While this approach would aid shell removal from the solidified casting, it would increase mold shrinkage and reduce mold strength at DS/SC casting temperatures. It also would require extra processing steps in manufacturing the artificial stucco.
Klug et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,164,424; 4,191,721 and 4,221,748) describe a porous core or mold material produced from a mixture of alumina, an organic binder, and a reactive fugitive filler. These injection molding mixtures are not suitable for shell mold fabrication. The shaped mixtures require carefully controlled firing conditions and have high firing shrinkage. Their porous microstructure is made by reduction and vapor transport of the alumina during sintering. The patent points out that "unbound carbon" should be removed prior to eutectic or superalloy casting.
Lirones (U.S. Pat. No. 3,239,897) discloses a shell mold composition which includes ceramic powders and stuccos, bonded by colloidal graphite. The colloidal graphite could impart easier removal of the mold from the casting and cleaning of the casting than the sodium silicate bonded molds. However, the graphite binder does not exhibit green strength comparable to the silicate binders. The mold is burned out under special conditions (reducing atmosphere). Finally, the use of zircon or silica refractories with a graphite binder would result in significant mold/melt reactions if heated to DS/SC casting temperatures.
Manginelli (U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,463) describes the use of solid or hollow "globules" to reduce the weight and cost of investment molds in flask or shell configurations for making equiaxed grain castings. In the intended application for making equiaxed grain castings, it is unnecessary to preheat the mold to high (>2200.degree. F.) temperatures. Consequently, the patent is not faced with problems of excessive mold sintering, shrinkage, or distortion which accompany higher preheat temperatures. The patent indicates that the large fraction of porosity helps equiaxed castings cool slowly. This would be a detriment in the practice of this invention wherein directionally solidified/single crystal (DS/SC) castings are made. The patent also mentions that "shake out" of the mold with hand or pneumatic hammers would be facilitated; however, the mold is not designed to "collapse" at low stress due to cooling of a solidified DS/SC casting.
Noting the aforementioned limitations of conventional mold technology and its unsuitableness for SC investment casting of brittle intermetallic alloys, it is an object of the present invention to provide mold technology which overcomes these difficulties and is useful in producing sound, crack-free castings, such as DS and SC castings, of intermetallic alloys, superalloys and low ductility materials other than intermetallic alloys and superalloys.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a casting mold, and method of making same, which is useful for investment casting of nickel or titanium aluminide alloys as well as other high melting point, low ductility metals and alloys without hot tearing or cracking during solidification and cooling of the casting in the mold.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a casting mold, and method of making same, for casting nickel aluminide alloys as well as other high melting point and/or low ductility metals and alloys wherein a region of the mold is selectively crushed or deformed as necessary as the casting solidifies and cools in the mold below the metal/alloy ductile-to-brittle transition temperature so as to avoid hot tearing or cracking of the casting by compressive mold stresses.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method of casting nickel aluminide alloys as well as other high melting point and/or low ductility metals and alloys without hot tearing or cracking during solidification and cooling of the casting in a ceramic mold.
One particular object of this invention is to provide a shell mold which is capable of enduring a 2700.degree. F+ DS/SC casting cycle without excessive shrinkage or distortion while exhibiting enough mold strength at temperature to hold the molten alloy.
Another particular object is to provide a shell mold which does not increase in strength during a DS/SC casting cycle.
Another particular object is to provide a shell mold which does not induce hot tearing/cracking to castings during cooling from the casting process.
Another particular object is to provide a shell mold which is easily removed from a casting without mechanically or chemically damaging the casting.
Another particular object is to provide a shell mold with sufficient green strength to be handled, dewaxed, and/or fired using production techniques.
Another particular object is to provide a shell mold which is substantially free of silica binder, is amendable to autoclave dewaxing, and exhibits sufficient post-dewax strength for handling and casting, without a high temperature (>2000.degree. F.) sintering cycle.

Complaint investment casting mold and method


An internet accessible computer system to conduct business to business operations among a plurality of buyer companies and a plurality of seller companies. In one embodiment, the system includes at least one seller client system, at least one buyer client system, at least one computer server coupled to a database for storing data, and a network connecting said at least one seller client system and said at least one buyer client system to said at least one computer server. Said at least one computer server is programmed for, among other things, registering each of the plurality of seller companies with the internet accessible computer system, wherein each of the plurality of seller companies sells goods to a corresponding one of the plurality of buyer companies, and the corresponding one buyer company makes payment for the goods sold by that seller company, and registering each of the plurality of buyer companies with the internet accessible computer system, wherein the registration of each of the plurality of buyer companies depends on the registration of its corresponding seller company.

It is known that internet has facilitated business-to-business (or "B2B") markets, for instance, those in which business transactions may be negotiated and agreed electronically. Computers and their operations provide a significant part of the infrastructure of a B2B marketplace, and facilitate business transactions in those markets with efficiencies previously unforeseen.
The development of internet and associated B2B markets has in particular benefited small and medium enterprises (SMEs). As shown in FIG. 1, where a traditional way 100 of a business operation between a seller or supply company A (12) and a buyer company B (14) before the emergency of the B2B markets is illustrated. In a business transaction 11, the seller or supply company A (12) sells and delivers goods valued at, e.g. $1M, to the buyer company B (14) perhaps after a long negotiation between the two parties. In return, in a separate process 13, the buyer company B (14) then makes a payment for the value of the goods, here $1M, to the seller or supply company A (12) in cash or cash equivalents such as a check.
FIG. 2 illustrates a business transaction 200 between a seller or supply company A (22) and a buyer company B (24) with the help of current B2B markets. Seller or supply company A (22) releases information about its products at step 27 to an e-commerce platform 26, such as Google®, Yahoo®, or eBay®, which can be found and got by anyone who logons to the platform 26 such as buyer company B (24) at step 29. Seller or company A (22) and buyer company B (24) can negotiate and reach an agreement electronically through the platform 26. Then goods valued at, e.g. $1M, is delivered to the buyer company B (24) at step 21. In return, in a separate process 23, the buyer company B (24) then makes a payment for the value of the goods, here $1M, to the seller or supply company A (22) in cash or cash equivalents such as a check or a wire transfer. Normally buyer company B (24) or seller company A (22) or both would pay a commission to the platform 26 at step 25. Both buyer company B (24) and seller company A (22) may also pay a membership or subscription fee to the platform 26 as well.
In other words, platform 26 is more or less functioning as an open information exchange platform. While it is true that users including SMEs have benefited tremendously from the information flow and efficiency offered by such "open" e-platforms, it may cause the unnecessary disclosure of trading information including the product price, the buyer's information, the trading scale, to unwanted third parties. For instance, the disclosure of the price information for products might cause unwanted competition between the platform members, which will counteract the positive effect brought by the B2B platform. More specifically, for instance, most B2B e-commerce platforms take an "open platform" approach, which allows SMEs (or any user) to register and compete for businesses when they pay for the standard membership or transaction fees. The openness of the Internet allows SMEs to market their products and attract new customers. In general it works as followed:                Step 1: suppliers register on an e-commerce platform and post the product information, such as product name, specification and price thereon;        Step 2: buyers log on to the e-commerce platform and search for wanted products;        Step 3: buyers find desired products and make an offer; and        Step 4: suppliers who offer the lowest prices often win the deal.
Due to the openness nature of the Internet, the online marketplace features many-to-many relationships. Since suppliers have to reveal their product prices or other trade secrets on the Internet, this approach, while allowing suppliers to expose their products to almost unlimited number of potential buyers, has some negative impacts on SMEs such as                1. Pressing the profit margin of suppliers: To attract the eyeballs of buyers, suppliers are forced to lower product prices on the Internet. Therefore, to openly compete for each and every order, suppliers have to scarify their profit margin;        2. Affecting the loyalty of customers to suppliers: All suppliers for the same kind of products post their products on the Internet, so potential buyers will be able to view product information from different competitors, and pick products from one supplier who offers lowest prices, not necessarily from the supplier(s) who has an existing relationship with the customer(s); and        3. Losing the competitive advantages: Posting some of the detailed and sensitive product description on the Internet can lead to losing the competitive advantages for suppliers.
Another obstacle for the development and operation of SMEs is, despite the vital role played by SMEs in economy, that it has been very difficult for SMEs to access capital. For examples, both regulatory barriers and large expenses associated with stock listings make it quite difficult, if not impossible, for a vast majority of SMEs to access capital in the capital markets through public offering. Moreover, many SMEs do not have a long enough history or successful track record that can be relied on by banks or potential investors in making loan decisions, which further limits the ability of SMEs to access capitals using loan as a vehicle. Furthermore, it does not help that many SMEs do not have sophisticated financial reports.
Also, in recent years, companies have obtained financing by engaging in "securitization" transactions in which the company (or, more typically, a bankruptcy-remote special purpose vehicle) issues debt instruments backed by an asset or pool of assets in which the principal and interest is paid from the cash flow generated by the assets. In most securitizations, the transaction is structured to exclude the credit risk of the sponsor of the transaction so that the credit worthiness of the debt instruments issued in the securitization depends primarily on the credit risk inherent in the underlying financial assets. Once the extent of such credit risk has been quantified, typically by a rating agency, a form of credit and liquidity support can be supplied to cover the risk, permitting the securities issued in the transaction to be highly rated, even in cases where the sponsor of the transaction is not rated or is a poor credit risk. The levels of credit support and liquidity required in a securitization may be a function of the requirements set by the rating agencies based on their analysis of the quality of the underlying assets and the structure of the securities in light of the probable rates of default and recovery on the underlying assets. Because traditional general obligation debt is backed by the credit of the entire operating company, and the operating company is subject to a wide range of risks in the market place, an operating company seeking to issue highly-rated general obligations may be required to maintain relatively higher levels of capital and liquidity than in a securitization transaction in which the risk can be segregated to the performance of particular assets.
Securitization transactions include "cash flow" or "market value" transactions. In a "cash flow" securitization, the securities issued in the transaction are paid from roughly matching payments expected to be received on the underlying assets. In "market value" securitizations, the ability to repay the securities depends on the sufficiency of, and ability to realize upon, the value of the underlying assets. For example, in a typical "market value" transaction, the initial offering raises enough cash to pay coupon payments, and the final terminating payment is financed by selling the assets to third parties.
However, one way or another, these types of securitization transactions based on the value of the underlying assets. When the value of the underlying assets, which has inherent risks associated with overall economy doubtable if the integrity of the rating agency is not reliable, plunges, the values of these securitization transactions would also crush, and even worse, these securities may find ways to "poison" other related assets. The sub-mortgage crisis is a livid example.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and methods of conducting business-to-business operations by registered sellers and buyers using an internet accessible platform


The present invention is directed to a fuel oil for diesel engines, which is reduced in the discharges of particulate matters (PM) and carbon dioxide (CO) in exhaust gas upon combustion while retaining a high cetane number, characterized in that the fuel oil composition comprises a mineral oil as a principal component; and. (a) 2-13 wt % of one or more dialkyl phthalate compounds represented by the chemical formula (1), and PA1 (b) 2-13 wt % of one or more glycol ether compounds represented by the chemical formula (2); and. the total content of said components (a) and (b) is from 4 to 15 wt %.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel fuel oil composition, and more specifically to a fuel oil composition for diesel engines, which comprises a mineral oil as a principal component and (a) 2-13 wt % of one or more dialkyl phthalate compounds and (b) 2-13 wt % of one or more glycol ether compounds, the total content of both types of the compounds is from 4 to 15 wt %.
2. Prior Art
Mounted in automobiles, ships and construction machineries, diesel engines are widely spread in the world and still tend to increase year after year in number. Keeping in step with this, there is an increasing demand for diesel engine fuel oil. It is therefore essential to take measures such as conversion of straight run gas oil into heavier one(s) and blended use of cracked gas oil in straight run gas oil. These measures, however, lower the cetane number of gas oil, leading to deterioration in the ignitability in diesel engines. These measures also lead to discharge of still more hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfurous gas and particulate matters in exhaust gas from diesel engines. From the viewpoints of assurance of normal operation of diesel engines and prevention of air pollution, there are strong social desires for the retention of a high cetane number and reduction of these emission matters.
Concerning gas oil, its cetane number has conventionally been maintained at a necessary level by limiting the extent of conversion of straight run gas oil into heavier one(s), controlling the blending ratio of cracked gas oil to straight run gas oil, or adding an ignitability improver to gas oil. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. SHO 59-207988 discloses a fuel composition added with 0.1 wt % or more of an alkyl nitrate or dialkyl phthalate to improve the ignitability of light gas oil. It also discloses that the addition of the alkyl nitrate permits earlier ignition and at the same time, lowers the rate of a pressure rise upon combustion, thereby including smooth combustion, reducing engine noise and vibrations and improving the quality of diesel smoke.
With a view to reducing emission matters from diesel engines, a great deal of effort has also been made in many aspects, including improvements in the configurations of combustion chambers, exhaust gas recirculation systems, exhaust-gas-cleaning catalytic converters, particulate trap systems, and the quality of fuel oil and lubricating oil. Nonetheless, no sufficient reducing effects have been achieved yet in economy and also in the stability of performance over a long term.
An improvement in the quality of fuel oil has attracted interests as an effective method for the reduction of emission matters because it practically requires no change to the mechanism of diesel engines. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. HEI 3-234793 discloses that fuel oil, which contains dimethylacetal in mineral oil, discharges extremely little black smoke and NO.sub.x and has good ignitability and thermal efficiency. From the economical viewpoint, however, it is difficult to always use a diesel engine fuel oil which contains dimethylacetal in a large quantity.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. HEI 4-213391 discloses a fuel oil for diesel engines, which makes use of a diesel fuel additive composed of perbasified calcium sulfonate dispersed in an organic solvent. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. HEI 7-70570 discloses one making use of a fuel additive which contains a peroxide of a metal salt of an organic acid. When fuel oil burns, a metal-containing additive itself is discharged as ash in exhaust gas, resulting in the problem that it causes harm to the human body.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. SHO 59-207988 discloses a fuel composition which contains 0.1 wt % or more of an alkyl nitrate or dialkyl phthalate added to improve the ignitability of light gas oil. It is also disclosed in this Kokai publication that a fuel composition added with a dialkyl phthlate promotes initial combustion to achieve complete combustion and prevents occurrence of smearing. It is, however, difficult to reduce the discharge of particulate matters, which occur under diverse operation conditions of a diesel engine in actual use, by only promoting the initial combustion of the fuel composition.
As has been described above, none of the conventional techniques was able to provide a fuel oil composition for diesel engines, which comprises a mineral oil as a principal component, has a high cetane number and substantially reduces the discharges of particulate matters (hereinafter also called "PM") and carbon monoxide (hereinafter called "CO") in exhaust gas.
It would be an improvement over the above-described conventional art to provide a fuel oil for diesel engines, which has good ignitability owing to the possession of a high cetane number and reduces the discharges of PM and CO in exhaust gas upon combustion.


A device for the detection of an object on a vehicle seat, including a camera and a processing unit for the generation of a two-dimensional representation of the object is provided. The device also includes at least two illumination sources, which are positioned in such a manner that the object can be illuminated from different directions, and the processing unit is suitable to generate a three-dimensional representation of the object from two dimensional representations, each generated under different illumination conditions.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a device that detects an object on a vehicle seat, comprising a camera and a processing unit that generates a two-dimensional representation of the object.
There are various techniques and systems for detecting, identifying or classifying the occupants of a motorized vehicle. Furthermore, there are various techniques for the recognition of the head position of vehicle occupants. Information from such techniques mainly serves as data for the adaptation of occupant restraint systems to the type, size, or seat position of the occupants.
According to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208 set out by U.S National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHSTA), starting with the 2006 model year nearly 100 percent of all automobiles sold in the US must have the ability to automatically control the deploying power of airbags based on crash severity, occupant type, and size, as well as on seat belt usage. As manufacturers began to develop various occupant detection systems, vision techniques have attracted much attention due to their superior adaptability to various vehicle cabin environments as compared to other mechatronic methods.
In recent years, a number of optical approaches have been studied to resolve the airbag suppression decision problem. These studies can be classified into two categories depending on the number of cameras used in the system. In the earlier versions of occupant detection systems, single camera approaches were in demand due to the high cost of imaging sensors. However, such monocular systems did not provide sufficient 3D information necessary for functions such as the out-of-position detection, which is a supplementary task guaranteeing low risk deployment according to the position/pose of the passenger. As a consequence, the majority of occupant detection systems became more dependent on stereo vision techniques that use two cameras. Faced with the increasing demand for various vision-based in-vehicle applications, the growing number of cameras employed has come under serious scrutiny.
In the following, some of the most important drawbacks of existing optical approaches to occupant detection are enumerated.                Stereo camera systems use more than one camera, and multiple cameras significantly increase the hardware cost.        Many approaches use supplementary light sources for illuminating the vehicle interior, which increases the hardware cost as well.        Due to the theoretical limitation of stereo vision, two cameras must be adjacent to each other, which makes it difficult to design a compact system module.        Stereo vision systems are extremely sensitive to any physical impacts distorting the geometry of the involved cameras.        Since the 3D reconstruction of most stereo vision techniques is essentially based on a texture correspondence matching, most stereo vision approaches fail to reconstruct the shape of a target object when the object does not have textures on its surface.        To obtain a satisfactory depth resolution, most stereo vision techniques employ sub-pixel spatial resolution which increases the overall system cost by requiring wider data bandwidth as well as faster computing power.        Intensive searching and triangulation processes, which are essential for stereo vision, influence the system cost.        Most stereo vision techniques require complicated camera calibration.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a single camera system able to generate 3D information of a vehicle seat occupant, which can be achieved using minimal supplementary active illumination.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a device that detects an object on a vehicle seat, comprising a camera and a processing unit that generates a two-dimensional representation of the object. The device also comprises at least two illumination sources, which are positioned in such a manner that the object can be illuminated from different directions, and the processing unit can generate a three-dimensional representation of the object from two two-dimensional representations, each generated under different illumination conditions.
Typically, a device according to the present invention comprises a single camera by which an image sequence is captured. Different illumination conditions can be caused by dimming, switching, or movement (displacement and/or rotation) of the illumination sources. For simplicity, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, different illumination conditions are caused by switching the illumination sources on and off, i.e., different illumination conditions are caused by different combinations of active illumination sources, particularly by a different number of active illumination sources.
In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention the processing unit can generate a three-dimensional representation of the object from two two-dimensional representations, each generated under different illumination conditions, whereby the different illumination conditions are caused by a different number of active illumination sources. The generation of a three-dimensional representation from two two-dimensional representations can include a generation from more than two two-dimensional representations.
An occupant detection system according to the present invention can classify an object in a vehicle for facilitating the airbag control module. Classification can be carried out based on object features which are extracted from the original images and/or from the three-dimensional object representation and/or from intermediate results. The classification can be used to assign the object to a target occupant class.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the number of target occupant classes in such a classification is limited. The target occupant classes are reduced to three classes being a front facing child seat, a rear facing child seat and an adult.
Therefore, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a processing unit that can assign the detected object to one out of at least two object classes, where the at least two object classes are selected from a plurality of object classes comprising the three following object classes:                a child-seat arranged in forward driving direction,        a child-seat arranged in backward driving direction,        an adult.
The result of the object classification can be used to simplify other tasks. For this purpose, the result can be signaled to another task.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the processing unit signals the object class to which the device on the vehicle seat has been assigned to a task, which is executed either by the processing unit itself or by another device, whereby the fact and/or manner of the execution of this task depends on the object class to which the device on the vehicle seat has been assigned. Particularly, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention an out-of-position detection is only activated, if the object is classified as an adult.
In a method according to the present invention, different illumination conditions within an image sequence are generated by at least two light sources. Ambient illumination fluctuations and/or shadows are eliminated.
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention ambient illumination fluctuations in the image sequence are eliminated by a so-called Double flash technique.
A shadowless image can be composed from the image sequence by simulating a virtual light source having an infinite extent. This is suitably achieved by a so-called ShadowFlash technique.
The boundary information of an object in the resulting shadowless image can be extracted and the 3D surface of the object can be reconstructed.
Finally, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a multi-dimensional feature vector is defined and is utilized for classification purposes. The feature vector can use 2D and/or 3D information.
By the present invention a novel framework for a vehicle occupant detection system is provided. The performance of a device according to the present invention is comparable to stereo vision systems. Thus, a device according to the present invention can serve as an alternative solution to binocular vision systems offering some substantial advantages.                A device according to the present invention is economical compared to stereo vision techniques, since only a single camera is needed. The market price of the required switchable illumination sources is usually lower than that of a camera.        Compared to stereo vision approaches less computing power is necessary for a device and/or method according to the present invention. The complexity of the algorithms used in the proposed system is normally lower than the complexity of any stereo vision algorithm.        Since the proposed system is not based on texture correspondence matching, the performance of the 3D reconstruction is completely independent of the textural property of a target object.        The degree of freedom for locating the camera and light sources is much higher than with most stereo vision techniques.        In a method according to the present invention the depth resolution is only a function of the spatial resolution of the camera. Therefore, no sub-pixel imaging is necessary.        The complexity, in particular the hardware complexity, of a system according to the present invention is normally lower than the complexity of a system based on stereo vision.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Device for the detection of an object on a vehicle seat

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


An apparatus and method for oxidizing hydrocarbons in gases exhausted from an internal combustion engine 10. The method comprises passing exhaust gases, during initial operation of the engine, through a hydrocarbon trap 24, where the hydrocarbons in the exhaust gases are adsorbed before the gases are exhausted into the atmosphere. After a catalyst 16 is heated to the light-off temperature for hydrocarbons, the gases are prevented from passing through the hydrocarbon trap 24 and are passed through the catalyst 16 before being exhausted into the atmosphere. When the engine 10 speed is at steady state, such that the oxidation of hydrocarbons by the catalyst 16 is at peak efficiency, a portion of the gases exiting the catalyst 16 is diverted to pass through and flush hydrocarbons from the hydrocarbon trap 24 while the remaining gas is exhausted into the atmosphere. The diverted gases containing the flushed hydrocarbons desorbed from the hydrocarbon trap 24 are then passed through the catalyst 16. After the hydrocarbons have been desorbed from the hydrocarbon trap 24, all gases passing through the catalyst 16 are exhausted into the atmosphere.

An internal combustion engine is typically operated under conditions in which there is insufficient oxygen or heat to oxidize all of the hydrocarbons present in the fuel being burned. By such a burning operation, there are developed exhaust gases which contain unburned hydrocarbons.
At present, it is proposed in the United States that motor vehicles be required to comply with emissions standards which progressively are becoming more stringent. Included within those proposals are requirements that hydrocarbon emissions be decreased significantly.
A number of methods have been developed and patented to oxidize the hydrocarbons in exhaust gases before those gases are exhausted into the atmosphere. However, none of those patents suggest the method or apparatus disclosed and claimed in this specification. Several of those patents are briefly reviewed here to show the state of the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,942,932 issued on Jun. 28, 1960 to Elliott for a "Process of Oxidizing Carbon Monoxide And Hydrocarbon In Exhaust Gases." The process disclosed comprises passing the exhaust gases during initial operation and warm up of the engine first through an adsorption zone in which hydrocarbons are adsorbed and then through an oxidation catalyst. As the engine warms up, hotter exhaust gases desorb the hydrocarbons from the adsorption zone while simultaneously bringing the oxidation catalyst to an effective operating temperature. After the exhaust gas reaches full operating temperature, the adsorption zone is in a regenerated condition and ready for a subsequent cold start-up. Means may also be provided for discontinuing the passage of hot exhaust gases through the adsorption zone after the oxidation catalyst has reached full operating temperature.
This method leaves certain problems unsolved. First, because the temperature at which the hydrocarbons will be desorbed is lower than the effective operating temperature of the oxidation catalyst, hydrocarbons will be desorbed from the adsorption zone before the oxidation catalyst is heated to an operational temperature. As a result, hydrocarbons desorbed from the adsorption zone will pass through the non-operational oxidation catalyst and be exhausted into the atmosphere. Second, because the adsorption zone precedes the oxidation catalyst, the exhaust gases used to desorb hydrocarbons from the adsorption zone will contain hydrocarbons. As a result, the adsorption zone will never be completely desorbed of hydrocarbons and the adsorption capacity of the adsorption zone during the next cold start of the engine will be reduced. Furthermore, the oxidation catalyst will be subjected to gases containing a larger quantity of hydrocarbons than normal--both those normally contained in the exhaust gases and those desorbed from the adsorption zone. If the hydrocarbon concentrations exceed the capacity of the oxidation catalyst, excess hydrocarbons will be exhausted into the atmosphere.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,150,192 issued on Sep. 29, 1964 to Ashley for a "Method Of Purifying Exhaust Gases Of Internal Combustion Engines." This patent discloses a method for oxidizing hydrocarbons from exhaust gases which comprises passing the exhaust gases sequentially through primary and secondary catalyst beds. During initial operation of the engine, hydrocarbons are adsorbed by the primary catalyst bed while auxiliary heat is applied to the secondary catalyst bed to rapidly raise the secondary catalyst bed to its oxidation temperature. The continuing passage of exhaust gases gradually raises the temperature of the primary bed catalyst to a point where the adsorbed hydrocarbons are desorbed and passed through the secondary catalyst bed which has been raised to its oxidation temperature.
While this method does provide for heating of the secondary catalyst bed to ensure that hydrocarbons later desorbed from the primary catalyst bed by the hot exhaust gases will be oxidized, this method still relies on hydrocarbon-laden exhaust gases to desorb the primary catalyst bed. Similar to the process claimed in the Elliott patent, this is not an efficient method of desorption and may lead to an excess discharge of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,674,441 issued on Nov. 9, 1970 to Cole for an "Exhaust Emission Control." This patent shows a device for oxidizing hydrocarbons which comprises passing exhaust gases sequentially through a catalytic converter and a bed of storage material which retains hydrocarbons during warm up. After the catalytic converter is warmed up, the hydrocarbons retained in the storage bed are purged and recirculated back through the catalytic converter through the use of outside air.
This method avoids the problems posed by the patents already discussed by using outside air to desorb the adsorption storage material instead of exhaust gases. However, cooler outside air is not as efficient and requires much more time to desorb hydrocarbons as opposed to using hot exhaust gases from which the hydrocarbons have been oxidized. Because of this, if an internal combustion engine using the Cole method were operated repeatedly for short periods of time, the hydrocarbon storage bed would never be completely regenerated by the cooler outside air. In such a case, the hydrocarbons adsorbed in the hydrocarbon storage bed could build up during each start up until the hydrocarbon storage bed was saturated. If that happened, hydrocarbons would not be adsorbed by the saturated hydrocarbon trap during the next cold start up, but would simply be exhausted into the atmosphere.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,699,683 issued on Oct. 24, 1972 to Tourtellotte et al. for an "Engine Exhaust Emission Control System." This patent shows a method for oxidizing hydrocarbons by passing the exhaust gases emitted during engine start up first through an oxidizing catalyst bed and then through a hydrocarbon adsorbent bed which adsorbs hydrocarbons. When the engine exhaust gases are hot, most of the exhaust gases emitted from the oxidizing catalyst bed are then discharged directly into the atmosphere while the hydrocarbon adsorbent bed is regenerated by passing a small stream of hot exhaust gas through the hydrocarbon bed and recycling it to the engine.
The method disclosed in Tourtellotte et al. avoids the problem of using hydrocarbon laden exhaust gas to desorb hydrocarbons from the adsorbent bed by using exhaust gases from which hydrocarbons have already been oxidized in the catalyst bed to desorb hydrocarbons. However, this method does not account for the fact that during certain speed-load conditions, especially while the engine speed is changing in response to varying loads, the oxidation of hydrocarbons within the engine is much less efficient. During such conditions, the exhaust gases being oxidized in the catalyst bed contain a much higher percentage of hydrocarbons than would exist if the engine were running at steady state, that is, at a steady speed under steady load conditions and within a speed range where hydrocarbon oxidation within the engine is maximized. If the hydrocarbon bed is desorbed during periods when the engine is not running at steady state, then the desorbed hydrocarbons would be recycled back to the engine. Under those conditions, the percentage of unburned hydrocarbons in the exhaust gases exiting the engine and running through the catalyst bed would be even higher than normal. As a result, the catalyst bed would be subjected to exhaust gases abnormally rich in hydrocarbons. That could result in a loss of oxidation efficiency and the exhaust of gases into the atmosphere containing unburned hydrocarbons. Furthermore, if the hydrocarbon bed is desorbed during periods when the engine is not running at steady state, then the desorption gases will never be as hydrocarbon free as possible and the hydrocarbon bed will not be regenerated as quickly, as efficiently or as completely as would otherwise be possible.
Despite these and other teachings, there remains a need for a way to oxidize hydrocarbons efficiently at all stages of engine operation, and at the same time to reduce the exposure of the hydrocarbon adsorption materials to the high temperature gases needed to efficiently desorb them.

Method and apparatus for oxidizing hydrocarbons from exhaust gases


A main processor of mobile phone changes from power saving state to active state for changing display in response to a sub processor for sensors, the main processor returning to the power saving state after changing the display. The main processor changes from power saving state to active state for storing information from the sub processor, the main processor returning to the power saving state after the storing function. The main processor selects the stored display data on the basis of the information from the sub processor to change display. The main processor receives and stores information from the sub processor in the boot up process or before finishing the operation. The sub processor is in the active state so as to control the sensor even in a case where the main processor is in the power saving state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile phone.
2. Description of Related Art
As to a portable device such as a mobile phone using a battery, there have been various proposals for saving power. For instance, in order to provide a portable terminal that performs power supply control for saving power and can quickly start a specific function, the following control is proposed. When a main CPU receives an operation of an execution start key for a specific function, the main CPU starts power supply to a RAM and transfers a program for the specific function from a flash memory to the RAM so that a sub CPU executes the program for the specific function in the RAM. Further, when the main CPU receives an operation of an execution stop key for the specific function, the main CPU controls a timer to clock a time and stops the power supply to the RAM after a predetermined time elapses (see JP-A-2006-25347).
However, there are still many problems to solve for saving power in multifunction mobile phones such as smart phones.


Embodiments of the invention generally relate to methods and apparatus for pre-recording digital video. The method includes pre-recording video data prior to initiation of a record command from a user. After initiation of a record command from the user, recorded video data is captured. The pre-recorded video data and the recorded video data are optionally appended or combined into a single file. The apparatus includes a non-transitory computer readable containing instructions for pre-recording video.

Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to recording digital videos.
Description of the Related Art
The recording of digital video is becoming increasingly more popular, particularly as more and more devices, such as digital cameras and smart phones, have the ability to record digital videos. The recording of digital videos, for example on smart phones, is accomplished using a software application.
To record digital video using a smart phone, a user generally selects a "record" command in the software application on the smart phone. However, selecting the "record" command can be time consuming. For example, smart phones often need to be unlocked by entering an access code, then an application needs to be opened, and then menus may need to be traversed to reveal the record instruction or command, such as a "record" button. During the time required for the user to select the record command, the event which is desired to be recorded could have already occurred and the user could have missed his or her opportunity to capture the video.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method of capturing video prior to initiating a record command.

System and method for pre-recording video


Methods of forming a heat exchanger from a metal body made from a material having a melting temperature greater than 660° C. with the metal body having opposing first and second surfaces and at least one fluid passageway formed in the metal body so that fluid may be passed through the fluid passageway and heat from the fluid may be dissipated through a plurality of fins.

Jet engines for military and commercial applications demand improved efficiency, in terms of specific fuel consumption. The efficiency may be raised by increasing the exhaust gas temperature of the airflow entering the turbine stage of the engine. This increased temperature must be compensated for in terms of internal cooling of the nozzle and turbine blades of the turbine section. One method to cool the nozzles and turbine blades is to extract compressed air from the last compressor stage, prior to the combustion stage, cool this air, and re-inject it into the hollow cavities of the nozzles and turbine blades. The air may be cooled via an air-to-air heat exchanger that is located within the fan bypass annulus of the engine, in order to benefit from relatively colder temperature air flowing past the heat exchanger. Such a heat exchanger would typically have external fins, in order to increase the surface area of the exchanger, and to improve the external airflow mixing. In transferring heat to the fan bypass flow of the engine, the finned heat exchanger may typically include internal fluid passages for transporting the high pressure air extracted from a final compressor stage.

Methods for forming a heat exchanger and portions thereof