The present application relates to mobile communication technical field, and a method for optimizing activation/deactivation Idle State signaling Reduction (ISR) and a network side device are disclosed. The method includes: during a process of updating User Element (UE) area, a first network entity, when receiving a context request message transmitted from a second entity, determines to activate or deactivate ISR, according to a mobile-reachable timer or an implicit detach timer corresponding to said UE, or operation states of the mobile-reachable timer and the implicit detach timer; and the first network entity transmits the determination result to the second network entity, said second network entity determines to instruct the UE to activate or deactivate the ISR according to the received determination result. The application optimizes the existing procedure for the activating/deactivating of the ISR, enables the ISR processing at the network side and the UE side to be consistent in height, and thus avoiding unnecessary signaling expense.

Idle State Signalling Reduction (ISR) is a technology to reduce idle state signalling in an Evolved Packet System (EPS) so as to alleviate a signalling load between a User Equipment (UE) in an idle state and a network.
A Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN, where GPRS stands for General Packet Radio Service) is a network entity in a Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), and a Mobility Management Entity (MME) is a network entity in an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN).
When the UE registers with both the MME in the E-UTRAN and the SGSN in the UTRAN and activates ISR, the UE in an idle state will not perform signalling interaction with the network side while the UE resides and moves in a Tracking Area (TA) in a list of Tracking Area IDs (TAIs) registered in the E-UTRAN and a Routing Area (RA) registered in the UTRAN.
Activation of ISR is controlled at the network side, and when the UE in an idle state initiates a Tracking Area Update (TAU) or Routing Area Update (RAU) procedure in the E-UTRAN or the UTRAN, the MME or the SGSN instructs the UE to activate or deactivate ISR in a TAU Accept message or an RAU Accept message, and the UE activates or deactivates ISR in response to the instruction. An initial value of a Temporary Identity used in Next update (TIN) is set by the UE upon successful attachment. The UE resets the TIN to a Globally Unique Temporary Identity (GUTI) regardless of original value thereof upon successful initial attachment to the E-UTRAN. The UE resets the TIN to a Packet Temporary Mobile Station Identity (P-TMST) regardless of original value thereof upon successful initial attachment to the GERAN/UTRAN. The UE has to set a locally stored TIN to a GUTI or a P-TMSI regardless of original value thereof upon reception of the TAU Accept message or the RAU Accept message instructing ISR to be deactivated. With the TAU Accept message instructing ISR to be activated, the UE decides setting of the TIN dependent upon the value of the TIN. If the value of the TIN is a P-TMSI or a Radio Access Type related TMSI (RAT-related TMSI), the TIN is set to the RAT-related TMSI, and if the value of the TIN is a GUTI, the value of the TIN is set to the GUTI. With the RAU Accept message instructing ISR to be activated, the UE decides setting of the TIN dependent upon the value of the TIN. If the value of the TIN is a GUTI or an RAT-related TMSI, the TIN is set to the RAT-related TMSI, and if the value of the TIN is a P-TMSI, the value of the TIN is set to the P-TMSI. Noted the value of the TIN is merely for the purpose of distinguishing.
In this context, "area update" broadly refers to "tracking area update" or "routing area update". The following description will be given by way of an example in which a UE firstly is attached to a network over a UTRAN and then accesses an E-UTRAN to initiate a TAU procedure. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the TAU procedure is as follows.
The UE determines that a TAU trigger condition is satisfied when the UE accesses a TA in the E-UTRAN from an RA in the UTRAN and then triggers a TAU to be started (the step S101); the UE initiates a Tracking Area Update Request to an MME (the step S102 to the step S103); since the UE is registered with an old S4 SGSN (one type of SGSN supporting ISR; and SGSN in this context generally refers to the S4-SGSN), the new MME retrieves context information of the UE from the old SGSN (the step S104, the step S105 and the step 107); then the MME instructs a Serving Gateway (GW)/a Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN GW) to modify bearer information of the UE (the step S109 to the step S113); the MME transmits a Location Update Request to an HSS to instruct the HSS to cancel location information of the UE in the old SGSN (the step S114 to the step S116); the old SGSN releases an Iu interface connection (the step S117 and the step S118); the HSS returns a Location Update Response message to the MME (the step S119); and the MME returns a Tracking Area Update Accept Message to the UE to thereby finish the tracking area update (the step S120 to the step S121). The MME may re-authenticate the UE in the TAU procedure (the step S106).
ISR-related aspects in the foregoing TAU procedure are stipulated in the existing specification (TS23.060 and TS23.401) as follows:
In the step S105, the SGSN transmits a Context Response message to the MME to instruct ISR to be activated; and
In the step S107, the SGSN receives a Context Acknowledgement message, transmitted from the MME, instructing ISR to be activated, and then the SGSN has to maintain a context of the UE.
The foregoing stipulations may result in a problem which will be described below in connection with several related timers.
A mobile reachable timer of the UE is maintained at the network side, the mobile reachable timer is started when the UE enters an idle state, and the mobile reachable timer is stopped at the network side when the UE has a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signalling connection established with the network side (the UE enters a connected state); and
An implicit detach timer of the UE is maintained at the network side, and if the mobile reachable timer expires and the UE has no NAS signalling connection established with the network side, the implicit detach timer is started at the network side. An implicit detach procedure is initiated at the network side after the implicit detach timer expires. The implicit detach timer is stopped at the network side when the UE has an NAS signalling connection established with the network side.
The UE maintains a periodic TAU timer, or a periodic RAU timer, or a periodic TAU timer and a periodic RAU timer dependent upon an access scheme and an ISR state.
The UE with a UTRAN access has to maintain a periodic RAU timer when ISR is deactivated. The UE has to initiate a periodic RAU procedure when the periodic RAU timer expires. The UE with an E-UTRAN access has to maintain a periodic TAU timer when ISR is deactivated. The UE has to initiate a periodic TAU procedure when the periodic TAU timer expires. The periodic TAU timer, or the periodic RAU timer, or the periodic TAU timer and the periodic RAU timer are started when the UE enters an idle state and stopped when the UE has an NAS signalling connection established with the network.
The UE has to maintain both of the timers when ISR is activated. If the periodic TAU timer expires when the UE resides in the UTRAN, the UE has to start an E-UTRAN Deactivate ISR Timer, and the UE has to initiate a TAU procedure immediately upon next entry into the E-UTRAN. When the E-UTRAN Deactivate ISR Timer expires, the UE has to deactivate ISR locally, that is, sets a TIN to a "P-TMSI". The UE stops the E-UTRAN Deactivate ISR Timer upon entering an EPS Mobility Management-DEREGISTERED (EMM-DEREGISTERED) state or an EPS Mobility Management-CONNECTED (EMM-CONNECTED) mode. If the periodic RAU timer expires when the UE resides in the E-UTRAN, the UE has to start a GERAN/UTRAN Deactivate ISR Timer (GERAN stands for GSM EDGE Radio Access Network, GSM stands for Global System for Mobile communication, and EDGE stands for Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution), and the UE has to initiate an RAU procedure immediately upon next entry into the UTRAN. The UE has to deactivate ISR when the GERAN/UTRAN Deactivate ISR Timer expires. The UE stops the GERAN/UTRAN Deactivate ISR Timer upon entering a GPRS Mobility Management-DEREGISTERED (GMM-DEREGISTERED) state or a GMM-CONNECTED mode.
As stipulated in the existing specification, the mobile reachable timer has a slightly larger timer length (that is, a timing period as meant hereinafter; and a timer length, a timing period, and a timer value refer to the same meaning) than that of the periodic TAU timer or the periodic RAU timer. When ISR is activated, the Implicit Detach Timer at the MME has a larger timer value than that of the E-UTRAN Deactivate ISR Timer of the UE, and the Implicit Detach Timer at the SGSN has a larger timer value than that of the GERAN/UTRAN Deactivate ISR Timer of the UE.
The UE initiating the RAU has to include a different identity in an RAU request dependent upon setting of a TIN. The RAU request includes only a Packet Temporary Mobile Station Identity (P-TMST) when ISR is activated. When ISR is deactivated, the RAU request includes only a P-TMSI if the TIN is set to the P-TMSI. If the TIN is set to a Globally Unique Temporary Identity (GUTI), the UE has to map the GUTI to a P-TMSI and include it in an RAU request message and shall also include the P-TMSI in the RAU request message if the UE is also provided with the P-TMSI. The SGSN can further search locally with the P-TMSI for a context of the UE upon reception of the request including the two temporary identities.
Thus the MME instructs the UE to activate ISR if the old SGSN still instructs the MME to activate ISR in the step S105 upon reception of a context request message from the MME (the step S104) after the Mobile Reachable Timer of the UE expires and before the Implicit Detach Timer expires. At this time, since the UE firstly is attached over the UTRAN and its TIN is set to a P-TMSI, the UE will set the TIN to an RAT-related TMSI when the TAU Accept message instructs ISR to be activated. If at this time the UE goes from the E-UTRAN back to the UTRAN again and the UE determines that ISR is in an activated state, that is, the TIN is set to the RAT-related TMSI, the UE will initiate the RAU with the P-TMSI. At this time, the Implicit Detach Timer maintained by the SGSN may have expired, and since the SGSN initiates the implicit detach procedure after the Implicit Detach Timer expires, the context of the UE is absent at the SGSN at that time, so the SGSN can not retrieve the context of the UE with the P-TMSI over the network. At this time the network will reject the RAU request of the UE, and the UE has to reinitiate an attach procedure. The network can also reinitiate an authentication procedure. Inconsistency arises between the ISR state indication at the UE side and the ISR state at the network side (that is, a context maintenance condition of the UE at the network side), thus resulting in a certain delay in an access of the UE over the UTRAN.
Furthermore, the SGSN has to maintain the context of the UE upon reception of the Context Acknowledgement message from the MME as mentioned in the step S107. However, a specific period of time for which the context of the UE is maintained is absent in the specification. If the SGSN receives a Context Request message from the MME after the Mobile Reachable Timer of the UE expires and before the Implicit Detach Timer expires, instructs the MME to activate ISR and continues with maintaining the context of the UE after the Implicit Detach Timer expires, then a great deal of useless context information arises in the SGSN, and a mechanism to clean such useless information is absent.
The foregoing problem can be addressed in such a method that ISR is deactivated locally at the UE side. An underlying idea of this method is as follows:
1) In the UTRAN, the UE does not activate ISR or deactivates ISR locally if the periodic TAU timer of the UE expires when the network instructs the UE to activate ISR in the RAU. Thereafter the TAU request message will include two temporary identities of a P-TMSI and a GUTI when the UE accessing the E-UTRAN initiates the TAU.
2) In the E-UTRAN, the UE does not activate ISR or deactivates ISR locally if the periodic RAU timer of the UE expires when the network instructs the UE to activate ISR in the TAU. Thereafter the RAU request message will include two temporary identities of a P-TMSI and a GUTI when the UE accessing the UTRAN initiates the RAU.
The problem of inconsistency between the context maintenance condition indicated by the ISR state at the UE side and the real maintenance condition may still arise in the foregoing method, and either the TAU request or the RAU request will include two identities due to deactivation of ISR when the UE accesses from one network to another network, thus wasting an air interface resource to some extent; and the two temporary identities have to be received at the network side for processing, thus increasing signalling overhead at the network side and time delay in the TAU or RAU process.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and network-side device for optimizing activation/deactivation of ISR

CHINA ACADEMY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY


A support bracket for an outboard motor is provided in which a support arm is pivotally attached to a transom bracket of an outboard motor to allow it to pivot upward and be captured by a latching device which is rigidly attached either to a support structure. of the outboard motor or directly to its driveshaft housing. When captured within the latching device attached to the outboard motor, the support arm prevents upward or downward movement of the outboard motor and inhibits any rotation of the outboard motor about its tilt axis. The support arm also inhibits rotation of the outboard motor about its steering axis. The support mechanism therefore prevents potential damage to the outboard motor and its support brackets when the outboard motor is stored in an upwardly tilted position and subjected to shock loads.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to a support bracket for an outboard motor and, more particularly, to a support bracket that prevents the outboard motor from moving upward and downward relative to an upward trim position and also prevents the outboard motor from moving rotatably about its steering axis when in an upwardly trimmed position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known to those skilled in that art that outboard motors can be raised to an upward trim position and maintained in that position for relatively long periods of time. For example, when transporting a marine vessel, it is common to move the outboard motor to an upwardly tilted position during the transporting of the boat on a trailer towed by an automobile. In addition, it is common to raise the outboard motor to an upwardly tilted position relative to the transom of a boat during the use of the boat, particularly when the outboard motor is a spare outboard motor, or xe2x80x9ckickerxe2x80x9d motor. If the marine vessel is subjected to shock loads, such as during movement of the boat over waves or rough water, the upward position of a tilted outboard motor can subject the support structure of the outboard motor to severe stresses. As a result, the transom bracket of the outboard motor can be subjected to stress that is sufficient to cause fracture of the bracket. When this occurs, it is possible for the outboard motor to be disconnected from the transom of a boat and be lost overboard.
Those skilled in the art of outboard motor manufacture and use are familiar with many different types of locking mechanisms used in conjunction with outboard motors to hold the motor in a preselected position, such as an upwardly tilted position used during transportation of the boat.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,328, which issued to Kloiber on Jan. 15, 1974, discloses an outboard motor anti-tilt locking mechanism which incorporates locking fingers that are actuated by a flexible shaft driven by a channel cam keyed to the shift shaft of the engine. A readily disassemblable ball joint links the flexible operating shaft to a rotating mechanism carrying the locking fingers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,591, which issued to Kleeman et al on Feb. 9, 1999, discloses a swivel lock for an outboard motor. First and second latch mechanisms are provided that allow a boat operator to prevent the movable and stationary portions of an outboard motor from moving relative to each other. This device can be used during shipping, transportation, or use of an outboard motor in conjunction with a sailboat in which the rudder of the sailboat is used for steering, and it is desirable to maintain the movable and stationary portions of an outboard motor rigidly with respect to each other. A first latch mechanism is attached to the movable portion of the outboard motor and a second latch mechanism is attached to the stationary portion of the outboard motor. The second latch mechanism is rotatable to place a receptacle into a region where a locking device can retain it.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,459, which issued to Slattery on May 2, 1989, discloses a tilt mechanism for an outboard motor. The mechanism includes a series of trim and shallow water operation positions which may be preset by the operator and from which the motor may be temporarily tilted up without engaging and being held in a higher tilt position. Correspondingly, elimination of the condition requiring or causing the temporary tilt-up allows direct return of the motor to the original trim position. Alternatively, a manually operable trim ratchet assembly allows the operator to temporarily tilt the engine to and have it held at a higher trim position if desired. Disengagement of the trim ratchet assembly also allows direct return of the motor to the original trim position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,148, which issued to Kollock et al on Sep. 18, 1984, discloses a tilt mechanism for an outboard motor. The mechanism has a swivel bracket pivotally attached to a transom bracket. A trim pin is carried by a trim pin carrier which is pivotally attached to the swivel bracket. The trim pin travels in cam slots which define two connected cam loops and act as a ratchet with notches in the cam slots to establish trim and tilt positions for the propulsion unit. The two cam loops allow the propulsion unit to be returned to the uppermost position without dropping to the lowest position first. A moveable return cam in the lower loop allows the operator to select the lowest trim position to which the unit will return.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,496, which issued to Lokken on Jan. 5, 1999, discloses an overcenter uplock assembly for an outboard motor. The assembly for an outboard motor tilt mechanism has a pair of brackets pivotally connected with an overcenter hinge. The uplock assembly has a lever that an operator uses to force the brackets into an in-line, end-to-end overcenter configuration in which the lower bracket supports against a horizontal support axle attached to the trim mechanism and an upper bracket pushes against a swivel bracket of the tilt mechanism. The upper and lower brackets are sized so that the swivel bracket is pushed beyond its normal full up trailering position into a tight configuration in which the swivel bracket and motor are restrained from bouncing even under excessively rough transportation conditions. Preferably, the uplock assembly includes a lever guide member having a catch mechanism that secures the lever in a fixed position when the uplock assembly is engaged to support the outboard motor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,430, which issued to Lutzke et al on May 25, 1982, discloses a trim mechanism with an automatic return. A tilt mechanism for a marine propulsion device is provided with a swivel bracket pivotally attached to a transom bracket. A trim pin is carried by a trim pin carrier which is pivotally attached to the swivel bracket. The trim pin travels in cam tracks on the transom bracket and engages notches in the cam tracks to establish trim and tilt positions for the propulsion device. An axially step in the cam track shifts the trim pin to a return cam surface to allow automatic return from the uppermost to the lowest position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,410, which issued to Boda on May 15, 1990, discloses a tilt mechanism lock for an outboard motor. A conventional tilt mechanism for an outboard motor is provided with a series of trim position notches and an uppermost trailering position notch including a tilt position locking mechanism which is manually operable to lock the motor in the trailering position to positively prevent downward movement therefrom, either intentionally or inadvertently as a result of a shock load or jarring of the motor. The tilt locking mechanism is incorporated completely into one of the clamping members of a conventional tilt mechanism such that it does not interfere whatever with conventional operation of the tilt mechanism when in the unlocked position or with movement of the motor to the trailering position when in the locked position. However, downward movement of the motor when the mechanism is in the locked position is absolutely precluded.
The patents described above are hereby explicitly incorporated by reference in the description of the present invention.
It would be significantly beneficial if a device could be provided that supports an outboard motor in an upwardly tilted position and prevents rotation in either an upward or downward direction about its tilt access while also inhibiting rotation of the outboard motor about its steering access.
A support mechanism for an outboard motor made in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a latching device that is rigidly attached to an outboard motor and, more specifically, to the driveshaft housing of the outboard motor. It also comprises a support arm which has a pivot portion and a latching portion. The pivot portion is attachable to a transom of a marine vessel, and more specifically, to a transom bracket of the outboard motor. The pivot portion is rotatable about an axis of rotation which is generally parallel to and in a fixed relationship with the transom of a marine vessel. Rotation of the pivot portion causes the latching portion to move in relation to the latching device which is attached to the outboard motor. The latching device is shaped to capture the latching portion of the support arm and to thereby inhibit movement of the latching portion relative to the latching device and also inhibit movement of the outboard motor relative to the transom.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the support arm comprises a rod which is shaped in a generally U-shaped configuration with a first distal end and a second distal end disposed to define an axis of rotation therebetween. The first and second distal ends combine to define the pivot portion of the support arm. The latching portion is generally disposed midway along the length of the rod between the first and distal ends of the support arm.
The latching portion of the support arm comprises a generally straight segment of the support arm and the latching device comprises an open slot shaped to receive the latching portion of the support arm therein. The latching device comprises a capture slot shaped to receive the latching portion in captive association therein, whereby the capture slot is proximate the open slot to allow the latching portion of the support arm to move between the open slot and the capture slot.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention further comprises a capture bar that is slidably disposed within the latching device and movable between an open position and a capture position. The latching portion is movable from the capture slot to the open slot when the capture bar is in the open position, but the latching position is inhibited from moving from the capture slot to the open slot when the capture bar is in the capture position. The capture bar is shaped to permit the latching portion to cause the capture bar to move from the capture position to the open position in response to a force exerted by the latching portion against the capture bar. A resilient member is provided, in a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, for urging the capture bar from the open position toward the capture position. This resilient member can be a spring. A handle is attached to the latching device in order to allow the capture bar to be forced, against the urging of the resilient member, toward the open position. This urging is accomplished manually by the operator of a marine vessel who moves the handle to move the capture bar from the capture position to the open position.
The support arm of the present invention is rotatable between a first position, wherein the support arm is generally disposed within a plane that is generally parallel to the transom of a marine vessel and a second position, wherein the latching portion is disposed within the latching device. The latching device is rigidly attached to a driveshaft housing of the outboard motor in a preferred embodiment and the support arm is rotatably attached to a transom bracket of the outboard motor in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.


An array-type polarization-maintaining multi-core fiber includes a main outer cladding, fiber core units, and stress units. The fiber core units and the stress units are arranged to form a unit array including one central unit and any unit in the unit array being equidistantly arranged from adjacent units thereof. Provided is at least one pair of stress units, each pair of stress units being arranged symmetrical about one fiber core unit to form a polarization-maintaining fiber core unit. The fiber core units each include a fiber core and an inner cladding surrounding a core layer. A portion outside the fiber core units and the stress units is the main outer cladding. The fiber can greatly enhance spectral efficiency of an optical transmission system, and improve fiber communication capacity.

With the rise and popularization of large data volume services such as cloud computing, Internet of Things, high-definition televisions, virtual reality and the like, requirements for the transmission capability of fiber communication networks become increasingly higher. By using super-channel multiplexing technologies, the capacity of a single fiber can be increased to above 100 Tb/s, which is close to the Shannon theorem limit of a single fiber. There is thus an urgent need for in-depth researching and developing of ultra-large-capacity fiber communication technologies of high spectral efficiency so as to address the problem of further expanding fiber communication networks. Space division multiplexing (SDM) technologies provide a plurality of independent physical channels for parallel data transmission by using multi-core fibers (MCFs) or few-mode fibers (FMFs) or even multi-core/few-mode combined new type fibers, and can, in conjunction with self-coherent detection, greatly enhance the spectral efficiency of optical transmission systems, improve fiber communication capacity, and reduce cost. SDM technology is therefore considered to be an effective approach to address capacity crisis of single-mode fibers. Compared with larger inter-mode dispersion or inter-mode crosstalk present in few-mode fibers, inter-core crosstalk in multi-core fibers is easier to control. Multi-core fibers are therefore more advantageous in interconnection density, capacity expansibility, and transmission distance. A multi-core fiber based homologous homodyne self-coherent optical communication system can fully exert the advantage of high spectral efficiency of coherent optical communication, and meanwhile simplify DSP process to significantly reduce power consumption. The multi-core fiber based homologous homodyne self-coherent optical communication system is hence a competitive solution for realizing data center interconnection at a rate of 800 Gbps and above across a single wave in a short distance.
In multi-core fiber based self-coherent detection, a fiber typically does not have a polarization-maintaining function (for example, patent CN103399374A), and in practical use, evolution of a polarization state of the fiber is random, which requires additional use of an automatic polarization controller to track the polarization state of local light so as to control polarization of the local light transmitted to a receiving end. This increases power consumption and complexity of the system, and increases processing latency.

Array-type polarization-maintaining multi-core fiber

YANGTZE OPTICAL FIBRE AND CABLE JOINT STOCK LIMITED COMPANY


The pack (10) of tissue paper rolls comprises a plurality of rolls (R) of tissue paper that are arranged adjacent to one another with the respective axes parallel to, or coinciding with, one another, and are wrapped in a plastic film (1). The plastic film (1) laterally wraps the rolls (R) and is arranged with a first and a second longitudinal edge (1.1; 1.2) folded and closed onto two approximately flat opposite surfaces (11, 13), which are defined by bases of the tissue paper rolls. The plastic film (1) comprises a first transverse edge (1.3) and a second transverse edge (1.4) extending from one flat surface to the other. One of said transverse edges is outside the pack and the other is inside the pack. A line-shaped element (3), having a first end and a second end (3A, 3B), is applied to a surface of the plastic film (1). At least one of the ends of the line-shaped element (3) is arranged near, or in correspondence of, the transverse edge (1.4) of the plastic film (1) outside the pack (10).

Tissue paper rolls, such as toilet paper rolls, kitchen towels rolls and the like, are often wrapped in a plastic film, made for example of polypropylene, polyethylene and the like. The film is wrapped around a group of rolls arranged in rows and layers. The film edges are folded and welded to close the pack.
The pack can even contain a high number of rolls, from six to twenty-four. The rolls are ordered in two or more overlying layers, each of which comprises a plurality of adjacent rolls. The rolls are arranged with the respective axes parallel to one another, and the pack has two approximately flat opposite surfaces, onto which the edges of the plastic film are folded and welded.
Opening these packs can be difficult. Once the plastic film has been torn and the first roll has been taken from the pack, the remaining rolls have no longer protection.
A need therefore exists to provide packs of tissue paper rolls of the type described above, that partially or completely overcome the drawbacks of the known packs.

Pack of tissue paper rolls wrapped in a plastic film


A process of manufacturing a laminated product, comprises the steps of: providing a carrier film; coating the film with a lacquer; applying a metal layer to the lacquer on the carrier film; applying a protective coating material to the metal layer; curing the protective coating material using UV-light (or EB radiation); applying a water based adhesive to the protective coating layer; applying a water permeable substrate to the adhesive layer; and removing the carrier film.

Widely used manufacturing process is transfer metallizing. This process employs the stages of coating a carrier film, metallizing the coating, laminating the coated, metallized carrier film to a substrate, and finally removing the carrier film from the substrate. Such a transfer metallizing process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,998. The substrate is adhered to the coated, metallized carrier film by means of a so-called dry adhesive, that is an adhesive which had been dissolved in an organic solvent.
After application of this adhesive, the solvent has to be evaporated by means of drying ovens. Subsequently, the dried adhesive is brought into contact with the substrate, is then allowed to cure in such a way that finally, after the adhesive is hard enough, the carrier film can be removed.
This known process has several disadvantages. First of all, the dried adhesive is not very mobile. This means that it cannot provide good penetration and thereby adherence to a rough surface, such as uncoated paper or board, because it is difficult to penetrate such irregularly shaped surface due to its very high viscosity after evaporation of the solvent.
Moreover the adhesive takes time to harden before the carrier film can be separated from the product. Only after such time has elapsed, is it possible to check whether the bond between substrate and metal layer is strong enough. This of course represents an economic disadvantage.
It is also known to use a so-called wet adhesive, that is a water based adhesive. Such a process is described in GB-A-2006109. The water based adhesive is applied to the coated, metallized carrier film and subsequently the substrate is laminated without drying the adhesive. The substrate must have an absorbent character, such as board or paper, which absorbs the water from the adhesive.
This process has the advantage that the adhesive is hard as soon as the water is absorbed by the substrate. Thereby, the carrier film can be removed even in-line, directly after laminating the substrate. Moreover, relatively cheap uncoated and/or recycled papers and boards can be used in this process, thus giving high quality products with high internal strength at high production speeds, and at low cost.
The disadvantage of this process however is that it cannot provide very good barrier properties, in particular with respect to gasses. First of all, the rough, uncoated surface of the papers and boards used causes the metal layer to become distorted and broken up. Moreover, the papers and boards, due to the composition of cellulose fibers, are greatly affected by changes in humidity. As the humidity increases, the paper or board expands; as the humidity decreases, they contract. As a result, the metal layer is caused to break leading to a loss of barrier properties.

Process of manufacturing a laminated product

Koninklijke Emballage Industrie Van Leer B.V.


Electrical communication between an information handling system chassis having a non-conductive surface and processing components within the chassis is established through the non-conductive surface with conductive elements extending from a conductive pad. A protruding element extending from a conductive pad engages the conductive elements through the non-conductive surface when the protruding element is coupled to a cavity formed in the chassis. Alternatively, the protruding element extends from the chassis to couple to a cavity in the conductive pad. Processing components have electrical communication with the chassis through the conductive pad.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of information handling system chassis, and more particularly to a system and method for electrical communication through a non-conductive information handling system chassis surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems are typically built from a variety of components provided by a variety of suppliers. Generally the components are built into a chassis which serves the dual purpose of protecting the components in a solid structure and providing shielding of electromagnetic radiation produced by the components. For example, a metallic chassis provides support against physical damage that might occur to components if the chassis is dropped or bumped. A metallic chassis also creates a Faraday cage to provide effective containment of electromagnetic radiation generated within the chassis. Often, an information handling system chassis is built from a number of metallic parts that are assembled during the manufacture process. When multiple metallic parts are used to build the chassis, the separate pieces are typically electrically connected with each other in order to provide electromagnetic shielding by the assembled parts. For example, metal grounding clips are connected between different chassis parts so that electrical energy flows between the surfaces of each chassis part.
Information handling system chassis are built from a variety of metals and alloys. One metal that has gained acceptance for use in information handling system chassis is magnesium. Magnesium offers light weight and a hard surface that resists scratches and other damage, qualities that are desirable in portable information handling systems. One disadvantage with magnesium is that it tends to oxidize rapidly. To address oxidation, magnesium chassis components are typically treated prior to painting. Generally, heavy metal passivation techniques have been abandoned in favor of more environmentally friendly techniques, such as phosphate passivation treatment. However, conventional passivation treatment techniques tend to reduce the conductive properties along the surface of the magnesium. For example, one type of passivized magnesium has resistance of approximately 410 Milliohm while unpassivized magnesium has resistance of approximately 5.3 Milliohms. In order to provide effective electromagnetic suppression, a chassis surface should have resistance of less than 30 Milliohms. Although magnesium surface conductivity may be increased by other techniques, such as chromium pickling, plating and spray-on conductive coatings, such techniques tend to be costly and environmentally unfriendly both in the application of the materials at manufacture and the recycling of materials at end of use. Conductive gaskets typically have little success establishing electrical communication with a magnesium chassis. Conductive clips typically need substantial physical force to establish electrical communication and, once established, expose the magnesium surface to oxidation.

System and method for electrical communication through a non-conductive information handling system chassis surface


A metal object is formed by die-casting with the use of a specially treated mold. The mold has cavity-defining surfaces covered by a heat-insulating layer made of a material that includes ceramic powder and heat-resistant resin. Molten metal is injected into the cavity coated with the heat-insulating layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a molding method for making metal castings such as a housing of notebook computers or other electronic devices. The present invention also relates to a die used for implementing such a method.
2. Description of the Related Art
The housing of a mobile electronic device such as a notebook computer, a cellular phone or a PDA should meet several requirements. For instance, the housing should be strong enough to carry the incorporated components safely. Also, the housing should have high thermal conductivity for effective cooling of the incorporated components. Further, to be economical with resources, the housing should be made of a material that can be easily recycled. In light of these, the housing of a recent mobile electronic device is often made of metal rather than resin.
Mobile electronic devices, such as notebook computers and PDAs, need to be small in weight and size for convenience of carriage. Producing a lightweight device needs lightweight components. In a mobile electronic device, the metal housing may often occupy more than 30% of the gross weight, and thus it is important to make the housing lightweight for achieving the total weight reduction of the mobile device. Materials suitable for making such a lightweight housing are light metals, such as magnesium (Mg) and aluminum (Al), or light alloys whose main component is one of these light materials. Among the above-mentioned light metals, magnesium is very popular for producing a metal housing because of its high specific tensile strength, effective heat-dissipating nature (which rivals Al) and low specific gravity, which is about 70% of the specific gravity of aluminum.
As known in the art, various manufacturing methods, such as die-casting and thixo molding, can be employed to form metal housings of electronic devices. By these methods, however, a problem may occur in producing a thin-walled housing. Specifically, to provide a thin-walled housing, the die cavity should be narrow accordingly. Unfavorably, the narrow space of the die cavity may impede the otherwise smooth flow of the supplied molten metal. This is because the molten metal is cooled rather rapidly as it advances in the narrow cavity, and thereby the viscosity of the molten metal becomes unacceptably high before the supplied metal can fill the every part of the die cavity.
As a material for making a metal housing of a portable electronic device, Mg alloy such as AZ91D (9 wt % of aluminum, 1 wt % of zinc 90 wt % of magnesium) is widely used. This material, however, has rather poor fluidity since it was originally developed for forming large and thick-walled parts of an automobile. Therefore, when a thin-walled housing of a portable electronic device is made of such a Mg alloy, unfilled portions often result in the obtained casting. As for notebook computers of A4 and B5 sizes, the housings are expected to have a thickness of no greater than 1.0 mm and 0.7 mm, respectively. By the conventional molding methods, it is difficult to produce such a thin-walled housing from molten Mg alloy.
JP 2001-79645A discloses a method whereby a heat insulating member is provided in the cavity-defining surface for inhibiting thermal conduction from the molten metal to the molding die so that the fluidity of the molten metal is improved. The conventional insulating member, however, needs to be designed specially for the shape of the desired casting (and hence the shape of the die cavity). Due to this, the conventional method is rather costly and makes the resultant molted product expensive.

Metal object forming method and mold used for the same


A computer assisted orthopedic surgery system for ligament graft reconstruction includes a system for obtaining data indicative of a location for ligament graft placement with respect to at least a first bone and a second bone. The system includes a position determining device that is capable of tracking the relative movements of the first and second bones using reference bodies that are attached to the first and second bones and a pointer that has a tip for contacting a surface of at least one of the first and second bones to capture one or more reference points. The system further includes a computer that is configured to determine and track intraoperative positions of the reference bodies and the pointer and to provide isometric and impingement data for a ligament graft placement based on a realistic simulation of a trajectory of a deformable ligament graft.

Injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the most common ligament injury in the knee, resulting in approximately 50,000 reconstructions per year in the United States (Frank: C B, Jackson D W, The Science of reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. J Bone Joint Surg. Am 79: 1556, 1997). Unfortunately, approximately 40% of ACL ligaments are improperly misplaced in surgery, which can result in post-operative knee instability, abnormal kinematics, and premature degeneration of structures.
Misplacements in knee surgery are common because ligament reconstruction is a technically challenging procedure for the surgeon. The knee joint complex is interconnected with several structural ligaments and surrounding tissues, which may or may not be functioning normally at the time of surgery.
Trauma related injuries which cause ACL rupture often entail damage to other structures surrounding the knee joint, such as the medial or the lateral collateral ligaments. Additionally, posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) ruptures or tears can occur and require diagnosis and/or surgical reconstruction. These surrounding structures are also critical for insuring adequate knee function, rotatory stability, and normal kinematics.
Although various clinical tests for assessing knee instability exist, it is extremely difficult for the surgeon to objectively take these results into consideration when determining the optimal course of a ligament graft. In particular, the magnitudes and directions of the laxities and their interrelationships to the underlying anatomical structures can be elusive, with the combined translational and rotational motions of the knee joint. Moreover, these interrelationships may change over the course of the surgery as structures are removed and/or reconstructed.
One method for determining the femoral point of graft attachment during ACL replacement is disclosed in European Patent Application No. 0603089 to Cinquin et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The disclosed method concerns the determination of a femoral point of graft attachment with respect to a tibial graft attachment point such that the distance between these two points remains invariant during knee flexion and extension. The positions within an on-site three-dimensional coordinate system of a reference and a pointer, which are both provided with energy emitting markers, are determined by means of a three-dimensional position measurement system, such as the OPTOTRAK position measurement system, Northern Digital, Waterloo, On. The position measurement system measures the position of the markers with respect to the on-site three-dimensional coordinate system. Therewith, the position of the tip of the pointer is determinable by means of a computer.
The Cinquin method includes the steps of (1) attachment of a first reference at the tibia; (2) positioning of the pointer tip at a previously determined point T1 and measuring the position of the pointer tip with respect to the first reference; (3) positioning of the pointer tip at several points P1 at the trochlea of the femur close to that position where the invariant point is expected; (4) calculation of the distances of point T1 and each of the points P1; (5) displacement of the femur with respect to the tibia and calculation of the variations of the distances between T1 and each of the points P1; and (6) selection of that point P1 among points P1 which shows the most invariant distance.
The Cinquin method assumes that the optimal placement of a graft is determined by a simple isometric elongation criterion which relies on the ligament trajectory following the course of a straight line (i.e. the trajectory is not dependent on the intrusion of the bone surfaces nor the ligament thickness).
Ligament grafts in reality are complex structures that have an appreciable thickness (e.g., 8-10 mm in diameter), which can affect their function and geometry during joint motion. In particular, the course of these ligament bundles is often guided by the curved protruding surfaces on the ends of the femur and on the tibia in the vicinity of the ligament attachment sites. Indeed, the collateral and posterior structures of the knee are known to wrap around the curved bone surfaces of the femur and tibia which can influence the ligament trajectory and elongation patterns during knee motion. As a result, a linear based determination of the isometric elongation characteristics of the ligament is too simplistic and does not account for the realities of a typical operative site where the ligament does not follow a purely linear path.
Another disadvantage of the Cinquin method is that only a normal flexion extension motion of the knee joint kinematics is considered in the determination of the fixation point of the ligament graft, and no consideration is taken for the surrounding structures and their associated laxities.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,082 (which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety) discloses an image-based system and method for computer-assisted ACL replacement in which landmark points are identified on the bones and on medical images of the knee (such as X rays, CT or MRI scans), the images are then registered to the patient, and a drilling tool is then navigated with respect to some "anatomical" graft placement criterion as determined on the medical images. This permits visualisation of the graft fixation points on the bones in the X-ray images, and in relation to the landmark points identified on the images. The disadvantage of this system is that no information or measurements regarding knee motion or laxity is provided. Furthermore, no means are provided for simulating realistic ligament trajectories based on the 3D shapes of the bones and of the ligament geometry such as the graft thickness and length.
Yet another disadvantage of conventional computer positioning systems, such as those described above, is that these systems are based almost entirely on determining optimal isometric coordinate points or locations for determining a fixation point on the femur and a fixation point on the tibia. However, there are a number of other considerations that should or can be taken into account when determining the optimal location of the ligament and for assisting the physician in selecting the appropriate procedure that is to be performed on the patient. For example, knee laxity data can assist the physician in determining the type of procedure to be undertaken; however, this type of data is not utilized in the conventional computer systems, which again, merely utilize isometric data to model a straight line (linear) layout for the ligament.

Computer assisted orthopedic surgery system for ligament reconstruction

Perception Raisonnement Action en Medecine


Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) is the most important commercial tree species in the USA harvested for pulp and solid wood products. Increasing the efficiency of chemical pulping may be achieved through the manipulation of genes involved in the lignin biosynthetic pathway. A null allele of cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) has been discovered in the loblolly pine clone 7-56 which displays altered lignin composition. During identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the cad gene, a two-base pair adenosine insertion located in exon five and unique to clone 7-56 was discovered. The sequence mutation causes a frame-shift predicted to result in premature termination of the protein. For routine detection of the mutation, a diagnostic assay was developed utilising Template-directed Dye-terminator Incorporation and Fluorescence Polarization detection (FP-TDI).

Global consumption of wood products is projected to increase 25% over current levels by 2015 (McLaren 1999). Full citations for the references cited herein are provided before the claims. Forest plantations are increasingly important to meet these global demands because their faster growth rates result in much more harvestable volume per unit area than natural forests (Hagler 1996, Sedjo 1999). Thus, reliance on plantations reduces the need to harvest natural forests, allowing them to be used for other societal purposes. In fact, as little as 5 to 10% of the total area of world's forests would be required to meet global demands for wood products if this area were devoted to fast-growing plantations (Hagler 1996, Sedjo and Botkin 1997). Further, the faster growth rates mean high rates of carbon sequestration that may mitigate the effects of global warming. These facts, coupled with the declining area available for commercial forest harvests due to deforestation and government restrictions, have led to a global effort to increase plantation growth rates per unit area above current values through both classical and new technologies (Fox 2000).
Viewed as an agricultural crop, timber is the single highest-valued crop in the USA and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L) is the most important commercial tree species in the USA. Each year more than 900 million seedlings are used to establish loblolly pine plantations on more than half a million hectares (Pye et al. 1997). The total acreage of the loblolly pine plantation estate is estimated at more than 12 million hectacres (Byram et al. 1999). Loblolly pine is also important for its ecological and biological importance in native forests. Its native range spans 14 states from southern New Jersey south to central Florida and west to Texas. In these natural forests it is the dominant tree species on 11.7 million ha (Baker and Langdon 1990). Thus, loblolly pine is nearly equal in its distribution between native and planted forests totaling 23.7 million hectares. By comparison, the total expanse of plantations of hybrid poplar in the Pacific Northwest is approximately 25,000 ha (Nuss 1999), which is only 0.2% of the area planted in loblolly pine.
Due to its overwhelming commercial importance, tree breeding programs for loblolly pine began in the 1950's, and virtually all forest products companies and state agencies are involved in genetic improvement programs (more than 30 organizations) (Byram et al. 1999, Li et al. 1999). These programs have used classical methods of selection, genetic testing and breeding to make demonstrable genetic progress. Unfortunately the progress is hindered, compared to that in agricultural crops, by the large size and long-lived nature of pines (eight years in field tests to make selections followed by another five or more years to complete breeding). For these reasons, most loblolly pine programs are only in their second or third cycle of breeding after nearly 50 years, when in some crops more than one cycle is completed in a single year.
Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) is the most intensively grown tree species in the USA for pulp and solid wood products with plantations exceeding 12 million hectares. The extraction of lignin from wood during the production of pulp and paper requires the use of costly chemicals that are toxic to the environment. Significant progress towards increasing pulping efficiency has been achieved in poplar through the genetic manipulation of genes involved in lignin biosynthesis (Baucher et al., 1996, Hu et al., 1999; Pilate et al., 2002). One of the key enzymes successfully targeted, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), catalyzes the final step in the synthesis of monolignols by converting cinnamaldehydes to cinnamyl alcohols. Field-grown transgenic poplar with reduced-CAD allowed easier delignification, using smaller amounts of chemicals and yielded more high quality pulp without an adverse effect on growth (Pilate et al., 2002).
A null CAD allele (cad-n1) has been discovered in the loblolly pine clone 7-56 which is heterozygous for the null allele (MacKay et al., 1997). Homozygous seedlings (cad-n1/cad-n1) obtained by selfing, contain between 0-1% of wild type CAD activity (MacKay et al., 1997) and display a brown-red wood phenotype. The expression level of cad transcript in shoot, megagametophyte and xylem tissues was 20 times less in cad-n1 homozygous plants compared to wild type (MacKay et al., 1997).
Deficiency of CAD in cad-n1 homozygotes only slightly reduces lignin content but drastically alters lignin composition (MacKay et al., 1997; Ralph et al., 1997; Lapierre et al., 2000; MacKay et al., 2001). The major lignin composition change was attributed to the incorporation of dihydroconiferyl alcohol (DHCA), a minor component of most lignins, but elevated to levels 10-fold higher in cad-n1 homozygous trees. Coniferaldehyde, the substrate of CAD, and vanillin are also present in increased levels while the coniferyl alcohol component of normal lignin decreased.
The mutation has a variable effect on pulping efficiency, depending on the age of the trees and whether the mutation is present in a homozygous or heterozygous state. In totally CAD-deficient trees (cad-n1/cad-n1), delignification was significantly easier but the pulp yields were relatively low (˜33%) compared to normal trees (48%) (Dimmel et al., 2001). In 4-6 year old partially CAD-deficient trees (heterozygous) delignification increased in efficiency by ˜20% and yields were similar to wild type (Dimmel et al., 2002). In contrast to these younger trees, a small sample of 14 year old partially CAD-deficient trees displayed no major differences in ease of delignification and pulp yield (Dimmel et al., 2002).
In addition to lignin composition changes, the cad-n1 allele appears to be associated with increased stem-growth traits in heterozygous trees (Wu et al., 1999). This growth promotion correlates to an increase in debarked volume of 4-year old trees (14%) (Wu et al., 1999) that is also observed in 14-year old trees (Dimmel et al., 2002). A likely explanation could be that trees harboring the cad-n1 allele may invest fewer resources into the production of monolignols, allowing reallocation of resources towards growth. Promotion of growth was also observed in transgenic poplar with the lignin biosynthetic enzyme 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase (4CL) down-regulated (Hu, et al., 1999).
For the above reasons, it is desirable to be able to select pine trees that harbor the null CAD allele (cad-n1). Traditionally, the mutation has been diagnosed using CAD isozyme analysis on haploid megagametophytes obtained from seed or by using genetic markers closely linked to the mutation (MacKay et al., 1997). These prior art methods are slow and tedious. It takes numerous years for pine tree seedlings to produce suitable seed for CAD isozyme marker analysis. In addition, linked genetic marker analysis is slow and often yields inaccurate results. There is thus a tremendous need to develop methods that allow rapid and accurate identification of pine trees that harbor the null CAD allele (cad-n1).

Compositions and kits for detecting a sequence mutation in cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase gene associated with altered lignification in loblolly pine

The Regents of the University of California

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture


Certain embodiments involve flow-based color transfers from a source graphic to target graphic. For instance, a palette flow is computed that maps colors of a target color palette to colors of the source color palette (e.g., by minimizing an earth-mover distance with respect to the source and target color palettes). In some embodiments, such color palettes are extracted from vector graphics using path and shape data. To modify the target graphic, the target color from the target graphic is mapped, via the palette flow, to a modified target color using color information of the source color palette. A modification to the target graphic is performed (e.g., responsive to a preview function or recoloring command) by recoloring an object in the target color with the modified target color.

Graphics editing software is often used to create or modify digital visual content. These graphics editors are useful for generating creative content, such as artwork. Color schemes or themes provide a medium of expression in an artwork for an artist. A designer working on one piece of artwork could be influenced by a color theme from other artwork (e.g., photographs, moodboards, paintings, drawings, etc.), and may wish to replicate color theme from inspirational pieces in the artwork being created.
However, recoloring artwork can require extensive manual effort, particularly if the artwork being developed includes many different components. Examples of different components include different paths used to depict shapes in vector graphics, different layers in multi-layered images or graphics, etc. Additionally or alternatively, recoloring a particular piece of artwork with the color theme from a different piece of artwork could generate an aesthetically unpleasant result, such that the extensive manual effort involved in the recoloring process must be undone and further revised.

Flow-based color transfer from source graphic to target graphic


A method and machine for wrapping an article, whereby the article is fed through a feed station, where the article is applied with a respective sheet of wrapping material which is folded into an L about the article, so as to have a free edge not contacting the article, and through a follow-up wrapping station, where the sheet of wrapping material is folded about the article to form a tubular wrapping by applying the free edge onto the article; between the feed station and the wrapping station, the free edge of the L-folded sheet of wrapping material is subjected to traction in substantially the opposite direction to the travelling direction of the article by subjecting the first free edge to suction, so as to smooth the sheet of wrapping material onto the article.

A packet of cigarettes is known to be fed through a feed station, where it is applied with a respective sheet of polypropylene overwrapping material, which is folded about the packet into a U- or L-shaped configuration; the packet, together with the respective sheet of overwrapping material, is then fed to a folding station, where the sheet of overwrapping material is folded further about the packet to form a tubular wrapping, which is then stabilized by heat sealing the superimposed lateral portions of the sheet of overwrapping material; and, finally, the tubular wrapping is closed by folding the outer ends of the tubular wrapping onto the packet, and is stabilized by heat sealing the superimposed end portions of the sheet of wrapping material.
Though widely used on machines (known as cellophaning machines) for overwrapping packets of cigarettes, by being easy to implement and permitting high operating speeds, the above wrapping method has been found to result at times in poor-quality overwrapping, by the sheet of overwrapping material about the packet of cigarettes presenting creases which, while not impairing the function of the overwrapping itself, are considered unsightly by consumers.
GB-453165-A1 discloses a wrapping machine of the kind in which an article and a wrapper are moved by an article carrier to a delivery station from a feeding-in station between which and the carrier a wrapper is located, the wrapper being drawn substantially completely around the article during the motion of the latter as it passes from the feeding-in station onto the carrier and to the delivery station. As the article enters the carrier the wrapper is clamped between the article and a backing plunger and is drawn out from under a roll, which serves to keep the wrapper straight irrespective of irregularities in the shape of the article by keeping a proper tension on the wrapper. However, the solution given by GB-453165-A1 for avoiding the formation of creases in the wrapping cannot be implemented in an easy and cheap manner to a modern cellophaning machine for overwrapping packets of cigarettes, due to the high operational speed of such machines.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,580-A1 discloses a method of producing tubular wrappings for parallelepiped products or similar, whereby the products and respective portions of wrapping material are fed successively on to a respective first and second conveyor and fed continuously along a common route, along which each portion of wrapping material is transferred on to the first conveyor by a pair of supports supporting a respective product and supported on and moving with the first conveyor, each pair of supports being rotated for wrapping a respective portion of wrapping material about the respective product and so forming a respective tubular wrapping, the opposite portions of which are overlapped and welded together by a welding device assigned to each pair of supports.

Method and machine for wrapping an article


The invention relates to a small-volume nebulizer with a valve system to provide lung physiotherapy during airway therapy with small-volume nebulizers. The valve system may be incorporated into a small-volume nebulizer. The small-volume nebulizer may be pre-filled with at least one unit-dose of medicine and hermetically sealed until use. The nebulizer may be sealed at the top with a removable cap that may be detached at the time of use and replaced with a patient connector. Likewise, the nebulizer may be sealed at the bottom with a bottom cap that is replaced with a gas source at the beginning of a therapeutic aerosol treatment.

It is estimated that more than thirty million people each year are treated for respiratory diseases such as asthma and cystic fibrosis by aerosolizing medication in disposable, small-volume nebulizers, following which the medicine is then inhaled by a patient as a part of the patient's therapy. Bronchodilators, such as albuterol sulfate or ipratropium bromide, are typically used in order to improve airflow among patients with pulmonary maladies. Additional medicines, used in different forms of therapy or to treat different maladies, are also possible. As used herein, the terms "medicine" and "medication" shall refer to any one or a combination of substances used primarily in patient treatment and specifically excluding substances such as saline solution or water used primarily for the humidification of gases inhaled by a patient.
Pharmaceutical companies originally packaged these medicines in containers that held multiple doses. In order to initiate a patient treatment, the medicine needed to be transferred from the container to the treatment equipment such as a nebulizer. As the containers were repeatedly opened and closed, the medicine was exposed to bacterial contamination. In order to stem bacterial growth, chemicals such as benzalkonium chloride, or BAC, were added. However, it was eventually found that BAC itself may lead to airway constriction. See, Meyer, Harriet, "Antibacterial Agent In Some Asthma Medications Linked To Airway Constriction, UF Scientists Find." UF News, Jan. 11, 2001. Thus, the use of BAC may have negated or at least reduced any positive effect the bronchodilators may have had.
In order to reduce bacterial contamination without adding potentially harmful antibacterial chemicals, pharmaceutical manufacturers began to package respiratory drugs in single-dose or "unit-dose" containers, thus removing the need to repeatedly open a container of medicine to dispense a dose. These unit-dose respiratory drugs are typically packaged in soft plastic containers often formed from low density polyethylene, or LDPE, in order to help control costs and to make the containers easy to open.
Typically, the medication is opened by twisting the top of the unit-dose container until the plastic gives way at a thin portion of plastic at the neck. The medication is then transferred into a disposable nebulizer by aiming the unit-dose container opening at the nebulizer housing opening, squeezing the soft plastic of the container until the contents have emptied, and then disposing of the empty unit-dose container.
However, unit-dose packaging was found to have inherent drawbacks. First, packaging costs increased over the previous bulk packaging due to the fact that each dose necessitated its own container. Second, the mere fact that the medicine must be transferred from a packaging container to a nebulizer or other treatment device is believed to carry an inherent risk of contamination. Further, it was found that LDPE is permeable to chemicals that have moderate to high vapor pressure, such as adhesives, varnishes, inks, and solvents, all of which are typically used in labeling and packaging materials. After it was determined that a number of different inhalation drugs packaged in LDPE unit-dose containers were contaminated with these chemicals, the industry moved away from printed paper-and-ink labels to embossed labeling with raised lettering. See, Grissinger, Matthew, "Errors in the Making: Nearly Unreadable Labeling of Plastic Ampules for Nebulizing Agents." Medication Errors; P&T Journal May 2005; Vol. 30, No. 5, pp. 255-58.
Unfortunately, medication errors due to the poor legibility of embossed lettering on LDPE unit-dose containers have caused great concern in the medical community. See, Grissinger, Id. Drug names, concentrations, lot numbers, and expiration dates are embossed into the containers in the form of transparent, raised letters rendering them virtually impossible to read. This leads all too frequently to administering the wrong drug. Mistakes occur when unit-dose respiratory drugs are stored in refrigerated "respiratory bins" where a number of different drugs are typically placed. The risk of using the wrong medication is also increased when clinicians keep various unit-dose medications in their laboratory coat pockets, which is often the case.
The problem of potential medication errors associated with embossed labeling on unit-dose containers continues. Transferring medication from unit-dose containers takes time, adds to difficulty of use, introduces the potential for contamination during transfer, and runs the risk of under-dosing due to spillage. In addition, there still remains the added packaging cost associated with packaging each dose separately, not to mention environmental concerns associated with the disposal of millions of plastic unit-dose containers. Finally, even though LDPE plastic containers are more malleable than other plastics, these containers are still difficult to open, especially for elderly and arthritic patients.
Thus, there remains a need for packaging system for liquid medicines, which may be clearly labeled without risk of label-chemical contamination, which reduces the risk of contamination during transfer of medication from container to nebulizer, which reduces or eliminates the cost associated with each dose needing its own individual container, which saves the time associated with transferring medication from container to nebulizer, which reduces the need for disposal of millions of plastic unit-dose containers, which reduces the risk of under-dosing due to spillage, and which may still be more easily opened or used by elderly and arthritic patients.
Medical nebulizers are divided into two general categories: 1) large-volume, and 2) small-volume. Large-volume nebulizers are used, most often in hospital settings, to humidify gas, usually oxygen, to a patient. Large-volume nebulizers are utilized to add moisture to otherwise very dry gas by aerosolizing water, usually sterilized water with some mixture of saline in order to mimic the human body's salt content. Large-volume nebulizers often come pre-filled with various mixtures of sterile water and saline. Large-volume nebulizers have a reservoir volume greater than 100 mL. See Bruce K. Rubin & James B. Fink, Aerosol Therapy for Children, in 7 No. 2 RESPIRATORY CARE CLINICS OF NORTH AMERICA: AEROSOL THERAPY, 175, 187 (James B. Fink & Rajiv Dhand eds. 2001).
Small-volume nebulizers, also referred to as "hand-held nebulizers," are used for delivering medication to the lungs. Small-volume nebulizers are powered by high-pressure air or oxygen and are classified as pneumatic jet nebulizers. These devices are used for aerosolized medication therapy in both home and hospital settings. Although small-volume nebulizers are utilized in the delivery of a number of medications from analgesics to antibiotics, they are most often used to administer bronchodilators. Because they are for drug administration rather than humidification, small-volume nebulizers have medication reservoirs of 10 to 15 mL or less.
Small-volume nebulizers have come under scrutiny in recent years because of bacterial contamination. Traditionally, it has been common practice to clean and re-use disposable, single-patient-use, small-volume nebulizers. However, unless the nebulizer is completely sterilized it has been found that these "cleaned" nebulizers run the risk of growing such pathogens as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Haemophilus influenzae, as well as other dangerous organisms. It is believed that contamination of the nebulizer occurs not only in spite of the cleaning, but may indeed be due to the cleaning itself. It is thought that poor cleaning techniques, inadequate drying, and the use of potable water sources may contribute to the contamination. Because of the risk of contamination and the fact that small-volume nebulizers are relatively inexpensive, especially when compared to the cost of nosocomial infections, many hospitals have come to the conclusion that it is safer and more prudent to dispose of the small-volume nebulizer soon after use. For example, it is currently a practice in many hospitals to utilize the same disposable nebulizer for twenty-four hours without cleaning, and then to dispose of it. See, O'Malley, Catherine A, et al. "A Day in the Life of a Nebulizer: Surveillance for Bacterial Growth in Nebulizer Equipment of Children With Cystic Fibrosis in the Hospital Setting." Respiratory Care 2007, Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 258-62.
Respiratory patients are often treated with physiotherapies, physical therapies without medication, for the purposes of opening the airways, assisting in increased bi-level flow to enhance secretion movement, and to strengthen diaphragm muscles. These therapies generally fit into one of two categories depending upon the source of flows and pressures utilized in the therapy. One such category of devices utilizes flow and pressure generated by an external apparatus, such as intermittent positive pressure breathing devices (IPPB) such as the Mark 7®, MetaNeb®, or The Vest®. Each of these devices mechanically generates the flows and pressures necessary for the therapy. This category of device is more costly and intended for patients with a higher acuity level, many of whom do not have the ability to supply their own flows and pressures sufficiently to be effective.
The other category utilizes the flow and pressure generated by the patient. Examples of device in this category are positive expiratory pressure, Aerobika™, and Flutter®. Therapies that depend on flows and pressures created by the patient use either constant or intermittent resistance to the patient's flow. Positive expiratory pressure (PEP) is a constant resistance to patient exhalation, keeping backpressure on airways to keep them open. Some PEP devices also oscillate and are known as "oscillating positive expiratory pressure" (OPEP). Flutter® is another form of OPEP. The devices in this category are usually less costly and intended for those patients with less acuity and still strong enough to supply their own flow for the therapy.
The demands of the healthcare industry require devices and methods that deliver therapies appropriate to the patient's acuity, which cost less, require less time, and maximize efficacy. To this end, there are problems with the scarcity of choices among existing devices and methods for delivering these therapies.
Some small-volume nebulizers generate great variability in particle sizes, or heterodispersal, during the conversion of liquid medication into aerosol. Since various particle sizes tend to deposit in different locations within the lungs, it is desirable to reduce a wide variability of particle sizes to a tighter, more consistent size-range range, making the aerosol more monodispersed.
In addition, small-volume nebulizers waste medication during the exhalation phase of the breathing cycle. The medication is lost during a treatment in relation to the person's inspiratory to expiratory (I:E) ratio which typically ranges from 1:2 to 1:3. That is, if a patient has an I:E ratio of 1:2, for every 1 second the patient inhales 2 seconds are required to exhale. Accordingly, a small-volume nebulizer that creates continuous aerosol only delivers 1 second, or ⅓, of that aerosol to the patient and the remaining 2 seconds, or ⅔, is exhaled into the atmosphere. This waste of medication serves to further escalate the overall cost of healthcare to society.
Some research appears to indicate that healthcare workers, especially nurses and respiratory therapists, have a higher incidence of breathing maladies, such as asthma, than do other professionals. There is concern that these clinicians who work in environments where the delivery of aerosolized medications is commonplace may be put at risk by being forced to breathe the otherwise wasted medication mentioned above that remains suspended in ambient air.
Attempts have been made to create small-volume nebulizers that produce aerosol only during the inspiratory phase of the breath by utilizing complex valve systems that divert a high-pressure source gas away from the aerosolizing chamber. Other attempts to reduce the loss of medication include adding a series of one-way valves and additional reservoirs to retain the aerosol being produced during the patient's expiratory phase so that it can be delivered in a large bolus and the beginning of the next inspiratory phase of breath. Examples of these attempts are to be seen in a breathing circuit apparatus with a 50 cc reservoir (U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,285) and a reservoir bag apparatus (U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,090). However, the complexity of design increases the number parts to be manufactured as well as increasing the labor of assembly, thus increasing the cost of the device from existing small-volume nebulizers. In addition, the additional reservoirs and/or reservoir volume present the problem of additional surface area to which the aerosol can adhere, thus still wasting medication. In addition, the increased complexity and components may increase the likelihood of malfunctions in the operation of the device.
Another problem with delivering medication and non-medication therapies is the paucity of single devices that have the ability to deliver multiple therapies inexpensively. If a patient is deemed to require both medicated aerosol therapy and PEP physiotherapy typically two separate devices must be used. The need to use multiple devices to deliver the therapies results in added cost, added training time, added storage space, and may lead to an increased likelihood of contamination.
Attempts to combine physiotherapy devices and nebulizers, such as an oscillating PEP device (U.S. Pat. No. 8,539,951) and a small-volume nebulizer designed to manufacture aerosol only during inspiration (U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,841), require significant complexity and resulting high cost. In addition, the increased complexity may increase the likelihood of malfunctions in the operation of the device.

Small-volume nebulizers and methods of use thereof


An efficient collator. The collator includes a first mechanism for selectively separating physical output from a device. A second mechanism is coupled to the first mechanism and facilitates angling and/or rotating the first mechanism based on the physical output. In a specific embodiment, the second mechanism includes a controller that generates control signals to control the second mechanism to facilitate automatic positioning of the first mechanism about a curved track.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to systems and methods for organizing output. Specifically, the present invention relates to collators for organizing output, such as printer output.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printers are employed in various demanding applications including mass printing, document publishing, and so on. Such applications often demand specialized mechanisms for organizing printed output, such as print job separators and sorters or collators.
In many printing systems, documents are output to a single output tray. A user then manually sorts or separates printer output by printer job or other criteria. Unfortunately, manual print job separation and output sorting is undesirably tedious for many applications.
To facilitate printer output organization, rear-mounted collators with accompanying print media flippers may be employed. In an exemplary laser printing system with a rear-mounted collator, print media, such as paper, often exits the printer fuser near the top front of the printer and then passes toward the back of the printer. In these systems with rear-mounted collators, print media output from the fuser is then flipped and fed to a collator. The media flipper ensures that the output print media appears properly oriented in the output bins associated with the collator. Unfortunately, media flippers are often expensive, and the rear-mounted collators are often undesirably bulky and lack customizability. In addition, paper trays of rear mounted collators often do not efficiently accommodate lengthy print media, such as legal documents, and may interfere with user-access to printer access doors positioned below the print media output bins.
Alternatively, front-mounted collators are employed. Print media output bins associated with these collators often face toward the rear of the printer to minimize space occupied by the printer. However, the collator blocks user-access to the printer output from the front of the printer, and consequently, printer output must be accessed from the side or rear of the printer, which is less user friendly. For example, to facilitate user-access to the printer output, the printer may require sideways or backward positioning, which is undesirable for certain applications.
Hence, a need exists in the art for an efficient system and method for organizing printer output that facilitates user-access to the printer output and that neither requires a media flipper nor requires sideways or backward printer orientation. There exists a further need for a system that can efficiently organize printer output; efficiently accommodate print media of differing lengths; and allow easy access to printer access doors.

Versatile collator and system incorporating same

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Disclosed is an electronic packaging substrate which includes a sintered ceramic body having at least one internal layer of wiring and at least one cooling channel internal to and integral with the sintered ceramic body for cooling a heat-generating electronic device placed on the sintered body. Also disclosed is a method of making the electronic packaging substrate.

The present invention relates to a multilayer ceramic substrate for packaging semiconductor devices and similar heat generating devices. More particularly, the invention relates to a multilayer ceramic substrate having cooling channels for cooling a semiconductor device, or other similar heat generating device, placed on the substrate.
Multilayer ceramic (MLC) substrates are used for interconnecting a semiconductor device or similar heat generating device (hereafter collectively referred to as semiconductor device(s)) to the next level of packaging such as a board. The MLC substrates provide wiring circuitry which provides for the transmission of signals and power to and from the semiconductor device. In addition, the typical MLC substrate may provide some level of cooling of the semiconductor device via transfer of heat from the semiconductor device through the MLC substrate. It is more usual to provide some external apparatus, such as a cap and heat sink, to remove heat from the semiconductor device. This external apparatus often has internal channels for the flow of a cooling fluid. Numerous proposals have been made for removing the heat generated by semiconductor devices by such external apparatus.
Edmonds et al. IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, 23, No. 3, p. 1057 (August 1980), the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a heat exchange element having internal cooling channels built up on the back of the semiconductor device. Such an arrangement, of course, makes the semiconductor device very expensive and risks damage to the semiconductor device during processing of the heat exchange element. Also of interest is Miller IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, 13, No. 3, p. 610 (August 1970), the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, which discloses a ceramic body having internal channels.
Moulene et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,688, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a temperature controlled platen for supporting, for example, a semiconductor wafer. The platen is made of ceramic and contains a cavity inside the platen. Inside the cavity is a spiral tube which can convey a fluid for heating or cooling the platen.
Bonde et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,311, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a microchannel heat sink which consists of a microchannel layer and a manifold. A thermal fluid is circulated through the microchannels for cooling or heating, for example, an integrated circuit. Walpole et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,910, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, is similar to Bonde et al. in that a microchannel heatsink is disclosed.
Bernhardt U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,515, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a microchannel heatsink permanently bonded to the back of a chip. A cooling fluid circulates through the microchannels to cool the chip.
Bertin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,753, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, discloses a plurality of stacked semiconductor devices wherein the backside of each contains grooves for cooling. The chips are stacked so that the grooved side of the chip is stacked against the active side of the next chip. A cooling fluid may be circulated within the grooves.
All of the above thermal apparatus are separate and apart from the substrate to which the semiconductor device is joined and provide no electrical function with respect to the semiconductor device.
It would be desirable to have a substrate which provides electrical function with respect to the semiconductor device and yet also provides improved cooling to handle the most rigorous cooling requirements for today's high heat-generating semiconductor devices.
Accordingly, it is a purpose of the present invention to have an improved substrate that provides both electrical function and cooling function with respect to a semiconductor device mounted on the substrate.
It is another purpose of the present invention to have an improved substrate that can handle the cooling requirements of high heat-generating semiconductor devices.
These and other purposes of the invention will become more apparent after referring to the following description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Method of forming a multilayer electronic packaging substrate with integral cooling channels

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides a resin composition which can result in a cured film which has chemical resistance, low stress property, and high elongation property even by a heat treatment at a low temperature.

Conventionally, polyimide resins, polybenzoxazole resins and polyamideimide resins, which are excellent in heat resistance, mechanical properties and the like, have been widely used in surface protection films, interlayer insulating films and the like of a semiconductor element of an electronic equipment. When a thin film excellent in heat resistance and mechanical properties is obtained by thermally dehydrating and ring-closing a coated film of a polyimide precursor, a polybenzoxazole precursor, or a polyamideimide precursor, a high-temperature curing at about 350° C. is usually necessary.
In recent years, with the increased integration of semiconductors, the reduction of the thermal load on the semiconductor devices during the production process has been required, and furthermore, the reduction in the warpage of the base wafer due to the thickening of insulating materials has been also required. Therefore, as a material necessary for a surface protection film and an interlayer insulating film, a resin composition which can be cured by a thermal treatment at a low temperature of 250° C. or less and which results in a cured film capable of decreasing the generated stress to the base wafer has been required.
As a resin composition that can be cured by a thermal treatment at a low temperature, a method of introducing a flexible alkyl group, alkyleneglycol group, and siloxane bond into a repeating unit of a resin such as an alkali-soluble ring-closed polyimide or a polybenzoxazole precursor has been proposed (Patent Documents 1 to 4).
Furthermore, in order to obtain a cured film having a high elongation property and a low stress property, a method of using a resin composition containing a phenol resin with a long distance between phenol skeletons or a resin composition further containing a polyimide and other resins in addition to the phenol resin has been proposed (Patent Document 5).
Moreover, in order to obtain a cured film having chemical resistance even by a thermal treatment at a low temperature, a method of using a photosensitive resin composition containing a novolac resin which has a crosslinking group has been proposed (Patent Document 6).

Abstract: The resin composition comprising an alkali-soluble resin (a) which contains a phenol skeleton having a crosslinking group and a phenol skeleton not having a crosslinking group and which has a weight average molecular weight in the range of 1,000 to 50,000, wherein the content ratio of the phenol skeleton having a crosslinking group to the total 100% by mole of structural units of the phenol skeleton having a crosslinking group and the phenol skeleton not having a crosslinking group is in the range of 5 to 90% by mole.


A cover assembly for a beverage container includes a ball and socket assembly having a ball member and a corresponding socket member. The socket member includes extendable arms that engage the ball member. The ball and socket assembly permits the cover to be polyaxially rotated with respect to the beverage container. The cover is rotatable from a closed position, where the cover is seated against the beverage container, to a variety of open positions, where the cover can be rotated out of view from a user drinking from the beverage container. The ball and socket assembly, in addition, may be configured to maintain the cover in a variety of open positions relative to the beverage container without auxiliary support or assistance.

Beverage containers, thermally insulated and other types, have become increasingly popular with the public for use with hot beverages, such as coffee, or with cold beverages. Hot beverages impose the most demanding thermal requirements on a beverage container while cold beverages typically place a lower thermal load on the beverage containers. One type of insulated beverage container has sidewalls manufactured from metal, particularly stainless steel, to withstand the high thermo-mechanical loading. Another type of insulated beverage container is manufactured with a plastic double wall, wherein the interstitial space between the inner and outer walls is filled with air, a foamed material, or some combination thereof.
A conventional beverage container is typically covered with a cover, a lid, a cap, or some combination of the above to reduce heat loss from the container and to reduce the likelihood of the beverage in the container spilling. One example of a beverage container covered with a lid is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,703 to Karp. Karp discloses a travel mug comprising a container and a lid in combination. The container includes a handle and an annular lip extending from an inner surface of the container. The lid includes a body having a perimeter sized to form a seal with a portion of the annular lip. The lid includes a cylindrical well with a vertical dividing wall that permits the lid to be rotated by hand. Two retaining arms extend from the underside of the lid and engage the annular lip to couple the lid with the container. The container includes diametrically opposed gaps in the annular lip that operate as passageways for the retaining arms. The lid, in turn, further includes diametrically opposed notches that are alignable with the gaps in the annular lip to permit drinking from the otherwise sealed container. One drawback of the travel mug described by Karp is that the container must be specially manufactured with dedicated structure (i.e., the annular lip) to engage the arms of the lid.
Another example of a beverage container with a cover is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,951 to Feltman, III, et al. (Feltman). Feltman describes a cover comprising a cap and a lid. The cap includes an inner groove to retain the cap on the container. The lid is rotatably mounted in the cap with a ring fitting that engages a complementary ring in the cap. Yet another example of a beverage container is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,173 to Mason, et al. (a dispensing assembly with two spaced, thermally insulating dispensing members rotatably mounted to one another and where one of the dispensing members engages the beverage container).
In addition, other examples of drinking receptacles with covers, lids, caps, or the like are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,67,748 to Albert (describing a cover with a poppet valve), U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,631 to Albert (describing a cover with a finger-operated valve), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,642 to Nergard (describing a cover with a valve assembly). In these descriptions, the valve is moveable to an open position, which permits removal of the beverage from the container, and moveable to a closed position, which substantially maintains the beverage within the container. In the aforementioned containers, the respective covers, lids, caps, and the like have numerous components generally arranged in a fairly complex assembly. Hence, one drawback of these containers is that the covers, lids, caps, and/or the like include numerous pockets, recesses, corners, and other interstitial zones that are often difficult to clean and thus maintain in a hygienic condition.
Yet another type of beverage container and cover combination is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,763,964 to Hurlbut et al. (Hurlbut) assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Hurlbut describes a lid with a rocker arm that is moveable between an open and a closed position. The lid attaches to the beverage container and includes both drinking and venting apertures and respective basins or recesses formed in the lid. The rocker arm includes venting and drinking seals for sealing the respective apertures in the lid when the rocker arm is in the closed position. The rocker arm is detachable from the lid to facilitate cleaning of the lid and the rocker arm. When drinking a beverage from the container, the rocker arm is rotatable from its closed position to its open position about only a single axis. The cover disclosed by Hurlbut is extremely successful with respect to user ergonomics, hygiene, fluid integrity, etc. However, it is somewhat expensive to manufacture.
Consequently, there is need for a beverage container with a covering device that overcomes at least some of the aforementioned drawbacks.


This invention provides orally administerable pharmaceutical formulations comprising raloxifene, its ethers or esters, or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt thereof, in combination with a hydrophilic carrier composition.

R.sup.2 is hydrogen, C.sub.1 -C.sub.14 alkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 chloroalkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 fluoroalkyl, C.sub.5 -C.sub.7 cycloalkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkoxy, phenyl, or phenyl mono- or disubstituted with C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkoxy, hydroxy, nitro, chloro, fluoro, or tri(chloro or fluoro)methyl;
R.sup.3 is C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl, C.sub.5 -C.sub.7 cycloalkyl, or benzyl; or
a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt thereof; are nonsteriodal antiestrogens and antiandrogens. These compounds are useful in the treatment of mammary and prostatic tumors, and in the treatment of mammary and prostatic fibrocystic disease. The formula I compounds are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,068 (issued Nov. 29, 1983). This patent described the preparation of these compounds, as well as their use for antiestrogen and antiandrogen therapy. The preparation of pharmaceutical compositions for antiestrogenic and antiandrogenic therapy was also described.
Raloxifene, which is 6-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3-[4-(2-piperidinoethoxy)benzoyl]benzo[b]thi ophene, is a particulary useful compound from this series of benzothiophenes. Raloxifene competitively inhibits estrogen action in a number of in vitro and in vivo models. Black, Jones, and Falcone, Life Sci., 32, 1031-1036 (1983); Knecht, Tsai-Morris, and Catt, Endocrinology, 116, 1771-1777 (1985); and Simard and Labrie, Mol. Cell. Endocrinology, 39, 141-144 (1985). This compound also displays some estrogen-like actions in addition to its estrogen-antagonistic effects. Ortmann, Emons, Knuppen, and Catt, Endocrinology, 123, 962-968 (1988). A recent report suggests that raloxifene is useful in the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Turner, Sato, and Bryant, Journal of Clinical Investigation (In Press).
The formula I compounds may be administered as pharmaceutically-acceptable salts. A particularly useful pharmaceutically-acceptable salt of raloxifene is the hydrochloride salt. This salt form is easily prepared by the addition of hydrogen chloride to a solution of raloxifene in an organic solvent, such as tetrahydrofuran or methanol. Aqueous solubility of raloxifene hydrochloride, however, is far below what would be expected for an organic hydrochloride salt containing two phenolic hydroxyl groups. This poor solubility has somewhat limited the bioavailability of this preferred salt form. Another significant barrier to optimum and consistent absorption of raloxifene hydrochloride is its hydrophobicity.

Solid orally administerable raloxifene hydrochloride pharmaceutical formulation