An electrical plug connector, in particular an electrical pin connector socket for the power electronics in the automotive sector, comprising a plug connector body for receiving a contact device and comprising a shield. The plug connector body is designed for introducing into an opening of a housing part of a housing of an electronics unit. The plug connector body is designed in multiple parts and has at least one inner plug connector body and an outer plug connector body, which are positioned on opposite sides of the housing part. The inner plug connector part can be fixed in the housing of the electronics unit independently of the housing part. Securing means connect the plug connector bodies to one another so that the housing part is fixed between the plug connector bodies.

The present invention relates to an electrical plug connector, high-voltage wiring harness, high-voltage system and method for attaching an electrical plug connector.
The invention relates to an electrical plug connector, in particular an electrical multi-pin connector for the electronic power system in the automotive industry.
The invention also relates to a high voltage cable harness comprising an electrical plug connector.
In addition, the invention relates to a high voltage system, in particular for a motor vehicle, comprising an electrical plug connector.
Moreover, the invention relates to a method for attaching an electrical plug connector to a housing part of a housing of an electronic unit, in particular a high voltage battery.
Numerous electrical plug connectors, in particular electrical multi-pin connectors, are known in electronics technology. It is known to use the electrical plug connectors to transmit electrical energy and/or signals with a largest possible band width, in particular to transmit to corresponding mating plug connectors.
Electrical plug connectors comprise contact devices in a variety of embodiments.
Pin contacts are in particular commonplace. Irrespective of the specific type, the different plug connectors are referred to below as electrical plug connectors.
In the case of an electrical plug connector, or an electrical mating plug connector, this can be a plug-in connector, a mounting plug, socket, coupling or an adaptor. The term used within the scope of the invention "plug connector" or "mating plug connector" is representative for all variants.
High demands with regard to their robustness and the reliability of the plug connections are placed in particular on plug connectors for the automotive industry. Thus, a plug connection must be able to withstand high loads for example mechanical loads and also remain closed in a defined manner. It must be ensured that the electrical connection is not unintentionally separated for example during operation of a vehicle. Moreover, the plug connectors must also ensure a faultless transmission of electrical energy, signals and/or data even in contaminated, moist and/or chemically aggressive environments.
It is a priority to ensure safety and reliability particularly in the case of an autonomous operation of vehicles and for assist systems.
Electrical plug connectors, or their plug connector bodies, can be installed on an electrical conductor, a cable harness, a cable or an electrical device such as for example a housing or an electronic or electrical unit.
Special demands are placed on electrical plug connectors in particular also in the high voltage industry. High voltage plug connectors are used in the automotive industry, above all in the case of electric and/or hybrid vehicles, in order to supply a high voltage battery with a charging current or to draw off the stored energy from the battery. Thus, for example for high voltage connections, suitable plug connectors for supply units, such as for example a charging box in a garage or a carport or also in the case of current charging stations, are used in order to supply a high voltage battery of a vehicle with a charging current. In this case, the electrical plug connector must permanently and reliably prevent the penetration of moisture and contaminates and must ensure a faultless transmission of the electrical charging current and where appropriate of other electrical or electronic signals for controlling the charging procedure of the high voltage battery.
Specifically designed electrical high voltage plug connectors are required for the use of electrical plug connectors in order to transmit a comparatively large electrical drive energy (or also braking energy) in the case of electric and/or hybrid vehicles. It is moreover to be taken into consideration that electromagnetic interference signals that are generated by eddy currents and/or switching edges with high D.C. voltages can cause interference in the electronics system in an electronic controller, for example within a motor vehicle. An efficient electromagnetic shield, in particular of the electrical plug connectors. which are used in the high voltage range in motor vehicles, is therefore of advantage in order to avoid controlled units within the vehicle being subjected to interference. Therefore, correspondingly high demands are placed on the shield of the electrical plug connectors.
The electrical plug connectors known from the prior art generally comprise an electromagnetic shield that can be contacted in an electrical manner by a mating plug connector.
It is known from the prior art to screw a plug connector body of an electrical plug connector, which receives a contact device, for example having pin contacts, to a housing part of a housing of an electronic unit, for example of a housing of a high voltage battery. The housing in this case is generally embodied from sheet metal or a cast part. The plug connector body is then screwed directly to the sheet metal in such a manner that a front end of the plug connector body protrudes outward through an opening of the housing part with the result that an electrical mating plug connector can be placed on the front end of the plug connector body. In this case, care is to be taken that the plug connector body of the plug connector is correctly mounted on the housing part so that in particular also the electrical mating plug connector can be connected correctly to the electrical plug connector.
It has proven in practice that the procedure of correctly mounting the plug connector body is complex.
An object of the present invention is to improve the electrical plug connectors known from the prior art, in particular to simplify the procedure of mounting such electrical plug connectors on a housing part of a housing of an electronic unit and to a great extent avoid such electrical plug connectors being incorrectly mounted.
Moreover, an object of the present invention is to provide an advantageous high voltage cable harness.
Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to provide a high voltage system, in particular for a motor vehicle, which renders it possible to perform the mounting procedure in a simple and reliable manner.
In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide an advantageous method that is simple and reliable for attaching an electrical plug connector to a housing part of a housing of an electronic unit, in particular of a high voltage battery.
The electrical plug connector, in accordance with the inventions comprises a plug connector body for receiving a contact device. Moreover, a shield is provided in particular in order to shield electromagnetic interference signals. The plug connector body is embodied so as to be inserted into an opening of the housing part of a housing and electronic unit.
The electrical plug connector is preferably an electrical multi-pin connector. Electrical multi-pin connectors are known inter alia in the automotive industry.
The electrical plug connector is provided in particular for the electronic power system in the automotive industry. However, the invention is not limited thereto. Fundamentally the electrical plug connector in accordance with the invention can be used advantageously within the entire field of electrical engineering or in the entire field of electronic engineering.
The electronic unit is preferably a high voltage electronic unit, in particular a high voltage battery.
It is provided in accordance with the invention that the plug connector body is embodied in multiple parts and comprises at least one inner plug connector body and an outer plug connector body that are positioned on opposite-lying sides of the housing part. The inner plug connector body can be fixed in the housing of the electronic unit independently from the housing part. Moreover, attachment means are provided in order to connect the plug connector bodies to one another in such a manner that the housing part is fixed between the plug connector bodies.
Fundamentally it is also provided that the inner plug connector body, in addition to being attached to the housing part, is also attached to at least one further section of the housing.
The solution in accordance with the invention renders it possible to connect the plug connector body in a simple and reliable manner to the housing part of the housing of the electronic unit. It is consequently realised in a simple manner that the electrical plug connector body is positioned in a defined manner such that an electrical mating plug connector can be connected in a reliable and safe manner to the electrical plug connector.
The inner plug connector body can be attached in the housing in an arbitrary manner, preferably by means of a screw connection or corresponding screw sites.
It is advantageous if the inner plug connector body is initially fixed in the housing of the electronic unit and then the housing part that is preferably embodied as a cover is placed thereon.
In this case, the inner plug connector body and the housing part that is provided with the opening are positioned in such a manner with respect to one another that the housing part, which is embodied in particular as a cover, can be placed in a suitable manner on the housing so that the inner plug connector body protrudes outward from an inner chamber of the housing. Subsequently, the outer plug connector body is placed on the outer face of the housing part in such a manner that the inner plug connector body can be connected to the outer plug connector body with the aid of the attachment means, whereby the housing part which is located between the two plug connector bodies is also fixed in place.
It is preferred that the attachment means is embodied so as to be releasable.
It is preferred that the attachment means are embodied separately from the outer plug connector body. The outer plug connector itself is consequently not an attachment means within the scope of the invention, in particular it is not a union nut.
In a particularly advantageous configuration it is provided that the attachment means are embodied as screw connections.
It can be provided in accordance with the invention that one of the plug connector bodies comprises at least two, preferably four, sockets, preferably threaded sockets, which are arranged in a symmetrical manner around a central axis of the plug connector and the corresponding plug connector body comprises two, preferably four, through-going holes that are arranged in a symmetrical manner around the central axis of the plug connector, wherein the attachment means are embodied as connection elements, preferably embodied as threaded bolts, in order to connect the plug connector bodies to one another.
In the case of this configuration, it is preferably also provided that the housing part comprises holes that are accordingly aligned with the sockets or with the through-going holes and the connection elements can be inserted through said holes in order to connect the plug connector bodies to one another, preferably by means of a screw connection.
This configuration renders it possible to connect the plug connector bodies to one another in a reliable manner in particular by means of a screw connection and to fix them to the housing part.
In a particularly advantageous manner, the electrical plug connector is not only particularly reliably fixed in place as a result of this configuration but rather it can also be released as required.
It is preferred that the inner plug connector body comprises the sockets, in particular threaded sockets, and the outer plug connector comprises the through-going holes for the attachment means.
Moreover, it is provided in accordance with the invention that the shield comprises a cylindrical section and multiple shield tabs that adjoin the cylindrical section. In this case, the shield can be arranged and embodied in such a manner that it surrounds the contact device preferably in a coaxial manner.
It is preferred that the shield is arranged in a symmetrical and concentric manner around the central axis of the plug connector.
It is further preferred that the shield is connected to the inner plug connector body or represents a component of the inner plug connector body.
Moreover, the shield can be embodied in such a manner that the shield tabs that adjoin the cylindrical section of the shield are suitable for connecting to an electrical mating plug connector with the result that if the electrical plug connector is plugged together with the mating plug connector a continuous shielding arrangement is provided.
It is preferred that four to twenty-four, it is further preferred six to eighteen and it is more particularly preferred nine to fifteen, and most particularly preferred twelve, shield tabs are provided distributed uniformly around the central axis of the plug connector. It can be provided that the shield tabs are embodied in a resilient manner, in particular in the radial direction, in order to produce a reliable connection to the shield of the electrical mating plug connector.
It can be of advantage if the shield tabs comprise radially protruding contact sites that are positioned in such a manner that the radially protruding contact sites make contact with the housing part in the region of the opening.
It is preferred that the radially protruding contact sites contact the housing within the opening or on an inner wall of the opening.
The radially protruding contact sites improve the electrical connection between the shield and the housing part and consequently also between the shield and the entire housing of the electronic unit.
The housing part and/or the housing of the electronic unit can be embodied preferably from metal, in particular from sheet metal. The housing part and/or the housing can however for example also be embodied as a cast part or cast housing.
Fundamentally, the outer plug connector bodies can also comprise a shield.
The shield can be used in particular for protecting the environment of the electrical plug connector from the electromagnetic fields that are output by the electrical plug connection. The shield can be used so as to improve the electromagnetic compatibility and in addition to ensure the interference-free signal transmission and processing of further electronic components, in particular also of the control units, which are installed in particular in a motor vehicle. Particularly if the plug connector in accordance with the invention is used for transmitting high frequency signals, it is however also possible for the shield to contribute to shielding the signal transmission by means of the plug connector from external interference sources in order to improve the transmission.
It is possible in accordance with the invention to provide that the contact device is received in the inner plug connector body, preferably connected in a positive-locking manner to the plug connector body, in particular clipped therein.
However, it is fundamentally possible for the contact device to be connected to the inner plug connector body in an arbitrary manner, for example also in a non-positive-locking manner and/or positive-locking manner. A positive-locking connection has however proven to be especially suitable particularly in the automotive industry.
A positive-locking connection of the contact device to the inner plug connector body can preferably be provided by virtue of the fact that the inner plug connector body comprises latching hooks, which latch into suitable mating elements of the contact device in such a manner that the contact device that is inserted into the inner plug connector body can no longer be drawn out in the opposite direction to the direction of insertion. For this purpose, the contact device can comprise shoulders, steps or protrusions that correspond accordingly with the latching hooks. It can be of particular advantage if the shoulders, steps or protrusions, with which the latching hooks correspond, are embodied on the current connections of the plug connector body since these have a correspondingly high degree of stability.
Naturally, other configurations are also possible here, in particular it is possible to also provide that the contact device comprises latching hooks and the inner plug connector body comprises accordingly corresponding mating elements.
It can be provided in accordance with the invention that the contact device comprises at least one, preferably two or four or more inner conductor parts that are preferably embodied as pin contacts. However, it is fundamentally possible for the contact device to comprise an arbitrary construction in order to transmit electrical energy or signals at any frequencies and at arbitrary data rates, preferably with a largest possible band width.
The solution in accordance with the invention is suitable in a particular manner for transmitting electrical current, for example for charging a battery. For this purpose, it is provided that the inner conductor parts are used to supply the current. It can be provided that in the case of a configuration having two inner conductor parts one inner conductor part lies against the electrical negative terminal or the earth and the other inner conductor part lies against an electrical positive terminal of the supply voltage. In the case of a configuration having four inner conductor parts, it is possible preferably to provide that the inner conductor parts are each positioned in pairs in such a manner that one pair of inner conductor parts is connected to the electrical negative terminal and one pair of inner conductor parts is connected to the electrical positive terminal of the supply voltage in such a manner that in each case one inner conductor part of a corresponding mating plug connector can be inserted in each case between a pair of inner conductor parts of the electrical plug connector. This produces a particularly reliable transmission of the currents.
It is fundamentally also possible to provide that the contact device is embodied in a bipolar or multipolar manner or that the contact device is divided into multiple part contact devices.
The inner conductor parts of the contact device can preferably be embodied for transmitting a high voltage and consequently can be embodied as high voltage inner conductor parts. The voltage that is provided for transmission can be for example 220 Volt, preferably 400 Volt, but also higher, for example also 110 to 1000 Volt, preferable 400 to 1000 Volt.
The contact device is preferably provided as a contact device for transmitting currents in electric and/or hybrid vehicles, in particular for providing the drive power and/or for charging the battery, in particular of a high voltage battery by virtue of using the braking energy (recuperation) or by means of external current sources.
It can be of advantage if the contact device is embodied as a high voltage contact device and the inner conductor parts are embodied as high voltage inner conductor parts.
Moreover, it is of advantage if the contact device comprises an HV-interlock for monitoring that the plug connector is correctly connected to an electrical mating plug connector.
The HV-interlock is preferably embodied so as to monitor that the electrical plug connector is correctly connected to the mating plug connector in the high voltage current circuit with the aim of preventing an electrical hazard due to unintentional, improper or any other variations of separation of the current circuit of an electronic power system in particular of a high voltage system in the automotive industry. In order to realise this the electronic power system can preferably comprise a safety circuit. In this case, this can be a current circuit to which is applied for example a 12 Volt on-board voltage and which runs from the electrical plug connected to the electrical mating plug connector. If the current circuit of the safety circuit is interrupted due to one of the plug connections being pulled apart, then this is recognized by a control unit. The control unit can then open a high voltage main relay or the like and disconnect the electronic power system, in particular the high voltage system. The fundamental construction of an HV-interlock for monitoring the correct plug connection is known.
Moreover, it is provided in accordance with the invention that the plug connector bodies of the electrical plug connector comprise a positioning device such that the plug connector bodies (in other words the inner plug connector body and the outer plug connector body) can only be connected to one another in a defined orientation.
It is preferred that the positioning device is embodied in such a manner that the plug connector bodies can only be connected to one another in precisely a specific orientation. However, it is fundamentally conceivable to also configure the positioning device in such a manner that the plug connector bodies can be connected to one another in two or also more defined orientations. It is however of advantage, particularly for realizing an electrical plug connection for the electronic power system in the automotive industry or electronics industry, to configure the positioning device in such a manner that the two plug connector bodies of the plug connector can only be connected to one another in precisely one specific orientation.
The positioning device can be configured in such a manner that one of the plug connector bodies comprises one or multiple positioning lugs or corresponding protrusions and the other plug connector body comprises accordingly correspondingly arranged positioning grooves, springs and or recesses. In this case, the plug connector bodies can preferably be configured in such a manner that they can only be connected to one another if the positioning device is appropriately oriented, in particular in such a manner that the positioning lugs of one plug connector body are aligned with the positioning groves of the other plug connector body. It is preferred that the plug connector bodies are connected to one another due to a movement that runs parallel to the central axis of the electrical plug connector. The plug connector bodies are preferably plugged one onto the other.
It has proven to be particularly suitable if the plug connector bodies comprise one, two, three, four or even more pairs of positioning lugs/positioning grooves which are arranged in such a manner that the plug connector bodies can be connected to one another preferably only in specifically one orientation. It is thereby realized that the plug connector bodies can only be connected to one another in the predetermined orientation and the connection is accordingly performed in a reliable manner and by means of the positioning device.
The positioning grooves or the positioning lugs can each be embodied on one of the plug connector bodies. The other plug connector body is then configured accordingly in a corresponding manner. However, combinations are also possible, in other words that both plug connector bodies comprise both positioning grooves and also positioning lugs.
In one development of the invention, it has been shown that it can be of advantage if the inner plug connector body comprises one or multiple positioning grooves and the outer plug connector or body comprises corresponding positioning lugs. The positioning grooves in the inner plug connector body preferably run in the axial direction and preferably in such a manner that they run between two shield tabs. It is preferred that one, two, three, four or multiple positioning grooves are provided that run in each case between two shield tabs.
It can be of advantage if the plug connector having an electrical mating plug connector a coding device is embodied in such a manner that the plug connector and the mating plug connector can only be connected in a defined orientation.
It is preferred that the coding device is embodied as a mechanical coding device. However, fundamentally a magnetic coding device or a combination thereof is also possible. In this case, it is also possible to provide a crude mechanical guidance and a fine magnetic guidance in order to connect the electrical plug connector to the electrical mating plug connector in a particularly comfortable and reliable manner.
It is preferred that the part of the coding device that is allocated to the electrical plug connector is embodied at a suitable site on the outer plug connector body, preferably on an axial end of the outer plug connector body that is remote from the inner plug connector body. The electrical mating plug connector is preferably embodied accordingly in a corresponding manner. The coding device can comprise one, two, three or more pairs of coding elements/coding mating elements which must be oriented accordingly in a corresponding manner so that electrical mating plug connector can be connected to the electrical plug connector.
It is preferred that the coding device is configured in such a manner that the electrical plug connector on the electrical mating plug connector can only be connected to one another in precisely one orientation. However, it is fundamentally also possible that the coding device renders it possible to provide a connection in two, three, four or more, defined orientations.
However, if the electrical plug connector and the electrical mating plug connector are used for the electronic power system in the automotive industry and/or electronics industry, it is suitable in a particular manner if the electrical plug connector can be connected to the electrical mating plug connector in precisely one orientation or in a maximum two orientations.
It can be provided in accordance with the invention that the plug connector comprises a guide that is embodied in a part annular manner and is embodied in order to render it possible to provide a particularly robust connection of the plug connector to a mating plug connector that comprises a 45° dismount facility to a 135° dismount facility, preferably a 90° dismount facility.
A reliable and robust contact between the electrical plug connector and the mating plug connector is of particular importance particularly in the case of plug connections that are used in the electronic power system in the automotive industry. It has proven to be particularly suitable if the guide is embodied in particular as a guide ring on the electrical plug connector in order to attach the electrical mating plug connector in a reliable manner.
The guide can preferably be embodied on the outer plug connector body. Insofar as the mating plug connector comprises a dismount facility that runs parallel to the longitudinal axis of the electrical plug connector or to the direction of the plug-in direction, the electrical plug connector can also comprise a guide that is embodied in a closed, annular manner.
In one advantageous development of the invention, it is possible to provide that the electrical plug connection comprises a toothing arrangement that is provided so as to connect with a corresponding toothing arrangement of the mating plug connector. In this case, the toothing arrangement can be embodied as a toothed ring, as a part ring or by means of multiple annular segments. If the toothing arrangement is embodied as annular segments, it is possible to provide multiple annular segments that cooperate with accordingly corresponding annular segments of the electrical mating plug connector in order to realize a preferably positive-locking toothing arrangement in such a manner that the toothing arrangement prevents the electrical mating plug connector rotating on the electrical plug connector.
It is preferred that the contact device comprises two current connections that supply the inner conductor parts accordingly with current (for example positive/negative connections or phase/neutral conductors). In this case, it can be preferably provided that each of the two current connections is connected to an inner conductor part or to a pair of inner conductor parts between which a corresponding inner conductor part of an electrical mating plug connector can then be inserted.
It can be provided that the current connections comprise a different length, in other words spaced at a different distance from the inner plug connector body in the axial direction with the result that the current cable can be connected in a simple manner. The current connections can preferably comprise in each case a hole for connecting a current cable, wherein the current cable leads preferably to a battery, in particular a high voltage battery, in particular of a motor vehicle.
It can be of advantage if the sockets, preferably the threaded sockets of one of the plug connector bodies and/or the through-going holes of the other plug connector body are provided with a seal, preferably an O-ring that adjoins the hole in the housing part. As a consequence, in particular for the automotive industry, an important sealing arrangement is realized that safeguards use in a moist, contaminated and/or possibly chemically aggressive environment.
It is preferred that seals, in particular O-rings, are only provided on the sockets, in particular on the threaded sockets, which are preferably realized on the inner mating plug connector body.
Moreover, it can be of advantage if there is provided on the inner face and/or on the outer face of the housing part a seal, in particular a sealing ring, which seals the opening in the housing part with respect to the adjoining plug connector body. The adjoining plug connector body and/or the housing part can if appropriate comprise for this purpose a depression into which the seal, in particular the sealing ring, is placed at least in part. The seal, in particular the sealing ring, is preferably provided between the housing part and the outer plug connector body. As a consequence, the opening in the housing is reliably sealed with respect to a possibly contaminated, moist or chemically aggressive environment.
The electrical plug connector in accordance with the invention is embodied in particular as a two-part multi-pin connector for attaching to a housing, in particular to a sheet metal housing.
The plug connector, in particular the contact device, comprises preferably an essentially round cross-section. It is preferred that the electrical plug connector is constructed with a cross-section that is to a great extent or essentially symmetrical insofar as the functions render this possible. However, different cross-sections, in particular square cross-sections or rectangular cross-sections, are also possible.
The invention also relates to a high voltage cable harness comprising an electrical plug connector in accordance with above embodiments and a pre-fabricated cable having a corresponding electrical mating plug connector.
The invention relates moreover to a high voltage system, in particular for a motor vehicle, comprising an electrical plug connector, a housing of a high voltage electronic unit, in particular of a high voltage battery, having a housing part to which the electrical plug connector is fixed and having an electrical mating plug connector for connecting to the electrical plug connector.
Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for attaching an electrical plug connector to a housing part of a housing of an electronic unit, in particular of a high voltage battery. wherein a contact device, that is provided with a shield is inserted into an inner plug connector body of the plug connector, following which the inner plug connector body is positioned and fixed in the housing in such a manner that a housing part of the housing that is provided with an opening can be placed on the inner plug connector body in such a manner that a front part of the inner plug connector body penetrates the opening in the housing part outward from the inner chamber of the housing, wherein the housing part is embodied as a cover of the housing and following this an outer plug connector body that corresponds to the inner plug connector body is placed on an outer face of the housing part and screwed to the inner plug connector body in such a manner that the housing part is fixed between the two plug connector bodies.
The method in accordance with the invention renders it possible to mount the electrical plug connector in a particularly simple manner and a robust and reliable connection to a housing part of a housing of an electronic unit is produced.
The inventors have recognized that it is of advantage if initially an inner plug connector body that is provided with the contact device is fixed in the housing and the housing part which is preferably the cover of the housing is subsequently placed on. The cover of the housing is placed on in such a manner that an opening that is provided in the cover is placed on the inner plug connector body.
It is preferred that this is performed in such a manner that a shield of the plug connector body produces an electrical connection to the cover. The shield is preferably configured as has been already described above or as will be described below, in particular contact sites can be provided.
Subsequently, the outer plug connector body can then be placed on the outside on the cover and fixed to the inner plug connector body using attachment means. As a consequence, the cover that is located between the inner plug connector body and the outer plug connector body is fixed in place. The method in accordance with the invention renders it possible to mount the plug connector body in a reliable and robust manner. Such a method is suitable for electrical plug connectors for the electronic power system in the automotive industry, in particular for a high voltage cable harness and quite particularly preferred for a high voltage system of a motor vehicle.
Features that have already been described in the context of the electrical plug connector in accordance with the invention can naturally also be advantageously workable for the high voltage cable harness, the high voltage system and the method in accordance with the invention—and conversely. Moreover, advantages that have already been mentioned in the context of the electrical plug connector in accordance with the invention can naturally also be understood with regard to the high voltage cable harness, the high voltage system and the method in accordance with the invention—and conversely.
In addition, reference is made to the fact that terms such as "including", "comprising" or "having" do not exclude other features or steps. Moreover, the terms "a" or "the" that refer to a single number of steps or features do not exclude multiple features or steps—and conversely.
One exemplary embodiment of the invention is explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Electrical plug connector, high-voltage wiring harness, high-voltage system and method for attaching an electrical plug connector

Rosenberger Hochfrequenztechnik GmbH & Co. KG


A non-woven material including first effect fibers, first binder fibers, second binder fibers, and optionally second effect fibers. The non-woven material has a first planar zone and a second planar zone. The first planar zone includes a greater concentration of first effect fibers and first binder fibers. The second planar zone includes a greater concentration of second effect fibers and second binder fibers. The first planar zone can include a first surface skin associated with the first planar zone on the exterior of the non-woven material, and a second surface skin associated with the second planar zone on the exterior of the non-woven material. The non-woven material has a woven, knitted, or non-woven layer added on either one or both sides of the non-woven material.

The present invention generally relates to non-woven materials with a voluminous z direction component which have a surface skin and a woven, knitted, or non-woven layer added on either one or both sides of the voluminous non-woven.
There are a number of products in various industries, including automotive, office and home furnishings, construction, and others; that require materials having a z-direction thickness to provide thermal, sound insulation, aesthetic, and other performance features. In many of these applications it is also required that the material be thermoformable to a specified shape and rigidity. In the automotive industry these products often are used for shielding applications such as noise and thermal barriers in automotive hood liners and firewall barriers. These automotive materials may or may not have an aesthetic cover material incorporated into the part, which can also protect the core from abrasion, etc. In home and office furnishing, and construction applications these materials are often used as structural elements to which exterior decorative materials might be added. Additionally, these and other industries require that the materials deliver these properties in a cost effective manner.
Often the barrier properties are best accomplished by using specialty fibers and or materials that generate a high level of performance, but also introduce significant cost to the substrate. Especially in a voluminous thickness substrate, the introduction of even a small percent of these materials into the shield material can introduce a significant level of cost to the overall substrate. For this reason composites having specialty surface layers are often used to provide these barrier properties. An example would be a thin layer of high cost but highly effective specialty material laminated to a voluminous lower cost core material. While the resulting composite costs less than more homogenous composites, there are disadvantages such as the need for additional processing steps and the potential delamination of the skin layer.
The present invention is an alternative to the prior art. It is a non-woven material with different functional zones to provide various desired properties of the material localized to the vertically oriented zones where required. Low melt fibers that can be used to construct a "skin" on one, or both, planar sides of the non-woven material can be localized to the sides of the material specifically. The formation of this skin and the addition of woven, non-woven, and knitted fabric layers can provide a barrier between the atmosphere and the interior of the non-woven material, can provide a smoother more aesthetically pleasing surface, and can improve other performance features such as abrasion, sound absorption, and rigidity. The invention has superior molding performance because the low melt fibers can be not only optimized in quantity for superior performance, but can also be localized to optimize performance for specific mold design. This forms an I-beam like structure, giving rigidity and strength to the composite. Superior acoustic properties can be achieved by creating a distinct skin and additional fabric layers on the surface zones of the non-woven material with a lower air permeability than the core. By using low melt fibers of the same chemical nature as the voluminous core, an essentially single recyclable material can be achieved. All of these benefits are achieved at competitive costs and weight compared to the existing products.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Film scanner apparatus for a photographic printer system in which the film scanner is provided with reflection and transmission densitometry capability using a single light source for film scanning as well as both transmission and reflection densitometry.

In the photofinishing art, reflection and transmission densitometry is conventionally employed for calibration of the photofinishing system. In one known printer system, depicted in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,710--Beaulieu et al, a photographic film scanner is provided that employs a single light sensor, or detector, for both the negative scanning and densitometry functions. However, two light sources are used in the disclosed scanner arrangement. One light source is used for scanning color negatives and for transmission densitometry measurements and a separate light source is used for reflection densitometry measurements. The use of two separate light sources is disadvantageous since it increases parts cost, power source requirements and space allocation and also requires the use of two separate sets of optical filters. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a photographic film scanner system that employs a single light source for both negative scanning and transmission/reflection densitometry.

Photographic scanner apparatus with reflection and transmission densitometry


The present invention is a method and system for enabling farmers and producers to record, store and retrieve information about production data related to farming to utilize in managing crops and evaluating crop yield and characteristics.

The present invention relates to a method and system for enabling farmers and producers to record, store and retrieve information about production factor data. More specifically, the system and method of the present invention manages data related to farming that can be used in managing crops, evaluating yields and tracking crop characteristics.
Numerous production factors such as tillage practices, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers, soil conditions and weather conditions can influence crop yield and characteristics. Farmers can better manage the crop and perhaps increase crop yield and certain characteristics of the crop, such as increased oil content or sugar content, if they can evaluate a wide variety of production factors data on a current and historical basis. Presently, monitoring of the production factors on a farm is difficult, time consuming and, in most cases, not very cost effective. In order to attempt to record data about production factors for purposes of managing farm practices and evaluating crop yield and characteristics, farmers or producers have to physically enter information, i.e., data, onto an item such as a notepad or notebook each time the farmer or producer encounters a production factor. During the life cycle of a crop, dozens to perhaps hundreds of various production factors occur that need to be recorded to create an accurate history of the various production factor events that may influence crop yield and characteristics. The process of recording and organizing all of this information physically by hand is a daunting task. Many farms are spread across hundreds, even thousand of acres of land. Farmers cannot physically travel during a day to inspect every field, worker and piece of equipment on the farm. In addition, activities such as spraying pesticides, herbicides and fungicides are conducted by independent contractors. Furthermore, dozens to perhaps hundreds of workers may perform activities on a regular basis that can influence crop production. To accurately record the hundreds of various potential production factors, farmers must be able to record the factors out in the field. Waiting to record information when a farmer returns to the office is not practical as there are simply too many events to accurately remember. In addition, because farmers cannot observe all production factors, they will have to depend on numerous workers to relay production factor information. Thus, not only is the sheer number of production factors nearly impossible to record, the likelihood of a significant error occurring is almost a certainty. Currently, to record information out in the field, farmers must use notebooks or notepads. Separate files, however, whether they be charts, documents, spreadsheets or notebooks, are needed for each production factor, e.g., a notebook for rain, one for pesticides, one for herbicides, and so on. The practicality of the notepad is restricted by location and weather. During inclement weather, the notebooks can be damaged. In addition, compiling the hand recorded information into a meaningful and useful product after the crop is harvested is extremely difficult.
Because of the high cost in both time and money in monitoring production factors for a specific crop, a producer or farmer is normally limited, or restricts himself, to collecting data on a minimal sample basis. That is, in order to gather data regarding production factors influencing a crop, the farmer will limit his data collection to historical data about only a few production factors. Similarly, the producer will normally select only one or two farms in an area to be evaluated. This limitation results in the farmer not being able to monitor a wide range of production factor data. In addition, because of the limitations of the current recordation methods, it is not possible for a farmer to acquire real-time or near real-time information about the production factors in an efficient fashion other than walking outside and looking at the crop in the field. Even this practice is limited, because a farmer usually cannot observe such factors as soil moisture content or herbicide and pesticide application by simply viewing a crop. Thus, current information about various production factors such as, for example, percent water content in the soil, availability of labor and equipment, and information about the most recent pesticide, herbicide or fungicide application is not readily available to a farmer. Current availability of this information would allow a farmer to quickly evaluate whether irrigation, tilling or spraying is necessary and what the cost would be to the farmer. It would be very desirable to evaluate these conditions without the need of the farmer having to make the numerous inquiries, investigations and assumptions that now have to be made in order to acquire the same information on production factors. Under current production factor recordation systems, the producer is not able to evaluate crop yield and characteristics on a farm-by-farm basis for an entire region. Because of this limitation, a producer is unable to make concise conclusions and strategic responses regarding the impact of various production factors on crops in a specific geographic region.
The conventional means of recording equipment use and labor and production factors potentially influencing a crop, set forth above, are not desirable. In addition, the conventional means of recording production factors do not provide a farmer or producer with the ability to acquire current information about the wide variety of production factors on a near real-time basis. As mentioned, the present method of physically recording data on a notebook or notepad is laborious, error-prone, time-consuming, costly and ineffective. The conventional methods of recording data are also not practical to use in situations where there is inclement weather. In addition, because of the difficulties in recording and organizing the data, the information collected is not of a quantity or quality that allows for a farmer or producer to evaluate production factor data on a near real-time basis or evaluate and compare crop yields and characteristics.
In view of these difficulties, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for recording production factor data that does not require manual entry of information on notebooks or notepads. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and system for recording production factor data that allows an operator of the system to acquire near real-time information about the production factors. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and system for recording production factor data that allows a farmer to provide access to production factor data out in the field. It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method and system for recording production factor data that can record hundreds and even thousands of pieces of information by a single operator of the system.

Method and system for enabling use of current information about farming data


An electronic image evaluating device includes at least one area sensor that is provided with a plurality of photosensitive pixels. Each of these pixels will emit an electric output signal in response to the light input signal that it receives. The intensity of the electric output signal correlates with the light input signal. This electric output signal is evaluated in an evaluation unit as image information. The pixels of the area sensor can be controlled and evaluated individually, or in groups. Any sector of the maximum monitorable scanning area can be selectively evaluated.

Electronic image evaluating devices for checking printed products are known, with which evaluating devices defined features of a printed product can be recorded and evaluated. Normally, individually adapted sensors or cameras are used for checking these special features. Since the position of these features, or the number of features to be evaluated can be basically arbitrary, the number and positioning of the appropriate sensors or cameras of the image evaluating device must be adapted correspondingly. Therefore, when using such camera or sensor systems adapted to individual features, it is necessary for the individual sensors or cameras to be adjustably situated so that they can be positionable above various positions of the features to be evaluated.
Measuring or dependable assessment of the features to be evaluated requires a fixed scale of both image dimensions. The fixed scale can only be assured by recording an image by the use of area image sensors, because the image sensor area itself constitutes this spatial interrelation of the imaged objects with respect to each other. In line camera systems, the spatial interrelation of the imaged objects is not assured with the required dependability because of the chronological synchronization of the image lines, which cannot always be maintained.
US 2002/0018600 A1 describes an image scanner, whose sensor field is selectively read out.
DE 41 36 461 C2 discloses a device for inspecting large areas of printed products. This device uses several parallel operated area sensors.
WO 00/42381 A1 describes an image evaluating device with an area sensor having a plurality of light-sensitive pixels. The pixels can be individually evaluated, so that freeely selectable segments can be selectively evaluated.
EP 809 395 A2 discloses a method for operating an area sensor. Each pixel can be selected and can be evaluated individually or in groups.

Electronic image evaluating device and evalution method


A bag such as gusset bag or flat bag comprises a tubular bag body having a pair of opposing flat portions constituting front and back side portions of the bag body and side portions, a zipper element mounted on inner surfaces of the exposed inner surface portions of the flat portions and the side portions, and a fused seal portion formed at an end opening portion of the bag body. The exposed inner surface portions are formed by folding outwardly portions of the flat portions and the side portions near the end opening of the bag body, for example, by cutting the bag body along the lines connecting the flat portions and the side portions of the bag body and bending the cut open portions outwardly along the predetermined base line. On the exposed inner surfaces, are mounted male and female members constituting the zipper element when mated, and after the mounting of the zipper element, the end opening is closed by engaging the male member with the female member as the zipper element and the end opening is fused to seal the end opening of the bag body and portions of the front and back portions near the cuts.

This invention relates to zippered bags, and more particularly, gusset bags and flat bags each provided with a zipper element for opening or closing an end opening of the bag through which a content filling in the bag can be easily taken out, and also is concerned with methods of forming such zippered bags.
In the known art, there has been provided a flat bag container having opposing flat portions, and four side peripheries of such bag are heat sealed (four side seal bag), and an opening of the bag through which an inner content can be taken out is closed or opened by providing a zipper element. With such a flat bag, it is possible to manufacture the bag by making coincident the delivery direction of a film material forming a flat bag container with a supply direction of the zipper element, thus being advantageous in a productivity.
Further, recently, it is attempted to apply the zipper element to a bag other than the four side seal bag, and in such attempt, a cap shaped bag member provided with a zipper element is preliminarily prepared and the cap shaped bag member is then applied to a bag body prepared separately from the cap shaped bag member. For example, a gusset bag provided with gores at both side portions of the bag body has a good self supporting property and a relatively large inner capacity, and accordingly, the usage thereof is widened and the application of the zipper element to the gusset bag has been desired.
However, since the gusset bag has a folded portion as gusset, there provided problems of difficult attachment of the zipper element.
Regarding bags other than the four side seal bag mentioned above, there is provided a bag which is generally formed of one sheet material and hence has a bonded edge like portion. Such prior art bag is shown in FIG. 29, as one example, in which, particularly, a central, i.e. back, bonded portion 952 is formed as a stepped portion providing no smooth surface portion. For this reason, it is difficult to surely apply such bag a cap shaped bag member, which is formed separately, provided with the zipper portion 965.

Zippered bags and method of forming the same


The specification discloses a process for producing a ferroalloy in a smelting vessel. A material containing an alloying metal is injected into a molten bath contained in the vessel. A flux, a carbonaceous material and an oxygen-containing gas are also injected into the vessel. A gas which may be the oxygen-containing gas is injected into the molten bath in order to stir it. The rates of injection of the various components are controlled to achieve control of the oxidizing and reducing environment within the vessel consistent with a rapid rate of injection. The material containing the alloying metal is either reduced and incorporated into the metal phase or oxidized and incorporated into the slag. Combustion gases above the molten bath are oxidized to provide further heat to the process. Alloyed metal or slag containing the alloying metal are recovered as product. The process is applicable to the production of ferroalloys such as ferrochromium, ferromanganese, ferronickel and ferrovanadium.

The conventional industrial method of manufacturing ferrochrome or charge chrome is in the submerged arc electric furnace. Chrome ore, reducing agent and flux are fed continuously into the smelting furnace. Fine feed material makes furnace operation difficult and can lead to large chromium losses. Hence fine feed materials are either avoided or agglomerated before charging. Optionally agglomerates of ore and reducing agent can be preheated and/or prereduced before being fed to the electric furnace. Fine feed materials can be used if they are firstly agglomerated; for example by pelletizing or by high temperature fusing.
In the electric smelting furnace, energy is supplied through carbon electrodes immersed in the charge. Gases, resulting from the reaction of ore and carbon deep in the furnace, flow upward and are released at the top of the furnace charge.
Often the furnace tops are closed with a water-cooled cover which has openings for electrodes and charge delivery. The cover permits the collection of the gases generated. Much of this gas consists of carbon monoxide, which can then be used as a fuel. In some installations the furnace top is left uncovered and the gases are burned at the surface.
Accurate weighing and proportioning of the feed materials is essential for the successful operation of the furnace. The feed above the reaction zone should be porous so as to permit the flow of product gases. Furthermore, the feed should be proportioned and fed in such a manner to allow the feed to descend freely into the furnace without bridging. Feed mixes of too large a particle size or particle size range are generally not used since they can be difficult to procure and cause furnace charging and bridging problems. They may also cause greater electrical resistance. However, too small a particle size in the feed mix can lead to losses by gas entrainment, low bed porosity and mix bridging.
The liquid slag and alloy products are drained from the furnace through a taphole either continuously or intermittently. The slag may separate from the alloy by decantation, skimming or bottom tapping of the receiving ladle. The ferrochrome product is then cast in chills.
Whilst this method of ferrochrome production is most widespread, it does present several disadvantages. Firstly, most or all of the energy requirements of the smelting process are supplied by electricity, which is an expensive form of energy. Secondly, the reductant requirements are met by using coke. Coke is a costly reductant, and is becoming more difficult to obtain as world supplies of coking coals are depleted and increasingly stringent environmental restrictions are placed on the operation of coke oven batteries. Thirdly, the feed particle size limitations preclude the direct use of cheaper fine-sized ore feed.
An alternative technology for the production of ferroalloys (including ferrochrome) which is now emerging is plasma carbothermic smelting reduction. This method has a number of advantages over the submerged arc furnace process:
fine-sized materials are the preferred charge; PA0 the reductant need not be coke-coal fines or coke breeze are suitable; PA0 uniform and consistent charge material properties are not crucial; PA0 slag composition can be selected independently of electrical resistivity, making it possible to operate at a slag composition which minimizes losses of alloy metal to the slag; PA0 process control is much improved, since the process is not as sensitive to charge material properties; and PA0 the plasma furnace operates at lower noise levels. PA0 the difficulties of using finely sized ores directly; PA0 the requirement for expensive coke; PA0 the use of expensive electrical energy for smelting; PA0 the simultaneous control of the states of oxidation of the slag and metal phases; and PA0 the limited use of the chemical energy (reducing potential) and sensible heat of product gases within the smelting vessel. PA0 (a) injecting an alloying metal-containing material and a flux at controlled rates into a bath comprising molten material containing iron or derived from an iron containing material; PA0 (b) injecting an oxygen-containing gas and a carbonaceous material at controlled rates into the bath or into a space above the bath or both; PA0 (c) injecting a gas into the bath to assist reaction gases formed in the bath in creating a transition zone immediately above the bath, the transition zone containing molten material projected from the bath by the gas and the reaction gases; PA0 (d) controlling the rate of injection of the alloying metal-containing material, the flux, the oxygen-containing gas and the carbonaceous material to achieve rapid incorporation of the alloying metal-containing material and the flux into the bath as well as control the oxidation/reduction environment within the bath; PA0 (e) causing the alloying metal to be reduced and report to a metal phase or oxidized and report to a slag phase; and PA0 (f) recovering the phase containing the alloying metal.
However, in spite of these advantages the plasma smelting process still suffers from the serious disadvantage in that all of the smelting energy requirement is supplied in the form of expensive electricity.
In an effort to reduce the cost of manufacturing the ferrochrome alloy, a number of processes have been proposed which avoid supplying the energy for smelting in the form of electricity.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,574 (Nippon Steel Corporation) a process for the production of high chromium alloys by smelting reduction is disclosed. In this process powdered coke and chromium containing ore are pelletized and dried. The pellets are then charged to a rotary kiln, where they are heated and partially reduced. Further coke and limestone flux may be added part-way along the rotary kiln to improve the reduction of the pellets, to preheat the coke and to calcine the limestone.
According to the Nippon Steel patent, the maximum temperature within the rotary kiln is kept above 1400.degree. C. On discharge the prereduced pellets, coke and flux drop from the kiln down a chute into the top of a smelting reduction furnace. This furnace is similar in shape to an ordinary steelmaking converter. The furnace has typically four bottom-blowing tuyeres for oxygen supply, which are protected by propane, whilst the bulk of the oxygen is introduced above the bath through a lance. To maintain control of the temperatures of the slag and metal phases and of the levels of oxidation within these phases, it is necessary to blow oxygen both above and below the bath whilst simultaneously injecting coke into the slag from the top of the smelt reduction vessel.
Smelting of the ore proceeds batchwise, in two stages. Firstly, with a converter temperature of 1580.degree. to 1630.degree. C., preheated, prereduced pellets, coke and flux are charged to the vessel whilst top and bottom blowing with oxygen. A second stage then follows, when no ore or flux is charged, and oxygen additions are progressively reduced, to minimise the chromium content of the slag. However, still more coke must be added to the vessel during this second stage, to control the state of oxidation of the slag and metal phases. The slag and metal are then removed from the vessel.
It is necessary to burn at least 30% of the combustible gases, leaving the bath using an overhead oxygen lance in order to obtain good utilization of the carbonaceous materials and coke used. However, combustion levels above 50% are not desirable due to the quantities of SO.sub.x and NO.sub.x generated.
Furthermore although the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,574 refers to the need for "hard stirring", the upper limit to stirring intensity is determined by the rate at which the bath lining degrades. At a higher stirring intensity, the stirring of the slag contributes to lining degradation. Stirring intensity is optimized when the temperature of the bath is uniform.
Another process is known (Japanese Patent 58-117852 Sumitomo Metal Industries) where a chrome-containing ore is charged to a bath of molten iron in a top-and-bottom blown converter. Fine chromium ore, fluxes and lump coke are dropped onto the surface of the melt, whilst oxygen is blown softly through a top lance. Coke floating on the slag surface is partially burnt by this oxygen, residual coke being drawn into the slag by agitation induced by oxygen and nitrogen introduced through side blowing nozzles and by bottom blown nitrogen. Circulation produced by the injected gases transfers heat to the slag and metal and allows the coke to reduce the chrome oxide in the slag.
The solid feed is charged to the converter for the duration of the smelting period. A finishing reduction period then follows, during which no solids are charged, and oxygen is introduced only onto the surface of the bath. This finishing reduction lowers the chromium content of the slag and gives a stainless steel grade chromium alloy of 20-32% chromium.
Although this process avoids smelting with electrical energy and can use fine sized ores, it requires lump coke, and each batch requires a charge of molten iron. Furthermore, it is only suitable for making a low chromium alloy. The process does not yield a charge chrome quality ferroalloy.
Another process is also known (Japanese patent 59-107011 Kawasaki) wherein fine chromium-containing ore is optionally prereduced and then fed into a shaft furnace with air or oxygen-enriched air. Lump coke is used as a solid reducing material, and is charged into the shaft furnace from the top. The injected ore melts in front of the tuyeres through which it is injected, and is reduced to the metal as it drips through the coke bed. The furnace hot-reduction zone is increased by injecting coal and an oxygen-containing gas into the shaft furnace through a second row of tuyeres located below the ore-injection tuyeres.
Slag and ferroalloy are tapped from the base of the furnace. Slags have been reported with chromium contents of less than 0.6% and metals containing 8 to 50% chromium have been obtained. Whilst this process also avoids the use of electrical energy for smelting, it is still dependent on the use of lump coke.
Generally speaking, there are major problems in the prior art processes. These include:
Whilst certain of the prior art processes have found particular solutions to some of the above problems, none of the prior art processes discussed above simultaneously solves all of the above problems to the extent achieved by the current invention.
It is known in the prior art to form a molten bath, which contains chiefly iron, iron oxides and slag forming materials, wherein iron oxides can be reduced directly to iron. In one known process, the source of energy is provided by injecting carbonaceous material, carrier gas and protective gas into the bath. At least a part of the fuel undergoes combustion. The reaction gases which are generated agitate the bath causing molten material to be projected from the bath into a transition zone above the level of the bath. Oxygen-containing gas is injected in the form of a jet or jets into the space above the bath. The injected gas combusts with the reaction gases released from the bath. The gases produced impinge on molten material in the transition zone, whereby energy generated by the post-combustion is transferred to the molten material in the transition zone.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process for the bath smelting of alloying metal-containing material, such as chromium-containing material, to, for example, either a crude stainless steel or a charge chrome quality ferroalloy, which avoids the use of electrical energy for smelting and does not require lump or agglomerated alloying metal-containing materials.
It is a further object of this invention to reduce or eliminate requirements for coke.
It is a further object of this invention to make greater use of the chemical energy and sensible heat of product gases within the smelting vessel.
A further object of this invention is to provide good control of the states of oxidation of the slag and metal phases.

Manufacture of ferroalloys using a molten bath reactor


The present invention provides of using multimeric MHC class II/peptide complexes. In one aspect, methods provided for identifying MHC class II-restricted immune epitopes of a predetermined polypeptide antigen. Methods for identifying an immunostimulatory epitope for a predetermined polypeptide antigen are provided. In a related aspect, methods for screening a therapeutic polypeptide agent for an MHC class II epitope are provided. In other aspects, methods for modulating T cells and for determining or monitoring an MHC class II-restricted immune status of a patient are also provided.

The T cell-mediated response to complex antigens involves recognition of selected peptide epitopes presented in the context of MHC molecules expressed on antigen presenting cells. The choice of these immunogenic epitopes from among the often hundreds or thousands of amino acids comprising an antigenic protein depends significantly on the binding properties of a given MHC type and the interactions of specific amino acids with a T cell receptor. Understanding which peptide epitopes participate in T cell-mediated immunity provides a basis for directed modulation of the immune response, including development of peptide vaccines and therapies against allergens, autoimmune diseases and tumors. (See, e.g., Chang et al., J. Immunol. 162:1156 (1999); Rolland and O'Hehir, Curr. Opin. Immunol. 10:640 (1998); Wicker et al., J. Clin. Invest. 98:2597 (1996); Falk et al., J. Exp. Med. 191:717 (2000); Wang and Rosenberg, Immunol. Rev. 170:85 (1999).)
The standard approach for cloning T cells and mapping epitopes of an antigen involves antigen challenge of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) followed by plating individual cells into 96-well plates. Cells are then expanded and assayed for MHC restriction and peptide specificities by screening clones with individual peptides which cover the antigen, a labor intensive and time consuming process. Epitopes can also be identified using a combination of chromatography and mass spectroscopy to identify peptides bound to MHC molecules, an approach which requires purification of MHC molecules and coupling to a receptor. Alternatively, epitopes can be identified using a recently described flow cytometry-based approach that utilizes Interferon gamma (IFNγ) production as a marker of reactivity. While this approach simplifies isolation of epitope-specific clones, the task of identifying individual MHC restriction elements remains.
A number of recent studies have employed soluble MHC multimers to directly identify T cells restricted to specific peptide epitopes. This technology has been utilized to track T cells specific for both viral antigens (see, e.g., Altman et al., Science 274:94 (1996); Callan et al., J. Exp. Med. 187:1395 (1998); Gallimore et al., J. Exp. Med. 187:1383 (1998); Wilson et al., J. Exp. Med. 188:785 (1998)) and tumor antigens (Lee et al., Nat. Med. 5:677 (1999); Pittet et al., J. Exp. Med. 190:705 (1999); Dunbar et al., J. Immunol. 162:6959 (1999); Molldrem et al., Cancer Res. 59:2675 (1999)) in both animal models and in humans when the peptide epitope is known.
The majority of these studies have focused on class I restricted T cells, because efforts in producing MHC class II molecules are hampered by difficulties in generating stable soluble forms of the MHC class II molecules and inefficiency in forming multimers of these molecules. In particular, stable soluble MHC class II molecules bound to peptide have been difficult to form from human MHC class II molecules. Human MHC class II molecules have been difficult to load with peptide, and the resulting multimers can be unstable.
A related problem with using MHC class II molecules to identify epitopes in antigens is that peptides are screened individually to identify the epitope(s) of the antigen. Thus, elucidation of specific epitopes from complex antigens can be a cumbersome and difficult process as it generally involves extensive phenotype screening of T cell clones isolated from whole-antigen stimulated cells.
Thus, there is a need for methods for efficiently screening human T cells to identify MHC class II epitopes within an antigen. The present invention satisfies this and other needs.

Methods of MHC class II epitope mapping, detection of autoimmune T cells and antigens, and autoimmune treatment

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason


The creation of a substantial volume of foam on the surface of an aqueous medium can reduce the apparent thermal IR emission substantially when compared to that of the aqueous medium free of foam. This difference in temperature (infrared emission) can be used to control a defoaming process or the addition of a defoaming agent to control foam in the aqueous medium. The apparent thermal infrared emission of foam is less than that of the aqueous medium. As the thermal IR emissions drop as foam develops, the difference between the apparent temperature of the foam and the temperature of aqueous medium increases. Such a difference in temperature can be used to control use of a defoaming process or agent. As the foam volume is reduced, the addition of a defoaming composition is substantially reduced or stopped. During the control method, a predetermined limit is established at which the defoaming process or composition is introduced into the aqueous medium. Further, the method permits the amount of defoaming agent added to the aqueous medium to be in proportion to the difference in infrared emission above the preset predetermined limit. The temperature of the foam is best measured using IR methods.

The control of the generation of foam from aqueous media during processing has been a continuing problem for many years. A number of chemical classes of active defoaming materials have been proposed for use in defoaming aqueous systems containing a variety of foaming materials. Such defoamers have been more or less effective depending on the concentration of foaming materials, the temperature of the aqueous media, the geometry of pumps, tanks or lines, the degree of mixing or agitation, and the mode of addition of an effective defoaming concentration of the defoaming composition. Control of the concentration of a defoaming composition in the aqueous medium is not always easily accomplished.
Conventionally, manual foam control has been attempted simply by visually detecting foam accumulation and reducing foam with a manual addition or episodic machine addition of defoaming agents into the aqueous medium.
Automatic foam control has also been attempted. Automatic foam detection is accomplished using ultrasonic detectors that can generate a signal proportional to foam height. Additionally, mechanical floating devices sensitive to foam height have also been used. Conductivity probes that can detect a difference in conductivity between foam and bulk aqueous solution have been used. Electric eyes that can be positioned to detect foam have been attempted. These systems have advantages and disadvantages. In certain cases, ultrasonic and other probes can be impaired by filming, soiling or foam adhesion when the probe comes in contact with foam or with foamable liquid. These control systems have resulted in loss of sensitivity and control, often resulting in failure to control foaming. Further, often ultrasonic and other devices that determine foam height often have problems in determining foam height as water levels fluctuate. The uncertainty in foam height caused by varying water levels can be a significant problem in long term consistent foam control. The industry has sought other methods for foam distribution and control.
Measurement of thermal energy by detecting and quantifying thermal infrared emissions is known in a variety of applications. Burbury et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,516 teaches the use of temperature detection to maintain a reaction at an optimum temperature for best yield. Thomas et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,233 teaches the use of an infrared beam in a low product alarm system. When a product is consumed, the product can no longer prevent an infrared beam from being detected. The detection of the beam then triggers a low product alarm to replace the consumed product. Jesadanont, U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,028 teaches a method for applying a liquid disinfectant to a users hands or other body part. The dispenser automatically senses the presence of the users hands or other similar body parts using an infrared sensing mechanism. Fender, U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,992 discloses a infrared sensor that detects a person hand to prompt dispensing a liquid soap. Kamysz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,915 uses an infrared sensor triggered dispenser to dispense soap to a user. Yashuhito, U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,646 teaches a method to sense the flow rate of a fluid using the temperature coefficient of resistance of an RC circuit. Feller, U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,541 similarly uses the modulation of a temperature sensor to predict flow rates. Hill et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,060 uses an infrared sensor to detect a combustion or an explosion to prompt a fire extinguishing system. Holt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,112 uses an infrared fiber optic distribution sensor to detect the degree of twist or stress in a coiled optical cable. Cowan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,243 discloses a disinfestation system for agricultural products using a thermal conductivity detector to detect the concentration of carbon dioxide. Merkel, U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,989 teaches an infrared sensor used to detect the presence of a heated adhesive on a substrate to control adhesive amounts. Arai, U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,670 teaches a system using a ratio of heat dissipation coefficients of a pair of electrically heated matched temperature sensitive devices to detect flow in a liquid system. Kuehn, III et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,782 teaches a system for controlling liquid level using vertically spaced thermistors that when immersed or cooled, result in a change of resistance, thus detecting the liquid level.
In summary, the prior art does contains teachings of a variety of uses for thermal detection of IR emission or radiation but does not contain a teaching that the different thermal properties of foam and an associated aqueous foam-generating liquid can be used to trigger the addition of a defoaming agent into an aqueous medium that can generate foam to control foaming.

Use of infrared radiation in detection methods to defoam aqueous systems


This invention relates to a machine for the production of a paper web, paperboard web or tissue web, having a roller with a circumferential surface and having an endless belt, in particular a transfer belt, which is wrapped around the circumferential surface of the roller in sections and has a bottom side which in the wrap zone can be brought into contact with the circumferential surface, as the result of which the endless belt and/or the roller provide a storage capacity suitable for accommodating at least in part the fluid which gets into the wrap zone between the bottom side and the circumferential surface.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an endless belt, in particular a transfer belt, for a machine for the production of a material web, in particular a paper web, paperboard web or tissue web. Also, the invention relates to a machine for the production of a material web, in particular a paper web, paperboard web or tissue web. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for converting an existing machine for the production of a material web, in particular a paper machine, paperboard machine or tissue machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Paper machines, paperboard machines or tissue machines can have central roller presses. In central roller presses known from the prior art, having one roller and several opposing rollers assigned to said roller such that each opposing roller forms a press nip with the roller, the wet fibrous web is drawn off the smooth roller (central roller) by an open draw. During this process, considerable draw-off forces are exerted on the fibrous web.
To reduce the draw-off forces it is proposed in the prior art to use a transfer belt wrapped around the central roller, with which the fibrous web is guided through the press nip and from which the fibrous web can be taken off by means of a suction take-off roller.
If moisture gets into the wrap zone between the central roller and the transfer belt, slip will occur between the powered central roller and the co-driven transfer belt, leading to aquaplaning. As a result, the drive power of the central roller cannot be transmitted sufficiently to the transfer belt, resulting potentially in web breaks or in wandering of the transfer belt and hence damage to the machine.


Proposed is a method of decoding a differentially encoded PSK modulated optical data signal carrying FEC encoded data values. The optical signal is corrected by an estimated phase offset. From the corrected signal, respective likelihood values for the FEC encoded data values are derived, using an estimation algorithm which accounts for a differential encoding rule used for differentially encoding the optical signal. The derived likelihood values are limited to a predetermined range of values. From the limited likelihood values, FEC decoded data values are derived, using an algorithm which accounts for a FEC encoding rule used for FEC encoding the FEC encoded data values.

In optical data transmission, digital data values may be transmitted by means of an optical transmission signal. The optical transmission signal is generated, by modulating the phase and/or the amplitude of an optical carrier signal, which possesses a carrier frequency, in dependence on the transmitted data values and in accordance with a constellation diagram of a respective phase-shift keying (PSK) modulation or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) method. Each point of the constellation diagram represents a finite set of data values that are to be transmitted, wherein the set of data values is called a data symbol. A data symbol is represented by a corresponding constellation point of a constellation diagram, wherein the constellation point has a corresponding symbol phase and amplitude value. Depending on the data symbols that are to be transmitted, respective constellation points and symbol phase values are derived. The phase and the amplitude of the optical carrier signal are modulated, such that it corresponds to the derived symbol phase values and amplitude values representing the respective data symbols.
When using a pure PSK modulation method, only the phase is modulated, while the amplitude is kept constant. When using a QAM method, the phase is modulated just as in a PSK scheme, but also the amplitude is modulated for obtaining a higher data rate. Thus, a QAM method may be interpreted as a PSK modulation method with an additional amplitude modulation. Therefore, in this patent application, the term PSK modulation method shall include a pure PSK modulation method as well as a QAM method.
Preferably, the data values are data bits. An example for a phase-shift keying modulation method is Binary Phase-Shift Keying (BPSK), in which each point of the corresponding constellation diagram represents one bit and in which adjacent constellation points are separated by a separation angle that has an absolute value of π. Another example of a phase-shift keying modulation method is Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying (QPSK), in which each constellation point represents a data symbol consisting of two bits and in which adjacent constellation points are separated by a separation angle that has an absolute value of π/2.
At a receiving side, received data values may be derived, by carrying out a coherent reception scheme: the received optical transmission signal is mixed with a coherent optical signal that possesses the carrier frequency and a phase, which is ideally equal to the phase of the optical carrier signal used at the transmitting side. This mixing yields a resulting optical baseband signal. The optical baseband signal is converted to a sampled electrical signal via analogue-digital conversion, and the phase of the sampled electrical signal is estimated for deriving received data values. When using a hard decision detection scheme, it is decided for that point of the constellation diagram, whose symbol phase value is most similar to the estimated phase of the received optical carrier signal. Corresponding data symbols and corresponding data valued are then derived from the estimated symbol phase values.
When transmitting an optical signal over an optical transmission channel, the signal's phase may be degraded by a phase offset that may be estimated at the receiver. The phase of the PSK modulated optical signal may then be corrected by this estimated phase offset. The estimated phase offset may be erroneous to a degree, such that the correction of the received optical signal causes a rotation of the PSK constellation diagram by a whole numbered multiple of the separation angle from the receiver's perspective. Such a rotation of the constellation diagram occurs from the time instance of one data symbol to a next time instance of a next successive data symbol and is called a phase slip. A typical value for a probability of a phase slip is for example 10−3.
When relying on a hard decision detection scheme at the receiver, the effects of a phase slip are the following: If a phase slip causes a rotation of the constellation diagram at a certain time instance, and if the constellation diagram maintains to be rotated for further time instances, then this leads to false derived data values for the certain time instance and for the further time instances.
A known countermeasure against phase slips is the technique of differential coding. On the transmission side, the derived data symbols are differentially encoded into differentially encoded data symbols, such that a derived data symbol is represented by a transition from one differentially encoded data symbol to a next successive differentially encoded data symbol. The differentially encoded data symbols are then mapped onto the PSK constellation diagram. On the receiving side, the received differentially encoded data symbols are observed. Differential decoding may be performed, by deriving a differentially decoded data symbol from a transition from one differentially encoded data symbol to a next differentially encoded data symbol. In other words, data symbols are derived at the receiver by phase changes between successive received differentially encoded data symbols. The derived differential decoded data symbols represent differential decoded data values, as previously mentioned.
When relying on differential encoding in combination with a hard decision detection scheme at the receiver, the effects of a phase slip are the following: If a phase slip causes a rotation of the constellation diagram at a certain time instance, and if the rotation of the constellation diagram prevails for next further time instances, then this leads to false derived data values for the certain time instance but not for the next further time instances; but, if a phase slip causes a rotation of the constellation diagram only for the certain time instance, and if the rotation of the constellation diagram does not prevail for the next further time instances, then this leads to false derived data values for the certain time instance and also for that single next time instance that succeeds the certain time instance.

Method of decoding a differentially encoded phase modulated optical data signal


A gas turbine systems of reducing NOX emissions and enhancing operability comprises a compressor; a combustor disposed downstream of and in fluid communication with the compressor; a turbine assembly disposed down stream of and in fluid communication with the combustor; an oxygen-enriched gas source disposed in selective fluid communication with the compressor, the combustor, or a combination of the foregoing, wherein the oxygen-enriched gas source is a pressure swing absorption system, an electrolyzer, or a membrane reactor.

The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods of reducing NOX emissions in gas turbine systems and internal combustion engines, and particularly to systems and methods of making and using oxygen-enriched gases to reduce NOX emissions in gas turbine systems and internal combustion engines.
Air pollution concerns worldwide have led to stricter emissions standards. These standards regulate the emission of oxides of nitrogen (NOX) (e.g., nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and nitrous oxide (N2O)), unburned hydrocarbons (HC), and carbon monoxide (CO), which are generated as a result of gas turbine system operation or internal combustion (IC) engine operation. For example, NOX is formed within a gas turbine system as a result of high flame temperatures (e.g., greater than or equal to about 2,600° F. (1,427° C.).
In gas turbine systems, attempts have been made to reduce NOX emissions by increasing airflow through the gas turbine system during operating conditions to control flame temperatures. Other attempts to reduce NOX emissions include water injections, and lean premixed systems. However, often these modifications to a gas turbine system have an adverse effect on operating performance levels of the gas turbine system.
Accordingly, a continual need exists for improved systems and methods of reducing NOX emissions in gas turbine systems, as well as improved systems and methods of reducing NOX emissions in internal combustion engines, which minimize adverse effects on operating performance.


An electronic dictionary searching all conjugations of combinations of the person and the tense easily and quickly, displaying them, and switching the display of the inflection and the original. The electronic dictionary has original buffer memory 13 for storing original data and inflection buffer memory 14 for storing inflection data searched by data reference means 5. The person and the tense of inflection are set up by person set up counter 10 and tense set up counter 11. The electronic dictionary has switching means for switching to display either the original buffer memory 13 or the inflection buffer memory 14, and for selecting data of the inflection buffer memory 14 and inflection message memory 29. Moreover, person detecting means 31 and tense detecting means 32 are connected to the input buffer memory 8 to detect grammatical mistakes of the language input in phrase form and to correct them.

The invention relates to an electronic dictionary and language interpreter having the capability to display multiple inflections.
In the past, electronic dictionaries have searched for a head word of a first language and a translation word of a second language equivalent to the head word based on an entry word input by a keyboard, and displayed the head word and the translation word. Moreover, electronic dictionaries which display inflections of a word using their function have already been sold. Particularly in conjugation, electronic dictionaries have already been sold which display a head word and a translation word using a phrase form having a subject.
However, there are a great many inflections in some languages. For example, in Spanish, there are about two hundred conjugation combinations of the person (including the first person, the second person and the third person; the singular and the plural; the masculine gender and the feminine gender); and the tense. Therefore, almost all prior electronic dictionaries have displayed only some of the possible combinations. As the prior electronic dictionaries have not been easy to operate and have not immediately displayed conjugation combinations of the person and the tense according to a user's expectations, they have been very inconvenient to use.
Moreover, the prior art electronic dictionaries have always displayed an explanatory message of the person, such as the first person/the second person/the third person, the singular number/the plural number, and the masculine gender/the feminine gender and the tense, such as the present/the past/the future with conjugations or have displayed nothing about the explanatory message. In the former dictionaries, users who wanted to know only the conjugations have not been able to recognize them because of the display of extra message information. The latter dictionaries lack information for users who wanted to study.

Electronic dictionary and language interpreter with multiple inflection display


Provided are a polarized light splitting element, a method of manufacturing the same, a light radiating device, a method of radiating light, and a method of manufacturing an ordered photo-alignment film. The polarized light splitting element has excellent durability with respect to UV rays and heat, and low pitch dependence of polarization characteristics, so that it is easily manufactured. In addition, the polarized light splitting element may realize a high polarization degree and extinction ratio even in a short wavelength region.

A liquid crystal alignment film used to align liquid crystal molecules in a certain direction is applied in various fields. As a liquid crystal alignment film, a photo-alignment film serving as a surface treated by radiation of light and capable of aligning adjacent liquid crystal molecules is used. Conventionally, the photo-alignment film may be manufactured by orientationally ordering a photosensitive material by radiating light, for example, linearly polarized light, to a layer of the photosensitive material.
To radiate the linearly polarized light to the photo-alignment film, various kinds of polarized light splitting elements may be used.
For example, as the polarized light splitting element, a polarized light splitting element using aluminum is disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2002-0035587 (Reference 1).
Also, in general, the polarized light splitting element for polarizing light in a UV region may have a linear grid pattern with a pitch of 120 nm or less.