Proteins capable of modulating or mediating the function of MORT-1 are disclosed. Also disclosed are DNA sequences encoding these proteins, the recombinant production of these proteins as well as their use.

Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-α) and Lymphotoxin (TNF-β) (hereinafter, TNF, refers to both TNF-α and TNF-β) are multifunctional pro-inflammatory cytokines formed mainly by mononuclear phagocytes, which have many effects on cells (Wallach, D. (1986) In: Interferon 7 (Ion Gresser, ed.), pp. 83-122, Academic Press, London; and Beutler and Cerami (1987)). Both TNF-a and TNF-β initiate their effects by binding to specific cell surface receptors. Some of the effects are likely to be beneficial to the organism: they may destroy, for example, tumor cells or virus infected cells and augment antibacterial activities of granulocytes. In this way, TNF contributes to the defense of the organism against tumors and infectious agents and contributes to the recovery from injury. Thus, TNF can be used as an anti-tumor agent in which application it binds to its receptors on the surface of tumor cells and thereby initiates the events leading to the death of the tumor cells. TNF can also be used as an anti-infectious agent.
However, both TNF-α and TNF-β also have deleterious effects. There is evidence that overproduction of TNF-α can play a major pathogenic role in several diseases. For example, effects of TNF-α, primarily on the vasculature, are known to be a major cause for symptoms of septic shock (Tracey et al., 1986). In some diseases, TNF may cause excessive loss of weight (cachexia) by suppressing activities of adipocytes and by causing anorexia, and TNF-α was thus called cachetin. It was also described as a mediator of the damage to tissues in rheumatic diseases (Beutler and Cerami, 1987) and as a major mediator of the damage observed in graft-versus-host reactions (Piquet et al., 1987). In addition, TNF is known to be involved in the process of inflammation and in many other diseases.
Two distinct, independently expressed, receptors, the p55 and p75 TNF-Rs, which bind both TNF-α and TNF-β specifically, initiate and/or mediate the above noted biological effects of TNF. These two receptors have structurally dissimilar intracellular domains suggesting that they signal differently (See Hohmann et al., 1989; Engelmann et al., 1990; Brockhaus et al., 1990; Leotscher et al., 1990; Schall et al., 1990; Nophar et al., 1990; Smith et al., 1990; and Heller et al., 1990). However, the cellular mechanisms, for example, the various proteins and possibly other factors, which are involved in the intracellular signaling of the p55 an p75 TNF-Rs have yet to be elucidated. It is this intracellular signaling, which occurs usually after the binding of the ligand, i.e., TNF (α or β), to the receptor, that is responsible for the commencement of the cascade of reactions that ultimately result in the observed response of the cell to TNF.
As regards the above-mentioned cytocidal effect of TNF, in most cells studied so far, this effect is triggered mainly by the p55 TNF-R. Antibodies against the extracellular domain (ligand binding domain) of the p55 TNF-R can themselves trigger the cytocidal effect (see EP 412486) which correlates with the effectivity of receptor cross-linking by the antibodies, believed to be the first step in the generation of the intracellular signaling process. Further, mutational studies (Brakebusch et al., 1992; Tartaglia et al., 1993) have shown that the biological function of the p55 TNF-R depends on the integrity of its intracellular domain, and accordingly it has been suggested that the initiation of intracellular signaling leading to the cytocidal effect of TNF occurs as a consequence of the association of two or more intracellular domains of the p55 TNF-R. Moreover, TNF (α and β) occurs as a homotrimer, and as such, has been suggested to induce intracellular signaling via the p55 TNF-R by way of its ability to bind to and to cross-link the receptor molecules, i.e., cause receptor aggregation.
Another member of the TNF/NGF superfamily of receptors is the FAS receptor (FAS-R) which has also been called the FAS antigen, a cell-surface protein expressed in various tissues and sharing homology with a number of cell-surface receptors including TNF-R and NGF-R. The FAS-R mediates cell death in the form of apoptosis (Itoh et al., 1991), and appears to serve as a negative selector of autoreactive T cells, i.e., during maturation of T cells, FAS-R mediates the apoptopic death of T cells recognizing self-antigens. It has also been found that mutations in the FAS-R gene (lpr) cause a lymphoproliferation disorder in mice that resembles the human autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (Watanabe-Fukunaga et al., 1992). The ligand for the FAS-R appears to be a cell-surface associated molecule carried by, amongst others, killer T cells (or cytotoxic T lymphocytes—CTLs), and hence when such CTLs contact cells carrying FAS-R, they are capable of inducing apoptopic cell death of the FAS-R-carrying cells. Further, a monoclonal antibody has been prepared that is specific for FAS-R, this monoclonal antibody being capable of inducing apoptopic cell death in cells carrying FAS-R, including mouse cells transformed by cDNA encoding human FAS-R (Itoh et al., 1991).
While some of the cytotoxic effects of lymphocytes are mediated by interaction of a lymphocyte-produced ligand with the widely occurring cell surface receptor FAS-R (CD95), which has the ability to trigger cell death, it has also been found that various other normal cells, besides T lymphocytes, express the FAS-R on their surface and can be killed by the triggering of this receptor. Uncontrolled induction of such a killing process is suspected to contribute to tissue damage in certain diseases, for example, the destruction of liver cells in acute hepatitis. Accordingly, finding ways to restrain the cytotoxic activity of FAS-R may have therapeutic potential.
Conversely, since it has also been found that certain malignant cells and HIV-infected cells carry the FAS-R on their surface, antibodies against FAS-R, or the FAS-R ligand, may be used to trigger the FAS-R mediated cytotoxic effects in these cells and thereby provide a means for combating such malignant cells or HIV-infected cells (see Itoh et al., 1991). Finding yet other ways for enhancing the cytotoxic activity of FAS-R may therefore also have therapeutic potential.
It has been a long felt need to provide a way for modulating the cellular response to TNF (α or β) and FAS-R ligand. For example, in the pathological situations mentioned above, where TNF or FAS-R ligand is overexpressed, it is desirable to inhibit the TNF- or FAS-R ligand-induced cytocidal effects, while in other situations, e.g., wound healing applications, it is desirable to enhance the TNF effect, or in the case of FAS-R, in tumor cells or HIV-infected cells, it is desirable to enhance the FAS-R mediated effect.
A number of approaches have been made by the applicants (see for example, European Application Nos. EP 186833, EP 308378, EP 398327 and EP 412486) to regulate the deleterious effects of TNF by inhibiting the binding of TNF to its receptors using anti-TNF antibodies or by using soluble TNF receptors (being essentially the soluble extracellular domains of the receptors) to compete with the binding of TNF to the cell surface-bound TNF-Rs. Further, on the basis that TNF-binding to its receptors is required for the TNF-induced cellular effects, approaches by applicants (see for example EPO 568925) have been made to modulate the TNF effect by modulating the activity of the TNF-Rs.
Briefly, EPO 568925 relates to a method of modulating signal transduction and/or cleavage in TNF-Rs whereby peptides or other molecules may interact either with the receptor itself or with effector proteins interacting with the receptor, thus modulating the normal function of the TNF-Rs. In EPO 568925, there is described the construction and characterization of various mutant p55 TNF-Rs, having mutations in the extracellular, transmembrane, and intracellular domains of the p55 TNF-R. In this way, regions within the above domains of the p55 TNF-R were identified as being essential to the functioning of the receptor, i.e., the binding of the ligand (TNF) and the subsequent signal transduction and intracellular signaling which ultimately results in the observed TNF-effect on the cells. Further, there is also described a number of approaches to isolate and identify proteins, peptides or other factors which are capable of binding to the various regions in the above domains of the TNF-R, which proteins, peptides and other factors may be involved in regulating or modulating the activity of the TNF-R. A number of approaches for isolating and cloning the DNA sequences encoding such proteins and peptides; for constructing expression vectors for the production of these proteins and peptides; and for the preparation of antibodies or fragments thereof which interact with the TNF-R or with the above proteins and peptides that bind various regions of the TNF-R, are also set forth in EPO 568925. However, EPO 568925 does not specify the actual proteins and peptides which bind to the intracellular domains of the TNF-Rs (e.g., p55 TNF-R), nor does it describe the yeast two-hybrid approach to isolate and identify such proteins or peptides which bind to the intracellular domains of TNF-Rs. Similarly, in EPO 568925 there is no disclosure of proteins or peptides capable of binding the intracellular domain of FAS-R.
Thus, when it is desired to inhibit the effect of TNF, or the FAS-R ligand, it would be desirable to decrease the amount or the activity of TNF-Rs or FAS-R at the cell surface, while an increase in the amount or the activity of TNF-Rs or FAS-R would be desired when an enhanced TNF or FAS-R ligand effect is sought. To this end the promoters of both the p55 TNF-R and the p75 TNF-R have been sequenced, analyzed and a number of key sequence motifs have been found that are specific to various transcription regulating factors, and as such the expression of these TNF-Rs can be controlled at their promoter level, i.e., inhibition of transcription from the promoters for a decrease in the number of receptors, and an enhancement of transcription from the promoters for an increase in the number of receptors (EP 606869 and WO 9531206). Corresponding studies concerning the control of FAS-R at the level of the promoter of the FAS-R gene have yet to be reported.
While it is known that the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors, and the structurally-related receptor FAS-R, trigger in cells, upon stimulation by leukocyte-produced ligands, destructive activities that lead to their own demise, the mechanisms of this triggering are still little understood. Mutational studies indicate that in FAS-R and the p55 TNF receptor (p55-R) signaling for cytotoxicity involve distinct regions within their intracellular domains (Brakebusch et al., 1992; Tartaglia et al., 1993; Itoh and Nagata, 1993). These regions (the 'death domains' or 'death effector domains' called 'DED') have sequence similarity. The 'death domains' of both FAS-R and p55-R tend to self-associate. Their self-association apparently promotes that receptor aggregation which is necessary for initiation of signaling (see Song et al., 1994; Wallach et al., 1994; Boldin et al., 1995), and at high levels of receptor expression can result in triggering of ligand-independent signaling (Boldin et al., 1995).
Some of the cytotoxic effects of lymphocytes are mediated by interaction of a lymphocyte-produced ligand with FAS-R (CD-95), a widely occurring cell surface receptor which has the ability to trigger cell death (see also Nagata and Golstein, 1995); and that cell killing by mononuclear phagocytes involves a ligand-receptor couple, TNF and its receptor p55-R (CD120), that is structurally related to FAS-R and its ligand (see also Vandenabeele et al., 1995). Like other receptor-induced effects, cell death induction by the TNF receptors and FAS-R occurs via a series of protein-protein interactions, leading from ligand-receptor binding to the eventual activation of enzymatic effector functions, which in the case studies have elucidated non-enzymatic protein-protein interactions that intiate signaling for cell death:binding of trimeric TNF or the FAS-R ligand molecules to the receptors, the resulting interactions of their intracellular domains (Brakebusch et al., 1992; Tartaglia et al., 1993; Itoh and Nagata, 1993) augmented by a propensity of the death-domain motifs (or death effector domains, DED) to self-associate (Boldin et al., 1995a), and induced binding of two cytoplasmic proteins (which can also bind to each other) to the receptors' intracellular domains—MORT-1 (or FADD) to FAS-R (Boldin et al., 1995b; Chinnaiyan et al., 1995; Kischkel et al., 1995) and TRADD to p55-R (Hsu et al., 1995; Hsu et al., 1996). Three proteins that bind to the intracellular domain of FAS-R and p55-R at the 'death domain' region involved in cell-death induction by the receptors through hetero-association of homologous regions and that independently are also capable of triggering cell death were identified by the yeast two-hybrid screening procedure. One of these is the protein, MORT-1 (Boldin et al. 1995b), also known as FADD (Chinnaiyan et al., 1995) that binds specifically to FAS-R. The second one, TRADD (see also Hsu et al., 1995, 1996), binds to p55-R, and the third, RIP (see also Stanger et al., 1995), binds to both FAS-R and p55-R. Besides their binding to FAS-R and p55-R, these proteins are also capable of binding to each other, which provides for a functional "cross-talk" between FAS-R and p55-R. These bindings occur through a conserved sequence motif, the 'death domain module' (also called 'DED' for 'Death Effector Domain') common to the receptors and their associated proteins. Furthermore, although in the yeast two-hybrid test MORT-1 was shown to bind spontaneously to FAS-R, in mammalian cells, this binding takes place only after stimulation of the receptor, suggesting that MORT-1 participates in the initiating events of FAS-R signaling. MORT-1 does not contain any sequence motif characteristic of enzymatic activity, and therefore, its ability to trigger cell death seems not to involve an intrinsic activity of MORT-1 itself, but rather, activation of some other protein(s) that bind MORT-1 and act further downstream in the signaling cascade. Cellular expression of MORT-1 mutants lacking the N-terminal part of the molecule has been shown to block cytotoxicity induction by FAS/APO1 (FAS-R) or p55-R (Hsu et al., 1996; Chinnaiyan et al., 1996), indicating that this N-terminal region transmits the signaling for the cytocidal effect of both receptors through protein-protein interactions.
Recent studies have implicated a group of cytoplasmic thiol proteases which are structurally related to the Caenorhabditis elegans protease CED3 and to the mammalian interleukin-1β converting enzyme (ICE) in the onset of various physiological cell death processes (reviewed in Kumar, 1995 and Henkart, 1996). There have also been some indications that protease(s) of this family may take part in the cell-cytotoxicity induced by FAS-R and TNF-Rs. Specific peptide inhibitors of the proteases and two virus-encoded proteins that block their function, the cowpox protein crmA and the Baculovirus p35 protein, were found to provide protection to cells against this cell-cytotoxicity (Enari et al., 1995; Los et al., 1995; Tewari et al., 1995; Xue et al., 1995; Beidler et al., 1995). Rapid cleavage of certain specific cellular proteins, apparently mediated by protease(s) of the CED3/ICE family, could be demonstrated in cells shortly after stimulation of FAS-R or TNF-Rs.
It should be noted that these CED3/ICE proteases, also called caspases, are produced as inactive precursors and become activated by proteolytic processing upon death induction. These caspases are conserved cysteine proteases that cleave specific cellular proteins downstream of aspartate residues thereby playing a critical role in all known programmed cell death processes. In addition to their homologous C-terminal region from which the mature proteases are derived, the precursor proteins contain unique N-terminal regions. Interactions of these 'prodomains' with specific regulatory molecules allow differential activation of the various caspases by different death-inducing signals (Boldin et al., 1996; Muzio et al., 1996; Duan and Dixit, 1997; Van Criekinge et al., 1996; Ahmad et al., 1997).
One such protease and various isoforms thereof (including inhibitory ones), designated MACH (also called CASP-8) which is a MORT-1 binding protein and which serves to modulate the activity of MORT-1 and hence of FAS-R and p55-R, and which may also act independently of MORT-1, has been recently isolated, cloned, characterized, and its possible uses also described, as is set forth in detail and incorporated herein in their entirety by reference, in co-owned, copending Israel Patent Application Nos. IL 114615, 114986, 115319, 116588 and 117932, as well as their corresponding PCT counterpart No. PCT/US96/10521, and in a recent publication of the present inventors (Boldin et al., 1996). Another such protease and various isoforms thereof (including inhibitory ones), designated Mch4 (also called CASP-10) has also recently been isolated and characterized by the present inventors (unpublished) and others (Fernandes-Alnemri et al., 1996; Srinivasula et al., 1996). This Mch4 protein is also a MORT-1 binding protein which serves to modulate the activity of MORT-1 and hence likely also of FAS-R and p55-R, and which may also act independently of MORT-1. Thus, details concerning all aspects, features, characteristics and uses of Mch4 are set forth in the above noted publications, all of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
It should also be noted that the caspases, MACH (CASP-8) and Mch4 (CASP-10), which have similar prodomains (see Boldin et al., 1996; Muzio et al., 1996; Fernandes-Alnemri et al., 1996; Vincent and Dixit, 1997) interact through their prodomains with MORT-1, this interaction being via the 'death domain motif' or 'death effector domain', DED, present in the N-terminal part of MORT-1 and present in duplicate in MACH (CASP-8) and Mch4 (CASP-10) (see Boldin et al., 1995b; Chinnalyan et al., 1995).
It should also be mentioned, in view of the above, that the various proteins/enzymes/receptors involved in the intracellular signaling processes leading to cell death, have been given a variety of names. In order to precent confusion, the following is a list of the various names, including new names decided upon by a new convention, of each of these proteins, or parts thereof, and the names which are used herein throughout for convenience:
Common or first nameOther namesNew Convention nameName used hereinp55 TNF receptorp55-RCD120ap55-Rp75 TNF receptorp75-RCD120bp75-RFAS receptorFAS-R, FAS/APO1CD95FAS-RMORT-1FADD—MORT-1MACHFLICE1, Mch5CASP-8MACHMch4FLICE2CASP-10Mch4G1—CASHG1'death domain'death domain motif,—death domain/deathMORT motif, deathdomain motif/effector domain (DED),MORT modulesMORT modulesCED3/ICE proteasescaspasesCASPCED3/ICE proteases

CASH (Caspase Homologue) with death effector domain, modulators of the function of FAS


An automatic system for monitoring chemistry information for a body of water comprises a sensor for determining chemistry information, a microprocessor for processing chemistry information, and a housing coupled to at least one of the sensor and the microprocessor. Preferably the housing is floatable or mountable. The method of providing chemistry information of a body of water comprising the steps of obtaining a sample of the body of water and determining chemistry information.

For owners of recreational aquatic facilities, such as pools, spas, and hot tubs, water chemistry must be properly maintained to deflect the hazards associated with water not properly balanced. If the chemistry of a pool is even slightly off, for instance, a serious health hazard can be posed to users. Also, water that is not properly balanced can result in a quick deterioration of an aquatic facility, resulting in expensive rehabilitation costs.
Presently, water chemistry can be checked by chemistry kits, laboratory runs, and maintenance service calls. Although chemistry kits are typically less expensive than maintenance service calls, most chemistry kits are messy, complicated, and are not user-friendly. Even if one knows how to properly use a chemistry kit, that individual may be uncertain of the results, thereby necessitating a double check of the water chemistry through a laboratory run such as to a swimming pool supply store.
A laboratory run requires the taking of a sample of water for a chemistry laboratory to analyze. Traveling to and from a laboratory with the sample during normal business hours is inconvenient. Further the result is obtained after a significant lag time has elapsed. Moreover, the analysis of water chemistry and an evaluation of the amount of additives to remedy any perceived imbalance is a function of water temperature. It is almost certain that the temperature of the sample will change in transit to the laboratory. Furthermore, once the results are received from a laboratory, water chemistry may have changed and as a consequence, one may be relying on an inaccurate water chemistry reading. For those who use chemistry kits and laboratory runs, both options also do not address the problem of physically adding chemicals to the water, which equate to an added inconvenience of releasing messy chemicals, without much assurance that the correct amount of chemicals are being released at the proper time. Overall, chemistry kits, laboratory runs, and adding chemicals on a do-it-yourself basis can be inaccurate, labor-intensive and time-consuming.
In contrast, maintenance service calls are expensive and inconvenient. Although service calls are typically conducted at regular intervals, sometimes maintenance service personnel are unavailable when their services are most needed, such as after a rain storm or before a pool party. Also, some maintenance service personnel are unreliable and/or careless in their methodology, forcing one to double check water chemistry by using a chemistry kit or a laboratory run. Finally, such service calls can be conducted by a variety of maintenance personnel, thereby increasing the likelihood of human error in monitoring and balancing water chemistry.
What is needed is a safe, convenient, user-friendly automated system for monitoring water chemistry.
What is needed is an efficient, time-sensitive automated system for both monitoring water chemistry and adding necessary chemicals to balance the water.
What is needed is a reliable automated method for monitoring water chemistry.
What is needed is a secure, dependable automated method for both monitoring water chemistry and adding appropriate chemicals to maintain the balance of a body of water.

In-situ water analysis method and system


This invention provides method of rapidly charging a glow-in-the-dark material utilizing an ultra violet emitting LED in portable form to produce a long lasting illuminating effect. The method includes providing a structure having a glow-in-the-dark material incorporated therein and exposing the glow-in-the-dark material to ultra violet light emitted from the LED to charge the glow-in-the-dark material for a period of time. The method of charging a glow-in-the-dark material is applicable to all types of sporting activities where such glow-in-the-dark materials are used, such as hunting and fishing, as well as other known applications.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to efflorescent material primarily in sporting good applications such as archery and fishing, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for quickly and effectively charges a glow-in-the-dark material for use in such sporting good activities.
2. Description of the Art
Recently, there has been developed a light emitting diode (LED) that emits visible and invisible ultra violet light. Even more recently, such LED's have been incorporated into small hand-held pen lights and other small portable flashlights. Such LED pen lights have been produced with specifications which include an output power of 1,000 uW, peak wavelengths of about 375 nm, narrow focus lenses of about 10 degrees or wider field lenses of about 100 degrees, and a spectrum half width of 12 nm. LED's typically have extensive life spans, compared to conventional fluorescent tubes or light bulbs and will often have an average life span of 2,000 hours or more. The use of 375 nm light is UVA light, or long wave UV, which is generally safer to the human eye than UVB or UVC and is just below the human eye visible light range.
Such UV pen lights have been employed for such uses as document and forgery analysis by showing alterations or changes when exposed to UV light, crowd and access control by illuminating invisible marks on a hand or card, and crime scene inspection by illuminating various bodily fluids. In addition, such UV lights have been employed in currency and bill verification since many currencies now include UV fluorescing strips. Leak detection by adding a UC powder or liquid to a system with a leak and using a UC light source to quickly detect leaks is another use for such UV lights, as well as rodent detection by illuminating urine, scientific, laboratory and educational analysis, UV curing, medical skin treatments, EPROM erasure, painting and rug repair detection, and gemstone and mineral inspection. Such LED UV light sources, however, have not been employed to charge a glow-in-the-dark material.
Various sporting good products have taken advantage of the illumination properties of various glow in the dark materials to provide illumination in low light conditions. Such efflorescent materials are now used on items from bow sights to fishing lures. When used on bow sights, Bow sights the sight pins are provided with a light-gathering fiber optic element to enable use of the sighting device in low light environments. Various configurations of sight pins using fiber optic members have been proposed.
Despite the light-gathering capabilities of fiber optic elements which render sighting devices more useful in low-light conditions (e.g., dusk), there is a point at which the ambient light is so low that the fiber optic element is no longer capable of gathering sufficient light to provide any illumination. Various direct lighting techniques have been employed in which a small light source is directly coupled to the fiber optic element in order to illuminate the sight pins. In addition, it has also been proposed to provide a self illuminating substance such various glow-in-the-dark materials to one end of a fiber optic element or along its length in order to illuminate the opposite visible end in low light conditions.
In fishing lure applications, glow-in-the-dark materials have been incorporated into the construction of the lure itself in order to illuminate the fishing lure under water. This is thought to provide better visible for fish to more quickly visually locate the lure, especially in deep water where light conditions are generally poor.
In either case, archery or fishing, there is a need to quickly charge the glow-in-the-dark material. In addition, there is a need to quickly charge the glow-in-the-dark material in a manner that will cause the illuminating properties of the material to last. Typically, such glow-in-the-dark materials are charged by exposing them to ambient light, such as sunlight, or by shining light from a light source, such as a flash light, on the material. While such techniques do cause the material to become charged, the illumination time is relatively short lived. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a means for causing a glow-in-the-dark material quickly and in a manner that produces an extending illumination time of the material.

Method and apparatus for charging efflorescent material utilizing ultra violet light


A bagel slicer which comprises a drive disk, a drive shaft, an enclosure disk and a retaining apparatus. The drive disk has a concave inside face for receiving one side of a bagel. The drive disk also has a through hole for receiving a drive shaft. The enclosure disk has a concave inside face for receiving the other side of a bagel. The enclosure disk also has a through hole in which the drive shaft is inserted. The drive disk, drive shaft and enclosure disk are held into position by the retaining apparatus. This is accomplished by interlocking fasteners located on the drive shaft and the retaining apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for cutting food, and more precisely an apparatus for cutting toroidal shaped food, such as a bagel.
2. Description of Related Art
A bagel is generally circular in shape, its circular diameter defining its width, and is rounded on its top and bottom surfaces, the distance between these surfaces defining its height or thickness. Also, a bagel has a hole through its center, passing through the bagel along the axis of thickness. Prior to eating a bagel, one usually cuts it in half through a plane transverse to the axis of thickness, in order to sandwich other foodstuff, such as cream cheese, within the resulting cut faces of the bagel.
Cutting a bagel in half, though, poses a risk of accidently cutting one's hands or fingers due to its rounded shape. Consequently, various food cutting devices specifically adaptable to cutting a bagel are known in the prior art. Simple devices include generally rectangularly shaped boxes having a cavity for inserting a bagel and opposing knife slots for guiding a knife during the cutting action. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,106 issued Aug. 14, 1990 to Ronald Popeil and Alan Backus shows a food cutting apparatus which is an open ended, generally trapezoidal box with opposing slots to guide a knife. While this apparatus accomplishes its object of cutting food, the food is not secure and may slip or turn during the cutting motion.
Other devices similar to the above invention in their basic functional design include U.S. Pat. No. Des. 343,770 issued Feb. 1, 1994 to Jay A. McFarling and Jennie E. McFarling. An oak bagel cutter for sale in the Gifts & Decorative Accessories catalog, October 1984, p. 122, improves upon such design by including a slidable rod for abutting against the side of a bagel, thereby holding it in place. U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,953 issued Jan. 9, 1996 to John A. McLeod also describes an apparatus with a base and two vertically attached and opposing sides, but one side is moveable to adjust to a bagel's thickness. Another similar device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,445 issued Feb. 10, 1981 to Richard J. Browning, the device having one vertical side and leaning, pivotal second side for holding the bagel.
A more complex apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,430 issued Nov. 26, 1996 to Glenn K. Gunderson and William K. Gunderson. The apparatus has a rotatable indexing disc which may be moved to various positions corresponding to the desired thickness of the slice. The problem with this arrangement is that only one side of a food product is supported by the apparatus. Thus, movement of a bagel while being sliced is highly likely.
Another complex device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,282 issued Aug. 29, 1967 to Paul P. Blum. The '282 patent shows a bagel slicer with a pair of opposing mounted adjustable disks for holding the bagel in place, which discs are mounted on a rotatable spindle supported by a pair of struts depending upwardly from a base. The Blum device also comprises a pivotal knife attached to the bagel slicer which is brought into contact with a bagel fixed on and rotated on the spindle. A problem with this arrangement is that the knife has to be specifically designed for use with the Blum device; thus, if the user wanted to replace the knife, a special effort must be made to locate a replacement. Another problem with this arrangement concerns safety. Since the knife is attached to the bagel slicer, the blade is left out in the open when not in use, posing a danger of being cut.
An elaborate device with a spring loaded plate for retaining a bagel is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,666 issued Nov. 8, 1994 to Milo M. Kensrue. The plate applies pressure to one end of the bagel, while the other end is supported by an adjustable fixed plate. The problem with this apparatus is the complexity of its moving parts which could wear with multiple use.
Food cutting devices have also been described in foreign patents or applications. The following are samples of less relevant food cutting inventions found in foreign patents or applications: U.K. Patent Specification No. 735,446 published Aug. 24, 1955 (A New or Improved Cutting Board for Domestic Use); U.K Patent Specification No. 1,468,248 published Mar. 23, 1977 (Cutting Device for Foodstuffs); and, U.K. Patent Application No. 2,172,494A published Sep. 24, 1986 (Bread Slicing Guide).
None of the above patents or publications disclose an invention which holds toroidal shaped food between two easily connected disk shaped members, while allowing for rotation around the bagel's height axis while the bagel is being cut using a standard knife. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.


An object three-dimensionally represented by frames contained in a moving image and a time axis indicative of a playback time of the moving image is displayed on a display unit, and, while the three dimensional image being displayed, and an object representative of a moving image of a part between two points detected on the time axis is displayed in response to an instruction by a thing approaching to the display unit and is moved in accordance with a moving operation on the thing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatuses which edit a file representative of moving images, for example, and methods therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, it has been known that a moving image is edited by displaying still images contained in a moving image along a time axis and designating a point called an "edit point" or a "separation point". For example, in order to extract a part of a moving image, a user may designate a point as a starting point or an end point.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-191248, in order to visually understand the time lengths of a plurality of part moving images, a moving image is displayed three-dimensionally so that the time length of the moving image may correspond to a depth of the solid.
However, according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-191248, an edit point is to be instructed or input with a pointing device such as a mouse to a waveform of an audio signal of a video shown on a display, which makes implementation of simple and intuitive editing by a user difficult.

Information processing device information processing method and program storage medium


The present invention provides an odor measuring apparatus capable of assuredly detecting and evaluating such odors that cannot be detected by a measurement apparatus using conventional odor sensors. In an embodiment of the present invention, a gas sample to be measured is introduced into the column 10 of a gas chromatograph 1 to temporally separate it into odor components, which are then introduced into a mass spectrometer (MS) 2 and an odor discriminator 3 in parallel. The data processor 51 creates a chromatogram and/or a mass spectrum from the detection signals generated by the detector 24 of the MS 2, and also calculates the similarity of each odor component to standard odors and/or the degree of contribution from the detection signals generated by the detection circuit 33 of the odor discriminator 3. The processor 51 displays a similarity radar chart or similar graphic information on the display 53, where each peak present on the chromatogram is associated with the information. Even if the odor to be measured is a mixed odor, the GC 1 temporally separates it into sample components, and each sample component can be assuredly and objectively detected by the odor discriminator 3.

Conventionally, the discrimination and evaluation of odors is performed by the olfactory sense of human beings. By this method, it must be considered that different persons (or panels) have different olfactory sensitivities and the olfactory sense of a panel may change depending on the physical condition on the day of the test. Therefore, to obtain an objective result with high accuracy, it is necessary to gather an adequate number of panels and to conduct the test under an adequately uniform environmental condition. Thus, the test often consumes a lot of time and labor. Further, even under a desirable physical and environmental condition, it is very difficult to obtain a conclusive result based on a fixed standard because the olfactory sense of the human being easily adapts to odors.
In view of such problems, some conventional methods use a gas chromatograph (GC) or a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) to analyze and discriminate the components of the odor concerned. These methods treat the odor as a volatile chemical substance and can effectively identify the causative agent of the odor. However, the conventional methods cannot correlate the odor composition with the organoleptic evaluation by the olfactory sense of the human being.
A conventional device that is designed to make up for the aforementioned problem is a product of Gerstel (http://www.gerstelus.com), called the "Olfactory Detector Port (ODP-2)." ODP-2, which is an attachment for a gas chromatograph, allows a panel to smell the effluent sample separated by the column of the gas chromatograph and enter information about the odor intensity in real-time while the sample is being analyzed with the detector. The information entered by the panel is used to create a graph showing the change of the odor intensity with time. The relation between the chromatogram created by the gas chromatograph and the aforementioned graph enables the analysis on the relation between the odor composition and the organoleptic evaluation. The aforementioned device, however, has a problem in that it requires the panel to continue smelling the odor for a relatively long period of time (for example, one hour). Concentrating on the smelling of the odor for such a long time not only imposes a burden on the panel but also causes the adaptation of the olfactory sense to the odor, as explained previously. Furthermore, the method cannot be used if the odor contains a harmful substance.
A group including an inventor of the present invention has developed an odor discriminating apparatus using odor sensors responsive to odorous substances, as disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-315298 and on the following website: http://www.an.shimadzu.co.jp/products/food/ffl.htm. The apparatus includes plural pieces of odor sensors having different response characteristics and calculates the quality and intensity of an odor by processing the detection signals of the odor sensors by a cluster analysis, a principal component analysis or other types of multivariate analysis, or by a non-linear analysis using neural networks. This type of odor discriminating apparatus treats an odor as a mixed odor and does not separate it into components, enabling the comparison and determination of mixed odors or the calculation of an odor index or other index indicating the odor intensity in terms of the olfactory sense of the human being. This apparatus, however, sometimes fails to detect a very small quantity of an odor component accompanied by a large quantity of another odor component.
Recently, the growing awareness of environmental issues has increased the necessity for odor measurements, and the measurement should now cover a wider variety of odors that have very complex compositions. However, none of the above-described conventional methods can satisfy this requirement. They reflect only a limited aspect of the odor, which may lead to a misunderstanding of the measurement result in some cases. Furthermore, since the measurement result is devoid of objectivity, it is often difficult to compare plural sets of measurement results obtained at different spots and/or different points in time. Another problem is that the measurement efficiency is hard to improve. In view of such problems, the main object of the present invention is to provide an odor measuring apparatus capable of efficiently measuring a mixed odor having a complex composition with a high level of objectivity.


A cable packaging and unwinding device. The device enables the exact length of cable necessary for connecting two connection points to be unwound easily and quickly and a residual surplus length of cable to be stowed in a protected area, to prevent the cable from being subjected to any twisting or crushing and to obtain a reliable connection between the two connection points.

The various stages of laying the terminal portions of a cable network are still executed conventionally, and largely through manual operations. Connection operations to connect two points a few meters or a few tens of meters apart by means of optical fiber cables are still executed on-site and consist in cutting the cable to the correct length and then preparing the ends of the cable, or of the optical fibers of a cable, with a view to connecting the cable or the fibers by means of connectors or splices. To allow for reworking and repairs, those connection operations necessitate a length of cable that is slightly greater than the distance between the two points to be connected. That surplus length is coiled up by hand and stowed in a corner on completion of the connection operations, leading to risks of kinking, stretching, crushing and failing to comply with the specified radii or curvature of the cable, leading subsequently to transmission problems. Moreover, those connection operations are sometimes made difficult by the conditions under which they have to be carried out, which makes the results somewhat hit and miss and further reduces the reliability of the connections. As a result, the cost of those works represents a relatively large proportion of the total connection cost.
Some network installers have sought to use a cable fitted with a connector and known as a "jumper" cable. In this case, a jumper cable is used that is longer than the distance between the points to be connected, and it is necessary to stow the surplus length of cable.
For unwinding lengths of cable, it is known in the art to use devices consisting of a spool or a drum that has two winding volumes, in order to provide access to and to allow unwinding of both ends of a cable. The cable is wound and unwound manually, with all the attendant risks of stretching and kinking. What is more, the cables are not protected at the periphery of the spool, where they are accessible. Those devices are bulky and generally intended for temporary installations, but are not suited for discreet and permanent stowage of a residual length of cable, for example over several years, either in a dwelling or outdoors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,983 describes a device for stowing a surplus length of an optical fiber cable fitted with a connector at each end. The device takes the form of a flexible support having two chiral circular halves that have holes at their circumference through which the cable and the connector are passed, the flexible support being slightly twisted to enlarge the holes. The fact that the device is divided into two halves enables two continuous sections of the cable to be unwound independently. However, because it necessitates an entirely manual operation consisting in passing the end of the cable to be unwound together with its connector through a larger or smaller number of holes, that device does not provide for packaging and unwinding a cable easily and quickly. Manual operation of the device generates a risk of kinking and twisting the cable which is liable to lead to subsequent transmission problems. That device is therefore not ergonomic and is not suited to easy and fast winding and unwinding of cable.
French Patent application no. 2 814 246 describes a device for packaging a surplus length of cable that includes a stowage support consisting of a flange surmounted by two stowage areas defined by two concentric cylinders which communicate with each other via openings in their walls. Two sections of the surplus length of cable that are continuous with each other are coiled or wound onto each of two concentric cylinders defining the two stowage areas. The ends of the cable and the connectors are stowed inside the internal cylinder. That device can absorb surplus lengths of jumper cable of a few meters. However, the winding operations are still manual, which implies, in that situation also, risks of kinking, stretching, and twisting the cable. Moreover, that device is not adapted to unwinding exactly the required length, since unwinding is manual, and so a residual surplus length at most equal to the diameter of the external cylinder cannot be stowed correctly and is therefore exposed to the risk of kinking, crushing, etc. Also, the cable is not completely protected, which makes that stowage device difficult to use outdoors and makes it necessary to place it in a protected place.

Packaging reel with an optical fiber unwinding device


An engine operates in a stratified charge combustion mode and a homogeneous charge combustion mode. A sensor detects driving state of the engine. An ECU (electronic control unit) computes a basic amount of the fuel to be injected from a nozzle based on the detected driving state of the engine. The ECU switches the combustion mode based on the computed basic amount. The ECU computes a corrected amount of the injection fuel based on the basic amount of the injection fuel. The corrected amount of the injection fuel suppresses a fluctuation of engine torque caused by switching of the combustion mode. The ECU controls the injection valve based on the computed corrected amount.

The present invention relates to combustion controllers for internal combustion engines that shift combustion modes in accordance with the operating conditions of the engine.
In a typical automotive engine, fuel is injected into an intake port by a fuel injector to charge the associated combustion chamber with a homogeneous mixture of fuel and air. An air intake passage is opened and closed by a throttle valve, which is operated in cooperation with an acceleration pedal. The opening of the throttle valve adjusts the intake air amount (and ultimately the amount of homogeneously mixed air and fuel) that is supplied to the combustion chambers of the engine. This controls engine power.
The combustion of the air fuel mixture in such homogeneous state is normally referred to as homogeneous charge combustion. However, in engines that perform homogeneous combustion, the throttling action of the throttle valve decreases the pressure in the intake passage. This increases energy loss due to pumping (pumping loss) when the air fuel mixture is drawn into the combustion chambers from the intake passage and thus decreases the efficiency of the engine. This problem can be dealt with by direct injection. In an engine that performs direct injection, the throttle valve is opened wide and fuel is injected directly into each combustion chamber. The air drawn into each combustion chamber is swirled and mixed with atomized fuel to form a stratum of a stoichiometric air-fuel mixture near the spark plug. Such stratified charge combustion increases the overall air-fuel ratio of the mixture that is burned. This improves fuel efficiency.
Stratified charge combustion is the optimal combustion mode if the engine is in a low speed range or intermediate speed range, and the amount of fuel injection is thus small. In comparison, homogeneous charge combustion is the optimal combustion mode if the engine is in a high speed range, and the amount of fuel injection is thus great. Therefore, it is beneficial for an engine to perform both stratified charge combustion and homogeneous charge combustion.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-52145 describes an engine that shifts combustion modes (or fuel injection modes) between stratified charge combustion, homogeneous charge combustion, and semi-stratified charge combustion. Stratified charge combustion is performed when the load applied to the engine is light. In this mode, fuel is injected during the compression stroke. If a heavy load is applied to the engine, homogeneous charge combustion is performed. In this mode, fuel is injected during the intake stroke. If an intermediate load is applied to the engine, semi-stratified charge combustion is performed. In this mode, fuel is injected twice, once during the intake stroke and once during the compression stroke.
The shifting of the combustion mode, or the fuel injection mode, results in certain problems. For example, when the combustion mode is shifted from stratified charge combustion to homogeneous charge combustion, the amount of fuel injection is increased. Furthermore, the intake air is throttled by the throttle valve. This results in energy loss (pumping loss) and decreases the engine torque in a sudden manner. It is preferable for the torque to increase gradually as the engine load increases. However, if the fuel injection is determined in accordance with changes in the engine load without taking pumping losses into consideration, sudden torque fluctuations will occur when switching the combustion mode.

Combustion controller for internal combustion engines


A polarization independent (PI) interferometer design that can be built from standard optical components is described. Based upon a Michelson interferometer, the PI interferometer uses a 50/50 splitter and Faraday Rotator Mirrors (FM's). The interferometer achieves good optical characteristics, such as high extinction ratio (ER) and low insertion loss (IL). Lack of polarization sensitivity reduces interferometer construction tolerances and cost, enhances performance and utility, and expands the scope of interferometric based devices. Such characteristics can be used to construct flexible, high performance, polarization insensitive, multi-rate, self-calibrating, optical DPSK receivers, power combiners, optical filters and interleavers, all-optical switches, and cascaded interferometers. Since polarization is not maintained in standard fiber optic networks, a PI-DPSK receiver allows for use of more sensitive DPSK communications over fiber, without need for costly polarization control hardware. Other applications of PI interferometers include optical CDMA, secure communications, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and temporal gratings with ultra-precise timing.

Optical interferometers are used in optical receivers to receive optical communications signals, such as Differential Phase Shift Keyed (DPSK) modulation signals, which carries differentially encoded data on the phase of an optical signal in time. DPSK provides approximately 3 dB sensitivity improvement over commonly used intensity modulation (IM) formats, such as On Off Keying (OOK). It also can operate with a 100% duty-cycle, in contrast to the IM formats which typically have a maximum 50% duty-cycle. Therefore, DPSK can transmit the same average power with one-half the power peak power of OOK, which can reduce nonlinear effects that can often limit the capacity of fiber-optic links. Such performance benefits come at the cost of increased complexity in the receiver, which requires a delay-line interferometer.
For optical communication systems, the interferometer is often polarization sensitive, requiring control of (i) incoming polarization and (ii) relative polarization and phase between the arms of the interferometer. Typical DPSK systems encode the binary digital data by sending bits with either a 0 or π differential phase shift, where no phase shift maps to a logical "zero" and the π phase shift can map to a logical "one." The π phase shift corresponds to a half wavelength (λ/2) delay, which, for 1.5 μm wavelength optical signals, corresponds to about a 500 nm shift in distance in fiber or, equivalently, 2.5 fs in time. The interfering bits are usually adjacent to each other, so that the delay between them, τ, is the same as the bit period, and dependent on the data rate. For example, for data rate R=40 Gbit/s communications, τ=1/R=25 psec, or approximately 10,000 half-wavelengths; for data rate R=10 Gbit/s communications, τ=1/R=100 psec, or approximately 40,000 half-wavelengths.
In order to demodulate optical DPSK signals, the differentially encoded bits are interfered with each other. This is typically achieved using the Mach-Zehnder type delay-line interferometer, where the delay is the time duration τ between the differentially encoded bits. In order maximize the interference, the two interfering bits must have substantially the same polarization, and the delay and the differential delay must be stable to small fractions of a wavelength (e.g., <λ/10=˜100 nm in fiber or 0.5 fs). Due to these challenging constraints, existing delay-line interferometers often incorporate a microscopic phase control element that can impart fractional wavelength delays on the optical path by heating or stretching the fiber/waveguide, which, in conjunction with feedback, can be used to stabilize the interferometer. In addition, existing delay-line interferometers often make use of polarization maintaining elements or active polarization control, and minimize the use standard single-mode elements in order to improve stability.

Reconfigurable polarization independent interferometers and methods of stabilization


The medical, particularly dental imaging camera including an elongated housing (2) that can be held by a single hand of a user and provided, at its front end, with an imaging element, this housing (2) including a sensitive control element capable of freezing, on a display (5), an image selected by the user, this control element having a detection area (9) situated on the housing (2) that is delimited by a surface discontinuity such as a recess or a relief (11). The housing (2) encloses a sensor element associated with an electronic driving circuit and an electrostatic foam element whose one end is applied against the sensor element and whose opposite end is applied against an area of the inner face of the housing (2) located to the right of the detection area (9).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera for medical, and particularly dental, use.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the medical domain, and more particularly in the dental domain, micro-cameras are known, whose lens is disposed at the end of a hand piece and which comprise on the body thereof a control knob making it possible to trigger off shot-taking or to capture a specific image.
Such micro-cameras, particularly when they are used in applications where it is necessary to "freeze" an image, are controlled by a specific pedal actuated by the user's foot. In effect, it has been observed that, particularly in this type of applications, the simple actuation of a control knob fast with the camera, however gentle its release, led to generating a movement of the camera having for effect to blur the image which it was desired to "freeze". Now, this type of pedal-control is used for numerous instruments, particularly in dental surgeries, with the result that it may be awkward for the practitioner to multiply such controls.
Furthermore, different types of release controls which do not require any physical displacement of the user's fingers, are known, such as for example the controls of sensitive type which are constituted in particular by capacitive or inductive sensors which react to the electric field produced by a user's finger.
One of the difficulties encountered in the use of such controls on dental cameras for ensuring "freezing" of an image, is a result of the fact that, contrary to the conventional control knobs which allow a tactile localization, the sensitive controls can themselves only be localized by the practitioner visually, which is not acceptable in the present case insofar as his visual concentration must imperatively be directed on the operative field.
This is why Patent Application FR 02 15014 proposed to provide on the outer face of the body of the camera a zone of surface discontinuity, forming a crest or a hollow, which is disposed plumb with the sensitive sensor, and which allows the user to ensure positioning of his finger with respect to the zone of detection slightly upstream thereof, it being understood that any additional movement of this finger will provoke its detection and consequently the triggering of the appropriate control.
Control systems of sensitive type are usually composed of a sensor (generally a metal pellet) and of electronic means disposed on a support circuit. Now, it has proved that, for various reasons, due in particular to the space requirement, to the global design of the camera, to the aesthetics of the body thereof, or to the presence of various components on the support circuit, it is not possible, in certain configurations, to dispose the sensor and the electronic circuit associated therewith in contact with the inner face of the body of the camera. Now, it is known that, when it is desired that the sensor detects a user's finger precisely and repetitively, it cannot be envisaged to separate the electronic circuit from the sensor in order to position the latter against the inner wall of the body in the immediate proximity of the zone of detection. In effect, it has been observed that the cord link which is in that case established between these two elements has for consequence to destroy the precision and correct repetitivity of the position of detection, insofar as the linking cords become an integral part of the sensor, their position and their length influencing the detection.

Camera for medical, particularly dental use


Connector (10) having a mating face (16) and an opposed board-mounting face (18) and having an outer metal shield (12) therearound with an annular transverse flange (40). Opposed notches (46) into the peripheral edge surface (48) of the flange enable gripping by robotic equipment for accurate placement of the connector onto a circuit board.

An electrical connector is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,862, and such a connector is sold by AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa. as the Miniature Circular DIN Connector. The connector has an outer metal shield about an insulative insert containing a plurality of contacts that extend in respective passageways from a board-mounting face to an opposed mating face both of which are exposed by the outer shield. An inner shield is disposed in an annular recess of the insert. The outer shield is circular and includes a transverse flange extending outwardly to seat against the periphery of the cutout of a panel through which the connector extends for mating with a complementary connector; a portion of the flange is enlarged to provide an aperture therethrough for receipt of a grounding bolt of the panel.
It is desired to provide for accurate placement by robotic equipment onto a circuit board during circuit board assembly.


The present invention provides a transflective liquid crystal display device which can reduce the generation of an image retention even when the transflective liquid crystal display device adopts the constitution in which an aluminum film is formed in a reflective region and a transparent conductive film made of ITO or the like is arranged over the aluminum film. The constitution according to the present invention is characterized in that, in a liquid crystal display device which includes a transmissive region and a reflective region within one pixel, a pixel electrode of the transmissive region is formed of a first transparent conductive film, a pixel electrode of the reflective region is formed by stacking an aluminum film on a high-melting-point metal film and by arranging a second transparent conductive film on the aluminum film, and the second conductive film and the high-melting-point metal film in the reflective region are brought into contact with each other at an end portion of the high-melting-point metal film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transflective liquid crystal display device, and more particularly to a transflective liquid crystal display device which arranges a transmissive region and a reflective region on a pixel part thereof.
2. Description of the Related Arts
As an active matrix type liquid crystal display device currently on a main stream, a reflective liquid crystal display device, a transmissive liquid crystal display device, and a semi transmissive and semi reflective liquid crystal display device (hereinafter, referred to as a transflective liquid crystal display device) which combines the reflective liquid crystal display device and the transmissive liquid crystal display device have been known. The transflective liquid crystal display device realizes advantages of the transmissive liquid crystal display device and the reflective liquid crystal display device using one liquid crystal display device by providing a transmissive region which allows the transmission of light from a back light and a reflective region which allows the reflection of an external light on a pixel part.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-315766 (patent document 1), as shown in FIG. 5, shows a cross-section of a pixel part of a so-called transflective liquid crystal display device, wherein a metal reflective film 41 (constituted by forming an Al film on a Mo film) is arranged as a pixel electrode of a reflective region, and an ITO layer 42 is arranged as a pixel electrode of a transmissive region.
Further, in patent document 1, as a countermeasure to cope with flickers which are conspicuously observed particularly when the transflective liquid crystal display device is driven with low frequency, as shown in FIG. 6, there is described the constitution which covers a surface of a reflective electrode 51 (Al) arranged in a reflective region with an amorphous transparent conductive film 52 made of InZnOx (oxide mainly containing indium oxide (In2O3) and zinc oxide (ZnO), work function: approximately 4.8 eV). Here, numeral 53 in FIG. 6 indicates an ITO film which constitutes a transmissive region. Usually, a work function of aluminum is 4.06 eV and a work function of ITO is 4.41 eV and hence, common potentials of the reflective region and the transmissive region are shifted from each other by approximately 0.4 V whereby flickers are generated. In the above-mentioned constitution, to suppress of the generation of the flickers, the ITO film is also arranged in the reflective region so as to make the work functions equal to each other thus eliminating the difference between the common potentials.
Aluminum described in patent document 1 is favorably used as metal for forming the reflective electrode. However, when aluminum is used as metal for forming the reflective electrode, the compatibility of the aluminum film with the transparent conductive film made of ITO or the like which is arranged over the aluminum film has to be taken into consideration. It is found that the constitution which arranges the ITO film on the aluminum film has a drawback that aluminum oxide is formed on an interface between the aluminum film and the ITO film due to electrical conductance therebetween and a charge is stored in the interface thus generating an image retention. Further, it is also found that such a constitution brings about not only the drawback on the generation of image retention but also a possibility that the electrical conductance is not achieved on the interface between the aluminum film and the ITO film and hence, the ITO film loses a function of an electrode whereby the difference in work functions is generated between the ITO film and an ITO film which is arranged in the transmissive region.
To cope with such drawbacks, it may be possible to arrange an ITO film having a small film thickness (for example, 30 μm or less). However, with such a thin ITO film, there exists a possibility of disconnection of the ITO film at a broken-step portion of a through hole which connects a transistor and a pixel electrode and hence, the countermeasure is not effective.
The present invention has been made to overcome such drawbacks, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a transflective liquid crystal display device which can reduce the generation of an image retention even when the transflective liquid crystal display device adopts the constitution in which an aluminum film is formed in a reflective region and a transparent conductive film made of ITO or the like is arranged over the aluminum film.

Liquid crystal display device with double layered reflector in pixel


A fuel supply system for a hydrogen gas engine, having a metal hydride tank in which pellets or powders of a metal hydride absorbing and storing alloy are stored. A heat exchange device is arranged in the tank in contact with the metal hydride therein. The heat exchange device is connected to a heating medium source, such as an engine water jacket, for supplying the heating medium to the heat exchange device, for separating hydrogen gas from the metal hydride. A fuel supply conduit is provided for connecting the metal hydride tank with the engine. A hydrogen gas flow control valve and a hydrogen gas flow meter are arranged in series in the conduit. A controller is provided for controlling the hydrogen gas flow control valve so that a desired amount of the hydrogen gas, as detected by the hydrogen gas flow meter, is obtained. A sub tank may be provided for storing an excess amount of hydrogen gas from the main tank, which is introduced into the engine via a sonic valve. An indicator for measuring an amount of hydrogen gas remaining, from the volume of the metal hydride, is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel supply system for an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Attempts have long been made to use hydrogen as a fuel for an internal combustion engine, but such attempts were abandoned. Recently however, interest in these attempts has been revived due to the finding that hydrogen produces a low amount of toxic emissions, which is advantageous from the view point of protecting the environment, and due to the urgent need for the development of new fuel resource because of the looming shortage of fossil fuels in the near future. In an automobile using hydrogen as a fuel, a fuel tank having a high pressure resistance and a cylindrical shape, in which liquid hydrogen is stored, is usually employed. Such a high pressure type tank, however, is disadvantageous from the view point of easy handling, and therefore, a new construction of a fuel tank has been proposed, in place of the high pressure type, wherein a hydrogen absorbing and storing alloy, such as Ti-Fe, is charged in a tank as fine pellets or powders thereof, and gaseous hydrogen is absorbed by the Ti-Fe pellets to provide a metal hydride stored in the pellets. Heating the pellets causes the hydrogen gas to be separated therefrom. The hydrogen gas can thus be supplied to an internal combustion engine. The handling of such a system using Ti-Fe pellets is relatively easy, compared with that of a high pressure hydrogen tank, because a relatively large amount of high density hydrogen can be stored under a relatively small pressure.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-220009 discloses a tank to be charged with the metal hydride pellets. This tank is equipped with a system for maintaining a predetermined constant pressure inside the metal hydride tank regardless of a change in a load on the internal combustion engine, and the system is constructed by a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure of the hydrogen gas in the tank, and an electric control device for calculating a pressure change in accordance with a lapse of time, i.e., a pressure gradient. A flow control valve is further provided and is responsive to a calculated pressure gradient for controlling an amount of hot engine cooling water fed from the engine to the tank, for heating the metal hydride, to thus control the amount of hydrogen gas separated from the pellets stored in the tank.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-216024, the metal hydride tank is provided with a temperature sensor, in addition to the pressure sensor. Furthermore, in addition to a main metal hydride tank, an auxiliary tank is provided and arranged in parallel to the main tank, and a switching valve is located in a pipe to the tanks, for controlling a selective introduction of the hot engine water to the tanks. A warning device is further provided for sounding an alarm when the amount of hydrogen remaining in the tank becomes too small, to thus prevent a situation such that the fuel supply is abruptly stopped while the vehicle is running. This prior art is provided with a plurality of pressure sensors arranged in gas passageways running from the tank to the internal combustion engine, a pressure control device, and a flow control device. The pressure control device and the flow control device are operated in accordance with the pressure values detected by the pressure sensors, to thus obtain a required control of the pressure and flow amount of the hydrogen gas.
In a prior art hydrogen engine provided with a metal hydride tank, as also seen from the above-mentioned first and second prior arts, the control of the amount of the hydrogen gas is executed by a predetermined heating or cooling of the metal hydride material, and the obtained hydrogen gas is introduced, via a pressure regulator device, to a carburetor or to fuel injection valves of the internal combustion engine. The pressure regulator mounted in a fuel supply conduit between the fuel tank and the carburetor or fuel injection valves is provided for maintaining a predetermined constant pressure of the hydrogen gas in the conduit. Such a control of the hydrogen pressure by the regulator is essential for obtaining a desired amount of hydrogen by controlling the duration of the time for which the fuel injection valves are open, without actually detecting the amount of hydrogen gas. Such a fuel supply system, however, suffers from the following drawbacks.
The regulator in the hydrogen supply conduit connecting the metal hydride tank with the fuel injectors can suffer from a large pressure loss across the regulator, compared with a gasoline engine, and this makes it difficult for the hydrogen engine to quickly obtain an amount of hydrogen gas required. Namely, hydrogen has a small molecular weight, and therefore, with respect to the same amount of air introduced into the internal combustion engine, a large volumetric amount of the hydrogen gas must be introduced when compared with a high density hydrocarbon fuel such as gasoline. Such a large volumetric amount of the hydrogen gas creates a large pressure loss across the regulator when the gas is passed therethrough, and therefore, upon an acceleration of the engine, the amount of hydrogen required by the engine is increased but the large pressure loss makes it difficult for the necessary amount of hydrogen gas to be quickly supplied to the engine, and thus the performance of the engine is degraded.

Fuel supply system for an internal combustion engine


The present invention refers to a method of treating tumor growth and metastasis in a mammal, the treating comprising administering allogeneic effector cells together with trifunctional bispecific or trispecific antibodies or a combination thereof having the following properties:    a) binding to a T cell    b) binding to at least one antigen on a tumor cell    c) binding via their Fc portion in the case of trifunctional bispecific antibodies or via third specificity in the case of trispecific antibodies to Fc receptor positive cells;the antibodies redirecting the allogenic cells away from host tissues in order to substantially reduce or avoid a graft versus host disease.

Therapeutic options for patients with recurrent leukemia or B cell lymphoma refractory to the standard therapy are limited. A promising approach for such resistant malignancies is immunotherapy with e.g. donor lymphocyte infusions (1-3). Donor lymphocyte infusions can cure especially recurrent chronic myelogenous leukemia, probably by the action of T cells, but is complicated by the possibility of simultaneously induced graft-versus-host disease. Therefore, a more specific and better controllable therapy, e.g. with monoclonal antibodies that target lymphocytes to residual tumor cells, is desired. However, in most cases, unlabeled or unconjugated antibodies do not activate immune effector mechanisms sufficiently to eradicate all tumor cells. Thus, T cell redirecting bispecific antibodies (bsAb), which combine the cell-specificity of monospecific antibodies with the potency of T cells may be more effective.
Bispecific antibodies consisting of 2 different antigenic specificities have been developed as immunotherapeutic reagents for targeting immune cells to tumor tissue (4-8). This strategy is based on the assumption that appropriate effector/target cell interaction via a physical contact between immune cells and tumor cells, activates cytotoxic mechanisms that lead to an efficient eradication of tumor cells.
Many different bispecific antibody formats have been created over the last 20 years with varying qualities in production, in vitro and in vivo efficacy, recruitment of effector cells or e.g. need for additional T cell stimuli (9-13). Finally, several of these constructs reached the clinic with minor to moderate and only sometimes promising efficacy (14-17). Trifunctional antibodies (trAb) are artificially engineered immunoglobulins with an unique composition of heavy chains of mouse IgG2a and rat IgG2b, representing highly homologous Ig subclasses. Both isotypes are very potent in terms of immunological effector functions, such as complement dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) and antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). Noteworthy, the Fc region composed by these two subclasses, effectively binds to human FcγI and III-receptors on accessory cells (like e.g. macrophages, dendritic cells and natural killer cells) but not to the inhibitory Fcγ receptor type II expressed e.g. on B cells. As a consequence trAbs can not only redirect T-cells to tumor cells, but also induce recruitment and activation of accessory cells through their Fc region. The simultaneous activation of different mechanisms at the tumor site such as phagocytosis, perforin mediated lysis and cytokine release results in a particularly efficient destruction of tumor cells (18, 19). Remarkably, also apoptosis-resistant tumor cells can be eliminated by this process (19). As a further consequence of the so induced uptake of tumor material by the antigen presenting system even a long-lasting protective antitumor immunity could be established as already demonstrated in two immunocompetent murine tumor models (20).
While most BsAb treatments aiming to achieve anti-tumor response have been combined with syngeneic/autologous derived cells, we and others (3, 10, 21-23) have also used an immunotherapeutic strategy based on the allogeneic reaction of major histocompatibly mismatched cells, known in clinical practice as donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI), following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT). Unfortunately, the use of allogeneic cell therapy (alloCT) in the context of currently applicable protocols in experimental models and in clinical practice, is frequently accompanied by life-threatening acute and chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD) that is difficult to control effectively with currently available treatments (23-28).

Method of treating tumor growth and metastasis by using trifunctional antibodies to reduce the risk for GvHD in allogeneic antitumor cell therapy


An alignment tool for use by a shingle installer for aligning a row of shingles to be fastened to a roof, the shingles having straight bottom edges relative to a previously fastened row of shingles. The alignment tool includes a pair of flanged brackets that fit snugly against the lower edge of the already fastened shingles and includes an upper edge that allows the shingles to be fastened to be quickly placed thereagainst for proper alignment. The installer can kneel, holding the alignment tool in position while actually fastening the shingles to the roof with his free hands.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a tool that provides for precise alignment of a row layer of rectangular roof shingles expeditiously and accurately, and in particular, to a shingle alignment tool that utilizes a kneeling platform used by the shingle applicator that allows for alignment and nailing or stapling of the shingles in a coordinated movement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of asphalt or asphalt-like, rectangular (typically one foot by three feet), overlapping shingles for roofs is well known. The shingles are constructed in one piece in elongated strips 3 ft. long, having spaced lateral separations with the edges being shaped like rectangles along one side, and a continuous shingle body along the top edge where the shingle is attached by nails or staples to a typically plywood roof that is covered with tar paper. Perhaps the most time consuming aspect of applying shingles to the roof is the vertical alignment thereof so that the bottom lower edges of the shingles are properly spaced relative to the previously attached row of shingles, there being a precise distance of overlap required for proper alignment, and assuring that the horizontal line is parallel to the previously attached row along the bottom edges. Numerous devices have been utilized in the past to expedite the alignment so that the worker with a hammer and nails or staple gun can get the shingle layer to be applied perfectly aligned before fastening with the nails or staples. U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,217 issued to Stewart Sep. 17, 1985 shows a double row shingle alignment fixture. The device is quite complex and includes several panels, slots, and hinges which do not greatly expedite the job. U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,279 issued to Williams May 28, 1991 shows a strip shingle alignment tool that includes a 90.degree. edge that fits flush against the shingles and a spring actuated manual clamp that provides for clamping along the previously attached row of shingles. This requires manual actuation of two clamps, with the additional time of alignment, and then the expectation that hammering or stapling the current shingle row will not move the alignment tool to the wrong position. Thus, the tool is itself time consuming when utilized for shingle alignment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,144 issued to Barnett Jan. 15, 1980 shows yet another variation on the strip shingle alignment fixture that includes a mechanical clamp for holding it in position. This again requires the additional time of alignment using the manual clamp, and then avoiding any contact that could jar or move the alignment tool during the process of attaching or nailing shingles. Because of the position of the tool, the fact that the roof layer has to physically be positioned adjacent or near the tool can result in accidental brushing against the tool, causing the alignment to become erroneous.
The present invention overcomes the problems shown in the prior art by eliminating a manually actuated clamp or clamps and providing an alignment tool that allows the shingle applicator to physically pull the alignment tool in position while the shingle applicator is actually attaching the shingles with hammer and nail or staple gun or a nail gun. This is accomplished by employing a kneeling board in conjunction with a premeasured pair of brackets having a measuring flange which can be quickly and easily installed with the shingles attached and readily moved for the next alignment position.


Methods and apparatus are provided for a cryptography accelerator to efficiently perform authentication and encryption operations. A data sequence is received at a cryptography accelerator. An encrypted authentication code and an encrypted data sequence is provided efficiently upon performing single pass authentication and encryption operations on the data sequence.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to encryption and authentication operations. More specifically, the present application relates to methods and apparatus for performing encryption and authentication operations for stream ciphers and variations of stream ciphers.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional software and hardware designs for performing encryption and authentication operations for stream ciphers and variations of stream ciphers are inefficient. One design for performing encryption and authentication entails encrypting a data sequence and subsequently calculating an authentication code based on the encrypted data sequence. Calculating the authentication value typically involves performing hash operations on the encrypted data sequence. Other protocols specify calculating an authentication code based on the data sequence and encrypting the data sequence. Still other algorithms involve calculating an authentication code based on the data sequence and encrypting both the authentication code and the data sequence.
However, typical software and hardware designs for calculating an authentication code based on the data sequence and encrypting both the authentication code and the data sequence are inefficient and resource intensive.
A variety of techniques for performing encryption and authentication operations are described in Applied Cryptography, Bruce Schneier, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (ISBN 0471128457), NIST Federal Information Processing Standard FIPS-197 (AES), and NIST Special Publication 800-38a (Modes of Operation), the entireties of which are incorporated by reference for all purposes.
It is therefore desirable to provide methods and apparatus for improving cryptographic operations with respect to some or all of the performance limitations noted above.

Methods and apparatus for performing encryption and authentication


A fuel tank mounting assembly for mounting on a vehicle frame rail and method of installing the assembly on the vehicle frame rail to optimize the vehicle assembly line to allow for shorter takt time for the fuel tank mounting. The fuel tank mounting assembly includes a fuel tank, support brackets that each have two supporting tabs, and tank strap assemblies that attach to the support brackets to secure the fuel tank to the tank support brackets. Receiver brackets are attached to the frame rail of the vehicle, and the receiver brackets have two alignment notches that are sized to receive the two tabs of the fuel tank support brackets to couple the fuel tank to the vehicle for later permanent attachment, particularly at a subsequent assembly line station.

The installation of fuel tanks on vehicles can be a time consuming and man power intensive process on the main vehicle assembly line. Typically, as each vehicle is moved into the fuel tank installation portion of the assembly line, a hanger bracket was bolted to the frame rail and then line personnel physically moved the fuel tank up to the hanger bracket and while holding the tank against the bracket, wrapped tank straps with linking bolts around the tank. Each tank strap was fastened at one end with bolting through the frame rail side member and the other end with bolting to the hanger bracket. This process is cumbersome due to the bulky nature of the fuel tank. Time was required to align the fuel tank so that access points such as the filling point were properly situated. Fuel tank mounted entry/egress steps could only be installed after tank installation on the vehicle.
In vehicle assembly lines there is a certain period of time that a vehicle spends at each station that is referred to as the takt time. Using shorter takt times improves the rate of production of the vehicle assembly line. Fuel tank installation, due to its time consuming nature, is an area of the vehicle assembly line that limit the shortest possible takt time and thus the rate of production of the vehicle assembly line.

Vehicle fuel tank mounting assembly and installation method


The invention described herein provides for methods of screening for compounds that can be used to prevent or inhibit the growth of microbial eukaryotes, particularly plant or animal pathogens. The screening methods of the invention involve the step of screening compounds for the ability to inhibit Group I intron I splicing. In addition, to directly screening for compounds that inhibit Group I intron splicing, the screening methods of the invention include screening for compounds that bind to prokaryotic 16S ribosomal RNA because of the correlation, described herein, between group I intron inhibition and binding to prokaryotic 16S ribosomal RNA. The range of possible compounds for screening by the screening methods of the invention is preferably limited to 2-deoxystreptamine derivatives.. Another aspect of the invention is to provide methods of treating or preventing infections with eukaryotic microbes by administering an effective amount of a compound that inhibits group I intron splicing. These compounds may be obtained by the screening methods of the invention.

The discovery of catalytically active RNA has provided the basis for the evolutionary concept of an RNA world. It has been proposed that during evolution the functions of ancient catalytic RNA were modulated by low molecular weight effectors, related to antibiotics, present in the primordial soup. Antibiotics and RNA may have co-evolved in the formation of the modern ribosome (Davies, J. Molec. Microbio. 4, 1227-1232 (1990)). The experiments described herein demonstrate that a set of aminoglycoside antibiotics, which are known to interact with the decoding region of the 16S ribosomal RNA of Escherichia coli. (Moazed, D. & Noller, H. F. Nature 327, 389-394 (1987); Noller, H. F. A. Rev. Biochem. 53, 119-162 (1984); Cundliffe, E. in The Ribosome (eds Hill, W. E. et al.) 479-490 (Am. Soc. Microbiol., Washington 1990), inhibit the second step of splicing of the T4 phage-derived td intron. Thus catalytic RNA seems to interact not only with a mononucleotide (Bass, B. & Cech, T. R. Biochemistry 25, 44773-4477 (1986)) and an amino acid (Yarus, M. Science 240, 1751-1758 (1988)), but also with another class of biomolecules, the sugars. Splicing of other group I introns but not group II introns was inhibited. The similarity in affinity and specificity of these antibiotics for group I introns and rRNAs may result from recognition of evolutionarily conserved structures.
The first step of splicing, which is initiated by binding of exogenous guanosine to the G-binding site, is dependent on guanosine concentration. Once bound to the ribozyme, the 5' splice-site is cleaved and the nucleoside becomes covalently linked to the first nucleotide of the intron. The second step of splicing is initiated by nucleophilic attack of the 3' splice site by the free 3' hydroxyl group of the upstream exon. The splice site is cleaved and the exons are ligated (FIG. 1). (Cech, T. R. A. Rev. Biochem. 59, 543-568 (1990).) The genetic information carried by DNA is transcribed to RNA to mediate the process of gene expression. The coding region of RNA is very often interrupted by so called intervening sequences (introns). These introns must be removed from the coding regions (exons) to result in an uninterrupted sequence or functional RNA; the exons become spliced together. Depending on the splice mechanism, characteristic secondary structure, and cofactor dependence, several intron classes can be differentiated. The group I intron RNA can be folded in a characteristic set of stem and loop structure. These introns are removed by two consecutive transesterification reactions and an external guanosine or guanosine phosphate derivative is needed to initiate the splice reaction. This guanosine attacks, via its 3'-hydroxyl group, the 5'splice site and becomes covalently linked to the 5'end of the intron. The 3'-hydroxyl of the 5'exon now attacks the 3' splice site, the two exons become ligated and the intron is released. This reaction is autocatalytic, i.e., the reaction occurs in the absence of any protein enzymes or hydrolysis of energy rich bonds solely because of the ability of the intron RNA to fold in its active form. The reaction can be performed in vitro by synthesizing the RNA in vitro and incubating it in the presence of pH-buffer, magnesium ions and the cofactor guanosine (or GTP) (see Cech, Annual Review of Biochemistry, 1990, vol. 59, p. 543).
Group I introns have been found in messenger RNA (mRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and transfer RNA (tRNA) in microorganisms and organelles of all kingdoms (compare Michel & Westhof, Journal of Molecular Biology, 1990, vol. 216, p.585).
The group I intron provides an attractive target for antimicrobial agents because the intron is predominantly found in lower eukaryotes. The invention described herein provides methods for screening for compounds that inhibit group I intron splicing and methods for inhibiting microbial growth with these compounds.

Use of antibiotics of the type 2-deoxystreptamine substituted with aminosugars to inhibit growth of microorganisms containing group I introns


A fishing reel has a brake apparatus disposed between a reel body and a spool shaft. The brake apparatus includes a rotary element mounted on the spool shaft to be rotatable relative thereto and to the reel body, a first brake mechanism for transmitting a braking force from the reel body to the rotary element, and a second brake mechanism for transmitting the braking force from the rotary element to the spool shaft. When the spool reaches a maximum rotating speed, rotating speed of the rotary element does not increase greatly since the first brake mechanism slips due to inertia of the rotary element. Subsequently, the rotating speed of the rotary element increases with lapse of time. As a result, the first brake mechanism effectively applies a braking force to the spool after the spool reaches the maximum speed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a brake apparatus for a fishing reel, and more particularly to an improvement in a brake apparatus having a braking device disposed between a spool or a rotating system including a member interlocked and rotatable with the spool, and a stationary system provided by a reel body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known brake apparatus for fishing reels include a centrifugal type brake. This type of brake apparatus has radially displaceable braking pieces arranged on a system rotatable with the spool, and an annular friction member for contacting the braking pieces when the rotating system rotates (this apparatus being hereinafter referred to also as the "centrifugal brake": see Japanese Patent Publication No. 1955-8116, for example).
The known centrifugal brake applies a braking force proportional to the square of a rotating speed of the spool. Thus, this brake has characteristics to produce a relatively strong braking force immediately after the spool starts rotating. The centrifugal brake produces a maximum braking force when the spool rotation reaches a maximum speed.
However, where a maximum braking force is produced when the spool rotation reaches a maximum speed, an insufficient braking force tends to be produced after the spool rotation begins to slow down from the maximum speed. This could result in a backlash.
In order to avoid the lack in the braking force occurring with a slow-down of the spool rotation, it is conceivable to increase the weight of the braking pieces or use braking pieces having a large coefficient of friction. However, such a measure would produce an excessive braking force when the spool rotation reaches the maximum speed. This results in such an inconvenience as an insufficient distance to which a lure or other type of bait is cast.
A backlash seldom occurs when the spool rotation is accelerated in an initial stage of bait-casting action (which is a very brief period of time). A backlash tends to occur after the acceleration of the spool rotation, when the fishing line relaxes under air resistance acting on the fishing line or bait, or when the bait hits a water surface.
On the other hand, it is important for this type of brake apparatus to produce a great braking force when the spool rotates at high speed. As noted above, a backlash tends to occur when the spool begins to slow down after reaching the high speed rotation. Thus, there is a desire for a brake apparatus that reliably applies a braking force to the spool in a beginning stage of its slow-down.


A trim panel assembly for attachment to a body panel of a motor vehicle includes a main body portion and a mounting arrangement. The mounting arrangement includes a first mounting member. The first mounting member has a generally L-shaped configuration with a first leg and a second leg. The first leg extends generally perpendicular to the main body portion. The second leg extends generally parallel to the main body portion. Preferably, the mounting arrangement further includes a second mounting member for resiliently biasing the main body portion downward. In one particular application, the trim panel assembly is a B-pillar trim panel assembly. In this particular application, the first mounting member extends through an aperture in the B-pillar and the second mounting member resiliently engages a housing of an airbag assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to motor vehicles. More specifically, this invention relates to a trim panel assembly which securely fastens to a motor vehicle body. In one exemplary application, this invention relates to a trim panel assembly for a motor vehicle during deployment of a B-pillar side airbag designed to resist forces generated which may otherwise separate the trim panel from the vehicle body.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
It is known in the pertinent art to provide a motor vehicle with various interior trim panels. The trim panels are secured to the motor vehicle body and provide the interior of the motor vehicle with an aesthetically pleasing appearance. It is desirable that the interior trim panels be quickly and easily attachable to the vehicle body. Additionally, it is desirable that the interior trim panels be securely attached and resist inadvertent separation with the motor vehicle body.
While known interior trim panels for motor vehicles have proven to be commercially acceptable for their intended purposes, continued advancement of the art is necessary. In this regard, Supplemental AirBag (SAB) or Supplemental Restraint Systems (SRS) are now in limited applications being disposed within motor vehicles in various positions. For example, it is known in the art to provide a supplemental airbag extending along the lateral sides of a headliner. Certain known trim panel assemblies may not be as suitable to withstand forces generated during deployment of such a supplemental airbag and may become inadvertently separated from the motor vehicle body.
It remains a need in the pertinent art to provide a trim panel assembly for a motor vehicle which is designed to resist forces generated during deployment of a supplemental airbag which may otherwise separate the trim panel assembly from the motor vehicle body.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a trim panel assembly with a mounting arrangement for more securely attaching the trim panel assembly to a motor vehicle frame.
It is a more particular object with the present invention to provide a trim panel assembly for a B-pillar of a motor vehicle having a mounting arrangement which opposes deployment forces from an adjacent airbag.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a trim panel assembly for a motor vehicle with a reduced number of parts.
The present invention provides a trim panel assembly for attachment to a body panel of a motor vehicle. The trim panel assembly includes a main body portion and mounting arrangement. The mounting arrangement includes a first mounting member having a generally L-shaped configuration with a first leg and a second leg. The first leg extends generally perpendicular to the main body portion while the second leg extends generally parallel to the main body portion.
The present invention provides a motor vehicle including a B-pillar and a trim panel assembly. The B-pillar includes an interior side defining an aperture. The trim panel assembly includes a mounting arrangement having a first mounting member with a generally L-shaped configuration. A first leg of the first mounting member extends generally perpendicular to the main body portion. A second leg of the mounting arrangement extends generally parallel to the main body portion. The first mounting member extends through the aperture of the B-pillar. The second mounting member preferably resiliently engages a housing of an airbag assembly and downwardly biases the main body portion.