A mixture of fatty acids rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids is esterified by enzymatic catalysis and then the reaction mixture is saponified, which provides an organic phase containing esters and an aqueous phase which contains fatty acids, the phases are separated and the fatty acids of the aqueous phase are extracted by a non-polar solvent to obtain the fatty acids in the solvent, after which the solvent may be removed from the fatty acids.

The present invention relates to fatty acid fractionation for polyunsaturated fatty acid fraction enrichment, and the present invention also relates to employing enzymatic hydrolysis and enzymatic esterification in the course of obtaining the fractions.
Fatty acids of the n-6 and n-3 series have a nutritional value, in particular as precursors in the biosynthesis of prostaglandins. It may be advantageous to have available fractions enriched in these fatty acids for various nutritional and cosmetic applications. These fatty acids are found in nature principally in the form of triglycerides. Free fatty acids are obtained industrially from triglycerides by hydrolysis at a high temperature and under a high pressure. In order then to fractionate these fatty acids, several methods have been developed, for example crystallization, distillation, the formation of inclusion complexes or chromatographic techniques. Application of these methods may bring about degradation in the case of polyunsaturated fatty acids or prove to be too costly to be applied industrially.
Enzymatic methods represent an alternative to the preceding methods since they enable reactions to be carried out under mild conditions using little energy and equipment which is less stressed.
Enzymatic processes are known, for example from Matthew J. Hills et al in JAOCS, Vol.67, no.9, p.561-563, for fractionating fish oil and evening primrose oil fatty acids based on the fact that the kinetics of the esterification by butanol catalysed by rape lipases and Mucor miehei would be a function of the degree of saturation of the acid to be esterified. After esterification of fatty acids with a higher degree of saturation, the esters are separated from the fatty acids which have not reacted, by thin layer chromatography.

Fatty acid fractionation for polyunsaturated fatty acid fraction enrichment


A hydraulic accumulator includes a cylindrical body or housing having male or external threads on each end and shoulders proximate the ends of the threads nearer the center of the cylindrical body or housing that act as stops. An end cap having internal or female threads is disposed at one end of the accumulator. The accumulator may be threaded into a manifold or control valve assembly or it may include a second threaded end cap having an access, i.e., inlet/outlet, port. A piston resides within the accumulator and is biased by a pair of compression springs toward the manifold, control valve body or second threaded end cap.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may or may not constitute prior art.
Accumulators are relatively common components in hydraulic circuits and systems. As their name suggests, they are essentially storage devices that accumulate pressurized hydraulic fluid when a supply or flow of hydraulic fluid exceeds the consumption or demand of a system or device. Conversely, when the consumption or demand exceeds supply or flow, the previously stored fluid is exhausted from the accumulator to maintain the desired or necessary pressure or flow.
Hydraulic accumulators take many forms. Those utilized in automatic motor vehicle transmissions which are relatively small are formed by a deep draw operation on a sheet metal blank or plate. Significant post processing is then required to achieve a usable configuration. Another manufacturing process involves welding multiple pieces, such as a plate rolled into a cylinder and two end caps along all of the adjacent edges. Accumulators fabricated of formed tubing or pipe are also known but all of these configurations suffer from drawbacks such as high final cost or leaks between poorly assembled accumulator pieces. It is therefore apparent that improvements in the art of accumulator design and manufacture are desirable and the present invention is so directed.


A container system for an item, where the item comprises a shaft and at least one working end. The container system comprises a container, a cartridge, a slide, and a shaft projection extending from the shaft. The container defines a container chamber and a guide slot. The cartridge defines a plurality of item chambers, and an access slot is associated with each item chamber. The slide adapted extends through the guide slot. The shaft projection extends through the access opening and engages the slide such that movement of the slide causes movement of the item.

Personal items such as cotton swabs, toothbrushes, make-up applicators, medical devices, and the like are desirably kept in a sanitary location when not in use. When personal items are stored and used in a fixed location such as a bathroom, the user has relative control over the conditions under which the personal items are stored. However, when such personal items are carried for use in uncontrolled environments, the user loses control over the conditions under which the personal items are stored.
The need thus exists for storage systems and methods for personal items that allow the user more control over the conditions under which the personal items are stored even when these items are transported and used in uncontrolled environments. In addition, there is need to format, retract, select, and/or hygienically store personal items in a more convenient dispenser/storage system, regardless of controlled environment needs, for transport and location purposes.

Storage systems and methods for personal items


An actuator can selectively switch a volume of a pressure chamber between a first state V1 and a second state V2, which is greater than V1. The actuator changes from the first state into the second state and then changes back into the first state to eject ink from an ejection port. A controller controls the actuator such that To/Tc falls within a range from 0.51 to 0.54. To represents the time period between time the actuator starts to change from the first state into the second state, to a time the actuator starts to change from the second state into the first state. Tc represents the period of proper oscillation of ink filling up the individual ink passage. The actuator is controlled so that a variation in ink ejection speed is prevented from being too large relative to the variation in the degree of deformation of the actuator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus, in particular, using a so-called fill-before-fire method for ink ejection.
2. Description of Related Art
An inkjet recording apparatus that ejects ink by an inkjet system has the following construction. The inkjet recording apparatus includes therein an inkjet head on which nozzles are formed for ejecting ink. Ink is supplied to the respective nozzles from a common ink chamber formed in the inkjet head. For this purpose, individual ink passages leading from the common ink chamber to the respective nozzles are formed in the inkjet head. For each individual ink passage, an actuator is provided in the inkjet head for applying a pressure to ink in the individual ink passage. Part of ink to which the pressure has been applied by deformation of the actuator is ejected from the corresponding nozzle.
At that time, a pressure wave is generated by applying the pressure to ink in the pressure chamber, and as a result, proper oscillation is generated in the individual ink passage due to the pressure wave. Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2003-305852 discloses an inkjet head that efficiently ejects ink by using peaks of such proper oscillation. The inkjet head of the publication adopts a so-called fill-before-fire method in which the volume of each pressure chamber is once increased and then the pressure chamber is restored to its original volume after a predetermined time elapses, to apply a pressure to ink in the pressure chamber.
Deformations of such actuators involve various kinds of variations such as manufacturing variations. For example, a case will be discussed wherein an actuator is deformed by supplying a voltage signal to the actuator. In this case, when a voltage signal having therein a difference in voltage is supplied, all actuators are not deformed exactly as designed to correspond to the difference in voltage. As a result, the degree of deformation of an actuator may be a little shifted from its designed value. This causes a shift of the ejection speed of ink from the designed ejection speed when the ink is ejected from the corresponding nozzle by the deformation of the actuator.
When ink is ejected from an inkjet head using a fill-before-fire method as disclosed in the above publication, some shapes of individual ink passages may cause a too large shift of the ink ejection speed relative to the shift of the degree of deformation of the corresponding actuator When the ink ejection speeds are thus largely shifted relatively to the shifts of the respective actuators, the ink ejection speed widely varies from actuator to actuator or from ink ejection to ink ejection. When the ink ejection speeds are largely shifted, variation in ink ejection speed is wide relatively to variation in the degree of actuator deformation. This may cause a reduction of the reproducibility of an image to be formed on a printing paper.

Inkjet recording apparatus and method of determining control condition in the apparatus


A collapsible golf trolley comprises a frame (176, 276) defined by at least two, preferably four, frame members (171,172,173,174, 203), and a wheel structure (122,222). The frame members are pivotally interconnected at hinges (106; 177, 205), whereby in a first configuration, the frame members define a casing (100,200) for the wheel structure parts, the casing having a length which is shorter than the sum of the lengths of each of the frame members. In a second configuration, the frame members coextend in a longitudinal direction to define the frame (176, 276). There is further provided a collapsible wheel structure having arms (150,152,258,252) defining pivotally interconnected arm sections (154,156,158,160; 254,256,258,260) which, in a first, folded configuration define a partial cylindrical shape, and which in a second, unfolded configuration form an S-shape.

Throughout the past decades, golf has become an increasingly more popular sport. Today, thousands of players all over the world play golf on a regular basis. As it is well known, a player's golf clubs and other equipment is normally stored and carried in a golf bag. To facilitate handling and conveyance of golf bags, there has been developed golf trolleys having a frame for supporting the golf bag, two wheels for supporting the frame, and a handle allowing a player to draw the golf trolley with a bag supported thereby. Many golf players who own their own golf clubs, bags and trolleys, have experienced that such equipment takes up a considerable amount of space. This poses not only a domestic storage problem, but also a problem related to transportation of the equipment from, e.g., a player's home to a golf course, for example when the equipment is to be fitted into the trunk of a car. With the growing popularity of compact, low-fuel consumption cars, this problem becomes still more significant.
Therefore, there exists a need for a collapsible golf trolley which occupies less space when collapsed than in its unfolded working configuration. Various collapsible golf trolleys have been proposed in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,264 B1 discloses one such golf trolley, which comprises a collapsible frame device. The frame device includes a number of parts which, in one configuration, are assembled to form the golf trolley, and which in another configuration, are dismantled.
Though the golf trolley of U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,264 is an improvement with respect to non-collapsible golf trolleys, it does, however, suffer from the disadvantage that assembling and dismantling of the various parts of the frame is rather complex and time-consuming. It is therefore an object of embodiments of a first aspect of the present invention to provide a collapsible golf trolley, which is less than complex, and which can be more easily assembled and dismantled. It is a further object of embodiments of the invention to provide a golf trolley which occupies a reduced volume in its collapsed (folded) configuration. It is an object of embodiments of a second aspect of the invention to provide a collapsible wheel structure for a mobile appliance, which wheel structure is easy to assemble, easy to unfold and collapse, and which, in its collapsed or folded configuration occupies a reduced volume.

Collapsible golf trolley, and a wheel structure for a mobile appliance


A script library includes a plurality of common blocks of code including code fragments defined by IF/THEN statements. Packages of parameters forming a data type including a scope parameter are provided in agents which, responsive to being triggered by schedule or menu, issue calls including said scope parameter to functions and procedures said script library. Code fragments bounded by IF/THEN statements within each called function and procedure execute responsive to the scope parameters to operate on entries in a database responsive to other parameters included within the data type.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer applications. More particularly, it relates to controlling the scope of script library code when invoked by variously scheduled agents.
2. Background Art
Many situations exist where substantial code in a script library is shared by many scheduled agents, all running under various schedules including, for example, daily, nightly, weekly, monthly, Mon-Fri only. The code in each agent remains the same, and each time it is called, it all runs.
However, not all the code in a script library function needs to run for all calling agents and the scope of what should/should not run can vary over the life of an application and its agents.

System and method for controlling the scope of script library code

International Business Machines Corporation


A laminated draw-formed container obtained by draw-forming a laminated material of a metal plate on which a resin film is laminated into a cup with bottom, wherein the resin film comprises a polyester composition which contains a polyethylene terephthalate component as a chief component and further contains a polyethylene isophthalate component and a polybutylene terephthalate component, the resin film having a density of from 1.32 to 1.39 g/cc at any part of the container and further having, on the upper part of the container, a trans ratio of ethylene glycol residue of from 0.1 to 1.5 as found by the ATR method, as well as a process for producing the container. The draw-formed container exhibits excellent shock resistance irrespective of the passage of time, and particularly dent resistance and barrier property against corrosive components, as well as intimate adhesion to the metal substrate.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laminated draw-formed container having excellent shock resistance (dent resistance) after the lapse of time and to a process for producing the same. More specifically, the invention relates to improving the shock resistance of a container which is produced by draw-forming a laminated material which comprises a metal plate on which a polyester film is laminated.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Side-seamless cans have heretofore been produced by subjecting a metal blank such as an aluminum plate, a tin plate or a tin-free steel plate to at least one stage of the draw working between a drawing die and a punch thereby to form a cup which consists of a barrel without seam on the side surface thereof and a bottom that is connected to the barrel as a unitary structure in a seamless manner and then, as required, subjecting the barrel to the ironing between an ironing punch and a die thereby to reduce the thickness of the barrel. It has further been known to reduce the thickness of the side wall by bending and elongating the barrel at the curved corner portion of a redrawing die instead of ironing the barrel of the container Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 258822/1989.
Furthermore, in addition to a widely employed method of applying an organic paint onto the cans that have been formed, there has been known a method of coating a side-seamless can with an organic material by laminating a resin film in advance on the metal blank before it is being put to the forming. According to Japanese Patent Publication No. 34580/1984, a polyester film derived from terephthalic acid and tetramethylene glycol is laminated on a metal blank. In producing redraw-formed cans by bending and elongation, furthermore, there has further been known to use a metal plate coated with a vinyl organosol, a epoxy, phenolics, a polyester, an acryl or the like.
According to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 101930/1991 filed by the present inventors, there has been described a coated metal plate for cans comprising a laminated material of a metal plate, a polyester film layer consisting chiefly of an ethylene terephthalate unit, and, as required, an adhesive primer layer that is interposed between the metal plate and the polyester film layer, wherein said polyester film layer has an X-ray diffraction intensity ratio as defined by the formula, EQU R.sub.X =I.sub.A /I.sub.B
wherein I.sub.A is an X-ray diffraction intensity by the diffraction plane having a plane gap of about 0.34 nm (CuK.alpha. X-ray diffraction angle is from 24.degree. to 28.degree.) which is in parallel with the surface of the polyester film, and I.sub.B is an X-ray diffraction intensity by the diffraction plane having a plane gap of about 0.39 nm (CuK.alpha. X-ray diffraction angle is from 21.5.degree. to 24.degree.) which is in parallel with the surface of the polyester film,
of from 0.5 to 15, and has an anisotropic index of the in-plane orientation of crystals of smaller than 30.
However, the metal blank which is coated with an organic material in advance is subject to be damaged by the tools during the step of draw-forming. The portions where the coating is damaged permit the metal to be exposed actually or latently; i.e., the metal elutes out or is corroded starting with these portions. In producing the seamless cans, furthermore, there takes place a plastic flow such that the size increases in the direction of height of the can and the size contracts in the circumferential direction of the can. In fact, however, the plastic flow deteriorates the adhesion between the metal surface and the organic coating. Moreover, residual distortion in the organic coating causes the adhesion between them to decrease with the lapse of time. Such a tendency appears particularly strikingly when the content is canned while it is hot or when the canned content is heat-sterilized at low to high temperatures.
With the draw-formed can made of the above-proposed laminate of a polyester consisting chiefly of a polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) unit, the film layer adheres well to the metal substrate when the degree of crystallinity thereof is suppressed to be small, and the laminated material can be worked fairly favorably. However, the film layer exhibits barrier property against the corrosive components which is about one-half that of the polyethylene terephthalate/isophthalate (PBT/I). There further arise problems in regard to sticking of the film to the tools and thermal resistance of the containers.
On the other hand, the latter draw-formed can obtained by using a laminated material on which the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and PET/I films are laminated, exhibits excellent barrier property against corrosive components and can be worked fairly well. When a time passes after the content has been filled in the container that is worked, however, there arises a problem in that the coated film loses shock resistance and particularly loses dent resistance.
In this specification, the dent resistance stands for a test for examining whether the coating of the container withstands the breakage or the peeling when an impact or a shock is given to the container to such a degree that leaves trace of hit, and is a very important test for evaluating the practical durability of the cans.

Laminated draw-formed container having excellent shock resistance and process for producing the same


An encapsulated buck converter module includes a low side transistor and a control integrated circuit bonded to a first section on a first side of a leadframe, a first clip between a source of the low side transistor and a second section, a source contact of a high side transistor attached to the first section on a second side of the leadframe with a gate contact of the high side transistor attached to a third section, a conductive member attached to the first and second sections on the second side of the leadframe wherein the first side of the conductive member attached to the second conductive member forms a conductive path with a portion of a second side of the conductive member while any portion of the first side of the conductive member attached to the first component attachment section is insulated from the first side of the conductive member, a first plate of a capacitor attached to a drain contact of the high side transistor and a second plate of the capacitor attached to the second side of the conductive member, and means for forming an external connection to the drain contact of the high side transistor.

Buck converters are used as step down voltage regulators. The converters provide an output current through a series inductor that is usually driven by two switching transistors, one of which is connected to supply current to the inductor, and the other connected to draw current from the inductor. Because the buck converter is a switching type regulator the output voltage regulation is influenced by fluctuations in the input voltage to the regulator. Therefore, it is desirable to attenuate any fluctuations in the input voltage at the connections to the switching transistors.
The active devices of a buck converter, because of its relative simplicity compared to normal voltage regulators, can be integrated in a single molded package and therefore are often used in small electronic devices. However, there are other passive components needed for the converter, and integration of any one of these components into the molded package would be advantageous.

FLMP buck converter with a molded capacitor and a method of the same


An apparatus is described for use in dampening impact loading transmitted between a cycle frame and a cycle seat. The cycle seat support apparatus has: an elongated sleeve attachable at one end to the cycle frame and having an opening extending into the sleeve at the opposite end; an elongated post attachable to the cycle seat at one end and the opposite end being slidably positioned in the opening of the sleeve; and structure for biasing the post to urge the post toward an at rest position when the post is moved relative to the sleeve. The opening in the sleeve has an inner surface and the post has an outer surface which are in sliding engagement during relative sliding movement of the post and the sleeve. The outer surface of the post and the inner surface of the sleeve being made of compatible plastics exhibiting sufficient lubricity to permit sliding movement of the post relative to the sleeve thereby minimizing wear of the inner surface of the sleeve and the outer surface of the post.

A cycle or other similar vehicle driven or used by a rider generally has a frame which has at least one surface engaging member. Typically the surface engaging member comprises one or more wheels. Attached to the cycle frame is a seat for supporting the rider on the cycle during operation. In most instances, a rigid seat post or seat support apparatus is used to connect or attach the seat to the frame. In those apparatus, any impact loading applied to the cycle frame is transmitted directly through the rigid seat support apparatus to the seat. If the rider is supported by the seat, the impact loading often results in discomfort for the rider.
As an alternative, some seat support apparatus have been employed that have special features designed to dampen the impact loading and absorb the shock transmitted between the cycle frame and the cycle seat. Impact dampening seat support apparatus attempt to reduce the impact transmitted from the cycle frame to the cycle seat and rider to improve comfort to the rider when the cycle is subjected to the impact loading during operation.
In some previous impact dampening seat support apparatus, the seat support apparatus have metal parts which move relative to each other during impact loading. After movement, the parts are biased back toward an at rest position by biasing structure included on the seat support apparatus. One problem encountered with some seat support apparatus of this type is that some of the parts slidably engage each other during impact loading and subsequent biasing. The metal parts that slidably engage require external lubrication to prevent excessive wearing and grinding of the parts against each other. This results in lubricated parts being exposed to contact by the rider and also requires periodic lubrication by the rider. Furthermore, if the sliding parts are made from certain metals, they may rust or corrode, further diminishing the sliding capability of the parts. Wearing and grinding of the sliding parts of the cycle seat support apparatus is especially serious when the sliding surfaces are at angles relative to any loading transmitted through the cycle seat support apparatus.
Another problem sometimes encountered with conventional impact dampening cycle seat support apparatus having sliding or moving parts is caused by the necessity for structure in the apparatus for preventing rotational movement of the seat relative to the frame. Elongated structures having round cross-sectional shapes which slidably engage each other will rotate relative to each other unless structure is provided to limit rotation. To address this problem, one cycle seat support apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,983 employs an additional key member attached to an inner surface of a sleeve where the key member projects inwardly toward a post to engage a notch in the post to prevent rotational movement of the post relative to the sleeve. Another type of apparatus which also has an outer sleeve and an inner post is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,508 and employs a single tooth projecting outwardly from the post which slides within an elongated slot formed in the sleeve. These structures are sometimes difficult to manufacture; cause a loss of stability; and prevent the sliding parts from securably engaging one another during operation.
Another problem encountered with conventional impact dampening apparatus is that some employ numerous small parts to limit rotation and/or dampen the impact loading. U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,295 discloses an impact dampening apparatus with five coil springs positioned inside and outside a box-like housing and several bolts with nuts inserted through the housing. Other apparatus employ intricate and costly structure such as hydraulics to dampen the impact loading and bias the moving parts to the at rest position.
Various other problems encountered with some impact dampening cycle seat support apparatus include that the apparatus is often bulky and may take up excessive space between the cycle frame and the cycle seat. Furthermore, some cycle seat support apparatus may add excessive weight to the cycle.
It is clear that there has been a continuing need for improvements in cycle seat support apparatus to provide for impact dampening for loads transmitted between a cycle frame and a cycle seat while addressing the above recited problems, or similar problems.


An apparatus for simultaneously measuring linear and circular polarization components of light is provided, and contains no moving parts. The apparatus may include a prism assembly configured to receive collimated light and splits the light into different directions according to its polarization state. The apparatus may also include lenses configured to collimate light from an image plane to be analyzed by the prism assembly, or direct the light that is split by the prism assembly to different detectors or locations on an image plane.

Imaging polarimetry is emerging as a powerful tool for remote sensing in the defense, national security, space science, civil, and commercial domains. Polarimetry can provide information about surface texture, material composition, and molecular structure of objects or areas in a remote sensing scene.
However, there are several technical challenges to measuring polarization that need to be addressed in the context of a space-based moving platform. For example, many existing designs use wire-grid polarizers placed on top of a focal-plane array (FPA), complex arrangements of beam-splitters and polarization elements, or moving parts. The wire-grid polarizers are positioned in the image plane and need to be aligned to the FPA within 1/10 of a pixel. Any vibration of the image makes it difficult to separate polarization and intensity changes. Complex optical systems that need to be carefully aligned or that have moving parts are also not ideal for launch/flight conditions. Polarimeters that utilize photo-elastic modulators have overcome some of these challenges, but the components are fragile and will not operate properly at cryogenic temperatures required for infrared wavelengths.
Accordingly, an imaging polarimeter that utilizes concepts from Fourier optics, addressing several technical challenges associated with space-borne moving platforms, may be beneficial.

Complete-stokes fourier-domain imaging polarimeter


Disclosed are wirebonding methods wherein bondwires are positioned using dynamically determined variations in die placement. Preferred methods of the invention include steps for placing a die on the prepared substrate using selected ideal placement coordinates. Deviation of the actual die placement from the selected ideal placement coordinates is monitored, and one ore more critical bondwires are wirebonded between respective die pins and pins on the substrate. The monitored placement deviation is used to dynamically position the critical bondwires on the critical pins according to actual die placement. Disclosed embodiments include methods using lateral deviation monitoring and angular deviation monitoring to dynamically position bondwires.

High precision bondwire inductors are often required in the design of high-speed analog circuits. Wireless communications applications, for example, demand high performance radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). Often RFICs require on-chip inductors as circuit elements. A typical voltage controlled oscillator (VOC) design for RF transmission, for instance, requires an inductor and a capacitor in a tank circuit. When the inductor is a bondwire, as is typical in many RF oscillator designs, the variation in the geometrical configuration of the bondwire is approximately five to ten percent when a standard wirebonding process is used. This variation can be detrimental to the operational characteristics of the bondwire inductor.
In a typical wirebonding situation, an effort is made to place the die onto a package substrate exactly where needed. When the die is placed, there is generally a variation between the intended location and the actual location of the placement. This variation from ideal placement may differ from die to die. The main contributor to the geometric variation in wirebonds is due to these variations in die placement. Actual die placement can typically vary from the intended placement transversely plus/minus fifty microns, and as much as three or four degrees rotationally. This variation is generally sufficient to alter the characteristics of a wirebond inductor. After a die has been placed, automated wirebonding machinery uses alignment markers included on the die and/or package substrate in order to position wirebonds. This leaves the wirebond links and orientations subject to the variations in die placement, as the wirebonding is performed based on an assumption of exact placement in the intended location. Due to these and other problems, improved wirebonding accuracy and a reduction in wirebond variation due to variation in die placement would be useful and advantageous in the arts.

Tolerance bondwire inductors for analog circuitry


An inverter device mounted on a heat sink for controlling a pump is cooled with a cooling liquid which is typically water discharged by the pump. The rate of flow of the cooling liquid supplied to the heat sink is regulated by a flow regulating mechanism based on the temperature of the heat sink detected by a temperature detecting device, for thereby keeping the temperature of the heat sink in a predetermined range. The heat sink supplied with the cooling liquid which is thus regulated by the flow regulating mechanism prevents the inverter device and wires connected thereto from being overly cooled and hence from suffering moisture condensation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of liquid-cooling an inverter device with a liquid-cooling mechanism in a control box which controls the rotational speed of a pump or the like with the inverter device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIGS. 1A and 1B of the accompanying drawings show a conventional control box for controlling the rotational speed of a pump with an inverter device. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the control box has an inverter device 1, a protective device 5, such as a ground fault interrupter, and a control device 6, such as auxiliary relays which are housed in a console case 3 mounted on a console chassis 4.
The console chassis 4 has a plurality of holes 8 defined therein for passage of electric power cables therethrough. A heat sink 12 is mounted on an outer surface of the console chassis 4. The inverter device 1, which is a heat source, is mechanically coupled to the heat sink 12 that radiates the heat generated by the inverter device 1 through fins of the heat sink 12 into the atmosphere. Therefore, the inverter device 1 housed in the console case 3 is air-cooled through the heat sink 12.
As the output power of the air-cooled inverter device 1 becomes higher, the inverter device 1 radiates a larger amount of heat and requires the heat sink 12 to be larger in size. Since the inverter device 1 is actually relatively small in size, the installation area in which the inverter device 1 is attached to the heat sink 12 is small as compared to the output power of the inverter device 1, as can be seen from the proportion of the size of the inverter device 1 to the size of the heat sink 12 in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
With the size proportion shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the heat generated by the inverter device 1 cannot uniformly be transferred to the entire surface of the heat sink 12, and hence cannot sufficiently be dissipated from the heat sink 12, resulting in an undue increase in the temperature of the inverter device 1.
For fully dissipating the heat produced by an inverter device, the inverter device may be water-cooled by a water-cooling heat sink. FIGS. 2A and 2B of the accompanying drawings show a control box having a water-cooling heat sink 2. The control box shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B is essentially similar to the control box shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B except for the water-cooling heat sink 2 which is mounted on an outer surface of the console chassis 4.
The heat generated by the inverter device 1 is radiated into the atmosphere through cooling water which flows in the water-cooling heat sink 2. Specifically, the water-cooling heat sink 2 has a cooling pipe 21 disposed therein and having an inlet port 22 and an outlet port 23. The cooling water is introduced through the inlet port 22 into the cooling pipe 21 and discharged from the cooling pipe 21 through the outlet port 23. A protective device 5 and a control device 6 are also housed in a console case 3.
The water-cooling heat sink 2 is smaller in size than the air-cooling heat sink 12 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. However, the relatively small water-cooling heat sink 2 is capable of sufficiently discharging the heat from the inverter device 1 into the atmosphere around the control box.
If the temperature of the water-cooling heat sink 2 is lower than the temperature of air in the control box or the temperature of the atmospheric air, then the moisture present in and around the control box is condensed into dew that tends to corrode the console chassis 4 and also adversely affects the electric components in the control box. If the water-cooling heat sink 2 is directly installed on the console chassis 4, then the heat of the water-cooling heat sink 2 is transferred to the console chassis 4. Therefore, when the temperature of the water-cooling heat sink 2 is lower than the temperature of air in the control box or the temperature of the atmospheric air, the moisture present in and around the control box is condensed into dew on the inner and outer surfaces of the control chassis 4.
FIGS. 3A and 3B of the accompanying drawings show control box structures for preventing moisture condensation on a control box chassis. In FIG. 3A, a water-cooling heat sink 2 is spaced from a console chassis 4 by a spacer 9 and connected to the console chassis 4 by a bolt 7 spaced from the spacer 9. In FIG. 3B, a water-cooling heat sink 2 is spaced from a console chassis 4 by a spacer 9 and connected to the console chassis 4 by a bolt 7 extending through the spacer 9. In each of the structures shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, a heat source, such as an inverter device, is connected to the water-cooling heat sink 2 to transmit the heat generated by the heat source to the water-cooling heat sink 2, which transfers the heat out of the control box. Since the water-cooling heat sink 2 is positioned outside of the control box with a space left between the console chassis 4 and the water-cooling heat sink 2, the heat of the water-cooling heat sink 2 is essentially not transferred to the console chassis 4. As a result, no moisture condensation takes place on the inner and outer surfaces of the console chassis 4. Even when moisture is condensed on the water-cooling heat sink 2, the condensed water does not find its way into the control box.
However, the structures shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B are not addressed to the problem of how to remove dew produced upon moisture condensation on the surface of the water-cooling heat sink 2 and also the problem of moisture condensation on the inverter device mounted on the water-cooling heat sink 2 and connecting portions of wires and cables connected to the inverter device.
The mechanical structure of a general inverter device which is housed in a control box is shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B of the accompanying drawings. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the inverter device has a frame assembly comprising a resin frame 113 extending around a copper plate 115. The frame assembly supports a base board 114 encapsulated by a resin mold 116. The base board 114 supports thereon various electronic components required to control the inverter device and power semiconductor devices for the inverter device. Those electronic components include a control power supply capacitor 110, a control power supply transformer 111, and a control CPU 112 which are mounted on the base board 114 and wholly or partly exposed for heat radiation. Power supply terminals 120 are also exposed on the base board 114. The inverter device also includes an intermediate voltage board 117 supporting capacitors 119. The intermediate voltage board 117 is fastened to the base board 114 by screws 118.
FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings shows the control power supply capacitor 110 which is mounted on the base board 114. As shown in FIG. 5, capacitor attachment terminals 121 connected to the control power supply capacitor 110 are attached to the base board 114 and partly encapsulated by the resin mold 116. Inasmuch as the capacitor attachment terminals 121 cannot be fully encapsulated by the resin mold 116 in order to radiate the heat from the control power supply capacitor 110, upper portions of the capacitor attachment terminals 121 are exposed.
FIG. 6 of the accompanying drawings illustrates the control CPU 112 which is mounted on the base board 114. As shown in FIG. 6, the control CPU 112 is partly encapsulated by the resin mold 116. The control CPU 112 has control CPU terminals 125 connected to the base board 114. Since the control CPU 112 generates heat, it is fully covered with a copper plate 115 for heat radiation.
FIGS. 7A and 7B of the accompanying drawings show the power supply terminals 120 in detail. As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, a terminal attachment bar 124 is directly mounted on the base board 114 and has a plurality of screw holes defined in an upper surface thereof. The power supply terminals 120, which are of the pressure type, are attached to the terminal attachment bar 124 by respective screws 123 that are threaded into the respective screw holes. The terminal attachment bar 124 has partition walls 122, and integrally molded with the resin frame 113 for separating the power supply terminals 120 from each other. Power supply wires 126 are connected to the respective power supply terminals 120.
When the temperature of the cooling water supplied to the water-cooling heat sink is low, the temperature of the copper plate 115 shown in FIG. 4 is close to the temperature of the surface of the heat sink, i.e., the temperature of the cooling water flowing through the heat sink. Since the resin mold 116 is cooled to the temperature of the copper plate 115, the temperature of the base board 114 is also close to the temperature of the cooling water. The control power supply capacitor 110 is cooled to an overly cooled condition through the capacitor attachment terminals 121 which are connected to the base board 114. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 6, the control CPU 112 is cooled to an overly cooled condition through the control CPU terminals 125 which are connected to the base board 114. Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the power supply terminals 120 are cooled to an overly cooled condition through the screws 123 and the terminal attachment bar 124 which is connected to the base board 114.
As described above, when the temperature of the cooling water supplied to the water-cooling heat sink is low, the cooling water has its cooling effect on the various electronic components of the inverter device. As a result, the various electronic components are cooled. If the surface temperature of the various electronic components or wires connected thereto becomes lower than the dew point, then moisture is condensed on and around the electronic components, tending to impair the insulating capability thereof or produce a short circuit between the electronic components or in the power supply system. Such an insulation failure or short circuit may possibly lead to a serious accident.
Specifically, in FIG. 5, the moisture is condensed on and around the control power supply capacitor 110, producing dew which drops onto the capacitor attachment terminals 121 thereby to cause a short circuit between the capacitor attachment terminals 121.
In FIG. 6, the moisture is condensed on and around the heat-radiating copper plate of the control CPU 112, producing dew which drops onto and spreads over the resin mold 116. The spread dew causes a short circuit between pins of nearby connectors, which results in a malfunction of the control CPU 112.
In FIGS. 7A and 7B, the moisture is condensed on and around the screws 123 and the terminal attachment bar 124, producing dew which is gathered on the partition walls 122 thereby to bring about a short circuit in the power supply system. Because the wires 126 connected to the power supply terminals 120 are heat conductors, the wires 126 themselves are cooled, resulting in a degradation of the insulation of the wires 126.
If part of a liquid that is delivered under pressure by the pump whose rotational speed is controlled by the inverter device is used as the cooling water, then it is difficult to control the temperature of the cooling water because the pump can handle a wide range of alternative liquids which have a wide temperature range. Unless the temperature of the cooling water is strictly controlled, however, the inverter device may possibly suffer a serious accident due to moisture condensation as described above. For example, if the pump handles tapped water, then it has different temperatures in summer and winter. If the pump handles groundwater, then its temperature is very low even in summer, and it is likely to overly cool the inverter device.
In reality, therefore, almost all inverter devices used for the control of general pumps are air-cooled either through radiation or by a fan.
As described above, the water-cooling heat sink can reliably discharge the heat generated by the power semiconductor devices, but may possibly overly cool the electronic components and/or conductors or wires connected thereto. Therefore, the water-cooling heat sink requires that the temperature of the cooling water be controlled so as not cause moisture condensation, and be determined in view of the ambient temperature and/or humidity. While the temperature of the cooling water can be controlled if the cooling water is supplied from an external source, it is almost impossible to control temperature of the cooling water if it is part of a liquid that is handled by the pump controlled by the inverter device itself.
FIG. 8 of the accompanying drawings shows a liquid-cooling mechanism for cooling an inverter device with a liquid which is handled by a pump whose rotational speed is controlled by the inverter device. As shown in FIG. 8, a pump 8 has an outlet port which is connected to a check valve 81. Part of a liquid that is discharged by the pump 8 is introduced from between the outlet port and a primary side of the check valve 81 through a conduit 82 to an inlet port 22 of a pipe 21 which extends through a heat sink 2. The liquid which flows through the pipe 21 is then discharged from the water-cooling heat sink 2 through an outlet port 23 of the pipe 21, and returns through a return pipe 84 to a short pipe 83 which is connected to a suction port of the pump 8.

Method of liquid-cooling an inverter device


A graphical user interface (GUI) including an illustration can be rendered. In response to receiving a signal from an input device indicating a location within the illustration, a layer can be defined. When the layer is applied to the illustration, the GUI can be updated such that a portion of the illustration under a filter is displayed as an altered feature. The filter can overlay the indicated location. In some embodiments, another portion of the illustration different from indicated location may not be filtered. Similarly stated, only a portion of the layer can include the filter and/or the layer may not overlay the entire illustration. A signal can be received from the input device indicating a use of the tool on the layer and, in response, the altered feature can be modified.

Some embodiments described herein relate generally to providing partial modification of digital illustrations to users of electronic devices via graphical user interfaces of such electronic devices.
Illustration capabilities and user interfaces for digital illustration management are available via various known software applications developed for user devices. Known digital illustration management services typically provide modification capabilities throughout an illustration canvas. These known systems, however, do not provide partial modification capabilities to the user. For example, a user of known systems cannot select a portion of a digital illustration to be modified, while the rest of the digital illustration remains unchanged. Therefore, a need exists for an approach to overcome the shortcomings of the existing methods by enabling the users to select a portion of a digital illustration and/or image and modify, filter, and/or de-filter the selected portion.

Methods and apparatus for providing partial modification of a digital illustration


The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer-implemented methods for controlling service load in a cloud-based system. An example method includes receiving a first request for the network service from a client, evaluating a load condition associated with the network service, the load condition indicating an availability of the network service to receive requests, returning a unique token associated with the first request to the client in response to the load condition indicating that the network service is not available to receive the requests, receiving a second request for the network service from the client, the second request including at least a portion of the first request and the unique token, evaluating the load condition associated with the network service, and prioritizing the second request based on the unique token in response to the load condition indicating that the network service is available to receive the requests.

Cloud-based systems are generally distributed systems including multiple components connected by a network. Cloud-based systems may be used to implement network services that receive requests from clients and provide responses over a network. Load conditions associated with the network services may cause the services to be unavailable to process requests from clients.


The present invention relates to a bendable printed board, an image pickup apparatus, and a camera. The bendable printed board is provided with: a first end connected to a moving body movable in an arbitral direction within a predefined plane; a second end connected to fixed body with slack providing movability to the moving body; and a slit formed on at least a part of a slack portion of the printed board.

Active camera shake correction technologies have so far been put into practical use to obtain a clear image by correcting misalignment of an optical axis caused by camera shake. There is known three types of camera shake correction technologies including the first type that a part of an image pickup optical system is moved, the second type that the whole of the image pickup optical system is moved and the third type that an image pickup element is moved.
Among these active camera shake correction technologies, the third type of technology providing the camera shake correction that an image pickup element moves in a plane perpendicular substantially to an optical axis of the image pickup optical system, has an advantage that the technology can cope with all imaging optical systems to be used.
With respect to the third type of technology that the image pickup element moves, TOKUKAI No. 2003-110929 discloses an image pickup apparatus provided with: a printed board in which an image pickup element and another electric component arranged and which moves with the image pickup element; and a flexible printed board having one end connected to the printed board.
The image pickup apparatus disclosed in the aforesaid patent document is provided to improve space efficiency of the total device. However, the flexible printed board for connecting between the image pickup element that moves and another printed board that does not move are incorporated to the image pickup apparatus with sufficient slack as illustrated, and the image pickup apparatus needs an enough space for this slack.
The greater an amount of this slack of the flexible printed board is, the more the load resistance caused by the printed board when an image pickup element and its peripheral member both representing a moving body can be reduced, resulting in a contribution to downsizing of an actuator and to electric power saving. However, a space to slacken the printed board needs to be secured, resulting in an obstacle for further downsizing.

Printed board, image pickup apparatus and camera


A bistable microelectromechanical (MEM) actuator is formed on a substrate and includes a stressed membrane of generally rectangular shape that upon release assumes a curvilinear cross-sectional shape due to attachment at a midpoint to a resilient member and at opposing edges to a pair of elongate supports. The stressed membrane can be electrostatically switched between a pair of mechanical states having mirror-image symmetry, with the MEM actuator remaining in a quiescent state after a programming voltage is removed. The bistable MEM actuator according to various embodiments of the present invention can be used to form a nonvolatile memory element, an optical modulator (with a pair of mirrors supported above the membrane and moving in synchronism as the membrane is switched), a switchable mirror (with a single mirror supported above the membrane at the midpoint thereof) and a latching relay (with a pair of contacts that open and close as the membrane is switched). Arrays of bistable MEM actuators can be formed for applications including nonvolatile memories, optical displays and optical computing.

Semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) technology can be used to form microelectromechanical (MEM) devices, including optical modulators or switchable mirrors (i.e. optical beam deflectors) as disclosed in exemplary U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,212,582; 5,311,360 and 5,579,151. Conventional MEM optical modulators or switchable mirrors rely on stops that limit a range of movement of the mirror to prevent short circuiting of the MEM device. Mechanical contact between the mirrors and the stops, however, can result in stiction due to van der Waals forces or surface contamination. Stiction limits device reliability and requires the use of a reset voltage sequence to allow the mirror to change states. Anti-stiction coatings have also been developed in an attempt to alleviate stiction, but long-term reliability remains a problem whenever two micromachined surfaces come into contact. Thus, there is a need for improved MEM devices that overcome the problem of stiction and thereby provide an increased reliability.
An advantage of the present invention is that a bistable MEM actuator is provided with a moveable membrane shaped to preclude, in some preferred embodiments of the present invention, any contact between the membrane and an underlying substrate electrode or stop, thereby eliminating stiction.
A further advantage of the present invention is that the bistable MEM actuator can be adapted to form many different types of MEM devices, including mechanical memories, optical modulators, optical beam deflectors (i.e. switchable or rotatable mirrors) and latching relays.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the bistable MEM actuator remains stable in a quiescent state after the removal of electrical power (i.e. a programming voltage) from the device, thereby simplifying operation of the device, improving device reliability, and providing for nonvolatile operation of the device.
These and other advantages of the apparatus of the present invention will become evident to those skilled in the art.


A vacuum cleaner incorporating a cyclone separation device comprises a cylindrical cyclone chamber having a tubular side wall in the form of a filter. An auger is mounted within the chamber for rotation about the longitudinal axis thereof, the auger having a vane which extends along the chamber in a first helical direction. In use, the auger is rotated in a direction opposite to said helical direction so that separated dirt and dust is driven to a collection region at the bottom of the chamber and compacted. The collection region preferably expands during use to increase the capacity thereof. A vacuum cleaner in accordance with the invention has to be emptied less regularly and any risk of dust re-entrainment is reduced.

This invention relates to a cyclone separator and to a vacuum cleaner incorporating the same.
Vacuum cleaners all incorporate some form of dust separation apparatus to separate dirt and dust from an induced airflow. Historically, vacuum cleaners were provided with porous filter bags which filter and collect the dust. Once full, the dust bag can be discarded and replaced.
Nowadays it has become fashionable to provide vacuum cleaners with cyclonic separators which can simply be emptied without the need to purchase dust bags. Cyclonic separators also avoid the problem that dust bags can become clogged with dust if they are not changed regularly. A disadvantage of such cyclonic vacuum cleaners is that the dirt and dust collected at the bottom of the cyclone chamber can become re-entrained into the airflow if too much separated dirt and dust accumulates at the bottom of the chamber. Accordingly such cleaners have a limited capacity for separated dirt and dust and need to be emptied regularly.
Another disadvantage known to cyclonic vacuum cleaners is that the separated dirt and dust is simply emptied by removing the collection chamber from the cleaner and opening a flap or turning the chamber upside-down. The dirt and dust then falls under gravity into a refuse receptacle. This process is both messy and unhygienic.
Various solutions to the above mentioned problems have been proposed. DE3825773 discloses a vacuum cleaner comprising a cyclonic separation chamber in which dirt and dust separated from the airflow collects in the base of the cyclonic separation chamber and is then conveyed into a detachable dirt receptacle by a horizontally-disposed auger driven by an electric motor.
DE3717333 discloses a cyclonic vacuum cleaner separator incorporating a horizontal auger at the base of the separation chamber, whereby the auger drives the separated dirt into a cylindrical compaction chamber closed at its downstream end by a spring-loaded flap. The spring-loaded flap is forced open by the accumulated compacted dirt, whereupon cakes of dirt are ejected into a container, typically a bag, for disposal. A problem with this cleaner is that fibrous matter such as fluff and hair is not drawn into the auger with the result that it accumulates in the separation chamber and affects the cyclonic separation action and eventually causes a blockage.
EP1023864 discloses an upright cyclonic vacuum cleaner having a separator unit with a low-efficiency cyclonic separation chamber providing the first stage of separation. Partly-cleaned air exits the cyclone chamber through an axially-orientated cylindrical perforated pre-filter, within which is located a cylindrical pleated high-efficiency filter providing a second filtration stage. The pre-filter can be rotated about its axis by a manually-operated handle, and has on its external surface a helical ramp arranged to act as an auger. The interior of the pre-filter has a pair of radially-inward projecting resilient ribs which engage the pleats of the stage-2 filter. Thus, when the pre-filter is rotated, following use of the cleaner, or during emptying through a pivoted base flap, both the pre-filter and the stage-2 filter are vibrated due to contact of the ribs with the pleats of the stage-2 filter. Accumulated fine dust is thus shaken off their surfaces. At the same time, the helical ramp on the external surface of the pre-filter tends to propel accumulated coarse dirt downwards in the cyclone chamber, thus compacting the dirt at the base of the chamber.


A method of fabricating a semiconductor device structure, includes: providing a substrate, providing an electrode on the substrate, forming a recess in the electrode, the recess having an opening, disposing a small grain semiconductor material within the recess, covering the opening to contain the small grain semiconductor material, within the recess, and then annealing the resultant structure.

The present invention relates to semiconductor device structures, such as a CMOS device structure including both FET and pFET devices.
Mobility enhancements are important to future semiconductor, e.g. CMOS device technologies. Performance improvements from conventional process technologies are becoming extremely difficult to achieve. Methods to stress Si channels include: using SiGe which imparts stress from the bottom of the channel; different shallow trench isolation (STI) material choices which impart stresses from various sides, and SiN etch stop layers which also impart longitudinal stress from the sides. Drawbacks from the SiGe buffer layer or implanted-anneal-buffer approach with a strained Si cap layer are well known. Drawbacks include dislocations that impact yield severely, along with significant difficulty controlling As diffusion enhancements. Further, the process is quite complicated and costly. The STI approach is less costly but is not self-aligned to the gate and has RX size sensitivity. The less costly approach of using nitride etch stop layers to create stress does produce some benefit, but the benefit is believed to be relatively marginal.

Stressed semiconductor device structures having granular semiconductor material


Phosphine triazole ligand compounds, prepared through click chemistry, complex with transition metals to form transition metal-phosphine triazole ligand complexes. These complexes are useful catalysts in coupling reactions such as Suzuki-Miyaura coupling, Stille coupling, Negishi coupling, Sonagashira coupling, carbon-heteroatom bond-forming reactions (C—O and C—N), alpha alkylation of carbonyls, Heck coupling reactions, and hydrogenation reactions.

Transition metal catalyzed cross-coupling reactions have become a versatile tool in organic synthesis for the connections of two fragments via the formation of carbon-carbon bonds and carbon-heteroatom bonds. It is well-recognized that ligands employed in these processes have significant impact on the outcome of the reactions. Good ligands are those that cannot only stabilize and activate the transition metal center, but also direct the selectivity to the desired transformation. Therefore, designing ligands to impact bond formation is a challenging and desirable aspect in this area.
Transition metal-catalyzed coupling reactions involving C—C, C—N and C—O bonds are important in organic synthesis. [Metal-Catalyzed Cross-coupling Reactions; Diederich, F., Stang, P. J., Eds.; Wiley-VCH: New York, 1998]. A class of bulky, electron rich monophosphine ligands was developed by Buchwald [Old, D. W.; Wolfe, J. P.; Buchwald, S. L. J Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 9722-9723]. These ligands are illustrated below and can be used for C—C, C—N and C—O bond forming reactions [Wolfe, J. P.; Buchwald, S. L. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 1999, 38, 2413-2416. (c) Wolfe, J. P.; Singer, R. A.; Yang, B. H.; Buchwald, S. L. J Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 9550-9561. (d) Wolfe, J. P.; Tomori, H.; Sadighi, J. P.; Yin, J.; Buchwald, S. L. J. Org. Chem. 2000, 65, 1158-1174. (e) Aranyos, A.; Old, D. W.; Kiyomori, A.; Wolfe, J. P.; Sadighi, J. P.; Buchwald, S. L. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 4369-4378].
where R is a t-butyl group or a cyclohexyl group.
However, the synthesis of these ligands has been difficult and structural variations cannot be achieved easily. Recently, Beller reported a group of new monodentate phosphine ligands based on the 2-phosphino-N-arylpyrrol [Zarf, A.; Jackstell, R. Rataboul, F.; Riermeier, T.; Monsees, A.; Fuhrmann, C.; Shaikh, N.; Dingerdissen, U.; Beller, M. Chem. Commun. 2004, 38-39. (b) Rataboul, F.; Zarf, A.; Jackstell, R.; Harkal, S.; Riermeier, T.; Monsees, A.; Dingerdissen, U.; Beller, M. Chem. Eur. J. 2004, 10, 2983-2990]. Beller's ligands are illustrated below:
where R is the same as defined above. Comparable results have been achieved for coupling reactions.
Pd-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura coupling represents the most popular method for the preparation of biaryl compounds due to the advantages such as the wide functional group tolerance, stability and non-toxicity of the organoborane reagents. Some of the recent progress in this reaction has focused on the use of aryl chlorides as coupling partners in view of their attractive cost and readily available diversity. It is known that Pd complexes derived from sterically hindered and electron-rich phosphines are the most commonly effective catalysts for this transformation. Notably, using bulky trialkylphosphines such as t-(Bu)3P, and dialkyl biphenylphosphines as illustrated below:
where Cy is a cyclohexyl group and dba is dibenzoylacetone. The compounds achieve very good yields in the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling involving various aryl chlorides as the coupling partners. Some other strategies such as using sterically hindered N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) as ligands, and using palladacycles as the precatalysts, also lead to efficient catalytic systems for aryl chlorides coupling.
The development of metal-catalyzed coupling reactions depends on the innovation of structurally diverse ligands, which can be prepared efficiently. Click chemistry developed by Sharpless et al. is a rapid method for making structurally diverse motifs. The connectivity of making the motif is easy to be operated.
It is well-recognized that sterically bulky and electron-rich phosphines are preferred for challenge coupling partners since they can facilitate the formation of monoligated Pd species and lower the activation energy of the oxidative addition step. In addition to these effects, another important factor that might impact a high catalytic performance of biphenyl type ligands postulated by Buchwald et al.

Clickphosphines for transition metal-catalyzed reactions


A limiter for a solid state power amplifier (SSPA) protects the amplifier against large peak, short duration noise signals while controlling drive level related phase shifts. The limiter limits noise signals to a safe input level for the power output section of the SSPA. It also uses a pair of resistor networks at its input and output to dampen reflected energy and thus control drive level related phase shifts.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to protection of a solid state power amplifier (SSPA) from large peak, short duration noise signals. More specifically, the SSPA uses a limiter which limits the noise signals and controls drive level related phase shift.
2. Description of the Related Art
An SSPA is used for communication applications in frequencies ranging from a few dozen Mhz to 10 Ghz. The SSPA output section's power transistors are subject to damage or degradation if exposed to large peak value, short duration input noise mixed with the communication signals.
One protection technique senses the SSPA output power level and feeds the signal back through an integrating comparator to drive an attenuator in the signal path prior to the output power transistors. This closed loop negative feedback protection circuit, commonly called automatic level control (ALC), maintains the average amplitude of the signals applied to the output power transistor to a safe level. The time constant of the ALC loop is selected to be very large compared to the signal bandwidth to stabilize the feedback protection system and prevent degradation of the SSPA linearity performance. This averages the response of the protection characteristics, rather than responding to shorter duration noise signals (short compared to the loop time constant). The problem with the ALC technique is that input signals containing large peak to rms content such as noise are not controlled and can damage the output power transistors, since the protection circuit is responding to an average rather than to peak noise conditions.
Another protection technique uses a limiter in the SSPA input stage to limit the maximum value of large peak value, short duration noise. However, these input limiting stages have non-ideal characteristics which cause the limiter either to degrade the amplifier linearity performance or reduce the amount of protection provided.
What is needed is a solid state power amplifier in which the output power transistors are protected from transient overdrive conditions whole simultaneously preserving the SSPA linearity.

Solid state power amplifier with low distortion noise protection limiter


In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of calibrating an oscillator within a radio-frequency identification (RFID) circuit for use in an RFID tag. The oscillator has an oscillation frequency. A calibration value is stored within a non-volatile memory associated with the RFID circuit. The oscillator is calibrated in accordance with the calibration value. The storing of the calibration value includes recovering a reference frequency from a test signal supplied to the RFID circuit, calculating the calibration value to correspond to a difference between the recovered reference frequency and the oscillator frequency, and writing the calibration value to the non-volatile memory.

Radio-frequency identification tags (or transponders) require a reference frequency for a number of purposes. An RFID reader transmits RF power to RFID tags. RFID tags modulate reflected RF power to transmit data back to an RFID reader. The reflected RF is called 'backscatter,' and the link from the tag back to the reader is typically referred to as the 'backscatter link. The backscatter modulation of course requires a backscatter frequency to which the relevant RFID reader is sensitive. Furthermore, backscatter communications may be subject to regulatory restrictions, and may need to be compliant with one or more RFID communications specifications or standards. An RFID tag also requires a demodulation frequency so as to enable a demodulator within the RFID tag to demodulate received radio-frequency signals, and decode data contained therein. RFID tags also need to generate internal clock signals to clock various functional units that may be included within the RFID tag.
With a view to generating the above-identified frequency and clock signals within an RFID tag, the RFID tag is typically equipped with an oscillator that generates the reference frequency. Three prior art mechanisms for providing such a reference frequency are discussed below. FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a first prior art oscillator arrangement 10 in which an oscillator 12 is coupled to a crystal 14 in order to provide a precise local reference frequency. Alternatively, the oscillator 12 may be coupled to an L-C tank or electron mobility-based reference in order to provide the precise local reference frequency. A disadvantage of such arrangements is that they tend to be bulky, and high-power consumers.
A second manner in which it is known to provide a reference frequency within an RFID chip is to provide a phase-locked loop (PLL) arrangement, such as that illustrated by the schematic diagram of FIG. 2. Specifically, the phase-locked loop arrangement 16 of FIG. 2 is shown to include a phase detector 18 that is coupled to receive a reference frequency 20 and the oscillator output, compare them, and to provide a reference signal 22 to an oscillator 24. The disadvantages of the phase-locked loop arrangement 16 shown in FIG. 2 include the required provision of a reference frequency, a long start-up time, the provision of extra power for the phase detector 18, as well as the extra chip area requirements for provision of the phase detector 18. A similar function can also be done with a frequency detector, and a frequency-locked loop.
A third prior art arrangement 26 to provide a reference frequency within an RFID tag is illustrated by the schematic diagram of FIG. 3. Specifically, a trimming arrangement 28 comprising a combination of resistors, capacitors and inductors (or fuses or resistors that may be laser-cut) provide a reference signal 22 (e.g., a current reference signal Iref) to an oscillator 30. Among the disadvantages of this arrangement are that the trimming arrangement may be expensive to build, and the configuration of the trimming arrangement 28 is permanent (i.e., the oscillator 30 cannot be dynamically calibrated).
FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrammatic representations of a prior art RFID system 32 including an RFID tag 34 that is interrogated by, and responds to, an RFID reader 36 utilizing a radio-frequency forward link and a backscatter return link. The RFID tag 34 is shown to provide a signal received from the RFID reader 36, via the radio-frequency forward link, to a demodulator 38, which recovers a timing (or clock) signal 40. The recovered clock signal 40 is utilized to generate a digital calibration value 44, which is stored in a volatile register 42. The volatile register 42 in turn provides the digital calibration value 44 to a digitally-controlled oscillator (DCO) 46. The digitally-controlled oscillator 46 outputs a demodulator clock signal 48.
FIG. 5 illustrates the oscillator 46 of the RFID tag 32, again calibrated utilizing a digital calibration value 44 provided to the oscillator 46 from the volatile register 42. The oscillator 46 generates a modulator clock signal 52 to a modulator 50, the modulator 50 utilizing the modulator clock signal 52 to backscatter modulate communications transmitted via the backscatter return link to the RFID reader 36.
In summary, it will be appreciated that, on start-up, the RFID reader 36 sends a radio-frequency forward link signal to the RFID tag 34, which extracts a timing (or clock) signal 40 from the received signal to calibrate the oscillator 46, this recovered timing signal 40 being communicated to the oscillator 46 via the register 42. During backscatter communications, the calibration is held by the oscillator 46, which is in turn utilized to drive the modulator 50.
Accordingly, in the prior art system shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the recovered timing signal 40 is stored within a volatile register that is utilized to calibrate the oscillator. However, a clock recovery operation is required by the demodulator 38 upon each power-up event, which may negatively impact the performance of the RFID tag 32.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,819, entitled "Apparatus and Method of Use of Radiofrequency Identification Tags", to Bruce B. Roesner and Ronald M. Ames, discloses an RFID tag in which a reference signal is initially generated by comparing an incoming standard signal, and placing it in a temporary or permanent storage within the RFID tag. Signals arriving later are then compared to the captured standard, and variations from the captured standards are detected to allow for decoding of the data. Specifically, a microprocessor is described as providing a correction signal to a memory, the correction signal then being stored within the memory as a correction value for use in subsequent operation of the RFID tag, or at least until the correction value is updated. The memory is described as possibly being a non-volatile memory to allow calibration information to be permanently stored, so that reconfiguration of the internal oscillator is not required each time the RFID tag is powered up.
In the system described by Roesner, the calibration of the oscillator is nonetheless dependent upon an initial extraction or recovery of timing from a received radio-frequency signal.

Method and system to calibrate an oscillator within an RFID circuit utilizing a test signal supplied to the RFID circuit


The present invention provides antibodies that bind to CD48 and methods of using same. According to certain embodiments of the invention, the antibodies are fully human antibodies that bind to human CD48. In certain embodiments, the antibodies of the present invention block the binding of CD48 to one or more CD48 receptor. The antibodies of the invention are useful, inter alia, for the treatment of diseases and disorders associated with one or more CD48 biological activities, including the treatment of allergic conditions and other inflammatory conditions.

CD48 is a GPI-anchored protein that exists in both membrane-bound and soluble forms. CD48 is a high-affinity ligand for 2B4 and a low-affinity ligand for CD2. CD48 has also been referred to in the scientific literature as "TCT.1" (Mami-Chouaib et al., J. Exp. Med. 172:1071-1082 (1990)), "B-LAST 1" (Thorley-Lawson et al., Cell 30:415-425 (1982)), and SLAMF2 (Detre et al., Semin. Immunopathol. 32:157-171 (2010)). The interaction between CD48 and 2B4 was shown to cause NK cell activation. CD48 has also been shown to stimulate T-cell activation in vitro, and CD48-knockout mice display an impaired T-cell proliferation response.
Certain lines of evidence suggest a role for CD48 in asthma progression and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). For example, CD48 was shown to be upregulated in experimental asthma (e.g., ovalbumin- and Aspergillus-induced allergic eosinophilic airway inflammation models). See, e.g., Munitz et al., Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 175:911-918 (2007). Moreover, CD48 knock-out mice failed to develop inflammatory colitis in the adoptive transfer model of IBD. Furthermore, CD48 antagonism was shown to produce beneficial effects in previously established colitis.
The use of CD48 antagonists for therapeutic purposes are mentioned in, e.g., US 2007/0212353 and WO 97/35614. Nonetheless, there remains a need in the art for novel CD48 modulating agents, including anti-CD48 antibodies, that can be used to treat CD48-mediated diseases and conditions.

Antibodies capable of blocking the interaction between CD48 and a CD48 receptor


A collecting container for collecting cut material of paper shredders or similar comminuting devices in which the cutting mechanism of the paper shredder rests with its housing on a box-like or frame-like base frame having a fixed bottom, and wherein the container can be pushed into the base frame from the front side of the paper shredder underneath the cutting mechanism housing. The container and the base frame have at the bottom thereof positively engageable guide elements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a collecting container for collecting cut material of paper shredders or similar comminuting devices in which the cutting mechanism of the paper shredder rests with its housing on a box-like or frame-like base frame having a fixed bottom, and wherein the container can be pushed into the base frame from the front side of the paper shredder underneath the cutting mechanism housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In constructions of the type described above, narrow tolerances are required between the collecting container and the walls of the base frame, in order to minimize the discharge of particles and dust resulting from cutting into the ambient air. On the other hand, the narrow space conditions, in turn, make it difficult, once the container has been emptied, to once again easily push the collecting container back into the base frame without jamming or tilting.

Collecting container for paper shredders of similar comminuting devices


A closed cycle refrigeration system in conjunction with specific mixed or multiple component refrigerant fluids to produce temperatures in the range of 230° K to 70° K. The mixed component refrigerant can be blended from flammable or a non-flammable fluid components based upon the arrangement of the refrigeration equipment and the overall performance requirements for the system. A compressor, an after cooler, an oil separator, filter/dryer, heat exchanger, a throttle device with fixed orifice and an evaporator are arranged in a manner to improve system performance with refrigeration of the present invention or prior art refrigerants. Replaceable additional modules for oil filtration and moisture filtration can be part of the system.

Generally, refrigeration cycles, including closed cycle refrigeration systems are well known in the art. In a typical closed cycle refrigeration system intended for household or commercial applications, the system consists of a compressor that compresses the refrigerant, which is then cooled in a condenser, then expanded through an expansion device to produce cold refrigerant which is passed through an evaporator to provide cooling effect to the device or medium to be cooled and then the warmed refrigerant is returned to the compressor.
However, when the temperatures to be achieved are in the semi-cryogenic (230° K to 120° K) or cryogenic range (below 120° K), then efficient and reliable systems are hard to find. This problem is especially critical when temperatures below 120° K, e.g. close to liquid nitrogen condensation/boiling temperature (77° K), are to be achieved. To produce refrigeration at these temperatures a refrigeration system must use very high pressure refrigerant gases such as nitrogen, argon or methane. This in turn requires more expensive equipment and frequent maintenance.
A closed cycle refrigeration system utilized to provide relatively low temperatures, for example significantly below about 230° K, in the cryogenic range, for example about 70° K, encounters certain problems in providing an efficient system. This is due to the fact that the system is expected to operate efficiently first, from ambient temperatures (about 300° K) during cooldown and then, at steady state conditions at temperatures in the range of from about 230° K down to the range of about 70° K. It is known to use a large orifice during the initial cooldown to allow a large mass flow, followed by reducing the size of the orifice opening during steady state operation at low temperatures. Both manually adjusted and automatically adjusted orifices have been used to accomplish the goal of varying the size of the opening in a throttle device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,065 (the specification of which is incorporated herein by reference) discloses both the older manual adjustment of the orifice opening and means for automatic adjustment of the orifice opening during the cooldown from ambient temperature to steady state operation in the cryogenic range.
Prior art systems of the type discussed in the '065 patent, tend to generate, during cooldown from ambient temperatures, from about 40% up to almost 60% of the peak refrigeration capacity obtained at steady state operation at temperatures below 230° K down to about 70° K. Typically, such prior art systems are designed so that the refrigeration flow, and hence the capacity, is low at the start of the cooldown compared to the flow and refrigeration capacity during steady state operation at temperatures below about 230° K.
It has also been suggested in the prior art to use mixed refrigerant systems to achieve temperatures in the semi-cryogenic range by employing cascade refrigeration systems with successive phase separators to permit use of a single compressor, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,273. This type system is not practical, however, for small refrigeration systems where heat exchangers and cold heads are to be close to or need to be integrated with the system interface to be cooled.
In another method described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,572 an oil lubricated rolling piston compressor is shown to be suitable for use in a single stage compressor system without using phase separators or cascade heat exchangers. Patentee describes a flammable mixed component refrigerant fluid for a system providing temperatures below 150° K.
A system using flammable mixed component refrigerant fluid to reach cryogenic temperature is also discussed in British Patent No. 1,336,892.
Neither U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,572 or British Patent No. 1,336,892 teach or suggest a system or how to design a system that provides efficient long term operation, due to the problems associated with oil circulating with the mixed component refrigerant and the water vapor that the system desorbs during such long term operation. There is no teaching by patentees or guidance as to what characteristics the fixed orifice throttle device must have to provide efficient cooling from room temperature to temperatures below about 230° K. Neither reference provides sufficient refrigeration performance by a system that will allow the device interface to cool down when the starting heat load is higher than that which the system generates at room temperature. Under these conditions a larger system will be required, thus increasing the cost of the equipment and operating costs, a significant problem in actual applications. Neither patent teaches or suggests how to utilize non-flammable mixed component refrigerant fluids in such systems.
Mixed component refrigerant fluids of the prior art require a variable restrictor device to achieve cooldown from room temperature. This in turn requires the restrictor to be set at one level for cooldown and another level for steady-state operation. This complicates the system mechanically and complicates operation. Another method of achieving higher refrigeration in prior art systems deals with modifying mixed component refrigerant fluid components such that the density ratio of the refrigerant is manipulated to achieve better flow. Thus additional refrigerant components must be added to a mixed refrigerant fluid which do not add to a refrigeration effect. The problem related to cooldown from ambient is not fully recognized and addressed in the prior art. Remedies suggested prior to the present invention end up complicating system hardware, its method of operation and/or the composition of the mixed component refrigerant.

Closed cycle refrigeration system and mixed component refrigerant


A diode for detecting the presence of radiation includes a P region, an N region, an intrinsic region located between the P region and the N region, and a layer of nanoclusters located adjacent to the intrinsic region.

A PIN diode is a semiconductor diode with a lightly doped intrinsic semiconductor region in a substrate between a p-type region and an n-type region. When radiation or charged particles of sufficient energy impact the intrinsic region, an electron-hole pair is created that generates current between the p-type and n-type regions. The PIN diode can be used to detect photons as well as various types of charged particles including alpha particles and beta particles in a variety of sensors, such as radon sensors, radiation sensors, light sensors, and smoke detectors, among others. One difficulty with using PIN diodes for sensors is the lack of sensitivity to detect indirectly ionizing neutrons because the impact of a neutron in the intrinsic region does not directly generate current as neutrons are electrically neutral. Additionally, the usefulness of a sensor is often proportional to the sensitivity of the PIN diode. It is therefore desirable to provide PIN diodes with enhanced levels of sensitivity, and with the ability to detect neutrons in addition to charged particles and photons.


The invention relates to a transponder for a vehicle identification device in which a radio wave including vehicle information returned from transponders provided in a vehicle is received by an interrogator. The vehicle transponder receives a query radio wave and uses a detection device to generate a previously memorized coded signal train in response to a received wave. The coded signal train varies an amount of bias voltage of the detection device so that a reflection coefficient of the detection device is varied to modulate the reflection wave of the query radio wave and the modulated wave is transmitted back to the interrogator.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a transponder in a vehicle device on the vehicle side identification.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional vehicle identification device, devices such as shown in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 57-159180 or Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 61-201179 are well known.
In these conventional vehicle identification devices, a transponder, also called an identification tag (tag in short) modulates an unmodulated microwave transmitted from an interrogator with an ID code stored in a memory means provided in the tag and returns the modulated microwave back to the interrogator. Information inherent to a certain vehicle on which the tag is mounted is thus reported to the interrogator.
One example of the construction of a conventional vehicle identification device is shown in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, the conventional vehicle identification device is provided with an interrogator 1 and a tag 2. The interrogator 1 transmits an unmodulated microwave generated from a microwave oscillator 10 from an antenna 13 through a circulator 11 and demodulates the microwave received by the antenna 13 utilizing a demodulator 12 to output the demodulated microwave.
The tag 2 is designed so as to enable an electric power source 23 for a modulator 25 and a ROM 24 to be switched ON only when the unmodulated microwave transmitted from the interrogator 1 is received by the antenna 21 and detected by a detector 22, in order to prevent excess consumption of electric power of a battery.
Thus, when the electric power source 23 is ON, the tag modulates the microwave thus received in response to a coded signal stored in the ROM 24 and transmits back the modulated microwave to the interrogator 1.
In the conventional technology as shown in FIG. 1, the tag is generally required to have a detecting antenna 21, a detector 22, and an electric power source controlling circuit 23, in addition to a modulating antenna 26 and a modulator 25, to perform its inherent operation.
Among these components, the detecting antenna 21 modulating antenna 26 and the detector 22 and modulator 25 constitute distributed constant circuits. Therefore, it is difficult to minimize the size thereof to that of another lumped constant circuit.
Especially, the antennas 21 and 26 are required to have at least a predetermined area to obtain a gain high enough to operate the tag normally and thus the area occupied by these antennas is the largest among those of other components in the tag.
Accordingly, it is difficult to minimize the size of the tag remarkably in a conventional tag having two antennas.
The object of the present invention is to overcome these technological problems in the conventional tag and to provide a tag with a minimized size.

Transponder for vehicle identification device


The present invention is drawn to a strip tape which does not undergo lowering of bonding force and which does not cause pollution of the natural environment, working environment, etc. The strip tape includes a center layer containing a polar resin, and at least one polyolefin layer laminated, via a bonding layer, on each face of the center layer. The bonding layer contains an ethylene-methacrylic acid-alkyl acrylate random copolymer. Since the strip tape includes a center layer and at least one polyolefin layer, the interlayer bonding force of the strip tape is high, the bonding strength between the center layer and the polyolefin layer can be increased, and the waterproofing property of the strip tape can be enhanced. Even when a packaging container including the strip tape is heated or cooled sharply during use, the interlayer bonding force of the strip tape is not lowered.

Conventionally, most packaging containers for storing liquid food such as milk, juice, liquor, cola drink, or coffee are formed by folding a packaging material prepared from a laminate including paper, plastic, metallic foil, metal-deposited film, etc., in combination. Edge portions of the folded packaging material are overlapped with each other and welded. In order to prevent liquid food from leaking or oozing through the overlap portions to the outside of the packaging container, the overlap portions facing the interior of the packaging container are strongly bonded together by use of a strip tape.
The strip tape is formed of, for example, a laminate including a center layer of a polar resin and a polyolefin layer laminated on each face of the center layer. When the laminate is formed, at least one of the center layer and the polyolefin layer is subjected to anchor coating, and then the polyolefin layer is laminated on each face of the center layer. Usually, a thermosetting adhesive obtained by dissolving, for example, a polyester resin in an organic solvent is used as an anchor-coating agent for carrying out the aforementioned anchor coating.
However, when the strip tape including the center layer and the polyolefin layer, at least one of the layers being subjected to anchor coating, is used, liquid food is absorbed in the strip tape from an edge portion thereof, and thus the interlayer bonding force is lowered. When the packaging container is heated or cooled drastically during use thereof, the interlayer bonding force is further lowered. As a result, the center layer and the polyolefin layer exfoliate from each other, resulting in a deterioration in the function of the strip tape for protecting liquid food contained in the packaging container. In addition, the strip tape having the aforementioned structure has low thermal stability and poor oxygen-barrier property.
Moreover, since the aforementioned anchor-coating agent contains an organic solvent, when anchor coating is carried out or when the polyolefin layer is laminated on each face of the center layer, the organic solvent disperses, and thus the natural environment or the working environment is polluted.
In order to solve the aforementioned problems in relation to the conventional strip tape, an object of the present invention is to provide a strip tape which does not undergo lowering of bonding force and which does not cause pollution of the natural environment or the working environment.


A new and distinct cultivar of Polianthes plant named ‘Chia Nong Pink Sapphire’, characterized by its upright plant habit; numerous double-type flowers that are light lilac pink in color; flowers arranged on upright and strong flower scapes; pleasant fragrance; and good garden performance.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Polianthes plant, botanically known as Polianthes hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Chia Nong Pink Sapphire'.
The new Polianthes plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 1997 in Chiayl City, Taiwan of a proprietary selection of Polianthes tuberosa×Polianthes howardii identified as code number 77-A-05, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with Polianthes tuberosa 'Double', not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Polianthes plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Chiayl City, Taiwan in 1997.
Asexual reproduction of the new Polianthes plant by divisions in a controlled environment in Puli, Taiwan since 2010 has shown that the unique features of this new Polianthes plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A new and distinct grapevine variety characterized by producing red skinned, aromatic flavored, elliptical berries that have an excellent eating quality. The berries ripen early to mid-season, having a naturally medium size, a crisp flesh texture, and have medium and up sugar content.

This invention relates to the discovery and asexual propagation of a new variety of grapevine as herein described and illustrated. The new variety was first hybridized by David W. Cain and Michael J. Striem in Wasco, Kern County, Calif., the variety being originated by controlled hybridization and subsequent culture of seed traces and embryo rescue procedures. The new variety 'Sugrathirtytwo' is characterized by producing early-mid-season ripening, aromatic flavored, red skinned, seedless grapes. The berries have a naturally medium size, and an elliptic shape, crisp flesh texture, medium and up sugar content and excellent eating quality. 'Sugrathirtytwo' is exceptional with its read color development when ripening even under hot weather. The new variety 'Sugrathirtytwo' ripens at about the same time as 'Sugrathirteen' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. PP10,434), and about seven days after 'Flame Seedless' (unpatented), as grown in the Wasco area, California.
The seed parent is the varietal selection '88124-037-243' (unpatented) and the pollen parent is the varietal selection '88047-004-226' (unpatented). The parent varieties were first crossed in May, 1994, by David W. Cain and Michael J. Striem. The new variety was created by hybridization of two "seedless" grapes possessing small, abortive, vestigial ovules. From the initial population of hybrid ovules, embryo rescue methods were used to produce a population from which the present variety was selected. The date of first sowing was August, 1994, and the date of first flowering was May, 1996.
The new variety 'Sugrathirtytwo' was first propagated in December, 1998, in Wasco, Kern County, Calif., by Dr. David Cain using hardwood cuttings.
The new variety 'Sugrathirtytwo' resembles its seed parent '88124-037-243' in many characteristics, such as berry color, but differs from its seed parent in having much larger berries (3.88 gr) as compared to the berries of the seed parent (2.73 gr). Additionally, 'Sugrathirtytwo' ripens approximately 1-2 weeks after the seed parent.
The new variety 'Sugrathirtytwo' differs from its pollen parent '88047-004-226' in that the berries of the pollen parent are creamy-white and much smaller (1.97 gr) than those of the new variety 'Sugrathirtytwo' (3.88 gr). Additionally, 'Sugrathirtytwo' ripens approximately 1-2 weeks after the pollen parent.
The new variety 'Sugrathirtytwo' resembles the comparable variety 'Flame Seedless' in its color and ripening window. However, the berries of 'Sugrathirtytwo' are more oval, not as crunchy and not as round as the berries of 'Flame Seedless.' The berries of the new variety 'Sugrathirtytwo' develop full uniform red color, and do not crack as easy as those of 'Flame Seedless.' The eating quality of the new variety 'Sugrathirtytwo' differs from 'Flame Seedless' in that the berries of 'Sugrathirtytwo' have anew aromatic flavor, compared with the neutral flavor of the 'Flame Seedless' berries.
The new 'Sugrathirtytwo' variety has been shown to maintain its distinguishing characteristics through successive asexual propagations by, for example, cuttings.
Variations of the usual magnitude from the described above many occur with changes in growing conditions, irrigation, fertilization, pruning, management and climatic variations.