A lawn mower, comprising a vehicle body that is supported by a plurality of wheels; a support frame that is connected to a rear part of the vehicle body; a grass collector that is supported on the support frame so as to be pivoted between a grass collecting position and a discharge position about an axis oriented in the transverse direction of the vehicle body, the grass collector having a bottom surface; a swiveling body that is connected to a rotating shaft of the grass collector to be rotated in unison so as to switch the grass collector between the grass collecting position and the discharge position; and a cylinder connected to the swiveling body and to the support frame; wherein the swiveling body and the cylinder are disposed below the grass collector in the grass collecting position, and the cylinder extends along the bottom surface of the grass collector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lawn mower provided with a support frame that is connected to a rear part of a vehicle body; and a grass collector that is supported on the support frame so as to be capable of swiveling around a transverse shaft to switch between a grass collecting position and a discharge position.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a lawn mower of such description, switching between the discharge position and the grass collecting position of the lawnmower is performed using a discharge cylinder. A conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2001-95344.
The lawn mower disclosed in the above document is provided with a pair of left and right vertical support frames that are connected to a rear part of a machine body frame; a raising/lowering frame that is vertically movably connected to the left and right pair of vertical support frames using a vertical member; a grass collector that is supported on the raising/lowering frame; and an opening and closing cylinder provided to a left side of the grass collector.
The grass collector is rotatably supported around a transverse support point on a rear end part of a longitudinally oriented member of the raising/lowering frame. The opening/closing cylinder is disposed between a reinforcement member of the grass collector and the longitudinally oriented member of the raising/lowering frame, and swivels the grass collector upward around the support point to a discharge position, or swivels the grass collector downward around the support point to a grass collecting position.
In the lawn mower described above, when the conventional technique described above is used in order to enable a discharge cylinder to switch the grass collector between the grass collecting position and the discharge position, problems tend to arise in relation to the number of discharge cylinders that are required and the positions to which the grass collector is switched.
Specifically, using the conventional technique described above will cause the discharge cylinder to be positioned on a lateral exterior side of the grass collector. In this case, when fewer discharge cylinders are provided, the swiveling of the grass collector as carried out by the discharge cylinder occurs on one side of the grass collector, which will cease to swivel smoothly. In order to prevent this problem, discharge cylinders must be provided to both sides of the grass collector, and the number of required discharge cylinders increases.

Lawn mower with pivotable grass collector


The invention relates to a pigment with color dependent on the viewing angle, which has been obtained by three-dimensional crosslinking of oriented substances of liquid-crystalline structure having a chiral phase. In order to stabilize the color of such a pigment at elevated temperatures, crosslinking is carried out in the presence of at least one additional, color-neutral compound comprising at least two crosslinkable double bonds.

The present invention relates to a pigment wherein the color depends on the viewing angle, obtained by three dimensional crosslinking of oriented substances of liquid-crystalline structure having a chiral phase.
The present invention additionally relates to a process for the preparation of a pigment wherein the color depends on the viewing angle, in which oriented substances of liquid-crystalline structure having a chiral phase are three-dimensionally crosslinked.
The invention further relates to a coating material which comprises a resin binder and such a pigment and to a motor vehicle finished with such a coating material.
A pigment of this kind and its preparation and use in a coating material, in particular in a finish for motor vehicles, is known from Mueller-Rees et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,315 (counterpart of German Patent DE 42 40 743), the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.
Liquid-crystalline substances used for the preparation of such pigments have a twisted structure whose pitch corresponds to the wavelength of light in the region of UV to IR. This structure is found, for example, in cholesteric liquid crystals. Cholesteric liquid crystals or in general liquid-crystalline substances with a chiral phase and a twisted structure with a desired pitch can be obtained from nematic, smectic or discotic structures by adding a chiral substance to them. The nature and quantity of the chiral substance determine the pitch of the twisted structure and therefore the wavelength of the reflected light. The structure can be twisted either left-handed or right-handed. The starting substances, moreover, have groups which are available for polymerization, either by condensation polymerization or addition polymerization.
These substances become oriented, for example during application with a doctor blade to a film. Subsequently, the substances are crosslinked, for example by irradiation with UV light. This gives rise to the pigment, which after detachment from the film, can be brought to the desired particle size.
These pigments can be incorporated into coating materials or coating systems, especially coating materials for the finishing of motor vehicles. A motor vehicle finished in this way exhibits a color, such as blue, green or red shades, which differs at a single point depending on the viewing angle.
In the practical use of such pigments in the finishing of motor vehicles, it has now been found that the color changes are dependant to a great extent on the baking or drying temperature of the coating material.
Although it is desirable that such color pigments should produce a color which differs depending on the viewing angle, it is not desirable for the shades which result from a specific viewing angle to be different depending on the baking or drying temperature or on the temperature treatments of the pigments. This is not only undesirable when using the pigments in coating materials, especially for motor vehicle finishes, but for all applications of the pigments in which they are subjected to heat treatments. For instance, another area in which such pigments can be used is the cosmetics industry, in which creams, pastes or the like are heated, for example, for sterilization. In these areas of application too, no temperature-dependent color shift should occur.
When the pigments are used in coating systems for finishing motor vehicles, the coating materials of the original finish of the bodywork are baked or dried at about 130.degree. C. In subsequent refinishing operations, however, it is not possible to use such high temperatures, because other components of the motor vehicle can be damaged. Refinishing operations are therefore carried out at about 80.degree. C. In practice, it has been found that these different baking or drying temperatures induce, in a single given pigment, severe shifts in color, especially blue shifts.
An object of the present invention is therefore to remedy this situation and to continue developing pigments in which the color from a particular viewing angle remains largely unaltered by the action of elevated temperatures.
In the case of a pigment, the object is achieved according to the present invention by crosslinking in the presence of at least one color-neutral compound comprising at least two crosslinkable double bonds.
In the case of a process, the object is achieved by admixing the substances prior to crosslinking with at least one color-neutral compound comprising at least two crosslinkable double bonds.
By admixing crosslinkable compounds which comprise at least two double bonds it is possible to increase the crosslinking density of the pigments. At the same time a certain dilution of reactive components which constitute the color pigments is achieved, and these "reactive diluents" are integrated, in the course of crosslinking, into the resulting three-dimensional matrix.
Surprisingly it has been found that by diluting on the one hand and by increasing the crosslinking density on the other hand, the color of the resulting pigments per se is not altered, and at the same time, a high color stability at elevated temperatures is achieved, thus reducing the color shift.
"Color-neutral" compounds in the context of the present invention are those which do not exert any unwanted effect on the resulting color of the reactive substances of liquid-crystalline structure having a chiral phase, and whose functionality creates the possibility of additional crosslinking points.
In a preferred embodiment, the color-neutral compounds have more than three cross linkable double bonds. This increased functionality greatly increases the crosslinking densities of the pigments according to the invention and particularly contributes to color stability at elevated temperatures.
In a further preferred embodiment, the color-neutral compounds have double bonds of the acrylate, methacrylate, vinyl and/or allyl type.
These measures are advantageous in that these types of double bonds are similar to those functional groups which provide for three-dimensional crosslinking in the substances of liquid-crystalline structure having a chiral phase, so that the compounds which now have additionally been admixed can be crosslinked using the same initiators as the actual substances constituting the pigments. If, for example, the substances of the liquid-crystalline structure selected are those which can be crosslinked with UV light, then corresponding, UV-crosslinkable color neutral compounds can be added in order to achieve the desired color stability effect. Accordingly, this is done by mixing in the corresponding compounds prior to crosslinking, without needing to employ additional or different initiators.
In a further preferred embodiment, color-neutral compounds are selected from the group consisting of acrylates, polyurethanes, epoxides, siloxanes, polyesters and alkyd resins.
In a further preferred embodiment, at least one color-neutral compound is selected from the group consisting of 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate, divinylbenzene, trivinylalkoxysilanes, trifunctional polyurethane acrylate oligomers, mixtures of pentaerythritol tri- and tetraacrylates, tetrafunctional acrylate oligomers, tetraallylsilane, tetravinylsilane, tetrakis(2-methacryloyloxyalkoxy)silanes, 1,3,5,7-tetravinyltetraalkylcyclotetrasiloxanes, hexafunctional polyurethane acrylate oligomers and dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate.
In a further preferred embodiment, the content of the color-neutral compound is from 1 to 20% by weight, preferably from 5 to 15% by weight, based on the total weight of the overall mixture to be crosslinked.
The pigments can be incorporated into conventional coating systems, in which case the pigments are ground and, if desired, screened to a suitable particle size.
If a motor vehicle is finished with such a coating material or coating system, the color shift observed is greatly reduced relative to the corresponding pigments without additional color-neutral compounds, even in the case of large differences in baking or drying temperature. Thus, for example, the .DELTA.E value of coating materials provided with color pigments of the type specified at the outset can be reduced by more than 70% if the colors of coated samples are compared at baking or drying temperatures of room temperature and 130.degree. C. Correspondingly pronounced results are obtained if the colors of coated panels are compared at baking or drying temperatures of 80.degree. C. and 130.degree. C. Similar comments apply to the .DELTA..lambda. values.
It is understood that the features mentioned above and below can be employed not only in the combinations indicated but also individually or in different combinations within the scope of the present invention.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention.

Pigment with color dependent on viewing angle, method of making and use of same


The present invention is a device for the remote actuation of equipment (3) associated with a drill string (1) through a hydraulic displacement mechanism (10;53,58) co-operating with a distributor (7;25,26,27;47) associated with the drilling fluid. The displacement mechanism directly converts the hydraulic energy of the drilling fluid into actuating mechanical energy with the co-operation of no other fluid than the drilling fluid. The invention further relates to an actuating method using the device and has an application of directional drilling in the petroleum field.

The present invention relates to a device for actuating an equipment, associated with a drill string lowered in a well, and in which a drilling fluid whose basic function is to provide all the conventional drilling functions circulates. The actuating device according to the invention uses directly the hydraulic energy of the pressure of the circulating drilling fluid for actuating the equipment.
In the oil drilling field, it is often necessary to actuate equipment or tools incorporated in a drill string lowered in a wellbore. This may notably be the case for carrying out controlled directional drillings, exploratory measuring or testing operations or various operations for fitting up production wells.
The prior art mentions several well-known methods for actuating bottomhole equipment. They may consist in pumping tools into the pipe which, once they have reached the level of the equipment, activate it. Instead of pumping, a ball or an equivalent may be dropped into the drill string. These conventional methods present notably the drawback of sealing totally or, at best, temporarily the inner channel of the string, and therefore of requiring a more or less long pumping stop. Now, in drilling, it is always very dangerous not to keep the drilling fluid circulating. In fact, when the upward circulation of the fluid in the well-string annulus is too low, or even zero, there are risks of destabilization of the walls. Moreover, the cuttings being no longer taken up to the surface, they tend to settle and are likely to jam the string.
For all these reasons, technical development turned towards the use of other types of actuation. The action of weight on the tool, of the rotating speed or a combination of both may be used. But, in this case, constructions are very complex and little reliable for checking the control of these drilling parameters.
Patent EP-251,543-A for example is well-known, in which the actuation of a variable geometry stabilizer is achieved by weight on the tool. But the actuating system requires the action of an axial force up to a critical value with no positive locking in a determined position. The user is sometimes faced with error risks concerning knowledge of the position of the equipment. Besides, the weight on the tool is a parameter linked to the drill bit and has a direct influence on the drilling performance, so users do not wish to be limited in the use of this force for anything else than drilling progress.
The device of the present invention does not interfere at any time with the drilling parameters, be they hydraulic or mechanical.
Patent application EP-376,811 mentions a known actuating device comprising a needle-choke system using the hydrodynamic action of the drilling fluid circulation. This document describes the use of a flow rate increase for generating a pressure difference between upstream and downstream from the device sufficiently high for obtaining the actuation. It is obvious that, in this document, the pressure drops downstream from the device reduce the activation force.
On the contrary, in the present invention, all the pressure drops in the string downstream from the device are active for the actuation. This represents a definite advantage since these pressure drops always have sizeable values considering the indispensable presence of bits restricting the passageway, notably a drill bit. The necessary level of activation energy may thus be obtained more easily while remaining in normal operating conditions, which practically suppresses all the interferences with the wellbore surroundings.
In the prior art, which may be illustrated by patent application EP-376,811 cited above, inner mechanisms, notably activation, indexing and locking mechanisms, impose a specific lubrication of the parts. They must therefore be tight in relation to the presence of a fluid under pressure such as the drilling fluid. All these constraints are suppressed by the invention which uses directly the drilling fluid without any other buffer or intermediate fluid.

Actuating device associated with a drill string and comprising a hydrostatic drilling fluid circuit, actuation method and application thereof


In combination, a hand truck having a unidirectional wheel control ratchet and an adjustable length stair ramp are operable for transporting heavy loads of cargo up flights of stairs. A ratchet wheel and pawl assembly is attached to the wheels of the hand truck to limit the direction of rotation of the wheels to a backward rotation. The stair ramp includes two telescoping U-shaped ramp channels which are spaced so that the wheels of the hand truck can roll within the channels and the ramp further includes upper and lower footing cross members which are pivotally connected to the upper and lower ends of the ramp channels. When the ramp is in place on a flight of stairs the telescoping and pivoting qualities of the ramp allow the channels to rest on the apices of the stair steps. The wheel control ratchets permit a heavily loaded hand truck to be pulled up the stairs along the ramp channels without fear of the hand truck rolling forward and down the ramp.

The instant invention relates to the transportation of cargos up and down stairs and more specifically to a hand truck and stair ramp system for transporting heavy cargos up and down flights of stairs.
It has been found that most worker injuries resulting from the use of hand trucks on stairs are lower back injuries. These injuries are both acute (sudden trauma) and cumulative (repetitive trauma), although acute injuries are sometimes believed to be the final result of cumulative injuries. It has also been found that lower back injuries are responsible for approximately 35% of the injuries that occur in the work place, and that they are responsible for approximately 80% of the monetary costs and losses associated with work place injuries.
The ergonomic and physiological factors associated with lower back injuries include the following: elevated back compression forces, asymmetrical lifting, partially flexed trunk posture, high inertia forces, overloading, and fatigue. All of these factors are present and magnified in the typical methods of moving loaded hand trucks up and down flights of stairs.
To move a typical 180 pound load up a single step with a standard 25-30 pound hand truck, an operator must bend at the waist to lower the hand truck runners or "stair glides" into contact with the apex of the step and then pull the hand truck upwardly. Unfortunately, friction with the step apex often magnifies the necessary pulling forces, such that as much as 285 pounds of lifting force may be required to move a 180 pound load up a single step. Further, when a worker is pulling in the bent-over position, intervertebral compression can be elevated from a normal 120-150 pounds to as much as 600 pounds. Intervertebral compression above 500 pounds is believed to magnify the likelihood of injury by a multiple of 6. In any case, in order to move a hand truck up a step an operator must step up and back with one foot while preparing to pull the load up to the next succeeding step. As a result, in order to move a load up a flight of steps the load must be pulled repetitively in a sudden "jerking" motion to accomplish the task.


The present invention relates to a micro-channel water-gas shift (WGS) reaction device for WGS for generating hydrogen and pre-combustion carbon capture and storage (CCS) from coal gasification, the device using a micro-channel heat exchanger and through-type metal catalyst capable of rapidly dissipating heat generated during single-stage WGS reaction of high concentration CO in a high temperature space.

Various technical portfolios are applied to reduce greenhouse gas for prevention of global warming, but recently a CCS (carbon capture and storage) technology for capturing and storing CO2 is coming to the fore as a controllable large-volume greenhouse gas processing technology. The capture technology applied to the power plant as a technology, whereby CO2 is transported to a reservoir and stored to be isolated after it is captured from a large-volume carbon dioxide discharge source, can be classified largely into after-combustion CO2 capture, before-combustion CO2 capture and oxygen combustion CO2 capture technologies. Of these, the before-combustion CO2 capture technology is a technology, in which various fossil fuels are partially oxidized to manufacture synthetic gas (H2+CO) as shown in FIG. 1 and subsequently it is converted to hydrogen and carbon dioxide through water gas transition reaction and then hydrogen or carbon dioxide is separated, so that carbon dioxide is captured before it is discharged as a flue gas. This technology is a technology for not only capturing carbon dioxide but also producing hydrogen, and is assessed as a core technology for moving to a future hydrogen economy society. Because, not petroleum, but coal, biomass and organic waste can be used as a raw material, it is a future development technology in preparation for petroleum depletion and high oil prices. Factorial technology for development of before-combustion capture technology can be divided largely into a refinement field for removing impurities after gasification, a water gas transition and reaction field for converting synthetic gas into hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and a H2/CO2 separation field for separating the generated hydrogen and CO2 from each other.
Thus, water-gas shift (WGS) is indispensable for before-combustion carbon dioxide capture (CCS) from coal gasification and hydrogen production. Such WGS reaction is an exothermic reaction as shown in Reaction Formula 1, and generally goes through double-stage reaction of high temperatures (400 to 450° C.) and low temperatures (200 to 250° C.).CO+H2OH2+CO2 reaction heat: −41.1 kJ/mol  (Reaction Formula 1)
The synthetic gases generated from coal gasification include high-temperature, high-pressure and high-concentration CO. For example, synthetic gases produced from Conoco-Philips E-Gas include 37 mol % of CO at 42 atm and 927° C. In the case of high-concentration CO like this, a double-stage WGS reactor is indispensable. But since the gas condition is high-temperature and high-pressure, a heat exchanger is necessary for every stage, and since the concentration of CO participating in the reaction is high, it is very difficult to maintain the temperature inside the reactor isothermal using a huge amount of reaction heat generated during reaction.
In addition, although WGS is a reaction not affected by pressure, vaporization of water, which is important in WGS, hardly occurs in the case of high pressure. Especially if the temperature of synthetic gas is lowered by heat exchange, it is all the more so. Therefore, in order to WGS-process the synthetic gases obtained through coal gasification, it is preferable to proceed with WGS reaction in a high-temperature section as far as possible. However, because of thermodynamic equilibrium of the WGS reaction, a disadvantage that the CO conversion rate is not so high occurs at high temperatures.
Furthermore, because the synthetic gases generated from coal gasification are different in composition from the synthetic gases obtained through a conventional SR reaction (a natural gas modification reaction), the reaction heat generated through WGS is very high since a large quantity of CO should be processed. Unless the reaction heat is removed effectively, hot spots generate on the catalyst layer in the reactor. Such temperature rise becomes a problem of not only a deactivation of catalyst but also the CO conversion rate decreasing due to thermodynamic equilibrium.

Micro-channel water-gas shift reaction device having built-in flow-through-type metal catalyst


A method and related apparatus used for controlling a peripheral device to transfer data to a bus. The peripheral device has a bus interface circuit and a controller. The method includes storing data outputted from the controller into a first storage block of the bus interface circuit, utilizing the bus interface circuit to simultaneously control the first storage block to output its stored data to the bus and control a second storage block of the bus interface circuit to store data outputted from the controller, and utilizing the bus interface circuit to control the second storage block to output its stored data to the bus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a related apparatus for controlling data transmission. In particular, the present invention discloses a method and a related apparatus for controlling a peripheral device to transfer data to a bus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally speaking, a computer system has a plurality of electronic components. In addition, the computer system also has many buses used for delivering data outputted from one electronic component to other electronic components. In other words, the buses establish connections among the electronic components installed on the computer system. Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a diagram of a prior art computer system 10. The computer system 10 comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 12, a north bridge circuit 14, a south bridge circuit 16, a PCI bus 18, a display controller 20, a memory 22, a small computer system interface (SCSI) controller 24, a hard-disk drive 26, a network controller 28, and an audio controller 30. The CPU 12 is used for controlling overall operations of the computer system 10. The north bridge circuit 14 is used for arbitrating signal transmission between high-speed peripheral devices (the display controller 20 and the memory 22 for example) and the CPU 12. However, the south bridge circuit 16 is used for arbitrating signal transmission between low-speed peripheral devices (the hard-disk drive 26, the network controller 28, and the audio controller 30 for example) and the north bridge circuit 14. As mentioned above, the PCI bus 18 on the computer system 10 is used for establishing connections among peripheral devices.
The display controller 20 is used for driving an external display device such as a monitor through video signals. The memory 22 is a volatile storage device for storing volatile data. The SCSI controller 24 functions as a bridge used for controlling signal transmission between the PCI bus 18 and a device (the hard-disk drive 26 for instance) connected to the SCSI controller 24. It is well-known that the hard-disk drive 26 is a non-volatile storage device for storing non-volatile data. The network controller 28 such as a network interface card (NIC) is used for controlling data transmission between the computer system 10 and an external network. The audio controller 30 such as an audio card is used for performing signal conversion between digital audio signals and analog audio signals. That is, the audio controller 30 is capable of converting digital audio signals into corresponding analog audio signals for driving a speaker, and is also capable of converting analog audio signals inputted by a microphone into corresponding digital audio signals.
As mentioned above, the peripheral devices such as the network controller 28, the audio controller 30, and the hard-disk drive 26 have to utilize the PCI bus 18 to transfer data to the memory 22 or the CPU 12 through the north bridge circuit 14 and the south bridge circuit 16. Therefore, how to efficiently utilize the PCI bus 18 to deliver massive data has become an important issue.

Method and related apparatus for controlling a peripheral device to transfer data to a bus


Improved methods for the detection and quantitation of labeled biological materials in a sample using elemental spectroscopic detection are described. Element-labeled biologically active materials, comprising antibodies, antigens, growth factors, hormones, receptors and other biologically active materials covalently attached to a stable elemental tag, can be used in specific binding assays and measured by elemental spectroscopic detection. Also described are methods for the determination of metals in samples of interest using specific antibodies to isolate the target metals and elemental spectroscopy for detection and quantitation.

Various methods are in use for the detection and measurement of biological materials. To date, these determinations are generally facilitated through the use of radiological, fluorescent or enzymatic tags. None of these methods have successfully dealt with elemental tagging of biologically active materials, and in particular immunoglobulins and antigens, followed by detection using atomic mass or optical spectrometry.
The methods used to date have included (1) elemental tagging in immunoassays, (2) elemental tagging using radioisotopes, (3) elemental tagging to enhance fluorescence, (4) immunological detection of elemental species without tagging, and (5) direct elemental tagging for cell uptake studies. We will review each of these areas in turn.
Elemental Tagging in Immunoassays
Wang 1984 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,233) disclosed the possibility of utilizing a mass spectrometer as a means of immunoassay detection. Wang's method required a cumbersome preliminary set of steps to first prepare a tagged 'mobile unit' which was then conjugated to an antibody/antigen. In the preferred embodiment, the 'mobile unit' was comprised of a latex particle embedded with heavy tagging elements such as Fe, Ni, Cu and Co. Among Wang's reasons for utilizing 'mobile units' were: (1) easy separation of bound reactant from unbound reactant, (2) simultaneous detection of many antigen/antibody complexes owing to the small size of mobile units, and (3) possible utilization of 'unstable' or 'reactive' tags, as tags embedded in the latex would not interfere with the reaction. However, due to the burdensome requirement of preparing mobile units, Wang's method was impractical and has not been used for immunoassay detection.
Immunoassay detection using element tagged immunoglobulins and antigens has also been possible using colloidal gold or extremely small beads of gold (several nanometers in diameter), for example NANOGOLD™ particles. Van Banchet and Heppelmann (1995), Wagenknecht et al. (1994), and Wenzel and Baumeister (1995) used colloidal gold to visualize protein structure in the cell and to detect receptor-ligand binding by electron microscopy. However, these assays suffer from lack of quantitation capabilities.
Element tagging has also been used in electrochemical immunoassays followed by polarographic detection of the generated complexes based on the catalytic conversion of a substrate by labeled metal ion or the anodic current of metal labeling Qiu and Song (1996). Similar to the preceding example, the assay lacked quantitation capabilities.
Thus, although elemental tagging has been used in immunoassays, the tagging methods have been cumbersome or were ineffective at quantitation.
Elemental Tagging Using Radioisotopes
Historically, the most common use of elemental tagging has been the use of radioactive elements. While radioassays remain the method of choice due to their exceptional sensitivity to low levels of analyte, their general use is limited by the restrictions in dealing with radioactive materials.
Elemental Tagging to Enhance Fluorescence
Recently, elemental tagging has been used to enhance luminescence of fluorescent tags. U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,988 to Hinshaw et al., describes the use of lanthanide metals complexed with fluorescent compounds and chelating agents, that can be used in specific binding assays. U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,783 to Josel et al. describes the use of metal complexes with a charged linker as luminescent groups in fluorescence-based or electrochemiluminescence-based assays.
However, these fluorescent tagging methods suffer from the disadvantages associated with their relatively low sensitivity and resulting problems with quantitative analysis in samples containing low concentrations of target molecules. As well, fluorescence-based methods are limited to the analysis and quantification of only one or at most a few target substances per assay.
Immunological Detection of Elemental Species
Blake et al. (1998) and Darwish and Blake (2001) disclosed a method of detection and quantitation of elemental species by complexing elemental species with antibodies that recognize chelated elemental species, using antibodies conjugated with fluorescent tags. However, as outlined above, fluorescence based assays suffer from low sensitivity and are limited to one or a few targets per assay.
Direct Elemental Tagging in Conjunction with Gel Electrophoresis
Binet et al. (2001) disclosed a method of determining untagged proteins by separation using gel electrophoresis, followed by laser ablation of the separated spots and detection using mass spectrometry. However, this method is limited to molecules that are naturally detectable by spectrometry.
Wind et al. (2001), Nagaoka and Maitani (2000) and Baldwin et al. (2001) used chromatography to separate proteins, followed by detection using mass spectrometry. Similarly, Chen et al, 2000 incorporated isotopic tags of 13C, 15N and 2H in proteins before chromatographic separation and detection using organic mass spectrometry. However, separation with chromatography is an added step, which can be onerous.
Thus, if one does not tag, one is limited to what is being assayed and using chromatography for separation adds a step to the process.
Direct Elemental Tagging for Cell Uptake Studies
De Llano et al.(1996) and de Llano et al. (2000), disclosed a method of visualizing and measuring the uptake of low density lipoprotein (LDL) tagged with colloidal gold by cells using electron microscopy and mass/atomic spectrometry. However, the biological material was labeled directly and gel electrophoresis was not utilized.
Thus, various methods have been developed for visualizing and analyzing element tagged biologically active compounds. However, they have innate limitations, ranging from handling radioactive waste, to low sensitivity with fluorescence based assays, to detection only capabilities, and to cumbersome preparation or separation steps.
An enormous potential exists for the development of very simple biological assays that take advantage of capabilities offered by elemental tagging coupled with elemental detection using a mass or optical spectrometer. Mass and optical spectrometry offer high sensitivity, accurate quantitation and a wide dynamic range. The use of elements to label biologically active material allows construction of an enormous number of distinguishable tags.
This invention involves bridging the science of biology, and in particular immunology, and analytical atomic mass spectrometry. The invention offers an easy and simple means of tagging biological molecules. Further, it offers excellent detection capabilities, equaling (or surpassing) the sensitivity of radioassays. It offers the safety of florescent based assays, and the added feature of an enormous number of available tags, with the possibility of simultaneous detection of numerous biological complexes. In addition, the handling of the reacted tagged complexes can be crude, as the integrity of the chemical complex need not be preserved in assaying the element.

Elemental analysis of tagged biologically active materials


A resonator comprises a housing arranged in an intake member for defining an opening to communicate with an intake passage and a volume portion to communicate with the opening portion, a movable partition which can change the volume of the volume portion, and a movable cover associated with the movable partition for changing the opening area of the opening portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resonator for suppressing intake noises.
2. Description of the Related Art
A Helmholtz type resonator is provided with a cylindrical member and a housing. The cylindrical member is branched and connected at its one end to an intake duct. This intake duct is defined into an intake passage. This intake passage is opened at its cylindrical member connecting portion to form an opening. The housing is connected to the other end of the cylindrical member. The inside of the housing is defined into a volume portion.
Here, the resonance frequency f of the resonator can be obtained for a sound velocity C, an opening area S of the opening, a length L of the cylindrical member and a volume V of the volume portion from the following Formula:
                    f        =                              C                          2                            π                                                                    S                              V                ·                L                                                                        [                  Formula                                                              1                ]
Here, the frequency of the intake noises varies in proportion to the engine speed. In JP-A-2001-50127, therefore, there is introduced a Helmholtz type resonator, which can vary the opening area S of an opening in accordance with the engine speed. From the aforementioned Formula, the resonance frequency f of the resonator can be varied if the opening area S is varied. In the case of the resonator described in that patent publication, at every engine speeds, the sound-pressure level near the frequency F is lowered by equalizing the resonance frequency f to a desired frequency F of the intake noises.
The intake noises are composed of a plurality of components corresponding to the explosions of the combustion chambers of the engine. FIG. 17A plots the primary explosion components of the intake noises of a four-cylinder engine, and FIG. 17B plots the secondary explosion components of the intake noises of the four-cylinder engine. In case the engine speed is 5,000 rpm, in the primary explosion components of FIG. 17A, the frequency to be reduced in the sound-pressure level is 250 Hz. In the case of the same engine speed, in the secondary explosion components of FIG. 17B, the frequency to be reduced in the sound-pressure level is 500 Hz.
In the case of the resonator described in the publication, however, at an arbitrary single engine speed, only one frequency range can reduce the sound-pressure level. When the intake noises at the engine speed of 5,000 rpm are to be reduced by using the resonator of that publication, therefore, it is possible to reduce the sound-pressure level in the neighborhood of the frequency of 250 Hz (of the primary explosion components) but not the sound-pressure level in the neighborhood of the frequency of 500 Hz (of the secondary explosion components). Alternatively, the sound-pressure level in the neighborhood of the frequency of 500 Hz (of the secondary explosion components) can be reduced but the sound-pressure level in the neighborhood of the frequency of 250 Hz (of the primary explosion components) cannot. In case the sound-pressure levels of the two frequency ranges are to be reduced, therefore, it is necessary to arrange a plurality of resonators in the intake duct.
In order to solve this problem, JP-A-5-18224 introduced the resonator which can reduce the sound-pressure levels in two frequency ranges at an arbitrary single engine speed. The inside of the housing of the resonator disclosed is partitioned by a movable partition into a first volume portion and a second volume portion. The first volume portion is connected to the intake duct through a first cylindrical member. The second volume portion is connected to the intake duct through another second cylindrical member. The volume V1 of the first volume portion and the volume V2 of the second volume portion can be changed by movable the movable partition. According to the resonator disclosed, therefore, it is possible to separately set a resonance frequency f1 relating to the first volume portion and a resonance frequency f2 relating to the second volume portion.
However, the volume V1 of the first volume portion and the volume V2 of the second volume portion cannot be varied independently of each other. If the total volume is designated by Vt, a relation of Vt=V1+V2 holds. As a result, the volume V2 necessarily becomes smaller if the volume V1 is increased. If the volume V2 is increased, on the contrary, the volume V1 necessarily becomes smaller.
If this event is substituted for the Formula 1, the volume V1 has to be reduced in case the resonance frequency f1 relating to the first volume portion is shifted to a higher frequency side. If the volume V1 is reduced, however, the volume V2 inevitably increases. Therefore, the resonance frequency f2 relating to the second volume portion inevitably shifts to the lower frequency side. In short, the resonance frequency f1 and the resonance frequency f2 shift in the opposite directions.
On the contrary, the volume V1 has to be enlarged in case the resonance frequency f1 relating to the first volume portion is shifted to a lower frequency side. If the volume V1 is enlarged, however, the volume V2 inevitably decreases. Therefore, the resonance frequency f2 relating to the second volume portion inevitably shifts to the higher frequency side. In short, the resonance frequency f1 and the resonance frequency f2 shift in the opposite directions.
Thus, according to the resonator described in the same publication, the two resonance frequencies f1 and f2 shift in the opposite directions. However, the frequency of the intake noises vary in proportion to the engine speed, as described hereinbefore. In case the engine speed is 2,000 rpm in FIGS. 17A and 17B, for example, the frequency of the primary explosion components of FIG. 17A is 100 Hz, and the frequency of the secondary explosion components of FIG. 17B is 200 Hz. In case the engine speed is 4,000 rpm, on the other hand, the frequency of the primary explosion components of FIG. 17A is 200 Hz, and the frequency of the secondary explosion components of FIG. 17B is 400 Hz. According to the resonator of the same publication, therefore, it is difficult at an arbitrary engine speed to make the two resonance frequencies f1 and f2 correspond to frequencies F1 and F2, the sound-pressure levels of which are to be lowered.
On the other hand, JP-A-2002-21659 introduces a dual intake system for retaining two intake passages by two intake ducts. According to this intake system, it is possible to feed the combustion chambers of the engine with much intake air.
If the dual intake system is adopted, however, the more parts such as an intake duct, an air cleaner or an air cleaner hose are required for the intake passages. Therefore, the assembling works become complicated. The more parts number makes their space the larger. As a result, the limited space in the engine room is narrowed by the dual intake system. Moreover, the large parts number complicates the structure.
As the engine speed grows the higher, on the other hand, the combustion chambers of the engine demand the more intake air. In case the engine speed is low, therefore, the intake passage of only one line can feed the combustion chambers with the intake air of a desired amount. Of the two intake passages of the dual intake system, therefore, one intake passage is excessive, only in case the engine speed is low.


‘Maluma’ avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is notable for its early bearing, precociousness and high yield. The fruit of ‘Maluma’ is larger and slightly more pyrifom than ‘Hass’, and is less prone to skin blemishes.

'Maluma' is a new and distinct variety of avocado tree Persea americana Mill. This new variety originated as a chance seedling discovered by the inventor in a cultivated avocado orchard. Although the parentage of the new variety is not known, it appears to be a 'Hass' (U.S. Plant Patent No. 139) type avocado, related to Guatemalan avocado varieties, with some Mexican avocado genetics. 'Maluma' was first observed at a farm located at Levubu, Limpopo Province, Republic of South Africa, and was selected because of its large, early fruit as compared to the surrounding trees. 'Maluma' was first asexually reproduced at Tzaneen, Limpopo Province, in the late 1990s by grafting onto clonal 'Duke 7' (not patented) rootstock and has since been observed to remain true to type over successive asexually propagated generations.


A method of inducing anesthesia, sedation, analgesia, hypothermia, and reduced stress by administering an effective amount of an adenosine compound to a mammal. It also provides a method for preserving donor organs in vivo by contacting them with an adenosine compound, as well as a method for preparing organ recipients for transplant.

1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to a method of using adenosine compounds to induce anesthesia, sedation, analgesia, hypothermia, and to ameliorate stress.
2. Related Art
A patient is protected from the pain and stress of surgery and similar procedures by anesthesia which allows the maintenance of physiological homeostasis.
Adenosine has a variety of extracellular effects. It is known to have potent vasodilating, blood pressure lowering (hypotensive) and shock-inducing effects, but has never been demonstrated to have anesthetic activity when used clinically. Furthermore, the conventional wisdom is that neither adenosine nor adenosine triphosphate (hereinafter ATP), an adenine nucleotide, circulating in the blood, will cross the blood brain barrier. Therefore, despite analgesic and sedative effects suggested by previous studies in laboratory experiments, neither adenosine nor ATP had ever been thought to be suitable as anesthetics. A major problem with prior studies is that they were performed under such poorly controlled conditions that the vital signs: circulator, such as blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory functions were not measured. Because data on the behavior of these parameters are essential in determining therapeutic efficacy, these studies failed to teach whether such potential analgesic and sedative effects were caused by the profound effects of these compounds on cardiovascular function, namely: hypotension, coma, bradycardia, or shock. Failure to determine the vital signs, and to isolate the analgesic properties from the coma or shock, which may be produced by potent hypotensive effects of adenosine, render these reports fatally flawed as teaching analgesia or sedation caused by adenosine. Consequently, previous studies do not evaluate usage for treatment purposes of these agents. Based on previous reports, such effects (analgesia, sedation) could not possibly have been translated to clinical applicability.
A variety of drugs are presently used to provide anesthesia. Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 7th Ed., 1985, MacMillan, New York, Chapters 13 and 14 provide an overview of the field of anesthesiology as currently understood by those skilled in the art.
Total replacement or dose reduction of other anesthetics have definite clinical advantages such as decreased toxicity and rapid recovery from anesthesia. These advantages can be realized because inhalational or other synthetic chemical anesthetics are often toxic even when used at the required effective dose and can produce severe cardio-respiratory and metabolic side effects. Secondly, the amount of anesthetic actually being used by the patient is subject to guesswork in the operating room.
Adenosine and ATP are endogenous compounds and, as a consequence, are unlikely to produce toxic effects. Both adenosine and ATP are known to be rapidly metabolized and eliminated from the blood stream; when the infusion is stopped, recovery starts immediately and proceeds rapidly.
Therefore, either adenosine, ATP, or functionally similar adenosine compounds would be ideal replacements for inhalational anesthetics, and replacements for opioid analgesics.
In the present invention, it has been possible to isolate and demonstrate the intrinsic anesthetic properties of adenosine compounds. Applicant has found that under normal blood pressure and normal metabolic and respiratory functions, administration of an adenosine compound, such as adenosine and ATP, produced potent analgesic, sedative, and stress inhibiting effects, such as antihypertension and blood pressure control. Furthermore, such administration ameliorated undesirable cardiovascular and respiratory functions deteriorated by other anesthetics during anesthesia indicating that such adenosine compounds are superior anesthetic agents. This finding is unexpected and surprising because these agents are known to be potent hypotensive, bradycardic, and shock-inducing agents which clinicians would try to avoid.
Furthermore, when a subject anesthetized with an adenosine compound is then subjected to body temperature decrease, the decrease is not accompanied by shivering, cardiovascular distress, or pulmonary distress.
This effect holds for drops in body temperature at least as large as 10.degree. C. to 20.degree. C.
Adenosine compounds have also been discovered to provide excellent blood and tissue oxygenation. As such, an adenosine compound can be used to maintain donor organs for transplant in the best possible condition while still in the donor body and the period of time between removal from the donor body and implantation. Furthermore, the excellent blood and tissue oxygenation induced by the adenosine compound can be used to maintain the organ land the organ recipient in the best possible condition.

Use of adenosine compounds to relieve pain


A shiftable pedal bearing for a bicycle or the like includes a pedal bearing housing supporting a hollow crank axle carrying pedal cranks, and a gear casing with pertaining chainwheel and accommodating a disk which extends parallel to the chainwheel. Arranged in the crank axle is a switch shaft which is actuatable from outside by a shifter so that a coupler, which is operatively connected to the switch shaft, is selectively engageable with circumferential recesses in the chainwheel and a disk. Each recess of the chainwheel and each recess of the disk is of stepped configuration to define a first recess section and a second recess section, with the coupler in a first stage engaging the first recess section with play and in a second stage snugly fitting in the second recess section with no play.

The present invention refers to a shiftable pedal bearing for a bicycle or the like, and in particular to a pedal bearing of the type having a bearing housing, a gearing with pertaining chainwheel and a disk which extends parallel to the chainwheel, and with a pedal crank carrying crank axle which axially traverses the pedal bearing housing and accommodates a switch shaft which is connected to a coupler and actuatable from outside by a shifter so that the coupler is engageable with circumferential and offset recesses of the chainwheel or with circumferential and offset recesses of the disk.
German publication no. DE-A 38 27 819 discloses a shiftable pedal bearing of this type for a bicycle or the like, in which the coupler, through axial displacement of the switch shaft, is shifted between two switching positions for engagement with the chainwheel of the pedal bearing or with a planet cage in order to effect a speed variation.
This known pedal bearing requires that those parts which rotate relative to each other during riding are provided with relatively large recesses to ensure engagement by the coupler without causing a blockage or jamming of the gearing during the shifting process. However, the adverse effect of employing such relatively large recesses is the creation of a disturbing play which causes the rider to have an uncomfortable feeling because of the perception that the operative connection between the pedal cranks and the crank axle is not maintained.

Shiftable pedal bearing for a bicycle or the like


A hybrid drive system for use in an electric vehicle comprising an electric motor generator for moving the vehicle, plural electrical energy sources in electric contact with electric motor/generator and a control source in electrical contact with the plural electrical energy sources include a variable-rate energy storage system, a low-rate energy storage system and a high-rate energy storage system. In operation, the control source determines the average power consumption of the vehicle during emission operation throughout its ongoing duty cycle and controls the extent to which each of the energy sources energizes the electric motor/generator to move the vehicle, such that the vehicle may be efficiently operated in both emission and non-emission modes in accordance with environmental restrictions and operator-imposed power demands.

Since the turn of this century, the automotive industry has allocated limited funds for the research and development of alternative power sources, including electric vehicles. These efforts have proven unsuccessful, however, due to technical and economic obstacles.
On the technical side, those skilled in the art will recognize that conventional electric vehicles have historically suffered from the inability to meet performance and range requirements necessary for practical use. For example, it is well known that significant pulse power is required to meet vehicle acceleration requirements during peak power demands. In order to meet these power demands, battery designers have been forced to trade-off battery specific energy (energy per unit weight) and power density (power per unit volume). As a result, larger and heavier batteries have been utilized which have decreased efficiency, performance and aesthetic appeal. These design problems coupled with the availability of inexpensive imported fossil fuels have heretofore impeded large-scale commercial development and implementation of electric vehicles.
Recent changes, however, in global politics and legislation mandating reduced emission automobiles have now fueled renewed interest in the development of electric and hybrid internal combustion engine/electric vehicles which are "environmentally safe". See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,795 to Lynch et al. which discloses a parallel hybrid drive system for self propelled vehicles having a drive shaft in common with an internal combustion engine leading to a variable speed transmission and a final drive train.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,115 issued to Helling discloses a parallel hybrid drive for use in a vehicle having at least two motors, one of which is an electric motor. Helling further discloses the an electric accumulator for use in cooperation with a gyro-accumulator drive (flywheel) in a 3-shaft configuration with multiple differentials and speed matching capability for storing kinetic energy during braking.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,342 issued to Kenyon discloses a hybrid electrical-heat engine vehicle and alternator which is totally free of elemental iron in its magnetic circuit. As disclosed, the rectified output of the alternator can be provided in series with a battery pack powering an electric drive motor so as to give a surge of mechanical power without magnetic saturation loss.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,254 issued to Kawakatsu et al. discloses a control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle comprising an internal combustion engine (ICE) and a motor/generator energized by a battery. As more fully disclosed in Kawakatsu, the ICE is designed to run only in a predetermined region of better fuel consumption and torque range. Outside this region, the motor is mainly used as a prime mover.
Finally U.S. Pat. No. 3,791,473 issued to Rosen discloses a hybrid power train which includes a heat engine operating as a prime mover in cooperation with a secondary electromechanical system such as a battery energized electric motor. As disclosed by Rosen, the heat engine is a quasi-constant torque device which can be varied in response to the state of charge of the battery or in response to operator imposed torque demands in excess of certain predetermined amounts. The power train further includes a mechanical accelerator for controlling the instantaneous torque output of the combined heat engine/electric motor.
The prior art systems discussed above provide a general background in respect of the design and application of hybrid drive systems in electric vehicles. Although these systems generally have increased range and acceleration capabilities due to improved materials and battery designs, they still suffer from design and operational restraints reminiscent of predecessor electric vehicles. More specifically, the prior art hybrid systems still require significant secondary power capability to meet acceleration and extended range requirements. These deficiencies are compounded further in situations where the vehicles are required to operate in pure EV (non-emission) modes as will soon be required in California and several other states which have adopted similar zero emission plans.


Provided are a method and an apparatus for playing an online television program. The method includes: a television obtaining a link address of a multimedia resource and determining whether having an online player capable of playing the multimedia resource; the television establishing a connection with a server based on a determination that the television does not have the online player capable of playing the multimedia resource; and the television sending the link of the multimedia resource to the server, such that the server transcodes the multimedia resource according to the link of the multimedia resource.

Television industry belongs to the manufacturing industry. In order to limit the manufacturing cost, current televisions correspond to different product statuses, and their supports for multimedia formats are different as well. Low-cost and high-yield televisions support very few multimedia formats, and older televisions do not support new coder decoders. Different grades of televisions have different designs in chip performance, memory, Flash, and the like, which will certainly result in non-support for audio and video formats and limitations on a picture format. Meanwhile, for speed and storage space considerations, playing a multimedia resource by the television is based on decoding the multimedia resource by hardware. Therefore, there will inevitably be a case where the televisions support few video formats of multimedia and a resolution ratio and a code rate will be greatly limited.

Method and apparatus for playing online television program

SHENZHEN SKYWORTH-RGB ELECTRONIC CO., LTD.


This invention provides a compound of the formula: ##STR1## and its pharmaceutically acceptable salts, wherein Ar.sup.1 is selected from groups of the following formulae: ##STR2## wherein, R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are independently hydrogen or C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl;. W is (CH.sub.2).sub.n wherein n is from 1 to 3, or --CH.dbd.CH--; PA1 X is C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxy or halo C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkoxy; and PA1 Ar.sup.2 is phenyl optionally substituted by halogen atom.. These compounds are useful in the treatment of a gastrointestinal disorder, a central nervous system (CNS) disorder, an inflammatory disease, emesis, urinary incontinence, pain, migraine, sunburn, angiogenesis, diseases, disorders and adverse conditions caused by Helicobacter pylori, or the like in a mammalian subject, especially humans.

Substance P is a naturally occurring undecapeptide belonging to the tachykinin family of peptides, the latter being so-named because of their prompt stimulatory action on smooth muscle tissue. More specifically, substance P is a pharmaceutically active neuropeptide that is produced in mammals (having originally been isolated from gut) and possesses a characteristic amino acid sequence that is illustrated by D. F. Veber et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,283. The wide involvement of substance P and other tachykinins in the pathophysiology of numerous diseases has been amply demonstrated in the art. For instance, substance P has recently been shown to be involved in the transmission of pain or migraine, as well as in central nervous system disorders such as anxiety and schizophrenia, in respiratory and inflammatory diseases such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis, respectively, and in gastrointestinal disorders and diseases of GI tract, like ulcerative colitis and Crohn's diseases, etc. It is also reported that the tachykinin antagonists are useful for the treatment of allergic conditions, immunoregulation, vasodilation, bronchospasm, reflex or neuronal control of the viscera and senile dementia of the Alzheimer type, emesis, sunburn and Helicobacter pylori infection.
International Publications WO 93/01170, WO 95/08549 and WO 97/08144 disclose a wide variety of piperidine derivatives, as tachykinin antagonists such as substance P antagonists.

Pyridinylamino tricyclic compounds as substance P antagonists


A probe retention kit may include a plurality of probe retention devices, each having: (i) a base; (ii) a retention mechanism, coupled to the base, for mechanically coupling a probe substrate with the plurality of probe retention devices; and (iii) solder legs to be inserted into a printed circuit board, the solder legs having opposite ends that extend through the base and provide an alignment mechanism for receiving the probe substrate. Alternative probe retention devices, and systems and methods using same, are also disclosed.

Connector-less probing has emerged as an attractive form of probing for logic analyzers and other test equipment. In connector-less probing, a customer may design their printed circuit board (PCB) to incorporate a "landing pattern" of test points. The customer then attaches a connector-less probe to their test equipment, and mounts the connector-less probe to their PCB so that a plurality of spring-pins on the probe engage the plurality of test points in their PCB's landing pattern.
One embodiment of a connector-less probe is disclosed in the United States Patent Application of Brent A. Holcombe, et al. entitled "Connector-Less Probe" (Ser. No. 10/373,820, filed Feb. 25, 2003). An alignment/retention device for mounting a connector-less probe to a PCB is disclosed in the United States Patent Application of Brent A. Holcombe, et al. entitled "Alignment/Retention Device For Connector-Less Probe" (Ser. No. 10/644,365, filed Aug. 20, 2003).
Connector-less probes for probing a plurality of breakout vias on the backside of a printed circuit board to which a grid array package is attached are disclosed in the United States Patent Application of Brock J. LaMeres, et al. entitled "Backside Attach Probe, Components Thereof, and Methods for Making and Using Same" (Attorney Docket Numer 10030947-1, filed on Jul. 28, 2004).
Agilent Technologies, Inc. (headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.) markets a number of connector-less probing solutions under the name "Soft Touch".

Probe retention kit, and system and method for probing a pattern of points on a printed circuit board


The method of the invention is characterized by adding comprises adding an inorganic flocculant to waste water treated with activated sludge process, adjusting the waste water between pH 4.0 and 5.0, waste water in this state for at least 1 minute, adjusting the waste water between pH 5.5 and 9.0 and adding an anionic polymer flocculant to generate flocs and separating the flocs to obtain supernatant. According to the invention, flocs become large, especially since flocs grow by adsorbing fine particles during maturation. The clarity of the treated water is sharply improved, and the qualities of the treated water, such as COD and chromaticity are also improved. Moreover, the scale of sedimentation tank can be made compact due to the improvement in precipitatability of flocs by growing into large size.

This invention relates to an improvement in a waste water treatment through an activated sludge process for purifying waste water, such as industrial waste water or living waste water by decomposing organic materials therein by using aerobic bacteria.
It is widely carried out to purify waste water containing organic materials through an activated sludge process. In the activated sludge process, organic materials in waste water are digested by microorganisms in an aeration tank, and then, the waste water is transferred to a sedimentation tank. Flocculated microorganisms, etc. are precipitated and separated there. The supernatant is, if necessary, further purified, and then discharged into river, etc. or utilized again.
Occasionally, centrifugation is substituted for the sedimentation tank.
A method of the purification is disclosed in Japanese Patent KOKAI 53-122249 which comprises adding a flocculant to the supernatant to flocculate residual microorganisms, etc., discharging carbon dioxide gas in the supernatant under conditions of pH 4.5 or lower, and then, adjusting the pH of the supernatant to neutral region where the librated ammonia concentration is 1.5 ppm or less.
Another method of the purification is disclosed in Japanese Patent KOKOKU 64-4837 which comprises of adding an inorganic flocculant and an organic polymer flocculant to the supernatant to form sludge flocs, and then, separating the precipitates of the sludge flocs to obtain purified waste water.
The inventors reported a waste water treatment in a glutamic acid manufacturing factory comprising of treating the waste water with an activated sludge process, adding a flocculant to the supernatant to flocculate residual organic materials, pigments, etc., separating the precipitated flocculates, and then, treating the supernatant with activated carbon (KOGAI TO TAISAKU, vol. 27, No. 8, pp 759-763, 1991). In the report, relations between the type of flocculant and pH, decoloration degree or precipitatability of flocculates were also reported.
Incidentally, the point of waste water treatment is in how to remove contaminates surely and efficiently by inexpensive means.
The method disclosed in Japanese Patent KOKAI 53-122249 purifies waste water sophisticatedly in view of resolving problems of discharged water treated with activated sludge process in living of fishes. This method utilizes a combination of an inorganic flocculant and a polymer flocculant, but does not disclose to add them in two steps with varying pH, etc.
The method disclosed in Japanese Patent KOKOKU 64-4837 improves the high load treatment of activated sludge and precipitation concentration of flocculated sludges from the supernatant. By increasing the concentration of suspended matters, the high load treatment is achieved, and by flocculating using an inorganic flocculant and an organic polymer flocculant, flocculation of flocs is improved. In this method, the inorganic flocculant and the organic polymer flocculant are successively added. However, pH is adjusted to 5, and this method does not disclose to treat in two steps with varying pH.

Method of waste water treatment by flocculating sedimentation


A first cavity in a holder is provided with a plurality of spiral contactors and a thermosetting adhesive member. In a state where a first bare chip is mounted in the first cavity and spherical contactors on the first bare chip are pressed against the plurality of spiral contactors, various tests are performed. If the result of the test is pass, the holder is heated so that the adhesive member becomes hard and rigid by being heated. This can perform securing while a good connection between the first bare chip and the holder is maintained. If the result of the test is fail, only the first bare chip is removed and replaced with a new bare chip.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holder for an electronic component having an electrode, such as a semiconductor bare chip, a thermal head, or a charge-coupled device (CCD), a holding sheet for the same, an electronic module using the holder, an electronic module using the holding sheet, a lamination of electronic modules, a method for manufacturing an electronic module, and a method for testing an electronic module.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pitches of electrodes in semiconductor bare chips are typically about 20 to 100 μm, so the bare chips are difficult to work with if they are not processed. Therefore, it is necessary to extend the distance between the electrodes to the order of 500 μm. To this end, a bare chip is usually modularized on a package board (substrate) such that the distance between the electrodes is extended and the re-routing is realized. Such a module packaging technique is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 2004-128192 and 2003-133518 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,717,275).
FIG. 14 in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-128192 illustrates a laminated module in which a bare chip (41) is embedded in a multilayer substrate (9). In this multilayer module, a stepped cavity (91) including a first cavity section (92) and a second cavity section (93) is formed on a front surface of the multilayer substrate (9). The bare chip (41) is placed on a bottom surface of the first cavity section (92), and a plurality of signal terminals (95) are arranged on a bottom surface of the second cavity section (93). The bare chip (41) is connected to each of the signal terminals (95) with a wire (96).
FIG. 9 in U.S. Pat. No. 6,717,275 illustrates as an eighth embodiment a semiconductor module formed by vertically stacking a plurality of substrates (25), each substrate having semiconductor chips (120) which are bare chips on both front and back surface thereof. In this semiconductor module, the adjoining substrates (25) are connected to each other with a flexible cable (30). The substrates (25) and the corresponding semiconductor chips (120) are secured with an anisotropic conducting film (121) disposed therebetween.
In a case where a bare chip for analog use and a bare chip for digital use are packaged by using the technique described above, for example, impedance matching between both the bare chips is required. Therefore, a matching test is performed in a quality inspection process.
Conventional matching tests are performed in a state in which terminal electrodes of a bare chip have been soldered to terminal electrodes of a substrate, i.e., in a state in which a module can be shipped as a product. As a result, a module that has been determined to have faulty matching is discarded.
However, as a result of examining a module that has been determined to have faulty matching, it is found that the faulty matching can be recovered by replacing one of the bare chips for analog use and for digital use with another, thus overcoming a fault of matching in many cases. In other words, although a faulty matching problem can be solved by changing a combination of the bare chip for analog use and that for digital use in many cases, a module that has been determined to have faulty matching is often discarded without changing one of the bare chips. This means that a good bare chip is wasted.
For the module that has been determined to have faulty matching, performing a matching test again after removing one of the bare chips for analog use and for digital use from the substrate to replace the bare chip with a new one and changing to a new combination can eliminate the waste described above.
However, removing the bare chip soldered to the substrate is very troublesome. Additionally, since melting solder requires heating the bare chip, an unnecessary thermal stress is applied to the module. This causes a problem in which the bare chip and the substrate are prone to being damaged.

Holder for electronic component, holding sheet for electronic component, electronic module using holder, electronic module using holding sheet, lamination of electronic modules, method for manufacturing electronic module, and method for testing electronic module


In a reluctance rotary electric machine, a movable part is arranged opposing part of an alignment of a plurality of stator poles to be movable in a predetermined direction. In the movable part, at least one pair of salient poles is configured to magnetically couple to the excited at least one first pair of the plurality of poles so as to form a first magnetic flux in loop thereamong. A segment magnetic-path portion is arranged to be magnetically separated from the at least one pair of salient poles. The segment magnetic-path portion works to magnetically couple therethrough between the at least one second pair of the plurality of stator poles so as to form a second magnetic flux in loop thereamong. The first magnetic flux and second magnetic flux create a reluctance force to move the movable part in the predetermined direction.

Various types of reluctance rotary electric machines have been known. For example, a synchronous reluctance motor is configured to rotate its rotor in relation to its stator opposite thereto based on a rotating magnetic field produced by field windings mounted on the stator. A switched reluctance motor is configured to sequentially excite poles (stator poles) of its stator in a given direction of its rotor to thereby rotate the rotor. Such a synchronous reluctance motor has been widely well known, and such a switched reluctance motor is for example disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-136073.
The rotor of such a reluctance rotary electric machine is designed as a salient-pole soft magnetic rotor. Specifically, the rotor with a substantially cylindrical shape is provided with a plurality of pairs of salient poles circumferentially arranged in a circumferential direction of the rotor such that the salient poles of each pair have a circumferential pitch corresponding to an electric angle of π radians. The salient poles of each pair are magnetically short-circuited inside the rotor.
The salient poles of the salient-pole rotor can be configured such that an outer periphery of the rotor is formed with a plurality of pairs of salients each extending radially outward; these salients of each pair have a circumferential pitch of an electric angle of π radians. The salient poles of the salient-pole rotor can also be configured such that a plurality of flux barriers (slits) are arranged to be circumferentially spaced apart from each other. The latter of the salient pole structure is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-165427.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-246571 discloses a reluctance motor having a substantially annular cylindrical rotor. The rotor is formed at its outer periphery with a plurality of magnetic segments whose number is different from the number of stator poles arranged opposing the rotor in a rotational direction thereof. The reluctance motor with the magnetic segments is configured such that the stator poles sequentially pull the magnetic segments in the rotational direction to thereby create a reluctance torque.
Such various types of reluctance motors are however integrated with magnets, and therefore, the magnitude of the reluctance torque created by each of the reluctance rotary electric machines is lower than that of an Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (IPMSM) whose rotor is integrated with a plurality of permanent magnets. This results that, in order to obtain a desired torque, a reluctance motor is greater in size than an IPMSM, causing an obstacle in vehicle installability and manufacturing cost.

Reluctance electric machine with salient-pole movable piece


An audio receiver FIFO memory buffer in the serial digital video interface allows improved timing synchronization between video and audio information. Furthermore, it eliminates unpleasant sound effects when multiple data samples are skipped or repeated in series. This FIFO receiver buffer receives data at an input write-data rate filling up the memory storage cells therein. An output read-data signal clocks the data out of the memory storage cells. The FIFO's fullness is monitored and maintained, in response to an external signal, to within a specified range delimited by an upper and a lower threshold. If the FIFO buffer fullness is below the range's lower threshold, then the FIFO's read address pointer is held so that the immediately preceding read out data element is read out again, but only once. On the other hand, the FIFO buffer fullness is over the range's upper limit, then the FIFO's write address pointer is held so that the immediately preceding written in data element is written over, but only once.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to digital audio information processing, and particularly, to serial digital video interface audio sample processing, and more particularly, to improvement of an audio channel first-in first-out (FIFO) memory buffer enhancing audio signal quality and maintaining synchronization with video information.
2. Description of the Related Art
A digital audio or video recording is no more than a series of numbers, and hence can be copied through an indefinite number of generations without degradation. This implies that the life of a recording can be truly indefinite, because even if the medium begins to decay physically the sample values can be copied to a new medium with no loss of information. For the highest-quality post-production work, digital interconnection between such items as switchers, recorders and effects machines is highly desirable to avoid the degradation due to repeated conversion and filtering stages.
Digitized audio and video information, although sampled at different rates, can be multiplexed to provide cabling savings. A distinct advantage of such multiplexed transmission is where numerous pieces of video/audio equipment need to be interconnected in various ways for different purposes such as in a professional studio environment, a matrix distribution unit is more easily realized than that of having separate video and audio connections. A number of standards has been or is being developed to establish guidelines for serial digital video interface in between studio equipment which accomodates the video and audio information multiplex for data transmission, such standards are the International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR) Recommendations 656&601-2, and the proposed Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) Standard 125M. In general, in transmitting digital video images with a 27 MHz transmission frequency, a line of video information is separated from another by a horizontal sync interval which provides a sufficient amount of time allowing the electron beam steering mechanism to adjust from the end of one raster line to the beginning of the next raster line. Ancillary information such as digitized audio samples each having binary values and a specified word length may be multiplexed into these sync intervals. Therefore, audio information associated with a video frame image may be embeded between lines of that video frame.
Despite the ease of transmission routing in between pieces of equipment, i.e., carrying video and audio information on one cable instead of two, however, within each equipment the combined video and audio signal often requires demultiplexing in order to meet separate processing demands. Since the audio information inserted into the sync intervals is typically digitized at a sampling frequency different from 27 MHz (the transmission frequency), for instance at 48 KHz, a FIFO memory buffer acting as an audio data receiver is usually necessary to receive the extracted audio data at the transmission frequency, 27 MHz, and to output audio data at the original sampling frequency, namely, 48 KHz, ensuring synchronization with its respective video data thereby.
Typically, there is a fixed number of audio samples per video frame, for instance, in accordance to the aforementioned standards, there are 8008 audio samples for every 5 video frames in a 525 line/59.94 Hz system. In this case, the number of audio samples in the FIFO buffer is maintained at a particular value for every 5 video fields, meaning that each audio sample stays in the FIFO buffer for approximately the same amount of time. If any additional time delay or time advance relative to the video information is introduced at the audio FIFO memory buffer stage, video and audio information would be out of sync. There are various reasons for such an additional delay or advance, one of which is that the FIFO memory buffer output frequency drifts against its input frequency, for example, processing images made by equipment not having the video and audio frequencies phase locked. Another of which is the extensive signal switching activities. Because the total number of audio samples of any one video field may not be exactly the same as its immediate successor field, switching activities such as generating image composites from various sources may cause a gradual increase or decrease of audio samples in the FIFO buffer. If uncorrected when recorded and subsequently played back, lip sync occurs in that the audio sound track would not follow its respective video images. The current professional studio practice is to cause non-phase-locked digitized video/audio material to first undergo digital to analog conversion and then analog to digital conversion at phase-locked rates to ensure relative frequency stability. The practice is costly, and time consuming. The above described practice has a further disadvantage in that it does not address the timing ill effects created by the extensive signal switching activities.
As a result, unpleasant audible `clicks` and `pops` are generated when the amount of data to be buffered exceeds the FIFO buffer size causing data to be skipped or when the amount of data in the buffer is exhausted by output causing data to be repeated. A single data skip or repeat is barely audible in the high frequency spectrum and it is considered to be acceptable by the current industry standard; but, more than one skip or repeat in series is unpleasant to the ears. FIFO buffer overflow and underflow do not occur under normal operations; however, the frequency drift and the extensive signal switching may cause data skips and data repeats. Currently, an apparatus and method to prevent multiple audio data skips and repeats occurring in series are not available for serial digital video interface.
The recent increase of video/audio switching and editing activities such as digital special effects, in professional studios has underscored the need for a low cost, improved performance, and ease of use apparatus and method addressing the video and audio synchronization timing effects brought on by a FIFO audio receiver buffer while complying with the SMPTE Standard. The present invention satisfies this need by maintaining the FIFO audio buffer at nominal fullness and delay by re-centering the buffer data size as its fullness gets out of an arbitrarily specified range.

Time delay control for serial digital video interface audio receiver buffer


A dual-plunger energy switch assembly for standing wave linear particle beam accelerators capable of operating in a higher energy mode and a lower energy mode employs two mechanical plungers that can be extended different distances inside two side cavities of the linear accelerator. When the linear accelerator is operated in the higher energy mode, both plungers are retracted out of the side cavities. To achieve high output while the linear accelerator is operated in the lower energy mode, the two plungers are radially inserted into the two side cavities to adjust the electromagnetic accelerating field along the length of the accelerator, e.g., one plunger is inserted into a side cavity so that the plunger touches the smile surface of the side cavity, while the second plunger is inserted into a second side cavity so that the plunger is adjacent to, but not touching, the smile surface of the side cavity.

The present invention relates generally to the field of standing wave linear particle beam accelerators, and more particularly to an energy switch assembly for a standing wave linear particle beam accelerator having two mechanical plungers, which, when radially inserted into two side cells or cavities of the linear particle beam accelerator, increases the output of the linear accelerator at lower energies.
Medical linear particle beam accelerators that operate at two or more energies suffer from the fundamental limitation that the internal structure cannot be optimized for multiple energies. Because the length of the accelerating structure is fixed, in order to produce both high energy and low energy beams, the cavities are operated at maximum electric field gradient in the higher energy mode and lower gradient in the lower energy mode. The lower gradient causes more electrons to be lost as they travel through the structure, resulting in loss of output in the low energy mode.
To reduce this loss in output, linear particle beam accelerators were developed which employ energy switches. Energy switches typically employ one or more plungers which can be inserted into side cavities of the linear accelerator. Such energy switches concentrate the radio frequency (RF) power in the upstream section of the accelerator structure, before the switch location. In this manner, energy switches cause the gradient to be higher in the upstream portion of the accelerator structure so that electrons are accelerated and captured more efficiently, resulting in higher output in the lower energy mode.
Energy switches may employ radial or transverse plunger arrangements. In energy switches employing a radial plunger arrangement, the plunger is inserted into the side cavity along an axis which lies in a plane normal to the electron beam, while in energy switches employing a transverse plunger arrangement, the plunger is inserted into the side cavity along an axis which lies in a plane parallel to the electron beam. Known to the art are energy switches that employ multiple plungers which are positioned within a single side cavity of the linear accelerator. Such energy switches are used to provide the linear accelerator with three or more output levels.
Prior energy switches achieve high dose rates at low energy, but, because of heating, require direct water-cooling of the plunger during operation. Thus, the energy switches are vulnerable to water leaks and require multiple control system interlocks. Additionally, the side cavity in which the plungers are positioned must have a modified, more complex structure than the other side cavities of the accelerator.
Consequently, it would be desirable to provide an energy switch assembly for standing wave linear particle beam accelerators that increases the output of the accelerator at lower energies, but which does not cause excessive heating, and thus, does not require water-cooling. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide an energy switch assembly that does not require the use of side cavities having a special internal geometry.


Electrographic printing of one or more multi-channeled layers having a particular pattern by electrographic techniques. Such electrographic printing includes the steps of forming a desired print image, electrographically, on a receiver member utilizing predetermined sized marking particles; and, where desired, forming one or more final multi-channeled layers utilizing marking particles of a predetermined size or size distribution.

One common method for printing images on a receiver member is referred to as electrography. In this method, an electrostatic image is formed on a dielectric member by uniformly charging the dielectric member and then discharging selected areas of the uniform charge to yield an image-wise electrostatic charge pattern. Such discharge is typically accomplished by exposing the uniformly charged dielectric member to actinic radiation provided by selectively activating particular light sources in an LED array or a laser device directed at the dielectric member. After the image-wise charge pattern is formed, the pigmented (or in some instances, non-pigmented) marking particles are given a charge, substantially opposite the charge pattern on the dielectric member and brought into the vicinity of the dielectric member so as to be attracted to the image-wise charge pattern to develop such pattern into a visible image.
Thereafter, a suitable receiver member (e.g., a cut sheet of plain bond paper) is brought into juxtaposition with the marking particle developed image-wise charge pattern on the dielectric member. A suitable electric field is applied to transfer the marking particles to the receiver member in the image-wise pattern to form the desired print image on the receiver member. The receiver member is then removed from its operative association with the dielectric member and the marking particle print image is permanently fixed to the receiver member typically using heat, and/or pressure and heat. Multiple layers or marking materials can be overlaid on one receiver, for example, layers of different color particles can be overlaid on one receiver member to form a multi-color print image on the receiver member after fixing or a variable pattern having variations due to material lay down.
In the earlier days of electrographic printing it was desirable to minimize channel formation during fusing. Under most circumstances, channels are considered an objectionable artifact in the print image. In order to improve image quality, and still produce channels a new method of printing has been formulated and is described below that forms one or more multi-channeled layers using electrographic techniques. There is a need to produced images with the ability to vary the image with minimal energy input. The use of layered printing, including possible raised images to create channels capable of allowing movement of a fluid, such as an ink or dielectric, to provide a printed article with, among other advantages, a variety of security features on a digitally printed document.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multiple-channeled layer printing by electrography