A method of stopping an electric motor-driven balancing machine main shaft after an unbalance measuring run in a specific rotary angle stoppage position corresponding to a desired balancing rotary angle position provides that in the course of retardation of the main shaft, a timer is switched on at a short angular spacing of for example 3.degree. before the main shaft reaches the desired rotary angle stoppage position. The timer predetermines a time interval which is determined from the rotary speed and the rotary angle position of the main shaft at the time of the timer being switched on, with the retardation operation being stopped at the end of that time interval, with the main shaft stationary. The retardation operation can be effected by torque reversal of the motor.

In a typical balancing machine for balancing a rotary member such as a motor vehicle wheel, the rotary member or wheel is mounted on a balancing machine main shaft, which is rotated by an electric motor. Any imbalance in the rotary member is ascertained by an imbalance measuring run during which the main shaft with the rotary member is rotated by the electric motor.
When the main shaft is stopped, the main shaft or the rotary member generally is not disposed in the appropriate position whereby compensation of the imbalance of the rotary member can be achieved. Correcting the imbalance is typically accomplished by fitting a balancing weight to the rotary member. When balancing a wheel it is desirable that the wheel clamped to the main shaft be moved into a specific position, referred to as the balancing angular position, such that the position on the motor vehicle wheel to which a suitable balancing weight is to be fitted is disposed perpendicularly above the main shaft, that is to say in the 12 o'clock position. This position is called the easy balancing position because the balancing operator has ready access to the point on the vehicle wheel to which the balancing weight is to be fitted. In a typical balancing machine, when balancing the rotary member, it is necessary to rotate by hand the rotary member from the position where it stopped after the imbalance measuring run to the desired rotary angular position for the balancing operation which corresponds to the easy balancing position.

Method of stopping an electric motor-driven balancing machine main shaft


An arrangement is provided to protect an electrical switch from the deleterious effects of ice formation that inhibits switch operation. In a preferred arrangement, an ice shield is provided that protects the current-carrying contact structures and other operative elements of the switch from ice buildups. In one specific arrangement, as the switch is moved from the open position to the closed position, the ice shield moves away from the contact structure of a moving contact of the switch to permit unfettered engagement with a stationary contact structure of the switch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of electrical switches for electrical power transmission and distribution, and more particularly to an arrangement to protect the switch from the deleterious effects of ice formation that inhibits switch operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Outdoor electrical switches for the electrical power transmission and distribution field are subject to the deleterious effects of ice formation that can inhibit proper switch operation. These types of switches are tested under various icing conditions to determine whether or not they will operate properly during outdoor use in the field. In some cases, the opening and closing forces during switch operation are determined such as to permit the switch contact to break free from ice formations during the opening and closing operations.
While the prior art arrangements may be useful to provide switches with various features to permit operation under ice conditions, it would be desirable to provide enhanced protection from ice formations.

Switch with improved protection from ice conditions


A master/secondary clock system of the impulse type consisting of stepper motor driven secondary clocks and a master control unit. At five minutes before a predetermined registration time, for example 6:00, the sensor of each secondary clock movement is activated by a reverse polarity signal from the master control unit and a series of reset pulses are thereafter transmitted to the secondary clocks with each secondary clock stopping as the window in its drive train gear moves into alignment with the emitter and detector of its sensor mechanism. After this five minute pulse reset phase to correct clocks that are five or less minutes fast, the master control unit transmits a rapid pulse train so as to quickly move all of the remaining clocks to the 6:00 position with each clock being halted at the 6:00 position by movement of the window of its gear into alignment with the emitter and detector of the sensor mechanism of that clock. Following the rapid pulse phase to bring all of the clocks into the correct time mode, normal one minute pulsing of the clocks is resumed by the master control unit.

This invention relates to clock systems and more particularly to analog clock systems of the type including a master clock or control and a plurality of secondary clocks controlled by the master. Master and slave systems of the analog type were originally impulse type systems in which the secondary clocks were slaves to the master control unit in the sense that they received pulses from the master every minute or other time increment to advance in normal operation. These systems were of pneumatic design including a pressure bellows and interconnecting pneumatic tubing with air pulses being employed to advance the secondary clocks. While these pneumatic type impulse clocks were generally satisfactory, they required considerable maintenance primarily relating to servicing leaks in the system.
In an effort to avoid these maintenance problems, impulse type systems were developed utilizing electric solenoid driven rachet mechanisms. These solenoid systems improve the reliability of the clock systems but have the disadvantage that they are correctable only to the hour so that if the secondary clocks become scattered throughout the system, they have to be manually reset to the proper hour. Solenoid systems with their ratchet mechanisms are also relatively slow and, for example, cannot exceed a pulse rate greater than 60 per minute without risking mechanical failure.
In an effort to overcome the disadvantages of the solenoid type impulse systems, synchronous motor systems were developed in which each secondary clock includes its own synchronous motor driving the clock mechanism so that the secondary clocks operate independently of the master clock and the master clock functions only to provide correction pulses in the event of a power outage or a mechanical failure. These synchronous systems have the advantage that they make available a sweep second hand frequently utilized by the educational market and they make possible the individual correction of secondary clocks more than one hour out of time. However, these synchronous systems, because they require each of the synchronous motors driving the individual synchronous clocks to run continuously, consume a rather large amount of power. They are also relatively complicated in terms of mechanical design, their speed of reset is rather slow, and they are unable to move directly to the correct hour and minute during correction.


The invention relates to a method for evaluating a pancreas as a source of therapeutically useful islets. A scoring system is set forth whereby 5 criteria are listed. If three criteria are positive, then the pancreas is a suitable source of therapeutically useful islets.

It is now established that islet replacement therapy is a viable approach for treatment of patients with various disorders. These include cancer patients undergoing upper abdominal exenteration (Tzakis, et al., Lancet, 336: 402-405 (1990)); pancreatitis (Clayton, et al., Transplantation, 76: 92-98 (2003); Farney, et al., Surgery, 110: 427-437 (1991); Fontes, et al., Transplant Proc, 24: 2809 (1992); Obenholzer, et al., Transplantation, 69: 1115-1123 (2000); Robertson, et al., Diabetes, 50: 47-50 (2001)), and insulin-dependent patients, where islet transplantation is a therapeutic option (Goss, et al., Transplantation, 74: 1761-1766 (2002); Ricordi, et al., Transplantation, 75: 1524-1527 (2003); Ryan, et al., Diabetes, 50: 710-719 (2001); Shapiro, et al., N. Engl. J. Med, 343: 230-238 (2000)).
Due to the usefulness of islets in therapy, as is indicated, supra, there is, of course interest in developing ways to isolate them. While there are many reports on isolation of islets using the automated method (Brandhorst, et al., Exp. Clin. Endocrinol Diabetes, 103 Suppl. 2: 3-14 (1995); Cui, et al., Cell Transplant, 6: 48-54 (2001); Marchetti, et al., Transplantation, 52: 209-213 (1991); Miyamoto, et al., Cell Transplant, 7: 397-402 (1998); Nielsen, et al., Comp. Med., 52: 127-135 (2002); Swanson, et al., Hum. Immunnol, 62: 73 9-749 (2001); Toomey, et al., Brit. J. Surg., 80: 240-243 (1993); Toso, et al., Cell Transplant, 9: 297-305 (2000); Wennberg, et al., Transpalnt. Proc., 33: 2537 (2001)), isolation of islets remains notoriously difficult. For example, Bosta, et al., J. Investig Med, 43: 555-566 (1995); Krickhahn, et al., Cell Transplant, 11: 827-838 (2002); Krickhahn, et al., Ann Transplant, 6: 48-54 (2001), O'Neil, et al., Cell Transplant, 10: 235-246 (2001), and White, et al., Horm. Metab. Res, 31: 579-524 (1999), all discuss problems with respect to this.
The invention which is set forth in the disclosure which follows is directed to a method for maximizing the probability of successful islet yield. It has been determined that via the use of the scoring system set forth herein, one can maximize the opportunity of securing a good yield of islets from any given pancreatic islet isolation.
How this is accomplished will be seen in the disclosure which follows.

Scoring method for determining pancreas suitability for islet isolation


A heater assembly heats media substrate in a printing system prior to imprinting a desired image on the substrate. A plate member engages the substrate and communicates thermal energy thereto for the heating. A laminar assembly is adhered to the plate member and includes a trace pattern for converting electrical energy to the thermal energy. A thermal storage member is interposed between the plate member and the trace pattern for distributing thermal energy throughout the thermal storage member. Two thermal fuses are serially connected, one at each end of the trace pattern and disposed relative to the thermal storage member for detecting an undesired temperature increase in the laminar assembly sufficient for opening the fuses and electrically isolating the heater assembly against a consequential thermal run-away causing insulation degradation and an electrical short between the trace pattern and the plate member.

The present exemplary embodiments relate to printing or copying systems and, in particular, printing devices which utilize an intermediate transfer service such as a transfer drum which is intended to engage a receiving medium such as paper for imparting a desired image from the drum to the medium. The subject embodiments are especially applicable to printing devices which utilize a supply of colored inks to be communicated to a print head for document printing wherein the inks are supplied as solid ink sticks which must be heated to a liquid form before communication to the print head. Such systems are commercially available under the PHASER® mark from Xerox Corporation. The heating of the ink to effect the solid-to-liquid phase change is usually associated with corresponding heating of other components of the assembly, such as the drum and the medium itself before engagement with the drum. The subject embodiments are particularly directed to the structure and method of operation of the heater for the preheating of the medium prior to the transfer process.
All printers and copying machines have to be designed with an appreciation that at some time a power control failure may occur within the system and that such failure should not expose an operator or a repairman to a dangerous situation such as exposure to electrical shock or thermal burning. Indeed, a typical safety requirement (UL required) is that any component that has line voltage and is accessible by a user or operator must have enough insulation protection to have a dielectric strength of at least 3 KV between the user accessible parts, ground plane, secondary circuits and the line. This safety regulation must be met not only by new componentry but also by componentry that has been exposed to thermal run-away conditions that can damage the insulation.
The subject embodiments concern the operation and assembly of a medium preheater in a printing system, which preheater is a typical component subject to the above safety requirements. The conventional construction of such a heater involves a pattern of heat traces laminated to a metallic support plate. The support plate is disposed to engage the medium for the heating of the medium immediately prior to its engagement with the intermediate transfer drum and the imparting of a desired image from the drum to the medium. Laminating of the heat traces to the support plate involves insulating a layer therebetween which under normal use conditions would satisfy the 3 KV dielectric strength requirement. However, the heat traces in such a system are typically capable of reaching relatively extreme temperatures (about 1200° C.) which is a temperature that is easily capable of burning away an insulating layer between the heat traces and the support plate. The plate would then function as a ground plane for the electrical supply to the traces thereby grounding the line voltage to the component. Such an occurrence would fail to meet the above-referenced safety requirements.
There is a need for a heater assembly which is properly fused to interrupt this supply of electrical power to the heater in the event of a thermal run-away and at a point in time prior to the thermal run-away causing unacceptable damage to the pattern of heat traces themselves and/or the insulating layer separating the heat traces from the metallic support plate.
The present exemplary embodiments satisfy this need as well as others to provide a power control system for medium heaters in phasing printing systems that can provide the desired safety protection against power control failures that may cause thermal run-aways in the system.


Provided is a semiconductor device having good properties. Particularly, the semiconductor device is provided which can improve imaging properties. The semiconductor device (CMOS image sensor) includes a plurality of pixels, each having a photodiode PD for generating a charge by receiving light, and a transfer transistor TX for transferring the charge generated by the photodiode PD. The semiconductor device further includes an active region AcTP with the photodiode, and an active region AcG located on an upper side of the region AcTP in the planar direction and having a contact Pg to which a ground potential is applied. A gettering region GET is disposed in the active region AcG.

The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and more specifically, a technique that can be applied to a semiconductor device including a solid-state image sensor.
Solid-state image sensors using a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) have been developed as one of solid-state image sensors. The CMOS image sensor includes a plurality of pixels having a photodiode and a transfer transistor.
For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2007-165450) discloses a solid-state image sensor with pixels including a photoelectric conversion part for generating and storing charges according to an incident light, and a charge detection region to which the charges stored in the photoelectric conversion part are transferred. In the technique disclosed, a charge storage region of the photoelectric conversion part is formed of a first semiconductor layer of a first conductive type. An isolation region for electrically isolating one pixel from the other adjacent thereto is formed of a semiconductor layer of a second conductive type. A high-concentration second semiconductor layer of the first conductive type located in the isolation region forms a gettering layer.
Patent Document 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2007-88406) discloses a CMOS image sensor that can reduce leakage current by gettering metal ion contamination by implanting p-type impurity ions in a high concentration, into a dummy moat region.
Patent Document 3 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2002-353434) discloses a technique which involves forming an embedded getter sink layer by introducing carbon (c) into a semiconductor substrate, forming a crystal growth layer by growing Si crystals over the surface of a semiconductor substrate, and forming a solid-state image sensor in the crystal growth layer.


A system for rapid replacement of abrasive in machinery which uses the abrasive to finish the surfaces of workpieces that pass through the machinery on a belt, such as so-called widebelt sanders. One preferred embodiment of the system employs an abrasive material that is frictionally held on each edge to mounts. The position of the mounts may be varied to increase or decrease the tension of abrasive material against the working surface of the platen, that the assembly may be removed from the apparatus. In another embodiment, the abrasive material is formed with integral, permanent mounts on the edges of the abrasive material, so that the entire combination may be supplied or replaced as a unit. A variety of configurations of mounts may be used.

The basic features of surface finishing machines of the type that represent the preferred environment for the invention are shown in at least the following U.S. Patents, the entire contents of which are incorporated into reference, and a copy of which is enclosed as if fully set forth in the text of this document: U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,794 (Haney); U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,342 (Haney); U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,913 (Haney); U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,414 (Haney); U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,287 (Haney); U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,273 (Grivna); U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,500 (David); U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,984 (David); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,775 (David).
Such machines typically use a platen-mounted abrasive element that comprises an abrasive medium itself, e.g., sandpaper, emery cloth, or in general any thin paper-backed or fabric-backed sheet bearing a layer of finely sized abrasive particles, such as sand, ceramic, and the like. A resilient pad on the non-abrasive side of the abrasive material improves performance. Because of the forces created by very rapid motion required so the abrasive material does not leave scratches and other defects in the workpiece to be finished by the equipment, the supporting metal platen may itself be somewhat permanently mounted in the apparatus or not easily removable, depending on the configuration, so that it does not have a significant amount of mechanical play in its mounting subassembly. Thus, typically, replacement of the abrasive material requires removal and reconfiguration of any or all of the entire platen, the resilient material, and the abrasive material itself.
Thus, some means of removing the abrasive material (with or without the resilient pad accompanying it) must be provided so that the abrasive material may be changed as required. For example, as disclosed in FIGS. 5 and 6 and accompanying text of the Haney patents noted above, one approach is to secure an abrasive to the platen around a foam lying between the backside of the abrasive and the platen. Clips are used to secure the edges of the abrasive to the platen. Alternatively or additionally, the abrasive may be secured to the foam and platen by an adhesive. Haney defines 'secured' as meaning that the motion of the abrasive is completely dependent on the motion of the platen. Thus, when the platen moves the abrasive also moves. The foam is positioned between the platen and the abrasive to provide a soft touch to prevent the grit of the abrasive from scratching into a product too deeply. Without the foam, unwanted scratches would result from products that are not perfectly flat. Haney also discloses clips on both sides of the platen, and a spring-biased rod to operate the clips on the back side of the platen The rod includes a handle and arms. When the handle is pushed down, the rod rotates and the arms contact the clips and cause them to open. The rod can then be locked in place by a locking mechanism. The abrasive is then inserted between the clips and the platen. The clips close when the rod is released. The rod may be secured to a brace.

System for replacement of sheet abrasive


An optical heterodyne sampling device includes: two pulsed laser sources which may have a jitter and which can receive respectively a pump beam and a probe beam having respective repetition frequencies Fs and Fp, whereby Fs≠Fp; and an element for combining the pump beam and the probe beam which are intended to be passed over a sample, consisting of a signal channel including a system for the photodetection of the response signal from the sample and a system for acquiring the photodetected signal, which is connected to the signal channel. According to the invention, Fs and Fp are essentially constant and the acquisition system includes an acquisition trigger element. A synchronization channel is connected to the trigger element, and includes a device for measuring the beat frequency |Fs−Fp| which can generate a synchronization signal comprising pulses each time the pulses of the pump beam and the probe beam coincide.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is the ultra high-speed, non-destructive measurement of the mechanical, thermal or optical properties of a material. Ultra High-speed measurement is understood to mean a measurement with a temporal resolution of the order of a picosecond.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to obtain measurements with a temporal resolution of this type via optical sampling techniques using two pulse trains respectively designated "pump" and "probe" trains, with pulse period T, each pulse having a duration τ of approximately 100 femtoseconds.
The pump beam causes a disturbance in the material or sample which in response produces an optical signal dependent on the optical properties thereof (reflectivity, absorption, expansion, contraction etc.). The probe beam is delayed by a quantity Tps referred to as the "pump-probe" delay and reads the reaction of the material; it is generally of a low intensity relative to that of the pump beam. The temporal reaction of the material is reconstructed by varying this delay between zero and a duration equal at most to the period T of the pulse train. In practice, this duration is much less than T. Typically T is of the order of 13 ns and the variation in the delay is then typically limited to 2 or 3 ns.
Usually, both the pump and the probe pulse train have the same pulse repetition period T and the sampling is thus termed "homodyne". FIG. 1 shows, in the case of homodyne sampling, pump and probe pulse trains offset by a delay Tps along with the value of the sample reaction obtained for this delay. An example of an assembly allowing this technique to be made use of is schematically shown in FIG. 2. The homodyne sampling device 100 comprises a laser source 10 connected to a splitter 9 which can split the laser beam into a pump beam, modulated by a modulator 8, and a second, probe beam which is delayed by an optical delay line 11. The purpose of the modulator is to convert the signal to have a higher frequency in order to disengage said signal from the noise in the range of 1/f, f being the frequency of the signal. The two beams are subsequently combined by a combiner 20 before being focussed to appoint onto the sample 200 via a microscope lens 30. In the example in the figure, the sample reaction is obtained by reflection. The reaction is directed to a photodetector 50 after being filtered by a pump beam filter 60. The photodetector is connected to an acquisition system 70, via a demodulator 12 which allows the signal to be re-established in the baseband.
The delay Tps is produced and controlled by an optical delay line comprising a mechanical translation system of a mirror disposed in the path of one of the beams. The delay is related to the translation by the formula:Tps=d/c where d is the length of the delay line and c is the speed of light.
Bearing in mind the orders of magnitude, a length d of 30 μm causes a delay of 100 fs. In practice, the length of the delay line is limited. In fact, a displacement of more than 30 cm significantly affects the focussing to a point of one beam relative to the other. A delay of 10 ns, which requires a length d of 3 m, is thus very difficult to achieve. A limit of 2 to 3 ns on the temporal delay corresponds to this limit on the displacement: the temporal reaction of the material is reconstructed only over approximately 2 to 3 ns.
Moreover, these displacements are achieved with a negative effect on the stability of the focussing to a point of the laser beam onto the sample.
Further, the vibrations brought about by the displacement of the delay line deteriorate the signal to noise ratio and considerably increase the measurement time. It usually takes 30 to 40 minutes to obtain a signal over several nanoseconds, i.e. to effect the different displacements so as to scan the reaction of the material over times of up to Tp or approximately 13 ns.

Optical heterodyne sampling device having probe and pump beams

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (C.N.R.S.)


A method includes measuring a first pulse width of a resistance variable memory cell coupled between a first terminal and a second terminal, the first pulse width including a period from starting a first data writing of the resistance variable memory cell by applying a voltage between the first and second terminals to ending the first data writing of the resistance variable memory cell, and measuring a second pulse width of the resistance variable memory cell coupled between the first and the second terminal. The method includes setting longer one of the first and second pulse widths in a first storage area as a pulse width to be used in program.

In recent years DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and flash memory are widely used as volatile and non-volatile semiconductor memory devices, respectively. With the aim of replacing these memories, there is progress in the development of various types of semiconductor memory device. Among these, variable resistance memory cells are known, in which variable resistance elements are used to store information of logic 0 and logic 1 according to resistance states thereof.
There are two ways of writing to the variable resistance elements: writing by changing a high resistance state to a low resistance state, and writing by changing a low resistance state to a high resistance state. As an example of a write operation, a bipolar switching type of variable resistance memory cell is known, in which the direction of voltage or current applied to a variable resistance element, is reversed, according to a case of writing information of logic 0 and a case of writing information of logic 1.
For example, a bipolar switching type of variable resistance element may be an STT-RAM (Spin Transfer Torque-Random Access Memory) that performs spin injection magnetization reversal writing using a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) element, or a Re-RAM (Resistance-Random Access Memory) that uses a metal oxide or the like.
Yahya Lakys, etc. "Self-Enabled "Error-Free" Switching Circuit for Spin Transfer Torque MRAM and Logic," IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, Vol. 48, No. 9, September 2012 (Non-Patent Literature 1) discloses an STT-RAM and an example of a bipolar switching type of write operation in an STT-RAM.
It is to be noted that the disclosure of the abovementioned related technology is incorporated herein by reference thereto.
The following analysis is given by the present inventors.
In general, with regard to one write operation for a certain one memory cell (for example, an operation of changing logic information indicated by one memory cell from logic 0 to logic 1), consideration is given to using either one of (i) one write pulse with a long time of application, or (ii) multiple write pulses of short time of application.
The Non-Patent Literature 1 principally discloses the abovementioned (i) as a "conventional" means, and the above-mentioned (ii) as a "proposed" means, in FIG. 4.
In the write operation (FIG. 4) proposed by the Non-Patent Literature 1, a whole write pulse when writing data to a magnetic tunnel junction element is divided into pulses of short duration, reads the magnetic tunnel junction element state immediately after pulse application, and stops application of the write pulse at a point in time at which the writing is judged to have succeeded.
In a write operation with regard to a general STT-RAM as described above, use of the abovementioned (i) one write pulse with a long time of application, is considered to be mainstream, but the technology proposed by this Non-Patent Literature 1 is different therefrom.
In the Non-Patent Literature 1, with regard to a write operation of either of the abovementioned (i) and (ii), there is no mention concerning how to obtain the time for which a write current is applied, or the duration of a write pulse. That is, Non-Patent Literature 1 has no mention at all concerning how to determine the pulse duration necessary for writing to a memory cell (in other words, optimum time for application of a write current or voltage) as an optimum value, or how to obtain the optimum, value thereof.
In addition, in a write operation in the abovementioned (ii) proposal of the Non-Patent Literature 1, application of a write pulse and comparison reading are alternately repeated. Application of a write pulse is ended when a comparison reading result (self-enable signal) is generated. The comparison reading result indicates that the resistance value of a memory cell has changed, that is, when magnetization direction of an MTJ element changes from a parallel state to an antiparallel state or from an anti parallel state to a parallel state. As a result, it is understood that there is no problem with regard to operation if the duration of one write pulse, as proposed by the Non-Patent Literature 1, even with somewhat rough adjustment, is sufficiently short.
It is to be noted that the following problem may be pointed out. In the technology disclosed by the Non-Patent Literature 1, there is a problem in that, since the state of the magnetic tunnel junction element is read each time a short pulse is applied, with regard to an overall data writing process, the write time increases. Furthermore, when the state of the magnetic tunnel junction element is read, in a case where the direction of current applied to the magnetic tunnel junction element is different from the direction of write current, read operations disturb write operations, and write time is further increased. As described above, in the technology disclosed by the Non-Patent Literature 1, the time for writing data to the magnetic tunnel junction element may increase.


The present invention relates to the preparation and use of recombinant variants of group 6 allergens of the Poaceae (true grasses), which are characterized by reduced IgE reactivity compared with known wild-type allergens and at the same time substantially retained reactivity with T-lymphocytes.

The present invention relates to the provision of the genetic sequence of the major grass pollen allergen Phl p 4. The invention also covers fragments, new combinations of partial sequences and point mutants having a hypoallergenic action. The recombinant DNA molecules and the derived polypeptides, fragments, new combinations of partial sequences and variants can be utilized for the therapy of pollen-allergic diseases. The proteins prepared by recombinant methods can be employed for the in vitro and in vivo diagnosis of pollen allergies.
Type 1 allergies are of importance worldwide. Up to 20% of the population in industrialized countries suffers from complaints such as allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis or bronchial asthma. These allergies are caused by allergens present in the air (aeroallergens) which are liberated from sources of various origin, such as plant pollen, mites, cats or dogs. Up to 40% of these type 1 allergy sufferers in turn exhibit specific IgE reactivity with grass pollen allergens (Freidhoff et al., 1986, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 78, 1190-2001).
The substances which trigger type 1 allergy are proteins, glycoproteins or polypeptides. After uptake via the mucous membranes, these allergens react with the IgE molecules bonded to the surface of mast cells in sensitized individuals. If two IgE molecules are cross linked to one another by an allergen, this results in the release of mediators (for example histamine, prostaglandins) and cytokines by the effector cell and thus in the corresponding clinical symptoms.
A distinction is made between major and minor allergens depending on the relative frequency with which the individual allergen molecules react with the IgE antibodies of allergy sufferers.
In the case of timothy grass (Phleum pratense), Phl p 1 (Petersen et al., 1993, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 92: 789-796), Phl p 5 (Matthiesen and Lowenstein, 1991, Clin. Exp. Allergy 21: 297-307; Petersen et al., 1992, Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. 98: 105-109), Phl p 6 (Petersen et al., 1995, Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. 108, 49-54). Phl p 2/3 (Dolecek et al., 1993, FEBS 335 (3), 299-304), Phl p 4 (Haavik et al., 1985, Int. Arch. Allergy Appl. Immunol. 78: 260-268; Valenta et al., 1992, Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. 97: 287-294, Fischer et al., 1996, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 98: 189-198) and Phl p 13 (Suck et al., 2000, Clin. Exp. Allergy 30: 324-332; Suck et al., 2000, Clin. Exp. Allergy 30: 1395-1402) have hitherto been identified as major allergens.
Phl p 4 has been mentioned as a basic glycoprotein having a molecular weight of between 50 and 60 kDa (Haavik et al., 1985, Int. Arch. Allergy Appl. Immunol. 78: 260-268). The Phl p 4 molecule is trypsin-resistant (Fischer et al., 1996, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 98: 189-198), and 70-88% of grass pollen allergy sufferers have IgE antibodies against this molecule (Valenta et al., 1993, Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. 97: 287-294; Rossi et al., 2001, Allergy 56:1180-1185; Mari, 2003, Clin. Exp. Allergy 33:43-51). Homologous molecules have been described from related grass species (Su et al., 1991, Clin. Exp. Allergy 21: 449-455; Jaggi et al., 1989, Int. Arch. Allergy Appl. Immunol. 89: 342-348; Jaggi et al., 1989, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 83: 845-852; Leduc-Brodard et al., 1996, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 98:1065-1072; 14-17). These homologous molecules of the Poaceae form allergen group 4, whose molecules have high immunological cross-reactivity with one another both with monoclonal mouse antibodies and with human IgE antibodies (Fahlbusch et al., 1993 Clin. Exp. Allergy 23:51-60; Leduc-Brodard et al., 1996, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 98:1065-1072; Su et al., 1996, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 97:210; Fahlbusch et al., 1998, Clin. Exp. Allergy 28:799-807; Gavrovi-Jankulovi et al., 2000, Invest. Allergol. Clin. Immunol. 10 (6): 361-367; Stumvoll et al. 2002, Biol. Chem. 383: 1383-1396; Grote et al., 2002, Biol. Chem. 383: 1441-1445; Andersson and Lidholm, 2003, Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. 130: 87-107; Mari, 2003, Clin. Exp. Allergy, 33 (1): 43-51).
In contrast to the above-mentioned major allergens of Phleum pratense (Phl p 1, Phl p 2/3, Phl 5a and 5b, Phl p 6 and Phl p 13), the primary structure of Phl p 4 has not yet been elucidated. Likewise, there is no complete sequence of molecules from group 4 from other grass species.
The determination of the N-terminal amino acid sequence was hitherto unsuccessful. However, the causes of this are not known. Fischer et al. (J. Allergy Clin. Immunol., 1996; 98: 189-198) assume N-terminal blocking, but were able to purify an internal peptide after degradation with lysyl endopeptidase and to determine its sequence: IVALPXGMLK (SEQ ID NO: 7).
This peptide has homologies to peptide sequences in the ragweed allergens Amb a1 and Amb a2 and similarities to sequences in proteins from maize (Zm58.2), tomato (lat 59, lat 56) and tobacco (G10) (Fischer et al., 1996, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 98: 189-198). For Lolium perenne, peptide fragments having the following sequence have been described for the basic group 4 allergen: FLEPVLGLIFPAGV (SEQ ID NO: 8) and GLIEFPAGV (SEQ ID NO: 9) (Jaggi et al., 1989, Int. Arch. Allergy Appl. Immunol. 89: 342-348).
Peptides have likewise been obtained from the group 4 allergen from Dactylus glomerata by enzymatic degradation and sequenced: DIYNYMEPYVSK (P15, SEQ ID NO: 10), VDPTDYFGNEQ (P17, SEQ ID NO: 11), ARTAWVDSGAQLGELSY (P20, SEQ ID NO: 12) and GVLFNIQYVNYWFAP (P22, SEQ ID NO: 13) (Leduc-Brodard et al., 1996, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 98: 1065-1072).
Peptides have also been obtained from the group 4 allergen of subtropical Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) by proteolysis and sequenced: KTVKPLYIITP (S, SEQ ID NO: 14), KQVERDFLTSLTKDIPQLYLKS (V49L, SEQ ID NO: 15), TVKPLYIITPITAAMI (T33S, SEQ ID NO: 16), LRKYGTAADNVIDAKWDAQGRLL (T35L, SEQ ID NO: 17), KWQTVAPALPDPNM (P2, SEQ ID NO: 18), VTWIESVPYIPMGDK (V26L, SEQ ID NO: 19), GTVRDLLXRTSNIKAFGKY (L25L, SEQ ID NO: 20), TSNIKAFGKYKSDYVLEPIPKKS (T22L, SEQ ID NO: 21), YRDLDLGVNQWG (P3, SEQ ID NO: 22), SATPPTHRSGVLFNI (V20L, SEQ ID NO: 23), and AAAALPTQVTRDIYAFMTPYVSKNPRQAYVNYRDLD (V14L, SEQ ID NO: 24) (Liaw et al., 2001, Biochem. Biophys. Research Communication 280: 738-743).
However, these described peptide sequences for Phl p 4 and group 4 allergens have hitherto not resulted in the elucidation of the complete primary structure of group 4 allergens.
The object on which the present invention is based therefore comprised the provision of the complete DNA sequence of Phl p 4 and of a corresponding recombinant DNA on the basis of which the Phl p 4 allergen can be expressed as protein and made available for pharmacologically significant utilization as such or in modified form.
The numbers used above and below for nucleotide or amino acid sequences "SEQ ID NO" relate to the sequence protocol attached to the description.

DNA sequence and preparation of grass pollen allergen Phl p 4 by recombinant methods


An image fixing apparatus for thermally fixing images on an image receiving material at a predetermined image fixing temperature, comprising an image fixing device comprising a core member, and an exothermic phase transition layer provided on said core member, comprising an exothermic phase transition material which is capable of performing reversible phase transition from an amorphous solid state to a crystalline state with liberation of crystallization heat therefrom, and vice versa, and has a melting point higher than said predetermined image fixing temperature, a heating device which maintains the temperature of at least an outer surface of said image fixing device at said predetermined image fixing temperature, a first phase transition device which heats said exothermic phase transition layer, thereby having said exothermic phase transition material perform phase transition from said amorphous state to said crystalline state for liberation of crystallization heat therefrom, a second phase transition device which has said exothermic phase transition material perform phase transition from said crystalline state to said amorphous solid state and a pressure application device which rotates in pressure contact with the outer surface of said image fixing device with the application of a predetermined pressure thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image fixing apparatus for use in an electrophotographic copying machine, more particularly to an image fixing apparatus for thermally fixing toner images on a transfer sheet. The present invention also relates to an image fixing roller for use in the image fixing apparatus.
2. Discussion of Background
For example, in a conventional electrophotographic copying machine provided with a laser printer, a rotatable photoconductor drum is provided, and copies are made with the following steps: A photoconductive portion of the photoconductive drum is uniformly charged by a charging unit, and information is recorded in the form of latent electrostatic images by the application of a laser beam thereto by a laser scanning unit. The latent electrostatic images are then developed with toner to toner images by a development unit in the electrophotographic copying machine. The developed toner images are then transferred to a recording sheet. The toner-images-bearing recording sheet is then passed through a thermal image fixing apparatus, in which the toner images are thermally fixed to the recording sheet. Thus, copies are made by the conventional electrophotographic copying machine.
In the above-mentioned conventional thermal image fixing apparatus, for instance, an image fixing roller as illustrated in FIG. 10 is employed, which is composed of a hollow core cylinder 21 which is made of, for instance, aluminum, and a toner-releasing layer 22 which is made of, for instance, a fluoroplastic, and provided on the outer peripheral surface of the hollow core cylinder 21. The toner-releasing layer 22 is capable of preventing toner from adhering to the outer peripheral surface of the image fixing roller during the image fixing process, and releasing toner from the surface of the image fixing roller.
In the image fixing roller, a heater (not shown) such as a halogen lamp is provided in a vacant portion within the hollow core cylinder 21 along the revolution axis thereof, whereby the image fixing roller is heated from the inside thereof by the radiation heat from the heater.
In parallel with the image fixing roller, there is provided a pressure application roller (not shown) which comes into pressure contact with the peripheral surface of the image fixing roller. The image fixing roller and the pressure application roller are rotated in the same direction in the contact portion where the two rollers are mutually in pressure contact, and the toner-images-bearing recording sheet is transported so as to pass through the contact portion between the two rollers, whereby the toner images transferred to the recording sheet are softened by the heat from the image fixing roller and fixed to the recording sheet which is held between the two rollers, under the application of the pressure thereto by the pressure application roller.
In such a thermal image fixing apparatus, however, a relatively long warm-up time is required before the outer peripheral surface of the image fixing roller reaches a predetermined image fixing temperature required for toner image fixing after the thermal image fixing apparatus is powered.
Conventionally, in order to shorten the warm-up time, the main switch for the image fixing apparatus is designed in such a manner that when turned on, the preheating of the image fixing roller is started and continued. This method, however, has the shortcoming of wasting a significant amount of power.
Further, in order to avoid the above problem, there have been proposed, for example, the following various methods for shortening the worm-up time for such an image fixing roller:
A method of providing a resistive heat emitting layer at or near the peripheral surface of an image fixing roller (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 55-164860, 56-138766 and 2-285383); a method of blackening the inner wall of a hollow portion of an image fixing roller to increase the radiant efficiency thereof, thereby increasing the heat absorption efficiency, and a method of increasing the surface area of the inner wall of a hollow portion of an image fixing roller by roughening the surface of the inner wall (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications 4-34483 and 4-134387); a method of constructing an image fixing roller composed of a heat pipe (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 3-139684); a method of heating an image fixing roller by electromagnetic induction (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application 4-55055); a method of constructing an image fixing roller by use of an electroconductive elastic material and causing electric current to flow therethrough, thereby directly heating the image fixing roller (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 4-186270); and a method of constructing an image fixing roller which includes a cylindrical heater in which a positive thermistor material is used (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 4-42185).
In order to make the above-mentioned methods actually effective in practical use, it is required that the core roller for each of the image fixing rollers have good heat conductivity. However, there is a limitation to the reduction of the thickness of the core roller for increasing the heat conductivity in view of the mechanical strength required for the image fixing roller for use in practice. Therefore the above-mentioned methods are not always practical. Furthermore, a large amount of energy has to be applied to the heating elements such as heaters for the image fixing rollers in order to sufficiently shorten the warm-up time for such conventional image fixing rollers.

Image fixing apparatus and image fixing roller having a shortened warm-up time


A crosslinkable aromatic polyester that is formed by polymerizing certain precursor monomers in the presence of a biaromatic crosslinking agent is provided. The crosslinkable aromatic polyester can have a relatively high melting temperature. For example, the melting temperature of the crosslinkable polyester may be from about 200° C. to about 370° C. While having a relatively high melting temperature, the crosslinkable polyester can maintain a relatively low melt viscosity so that it can be readily removed from the polymerization reactor without solidifying therein.

Thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers are classified as "rigid rod" polymers as their molecular structure is typically composed of aromatic units linked by ester groups, as well as other groups (e.g., amide groups). The rigid, rod-like structure allows the polymers to exhibit liquid crystalline behavior in their molten state (thermotropic nematic state). Due to the presence of this nematic state in the melt, these materials also exhibit unique rheological properties. One such property is a "shear thinning behavior" characterized by a decrease in complex viscosity with increasing shear rates. This high shear thinning behavior is particularly attractive in the fabrication of parts with intricate geometries (e.g., electrical connectors) because the polymers can flow well under heat and shear to uniformly fill complex parts at fast rates without excessive flashing or other detrimental processing issues. Despite these benefits, the aforementioned polymers still have various drawbacks. For example, the heat resistance of the polymer is often relatively poor as compared to other engineering thermoset materials, as evidenced by a relatively lower deflection temperature under load ("DTUL"). This can lead to inadequate mechanical properties at elevated temperatures, which is particularly problematic as the demand for heat resistance at high temperatures continually increases in molding, fiber, and film applications.
To improve heat resistance and other properties, various attempts have been made to thermally crosslink the polymer while still maintaining its liquid crystal order. In one such process, for example, a thermoset LCP polymer is produced using 4-phenylethynyl phthalic anhydride ("4-PEPA"). While this approach has some advantages, 4-PEPA is a relatively expensive crosslinking agent. Also, the incorporation of the 4-PEPA in LCP as endcaps requires a multi-step process. In the 1st step, either monofunctional phenolic or monofunctional carboxylic acid derivatives of 4-PEPA must initially be synthesized. These monofunctional derivatives are then reacted with LCP monomers to form a low molecular weight oligomer that is functionalized by 4-PEPA end groups. In the final step, the oligomers are heated at temperatures typically ranging from 350° C. to 400° C. to induce thermal crosslinking. While the resulting thermoset resin can exhibit some improved properties, problems nevertheless remain. For instance, the oligomer that is achieved in the 2nd step of the reaction generally has a low molecular weight and melting temperature, which can adversely impact the thermal and mechanical properties of the resulting polymer and restrict the manner in which it may be processed prior to crosslinking. Further, the use of a multi-step reaction to form the thermoset polymer can also be costly and overly complex.
As such, a need exists for an improved technique for forming thermoset liquid crystalline polymers.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A high-voltage power supply of a video display apparatus provides an ultor voltage and a focus voltage to a cathode ray tube. A low-voltage power supply provides a variable voltage to a primary winding of a flyback transformer of the high-voltage power supply. The magnitude of the variable voltage is responsive to first and second feedback signals provided by first and second negative feedback paths. The first feedback signal is derived from the ultor voltage and is used to regulate the ultor voltage. The second feedback signal is provided by the low-voltage power supply via a path that bypasses the high-voltage power supply, and is summed with the first feedback signal to ensure that the focus voltage remains at or above a predetermined minimum voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of high-voltage power supplies for video display apparatus, and, in particular, to the field of regulating voltages developed for cathode ray tubes used in video display apparatus, such as televisions, computer monitors, and the like.
2. Background Information
An electron gun in a cathode ray tube generates an electron beam that is used to scan information onto the screen of the cathode ray tube. The electron gun utilizes a focus voltage applied to a focus grid to adjust the diameter, also referred to as the "spot" or "spot size," of the electron beam. After being focused by the focus voltage at the focus grid, the electron beam is accelerated toward the screen of the cathode ray tube by the ultor voltage, also referred to as the anode voltage. The ultor voltage is applied to the cathode ray tube at the anode button, which is located on the bell-shaped portion of the cathode ray tube.
The ultor voltage in a video display apparatus is typically generated by the horizontal deflection system, which comprises a horizontal deflection circuit and a flyback transformer. Such a horizontal deflection system is conventional and will not be described further. In this approach, a horizontal retrace pulse voltage generated by the horizontal deflection circuit during its retrace mode of operation is applied to a primary winding of the flyback transformer. The horizontal retrace pulse voltage is stepped up by a high-voltage winding of the flyback transformer, and this stepped-up voltage is rectified and then filtered to provide the ultor voltage. The filtering is performed by an ultor capacitance, which may be provided by the capacitance formed between the inner and outer conductive coatings of the cathode ray tube.
An alternative approach to generating the ultor voltage is to utilize a dedicated high-voltage power supply. For example, in a video display apparatus that can support a range of horizontal scanning frequencies, it may be advantageous, for reasons relating to the complexity of the circuit design and the cost of materials, to utilize a separate high-voltage power supply to generate the ultor voltage. An example of a flyback type high-voltage power supply that may be used in video display apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,181. entitled HIGH VOLTAGE POWER SUPPLY and issued to Herz et al. The ultor voltage at the output of the high-voltage power supply is filtered by an ultor capacitance, which may be provided by the capacitance formed between the inner and outer conductive coatings of the cathode ray tube.
The high-voltage power supply disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,181 utilizes negative feedback to regulate the ultor voltage. A resistor divider network divides the ultor voltage to provide a feedback signal that varies in proportion to changes in the level of the ultor voltage. This feedback signal is used to control a device which regulates the B+ input voltage to the high-voltage power supply. Thus, if the ultor voltage decreases in response to a higher beam current being drawn by the cathode ray tube, the B+ input voltage is increased, thereby increasing the ultor voltage. Conversely, if the ultor voltage increases in response to a lower beam current being drawn by the cathode ray tube, the B+ input voltage is decreased, thereby decreasing the ultor voltage.
A grid voltage, such as a focus voltage or a screen voltage, can then be generated from a so-called "focus screen" assembly, which is energized by the high-voltage winding of the flyback transformer to generate the focus and screen voltages for the cathode ray tube. The focus screen assembly may include a network of fixed resistors, variable resistors, and capacitors. A resistor chain of the focus screen assembly generates the required focus and screen voltages for the cathode ray tube. The component resistors of the focus screen assembly are deposited on a ceramic substrate, and the assembly is fully enclosed and insulated. The means for adjusting the variable resistors to set the screen and focus voltages are accessible from outside the case of the focus screen assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,447, entitled CATHODE RAY TUBE FOCUS SUPPLY and issued to Smith, discloses three approaches for energizing a focus screen assembly: the resistor divider network approach, the peak detected approach, and an inventive combination of the resistor divider network and peak detected approaches. The high-voltage power supply disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,181 uses the resistor divider network approach. This approach, shown in FIG. 1, entails energizing a plurality of series-connected resistances with the full ultor voltage. Some of the plurality of resistances may comprise variable resistances. The required focus and screen voltages are then set by adjusting these variable resistances.
The peak detected approach might also be used to generate the desired grid voltage. This approach, shown in FIG. 2, entails energizing a plurality of series-connected resistances from a tap of the high-voltage winding of the flyback transformer. For example, the tap for the focus voltage is typically chosen so that the focus voltage is approximately one-third of the ultor voltage;
in other words, the "focus ratio" is equal to approximately one-third. The voltage at the tap should be greater than the required focus voltage, so that an adjustment range is available. Again, some of the plurality of resistances may comprise variable resistances, and the required focus and screen voltages are then set by adjusting these variable resistances.
It has been empirically determined that, when the peak detected approach is used to generate voltages in a dedicated high-voltage power supply, the ultor capacitance may adversely affect the regulation of those voltages at the lower end of the range of beam current conditions. Specifically, at lower levels of screen brightness, and hence lower levels of beam current, the focus voltage may have a tendency to drop below an acceptable minimum level, resulting in artifacts on the screen of the cathode ray tube caused by spot defocusing of the electron beams. In addition, at such lower levels of beam current, the screen voltage may also tend to drop, thus resulting in a shift of the cathode ray tube's cutoff voltage, also referred to as its "black level."
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a high-voltage power supply that provides regulation of the voltages generated by the peak-detected approach to ensure that these voltages do not drop below a predetermined minimum level.

High-voltage power supply for video display apparatus


A resuscitation device is described that can include an electronic circuit board, a shaft that is operably coupled with the electronic circuit board and has a head, a gas-bag adjacent to the head and configured to store gas, and a valve operably coupled to the gas-bag. The electronic circuit board can actuate the shaft to move. The moving of the shaft can cause the head to compress the gas-bag. The compression of the gas-bag can cause the gas-bag to release gas. Related apparatuses, systems, methods, techniques and articles are also described.

Resuscitation devices are known to provide emergency oxygen to patients. Traditionally, such devices are bulky, and usually present in hospitals, clinics, and ambulances. The conventional resuscitation devices are usually complex to use, and for at least this reason clinicians are required to operate them. For example, a clinician may be required to hold the mask over a mouth and/or nose of the patient, and another clinician may be required to operate the resuscitation device. The resuscitation device may have a bag, which when squeezed may provide oxygen. The other clinician that operates the resuscitation device may operate the device by squeezing the bag at a predetermined frequency. However, when the other clinician does not squeeze the bag enough, the oxygen provided to the patient may not be sufficient. If the other clinician keeps squeezing the bag, the oxygen provided to the patient may become excessive, and may go to the stomach, causing gastric insufflation, rather than to the lungs of the patient. There, accordingly, exists a need to have a resuscitation device that is easily portable, light in weight, and easy to use, and can control and monitor the pressure and frequency of oxygen being supplied to a patient.


In one aspect, a phone-interface device determines whether a problem has occurred at a control panel by determining whether a signal from the control panel has been received, and when a signal has not been received within a period of time, the phone-interface device transmits an error message to a monitoring station. In another aspect, the control panel determines whether a problem has occurred at the phone-interface device by determining whether a signal from the phone-interface device has been received, and when a signal has not been received within a period of time, the control panel transmits an error message to a user. In another aspect, the phone-interface device contains memory to buffer data transferred between the control panel and a monitoring station. In this way, a high-speed connection between the phone-interface and the monitoring station can be accommodated while using a lower-speed connection between the phone-interface device and the control panel.

In a security system, a control panel receives signals from security devices distributed throughout a monitoring area, such as a home, business, or warehouse, to monitor various sensor events. The security devices placed throughout the monitoring area might include door/window sensors, glass-break sensors, motion detectors, temperature sensors, smoke sensors, and the like. When a sensor event is sensed, such as a door/window open, movement, smoke, or fire, the sensor sends a sensor event to a control panel, which based on its installation programming and current user setting determines the appropriate system response. In some cases, the control panel will start an entry delay period, in others, e.g. a fire, the control panel may sound an immediate alarm. A system response such as entry delay, can lead to further system actions, such as an alarm and a report of the system state to an off-premises monitoring station, such as a monitoring company central station, fire station, or police station.
Security systems typical delay reporting of at least one of the sensor events (e.g. door open) to the monitoring station for some period of time sufficient to allow a valid user time to disarm the reporting prior to the expiration of an entry delay timer and therefore prevent an alarm report to the monitoring station. This delay in reporting is called "entry delay," as opposed to "dialer delay," which is an additional time delay between when the control panel determines that the monitoring station should be notified and when the dialer actually reports the alarm via a telephone call to the monitoring station.
Current self-contained security systems—with the user interface, dialer, siren, and processing functions integrated into a single unit—are vulnerable to attack because the entry delay time period gives an unauthorized intruder time to break open and disable the control panel before the control panel has reported the sensor event via the dialer. Also, for ease of installation and consumer convenience, the user interface is typically located near the normal premise entry point, which makes it easy for the intruder to find the dialer since they are integrated together. Further, the low-level siren sounds during the entry delay period, which are intended to prompt the valid user to disarm the system, but also aids the intruder in finding the self-contained security system including the critical dialer.
Current hardwired and wireless self-contained security systems typically run a wire from the control panel to the telephone demarcation point (the "head in" point) prior to all telephone sets in the facility. This distance can be quite long, which makes installation expensive. This wire to the demarcation point is necessary because the security system must be able to seize the telephone line, so that the security system can report a sensor event to the monitoring station even if a premise's telephone-set receiver is off-hook. Line seizure means that the control panel disconnects all other premise telephones.
Another disadvantage of current security systems is the expense in isolating the telephone line from alternating current (AC) used by the control panel. Telephone companies, government regulations, and/or safety standards require electrical isolation in order to provide product reliability and ensure customer safety. This is commonly accomplished with an isolation transformer, a transient surge-protection device, and/or other expensive components installed in the control panel, which electrically isolate the AC power from the telephone line and ensure safety.
Thus, a significant need exists for methods and systems that reduce the costs of obtaining security protection and that provide better protection against unauthorized intruders.


A keyboard electronic musical instrument is of a type which comprises a keyboard including a plurality of individual keys for playing individual musical notes and arrayed in a first direction, and a key detecting device for detecting respective key depression velocities of the individual keys. The instrument further comprises an indicator device which presents a plurality of bar-graphic indications respectively for the individual keys in the keyboard, the bar-graphic indications being arrayed side by side in the first direction, each bar-graphic indication being elongate in a second direction which is perpendicular to the first direction and representing the key depression velocity of each of the individual keys. When a key is depressed, the key depression velocity is detected and the bar-graphic indication which corresponds to the depressed key is illuminated in green color with a length representing the key depression velocity. When performance data containing velocity data of the respective note is given, the bar-graphic indication of the corresponding key of the note is illuminated in red color with a length representing the velocity of the note.

There has been known in the art such a type of keyboard musical instrument which comprises light emitting elements respectively provided in correspondence to the individual music-playing keys to make illuminative displays in association with the individual key actuations, as disclosed, for example, in unexamined Japanese patent publication No. 2003-99067 in which visual indicators emit light in varying color or intensity according to the respective tone properties of the corresponding keys, and in unexamined Japanese patent publication No. H10-222160 in which light emitting diodes flash according to the key actuation by the player as a performance display or according to the music teaching data as a guidance to the student. The former publication discloses a keyboard musical instrument having indicator elements which are arrayed horizontally on the back of the instrument individually corresponding to the individual keys and emit light in intensity representing the velocity or strength of the depressed keys.
With the keyboard musical instrument disclosed in the former publication, however, the depression strength of each key is expressed by the light intensity of each corresponding light emitting element among those arrayed in a line horizontally, and it is accordingly rather difficult for the user (or player) to know precise intensities of each key depression strength. In addition, the user cannot compare his/her key depression strengths with those of the exemplary performance.

Electronic musical instrument with velocity indicator


Systems, methods and apparatus are disclosed for bonding a plurality of substrates via a solventless, curable adhesive. At least one of the substrates has a deformation temperature below the activation temperature of the adhesive. A workpiece is assembled from a plurality of substrates with the curable adhesive disposed therebetween. Pressure is applied to the workpiece and the workpiece is irradiated with variable frequency microwave energy. The workpiece is swept with at least one window of microwave frequencies selected to heat the adhesive without heating the substrates above their respective deformation temperatures.

The present invention relates generally to the bonding of materials, and more particularly to adhesive bonding of deformable materials.
Bonded materials, i.e., a plurality of substrates adhered by adhesive, are found in goods of various types. Plywood is but one example of bonded material well known to the public. Bonded materials, such as plywood, that are intended to have great strength, may require high strength adhesives. High performance thermoset or thermoplastics adhesives, which are devoid of solvent, are used in most high performance bonding applications. Thus, processing is often carried out at a relatively high temperature sufficient to activate the adhesive. High strength materials are typically processed under conditions, such as high temperature and pressure, to ensure that a strong bond is formed. Indeed, bonding, whether for consumer and durable goods or defense and aerospace applications, is one of the most demanding processes in industry.
Shoes, particularly athletic shoes, often comprise bonded materials. In particular, a sole assembly, i.e., the midsole and outsole, often are bonded together. Bonding of the midsole with the outsole is particularly important.
Whereas high performance thermoset or thermoplastics adhesives are used in most high performance bonding applications, solvent-based adhesives are used in most applications involving bonding of low grade materials, typically for both consumer and durable goods. Bonding of outsoles and midsoles in athletic shoe manufacturing is an example of such an application. However, solvent based adhesives may be environmentally objectionable. A bonding process using solvent based adhesive typically is a slow process, not only because evaporation of solvent takes time, but also because adhesives often must be applied several times on both substrates to form the required bond.
A solvent-based process thus may require a long processing time and care may need to be taken to prevent environmental damage and deleterious health effects caused by solvents. Therefore, it is preferable to use a high performance adhesive, such as a thermoplastic (e.g., hot melt) or a thermoset adhesive, for these bonding applications. A bonding process using a solventless adhesive is a xe2x80x9cgreenxe2x80x9d process, i.e., is environmentally unobjectionable. Such a process also typically is relatively quicker because it can be automated. Typically, these high performance adhesives require only one application and can be rapidly activated with appropriate heat sources.
Unfortunately, most materials used in consumer and durable goods require high performance at relatively low temperatures (typically xe2x88x9230 to 80xc2x0 C.), and tend to deform at the activation temperatures of such adhesives if the entirety of the substrate is heated to the requisite temperature.
Materials that deform at a temperature below the activation temperature of an adhesive are difficult to heat as an entirety to a temperature sufficient to form the required bond. Therefore, a selective heating technique, such as single-mode or multi-mode fixed frequency microwave irradiation, has been suggested. However, microwave processing of materials to be bonded has not yet met with much commercial success due to the non-uniform energy distribution inside microwave cavities powered with fixed frequencies. The electromagnetic energy distribution is directly related to the magnitude and configuration of the electric field pattern inside the microwave cavity and is usually localized to specific regions. It is this non-uniform distribution of electromagnetic energy that results in problems during microwave processing, such as non-uniform processing, and difficulties in implementing such processing, such as size limitations on the materials to be bonded.
A fixed frequency microwave signal launched within a microwave cavity is reflected a plurality of times, eventually establishing modal patterns of energy distribution. The overall distribution of electromagnetic energy is not uniform throughout the microwave cavity, resulting in both high and low energy field areas, i.e., hot and cold spots. Microwave heating using multiple modes has succeeded in various food and rubber related applications where the tolerance for thermal gradient is high. Whereas thermal gradients produced by nonuniform electromagnetic energy distribution to a certain extent can be accommodated in certain applications, such gradients cannot be tolerated in other materials.
Therefore, there exists a need for a process for bonding materials that deform at a temperature lower than the activation temperature of a high performance adhesive, such as a thermoplastic or a thermoset adhesive.
This invention is directed to a method for bonding materials having low deformation temperatures using thermoplastic or thermoset adhesives, preferably solventless adhesives. In particular, the invention is directed to bonding materials having deformation temperatures lower than the activation temperature of the adhesive.
In accordance with the method, the materials to be bonded are exposed to energy (e.g., variable frequency microwave irradiation) at frequencies selected to heat the adhesive in preference to heating the substrate material having a low deformation temperature.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for applying pressure to a workpiece irradiated with microwave energy. The apparatus includes a rigid frame having opposing top and bottom portions. The frame may be formed from substantially microwave transparent material or may be coated with electrical insulation to suppress arcing when exposed to microwave irradiation.
A diaphragm assembly is disposed between the top and bottom frame portions. The diaphragm assembly includes substantially microwave transparent upper and lower membranes formed from flexible material such as silicone rubber, and the like. The upper and lower membranes are sealed along peripheral edge portions thereof to a manifold to form a chamber between opposing inner surfaces of the upper and lower membranes. The chamber is configured to receive a workpiece and to apply pressure to the workpiece when a vacuum is created within the chamber. At least one of the upper and lower membrane inner surfaces may be provided with a raised pattern for facilitating the removal of air from within the chamber.
The manifold may include at least one aperture for facilitating the removal of air from the chamber. The manifold may also include at least one aperture connected to an air pump or other suitable device for facilitating the movement of air to and from the manifold. Opposing top and bottom portions may be pivotally attached along adjacent edge portions to facilitate placing a workpiece to be processed within the chamber.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a system for bonding a workpiece comprising a plurality of substrates. The system includes a device for applying pressure to a workpiece formed of a plurality of substrates having adhesive disposed therebetween; and a device for irradiating the workpiece with microwave energy to heat the adhesive. The system preferably includes a carrier for supporting the plurality of substrates during the bonding process, preferably in the form of the apparatus for applying pressure to a workpiece as described above; a transport mechanism for moving the carrier to a plurality of stations in the system; an assembly station at which the plurality of substrates having an adhesive between them are assembled into the workpiece; a loading station at which the assembled workpiece is loaded onto said carrier; a pressure application station at which pressure is applied by way of the carrier to hold the workpiece together; and a microwave energy application station at which microwave energy is applied to the workpiece supported in the carrier to bond the substrates together with the adhesive.
The system can further include a cooling station at which the workpiece cools after the application of microwave energy at the microwave energy application station. The transport mechanism preferably includes a conveyer for moving the carrier from the loading station to the pressure application station, and a transfer device for moving the carrier from the conveyer into the microwave energy application station and from the microwave application station to the cooling station. The microwave energy source at the microwave energy application station may irradiate a workpiece with variable frequency microwave energy by sweeping the workpiece with at least one window of microwave frequencies. Each window of microwave frequencies is selected to heat the adhesive essentially without heating the substrates above deformation temperatures thereof.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the method and system are used to bond together footwear components such as outsoles, midsoles, and uppers.

Methods and apparatus for bonding deformable materials having low deformation temperatures


A main object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of improving the assembling performance of a double seal ring. According to the first embodiment of the invention, on the piston 31 side to which a seal ring is attached, there are provided a ring retaining portion 300 having an outside diameter L0 and for retaining a double seal ring 51, a first land portion 310 adjacent to the ring retaining portion 300 and having an outside diameter L1 (where L1>L0), and a second land portion 320 adjacent to an opposite side of the ring retaining portion 300 to the first land portion 310 and having an outside diameter L2 (where L2<L1). The outside diameter L2 of the second land portion 320 is set to be equal to or smaller than an inside diameter of the outer peripheral resin ring 55, and one side surface of the outer peripheral resin ring 55 on the side of the second land portion 320 is supported by a retainer ring 80 retained by the piston 31. According to the second embodiment of the invention, the piston 32 itself is provided with a tapered portion 280 having a function as an attachment tool. The tapered portion 280 is gradually enlarged in outside diameter from the insert end portion X for attaching the seal ring towards the attachment groove 2300. The outside diameter of the tapered portion 280 at the insert end portion X is set to be smaller than the inside diameter of the resin ring 55.

This invention relates to a master cylinder whose seal means for sealing the outer periphery of a piston is a double structured seal ring (namely, a double seal ring) including an inner peripheral seal ring and an outer peripheral seal ring situated on the outer periphery of the internal seal ring. In other words, this invention relates to a technique which can broadly be applied to a master cylinder used for a brake or a clutch, and more specifically to a master cylinder, in which an opening portion of a relief port formed in a cylinder body is blocked or interrupted by a seal ring in accordance with motion of the piston. More particularly, this invention relates to a technique suited to be applied to a tandem type master cylinder used for an anti-skid brake system.
The idea itself, for sealing the outer periphery of a piston with a double seal ring consisting of an inner peripheral seal ring and an outer peripheral seal ring is previously known. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 219263/1994 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,791 showing a hydraulic pressure type booster device, discloses a technique, in which, in order to seal the outer periphery of the servo piston, an O-ring and a resin ring are fitted in a groove formed in the outer periphery of the servo piston, the former on the inner periphery side and the latter on the outer periphery side. The inner peripheral seal ring made of rubber or the like is for sealing a space between the piston and the cylinder body, and a space between the outer peripheral seal ring and the cylinder body under the effect of its own elastic deformation. Moreover, the outer peripheral seal ring is subjected to an elastic force of the inner peripheral seal ring to seal a space between the inner periphery of the cylinder body and the piston. Since the outer peripheral seal ring is smaller in sliding resistance than the inner peripheral O-ring made of rubber, a smooth movement of the moving piston is facilitated.
Paying attention to the fact that the double seal ring is hardly susceptible to biting by seal (namely, a phenomenon in which the lip portion of the seal ring is bited and damaged by an opening of the relief port formed in the cylinder body), the present inventors recently proposed a technique in which the double seal ring is applied to a master cylinder. As one of such proposals, Japanese Patent Application No. 321190/1995 filed on Nov. 16, 1995 (laid open for public inspection on May 27, 1997) under 136639/1997) discloses a technique, in which a seal ring of a double seal ring structure is formed on an outer peripheral surface of a piston, a communication path for communicating a working fluid reservoir with a hydraulic pressure chamber is formed within a piston in order to supply a supplemental fluid to the hydraulic pressure chamber, and a supplementary valve is disposed on the communication path. Similarly, Japanese Patent Application No. 198487/1996 filed on Jul. 9, 1996 discloses another technique, in which a seal ring of a double seal ring structure is formed on the outer periphery of the piston, and a small piston is movably disposed within the piston, so that when the pressure in the hydraulic pressure chamber becomes negative and a pressure difference occurs between the atmospheric pressure on the side of the working fluid reservoir and the pressure in the hydraulic pressure chamber, the small piston is caused to move by this pressure difference, thus reducing the capacity of the hydraulic pressure chamber. A capacity reducing means including the small piston and a supplementary means including the supplementary valve are for supplementing a cup type seal ring having no supplementary feeding function.
By the way, in those preceding techniques, either well known or not, a groove for the seal ring to be fitted therein is formed in the outer periphery of the piston, and both the O-ring and the resin ring constituting the double sealing are arranged in the same groove with their enlarged diameter portions climbed over adjacent land portions of the piston. When the double seal ring is arranged in the groove formed in the outer periphery of the piston, the O-ring on the inner periphery is easily elastically deformed, and such deformed configuration of the inner peripheral O-ring is rapidly returned to its original configuration. However, the outer peripheral resin ring, which is harder than the O-ring, is difficult to be elastically deformed. Moreover, the outer peripheral resin ring, once deformed in configuration, is not easily returned to its original configuration. For this reason, a special tool is required for fitting the resin ring. Moreover, it is necessary to leave the resin ring as it is for quite a long time until the resin ring is restored to its original state. Even if returned to its original state, the resin ring, which is not easily elastically deformed, is not returned to its original state correctly in a strict sense. This can result in insufficient sealing performance and deteriorated sliding performance. In the conventional master cylinder using a cup type seal ring, the use of a return spring retainer as means for supporting the cup type seal ring is well known (U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,310).
Further, in the master cylinder including a double seal ring, aside from the problem pertaining to the assembly of such a resin ring, there is encountered with such an inconvenience that when the land portion of the piston is faced with an opening of a relief port on the side of the cylinder body immediately before the piston reaches its returned position, a space formed between the inner wall of the cylinder body and the land portion acts as a throttling for interrupting the return of the fluid towards the reservoir because of the following reason. In order to reliably support the double seal ring, or in order to maintain a mechanical strength of the piston in the vicinity of the attachment groove, an axial distance of the land portion adjacent the attachment groove must have a prescribed length. On the other hand, in order to reduce operating play (namely, invalid stroke), the end of the double seal ring is located as closer to the opening of the relief port as possible. In view of such a design concept, the land portion of the piston must be faced with the opening of the relief port, and thus, the afore-mentioned throttling is resulted.

Master cylinder having double structured seal ring


An enclosure for an electrical distribution panel includes a box having a front opening covered by a front panel having a cut-out portion. An insert is seated in the cut-out portion and includes removable knockout panels for access to circuit breakers mounted in the enclosure. The insert may be provided with a c over which enhances the appearance of the enclosure and provides a waterproof seal. The size of the insert is selected based on the type of circuit breaker to be mounted in the enclosure. By changing the size of the insert, the enclosure can be used with different types of circuit breakers. The enclosure can also be adapted for indoor or outdoor use. The enclosure avoids the disadvantages of conventional enclosures which are designed differently for different types of circuit breakers, and include entirely different components for indoor and outdoor use.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical distribution panels, and more particularly relates to an improved enclosure for such panels which is adaptable to indoor or outdoor use and which can be used with different types of circuit breakers.
2. Background Information
Electrical distribution panels or load centers are used widely in residential and commercial applications. The distribution panels house electrical circuit breakers within an enclosure. In conventional designs, different types of enclosures are provided for indoor and outdoor use. Outdoor enclosures are waterproof in order to conform with NEMA 3R standards, while indoor enclosures are not waterproof and conform with NEMA 1 standards.
In order to provide a waterproof or rain proof seal, conventional outdoor distribution panel enclosures typically comprise a box made of folded sheet metal having a separate top piece which covers the folded seams. An internal panel covers the front of the box and includes openings for access to the electrical circuit breakers. A separate front cover which is hinged underneath the top cover of the enclosure can be rotated into a closed position covering the entire front surface of the box. While such conventional waterproof designs meet NEMA 3R standards, they comprise a relatively large number of components and are relatively costly to fabricate.
Prior art indoor distribution panel enclosures typically comprise a box made of folded sheet metal and a separate cover fastened to the front of the box having openings for access to the circuit breakers. In addition, many indoor distribution panel enclosures comprise a front door which can be opened and closed for access to the circuit breakers. The folded metal boxes of such enclosures typically have corner seams which allow water to enter. In addition, the front covers are attached to the boxes in such a manner that allows water penetration.
Most residential and light commercial circuit breakers in current use have two different configurations. One type of circuit breaker has a 1 inch wide breaker pole and includes heels which are inserted underneath a support clip attached to the rear panel of the enclosure. Another type of circuit breaker has a 3/4 inch wide breaker pole and includes hooks which are fastened over a support bracket attached to the rear of the enclosure. Due to the different types of circuit breakers conventionally used, prior art distribution panel enclosures have been designed differently depending on the particular type of circuit breaker to be mounted therein. Thus, in addition to different designs for indoor and outdoor use, conventional distribution panel enclosures have been designed differently depending on the type of circuit breaker to be used.
The present invention has been developed in view of the foregoing and other deficiencies of the prior art.


A method of controlling a photographing apparatus having a voice call function is described. A determination of whether the voice call function is being performed is made upon an input of a shutter release signal of the photographing apparatus. A distance between the photographing apparatus and an object is sensed when the voice call function is being performed upon the input of the shutter release signal. A barrel driving mode is disabled based on the shutter release signal when the sensed distance is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to photographing apparatuses and methods of controlling the same.
2. Related Art
Generally, in a camera, depending on an operation state of a power switch or an operation state of a shutter release button, a barrel automatically shifts to an open position, such as a position at which the barrel is protruded to an outside of the camera to enable a photographing mode, or a close position, such as a position at which the barrel is retracted into the camera to disable the photographing mode. At the open position, a zoom operation is performed to shift the barrel to a predetermined focal position according to an operation of a zoom switch.
The barrel shifts according to the rotation of a motor, such as a zoom motor. In detail, when the zoom motor rotates, gear groups connected to the zoom motor rotate and a rotation force of the zoom motor is transmitted through the gear groups to a barrel member of the barrel. Accordingly, the barrel member rotates and the barrel shifts forward or backward.
However, in a case where a user carries various smart devices in the user's pocket, when the shutter release button is pressed, the barrel protrudes inside the user's pocket, or when the user unintentionally presses the shutter release button, the barrel abruptly protrudes. These situations are situations in which the barrel abruptly protrudes when the user does not want to photograph.

Photographing apparatus and method of controlling the same


This invention relates to processes for the production of unsymmetrical polyurea-urethane coated granular fertilizer products, and to the unsymmetrical polyurea-urethane coated granular fertilizer products produced by these processes. These processes comprise coating fertilizer granules with compounds which react to form unsymmetrical polyurea-urethane coatings, then the compounds are polymerized. Suitable compounds comprise a) an organic polyisocyanate component, and b) an alkanolamine component containing at least one primary or secondary amine group and at least one hydroxyl group. These compounds are present in sufficient quantities that the NCO to active hydrogen group is from about 0.5:1.0 up to about 1.5:1.0. It is necessary that sufficient amounts of these compounds are applied to the fertilizer granules such that the unsymmetrical polyurea-urethane coated granular fertilizer particles contain from about 0.5 to about 15% by weight of polyurea-urethane, based on the total weight of the encapsulated fertilizer particles.

This invention relates to a process for producing unsymmetrical polyurea-urethane coated granular fertilizer particles and the coated granular fertilizer particles produced by this process. The polyurea-urethane coatings comprise a) a polyisocyanate, and b) an alkanolamine containing at least one primary or secondary amine group and at least one hydroxyl group.
Commercial particulate fertilizers are produced and marketed in several different particle types, i.e., granular, pelletized, dusts, pilled, and prilled fertilizers. Also, they may be formed of inorganic substances, organic substances, or combinations thereof. The improvements of the present invention can be applied to any of these types of particulate fertilizers.
In order to be effective in promoting plant growth, fertilizers must contain some amount of water soluble plant nutrients. These are typically in the form of water soluble compounds of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, alone or in combination, and often in conjunction with other elements such as, for example, calcium, boron, magnesium, zinc, chlorine, etc. Such particulate fertilizers can be made of a single component, e.g., urea, ammonium nitrate, potassium chloride, etc., or of multiple components often mixed with inert water soluble or water insoluble materials as in common fertilizers designated as 6-6-6, 4-64, 10-10-10, 20-20-5, 14-16-0, 5-20-20, and the like. In addition, specialized fertilizers may contain optional additives such as herbicides, insecticides, trace elements, iron salts, sulfur, etc. The improvements of the present invention can be applied to any of these fertilizers.
Historically, particulate fertilizers possessed a number of known defects, the most notable being the too rapid release of soluble plant food, causing phytotoxicity and the rapid depletion of the plant nutrients by leaching. Other problems included tendencies to cake and form dust. These problems are well documented in previous patents that professed solutions to one or more of the known defects, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,475,154, 3,259,482, 3,264,088, 3,264,089, 4,711,659, 4,772,490 and Japanese Patent 52-38361. The present invention provides additional improvements in the construction of particulate fertilizers which render them highly attrition resistant and further extended release properties.
A number of slow release coatings for particular fertilizers have previously been proposed. The process of sulfur coating urea particles is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,577 and was developed in the late 1960's by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as an economical system for reducing the rate of dissolution when urea particles are applied to the soil as fertilizer. This process requires high levels of sulfur, which reduces the nutrient analysis of the fertilizer particles, and even then, imperfections remain in the coating, making it necessary to apply a sealant coating, which is composed of a mixture of 30% polyethylene resin in a 70% bright stock mineral oil.
Coatings in which preformed polymer resins are applied from solvents have been described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,475,154 and 3,264,089. The use of solvents creates a vapor hazard as the products are dried and the solvent evaporation step can result in pinhole imperfections in the coatings when applied.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,055 tried to facilitate degradation of coating materials while maintaining the function for controlling the dissolving-out rate by dispersing inorganic powders such as sulfur and talc in a low molecular weight olefin polymer. However, the disclosed coating materials are difficult to apply in uniform layers because the polymer must be maintained in the molten state.
Polyurethane coatings as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,711,659 and 4,969,947 require that the substrate contains a minimum quantity of reactive --NH.sub.2 groups. Thus, these are not applicable to all fertilizer compositions for which slow release properties may be desirable.
Coating of fertilizer compositions with a biodegradable polymer was described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,734 and 5,206,341 and Japanese Patent Application No. 146492/1991. These references disclose coating the fertilizer composition with a biodegradable coating material in a single layer. The single layer coating has difficulties controlling the dissolving-out rate of fertilizer nutrients while maintaining biodegradability simultaneously.
Japanese Patent Application No. 97561/1993 discloses a three layer coating which was prepared by using one type of biodegradable film and a water soluble resin. This coating also has difficulty in controlling both the dissolving-out rate and the biodegradability at the same time. The thickness of the coating material is disclosed as being from 500 to 2,000 .mu.m. Such a coating material requires increased cost, thus making it questionable for commercial use.
Canadian Patent Application No. 2,135,788 relates to coating fertilizer compositions with at least two types of coating materials wherein the two coating materials have different dissolving-out rates and moisture permeability in a multi-layer structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,531 also describes controlled release fertilizers and a method for their production. These controlled release fertilizers have a central mass of particulate fertilizer which contains at least one water soluble plant nutrient surrounded by a plurality of coatings. The inner coating comprises the reaction product of (A) an aromatic polyisocyanate or derivatives thereof which contain about 1.5 to 3 NCO groups per molecule and an NCO group content of 10 to 50% by weight, and (B) a polyol having from 2 to 6 hydroxyl moieties and at least one alkyl moiety containing from about 10 to 22 carbon atoms. An outer coating is also necessary. The outer coating consists essentially of an organic wax having a drop melting point of between 50 and 120.degree. C.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,374 relates to a process for producing sulfur-coated slow release fertilizers which have improved impact and abrasion resistance properties. This process applies liquid monomers sequentially onto the surface of hot sulfur-coated urea granules, and copolymerizes these to form a firm, tack-free, water insoluble polymer coating sealant. Suitable liquid monomers are diisocyanates such as diphenylmethane diisocyanate, and a polyol mixture of diethylene glycol (DEG) and triethanolamine (TEOA). TEOA serves both as a reactive polyol and as a catalyst. This patent attempts to overcome the deficiencies of using sulfur alone to achieve slow release properties. The polyurethane serves to coat and cover the areas of the fertilizer particle not covered by the sulfur, and thus, provide improved time release properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,962 describes compositions for treating granular fertilizers to reduce dust and to reduce caking of the fertilizers during storage. These compositions comprise fatty monoamines, specifically fatty secondary dialkylamines or mixtures thereof with fatty primary amines.
Advantages of the present invention include the fact that improved overall fertilizer release properties result at a given percentage organic encapsulant. Furthermore, the present invention does not require an isocyanate-reactive central mass so that any sequence of application of the isocyanate and the isocyanate-reactive components can be used. The present invention also allows to mix the isocyanate and the isocyanate-reactive components prior to applying them onto the fertilizer surface. While not wishing to be bound by any particular theory, it is believed that due to the difference in reactivity of the amine and the hydroxyl co-reactants, the partially cured resin does not absorb as readily into the fertilizer particles but remains on the surface to provide a more uniform coating, resulting in better release properties.

Unsymmetrical polyureaurethane fertilizer encapsulation