A method for producing cyclohexanone oxime, which comprises the steps of (1) subjecting to an amination reaction a starting material selected from the group consisting of cyclohexanol, cyclohexanone and a mixture thereof, thereby obtaining cyclohexylamine, and (2) subjecting the obtained cyclohexylamine to a partial oxidation reaction, thereby obtaining cyclohexanone oxime, wherein a by-product (α) formed in the step (1) and/or a by-product (β) formed in the step (2) are/is recycled to a reaction system of the amination reaction in the step (1).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing cyclohexanone oxime. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a method for producing cyclohexanone oxime, which comprises the steps of: (1) subjecting to an amination reaction a starting material selected from the group consisting of cyclo-hexanol, cyclohexanone and a mixture thereof, thereby obtaining cyclohexylamine, and (2) subjecting the obtained cyclohexylamine to a partial oxidation reaction, thereby obtaining cyclohexanone oxime, wherein a by-product (α) formed in the step (1) and/or a by-product (β) formed in the step (2) are/is recycled to a reaction system of the amination reaction in the step (1). By the method of the present invention, cyclohexanone oxime, which is a useful compound as an intermediate of ε-caprolactam (ε-caprolactam is well-known as a raw material for producing nylon 6 or the like), can be produced with high selectivity, and with other various great advantages in that production of cyclohexanone oxime can be performed, using a simple apparatus, by a simple operation with less consumption of hydrogen, and with no need for use of a difficult reagent, such as a hydroxylamine salt. In the conventional methods for producing cyclohexanone oxime, it is usually required to use a hydroxylamine salt; however, a hydroxylamine salt can be obtained only by a method involving complicated steps, leading to disadvantages.
Further, the method of the present invention is free from problems accompanying the prior art, such as generation of a by-product which is difficult to separate and which adversely affects the quality of ε-caprolactam produced from cyclohexanone oxime, and/or generation of a by-product (e.g., ammonium sulfate) which is of little commercial value. Furthermore, most of the by-products produced in the method of the present invention are recyclable, and with respect to the other by-products, which are not recyclable, most of them are useful compounds, such as cyclohexane and the like, so that generation of wastes can be suppressed to an extremely low level. Thus, the method of the present invention is commercially very advantageous.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, various methods for producing cyclohexanone oxime have been known. Of such methods, most widely practiced on a commercial scale is a method which consists in producing cyclohexanone from benzene as a starting material by a multi-stage process, and reacting the produced cyclohexanone with a hydroxylamine salt which has been separately produced from ammonia, to thereby obtain cyclohexanone oxime. More specifically, the most widely practiced method involves the following three steps:
(I) producing cyclohexanone from benzene as a starting material,
(II) providing a hydroxylamine salt which has been separately produced from ammonia, and
(III) reacting the cyclohexanone with the hydroxylamine salt to thereby obtain cyclohexanone oxime.
With respect to a representative process for realizing the step (I) of producing cyclohexanone, reference can be made to "Kagakukougaku (Chemical Engineering)", Vol. 55 (1991), No. 5, page 382, published by The Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan, and "Shokubai (Catalysts and Catalysis)", Vol. 33 (1991), No. 5, page 341, published by The Catalysis Society of Japan. The most representative process for the step (I) involves oxidation of cyclohexane with air. Another process, which involves hydrogenation of phenol, is also some-times practiced. With respect to the above-mentioned most representative process (i.e., the process involving oxidation of cyclohexane with air), an explanation is made below. This process comprises completely hydrogenating benzene to obtain cyclohexane, subjecting the obtained cyclohexane to oxidation with air to obtain a mixture of cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone, separating the mixture into cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone by distillation, and dehydrogenating the separated cyclohexanol to obtain cyclohexanone.
However, this process has the following disadvantages. First, the process requires a number of steps. Further, in the step of oxidation of cyclohexane with air, for improving the selectivity, it is required to suppress the conversion of cyclohexane to about 3 to 10%, so that the productivity is inevitably lowered. Also, a large amount of energy is needed for recycling the cyclohexane which remains unreacted. Furthermore, the improved selectivity is still unsatisfactorily at a level of from about 73 to 83%. In this process, as by-products, carboxylic acids, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, ethers, esters, hydrocarbons and the like are generated. In general, these by-products are separated from the desired products (i.e., cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone) and discarded. Of the above-mentioned by-products, water-soluble carboxylic acids, water-soluble lower alcohols and the like can be removed by extraction with water. With respect to the carboxylic acids and esters, which are not water-soluble, such by-products can be removed by saponification with an aqueous alkali solution. Further, most of the other by-products can be removed in the subsequent distillation step. However, with respect to the by-products (such as butyl cyclohexyl ether, n-pentylcyclohexane, cyclohexyl acetate and hexahydrobenzaldehyde) having a boiling point which is very close to that of cyclohexanone or cyclohexanol, it is difficult to remove such by-products, and the presence of these by-products causes a lowering of the quality of the desired compound, i.e., ε-caprolactam. Methods for removing the by-products are disclosed in patent documents, such as Examined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Sho 60-39656 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,430), Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. Hei 5-271143 and Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. Hei 5-301858. However, each of the methods disclosed in these patent documents needs a number of cumbersome separation steps and, hence, is not advantageous.
As another method for oxidation of cyclohexane with air, a method is known in which the oxidation is performed in the presence of boric acid. By this method, the conversion and the selectivity are, respectively, improved to a level of from about 12 to 15% and a level of about 90%. However, this method is disadvantageous in that not only is it difficult to handle cyclohexane and a boric acid slurry, but also recycling of these difficult cyclohexane and boric acid slurry is necessary, and the operations therefor are cumbersome.
Further, in the above-mentioned step of dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol, the conversion of cyclohexanol is inevitably limited to at most 70 to 90% due to the equilibrium of the reaction. Also, the boiling point of cyclohexanol as a raw material is very close to that of cyclohexanone obtained as a product, so that a large amount of energy is needed for separating cyclohexanol from cyclohexanone.
With respect to the above-mentioned process for the step (I), which involves hydrogenation of phenol, an explanation is made below. The process involving hydrogenation of phenol has been known since a long time ago. This process comprises producing phenol from benzene, subjecting the produced phenol to hydrogenation at the benzene nucleus in the presence of nickel, palladium or the like as a catalyst to thereby obtain cyclohexanol or cyclohexanone. This process also poses problems. For example, when the production of phenol from benzene is conducted by the cumene process, which is a representative process for production of phenol from benzene, the following disadvantages are caused. The cumene process involves a number of reaction steps. Further, in the cumene process, commercially valuable acetone is coproduced with phenol. Therefore, the cumene process is generally performed using a complicated and expensive apparatus which are needed for separating acetone and phenol from each other, and the demand for and the price of the coproduced acetone influence the production cost of phenol, thereby rendering it difficult to stably supply phenol.
With respect to the above-mentioned step (II) of producing a hydroxylamine salt from ammonia, an explanation is made below. As a representative process for the step (II), there can be mentioned the Raschig process, which is a classical process (see "Kougyou Yuukikagaku (Industrial Organic Chemistry)", fourth edition, page 287 (1996), translated under supervision of Teruaki Mukaiyama, TOKYO KAGAKU DOZIN CO., LTD., Japan). This process involves four steps. Specifically, the process involves producing ammonium carbonate from ammonia, carbon dioxide and water, synthesizing ammonium nitrite from the produced ammonium carbonate and a mixture of NO and NO2 (wherein the mixture is obtained by oxidation of ammonia with air), reducing the synthesized ammonium nitrate using SO2 to obtain a disulfonate, and hydrolyzing the obtained disulfonate to obtain a sulfuric acid salt of hydroxylamine. This process poses the following problems. The process involves complicated steps. Further, ammonium sulfate, which is of little commercial value, is generated in an amount equimolar to the sulfuric acid salt of hydroxylamine. That is, when the amount of ammonium sulfate by-produced in the oximation is also taken into consideration, the amount of ammonium sulfate by-produced is two moles, relative to one mole of the finally produced cyclohexanone oxime.
Further, with respect to the hydroxylamine sulfate-oxime process (HSO process) and the hydroxylamine phosphate-oxime process (HPO process), each of these processes consists in producing a hydroxylamine salt, and producing cyclohexanone oxime using the produced hydroxylamine salt. These processes also pose various problems, as described below in connection with the above-mentioned step (III).
As a representative process for the step (III), there can be mentioned a process involving oximation of cyclohexanone by the use of a sulfuric acid salt of hydroxylamine (see "Kougyou Yuukikagaku (Industrial Organic Chemistry)", fourth edition, page 285 (1996), translated under supervision of Teruaki Mukaiyama, TOKYO KAGAKU DOZIN CO., LTD., Japan). The reaction for the oximation is an equilibrium reaction, so that, for advancing the reaction, it is necessary to maintain the pH value at about 7 by adding a certain amount of ammonia to the reaction system. However, when ammonia is added, ammonium sulfate, which is of little commercial value, is inevitably by-produced in an amount equimolar to cyclohexanone oxime.
In connection with the above-mentioned steps (II) and (III), the above-mentioned HSO and HPO processes are explained below. The HSO process involves oxidizing ammonia in the presence of a platinum-containing catalyst to obtain NO, subjecting the obtained NO to reduction with hydrogen in the presence of a platinum -containing catalyst using an ammonium hydrogensulfate/ammonium sulfate buffer solution to produce hydroxylammonium sulfate, and reacting the produced hydroxylammonium sulfate with cyclohexanone (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,941,838 and 4,031,139). The HPO process involves oxidizing ammonia to obtain nitric acid ion, subjecting the obtained nitric acid ion to reduction with hydrogen in the presence of palladium as a catalyst using a phosphoric acid/monoammonium phosphate buffer solution to produce a phosphoric acid salt of hydroxylamine, and reacting the produced phosphoric acid salt of hydroxylamine with cyclohexanone (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,948,988 and 3,940,442). Each of the above-mentioned HSO and HPO processes is advantageous in that the pH value is maintained at a certain level because the buffer solution is allowed to circulate between the cyclohexanone oxime production system and the hydroxylamine salt production system, so that by-production of ammonium sulfate can be prevented. However, the process has the following disadvantages. The process involves a number of reaction steps. Further, high purity raw materials are needed. Furthermore, the step of recovering the catalyst and the step of recycling the buffer solution are complicated. Also, in the whole process, the ammonia-based selectivity for the hydroxylamine salt is as low as about 60%.
Further, the method involving the above-mentioned steps (I) to (III) poses a problem that, for complete hydrogenation of benzene, production of a hydroxylamine salt, and the like, a large amount of hydrogen is needed.
It has been attempted to improve the above-mentioned method involving the steps (I) to (III). For example, with respect to the process for producing cyclohexanone, a process has been proposed which involves subjecting benzene to partial hydrogenation to obtain cyclohexene, hydrating the obtained cyclohexene to obtain cyclohexanol, and subjecting the obtained cyclohexanol to dehydrogenation to obtain cyclohexanone (see Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. Sho 56-43227 (corresponding to EP 23379)). This process is advantageous not only in that the amount of hydrogen consumed is small as compared to the case of the above-mentioned method involving subjecting cyclohexane to oxidation with air, but also in that it is possible to achieve a carbon-based yield of substantially 100%, wherein the "carbon-based yield" means the total yield of cyclohexanone produced and cyclohexane by-produced in the partial hydrogenation of benzene. However, the process poses various problems. For example, not only does the reaction apparatus used in the step of dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol inevitably become large, but also the necessary energy cost is high, as compared to the case of the above-mentioned process for subjecting cyclohexane to oxidation with air.
As another improved method, there is known a method involving reacting cyclohexanone with ammonia in the presence of hydrogen peroxide to obtain cyclohexanone oxime (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,221). This method is advantageous not only in that a difficult reagent (e.g., a hydroxylamine salt) which can be obtained only by a method involving complicated steps is not needed, but also in that ammonium sulfate is not by-produced. However, the method has a problem that hydrogen peroxide, which is expensive, is needed.
On the other hand, methods involving no step of producing cyclohexanone have also been practiced on a commercial scale. As an example of such methods, there can be mentioned a method which involves subjecting benzene to complete hydrogenation to obtain cyclohexane, and reacting the obtained cyclohexane with nitrosyl chloride to obtain a hydrochloric acid salt of cyclohexanone oxime, wherein the nitrosyl chloride is produced by reacting a mixture of NO and NO2 (which mixture is obtained by oxidation of ammonia with air) with sulfuric acid, and then with hydrochloric acid (see "Yuukigousei Kagaku Kyoukaishi (Journal of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan), Vol. 21 (1963), pages 160–163, published by The Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan). This method is advantageous in that the number of reaction steps in the method is small as compared to that in the method involving a step of producing cyclohexanone as an intermediate material. However, the method has the following disadvantages. Light is needed for the oximation, so that not only is a large amount of power needed for the oximation, but also maintenance of a mercury lamp or the like used for irradiation of light is cumbersome.
As another method involving no step of producing cyclohexanone, there can be mentioned a method which involves subjecting benzene to complete hydrogenation to obtain cyclohexane, reacting the obtained cyclohexane with nitric acid (which is obtained by oxidation of ammonia) to obtain nitrocyclohexane, and subjecting the obtained nitrocyclohexane to partial hydrogenation to obtain cyclohexanone oxime (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,255,261 and 2,967,200). This method has various problems. For example, the oxidation reaction using nitric acid is required to be performed at a temperature as high as about 150 to 200° C. under a pressure as high as about 3 to 4 MPa, and the apparatus used in the method are greatly corroded. In addition, this method has a danger of explosion. Further, the selectivity for nitrocyclohexane is not satisfactory. Specifically, each of the cyclohexane-based selectivity and the nitric acid-based selectivity is only about 80%. The conversion of cyclohexane is also as low as 15 to 25%. Thus, the productivity is low, and a large amount of energy is needed for recycling the cyclohexane which remains unreacted. Moreover, in the step of producing cyclohexanone oxime by subjecting nitrocyclohexane to partial hydrogenation, the selectivity for cyclohexanone oxime is unsatisfactorily only about 80%.
As apparent from the above, the conventional methods for producing cylohexanone oxime have a serious problem in that the methods inevitably need complicated steps. Therefore, it has been desired to develop a simple and efficient method for producing cyclohexanone oxime, which can be practiced on a commercial scale.

Process for preparation of cyclohexanone oxime


A few-moded fiber device has several discrete sections of few-moded fibers that are separated by mode converters, with each mode converter accomplishing mode conversion between one or more pairs of modes. The mode conversions can be accomplished using a sequence, such as a periodic or cyclic sequence that would cause (1) a signal wave launched with any mode to assume every other mode for one or more times; (2) the number of times the signal remains in any modal state is substantially the same; and (3) the net signal gain or loss or group delay of the input signal is substantially the same regardless of the state of input mode. A laser few-mode amplifier is provided. An optical transmission system is also provided.

There has been significant interest in using higher-order modes of optical fibers for multiplexing data to enhance the bandwidth of transmission. Since various modes display various shapes in the plane of fiber cross section, this is commonly known as spatial division multiplexing (SDM), or mode division multiplexing. To compensate the loss in the fiber link, fiber amplifiers capable of amplifying all the modes of interest are required. SDM transmission links that are based on higher order modes depend on multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) signal processing, which demands for small modal dispersion of the link.
Rare-earth doped or nonlinear (Raman) fibers can be made with core sizes large enough to support various modes such as LP01, LP11, LP02, LP21, etc. Since the radial field distribution of these modes are different, the overlap factor Γ, of the electrical field of individual modes with the gain region can differ significantly. The overlap factor is defined as:
  Γ  =            ∫              R                                                  1                    R                                                  2                                ∫        0                  2                    π                                            E          2                        r                                                            ⅆ          r                                                                                ⅆ            ϕ                    /                                    ∫              0              ∝                                                                  ∫                0                                  2                                    π                                                                                E                  2                                                r                                                                                ⅆ                  r                                                                                ⅆ                  ϕ                                                                        where, R1 and R2 are the radii of the circular region within which various signal modes experience amplification. In a typical amplifier with a cylindrical doped region, R1 is typically zero.
As Γ depends on the transverse mode of the signal wave, the gain experienced in a few mode amplifier (both the rare-earth and Raman/Brillouin amplifiers) by the different modes becomes different. This difference in gain can be problematic when used to amplify various modes carried by a few-moded fiber in a space division multiplexed (SDM) transmission system. It has not yet been possible to split and/or combine various fiber modes without causing significant losses in order for them to be amplified by separate C-, L-band amplifiers (schemes similar to that used in C+L band signal amplification). Another problem associated with SDM transmission systems involving few-moded fiber links is that the group index ng and thus group delay of each mode can be significantly different.
Therefore, there is a need for a few-mode fiber amplifier or amplifying device that will ensure equal gain to all the modes of the fiber.

Few moded fiber device employing mode conversion


A window lift system generally comprises a motor driving a threaded shaft threadably engaging a nut slidably mounted in a bracket. A link has a first end rotatably mounted to the nut and a second end rotatably mounted to an end of a pivotally mounted arm. An opposite end of the arm engaging the window glass raises and lowers the window glass as the arm pivots.

The present invention relates generally to window lift system and more particularly to a window lift system using a screw drive.
Current window lift systems generally comprise a first arm pivotally mounted between a first end supporting a window glass and a second end having a 90.degree. sector of gear teeth. The gear teeth engage a spur gear which is coupled to a worm gear driven by a worm driven by a motor. The motor drives the worm, worm gear and spur gear rotatably, thereby causing the first arm to pivot. The pivoting of the first arm raise and lower the window glass. A second arm is typically pivotally mounted to the first arm between the first end and pivot point of the first arm. A first end of the second arm supports the window glass while an opposite second end of the second arm is pivotally mounted to a slide which freely slides forwardly and rearwardly during the raising and lowering of the window.
The known window lift system has low efficiency, due to the low efficiency of the worm/worm gear engagement. Further, the cost of the known system is relatively high, due to the number of gears.


An improved process for the production of linear olefinic hydrocarbons by paraffin dehydrogenation and adsorptive separation is disclosed. Aromatic by-products normally formed in paraffin dehydrogenation are selectively removed using at least one aromatics removal zone. Removal of these aromatic by-products significantly increases the purity of the olefinic hydrocarbon product and increases the capacity of the adsorptive separation zone. The improved process is believed to increase the life of the adsorbent in the adsorptive separation zone and the life of the catalyst in the dehydrogenation zone.

The production of acyclic olefinic hydrocarbons by dehydrogenation is a highly useful hydrocarbon conversion process. The product olefinic hydrocarbons find utility in the production of a wide variety of useful chemicals including synthetic lubricants, detergents, polymers, alcohols, plasticizers, etc.
Modern catalytic dehydrogenation processes provide a high degree of selectivity to the formation of linear monoolefins. However, they are still troubled by the production of by-products, basically due to thermal cracking reactions and to undesired catalytic dehydrogenation side reactions. The by-products fall into three broad classes, light hydrocarbons formed by cracking reactions, diolefinic hydrocarbons having the same carbon number as the desired monoolefinic hydrocarbons, and aromatic hydrocarbons also having the same carbon number as the desired monoolefinic hydrocarbons. The production of aromatic hydrocarbons is most troublesome, especially when the objective is to produce high purity monoolefinic hydrocarbons. The light hydrocarbons which result from cracking reactions can normally be readily removed from the dehydrogenation effluent stream by a relatively easy fractional distillation step. The diolefinic hydrocarbons which result from dehydrogenation reactions can normally be readily converted to monoolefinic hydrocarbons in the dehydrogenation effluent product stream by a relatively easy catalytic selective hydrogenation step. In contrast, the aromatic hydrocarbons remain in the dehydrogenation effluent stream. The presence of aromatic by-products in an olefinic product stream is often undesirable because the aromatic hydrocarbons are impurities that react in downstream processes to form different compounds than the monoolefinic hydrocarbons.
It is well known that aromatic by-products are formed during the catalytic dehydrogenation of paraffins. For instance, the article starting at page 86 of the Jan. 26, 1970, issue of "Chemical Engineering" states that the product of the dehydrogenation of linear paraffins includes aromatic compounds. The nature of the particular aromatic by-products that are formed in dehydrogenation is not essential to this invention. Without limiting this invention in any way, these aromatic by-products are believed to include, for example, alkylated benzenes, naphthalenes, other polynuclear aromatics, alkylated polynuclear hydrocarbons in the C.sub.10 -C.sub.15 range, indanes and tetralins, that is, they are aromatics of the same carbon number as the paraffin being dehydrogenated and may be viewed as aromatized normal paraffins. The particular side reactions that lead to the formation of the aromatic by-products are also not essential to this invention. Again, without limiting this invention in any way, an illustration of some of the parallel thermal cracking reactions that can lead to the formation of aromatic by-products is found in the diagram at the top of page 4-37 of the book edited by R. A. Meyers entitled "Handbook of Petroleum Refining Processes" (McGraw Hill, N.Y., 1986). Typically, from about 1.0 to about 7.0 weight percent, and generally to the extent of no more than 10.0 weight percent, of the converted feed paraffinic compounds of a dehydrogenation zone form aromatic by-products. Although some commercially available dehydrogenation catalysts are more selective than others at minimizing the formation of aromatic by-products, it is believed that these by-products are formed, at least to a small extent, at suitable dehydrogenation conditions in the presence of most, if not all, commercially-available dehydrogenation catalysts. Since it is an economic advantage to operate the dehydrogenation zone at conditions that produce a high conversion of the feed paraffinic compounds and a high yield of the desired olefins, these aromatic by-products are produced, at least to a small extent, in most if not all commercial dehydrogenation zones.

Olefin process with removal of aromatic by-products


A method and apparatus for warning a motor vehicle operator of an approaching emergency motor vehicle having a sounding siren. The method comprehends selecting two frequencies A'-B' that fall within the siren frequency range and providing a microphone for detecting the sound signals including the siren signals and filtering out the electrical siren signals by a band pass filter. The selected A' and B' frequency signals are individually detected to provide output indications thereof representative of an A'-B' frequency transition. The output indications are processed for determining the preselected number of frequency transitions and producing a warning signal representative of the approaching emergency vehicle. The warning signal is utilized to give the motor vehicle operator an audible alarm and/or a visible alarm and deenergizing the motor vehicle's sound system.

Sensor system incorporated into a motor vehicle for detecting the presence of an emergency vehicle's sounding siren are known in the art. The prior attempts to provide warning signals as known in the prior art have taken two forms of methods and apparatus. In one form of warning system both the emergency vehicle and non-emergency vehicle are equipped with a special transmitter and receiver, respectively, to activate an alarm system. Such systems include apparatus for deactivating the motor vehicle radio's speakers in response to the reception of a signal from the emergency vehicle transmitter. Prior art of this type of sensing system are typified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,794,394; 4,238,778 and German patent 29 31 977.
The second type of sensor systems incorporate the sensing system in a motor vehicle detecting the siren sounds emitted by an approaching emergency vehicle. These prior art systems include visual and/or audible alarms that are activated when the emergency vehicle having its siren operative reaches a predetermined proximity to the motor vehicle in which the siren sensor is mounted. Patents of this type are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,785,474; 4,587,522; 4,158,190 and 3,859,623.
The problem of a motor vehicle operator hearing an approaching emergency vehicle's siren still persists despite the aforementioned attempts to solve the problem and to our knowledge no known sensing systems are presently commercially available. The problem, however, still persists since the environmental noises continue to increase and motor vehicles, passenger vehicles and trucks or the like, are constructed so that the closed windows tend to seal off the environmental noises but yet the motor vehicles contain other devices that impair a motor vehicle operator's hearing such as radios with a multiplicity of speakers, tape players and/or compact disc players, air conditioning and/or heating equipment. Obviously, the problem is aggravated when the windows of the motor vehicle are open and the aforementioned accessories are in use.
The inability of a motor vehicle operator to hear an approaching emergency vehicle's sirens has resulted in accidents, particularly at intersections, that result in Collisions with the emergency vehicles and with the consequential damages to the vehicles, property, personal injuries and even death as well as the inability of the emergency vehicle to arrive at the place of the emergency. The problems of prior art known systems appears to be in the complexity of the apparatus and therefore rendering the apparatus expensive to implement on a commercial basis. This includes the fact that the detection techniques of some of these prior art devices are narrowly defined for certain types of sirens and/or signals to be sensed. To a large extent, the known prior art devices are designed with the microphones sensing the siren sounds on the outside of the motor vehicle which subjects the microphone to all environmental noises found in present day traffic conditions and wind noises that may mask the siren sounds or impair operation of the sensing systems for practical uses. There is then, a present need for a method and apparatus for detecting the siren sounds of an emergency vehicle for warning motor vehicle operators of the approaching emergency vehicles in sufficient time for the motorist to take the necessary action to avoid any possible collision with the emergency vehicle and a method and apparatus that is relatively inexpensive and dependable in operation for this purpose by avoiding the problems of prior art systems.

Apparatus for warning of approaching emergency vehicle and method of warning motor vehicle operators of approaching emergency vehicles


A forward swept centrifugal fan wheel comprising a first endring (10), a second endring (11), a plurality of blades (12) connected between the first endring and the second endring, each blade having a substantially continuous arcuate form extending along an axis parallel to an axis of rotation (A-A), and each blade having a substantially continuous arcuate cross-section taken with respect to a plane which extends normally from the axis of rotation (A-A).

Centrifugal fan wheels are used in a wide variety of applications. Many of these applications utilize a centrifugal wheel with a forward curved blade design, often referred to as a forward curved fan. A forward curved fan wheel has the advantage of being relatively compact in size for the amount of air that it can move. In contrast, a centrifugal fan wheel with rearward curved blades is typically larger, or must turn at a greater speed, than a comparable forward curved fan. It is for this reason that forward curved fans are used in many residential, commercial, industrial, and automotive applications.
However, a typical forward curved fan will only provide stable and efficient airflow over a relatively narrow operating range. Conditions which present too high of an airflow restriction may result in unsteady airflow delivery and excessive noise. Likewise, too little airflow restriction can have a similar effect on performance. Because of these limitations forward curved fans must be selected to avoid these undesirable affects, which in many instances will unnecessarily limit design options and lead to less desirable performance or higher costs.
A forward curved fan wheel commonly employs a centerdisk (or centerdisks), a series of blades, and two endrings. The centerdisk is driven by a shaft attached to a motor or some other suitable drive. The center of each blade is attached to the centerdisk with the blade ends secured to the endrings. Further, the blades are straight in that a straightedge will be parallel to the lateral edges of the blades. This geometry is largely responsible for the aerodynamic and acoustic performance limitations described above. The wheels are usually made of steel, although other metals and plastics are used.
Representative of the art is U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,844 which discloses an improved blower wheel is disclosed in which the end rings are formed from flat stock material which has been partially preformed by rolling and cut to the desired length. The center disks are stamped from sheet material which may be of a different gauge than that of the end rings and formed with peripheral notches and a U-shaped crimp to engage the inner section of each of the blades. The arrangement permits selection of center disk material without regard to end ring material, provides versatility in selecting blower wheel size and eliminates production inventory balance problems which occur when the center disk and end rings are stamped from the same material.
What is needed is a forward swept centrifugal fan wheel having blades having a substantially continuous arcuate form extending along an axis parallel to an axis of rotation, and each blade having a substantially continuous arcuate cross-section taken with respect to a plane which extends normally from the axis of rotation. The present invention meets this need.


An improved rhodium-organophosphite complex catalyzed hydroformylation process, the improvement comprising carrying out said process in the presence of a catalytic activity enhancing additive said additive being selected from the class consisting of added water, a weakly acidic compound, or both added water and a weakly acidic compound.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved rhodium-organophosphite complex catalyzed hydroformylation process.
2. Background Art
It is well known in the art organophosphites may be employed as catalyst ligands for rhodium based hydroformylation catalysts and that such catalysts exhibit exceptional activity and regioselectivity for producing aldehydes via olefin hydroformylation. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,668,651 and 4,769,498 fully detail such hydroformylation.
However, despite the benefits attendant with such rhodium-organophosphite complex catalyzed hydroformylation processes, stability of the ligand and catalyst remains a primary concern. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,361 is directed to the use of an organic polymer additive to minimize or prevent the rhodium of a rhodium-diorganophosphite complex catalyst from precipitating from solution during the hydroformylation process.
Moreover, over the course of time, continuous rhodium complex catalyzed hydroformylation processes involving organophosphite ligands produce an undesirable hydroxy alkyl phosphonic acid by-product due to reaction of the organophosphite ligand and aldehyde product thereby causing a loss of ligand concentration. Moreover, the formation of such undesirable acid has been observed to be autocatalytic. The build-up of such acid over time could lead to the precipitation of an insoluble gellatinous by-product, which may plug and/or foul the recycle lines of a continuous reaction system, thus necessitating possible periodic processing shut downs or stoppages to remove such acid and/or precipitate from the system by an appropriate method, e.g., by extraction of the acid with a weak base, e.g., sodium bicarbonate. Alternatively, such a problem may be controlled by passing the liquid reaction effluent stream of the continuous liquid recycle process, either prior to or more preferably, after separation of the aldehyde product therefrom, through a weakly basic anion exchange resin bed, as disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,668,651; 4,717,775 and 4,769,498. A newer and more preferred method for minimizing and/or controlling the problem of such undesirable hydroxy alkyl phosphonic acid by-product resides in the employment of certain epoxide reagents to scavenge such acids, as described, e.g., in assignee's copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 953,015 entitled "Process For Stabilizing Phosphite Ligands", filed concurrently with this present application.
An additional new problem has been observed when certain organobisphosphite ligand promoted rhodium catalysts are employed in such hydroformylation processes. This problem involves a loss in catalytic activity over time during the course of continuous use of such rhodium-bisphosphite complex catalysts, which loss can occur even in the absence of extrinsic poisons, such as chloride or sulfur compounds.
This intrinsic loss in catalytic activity observed when such organobisphosphite ligand promoted rhodium catalyst systems are employed is believed primarily or at least partly due to the formation of a class of diorganophosphite by-products which can best be described as decomposition products of the employed organobisphosphite ligands so employed. This class of diorganophosphite by-products consists of alkyl [1,1'-biaryl-2,2'-diyl] phosphites, the alkyl radical corresponding to the particular n-aldehyde produced by the hydroformylation process and the [1,1'-biaryl-2,2'-diyl] portion of the phosphite being derived from the organobisphosphite ligand employed. For example, the organobisphosphite ligand shown employed in the continuous hydroformylation process of propylene in Example 14 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,498 (referred to as a polyphosphite ligand in said Example 14) will in time, over the course of the continuous hydroformylation process experience an intrinsic decrease in catalytic activity because of the formation of n-butyl [1,1'-biphenyl-2,2'-diyl] phosphite. Such types of alkyl [1,1'-biaryl-2,2'-diyl] phosphites can coordinate with the rhodium metal and form complexes that are less reactive than the preferred organobisphosphite ligand promoted rhodium catalysts. In effect, such types of alkyl [1,1'-biaryl-2,2'-diyl] phosphites so derived act as a catalyst poison or inhibitor, thereby lowering the catalyst activity of the preferred organobisphosphite ligand promoted rhodium catalyst system. More simply, the loss in catalyst activity is a result of the rhodium metal not being utilized to its full potential.

Union Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation


A method of fast fading channel Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) trigger point tracking in an integrated services digital broadcasting (ISDB) receiver includes inputting a signal in a fading channel including N Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, determining an average correlation result of a current time-domain sample of the signal and a previous time-domain sample taken previously of the signal, accumulating the average correlation result for at least one of the OFDM symbols, determining a peak of the average correlation result to obtain a peak position, and identifying the peak position as a trigger point of the input signal. The peak position may be compared with a first trigger point to generate a trigger point error signal. The first trigger point may be set at the middle of a guard of an OFDM symbol to generate the trigger point error signal.

1. Technical Field
The embodiments herein generally relate to wireless communication systems, and, more particularly, to a fast fading channel Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) trigger point tracking in Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB) receivers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a digital data modulating technique, which uses a large number of closely spaced orthogonal sub-carriers. The digital data is modulated to an amplitude and a phase of each of the orthogonal sub-carriers within a transmission band. In a digital broadcasting receiver design of ISDB receivers such as Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-terrestrial (ISDB-T) and Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-terrestrial digital sound broadcasting (ISDB-TSB) for OFDM systems, a major challenge lies in FFT trigger point tracking.
Terrestrial digital broadcasting using an OFDM method is susceptible to inter-symbol interference of multiple sub-carrier waves; the signal obtained is a composite wave resulting from the combination of the multiple sub-carrier waves received by an OFDM receiver. This causes fading (e.g., distortion in a carrier-modulated signal) of the transmitted OFDM symbols. The inter-symbol interference may be avoided by a FFT computation. In an OFDM receiver, the FFT computation such as trigger point tracking is performed by an FFT computing circuit in the receiver, by which the received OFDM signal is demodulated.
Trigger point is a point at which the sampling of an input signal starts. The traditional method for FFT trigger point tracking is based on a channel impulse response of the received OFDM signal. The channel impulse response refers to an output signal (an infinitely high peak) obtained for an input signal in a communication channel. The channel impulse response is usually obtained by performing an inverse FFT (IFFT) of the time-domain interpolated channel estimates or performing an IFFT on the scatter pilots.
For fast fading channel as in OFDM systems, performing an IFFT of the time-domain interpolated channel estimates or on the scatter pilots typically leads to degradation, noisy channel estimates, a short channel impulse response (e.g., due to limited scatter pilot spacing), aliasing (e.g., distortion of a frequency in a signal), and an incorrect trigger point adjustment.
For example, two trigger points which are Tu/12 (e.g., Tu is the useful OFDM symbol time in ISDB-T and ISDB-TSB) apart have the same channel impulse response and generally cannot be distinguished. This poses a problem while interpolating the channel in the frequency domain. Hence, the traditional method of performing an IFFT based on the channel impulse response in the frequency domain is generally not successful in FFT trigger point tracking.

Time domain based approach for fast fading channel FFT trigger point tracking in ISDB receivers


Disclosed is a printing apparatus capable of quickly performing the first printing while managing print requests. More specifically, a print request is received from an external device (S1301), and the received print request is registered in a register (S1304, S1308). Upon reception of the print request, the presence/absence of a print request which is registered in the register is determined (S1302). Print data is requested of the external device (S1306, S1307). The process order of print requests registered in the register is controlled (S1305). If it is determined in a determining step (S1302) that no print request is registered in the register, a print data request step (S1307) is performed before a registration step (S1308). If it is determined in the determining step (S1302) that a print request is registered in the register, the print data request step (S1306) is performed after the registration step (S1304).

Recently, there is proposed a printing control system having a function of managing a network printer while a computer and printing control application cooperate with each other, a function of monitoring the use state of a network, and a function of scheduling print data.
The printing control system controls the order of print requests from a computer, tracks jobs from the start of a print request to the end of printing, and notifies the user of a print status in detail (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-134139).
This control system can control printing by job scheduling, but takes a long time for the first printing (printing on the first sheet while the device is idle) owing to an additional process associated with job scheduling. More specifically, a scheduling process including registration of a requested job, monitoring of the device status, and a printing start instruction is time-consuming. The process time becomes longer than that when no scheduling is performed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-134139 discloses a printer which assigns priority to print data and prints data of high priority without any standby time. However, the disclosed technique does not solve an increase in first print time.

Printing apparatus, network device, printing control method, and printing control program capable of transmitting print image data to printing hardware prior to registration of print job


An object oriented framework mechanism provides a straightforward and convenient way to implement an source code repository for tracking the configuration of various releases of a software product. The source code repository framework includes several classes that are extensible according to the needs of the user. The class relationships define the core function of the framework mechanism. Extensible classes include a source class, a product class, a release class, a version class, a data class, and a lock state class. These extensible classes are extended by a programmer to implement a desired source code repository environment. The framework provides consistent programmer interfaces over a wide variety of different source code repository environments, which greatly enhances programmer efficiency and which makes the resultant code much easier to maintain.

The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely sophisticated devices, including complex combinations of hardware and software. Software products are typically written in a high level language (HLL) in many separate pieces (such as procedures, modules, and objects). For the purposes of convenience in discussing the concepts of the invention disclosed herein, any piece of software that may be separately processed from other pieces are referred to generically herein as "modules", recognizing that a module may be a procedure, an object, or any other suitable piece of software. The HLL version of the software is known as source code. Each source code module is typically processed separately by a software tool known as a compiler, and the modules are then integrated together using a software tool known as a linker. When a change to a program is needed, one or more modules of the program that need to be changed may be changed and compiled without re-compiling unaffected modules. The newly changed and compiled modules may then be linked with the unaffected modules, resulting in a new software product with enhanced capabilities when compared to the previous release.
The modular approach to programming described above gives great flexibility in changing features of a software product. This flexibility, however, requires careful tracking of each different module that makes up a release of the software product. Several different releases may need to be available at any given time, which may require that several different versions of the same module be available at the same time. A storage area for holding all different modules of a software product is referred to herein as a source code repository. Known computer systems track software configurations stored within a source code repository using proprietary code that is programmed for a specific source code repository environment. If a new and different environment is desired, the source code repository software must be modified to accommodate the new environment. Making this type of modification requires an in-depth knowledge of the specific source code repository software being used. No common programming interface is used, and reusing code on one system in a different environment may be unpractical. Without a mechanism that can be readily customized and extended to provide a source code repository that has the desired functionality, the time required to program and maintain source code repository software will be excessively long and expensive.

Object oriented framework mechanism for a source code repository

International Business Machines Corporation


A trash container with a lid is emptied by a mechanical lifting device. A latch bar is provided that is engaged by the lift when the container is inverted. The latch bar is mounted in openings on both sides of a wide recess on the front wall of the container. The outer ends of the latch bar extend through the openings into the inside of the container and are accommodated with a clearance portion of a lower stacked container when the containers are stacked together for shipment. The lid is initially assembled in an open position with the lid hanging down vertically. After closing the lid for the first time by rotation of the lid through 270°, a hinge stop prevents the lid from being rotated back to the original position. The hinge stop supports the lid in an open position that is rotated about 110° from the closed position.

The invention relates to a trash can or container with a hinged lid of the type used for curbside refuse pickup.
Large trash can receptacles with hinged lids are used for curbside pickup by refuse trucks. The cans are typically large enough to hold many pounds of trash and are equipped with wheels to roll from a residence to a curbside location for pickup. An operator of the refuse truck guides an articulated, mechanical arm to lift the container from a reinforced flange and a latch bar provided on the front wall of the can. Then, the can is inverted to allow the lid to open and the contents to fall by force of gravity out of the inverted can into the refuse truck bin. The reverse operation leaves the can at its curbside location after it has been dumped.

Hinged lid trash can for curbside refuse pickup


An earth orbit satellite control system which provides automatic, continuous correction of phase and frequency in order to maintain synchronization between the satellite and a Global Positioning System (GPS). The system achieves phase and frequency synchronization by disciplining the satellite's reference oscillator by phase locking it to timing pulses received from the GPS. The system comprising a state machine controller which cycles the disciplined oscillator into both a closed-loop operation wherein the oscillator is phase-locked to the GPS timing pulses, and an open-loop operation wherein a previously stored GPS timing pulse, or commands from a ground station, drive oscillator phase and frequency synchronization.

A highly reliable timing and frequency reference is essential for wireless communication systems that use either digital or analog technologies. Synchronization to a standard timing and frequency reference is particularly important when the communication system employs multiple digital or analog components. Earth orbit satellite networks are examples of these type of communication systems.
Time and frequency synchronization of a terrestrial receiver to a GPS satellite system is known, as is evidenced by, for example, Absolute Time Corporation's Model 100A/B GPS Clock; Datum, Incorporated's Model bc627AT GPS Satellite Receiver; Hewlett-Packard's Models HP 58000A and HP 58503A; and TrueTime's Model GPS-705 Receiver. In these conventional systems, the terrestrial receiver accomplishes time and frequency synchronization by locking itself to signals from the GPS. This locking feature is implemented by disciplining the receiver's reference oscillator to input time and frequency signals received from the GPS. The synchronization can be remotely monitored for accuracy. If an inaccurate condition is detected, time and/or frequency correction is allowed. However, the correction techniques require intervention by ground commands.
Currently, earth orbit satellite networks do not employ this technique of time and frequency synchronization using a GPS system. Thus, there is a need for a system which maintains the synchronization between a satellite's time and/or frequency and that of the GPS system.

Spacecraft disciplined reference oscillator


An automatic reduction-ratio changing apparatus comprises a planetary gear mechanism including a sun gear, planet gears, and an internal gear. When a load, which exceeds a predetermined torque, is applied to the internal gear, a pawl of a lock lever is engaged with a ratchet section of a housing to stop the rotation of the internal gear and lock the internal gear. When a displaceable member of an actuator is displaced from an outward route to a homeward route, the rotation of a motor is reversed, and an input shaft and a cam are rotated in a reverse direction to release from the locked state. Accordingly, the speed reduction ratio, which is transmitted from an output shaft to the actuator, is automatically switched.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic reduction-ratio changing apparatus which makes it possible to automatically change the speed reduction ratio transmitted from an output shaft to a displaceable member of an actuator by using a planetary gear mechanism, an internal gear lock mechanism, and an internal gear lock release mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
A nut runner, which is an automatic tightening tool for screws of, for example, nuts and bolts, is known as an apparatus to which a speed reduction ratio changing mechanism is applied.
The nut runner of this type comprises a sun gear and planet gears. The sun gear and the planet gears, which function as a first speed reduction section and which constitute a planetary gear mechanism, are provided at an end of a drive shaft of an air motor. A first output shaft, which is integrally connected to the planet gears of the first speed reduction section, has a decreased number of revolutions so that the output torque thereof is large. The nut runner further comprises second and third speed reduction sections each of which comprises a planetary gear mechanism as well. The second and third speed reduction sections are connected to the first speed reduction section so that the speed is further reduced. Accordingly, a high torque is generated on a nut-tightening socket which is installed to an output shaft of the third speed reduction section. Thus, the nut is tightened by means of the output torque.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-295278, which relates to a nut runner as described above, discloses the following system. That is, an internal gear, which is included in a planetary gear mechanism as a speed reduction section, is rotatable. Further, a clutch section is arranged for the internal gear, in which an output shaft and the internal gear are rotated in an integrated manner when no load is applied to the output shaft. When some load is applied to the output shaft, the rotation of the internal gear is stopped, and the output shaft is rotated at a reduced speed by the clutch section.
However, if the technical concept disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-295278 is applied, for example, to an actuator which reciprocates such as a piston rod of a fluid pressure cylinder and a slider of a linear actuator, the speed reduction ratio cannot be switched or changed even when an air motor is reversed, because it is impossible to disengage the bitten roller. In this situation, the piston rod or the slider, which has been displaced along the outward or outgoing route, cannot be displaced thereafter at a high speed along the homeward or return route.
In other words, the following reason may be pointed out. In the case of the technical concept disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-295278, after the rotation of the internal gear is stopped and the high torque is generated at the terminal end of the outward route, the displacement is performed at a low speed along the homeward route while retaining the state in which the rotation of the internal gear is stopped, without switching the speed reduction ratio.

Automatic reduction-ratio changing apparatus


In a test case selection apparatus according to the present invention, a parameter setting unit 22 displays a test case selection dialogue 400, etc., on a display screen of a display section 40, and test cases that are tentatively determined to be tested in the current round of testing is selected based on various parameters received from the operator. A simulation executing unit 23 calculates a time period predicted to be required for testing test cases, and displays the prediction result in the form of a graph indicating a temporal change in the number of tests. With this configuration, the user can predict an achieved status of testing based on the prediction result, and repeat suitable changes to the various parameters, thereby suitably selecting test cases to obtain a preferably achieved status of testing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for testing a software system, and particularly to a technique for narrowing down test cases when repeatedly executing tests.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, there have been various known software system development methodologies, including the "waterfall development methodology", the "prototype development methodology" and the "spiral development methodology". Software system development phases of these various development methodologies include "requirements definition", "designing", "programming", "testing" and so on. Among these phases, testing of a software system is generally carried out in accordance with a test specification. The test specification describes for each test case a test method, conditions for determining a pass or fail (a success or failure), and so on.
In software system development, the above-mentioned phases are sometimes repeated. In such a case, testing is repeatedly performed on test cases originally generated during development or test cases generated in accordance with, for example, specification changes. However, in the software system development, it is sometimes difficult to test all test cases for reasons of limitations in development time, human resources and so on. In such a case, it is necessary to select test cases that are to be tested in the current phase from all test cases. Where the number of test cases is small, test case selection can be carried out relatively easily even if it is carried out manually. However, as the number of test cases increases, the manual test case selection becomes difficult.
Therefore, conventionally, test case selection in accordance with, for example, importance levels of test cases are carried out by computer software processing. Specifically, the test cases are classified into ranks H, M and L (High, Middle and Low, respectively) in accordance with their importance levels, and the test case selection is performed, for example, such that only rank-H test cases are tested or only rank-H and rank-M test cases are tested.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-99283 discloses a design support method for designing optimal test cases, in which system characteristics are represented by characteristic values based on a plurality of evaluation perspectives, regarding specification items extracted from a system specification, and a testing strategy suitable for the system targeted for the testing is generated and selected, thereby deriving testing priority levels indicating specification items that are to be preferentially tested.
However, according to the above-described conventional art, the test cases are automatically selected in accordance with their priority or importance levels, which are set based on characteristics, etc., of the software system, and therefore it is possible to save a test case designer or administrator the trouble, but it is not possible to suitably change the set priority or importance levels, and thereby to change the number of test cases that are to be selected. In particular, it is necessary to repeatedly select suitable test cases (specifically, a suitable number of test cases) through a trial and error process, considering various factors, such as the set priority or importance levels, and thereby to predict (simulate) an achieved status of testing, in order to enhance the quality of testing, i.e., the quality of the software system that is to be tested, considering a limited remaining development time. However, the above-described conventional art does not particularly take such changes into consideration.
In addition, an apparatus user, such as the designer or administrator, might determine some test cases to be tested without fail, regardless of the set priority or importance levels, or conversely some test cases might be determined not to be tested. However, according to the above-described conventional art, it is not possible to select the test cases based on such determinations.

Test case selection apparatus and method, and recording medium


An output device is set to a first state in which a value of a first characteristic of the output device is set to a first value. Pixel adjustment values for plural gray levels are set to first pixel adjustment values in response to the output device being set to the first state. The value of the first characteristic is changed from the first value to a second value to set the output device to a second state. The pixel adjustment values for the plural gray levels are updated to second pixel adjustment values in response to the output device being set to the second state. The second pixel adjustment values are derived based on the second value of the first characteristic. Pixel values applied to a plurality of pixels of the output device are corrected based on the second pixel adjustment values.

This disclosure relates generally to dynamically correcting gray tracking for output devices. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, this disclosure relates to updating the correction applied to each color channel for a display device based on dynamically changing display characteristics such as white point, black point, and the like.
Modern consumer electronic devices incorporate display devices (e.g., liquid crystal display (LCD), organic light emitting diode (OLED), plasma, digital light processing (DLP), and the like) to exchange information with users and to impart visual impression. Operation characteristics of the display devices may vary from device to device, even in the same product line or manufacturing line, due to inherent properties of the display devices. For example, variations may exist in LCD components, such as backlight variations due to light emitting diode (LED) wavelength and phosphor concentration, color filter thickness, and the like. Thus, each display device may have slightly different color characteristics, white points, and the like.
Further, modern consumer electronic devices (especially, mobile devices) are increasingly being used in a multitude of different environments with different and changing lighting and/or ambient conditions (e.g., home, office, home theater, outdoors, and the like). In order to keep a viewer's perception of the displayed data relatively stable despite changes in the ambient conditions in which the display device is being viewed, image processing techniques may be employed to modify display characteristics (e.g., white point, black point, gamma, and the like) of the display device to cause the display device to adapt to the user. For example, the white point may be moved to a perceptually warmer, less blue light in a night-time environment to give a more soothing experience to the user. As another example, a color ambient light sensor may be employed to understand illumination in an environment and move the display characteristics (e.g., white point, black point, gamma, and the like) to integrate the display device into the perceptual space of the user, leading to poor gray tracking. When pixel adjustment values generated during gray tracking calibration based on a target white point are applied to pixel data after the white point is moved to a different point, the output gray levels tend to have a wandering hue that varies for gray intensity levels from black to the current set white point. That is, although the hue for different gray levels is expected to move when the white point is moved, the hue is expected to move in the same manner and consistently across all gray levels, not in a different manner for different gray levels.

Gray tracking across dynamically changing display characteristics


A quick connect/disconnect system for connecting and disconnecting an object, such as an archery release aid, to a wrist strap on a human wrist has a first member adapted to be attached to the wrist strap and a second member adapted to be attached to the object. The first and second members fit together coaxially and can be released by movement of a single lever.

This application relates to a device for removably connecting an object to a wrist strap. In a preferred embodiment the invention relates to an archery bowstring release aid that is attached to an archer's wrist by a quick release mechanism.
Archery release aids have been developed to assist archers in shooting modern archery bows. A release aid assists an archer when drawing the bowstring back and then further assists the archer when releasing the bowstring. Thus, release aids commonly provide some type of triggering device for smoothly releasing the bowstring. Examples of prior art archery release aids are shown in: U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,213, Aug. 5, 1997, to Linsmeyer for "Bow String Release with Trigger Having Multiple Bow String Securing Positions"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,214, Aug. 5, 1997, to Lunn for "Pivotal Bowstring Release Mechanism"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,997, May 23, 1989, to Greene for "Wrist Strap."
Release aids are generally attached to wrist straps to ensure that the archer does not accidentally drop the release aid which could result in harm to the archer or damage to the bow and further to ensure that the release aid is readily available in the event a shot presents itself Some release aids are attached to the archer's wrist via a wrist strap, e.g., a Velcro® or buckle wrist strap such as is shown in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,997. Release aids are usually joined to wrist straps with a rope or straight-shaft mechanism. In some cases the mechanism can be adjusted to fit an archer's draw length, i.e., distance between the archer's wrist and fingers. However, prior art designs do not offer a means for readily detaching and reattaching the release aid to the wrist strap without removing the entire assembly from the wrist.
While release aids have been beneficial to the archer, there remains a need for improvement. Release aids, which are fixedly attached to a wrist strap when not in use, are problematic. For example, when the archer is not engaged in shooting, the release aid dangles from the wrist and interferes with non-shooting tasks. Dangling release aids tend to snag on clothes, backpacks, and other equipment and the free movement of the release aid tends to interfere with tasks requiring free hands. Although some release aid designs allow the release aid to fold out of the way, tuck away into a shirtsleeve, or pivot back and forth, such designs are somewhat cumbersome.
Fixedly attached release aids can also be an unwanted source of noise and missed shot opportunities. While wearing a release aid, it is difficult to install screw-in or rope tree-steps, climbing sticks, climbing and fixed position deer stands, etc., without clanking the free-swinging release aid against something.
Because of the problems described above, archers often remove their wrist straps and release aids from their wrists while en route to their hunting site. However, the time required to reattach the assembly to the wrist can result in missing a shot opportunity. To reduce the time required to reattach/detach a release aid to/from the wrist, Velcro® has been incorporated into wrist straps. Unfortunately, the loud, unnatural sound that comes from removing or attaching the release aid to the wrist with Velcro® can spook game, resulting in missed shot opportunities. A quiet alternative to Velcro® designs are buckle-type wrist straps, which are quiet when putting on, but take considerable time to attach and detach and, or course, have the disadvantage of the dangling release aid banging on equipment if not detached.
It would be desirable to have a system having a wrist strap with a quick release mechanism that would allow an archer to quickly, quietly, and easily attach and detach an archery release aid to/from a wrist. Accordingly, the present invention provides a release aid which can be readily attached and detached from an archer's wrist without removing the wrist strap, hence, there is no need to suffer a dangling release aid which hinders the archer or produces game spooking noise. Furthermore, the present invention provides a release aid, which can be quietly detached or reattached at any time with minimal effort whenever desired by the archer. Thus, the present invention avoids game spooking noise associated with Velcro wrist straps or time fumbling with buckles. The archer can perform a plethora of tasks without interference of the release aid by simply removing the release aid from the wrist strap. Then, for example, the archer may add or remove clothing, use any accessory while hunting such as binoculars, range finder, or rattling antlers used to lure deer to the hunter by simulating a fight, or simply put hands inside of pockets or muffler for warmth. Of course, the wrist strap may be attached before leaving the vehicle to reduce noise en route and at the hunting site where the release aid may be simply reattached to the wrist strap.
In addition to the above advantages, the release aid of the present invention is convenient and easy to use and is inexpensive to manufacture. Further understanding of the present invention will be had from the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

System for removably connecting an object to a wrist strap


The invention provides a method, system and computer program product for determining the configuration of a data processing system at the time a transaction was processed. A transaction is received from a client device and tracked through the data processing network. Each processing node within the data processing network is assigned a unique identifier which identifies the configuration of the processing node. As the transaction is routed from one processing node to the next, the unique identifier of the processing node is stored to form a transaction path. Once the transaction has been committed to storage, a unique value is generated uniquely identifying a particular transaction path permutation.

Organizations use computer systems to carry out a variety of business tasks, for example accounting, on-line processing and financial forecasting etc. Each type of organization is required to meet certain regulatory requirements with regards to the data that is gathered. For example, in the financial sector, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has imposed stringent record retention requirements on financial brokers involving secure long term archival and retrieval of customer correspondence, including audit trails for both retrieval and disposition.
Regulatory compliance not only requires the retention of data for extended periods of time, but also to demonstrate the computer systems' configuration and the process by which data was gathered in the event of a legal dispute surrounding the content of a particular element of data. An example of this can be found in the Insurance Industry. When a customer purchases an insurance policy over a computer network such as the Internet, the customer is required to surrender certain information pertaining to himself or herself, for example, details about the asset to be insured and the type or insurance coverage the customer wishes to purchase. If at some time in the future a legal dispute arises over the insurance policy, for example, that incorrect details were given, this may affect the type of coverage that a customer was given under his or her insurance policy. As a result, the insurance company may be obligated to reconstruct the configuration of the computer system at the exact time of processing the customer's insurance policy, to determine what output parameters would be generated based on the corrected input parameters.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to determine the configuration of a data processing system at the time a transaction is processed.

Determining the configuration of a data processing system existing at the time a transaction was processed

International Business Machines Corporation


A new Pentas plant named ‘PEZZ0002’ particularly distinguished by the large sized inflorescences and flowers, with blush white colored flowers, dark yellow-green foliage, upright, sturdy and vigorous growth habit, thick stems and branches on a well-branched plant, tolerates hot summer conditions with continuous summer flowering.

The present invention comprises a new Pentas, botanically known as Pentas lanceolata, and hereinafter referred to by the variety name 'PEZZ0002'.
'PEZZ0002' is a product of a planned breeding program. The new cultivar 'PEZZ0002' has large sized inflorescences and flowers, with blush white colored flowers, dark yellow-green foliage, upright, sturdy and vigorous growth habit, thick stems and branches on a well-branched plant, tolerates hot summer conditions with continuous summer flowering.
'PEZZ0002' originates from a cross hybridization of two (2) sibling seedlings in a breeding program made in October 2007, in a greenhouse in Gilroy, Calif. The female parent was identified as 'PEZZ0001' (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 13/998,369) with light-purple flower color.
The male parent of 'PEZZ0002' as a sibling to the female parent, was an unpatented plant identified as '209-3' with lavender flowers. The resultant seed was sown in May 2008 in Gilroy, Calif.
'PEZZ0002' was selected as one flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in September 2008 in a greenhouse in Gilroy, Calif.
The first act of asexual reproduction of 'PEZZ0002' was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were propagated from the initial selection in September 2008 in a greenhouse in Gilroy, Calif.


The present invention addresses compositions and methods for cleaving nucleic acids. The invention allows one to reliably detecting point mutations in long and short target regions of nucleic acids in a safe, non-labor intensive, and cost effective manner. The methods and compositions of the present invention allow for the use of various RNases, such as RNase A, RNase I and RNase T2, in the detection of mutations. The present invention also identifies reaction conditions that result in significant improvement in specific mismatch cleavage in the NIRCA.TM. assay.

1. Field of the invention
The invention relates to improved compositions and methods for the digestion of nucleic acids, specifically, to improved compositions and methods for cleaving base pair mismatches in double-stranded nucleic acid targets. More particularly, the invention concerns novel components of the reaction mixture in which RNase is used to cleave nucleic acids, and in particular base pair mismatches.
2. Description of the Art
The digestion of nucleic acids has important applications in the field of molecular biology. For example, digestion of single base mismatches in RNA/DNA and RNA/RNA targets has been used to detect mutations.
Nucleases are enzymes used to digest nucleic acid. DNases degrade single and/or double-stranded DNA, RNases degrade single and/or double-stranded RNA, and non-specific nucleases such as SI degrade both RNA and DNA, with preference for single-stranded nucleic acid. Nucleases are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of a polynucleotide chain by cleaving the phosphodiester linkage between nucleotide residues. They can be classified as either exonucleases, which cleave nucleotides from the end of the chain, or endonucleases, which cleave from within the chain, and may specifically cleave single stranded or double stranded nucleic acids or both. Nucleases may also act only or preferentially on DNA, DNases, or RNA, RNases, or they may cleave both. Most nucleases cleave the nucleic acids without sequence specificity. However, some nucleases cleave specifically in a particular base or a specific sequence, such as restriction enzymes.
The use of nucleases to digest or cleave nucleic acids is well known in the field of molecular biology. For example, nucleases can be used to digest base pair mismatches that result from point mutations in genes. In the case of detecting mutations by digestion or cleavage the only nucleases which have been widely used are single-strand specific RNases; in particular, RNase A has been used for this purpose.
Methods for rapidly, reliably, and inexpensively detecting new point mutations have wide application in diagnosis and treatment of genetic diseases and cancer, and also in genetic counseling. These methods are of great benefit as well in basic research into the causes of a variety of human genetic diseases and in establishing human genetic linkage maps.
In most genetic diseases, the causative mutations are widely distributed over a large number of sites. Relatively few genetic disorders are caused by defined mutations at single sites; sickle cell anemia is one example of a disease phenotype that is always caused by the same specific mutation (i.e., an A->T transversion at codon 6 of the beta-globin gene). More commonly, genetic diseases, especially cancer, are associated with a number of different mutations in different sites in different arrays of genes. An example of this is breast cancer. For instance, mutations in the recently identified BRCA1 gene, which is thought to be associated with familial breast cancer, are scattered throughout a 5 kilobase coding region. Dispersed mutations in several other genes, including p53, EGFR, IGR, and her2/neu, are also believed to play important roles in breast cancer.
Methods for genetic screening by identifying mutations associated with most genetic diseases and cancer must be able to assess large regions of the genome. Once a relevant mutation has been identified in a given patient, other family members and affected individuals can be screened using methods which are targeted to that site. The ability to detect dispersed point mutations is critical for genetic counseling, diagnosis, and early clinical intervention as well as for research into the etiology of cancer and other genetic disorders. The ideal method for genetic screening would quickly, inexpensively, and accurately detect all types of widely dispersed mutations in genomic DNA, cDNA, and RNA samples, depending on the specific situation. Currently there are no methods which achieve these goals.
Historically, a number of different methods have been used to detect point mutations, including denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis ("DGGE"), restriction enzyme polymorphism analysis, chemical and enzymatic cleavage methods, and others (Cotton, 1989). The more common procedures currently in use include direct sequencing of target regions amplified by PCR and single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis ("SSCP").
Direct sequencing of PCR products is considered to be the most reliable method for identifying new mutations. However, sequencing is also the most expensive and labor-intensive genetic screening method. Direct sequencing is typically the most time-consuming step in the identification of point mutations, even with the advent of automated sequencing methods. Further, even DNA sequencing may not give a clear indication of a point mutation in some cases, for example when an individual is heterozygous for that allele. Non-specific background signals are often present in sequencing reactions, appearing as coincident bands on the sequencing ladder in manual sequencing methods using radioisotopes (Cheng and Haas, 1992), or appearing as non-specific fluorescent peaks in automated sequencing reactions. The main causes of this type of background are premature termination during the extension reaction and non-specific priming. Due to these limitations, and to the time and expense involved in sequencing large regions of DNA, direct sequencing is more practical as a tool to identify the specific nucleotide alterations in samples known to contain mutations, rather than as a primary screening method to assess large regions of the genome. Therefore, preliminary screening methods are needed to identify samples that contain mutations, and avoid the unnecessary labor, expense, and time needed for sequencing samples which do not contain mutations.
The most common screening method currently in use is SSCP. This method involves amplification of target regions, usually less than 300 bp long, which are denatured and separated on thin, native polyacrylamide gels. Point mutations are detected as mobility differences between wild-type controls and experimental samples. One drawback of SSCP is the requirement for radiolabeled material for analysis, due to the small mass amounts of the double-stranded DNA samples that must be used to prevent reannealing of the complementary strands after denaturation. Another disadvantage of SSCP is that the gels typically require long running periods (6-18 hours or longer) at high voltages, usually in a cold room with recirculation of the running buffer. These electrophoresis parameters are awkward, labor-intensive, hazardous, and require the use of expensive and specialized equipment. In addition, no single, optimal electrophoresis condition or gel composition for detection of mutations by SSCP, has yet been discovered. Therefore, each sample is typically assessed on multiple gels (for example, with and without 10% glycerol, or at room temperature and 4.degree. C.). Further, as the size of the target region assessed by SSCP increases, the detection rate decreases. For example, in one study, the detection rate decreased to 57% in 307 bp targets (Sarker et al., 1992). Therefore, SSCP is not effective for screening large regions of the genome in a single step.
Another method of screening for point mutations is based on RNase cleavage of base pair mismatches in RNA/DNA and RNA/RNA heteroduplexes. As used herein, the term "mismatch" is defined as a region of one or more unpaired or mispaired nucleotides in a double-stranded RNA/RNA, RNA/DNA or DNA/DNA molecule. This definition thus includes mismatches due to insertion/deletion mutations, as well as single and multiple base point mutations. U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,773 describes an RNase A mismatch cleavage assay that involves annealing single-stranded DNA or RNA test samples to an RNA probe, and subsequent treatment of the nucleic acid duplexes with RNase A. After the RNase cleavage reaction, the RNase can be inactivated by proteolytic digestion and organic extraction, and the cleavage products are denatured by heating and analyzed by electrophoresis on denaturing polyacrylamide gels. For the analysis of cleavage products, the single-stranded products of the RNase A treatment are electrophoretically separated according to size and compared to similarly treated control duplexes. Currently available RNase mismatch cleavage assays, including those performed according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,773, require the use of radiolabeled RNA probes. The use of radiolabeled probes has many drawbacks, including the expense of the isotope, the time delay required for film exposure, and, particularly, the hazard radioisotopes present to workers during their synthesis, purification, and use at close range in the assay. The problems and costs associated with disposal of radioactive waste are also serious and well-documented. Further drawbacks of RNase mismatch cleavage assays in their present form, include the fact that only about one half to two thirds of point mutations are detected (Myers et al., 1985; Theophillus et al., 1989; Grompe, 1993). In light of these limitations, RNase mismatch cleavage assays have largely fallen into disuse.
The inventor has recently filed a U.S. patent application (Application No. 08/371,531, incorporated herein by reference) disclosing an RNase protection assay in which RNA transcripts of test sample and controls are produced by in vitro transcription of PCR products containing opposable T7 and SP6 phage promoter sequences. No radioisotopes are required in the disclosed method, termed non-isotopic RNase cleavage assay ("NIRCA.TM."), since the dual amplification steps of PCR and in vitro transcription yield large amounts (several micrograms) of target substrate, which permits the cleavage products to be visualized directly under UV light, when stained with ethidium bromide.
Sensitivity (i.e., the ability to detect 100% of all mutations) and specificity (lack of false positives) are important requirements for widespread acceptance of any new method for genetic screening. Even though the NIRCA.TM. method is a considerable improvement over past systems, there is still a drawback in that not all point mutations are detected by NIRCA.TM.. For example, while 90% of 30 point mutations were detected in an X-linked gene in the initial controlled study reported in the 08/371,531 application (along with two false positives in the 19 normal controls), the detection rate in a heterozygous system is likely to be less. In a clinical/diagnostic setting, where the majority of samples are normal in any give locus, the occurrence of even a low percentage of false positives could result in higher than desirable error rates. Of greater concern in clinical settings is the occurrence of false negatives, since overlooked mutations may result in improper diagnosis, treatment, and counseling. The reduced sensitivity of NIRCA.TM., relative to more laborious and expensive screening methods (e.g., SSCP, DGGE, direct sequencing) is its major disadvantage. A method to improve the sensitivity of the NIRCA.TM. assay would increase its utility for mutation detection and genetic analysis in many areas of basic and applied research, as well as in clinical/diagnostic settings.
Myers and Maniatis in U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,773 describe the detection of base pair mismatches using RNase A. Non-specific cleavage seen with RNase A has been a significant problem (Theophillus et al., 1989; Maniatis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,773). RNase A levels needed for optimum cleavage of mismatches are so high as to cause significant non-specific cleavage in the no-mismatch controls. Non-specific cleavage by RNase I has also been reported to be a problem when using this enzyme for mismatch detection. In the only currently known example of a method that employs RNase I for mismatch cleavage, the amount of RNase I used to cleave mismatches results in partial degradation of the base paired duplex. (Promega Technical Manual, 1994). Non-specific cleavage of the double-stranded duplex makes interpretation of the data more difficult and error-prone. Indeed, the two false-positive samples the inventor misidentified in an initial controlled study may be attributed to the high background of non-specific cleavage products.
Subsequent to the issue of the Myers and Maniatis patent, the E. coli enzyme, RNase I, which had been characterized as having a broader substrate specificity, was tested by the inventor for use in mismatch assays. This suggests that RNase I is a desirable enzyme to employ in the detection of base pair mismatches if components can be found to decrease the extent of non-specific cleavage and increase the frequency of cleavage of mismatches.
Unfortunately, the use of RNase I has proven difficult. The use of RNase I for mismatch detection is described in literature from Promega Biotech (Ekenberg and Hudson, 1994). Promega markets a kit containing RNase I that is shown in their literature to cleave three out of four known mismatches, provided the enzyme level is sufficiently high. One drawback of the Promega kit is that a very large amount of the RNase I enzyme must be used. For detection of single base mismatches, the Promega Technical Manual recommends using approximately 100 times more RNase I than is normally used in the standard RNase detection assay.
For example, in a commercial product marketed by Ambion, Inc. (Austin, Tex.) for mutation detection using the NIRCA.TM. method, two different RNase compositions are provided to be tried and adopted at user discretion. One composition contains a combination of RNase A (approximately 0.5 .mu.g/ml) and RNase I (approximately 175 units/ml), and the other contains RNase A only (approximately 14 .mu.g/ml), where these amounts refer to the recommended final working concentrations.
Despite the favorable characteristics of RNase I, the fact that approximately 100 times as much RNase I as RNase A is needed for an assay procedure has effectively prevented the use of RNase I for detecting base pair mismatches. Of even greater concern is the fact that even when the recommended high levels of RNase I are used, many single-base mismatches are not cleaved using the reaction mixture in the Promega Technical Manual (FIG. 1).
Therefore, a need exists for a sensitive technique that reliably detects point mutations in long target regions of nucleic acids in a safe, easy, cost effective way. Particularly advantageous would be such a method that would lend itself to the use of various RNase enzymes and that would not require radioactively labeled components.

Compositions for improving RNase cleavage of base pair mismatches in double-stranded nucleic acids


The female coupling half includes: a body, a plurality of locking bars, a spring, a locking ring, and, a cam. The body includes a plurality of grooves, an exterior, and an internal longitudinal bore. The cam, locking ring and locking bars are movable between first and second positions. The cam in the first position permits the locking ring in first position, urged by the spring, to force the locking bars to a first position in the grooves of the body and to extend the locking bars into the internal longitudinal bore locking the male and females coupling halves. The cam in the second position engages and forcefully urges the locking bars to a second position in the grooves toward the exterior of the body and the locking bars urge the locking ring to a second position further compressing the spring.

United States Patent Publication No. US2007/0278791, published Dec. 6, 2007, states in the Abstract, as follows: "The female rapid coupling element (A) is adapted to receive a male element (B) by insertion along a longitudinal axis (X-X′). It is equipped with at least one locking member (40), movable on an oblique axis (X27-X′27) and provided with an end (40b) intended to be engaged in a groove (16) of a male element (B). A head (40e) of the member is provided with at least one lug defining a first surface (40h), oriented towards the end (40b) and adapted to receive in sliding contact a corresponding surface (33b) of a first component (33). The sliding plane (P1) between these surfaces (40h, 33b) is inclined at an angle of between around 75° and 105° with respect to the axis (X27-X′27) of translation of the member (40). According to the invention, the head (40e) has two lugs arranged on either side of a rod for connection between the end (40b) and the head."
U.S. Pat. No. 7,766,393, issued Aug. 3, 2010, states in the Abstract as follows: "A female element for a coupling that includes a body having a duct for receiving a male element along a coupling axis (X-X′) and a locking member including a locking portion, a connecting portion, and a control portion, wherein the locking member extends along the axis (X-X′) and is movable between a locked and an unlocked position, and wherein an annular element moves the locking member from the locked to the unlocked position and a resilient member urges the locking member to the locked position, and the female element includes a lateral guide for the connecting portion and the control portion, and a surface of the locking portion that is to come into contact with the male element generally having a shape of a portion of a surface of revolution and a width, in a circumferential direction, that is greater than a width of the control portion and the connecting portion."
U.S. Pat. No. 7,309,083, issued Dec. 18, 2007, states in the Abstract as follows: "A female element for a quick connection for removably joining pipes of fluid under pressure and which is adapted to receive a male element. The female element includes at least one locking member movable within a guide channel that extends transverse with respect to an axis of fit of the male and female elements and which member has one end which is configured and adapted to be cooperatively engaged in a peripheral groove of the male element. The locking member is also provided with a tab which projects radially with respect to a body of the female element and which is cooperatively engaged by two portions of a control ring that is movable over the body of the female element in order to move the locking member within the guide channel between an inner locking position and an outer release position."
U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,524, issued Jun. 3, 1997, states in the Abstract as follows: "A quick disconnect coupler for releasably coupling pipes which incorporates a valve assembly including a valve sleeve, a ring surrounding the sleeve, a spring for resiliently urging the ring relative to the sleeve and a valve seat carried by the ring, which valve assembly may be inserted within a principal member of a female element of the connector and be frictionally retained therein until being mechanically retained by a rear member selectively insertable within the principal member."


The antioxidant according to the present invention contains a polyurethane compound represented by the following formula (1):

Polyurethane elastic fibers possess high elongation and superior elasticity, and are widely used for various clothing materials. However, polyurethane elastic fibers are easily colored and deteriorated due to light, heat, combustion gas, or the like. In order to avoid such coloration and deterioration, various stabilization methods such as the blending of a stabilizer have been proposed.
Japanese Examined Patent Application, Second Publication No. S62-043480 discloses a stabilizer for a polyurethane obtained from a specific trifunctional phenol compound and an organic diisocyanate compound. As the trifunctional phenol compound, a hindered phenol compound having steric hindrance is used, and as the organic diisocyanate compound, an aliphatic or alicyclic diisocyanate compound is used. Japanese Examined Patent Application, Second Publication No. S63-058851 discloses a method for stabilizing a polyurethane in which a specific hindered phenol compound having an acrylate group is subjected to a Michael addition reaction to the terminal amino group of the polyurethane. Japanese Examined Patent Application, Second Publication No. H05-024246 discloses that a polyurethane elastic fiber which is stable even for dry cleaning can be obtained by using a polycondensate of p-cresol and dicyclopentadiene as a stabilizer.
In general, a polyurethane polymer used for polyurethane elastic fibers is a relatively unstable polymer. In order to prevent gelation and achieve stable spinning, both the terminals of the polyurethane polymer are subjected to chain extension of a prepolymer with a diamine or a diol as described in Japanese Examined Patent Application, Second Publication No. S62-043480, Japanese Examined Patent Application, Second Publication No. S63-058851, and Japanese Examined Patent Application, Second Publication No. H05-024246, and at the same time, subjected to an inactive treatment with a terminal stopper.

Method for producing antioxidant and method for producing elastic polyurethane fiber

Abstract: (wherein Y1 is a residue of a diol, and plural Y1s may be the same or different, R1 is a residue of an aromatic diisocyanate, and plural R1s may be the same or different, X1 is a residue of a hindered phenol compound having at least k hindered phenolic hydroxyl groups, and plural X1s may be the same or different, m is an integer of 1 or more, n is an integer of 1 or more, and k is an integer of 2 or more).