The invention provides isolated nucleic acid molecules, designated PGC-1β nucleic acid molecules, which encode novel PGC-1 related coactivator molecules. The invention also provides antisense nucleic acid molecules, recombinant expression vectors containing PGC-1β nucleic acid molecules, host cells into which the expression vectors have been introduced, and nonhuman transgenic animals in which a PGC-1β gene has been introduced or disrupted. The invention still further provides isolated PGC-1β proteins, fusion proteins, antigenic peptides and anti-PGC-1β antibodies. Diagnostic and therapeutic methods utilizing compositions of the invention are also provided.

The transcriptional function of many nuclear receptors (NRs) is regulated by ligand-dependent recruitment of coactivators to the carboxyl-terminal ligand-binding domain (Aranda, A., and Pascual, A. (2001) Physiol. Rev. 81:1269–1304; Rosenfeld, M. G. and Glass, C. K. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276:36865–36868). A number of coactivators, including the p160 family, p300/CBP and P/CAF, contain intrinsic histone acetyl transferase activity and regulate transcription by modulating histone acetylation (Aranda and Pascual (2001) supra). Other coactivators, consisting of heterogeneous proteins with little sequence homology, modulate transcription by acting as protein docking interfaces that recruit histone acetyl transferase-containing complexes or associate with basal transcription factors such as RNA polymerase II holoenzyme (Freedman, L. P. (1999) Cell 97:5–8). The interaction between NRs and many coactivators requires a conserved LXXLL motif (L is leucine and X is any amino acid), which is believed to form hydrophobic contacts with the receptors (Nolte, R. T. et al. (1998) Nature 395:137–143; Westin, S. et al. (1998) Nature 395:199–202).
PGC-1 was initially identified as a PPARγ-interacting protein from a brown adipose tissue (BAT) library and was subsequently found to associate with an array of NRs and transcription factors (Puigserver, P. et al. (1998) Cell 92:829–839; Wu, Z. et al. (1999) Cell 98:115–124; Vega, R. B. et al. (2000) Mol. Cell. Biol. 20:1868–1876; Michael, L. F. et al. (2001) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98:3820–3825). Importantly, PGC-1 has been shown to coordinately regulate the program of mitochondrial biogenesis and adaptive thermogenesis in BAT and skeletal muscle, mainly through the coactivation of PPARs and nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1), a nuclear transcription factor that regulates the expression of many mitochondrial genes (Puigserver et al. (1998) supra; Wu et al. (1999) supra). In transgenic mice, PGC-1 increases mitochondrial biogenesis and β-oxidation of fatty acids in the heart, likely through augmentation of PPARα and NRF1 transcriptional activity (Lehman, J. J. et al. (2000) J. Clin. Invest. 106:847–856). Recently, PGC-1 expression was found to be elevated in fasted liver and several models of type-1 and type-2 diabetes; in addition, PGC-1 can directly control the activation of hepatic gluconeogenesis (Yoon, J. C. et al. (2001) Nature 413:131–138; Herzig, S. et al. (2001) Nature 413:179–183).

PGC-1β, a novel PGC-1 homologue and uses therefor


The current invention relates to enhancing gene expression in a plant during abiotic stress. More specifically the invention relates to a promoter that could be used to drive the expression of structural genes or other DNA sequences. We disclose the sequence of the promoter and give examples showing the function of the promoter.

One of the goals of plant genetic engineering is to produce plants with agronomically important characteristics or traits. Recent advances in genetic engineering have provided the requisite tools to transform plants to contain and express foreign genes (Kahl et al. (1995) World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 11:449-460). Particularly desirable traits or qualities of interest for plant genetic engineering would include, but are not limited to, resistance to insects and other pests and disease-causing agents, tolerances to herbicides, enhanced stability, yield, or shelf-life, environmental tolerances, and nutritional enhancements. The technological advances in plant transformation and regeneration have enabled researchers to take pieces of DNA, such as a gene or genes and incorporate the exogenous DNA into the plant's genome. The gene or gene(s) can then be expressed in the plant cell to exhibit the added characteristic(s) or trait(s).
Promoters are regulatory elements that play an integral part in the overall expression of a gene or gene(s). It is advantageous to have a variety of promoters to tailor gene expression such that a gene or gene(s) is transcribed efficiently at the correct time during plant growth and development, in a location in the plant, and/or in the amount necessary to produce the desired effect. In one case, for example, constitutive expression of a gene product may be beneficial in one location of the plant, but less beneficial in another part of the plant. In other cases, it may be beneficial to have a gene product produced at a certain developmental stage of the plant, or in response to certain environmental or chemical stimuli. The commercial development of genetically improved germplasm has also advanced to the stage of introducing multiple traits into crop plants, also known as a gene stacking approach. In this approach, multiple genes conferring different characteristics of interest can be introduced into a plant. It is important when introducing multiple genes into a plant, that each gene is modulated or controlled for expression and that the regulatory elements are diverse, to reduce the potential of gene silencing which can be caused by processes including but not limited to recombination or methylation of homologous sequences. In light of these and other considerations, it is apparent that control of gene expression and regulatory element diversity are important in plant biotechnology.
Therefore a need exists for promoters that have been shown to direct the transcription of genes during stressful conditions. A promoter that upregulates endogenous gene expression when the plant within which it resides was placed in a stressful condition could be used to drive heterologous genes from a number of different pathways, including but not limited to signaling molecules, transcription factors, or enzymes that could provide tolerance to the stresses that induced transcription from the endogenous promoter, or other genes. This upregulation of genes could lead to better yield through enhancement of the transgenic plant's tolerance for stress.

Plant regulatory sequences for selective control of gene expression


A positive electrode active material includes a center portion including a first lithium transition metal oxide with an average composition represented by Formula 1,Li1+a1(Nib1Coc1Mnd1Ale1M1f1)O2  [Formula 1]                wherein, in Formula 1, −0.1≤a1≤0.2, 0.8≤b1<1.0, 0<c1≤0.2, 0<d1≤0.1, 0<e1≤0.05, 0≤f1≤0.05, b1/c1≤25, and b1/d1≥20, and M1 includes at least one selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ti, Zr, Nb, and W, and        a surface portion including a second lithium transition metal oxide with an average composition represented by Formula 2,Li1+a2(Nib2Coc2Mnd2Ale2M1f2)O2  [Formula 2]        wherein, in Formula 2, −0.1≤a2≤0.2, 0.6≤b2≤0.95, 0≤c2≤0.2, 0≤d2≤0.1, 0≤e2≤0.05, 0≤f2≤0.05, b2/c2≤13, and b2/d2≥3, and M1 includes at least one selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ti, Zr, Nb, and W.

Demand for secondary batteries as an energy source has been significantly increased as technology development and demand with respect to mobile devices have increased. Among these secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries having high energy density, high voltage, long cycle life, and low self-discharging rate have been commercialized and widely used.
In the lithium secondary battery in a state in which an organic electrolyte solution or a polymer electrolyte solution is filled between a positive electrode and a negative electrode which are respectively formed of active materials capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium ions, electrical energy is produced by oxidation and reduction reactions when the lithium ions are intercalated/deintercalated into/from the positive electrode and the negative electrode.
Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2), lithium nickel oxide (LiNiO2), lithium manganese oxide (LiMnO2 or LiMn2O4, etc.), or a lithium iron phosphate compound (LiFePO4) has been used as a positive electrode active material of the lithium secondary battery. Also, as a method to improve low thermal stability while maintaining excellent reversible capacity of the LiNiO2, a lithium composite metal oxide (hereinafter, simply referred to as 'NCM-based lithium composite transition metal oxide' or 'NCA-based lithium composite transition metal oxide') in which a portion of nickel (Ni) is substituted with cobalt (Co) or manganese (Mn)/aluminum (Al), has been developed. However, since capacity characteristics of conventionally developed NCM-based/NCA-based lithium composite transition metal oxides are insufficient, the NCM-based/NCA-based lithium composite transition metal oxides have been limited in application.
In order to address such limitation, studies have recently been made to increase a nickel (Ni) content in the NCM-based/NCA-based lithium oxides. However, with respect to a high-Ni NCM-based/NCA-based lithium oxide, since an oxidation number of nickel (Ni) tends to remain at 2+, there is a difficulty in finely controlling sintering conditions, such as sintering temperature and sintering atmosphere, in order to form nickel (Ni) having an initial oxidation number of 3+. Also, since crystals grow rapidly during sintering as the content of nickel (Ni) increases, it is difficult to control a crystal size and structural stability and chemical stability of the positive electrode active material are reduced, and thus, there is a limit in improving battery capacity and life characteristics.

Positive electrode active material for lithium secondary battery, method of preparing the same, and positive electrode for lithium secondary battery and lithium secondary battery which include the positive electrode active material


A technique for obtaining checksum in an FFT network composed of N stage modules includes: an adder-multiplier and a first adder respectively connected to two inputs of each stage module, a second and a third adder respectively connected to two outputs of each stage module, a first comparator for comparing the outputs of the first and second adders, and a second comparator for comparing the outputs of the adder-multiplier and third adder, the checksum being calculated at every stage to detect defects.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a technique for resolving defects occurring in a fast fourier transformation (FFT) network, and more particularly, to a technique for obtaining checksum in an FFT network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been proposed time redundancy, hardware redundancy and algorithm mixing the two methods in order to resolve the defects occurring in an FFT network. The time redundancy method is to duplicate the same steps of calculating data in order to detect defects by comparing the two results. The hardware redundancy method is to duplicate the circuits for calculating data. These two methods suffer a drawback in that they require more than 200% overhead for the time or hardware. In addition, the time redundancy method makes it possible to detect a temporary error in transmission, but not a defect inherent in the circuits.
However, the method of using a specific algorithm overcomes such drawbacks by employing partly the time redundancy and partly the hardware redundancy. In this case, the algorithm is applied to the input and output lines of the network. When a package of data is outputted through an FFT network with a checksum obtained by discrete fourier transform (DFT), the output data package is subjected to another calculation procedure to obtain a checksum, which is compared with the previous checksum in order to detect defects occurring in the network. This requires a hardware overhead such as checksum calculation circuits and comparators for comparing the calculated checksums. Such overhead becomes small compared to the hardware redundancy. Moreover, the checksum calculation for the input data is achieved simultaneously during transmission through the FFT network, so that the time overhead is required only for calculating upon the checksum of the output data, thereby reducing the time overhead. This method of using an algorithm has the following drawbacks when applied to the input and output lines of the network:
Firstly, the detection of a defect is made possible only after passing all the stages of an FFT network, resulting in a considerable time delay. For example, a defect occurring in the first stage circuit can be only detected in the last stage when the checksum of the data transmitted to the last stage is obtained and compared with the previous checksum of the input data. This requires retransmission of a large amount of data, degrading the efficiency of processing data.
Secondly, the data error is continuously accumulated through the network so as to mislead the detection of a defect. Namely, the value of the input data is changed by butterfly computation whenever passing each node of the FFT network. Hence, the data error indicating the defect is subjected to alteration through each node, thus misleading the detection.
Thirdly, it is impossible to considerably reduce the overhead ratio of the hardware. The hardware overhead of an FFT network for eliminating defects is generally calculated by the number of the multipliers required in addition. According to this, there is required about 1.2 to 2/log.sub.2 N for a design to presently meet the minimum hardware overhead, where "N" represents the total number of the input data.
The following patents each disclose features in common with the present invention but do not teach or suggest the specifically recited technique for obtaining a checksum in accordance with the present invention: U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,488 to Luo et al., entitled Block Floating Point Mechanism For Fast Fourier Transform Processor, U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,652 to Luo et al., entitled Fast Fourier Transform Address Generator, U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,070 to Hua et al., entitled Transform Processing Circuit, U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,533 to Miyabayashi et al., entitled Method For Operating An FFT Processor, U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,875 to Wong et al., entitled Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) Addressing Apparatus And Method, U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,864 to Gonia et al., entitled Checksum Calculation Unit And Method For Error Detection On Data Packets, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,524 to Callon, entitled Method For Generating A CHecksum.

Technique for obtaining checksum in a fast fourier transformation network


A voicemail platform which provides a voicemail to text conversion service to a user includes a storage system which stores username data for a user of a voicemail to text conversion service, and a processing system. The processing system receives a voicemail message for the user, sends the voicemail message and the username data to a speech engine, receives text from the speech engine which is converted from the voicemail message using the username data to correctly spell all occurrences of the user's name within the voicemail message, and sends the converted text to a device of the user.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to voicemail to text conversion. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a manner of improving the accuracy of a voicemail to text conversion of a user's name.
2. Background Information
A voicemail to text conversion service is a service which converts a voicemail message to text. Typically, a user's name (i.e., a called party's name) will be mentioned at least once in a voicemail message. However, a name is a difficult word for a speech engine to accurately convert to text. Thus, a user of a voicemail to text conversion service may find his or her name to be constantly misspelled in their converted text messages.

System and method for voicemail to text conversion


An array of Fresnel zone plates is illuminated by parallel beamlets of narrow-band electromagnetic radiation. The individual zone plates focus a significant fraction of the incident radiation to foci on a substrate located at least several micrometers distant. The beamlets are capable of being individually turned on or off by shutters, or by deflecting small mirrors that would otherwise direct a beamlet to its Fresnel zone plate. Pattern generation is accomplished by moving the substrate while multiplexing the individual beamlets on or off.

The invention relates to maskless lithography using a multiplexed array of Fresnel zone plates.
Lithography is conventionally performed by a variety of systems and methods. Optical projection lithography employs a reticle (also called a mask) which is then imaged onto a substrate using either refractive or reflective optics, or a combination of the two. The reticle or mask contains the pattern to be created on the substrate, or a representation thereof. Often, but not always, the optics produces a reduction of the reticle image by a factor between 4 and 10. In other cases there is no reduction of magnification, often referred to as 1-to-1 imaging.
X-ray lithography employs a mask held in close proximity (e.g., a gap of zero to 50 micrometers) to the substrate. By passing x-ray radiation through the mask, the pattern on the mask is replicated in a radiation-sensitive film on the substrate. This film is commonly called a "resist".
Electron-beam lithography is often carried out by scanning a well focused electron beam over a substrate coated with a resist. By turning the beam on and off at appropriate times, in response to commands from a control computer, any general 2-dimensional pattern can be created. This form of electron-beam lithography is referred to as a "maskless lithography", since no mask is employed. The pattern is created sequentially, dependent upon commands from a control computer.
Another form of maskless lithography, commercially available from ETEC Corporation of Hayward, Calif., employs an array of light beams which scan across a substrate and are shut on and off in response to commands from a control computer. This system is referred to as an optical pattern generator. The resolution of this system is limited by the numerical aperture of the lenses used and the wavelength of the ultraviolet radiation, in accordance with a well-known relationship: EQU p=.lambda./NA
where p is the minimum resolvable period, .lambda. is the wavelength of the radiation, and NA is the numerical aperture of the lens.
Lithography methods that create a pattern via commands from a control computer have a significant advantage over those that require a mask.
X-ray lithography is considered an attractive approach to manufacturing semiconductor products with minimum size features of 100 nm and below, because of its capabilities for high resolution. For example, linewidths as narrow as 18 nm have been replicated with x-ray lithography. Another attractive feature of x-ray lithography is a near absence of backscattering from the substrate. However, the difficulty and cost of making the x-ray mask, and the problem of distortion in the pattern on the mask due to the stresses in the x-ray absorbing material that forms the pattern, and the lack of stiffness in the membrane that supports the absorber pattern, are considered potential impediments to utilization.
Another potential problem with x-ray lithography, which arises especially when sub-100 nm features are to be replicated, is that the mask-substrate gap, G, must be decreased in accordance with the approximate relationship: EQU G=.alpha.W.sup.2 /.lambda. (1)
where W is the minimum feature size, .lambda. is the x-ray wavelength, and .alpha. is in the range 1 to 1.5. For feature sizes below 50 nm, for example, the gap must be below 4 micrometers. Although such gaps, and even mask-substrate contact, are feasible in research, it is questionable whether this would be acceptable in manufacturing. Clearly, it would be desirable to develop a form of x-ray lithography that avoided the necessity of making a mask and the necessity of utilizing a small gap. This is accomplished by the present invention.

Maskless lithography using a multiplexed array of fresnel zone plates


A receiving apparatus that includes a first and second filter circuit. The first filter performs filtering on a frequency signal with a band-pass characteristic such that a frequency band of a desired channel is included in a passband, thereby obtaining a pass frequency signal. The second filter performs filtering on the pass frequency signal with a filter characteristic such that a frequency band of a channel adjoining the desired channel is included in an attenuation band.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filter circuit that extracts a signal component corresponding to a desired channel from a frequency signal, and a receiving apparatus that includes the filter circuit.
2. Background Art
A superheterodyne receiving apparatus which once converts received radio waves into an intermediate frequency band signal is currently known. A problem with the use of the superheterodyne method is an image signal. To eliminate the image signal, a receiving apparatus using a complex band-pass filter as a filter in an intermediate frequency stage is known (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-515104). A complex band-pass filter inputs intermediate frequency signals having a phase difference of 90° therebetween as a Q signal and an I signal, and passes desired waves and attenuates interfering waves with a desired band-pass characteristic.
For favorable reception performance, the complex band-pass filter desirably has a steep attenuation gradient with which to attenuate image waves or signals of unnecessary bands such as adjoining channels. To steepen the attenuation gradient, the filter order needs to be increased, with an increase in the circuit scale accordingly. Since the complex band-pass filter includes two systems of filters corresponding to the Q and I signals, respectively (for example see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-205962), the amount of increase in the circuit scale due to the increased order is large.


A pseudounipolar stimulator lead for anchoring to a digestive organ is provided.

Digestive organ stimulation using electrodes coupled to the organ have been proposed in a variety of applications. Currently these devices are typically delivered to the organ by way of a laparoscopic surgical procedure, i.e., in which an incision is made in the stomach and the leads are tunneled through the abdominal tissue.
Copending parent application Ser. No. 10/295,128, filed Nov. 14, 2002 and its parent application Ser. No. 09/847,884 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,764 both of which are incorporated in their entirety herein by reference, describe an endoscopically delivered stimulation device that is attached to the inside of the stomach from within the stomach.
Generally bipolar or monopolar leads have been provided in the proposed devices. Monopolar stimulation may cause inadvertent stimulation of tissue adjacent the stimulating lead. Organs immediately adjacent the stomach may have an unintended physiological response to such stimulation.
Accordingly when stimulating the stomach or other digestive organs it may be desirable to concentrate stimulation to a small area. However, digestive organ walls are relatively thin (typically about 10 mm) so that placement of bipolar electrodes on or through the walls in a manner that maintains electrical contact may also cause shunting between the electrodes. Additionally, the mucosa of the stomach has a high impedance further reducing the effectiveness of bipolar electrodes stimulating through the mucosa.

Pseudounipolar lead for stimulating a digestive organ


A storage container for bulk materials includes a rectangular bin containing a an open-ended chamber having a horizontal bottom wall, a pair of vertical side walls and a vertical rear wall, and a pair of parallel spaced centrally-arranged horizontal guide rails that extend longitudinally below the bin, which guide rails have forward end portions that extend outwardly beyond the bin front end. A ramp wall is pivotally connected with the forward end of the bin for displacement between a vertical first position closing the forward end of the chamber, and a downwardly inclined ramp position. A piston and cylinder motor arrangement is connected between the guide rail ends and the ramp wall for displacing the ramp wall between its vertical first and downwardly inclined second positions. The chamber side walls are spaced so that a front end loader can travel up the downwardly inclined ramp and into the chamber.

Field of the Invention
A storage container includes a rectangular bin containing an open-ended chamber having a horizontal bottom wall, a pair of vertical side walls and a vertical rear wall, and a pair of parallel spaced horizontal centrally-arranged guide rails that extend longitudinally below the bin, which guide rails have forward end portions that extend outwardly beyond the front end of the bin. A motor arrangement connected at one end with the forwardly protruding ends of the guide rails displaces a pivotally connected ramp wall between a vertical first position closing the front end of the chamber, and a downwardly inclined loading and unloading position.
Description of Related Art
Storage containers for delivering bulk material, landscaping material, and the like to a site, and for collecting waste at a site, are well known in the prior art, as shown by the patents to Collins U.S. Pat. No. 8,043,043 and Green U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,701, and a ramp arrangement for containers is shown in the Jenkins U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,288. A storage container with a pair of swinging doors is shown in the Straka U.S. Pat. No. 6,910,574. Collapsible and sectional shipping and storage containers are shown by the patents to Csumrik U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,278 and Roberts U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,176.
In the prior Hughes U.S. Pat. No. 7,819,270, a telescoping material handling bin is disclosed wherein a ramp end wall is pivoted downwardly to permit a loading/unloading vehicle to be driven up the ramp for engagement with the bulk material contained in the bin.
One problem that occurs during the use of such known bulk material handling and storage bins is that of connecting an operating motor arrangement to the container in such a manner that it will operate a relatively heavy container component, such as a pivotally connected ramp wall, in a positive durable manner without interfering with the handling of the container, or the operation of container components (such as access doors and the like). Initially it was proposed to connect the motor means for operating a container ramp wall between the adjacent vertical edge portions of the ramp wall and the container side walls. The present invention was developed to avoid these and other disadvantages of the prior art devices.


This disclosure describes a method for crimping a polymeric stent onto a catheter for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or other intraluminal interventions. The method comprises crimping the stent onto a catheter when the polymer is at a target temperature other than ambient temperature. The polymer can optionally comprise drug(s).

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is a procedure for treating heart disease. A surgeon introduces a catheter assembly having a balloon portion percutaneously into the cardiovascular system of a patient via the brachial or femoral artery. The surgeon advances the catheter assembly through the coronary vasculature until the balloon portion crosses the occlusive lesion. Once in position, the surgeon inflates the balloon to radially compress the atherosclerotic plaque of the lesion and remodel the vessel wall. The surgeon then deflates the balloon to remove the catheter.
An advance on PTCA involved using an intravascular stent. Mechanically, stents act as scaffoldings, physically holding open and, if desired, expanding the vessel wall. Typically, stents compress for insertion through small vessels and then expand to a larger diameter once in position. U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,665, issued to Palmaz; U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,882, issued to Gianturco; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,062, issued to Wiktor disclose examples of PTCA stents.
Before this procedure can occur, equipment for the procedure must be manufactured. Stent crimping is a critical step in manufacturing this equipment in that stent retention depends on it. Generally, stent crimping is the act of affixing the stent to the delivery catheter or delivery balloon so that it remains affixed to the catheter or balloon until the physician desires to deliver the stent at the treatment site. Current stent crimping technology is sophisticated. A short time ago, one process used a roll crimper. This damaged many polymer coatings due to its inherent shearing action. Next came the collet crimper; in it, metal jaws are mounted into what is essentially a drill chuck. The jaws move in a purely radial direction. This movement was not expected to shear the coating, because it applied forces only normal to the stent surface. But some stent geometries require that stent struts scissor together during crimping. In those geometries, even if the crimper imposes only normal forces, the scissor action of the stent struts imparts shear. Finally, the iris or sliding-wedge crimper imparts mostly normal forces with some amount of tangential shear.
To use a roll crimper, first the stent is slid loosely onto the balloon portion of the catheter. This assembly is placed between the plates of the roll crimper. With an automated roll crimper, the plates come together and apply a specified amount of force. They then move back and forth a set distance in a direction that is perpendicular to the catheter. The catheter rolls back and forth under this motion, and the diameter of the stent is reduced. The process can be broken down into more than one step, each with its own level of force, translational distance, and number of cycles. With regard to a stent with a drug eluting coating, this process imparts a great deal of shear to the stent in a direction perpendicular to the catheter or catheter wall. Furthermore, as the stent is crimped, there is additional relative motion between the stent surface and the crimping plates. As a result, this crimping process tends to damage the drug eluting stent coating.
The collet crimper is equally conceptually simple. A standard drill-chuck collet is equipped with several pie-piece-shaped jaws. These jaws move in a radial direction as an outer ring is turned. To use this crimper, a stent is loosely placed onto the balloon portion of a catheter and inserted in the center space between the jaws. Turning the outer ring causes the jaws to move inward. An issue with this device is determining or designing the crimping endpoint. One scheme is to engineer the jaws so that when they completely close, they touch and a center hole of a known diameter remains. Using this approach, turning the collet onto the collet stops crimps the stent to the known outer diameter. While this seems ideal, it can lead to problems. Stent struts have a tolerance on their thickness. Additionally, the process of folding noncompliant balloons is not exactly reproducible. Consequently, the collet crimper exerts a different amount of force on each stent in order to achieve the same final dimension. Unless this force, and the final crimped diameter, is carefully chosen, the variability of the stent and balloon dimensions can yield stent coating or balloon damage.
Furthermore, although the collet jaws move in a radial direction, they move closer together as they crimp. This action, combined with the scissoring motion of the struts, imparts tangential shear on the coatings that can also lead to damage. Lastly, the actual contact surfaces of the collet crimper are the jaw tips. These surfaces are quite small, and only form a cylindrical surface at the final point of crimping. Before that point, the load being applied to the stent surface is discontinuous.
In the sliding wedge or iris crimper, adjacent pie-piece-shaped sections move inward and twist, much like the leaves in a camera aperture. This crimper can be engineered to have two different types of endpoints. It can stop at a final diameter, or it can apply a fixed force and allow the final diameter to float. From the discussion on the collet crimper, there are advantages in applying a fixed level of force as variabilities in strut and balloon dimension will not change the crimping force. The sliding wedges impart primarily normal forces, which are the least damaging to stent coatings. As the wedges slide over each other, they impart some tangential force. But the shear damage is frequently equal to or less than that of the collet crimper. Lastly, the sliding wedge crimper presents a nearly cylindrical inner surface to the stent, even as it crimps. This means the crimping loads are distributed over the entire outer surface of the stent.
All current stent crimping methods were developed for all-metal stents. Stent metals, such as stainless steel, are durable and can take abuse. When crimping was too severe, it usually damaged the underlying balloon, not the stent. But polymeric coatings present different challenges.
Moreover, as part of polymeric stent manufacture, brittle polymeric material is laser cut. The polymer's brittle nature and the stress induced by laser cutting often causes stress cracking in the polymeric stent.
In the drug eluting stent arena, drugs are commonly placed on the stent in combination with a polymer or mixed into the polymer for polymeric stents. This placement typically coats all stent surfaces or causes the drug to be distributed throughout the polymeric stent. Then the stent is crimped onto the catheter. In general, polymer coatings are softer, weaker, and less durable than the underlying stent material. Upon crimping with a sliding wedge crimper, and following crimp protocols for the particular stent, coating damage is frequently seen. FIGS. 1 and 2 show an Elasteon 80A (a polyurethane) coating on poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVAL) after crimp, grip, and the wet expansion test.
Grip is a process conducted after crimping to further increase stent retention. An outer sleeve restrains the crimped stent. Simultaneously, pressure and heat are applied to the stent-balloon section. Under this action, the balloon material deforms slightly, moving in between the struts. In a wet expansion test, the final stent-on-catheter assembly is immersed in deionized water at 37° C. for 30 seconds. Then the balloon is inflated according to the device instructions to at least a nominal pressure (8 atmospheres). After holding this pressure for 30 seconds, the balloon is deflated, and the stent slides off. After drying, the stent can be examined by optical microscopy or scanning electron microscopy for coating damage.
The primary purpose of the polymer in the stent coating is to contain the drug and control its release at a desired rate. Other obvious specifications for the polymer are a high level of vascular biocompatibility and the ability to flex and elongate to accommodate stent expansion without cracking or peeling. Meeting all of these objectives, while also possessing a high level of toughness and strength to withstand conventional crimping process, can be challenging.
A crimping process that minimizes damage to the polymer coatings of stents is needed. Moreover, a crimping process that minimizes internal stress or strain in the polymeric substrate of a polymeric stent is also needed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Provided is a tilt type gravity molding device which requires no riser, prevents increase in length of a sprue runner, suppresses occurrence of clogging of a molten metal, and facilitates temperature control of the molten metal. The tilt type gravity molding device includes: a mold having defined therein a product forming space for forming a molded product, and configured to receive a molten metal from a pouring gate; a ladle including: a storing section capable of storing the molten metal therein; and a plate-like opening/closing body abutting on the mold, and having an injection port capable of being aligned with the pouring gate; and a gas supplying section for supply gas into the product forming space. The ladle is slidably mounted to the mold, and is slidable between an opening state in which the injection port is aligned with the pouring gate, and a closing state in which the plate-like opening/closing body closes the pouring gate.

A gravity molding device for molding a product by pouring a molten metal only due to gravity of the molten metal into a mold from a pouring gate provided at an upper portion of the mold can increase a cooling rate at the time of molding, and can produce a precise molded product excellent in a molded surface and dimension accuracy. The product is excellent particularly in pressure resistance and mechanical property. However, the gravity molding device requires that a riser for compensating decrease in volume of the molten metal at the time of solidification be formed at an upper portion of the molded product, and that a period of time to cool and solidify the riser be secured in addition to a period of time to solidify the molded product. Further, the formation of the riser needs more amount of the molten metal and higher cost of melting, and also needs extra process cost of cutting the riser. In addition, in order to obtain the molded product having no shrinkage cavity, the molten metal needs to be directionally solidified toward the riser from a bottom side of a space in the mold. However, the mere formation of the riser does not solve a problem in that solidification timing of the molten metal cannot be controlled sufficiently.
In this context, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the inventor of the subject application proposes a tilt type gravity molding device 100 including a closing portion 102 capable of opening/closing a sprue runner 101, and a gas supplying section 104 capable of supplying gas into a product forming space 103 (Patent Literature 1). In the tilt type gravity molding device 100, after pouring a molten metal 105 into the product forming space 103, the closing portion 102 that slides horizontally closes the sprue runner 101, and the gas supplying section 104 supplies the gas into a mold 106. In this way, the molten metal 105 contained in the mold 106 can be pressurized by the gas. The tilt type gravity molding device 100 pressurizes the molten metal 105 by the gas into the product forming space 103 in the mold 106, and thus causes no shrinkage cavity and no crack even in a case where the riser is not substantially provided. Therefore, the tilt type gravity molding device 100 does not need the period of time to cool and solidify the riser, and thus can shorten a cycle of a molding time period and reduce manufacturing cost of the molded product. Further, the tilt type gravity molding device 100 can provide effects of reducing an amount of the molten metal for forming the riser, cost of melting, and process cost of cutting the riser.


A connector assembly that includes a connector that has a ferrule and a latch. The latch is movable about a connection point. The connector assembly also includes a boot that is removably mounted to the connector. The boot is axially slidable to move the latch. The connector assembly also includes a locking assembly to selectively lock the boot from sliding axially relative to the connector.

Modern optical devices and optical communications systems widely use fiber optic cables. A typical fiber optic cable includes one or more optical fibers contained within a protective jacket. Reinforcing structures such as aramid yarns and/or fiber reinforced epoxy rods can be used to provide reinforcement to the optical cables. It is well understood that a typical optical fiber includes a glass fiber processed so that light beams transmitted through the glass fiber are subject to total internal reflection wherein a large fraction of the incident intensity of light directed into the fiber is received at the other end of the fiber. A typical optical fiber includes a glass core surrounded by a cladding layer having a lower refractive index as compared to the refractive index of the core. The cladding causes light to be confined to the core by total internal reflection at the boundary between the two. The cladding layer of an optical fiber is often covered by one or more polymeric coatings (e.g., acrylate) to protect the glass and to facilitate handling of the optical fiber.
Fiber optic communication systems employ a network of fiber optic cables to transmit large volumes of data and voice signals over relatively long distances. Optical fiber connectors are an important part of most fiber optic communication systems. Fiber optic connectors allow two optical fibers to be quickly optically connected without requiring a fusion splice. Fiber optic connectors can be used to optically interconnect two lengths of optical fiber. Fiber optic connectors can also be used to interconnect lengths of optical fiber to passive and active equipment.
A typical fiber optic connector includes a ferrule assembly supported at a distal end of a connector housing. A spring is used to bias the ferrule assembly in a distal direction relative to the connector housing. The ferrule assembly includes a ferrule that functions to support an end portion of at least one optical fiber (in the case of a multi-fiber ferrule, the ends of multiple fibers are supported). The ferrule has a distal end face at which a polished end of the optical fiber is located. When two optical fibers are interconnected, the distal end faces of the ferrules abut one another and the ferrules are forced proximally relative to their respective connector housings against the bias of their respective springs. With the fiber optic connectors connected, their respective optical fibers are coaxially aligned such that the end faces of the optical fibers directly oppose one another. In this way, an optical signal can be transmitted from optical fiber to optical fiber through the aligned end faces of the optical fibers. For many fiber optic connector styles, alignment between two fiber optic connectors is provided through the use of an intermediate fiber optic adapter including an alignment sleeve that receives and coaxially aligns the ferrules of the fiber optic connectors desired to be interconnected. For certain styles of fiber optic connectors, the optical fibers are secured within their respective ferrules by a potting material such as epoxy.


A micro-tubular solid oxide fuel cell arrangement includes two micro-tubular elements having a tubular inner electrode, covered on its outer surface with an electrolyte, the electrolyte being covered on its outer surface with a tubular outer electrode; and a connection element arranged between the micro-tubular elements for connecting one end of one micro-tubular element to one end of the other micro-tubular element, where the micro-tubular element has a first end portion with an inner cone arranged in the tubular inner electrode and a second end portion with an outer cone arranged in the tubular outer electrode, where the connection element comprises a metallic interconnector plate having a first side and an opposite second side, where the plate is provided with at least one hole; a first metallic connector on the first side and arranged around the hole and a second metallic connector on the second side and arranged around the hole.

A solid oxide fuel cell is an electrochemical conversion device that produces electricity directly from oxidizing a fuel. The SOFC has a ceramic electrolyte. Advantages of this class of fuel cells include high efficiency, long-term stability, fuel flexibility, low emissions, and relatively low cost. The largest disadvantage is the high operating temperature, which results in longer start-up times and mechanical and chemical compatibility issues.
In order to e.g. shorten the start-up times, it has been proposed to use micro-tubular cells instead of planar type cells and to place them in series, thus obtaining micro-tubular SOFCs, which consist of a tubular electrolyte sandwiched between two electrodes, an anode and a cathode. Such micro-tubular SOFCs are e.g. shown in JP 44 07235, wherein short tubular elements are connected in series by means of an interconnector. Such interconnectors are ring-shaped elements receiving, on each side, one end of a short tubular element. An assembly of a plurality of short tubular elements with interconnectors therebetween forms a long tubular fuel cell element.
Such long tubular fuel cell elements also need to be connected in parallel. In order to achieve this, JP 44 07235 suggests connecting two ring-shaped elements together by means of a land.
The interconnector disclosed in JP 44 07235 thus allows the fuel cell elements to be connected in series and in parallel. However, the construction of the fuel cell using such interconnectors is rather cumbersome and time consuming. Furthermore, any play between a short tubular element and an interconnector can be problematic due to the large number of short tubular elements connected in series. Even small plays in a number of connections can quickly accumulate to an inacceptable play over the length of the tubular fuel cell element, thereby endangering the stability of the fuel cell.

Micro-tubular solid oxide fuel cell arrangement

THE EUROPEAN UNION, REPRESENTED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION


An automatic grinding apparatus includes a constant rotating grinder (24) having a motor (25) in which a load current increases or decreases due to the metal removal rate per unit hour, a travelling device for moving the grinder three-dimensionally along the grinding surface, a sliding device (20) for adjusting the distance between the grinder and an object (50, 51) to be found and a controller for controlling the sliding device to allow the load current of the grinding motor to be constant. An articulated robot or a cartesian coordinate robot is used for the travelling device. The automatic grinding apparatus starts the grinding motor at first, halting the travelling device at the initiation of grinding, permitting the grinder to approach the object to be ground after a time interval and starting the travelling device simultaneously or a little later after detecting that the grinding disk (26) contacts the object to be ground, due to the variation of the load current of the grinding motor. The apparatus restores respective relative positions of the grinder and the sliding device (20) to a certain position by regulating the operation time of an elevation motor (21) of the sliding device or by directly detecting the location of the slider of the sliding device before and after the grinding process. The automatic grinding apparatus is used for grinding a workpiece (50) such as for finishing welded metal and deburring or chamfering the work piece.

This invention relates to an automatic grinding apparatus used for finishing a welded excess metal deburring or chamferring a work piece.
An automatic grinding apparatus for finishing the welded excess metal, deburring or chamferring the work piece is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid Opened No. Hei 1-121169, for example, such as the apparatus comprising an electronic grinder of which a motor load current decreases or increases due to the metal removal quantity per unit hour, a slider supporting the grinder, a sliding device elevating the slider, a travelling truck and rails. Said travelling truck runs parallel to a grinding line (of the excess metal of or its reinforcement of weld) on the rails at a constant speed. In said apparatus, a pinion is projected from the bottom of the travelling truck to engage a rack provided on the guide rails. A travelling motor which is contained in the travelling device rotates the pinion through a speed reduction device to run the truck toward a longitudinal direction of rails at a constant speed. The sliding device controls the distance in a perpendicular direction between the electronic grinder and the excess metal of the welding, in which a supporting block contained in the slider is threaded to engage an output shaft of the slide elevation motor which on the upper end of the device to elevate the slider by a rotation of the elevation motor. The electronic grinder is attached by a holder provided at the front portion of the slider.
When the truck travels at a constant speed along the grinding line (of the excess metal of the welding), the slide device is so controlled that the motor load current of the grinder is constant. As a result, the metal removal rate in 3 mm/min is always kept constant even if the grinding disk is worn. Therefore, in the case that the excess metal having a cross section as shown in FIG. 8, substantially equally exists on the welding line as shown in FIG. 9, even if a base metal surface is deformed, the equally finishing over such deformed surface is performed. Further since the apparatus is had no effect of a gravity as required in a system for controlling the grinding pressure, there is an advantage that the controlling capacity is stable for any type of grinding attitudes such as facing towards the horizontal direction or overhead direction.
While in actuating the above described apparatus at the grinding initiation, it is required to start the rotation of the grinding motor in a condition that the grinding disk does not contact the object to be ground and thereafter either of three operating system described hereinbelow will follow:
(A) To start both of the slide controlling circuits (not shown) and the travelling truck simultaneously.
(B) To start only the slide controlling circuit at first and then the travelling switch is operated at the time of the grinding process being started after the sliding device is automatically lowered due to the low grinding motor load current.
(C) To lower the sliding device by switch operation, then the start both of the sliding controlling circuit and the travelling truck at the time of the grinding process being started.
In the above described system, (A) is automatically actuated by an external command, however the unground portion remains near around the grinding initiation. (B) and (C) are utility systems in which there remains no unground portions, however the switch control requires a monitor by a person.
In the above described travelling truck system, since the actuation of the system at the grinding initiation has originally depended on the person, it is not a great problem that the monitoring is required. While for grinding a plurality of portions of the welding excess metal is by a program control in which a robot is used for the travelling device, since the system is also automatically actuated at each grinding initiation by an actuation signal, the residual phenomenon of the unground portion is inevitable in a conventional system. In case of grinding the wholepart of welding excess metal to the extent of grinding to the ridgeline thereof, it is also inevitable that the grinding disk comes into collision with the object to be ground when the robot reaches to the next grinding initiation, since the sliding device falls down at said ridgeline by a slide control faculty.
In addition, when the robot reaches the next grinding initiation after the new grinding disk is exchanged since the sliding device has been automatically lowered due to the exhaustion of the grinding disk, it is also inevitable that the new grinding disk comes into collision with the object to be ground. Further when the grinding motor is stopped during grinding condition to finish the grinding process, the rinding disk intrudes into the object to be ground due to an inertia rotation of the motor, and the base metal surface is subject to be damaged.
The object of the present invention is to provide an automatic grinding apparatus improved in preventing the grinding disk to come into collision with, or to intrude into the object to be ground, or to damage the base metal surface in case that a robot is used as the travelling device for a constant rotating grinder.


A method and process for virtual paint application which allows a user to apply a virtual combination of paints and/or graphics to an object and visually observe and print the resultant object as if it had been physically painted. The method and process is especially useful for virtually painting vehicles with colors supplied from paint company charts and then allowing a user to print the resulting combination and thereafter allowing the user to supply the finished printout to a painter for physical paint application. The method and process is unique in its ability to preserve highlights and shadows of the original image to ensure that the virtual paint application is an accurate representation of the object after the physical paint is applied. The method and process further allows a user to supply a photo of a personal object such as a vehicle or house and after processing, apply the desired virtual paint to the object.

The present invention relates in general to a computer assisted virtual paint application process and method of use, and more particularly, to a novel application, process, and method of optimally applying a user desired paint color, scheme, and/or graphics to a computer image of a desired vehicle in order to determine the look of said vehicle on a computer screen prior to actually physically painting said vehicle. The art of the present invention also applies to and functions with numerous other physical objects which are capable of capture via a digital image such as a house or boat.
This present invention represents a unique method and process for virtually applying paint colors, paint fades, and graphics to an object displayed on a computer prior to physically applying the aforementioned. The method and process is especially useful for evaluation of various paint color schemes, combinations, and graphics on various types of vehicles prior to actual physical application of the aforesaid. The method and process is implemented with the apparatus of a computer and the computer code or software of the present art. The method and process is also capable of operation over the internet when hosted by a server computer.
The apparatus, in a preferred embodiment, allows a user to preview different paint colors on a variety of vehicles. (i.e. cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc.) In a preferred embodiment, said paint colors represent industry standard colors which are commercially available. It also enables the user to preview color combinations such as fades where two colors are on the same vehicle. In addition, the user can add multiple layer graphics to the vehicle. These graphics include flames, two tones, pinstripes and other miscellaneous graphics. Once a graphic has been selected the user can manipulate the size, rotational angle, and position of the graphic to create a limitless number of custom paint designs. The apparatus program also features a hand draw section where the user can actually draw a graphic on the vehicle. Once completed, the on-screen graphic design can be printed with the computer and together with the industry paint color(s) defined may be utilized as a reference by the physical painter.
A technical difficulty encountered with prior art attempts at virtual paint applications is proper rendering of shadows and highlights on the source image when a different virtual paint color is applied to the source image. Prior art attempts have unsuccessfully applied a user desired color to an existing source image only to substantially or completely eliminate the surface features of the object depicted in the source. Said surface features typically are represented by shadows or highlights of the original color. The present art process, apparatus, and method preserves the shadows and highlights and further removes original color remnants in order that the user may obtain a realistic representation of the source object with a new and user selected paint color or graphic application.
The computer software or files of the preferred embodiment of the present art is created using two programs, Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Flash MX. The vehicle image which requires virtual painting as captured in a digital form is first manipulated by the computer utilizing a photo editing program such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Photo Paint or equivalent. Using multiple layers the highlights and shadows are separated by the photo editing program. Mask tools within said photo editing software are used to eliminate any unpaintable parts of the vehicle (i.e. tires, mirrors etc.) These layers are preferably saved as .SWF or .PNG files for import into Macromedia Flash MX. Once the layers are imported into Flash MX they are used to create the color, graphics, and hand draw ability. Both Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Flash MX are capable of running on multiple computer platforms utilizing multiple operating systems including but not limited to Microsoft Windows, Apple operating systems, and Unix. The aforesaid is further shown and described in the Figures. Alternative embodiments may utilize other photo editing software packages other than Adobe Photoshop, provided said software allows for multiple layer placement of various vehicle portions.
Once the aforesaid layers are defined, the aforesaid files are processable by the Macromedia Flash MX player program. For use with vehicle virtual painting, in Macromedia Flash MX, the user first selects the type of vehicle which he/she desires to apply paint and graphics to. The aforesaid is performed by mouse clicking the load vehicle tab as seen in the Figures and then selecting from the pop up menu as presented in the Figures. The user then virtually selects and applies the basecoat and topcoat paints as shown in the Figures. The user may select types of topcoats from a pop-up menu as shown in the Figures. The user may also select fade position, width, and rotation for the aforesaid virtual paint application. If the user desires to utilize the fade options, the user chooses the fade paint colors which are desired and sets the mask for said colors. The user may then rotate, position, and adjust the size of various fade positions. All of the aforesaid are applied to one or more layers which were originally defined and deemed paintable during the Adobe Photoshop or equivalent operation.
Unique to the present art is the method of creating the aforesaid layers for processing by Macromedia Flash MX or equivalent in order to accurately represent shadows and highlights. The vehicle of interest is first typically provided with a background in a Jepeg or similar image format. A color layer, onto which the user's desired color is placed, is then placed above the original image. A matte shape layer of the paintable portions of the vehicle or object is then typically created manually by carefully tracing the colored portions of the vehicle and placing said matte shape layer above the aforesaid color layer. This matte layer creates a hole or see through template which may be used to filter all but the object color portions and allow the aforesaid color layer to show through, yet also allows the background to show through. A black shadow layer utilizing an inverted grayscale rendition of the area to be painted is then added above the color layer and between the first matte shape layer to create shadows. A solid white highlight layer is then added between the aforesaid black shadow layer and the matte shape layer with a non-inverted grayscale rendition of the area to be painted to create highlights. The contrast or threshold of the aforesaid mattes are adjusted to provide the desired shadow and highlight effects. Also, a desaturation layer is placed above the aforesaid to remove reflection remnants of the original color. Those skilled in Adobe Photoshop or an equivalent understand that absolute black matte portions represent areas through which the underlying images are visible and absolute white matte portions are areas through which the underlying images are blocked with the grayscale between the aforesaid absolutes providing opacity therebetween.
The aforesaid layer collection, without the color layer, is saved as a single layer in a Macromedia Flash format such as an .SWF file for export to and use with the Macromedia Flash Player. The Flash Player places user desired colors, stripes, graphics, etc. under the aforesaid layer collection, i.e. as the color layer, which are then seen through the aforesaid matte layers created with Photopaint or equivalent. The original .SWF file acts as a filter which allows a new chosen color placement only on the object desired and also preserves the shadows and highlights on the original object.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and process for virtual paint application which in a preferred embodiment is capable of allowing a user to virtually apply paint colors or graphics to an object, i.e. vehicle, house, boat, etc., and observe the look of said object without the need to physically paint said object.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and process for virtual paint application which utilizes easily obtainable and commercially available photo editing software for implementation and easily obtainable and commercially available authoring environment software for user interface.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method and process for virtual paint application which may be utilized remotely over a network, including the internet, through player software such as Macromedia Flash or an equivalent.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method and process for virtual paint application which allows a user to especially design a vehicle or other object color and graphics scheme, print the design, and provide said print to a painter for application to the physical object.

Method and process for virtual paint application


Methods and devices for brushless DC motor operation. An example method may include using previously sensed Hall effect sensor transitions to predict a future Hall effect transition, and dividing a time between a most recent Hall effect sensor transition and the predicted Hall effect sensor transition into time increments. The time increments may be used to effect phase advance by selecting a number of time increments to create a time offset for phase advance purposes. The time increments may also be used as a virtual encoder. Devices incorporating controllers and control circuitry for performing like methods are also discussed.

In a brushed DC motor, the brushes make mechanical contact with a set of electrical contacts provided on a commutator secured to an armature, forming an electrical circuit between the DC electrical source and coil windings on the armature. As the armature rotates on an axis, the stationary brushes come into contact with different sections of the rotating commutator. The commutator and brush system form a set of electrical switches that operate in sequence such that electrical power flows through the armature coil that is closest to the stator, which houses stationary magnets creating forces relative to the coil windings that cause rotation.
A brushless DC motor makes use of control circuitry to operate switches that replace the combination of brushes and electrical contacts on the commutator. While the control circuitry can add to the expense of the brushless DC motor, the elimination of the brushes and commutator reduces maintenance, as there is no wear on an associated brush, and prevents arcing in the motor that can occur as the commutator moves past the brushes. In some examples, a plurality of Hall effect sensors and magnets are disposed on the rotor and armature, with the outputs of the Hall effect sensors used to control current switching.
An example of a brushless DC motor appears in FIGS. 1A–1B. The motor 10, shown in cross section, includes an armature 12 and a rotor 14, with magnets 16, 17 disposed on the rotor 14. Hall effect sensing elements 18 are disposed on the armature 12 to sense the location of the magnets 16, 17. Control circuitry 20 includes Hall interrupt detection block 22 that is coupled to the Hall effect sensors 18 and generates an interrupt or other signal whenever one of the Hall effect sensors 18 transitions, indicating the rotation of the magnets 16, 17. When triggered, the detection block 22 interacts with commutator state circuitry 24 to control changing of the state of output switches 26. Using the output switches 26, the control circuitry 20 can couple energy from line power 28, which typically (though not necessarily) passes through a step-down transformer 30 to the motor 10.
FIG. 1B shows a different cross section of the motor 10, with magnets 16, 17 on the rotor 14, and three coil windings 32, 34, 36 on the armature 12. Usually, during operation, two of the coil windings 32, 34 will be activated while a third coil winding 36 will be grounded. FIG. 2 illustrates the timing of operation. In FIG. 2, a trio of armature coil windings are indicated as A, B, and C, with the state indicated by a "+" (driven by a voltage V), "−" (grounded) or "0" (open circuit). Alternatively, a dual power supply approach would have "+" be a signal of a first polarity, "−" be a signal of a second polarity, and "0" indicate that the winding is grounded. At each Hall effect sensor interrupt 38, the commutator state is changed, and the current flow through two of the coil windings changes. Operation is further illustrated in FIG. 3, which shows operation during a run state. As shown at 40, the control circuitry waits for a Hall effect sensor interrupt or trigger, detects a transition of the output for one of the Hall effect sensors, as shown at 42, and changes commutator state, as shown at 44. The control circuitry then returns to 40. Other tasks may also be performed, but the basic steps are shown. Refinement of this process to improve efficiency and output actuation is desirable.

Method of operating a brushless DC motor


This invention relates to an olefin polymerization catalyst composition comprising the product of the combination of at least one activator and at least two different transition metal compounds each of which is represented by the formula:

This invention relates to olefin polymerization catalysts based upon two transition metal compounds comprising bidentate ligands containing pyridine or quinoline moieties and mixtures thereof.
The intense commercialization of metallocene polyolefin catalysts has led to widespread interest in the design of non-metallocene, homogeneous catalysts. This field is more than an academic curiosity as new, non-metallocene catalysts may provide an easier pathway to currently available products and may also provide product and process opportunities which are beyond the capability of metallocene catalysts. In addition, certain non-cyclopentadienyl ligands may be more economical due to the relative ease of synthesis of a variety of substituted analogs.
Thus there is a need in the art for new novel olefin polymerization catalysts. WO 96/23101, WO 97/02298, WO 96/33202 and Furhmann et al, Inorg. Chem. 35:6742-6745 (1996) all disclose nitrogen containing single site like catalyst systems.
This invention relates to an olefin polymerization catalyst system comprising at least one activator and at least two transition metal catalysts based on bidentate ligands containing pyridine or quinoline moieties, such as those described in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/103,620 filed Jun. 23, 1998, which is herein incorporated by reference.

Abstract: where M is a metal selected from Group 3 to 13 or lanthanide and actinide series of the Periodic Table of Elements; Q is bonded to M and each Q is a monovalent, divalent or trivalent anion; X and Y are bonded to M; X and Y are independently C or a heteroatom, provided that at least one of X and Y is a heteroatom and Y is contained in a heterocyclic ring J, where J comprises from 2 to 50 non-hydrogen atoms; Z is bonded to X, where Z comprises 1 to 50 non-hydrogen atoms; t is 0 or 1; when t is 1, A is a bridging group joined to at least one of X, Y or J; q is 1 or 2; n is the oxidation state of M minus q if Q is a monovalent anion, n is (the oxidation state of Mxe2x88x92q)/2, if Q is a bivalent anion or n is (the oxidation state of Mxe2x88x92q)/3 if Q is a trivalent anion.


A method and apparatus for producing high quality welding rod including a first forming of an ingot under triple vacuum forming techniques; a continuous mechanical de-scaling at all stages, including, but not limited to, final drawing; performing ultrasonic inspection; using boron nitride covered by potassium silicate during billet extrusion; performing an unusual electrolytic purification process, and a final controlled packaging process.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the general field of welding rods;
The invention is more particularly related to an improved method and apparatus for forming a welding rod of unusual and and superior quality.
II. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art in this field is primarily found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,005,902; 3,225,508; 3,498,094; 3,788,820; 3,394,213; 3,505,039; 4,209,122; 4,354,880; 4,777,710; 5,481,788 and in our co-pending application Ser. No. 08/585,843, referred to above.
The present invention relates to an unusual combination of steps incorporating some of the steps previously used in practicing certain of the above referenced patents and the presently pending application.
We have now further conceived and perfected further unique methods and apparatus. With these new developments, we believe we have opened the door to absolutely new, unique, and unanticipated methods and apparatus.


A lancet instrument detachably fitted to a lancing apparatus, comprising a lancet having a lancet body with a sharp lancet tip at its tip, a lancet hub fixed to the lancet body so that the lancet tip is exposed, and an elastic deformation part extended from the lancet hub in the tip direction and elastically deformable so that the distance thereof from the lancet body can be changed, a ring-like member fitted to the outer periphery of the elastic deformation part and releasable in the tip direction by changing the distance between the elastic deformation part and the lancet body, and a casing having a ring-like member contact part storing the lancet so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction and formed in the inner peripheral part thereof so that the ring-like member is brought into contact therewith and stopped to move in the tip direction and a tip opening through which the lancet tip can be projected. The lancet instrument thus obtained is so formed that the projection of the lancet tip through the tip opening of the casing is blocked by moving the ring-like member released from the elastic deformation part in the tip direction between the tip of the elastic deformation part and the ring-like member contact part to restrict the movement of the lancet.

In recent years, accompanying the increase in the number of diabetics, the self monitoring of blood glucose monitoring daily movements in blood sugar level by the patient himself has come to be recommended.
The measurement of blood sugar level is carried out by use of a blood glucose monitoring apparatus for automatically measuring the amount of glucose in blood. Prior to the measurement, the patient must sample his own blood.
A method of sampling blood includes the steps of puncturing the skin of a fingertip by a lancet and then pressing the vicinity of the puncture portion with fingers or the like to squeeze out the blood.
The puncture of a fingertip with a lancet is conducted by use of a lancet instrument (refer to, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,762) having a lancet and a casing (cap) storing the lancet movably therein. Specifically, the lancet instrument is fitted to the lancing apparatus, and the lancing apparatus is operated to project the lancet, thereby puncturing a fingertip.
In addition, after the puncture (after the use), the lancet instrument in the condition where the lancet tip is located in the casing has the lancet and the casing engaged with each other by friction between the outer periphery of a hub (lancet hub) provided on the lancet and the inner periphery of the casing. This ensures that the lancet tip, after the puncture, can be prevented from projecting through the opening (tip opening) of the casing.
However, in the lancet instrument thus configured, the engagement between the lancet and the casing may be weakened (due to a decrease of the frictional force) due, for example, to vibration or the like, and the lancet may be moved (displaced) toward the opening side, i.e., the lancet tip may project from the opening.
Besides, in the case where the lancet tip of the lancet instrument after the puncture (after the use) projects from the opening, the patient's skin or the like, for example, may be injured by mistake.