A method of covering the head of a screw which has been inserted into a wood structure, such as a cabinet, a bookshelf, etc. There is a planar circular cover member made of a moderately flexible plasctic and having an adhesive surface. The diameter of the cover member is moderately greater than the diameter of the screw head and the opening in which the screw head is placed. The cover member is placed by positioning a first side portion of the cover member adjacent to the opening, and then deflecting cover member downwardly in a curved position above the screw head opening, keeping the cover properly positioned. Then the person's thumb which grasps an end of the cover member is moved to release the cover member which then snaps into position to cover the opening and become bonded to the surface of the wood structure.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the woodworking art, and more particularly to the making of finished wooden articles, such as cabinets (either built in or free standing), bookshelves, magazine racks, furniture, etc. More particularly, the present invention relates to the manner in which the exposed heads of the wood screws are covered in making the finished article.
b) Background Art
A variety of people are involved in the woodworking industry. There is the professional woodworker who makes quality items such as cabinets, desks or bookcases, or even larger projects such as building entire interior of a kitchen in a home. Also, there are those who have woodworking for a hobby, with varying degrees of skill. Then there are the people who do not actually work in the woodworking art, but who will purchase various items, such as desks, chairs, bookshelves, etc., the components of which are premade, but not assembled. Then this person has the task of joining the various pieces together by placing the pieces in the appropriate preassembled position, inserting the screws one at a time, and using a screwdriver to screw these in to hold the pieces in place.
After the screws are in place, all of these people (the professional woodworker, the amateur woodworker, and the person simply assembling a premade article) have a common problem, and this is how to cover the exposed heads of the screws. Quite commonly, these screws are countersink screws where the non-exposed surface of the screw head has a frusto conical shape, and the hole is drilled as a countersunk hole, where the outer portion of the hole has a corresponding frusto conical shape. Thus, when the screw is inserted, the exposed face of the screw head is flush with (or nearly flush with) the adjacent surface of the wood piece into which the screw is inserted. For many decades, the commonplace method of covering the exposed screw head is to place a cap over the exposed screw head, and push the cap into retaining engagement with the screw head. The cap is configured so that it has a dome shaped cap portion and a center stub or probe which matches the configuration of the Philips head recess in the exposed surface of the screw. When the cap is pressed against the screw head, the probe comes into retaining engagement with the screw head.
It sometimes happens that the countersink recess of the premade screw hole is a slight amount out of tolerance, in that it has been drilled too deeply. In this instance, when the screw is inserted and tightened up in firm engagement, the exposed surface of the screw head is a short distance below the surrounding surface of the wood piece into which it is inserted. The result of this is that the probe of the cover cap does not properly engage the Philips head recess and the screw head. Then the person needs to either press or hammer the cover cap further into the screw hole, so that the dome shaped cover cap flattens out and the probe does come into proper engagement. This particular prior art process will be described more fully later in the text of this application with reference to FIGS. 1 through 8.
One of the undesirable results of this is that with some frequency the cover caps become dislodged (probably because they were never secured properly in the first place). Also, there are inconveniences in the application of the caps. Yet, this particular type of cover cap and the method of installing the same has remained as the state of the art for many decades, and to the best knowledge of the applicant, no improved method has been adopted in the woodworking industry. A search of the patent literature has disclosed a number of cover devices for a fastener the earliest patent disclosed in this search issued in 1882 and the most recent issued in 1995. These are as follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,666 (Best) shows a protective cover assembly to provide a waterproof cover over a fastener, this being used, for example, in roof structures. There is a dome shaped rigid cover which fits over the head of the screw. Then a flexible waterproof circular pad having a diameter greater than the dome shaped cover overlies the cover with the perimeter of the pad adhering to the support surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,089 (Nettel) provides a "quick release cover" which has at its center downwardly extending fingers which grasp the slot in the closure member or screw.
U.S. Pat No. 4,630,168 (Hunt) shows a "lightning protection fastener" used in aircraft. There is a metallic fastener having a dielectric cap to fill a gap between the fastener head and the counterbored surface on which the fastener is installed. It provides a continuous flush surface for receiving a crack-free coat of paint.
U.S. Pat. No 4,601,624 (Hill) shows a screw head cover that is held in place by a retaining element that is itself held by the screw.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,492 (Gutshall) shows a fastener for attaching sheet metal paneling to the outside wall of a building. There is a resilient screw head cover that is flexible enough to allow a tool to enter the fastener's head.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,122,051 (Greene) shows a decorative screw cover which has a snap connection to a washer which is placed beneath the screw head.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,363,665 (George) shows a cap to cover the head of a screw. The cover has legs which fit snugly in the countersink Philips slot in the screw head.
U.S. Pat. No. 915,058 (Bowen) issued in 1909 and shows a cover for the head of a screw which has a connecting member fitting in the slot in the head of the screw.
U.S. Pat. No. 264,776 (Sharp) issued in 1882, and this shows a hollow plug which fits into the upper portion of a countersink slot that is above the head of the screw. This permits expansion of the screw without displacement of the plug.
Also, the applicant is aware of a commercial product which is a planar circular cover having a diameter moderately larger than the screw hole which is to be covered. There is an adhesive surface by which the material can be placed over the screw hold and bonded in place. This is made of a quite flexible material. To the best knowledge of the applicant, this has not obtained a wide commercial success. The characteristics of this particular cover member are discussed later in the text of this application in connection with tests that were conducted to determine the desired characteristics of the cover member of the present invention.


Methods and compositions for increased production of amino acids from C. glutamicum using sucrose as a carbon source are described. In one aspect, increased production of L-lysine from C. glutamicum is accomplished by using a strain having a mutation in the ptsF gene encoding fructose-PTS enzyme that attenuates or blocks fructose import into the cell when such strain is grown on media containing sucrose as a carbon source and production is increased by providing glucose isomerase in the fermentation media. The glucose isomerase may be exogenously added or expressed in the strain and exported into the media. In certain embodiments the media also contain an invertase. In another aspect increased production of L-lysine is accomplished by making a C. glutamicum strain having the ptsF mutation and a second mutation in a fructose exporter function. The dual mutation retains imported fructose in the cell. In certain embodiments, the strain also overexpresses at least one of a glucose isomerase and glucokinase activity in the cell to drive imported fructose toward the pentose phosphate pathway to increase L-lysine production.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods and compositions for production of amino acids by bacteria of the genus Corynebacterium or Brevibacterium using sucrose as a carbon source. More particularly, the invention relates to the production of L-lysine from Corynebacterium glutamicum using sucrose as a carbon source.
2. Related Art
Many commercial fermentations of Corynebacterium and Brevibacterium use glucose as a carbon source. Consequently, many bacterial production cultures have been designed to optimize rates of production and/or yields using glucose as a carbon source. Production of the commercially important amino acid L-lysine was been a particular target of optimization.
Because of cost and other possible considerations, use of alternative, non-glucose carbon sources may be preferred in some parts of the world. One possible non-glucose carbon source is sucrose. Sucrose may be obtained, for example, from sugar cane or sugar beet. Unfortunately, because microorganisms often transport and utilize sucrose differently than glucose, production of a desired amino acid or fine chemical product from many microorganisms using sucrose as a carbon source can suffer from reduced efficiency. This may particularly be the case where the microorganisms using sucrose as a carbon source have been designed for optimal growth on glucose. That is the case for Corynebacterium glutamicum, one of the microorganisms most commonly used for the manufacture of amino acids such L-lysine by fermentation.
A metabolic pathway for utilization of sucrose in C. glutamicum was suggested by Wittmann, et al., "Metabolic Fluxes in Corynebacterium glutamicum during Lysine Production with Sucrose as Carbon Source," Appl. & Enviro. Microbiol. 70(12): 7277-7287 (2004). Wittmann, et al., hypothesized that Corynebacterium glutamicum has a sucrose uptake mechanism that occurs by a phosphotransferase system (PTS), in which sucrose is phosphorylated at the glucose ring and subsequently hydrolyzed in the cell to glucose-6-phosphate and fructose. The PTS in C. glutamicum is a general carbohydrate transfer system that utilizes of a combination of two commonly shared cytoplasmic proteins designated enzyme I and Hpr, encoded by the ptsI and ptsH genes respectively, that interact with a discrete set of membrane bound EII proteins complexes designated fructose-pts, sucrose-pts, and glucose-pts encoded by the ptsF, ptsS, and ptsG genes respectively, that preferentially transport fructose, sucrose and glucose, respectively (Tanaka et al, Microbiology (2008) 154, 264-274). There are also two pts genes designated HCg12933 and NCg12934 that encode proteins with unknown specificities (id.).
Wittmann, et al., also suggested that following the hydrolysis, the resulting fructose is excreted from the cell, then reimported through the fructose-PTS uptake system and the mannose PTS uptake system (the latter now believed to be the same as the glucose-PTS). The existence of multiple uptake systems for sucrose (sucrose-PTS, fructose-PTS, and glucose-PTS) and therefore multiple entry points for carbon into the cell has been hypothesized as a possible reason for unfavorable performance on sucrose.
During lysine production on glucose, about 65% of the carbon goes down the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) for the production of NADPH, which is used in lysine synthesis. During lysine synthesis on sucrose, however, it is believed that a much lower percentage of carbon goes down the PPP, because slightly less than half of the total carbon enters glycolysis as fructose-1,6-phosphate.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, when a wild type C. glutamicum is grown on sucrose, it is believed that about 90% of the fructose that would enter the C. glutamicum cell enters through the fructose-PTS as fructose-1-phosphate. The fructose-1-phosphate is phosphorylated to make fructose-1,6-phosphate. It is believed that fructose-1,6-phosphate does not go through the PPP pathway, in large part because 6-phosphofructokinase is largely an irreversible enzyme and there is very little fructose-1,6-biphosphatase activity in C. glutamicum grown on sucrose. Fructose-1,6-diphosphate will therefore preferentially enter glycolysis and the TCA cycle, which does not provide reducing power for commercial level lysine synthesis.
About 10% of fructose entering C. glutamicum is believed to be taken up by the glucose-PTS system as fructose-6-phosphate. Fructose-6-phosphate may contribute to the amount of carbon directed to PPP flux by action of glucose-6-phosphate isomerase operating in the gluconeogenetic direction to produce glucose-6-phosphate from fructose-6-phosphate. One proposed metabolic pathway for sucrose utilization in Corynebacterium including routes through glycolysis and the PPP shunt is shown in FIG. 1.
Increased lysine production from Corynebacterium on sucrose has been evaluated. One method that might be used to increase production was set forth by Georgi, et al., "Lysine and Glutamate Production by Corynebacterium glutamicum on Glucose, Fructose, and Sucrose: Roles of Malic Enzyme and Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase," Metabolic Eng. 7:291-301 (2005).
The Georgi, et al., strategy purportedly involves use of a constitutive promoter to overexpress the fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase gene fbp. This strategy may be unfavorable, however, because it may result in the creation of strains of Corynebacterium that, while optimized for growth on sucrose, have characteristics that could lead to suboptimal growth on glucose. This may potentially reduce the flexibility of the economically viable uses of the strains, which may not perform in a way that allows use of either sucrose or glucose as a carbon source, depending on what is economically advantageous as conditions change.
Another purported strategy for increasing lysine production from Corynebacterium on sucrose is reported in WO2005/059139A2, as well as Becker, et al., "Amplified Expression of Fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase in Corynebacterium glutamicum increases in vivo flux through the pentose of phosphates pathway and of lysine production on different carbon sources," Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 71: 8587-8596 (2005). In this strategy, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase is overexpressed. This purportedly allows fructose-1,6-P to return to the PPP, eventually increasing the amount of NADPH. The basic strategy of Georgi, et al. and Becker, et al. is illustrated in FIG. 5.
A further proposal for possibly increasing lysine production from Corynebacterium using sucrose as a carbon source was reported in Moon, et al., "Analyses of enzyme II gene mutants for sugar transport and heterologous expression of fructokinase gene in Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032" FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 244: 259-266 (2005). Moon demonstrated that expression of a Clostridium acetoybutylicum fructose kinase gene in C. glutamicum reduced the fructose exported into the media from the transformed strain during growth on sucrose which was otherwise exported during log phase growth of the parent strain lacking the fructokinse activity. Moon, et al. also demonstrated that a ptsF mutant strain lacking fructose-pts activity but expressing the fructokinse enzyme was able to grow to a higher optical density and utilize exported fructose better than the mutant strain lacking the fructokinase activity. It was hypothesized that expression of fructokinase in C. glutamicum would allow the conversion of fructose- to fructose 6-P which would then proceed to the PPP shunt possibly increasing lysine production, instead of being exported from the cell and then re-imported via the PTS system predominantly as fructose 1-phosphate. The scheme hypothesized by Moon, et al. is illustrated in FIG. 6.
The kinetics of lysine production with fructose and sucrose as carbon sources is reported in Kiefer, et al., "Influence of glucose, fructose and sucrose as carbon sources on kinetics and stoichiometry of lysine production by Corynebacterium glutamicum," J. Indus. Microbiol. & Biotech. 28: 338-343 (2002); and Kiefer, et al., "Comparative Metabolic Flux Analysis of Lysine-Producing Corynebacterium glutamicum Cultured on Glucose or Fructose," Appl. & Envir. Microbiol. 70(1): 229-239 (2004). The inclusion of the E. coli xylose isomerase gene in an altered Corynebacterium cell is reported in Kawaguchi, et al., "Engineering of a Xylose Metabolic Pathway in Corynebacterium glutamicum," Appl. & Envir. Microbiol. 72(5): 3418-3428 (2006)
It would be desirable to create a strain of microorganism that is optimized for growth on sucrose but that retains characteristics favorable for growth on glucose. Such a strain could result in fermentative production of amino acids from sucrose being more economically favorable when sucrose is available; when sucrose is unavailable or is not as plentiful or inexpensive as glucose, such a strain could efficiently be used for fermentative production of amino acids from glucose. It is an object of the invention to create such a strain. It is also an object of the invention to produce lysine using strains produced by embodiments of the invention. Preferably, the amount and/or rate of lysine production will be greater in bacteria produced in embodiments of the invention. Of course, the invention as defined by the claims shall not be limited by its ability to satisfy one or more of the objects of the invention.

Production of amino acids from sucrose in


A start-stop device and a corresponding method brings about an automatic switch-off and/or switch-on operation of an automatically switched-off drive machine of a motor vehicle, in particular of a motor vehicle having an automatic transmission. The start-stop device has a switch-off logic, by way of which an automatic switch-off of the drive machine can be brought about in the case of a moving vehicle in accordance with a predefined switch-off operating strategy, and a switch-on logic, by way of which an automatic switch-on of the automatically switched-off drive machine can be brought about in accordance with a predefined switch-on operating strategy. The switch-off operating strategy and/or the switch-on operating strategy are/is configured in a manner which is based on wheel torque.

The invention relates to a start-stop device and a corresponding method for bringing about an automatic switch-off operation and/or switch-on operation of a drive machine in a motor vehicle.
In principle, internal combustion engines are usually switched off manually by means of an ignition key by the driver. A method, which is presented in DE 100 23 331 A1, forms an exception. In this case, the brake pedal position or the brake pedal pressure is used instead of the ignition key. The switch-off process of the internal combustion engine is initiated if, after the motor vehicle has come to a standstill, the brake pedal is actuated more strongly in its already actuated position. To travel further, the brake pedal is released and the gas pedal is pressed, after which a starting of the internal combustion engine is initiated. A disadvantage with such methods is that only the driver is responsible for switching off the internal combustion engine. Analyses of present-day driving behavior show that despite an increased environmental awareness and increased fuel prices, a manual switch-off of the internal combustion engine, e.g. at traffic lights, is rarely accomplished independently.
In order to reduce fuel consumption and pollutant emissions, at the present time methods and systems are already in use in many vehicles, which automatically switch off the internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle when the vehicle is at a standstill under certain conditions or in the presence of predefined switch-off conditions, and automatically switch on again in the presence of predefined switch-on conditions. Such methods and systems or start-stop devices are particularly suitable for city traffic to reduce fuel consumption, since in city traffic the vehicle frequently comes to a stop at traffic lights or as a result of traffic and operation of the internal combustion engine is not necessary.
Such a method is known, for example, from DE 10 2008 061 790 A1. In this case, the internal combustion engine is automatically switched off when the vehicle is braked to a standstill and is held at a standstill by actuation of the brake pedal. The internal combustion engine is started by releasing the brake pedal. Furthermore, an automatic starting of the previously automatically switched-off internal combustion engine can be prevented here by releasing the brake pedal if the brake pedal is depressed harder with the internal combustion engine switched off. A renewed starting then only takes place when the gas pedal is actuated or if, by means of a foot well monitoring unit, an imminent actuation of the gas pedal is identified.
Known from DE 10 2012 217 899 A1 is a method for automatically switching off and starting a drive machine by means of a start-stop device, which switches off the drive machine at speeds greater than zero, when the gas pedal is released or will be released and no (imminent) brake pedal actuation is identified or presumed, and which then starts the automatically switched-off drive machine again when, by means of a foot well monitoring unit, an imminent gas pedal actuation or brake pedal actuation is identified or presumed.
Furthermore known from DE 10 2010 034 554 A1 is a system for switching off and starting a motor, wherein the motor is switched off during travel, when the speed is less than a predefined limiting speed and the brake pedal is actuated. The motor is then always started again when the foot of the driver has released the brake and/or when the throttle position is greater than zero.
Known from the subsequently published DE 10 2016 207 280 A1 is a system for bringing about an automatic switch-on process of a drive machine which has been switched off when the vehicle is traveling, wherein the starting of the drive machine is accomplished depending on a desired driving dynamic identified by the driver, which, for example, is deduced from the release speed of the brake pedal.
It is now the object of the invention to provide an improved system with regard to comfort, which brings about in a simple and cost-effective manner, an automatic switch-off and switch-on of a drive machine which had previously been switched off automatically when the vehicle was traveling.
In the start-stop device according to the invention for bringing about an automatic switch-off and/or switch-on operation of an automatically switched-off drive machine of a motor vehicle, in particular of a motor vehicle having an automatic transmission, it is initially assumed that the start-stop device comprises switch-off logic, by which an automatic switch-off of the drive machine can be brought about in the case of a moving vehicle, i.e. at speeds greater than zero, in particular at speeds up to 3 km/h, 10 km/h, 15 km/h, or even up to 30 km/h, in accordance with a predefined switch-off operating strategy. Furthermore, the start-stop device comprises switch-on logic, by which an automatic switch-on of the automatically switched-off (when the motor vehicle is moving) drive machine (when the motor vehicle is still moving) can be brought about in accordance with a predefined switch-on operating strategy.
Possible switch-off logic, by which an automatic switch-off of the drive machine can be brought about when the vehicle is traveling, can be configured in such a manner that an automatic switch-off of the drive machine is brought about, when the operation of the relevant drive machine is not required, when neither the gas pedal nor the brake pedal are actuated or when a (defined) brake pedal actuation is detected. A (defined) brake pedal actuation can, for example, be a sufficient brake pedal actuation. In order to identify a sufficient brake pedal actuation, for example, the brake pedal position and/or the applied braking pressure, and/or the braking torque brought about when actuating the brake pedal can be evaluated. As a further requirement for bringing about an automatic switch-off process, it can, for example, be provided that the speed of the vehicle must be less than a fixedly or variable defined speed threshold (e.g. 50 km/h, 30 km/h, 15 km/h, or even 5 km/h) before an automatic switch-off process can basically be brought about. The term drive machine can be understood as any drive machine, which provides the force for driving the vehicle. In particular, it can comprise an internal combustion engine.
The invention is further based on the finding that in the case of a drive machine automatically switched off during travel, upon actuation of the brake pedal, a bringing about of a renewed starting of the drive machine when releasing the brake is not always consistent with the driver's wish or is not appropriate for reasons of energy efficiency. If an automatic starting of the drive machine with the vehicle moving seems desirable or appropriate, at the present time there is no suitable operating strategy to enable a gentle transition into crawling at low speeds.
The basic idea of the invention is now to provide a start-stop device, which is adapted to bring about an automatic switch-off of the drive machine and/or switch-on of the drive machine, which has been automatically switched off when the motor vehicle is moving, as the vehicle continues to move in such a manner that transitions taking place between rolling and creeping take place as comfortably as possible.
In order to be able to provide a system, which follows the basic idea, it is provided according to the invention that in a start-stop device explained above, it is provided that the switch-off operating strategy and/or the switch-on operating strategy is configured in a manner, which is based on wheel torque. In other words, the decision to bring about an automatic switch-off and/or switch-on process of a drive machine is based on a determined (current or future or required) wheel torque.
In analogous application of the basic idea to a corresponding method for bringing about an automatic switch-off and/or switch-on operation of an automatically switched-off drive machine of a motor vehicle, in particular of a motor vehicle having an automatic transmission, wherein an automatic switch-off of the drive machine when the vehicle is moving can be brought about according to a predefined switch-off operating strategy and an automatic switch-on of the automatically switched-off (when the vehicle is moving) drive machine (when the motor vehicle is still moving) can be brought about according to a predefined switch-on operating strategy, it is provided that the switch-off operating strategy and/or the switch-on operating strategy is configured in a manner, which is based on wheel torque.
Advantageous further developments of the device according to the invention apply in corresponding manner also to the method according to the invention.
Advantageously, the switch-off operating strategy, for example, is configured in such a manner that it takes into account present or determinable information relating to a crawl torque or vehicle tractive torque, which is current or applied before actuation of the brake pedal and/or predicted, and/or a current and/or predicted downhill torque and/or a predicted wheel torque when the drive machine is switched off and/or a current and/or predicted braking torque when the decision is made to bring about an automatic switch-off process. Thus, for example, before bringing about an automatic switch-off process, it is determined whether a switch-off of the drive machine as a result of current or predicted operating conditions of the motor vehicle seems appropriate with regard to comfort and/or energy efficiency. If a switch-off does not seem appropriate, a switch-off is not brought about.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the switch-on operating strategy is configured in such a manner that this takes into account present or determinable information relating to a predicted crawl torque (after bringing about an automatic switch-on process), a predicted vehicle tractive torque, a current or predicted downhill torque, and/or a current and/or predicted braking torque when the decision is made to bring about an automatic switch-on process of the drive machine, in particular when the vehicle is moving. By taking into account the current and/or predicted torques, which act on a wheel 210 of the motor vehicle, it can be determined substantially more accurately whether and when an automatic starting of the drive machine is appropriate and should be brought about. The predicted vehicle tractive torque differs from the predicted crawl torque in that, in addition to the torque caused by the drive machine, other factors or torques, which influence the advance of the vehicle, such as, for example, a downhill torque, are also taken into account in the vehicle tractive torque.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the switch-on operating strategy is configured to bring about an automatic start of the drive machine when it is established that the current braking torque of the motor vehicle is at least no smaller than the value of a predicted vehicle tractive torque when an automatic switch-on of the drive machine is brought about. The predicted crawl torque and/or the predicted vehicle tractive torque, which can advantageously be determined on the basis of the predicted crawl torque, can in this case be determined based on a determinable speed of the vehicle or a determinable output speed of the transmission, a current gear, and a determinable transmission ratio of the transmission, and with a built-in torque converter of an automatic transmission, from the hydrodynamic identification thereof. In addition, when determining the predicted crawl torque and/or the predicted vehicle tractive torque, the planned idling speed of the drive machine can be taken into account. Furthermore, when determining the predicted vehicle tractive torque, information relating to the current or predicted slope of the vehicle, in particular a determinable current and/or predicted downhill torque, can be taken into account.
In an again particularly advantageous embodiment, the predicted crawl torque can be determined as follows:
determining a current speed of the vehicle or an output speed of the vehicle transmission;
determining a virtual turbine speed of a converter arranged between drive and transmission based on the speed of the vehicle or the output speed of the transmission;
determining a predicted turbine speed, wherein the predicted turbine speed is determined from the virtual turbine speed and taking into account a delay time, which is required for starting the drive machine and for building up traction;
determining a predicted crawl torque based on the determined predicted virtual turbine speed and the predicted idling speed of the drive machine (after starting) with the aid of the known hydrodynamic converter identification; and
determining the predicted vehicle tractive torque based on the determined (virtual predicted) predicted crawl torque, the determined or known downhill torque and the braking torque predefined or brought about by the driver.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Start-stop device for bringing about an automatic switch-off and/or switch-on operation of an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


The invention relates to a process for the preparation of symmetrical or asymmetrical dialkyl disulphides by involving at least one mixture of symmetrical and/or asymmetrical dialkyl disulphides in a basic and/or photochemical catalytic reaction, with joint extraction, preferably continuously, of the symmetrical and/or asymmetrical disulphide(s) which it is desired to obtain.

In the continuation of the present account, dialkyl disulphides and polysulphides are understood to mean the compounds of general formula (1):R—Sn—R′  (1)in which:                R and R′, which are identical or different, represent, each independently of one another, a linear or branched hydrocarbon radical comprising from 1 to 12 carbon atoms, preferably from 1 to 8 carbon atoms, and optionally one or more unsaturations in the form of double and/or triple bond(s);        n represents an integer between 2 and 8, preferably between 2 and 6 and more preferably between 2 and 4, limits included.
Dialkyl disulphides are thus represented by the general formula (1) in which n is equal to 2. Dialkyl polysulphides are represented by the general formula (1) in which n is strictly greater than 2.
The dialkyl disulphides and polysulphides of formula (1) are said to be symmetrical when the R and R′ radicals are identical and are said to be asymmetrical when R and R′ are different. "Identical" is understood to mean having the same number of carbon atoms and having the same stereochemical configuration. In the context of the present invention, preference is given to dialkyl disulphides of above formula (1) (where n=2) for which R and R′, which are identical or different, represent a linear or branched hydrocarbon chain which comprises from 1 to 12 carbon atoms, preferably from 1 to 8 carbon atoms, and which is saturated (alkyl radical).
Preference is given, among the alkyl radicals which can form the R and R′ radicals, to radicals comprising from 1 to 8 carbon atoms, preferably from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, for example the methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, tert-butyl, n-pentyl, neopentyl and n-hexyl radicals.
In the context of the present invention, preference is given to the dialkyl disulphides chosen from dimethyl disulphide (or DMDS), diethyl disulphide (or DEDS), dipropyl disulphide (or DPDS), dibutyl disulphide (or DBDS), dipentyl disulphide (or diamyl disulphide) or dihexyl disulphide, the trisulphide homologues (n=3), tetrasulphide homologues (n=4), pentasulphide homologues (n=5) or hexasulphide homologues (n=6) of these disulphides, and their mixtures, it being understood that the propyl and butyl radicals can exist in the linear or branched form, for example n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl and tert-butyl, n-pentyl, sec-pentyl, neopentyl and others.
Among the dialkyl disulphides, dimethyl disulphide (DMDS) is a compound very widely used today in a great many industrial fields, for example chemical industries, petrochemical industries, in agrochemistry, in the building industry, and others. DMDS is used in particular as agent for the sulphurization of catalysts for the hydrotreating of petroleum feedstocks or as feedstock additive for steam cracking.
In comparison with other products used in these applications, such as commercial tert-alkyl polysulphides, DMDS exhibits numerous advantages, in particular a high sulphur content (68%) and non-coking decomposition products (CH4, H2S). Furthermore, in these applications, DMDS results in performances which are generally superior to those of other products, such as tert-alkyl polysulphides.
Among methods for the synthesis of DMDS, a particularly effective and economical method is the oxidation of methyl mercaptan by sulphur according to the reaction:

This reaction is catalysed by organic or inorganic and homogeneous or heterogeneous basic agents. This route is particularly economical when it is considered that H2S is coproduced and that the latter can be used to carry out the synthesis of methyl mercaptan by reaction with methanol according to the following reaction:

There exist other routes for the synthesis of DMDS described in the prior art, such as the oxidation of methyl mercaptan by aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution or atmospheric oxygen.
There has now been found another route for the production of DMDS and more generally of symmetrical or asymmetrical dialkyl disulphides, this other synthetic route exhibiting an economic advantage at least equivalent to that introduced by the process of the oxidation of methyl mercaptan by sulphur and in addition exhibiting the great advantage of making possible an entirely advantageous recovery in value of DSOs.
DSOs (DiSulphide Oils) are mixtures of organic disulphides produced during the treatment of the mercaptans present in petroleum fractions or gases liquefied by processes of "Merox" type (see, for example, Catal. Review—Sci. Eng., 35(4), (1993), 571-609).
These DSOs are generally and most often removed, destroyed or stored, according to different techniques, on the very site of production, in particular on gas sites, for example in sulphur recovery units. One of the techniques for destroying DSOs commonly used is that based on the Claus reaction, which makes possible a joint removal of the hydrogen sulphide (H2S) also present in crude natural gas.
The Claus reaction can be written according to the following reaction (A):2H2S+SO2→3S+2H2O,  (A)the sulphur dioxide (SO2) being prepared by oxidation of a portion of the H2S, according to the following reaction (B):H2S+3/2O2→SO2+H2O  (B)and also by oxidizing treatment of the DSOs, according to the following reaction (C), where the DSOs are illustrated by DMDS:CH3SSCH3+11/2O2→2CO2+2SO2+3H2O.  (C)
The problem is that the reactions (A) and (B) are carried out with a shortage of oxygen, whereas the reaction (C) requires an excess of oxygen, with respect to the stoichiometry, in order to be complete as the presence of unburnt carbon-based residues in the Claus reaction causes serious problems of quality of the sulphur obtained by this reaction. The amount of DSOs which it is thus possible to treat in conjunction with the H2S incineration is very limited and often less than the amount produced daily on the gas site concerned.
Patent Application FR 2 875 236 A describes very well the problems encountered with this removal technique and its alternative forms. This patent application also provides another destruction method based on the complete hydrogenolysis of these disulphides to give hydrocarbons and H2S, followed by incineration of the latter in a Claus unit.
With the aim of recovering in value rather than destroying the DSOs, International Application WO 2005/111175 provides for the use of these products as inhibitors of the formation of coke in hydrocarbon cracking furnaces. This is because it is known by a person skilled in the art that the addition of sulphur-comprising compounds (such as, for example, DMDS) to hydrocarbon feedstocks makes it possible to greatly reduce the formation of coke in the pipes of steam crackers, for example.
However, as is mentioned in International Application WO 2001/96499, DSOs are formed by oxidation of the sodium salts of the mercaptans to be removed and for this reason comprise traces of sodium in a significant amount. This has the consequence of the impossibility of a direct use, without pretreatment, in cracking furnaces as the presence of sodium modifies the metallurgy of the cracking pipes. Furthermore, the use of DSOs in another application, such as the sulphurization of catalysts for the hydrotreating of petroleum fractions, is also compromised as sodium is known to be a poison for these catalysts.
The direct recovery in value of these DSOs as synthetic intermediates is also impeded by the fact, this time, that these DSOs are mixtures of disulphides and not chemically pure molecules, such as dimethyl disulphide or diethyl disulphide, taken in isolation. For example, a DSO resulting from the treatment of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) comprises dimethyl disulphide, diethyl disulphide and a significant amount of ethyl methyl disulphide.
Other processes relate more specifically to symmetrical and asymmetrical disulphides. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 2,521,870 discloses a process which makes it possible to prepare asymmetrical disulphides from a mixture of at least two different symmetrical disulphides ("disproportionation"), by heating in the presence of sodium salts. It is also known, from U.S. Pat. No. 2,557,312, to prepare symmetrical disulphides from asymmetrical disulphides ("reproportionation") starting from a mixture of at least two asymmetrical disulphides by heating in the presence of an alkanolamine and of an alkali metal sulphide.
Furthermore, an obvious solution for a person skilled in the art desirous of producing pure, symmetrical and unmixed dialkyl disulphides from DSOs would consist in separating the various dialkyl disulphides by a distillation as a function of the boiling points. However, this technique would not make it possible to recover in value the asymmetrical dialkyl disulphides as symmetrical dialkyl disulphides, such as the ethyl methyl disulphide present in the DSOs resulting from LPG, this asymmetrical disulphide even sometimes being the predominant compound.
It is the same for more complex DSOs (complex mixtures of dialkyl disulphides resulting from condensates, for example) in which disulphides having alkyl groups of lower ranks, such as C1, C2, C3 or C4 alkyl groups, indeed even of higher ranks, are present. In these DSOs, symmetrical disulphides can be in relatively low amounts, in comparison with the asymmetrical disulphides, in the light of the various possible combinations (C1/C2, C1/C3, C1/C4, C2/C3, and the like) and the possibility of structural isomers starting from the C3 rank (isopropyl/n-propyl).

Preparation of symmetrical and asymmetrical disulphides by reactive distillation of mixtures of disulphides

Abstract: The process of the invention is particularly suited to the preparation of dimethyl disulphide or diethyl disulphide from a mixture of symmetrical and/or asymmetrical dialkyl disulphides.


A steering wheel having a rim portion is provided. The rim portion includes a rim metal core, at least one heating element, which extends around the core, and a coating portion, which coats the heating element. The heating element includes a heat generating member for generating heat when electrified, a heat transfer sheet, and a flexible heat insulating sheet. The heat transfer sheet transfers heat of the heat generating member to the coating portion. The heat insulating sheet hinders heat of the heat generating member from being transferred to the core. The heat insulating sheet has first and second surfaces. The heat transfer sheet is laid on the first surface. The heat generating member is located between the first surface and the heat transfer sheet. The heating element is affixed to the core at the second surface, while being flexed to conform to the surface of the core.

The present invention relates to a steering wheel having a rim portion, in which heat generating members that generate heat when electrified are incorporated.
When a vehicle is parked in extremely cold weather in winter, the temperature in the passenger compartment is lowered. Accordingly, the temperature of the rim portion of the steering wheel is lowered. The rim portion is also referred to as the handle portion or ring portion. When the driver gets in the vehicle in this state and starts driving, he/she needs to grip the cold rim portion. This can make the steering operation uncomfortable.
In this regard, various types of steering wheels have been developed that have a rim portion in which heat generating members that generate heat when electrified are incorporated. For example, Japanese National Phase Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-520989 discloses a steering wheel in which a rim metal core, which forms the framework of the rim portion, is coated with a base material made of urethane foam or neoprene. A sheet-like heat generating member, which is silver coated fabric, is attached to the rim metal core. The sheet-like heat generating member is coated with a foam material layer of polyurethane and a cover in that order.
In the steering wheel, since the base material hinders transfer of heat generated by the sheet-like heat generating member to the rim metal core, a greater amount of heat is transferred to the surface of the rim portion, which in turn efficiently increases the temperature of the rim portion surface. Also, since the heat generated by the sheet-like heat generating member is diffused by the silver coating layer, the rim portion surface is evenly heated.
In the steering wheel disclosed in Japanese National Phase Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-520989, the base material and the foam material layer have a seamless cross-sectional structure. Although the base material has uneven thickness about the rim metal core, the cross-section of the base material has an elliptic shape. The base material and the foam material layer are each formed by molding plastic using molds.
However, to make the base material and the foam material layer through molding process, two molds are required, which increases costs.


A high-frequency knife having a flexible sheath, an operation member, an electrode part, a handled operation section and a connector part. The electrode part is provided with a rod electrode part extending in an axial direction of a flexible sheath, and a plate electrode part. Three corner portions are provided on an external peripheral portion of the plate electrode part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-frequency knife (diathermic cutter) for excising a living tissue by high-frequency incision.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been performed treatments in which a treatment instrument for incision is inserted in the body through, for example, a channel of an endoscope, and a living tissue such as a mucous membrane in the body is excised by the treatment instrument. A high-frequency treatment instrument (diathermic accessories) as disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Pub. No. 4-329944 (Patent Document 1) is used for such an excision treatment.
The high-frequency treatment instrument disclosed in Patent Document 1 has an elongated inserting section, and a handheld operating section which is located on the side closer to the operator's hand and connected to a proximal end portion of the inserting section. The inserting section is inserted in the body through a channel of an endoscope. The inserting section has an elongated flexible tube having flexibility, and an operation wire which is axially-movably inserted into the flexible tube. The operating section has an operation handle. The operation wire is axially moved back and forth in synchronization with the operation of the operation handle. A needle-shaped knife section (electrode section) extending in the axial direction is provided on a distal end portion of the operation wire.
When the operation handle is operated, the operation wire is moved in the axial direction. By moving the operation wire, the knife section is projected from and retracted into the flexible tube. In this operation, the knife section is moved between a retracted position, where the knife section is housed in the flexible tube, and a use position where the knife section is projected outside the flexible tube. A living tissue contacting the knife section is cauterized and incised by the passage of a high-frequency current through the knife section, in the state where the knife section has been moved to the use position.
As a publicly-known non-patent document, there is Non-patent Document 1: Tuneo Oyama, et al., "Extended Adaptation of Stomach EMR: Contrivance and Results of Method Aimed at Large En-bloc Resection; Endoscopic Mucosal Resection Using a Hooking Knife", Stomach and Intestine, August 2002, Vol. 37, No. 9, pp. 1155–1161. The Non-patent Document 1 discloses a high-frequency treatment instrument having a structure different from that disclosed in Patent Document 1. The high-frequency treatment instrument has a bent portion made by bending a distal end of its needle-shaped knife section (electrode section). In use of the high-frequency treatment instrument, a living tissue is hooked onto the bent portion of the knife section, and cauterized and incised while being pulled up by the bent portion.
As another publicly-known non-patent document, there is Non-patent Document 2: Haruhiro Inoue et al., "Endoscopic Mucosal Resection with a Cap-fitted Panendoscope for Stomach Cancer", Endoscopia Digestiva, A to Z for How to Select Endoscopic Treatment Tools, September 2002, Vol. 14, No. 9, pp. 1301–1302. The Non-patent Document 2 discloses a high-frequency treatment instrument having another structure. The high-frequency treatment instrument has a disc-shaped electrode portion at a distal end of a needle-shaped knife section (electrode section). In use of the high-frequency treatment instrument, a living tissue is hooked onto the disk-shaped electrode portion of the knife section, and cauterized and incised while being pulled up by the disk-shaped electrode portion. Further, the disk-shaped electrode portion is pressed against a bleeding region, and thereby provides hemostasis to the bleeding region by coagulation.
If a living tissue is excised by using the high-frequency treatment instrument of the Patent Document 1, the knife section is stuck into a region to be excised, and then moved in a predetermined excision direction in the stuck state.
The following is an operation of excising a living tissue by using the high-frequency treatment instrument of Non-patent Document 1 or 2. The distal end of the knife section is inserted in a living tissue and pulled up, and thereby the living tissue is hooked onto the bent portion or the disk-shaped portion. This prevents the stuck knife portion from contacting a not-to-be-excised region.


In a charged particle beam writing apparatus, a charged particle optical system includes a first, second, and third deflection control system configured to form a shot of a charged particle beam, control a shape and size of the shot, and control an irradiation position of the shot respectively. A shot data generation processing device generates shot data of writing a latent image on a resist layer in a sample, using (1) design data of a pattern to be formed in a member, wherein the member is formed in a sample, and the resist layer is formed on the member, and (2) correction information of a shot size and an irradiation shot position obtained from in-plane distribution data of an XY dimension variation amount of dimension measurement patterns. The dimension measurement patterns are formed by writing test patterns on a resist layer and transferring the test patterns onto a member.

A charged particle beam writing apparatus writes a latent image having a predetermined shape onto a resist layer that is a base material of an etching mask or the like by irradiating a charged particle beam, such as an electronic beam. Since the charged particle beam writing apparatus can write the latent image with high resolution, the charged particle beam writing apparatus is used to produce an original pattern with high-resolution (also referred to as a reticle or a mask).
For example, when a latent image of a fine pattern is written onto the resist layer by a variable shaped beam type electron beam writing apparatus, figure allocation is performed, which enables construction of a planar shape of the latent image to be written by a combination of a plurality of figures using information on a cross-sectional beam shape and a cross-sectional size which can be shaped by the electron beam writing apparatus, and design data of the latent image to be written. Each of the figures used in the figure allocation has a shape and a size which enable writing by irradiating one shot of the electron beam or by sequentially irradiating a plurality of shots of the electron beam. Next, with respect to each of allocated figures, shot division to allocate one or a plurality of shots for writing a relevant figure is performed. Thereafter, a shot of which a gain or offset of the size needs to be corrected is extracted from all shots allocated through the shot division and a correcting step is performed to set a correction amount of the shot. Thereby, shot data indicating control information of an electron beam in the case of writing a latent image is generated. The electron beam is controlled according to the shot data so as to write the latent image of a fine pattern on the resist layer.
In order to increase writing precision of the latent image, a method of evaluating dimension precision of a charged particle beam has been already proposed. Also, a charged particle beam writing apparatus capable of increasing the writing precision of the latent image by resizing a predetermined shot has been already proposed.
For example, in the variable shaped beam estimation method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H09-186070, a plurality of rectangular patterns 1 having an identical dimension are prepared. At least one of these rectangular patterns is used for writing by a single electron beam shot, and the other rectangular patterns are divided by a line (deviation line) parallel to one side of the rectangular pattern to be used for writing by two electron beam shots. In the patterns obtained by a developing step after the writing step, a width of a pattern in the perpendicular direction to the deviation line is measured by a pattern dimension measuring apparatus. Then, the dimension accuracy of the variable shaped beam is estimated by examining a relationship between the measurement value of the pattern dimension, the presence or absence of the deviation line, or the position of the deviation line. According to this variable shaped estimation method, a displacement amount of a gain and offset can be accurately estimated, thereby a shot having a size equal to the maximum size or less can be shaped accurately.
In addition, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2012-114105 discloses a charged particle beam writing apparatus, which extracts a predetermined figure and resizes the figure in consideration of dimension variation upon figure allocation, in order to prevent a dimension of a fine pattern actually written in a resist layer from varying from a design dimension, due to a loading effect or the like which inevitably occurs when a developing step is performed to a latent image written on the resist layer.
For example, a photo mask is manufactured by writing a latent image of a fine pattern on a resist layer provided in a mask blank and by transferring the latent image onto a light shielding film of the mask blank using a charged particle beam writing apparatus. That is, the photo mask is manufactured by obtaining an etching mask by developing the resist layer in which the latent image is written, and by forming the fine pattern corresponding to the latent image with dry etching to the light shielding film of the mask blank through the etching mask. In this case, a manufacturing error in a dimension of the fine pattern formed in the light shielding film may be caused in the entire photo mask even though a shot in the charged particle beam apparatus is adjusted such that the latent image having desired dimension precision is written on a predetermined portion on the resist layer.
A manufacturing error value in an X direction of the fine pattern (i.e., a direction corresponding to an X-axis direction in a precision stage during the writing of the latent image) and a manufacturing error value in a Y direction of the fine pattern (i.e., a direction corresponding to a Y-axis direction in the precision stage during the writing of the latent image) are not uniform on the plane of the photo mask. On the plane of the photo mask, a difference between the manufacturing error value in the X direction and the manufacturing error value in the Y direction (hereinafter, referred to as an "XY dimension variation amount") is inevitably changed by a formation position of the fine pattern. That is, distribution of the XY dimension variation amount occurs on the plane of the photo mask.
It is experimentally demonstrated that distribution of the XY dimension variation amount on the plane of the photo mask is changed depending on a material of the resist layer on which the latent image is written by a charged particle beam or a material of the light shielding film which is an underlayer of the resist layer. Also, it is experimentally demonstrated that, when the respective materials of the resist layer and the light shielding film are fixed, the distribution is changed according to a development condition in the case of developing the latent image written on the resist layer or a dry etching condition in the case of patterning the light shielding film using an etching mask generated from a photo resist layer on which the latent image is written. In addition, it is experimentally demonstrated that, when the respective materials of the resist layer and the light shielding film, and the development condition or the etching condition are fixed, reproducibility is observed in the distribution of the XY dimension variation amount between manufactured photo masks.
In this regard, it is estimated that the distribution of the XY dimension variation amount on the plane of the photo mask is caused by occurrence of distribution of angles at which the developer is introduced into the resist layer and distribution of directions in which the developer flows when the resist layer after writing of the latent image is developed, or is caused by interaction of spatial density distribution of plasma and flow of an etching gas, which occurs in the case of dry etching on the light shielding film using the etching mask generated from the resist layer after writing of the latent image.
Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the XY dimension variation amount in the fine pattern formed in the photo mask over the entire surface of the photo mask even though a shot having high dimension precision is formed by the charged particle beam writing apparatus and the latent image is written on the resist layer by using an evaluation result of an evaluating method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H09-186070. Similarly, it is difficult to reduce the XY dimension variation amount in the fine pattern formed in the photo mask over the entire surface of the photo mask although a predetermined figure is extracted in the case of figure allocation and the figure is resized as disclosed in JP 2012-114105 A.
An object of the present invention is to provide a charged particle beam writing apparatus that can reduce a XY dimension variation amount in a fine pattern formed by transferring a latent image onto a member to be patterned, over the entire surface of the member to be patterned when a latent image of a fine pattern is written onto a resist layer formed on the member to be patterned by a charged particle beam.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a charged particle beam writing method that can reduce a XY dimension variation amount in a fine pattern formed by transferring a latent image onto a member to be patterned, over the entire surface of the member to be patterned when a latent image of a fine pattern is written onto a resist layer formed on the member to be patterned by a charged particle beam.
Further another object of the present invention is to provide a shot correction method of a charged particle beam writing method that can reduce a XY dimension variation amount in a fine pattern formed by transferring a latent image onto a member to be patterned, over the entire surface of the member to be patterned when a latent image of a fine pattern is written onto a resist layer formed on the member to be patterned by a charged particle beam.

Charged particle beam writing apparatus, charged particle beam writing method, and shot correction method of charged particle beam writing method


An aircraft launching system and method include a first lifting sub-system including a first tether that removably couples to an aircraft, and a second lifting sub-system including a second tether that couples the first lifting sub-system to the second lifting sub-system.

Various aircraft depart from and arrive at airports. An airport typically includes at least one runway that accommodates aircraft taking off and landing. A runway is long enough to ensure that an aircraft is able to reach sufficient speed to take off, as well as provide ample space to land. As can be appreciated, runways take up substantial amounts of area.
Additionally, many aircraft generate noise as they take off from an airport. Areas surrounding and/or proximate to airports are subjected to such noise.
Further, aircraft typically consume a great deal of energy as they take off from an airport and ascend to a cruising altitude. Certain electric aircraft include numerous batteries. Energy within the batteries is used by the aircraft to take off and ascend to the cruising altitude, as well as to fly to a destination. The batteries used to provide energy required for the aircraft to take off and ascend to the cruising altitude add substantial weight to the aircraft, thereby requiring an increased amount of energy to travel between locations.


This invention relates to a controller for a pumping installation using a combined pressure sensor and fluid level sensor arrangement. The controller includes a processor responsive to measurements from the sensor arrangement, as well as memory for storing a set of instructions for execution by the processor to correlate initial measurements taken by the sensors. The instructions allows the controller to monitor a fluid level in a well with the combined arrangement to compile a history of respective measurements for both sensors, and, in the event of an unexpected discrepancy between the measurements, to automatically calibrate the sensor arrangement according to the history of respective measurements to re-establish a correlation between the sensors.

FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings depicts a well 2 containing water from an inlet 3. The water is shown filling the well to a level 4. Rungs 10 are provided within the well 2 in order to facilitate human service calls. In order to prevent overfilling of the well 2, lead and lag pumps 6 and 7 are provided to pump out water via an outlet 8. The lead and lag pumps 6 and 7 are operated by a controller 12 which monitors level 4 of the water.
One approach to monitoring the water level 4 in the past has been to make use of a probe 14 bearing multiple electrodes 16. As the water level rises, a low impedance, which controller 12 is able to monitor, occurs between the electrodes 16 on the probe 14 which are in contact with the water. Such a probe is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,786 by the present inventor.
A problem identified by the current Inventor with water level sensing probe 14 when used in sewerage wells, is that the one or more electrodes may become covered with fat or other impurities 18. This is particularly the case about the duty or lead point of the well, i.e. the range that the level 4 assumes most of the time under normal conditions. Impurities 18 may cause shorting between electrodes 16 above or below the actual level of the water so that controller 12 is unable to accurately control lead and/or lag pumps 6 and 7 to maintain a desired fluid level. For example, if the lead pump 6 is activated before the correct level is reached, then the controller 12 will determine that the volume of water in the well has suddenly increased steeply and will use this incorrect figure to calculate pump down volume.
Similarly, if a very conductive liquid, such as salt water ingresses into the pit in beach side areas, premature activation of the pumps or alarms will occur. Alternately, if contaminates, such as oils, enter the pit, sensors become insulated and fail to detect the liquid level which can result in a total failure of the conductivity probe and subsequent flooding of the pit.
One approach to addressing the problem described above that has been attempted in the past is to install a pressure sensor 20 in order to provide controller 12 with an additional indication of water level. However, it is very difficult to physically and reliably install a separate pressure transducer 20 at an exact distance lower than the lowest electrode of the probe 14. This is particularly so because the pump cut-out level, where pressure sensors are usually intended to be installed as a backstop, can be over 10 meters below the well opening. Workplace health and safety regulations usually prohibit workers from climbing into pit 2, especially down to such a depth, to ensure that both probe 14 and pressure sensor 20 are at the correct level.
In any case, both the probe 14 and the pressure sensor 20 need to be removed for cleaning at regular intervals. The removal and reinstallation result in variations of the distance between the pressure sensor 20 and the bottom electrode and also of the calibration of the pressure sensor.
If installation of probe 12 and sensor 20 is attempted without entry into well 2 then it is virtually impossible to see and locate them accurately due to ongoing inflow into the well and associated spray.
Sewerage wells should be completely pumped out from time to time in order to avoid the build-up of excessive fat in the well. If the pumps are not turned off once the low water level is reached then the pumps may pump dry. However, variations in sensitivity of the pressure sensor may prevent the controller from accurately detecting the low water level cut out point. This results in either dry pumping, if the level is determined to be higher than it actually is, or less than optimal pumping out if the level is determined to be lower than it actually is.
To provide reliable fluid level calibration, the exact distance from the pressure transducer module 20 to each electrode must be known and needs to remain exactly the same throughout the life of the probe 14. If this distance changes, perhaps due to stretching and movements of the probe 14, then all calibration rules and formulas have to be updated resulting in much work and inaccuracies.
International patent application PCT/AU2006/000844 (WIPO publication No. WO2006/133511), to the present applicant, describes electrode fluid level sensing probe that terminates with a pressure sensor. Such a probe overcomes the problem of accurately locating the pressure sensor at a predetermined distance from the lowermost electrode. However, to date pump controllers have not been devised to properly take advantage of this new type of water level sensing probe.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and associated pump controller which offer improvements over those hitherto known in the art and which can process data from a probe of the type described in WO2006/133511.


An illuminance measuring method and apparatus measures the illuminance on a wafer in an exposure apparatus for projecting a pattern formed on a mask onto a wafer. The illuminance of the mask causes the formation of ghost light on the mask. The apparatus and method use a first technique to measure the illuminance on the wafer while a mask used for actual exposure is mounted in the exposure apparatus and the mask is illuminated. The apparatus and method also use a second technique, different form the first technique, to measure the illuminance on the wafer while the mask used for actual exposure is mounted in the exposure apparatus and the mask is illuminated. The apparatus and method also find the distribution of the ghost light caused by the mask, based on the illuminance measured by these two techniques.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an illuminance measuring method, an exposure apparatus using the method, and a device manufacturing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the recent remarkable progress in the fine processing technology for manufacturing semiconductor devices, it is demanded that an exposure apparatus be capable of forming a precise line which has a width identical to the wavelength of the exposure light used in the exposure apparatus. When the line is being formed, the presence of any illuminance irregularity in the illumination light (exposure light) on a reticle (mask) hinders a circuit pattern from being accurately projected onto a wafer.
To avoid this problem, conventionally, an illuminance distribution on the wafer is measured with the reticle removed from the optical path of the illumination light, and the illumination (exposure) system is adjusted so that an error measured in the illuminance distribution is set to be .+-.1% or less, thereby uniformity of illuminance on the reticle can be maintained.
However, even when uniformity of the illuminance on the reticle is maintained, in approximation with the reticle being removed from the optical path, a phenomenon called a "ghost" image occurs during actual exposure, because illumination light reflected by the reticle returns to the illumination system, and is further reflected inside of the illumination system, back to the reticle, again. To control the line width to a precision on the order of .+-.5% or less, it is necessary to control such a ghost image phenomenon, which has otherwise been ignored.
As a method for measuring such a ghost image, a method using a special reticle (e.g., a test reticle) as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-62883, is known.
However, the above method is suitable only for presuming the amount of the ghost image that occurs, and disadvantageously, requires a significant measuring time due to its complicated procedure. In addition, the illuminance distribution on the reticle, caused by the ghost image phenomenon, varies depending upon the pattern density of the reticle or the shape of the reticle. This causes an inconvenience of preparing a test reticle for each pattern.

Illuminance measuring method, an exposure apparatus using the method, and a device manufacturing method


The present invention discloses an organic radiographic contrasting agent containing an aliphatic or alicyclic backbone and multiple halogen-substituted aromatic groups. Each of the halogen-substituted aromatic groups in the radiographic contrasting agent is substituted with at least three halogen atoms and is covalently attached to the aliphatic or alicyclic backbone. The present invention also discloses a radio-opaque polymeric material comprising the radiographic contrasting agent and at least one polymer. The radiographic contrasting agent is physically admixed with the at least one polymer or physically embedded or dispersed in the at least one polymer. The radio-opaque polymeric material provides enhanced contrasting intensity in radiographic imaging. The radio-opaque polymeric material can be applied on at least a portion of one surface of a medical device. The radio-opaque polymeric material can also be used to construct a medical device, a component thereof, or a portion of a component thereof.

It is important that medical devices are biocompatible since most medical devices interface with biological tissues during use. Therefore, medical devices are preferred to be prepared from biocompatible materials. More specifically, the ideal materials for medical devices should satisfy at least the following requirements: (1) conformable, i.e., conform to the biological structure without inducing detrimental stress, (2) robust, i.e., withstand handling during fabrication and implantation, and (3) chemically inert to body tissue and body fluids. However, conventional materials used for the construction of medical devices, such as stainless steel and other alloys, not only are physically rigid, but also cause inflammatory reactions or other side effects when interfacing with biological tissues.
To overcome these problems, synthetic polymeric materials, including both biodegradable and non-biodegradable polymers, have been widely used to fabricate medical devices. Common biodegradable polymers include polylactide (PLA) polyglycolide (PGA), poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), polycaprolactone (PCL), polyphosphoesters (PPE), polyorthoesters, polyanhydrides, polyphosphazene, poly(esteramide) (PEA), and copolymers and mixtures thereof. Non-biodegradable polymers are also known as nonabsorbable polymers. Common nonabsorbable polymeric materials include, but are not limited to: silicone elastomers, polyutheranes, polymethyl methacrylate, Dacron®, Teflon®, and derivatives thereof. However, these polymeric materials are not radio-opaque. Consequently, medical devices made from these polymers cannot be visualized by means of radiographic imaging. The ability to see the radiographic image of a medical device being used in, or implanted within, the body is very important since radiographic imaging provides a physician the ability to monitor and adjust the medical device during operation. For some medical implant applications, X-ray visibility is mandatory.
To achieve desirable radio-opacity in the polymeric materials used for medical implants, one conventional method utilizes inorganic radiographic contrasting agents, such as barium sulfate, zirconium dioxide, or bismuth halides as additives or fillers in the polymeric material to form a radio-opaque polymeric matrix. However, these inorganic agents do not mix well with polymeric materials and may cause phase separation or even clumps in the radio-opaque polymeric matrix. The phase separation problem is further aggravated since high concentrations (around 10%, and often times 20-30% by weight) of these inorganic radiographic contrasting agents are routinely used to obtain the required radio-opacity. The incompatibility between the polymeric and inorganic phases compromises the physicomechanical properties (e.g., lubricity and robustness) of the polymer matrix. Another disadvantage of using inorganic radiographic contrasting agents is the leach-out of these inorganic agents from the radio-opaque polymeric matrix, which adversely compromises the mechanical strength of the polymeric material.
An alternative approach to introduce radio-opacity into polymeric materials is to synthesize polymers having covalently bound bromine or iodine atoms that may produce a radiographic contrasting effect (See U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,145). One radio-opaque composition of the prior art comprises a polymer having a non-leachable radio-opaque moiety covalently attached to the polymer (See U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,448), wherein the non-leachable radio-opaque moiety includes halogen substituted aromatic groups. The prior art has also disclosed a radio-opaque polymeric material comprising a diphenol-based monomer unit substituted with at least one bromine or iodine atom (See U.S. Pat. No. 6,852,308). However, preparations of these prior art radio-opaque polymers require synthesis of radiographic contrasting monomer units, which may increase the technical complexity and production cost.
Thus, there remains a need for a radiographic contrasting agent that is compatible with polymeric materials and provides enhanced contrasting intensity as well.

Organic radiographic contrasting agents for medical devices


A dispatch device includes an information acquisition unit that acquires, for each of a plurality of vehicles, location information indicating a location of the vehicle and loaded object information indicating a status of an object of transportation loaded on the vehicle and a vehicle dispatching unit that dispatches an unfilled vehicle that can carry an object of transportation so that a predetermined number or higher number of unfilled vehicles, are present around an operating vehicle that is carrying an object of transportation.

A transportation service delivery system is known that causes an autonomous driving vehicle to travel toward a destination designated by a dispatch device to provide a transportation service to an occupant. The dispatch device designates, on the basis of information such as a ride request or a drop-off request from the occupant, a destination for the autonomous driving vehicle. The autonomous driving vehicle travels toward the destination with its operation such as driving, steering and braking controlled by a driving controller installed therein. The driving controller controls driving of the autonomous driving vehicle on the basis of location information output by a measurement device installed in the vehicle and vehicle related information such as image information acquired by an image pickup device.
When providing a transportation service using the transportation service delivery system, it is important to dispatch an autonomous driving vehicle so as to reach a location designated by a passenger requesting a ride on time.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2018-169985 (PTL 1), a transportation system is disclosed that determines, in accordance with a degree of transportation demand by passengers in an operation area, the number of vehicles operating in a zone allocated to the vehicles in the operation area.


In a glare protection device for navigation apparatus or similar apparatus, comprising a glare protection wall structure of upside down U-shape having a horizontal upper wall and two side walls extending from the opposite ends of the horizontal upper wall downwardly and a spring bracket for the selective attachment of the glare protection device to an apparatus, each of the side walls is pivotally supported on the horizontal upper wall by way of a hinge so as to be movable between a downwardly extending use position and an ineffective position in which the side walls are pivoted inwardly against the bottom side of the horizontal upper wall.

The invention relates to a glare protection device for display screens of electronic devices such as navigation apparatus used in motor vehicles.
The convenient use of navigation apparatus in motor vehicles depends to a large extent on the clear visibility of the display on the screen of the apparatus. The navigation apparatus widely used today are usually supported by an apparatus holder which includes a support structure with a suction foot which is attached for example to the windshield wherein the support structure is adjustable in itself. The support structure is for example in the form of a so-called goose neck or it includes an adjustable lockable hinge mechanism connected to a support plate or a clamping jaw holder or similar device to hold the navigation apparatus in a position which is convenient for the driver so that the display screen of the apparatus is easily visible.
However, in practical use, often the reading of the screen display is detrimentally affected or even made impossible by incident light in the form of sunbeams causing possibly strong glare effects.
It is known to counter this problem by mounting onto the apparatus a glare protector which is in the form of an upside down U-shaped wall structure with a horizontal upper glare protection wall and two glare protection side walls and spring clamps for mounting the protector onto the apparatus when needed.
Such known glare protection devices improve the problem but they are by far not optimal, since each such glare protection device results also in a sight impediment since it detrimentally affects the visibility of the display screen of the apparatus. This is because, with an inclined view angle, parts of the display screen are covered. Some known glare protection devices therefore are a compromise. For a good glare protection effect, the upper wall as well as the side walls need to be as deep as possible but the greater the depth of the walls, the greater is the sight impediment. Therefore such known glare protection devices have glare protection walls of only relatively small depth so that the sight impediment is not excessive. Then however, also the glare protection effect is only limited and the glare protection may even be fully ineffective when the incident light reaches the screen at an angle from the back at one or the other side.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a glare protection device which offers on one hand a very good and effective glare protection but on the other hand minimizes visibility impediment of the display screen of the apparatus.

Glare protection device for GPS or similar apparatus


A tagged content inference system and method is provided. The system facilitates browsing of content with a pseudo-hierarchical feel using algorithmically-deduced relationships between items based on user applied tags. Based, at least in part, upon tagged content, an inference component can infer relationships between items (e.g., creating a pseudo-hierarchy) in order to facilitate browsing of the items.

The amount of data available to information seekers has grown astronomically, whether as the result of the proliferation of information sources on the Internet, or as a result of private efforts to organize business information within a company, or any of a variety of other causes. As the amount of available data grows, so does the need to be able to categorize or label that data so that the data may be more efficiently searched. One approach is to use tagging for this task.
Tagging is the process of adding or attaching metadata such as descriptive attributes to a data object. A tag may be thought of as a category name. As used herein, a data object may be any type of data (e.g., a website, a text file, an image or a Word document). Operating systems, search mechanisms and filtering mechanisms may utilize tags to organize, sort or filter data objects. A taxonomy or system of classification may be defined by a set of tags and their relationships.
Tagging has become prevalent on the Internet as a means for organizing, and identifying relevant websites, articles and other data objects. Internet services allow users to apply tags to websites, photographic images, articles and the like. Tagging provides users with the ability to classify data objects both for their own use and for use by others. Popular web sites such as Flickr™ and del.icio.us allow users to tag and share photographic images and websites with communities of users.
Tagging is also useful within the context of a single client and allows the user to organize data within the client. For example, a user may store a collection of photographic images on the client. The user may apply the tag "vacation" to photographs taken while on holiday and "graduation" to photographs from graduation day. By sorting the photographs by the tags, the user is able to retrieve the appropriate photographs quickly and efficiently without having to view irrelevant and/or unwanted photographs.
In general, a user may use one or more taxonomies for various websites or web services and a separate taxonomy or taxonomies for a client computer. However, utilizing separate taxonomies makes it difficult for the user to maintain consistent organization of relevant data objects. Slight variations in tag names may result in users being unable to locate relevant information. For example, a user may apply the tag "vacation" to data objects stored on the client computer. Similar, relevant data objects may be tagged "vacation_Paris" or "vacation—2005" in a taxonomy on an Internet service. A search on the Internet service for those similar data objects utilizing the user's "vacation" tag will most likely fail to locate those relevant data objects.
In addition, inconsistent taxonomies make it more difficult to share data objects and a data object with a unique tag is less likely to be found by other users. A data object with tags that are consistent with the taxonomy used by an Internet service or a group is much more likely to be located and used by others than a data object with unique tags. Moreover, a given taxonomy becomes more valuable as more data objects are tagged within the given taxonomy. As the number of participants utilizing a particular taxonomy increases, the volume and variety of the data objects retrievable using that taxonomy tends to increase.

Inferred relationships from user tagged content

Abstract: The system can further include a relationship display component that can provide a visual representation of tagged items based on relationship(s) inferred by the inference component. The visual representation can further be based, at least in part, upon user input (e.g., threshold quantity of tags to be displayed, threshold strength of relationship, color setting(s), etc.)


A window for a waveguide for a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The window includes a layer of a material capable of allowing electromagnetic radiation to pass therethrough and a support on each side of the layer. Each support defines a passage for electromagnetic radiation. Further, the layer is provided with at least one recess formed in the periphery thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a window, for example a window for a waveguide for a beam of electromagnetic radiation.
2. Discussion of the Background
Electromagnetic radiation, and more particularly microwave radiation, is generated in gyrotrons and other high power microwave sources. A beam of the radiation is generated and this passes along a waveguide to an exit port. The waveguide comprises a passage, generally of circular cross-section, having a window extending across it. The beam of electromagnetic radiation passes through the window. The window is used for the protection of the electromagnetic sources or detectors from environmental factors. The window may be made of a variety of materials such as sapphire, diamond and the like. Such windows are generally planar, although curved profiles have been suggested.
According to the present invention, a window for a waveguide for a beam of electromagnetic radiation, comprises a layer of a material capable of allowing electromagnetic radiation to pass therethrough and a support on each side of the layer, each support defining a passage for electromagnetic radiation, and the layer being provided with at least one recess formed in the periphery thereof.
Preferably a plurality of recesses are formed in the periphery of the layer, those recesses preferably being evenly spaced around the periphery. The number of recesses will vary according to the nature of the layer and will typically exceed six.
The depth of the recess or recesses into the layer will vary according to the nature of the material from which the layer is made, the size and shape of the layer and other such factors. For example, where the layer is disc-shaped, the depth of the recess or recesses may be chosen to reduce the peak level of hoop stresses in the layer.
In one form of the invention, each support is located inside the periphery of the layer and the or each recess has a depth equal to or less the distance of the supports from the periphery.
It is preferred that each recess is free of sharp corners, e.g. has a rounded end which extends into the layer.
Each support may take the form of a ring having a flange which bears against a surface of the layer. The flanges will generally extend outwards and away from the passage defined within the supports. To minimise expansion of the flanges, a retaining ring may be provided around the outwardly extending flanges. The retaining ring may be made of a material such as molybdenum.
The supports will generally be bonded to a surface of the layer by means of a braze or diffusion bond. The layer may take any suitable shape such as rectangular, but will generally be disc-shaped.
The material from which the layer is made will typically be sapphire, diamond, germanium, zinc selenide, silicon, doped silicon, silicon nitride, aluminium nitride or boron nitride. The window is preferably made of diamond. Such diamond is preferably produced using chemical vapour deposition (CVD).
The invention extends to a layer for use in a window as described above, such layer being of a material capable of allowing electromagnetic radiation to pass therethrough and being provided with at least one recess formed in the periphery thereof.


Context information associated with asynchronous tasks executing in a multithread computer processing environment can be captured. An identifier block having context information associated with tasks executed in the thread is stored in a call stack of a thread. For asynchronous tasks that execute in the thread, a context trace component causes the thread to place an identifier block in the stack of the thread. The identifier block stores context information associated with the currently executing task and with one or more previously executed tasks. Context information currently stored in an identifier block can be retrieved and stored in subsequent identifier blocks, thereby enabling capture of a sequential context trace of asynchronous tasks that execute in the thread. The context trace information stored in the identifier block can be retrieved to support failure analysis when a task fails to execute properly.

Generally described, software applications include executable code to implement various processes associated with the software application. It is common for applications to implement single processes as multiple sub-processes, often referred to as threads of control. For example, a web browser might have one thread display images or text while another thread retrieves data from the network. In another example, a word processor may have a thread for displaying graphics, another thread for responding to user keystrokes, and a third thread for performing spelling and grammar checking in the background.
In certain situations, a single application may be required to perform several similar tasks, for example, a web server accepts client requests for web pages, images, sound, and so forth. A busy web server may have several (perhaps thousands of) clients concurrently accessing it. If the web server were to run as a traditional single-thread process, it would be able to service only one client at a time, and clients might have to wait unacceptably long times for their requests to be serviced. It is generally more efficient to use one process that contains multiple threads. Illustratively, in a multithreaded web server process, the server can create a separate thread to listen for client requests. When a client request is detected, the server can create a new thread to service the client request, and the first thread can resume listening for additional client requests.
There are several advantages to using multithread programming. Multithreading an interactive application may allow a program to continue running even if part of it is blocked or is performing a lengthy operation, thereby increasing responsiveness to the user. For example, a multithreaded web browser could allow user interaction in one thread while an image is being loaded in another thread. Threads share the memory and resources of the process to which they belong. The benefit of sharing code and data is that it allows an application to have several different threads of activity executing within the same address space. Allocating memory and resources for process creation can be costly. Since threads share the resources of the process to which they belong, it is more efficient to create and context-shift threads than it is to create new processes.
Processes that execute in a multithreaded execution environment are also susceptible to experiencing concurrency errors that can occur when multiple threads of a process execute independently (as opposed to sequentially) as asynchronous tasks. For example, a multithread process can execute portions of the process in a first thread in a sequence relative to the execution of a portion of the process in a second thread, where the first thread sets a variable to a value that causes the second thread to crash. Debuggers can provide useful information relating to the crashed second thread, such as the position in the program at which it crashed. But the first thread, whose action caused or contributed to the crash of the second thread, continues to execute, and the state of the first thread at the time of the second thread's crash is typically not available for capture. The lack of visibility into the first thread's execution state around the time that the second thread crashed makes it difficult to determine the cause of the second thread's crash. For debugging purposes, it is desirable to determine the source of the asynchronous task that crashed; however, the thread that originated the crashed asynchronous task may have terminated already, or it may have returned from the function that created the asynchronous task that crashed, thereby making it difficult to determine the cause of the crash. Moreover, crashes resulting from the interaction of a greater number of threads executing portions of a single process concurrently can present a greater challenge to identify the root cause of the crash.

Execution context trace for asynchronous tasks


A high-frequency module includes a diplexer, first and second high-frequency switches, a SAW duplexer, first and second LC filters functioning as first and second filters, and an SAW filter functioning as a third filter, the module defines a unit that integrates front-end sections of first to third communication systems, a digital cellular system (1.8 GHz band), a personal communication service (1.9 GHz band) and a global system for mobile communications (900 MHz band).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to high-frequency modules and mobile communication apparatuses including high-frequency modules, and more particularly, to a high-frequency module which can be shared by three different communication systems and a mobile communication apparatus including such a high-frequency module.
2. Description of the Related Art
A triple-band portable telephone has been proposed which can operate in a plurality of frequency bands, such as those in a digital cellular system (DCS) using the 1.8 GHz band, a personal communication service (PCS) using the 1.9 GHz band, and a global system for mobile communications (GSM) using the 900 MHz, as a mobile communication apparatus.
FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a front-end section of a general triple-band portable telephone. FIG. 12 shows a case in which first to third communication systems having frequencies that are different from each other are set to the DCS using the 1.8 GHz, the PCS using the 1.9 GHz, and the GSM using the 900 MHz.
The front-end section of the triple-band portable telephone is provided with an antenna 1, a diplexer 2, first to third high-frequency switches 3a to 3c, first and second LC filters 4a and 4b, and first to third SAW filters 5a to 5c. The diplexer 2 couples a transmission signal sent from one of the DCS, the PCS, and the GSM with the antenna 1 during transmission, and distributes a receiving signal sent from the antenna 1 to one of the DCS, the PCS, and the GSM during receiving. The first high-frequency switch 3a switches between the transmission-section side of the DCS and the PCS, and the receiving-section side of the DCS and the PCS. The second high-frequency switch 3b switches between the receiving section Rxd side of the DCS and the receiving section Rxp side of the PCS. The third high-frequency switch 3c switches between the transmission-section Txg side and the receiving section Rxg side of the GSM. The first LC filter 4a passes transmission signals for the DCS and the PCS and attenuates the harmonics of the transmission signals. The second LC filter 4b passes a transmission signal for the GSM and attenuates the harmonics of the transmission signal. The first SAW filter 5a passes a receiving signal for the DCS and attenuates the harmonics of the receiving signal. The second SAW filter 5b passes a receiving signal for the PCS and attenuates the harmonics of the receiving signal. The third SAW filter 5c passes a receiving signal for the GSM and attenuates the harmonics of the receiving signal.
The operation of the triple-band portable telephone will be described for the DCS first. During transmission, the first high-frequency switch 3a turns on the transmission section Txdp side to send a transmission signal that was sent from the transmission section Txdp and that has passed through the first LC filter 4a, to the diplexer 2, the diplexer 2 performs coupling, and then the signal is sent from the antenna 1. During receiving, a receiving signal received by the antenna 1 is distributed by the diplexer 2, the receiving signal sent from the antenna 1 is sent to the first switch 3a, which is located on the DCS and PCS side, the first high-frequency switch 3a turns on the receiving section side to send the signal to the second high-frequency switch 3b, and the second high-frequency switch 3b turns on the receiving section Rxd side of the DCS to send the signal to the receiving section Rxd of the DCS through the first SAW filter 5a. A similar operation is also performed for transmission and receiving for the PCS.
A case in which the GSM is used will be described next. During transmission, the third high-frequency switch 3c turns on the transmission section Txg side to send a transmission signal which was sent from the transmission section Txg and has passed the second LC filter 4b, to the diplexer 2, the diplexer 2 performs coupling, and the signal is sent from the antenna 1. During receiving, a receiving signal received by the antenna 1 is distributed by the diplexer 2, the receiving signal sent from the antenna 1 is sent to the third high-frequency switch 3c, and the third high-frequency switch 3c turns on the receiving section Rxg side to send the signal to the receiving section Rxg of the GSM through the third SAW filter 5c.
Since the triple-band portable telephone, which is one of the conventional mobile communication apparatuses, uses three high-frequency switches, at least six diodes constituting the high-frequency switches are required. As a result, the triple-band portable telephone uses a very large amount of power, and a battery mounted to the triple-band portable telephone can be used only for a short period. Also, the operation of each diode is controlled in many operation modes, and thus, a complicated circuit is required.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

High-frequency module and mobile communication apparatus using the same