A casing forming a liquid tank is welded through coupling brackets to a first header pipe forming a condenser by brazing. This coupling brackets are smaller in thermal capacity than the casing and the first header pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
A condenser with a liquid tank according to the invention is set between the compressor and the evaporator of a steam compression type refrigerator forming an automobile air conditioner. After the coolant compressed by the compressor is cooled and condensed, foreign matter such as water content are removed from the coolant. And the refrigerant thus treated is supplied to the evaporator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A vehicle air conditioner adapted to cool and dehumidify the inside of a motor vehicle includes a steam compression type refrigerator. FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing the fundamental arrangement of a steam compression type refrigerator which has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 4-95522. The gas-phase coolant (high temperature and high pressure) discharged from a compressor 1 heat-exchanges with air while passing through a condenser, thus being cooled and condensed; i.e, liquified. The resultant liquid-state coolant is stored in a liquid tank, and then supplied through an expansion valve 4 to an evaporator 5, where it is evaporated. The temperature of the evaporator 5 is decreased because the evaporation latent heat is taken. Hence, when air-conditioning air is caused to flow in the evaporator 5, this air is decreased in temperature, while the steam contained in said air can be removed. The coolant which has been evaporated and gasified is sucked into the compressor 1, where it is compressed. The above-described operations are cyclically carried out.
The liquid tank 3 forming the steam compression type refrigerator of a vehicle air condition is formed as an unit separate from the condenser 2, and it is connected to a pipe which is connected between the condenser 2 and the evaporator 5. In the case where, as was described above, the liquid tank 3 is a unit separate from the condenser 2, the space of installation thereof is increased as much as that for the liquid tank 3. In addition, it is necessary to secure the liquid tank 3 to the vehicle body in such a manner that it is sufficiently durable against vibration independently of the condenser 2. Furthermore, the manufacture, part control, and assembling work of the pipes connected between the condenser 2 and the liquid tank are required, which increases the cost of the vehicle air condition.
In order to overcome the above-described difficulties, and to solve the problem of manufacturing cost, a structure in which the liquid tank 3 and the condenser 2 are provided as one unit, has been proposed by Japanese Patent Publication Nos. Hei. 3-87572, 4-103973, and 4-131667. FIG. 9 shows the structure disclosed by Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 4-103973. The condenser 2 has a pair of header pipes 6a and 6b which are horizontally spaced from each other and are extended vertically (in FIG. 9). Between those header pipes 6a and 6b, a plurality of flat heat-transmitting pipes 7, 7, 7, . . . are provided. Those heat-transmitting pipes 7 are vertically spaced from one another, and extended horizontally. Each of the heat-transmitting pipes 7 is inserted into the pair of header pipes 6a and 6b gas-tight and liquid-tight, in such a manner that its inside is communicated with the insides of the header pipes 6a and 6b. Between adjacent flat heat-transmitting pipes 7, a corrugated fin 8 formed by bending a thin metal sheet zig-zag is held, thus forming a core section. Side plates 10 and 11 are provided on the upper and lower sides of the core section 9 thus formed, respectively. Both ends of each of the side plates 10 and 11 are fixedly coupled to the insides of the upper and lower portions of the header pipes 6a and 6b. Those members forming the condenser 2 are made of aluminum alloy.
The condenser 2 thus formed functions as follows: In the aforementioned core section 9, heat-exchange is carried out between the coolant flowing in the flat heat transmitting pipes 7 and the air flowing in the flat heat transmitting pipes 7, so that the coolant is condensed and liquified. That is, the gas-phase coolant supplied through an inlet pipe 12 which is connected to the upper end portion of the first header pipe 6a (on the right side of FIG. 9), while moving between the header pipe 6a and the second header pipe 6b (on the left side of FIG. 9) back and forth, flows in the flat heat-transmitting pipes 7 forming the core section 9, thus being condensed and liquified. The resultant liquid-phase coolant is pooled in the lower end portion of the header pipe 6a, thus being sent through a coolant sending pipe 13 to the liquid tank 3.
On the other hand, the liquid tank 3 is secured to the outside surface of the first header pipe 6a. That is, a cylindrical casing body 14 of aluminum alloy, which forms the liquid tank 3, is fixedly secured to the side surface of the header pipe 6a by blazing or the like. The lower end opening of the casing body 14 is closed with bottom plate 15, and the upper end opening of the casing body 14 is closed with a top plate 16. The aforementioned coolant sending pipe 13 penetrates the bottom plate 15, and is extended along the central axis of the casing body 14, so that a cylindrical space 18 is formed between the outer cylindrical surface of the coolant sending pipe 3 and the inner cylindrical surface of the casing body 14. The upper half of the coolant sending pipe 13 in the casing body 14 has a number of small holes, 17, 17, 17, . . . , to freely discharge the liquid-phase coolant which has been sent into the coolant sending pipe 13 from the header pipe 6a. In the middle portion of the space 18, a filter 19 made of porous material such as felt is set, and a drying agent 20 such as silica gel and calcium chloride is laid on the filter 19, and a porous retaining plate 21 made of a metal net or punching metal plate is laid on the drying agent 20. The filter 19 and the drying agent 20 form a means for removing foreign matter from the coolant. The lower end portion of the casing body 14 is connected to an outlet pipe 22 to freely take the coolant out of the lower end portion of the aforementioned space 18.
In the use of the condenser with the liquid tank (in the operation of the steam compression type refrigerator having the condenser with the liquid tank), the coolant flowing as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 9, after being condensed and liquified in the condenser 2, is sent into the liquid tank 3. In the liquid tank 3, moisture, foreign matter, etc. are removed from the coolant; that is, the purified coolant is supplied through the outlet pipe 22 towards the expansion valve 4 (cf. FIG. 8) located immediately before the evaporator 5. As was described above, the condenser and the liquid tank are formed into one unit; that is, they can be handled as one unit. Hence, they can be readily installed in a limited space in the engine room. In addition, it is unnecessary to set the condenser 2 and the liquid tank 3 separately for anti-vibration. That is, the installation of the condenser 2 and the liquid tank 3 can be achieved with ease, and it is unnecessary to provide a pipe which connects the condenser 2 to the liquid tank 3. This means that the manufacturing cost is decreased as much.
The conventional condenser with the liquid tank which is designed as described above; however, suffers from the following difficulties: In general, in assembling the liquid tank and the condenser, the first header pipe 6a is connected to the liquid tank 3 by brazing. However, the brazing of those members 6a and 3 (especially 3) are rather difficult, because they are each in the form of a cylinder which is large in thermal capacity. That is, the members 6a and 3 are combined with other members forming the condenser 2 (such as the second header pipe 6b, the heat transmitting pipes 7, the fins 8, and side plates 10 and 11) and fixed with a jig (not shown), and then the resultant assembly is set in a heating furnace. In the heating furnace, the assembly is heated at a temperature (for instance 600.degree. C.) which is higher than the melting point of the brazing material applied to at least one of two members (which are to be connected to each other) and is lower than the melting point of the base material (the aluminum alloy which is the core material of each member to maintain its mechanical strength high enough). In those members, the brazing material on each member is molten, so as to be connected to the mating member. In the above-described members, the first header pipe 6a and the liquid tank 3 are both large in thermal capacity, and therefore the brazing of those members 6a and 3 are rather difficult. That is, the members 6a and 3 are increased in temperature slowly when compared with the other members; that is, the melting of the brazing material on at least one of the two members 6a and 3 takes time, so that the resultant brazing of the two members 6a and 3 is liable to be unsatisfactory. In addition, the time required for those members 6a and 3 to be connected to each other by brazing is unavoidably long; that is, the assembling work of the liquid tank and the condenser (including the brazing work) is low in work efficiency. Since the members 3 and 6a are cylindrical, the contact surface of them is linear, so that the brazing area is small, and the coupling force is not great enough. As was described above, in the case of the conventional structure, the brazing of the first header pipe 6a and the liquid tank 3 is not achieved satisfactorily, the assembling of them is low in work efficiency, and the coupling force of them is also inadequate. In the above-described case, the first header pipe 6a is connected to the liquid tank 3 by brazing; however, they may be connected to each other with metal members or the like. However, this method is rather troublesome. In order to increase the coupling force of the liquid tank 3 and the header pipe 6a, those members 3 and 6a may be so modified that they are flat in section, thereby to increase the coupling area of them. However, the method is undesirable, because the modification lowers the pressure withstanding characteristic.

Condenser with liquid tank and manufacturing method the same


An ink jet printer for high quality printing comprises an ink chamber, a nozzle connected with the ink chamber, a pressure chamber located between the ink chamber and the nozzle, a piezoelectric element facing the pressure chamber, a temperature sensor for measuring at least one of a temperature of ink and a surrounding temperature of the ink jet printer, and a controller. The controller is programmed to perform a first change of voltage applied to the piezoelectric element and a second change of voltage applied to the piezoelectric element. Furthermore, the controller is programmed to change a period between the first change and the second change based on the temperature measured by the temperature sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet printer. The present invention further relates to a method of discharging ink from the ink jet printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ink jet printers are widely known. Ink jet printer generally comprises an ink chamber, a pressure chamber, a nozzle, an actuator and a controller. The ink chamber stores ink. The pressure amber is connected with the ink chamber. The nozzle is connected with the pressure chamber. The actuator generally has a piezoelectric element. The piezoelectric element is disposed in the vicinity of the pressure chamber. Volume of the pressure chamber changes when the piezoelectric element is deformed due to piezoelectric effects. The controller controls the actuator by changing voltage applied to the piezoelectric element.
The controller changes the voltage applied to the piezoelectric element in order to discharge ink. The controller changes the voltage applied to the piezoelectric element such that the pressure in the pressure chamber is reduced. That is, the controller changes the shape of the piezoelectric element such that the volume of the pressure chamber increases. As a result, the ink moves from the ink chamber to the pressure chamber. Thereupon, the controller changes the voltage applied to the piezoelectric element such that the volume of the pressure chamber is increased. That is, the controller changes the shape of the piezoelectric element such that the volume of the pressure chamber decreases. By this means, pressure is applied to the ink that has been filled within the pressure chamber, and the ink is discharged from the nozzle.
When the time or period between the reduction and the subsequent increase of pressure in the pressure chamber is changed, there is a change in the quantity of ink discharged from the nozzle. Printing density changes when there is a change in the quantity of ink discharged. An important factor in stabilizing printing density is to control the time or period that elapses between the reduction and the subsequent increase of pressure in the pressure chamber.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-145750 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,923) discloses a technique for determining the time between the reduction and the subsequent increase of pressure in the pressure chamber. In this technique, the period for a pressure wave developed within the ink to propagate from the ink chamber to the nozzle (below, this period will be termed a one-way propagation period) is used as an index, and the time between the reduction and the subsequent increase of pressure in the pressure chamber is determined using this index. If the time between the reduction and the subsequent increase of pressure in the pressure chamber is identical with the one-way propagation period, the actuator can efficiently decrease and increase the pressure of the ink. That is, considerable pressure change can be applied to the ink in the pressure chamber. When pressure change is applied efficiently to the ink, the ink can be discharged efficiently.

Ink jet printer and ink discharging method of the ink jet printer


A compound for organic electroluminescence includes a polymer molecule having molecules shown in Formulae 1 to 5 as constituent units:

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an organic EL device applied to displays or display light sources, and more particularly, to a compound for organic EL desirably applied to a coating type organic EL device and to an organic EL device using the same.
2. Related Art
Recently, the development of organic electro-luminescent devices (organic EL devices) using an organic electroluminescent element (organic EL element) which serves as a self-emission display for replacing a liquid crystal display has accelerated. With respect to such an organic EL device and a method of producing the organic EL device, JP-A-2000-323276 and JP-T-2002-536492 are examples of the related art.
A process where a host material and a light emitting dopant are used as a material of a light emitting layer is applied to a known organic EL device (organic EL apparatus) so as to assure high efficiency of light emission, a change in the color of emitted light, and a long life span. The process is frequently applied to organic EL devices including an organic material provided using deposition, but not to polymer-coated organic EL devices which include a layer formed using an ink jet process (liquid droplet ejecting process) or a spin coating process.
In connection with this, the terms 'host material and light emitting dopant' have the following meanings. (1) The host material is capable of providing both holes and electrons.
(2) In the organic EL device that includes the light emitting layer having no light emitting dopant, it is observed that light is emitted from the host material. However, if the light emitting layer has both the light emitting dopant and the host material, it is difficult to observe light emitted from the host material, however, emission of light is observed from the light emitting dopant.
(3) The EL spectrum that is observed for the EL element including both the host material and the light emitting dopant is that of fluorescence or phosphorescence emitted from the luminous center of the light emitting dopant. The luminous center is a portion of the light emitting dopant which is an organic molecular skeleton capable of emitting strong fluorescence/phosphorescence.
The reason (problem) why both the host material and the light emitting dopant are not frequently applied to the polymer-coated organic EL devices is as follows.
(1) When a solution containing the host and the light emitting dopant is applied, bleeding of the light emitting dopant may occur. The reason for this is that, if the solution of materials having a low molecular weight is applied to the polymer and dried, the materials having a low molecular weight flow out from the surface layer during the drying.
(2) The light emitting dopant material has poor hole/electron trapping ability. When the host material is a conjugated polymer, the trapping ability is very poor. In such a conjugated polymer, it is believed that since the holes and the electrons preferentially flow through the host polymer molecule, it is difficult for the light emitting dopant to trap the holes and the electrons.
(3) The development of the light emitting dopant material is time-consuming. The reason for this is that the system used for applying the host and light emitting dopant is inefficient in the polymer-coated organic EL device field in comparison with the deposition type EL (low-molecular-weight EL).

Compound for organic electroluminescence and organic electroluminescent device

Abstract: wherein R is an alkyl group, an aryl group, or an alkylaryl group,

Abstract: wherein R′ is hydrogen, an alkyl group, or an alkylaryl group.


The present invention is intended to provide a turbidimeter having a simple and sturdy structure which is hard to break and exhibits excellent long-term stability by reducing a number of sealing positions, wherein a cylindrical sensor head forming a measurement space is formed of an optically-transparent material. A side wall of the sensor head has accommodating spaces for accommodating a light source, transmitted light detector, and scattered light detector. An inner surface of the side wall of the sensor head is configured to serve as: an optical window for guiding inspection light to the measurement space; an optical window for guiding transmitted light to the transmitted light detector; and an optical window for guiding scattered light to the scattered light detector.

Among conventional turbidity sensors, there is one which includes: a cylindrical measuring cell for accommodating a liquid sample; a light source; a transmitted light detector and scattered light detector; and a sensor accommodating part for accommodating the light source, transmitted light detector, and scattered light detector, wherein the light source, transmitted light detector, and scattered light detector are provided outside the measuring cell, as disclosed in Patent Literature 1. Both end portions in an axial direction of the measuring cell are fixed to the sensor accommodating part via a sealing member. Then, the light source, transmitted light detector, and scattered light detector are fixed in a space which is formed between the sensor accommodating part and the measuring cell.
Further, the measuring cell includes a first transparent window corresponding to the light source, a second transparent window corresponding to the transmitted light detector and a third transparent window corresponding to the scattered light detector. The first, second, and third transparent windows are formed of a material having an optical transparency. The main body portions other than the first, second, and third transparent windows are formed of a material having a light-shielding property.
However, in this turbidity sensor, since the light source, transmitted light detector, and scattered light detector are accommodated in a space formed between the sensor accommodating part and the measuring cell, the liquid sample infiltrates into the space due to factors such as deterioration of the sealing member in both end portions in the axial direction of the measuring cell, and this results in events such as a failure of the light source, transmitted light detector, and scattered light detector. Moreover, it is necessary to assemble the measuring cell and sensor holding part via the sealing member, and therefore there is also a problem that not only does assembly become complicated, but also the turbidimeter is then easily damaged by an external impact.
Further, since the respective transparent windows and the main body portions other than the respective transparent windows in the measuring cell are composed of different materials, it is necessary to ensure sufficient sealing of these transparent windows and main body portions, and therefore a problem may likely arise that the sealing is degraded during a long period of use. Also, it is necessary that the respective transparent windows are fitted to the main body portion of the measuring cell and sufficient sealing is ensured. Therefore, not only does assembly become complicated, but there is also a concern that the transparent windows may be shifted by an impact from the outside.


A manual milling machine comprises a motor housing, a foot plate adapted to be placed on a workpiece and having a central opening, a milling tool extending through the central opening, a tool receptacle provided on the lower side of the motor housing, a guiding sleeve which surrounds the milling tool and extends in the mounted condition beyond the foot plate, and an assembly for connecting the guiding sleeve with the foot plate. The connecting assembly includes a plug connection provided on the guiding sleeve and a bayonet lock connecting the plug connection with the foot plate.

The present invention relates to a manual milling machine.
More particularly, it relates to a manual milling machine which has a motor housing, a foot plate adapted to be placed on a workpiece and having a center opening for passage of a milling tool, a tool receptacle for receiving the milling tool at the lower side of the motor housing and a removable guiding sleeve surrounding the milling tool and extending beyond the foot plate.
Manual milling machines of the above mentioned general type are known in the art. One of such machines is disclosed for example in the U.S. Pat. No. 1,745,780. The manual milling machine is provided with the above mentioned guiding sleeve which surrounds the milling tool, so that the manual milling machine can perform milling along a template placed on the workpiece. The guiding sleeve disclosed in this reference is mounted on the lower side of the motor housing by connecting pins. The mounting and dismounting sleeve is difficult due to the bad accessability of the pins. Moreover, there is a danger that the connecting pins can be lost with not used guiding sleeves.


An apparatus is provided for use in assembling a steering wheel cover, an air bag device and a retainer plate into a single unit. The air bag device includes an inflatable cushion portion and a base plate portion. The steering wheel cover includes a central portion and a plurality of side portions which extend out from the central portion to define with the central portion a pocket for receiving the air bag device. At least one of the side portions has a tab for lockingly engaging the retainer plate. The apparatus comprises: a receiving nest adapted to receive the steering wheel cover; a first expanding device for engaging a first side portion of the steering wheel cover and moving the first side portion outwardly to permit the air bag device to be placed within the pocket; and engagement apparatus for engaging the base plate portion and moving the base plate portion toward the central portion of the steering wheel cover to set the height of the base plate portion within the pocket and after the retainer plate has been positioned on the moved base plate portion effecting engagement of the tab with the retainer plate.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for use in assembling a steering wheel cover, an air bag device and a retainer plate into a single unit.
It is known to manually place air bag devices into steering wheel covers. Such operations generally take place without the aid of automated apparatus for assisting in the placement process. Because such operations are manually performed, throughput rates are low and assembly of the parts is not always performed consistently. Hence, these prior art manual processes are time consuming, inefficient and at times not completely effective and, thus, not preferred.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for apparatus to assist in assembling a steering wheel cover, an air bag device and a retainer plate into a single unit.

Apparatus for use in assembling a steering wheel cover, an air bag device and a retainer plate into a single unit


A method for forming a one-piece skip body with a concave cross section from a large metal sheet (1) by imparting an approximate cross section to the sheet using shaping mechanisms (2) is disclosed. According to the method, the approximate cross section is maintained while a sealing plate (10) is secured to one end (9) and a stiffening reinforcement member (13) shaped according to the final cross section is attached to the other end (12). The longitudinal edges are stiffened then the most curved areas are mechanically treated and the shaping mechanisms (2) are released. The method is relevant to skip manufacturers and more generally to builders of utility vehicles.

The invention concerns a method for manufacturing a concave skip body, or more specifically, a skip body with a concave cross section and a continuous inwardly curved base from one large sheet of metal, thereby allowing unitary construction.
Concave skip bodies are presently shaped by bending. The concave shape of the transverse section results from performing a succession of longitudinal bending operations which impart a polygonal shape to the body.
This succession of creases is unsatisfactory for several reasons.
First, the interior structure of a shaped skip body which is in contact with the cargo should be as smooth as possible, with no bulging areas to attract residue which could adhere to the metal when freight is discharged and adversely affect wear over time. It is preferable for no residue to remain on the structure, since it could interact with the next shipment to be transported.
Furthermore, the utmost care is required when bending certain metals such as aluminum.
Moreover, other metals of interest, such as highly flexible steel known as HLE or THLE, will not maintain a definitive form unless they are bent into shape. The use of such metals is particularly exacting when shaping long objects that are hard to form of one piece, such as skip bodies. Large sheets of these metals have proven extremely difficult, if not impossible, to shape in any way other than by bending them on forms designed to interlock in the same way a skip body fits onto its complementary cradle receptor.
In addition, because of these complementary shapes, the creases in the skip body and in the cradle must be perfectly concentric. This technique requires the use of precise machinery that is very cumbersome.
Thus, the only choices remaining are to either use smaller dimensions or continue using the bending technique despite its many disadvantages.
However, the metals discussed above also have many qualities that make them preferable to conventional metals.
Practically speaking, because of its lower density, a vehicle using aluminum can carry a heavier load. For this reason many transport vehicles already use trailers, semi-trailers and skip bodies made primarily of aluminum.
These skip bodies are all conventionally designed and are generally rectangular in shape, with multiple reinforcing structures.
For other reasons, highly flexible steel is one of the preferred metals for constructing skip bodies.
While there is a serious risk that aluminum will fissure when creased, highly flexible steel is also very unsuitably for bending and is actually so resistant that it is impossible to bend using present methods.
However, both highly flexible steel known by the acronym HLE and very highly flexible steel known as THLE offer two advantages that make them very desirable for skip body construction: they are highly mechanically resistant to shocks and punctures, a quality which is particularly useful for skip bodies transporting heavy loads, minimizing the risk of damage when heavy freight is discharged and performing well in nearly any application; the steel is highly resistant to abrasion.
The high resistance of this metal provides greater weight while at the same time decreasing cost, since thinner metal can be used.
However, these same advantages precipitate manufacturing problems.
The flexible steel has a spring-like quality which not only resists precise formation into such a definitive, unnatural, shape, but also resists maintaining the curved shape.
The specific problem addressed here is how to achieve an industrial process for manufacturing skip bodies with a consistent inwardly curved, continuously convex shape, essentially semi-elliptical, with a certain degree of precision and using a reproducible operation.
The present invention relates to an industrial process for manufacturing a skip body from a single sheet of metal or several adjacent sheets seamed either longitudinally or transversely, manipulated and shaped as a single element.
More specifically, the invention relates to a method for forming a skip body from a large sheet of metal with a continuously curved, concave cross-section without creasing it, characterized by the following steps: a large sheet (1) of metal is prepared from one piece or several joined pieces; the single sheet (1) of metal is curved inwardly using maintenance means (4, 5) into a cross section approximating the definitive shape desired for the ultimate shape of the body (3) of the skip; a sealing plate (10) is secured to one of the extremities (9) of the skip body, the contours (11) of which have the exact concave shape to be obtained, by gradually applying the edges of the opening of this end of the metal sheet against the cut edges of sealing plate (10) during the installation process; the opposed extremity (12) of the skip body is stiffened by means of a stiffening member (13) according to the definitive shape to be reached; the stiffening of its longitudinal edges is longitudinal edges is performed either before or after the metal is curved inwardly; the pressure of the maintenance means is relaxed and the skip body (3) is disengaged, having assumed its definitive shape.
The present invention makes is possible to fabricate a concave skip body that is continuously curved, with no creases, from a large sheet of any type of metal suitable for manufacturing skips, and more specifically from any of the preferred metals such as aluminum and highly flexible steel.

Method for making a skip body with a concave cross section


A provider edge (PE) device may receive traffic associated with one or more services, wherein the traffic includes a plurality of packets, and may determine, based on the plurality of packets, one or more packets respectively associated with each service of the one or more services. The PE device may determine, based on the one or more packets respectively associated with each service of the one or more services, a respective status of each of the one or more services. The PE device may generate type-length-value (TLV) data that indicates the respective status of each of the one or more services and may cause the TLV data to be added to a link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) packet. The PE device may send the LLDP packet that includes the added TLV data to a customer edge (CE) device.

A virtual private network (VPN) enables a group of dispersed customer sites to be connected using a Layer 2 virtual bridge. A VPN may include customer edge (CE) devices connected to provider edge (PE) devices. In some cases, a CE is multi-homed with two or more PEs on the VPN. The VPN may be a virtual private local area network service (VPLS), an Ethernet VPN (EVPN), a virtual private wire service (VPWS), a Layer 2 VPN (L2VPN), a Layer 3 VPN (L3VPN), and/or the like.


There are provided new heterobifunctional agents designed to mediated formation of protein-protein dimers and promote ubiquitination of a protein of the dimer. Also provided are methods of synthesizing the agents, pharmaceutical formulations including the agents, and methods of using the agents to treat, ameliorate or cure diseases characterized by protein over-expression or malfunction.

Drug development is a lengthy, complex, and costly process, entrenched with a high degree of uncertainty that a drug will actually succeed. This is further acerbated by the unknown pathophysiology for many disorders which makes target identification and drug development challenging. Further, animal models often cannot recapitulate an entire disorder or disease, and hence critical decisions about a pipeline drug are often made at too late a stage at too high a cost. Challenges are also present when relating to the heterogeneity of the patient population. All in all, the inability to target and modulate certain classes of bio macromolecules limits our ability to develop effective anti-cancer drugs.
The Ubiquitin—Proteasome Pathway (UPP) is a critical pathway regulating proteins and degrading misfolded or abnormal proteins. UPP is central to multiple cellular processes and, if defective or imbalanced, leads to pathogenesis in a variety of diseases. The covalent attachment of ubiquitin to specific protein substrates is achieved through the action of E3 ubiquitin ligases. These ligases comprise over 500 different proteins and are categorized into multiple classes defined by the structural element of their E3 functional activity. For example, cereblon (CRBN) interacts with damaged DNA binding protein 1 and forms an E3 ubiquitin ligase complex with Cullin 4 in which the proteins recognized by CRBN are ubiquitinated and degraded by proteasomes. Various immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs), e.g., thalidomide and lenalidomide, bind to CRBN and modulate CRBN's role in the ubiquitination and degradation of protein factors involved in maintaining regular cellular function.
Harnessing the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway for therapeutic intervention has received significant interest from the scientific community. The publication by Gosink et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1995, 92, 9117-9121) demonstrated proof of concept in vitro engineering peptides selectively directing ubiquitination to intracellular proteins. Nawaz et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1999, 96, 1858-1862) described ER degradation as a target for the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, and Zhou et al. (Mol. Cell 2000, 6, 751-756) demonstrated an engineered receptor capable of directing ubiquitination in mammalian and yeast cells.
Protein dimers formed between a target protein and an E3 ubiquitin ligase have been shown to induce proteasome-mediated degradation of selected proteins. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,306,663; 7,041,298; 7,041,298; U.S. 2016/0058872; U.S. 2016/0045607; U.S. 2020/0102298; U.S. 2014/0356322; U.S. 2016/0176916; U.S. 2016/0235730; U.S. 2016/0235731; U.S. 2016/0243247; WO 2016/105518; WO 2016/077380; WO2016/105518; WO 2016/077375; WO2017/007612; WO2017/02431; WO 2013/170147; WO 2013/170147; WO 2015/160845; Sakamoto et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2001, 98, 8554-8559); Sakamoto et al. (Mol. Cell. Proteomics 2003, 2, 1350-1358); Schneekloth et al. (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 3748-3754); Schneekloth et al. (ChemBioChem 2005, 6, 40-46); Schneekloth et al. (Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2008, 18, 5904-5908); Buckley et al. (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 2014, 53, 2312-2330); Lu et al. (Chem. Biol. 2015, 22, 755-763); Bondeson et al. (Nat. Chem. Biol. 2015, 11, 611-617); Gustafson et al. (Angewandte Chemie, Int. Ed. Engl. 2015, 54, 9659 9662); Buckley et al. (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 4465-4468); Lai et al. (Angewandte Chemie, Int. Ed. Engl. 201,55, 807-810); and Toure et al. (Angew. Chemie. Int. Ed. Engl. 2016, 5, 1966-1973).
Heterobifunctional compounds composed of a target protein-binding moiety and an E3 ubiquitin ligase-binding moiety, which promote formation of a dimer between a target protein and E3 ubiquitin ligase have been shown to chemically induce targeted protein degradation using heterobifunctional compounds (small molecule ligands often referred to as degraders or PROTACs for PROteolysis-TArgeting Chimeras). Targeted protein degradation refers to small molecule induced ubiquitination and degradation of disease targets, in which a small molecule simultaneously recruits both an ubiquitin E3 ligase and the target protein to be ubiquitinylated; therefore representing a functional application of chemically induced protein dimerization. Clinical proof of concept for targeted protein degradation is provided by the recent discovery that the potent anti-cancer drugs thalidomide, lenalidomide and pomalidomide (collectively known as IMiDs) exert their therapeutic effects through induced degradation of key efficacy targets, such as IKZF1, IKZF3, or caseine kinase 1 alpha (Ck1α).
Heterobifunctional PROTACs typically comprise an E3 ligase binding scaffold (hereafter E3-moiety), often an analogue of thalidomide, or a ligand to the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor (VHL) protein, attached through a linker to another small molecule (hereafter target-moiety) that binds a target protein of interest. Recruitment of this target protein to the E3 ubiquitin ligase facilitates ubiquitination and subsequent degradation of the target protein. This principle has been successfully applied to several targets including the Bromodomain and Extra Terminal (BET) family (BRD2, BRD3, BRD4), RIPK2, BCR-ABL, FKBP12, BRD9, and ERRa and is a promising new pharmacologic modality now widely explored in chemical biology and drug discovery.
Bromodomain-containing proteins (such as BET proteins) have been implicated in proliferative disease. BRD4 knockout mice die shortly after implantation and are compromised in their ability to maintain an inner cell mass, and heterozygotes display pre- and postnatal growth defects associated with reduced proliferation rates. BRD4 regulates genes expressed during M/GI, including growth-associated genes, and remains bound to chromatin throughout the cell cycle (Dey, et al. (2009) Mol. Biol. Cell 20:4899-4909). BRD4 also physically associates with Mediator and P-TEFb (CDK9/cyclin TI) to facilitate transcriptional elongation (Yang, et al. (2005) Oncogene 24:1653-1662; Yang, et al. (2005) Mol. Cell 19:535-545). CDK9 is a validated target in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and is linked to c-MYC-dependent transcription (Phelps, et al. Blood 113:2637-2645; Rahl, et al. (2010) Cell 141:432-445).
In general, PROTACs have been found to exhibit different efficacy and selectivity profiles depending on the nature of the E3-moiety used, often exhibiting improved selectivity over the parental target-moiety (Zengerle et al., Chem. Biol. 2015, 10, 8, 1770-1777). While positive cooperativity can explain certain cases such as MZ1, it is unlikely to exist for a broad number of ligase-substrate pairs and whether desired selectivity profiles can be achieved for highly homologous proteins such as BRD2/3/4 is unknown. Based upon these current limitations, there remains a need for heterobifunctional compounds (PROTACs) that can selectively target a target protein, especially, over highly homologous related proteins.
Induced protein degradation represents anew mode of therapeutic intervention that have the potential to disrupt the way conventional small molecule drug discovery is performed. Specifically, the ability to directly decrease protein abundance in a post-translational manner presents huge advantages in the discovery of new therapeutics. Ligand binding to E3-ubiquitin ligases form the cornerstone towards the generation of new bifunctional compounds for protein degradation. However, to date most of the protein degradation compounds revolves around thalidomide-based analogs and HIF1α peptidomimetic compounds as E3-binding ligands to trigger protein degradation. Clearly, there exist a dearth of new ligands binding to novel E3 ligases which hold the key to development of high quality small molecule protein degraders.
Based upon these limitations, prior to the invention described herein, there was a need for improved methods for generating small molecule degraders and dimerizers (e.g., heterobifunctional).
It would be desirable to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the above-described problems, or at least to provide a useful alternative.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Therapeutic compounds and methods of use thereof

Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)


The present invention provides a method for feedback and transmission of multi-user (MU) multiple input multiple output (MIMO) in a wireless communication system. The method includes steps of selecting subset codebook or full code book based on traffic load of a base station, and broadcasting the selected codebook to user equipments. In high traffic load, subset codebook is selected, and in low traffic load, full codebook is selected. User stations calculated a channel quality indicator of a spatial codeword vector that is included in the selected codebook. Information of the maximum channel quality indicator is sent to the base station together with a precoder of the user equipment. The base station selects user equipments based on the information of the maximum channel quality indicator and precoder, and transmits precoder signal and data signal to the user equipments. The present invention also provides a system for the base station that causes the base station to perform the above mentioned operations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for feedback and transmission scheme of multi-user (MU) multiple input multiple output (MIMO) in a wireless communication system. The method of the present invention provides processes for operating a base station in a multi-user MIMO configuration. The present invention also provides a base station that operates according to the feedback and transmission scheme of the present invention.
2. Description of the Related Art
A multiple antenna communication system, which is often referred to as multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system, is widely used in combination with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology in a wireless communication system to improve system performance.
A MIMO system uses multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas to improve the capacity and reliability of a wireless communication channel. Therefore, the transmitter is capable of transmitting independent data streams simultaneously in the same frequency band. MIMO technology increases the spectral efficiency of a wireless communication system by exploiting an additional dimension of freedom in a space domain due to multiple antennas. A MIMO system promises linear increase in capacity with K where K is the minimum of number of transmit (M) and receive antennas (N) i.e. K=min(M,N). In a simplified example of a 4×4 MIMO system, four different data streams are transmitted separately from the four transmit antennas. The transmitted signals are received at the four receive antennas. Some form of spatial signal processing is performed on the received signals in order to recover the four data streams. An example of spatial signal processing is V-BLAST which uses the successive interference cancellation principle to recover the transmitted data streams. Other variants of MIMO schemes include schemes that perform some kind of space-time coding across the transmit antennas (e.g. D-BLAST) and also beamforming schemes such as spatial division multiple access (SDMA).
One of the disadvantages of the single-user MIMO PARC scheme is that multiple channel quality indicator (CQI) estimates are required for each of the individual streams. This results in excessive signaling overhead resulting in system inefficiency. In case of multi-user MIMO approach, it is possible to implement PARC scheme with just one CQI feedback per user. In this case, each user reports the best CQI determined by using, for example, a minimum mean square error (MMSE) algorithm along with the MIMO stream identity. However, multi-user MIMO requires that a large number of users are present in the system so that each user can be selected for transmission when it experiences best channel quality. However, when the number of users in the system is small, it is less likely to find users at their peak channel conditions and thus degrading the performance of a multi-user MIMO scheme. In other words, in a fixed configuration of a multi-user MIMO scheme, the performance of the multi-user MIMO system will degrade with few users. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a MIMO scheme that improves the performance of the MIMO system regardless of the number of users in a cell.

Multi-user MIMO feedback and transmission in a wireless communication system


An adhesive injection process for a Pi-joint assembly comprises the steps of: machining at least two ports into a female part of a Pi-joint assembly; inserting a filler into a gap between a male part and the female part; applying a sealant above the filler; creating a vacuum with a vacuum pump at one port; injecting an adhesive through another port; and drawing the adhesive towards the vacuum pump until the gap under the filler is completely filled with the adhesive. The adhesive injection process incorporates lean technologies that enable increased productivity during the assembly of a Pi-joint design using adhesive bonding. The adhesive injection process is suitable for, but not limited to, applications in the aerospace industry, such as the aircraft airframe assembly. The adhesive injection process may be used for the bonding of upper and lower skins to airframe structure as well as for structure-to-structure bonding.

The present invention generally relates to methods to adhesively bond sections of a Pi-joint design and, more particularly, to an adhesive injection process for Pi-joint assemblies.
Adhesive bonded primary aircraft structures have the potential to save significant weight and cost over conventional bonded and riveted or bolted joint designs. Recently, new bonded joint designs, such as the Pi-joint design, have been developed that minimize peel stresses and provide a more robust joint. The Pi-joint design includes a male and a female section bonded with an adhesive. This type of joint is more tolerant to damage and flaws than other joint designs. The Pi-joints are lighter and less expensive to fabricate than conventional mechanically fastened joints. Pi-joint designs may be used in metal-to-metal, composite-to-metal, or composite-to-composite joints. Even though the Pi-joint design has the potential to improve the performance of adhesive bonded joints, fabrication issues still exist.
Currently, methods that are used to adhesively bond the male and female section of a Pi-joint design include a plunge method, a tube withdrawal method, and an injection method.
The plunge method utilizes filling the female section of a Pi-joint design with an adhesive followed by plunging the male section of the Pi-joint design into the pool of adhesive. With the plunge method it is difficult to control the amount of pre-filled adhesive to avoid spill over, which creates a need for clean up of the adhesive. Furthermore, the male section of the Pi-joint design needs to be positioned correctly during plunging. If the male section is not at the proper depth, the adhesive must be removed and the process must be repeated. The fact that the adhesive starts curing immediately after being filled into the female section of the Pi-joint design may cause additional problems.
The tube withdrawal method utilizes a tube that is placed at the bottom of the female section of the Pi-joint design. The male section of the Pi-joint design is then positioned over the tube and all openings except the exit side where the tube is located are sealed with a tape. The adhesive is subsequently injected via the tube while the tube is being withdrawn from the Pi-joint design. After a certain time frame and prior to the curing of the adhesive, the tape must be removed and the adhesive is typically sealed with a sealant. The tube is usually withdrawn manually, which makes it difficult to maintain a certain constant rate. If the tube is withdrawn too fast, air pockets or voids may occur in the bonding area. If the tube is withdrawn too slow, the pressure of the adhesive may disbond the tape and the adhesive may blow-out and spill. In this case, a clean up of the spilled adhesive will be needed. Furthermore, the tape needs to be removed within a certain time frame after injection of the adhesive to avoid bonding of the tape with the adhesive. After removal of the tape, the adhesive typically needs to be sealed with a sealant.
The injection method includes positioning the male section of the Pi-joint design within the female section of the Pi-joint design and drilling holes into a leg of a Pi-leg of the female section of the Pi-joint design. The holes are used as ports to inject the adhesive. Before the adhesive can be injected, all openings are typically sealed with tape. The tape may disbond during injection when the pressure of the adhesive is too large and, in this case, the adhesive could blow-out and spill and, consequently, clean up of the adhesive would be required. As with the tube withdrawal method, the tape needs to be removed within a certain timeframe after injection of the adhesive. Also, the adhesive is typically sealed with a sealant after the removal of the tape. Furthermore, the bond length of the adhesive from the injection port is limited depending on the properties of the adhesive and the gap width to be filled. Typically, an injection port is needed about every 12 inches.
The difficulties associated with the above-mentioned methods for adhesively bonding the male and female section of a Pi-joint design could result in necessary repairs due to poor bonding. Furthermore, above-mentioned methods do not apply lean manufacturing concepts. Lean manufacturing technologies are aimed at eliminating "waste", such as wasted material, wasted time, and wasted money. Lean technologies include simpler, cheaper, more tailored manufacturing systems that enable reduced cycle times and cost.
As can be seen, there is a need for a method to adhesively bond a male and a female section of a Pi-joint design that incorporates the principles of lean manufacturing concepts. Furthermore, there is a need for a method to adhesively bond a male and a female section of a Pi-joint design that improves the quality of the adhesive bond while reducing cycle times and cost, for example, by eliminating clean-up of spilled adhesive and by eliminating steps such as installation and removal of the tape to seal openings of the Pi-joint design.
There has, therefore, arisen a need to provide a process for adhesive bonding of the sections of a Pi-joint design that enables a strong adhesive bond between the male and female sections of a Pi-joint design while eliminating blow-outs of adhesive and, therefore, the need to clean-up spills. There has further arisen a need to provide a process for adhesive bonding that does not require sealing of a Pi-joint openings and the removal of tape after the injection of the adhesive. There has still further arisen a need to provide a process for adhesive bonding that enables longer injection bond length.

Adhesive injection process for Pi-joint assemblies


An electrically erasable programmable read-only memory is disclosed which has programmable memory cells connected to parallel bit lines provided above a semiconductor substrate. The memory cells include NAND cell blocks each of which has a series array of memory cell transistors. Parallel word lines are connected to the control gates of the memory cell transistors, respectively. In a data write mode, a selection transistor in a certain NAND cell block including a selected memory cell is rendered conductive to connect the certain cell block to a corresponding bit line associated therewith. Under such a condition, electrons are tunnel-injected into a floating gate of the selected memory cell transistor, and the threshold value of the certain transistor is increased to be a positive value. A logical data is thus written in the selected memory cell transistor. The data in the selected cell transistor is erased by discharging carriers accumulated in the floating gate thereof to its drain or the substrate, so that the threshold value of the certain transistor is decreased to be a negative value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to nonvolatile dynamic semiconductor memories and, more particularly, to an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the increasing needs for high performance and reliability of digital computer systems, there has been strongly demanded a semiconductor memory having a large data storage capacity for replacing an existing external data storage device such as a magnetic floppy disk drive unit, a fixed disk unit, etc. Although presently available electrically erasable programmable read-only memories have a technical merit such that a high-speed data write/read operation can be realized with high reliability, these memories have not been improved to obtain a sufficient data storage capacity.
One reason for the above problem is as follows. That is, in a conventional electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (to be referred to as an "EEPROM" hereinafter), each memory cell for storing 1-byte data is basically constituted by two transistors. With such an arrangement, only when a specific high-integration element fabrication technique is employed, a cell area on a chip substrate cannot simply be decreased. According to the existing semiconductor fabrication technology, a satisfactory specific element fabrication technique for this purpose is not established. Even if such a specific element fabrication technique is established, low productivity prevents practical applications of the technique.
In order to solve the above problem, recently, a specific type of EEPROM having a "NAND cell" structure has been proposed wherein each memory cell is constituted by only one transistor (field effect transistor), and a number of memory cells are connected in series in each array, whereby the number of contact portions between the cell array and the corresponding bit line is remarkably decreased, so that the integration density can be greatly improved.
The presently proposed "NAND cell" type EEPROM, however, suffers from insufficient efficiency of a data write operation. More specifically, according to the existing NAND cell type EEPROM, a state wherein electrons are tunnel-injected into a floating gate of each memory cell so that a threshold value of each memory cell transistor is shifted in the positive direction is defined as an "erase state". When a certain memory cell is selected and logical data is written therein, the NAND array to which the certain memory cell belongs is electrically connected to a corresponding bit line. When the potential of write data is transferred from the corresponding bit line to the selected memory cell through non-selected memory cell transistors in the NAND cell array, a voltage drop necessarily occurs in each of these non-selected memory cell transistors. The voltage drop causes a decrease in effective potential of the write data supplied from the bit line, thus degrading the efficiency of a write operation.
In particular, when the integration density of the EEPROM is increased and the number of memory cells arranged in each NAND cell array is increased along with the increase in integration density, the above-mentioned voltage drop is further increased. Therefore, it may be easily imagined that a problem of a decrease in write efficiency in the EEPROM becomes more serious.
Even if the integration density of the EEPROM remains the same, when a large number of write and erase operations of data are repeated, in the NAND cell array, the threshold values of the non-selected memory cells located between the corresponding bit line associated therewith and the selected memory cell tend to be gradually increased upon each data erase operation. Since this gradual increase in threshold values prevents effective transfer of the write data in the selected memory cell in the NAND cell array, the write efficiency is degraded, as a matter of course. In addition, if the threshold values of these non-selected memory cells are simply increased to exceed a predetermined read voltage in the EEPROM, a reliable data read operation cannot be performed, and the probability of generation of read error is undesirably increased.

Non-volatile semiconductor memory device with nand type memory cell arrays


A method may include providing a service to a customer premise device, the service including at least one of television service or Internet service, receiving a request for Internet content from the customer premise device, retrieving the Internet content, conditioning the Internet content according to at least one of a type of data of the Internet content or the service from which the request is received, allocating resources for delivering the Internet content based on one or more requirements associated with the type of data of the Internet content, and delivering the Internet content to the customer premise device.

Internet Television (ITV) is gradually becoming a popular addition to television viewing given the additional content available on the Internet. However, the ITV platform may be hampered with quality of service (QOS) and reliability issues. For example, a live video broadcast may be delivered over a data connection via an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) set top box (STB) without any resource allocation. Additionally, within an ITV infrastructure, there may be no difference in the processing of the live video broadcast (e.g. formatting or conditioning) for delivery purposes versus the processing of another type of data (e.g., non-real-time data) for delivery purposes. As a result, delivering the Internet content in competition with other data on the same data channel and/or processing Internet content without consideration of the type of Internet data may lead to a degradation of service quality and reliability.


A method of making abrasive compositions, and more particularly, it relates to a method of making precipitated silica abrasive compositions having excellent cleaning performance and lower abrasiveness with post-reactor sizing of the abrasive particles being performed directly via wet comminution and centrifugation, optionally followed by hydraulic chamber press filtering combined with vacuum dewatering and de-agglomeration is provided. By targeting a specific particle size range, it has been determined that higher pellicle film cleaning levels may be achieved without also increasing the dentin abrasion properties of the silica products themselves. As a result, dentifrices including such classified abrasive silica products, exhibiting particularly desirable cleaning benefits, can be provided for improved tooth polishing, whitening, and the like, without deleteriously affecting the hard tooth surfaces. Also encompassed within this invention also are products of this selective process scheme and dentifrices containing such particularly manufactured and classified silica products.

Toothpaste manufacturers strive to produce dentifrices with high cleaning and low abrasivity. Such formulators achieve this goal by incorporating abrasive substances into the toothpaste formulation. An abrasive substance has been included in conventional dentifrice compositions in order to remove various deposits, including pellicle film, from the surface of teeth. Pellicle film is tightly adherent and often contains brown or yellow pigments, which impart an unsightly appearance to the teeth. While cleaning is important, the abrasive should not be so aggressive so as to damage the teeth. Ideally, an effective dentifrice abrasive material maximizes pellicle film removal while causing minimal abrasion and damage to the hard tooth surfaces. Consequently, among other things, the performance of the dentifrice is highly sensitive to the abrasive polishing agent ingredient.
A number of water insoluble, abrasive polishing agents have been used or described for dentifrice compositions. These abrasive polishing agents include natural and synthetic abrasive particulate materials. The generally known synthetic abrasive polishing agents include amorphous precipitated silicas, silica gels, dicalcium phosphate and its dihydrate forms, calcium pyrophosphate and precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC). Other abrasive polishing agents for dentifrices have included chalk, magnesium carbonate, zirconium silicate, potassium metaphosphate, magnesium orthophosphate, tricalcium phosphate, and the like.
Synthetically produced amorphous precipitated silicas, in particular, have been used as abrasive components in dentifrice formulations due to their cleaning ability, relative safety, and compatibility with typical dentifrice ingredients, such as humectants, thickening agents, flavoring agents, anti-caries agents, and so forth. Synthetic precipitated silicas generally are produced by the de-stabilization and precipitation of amorphous silica from soluble alkaline silicate by the addition of a mineral acid and/or acid gases under conditions in which primary particles initially formed tend to associate with each other to form a plurality of aggregates (i.e., discrete clusters of primary particles), but without agglomeration into a three-dimensional gel structure. The resulting precipitate is separated from the aqueous fraction of the reaction mixture by filtering, washing, and drying procedures, and then the dried product is mechanically comminuted in order to provide a suitable particle size.
Such previously produced and utilized precipitated silica abrasives have been produced and provided for dentifrices generally in terms of overall cleaning and abrasive qualities. Although such previous products have accorded excellent benefits in these areas, it has been noted that certain limitations in terms of production costs and waste generation are prevalent as a result. For instance, in order to target specific lower abrasive levels, milled particles include materials that exhibit particle sizes outside the required ranges. Proper filtering and disposal of such undesirable materials are thus needed. The same types of production issues and problems arise when targeting certain lower abrasive levels for particulate materials without sacrificing pellicle film cleaning as well. As it concerns the ability to provide less costly production methods for providing such effective low-abrasion, high pellicle film cleaning materials to users susceptible to unwanted dentin abrasion at the gum line, as well as potential supplemental abrasive/cleaning silica products for more effective polishing and/or tooth whitening applications, the industry has been reliant upon outdated methods of production, separation, and disposal of undesirable particles. As a result, there are areas within the dental silica materials industry in which improvements to such ends are desired.
Given the foregoing, there is a continuing need for a method of producing precipitated silica materials that provide excellent cleaning performance, but with lower abrasivity values, that can be included in a toothpaste composition. To that end, the following invention has proven to accord such coveted results.

Method for making precipitated silica compositions and products thereof


Various aspects of the technology include an integrated circuit device comprising a compound semiconductor layer and a plurality of input, switch, and ground ohmic metal fingers fabricated on the compound semiconductor layer in a repeating sequence. A control gate may be disposed between each input finger and adjacent switch finger, and a sync gate may be disposed between each ground finger and adjacent switch finger. A sync gate and a control gate may be disposed adjacent each switch finger. The device further includes a plurality of control gate pads, each control gate pad at an end of two control gates, and a control gate pad at opposite ends of each control gate, and a plurality of sync gate pads, each sync gate pad at an end of two sync gates, and a sync gate pad at opposite ends of each sync gate.

FIG. 1A illustrates a prior art dc-dc converter circuit 100. In such a buck converter circuit 100 there are two switch devices, which are known as the control (or high side) FET 104 and the sync (or low side) FET 105. As can be seen in the diagram, the control FET's source terminal is connected directly to the sync FET's drain terminal at node 102. A voltage source provides current at Vin 101. The node 102 between the two devices (known as the switching node) is also connected to the converter's output through an LC network comprising an inductor 106 and a capacitor 107. Vin 101 and Vout 108 are referenced to ground 103. A driver 109 provides control for switching the control FET 104 and sync FET 105 on and off.
Conventionally high-current (>˜1 amp) output converters use silicon MOSFET devices such as depicted in FIG. 1A for the switches 104 and 105. These MOSFETs are vertical devices; that is the current flows through the bulk between the drain contact (which is conventionally located on the top surface of the die) and the source contact on the opposite surface when the switch 104 and/or 105 is in its on state. Because of this vertical current flow, the control FET device 104 and the sync FET device 105 are on separate die. This then means that a bottom surface of the control FET die 104 must be electrically connected to a top surface of the sync FET die 105, and, at the same time, connected to the inductor 106 that goes to the converter output 108 across a load R. In addition, since heat is generated in the bulk of the device, both surfaces are normally heat sunk to minimize the temperature rise. These requirements lead to a relatively complex packaging problem.


The exhaust-gas turbine comprises a turbine casing, a shaft rotatably mounted in a bearing housing, a turbine wheel arranged on the shaft, and a heat-protection wall, the heat-protection wall defining with the turbine casing an inflow passage leading to the turbine wheel. The heat-protection wall has two seatings, the first seating resting on the bearing housing and the second seating resting on the turbine casing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of exhaust-gas-operated turbochargers. It relates to an exhaust-gas turbine, in particular a bearing housing, a turbine casing, and a heat-protection wall of an exhaust-gas turbine, the heat-protection wall, in the exhaust-gas turbine, defining with the turbine casing an inflow passage leading to the turbine wheel, the turbine wheel being arranged on a shaft rotatably mounted in the bearing housing.
2. Discussion of Background
Exhaust-gas turbochargers are used for increasing the output of internal combustion engines. Turbochargers having a turbine wheel subjected to radial flow and an inner bearing arrangement of the shaft to which the turbine wheel is attached are mainly used in the low output range up to a few megawatts.
In uncooled exhaust-gas turbochargers, in which the gas-conducting passages are not cooled, the exhaust-gas temperature at the turbine inlet is higher, as a result of which the thermal efficiency of the machine and the output delivered to the air compressor per exhaust-gas quantity increase.
The uncooled gas-inlet or turbine casing, which has a temperature of, for example, 650° C. during operation, is usually fastened directly to the bearing housing, which at 150° C., for example, is substantially cooler. In certain fields of application, the bearing housing, in contrast to the gas-conducting passages, is cooled to the aforesaid temperature. In addition, as described in EP 0 856 639, an intermediate wall serving as heat protection may be arranged in the region of an inflow passage leading to the turbine wheel, this intermediate wall shielding the bearing housing from the hot gas conducted in the inflow passage. In this case, the intermediate wall may be arranged such as to be separated from the bearing housing by an appropriate air or cooling-liquid zone and may have only a few, defined contact points in order to avoid as far as possible corresponding heat bridges to the bearing housing.
In conventional exhaust-gas turbines, straps or "profiled-clamp connections" or "V-band connections" are used in order to fasten the turbine casing to the bearing housing. In order to achieve as high an efficiency as possible, the air gap between the turbine blades and the turbine casing is to be kept as small as possible. However, this requires this casing wall and the turbine wheel to be centered relative to one another at all times, in particular during operation under full load and during corresponding thermal loading of all parts. Since the centering seat of the turbine casing relative to the bearing housing sometimes widens radially as a result of the large temperature difference between the bearing housing and the turbine casing, the turbine casing may become offset relative to the bearing housing and in particular relative to the turbine shaft mounted therein, i.e. the turbine casing is no longer centered in the radial direction relative to the shaft and the turbine wheel arranged thereon. Such an offset, which may be additionally encouraged by external actions of force, leads to contact between the turbine blade tips and the casing wall of the turbine casing, to corresponding abrasion or defects and, associated therewith, to considerable losses in efficiency of the exhaust-gas turbine.
EP 0 118 051 shows how an offset of the hotter component can be avoided by means of groove/ridge connections arranged in a star shape and movable in the radial direction.
This conventional, but relatively costly, solution approach, in which the production process, in addition to pure turning operations, also includes milling operations, only permits a restricted number of different casing positions on account of the discrete number of groove/ridge connections. However, a solution approach in which the position of the turbine casing relative to the bearing housing can be set in an essentially infinitely variable manner is desirable.

Abstract: If the heat-protection wall becomes hot, the two seatings are pressed against the bearing housing and the turbine casing. The turbine casing is pressed outward in the radial direction. Centering of the heat-protection wall and thus also of the turbine casing is ensured by the radially inner seating of the heat-protection wall.


A request for a first dynamic bridge end is received at a first device. A capability for a second dynamic bridge end is transmitted to a second device. At least one of the first dynamic bridge end and the second dynamic bridge end have a movable end point location. The first dynamic bridge end and the second dynamic bridge end create a path for transmission of an object.

This disclosure relates to collaborative sharing, and more particularly to the transfer of objects between locations.
An important aspect of collaboration is sharing. For example, collaboration could include the sharing of emails or files through sending the object from one person to another, or through placing the objects shared folders, which the collaborating parties may be able to access. Many types of objects can be shared by attaching to, or embedding in an email. Similarly, people may place documents for sharing into teamrooms, or other collaborative spaces.
In current paradigms an object starts out in an object repository (or a defacto repository associated with composition software, such as an email residing within a folder of an email client). The object may then be placed in, copied to, emailed to, or file transferred to another repository. This transfer could be synchronous or asynchronous. The object may originate from and be sent to either a private or shared repository.
This object transfer while often simple is labor intensive on both the sender and receiver if many objects are to be sent. Further there are difficulties if the sending and receiving repositories are different. A sender may wish to send an email. The recipient may wish to store the email in the operating system file system, and not within an email paradigm. Therefore, transcoding for object repository or other compatibility may be required.

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed herein, among other things, are apparatus and methods for a threshold-derived fitting rationale using frequency translation for hearing assistance devices. In various method embodiments, a first audiogram is received for a first hearing assistance device for a wearer, and a second audiogram is received for a second hearing assistance device for the wearer. The first audiogram and the second audiogram are compared to audiometric thresholds to determine if frequency translation should be enabled.

Hearing assistance devices, such as hearing aids, are used to assist patient's suffering hearing loss by transmitting amplified sounds to ear canals. In one example, a hearing aid is worn in and/or around a patient's ear. Hearing aids are intended to restore audibility to the hearing impaired by providing gain at frequencies at which the patient exhibits hearing loss. In order to obtain these benefits, hearing-impaired individuals must have residual hearing in the frequency regions where amplification occurs. In the presence of "dead regions", where there is no residual hearing, or regions in which hearing loss exceeds the hearing aid's gain capabilities, amplification will not benefit the hearing-impaired individual.
Individuals with high-frequency dead regions cannot hear and indentify speech sounds with high-frequency components. Amplification in these regions will cause distortion and feedback. For these listeners, moving high-frequency information to lower frequencies could be a reasonable alternative to over amplification of the high frequencies. Frequency translation (FT) algorithms are designed to provide high-frequency information by lowering these frequencies to the lower regions. The motivation is to render audible sounds that cannot be made audible using gain alone.
There is a need in the art for improved threshold-based fitting using frequency translation for hearing assistance devices.

Threshold-derived fitting method for frequency translation in hearing assistance devices


A kite system having a kite (14) and a hauling rope (15) which extends between the kite (14) and a tow point (16). A marking holder (25) is disposed between the tow point (16) and the kite (14). The marking holder (25) is conceived for changing between an entrained state in relation to the hauling rope (15), and a free-running state in relation to the hauling rope (15). A fitting installation (31) initiates a changeover between the entrained state and the free-running state of the marking holder (25). The invention moreover relates to a method for operating a kite system.

The invention relates to a kite system having a kite and a hauling rope. The hauling rope extends between the kite and a tow point. The invention moreover relates to a method for operating a kite system.
In the case of such a kite system the kite can fly away freely, wherein the spacing from the tow point is defined by the length of the hauling rope. The hauling rope extends through the air space between the tow point and the kite, on account of which a threat to air traffic can result.

Kite system and method for operating a kite system


A process for the preparation of sulfonated silicones is disclosed. The process comprises the steps of (a) hydrosilylating an olefin-terminal silylketene acetal with a hydrosiloxane; (b) treating the ketene acetal with a trialkylsilylsulfonyl chloride and (c) hydrolyzing the resulting .alpha.-trialkylsilyl ester to provide a salt of an .alpha.-sulfonate. Useful products of the process are also disclosed; they comprise several genera of .alpha.-sulfonate esters pendant from siloxanes and polysiloxanes. The products are useful as polymer electrolytes and as sustained or controlled release substrates for the administration of medicines.

1. Field Of The Invention
The invention relates to sulfonated silicone polymers having improved solubility and electrical properties. It also relates to methods for synthesizing the sulfonated silicone polymers.
2. Information Disclosure
Polysiloxanes, or silicones, have received much attention as specialty polymers since their commercial application in the 1940's and are by far the most important of the inorganic backbone polymers. Interest in these systems has developed as a result of their unique properties, which include low glass transition temperatures (T.sub.g s), good thermal and oxidative stability, low surface energies, excellent biocompatibility and high gas permeabilities. There is considerable special interest in polysiloxanes that carry ionic substituents in their side chains because they offer promise as polymer electrolytes for solid state batteries and because they may provide water-soluble polymers for biomedical applications.
Zhou, Kahn and Smid [Polym. Comm. 30, 52-54 (1989)]have reported a synthesis of siloxane comb polymers with pendant sulfonate groups. A resulting polymer was reported to exhibit a glass transition temperature of -65.degree. C. and a conductivity of 10.sup.-5 ohm.sup.-1 cm.sup.-1 in the presence of one equivalent of tetraethylene glycol at 50.degree. C. The synthesis of the sulfonated silicone proceeded by opening an expoxy-functionalized silicone with Na.sub.2 S.sub.2 O.sub.5 : ##STR1##
The reaction suffers from three major drawbacks: (1) The initial polymer, before sulfonation, must be water soluble; (2) the reaction is slow, requiring a reaction time of "at least 3 days"; and (3) products are limited to those arising from epoxides.
There is thus a need for an improved synthesis of silicones bearing pendant sulfonate groups. There is also a need for improved sulfonated silicones.

Sulfonated silicones and methods for their production


The invention provides a tape measure housing having resilient material located at its outersurface. The resilient material defines one or more gas-filled cavities, each of which is located on a line tangential to an outer wall of the housing between the outer wall of the housing and an outer wall of the resilient material. This provides improved shock protection.

In the discussion that follows, reference is made to certain structures and/or methods. However, the following references should not be construed as an admission that these structures and/or methods constitute prior art. Applicant expressly reserves the right to demonstrate that such structures and/or methods do not qualify as prior art.
It is well known to provide a flexible short tape measure wound onto a spool such that the tape measure can be unwound from the spool for use and then retracted after use for convenient storage. A spindle is usually formed on or connected to the housing that contains the wound tape measure spool and return spring. The housing is usually formed in two parts, one part bearing the spindle on which the spool is mounted, and the second part coordinating with the first part to either wholly or partially enclose the tape measure. The tape measure is wound on the spool. In either case, the complete housing having an opening through which the tape measure can be extended or retracted.
In addition, it is known to provide a flexible long tape measure which is connected by a leader to a winding drum within a housing. The drum is usually formed integrally with or connected to a winding centre and winding handle used to wind the long tape measure onto the drum. The drum is usually at least partially enclosed by the housing. The housing is usually formed in at least two parts and has an opening through which the long tape measure can be extended and retracted.
For ease of manufacture, tape measure housings are typically made from molded plastics material. This allows the casing to be relatively lightweight and easy to handle. The molding operation also allows the incorporation of detailed functional shapes into the housing in a single forming step.
A particular problem associated with tape measure housings made from molded plastic materials is that due to their relative stiffness, they may be quite brittle and prone to breakage during impact.
There are known tape measures which have overjackets formed of resilient material. That is, a jacket is formed around the tape measure after the tape measure has been assembled, or the tape measure is inserted into a jacket after assembly of the tape measure. The jackets are typically provided for the purpose of improving the grip provided to a user. If made from resilient material, they have a further effect which is a limited shock-protection effect.
There are also known tape measures which have pads of resilient material which are attached to the tape measure housing, either by adhesive or by molding in (for example as described in WO 2004/013570). These resilient pads are often located at vulnerable locations on the outer surface of the housing, e.g., around the tape mouth (the opening in the housing from which the measuring blade is drawable) and the corners of the housing.
The present inventors have realized that by including gas-filled (e.g., air-filled) cavities in the resilient material provided on prior art housings, the protection advantages offered by the resilient material can be improved upon.
Accordingly the present invention provides, a tape measure housing having resilient material located at its outer surface, wherein the resilient material defines one or more gas-filled cavities, each of which is located on a line tangential to an outer wall of the housing between the outer wall of the housing and an outer wall of the resilient material.
The outer surface of the housing is the surface which is impacted upon when tape measure housing is dropped.
The gas-filled cavities may be open to the atmosphere, and may have an opening on at least one outer surface of the resilient material, or an opening on at least two outer surfaces of the resilient material. Such cavities can be described as 'blind' and 'through' cavities respectively. Alternatively, the gas-filled cavities may not have an opening on at least one outer surface of the resilient material. Such cavities can be described as 'internal' cavities.
If the cavities are open to the atmosphere, then the gas filling them is air.
Typically the cavities described above run parallel to the surface of the housing which they are intended to protect, but may run in a different direction, particularly to provide a visual effect.
The gas-filled cavities may be not open to the atmosphere. In this case, the gas in the cavities may be air or it may be another gas, or mixture of gases, such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide.
The tape measure housing may be made from any suitable molded plastics material, e.g., ABS, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyester, nylon and acetal. Of these ABS is preferred.
The resilient material may be an elastomeric material such as, for example, TPE, TPU, melt processable rubber and elastomeric alloy. Of these TPE and TPU are preferred.
The resilient material may be used to hold a housing comprising two or more parts together, in addition to, or as a replacement for, conventional securing means. Housings wherein resilient material replaces conventional securing means are described in co-pending application GB 0416509.8, filed on 23 Jul. 2004.
The resilient material may be attached to the housing in a number of ways. It may be molded onto the housing, adhered to the housing, or if in the form of a jacket, slipped onto the housing after the housing is assembled. Of these, molding-on and adhesion are the preferred options, with molding-on being the most preferred option.
If the housing is for a short tape, then it usually has two substantially parallel faces which define between them a space for a spooled measuring tape, said space being circumscribed by an edge having a mouth through which the tape could be drawn. In this case, the resilient material which defines the cavities preferably covers the whole width of said edge and the cavities extend across at least 50%, preferably 60% or even 75%, of said width. The resilient material may extend along whole or part of the edge, and preferably extends along at least 50% of the length of the edge.
The gas-filled cavities are preferably bounded on both sides, along the line tangential to an outer wall of the housing between the outer wall of the housing and an outer wall of the resilient material, with resilient material. This results in there being resilient material between the cavity and the outer wall of the housing.
The gas-filled cavities are preferably of a predetermined volume, which volume is preferably sufficient to provide additional shock protection when compared against a measure where the cavity is not present.
The gas-filled cavities tend to be elongate. It is preferred that the cross-section of the elongate gas-filled cavities is least 1 mm2, 5 mm2, or even 10 mm2. It is also preferred that the cross-section of the elongate gas-filled cavities is less than or equal to 75 mm2, 50 mm2 or even 25 mm2.


A firearm has a frame, a slide, a striker-type firing pin (“striker”), and a fire control mechanism including a sear to controllably release the striker and a trigger bar for actuating the sear. An automatic positive striker lock safety includes a pin-like safety element biased downwards to normally block the striker. The bottom of the pin is rounded, and cooperates with a rearwards facing, sloped surface on the trigger bar. If striker becomes free to move forward without full rearwards movement of the trigger bar, the pin blocks the striker. However, rearward movement of the trigger bar forces the pin upwards. As the trigger bar reaches its fully rearward position, the pin is moved to unblock the striker, and the sear is actuated for releasing the striker.

Fire control mechanisms used in semiautomatic handguns oftentimes utilize striker-type firing pins. In handguns that employ a striker-type firing pin, the trigger is connected to a trigger bar. Movement of the trigger causes movement of the trigger bar, which, in certain embodiments, causes a sear to rotate about a pivot point. The sear is typically an elongated element that is rotatable about a pivot point located substantially at one end thereof. Upon rotation of the sear, a spring is compressed and an upper portion of the sear is displaced relative to the firing pin. When the sear is displaced a sufficient distance to clear a depending leg of the firing pin, the firing pin is urged forward by a firing pin spring and strikes the rear of a ammunition cartridge, thereby discharging the firearm. In most handguns in which the firing pin is allowed to move forward upon clearing the sear, the sear retains the firing pin in a cocked position and prevents it from striking the rear of the cartridge.

Positive striker lock safety for use with a firearm


A method for authentication of elements of a group, especially for authentication of sensor nodes in a preferably wireless sensor network is disclosed. The group has one specific element—leading element—with which each of the group elements can exchange information and wherein the authentication of the group elements takes place with regard to the leading element. The leading element sends an authentication request to the group elements wherein the authentication request is the same for all the group elements. The group elements each send authentication responses—based on the authentication request—to the leading element, with the authentication responses being different for each group element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for authentication of elements of a group, and in particular to a method for authentication of sensor nodes in a preferably wireless sensor network, wherein the group has one specific element—leading element—with which each of the elements of the group can exchange information and wherein the authentication of the elements of the group takes place with regard to the leading element.
2. Description of the Related Art
In practice, different methods of authentication have been known for a long time. Authentication in these cases serves for proving the identity and is meant to prevent that non-authorized entities are able to produce information that is only supposed to be generated by a defined group. In order to prove its authorization, one party has to prove specific characteristics to a second party within the authentication process. Once the necessary proof is given, i.e. the authentication process was successful, the party identified to be authorized can be allowed to have access to information which is not publicly accessible.
In particular, in wireless sensor networks (WSN) efficient authentication processes are of outstanding importance, for example to secure a reliable collection of information. Due to some specific characteristics of such networks, authentication within networks is also a big challenge.
Sensor networks generally comprise a big number, of sensor nodes that serve for example for collecting environmental data. Sensor networks can, for example, be used to measure humidity in vineyards or temperature on surfaces or to create movement patterns etc. All the individual sensors of a sensor network, which communicate with each other in a wireless way, consist in general of a probe, a processing unit, a communication device and a battery. The sensor nodes are usually produced in miniature size, so the functionalities of data collection, communication and computation are combined in a minimum amount of space. The limits of their transceiver, processor power, battery capacity, existing storage space or similar physically defined factors are therefore often very critical parameters for a sensor node. Due to these physical restrictions the methods used for authentication of sensor nodes must meet specific requirements.
Even though multiple solutions for one-to-one authentications are already known, these solutions cannot be directly applied in an environment in which the elements of the group have such restricted capabilities, as it is the case with sensor nodes. Facing the fact that big sensor networks have to organize themselves in a decentralized way, it can be observed that often cluster-based mechanisms are used. Hence, for such topologies, where a leading element (a so-called cluster-leader or dealer) is able to authenticate elements of the group, group authentication schemes are needed.
In practice, there are also different methods for group authentication already known. Purely symmetric schemes, characterized in that they are based on one single group key, are highly efficient, but are troublesome in the sense that they do not allow pairwise authentication. See rcf2040 "The RC5, RC5-CBC, RC5-CBC-Pad, and RC5-CTS Algorithms" pp. 1-29, October 1996). This disadvantage can basically be met by using asymmetric schemes. Asymmetric schemes, though, are in many ways problematic regarding the enormous computation effort, as the latter often exceeds the capacities that are in general available in, for example, ad hoc- or sensor networks. See E. Mykeletun, M. Narashimha, and G. Tsudik "Signature Bouquets: Immutability for Aggregated/Condensed Signatures" European Symposium on Research in Computer Security (ESORICS'04), September 2004.

Method for authentication of elements of a group