A cooling fluid valve having an actuator portion extending outwardly beyond an outer surface of an actuator housing. The cooling fluid valve actuator portion includes a plug force fit into an orifice in a valve housing. The plug blocks flow of cooling fluid from a cooling fluid inlet to a cooling fluid outlet. The cooling fluid outlet is connected to communicate cooling fluid to the component. The plug is formed of a material having a first coefficient of thermal expansion. A portion of the valve housing includes the orifice receiving the plug being formed of a material having a second coefficient of thermal expansion with the second coefficient of thermal expansion being higher than the first coefficient of thermal expansion, such that when the actuator portion of the valve is exposed to heat, the force fit may be eliminated as the valve housing expands at greater rate than the plug.

This application relates to a valve that is normally closed, but can move to an open position to allow cooling fluid flow during high heat situations, such as a fire.
Gas turbine engines are known and typically including a number of components operating together to provide propulsion to an aircraft. Among the most important design drivers is increasing the efficiency of the gas turbine engine. Thus, the various systems work together and provide as many functions as can be combined to support the overall operation.
As an example, the fuel system is not only utilized to provide fuel to a combustor, but it is also utilized to provide an actuating fluid for various actuators. In addition, the fuel is maintained at a relatively low temperature initially and, thus, can be used to cool other fluids in the engine, such as oil.
One concern with regard to a gas turbine engine is the remote possibility of a fire. If a fire should be encountered, the fuel being utilized for the various other functions cannot be exposed to the fire. Thus, it is known to provide protection to the various components such as for an actuator. In one known system, fuel is provided constantly as a cooling fluid to an actuator. The cooling fluid is not needed under almost all conditions. It generally only becomes necessary should a fire be encountered and to maintain the operability of that actuator for a period of time.
It is also known that a gas turbine engine can incorporate a number of such actuators. The combined parasitic flow of those several actuators each receiving cooling fluid constantly, results in a need for higher volume at the fuel pump.
In addition, the constant cooling heats the fuel that is then returned through a heat exchanger and to the combustor. By constantly heating this fuel as a cooling fluid, the cooling capacity at the heat exchanger is reduced.
It is known to provide a plug at the cooling fluid inlet to an actuator. The plug consists of an O-ring that melts when exposed to high temperature to selectively allow the flow of cooling fuel to the actuator. The plug has typically been mounted within the housing for the actuator and, thus, is somewhat slow to respond. In addition, once cooling fluid flow begins, the O-ring may sometimes resolidify, stopping further cooling fluid flow.


A target device (18) performs the steps of receiving a broadcast message via an out-of-band paging network (14) which message includes an identification of the sourcing device. The subscriber (18) automatically registers, responsive to the receipt of the broadcast message, with a local communication server (22) associated with an in-band communications network (12). The target subscriber (18) then uses the identification of the sourcing device (16) to respond to the communication from the sourcing device (16) to establish a communication path therewith through the local communication server (22). In a preferred embodiment, the target subscriber unit and method reside in an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network. In this manner, the present invention establishes a direct communication path between the local communications server (22) to which the target subscriber unit (18) is attached and the sourcing device (16) thereby minimizing network trafficking and inefficiency problems.

Methods for locating and routing to target devices' (e.g., mobile or portable radios or subscriber units) communications from sourcing devices (e.g., mail servers, fixed or mobile subscriber units, etc.) in conventional networks are known in the art. For example, via a wired line network, e.g., the internet, a mobile target device must first register with the visited, local communications server to which it is attached before the sourcing device can locate and route communications thereto. Registration with the local communications server is accomplished using a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), which provides the target device with an Internet Protocol (IP) address for the session. In addition, the target device must advise the local communications server with the IP address of its home communications server. The local communications server then informs the home communications server with the DHCP address of the target device.
For the sourcing device to communicate with the target device, the sourcing device must send a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) packet addressed to the target device. The home communications server intercepts the TCP packet, prepends the IP address of the local communications server thereto, and forwards the TCP packet to the target device via the local communications server. The local communications server strips the prepended IP address and forwards the TCP packet to the target device.
As this method is performed for each communication packet issued by the sourcing device, the sourcing device never learns of the true location of the target device. Therefore, since no direct connection is achieved between the local communications server to which the target device is attached and the sourcing device, this method suffers the disadvantage of requiring unnecessary communications to and from at least one unneeded network communications server. These extra communications flood the network resulting in a diminution of the bandwidths available to other network users and, accordingly, undesirably reduces the profitability of operating the network. Furthermore, this method is also seen to require the use of additional, prepended addressing which functions to increase the communication packet size. This increase in communication packet size also tends to reduce network efficiency.
Similarly, in a wireless system, e.g., Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) systems, the mobile target device must first register with the visited network Mobile Database System (MDBS) or local communications server to which it is attached before the sourcing device can locate and route communications thereto. Registration with the local communications server is accomplished by the target device using a Mobile Network Registration Protocol (MNRP). The local communications server thereafter notifies its Mobile Data Intermediate System (MD-IS) of the visiting target device for the purpose of registering the target device therewith. This procedure must be repeated every time the target device migrates from one cell to the next.
For the sourcing device to communicate with the target device in a wireless system, the sourcing device must send an IP packet addressed to the target device, i.e., must call the target device. This packet is routed to the local communications server which, in turn, uses a Mobile Network Location Protocol (MNLP) to reroute the packet to the MD-IS. The MD-IS then forwards the packet to the local communications server and, accordingly, the target device. Again, since all subsequent communication packets follow the same route, no direct connection is achieved between the local communications server to which the target device is attached and the sourcing device. Therefore, this method also is seen to suffer the same disadvantages previously discussed with respect to wireline systems. Furthermore, as a subscriber unit in a wireless system, e.g., cellular phone, typically relies upon batteries for power, the performance of this method is also seen to reduce battery life as the target subscriber unit needs to continually transmit to and re-register with the MDBS for each cell being passed through. Otherwise, communication packets from the sourcing device cannot be received.
As such, it is seen that a need currently exists for an improved target subscriber unit and method for establishing a communication path in a networked communications systems. Preferably, such a method and apparatus will be free of the drawbacks associated with the prior art, specifically, the drawbacks of causing a diminution of available bandwidths, the inefficiencies associated with re-addressing communication packets, and the unnecessary draining of batteries should batteries be used to power the portable target subscriber unit.

Target device and method for establishing a communication path in a networked communications system


The present invention provides novel solvated forms of darunavir and processes for their preparation. The present invention also provides novel processes for the preparation of darunavir amorphous form and pharmaceutical compositions comprising it. Thus, for example, darunavir 2-methyl-2-butanol solvate was dissolved in methylene dichloride, distilled under vacuum at 45° C. to obtain a residue, cyclohexane was added to the residue and stirred for 30 hours at 20 to 25° C., and the separated solid was filtered, washed with cyclohexane and dried under vacuum at 50° C. for 12 hours to yield darunavir amorphous form.

Virus-encoded proteases, which are essential for viral replication, are required for the processing of viral protein precursors. Interference with the processing of protein precursors inhibits the formation of infectious virions. Accordingly, inhibitors of viral proteases may be used to prevent or treat chronic and acute viral infections. Darunavir has HIV protease inhibitory activity and is particularly well suited for inhibiting HIV-1 and HTV-2 viruses. Among them darunavir, chemically (1S,2R,3′R,3′aS,6′aR)-[3′-hexahydrofuro[2,3-b]furanyl-[3-(4-aminobenzenesulfonyl)isobutylamino]-1-benzyl-2-hydroxypropyl]carbamate. Darunavir is represented by the following structure:

Processes for the preparations of darunavir were disclosed in EP 715618, WO 99/67417, U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,775, and in Bioorganic and Chemistry Letters, Vol. 8, pp. 687-690, 1998, "Potent HIV protease inhibitors incorporating high-affinity P2-igands and (R)-(hydroxyethylamino)sulfonamide isostere", all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Polymorphism is defined as "the ability of a substance to exist as two or more crystalline phases that have different arrangement and/or conformations of the molecules in the crystal lattice. Thus, in the strict sense, polymorphs are different crystalline forms of the same pure substance in which the molecules have different arrangements and/or different configurations of the molecules". Different polymorphs may differ in their physical properties such as melting point, solubility, X-ray diffraction patterns, etc. Although those differences disappear once the compound is dissolved, they can appreciably influence pharmaceutically relevant properties of the solid form, such as handling properties, dissolution rate and stability. Such properties can significantly influence the processing, shelf life, and commercial acceptance of a polymorph. It is therefore important to investigate all solid forms of a drug, including all polymorphic forms, and to determine the stability, dissolution and flow properties of each polymorphic form. Polymorphic forms of a compound can be distinguished in the laboratory by analytical methods such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Differential Scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Infrared spectrometry (IR).
Darunavir can exist in different polymorphic forms, which differ from each other in terms of stability, physical properties, spectral data and methods of preparation.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0250845 described Amorphous Form, Form A (ethanolate), Form B (hydrate), Form C (methanolate), Form D (acetonate), Form E (dichloromethanate), Form F (ethylacetate solvate), Form G (1-ethoxy-2-propanolate), Form H (anisolate), Form I (tetrahydrofuranate), Form J (isopropanolate) and Form K (mesylate) of darunavir.
One object of the present invention is to provide novel solvated forms of darunavir and processes for their preparation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel process for preparation of darunavir amorphous form and pharmaceutical compositions comprising them.


The invention is a rapid method for the separation of small organic compounds using gradient reverse phase HPLC. The method of the invention achieves a run time of one minute or less and a resolution with a peak production of at least 1 peak/2 seconds. The method is also able to achieve the separation of a compound from a mixture of compounds in an elution sample having a volume of 2 milliliters or less.

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is commonly used for analytical and preparative separations of biopolymers and other organic molecules. For instance, the individual components within a complex organic reaction mixture may be separated by HPLC. HPLC is performed in a pressure-resistant tube containing a stationary adsorbent which is the packing material. A pressure mechanism exerts pressure on a mobile phase applied to one end of the column and moves it through the column causing it to exit the opposite end of the column. A sample containing a mixture of compounds is injected onto the column through a sample injection port. As the sample moves through the packing material, the various components of the sample adsorb to the packing material with different affinities. The components, therefore, can elute from the column separately under appropriate conditions. On a reverse phase HPLC column the compounds within a sample are separated based on hydrophobicity.
HPLC analysis may be performed in isocratic or gradient mode. An isocratic HPLC separation is one which is carried out under a constant eluant composition. A gradient HPLC separation is characterized by a gradual change in the percentage of solvent applied to the column over time. The change in solvent often is controlled by a mixing device which mixes solvent A and solvent B to produce the HPLC solvent just prior to its movement through the column. The amount of time over which the gradient is changed from one extreme to the opposite extreme is the gradient time.
Generally in gradient chromatography it is believed that increasing the flow rate and/or decreasing the gradient time results in a loss of resolution, that is the ability of the column to separate the components within the mixture into discrete eluant fractions.
Rapid methods for the preparation and isolation of potential drug candidates using automated synthetic organic chemistry techniques to create combinatorial libraries represents an important advance in drug discovery. Certain combinatorial libraries encompass a series of compounds having common structural features but which differ in the number or type of group attached to the main structure. Each compound within a combinatorial library created by parallel synthesis is a separate sample housed in a tube or well of a microtitre plate. Once the library is completed each sample is subjected to quality control analysis to confirm that the particular sample includes the desired library component at the requisite purity. Generally this is accomplished by subjecting the samples to HPLC with UV or mass spectrometry detection, IR, NMR, or any other appropriate analytical techniques. The qualitative analysis of such combinatorial libraries by conventional HPLC requires on the average 5 to 20 minutes in order to separate various compounds within the sample.
A problem encountered with prior art methods for separation of compounds in combinatorial libraries using HPLC is the length of time required for separation of each sample. Each sample of a combinatorial library produced by parallel synthesis must be analyzed separately to determine if that sample houses the appropriate compound and/or to separate the compounds in the mixture. Each library includes thousands of samples each of which require an average run time of 10 minutes. The amount of time required to perform separations on these samples may run on the order of months using standard equipment and methodology.

Rapid method for separation of small molecules using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography


A novel method for providing bump structures that can be formed by conventional stud bump bonding techniques is disclosed. The bumps can be arranged in a buttressed configuration that allows for substantial lateral and vertical contact loads, and substantial heights. A side-by-side configuration may be used to build a stacked bump contact that is substantially taller and stronger than is possible under current techniques. Other arrangements can be selected to optimize the load bearing capacity in any direction or combination of directions.

Selecting the proper method for connecting semiconductor dies to a printed circuit board (PCB) is an important design consideration which may affect the reliability and scalability of the final PCB. One method, that is currently used heavily, is stud bump bonding (SBB). The process of forming SBB is conceptually simple and consists of few steps: forming a free air ball, bonding the ball to the bond pads of the die, and tearing off the wire to provide a free tail bump. The ball (or bump), which is on the bond pad, is then brought in contact with the PCB, such that an electrical connection is formed by either adhesive or ultrasonic connection. The advantage of SBB is that it does not require under-bump metallization, and thus does not require wafer processing.
In SBB, the tip of the bond wire (generally gold) is melted to form a ball at the end of a wire bonding assembly. The tip of this assembly is brought close to the bond pad such that the ball is in contact with the bond pad, and by applying this mechanical force, in addition to heat and ultrasonic energy, the ball creates a metallic connection to the bond pad. The wire bonding assembly tool finishes by breaking off the bond wire to begin another cycle. Current assemblies can make more than 12 of these bumps per second. These bumps may then be used later to bond the die with the PCB using adhesive or ultrasonic methods.
When the die contains many of these bumps, the connection to the PCB may be very durable because the die is connected to the PCB in several spots. In other words, the amount of force required to dislodge the die from the PCB would likely increase with the increase in connection points. However, when the die contains few connection points then the die may not have a durable connection to the PCB.
It is also possible that, given certain design considerations, the die may need to be elevated from the surface of the PCB. This may be desirable as a means to more efficiently evacuate heat from the PCB, or when space requires that other electrical vias travel below the die. Unfortunately, elevating the die from the surface of the PCB using conventional techniques may result in a connection that suffers from low shear strength; thus is not durable or reliable.
The common assignee of this application and application Ser. No. 11/226,568, from which priority is claimed, also uses bumps in the probe testing of semiconductors. Specifically, commonly owned application Ser. No. 11/226,568 describes a laterally compliant spring-based interposer 1105 (see FIG. 12) for testing semiconductors that imparts minimal vertical force on a probe contactor substrate 1110 while the interposer is engaged. Often the probe contactor substrate is the semiconductor to be tested. The interposer 1105 may be connected to testing equipment needed to test the probe contactor substrate 1110. Referring to callout figure in FIG. 12, the lateral interposer 1105 applies lateral force in the direction of the arrow 1115, causing the interposer substrate 1120 to move in the direction of the lateral force, urging the lateral spring contactor 1125 to come in contact with the probe contactors 1130 and 1135. This results in an electrical connection between the probe contactor substrate 1110 and the interposer 1105 (which, in some embodiments, would necessarily electrically connect the testing equipment to the semiconductor) so that probe testing can be performed.
In this application, the probe contactor substrate 1110 to be tested should have probe contactors 1130 and 1135 which extend from the plane of the probe contactor substrate 1110 such that the lateral interposer 1105 can engage the probe contactors 1130 and 1135 and perfect an electrical connection with the probe contactors 1130 and 1135 (and thus with the semiconductor). One such probe contactor that may be used is a bump applied by SBB; however, current SBB techniques yield a single bump that may be too short to fully engage the lateral interposer 1105, or yield a column of bumps that is too weak, rendering testing difficult, if not impossible.
To extend the length of the bumps, N. Ishikawa of Fujitsu Ltd. has made a tower of 17 gold stud bumps (See FIG. 15). Ishikawa has also formed several individual multi-bump towers (See FIG. 16). These structures, however, have very little lateral strength because they contain a footprint of only one bump; thus in bonding a die to a PCB with such a structure, the connection would not be durable or reliable. Similarly, the tall structure could not survive the lateral stress exerted by the lateral interposer used in semiconductor testing.
Therefore, a need exists for the contact bumps to have high lateral and vertical strength. A need further exists for the bumps to be built up, resulting in additional height without sacrificing strength.


Audio-Video Equipment Stand, suitable for supporting audio and video equipment constructed from a metal alloy type material, is dominated by four vertical support columns which provide support to the audio-video equipment stand shelves, are characterized by their size material make up and the unique support device bound to the audio-video equipment stand shelves, are visually well proportioned reflecting their ability to accommodate a wide variety of audio and video equipment, with the addition of sub frame and support bracket configurations, enable the housing of the audio-video equipment stand shelves, in addition, the audio-video equipment stand has the provision for engaging the connectivity requirements of audio and video equipment, courtesy of the connection options integrated into the audio-video equipment stand, thus enabling all forms of supported audio and video equipment to receive power, ensuring correct operation of all audio and video equipment.

A wide range of audio and video equipment require some form of supporting apparatus which provides audio and video equipment with a stable platform, thereby ensuring a functional and operational environment is maintained, conducive to the operational requirements of audio and video equipment. The various support apparatus can be in the form of wall mounted shelves, free standing racks, free standing cabinets or freely independent stands with shelving arrangements. Typically most support apparatus share a common purpose, thereby maintaining a standard set of limited features which are exemplified in their construction, usually welded in nature, a standard shelving arrangement with dimensions and fitments that may limit the type of audio and video equipment that can be accommodated by the support apparatus plus the cumbersome exercise of cable management. The stylisation of some support apparatus has improved over the years but many still exhibit a very one dimensional cosmetic makeup and functionality, which invariably is disproportionate to the cost of such apparatus.
This invention, referred to as the audio-video equipment stand, has embraced some of these limited features, thereby creating a concept which addresses some of the short comings of previous and present support apparatus, thereby providing a support apparatus which is able to function in both domestic and professional environments. The concept revolves around the immediate availability of power courtesy of the socket outlet componentry integrated within the audio-video equipment stand.
In order to liberate audio and video equipment from the reliance on lengthy power cables and additional ancillaries, a central hub needs to be established in order to provide equal and immediate access to power for all audio and video equipment. Therefore, the audio-video equipment stand becomes the focal point for any professional or domestic audio and video installation, providing a support platform and connectivity options made available by the audio-video equipment stand.


A circuit-breaker including main contacts and arcing contacts includes a shaft carrying a first lever connected to the moving main contact. A hub is mounted inside the shaft and carries a second lever connected to the moving arcing contact; the shaft and the hub being shaped over a certain portion into two sectors between which a spring is disposed. A single control causes the shaft to rotate so that the shaft firstly causes the hub to rotate via the spring, the shaft and the hub rotating respectively causing the moving main contact and the moving arcing contact to move, and the shaft secondly rotates to a further extent, with the hub being prevented from rotating by action from an abutment. This arrangement makes it possible to implement a simple synchronization of the main contacts opening before the arcing contacts.

Such a circuit-breaker is usually placed between a generator of an electrical power plant and a transformer connected to a power line.
In known manner, the main contacts are heavy enough to withstand high nominal currents without overheating. They define a relatively large volume which is more difficult to put under gas pressure or under a vacuum than is a "bottle" of smaller size disposed inside said volume. Such a bottle is provided with a stationary arcing contact and a moving arcing contact which are less heavy because they withstand only the cutoff current of the circuit-breaker.
In Patent Application FR 89 13279, the moving main contact and the moving arcing contact extend in the same longitudinal direction, so they are moved in translation parallel to that direction, by pneumatic piston-and-cylinder means.
Such means have drawbacks.
Firstly, it is necessary to provide electrically-driven valves for synchronizing the movements of the pneumatic actuators of the moving main contact and of the moving arcing contact. In particular, the moving main contact must move far enough to be able to withstand a transient voltage before the moving arcing contact opens.
Secondly, at the end of the stroke of the moving arcing contact, it is possible to obtain satisfactory acceleration, enabling the circuit-breaker to be opened more effectively, only with rather sophisticated apparatus for feeding the pneumatic actuators with gas.


A safety trocar is provided which includes a spring-loaded shield that shields the cutting tip of the obturator after the obturator penetrates tissue. The distal end of the shield is conical in profile and contains a slot which conforms to the geometry of the cutting tip. The obturator tip contains a knife edge blade which extends the length of the cannula inner diameter. Ideally, the knife is made of an amorphous metal, and may be serrated at its edge.

A trocar generally comprises two major components, a trocar tube and an obturator. The trocar tube or cannula is inserted through the skin. Access is gained through to a body cavity so that endoscopic, laparoscopic or arthroscopic surgery may be performed. In order to penetrate the skin, the distal end of the trocar tube is placed against the skin and an obturator is inserted through the tube. By pressing against the proximal end of the obturator the point of the obturator is forced through the skin until the obturator enters the body cavity. At this time, the trocar tube is inserted through the perforation made by the obturator and the obturator is withdrawn, leaving the trocar tube as an accessway to the body cavity.
It has been found that often a great deal of force is required to cause the obturator point to penetrate the skin and underlying tissue. When the point finally breaks through this tissue, resistance to penetration is suddenly removed, and the obturator point can suddenly reach to penetrate internal organs of the body, which may cause lacerations and other injury to the internal organs. To avert this danger to the patient, trocars have been developed which carry a spring-loaded tubular shield within the trocar tube and surrounding the obturator. The distal end of the shield presses against the skin as the obturator point penetrates the body, until the obturator has formed a perforation with a diameter sufficient to allow the safety shield to pass through. At that time the resistance of the tissue to the spring-loaded shield is removed, and the shield will spring forward to extend into the body cavity, surrounding the point of the obturator. The shield thus protects the internal body organs from inadvertent contact with the point of the obturator. A trocar including such a safety shield is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,773, for example.
The tubular shield in such a trocar will, however, require the incision formed by the obturator to extend to a considerable diameter before the resistance of the tissue pressure has been sufficiently decreased to allow the safety shield to spring forward. It is only when the incision attains the diameter of the shield that the shield is fully able to spring into the body cavity. When the obturator employs a long, tapered cutting tip, this tip must extend a significant distance into the body before the incision is sufficiently enlarged to release the safety shield. It would therefore be desirable to provide a safety shield which will spring forward to shield the obturator tip as soon as possible after entry is gained to the body cavity.
In accordance with the principles of Deniega, U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,288, a safety shield for a trocar obturator is provided which exhibits a rounded, bullet-shaped distal end. A slot is formed in this distal end which corresponds to the geometry of the obturator tip, through which the tip extends during perforation of the skin. With this distal end conforming to the geometry of the tip, a smooth transition is provided from the tip to the distal end of the shield, enabling the shield to closely follow the obturator tip through the tissue. The rounded distal end will press against the skin and tissue in close proximity to the periphery of the incision as it is formed, and will aid in the enlargement of the incision to enable the shield to spring forward nearly as soon as entry is gained into the body cavity.
One desirable function of such a trocar is for the obturator to slide smoothly within the trocar tube during both insertion and retraction of the obturator. Opposing this need is the necessity to form the obturator to be nearly the same diameter as the tube, so that the tissue perforation will be the size of the tube. Thus, tolerances are generally tight between the diameter of the obturator and the inside diameter of the trocar tube. A further complication is provided by the valve at the proximal end of the trocar tube, which is needed to seal the proximal end during removal of the obturator when the trocar tube and body cavity are insufflated with gases. The valve, which generally takes the form of a hinged flap or trumpet valve, is spring-loaded to bear against the obturator, thereby assuring that the valve will close automatically upon withdrawal of the obturator from the trocar tube. As the valve bears against the obturator it will frictionally disrupt the entry and withdrawal of the obturator. As a result of these tolerance problems, heretofore there has not been an obturator which corresponds identically to the shaft of the trocar cannula, and wider than the inner dimension of the safety shield in which the obturator slides.
Further patient safety would be provided by preventing the sudden extension of the obturator into the body cavity as the obturator tip fully penetrates the tissue. In accordance with yet another aspect of Deniega '688, means are provided which permit only incremental advancement of the obturator as tissue penetration proceeds. Such incremental advancement is provided by a ratchet or screw mechanism, for instance. Yet, this has not alleviated the problem of having an obturator tip with only minimal exposure past the edge of the safety shield at all positions of the safety shield distal end.


An image forming apparatus is mounted in a copying machine or a printer and is adapted to serve the purpose of bundling and stapling a plurality of copied or printed sheets, automatically encasing the stapled bundle of sheets with a cover specially designed for enclosure, and binding the cover. The apparatus has an image memory, an image signal processing part, an image producing part, a sheet accumulating part, a cover storing part, a cover delivering part, a cover supporting part, a sheet delivering and inserting part, a heating part, and a CPU.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image forming apparatus furnished with a finisher which is mounted in a copying machine or a printer and adapted to serve the purpose of bundling and stapling a plurality of copied or printed sheets, automatically encasing the stapled bundle of sheets with a cover specially designed for enclosure, and binding the cover.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, some of such image forming apparatuses as copying machines and printers are furnished with an aftertreating device serving the purpose of automatically collecting sheets discharged from the apparatus, binding a bundle of these sheets with staples, encasing the stapled bundle with a cover specially designed for enclosure, and automatically binding the cover.
The cover specially designed to be used by the finisher of this description has fusible mucilage applied to such parts thereof as form an inside and a back. The finisher binds the plurality of sheets by encasing the sheets with the special cover and applying heat to the part of the cover forming the back thereby joining the sheets with the mucilage.
The bound documents are known in two types as sorted by the manner of binding, namely the documents of the right binding which binds a given document by applying mucilage to the right side of the document as illustrated in FIG. 29A and the documents of the left binding which binds a given document by applying mucilage to the left side of the document as illustrated in FIG. 29B. More often than not in the case of the documents written in the Japanese language, the documents having characters arranged vertically are in the right binding and the documents having characters arranged laterally are in the left binding.
Incidentally, the finisher which is mounted in the copying machine or the printer, on receiving sheets delivered from the copying machine or the printer, inserts the sheets in the same direction as used in the conveyance thereto into the special cover and binds them with the mucilage applied to the part of the back. As a result, it has the problem of betraying the inability to govern arbitrarily the distinction between the right binding and the left binding. Of course, it is not inconceivable that by incorporating a complicated switchback mechanism or a sheet inverting path in the sheet conveying path, the finisher is enabled to change mechanically the direction of sheet, depending on the selection between the right binding and the left binding, insert the sheets delivered in the selected direction into the special cover, and bind the cover. This measure, however, entails the problem of enlarging the apparatus and increasing the cost thereof.
Among the finishers of this class are included those which are provided with a sheet folding device capable of folding a discharged image-bearing sheet doubly in the central part thereof. The finisher which is provided with such a sheet folding device is enabled to fold a sheet doubly in the central part thereof and perform a stapling treatment on the edge part of the folded sheet to effect covered binding.
When a plurality of sheets are subjected to the covered binding, they may be bound on the right side (right binding) as illustrated in FIG. 30A or on the left side (left binding) as illustrated in FIG. 30B, when viewed from the front side of sheet. Also in the case of this covered binding, more often than not the documents having characters longitudinally arranged are bound on the right side and the documents having characters laterally arranged are bound on the left side.
In the case of the covered binding, however, while the sheets in a doubly folded state produce covered binding when they are found in the edge part, they produce no covered binding as illustrated in FIG. 31 when they are found on the opposite side, namely on the side forming a crease of fold. The right binding or the left binding cannot be arbitrarily selected simply by changing the sides to be bound.
A method for very simply solving this problem attendant on the covered binding as described above, for example, resides in providing a copying machine capable of copying original documents set therein sequentially from the first page onward with a finisher capable of giving each of the sheets the covered binding in the left binding. The copying machine, when operated to copy the original documents set therein sequentially from the last page backward, produces documents of the covered binding in the right binding. In this case, however, since the staples plunge into the bundle of sheets from the last page side as illustrated in FIG. 32, they give rise to the problem that the folded shanks of these staples finally rest on the front side of the first page and impair the appearance of the finished document. Further, the person engaging in the manual operation of the copying machine is compelled to do the work of rearranging all the original documents for printing. Thus, the automation of the covered binding possibly entails the problem of rather lowering the operational efficiency.

Image forming apparatus having a finisher


Use of a Fischer-Tropsch derived fuel in a fuel composition is disclosed, for the purpose of reducing catalyst degradation in a catalytically driven or catalyst containing system which is running on, or is to be run on, the composition or its products, wherein the Fischer-Tropsch derived fuel is used to reduce the level of silicon in the fuel composition, such as by reducing the concentration of silicon-containing antifoaming additive(s) in the fuel composition. It may also be used to reduce loss of efficiency of fuel atomization and/or combustion, and/or to reduce build up of silicon deposits, in a fuel consuming system which is running on, or is to be run on, the fuel composition.

Many fuel consuming systems are catalytically driven. Such systems include fuel reformers for instance for the oxidation or partial oxidation of fuels.
Other catalytic systems which come into contact with fuels or with the by-products of fuel consumption (in particular fuel combustion) include the exhaust aftertreatment systems of automotive vehicles.
In such systems, the content of the fuel may influence catalyst performance, particularly if the fuel contains agents capable of acting, in the context, as catalyst "poisons". In particular in the case of an exhaust aftertreatment system, however, the fuel and fuel by-products passing through it may contain all manner of additives which are included in the fuel for purposes unrelated to the operation of the exhaust system.
For example, fuel compositions for use in typical current diesel (compression ignition) engines tend to include one or more additives to enhance their performance and properties. Such additives include antifoaming agents to reduce foaming during engine refueling. The antifoaming agents typically preferred for use in diesel fuels are silicone based.
Silicon, which may be contained in fuel additives, can cause degradation of catalyst efficiency when present in the fuel feed to a catalytically driven fuel processor. It might also therefore be expected to compromise, to at least a degree, catalyst efficiency in other catalytically driven systems, including the exhaust aftertreatment systems of diesel vehicles running on similarly additivated fuels.
Moreover, silicon deposits have also been found in the deposits which accumulate in the fuel injectors of diesel engines. High levels of such deposits can impair fuel atomization and combustion and hence overall engine efficiency.


A container is provided. A rack is provided in the container, and a server is mounted to the rack. A fan unit is provided in the container, and a large-sized fan and first and second small-sized fans of which diameters are smaller than that of the large-sized fan are alternately arranged on an opposing surface of the fan unit opposed to the rack. A CPU temperature sensor measures a temperature of a heat generation component incorporated in the server. A fan operation management unit controls rotation of the large-sized fan and rotation of the first small-sized fan and the second small-sized fan according to the CPU temperature sensor.

A data center is a facility for centrally installing and operating a large amount of hardware including a server and communication equipment. Some of the data centers may be installed as part of an existing building. In recent years, cloud services have been developed and a scale of the data center has been continuously increasing. It is desired to achieve further power saving in a large-scale data center.
To construct such a large-scale data center, a container-type data center of which initial investment cost is low is proposed. The container-type data center is a portable data center that can be additionally installed according to a whole scale of the data center, and has an effective configuration to reduce total power consumption and realize power saving, so that it has been rapidly spreading.
Examples of equipment installed in such a container-type data center include network devices, storage devices, and computers such as servers. Some of the equipment installed in the data center include heat generation components such as a central processing unit (CPU) as an arithmetic processing unit or a memory as a storage device. The temperatures of these components that have risen are reduced by air conditioning. This reduces in turn the temperature in the container.
Examples of an air conditioning system of the container-type data center include an air conditioner system using a chiller. When the air conditioner system is used, air is cooled by using electric power. Therefore, there is a risk that a power consumption amount increases in the air conditioner system. Accordingly, an outside-air cooling system has been focused on in terms of power saving of the air conditioning. Specifically, a direct outside-air system, which is one of the air conditioning systems effective for power saving, takes outside air in the container-type data center to lower the temperature of a heat generating component such as a CPU or of a container using the outside air.
As the direct outside-air system, proposed is a related art in which air is sucked in from the outside of the container using a large air conditioning fan mounted to the container and a server takes the air into its housing its own fan to cool a heat generation component and the like (for example, refer to a product catalogue of SGI® IceCube™ Air, SGI Japan, Ltd.).
In such a container-type data center using the direct outside-air system, a plurality of fans that can provide a sufficient volume of air for cooling the server are arranged. Because two or more fans are arranged, redundancy of the fans may be secured.
Example of the cooling fan for the electronic equipment include a related-art configuration including a fan that cools the entire electronic equipment and a fan that locally cools the electronic equipment (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-59033). In addition, there is a related art for causing temperature-controlled air to flow through equipment to be measured and evaluates a heat radiation characteristic of the equipment (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 08-29210). There is also a related art for detecting a current value of a power conversion circuit in a welding machine to select the minimum number of fans needed (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-28569).
However, the fan operates by pulse driving, whereby the fan rotates at the minimum number of revolutions by the pulse driving or more. When the largest possible fan is used for saving power, even if the fan rotates at the minimum number of revolutions, the volume of air becomes excessive, for example, in a case where all of the servers are in an idle state. This means that electric power is wasted. When some of the fans are stopped to adjust the volume of air, wind is not sent to some areas. Accordingly, face wind speed cannot be obtained uniformly on a rack on which the server is disposed.
Even when using the related art including the fan that cools the entire electronic equipment and a fan that locally cools the electronic equipment, it is difficult to reduce the excessive volume of air caused at the minimum number of revolutions. When using the related art for causing the temperature-controlled air to flow through the equipment to be measured, the volume of air can be adjusted in a range of the minimum number of revolutions or more, but the volume of air cannot be reduced to or below the volume of air at the minimum number of revolutions. In addition, even when using the related art for selecting the minimum number of fans needed based on the current value, the uniform face wind speed cannot be obtained because the number of fans to be used is reduced.

Container-type data center and method for controlling container-type data center


The present disclosure provides a method for feeding back a precoding matrix indicator, a receive end and a transmit end, where the method includes: selecting, by a receive end, a precoding matrix W from a codebook based on a reference signal, where

A multiple input multiple output (MIMO) wireless communications system may obtain diversity and array gains by using a transmit precoding technology and a receive signal combination technology. A system using precoding may be indicated asy=H{circumflex over (V)}s+n
where y is a vector of a received signal, H is a channel matrix, {circumflex over (V)} is a precoding matrix, s is a vector of a transmitted symbol, and n is a measured noise.
Optimal precoding generally requires that a transmitter completely knows channel state information (CSI). A frequently used method is that user equipment (UE) quantizes instantaneous CSI and reports the quantized instantaneous CSI to a base station, where the user equipment includes a mobile station (MS), a relay (Relay), a mobile telephone (Mobile Telephone), a handset (handset), portable equipment (portable equipment) and the like, and the base station includes a node B (NodeB) base station (BS), an access point (Access Point), a transmission point (TP), an evolved node B (eNB), a relay (Relay) or the like. CSI information reported by an existing Long Term Evolution (LTE) system includes information about a rank indicator (RI), information about a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), information about a channel quality indicator (CQI), and the like, where the RI and the PMI respectively indicate a quantity of transmission layers and a precoding matrix that are used. A set of precoding matrices in use is generally referred to as a codebook, and each of the precoding matrices is a codeword in the codebook.
Codebook design used in existing LTE systems is all based on inter-antenna strong related features. However, as a spacing between two antennas in the same polarization direction increases, an inter-antenna correlation gradually decreases, while phase differences between antenna elements involved in a codebook based on inter-antenna strong related features all keep consistent. Therefore, when the existing codebook design is applied to a scenario in which a large spacing is configured between antennas, good matching cannot be achieved, which results in that the precision at which a base station performs precoding according to PMI information fed back by UE is reduced, thereby causing a large performance loss, and reducing the system throughput.

Method for feeding back precoding matrix indicator, receive end and transmit end

Abstract: W    ∈          [                                                                  X                1                                                          (                                  θ                  1                                )                                                                                X                2                                                          (                                                      θ                    2                                    ,                                      φ                    n                                                  )                                                        ]        ,the θ1 and the θ2 indicate a phase difference of weighted values for signal transmission between two neighboring antennas in a first antenna group of a transmit end and a phase difference of weighted values for signal transmission between two neighboring antennas in a second antenna group of the transmit end, the φn indicates a phase difference of weighted values for signal transmission between the first antenna group and the second antenna group, where the signal transmission between the first antenna group and the second antenna group is for a same transmission layer,

Abstract: φ      n        =          ⅇ                        j                                                              2                    π                                                              n                M              ,and sending, by the receive end, a precoding matrix indicator PMI to the transmit end.


The present invention relates to a self filling cover device for covering a surface of a liquid, having a shell (2) defining inner cavity, and the inner cavity is to be filled at least partly with liquid, so that the inner cavity is divided in at least two chambers (3,4) by a separating means (5,51,52), and one of the chambers (4) is provided by at least one opening (6) formed in the shell (2).

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cover device for covering particularly open liquid surfaces, such as ponds, lakes or pools, having a shell defining an inner cavity, and the inner cavity is filled at least partly with a liquid. The invention also relates to a blanket formed by several cover devices according to the invention on the surface of a pond or pool.
Brief Description of the Related Art
Different kinds of open air industrial ponds need to be covered to prevent e.g. sunlight penetration and consequent algae formation or growing weeds, liquid loss through evaporation, to maintain higher water temperature in winter, or waterfowl fatalities in cases of both hazardous liquids stored and airport fire water ponds situated near the runways attracting fowls in the vicinity of air-bound planes. A very conventional solution has been netting. Published patent document US 2012285106 (A1) discloses a bird deterrent for preventing birds from flying into a reflective surface e.g. a glass surface, comprising a mesh having a first portion and a second portion, first and second support beams coupled to the first and second portions, respectively; first and second sets of suction cups coupled to the first and second support beams, respectively; and wherein the first and second sets of suction cups are slidably coupled to the first and second support beams, respectively, and configured to removably attach to a glass surface. It is clear, however, using this solution in case of a large liquid surface, like a pond or pool, is too expensive to build and maintain and will obviously be damaged by winter storms, and yet fails to camouflage the liquid surface from waterfowls.
Published Chinese utility model CN 202555020 discloses a full-light covered top type device for a mud storing pond. The device mainly solves the problem that an existing mud storing pond cannot normally operate due to freezing in winter and is characterized in that top beams are connected with the top of a vertical column, the top beams in arc shapes are parallel to each other, evenly distributed, and connected through transverse beams, and the outer surfaces of the top beams are covered by sunlight plates. Although this full-light covered top type device for the mud storing pond is strong in cold resistance capacity, it is very expensive to establish and is alien from an ideal heat insulating and bird repelling solution as well.
These problems have been attempted to solve by floating ball blankets providing a highly effective solution to difficult liquid storage problems above mainly in petrochemical, metal treatment and air-transport industries (see: www.euro-matic.com). By placing a sufficient quantity of hollow plastic balls onto the surface of a liquid, the balls automatically arrange themselves into a close packed formation. In a single layer on the liquid surface they virtually cover over 91% of the surface area, greatly reducing sunlight penetration and therefore liquid evaporation. The thermal insulating qualities of such balls also assist in maintaining winter operating temperatures of the water. Such a high surface coverage provides an extremely effective barrier and significantly reduces the mass and heat transfer mechanisms operating between the liquid and surrounding environment. A thermal insulation barrier is achieved through the air held in each ball and the poor heat conductivity of plastic. The air pockets between the balls, although not sealed, also contribute to this cellular insulation system which dramatically reduces heat loss. The low liquid surface area exposed to atmosphere dramatically reduces liquid loss through evaporation, odor release to the atmosphere and also conversely prevents surface absorption of oxygen.
Yet a blanket of balls presents no impediment to product dipping or equipment which has to move through the liquid surface; the balls are pushed aside, but quickly reform their cover as the equipment moves forward or products are lifted away from the tank. The balls rise and fall with liquid level within ponds or storage tanks, and also provide a constant cover over liquids held in reservoirs with sloping sides. If the liquid level falls, causing the surface area to shrink, the balls simply stack in a double layer; they automatically spread themselves into a single layer again as the level rises.
However, this blanket of cover balls has some disadvantages. In almost all open air industrial applications the balls consisting the covering blanket may drift into a limited surface area of the pond, due to strong or even stormy winds, or they might also be blown out from the pond. This phenomenon can be eliminated by applying balls partly filled with a liquid, e.g. water, but both producing and transporting of balls filled at least partly with water incur extended costs.

Cover device and blanket for covering liquid surfaces


Provided herein are approaches for performing electrodynamic mass analysis with a radio frequency (RF) biased ion source to reduce ion beam energy spread. In some embodiments, a system may include an ion source including a power supply, the ion source operable to generate a plasma within a chamber housing, and an extraction power assembly including a first power supply and a second power supply electrically coupled with the chamber housing of the ion source, wherein the first power supply and the second power supply are operable to bias the chamber housing of the ion source with a time modulated voltage to extract an ion beam from the ion source. The system may further include an electrodynamic mass analysis (EDMA) assembly operable to receive the ion beam and perform mass analysis on the ion beam.

Ion implantation is a process of introducing dopants or impurities into a substrate via bombardment. Ion implantation systems ("ion implanters") may comprise an ion source and a substrate stage or process chamber, housing a substrate to be implanted. The ion source may comprise a chamber where ions are generated. Beamline ion implanters may include a series of beam-line components, for example, a mass analyzer, a collimator, and various components to accelerate or decelerate the ion beam.
A useful function of an ion implanter beamline is to separate ions of different masses so that an ion beam may be formed having the desired ions for treating the work piece or substrate, while undesirable ions are intercepted in a beamline component and do not reach the substrate. In known systems, this mass analysis function is provided by an analyzing magnet, which component bends a beam of ions that all have the same energy in a curve whose radius depends on the ion mass, thus achieving the required separation. Magnets of this kind, however, are large, expensive, and heavy and represent a significant portion of the cost and power consumption of an ion implanter.
For relatively lower energy ion implantation, such as energy below approximately 50 keV, compact ion beam systems have been developed. These ion beam systems may include a plasma chamber acting as ion source, placed adjacent a process chamber, which houses the substrate to be implanted. An ion beam may be extracted from the plasma chamber using an extraction grid or other extraction optics, and then provided to an electrodynamic mass analysis (EDMA) filter prior to being delivered to the substrate. However, existing EDMA approaches may introduce a large ion beam energy spread to achieve ion separation, which may also result in an increased beam angular spread at the substrate and increased beam strike at electrodes along the ion implanter beamline.
With respect to these and other considerations, the present disclosure is provided.

Electrodynamic mass analysis with RF biased ion source


A method for manufacturing an electrical plug-in connector, an electrical connector element, which has a first contacting portion for plug-in connection to a contact of a first contact carrier and a second contacting portion, angled with respect thereto, for connection with a contact of a second contact carrier, being introduced into a receiving chamber of a housing body, vis-à-vis a device having a housing body receptacle and a connector element receptacle, includes the following steps: a1) placing the housing body receptacle and the connector element receptacle in a receiving position for equipping them with the electrical connector element; b1) arranging the electrical connector element at the connector element receptacle; c1) arranging the housing body at the housing body receptacle; d1) moving the housing body receptacle and the connector element receptacle toward one another using a drive element such that a joining movement is produced.

Electrical plug-in connectors are generally known and serve to establish an electrical connection between contacts of contact partners via electrical connector elements. Plug-in connectors of the relevant type have the property that a contact carrier can be plugged in on at least one face of the plug-in connector and, as a result of the plugging-in, electrical contact with the electrical connector element can be implemented. Electrical plug-in connectors of this type are known for example from DE 20 2006 016424 U1.
For manufacturing a plug-in connector, various methods and devices are known by means of which electrical connector elements are introduced into a receiving chamber of a housing body, an electrical connector element having a first contacting portion for a plug-in connection to a contact of a first contact carrier and having a second contacting portion, angled with respect thereto, for connection to a contact of a second contact carrier.
Accordingly, a plug-in connector of this type has two contact faces which are angled with respect to one another, it being possible to arrange a contact carrier on each contact face so as electrically to interconnect the associated contacts thereof via the plug-in connector.
Methods of the relevant type for manufacturing an electrical plug-in connector provide that an electrical connector element is introduced, by means of a device having a housing body receptacle and a connector element receptacle, into a receiving chamber of a housing body by way of a sequence of different method steps.
The housing body receptacle and connector element receptacle are displaced into a receiving position for equipping them with the electrical connector element, whereupon the electrical connector element is arranged at the connector element receptacle, and the housing body provided for receiving the electrical connector element is arranged at the housing body receptacle. The housing body receptacle and the connector element receptacle are movable relative to one another between a receiving position, in which the housing body receptacle and the connector element receptacle are spaced apart from one another in order to arrange the housing body/bodies at the housing body receptacle and the one or more electrical connector elements at the connector element receptacle, and a joining position, in which the housing body receptacle and the connector element receptacle are brought close together and the one or more electrical connector elements are introduced into the receiving chamber of the housing body.
Further, in the context of the, a removal state is characterized in that the housing body/bodies along with the electrical connector elements arranged therein are removable from the device, in particular by the housing receptacle and the connector element receptacle being spaced apart from one another.
Thereupon, in a further step, the housing body receptacle and the connector element receptacle are moved towards one another by a drive element in such a way that a joining movement is produced, by means of which the electrical connector element is introduced at least in portions into the receiving chamber of the housing body of the housing in a joining direction.
Once the electrical connector element is introduced into the receiving chamber of the housing body, the housing body receptacle and connector element receptacle are displaced into a removal state, in which the housing body, along with the connector element introduced into the receiving chamber, can be removed from the device.
For manufacturing plug-in connectors, devices of the relevant type are also known which have a joining apparatus, which in turn has
a housing body receptacle for receiving a housing body,
a connector element receptacle for receiving an electrical connector element, which has a first contacting portion for plug-in connection to the contact of a first contact carrier and a second contacting portion, angled with respect thereto, for connection to a contact of a second contact carrier, and a drive element for producing a joining movement between the housing body receptacle and the connector element receptacle. Further, equipping devices of the relevant type are equipped with a drive apparatus, which serves to produce a joining movement between the housing body receptacle and the connector element receptacle so as to introduce the electrical connector element at least in portions into a receiving chamber of the housing body in a joining direction.

Device for manufacturing an electrical plug-in connector


The invention relates to a unit for fixing a base body provided with a housing of a cigar lighter heating element, in particular for motor vehicles. The inventive fixing unit is used for fixing a button actuating said heating element. Said fixing unit comprises a fixing element fixable to the housing of the base body of the heating element and an adapter for fixing the button, wherein said adapter is adjustably inserted into the fixing element and is guided in such a way that it is axially displaceable with respect thereto. The fixing unit makes it possible to mount the button only at a last operation for assembling said heating element, thereby enabling the button, which is embodied in the form of a decorative element, not to be exposed to mechanical stresses produced during an assembling process and to prevent the button damage by assembling operations.

Basically, conventional electric cigar lighters which are used in motor vehicles have a socket, in the form of an electrically conductive sleeve, and a heating unit which is arranged in the socket to be withdrawable. A cigar lighter of this kind is installed in a fixed wall, such for example as in the dashboard or the centre console of a motor vehicle, and is connected to the motor vehicle's electrical system by means of connecting members.
To actuate the heating unit, use is made of a knob which, if of a design specific to the carmaker involving a particular shape for the knob combined with a particular logo, can make a contribution to the styling of the interior trim of a private car. Conventional heating units are so constructed that the knob cannot be exchanged once the heating unit has been assembled. This being so, it is important for the knob not to be damaged when the heating unit is assembled. If there is any damage to the knob, a heating unit of this kind, which is also a relatively expensive product to manufacture, has to be discarded as scrap.
The assembly of a heating unit of this kind takes place in a plurality of operations, it being known that, starting with the knob, all the parts of the heating unit have to be fitted in sequence in this case.
Mechanical stresses occur during the assembly of the heating unit and because the knob is exposed to these right from the outset, the possibility of damage to the knob in the course of assembly cannot be ruled out. It is therefore difficult for a high standard of quality to be achieved.
The object underlying the invention is therefore to improve the standard of quality in the assembly of heating units of this kind in order thereby to prevent scrap.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by virtue of the features described herein.

Attaching unit and knob for a heating unit of a cigar lighter


Embodiments of the disclosure are drawn to arrangements of one or more “cuts” or pattern of cuts in conductive structures. Wiring layers may each include a cut pattern including a set of cuts through conductive structures of the wiring layers where each of the cuts is offset from the other in a direction orthogonal to the cut. The cut pattern in a wiring layer may be orthogonal to the cut pattern in another wiring layer. In some examples, the cut pattern may be a stair-step pattern. In some examples, the cut pattern may be interrupted by other conductive structures.

This disclosure relates generally to conductive structures (e.g., wires, wiring layers), and more specifically, to conductive structures in semiconductor devices. For example, conductive structures may be used in memory devices, including volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM). DRAM may be included in a high bandwidth memory (HBM). HBM may include a die (e.g., chip) stack with one or more core die and one or more interface (IF) die. Each core die may include one or more memory arrays made up of one or more memory cells. Memory cells and/or other structures in the core die and/or IF die may be coupled to one another by one or more conductive structures. For example, conductive structures may couple one or more memory cells to a voltage source.

Apparatuses including conductive structure layouts


A chip on film for a flexible display device is disclosed. In one aspect, the chip on film includes a base film, a semiconductor chip provided to the base film, and a wire part provided to the base film and electrically connected to the semiconductor chip. The wire part includes a first region and a second region connected to the first region, and a first interval between the wires disposed at an outermost of the first region is different from a second interval between the wires disposed at an outermost area of the second region.

1. Field
The described technology generally relates to a chip on film used in a flexible display device, a flexible display device including the same, and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Technology
In a flexible display device, a display panel and a flexible printed circuit (FPC) are generally electrically connected by using a chip on film (COF) as a driving chip (a driving IC) element.
In general, the chip on film includes a semiconductor chip formed with an electrode bump and a wire substrate to which the semiconductor chip is bonded via the electrode bump.
The wire substrate includes a base film, a wire formed on one surface of the base film, and a solder resist covering and protecting the wire.
One end of the wire is electrically connected to the semiconductor chip through the electrode bump, and the other end is exposed outside the solder resist.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the described technology and therefore it may contain information that does not constitute the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Chip on film including different wiring pattern, flexible display device including the same, and method of manufacturing flexible display device


A learning pattern is classified into a plurality of patterns by a classifying means. The result of the classification, as well as the representative feature quantity calculated by the representative feature quantity operating unit, are stored in a dictionary storing unit in respective regions. Upon recognition, after feature quantities of unknown input patterns are extracted from the feature quantity extracting unit, the similarity operating unit arithmetically operates the similarity between the input pattern and respective learning patterns for respective regions. The point accumulating means searches a dictionary storing unit and accumulates points corresponding to a rank for respective learning patterns included in class having the upper rank from the highest to a lower similarity for respective regions. The recognition result candidate outputting unit outputs the recognition result candidate in accordance with the order of the higher accumulated point for the learning pattern. Therefore, the present pattern recognition can decrease the memory capacity of the dictionary and the number of the calculations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recognition apparatus for extracting a feature quantity from an input pattern comprising an image pattern such as a typed or hand-written pattern or a speech signal pattern such as word feature quantity pattern and for recognizing the pattern, and to a method for extracting the feature quantity.
2. Description of the Related Art
A feature quantity is extracted from an unknown image pattern (such as a typed or hand-written pattern) and a speech signal pattern (such as a time variable pattern of a frequency envelope of an unknown word) and a recognition of these unknown input patterns is conducted. A method for matching this feature quantity with a feature quantity of a previously-stored learning dictionary pattern and thus determining the dictionary pattern with the highest similarity to the input pattern as the recognition result, is generally known.
A prior art method for performing a matching of one unknown input pattern with a plurality of learning dictionary patterns is as follows. A set of feature quantities, extracted from an unknown input pattern, and a set of feature quantities representing the whole feature of a pattern are stored as a dictionary pattern. Respective sets of feature quantities of the dictionary pattern are matched with a set of feature quantities of the unknown input pattern so that all the sets of feature quantities of the dictionary patterns are matched with a set of feature quantities of the unknown input pattern. The dictionary pattern is arranged in order of the highest to lowest similarity of the feature quantity to provide recognition candidates. This is the "usual pattern matching method".
In the above prior art, when a lot of image data is to be recognized, a lot of data is required to enable feature quantities to be extracted from one pattern. Thus, the quantity of data required to express a pattern is very large. About 3000 Japanese image data are required to recognize one Japanese type. Thus, a great amount of memory capacity is required to store feature quantities of all Japanese type image data, resulting in high cost.
As feature quantities of unknown input patterns are matched with all the feature quantities of respective dictionary patterns of 3000 types, the prior art requires an extremely long recognition time and has a bad response capability.
On the other hand, where a single unknown input pattern is matched with a learning dictionary pattern to recognize a word, it is important to compare appropriate feature quantities of the unknown input pattern and learning dictionary pattern, because the respective patterns comprise a plurality of feature quantities.
The first prior art for the matching method is as follows. Time sequence patterns of feature quantities of unknown input words are made to correspond to the time sequence patterns of the feature quantities of the learning word, starting from the beginning of respective words, and similarities (distances) between respective feature quantities are calculated. The sum of the similarities between respective feature quantities of the whole time sequence pattern is obtained and the similarity between the words is calculated. This calculation is performed for all the learning words and the one having the highest similarity (i.e. the smallest distance) is provided as the recognition result.
Generally, words have different lengths as the time taken to pronounce words is not constant. Therefore, as the above first prior art does not consider differences in word length, it cannot achieve a high recognition ratio.
A DP (dynamic programming) method is provided as the second prior art. This method expands or compresses, nonlinearly in the time direction, respective time sequence patterns of feature quantities of the unknown input words and respective time sequence patterns of the feature quantity of the learning word. It then repeats the calculation of distance between respective feature quantities and calculates the accumulated distance for respective words. This calculation is applied to all the learning words and the one having the smallest accumulated distance is determined to be the recognition result.
The above second prior art considers differences in length and can achieve a high recognition ratio. It requires a lot of calculation as it needs to expand and compress the time axis non-linearly for respective words. In particular, when this calculation is repeated for all the learning words, the total amount of calculation is extremely large, making it difficult to perform realtime processing.
Both first and second prior arts, which require a matching for all the learning words recited above, have the basic problem that a large amount of calculation is required.
To solve this problem, there is proposed a method of roughly classifying the unknown input words to focus the word candidate, and performing a fine recognition on a limited number of word candidates. In this case, the prior art cannot provide a recognition method which focusses the word candidate sufficiently quickly and accurately. As a result, it cannot easily realize a quick word recognition method with a high recognition ratio.
Extraction of a feature quantity constitutes the basis of pattern matching. A feature quantity expressing the feature of the pattern must be extracted efficiently from a type image pattern or word signal pattern (which is obtained by expressing a time variable pattern of the frequency envelop in a form of an image) to enable recognition of the pattern.
In the first prior art for extracting a feature quantity, the density or direction of strokes in many directions is extracted.
However, this prior art has the problem that it cannot easily reflect the structure of a complex pattern (such as a complex Chinese character in Japanese) by the density of strokes. For example, it cannot express a pattern having a structure of many short strokes by the density of strokes.
The second prior art is a so-called structure segmentation method, in which the pattern is recognized by separating local structure segments. For example, the Chinese characters, "hen" and "tsukuri" constitute parts of a composite Chinese character, and these parts are separated from each other for recognition.
However, the above second prior art needs to examine all the structure segments and it takes time to extract the feature quantity. It also needs to separate and recognize respective structure segments and thus it is not effective when noise is present. It cannot be applied to patterns which have single structure segments, namely, patterns such as the in Chinese characters in Japanese. Further, in some characters the structure segments have the same shape but different size, for example, in and . This makes it difficult to form a pattern with a standard feature quantity.
Therefore, the second prior art cannot provide a pattern recognition system with high capability.

Image recognition apparatus and method for recognizing a pattern within an image


Process for the coating of objects, comprising contacting the objects with a composition comprising an additive, a film-forming binder and optionally a distributing agent, at a temperature below the softening temperature Tp of the objects and at a temperature at which the binder can form a film, forming and consolidating an additive-containing layer of binder on the surface of the objects, the objects being kept in mutual motion while they are being contacted with the composition and while the additive-containing layer of binder is being formed and consolidated, which process is carried out in a container bounded by walls of which the temperature of the walls is so much lower than the application temperature that formation of a film of the binder on the walls is prevented.

A process for the coating objects is known from WO 03/087198, in which a solution or dispersion of the additive and the binder are contacted with the polymer particles by spraying the dispersion, for instance via a nozzle or with the aid of a propellant. After that, a liquid is sprayed that has a cleaning effect on the spraying system in the presence of the plastic pellets.
The drawback of this process is that a portion of the composition ends upon the wall and is deposited on any parts of equipment present in the space in which the composition is sprayed. This makes it necessary to repeatedly clean the space in which spraying takes place. This holds in particular when batches with different additives are consecutively processed. In that case, cleaning must take place after each change of additive.
The aim of the invention is to provide a process for the coating of objects that to a significant extent prevents fouling of the space in which coating takes place.
This aim is achieved according to the invention in that the objects are kept in mutual motion while they are being contacted with the composition and while the additive-containing layer of binder is being formed and consolidated and that the process is carried out in a container bounded by walls of which the temperature is so much lower than the application temperature that the formation of a film of the binder on the walls is prevented.
It has been found that the walls, by keeping them at a temperature that is lower than a temperature at which formation of a film of the binder on the wall is prevented, are not fouled but that any deposits of the composition on the walls do not adhere to the walls and are readily taken up again by the moving particles when they come into in contact with the walls. This effect is achieved at any rate when the temperature of the walls is below the minimum temperature at which the binder can form a film. However, in many cases this requirement is unnecessarily restrictive and often it will suffice to keep the walls at a temperature that is lower than the dew point of the optional distributing agent during application and consolidation. Under those conditions a certain degree of condensation of the distributing agent on the colder wall surface will take place so that drying in of the composition on the wall is prevented. As a result, a large number of batches of objects can be coated with the same additive without intermediate cleaning, and it has even found to be possible to do without cleaning also when there is a change of additive.
With the process according to the invention it is possible to coat objects of random shape and of any material that is resistant to a temperature that is higher than the minimum temperature at which the binder to be used can form a film. The process is most suitable for the coating of objects without cavities or protruding parts, such as for instance seeds, pills and pellets. Such objects can be processed below the temperature at which degradation, decomposition and other undesirable changes in their properties start to occur. As softening temperature Tp of the polymer use is made of the glass transition temperature for amorphous polymers and of the melting point, determined by means of DSC with a heating rate of 10° C. per minute, for semi-crystalline and crystalline polymers.


An indentation testing instrument including: a loading lever supported pivotally; an indenter provided on the loading lever; a displacement sensor movable section; a loading lever driving section; a reference lever supported pivotally having a same shaft center as the loading lever; a contactor provided on the reference lever as a positional reference of a tip portion of the indenter; a displacement sensor fixing section; a reference lever driving section; a stopper to stop the reference lever; a specimen surface reference measurement member to turn the loading lever from a state that the contactor touches the specimen surface, and to measure a first indentation depth amount; and a machine frame reference measurement member to turn the loading lever from a state that the reference lever touches the stopper and the contactor is spaced apart from the specimen surface, and to measure a second indentation depth amount.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an indentation testing instrument and indentation testing method.
2. Description of Related Art
There has been known an indentation testing instrument, as a material testing machine, which forms an indentation on a specimen surface by pressing an indenter shaft provided with an indenter on a tip thereof into the specimen surface to evaluate a mechanical property such as a hardness of material (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publications No. 2004-12178).
For example, the indentation testing instrument measures an indentation depth (displacement amount of the indenter) at the time when a tip of the indenter is pressed into the specimen surface with a predetermined load by a displacement gauge to evaluate the mechanical property such as the hardness of material based on a relation between the displacement amount and the load.
Since the indentation depth measured by the indentation testing instrument includes a machine frame distortion amount (machine frame compliance) due to a distortion of a machine frame of the testing instrument itself caused by the load applied to the specimen by the indentation testing instrument, it is established to perform a correction for removing the machine frame compliance, for example, by a standard such as ISO14577.
However, for example, since a method introduced in ISO14577 is a correction method based on a principle that a compliance which is an inverse of an initial unloading slope and an inverse of a square root of a contact area calculated from a curve are expressed as a linear expression passing through zero and which method presumes the machine frame compliance based on a specimen stiffness obtained from a test result, there is a problem that a correction value sometimes includes an error due to the presuming method.
Moreover, since the indentation testing instrument of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publications No. 2004-12178 measures the machine frame distortion by a first displacement gauge and measures the indenter indentation depth by a second displacement gauge, a plurality of displacement gauges are needed.

Indentation testing instrument and indentation testing method


A gamma ray detector uses a scintillation detector having a response that matches a response characteristic of a photodiode. The detector may be used to measure natural gamma rays and/or gamma rays produced by interaction of neutrons from a neutron source with the earth formation.

This disclosure relates generally to oil and gas well logging tools. More particularly, this disclosure relates tools for measuring rock formation properties such as density and porosity. This disclosure relates to an improved density tool using radiation detectors with improved operating characteristics at high temperatures that may be used in cased holes as well as open holes.
In petroleum and hydrocarbon production, it is desirable to know the porosity and density of the subterranean formation which contains the hydrocarbon reserves. Knowledge of porosity is essential in calculating the oil saturation and thus the volume of oil in-place within the reservoir. Knowledge of porosity is particularly useful in older oil wells where porosity information is either insufficient or nonexistent to determine the remaining in-place oil and to determine whether sufficient oil exists to justify applying enhanced recovery methods. Porosity information is also helpful in identifying up-hole gas zones and differentiating between low porosity liquid and gas.
If the density of the formation is known, then porosity can be determined using known equations. A variety of tools exist which allow the density of the reservoir to be determined. Most of these tools are effective in determining the density (and hence porosity) of the reservoir when the wellbore in which the tool is run is an uncased reservoir and the tool is able to contact the subterranean medium itself. However, once a well has been cased, there exists a layer of steel and concrete between the interior of the wellbore where the tool is located and the formation itself. The well casing makes it difficult for signals to pass between the tool and the reservoir and vice-versa.
Many of the commonly used porosity and density measuring tools rely on the detection of gamma rays or neutrons resulting from activation of either a neutron source downhole or a gamma ray source. Fundamental to the detection of radiation is the use of scintillation counters for radiation detection. Scintillation is produced by ionizing radiation. The light flashes are typically converted into electric pulses by a photoelectric alloy of cesium and antimony, amplified about a million times by a photomultiplier tube, and finally counted. Scintillation counters permit high-speed counting of particles and measurement of the energy of incident radiation.
The use of photomultiplier tubes has several disadvantages. Firstly, photomultiplier tubes require high voltages. The high voltage means that bulky insulation has to be provided. Photomultiplier tubes are inherently bulky, a disadvantage for downhole applications where space is at a premium. Their output can become noisy at the elevated temperatures encountered in boreholes. In order to reduce the effects of elevated temperatures, Dewar flasks may be used to keep the temperature down—another operational disadvantage. The noise becomes worse as the photomultiplier tube ages and has been exposed to long periods of vibration. Photomultiplier tubes can be damaged by vibration and the harsh conditions encountered downhole.
It would be desirable to have downhole radiation detectors that do not suffer from the drawbacks associated with photomultiplier tubes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/503,688 of Estes et al discloses the use of wide bandgap photodiodes instead of photomultiplier tubes. The present disclosure provides a further improvement to the teachings of Estes et al.

Wide band gap semiconductor photodetector based gamma ray detectors for well logging applications


A photoresponsive polyurethane including a hard segment, a soft segment, and a photoresponsive group that is selected from a coumarin group or a coumarin derivative and an alkoxyphencyl group or an alkoxyphencyl.

Coatings and adhesives are commonly associated in polyurethane (PU) technology due to the commonality of how systems are manufactured and many of the technology trends. In both cases, a film must be applied to a surface, wet the surface, form an integral film, and adhere to the surface. In terms of raw material, applications and markets, they are as different as people commonly understand their separate uses. More so than any other PU-based technology, coatings and adhesives are formulated systems of which the PU may represent a significant volume, but is often serving as a binder for all the other components put into the system. These additional components are often things such as solvents, solid fillers, pigments and dyes, antioxidants, tougheners, surfactants, coupling agents, coalescing agents, catalysts, defoamers, moisture scavengers, water, plasticizers, and numerous hybridizing polymers. The technologies for producing both adhesives and coatings can be simplified into variations of reactive and unreactive systems.
Materials designed to be responsive to light have several advantages as it involves spatiotemporal control of the polymer in precise and robust manner. Of late, polymers which exhibit both photo-properties have become increasingly desirable. Polymers with such properties could be activated by the photochemical input and at a later stage to modulate the properties to provide a more varied end use.
Coumarin groups have previously been used in synthetic organic chemistry as a tool for orthogonal deprotection. Other uses for coumarin groups include uncaging molecules such as neurotransmitters, as labile groups in solid phase peptide synthesis, for formation of functionalized channels in agarose hydrogels, and in photodegradable scaffolds for tissue engineering.
Alkoxyphenacyl and similar groups have found uses for their photocleaveage properties. Phenacyl groups have previously been used as a phototriggers for the release of phosphates, amino acids, peptides, and carboxylic acids. A similar molecule, acetophenone, and its derivatives have been used as radical photoinitiators


The instant invention provides novel molecules derived from the components of proinsulin using recombinant DNA technology. The invention provides molecules of the formula A--C--B wherein A is the A-chain of an insulin species, B is the B-chain of an insulin species and C is a connecting peptide. These molecules possess insulin-like activity and are useful for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, particularly non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. These molecules are also useful for the production of insulin and constitute a novel pathway for the recombinant production of insulin species. The invention provides a method of making insulin proceeding through the compounds of the invention as intermediates. The instant invention further provides recombinant DNA compounds which encode the compounds of the invention.

The extensive study of diabetes has resulted in insulin being arguably the best understood of all protein molecules. Consequently, insulin has become the preferred substrate to probe the effects of alterations in primary structure on higher orders of protein structure and function. Recombinant DNA technology facilitates the generation of novel insulin analogs for SAR and therapeutic applications. The catalogued effects of these alterations hopefully will unlock the rules governing the relationship between primary and higher orders of protein conformation. However, such modifications in primary structure have been relatively minor in relation to the native sequence. However, such limited diversions from the native sequence provide little insight as to what lies along more divergent pathways.
The pursuit of biochemistry is to design artificial molecules to perform designated functions rather than to rely on the chance discovery of a naturally occurring compound possessing the desired properties. Notwithstanding significant advances, the art is essentially barren of examples of synthetic analogs which differ markedly in primary structure from their naturally occurring counterparts. The instant invention uses the well characterized insulin molecule to embark on the development of a synthetic analog of proinsulin which is markedly different in structure and physical properties from the naturally occurring proinsulin molecule and known proinsulin analogs.
Insulin is a protein consisting of two subunit polypeptides commonly referred to as the A-chain and the B-chain covalently cross linked via disulfide bonds. Human insulin, one representative example of the insulin structure, may be diagrammed as shown in FIG. 29A. The biochemical pathway for the production of insulin is well known in the art and may be found in general references on the subject. (See e.g., Stryer, L., Biochemistry, 2nd. Ed., 1981, W. H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco, pp. 847-848). The naturally occurring in vivo biochemical route to insulin leads through the preproinsulin and proinsulin intermediates.
Insulin is recombinantly produced via the expression of proinsulin followed by enzymatic processing. Proinsulin, the immediate precursor of insulin, is a single chain protein. The two chain insulin molecule is produced by the excision of an internal region, commonly referred to as the C-region or C-peptide, of proinsulin. Subsequent to the formation of the intrachain and inter-chain disulfide cross-linkages, the internal polypeptide sequence (C-peptide) is deleted by the action of the trypsin and carboxypeptidase B enzymes resulting in the functional insulin molecule.
The proinsulin gene is translated in the order corresponding to the B-chain/C-peptide/A-chain amino acid sequence. Since recombinant insulin production begins with proinsulin rather than the preproinsulin molecule, the recombinant proinsulin molecule characteristically possesses a methionine residue at its amino-terminus. Consequently, this met derived from the N-terminus of proinsulin is carried through and remains at the amino terminus of the insulin B-chain. This methionine residue is not intrinsically removed by the bacterial host cell. It is therefore necessary to chemically or enzymatically remove this N-terminal methionine in vitro to achieve the native proinsulin or insulin molecule.
The action of methionyl amino peptidase (MAP), a protein indigenous to E. coli, will remove an N-terminal deformylated methionine provided the second residue is not arginine, aspartate, glutamine, glutamate, isoleucine, leucine, lysine or methionine. Examination of the primary structure of the insulin molecule, human insulin being a representative example shown in FIG. 29, demonstrates that the-N-terminal residue of the B-chain, corresponding to the N-terminal residue of natural proinsulin, is phenyalanine. This transcriptional and translational order prevents the removal of the N-terminal methionine of the recombinantly E. coli produced proinsulin molecule by MAP. However, the N-terminal amino acid of the A-chain is glycine whose presence does not inhibit the action of MAP. Thus, if one could reverse the sequence of translation from B-chain/C-peptide/A-chain to A-chain/C-peptide/B-chain, the intrinsic action of MAP would eliminate the N-terminal methionine. This would consequently obviate the need for post-translational removal of the N-terminal Met thereby incurring a substantial commercial and technical advantage.

A-C-B proinsulin, method of manufacturing and using same, and intermediates in insulin production