A composite metal oxide charge enhancing additive composition comprised of a first metal oxide forming a core particle, and a second metal oxide forming an outer layer on the first metal oxide core particle of the formula [(M.sup.1 O.sub.n)x]-[(M.sup.2 O.sub.n).sub.y ] wherein M.sup.1 represents the first metal oxide metal, M.sup.2 represents the second metal oxide metal, n is an integer representing the number of oxygen atoms and is determined by the valence of the metal M to which the oxygen atoms are bonded, x and y represent the relative molar ratios of the first and second metal oxides, and wherein M.sup.1 is different from M.sup.2.. Another embodiment is a composite metal oxide toner charge enhancing additive composition comprising an organosilane outer layer or coating covalently bonded on the outer surface of the second metal oxide layer of the formula {(M.sup.1 O.sub.n).sub.x }-{M.sup.2 O.sub.n).sub.y }-{Si R.sub.4-n).sub.z } wherein (Si R.sub.4-n).sub.z represents the covalently bonded organosilane outer layer surface coating where Si is the silicon atom of the organosilane linking or coupling agent; R is a member of the group of alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, alkaryl, aralkyl having between 1 to 25 carbon atoms or halogenated and oxygenated derivatives thereof; m is an integer with a value of at least one; n of the organosilane is an integer having a value of 1 to 3 and z is determined from the molar ratio of the silane component relative to the first and second metal oxides.

This invention is generally directed to toner and developer compositions, and more specifically, the present invention relates to negatively charged toners containing composite metal oxides. In process embodiments, the composite metal oxides selected are prepared by treating submicron metal oxide powders, like tin oxide, with a metal halide or a reactive main group element containing reagent, with water vapor, and then optionally with a coupling component, like a fluorinated silane. More specifically composite metal oxides that assist in enabling a negatively charged toner can be prepared by treating, for example, tin oxide particles with silicon tetrachloride, followed by contacting the resulting product with water vapor, and thereafter reacting the product obtained with a fluorinated silane coupling agent. Normally, metal oxides, such as many of the prior art tin oxides when incorporated into toners, provide or assist in providing a positive or weakly negative charge to the toner. In contrast, the composite metal oxides prepared by processes of the present invention when selected for toners provide or assist in providing a pronounced negative charge to the toner of, for example, -10 microcoloumbs per gram to -40 microcoloumbs per gram. Also, toners with the composite metal oxides prepared in accordance with the processes of the present invention possess rapid admix characteristics, such as from between about 15 seconds to about 3 minutes.
The composite metal oxide particles and toner compositions in embodiments of this invention may generally be prepared as described herein, and such processes comprise further aspects of the present invention. In an embodiment of the present invention, the toner compositions are comprised of resin particles, pigment particles, and as a charge and performance enhancing additive composite metal oxide or oxides obtained with the processes of the present invention. One embodiment of the present invention relates to toner compositions comprised of a polymer resin or polyblend mixture, reference U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,624, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, of a first crosslinked polymer, a second polymer, pigment such as carbon black, a wax component, and a metal oxide, such as tin oxide charge enhancing additive obtained with the processes of the present invention, and optional surface additives such as silicas, metal salts, metal salts of fatty acids, or mixtures thereof. The developer compositions of the present invention are comprised of the toners illustrated herein and carrier particles. The carrier particles in embodiments of the present invention are comprised of a core free of a coating or with a polymeric coating, including, for example, a coating thereover generated from a mixture of polymers that are not in close proximity thereto in the triboelectric series, reference U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,935,326 and 4,937,166, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference. Developer compositions comprised of the aforementioned toner and carrier particles are useful in electrostatographic or electrophotographic imaging and printing systems, especially xerographic imaging processes, including high speed processes, that is those generating from about 75 to about 125 copies per minute. Additionally, in embodiments, developer compositions comprised of the toners of the present invention and carrier particles of the aforementioned issued U.S. Patent are useful in imaging methods wherein relatively constant conductivity parameters are desired. Furthermore, in the aforementioned imaging processes the triboelectric charge on the carrier particles can be preselected depending, for example, on the polymer composition applied to the carrier core.
Advantages associated with the toners and developers of the present invention in embodiments thereof include desirable toner triboelectric charging characteristics, excellent toner flow properties, excellent toner admix characteristics, excellent color developer formulations for process color and transparency applications, stable performance for extended time periods exceeding, for example, 500,000 imaging test cycles in a xerographic imaging test fixture including those as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,394,429 and 4,368,970, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, the capability to vary the triboelectric charge on the carrier independent of the conductivity thereof; varying the conductivity on the carrier independent of the triboelectric charge thereof; use of the developer in imaging processes wherein a release fluid such as silicone oil is present; use of the developer in imaging processes wherein a minimum amount, or no release fluid, such as silicone oil is present; selection of the developer for electrophotographic, especially xerographic, heated fuser and pressure systems wherein the fuser roll coating is a silicone, reference for example the commercially available Xerox Corporation 1075.RTM. and 1090.RTM. imaging apparatuses; and the like.
Other advantages include providing a convenient and economic process for making composite metal oxide particles; toners and developers thereof; enhanced toner flow; enhanced toner transfer efficiency; and colorless particles for use in multicolor xerography.
Toners with charge additives, including those that impart a positive charge, or negative charge to the toner are known generally. Toner compositions with crosslinked resins and second resins, together with waxes and charge enhancing additives are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,624, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, and some of the prior art references mentioned thereon, and cited against this patent. More specifically for enhancing the positive charging characteristics of toner compositions there can be incorporated in the toner charge enhancing additives, inclusive of alkyl pyridinium halides, reference U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,672, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, organic sulfate or sulfonate compositions, reference U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,390, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference; distearyl dimethyl ammonium sulfate, reference U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,560,635 and 4,937,157, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference; and other similar known charge enhancing additives including other quaternary ammonium salts. These additives are usually incorporated into the toner in an amount of from about 0.1 percent by weight to about 10, and preferably in an amount of from about 0.1 to about 5, and more preferably from about 0.3 to about 1.0 percent by weight. The triboelectric charge of the toner as determined, for example, by the known Faraday Cage process, or a charge spectrograph is from about 10 to about 40, and preferably from about 15 to about 25 microcoulombs per gram. Toners with negative charge additives, such as aluminum complexes, reference U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,003 are also known. Moreover, other toner formulations containing metal oxides, such as tin oxides generally function as a positive charge additive as is demonstrated in a comparative example.
In a patentability search there were noted the following patents, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety:
Mikami, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,754 issued Apr. 25, 1989, discloses a toner particle composition having an inorganic material in or on the toner particle surface. The inorganic material is in the form of particles that have been treated with a titanate coupling agent on the inorganic material surface. The inorganic material is for example a metallic oxide, a carbonate or a silicate.
Kubo et al., in Japanese publication Kokai No.:60[1985]-93,455, published May 25, 1985, disclose developers for electrophotography containing minute particles, for example, colloidal silicon dioxide, treated with a fluorine-substituted silane coupling agent. The toner compositions containing the treated particles afford the following advantages: no fogging of images, extended service life, less dependence on environmental conditions, and excellent fluidity. The treated particles are obtained by spray drying a solution of a silane coupling onto the surface of the metal oxide particles and thereafter the treated particles are admixed with a toner particle composition.
Chatterji et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,617, issued Mar. 13, 1973, disclose a developer material comprised of colored toner particles having a minor portion of submicroscopic silicon dioxide surface additive particles wherein at least a portion of the silicon atoms on the outside surface of the silicon dioxide particles are attached through an oxygen atom to another silicon atom bearing between one to three carbon atoms.
Geus in U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,658 issued Sep. 12, 1978, discloses a process for depositing by precipitation from aqueous solution a metal or metal compound on the surfaces of support particles resulting in catalytic and magnetic materials, for example, iron oxide dispersed on silica or a mixed cobalt-nickel alloy on silica. The deposited metal or metal compound is obtained in the form of a thin layer or in the form of discrete particles, and, in either form is substantially homogenously distributed over the surface, and is further either crystallographically or electrostatically adhered to the support.
A disadvantage in many prior art methods for preparing metal oxide particulate charge and flow additives is that they do not permit separate adjustment of particle bulk conductivity and particle surface composition. For example, for rapid admix properties high bulk conductivity is preferred, as, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,436 and for adjusting triboelectric properties, surface modification is usual. Further, prior art methods using solution coating methods using solvents often cause irreversible agglomeration of submicron oxide particles thereby destroying the submicron particle dispersibility and flow-improving capacity on toner surfaces. For example, water slurrys of tin oxide powders dry to permanently or non-friable caked solids.
Thus, there remains a need for black or colored toners wherein toner flow and negative charging properties may be readily attained by the addition of metal oxide composite particles and surface treated metal oxide particles of the insetant invention. Furthermore, there is a need for a composite particle formation process wherein the synthetic yields are high, such as from about 70 percent to nearly quantitative and without resorting to excessive isolation and purification procedures. In addition to the above, there is also a need for black and colored toners that are of excellent image resolution, non-smearing and of excellent triboelectric charging characteristics. In addition, there is a need for black or colored toners with low fusing temperatures, of from about 110 degrees centigrade to about 150 degrees centigrade as determined by known minimum fix temperature techniques and glass transition temperature measurements, of high gloss properties such as from about 50 gloss units to about 85 gloss units as measured by a VWR 75.degree. gloss meter, of high projection efficiency, such as from about 75 percent efficiency to about 95 percent efficiency or more, and, in addition, result in minimal or no paper curl.

Composite metal oxide particle processes and toners thereof


The reaction product of an alkylenediamine, each amino group thereof being a primary or secondary amino group; with at least two equivalents of an acrylamidoalkanesulfonic acid or a salt thereof, wherein each amine nitrogen atom of said alkylenediamine is reacted with a single molecule of the acrylamidoalkane sulfonic acid or salt thereof provides a useful surfactant or hydrotrope.

The present invention relates to compositions based on the reaction product of an alkylenediamine with at least two equivalents of an acrylamidoalkanesulfonic acid or a salt thereof, and formulations containing such material. Such aqueous solutions or dispersions are useful for cleaning soiled articles or surfaces, e.g., for degreasing.
A variety of reaction products of acrylamidoalkanesulfonic acids are known for various uses. British Patent 1,550,420, Aug. 15, 1979, discloses aminodi- and aminopolyalkylamidoalkane sulfonic acids and salts of the formula ##STR1##
R.sub.6 can be a group derived from a polyvalent amine, such as ##STR2##
where Q' is -[-CH.sub.2 CHR.sub.1 -C(.dbd.O)-NH--CR.sub.2 R.sub.3 CR.sub.4 R.sub.5 -SO.sub.3 ].sub.n M
U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,083, Piedrahita et al., May 19, 1992, discloses catalysts for curing aminoplast compositions. One such catalyst is an acid, or an ammonium or metal salt of a reaction product of at least one amine and a sulfo compound. Sulfo compounds include 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid. The amines can be primary or secondary amines, and react by the Michael addition. Exemplified amines are 2-amino-2-methylpropanol and triethyl amine. Other amines include alkylene polyamine represented by the formula ##STR3##
R.sub.6 is independently preferably hydrogen; or an aliphatic or hydroxy-substituted aliphatic group of up to about 30 carbon atoms.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,081, Lal, Jan. 7, 1992, and related U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,012, Mar. 31, 1992, disclose compositions and polymer fabrics treated therewith. The composition is prepared by reacting (a) the reaction product of a hydrocarbyl substituted carboxylic acid or anhydride and a polyamine, wherein the reaction product has at least one NH group capable of addition to a double bond, with (b) a sulfo compound such as 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid. The sulfo compound is reacted with the amine-containing compound at an equivalent ratio of about (1:1-10), preferably about (1:1-1.1).

Disulfonated alkylamines as degreasers and hydrotropes


Correction of a program which resides on a main storage and which is simultaneously callable by a plurality of command processors is performed by minimizing the stop time of a computer system without reloading a program. A particular command processor calls a correction execution program which corrects a program in accordance with a program correction command. The correction execution program reads program correction information, sets correction execution declaration information in all entries of other command processor in the correction execution declaration area of the main storage and after clearing all entries, the correction execution program corrects the program in accordance with the program correction information. The correction execution program sets correction completion reporting information in all entries for all of the other command processors in the correction completion reporting area of the main storage. The correction execution program waits for the correction completion reporting area to be cleared, at which time it sends the corrected program to the external storage. The program to be corrected calls a correction wait program, which recognizes the command processor which has called the correction wait program itself, checks an entry of the appropriate command processor in the correction execution declaration area.

The present invention relates to methods of correcting a program in a computer system, and more particularly to a method of correcting a program which resides in the main storage of a computer system and which is difficult to stop.
As a method of correcting a program in a computer system, there is a method of rewriting a program in its entirety in the computer system by reloading a corrected program. A method of correcting a program in a computer system without reloading such a program is disclosed in JP-A-3-97030 entitled "PROGRAM CORRECTING SYSTEM" in which a correcting program provided beforehand in the computer system is replaced with a program to be corrected.
Correction to a program having a reentrant structure constructed such that two or more tasks can be performed simultaneously, which is an object of the present invention, by reloading a corrected program, has been found impractical because it requires much labor for initialization in the reloading of the corrected program. The method of correcting a program by replacing a correcting program provided beforehand in the computer system with a program to be corrected has the following problems. For a program having a reentrant structure such as that of the present invention, it has been found that there is a danger that a program may be run by another command processor in the course of its correction, which should be avoided. It has also been found desirable even in such a case, to minimize the time in which the running of the program has been avoided to thereby minimize the influence on the availability factor of the system.


Digital-to-analog converter circuits can include independently sized first and second current source transistors coupled to respective pluralities of first and second current provider transistors in current mirror configurations. The first and second current provider transistors can be sized proportionally to the first and second current source transistors respectively.

In a current addition type digital-to-analog converter (DAC), each of the bits in a digital signal is provided to a switch that controls current flow in a separate branch of the DAC. When a bit provided to one of the switches is "on", the switch is closed, thereby enabling current to flow in the respective branch. The DAC can operate (to provide an analog output signal) by adding all of the currents flowing in each of the braches in response to all of the bits in the digital signal being provided to the DAC. A 10-bit current addition type DAC is discussed, for example, in Korean Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2000-0072961.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional 10-bit current addition type DAC having a current compensation circuit. Referring to FIG. 1, the 10-bit current addition type DAC includes a plurality of PMOS transistors MP1, MP2, . . . , MP36. The PMOS transistors MP1, MP2, . . . , MP36, are coupled to a current source PMOS transistor MPREF in a current-mirror configuration to provide respective outputs currents I, 2I, . . . , 32I, where 2I is twice the current I and 32I is 32 times the current I etc. A plurality of switches SW1, SW2, . . . , SW36 are connected between drain electrodes of the PMOS transistors MP1, MP2, . . . , MP36 and an output terminal OUT. The switches operate in response to the digital input signals D1, D2, . . . , D36. The lower 5 bits of the 10 bit input signal are applied to the switches SW1, SW2, . . . , SW5, whereas the upper 5 bits of the 10 bit input signal are decoded to provide 31 separate signals. The 31 separate signals are applied to the switches SW6, SW7, . . . , SW36 respectively.
The current addition type DAC further includes a current compensation circuit 10. The current compensation circuit 10 can regulate the currents flowing through the PMOS transistors MP1, MP2, . . . , and MP36 when the currents flowing through the PMOS transistors MP1, MP2, . . . , MP36 have abnormal amplitudes. The currents output by the PMOS transistors MP1, MP2, . . . , MP36 are coupled to turned-on switches and are added altogether and applied to an output resistance RO to develop a voltage across the output resistor RO. In particular, the voltage at the output terminal OUT is equal to the sum of a reference voltage VREF coupled to one terminal of the output resistor RO and the voltage at the output resistor RO. The DAC outputs an analog signal at the output terminal OUT corresponding to the digital input signals D1, D2, . . . , D36.
The ratios of the currents (i.e., I, 2I, . . . 32I) flowing through the PMOS transistors MP1, MP2, . . . , MP36 are determined by the respective sizes of the PMOS transistors MP1, MP2, . . . , MP36 so that the larger the transistor size, the larger the current that may flow when the transistor is turned on. For example, transistor MP36 may be 32 times larger than MP1 so that the current (32I) generated by MP36 is 32 times greater than the current generated by MP1. Thus, the chip size may increase when the current addition type digital-to-analog converter is implemented in an integrated circuit.
Referring again to FIG. 1, when the transistor size of the PMOS transistor MP1 coupled to the lowest bit D1 is assumed as 1, the transistor sizes of the PMOS transistors MP2, MP3, MP4 and MP5 are 2, 4, 8, 16, respectively, and the transistor sizes of the PMOS transistors MP6, . . . , and MP36 are 32. The size of each of the PMOS transistors MP1, MP2, MP3, MP4 and MP5 (corresponding to lower 5 bits of the digital signal) increases according to the expression 2k relative to the immediate lower order transistor. In particular, MP2 is twice as large as MP1, MP3 is twice as large as MP2, MP4 is twice as large as MP3, and MP5 is twice as large as MP4 so that the MP5 is 16 times are large as MP1. Further, the PMOS transistors MP6, MP7, . . . , and MP36 are each twice as large as MP5 (and 32 times larger than MP1).
In addition, it may be difficult to increase the precision (or accuracy) of the conventional DAC of FIG. 1, as the size of the DAC may increase significantly as the number of bits in the digital input increases. The total area needed for an N bit DAC can be expressed as the total number transistors needed for the DAC, where each of the transistors occupies a unit area (i.e., 1 unit area). For example, the area needed for a 10 bit DAC can be expressed as: (1+2+4+8+16)+(32×31)=1023 unit areas, where each of the areas represents the size occupied by the PMOS transistors MP1, MP2, . . . , MP36 respectively. Extending this expression to a higher resolution 12 bit DAC, the total area occupied by PMOS transistors can be expressed as: (1+2+4+8+16+32)+(64×63), or 4095 unit areas. Accordingly, when the structure shown in FIG. 1 is increased to provide a 12 bit DAC, the chip size of the DAC may increase by 4 times.
In the conventional DAC of FIG. 1, the transistors MP1, MP2, . . . , MP36 are connected to the reference transistor MPREF in a current mirror configuration. Thus, the transistor sizes of the PMOS transistors MP6, . . . , MP36 corresponding to upper bits of the digital input signal should be designed to have two times larger than the transistor size of the PMOS transistor MP5 corresponding to the upper most bit D5. The number of the PMOS transistors MP6, . . . , MP36 corresponding to upper bits of the digital input signal is 31, which causes an increase in the total chip size of the digital-to-analog converter when the transistor sizes of the PMOS transistors MP6, . . . , MP36 are designed to be 32 times larger than the transistor size of the PMOS transistor MP1 corresponding to the lower most bit D1.
Another current addition type DAC is discussed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 1997-191252. The current addition type DAC of the above Japanese Patent Publication includes two current providers, and a transistor having a size, which acts as a current source, connected to a first current provider that is different from a transistor size of a transistor, which acts as a current source, connected to a second current provider. Thus, the chip size of the digital-to-analog converter may be reduced. Particularly, in the current addition type digital-to-analog converter of the above Japanese Patent Publication, the current provider includes a MOS transistor and a resistor connected to a source electrode thereof, and the switch to which an digital input signal is inputted is connected to a gate electrode of the MOS transistor. In addition, the ratio of the currents provided from the current provider is determined by the ratio of the resistances of the resistors connected to the MOS transistors of the current provider.

Digital-to-analog converter circuits including independently sized reference current source transistors and methods of operating same


The present invention provides an outboard test facility that is operable for testing a ship""s direction finding antenna system in all directions as the ship circles while receiving test signals from the outboard test facility. The test facility provides a computer control operable for monitoring and storing signal power produced by any selected patch interconnections between a plurality of antennas, a plurality of radio frequency amplifiers and a plurality of signal generators at the outboard test facility. The computer control permits a single operator to monitor a signal analyzer to determine the optimum signal power for each of a list of signal frequencies to be broadcast to the ship based on the selected patch interconnection.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for Governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefore.
Not applicable.
(1). Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for calibrating shipboard radio equipment and, more particularly, to a computerized outboard test facility to automate ship radio system test planning and operation.
(2). Description of the Prior Art
In order to test and calibrate a ship""s radio direction finding antennas and/or other testing, an outboard test facility is maintained having a plurality of antennas to generate, in most cases, a large number of different frequencies required by the ship. The tests are quite time consuming and may require up to two days of testing while the ship circles. It would be desirable to make the testing as efficient as possible because the ship normally has numerous duties and time is critical. The outboard test facility has to coordinate the testing schedules of numerous ships, the agents such as in-service engineering agents who monitor accurate completion of tests, and the facility""s own testing schedule. Extensive system checks and grooms are typically required. Pre-test briefings are required to set up all the testing requirements. Thus, it is highly desirable that testing proceeds as quickly as possible and without equipment failure.
The ship is required to perform a circular maneuver around a buoy or geodetic point of reference. The maneuver is required to be as circular as possible with the same angular velocity (constant turn rate). The number of measurements per quadrant, number of frequencies, and other factors will determine rudder angle and turning speed.
In the past, for each frequency, a test facility operator would need to set the bandwidth of the antennas to be used, make the physical connections between the signal source, amplifier and antennas and gradually increase the amplifier gain until the signal power output is maximized. At least two facility operators were required, one to control the signal generator/amplifier and one to read the spectrum analyzer to determine the optimum setting. Once set, the ship would verify it was receiving the signal and would commence its calibration for that frequency. Once calibrated, the process would be repeated for each frequency to be calibrated. The signal generator/amplifier settings for each frequency could be saved in hand written logs. However, due to the large number of frequency calibrations, which may typically be on the order of two hundred and fifty, the potential for log-in errors was high. Initial setting errors could lead to equipment failure if the system were brought on line at too high a power level. Therefore operators in the past have preferred to power up gradually, taking more time rather than relying on written logs, to avoid the risk of the possibility of equipment damage that would require the more extensive time for repairs and possibly create significant time requirement problems.
Various inventors have attempted to solve related problems as evidenced by the following patents, without providing the solutions taught hereinafter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,078 issued Nov. 28, 1989, to Fishkin et al, discloses an improved antenna test and measurement system including a transmit antenna; means for providing a test signal to said transmit antenna and initiating the transmission thereof; a receive antenna adapted to receive the test signal as transmitted by said transmit antenna; an amplitude detector for detecting the amplitude of the received test signal; and an open loop phase detector for measuring the phase of the received test signal relative to a reference signal
U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,508, issued Dec. 6, 1994, to Teich et al., discloses a portable antenna test apparatus to provide a test set positioned a determined distance from a number of antennas of an aircraft. A transmitting module of the test set contains low frequency, mid frequency, and high frequency antennas connected to a radio receiver and power amplifier in and of the test set for receiving control commands and for transmitting a number of simultaneous test signals to the number of antennas in the aircraft. A signal generator produces low frequency, mid frequency and high frequency signals. A hand-held computer is connected to a communications radio in and of the aircraft via a radio interface adapter of the hand-held computer and a control computer is connected to the signal generator. The hand-held computer transmits commands via the aircraft radio, which commands are received by the receiver in the transmitting module. This receiver conveys the commands to the control computer which then programs the signal generator. By this means, an operator in the aircraft cockpit remotely controls the signal generator.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,255, issued Mar. 7, 1995, to Durkota et al., discloses an antenna test and measurement system that performs measurements of the transmitted or received signal strength of a vehicle mounted transmit or receive antenna with respect to all aspects of the system with respect to the vehicle mounted antenna, and vehicle state parameters, i.e., position and attitude, are simultaneously recorded. The antenna measurements are correlated with the state parameter measurements such that variations in the measured signal strength caused by changes in vehicle state are apparent. A graphical display of antenna signal strength and vehicle state parameters are presented for the entire 360 degree azimuth of an antenna test so that variations in the signal strength caused by changes in vehicle state parameters may be identified. The graphical display of antenna signal strength may be modified based on variations in vehicle state parameters such that the graphical display indicates the antenna signal strength had the variations in vehicle state not occurred. Antenna signal strength data and vehicle state information is telemetered from the vehicle carrying the antenna to the antenna test and measurement system. A graphical display of antenna signal strength versus antenna altitude is provided for determining the optimum altitude for antenna pattern measurements, and calculation of antenna isotropic is provided for verification of antenna performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,313,799, issued Nov. 6, 2001, to Thimm et al., discloses a diagnostic device having a diversity processor for individually testing the electrical condition of the connections of individual antennas of a multi-antenna system in a motor vehicle. This device can be coupled to the interfaces of an antenna amplifier containing a diversity system, and such a test can be carried out without any intervention in the circuitry of the receiving installation. The diagnostic device contains a test unit and a control unit. The test unit is designed for generating a test signal that is received by an antenna of the multi-antenna system by a transmitting antenna. The diversity system is acted upon by a control unit having a control signal consisting of an IF-signal and a dc voltage signal. The control signal generated by the control unit by an interference simulator integrated in the control unit is disturbed only when the diversity system is prompted to switch to the next antenna. The received power measured by the test unit on the output of the antenna amplifier can be antenna-specifically detected, stored and evaluated.
The above patents do not disclose a system and method for operable for controlling a plurality of test antennas with respect to planning a test program, repeating power up routines, and associated data analysis.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an improved system and method for testing shipboard direction finding antenna systems.
Another objective is to provide a system and method as aforesaid which may be utilized to more efficiently control power settings of offboard antenna systems.
A further objective is to provide a system and method as aforesaid whereby computer controls may be utilized to safely power up a selectable associated patch interconnection of signal transmitting equipment and/or repeat power settings.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the drawings, the descriptions given herein, and the appended claims. However, it will be understood that the above listed objectives and advantages of the invention are intended only as an aid in understanding aspects of the invention, and are not intended to limit the invention in any way, and do not form a comprehensive list of objectives, features, and advantages.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for testing a ship direction finding antenna system for a client ship by utilizing an outboard facility while the client ship maneuvers around the circular course disposed in a predetermined position relative to the outboard facility. The method comprises one or more steps such as, for instance, entering into a memory of the outboard facility a list of radio frequency signals which the client ship desires in order for the client ship to test the ship direction finding antenna system and determining a test plan for transmitting a plurality of test signals comprising the list of radio frequency signals from the outboard facility with respect to the client ship and the circular course. Other steps may comprise making at least one patch interconnection between a selected of a plurality of signal generators of the outboard facility, a selected of a plurality of radio frequency amplifiers of the outboard facility, and a selected of the plurality of antennas at the outboard facility, wherein the at least one patch interconnection is operable for producing the list of radio frequency signals. Additional steps may comprise providing a computer screen with visual indicators to indicate a power setting for power control of the at least one patch interconnection, utilizing the visual indicators to increase a signal power produced by the at least one patch interconnection while monitoring a spectrum analyzer to produce an optimum signal power for each of the plurality of frequencies, and/or storing the optimum signal power for each of the plurality of frequencies with respect to the at least one patch interconnection. The method may further comprise contacting the client ship and broadcasting the list of frequencies utilizing the stored optimum power signals.
In a preferred embodiment, the computer screen displays details of the at least one patch interconnection and/or the computer screen displays a slide bar for indicating a level of the signal power.
The method may further comprise entering into the memory of the outboard facility a selected bandwidth for the list of radio frequencies and/or entering into the memory of the outboard facility a list of the plurality of antennas, the plurality of radio frequency amplifiers, and the plurality of signal generators. Preferably the invention further comprises providing that the test plan is optimized to reduce the amount of circling required by the client ship. In a presently preferred embodiment, the method comprises matching frequencies available from the plurality of signal generators to the list of frequencies and/or automatically generating the test plan. The method may further comprise selectively editing the automatically generated test plan.
Thus, the invention provides for an outboard facility for use with a client ship when calibrating a ship direction finding antenna system as the client ship maneuvers around a circular course. The outboard facility comprises a plurality of signal generators operable for producing generated signals at a plurality of frequencies and a plurality of radio frequency amplifiers with variable gains for amplifying the generated signals wherein the plurality of radio frequency amplifiers may be selectively interconnectable with each of the plurality of signal generators. Additional elements comprise a plurality of antennas wherein the plurality of antennas may be selectively interconnectable with each of the plurality of radio frequency amplifiers. A spectrum analyzer is operable for monitoring the plurality of antennas. A computer control is operable for storing the list of frequencies to be broadcast. The computer control may also be operable for storing a selected patch interconnection of one or more of the plurality of signal generators to one or more of plurality of radio frequency amplifiers and to one or more of the plurality of antennas. A computer screen is preferably provided with a visual indicator for a power level of the selected patch interconnection. The visual indicator may be selectively controllable by an operator for producing an optimum signal power as determined by the spectrum analyzer for the list of frequencies. The computer control is operable for storing the optimum signal power for the list of frequencies.
The computer control is operable for storing the test plan to broadcast the list of frequencies while the client ship maneuvers around a circular course. The computer control is preferably operable for storing data related to capabilities of the plurality of signal generators, the plurality of radio frequency amplifiers, and the plurality of antennas. In one embodiment, the computer control is operable for producing the test plan by matching the list of frequencies with the capabilities of the plurality of signal generators, the plurality of radio frequency amplifiers, and the plurality of antennas. The computer control is further operable for storing a test plan for one or more succeeding patch interconnections. Each succeeding patch interconnection is operable to broadcast at least one different frequency of the list of desired test frequencies. The computer control is preferably still further operable to automatically broadcast at least one frequency for each of a plurality of selected succeeding patch interconnections utilized during corresponding succeeding circular maneuvers of the client ship.

Outboard radio signal test system and method

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


Synthetic organic fibers containing finely divided, inorganic particles that have certain organic polymeric coatings have significantly less abrasiveness compared to identical fibers in which the particles have no such coatings.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to synthetic organic fibers that contain finely divided, abrasive, inorganic particles and a process for dispersing the particles in the fibers. More particularly, the invention concerns an improvement in such fibers, wherein the inorganic particles have a surface coating of an organic polymer, which is different from the polymer of the fibers. As a result of the improvement, abrasive wear of equipment used to handle the fibers is significantly decreased.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Synthetic organic fibers typically contain finely divided inorganic particles. The particles typically are intended to serve as delustrants, pigments, fillers, stabilizers, etc. The particles can be incorporated into the fibers alone or in combination with other materials and additives. For example, Anton et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,684, which concerns the production of stain-resistant nylon fibers, discloses the use of a multipolymer nylon resin, in combination with the inorganic particles and other additives, to form a "master-batch" for incorporation into a nylon polymer that is melt-spun into fiber. Perrot et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,535, which also concerns production of master batches for nylon fibers, discloses the combination of (a) 10-50 weight % of finely divided titanium dioxide particles coated with silica and alumina and treated with a polysiloxane oil, with (b) 50-90% of a nylon-6/66 copolyamide binder.
Fibers containing inorganic particles can be very abrasive and cause excessive wear in surfaces of equipment that come into contact with the fibers. The rubbing of moving fibers, filaments, threads and yarns which contain inorganic particles can severely abrade and score the surfaces of guides, rolls, winders, knitting needles and like equipment. To decrease such abrasive wear, various methods have been suggested. For example, lubricants have been dispersed into the body of the fibers or applied to the surface of the fibers to reduce fiber abrasiveness. However, further improvements are desired.
The present inventors in their attempts to decrease fiber abrasiveness found that unexpectedly large reductions in the abrasiveness of fibers can be obtained if the inorganic particles have a thin surface coating of an organic polymer when they are incorporated into the fiber.
Polymer-coated inorganic particles, per se, are known. For example, Published German Patent Application 4,317,019, discloses for use in paints, inks, plastics and cosmetic preparations, inorganic pigments which are coated with various organic polymers, such as melamine resins, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethanes, polyesters and others. Also, Ferrigno, U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,209, discloses the use of inorganic pigments coated with a polymeric film as fillers for extending flexible and semi-rigid open-celled polyurethane plastics. Neither of these references disclose the use of such coated particles in fibers.

Fibers containing polymer-coated inorganic particles


There is provided a process for the recovery of cyanuric chloride in solid or liquid form from the reaction mixture which results from the trimerization of cyanogen chloride wherein to recover the cyanuric chloride the gaseous reaction mixture is introduced into an apparatus combination consisting essentially of a stripping column and a condenser connected at the outlet side, preferably a head condenser, preferably above the stripping column, and in which the sump of the stripping column is held to the boiling temperature of the cyanuric chloride whereupon the cyanuric chloride contained in the gaseous reaction mixture at the outlet of the condenser is cooled in the range of 146.degree. to 190.degree. C. and to recover the liquid cyanuric chloride in liquid form it is removed as such at the lower end of the stripping column and is either directly or, in a given case, after an intermediate storage led to a spray tower and is sprayed whereupon the solid, fine-grained cyanuric chloride is withdrawn at the bottom of the spray.

Cyanuric chloride which is recovered by trimerization of cyanogen chloride with the help of catalyst, above all activated carbon, as is known is a very interesting intermediate product for various industrial sectors such as the production of dyestuffs and products for the textile industry, as well as for pharmaceuticals, products for agriculture as well as for the synthetic resin, rubber and explosives industries.
As is known after the trimerization cyanuric chloride is obtained in gaseous form together with unreacted cyanogen chloride and chlorine as well as byproducts.
For a long time, it was customary to convert this gaseous reaction mixture directly into solid cyanuric chloride, e.g., by conducting the gaseous mixture into a chamber cooled from the outside (see Ullmann, Enzyklopadie der technischen Chemie, 3rd Edition, 1954, Volume 5, pages 624-625 and 4th Edition, 1975, Volume 9, page 652).
It has also been passed into a ball mill cooled with water according to the process of Trickey U.S. Pat. No. 3,256,070.
Solid cyanuric chloride generally is obtained in powdery form and until now was predominantly further processed in this form.
A disadvantage of the solid cyanuric chloride, however, is that it is frequently not simple to handle.
In filling containers and storing as well as in further processing it precautions were necessary.
Besides there are certain industrial difficulties connected with the deposition in solid form since the cyanuric chloride deposits partially in the form of coarse crystals on the walls and installations in the deposition receiver and delivery aggregate.
These coarse crystals must be knocked off mechanically and then led to a clear impairment of the quality of the final product.
In order to avoid the deposition of coarse crystals inert cooling liquids have been sprayed via nozzles in the deposition of the solid cyanuric chloride, see German Pat. No. 1,266,308 and related Kosel U.S. Pat. No. 3,409,619.
However, in connection therewith there occurs encrustations on the nozzles and cloggings.
For reasons of work hygiene and environmental protection as well as with the coming into use of ever increasing automatic processes it was necessary to recover cyanuric chloride in a form better to handle and to process.
Cyanuric chloride in liquid or dissolved form offers a way of doing this. The presence of cyanuric chloride in dissolved form, however, requires a fairly large expense for the manufacture and recovery of the solvent.
Besides there occur waste gas problems which additionally complicate the process, see Evers U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,565.
The solvent used in each case also must be adjusted according to the later intended area of use and the solubility of cyanuric chloride in the individual solvents is quite varied.
Furthermore there are known processes in which gaseous cyanuric chloride is liquefied with the help of a liquid assistant. These liquid assistants, as e.g., phosphorus oxychloride should prevent the cyanuric chloride from passing out of the fractioning column.
However, the use of such a liquid assistant requires an expensive apparatus for working up and recycling the liquid assistant employed, as well as for purification of the waste gas.
Furthermore it has been shown that accidental break through of the liquid assistant into the liquid cyanuric chloride phase leads to considerable loss of quality.
Besides because of the increasing importance of the liquid cyanuric chloride and the high market share of powdery cyanuric chloride it would be desirable if a process existed according to which both phases could be recovered in the same apparatus and in a simple manner.
Thus the object of the invention is to develop a process for the production of cyanuric chloride in which the cyanuric chloride can be recovered substantially at will in liquid or solid form.

Process for the recovery of cyanuric chloride

Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Scheideanstalt vormals Roessler


A handheld ultrasound instrument is disclosed having enhanced diagnostic modes including pulse wave Doppler, time-motion analysis, and tissue harmonic imaging. An external electrocardiograph (ECG) recording unit is also disclosed. The ECG unit is adaptable to be used with the handheld ultrasound instrument to provide for ECG monitoring while performing an ultrasound scan in B-mode, Doppler, color Doppler, M-mode, and PW mode. The enhanced handheld ultrasound instrument further includes a security mechanism allowing any combination of the diagnostic modes to be enabled by the manufacturer, and later to enable or disable any one or group of the diagnostic modes. The invention also discloses a method for a manufacturer to maintain a database of handheld ultrasound instrument capabilities after the instruments enter the stream of commerce.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates primarily to a handheld ultrasound instrument having various diagnostic modes and detachable modules. Also included is a means for manufacturer to strictly control the operational capabilities of the handheld ultrasound instrument after the instrument has entered the stream of commerce.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known, modem ultrasound diagnostic systems are complex systems, many of which employ computer control circuits. The computer circuits, in turn are controlled by software and data, which is typically stored in some form of addressable memory associated with the instrument. This memory may be, for example, semiconductor memory or a rotating magnetic disk. As ultrasound systems have become more sophisticated, they have employed a greater quantity of software and data in the control of the instrument.
An advantage of extensive use of software programmable instruments that may rely on other stored data for operation is that new capabilities can be added or enabled by modifying this software or data. Also, design or implementation defects in software or data can be corrected by modifying the software or data. Modification of the software or data may be accomplished by introducing new software or data via a portable representation, such as a removable magnetic disk, optical memory, or semiconductor memory, or via an electronic communications network. The same mechanisms may be applied to alter existing software or data as opposed to introducing new software or data.
A significant limitation of current mechanisms for update or modification of data or software associated with diagnostic ultrasound systems is that of control of the update or modification process. Regulatory requirements typically stipulate that manufacturers must keep accurate records of any modification to diagnostic systems, including software or data updates. Thus the modification process must be restricted in some way so that appropriate data can be maintained. In addition it is desirable to limit access to certain functions of an instrument in order to provide lower cost, limited functionality systems that may later be upgraded with more extensive functionality. Typical mechanisms employed currently to implement such control over the modification process are either cumbersome or ineffective. Service personnel may be sent to a customer site to perform the process, or instruments may be returned to a central facility for update. Either mechanism incurs significant expense in both money and time. Other mechanisms may be employed to allow users of the instrument to perform the update process, but this limits the control that the manufacturer has over the process.
In accordance with the present invention, a handheld ultrasound instrument is provided having a group of diagnostic modes not previously available in portable devices due to restrictions on both weight, and signal processing capabilities in small circuit devices. ECG capacity is also described using a separate module to preserve weight in the handheld instrument, as well as a secure control means for the upgrade and control of the diagnostic capabilities of ultrasound instruments while providing a means to maintain a detailed user database are disclosed.
The first embodiment of the present invention is a handheld ultrasound device weighing less than fifteen pounds including a transducer, beamformer and image processor, a first digital signal processor (DSP), a second digital signal processor (DSP) block comprised of a DSP core and an external field programmable gate array (FPGA). The first DSP is capable of processing B mode and flow (2D Doppler) scans. The second DSP comprises a digital Doppler QBP filter for filtering PW Doppler signals and a PW Doppler signal processing circuit.
The ultrasound instrument may also have the capacity for time-motion display, frequently referred to as M mode. M mode signal processing occurs on the first digital signal processor using a micro-code block, and the interpolation of M-mode signal for video display is done on the second digital signal processor.
In an embodiment of an ECG module, ECG functionality is added to a handheld diagnostic ultrasound instrument without significantly increasing the weight or cost of the instrument. More particularly, an ECG module is provided with a cable system connector for connecting the module to the handheld ultrasound instrument. The module includes leads for interfacing with a patient and the basic electronics for ECG signal processing including amplification and filtering of signals for use by the handheld unit. In a first embodiment the module includes electrical ground isolation for isolating the patient leads from the system signals and ground. The module houses the ECG electronics with a first stage amplifier and filter provided in the isolated portion of the module and all other ECG electronics provided in the handheld ultrasound instrument of the module.
Alternatively the first and second stage amplifiers and filters are in the ECG module, as well as a display signal processor, for formatting the signal into a displayable format. The display signal is then exported to the display of the handheld ultrasound instrument. The display export may be in analog format, or through a analog to digital converter, and exported as a digital signal. Amplified and filtered signals from the patient leads are optically coupled from the lead portion to the system portion of the ECG module. Necessary power for the lead portion is generated using either capacitive or inductive type power converters from the system power supply to the isolated portion of the ECG module. Thus the patient is not ground connected directly to the system ground reference.
More particularly, the power supply circuit includes a serial inductor for receiving a DC voltage and a shunt capacitor and a shunt switch connecting the serial inductor to a power ground. A first coupling capacitor capacitively couples the serial inductor to an isolated first power processing circuit, and a second coupling capacitor couples the power ground to the first power processing circuit. A rectifying circuit in the first power processing circuit includes a forward polarity diode connecting the first coupling capacitor to a first terminal of a positive voltage capacitor, and a reverse polarity diode connecting the first coupling capacitor to the first terminal of a negative voltage capacitor. An isolated reference terminal is connected to the second coupling capacitor and to a second set of terminals of the positive voltage capacitor and the negative capacitor whereby electric power is coupled through the coupling capacitors at the frequency of the shunt switch to the isolated signal processing circuitry.
In accordance with the principles yet another embodiment of the present invention, a diagnostic ultrasound instrument is provided with a software security mechanism that effectively restricts modification or replacement of software or data associated with the instrument. Updates to software or data for a particular type of instrument can be developed and easily distributed, but control over the actual update or modification of any specific instrument is retained.
In one embodiment, a xe2x80x9ckeycodexe2x80x9d is generated via an algorithm that takes a unique system identifier and information regarding the modification or update to be performed as inputs. Software in the instrument to be updated prevents any update or modification of the instrument""s software or data unless the correct keycode is provided by the person or agency performing the upgrade process. Requiring the person or agency performing the update to obtain the keycode from one or more authorized agencies allows the manufacturer to control such upgrade process to satisfy both regulatory and feature-control requirements. This mechanism does not require service personnel to perform the update process, nor is any movement of the instrument to an update facility required. Update software, data, and keycodes may be provided via a variety of mechanisms including portable memories, communication networks, facsimile, or voice and manual input via the instrument""s user interface.
In a second embodiment, the ultrasound device has a software library located in a persistent memory. The software library is used for data and operational control. A security means is provided for enabling and disabling individual components of the software library.
In a third embodiment, a programmable ultrasound instrument is provided having a plurality of diagnostic modes. Access to the diagnostic modes is controlled through a gate flag registry. The gate flag registry can be modified through a verifying a keycode. The verification procedure utilizes a secure means for extracting hidden bits from the keycode. The keycode is based on one or more unique system identifiers.
The keycode is generated by a manufacturer or authorized agent utilizing a keycode generating program. The keycode encodes for the diagnostic modes to be enabled. Once the keycode is entered into the programmable diagnostic ultrasound instrument, the instrument executes the verification procedure on the keycode. The process allows the ultrasound instrument to decrypt the keycode and recover a large array of bits from the small keycode. These bits include the desired option bits (for enabling the desired diagnostic modes), error detection bits, and signature bits. The latter two used to verify the authenticity of the keycode.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a programmable diagnostic ultrasound instrument having stored software and data for operational control. Part of the stored software is a software security mechanism that restricts modification of the software or data utilizing a 64-bit mixing algorithm and a bit-wise signature generator. The mixing algorithm and the signature generator each produce a bit string that is processed through a reversible logic operation. The resulted bit string is used to code for an alphanumeric keycode. The keycode can be xe2x80x9cdecryptedxe2x80x9d by reducing the alphanumeric information into a bit string, then executing the reversible logic on the bit string to produce the two bit strings originally produced from the mixing algorithm and the signature generator. The two bit strings are verified against the originally produced bit strings via an encryption process inside the ultrasound instrument. If the bit strings are verified, then diagnostic modes are enabled (or disabled).
A system for tracking the diagnostic modes in programmable diagnostic ultrasound instruments is also disclosed. The system comprises a general purpose computer, ultrasound instruments and a data base. The computer has a program or logic board for generating a unique keycode for each programmable diagnostic ultrasound instrument. The keycode having encrypted error detection bits, signature bits and options bits for enabling diagnostic modes in a particular instrument. Each programmable diagnostic ultrasound instrument has a plurality of diagnostic modes that can be enabled or disabled upon successful verification of the keycode. The verification procedure utilizes a secure means for extracting hidden bits used to modify a gate flag registry from the keycode. Finally a data structure for centrally recording and tracking diagnostic modes of each diagnostic ultrasound instrument is used to keep track of every instrument, and their operational diagnostic modes. This system is useful in complying with government regulations covering medical devices, and ensuring a manufacture can maintain control over the operational features of the devices it makes or sells, as required by law.
In addition, a method of upgrading the functionality of a programmable ultrasound instrument is disclosed. The method comprises several steps. First entering instrument specific data and desired option data into a keycode generating algorithm. Second, generating a keycode using the keycode generation algorithm. Third, inputting the keycode obtained from the keycode generator into the programmable diagnostic ultrasound instrument, and fourth, verifying the keycode by running the keycode generation algorithm locally on the ultrasound instrument, but utilizing a xe2x80x9cdecryptionxe2x80x9d mode to compare and verify the signature bits, error detection bits and option bits.
These and other embodiment of the present invention will become readily apparent upon a detailed inspection of the detailed description of the invention, and a study of the appended claims.

Medical diagnostic ultrasound instrument with ECG module, authorization mechanism and methods of use


This invention relates to a method of determining, in a subject having active breast gross cystic disease, the risk of future breast cancer development. The level of glycoprotein GCDFP-15 in the plasma is measured at the time of cyst aspiration in order to provide an indication as to the likelihood of future breast cancer development.

Human breast gross cystic disease is a benign breast condition common in adult middle-aged women (Haagensen, Diseases of the Breast, 3rd ed., WB Saunders Publ., pp. 250-266 (1986)). Gross cysts evolve from microcystic apocrine metaplasia, which occurs in the terminal ductal lobular units of the breast (Wellings et al., Hum. Path., 18:381-386 (1987)). The cause of apocrine microcyst transformation into macrocysts is unknown. However, there is evidence that such transformation is a hormonally mediated event. Gross cystic disease first appears in women in their 20's and increases in frequency up to the 40-50 age range, and then essentially disappears as a disease process after menopause (Haagensen, 1986, supra).
Breast gross cystic disease is confirmed by aspiration of cyst fluid. It has been found that as a population, women who have gross cystic disease have an increased risk of developing breast carcinoma (see Jones et al., Brit. J. Surg., 67:669-671 (1980); Harrington et al., Breast, 7:13-17 (1980); Ciatto et al., Eur. J. Cancer, 26:555-557 (1990); Bundred et al., Brit. J. Cancer, 64:953-955 (1991); and Bodian et al., Cancer Det. Prev., 16:7-15 (1992)). The fluid contained within breast gross cysts has been analyzed for a number of components, and has been found to be a unique secretion. The major component proteins have been identified (Haagensen et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst., 62:239-247 (1979)). One of these component proteins, termed GCDFP-15 for a 15K dalton monomer sized glycoprotein, has been investigated as a marker protein with regard to its circulating blood levels in various clinical situations (see Haagensen et al., 1979, supra; Haagensen et al., 1986, supra, pp. 474-500; and Haagensen et al., Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 586:161-173 (1990)). GCDFP-15 blood levels in "normal"post-menopausal women averages 17 ng/ml.
GCDFP-15 protein has been well characterized with regard to its amino acid structure and the location of its gene on chromosome 7 (see Haagensen et al., 1986, supra; and Myal et al., Somatic and Mol. Genetics, 15:256-270 (1989)). GCDFP-15 is a normal constituent protein of all apocrine gland cells (normal and metaplastic), and of some exocrine glands with apocrine features (serous cells of mandibular salivary glands and the minor salivary glands in the major bronchi) (see Haagensen et al., 1986, supra; Mazoujian et al., Am. J. Pathol., 110:105-112 (1983)). The biological purpose of apocrine cells secreting GCDFP-15 remains obscure. Recent data has shown that breast cell lines exposed to GCDFP-15 in the culture medium results in an enhancement in their growth rate (Cassoni et al., Int. J. Cancer, 60:216-220 (1995)). The protein does have a binding affinity for fibrinogen and is transported in blood bound to fibrinogen (Haagensen et al., 1990, supra). However, no enzymatic effect of GCDFP-15 on fibrinogen has been determined, thus far, and its purpose of binding to fibrinogen has not been established.
The secretion of GCDFP-15 has been shown to be regulated by various hormones both in vivo and in vitro (see Chalbos et al., Cancer Res., 47:2787-2792 (1987); Simard et al., Mol. Endocrinology, 3:694-702 (1989); Dejardin et al., J. Mol. Endocrinology, 7:105-112 (1991); and Haagensen et al., Br. Cancer Res. Treat., 23:77-86 (1992)). Androgens markedly enhance the excretion of GCDFP-15 from both the T47D and ZR75 breast cancer cell lines. The secretory effects of androgens on GCDFP-15 have been shown to be due to increased mRNA synthesis as a primary mechanism (Simard et al., 1989, supra). Differences have been observed between the T47D cells and the ZR75 cells with regard to growth effects of various steroids compared to secretion effects on GCDFP-15. In the ZR75 cell line, a positive correlation has been demonstrated between increased GCDFP-15 secretion and decreased growth rates (Simard et al., 1989, supra). This has been shown in both directions, with androgens slowing growth while increasing GCDFP-15 secretion and estrogens enhancing growth while decreasing GCDFP-15 secretion.
In contrast, with the T47D cell line, androgens have been shown to enhance GCDFP-15 secretion while not appreciably effecting the growth rate (Haagensen et al., 1992, supra). Progestins slow T47D growth rate, while enhancing GCDFP-15 secretion. However, RU486, an antiprogestin, also slowed growth in the T47D cell line while markedly inhibiting GCDFP-15 secretion (Haagensen et al., 1992, supra). Thus, the interaction of various steroids on breast cancer cell lines with regard to GCDFP-15 secretion is complex, but does appear to have androgen-modulated enhancement as a central effect.

Method of determining the risk of breast cancer development


An exhaust tube includes one end portion and the other end portion and is connected at one end portion to a combustion apparatus, of which inside is defined as an exhaust passage for combustion gas. An exhaust pipe has an outer diameter greater than that of exhaust tube, into which a part of exhaust tube on a side of the other end portion is introduced. An exhaust adapter is attached between an outer circumferential surface of exhaust tube and an inner circumferential surface of exhaust pipe. On the side close to the other end portion in exhaust tube relative to exhaust adapter, an exhaust passage hole 1a is provided separately from an opening in the other end portion of exhaust tube. Exhaust passage hole has an opening area greater than a cross-sectional area of the exhaust passage and is in communication with the exhaust passage.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exhaust structure for combustion apparatus and a construction method thereof.
Description of the Background Art
In markets, there are locations where an exhaust pipe (a B vent) already placed in a building cannot be removed from a point of view of maintaining appearance of buildings. At such a location, a combustion apparatus can be replaced by introducing a new exhaust tube (a flexible exhaust tube) into the exhaust pipe and an exhaust terminal (a rain cap) which have already been placed.
The technique related to an exhaust pipe of the combustion apparatus is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2000-18566, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2008-82613, and the like. Also, a method for inserting an exhaust tube into an already-placed exhaust pipe is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 02-47343, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-343790 and the like.
When a new exhaust tube is inserted into the already-placed exhaust pipe and exhaust terminal from inside the building, the end of the exhaust tube may come into contact with a ceiling wall of the already-placed exhaust terminal. In this case, the exhaust port of combustion gas in the exhaust tube is blocked by the ceiling wall of the exhaust terminal, which leads to a problem that combustion gas cannot be sufficiently emitted from the exhaust tube.

Exhaust structure for combustion apparatus and construction method thereof


A right circular cylindrical body of an isotropic dielectric such as a cross-linked styrene copolymer, has respective pluralities of mutually parallel grooves formed in its axial end faces, spaced apart by an intermediate portion whose dimension c is a half wavelength. The axial lengths a, b of the grooves are such that when a wave passes through the body, a quarter wavelength phase difference is produced between a component of a wave having its E-vector parallel to the grooves and a component of the wave having its E-vector orthogonal to the grooves. Alternatively the plate may consist of two or more discrete bodies whose grooves are dimensioned to produce a total differential phase shift of one quarter wavelength.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to quarter wave plates. It particularly relates to quarter wave plates for use at radio frequencies.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is known to those skilled in the art, a quarter wave plate is a component which produces a phase shift of π/2 radians, i.e. one quarter wavelength (or an odd integer multiple thereof) between orthogonal components of electromagnetic radiation.
Applications of such quarter wave plates include the conversion of unpolarized radiation to circularly-polarized radiation and conversion of plane-polarized radiation to helically-polarized radiation.
It is known to construct a quarter wave plate for use at radio frequencies by using a dielectric. material having an anisotropic relative dielectric constant. Two parallel faces are made on a piece of the anisotropic material. The distance between the faces is such that, in traversing the thickness of the plate, for radiation at the nominal frequency at which the plate is to be used, components in the direction parallel to the axis of the greater dielectric constant undergo a phase shift of one quarter wavelength relative to components in an orthogonal axis having the lesser dielectric constant. One type of material having the necessary anisotropic properties is sapphire. While such plates have been found to produce the necessary phase shift, they suffer a number of disadvantages. Sapphire is relatively "hard" material, i.e., it has a relatively high dielectric constant relative to air. This results in losses by reflection due to the mis-match between free space and the relatively high dielectric constant sapphire. The problem of this mis-match has been addressed by providing anti-reflecting coatings in the conventional manner. While this approach has generally proved satisfactory, problems have arisen from poor adhesion of the coatings to the sapphire. The resulting structure has also been found to have a relatively narrow bandwidth.

Quarter wave plate polarizer with two phase-shifting portions


Provided are a preparation method of iron oxide-based paramagnetic or pseudo-paramagnetic nanoparticles, iron oxide-based nanoparticles prepared by the same, and a T1 contrast agent including the same. More particularly, the disclosure describes a method for preparation of iron oxide nanoparticles having a extremely small and uniform size of 4 nm or less based on thermal decomposition of iron oleate complex, iron oxide-based paramagnetic or pseudo-paramagnetic nanoparticles prepared by the same, and a T1 contrast agent including iron oxide-based paramagnetic or pseudo-paramagnetic nanoparticles.

A great deal of study involving various kinds of nanoparticles has recently and actively been conducted in biomedical fields such as cell staining, cell separation, in vivo drug delivery, gene delivery, diagnosis and treatment of disease or abnormality, molecular imaging, or the like.
In order to identify substantial significance of medical applications of such nanoparticles, satisfactory results should be achieved both in-vitro and in-vivo.
That is, nanoparticles with beneficial effects primarily proved through cell experiments, are then subjected to secondary animal testings to support that the tested nanoparticles so they may be applicable for medical use.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a well known method for provision of anatomic, physiological and/or biochemical information of a human body through images by spin relaxation of hydrogen atoms in a magnetic field and is at present an excellent image diagnostic instrument that enables real time imagination of organs of an animal or human in a non-invasive way.
For precious and various utilizations of MRI in biological science or medical fields, a process of injecting a foreign substance into the body to increase contrast of an (MRI) image is used. In this regard, the foreign substance is often referred to as a contrast agent. Such a contrast agent may be a substance using super-paramagnetic or paramagnetic material that induces contrast of signals on a site to be observed through MRI, thus allowing the site to be clearly distinguished.
On MRI images, contrast between tissues is a phenomenon occurred due to difference in relaxation between tissues, wherein the relaxation refers to recovery of nuclear spin of water molecules in the tissues to an equilibrium state. The contrast agent influences such relaxation and thus may increase the difference in relaxation between tissues and induce variation in MRI signals, thus enabling clearly distinguishable contrast of the tissues. However, the contrast agent may cause differences in utility and precision, depending on the characteristics and functions of the contrast agent, subjects for injection of the contrast agent, or the like.
In addition, when contrast is improved using the contrast agent which helps to regulate image signals of specific organs and/or tissues to be higher or lower than adjacent organs and/or tissues, a more distinctive (sharp) image is created. A contrast agent increasing the level of image signals at a desired site of the body, from which MRI images are obtained, than that of the other site (adjacent to the desired site), may be referred to as a 'positive' contrast agent ('T1 contrast agent'). On the other hand, a contrast agent decreasing the level of image signals at a desired site than that of the other side may be referred to as a 'negative' contrast agent ('T2 contrast agent'). More particularly, the MRI contrast agent may be classified into a T1 contrast agent using high spin of a paramagnetic material and a T2 contrast agent using magnetic inhomogeneity around a paramagnetic or super-paramagnetic material. The 'positive' contrast agent relates to T1 relaxation, that is, longitudinal relaxation. Such longitudinal relaxation means that, after a magnetized component 'Mz' in Z-axis direction of the spin absorbs RF energy impact applied from X-axis, the magnetized component is aligned along Y-axis on an X-Y plane and emits energy to the outside, in turn returning to the original value (or state) of Mz. The foregoing action is expressed as 'T1 relaxation.' The time taken for returning Mz to 63% of an original value refers to "T1 relaxation time' and, as the T1 relaxation time is decreased, MRI signals are greater, which in turn, decreases a period of time for acquiring images.
Likewise, the 'negative' contrast agent relates to T2 relaxation, that is, transversal relaxation. As described above, after the magnetized component 'Mz' in Z-axis direction of the spin absorbs RF energy impact applied from X-axis, the magnetized component is aligned along Y-axis on an X-Y plane and spontaneously decays and/or emits energy to adjacent spins, in turn returning to the original value of Mz. In this regard, another spin component 'My' equally widen on the X-Y plane is decayed by an exponential function and this is expressed as 'T2 relaxation.' A time taken until My is decayed to 37% of an original value refers to 'T2 relaxation time' and a My value measured through a receiving coil mounted on Y-axis by a function of time, wherein the My value is decreased over time, refers to a free induction decay (FID). Tissues with a short T2 relaxation time are shown as a dark region on the MRI.
In MRI contrast agents commercially available on the market, paramagnetic compounds are used as a 'positive' contrast agent while super-paramagnetic nanoparticles are used as a 'negative' contrast agent.
A current T2 contrast agent includes iron oxide nanoparticles such as SPIO (superparamagnetic iron oxide). In this case, T2 contrast is a negative contrast, that is, a negative contrast method wherein desired sites are darker than the surrounding part. Therefore, this method does not embody remarkable contrast effects and has a demerit of causing blooming effect to contrast a larger area than an actual size.
On the other hand, the T1 contrast agent has a merit of offering positive contrast to brightly display a desired site, and comprises a high spin material. Therefore, a gadolinium complex having 7 hole-spins in 4f orbital is usually employed. However, the gadolinium complex has very short in vivo and/or vascular retention time due to a relatively small molecular weight, causing difficulties in precisely diagnosing. Further, the above T1 contrast agent cannot be used to persons having weak kidneys because of a danger to derive nephrogenic systemic fibrosis and has recently received the warning by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Accordingly, there is a strong need for development of an improved T1 contrast agent that may solve such disadvantages of the gadolinium complex including, for example, short retention time, severe toxicity to patients with kidney diseases, or the like.
Among new trends in research on T1 contrast agents, an article regarding the use of manganese oxide nanoparticles having 5 hole-spins at 3d orbital has been disclosed (H. B. Na et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 5397).
A manganese oxide nanoparticle has advantages such as a high T1 relaxation effect, which is a characteristic of manganese ions, and easy bonding to target molecules and easy intracellular injection which are characteristics of the nanoparticle. However, in the case where the manganese oxide nanoparticle is introduced into endosome, manganese ions escape from the nanoparticle due to internal acidic environments. Therefore, if such manganese ions remain in the body, these may cause a calcium channel disturbance problem (L. K. Limbach, et al., Environ. Sci. Technol. 2007, 41, 4158).
In order to overcome the above disadvantages, use of iron oxide as a T1 contrast agent, wherein the iron oxide has five hole-spins as well as higher biocompatibility than manganese, may be proposed.
General iron oxide (especially, magnetite or maghemite) nanoparticles are super-paramagnetic near room temperature. Due to such super-paramagnetic properties, that is, high magnetization, a T2 level is increased and susceptibility characteristics may occur, thus causing problems such as signal distortion. Consequently, it has been reported that magnetite is not suitable to be used as a T1 contrast agent (Y.-w. Jun, et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 5732).
However, the foregoing problems may be overcome by controlling the size of iron oxide nanoparticles. More particularly, as the size of iron oxide particles is decreased, magnetic properties thereof may be reduced, which in turn deteriorates magnetic inhomogeneity. Accordingly, use of the iron oxide nanoparticles as a T1 contrast agent may be expected. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,638,494 (inventor: Herbert Pilgrim) disclosed enhancement of T1 relaxivity (r1) by decreasing a particle size of super-paramagnetic iron oxide. According to the patent, iron oxide nanoparticles synthesized by co-precipitation, which have a particle size of 1 to 10 nm, and an average size (d50: median) of 2 to 4 nm, and hydrophilic surface, show that T1 relaxivity ranges from 2 to 50 L/mmol·sec and r2/r1 is 5 or less. However, although the particle average size (median) is small, a range of the particle size is considerably broad such as 1 to 10 nm, to thereby produce irregularity in particle size. If the size of an iron oxide particle is 4 nm or greater, the T2 effects may increase rapidly with the particle size. Therefore, even though the average size is small, improvement in T1 relaxivity is not so high when the particles have irregular size. Therefore, these nanoparticles are also not suitable to be used as a T1 contrast agent.
Among recent studies, use of iron oxide nanoparticles with a size of 4 to 6 nm as a T1 contrast agent has been reported (E. Taboada et al., Langmuir, 2007, 23, 4583; U. I. Tromsdorf et al., Nano Lett. 2009, 9, 4434). However, due to a relatively large particle size, T2 effects are still significant, thus the nanoparticles entail limitations in application thereof as a TI contrast agent.
Combidex® (AMAG Co.) which is currently under clinical trials in regard to use thereof as a T2 contrast agent for lymph nodes, had also been investigated for T1 contrast performance thereof. However, since an average size of iron oxide nanoparticles was relatively large in the range of 4 to 6 nm and a size of constitutional particles is irregular, it was known that T2 effect is predominant over T1 effect (Claire Corot et al., Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews 58 (2006) 1471).
Further, there is a method for preparation of iron oxide particles having a uniform size through thermal decomposition. However, strict requirements for the preparation of iron oxide nanoparticles having a size of 4 nm or less are needed, in turn not being preferable in commercial applications (Jongnam Park, et al., Nature Mater., 3(2004), 891).
Moreover, even if nanoparticles having a size of 4 nm or less may be prepared, raw materials are expensive and/or have severe toxic properties, thus having little significance in the aspect of commercial applications (Xiaowei Teng, J. Mater. Chem., 14(2004), 774).
Accordingly, synthesis and mass-production of iron oxide nanoparticles having a extremely small and uniform size of 4 nm or less, in a highly reproducible manner at low costs, as well as T1 contrast research using the same, have not yet been reported, which are still required.

Preparation of extremely small and uniform sized, iron oxide-based paramagnetic or pseudo-paramagnetic nanoparticles and MRI T1 contrast agents using the same


Disclosed herein are methods of manufacturing injectable microgel scaffolds, including methods of producing, purifying and concentrating microgel particles therein. The microgel scaffolds of the present disclosure are useful for a wide range of applications, such as stabilizing an implanted medical device in an implant site in a subject. The microgel scaffolds are fluidic during application and annealed or crosslinked after application to the implant site in the subject. The microgel scaffolds may contain various therapeutic agents, including antibiotics and analgesics, throughout the gel.

Current porous synthetic hydrogels used as such healing agents are produced by methods that require toxic removal of porogens to form pores, or degradation of encapsulated microparticles, which requires these constructs to be either cast ex vivo, preventing them from seamlessly integrating with the surrounding tissue like an injectable biomaterial or requires long-term in vivo development to resolve the porous structure.

Methods of manufacturing injectable microgel scaffolds


A method of hydroprocessing hydrocarbons is provided using a substantially liquid-phase reactor having first and second catalyst beds with a heat transfer section positioned therebetween. The first and second catalyst beds and the heat transfer section are combined within the same reactor vessel. Each catalyst bed having an inlet temperature and an exit temperature and having a hydroprocessing catalyst therein with a maximum operating temperature range. The method hydroprocesses the hydrocarbons and removes sufficient heat from the hydrocarbons using the heat transfer section so that the exit temperature of the hydrocarbons existing the first catalyst bed is substantially maintained below the maximum operating temperature range of the hydroprocessing catalysts in the first bed and, at the same time, also providing the hydrocarbons to the second catalyst bed at the inlet temperature so that the exit temperature of the hydrocarbons at the exit of the second catalyst bed also does not exceed the maximum operating temperature range of the hydroprocessing catalyst in the second bed.

Petroleum refiners often produce desirable products such as turbine fuel, diesel fuel, middle distillates, naphtha, and gasoline boiling hydrocarbons among others by hydroprocessing a hydrocarbon feed stock derived from crude oil or heavy fractions thereof Hydroprocessing can include, for example, hydrocracking, hydrotreating, hydrodesulphurization and the like. Feed stocks subjected to hydroprocessing can be vacuum gas oils, heavy gas oils, and other hydrocarbon streams recovered from crude oil by distillation. For example, a typical heavy gas oil comprises a substantial portion of hydrocarbon components boiling above about 371° C. (700° F.) and usually at least about 50 percent by weight boiling above 371° C. (700° F.), and a typical vacuum gas oil normally has a boiling point range between about 315° C. (600° F.) and about 565° C. (1050° F.).
Hydroprocessing is a process that uses a hydrogen-containing gas with suitable catalyst(s) for a particular application. In many instances, hydroprocessing is generally accomplished by contacting the selected feed stock in a reaction vessel or zone with the suitable catalyst under conditions of elevated temperature and pressure in the presence of hydrogen as a separate phase in a three-phase system (i.e., hydrogen gas, a liquid hydrocarbon stream, and a solid catalyst). Such hydroprocessing systems are commonly undertaken in a trickle-bed reactor where the continuous phase throughout the reactor is gaseous.
In the trickle-bed reactor, a substantial excess of the hydrogen gas is present. In many instances, a typical trickle-bed hydrocracking reactor requires up to about 10,000 SCF/B of hydrogen at pressures up to 17.3 MPa (2500 psig) to effect the desired reactions. In these systems, because the continuous phase throughout the reactor is a gas-phase, large amounts of excess hydrogen gas are generally required to maintain this continuous phase. However, supplying such large supplies of gaseous hydrogen at the operating conditions needed for hydroprocessing adds complexity and capital and operating expense to the hydroprocessing system.
In order to supply and maintain the needed amounts of hydrogen, the resulting effluent from the trickle-bed reactor is commonly separated into a gaseous component containing hydrogen and a liquid component. The gaseous component is directed to a compressor and then recycled back to the reactor inlet to help supply the large amounts of hydrogen gas needed to maintain the continuous gaseous phase therein. Conventional trickle-bed hydrocracking units typically operate up to about 17.3 MPa (2500 psig) and, therefore, require the use of a high-pressure recycle gas compressor in order to provide the recycled hydrogen at necessary elevated pressures. Often such hydrogen recycle can be up to about 10,000 SCF/B, and processing such quantities of hydrogen through a high-pressure compressor adds complexity, increased capital costs, and increased operating costs to the hydroprocessing unit. In general, the recycle gas compressor represents about 15 to about 30 percent of the cost of a hydroprocessing unit.
Many reactions undertaken using hydroprocessing reaction zones, such as hydrodesulfurization, hydroisomerization, hydrodenitrification, hydrodeoxygenation, hydrocracking, and aromatic saturation to suggest but a few are exothermic and, therefore, result in a temperature rise of the hydrocarbon stream across the catalyst reaction bed. In many of the reactions, such as hydroisomerization, hydrotreating petroleum fractions containing a lower concentration of heteroatoms, hydrocracking in a second stage after severe hydrotreatment, where the consumed hydrogen can be relatively low, between about 50 and about 500 SCF/B, and the reactions can result in heat releases causing a temperature increase in excess of about 28 to 56° C. (50 to 100° F.). In other reactions, such as hydrotreating petroleum fractions containing higher concentration of heteroatoms, full conversion hydrocracking in a single stage, aromatic saturation of a highly aromatic petroleum fraction, the consumed hydrogen can be higher than about 500 SCF/B, and the heat release from such reactions may cause temperature increases in excess of about 37° C. (100° F.). In still other reactions, such temperature increases can result in the temperature of the hydrocarbons exceeding about 399° C. (750° F.) to about 427° C. (800° F.), which is generally unacceptable for the catalysts used in these reactions. In typical trickle bed reaction zones, the large amounts of recycle gas introduced into the inlet of the reactor helps manage unacceptable reactor temperature increases.
In some cases, it is desired to eliminate the costly recycle gas compressor by using a two-phase hydroprocessing system (i. e., a liquid hydrocarbon stream and solid catalyst). In these reaction systems, the continuous phase throughout the reactor is liquid rather than gas and, therefore, generally do not need a source from a high pressure recycle gas compressor. Such two-phase systems generally use only enough hydrogen dissolved in the liquid-phase to saturate the liquid in the reactor. However, it can be more difficult to manage the temperature profile in such reactors. Diluents added as recycle liquids or quench streams, can help manage temperatures, but these solutions can reduce the effectiveness of the hydroprocessing reactions as they tend to reduce the contact time between the unconverted oil and the catalysts resulting in less effective conversions to other products. Such diluents also may introduce other materials with the process that impact reaction rates and other vessels parameters.

Liquid phase hydroprocessing with temperature management


A cold drink container vending machine having a front window panel through which cold drinks in serpentine tracks can be viewed for selection. Pre-cooled cold drink container holding racks are aligned with the serpentine tracks so that the pre-cooled containers can be viewed when vendable containers in the serpentine tracks are depleted. Continuous advertisement is provided in the form of the cold drink containers themselves which are viewed through the transparent front window panel.

In the past, cold drink vending machines which dispense cold drink containers upon payment of a fee have been primarily of the type in which exterior advertising for the type of cold drink products dispensable from the vending machine were separately displayed on the exterior of the vending machine. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,709 issued to Brandes, et al., discloses a beverage container-dispensing machine in which the sign panel contains a product identifying logo corresponding to at least one type of the beverage cans to be dispensed. The individual flavor or type of cold drink is indicated on smaller panels associated with dispensing buttons. Examples of these types of dispensers which also include serpentine tracks for storing and dispensing cylindrical articles, such as cold drink cans, include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,347,952 issued to Bookout in 1982, U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,750 issued to Ficken in 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,313 issued to Rockola in 1990. The Ficken patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,750 includes a window for viewing articles other than the refrigerated cold drinks. The refrigerated cold drinks are stored within the cabinet in a separately closed refrigerated area. The types of cold drinks to be dispensed are presented on separate display panels associated with the various serpentine tracks.
Bottled beverage vending machines have also been disclosed in which a small window panel is provided by which only the bottle caps can be viewed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,143 issued to Helsing in 1954 has inclined racks on which the bottles are stored, which move the bottles to the bottle cap viewing and dispensing area by the rolling force of gravity.
Refrigerated product vending machines having window panels through which the products can be viewed have also been previously disclosed for products such as apples in U.S. Pat. No. 2,604,371 issued to Smiley, et al. in 1952.
Some of the advantages of a view-through dispensing machine for temperature controlled cylindrical containers were recognized and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,671,001 issued to Ossanna, Jr. in 1954. However, the cylindrical containers were vertically stacked so that they did not include the advantages of a serpentine track for cold drink can dispensing. Further, when this device was depleted for a particular vertical stack of cylindrical articles it no longer indicated to the potential customer the types of articles which might be obtained when the cabinet was refilled. A precooling storage area was not provided so that a time lag would exist between filling the machine with uncooled product containers and the time at which they could be dispensed at a cool temperature. For these reasons, the temperature controlled vending machine with a glass front as set forth previously was not well suited for cold drink can dispensing.
There are some vending machines, such as cold drink vending machines, in which cylindrically shaped articles and in particular, cold drink containers, bottles, and especially cans are stored in vertical racks or serpentine racks. The articles fall or roll by the force of gravity toward the bottom of the rack. In the past, dispensing one cylindrical article at a time in response to payment and selection actuation, has been accomplished through the use of a rocker arm arrangement having a central trough sized to hold one can, with ears at either end. The arm pivots at the central trough so that either ear can be alternately moved into the path of the cans. In operation, the arm pivots in one direction to allow the column of cold drinks to roll by the force of gravity so that the lowest can in the column is pushed into the trough against the lower ear. The arm then pivots in the other direction to force the upper ear against the weight of the column and to simultaneously allow the lowest cold drink can to fall free into a dispensing area. Upon rocking into the can dispensing position, the upper ear necessarily moves against the entire weight of the column of cold drink cans, thereby holding them upward in place while the trough held can is dispensed. Prior to dispensing the next can, the rocker arm pivots back to its first position allowing the column of cans to drop down, forcing the lowest can into the trough and against the lower ear of the rocker arm. The cycle is repeated to dispense the next can. To facilitate moving the rocker arm against the column, the ears were rounded for insertion between the lowest can and the next can in the vertical column thereabove. This helped make the operation smoother but did not totally eliminate the large amount of power required to move the rocker arm ears against the weight of a full column of cans. These prior mechanisms had to be constructed with sufficient strength to allow repeated operation of the rocker arm from one pivot position to the next while providing sufficient force to move against the entire weight of the column of cans in the track thereabove.
In prior vending machines in which temperature controlled products, such as cold drink containers, were vended, the vending chute through which the cold drinks were dispensed was also a conduit through which cold air escaped, thereby requiring additional energy for maintaining the temperature control storage area. Some cold drink vending machines were constructed with access through the top so that the cold denser air tended to remain within the vending area. Other vending machines provided only small openings through which the cold drinks were dispensed, thereby minimizing the exposure. Sometimes, the areas were provided with a flexible shield which tended to reduce heat exchange by convection, but did little to reduce the heat exchange caused by conduction.
In multiple column cold drink dispensers of the type with a plurality of horizontally spaced vertical columns or tracks of cold drinks, a spring-loaded door was provided across the area through which the cans were dispensed. Sometimes the weight of a single cold drink can was insufficient to actuate the door. The door was intended to be actuated by the weight of a cold drink dispensed thereagainst so that it pivoted to an open position allowing the cold drink to fall into a chute from which it could be retrieved by the consumer. Often, the weight of the door and the tension of the spring was balanced against the force normally applied by a cold drink. When the amount of friction pivoting the door was increased, as by a ruptured can, a broken bottle, or an otherwise spilled cold drink, the force provided by the weight of a can was insufficient to open the door and the machine would become jammed.

Cold drink vending machine with window front panel