Apparatus for holding an object stationary includes a first supporting element or housing and an anchor or screw element for attaching the housing to a supporting surface. A claw-shaped element is pivotally connected to the housing and is normally urged by a spring positioned within the housing in a first direction for enabling the claw-shaped element to cooperate with or engage a bar element connected to the bottom of the object, whereby the object is prevented from being blown over, toppled, moved or carried away by the action of animals or the wind.

This invention relates to a holding apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for holding an object substantially stationary on a supporting surface.
Outdoor objects, such as trash cans, recycling bins, yard decorations, furniture, holiday decorations and the like, are often subjected to the actions of wind and animals that blow over, topple, move or carry away the outdoor objects.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for holding such objects substantially stationary on a supporting surface.
Another object is to provide such an apparatus which can hold such objects substantially stationary on the ground, concrete, asphalt or the like.
A further object of the invention is the provision of such apparatus which enables a user to quickly and easily engage and disengage the apparatus from the object being held.
Still another object is to provide such apparatus which can be quickly and easily removably attached to the ground, concrete, asphalt or the like.
Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of such apparatus which is configured to permit operation of the apparatus in all types of weather.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of such apparatus which is visually unobtrusive during use.
Still another object is to provide such apparatus which can be embedded into the ground so as to enable lawn mowers to mow over the top of the apparatus with no conflict.
Another object is to provide such apparatus which can be quickly and easily engaged and disengaged from the object being held by a simple foot action of the user which requires no bending or stooping.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages are realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve these and other objects, the present invention provides apparatus for holding an object substantially stationary on a supporting surface, the apparatus comprising: a first supporting or housing element; a second anchoring or screw element for attachment to the first element for anchoring to the supporting surface; a third element pivotally connected to the first element, the third element defining a first claw-shaped end and an opposed second end; first means in operative relationship with the first and third elements for normally pivotally urging the third element in a first direction and for enabling pivotal movement of the third element in a second direction in response to an external force applied to the second end; and a fourth element connected to the object for selective cooperation or contact with the claw-shaped end when the third element is moved in the first direction, whereby the object is prevented from being blown over, toppled, moved or carried away by the actions of animals or the wind.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory but are not restrictive of the invention.

Apparatus for holding objects stationary


A lock device locks a steering wheel in an automobile and has a retaining plate unit which includes an elongated plate body that covers two diametrically opposed portions of a rim of the steering wheel, a first pawl member fixed on the plate body and a second pawl member spaced from the first pawl member and mounted pivotally on the plate body. A blocking rod is mounted movably on the plate body. A locking mechanism includes a key plug unit and a locking rod member which locks the blocking rod releasably on the plate body in combination with the second pawl member so as to extend a portion of the blocking rod from an end portion of the plate body.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a locking device for an automobile, more particularly to a locking device which covers and protects two diametrically opposed portions of the rim of the steering wheel in the automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional lock device (1) for locking a steering wheel of an automobile includes a J-shaped end portion (not shown) which hooks with a section of a rim of the steering wheel (14) and a guiding tube (12) in which a hooking rod (1 ) is retractably provided. The hooking rod (13) can be extended out of the guiding tube (12) so as to hook with another section of the steering wheel (14) opposite to the first section when the lock device is locked on the steering wheel. The rim of the steering wheel may be broken by means of a saw or the like at a portion (A) so as to remove the J-shaped end portion of the lock device from the steering wheel (14). As a result, the steering wheel can be rotated, thereby permitting a thief to steal the car which incorporates the conventional lock device.

Lock device for a steering wheel of an automobile

I-Hsiu No. 148, I-Hsiu Li Hsueh-Chia Chen


A circuit configuration for actuating a safety relay (1) such as the main relay of an electronically controlled brake system of an automotive vehicle at least has two transistors (T1, T2) connected in series and a monitoring circuit (5) which will urge the transistors into the non-conductive state if there is a defect or trouble. The operativeness of the transistors (T1, T2) or of the monitoring circuit (5) will cause the safety relay (1) to be switched off.

This invention relates to a circuit configuration for actuating a safety relay such as the main relay or power supply relay of an electronically controlled brake system of an automotive vehicle. At least two electronically operable switches, particularly transistors connected in series are provided with a monitoring circuit which interrupts the power supply of the safety relay by actuating the switches if there is a defect.
An anti-lock-controlled brake system of this type is disclosed in German Patent (DE-PS) No. 26 12 356 (corresponding with U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,321) and in German Published Patent Application (DE-OS) No. 32 34 637 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,437). The respective brake systems are arranged to ensure after the safety relay has switched off or has dropped out, all braking pressure control valves adopt or maintain their rest positions in which uncontrolled braking operations are possible without restrictions. Thus, defects in the electronic system cannot put the brake out of operation. It therefore must be ensured that it is possible to switch off the main relay which is important for the operation of the brake and, therefore, for the safety of the vehicle. Therefore, at least two transistors connected in series are inserted into the power supply path of the safety relay or main relay so as to maintain the safety function by means of the second transistor even in case of failure or of a blow-out of the other transistor.
By means of the two or more transistors connected in series it is achieved that it will be possible to switch off the safety relay even if one of the two switches will remain conductive permanently, such a defect, however, is not detectable although there does not exist any longer the safety stand-by function intended by the redundant arrangement of the switches.
It is thus an object of the present invention to eliminate this disadvantage and to provide a circuit configuration for actuating a safety relay which also will allow the failure of a redundant switch to be detected.

Circuit configuration for actuating a safety relay


A two-port dual-gate field-effect transistor for amplifier applications, wherein a self-bias circuit includes a number of passive elements, such as resistors, diodes and capacitors, is utilized to coupled the output of the amplifier with a second gate of the dual-gate device as a bias source, which transforms the conventional three-port cascade topology into a two-port dual-gate device so as to facilitate device testing, modeling, and packaging for discrete device application. The technology improves the RF performance in conventional two-port single-gate HEMT devices, with slight noise figure degradation.

An amplifier is an important device commonly used in the transceiver module in various wireless communications, including cellar and satellite communications, as well as wireless local area network. A typical amplifier is implemented utilizing a signal-gate and dual-gate field-effect transistor (FET) device, such as a high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT) device or a pseudomorphic HEMT (pHEMT) device, as a transconductance amplifier. As to the dual-gate device, an input radio-frequency (RF) signal is applied to a first gate of the dual-gate FET device. The amplified signal is then drawn from the drain electrode of the dual-gate FET. A DC bias voltage is applied to a second gate of the dual-gate FET, so that the device gain can be controlled. It noteworthy that not only the input RF signal but also the noise would be amplified in the input stage, so that both the gain performance and the noise figure are important considerations for such amplifiers.
It has shown that conventional dual-gate HEMT device demonstrates excellent microwave gain performance, due to its high output resistance and low feedback capacitance, as compared with single-gate HEMT devices. However, the three-port cascode topology of a dual-gate device, which requires another DC bias from an external voltage source, further complicating the device testing and modeling, and isn't suitable for packaging mold of two-port single-gate discrete microwave device.
In order to facilitate device testing, modeling, and packaging without modification of the baseline of single-gate HEMT epi-structure, there is a need for developing a dual-gate HEMT device, which transforms the conventional three-port cascode topology into a two-port dual-gate device.

Two-port dual-gate HEMT for discrete device application


Detection of R-peak signal in an electrocardiogram signal is provided. An electrocardiogram signal representing heart activity of an individual is received. The electrocardiogram signal is sampled to obtain a plurality of sample points, and a bounded non-linear response value is computed for each sample point of the received signal by calculating a negative exponential of derivatives of the sample points.

The electrocardiogram (ECG) is a representation of electrical activity of the heart. An ECG signal may be represented by multiple key points of clinical relevance such as QRS, P wave and T wave. The QRS-complex is considered to be the most important waveform in an ECG signal. The QRS-complex includes three characteristic points within one cardiac cycle denoted as Q, R and S. R-peak in such QRS complex is one of the most pivotal points to analyze an ECG signal. Therefore, detection of the QRS-complex is fundamental to the analysis of an ECG signal. Although detection of the QRS-complex is not a problem, noise, pathological signals and variations in amplitudes may result in significantly reduced accuracy and faulty detection of the QRS-complex.
Currently, R-peak in an ECG signal may be detected by several methods. These methods make use of derivative feature responses. Such derivative features are computed and compared against the pre-defined threshold after non-linear filtering to accomplish R-peak detection. For example, in one of the methods for detection of the QRS-complex, the Teager Energy Operator (TEO) is employed to detect characteristic points of the ECG signal. TEO reflects the instantaneous frequency and instantaneous amplitude changes in the signal. The TEO is employed to restrain the P wave, the T-wave, the powerline interference and the baseline wander in an ECG signal. The energy operator uses data obtained from three adjacent sample points. The output of the TEO is proportional to the product of the amplitude and the frequency of the input signal.
However, the method of detection of R-peak point using the TEO has several disadvantages. The method obtains close to 99% QRS complex detection rate on MIT/BIH arrhythmia database. Contrarily, this method fails to provide accurate results where variations in the ECG signal are more than MIT/BIH dataset. Several detections of R-peak points have been faulty, and many R-peak points have been missed. The TEO response in such cases is not very distinctive for T-peak and R-peak. Setting a single threshold for the computed responses is difficult due to the instability.

Detection of R-peak point in an electrocardiogram signal


An image forming apparatus has an image forming unit and a feeding unit for feeding a recording material at a predetermined speed to the image forming unit. A reflective type sensor reads irradiated light reflected off of the recording material and an image reading unit reads the light so as to obtain a surface image of the recording material so that a feed control unit can control the feeding of the recording medium so that a moving distance is shorter and in the case of feeding it at a predetermined speed while the recording material is read by the image reading unit. In the image forming apparatus a reflective type determination unit determines a predetermined attribute of the recording material using the surface image of the recording material read by the image reading unit so that the image forming apparatus can determine a kind of recording material based on the attribute obtain so as to form the image on the recording material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a method, and in particular, to a recording material determination apparatus and method for detecting reflected light from a surface of a recording material and determining a kind thereof, and an image forming apparatus and method using the recording material determination apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a laser printer transfers an image visualized and developed by a development portion on a recording material and heats and pressurizes it under predetermined fixing conditions so as to fix a developed image. The predetermined fixing condition is significantly different depending on quality, thickness and surface treatment of the recording material. Therefore, a detailed setup according to a kind of recording material are required when using a plurality of kinds of recording material.
Conventionally, such an image forming apparatus has a size and a kind (kind of paper in the case where the recording material is paper) of recording material set up by a user on an operation panel provided on the image forming apparatus proper for instance so as to change the fixing conditions (fixing temperature and feeding speed of the recording material passing through a fixing apparatus for instance) according to that setup. Or else, there is a proposed method of having control means for setting it at a temperature lower than normal temperature and thereby solving adverse problems such as OHT twining on a fixing roller occurring in case of having an inkjet OHT (Over Head Transparency) other than prescribed paper mistakenly put through by the user and image degradation on a recording medium (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-228256 for instance).
There is also a known method, not limited to the OHT, of calculating depth of asperities and asperity intervals on a recording medium surface from a result of reading a surface image of the recording medium and determining the kind of recording medium such as gloss paper, plain paper, rough paper or OHT so as to optimally set image forming conditions including printing density, transfer bias setup, fixing temperature and process speed (refer to Japanese Patent Applications Laid-Open Nos. 2003-302208 and 2001-225988 for instance).
Such image reading apparatuses mostly have degradation of shot images due to variations in light volume caused by a light source or a lens. There are also variations in sensitivity in photoelectric cells of an image pickup device. For this reason, there is a thinkable method, for the sake of accurately reading an object and obtaining a correct imaging result, of shooting for measuring a shading amount a plurality of times in a state of having the recording medium moved and averaging shooting results thereof so as to automatically calculate the shading amount and correct the shooting results.
In the case of the above-mentioned image forming apparatus, however, it is necessary to shoot a plurality of times in the state of having the recording medium moved. For that reason, there is a problem that a sufficient area for having the recording medium moved must be secured in the image forming apparatus and so the apparatus becomes large.

Image forming apparatus with reflective type determination unit to determine a predetermined attribute of the recording material


A method and system of routing telephone calls from a calling party to a called party including placing a call to a called party, accessing context information associated with the called party, permitting the calling party to opt to continue with the call or terminate the call based on the accessed context information, wherein continuing with the call comprises connecting the call to the called party or selecting a redirection option with the call.

Voice telephony has been known for many years. Initially, voice telephony was supported by dedicated conductors between telephones. Then, voice telephony was enabled by operators manually switching connectors to create and tear down circuits between telephones. As technology advanced, mechanical components performed the switching operations to create and tear down circuits between telephones. With advancing technology, computers and semiconductor components replaced the mechanical components to perform circuit switching duties. Networks created using this circuit-switched technology are generally known as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Generally, the PSTN provides a circuit-switched, time-divided connection between telephones.
Packet data communications, such as those supported by the Internet, differ from circuit-switched communications. With packet data communications, a source device forms a data packet, transmits the data packet to a packet data network, and based upon a destination address, e.g., Internet Protocol (IP) address of the data packet, the packet data network passes the data packet to a destination device. As the Internet and other packet data networks grew in popularity, packet switched voice telephony was developed. One common type of packet switched voice telephony is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony. When VoIP telephony was first introduced, the data packet transmission latency of the Internet and of other servicing networks caused the quality of VoIP telephony to be significantly worse than that of PSTN telephony. Over time, packet data transmission latency of the Internet and of other servicing packet data networks has decreased. Now, VoIP telephony provides service quality equal to or better than PSTN telephony in many cases.
Recently developed VoIP telephony applications enable computer users to establish non-toll VoIP telephone calls across the Internet. Compared to PSTN telephony VoIP telephony of this type is significantly less expensive, particularly for overseas calls. However, only a limited number of people have a computer upon which this VoIP telephony application may be loaded and have Internet access of a quality that will support the VoIP telephony application.
The underpinning of the Next Generation Network is Internet Protocol with Multi-Protocol Layer Switching (IP/IMPLS). Thus, the traditional PSTN is becoming a network edge access point into the IP/MPLS network via PSTN/VoIP gateways, built on top of a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) or other internet standard. Moreover, ENUM-based directories that allow mapping of traditional phone numbers to IP Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) enable telecommunications service providers to provide new personal mobility solutions. People can use a single phone number and control how the call gets directed to either an IP termination point, an arbitrary telephone number, a wireless (cellular) roaming phone or potentially any of a number of alternate contact points.
Due to the range of possible outcomes that come from dialing a phone number, the calling party needs to have some way of controlling the call routing behavior. It would be beneficial for the calling party to get information regarding the called party, such as the location of the called party, convenient times to contact the called party, and/or which of a series of contact points the call should be directed to. Furthermore, the calling party needs to be made aware of any potential new charges that can incur from selecting one of the available options.
In current scenarios, it is possible to redirect phone numbers to other phone numbers (typically within one's own geography) and it is also possible to have a Global System For Mobile Communication (GSM) (or other cellular wireless) service that provides a global roaming capability, however in both cases the call is transparently routed whether to the requested number or across the visited wireless network and any charges for such a service are charged to the called party, not to the calling party.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2006/0210032 is directed to a method for communicating between a calling party and a called party. The method includes receiving information indicative of an incoming call form the calling party, accessing context information associated with the called party, and accessing a pass code provided by the calling party. The method includes disposing of the incoming call based on the pass code and the context information. The method does not allow the calling party to have discretion to select whether he wishes to disturb the called party by making the call go through or electing to leave a message or return identification to allow the called party to return the call at a later time.
It is a primary object to provide a communications system and method that provides a calling party with options and flexibility regarding the direction of a call. It is a further object to provide a communications system and method that provides a calling party with the option of making a call from a PSTN telephone to a telephone using VoIP telephone service.
Description Of the Related Art Section Disclaimer: To the extent that specific publications are discussed above in this Description of the Related Art Section, these discussions should not be taken as an admission that the discussed publications (for example, published patents) are prior art for patent law purposes. For example, some or all of the discussed publications may not be sufficiently early in time, may not reflect subject matter developed early enough in time and/or may not be sufficiently enabling so as to amount to prior art for patent law purposes. To the extent that specific publications are discussed above in this Description of the Related Art Section, they are all hereby incorporated by reference into this document in their respective entirety(ies).

International Business Machines Corporation


Provided is a process having an increased production capacity for nitric acid, which moves can be operated safely and efficiently. The process comprises forming a reaction mixtures by mixing air, ammonia, oxygen and an inert cooling fluid, preferably water, and then reacting the ammonia with oxygen in a reaction zone to form nitric oxide. The amount of inert cooling fluid in the reaction mixture is sufficient to control the temperature of the mixture and maintain the ammonia percentage below the lower explosion limit for the mixture. The nitric oxide produced in the reaction zone is then oxidized to nitrogen dioxide and its dimer, with additional oxygen being introduced into the process for oxidizing the nitric oxide. The nitrogen dioxide and its dimer is then reacted with water to form the nitric acid. The dual injection of oxygen into the ammonia reaction mixture and into the nitric oxide oxidizing step, together with the use of the inert cooling fluid in the ammonia reaction mixture, has been found to provide increased nitric acid production while allowing one to respect the constraints of good product bleaching, avoid catalyst loss due to volatilization, and operate under conditions below the lower explosion limit of the ammonia mixture.

The present invention relates to a process for producing nitric acid. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for producing nitric oxide involving the supplemental injection of water and oxygen to provide a process exhibiting increased nitric acid production while permitting safe and efficient operation.
Nitric acid is generally manufactured on a commercial level by using a catalytic ammonia oxidation process. The process involves reacting ammonia and oxygen (generally obtained from air) over a catalyst, generally a platinum based gauze, in a reactor to selectively obtain nitric oxide and water: EQU 4NH.sub.3 +50.sub.2 .fwdarw.4NO+6H.sub.2 O
Generally, an excess amount of air relative to the stoichiometric amount is provided in order to control the flammability of the reaction mixture, the reactor outlet temperature and to provide extra oxygen for subsequent oxidation reactions.
The effluent gases from the reactor are then cooled in a series of heat exchangers to oxidize nitric oxide with oxygen to nitrogen dioxide and its dimer: EQU 2NO+O.sub.2 =2NO.sub.2 =N.sub.2 O.sub.4
The nitrogen dioxide and its dimer are then reacted with water in an absorption column to produce nitric acid. EQU 3NO.sub.2 (or 3/2 N.sub.2 O.sub.4)+H.sub.2 O.fwdarw.2HNO.sub.3 +NO
The resulting NO is oxidized again in the absorption column.
Several flow schemes exist for the catalytic ammonia oxidation process, but the following three zones are characteristic of all the processes. The three zones include a chemical combustion reactor, a chain of heat exchangers between the reactor and the absorption column, and the absorption tower.
The industry is constantly attempting to improve the production of nitric acid. Increased capacity, improvements in the product acid strength, as well as reduction of NO.sub.x effluent are all important objectives to rendering commercial processes more viable and acceptable. Steps have been taken in the prior art to primarily improve capacity.
For example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,183,906 and 4,235,858, air enriched with oxygen is injected into the absorption tower. This injection of the enriched air allows excess air to be diverted to the front end reactor of the process to thereby increase capacity. It is also known, such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,266,291 and 5,360,603, to inject air enriched with oxygen in the stream paths to the reactor. The available excess oxygen allows an increase in ammonia feed, thereby increasing the existing capacity. Generally, in such systems, the temperature of the system and flammability is controlled by water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide or nitrogen oxide injection into the front end of the reactor and/or into a specialized device of packed bed reactors. Such injection of enriched air to the reactor, however, creates a higher oxygen partial pressure, thereby resulting in an increase in the loss of catalyst by oxidation.
Increasing the production of nitric acid, particularly in existing facilities, is also an important objective. Such increased production, however, must be accomplished safely and efficiently.
The production increase of an existing nitric acid production facility, called debottlenecking, generally imposes the necessity of increasing the ammonia flow rate. At the same time less primary air is available, while more secondary air has to be sent to the stripping column to ensure good bleaching of the increased nitric acid produced. These two modifications in flow rates cause the reactor feed composition to change and the following two difficulties are introduced.
First, the ammonia percentage in the reactor feed, defined as ##EQU1## increases, which directs the operating conditions of the reactor towards the flammability zone, approaching the lower explosion limit (LEL) of ammonia in air.
Second, the reactor's outlet temperature rises, while less heat sink (e.g. inerts such as nitrogen, excess oxygen, and water) is present in the reactor feed per mole of ammonia. The reactor outlet temperature should not rise, as the catalytic gauze must be operated at the optimum gauze temperature.
In increasing the production of nitric acid in an existing facility, therefore, the problem is to increase the nitric acid production rate, while respecting the constraints of good product bleaching, safely operating out of the flammability zone and avoiding any increase in the reactor's outlet temperature. Efficient process operation to avoid catalyst loss due to volatilization is also an important consideration.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved process for the production of nitric acid which enjoys increased nitric acid production capacity.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an improved process which also avoids the problems of flammability and catalyst loss.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved process for the production of nitric acid which also respects the constraints of good product bleaching and avoids any increase in the reactors outlet temperature.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a novel nitric acid production process which can achieve the foregoing objectives using conventional equipment.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon a review of the following specification, the FIGURE of the drawing and the claims appended hereto.

L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


Immunogenic compositions containing phospholipid adjuvants, including microparticle and emulsion compositions. According to one aspect of the invention, an immunogenic microparticle composition is provided that comprises: water; a polymer microparticle comprising a biodegradable polymer, e.g., a polymer selected from a poly(α-hydroxy acid), a polyhydroxy butyric acid, a polycaprolactone, a polyorthoester, a polyanhydride, and a polycyanoacrylate; an antigen adsorbed to the microparticle; and a phospholipid compound, e.g., a synthetic phospholipid compound comprising: (i) one or more phosphoryl groups independently selected from a phosphate group and a phosphodiester group; (ii) a plurality of linear alkane groups. According to another aspect of the invention an immunogenic emulsion composition is provided that comprises: water; a metabolizable oil; an emulsifying agent; an antigen; and a phospholipid compound, e.g., a synthetic phospholipid compound like that above. The emulsion composition is an oil-in-water emulsion having oil and aqueous phases, in which the oil phase is in the form of oil droplets, substantially all of which are less than 1 micron in diameter.

The emergence of subunit vaccines created by recombinant DNA technology has intensified the need for safe and effective adjuvant-containing compositions. Subunit vaccines, while offering significant advantages over traditional live and killed vaccines in terms of safety and cost of production, generally present isolated polypeptides or mixtures of isolated polypeptides to the immune system, which have limited immunogenicity as compared to, for example, whole viruses, bacteria and so forth. As a result, these vaccines generally benefit from adjuvants with significant immunostimulatory capabilities, which help them to reach their full potential in treating disease.
Traditional live vaccines, on the other hand, commonly do not require adjuvants. Moreover, killed vaccines are generally more immunogenic than subunit vaccines and commonly do not require adjuvants. Nonetheless, these vaccines, like subunit vaccines, can also benefit from adjuvants having significant immunostimulatory capabilities.


A truck bed or liner for installation in a pickup truck bed or cargo vehicle exhibits improved electrical charge dissipating characteristics. The preferred embodiment bed is manufactured of high density polyethylene (HDPE) or similar material containing particles of conductive material such as carbon black dispersed therethrough. In a first alternate embodiment, the bed defines a two-layer composite or sandwich. The upper layer of HDPE or similar material includes dispersed carbon black particles whereas the lower layer is free of such particles. A second alternate embodiment of the invention comprehends a bed liner for disposition in a pickup truck or the like wherein the conductive material is dispersed throughout the liner material. In a third alternate embodiment, the bed liner of the second alternate embodiment is combined with the composite conductive and non-conductive layers of the first alternate embodiment. In a fourth alternate embodiment, a bed or liner of HDPE or similar material includes an open mesh fabric or webbing which has carbon black particles dispersed therein. The mesh or webbing is secured to the upper surface of a liner made of HDPE, preferably by autogenous bonding.

The invention relates generally to beds and liners for pickup trucks, cargo vehicles and the like and more particularly to a bed or liner having improved electrical charge dissipating characteristics.
Liners for motor vehicles, particularly bed liners for pickup trucks and cargo vans provide many benefits. First of all, such bed liners provide a resilient barrier between the cargo area and the actual truck bed which absorbs energy and reduces denting and damage to the bed when heavy loads are transported. Second of all, such liners protect the vehicle bed or interior from water, salt and other possibly more corrosive materials which may be carried in the vehicle.
The emphasis on passenger car weight reduction has created a similar emphasis on behalf of manufacturers of light and medium duty trucks. One of the areas that has become a focus of such weight reduction is the vehicle box or bed. Replacing the metal box or bed with a non-metal, e.g., thermoplastic material, bed provides obvious and relatively significant weight reduction and other advantages. Resistance to rusting or corrosion and denting are but two of the accompanying advantages.
A drawback that accompanies relatively large components made from thermoplastic or other organic materials is their ability to become electrically charged and their inability to quickly dissipate such charges. This electrical activity is viewed as undesirable and products which do not exhibit this activity would therefore be desirable. The present invention is directed to such a product.


Techniques to determine concentration parameters of conductive liquid electrophoretic (LEP) inks are illustrated herein. In an example, a layer of conductive LEP ink is formed on a developer roller using electrostatic forces acting on the conductive LEP ink. A current is generated in response to a voltage between a measurement electrode and a developer roller. The current flows through the conductive LEP ink layer.

A liquid electrophoretic (LEP) ink (also known as electro-ink) is a liquid ink that aims to combine advantages of electronic printing with the qualities of liquid ink. LEP inks enable digital printing by electrically controlling the location of print particles. LEP inks may be supplied as a concentrated paste that is loaded into a LEP printer (also referred to as press) in cartridges in a "clean hands" operation. Inside the press, the LEP ink is diluted with a carrier liquid (also referred to as solvent) to form a fluid mixture of carrier liquid and electrophoretic colorant particles ready for printing. Oil may be used as carrier liquid for LEP inks.
Ink concentration of a LEP ink is an important parameter that influences print quality. For example, variation of LEP ink concentration during a print run may affect print quality.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The fragrant gel polymer system is a process where a complete fragrance formulation remains whole and is then blended with either a polymer or a cross-linking agent. The non-fragrance carrying polymer is then liquefied and made homogenous with a solvent. The solvents modify viscosity and ease the mixing of the non-fragrance carrying polymer with the fragrance carrying polymer. The method also provides surfactants and wetting agents for further integration and mixing of the fragrance oils with either the polymer or the cross-linking agent during the steps of the process. Mixing of the fragrance carrying polymer and the non-fragrance polymer results in a gel that sets in less time and with less syneresis than existing processes.

This fragrant gel polymer system relates to the manufacture of fragrant gels and more specifically to a process of mixing two fragrance components with two polymers. A unique aspect of the system is a reduction in syneresis and in testing requirements for reactivity between components of the system towards becoming a gel.
A variety of gel products are on the market, used mostly for toys, novelties, gifts, window clings, and decorative ornaments. Consumers are particularly attracted by the gel products due to their features of softness, color, and introduction of a scent or fragrance. These features, desired by consumers, are related to the nature of the gel product, which may contain mineral oil among other things. As mineral oil remains liquid at room temperatures, it may separate from the gel product when the gel product contracts slightly during syneresis. Additionally, the careful selection of the composition of gel products has improved related to the dispersion between a scent, or fragrance, and the surface of the gel products for introduction into the atmosphere.
A fragrant gel product results from the cross-linking between a functionalized polymer and a cross-linking agent, both generally liquid in the presence of a single or a multiple part fragrance base. The polymer cross-links in the presence of the fragrance to form a gel which encloses the perfume, or fragrance. The gel can form in a recess in a substrate as an air freshener device, as a block, and the like.
While mixing, the fragrance, polymer, and cross-linking agent forms a practical homogeneous mixture, such a mixture poorly controls the flow of the cross-linking agent in a small volume. For a better gel product, equalizing the flow rates of the different premixes into the final mixing step has had more positive results. Accordingly, the fragrance acquires a formulation by conventional methods and then a portion of the fragrance mixes with the polymer and the remainder of the fragrance mixes with the cross-linking agent. The two mixtures can then be mixed together to form a mixture that gels. As the fragrance remains separated within the two mixtures, the mixture containing the cross-linking agent has a greater volume than the volume of the cross-linking agent alone, and therefore a greater flow rate, more easily controlled.
Though this mixture method works well when the production line starts, the gel produced by the mixture method worsens after the production line has run for a time. The gelling time of the mixture, i.e. the time required for a non-flowing gel to form into a shape, tends to rise over time. This longer forming time causes problems into the manufacturing shift, especially at the end of a shift, on an operating machine. For example, if the gelling time of the mixture increases and exceeds the time that the containers, containing the fragrance elements, occupy the production line, the gel may have partially solidified and may retain some liquid when the containers, or forms, are removed from the production line. This liquid can spill from the forms, or containers, leading to waste of ingredients, disruption of the production line for cleaning, and release of spilled ingredients into the local sewage system.
Fragrances usually contain components which react with either, or both, of the functionalized polymer and the cross-linking agent. The prior art processes have the functionalized polymer and cross-linking agent each mixing with different parts of the fragrance, before the polymer and the cross-linking agent are mixed. Thus, the functionalized polymer and cross-linking agents mix with separate fragrance components, not the same fragrance composition. Instead, the gel product has a final fragrance composition arranged, and different components of the composition are then mixed with the functionalized polymer and with the cross-linking agent. By separating the fragrance components, the issue of incomplete gel formation decreases to a practical extent or even completely ceases.
While the precise ingredients of any particular fragrance often remain trade secrets, the typical classes of ingredients and particularly common ingredients include volatile compounds such as esters, alcohols, aldehydes and ketones. As before, the functionalized polymers and cross-linking agents react with certain fragrance ingredients but not others. The reaction rate may be relatively slow and that does not appear early in a manufacturing shift but, after the fragrance ingredients have been mixed with the functionalized polymer and cross-linking agent for some time, a few hours in many cases, some of the fragrance components will have reacted as a pre-reaction. Alas, these pre-reactions may undesirably affect the fragrance, varying its fragrance over a production run. Furthermore, the pre-reactions consume some of the functionalized polymer and cross-linking agent, thus reducing the concentration of reactive sites of the functionalized polymer and the cross-linking agent later in the production run. The pre-reactions have an often increased setting time using prior art methods and processes.
The functional polymer has one or more functional groups while the cross-linking agent has one or more complimentary functional groups. The mixture of these two provides, in the presence of a fragrance base, a reaction product that encloses the fragrance base in a gel product which then emanates the fragrance to the atmosphere to freshen the air. Suitable functional groups include carboxylic acid, anhydride or acid chloride groups, amines, and alcohols. The functional polymer forms by adding a functional group to any polymer capable of functionalization, or the polymer itself inherently contains functional groups. The functional groups can be pendent on the main chain perhaps with intervening spacer groups or in the main chain. Preferred polymers for functionalization include polyolefins, particularly those derived from mono-olefins or di-olefins containing, at least one vinyl group.
The cross-linking agent generally dissolves in the fragrance base. Suitable cross-linking agents include dihydroxy polybutadiene, alkoxylated primary amines, alkylpropyldiamines having an ethoxylated or propoxylated fatty aliphatic chain, diethanolamine, diethylenetriamine, polyoxyalkylenediamines and alkoxylated primary fatty amines. The cross-linking agent may have one or more diamines or triamines, polyoxyalkylene amines, polyethoxy diamines and triamines, polypropoxy diamines and triamines.
Within the prior art, the fragrance is a mixture of volatile liquid ingredients of natural or synthetic origin. List and descriptions of the ingredients appear in perfumery books, for example in S. Arctander, Perfume and Flavour Chemicals, Montclair, N.J., USA, 1969, and the like. The art of formulating a fragrance begins with devising a base and at least a note having the desired fragrance, generally a common task carried out by a fragrance manufacturer.
Generally, the cross-linking agent reacts with some of the fragrance components, while the functionalized polymer does not appreciably react during a typical production shift. The prior art separates the components of a fragrance into those components of the fragrance which react, or are likely to react, with the cross-linking agent and those components which do not react, or are unlikely to react. Individual fragrance components which do not react with either the functionalized polymer or the cross-linking agent may be mixed with either polymer or cross-linking agent at the discretion of the fragrance manufacturer.


The invention is an improvement in a ground-travelling machine such as an agricultural spreader having a PTO shaft for connection to a power source. The improved machine includes a bracket for supporting a shaft in a utility position. The supported shaft is thereby spaced above the ground to help keep the shaft clean and protect from damage, is readily connected to a source of power such as a tractor PTO point. The supported shaft need not be disassembled for storage.

Certain types of mobile machinery have "working" mechanisms driven by a separate source of power rather than by, for example, the mere movement of the machine across the ground or by a machine-mounted engine. Exemplary machines of the foregoing type include agricultural manure spreaders, forage harvesters, silage conveyors and the like.
In the case of a towed machine like a forage harvester or spreader, the engine of the towing tractor provides motive power to move both the tractor and the towed machine along the ground. Such engine also delivers power to the "working" mechanism, e.g., the spreading mechanism, through what is known as a power take-off (PTO). Usually, the PTO is a rotating splined shaft or "power point" which projects rearward a short distance from the rear of the tractor frame.
The towed machine also has a variable-length PTO shaft which can be extended to connect to the tractor PTO. When so connected (and when the machine tongue is coupled to the tractor hitch bar), the machine is towed along the ground while its working mechanism performs the intended task. Another example of such a mobile machine, a manure spreader, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,280 (Trott et al.).
A silage conveyor (for moving silage from a wagon into a silo) might be called a "quasi-mobile" machine in that it is moved only occasionally, e.g., from silo to silo. Such a conveyor need not be moving across the ground to perform its task. However, such quasi-mobile machines are often tractor-powered through a PTO shaft and can benefit from the invention.
Machinery of the foregoing types are not without problems. For example, the machine PTO shaft typically includes two drive components, e.g., male and female "telescoping" splined shafts, one of which is readily removable. The overall length of these shafts can be adjusted to connect to different makes and configuration of tractors.
However, when the towed machine and its PTO shaft are detached from the tractor and the machine put aside, the natural tendency of the PTO shaft is to hang angularly downward and, sometimes, touch the dirt. To prevent dirt contact and possible loss, the machine user removes a shaft component (the outward splined shaft, for example) and, often, stores it by simply tossing it into or onto the machine. Otherwise, such component (which can fall off of its own weight) may become lost or dirty.
Newer machines equipped with PTO shafts have a tube-like, non-rotating shield surrounding the shaft, spaced therefrom and mounted on shield support bearings. Like the PTO shaft, the shield also has two telescoping pieces to provide a variable overall length. The shield helps protect the PTO shaft and its universal joints from dirt, chaff and the like which cause premature wear. And like the outward splined shaft, the outward shield piece is readily removable.
A shield may be made of plastic or steel. When the machine is stored, the user often removes the outward PTO shaft assembly that includes the shield and PTO shaft and stores it. A machine equipped with an angularly-downward hanging PTO shaft and shield is shown in the aforementioned patent.
An improved machine having means to support the PTO shaft and shield away from dirt and which avoids having to remove and store shaft and shield components would be an important advance in the art.


A liquid crystal sealant comprising an epoxy resin represented by the following formula (1):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal sealant, a liquid crystal display device using the same, and a method for producing the device. More particularly, it relates to a heat-curable liquid crystal sealant which is excellent in screen printability in producing a liquid crystal display device and can provide a liquid crystal display device high in reliability in moisture resistance, a liquid crystal display device produced using the sealant, and a method for producing the device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In producing a liquid crystal display device using a heat-curable liquid crystal sealant, the upper and lower substrates are laminated by a process which comprises coating the liquid crystal sealant on the substrates by a dispenser or a method such as screen printing, then usually pre-curing (volatilization of solvent) the coat by heating, thereafter putting the upper and lower substrates together in high precision using an alignment mark, and then hot pressing the sealant.
Recently, in producing liquid crystal display devices, substrates become larger in size and tact time (time required for one step) is shortened for further increasing the mass-productivity. The registration step for the upper and lower substrates in laminating the upper and lower glass substrates of a color filter substrate and an array substrate after the pre-curing step is also required to be high in speed and precision. With increase in the size of substrates, especially in the case of beveling for liquid crystal panels of portable telephones, the coating area of the liquid crystal sealant increases, which requires a large torque at the time of registration to cause increase of tact time.
Furthermore, in producing liquid crystal display devices, there is a step of carrying the laminated upper and lower substrates to the subsequent processing step in such a state as the liquid crystal sealant being uncured after the steps of lamination, registration and pre-curing of the upper and lower glass substrates of a color filter substrate and an array substrate. When they are carried by vacuum chucking the upper substrate of the laminated upper and lower substrates which is called vacuum chucking method, there sometimes occur slippage or separation of the laminated upper and lower substrates from each other owing to low tackiness of the liquid crystal sealant. This problem becomes serious with increase of the weight of substrates caused by the recent increase of the size of substrates.
Moreover, with recent increase in minuteness of liquid crystal display devices and response speed of liquid crystal compositions and narrowing of frames, liquid crystal sealants are demanded to have high adhesion and reliability in moisture resistance. Unless the liquid crystal sealants are excellent in reliability in moisture resistance, water contained in air infiltrates through the liquid crystal sealants to contaminate the liquid crystal composition in the liquid crystal display device, resulting in inferior display.
Liquid crystal sealants excellent in adhesion and reliability in moisture resistance are disclosed, for example, in JP-A-11-15005. However, since these liquid crystal sealants disclosed in Patent Document 1 are high in viscosity after pre-curing, operability of registration after lamination of the substrates is insufficient or they are inferior in tackiness after pre-curing, and hence there is a possibility of occurrence of slippage of the upper and lower substrates during vacuum chucking type carrying operation.
Thus, it is strongly demanded to develop liquid crystal sealants which are excellent in adhesiveness and reliability in moisture resistance, high in registration operability at the time of lamination, and do not cause slippage or separation of substrates in vacuum chucking type carrying operation.

Liquid crystal sealant, liquid crystal display device using the same and method for producing the device

Abstract: [Formula 1]

Abstract: (in the formula, n denotes an average polymerization degree and is a positive number of 0–5) as a resin component, a curing agent, a curing accelerator and an inorganic filler is excellent in screen printability as a liquid crystal sealant in making a liquid crystal display device and can provide excellent reliability in moisture resistance for the liquid crystal display device obtained).


An output-stage circuit is disclosed. The output-stage circuit includes high-side output driver, first body selector, low-side output driver, second body selector and inductance. When output current is larger than current threshold value so as to make the low-side output driver generate overcurrent, the low-side output driver controlled by second control signal is disabled, and the high-side output driver controlled by first control signal is enabled so as to create first current channel. When output current is larger than current threshold value so as to make the high-side output driver generate overcurrent, the high-side output driver controlled by the first control signal is disabled, and the low-side output driver controlled by the second control signal is enabled so as to create second current channel to avoid current flowing through low-side output driver's body, and thus reduce the output current and voltage spiking of the output voltage.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The instant disclosure relates to an output-stage circuit: in particular, to an over-current protection method of the output-stage circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, considering technology of semiconductor is getting more mature and portable consumer electronics devices are getting wide popularity, how to design an audio amplifier has become an important research topic. Generally speaking, an output-stage circuit is consisted of a high-side output driver and a low-side output driver, and the high-side output driver devices and low-side output driver device are respectively connected to the body selector to prevent a speaker from making a clicking sound, wherein the high-side output driver is a high-side P-type power transistor, and the low-side output driver is a low-side N-type power transistor. Regarding cause and control of the clicking sound, there is reference in content of disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 7,265,614.
Generally speaking, an audio amplifier utilizes a load, such as a speaker, through an output-stage circuit. Once the current flowing through is larger than an affordable value of the high-side P-type power transistor or the low-side N-type power transistor, there will be an over-current fault, wherein there are a lot causes of the over-current fault, such as a short circuit or a spiking voltage. The faults may hurt the high-side P-type power transistor or the low-side N-type power transistor seriously and permanently, and further lead to a damage to the entire audio circuit. For example, in prior art, when an output current flowing into a body selector through the high-side P-type power transistor to release the output current, the spiking voltage of the output voltage will be too high because of a body diode inside of the high-side P-type power transistor and the body selector; on the other hand, when the output current flowing into another body selector through the low-side N-type transistor to release an output current, the spiking voltage of the output voltage will be too low because of a body diode inside of the N-type transistor and the body selector.
Therefore, how to avoid sudden arising current from damaging circuit elements becomes a problem for an audio circuit design.

Output-stage circuit and method for over current protection thereof and audio amplify system


A device is provided for extracting water from atmospheric air (8) having a free-flowing adsorbent or absorbent (3, 13), in particular a saline solution (3), having a hygroscopic salt for the adsorption or absorption of water, the adsorption or absorption being provided at least along an adsorption or absorption section (7), which realizes a high yield of (potable) water per unit volume of the structure or of the absorbent/adsorbent (3), a decrease in the assembly effort and a stabilization of the process. This is achieved according to the invention in having a free-flowing adsorbent (3, 13) or absorbent (3, 13) disposed at least along the adsorption or absorption section (7) essentially on a guide element (1, 16, 19, 22, 24) for guiding the adsorbent (3) or absorbent (3), in particular on a presettable track.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for extracting water from atmospheric air having a free-flowing adsorbent (3, 13) or an absorbent (3, 13) in particular a saline solution (3, 13), having a hygroscopic salt for the adsorption or absorption of water, the adsorption or absorption being provided at least along an adsorption or absorption section (7). More particularly the invention pertains to a guide element (1, 16, 19, 22, 24) for guiding the adsorbent or absorbent and at least one metering unit having at least one orifice (6) for adding the saline solution (3) to the guide element and a metering unit for pressurizing the saline solution (3).
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
At many places in the world, particularly in semi arid or arid regions, such as, for example, in parts of Israel, Egypt, the Sahel zone or numerous hot deserts, which are at a significant distance from the sea, potable water supplies are not available, at least nor all year round. In addition to the transport of potable water, there is here only the possibility of providing potable water from moist air.
Condensers are already known in many ways for extracting condensable water from atmospheric air having a refrigeratorable cold store, the relatively moist atmospheric air being cooled below the dew point (see DE-C-28 10 241, DD 285 142 A5).
In addition, devices are also known which bind atmospheric water in an absorption phase by means of an adsorbent or absorbent material such as a salt, e.g. sodium chloride or the like. In this case the salt or the corresponding saline solution is generally stored in a liquid container, the water level or the topside, viewed in a vertical direction, of the salt or of the brine being considered as water-adsorbent or absorbent surface. In a desorption phase, this salt-water solution or brine is dehydrated for extracting the potable water and the salt is made available again for absorption (see, e.g., DE-C 2 660 068, DE 198 50 557 A1).
However, disadvantages of these methods or devices are the comparatively large construction size and the relatively low yield of potable water per unit volume of brine.

Device for the extraction of water from atmospheric air


In a motor controller according to the present invention, a speed control unit 24m includes an integrator calculating an integrated value Sm of a speed error ωm-ωm′ between a speed command value ωm and a rotation speed ωm′ and generates a torque command value Tm based on ωm-ωm′, a predetermined value, a proportional gain and an integration gain. A speed control unit 24s includes an integrator calculating an integrated value Ss of a speed error ωs-ωs′ between a speed command value ωs and a rotation speed ωs′ and generates a torque command value Ts based on ωs-ωs′, the predetermined value, a proportional gain and an integration gain. An integrated value selecting unit 28 selects any one of Sm and Ss as the predetermined value, depending on a drive status of a main motor 6m and a sub motor 6s.

Some motor-driven objects in machine tools and the like can be so large that the driven objects cannot be accelerated and decelerated by one motor alone. Furthermore, large backlash between mechanical elements of a transmission mechanism connected to a motor drive shaft and a driven object may prevent the driven object from being stably moved. In that case, tandem control is employed in which a single driven object is driven by two motors (For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. JP-A-8-174481, JP-A-2003-79180, JP WO2004/92859, JP-A-2009-177881).
In such tandem control, one of two motors functions as a main motor having a drive shaft that acts as a master shaft coupled to a transmission mechanism. The other motor functions as a sub motor having a drive shaft that acts as a slave shaft coupled to a transmission mechanism.
To perform tandem control, backlash between mechanical elements of the transmission mechanism connected to the drive shaft of the motor and the driven object needs to be minimized. Therefore, a motor controller has been proposed that generates a preload torque value, which is a torque value added to a torque command value beforehand such that a force applied to the drive shaft of the main motor and a force applied to the drive shaft of the sub motor are in opposite directions (For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. JP-A-8-16246, JP-A-2001-273037).
Further, adverse effects caused by a difference between the timing of detecting the speed of the main motor and the timing of detecting the speed of the sub motor on control of the motors and the like and overheat of the motors caused by such differences in tandem control need to be avoided. Therefore, a motor controller has been proposed that uses an integrated value of speed error between a speed command value for the main motor and the speed of the main motor to generate a torque command value for the main motor and a torque command value for the sub motor (For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-2003-189657).
Another motor controller has been proposed that generates a preload torque value and uses an integrated value of speed error between a speed command value for the main motor and the speed of the main motor to generate a torque command value for the main motor and a torque command value for the sub motor (For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-2010-172054).
The integrated value of speed error between a speed command value for a main motor and the speed of the main motor may be used to generate a torque command value for the main motor and a torque command value for a sub motor. In that case, there is a problem that when the sub motor is being mainly driven, in other words, when the acceleration of the main motor is negative, a position error between a position command value for the sub motor and the position of the sub motor can increase to the extent of adversely affecting the control of the motors.
An object of the present invention is to provide a motor controller capable of avoiding adverse effects of an increased position error on the control of two driven motors when any one of the two motors is mainly driven.

Motor controller controlling two motors for driving single driven object


An electrode for electrically connecting two photovoltaic cells is provided. Each photovoltaic cell may include a plurality of lamellar electrically conductive surface regions. The electrode may include a plurality of electrically conductive wires extending adjacent to one other; and a stabilizing structure coupled to the plurality of electrically conductive wires such that the space between the electrically conductive wires to one another is defined until the plurality of electrically conductive wires has been fixed on the plurality of lamellar electrically conductive surface regions of a photovoltaic cell.

A photovoltaic cell (e.g. a solar cell) usually includes a substrate having a front side and a rear side. Conventionally, a contact structure is provided on at least one of the both sides. Typically, the contact structure has a width of at least about 100 μm and a thickness in the range of only about 10 μm to about 15 μm. An increased width of the contact structure may result in a decrease of the efficiency due to the increased shadowing caused by this. Furthermore, a reduction of the width of the contact structure may result in an increased line resistance of the contact structure. Moreover, the electric current provided by the individual contact structures is usually collected by means of so-called busbars, which may cause additional shadowing of e.g. the front side surface of the substrate.
The electric connecting of photovoltaic cells is usually carried out by means of contact bands, which are soldered onto the busbars of the photovoltaic cell. In this case, the entire current is guided through the contact bands. In order to keep the resistance losses as low as possible, the contact bands require a certain total cross section area. This results in an increased shadowing of e.g. the front side surface of the substrate.
In order to achieve an improved photovoltaic module (e.g. solar module), the contact structure of the photovoltaic cell and the number and dimension of the contact bands may be combinatorial optimized.
In this case, it has been found out that a high number n (n usually greater than 30) of thin (e.g. having a diameter of less than 250 μm) electrically conductive wires may be useful. Furthermore, it is to be expected that due to a punctual fixation of the wires on the photovoltaic cell, less mechanical tensions may be caused due to different thermal expansion coefficients of the wires on the one hand and the photovoltaic cell on the other hand.
In practice, there is a need to easily and efficiently handle and position the thin wires on the photovoltaic cell.
DE 102 39 845 C1 discloses a method for positioning a plurality of wires on a photovoltaic cell, wherein the wires are fixed on an optically transparent film by means of an optically transparent adhesive. Then, the optically transparent film is fixed to the metallization of the solar cell. According to DE 102 39 845 C1, the optically transparent film as well as the optically transparent adhesive remain in the solar module which is formed by serial coupling of a plurality of such solar cells. This results in a rather high demand to the optically transparent film as well as the optically transparent adhesive with respect to their long-term stability. This causes rather high costs.

Photovoltaic cell electrode and method for electrically connecting a photovoltaic cell


A previously used lock assembly constructed for operation using a given key may be operated by a different key after rebroaching. Instead of requiring an expensive, complete replacement of a lock assembly and its operable keys, the present invention allows a lock assembly to be refitted for a different key by a relatively inexpensive replacement of its plug and at least one of the tumbler components, preferably the bottom pin only, of one or more preexisting sets of tumbler components, as needed to modify the lock to receive the different key.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cylinder lock of the type that uses a keyway adapted to receive a specially milled key blank that is bitted to fit a particular lock. More specifically, this invention relates to rebroaching a previously broached twisting tumbler cylinder lock comprising a cylinder plug having a given longitudinal axis and rotatable within a cylinder shell about said longitudinal axis under the control of a plurality of twisting tumblers. Such locks are constructed and arranged to have a large number of possible pin tumbler combinations of angles, positions and depths.
2. State of the Prior Art
In the past, the assignee of various patents covering lock devices maintained a security list of the construction and arrangement of the components of each lock of this type and included with this list the location of the particular lock so that in case a key capable of opening the lock in question was lost, a new security bitting could be provided without causing the owner of the key to lose his security.
Each of the twisting tumblers of a preexisting lock of the prior art locks to be modified to provide a novel lock assembly of this invention is provided with a bottom pin having key-contactable surface means, provided by a key contacting point at each tumbler position. Each key contacting point is oriented at any one of three different angles and is located at any one of several different depths. Each of the tumblers comprises a preexisting set of tumbler components comprising a spring, a top pin or driver, and an aforesaid bottom pin. A removable cover holds an associated set within a separate cylindrical pin chamber associated with each tumbler set corresponding thereto. Each of the bottom pins has a flag that extends radially outward from its upper portion through an axial slot in the peripheral wall of the corresponding cylindrical pin chamber. The flag extends through the axial slot to orient its associated tumbler in a given radial plane common to corresponding axial slots of remaining pin chambers spaced along the longitudinal axis of the cylinder plug.
The construction just described provides a broach for each cylindrical pin chamber. The broaches for the cylindrical pin chambers are oriented in a common radial plane extending through the given longitudinal axis. In this manner, an owner of a series of patents on various locks of the type described generally could control an inventory of key bittings sold to different customers and provide any customer with a substitute key whenever an original key provided to open any lock in the inventory of locks maintained by the patent owner was lost. However, after certain of the patents controlling these locks expired, it became a misuse of patents for a patentee to continue to control the sale of unpatentable keys for opening locks covered by the expired patents. It became a matter of public interest for one skilled in the art of lock making to develop a technique whereby a preexisting lock no longer protected by a patent could be used in a combination with a key of different milling without extending the effective period of patent protection for the lock.
The following patents of which the inventor is aware represent the state of the prior art to the best of the knowledge of the inventor.
U.S. Pat. No. 685,772, issued Nov. 5, 1901 to Lapointe, shows a key seat cutter that reciprocates to modify preexisting grooves, key-seats or splines in the inner faces of hubs, collars, sleeves and the like, but is not capable of creating a new broach at a fixed angle to a preexisting broach.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,510,835 to Rice, issued Jun. 6, 1950, shows a broaching tool that requires multiple cutting steps and a press to form a set of peripherally spaced broaches. The broaching tool of this patent has no provision for aligning the tool with a work piece.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,240 issued to Oliver, Mar. 23, 1973, and Reissue U.S. Pat. No. 30,198, reissued Jan. 29, 1980, disclose lock systems having a shell containing a plurality of pin chambers, each provided with a pin cut at three different levels and at three different angles to provide 3125 different combinations for a five cylinder lock.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,391, issued Mar. 6, 1979 to Paig shows a re-keying locking kit that does not include a broach as one of its elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,033 to Deckert, issued Apr. 24, 1984, shows a pin tumbler lock that is without a broach. Pin bores in one or more plugs are capable of alignment with pin bores in exterior members, so that the plugs may be used with different exterior members.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,455, issued Jan. 13, 1987 to Oliver, shows a cylinder lock with twisting tumblers at tumbler positions selectively offset forwardly or rearwardly and selectively rotatable to different angular positions to create an enormous number of keying combinations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,828, issued Jun. 16, 1987 to Theriault, shows a key-in-knob cylinder replacement system that has no broach, only a slot 14 having shoulders 54A and 54B to limit movement of the top 53 of one master pin 15 along slot 14.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,401, issued Dec. 15, 1987 to Monahan, shows a re-keyable lock constructed and arranged for inserting and removing master pins of different depth without removing a master pin from the lock. This patent also lacks a broach.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,022 issued Mar. 22, 1988 to Oliver, shows a multiple pin tumbler type of lock similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,455 to Oliver.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,783, issued Oct. 31, 1989 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,575, issued Aug. 6, 1991, both to Campion et al., show method and apparatus for converting doorknob lock sets to a system utilizing a universal knob and a selected lock cylinder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,996, issued Feb. 12, 1992 to Field, shows a cylinder lock with a changeable keyway. The plug of the lock is reconfigured by inserting conversion parts into its keyway to accept keys of different configuration. This lock also lacks a broach.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,996, issued Sep. 29, 1992 to Thoroughman, shows a four-component keyway broach guide assembly that requires access to a broached area from both top and bottom and a machine or press to accomplish broaching. This patent has no guide for aligning a broach, no capability of manual operation and requires shims and friction pieces as part of the patented assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,929, issued Feb. 2, 1993 to Myers, shows a method and replacement plug for cylinder locks that converts locks having special keyways requiring correspondingly milled key blanks into a universal keyway lock that can be operated by a multiplicity of differently milled keys.

Apparatus and method of rebroaching a lock assembly


A circulation management system according to the present invention comprises a host computer of a bank, circulation medium issuing means incorporated in automatic teller machines of the bank, and terminals installed in each store, so that a user can purchase commodities or receive services at stores which are tied up with a bank using the circulation medium issued by the bank which has a function equivalent to a predetermined amount of money. The circulation medium issuing means and the terminals are connected to the host computer through lines, and when a circulation medium is issued, the circulation medium issuing means issues the circulation medium for the requested amount with assigning identification codes to the circulation medium within the limit of the balance of deposits of the user. The host computer withdraws an amount equivalent to the issued circulation medium from the account of the user and stores the identification code of the issued circulation medium. The store passes the circulation medium received from the user for the commodity or service through the terminal, transmits the identification code to the host computer of the bank, and has the host computer confirm whether this circulation medium is genuine. At this time, the host computer collates the transmitted identification code with the identification code stored when the circulation medium was issued, judges whether this circulation medium is genuine, and deposits the amount of money of the circulation medium into the account of the store if genuine.

The present invention relates to a circulation management system by which consumers can purchase commodities or receive services using circulation medium which has a function equivalent to a certain amount of money by adding an identification code.
Recently an automated teller machine (hereafter ATM) which mechanically executes withdrawals, deposits and money transfers at a bank to make these operations efficient is widely used.
To install such an ATM, a storage means for storing the account number, balance of deposits and the code number of the user is disposed in the host computer of the bank, a card reader for reading the account number stored on the cash card is disposed in the ATM, and the ATM and the host computer are connected through lines. If the user inserts a cash card into the card reader of the ATM to make a withdrawal, for example, the ATM transmits the account number read from the cash card to the host computer of the bank, and prompts the user to input the code number via a keypad. Then it is judged whether the code number which was input via the keypad and the code number associated with the account number stored in the storage means of the host computer are the same, and if they are the same, the user is regarded as genuine and the input for the amount of the withdrawal is prompted, and if the amount input via the keypad is within the balance of deposits, cash for the input amount is paid out.
As an additional function of the ATM, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-263726 states of disposing means for issuing various tickets, such as airline tickets, reserved seat tickets of a railroad, boarding tickets and movie/concert tickets from an ATM, so as to purchase such tickets on the spot.
In the above stated ATM which has a cash payment function, however, a predetermined amount of cash must always be stocked in the ATM, and particularly when cash cannot be replenished due to a holiday when teller windows are closed, a large amount of cash is stocked on the day before. So, recently many crimes involving destruction of an ATM the night before a holiday where stocked cash is stolen are frequently occurring. Also, even on a day other than a holiday, cash must be replenished each time cash in the ATM becomes low, and this operation is complicated. Also, cash stocked in an ATM sits idle and cannot be used effectively.
Also, with the current circulation system based on cash, a large amount of cash, such as proceeds, must be managed by the store, which is not good for crime prevention, and the user is not insured when money is lost.
So recently, circulation systems based on credit transactions using credit cards is becoming popular, and circulation systems using electronic money are also being constructed, but for both cases, safety problems related to illegal use have not yet been solved.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a circulation system which is useful for three parties: a bank, a user and a store, improving safety against illegal use.
An embodiment of the present invention is circulation management system that has a host computer of a bank for managing the balance of deposits for each account, circulation medium issuing means connected to the host computer through communication lines for issuing a circulation medium having a function equivalent to a predetermined amount of money by assigning an identification code within the limit of the balance of deposits of a user, and a terminal installed at a store coupled with the bank, which has a function to read an identification code assigned to the circulation medium, the terminal is connected to the host computer through communication lines, and has a transmission function to transmit the read identification code of the circulation medium to the host computer, characterized in that the host computer additionally has identification code storage means for storing the assigned identification code of the circulation medium, withdrawal means for withdrawing an amount of money equivalent to the issued circulation medium from the account of the user, judgment means for collating the identification code transmitted from the terminal and the identification code stored in the identification code storage means and judging whether the circulation medium with the identification code is genuine, money transfer means for transferring an amount of money equivalent to the circulation medium to the account of an origination store when the circulation medium is genuine, and used code management means for managing the identification codes of the used circulation medium.
To issue the circulation medium, which functions just like money, in this circulation management system, the issuance of the circulation medium is directed by controlling the circulation medium issuing means of the bank. At this time, the host computer of the bank issues the circulation medium for the requested amount by adding the identification code within the limit of the balance of deposits of the user, withdraws the amount according to the issued circulation medium from the account of the user, and stores the identification code of the issued circulation medium in the identification code storage means.
To use the circulation medium at a store which is coupled with the bank, the user purchases a desired commodity by giving this circulation medium to the clerk just like cash. At this time, the clerk transmits the identification code to the host computer of the bank by passing the circulation medium through the terminal installed at the store, so as to confirm that the received circulation medium is genuine. When the host computer of the bank receives the identification code from the store in this way, the judgment means of the host computer collates the received identification code and the identification code stored in the identification code storage means of the host computer, and judges whether the circulation medium is genuine. If the circulation medium is genuine, the amount equivalent to the circulation medium is transferred to the account of the transmission origination store by the money transfer means of the host computer, and the identification code of the circulation medium is managed and the genuineness of the circulation medium is verified for the store by the used code management means.
In this way, the bank can merely stock the circulation medium, which is only a piece of paper without the identification code, and does not have to stock cash in the circulation medium issuing means, which is desirable in terms of crime prevention. Also, cash is not paid from the circulation medium issuing means, so compared with the case where a large amount of cash stocked, like the case of a cash automatic teller machine, cash can be managed more efficiently. The identification code of a used circulation medium is managed by the used code management means, so a used circulation medium cannot be illegally used, and even if the identification code is altered, the circulation medium cannot be used unless its identification code matches the identification code stored in the identification code storage means. Therefore, safety against illegal use is insured.
Even if a user loses the circulation medium, the user can notify the identification code of the circulation medium, which the user wrote down, to the bank so as to prevent the use of the circulation medium or to have the bank insure an amount equivalent to the circulation medium. Also, by registering the identification code of the circulation medium in the host computer, a criminal who uses the circulation medium illegally at a store can be apprehended.
For a store, the circulation medium is passed through the terminal and an amount equivalent to the circulation medium is immediately paid into the account of the store if the circulation medium is genuine. There is no need to store cash, such as proceeds, in the store, which is desirable in terms of crime prevention. Even if an illegal circulation medium circulates, the host computer of the bank manages the circulation medium, so the store is free from liability.
Such a circulation medium, which can be created with such inexpensive material as paper, can be used only once without being used repeatedly like a credit card and electronic money, so, potential illegal use can be decreased and safety against illegal use can be improved. Since the circulation medium is issued on the basis of the deposits of the user, and is not issued in excess of the balance of deposits, voluntary bankruptcy due to unreasonable loans can clearly be prevented.
Additionally, the used code management means may delete the identification code of the used circulation medium from the identification code storage means, or move the used identification code to a storage area other than the identification code storage means or mark the used identification code within the identification code storage means. A possible illegal use of a circulation medium is to alter the used circulation medium for reuse. Deleting the used identification code by the used code management means is preferable in terms of using the memory of the host computer effectively. However, the history of the altered circulation medium cannot be known, so it is preferable to move the used identification code to another storage area or to mark the used identification code. To use memory more efficiently, the used identification code may be deleted after a predetermined period of time elapses.
Further, it is preferable that a printed matter, identical to the circulation medium without the identification code, is used as a circulation medium to be stored in the circulation medium issuing means. It is possible to print all the printed parts of the circulation medium within the circulation medium issuing means by a color printer built into the circulation medium issuing means, but with this configuration, issuing a circulation medium takes time and the unit price of the circulation medium becomes high, so it is preferable to use a printed matter where parts other than the identification code printing part have been printed in advance.
Additionally, a plurality of types of circulation media with different face values, similar to paper currency, may be used. In the case of Japanese currency, for example, it is preferable to use a plurality of types of circulation medium, corresponding to common bills, such as 1000 Yen, 5000 Yen and 10000 Yen.
Further, it is preferable that the circulation medium issuing means is incorporated into the automatic teller machines of the bank. Since an automatic teller machine has a cash card reader, code number input means and display means, the circulation medium issuing means can be created inexpensively by sharing this equipment. Also, an increase in the number of users of the circulation medium decreases the cash to be stored in an automatic teller machine, so cash which was once stocked can be effectively used, and crime prevention can also be improved.
Still further, it is possible to dispose recording paper output means for printing or magnetically storing the identification code of the issued circulation medium in the circulation medium issuing means. In this case, when a circulation medium is lost, the identification code of the lost circulation medium can easily be checked from the recorded content of the recording paper.
Also, alarming means for alerting a clerk when the circulation medium passes through the terminal, and is judged as not genuine by the judgment means, may be disposed in the terminal. With this configuration, use of an illegal circulation medium can easily be checked, and apprehending a user who used the illegal circulation medium is also possible.
Further, collection means for collecting a used circulation medium may be disposed in the terminal. Illegal use of a used circulation medium is almost impossible since the identification code is managed by the used code management means of the host computer of the bank, but the possibility for illegal use still remains, so it is preferable to collect the used circulation medium by a collecting means so as to be disposed or managed by the bank.

Circulation management system for issuing a circulation medium


The invention provides methods and compositions relating to pen polypeptides having pen-specific structure and activity, related polynucleotides and modulators of pen function. The invention provides isolated pen hybridization probes and primers capable of specifically hybridizing with natural pen genes, pen-specific binding agents such as specific antibodies, and methods of making and using the subject compositions in diagnosis (e.g. genetic hybridization screens for pen transcripts), therapy (e.g. pen inhibitors to modulate APP processing) and in the biopharmaceutical industry (e.g. as immunogens, reagents for screening chemical libraries for lead pharmacological agents, etc.).

Azheimer's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system which causes memory impairment and cognitive loss during mid to late life. The disease is characterized by two primary pathological features, extracellular amyloid plaques in the brain, and intra-neuronal neurofibrillary tangles. These lesions inhibit neuronal and glial cell function, and lead to synaptic loss and dementia. Both early and late onset forms of the disease have been shown to have genetic components, and four genes have been definitively associated with increased risk for AD: APP, PS1, PS2 and ApoE. These genes are functionally linked by their roles in the production, transport, and/or elimination of, amyloid-β(Aβ), the primary constituent of Alzheimer's amyloid plaques (reviewed in Selkoe, D. 1999, Nature 399 supp: A23).
Alzheimer's amyloid plaques are comprised largely of the 40–42 amino acid peptide Aβ (Glenner, G. G., and Wong, C. W., 1984 Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 122:1131). Aβ is derived by proteolytic cleavage from the b-Amyloid Precursor Protein, or βAPP (Kang J. et al. 1987, Nature 325:733). Three secretase activities cleave APP to generate the Aβ peptide or a shorter, alternative cleavage product called p3. β-secretase generates the N-terminus of Aβ, while α-secretase cleaves internal to Aβ sequences to generate the N-terminus of p3. γ-secretase cleaves the C-terminal β and α secretase products of APP to generate the heterogeneous C-terminal ends of Aβ and p3. APP mutations found in familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) pedigrees are clustered around the three secretase cleavage sites (Goate, A., et al. 1991, Nature 349:704; Murrell, J., et al. 1991, Science 254: 97; Chartier-Harlin et al. 1991, Nature 353: 844; Mullan, M. et al. 1992, Nature Genet. 1: 345; Levy, E. et al., 1990, Science 248: 1124; Hendriks, L. et al. 1992, Nature Genet. 1:218) and they each increases total Aβ (Aβ42+Aβ40) or increases the Aβ 42/40 ratio. Since Aβ42 precipitates more readily in vitro and is the primary component of early forms of amyloid deposits called diffuse plaques, it has been postulated that increased systemic Aβ42 could lead to earlier formation of plaque, and earlier onset of AD.
Family studies identified two other genes, presenilin-1 (PS1) and presenilin-2 (PS2), associated with dominantly inherited, early onset AD, (Sherrington, R. et al. 1995, Nature 375: 754; Levy-Lahad, E. et al. 1995, Science 269: 973; Rogaev., E. I. et al. 1995, Nature 376: 775). These proteins are similar to each other in sequence and encode polytopic membrane proteins with 8 transmembrane segments. Studies in FAD human cell lines, in transfected cells, and in transgenic mice have demonstrated that the PS FAD mutations cause a change in the processing pattern of APP, resulting in an increased ratio of Aβ 42/40 (Scheuner, D. et al. 1996, Nat. Med. 2: 864; Citron, M. et al. 1997, Nat. Med. 3:67; Borchelt, D. et al. 1996, Neuron 17: 1005; Duff, K. et al. 1996, Nature 383: 710; Tomita, T. et al. 1997, PNAS 94:2025). Studies on PS1 knockout mice demonstrated that loss of PS1 function leads to reduction in Aβ production due to a reduction of γ-secretase activity (De Strooper, B. et al. 1998, Nature 391: 387). Presenilin function is thus implicated in the activity of γ-secretase in two ways: missense mutations alter g-secretase cleavage specificity, while loss of presenilin activity leads to loss of γ-secretase activity.
Inhibition of presenilin activity decreases Aβ production and is thus a potentially useful therapeutic approach to Alzheimer's disease. However, despite the functional link to γ-secretase activity and the generation of Aβ, the biochemical nature of PS activity is poorly understood. Various functions have been proposed, including action in the ER and/or Golgi complex as a chaperone for APP, Notch, and/or γ-secretase (Thinakaran, G. et al. 1998, Neurobiol. Dis. 4: 438), activity as a novel aspartyl protease, i.e. as g-secretase itself (Wolfe, M. S. et al. 1999, Nature 398: 513), and potential roles in the response to oxidative stress and apoptosis (Wolozin, B. et al. 1996, Science 274:1710; vito, P. et al. 1997, J. Biol. Chem 272: 28315; Guo, Q., et al. 1997, J. Neurosci. 17: 4212). The absence of a clear functional assay increases the difficulty of designing useful small molecule therapeutics targeted at presenilin. An alternative strategy to targeting presenilin is to discover additional proteins which act together with presenilins in the pathway of γ-secretase and Aβ production and which might be more amenable to drug development. One useful method for the discovery of such novel targets is to perform genetic screens in model organisms such as Drosophila and C. elegans for genes that interact with presenilins.
Invertebrate orthologues of the PS genes have been identified by both sequence searches and genetic screens. The C. elegans genome contains three presenilin genes, sel-12 (suppressor and/or enhancer of lin-12; Levitan, D. et al. 1995, Nature 377:351), hop-1 (homolog of presenilin; Li, X. et al, 1997, PNAS 94:12204) and spe-4 (spermatogenesis defective; L'Hernault et al., 1992, J. Cell Biol. 119:55). sel-12, hop-1 and spe-4 have 48, 35 and 23% sequence similarity, respectively, to PS1 and 2. sel-12 and hop-1 have overlapping functions in several tissues (see below), while spe-4 appears to perform an independent function in the male germ line. Rescue experiments using transgenes have shown that human PS1 and PS2 can rescue phenotypes caused by loss of sel-12, demonstrating that presenilin function has been conserved from nematodes to mammals (Levitan, D. et al. 1996, Nature 377:351; Baumeister, R. et al. 1997, Genes Function 1: 149).
Sel-12 was identified genetically as a suppressor of an activated allele of the Notch gene lin-12. This discovery established a functional link between presenilin activity and activity of the Notch signaling pathway. In vivo experiments in mice (Herreman, A. et al. 1999, PNAS 96:11872), Drosophila (Struhl, G. et al. 1999, Nature 398: 522; Ye, Y. et al. 1999 Nature 398:525) and C. elegans (Li, X. et al, 1997, PNAS 94:12204; Westlund, B. et al. 1999, PNAS 96:2497) have demonstrated that the phenotype of complete loss of presenilin activity corresponds very well with the complete elimination of Notch signaling in the organism, suggesting that presenilins are absolutely required for Notch signaling activity. Notch receptors are single pass transmembrane proteins present at the cell surface that mediate cell—cell signaling events critical to the differentiation of many embryonic and adult tissues in invertebrates and vertebrates. Signaling involves ligand-dependent cleavage of Notch at the inner face of the transmembrane segment, and subsequent nuclear translocation of the C-terminal domain. Analysis of Notch processing in cell culture and in vivo has further demonstrated that presenilins are required for the ligand dependent cleavage event that releases the Notch intracellular domain from the transmembrane domain (Struhl, G. et al. 1999, Nature 398: 522; De Strooper, B. et al. 1999 Nature 398: 518). The parallel requirement for presenilin in both the Notch and APP cleavages suggests that the Notch signaling pathway could be a useful surrogate assay in place of Ab production in screens for presenilin pathway genes.
Mutations in the C. elegans presenilins sel-12 and hop-1 result in phenotypes associated with defective signaling by the C. elegans Notch receptors lin-12 and glp-1. Loss of hop-1 alone results in no obvious phenotypes. Loss of sel-12 results in a strong egg-laying defective phenotype and vulval defects reminiscent of lin-12 mutations. Loss of both sel-12 and hop-1 produces more severe Notch phenotypes that seen in sel-12 alone. The specific phenotypes observed in the sel-12; hop-1 double mutants depends on whether these worms inherit maternal wild type presenilin activity. When maternally provided sel-12+ activity is present, the double mutant displays a novel egg-laying defective phenotype and all progeny arrest during embryogenesis with glp-1-like developmental defects. In the absence of maternal sel-12+ activity the double mutant exhibits a stonger phenotype of sterility with germline proliferation defects characteristic of glp-1 mutants. Together, this set of properties indicates that sel-12 and hop-1 are partially redundant and act coordinately to promote signaling by the two C. elegans Notch receptors.
The partial redundancy between sel-12 and hop-1 activities made it possible to look for enhancers of sel-12 loss of function alleles that would produce a phenotype equivalent to the sel-12; hop-1 double mutant. This enhancer screen identified two new genes which were named pen-1 and 2 (pen=presenilin enhancer) and which are required for presenilin function. Based on the phenotypes of the pen genes, we have identified a third presenilin enhancer gene, aph-2. The pen-1, pen-2 and aph-2 gene sequences identify orthologous genes in humans and other animals, including pen-1B. These genes and the processes they regulate are targets for the development of therapeutics for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.