The invention relates to peptides which contain N-methylated amino acid units and have improved water solubility. The invention also relates methods for treating a hormone-dependent tumor or a non-malignant indication that is treatable by LH-RH suppression, the method comprising administering to a patient in need of the treatment a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of the invention. Hormone-dependent cancers that can be treated with the methods of the invention include prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, and pancreatic cancer. Non-malignant indications which can be treated by the methods of the invention include benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), endometriosis, acne, polycystic ovarian disease, dysmenorrhea, precocious puberty, and uterine fibroids and other leiomyomas.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to antagonists of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) having improved solubility properties, processes for the preparation of these compounds, medicaments in which these compounds are contained, and therapeutic methods comprising administering the medicaments for the treatment of hormone-dependent tumors such as prostate cancer and ovarian cancer, and hormone-influenced non-malignant disorders such as benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and endometriosis.
2. Background Information
LH-RH, also referred to as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), stimulates the pituitary secretion of both luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which control the hormonal and reproductive functions of the gonads. LH-RH antagonists such as the peptide compounds of the present invention selectively block the secretion of LH and FSH by the pituitary gland, and are therapeutically useful in clinical situations in which the suppression of sexual steroids (testicular androgens and ovarian estrogens) is desired; for example, in the treatment of hormone-dependent tumors such as prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and endometrial cancer, and in the treatment of hormone-influenced non-malignant disorders that are treatable by LH-RH suppression, such as BPH, endometriosis, and uterine fibroids and other leiomyomas. LH-RH receptors are also present on the surfaces of cancerous cells of hormone-dependent tumors (e.g., ovarian cancer) and appear to be involved in signaling pathways that promote proliferation of the cancer cells. Peptide LH-RH antagonists block the activity of these LH-RH receptors and inhibit cancer cell proliferation. Peptide LH-RH antagonists have been shown to be therapeutically effective in clinical use, and to have acceptable pharmacokinetic, safety and commercial profiles.
The nomenclature used for the definition of the peptides disclosed herein agrees with that nomenclature explained by the IUPAC-IUB Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature (European J. Biochem. 1984, 138, 9-37), in which, in agreement with the conventional representation, the amino groups at the N terminus appear to the left and the carboxyl group at the C terminus appears to the right. The LH-RH antagonists such as the peptides according to the invention include naturally occurring and synthetic amino acids, the former including Ala, Val, Leu, Ile, Ser, Thr, Lys, Arg, Asp, Asn, Glu, Gln, Cys, Met, Phe, Tyr, Pro, Trp and His. The abbreviations for the individual amino acid residues are based on the trivial names of the amino acids and are Ala=alanine, Arg=arginine, Gly=glycine, Leu=leucine, Lys=lysine, Pal (3)=3-(3-pyridyl) alanine, Nal(2)=3-(2-naphthyl)-alanine, Phe=phenylalanine, Cpa=4-chlorophenylalanine, Pro=proline, Ser=serine, Thr=threonine, Trp=tryptophan, Try=tyrosine and Sar=sarcosine. All amino acids described here originate from the L series, if not mentioned otherwise. For example, D-Nal(2) is the abbreviation for 3-(2-naphthyl)-D-alanine and Ser is the abbreviation for L-serine. Substitutions on the ε amino group in the side chain of lysine are represented by a term placed in brackets behind Lys, if appropriate in the form of an abbreviation.
Other abbreviations used are:
AcAcetylAtz3-Amino-1,2,4-triazole-5-carbonylB4-(4-Amidinophenyl)amino-1,4-dioxobutylBoctert-ButyloxycarbonylBopBenzotriazol-1-oxy-tris (dimethylamino)-phosphonium hexafluorophosphateDCCDicyclohexylcarbodiimideDCMDichloromethaneDdzDimethoxyphenyl-dimethylmethylenoxy-carbonyl(Dimethoxy-dimethyl-Z)DICDiisopropylcarbodiimideDIPEAN,N-DiisopropylethylamineDMFDimethylformamideFmocFluorenylmethyloxycarbonylHciHomocitrullineHFHydrofluoric acidHOBt1-HydroxybenzotriazoleHPLCHigh-pressure liquid chromatographyMeMethylTFATrifluoroacetic acidZBenzyloxycarbonyl
The peptides according to the invention are analogues of the luteinizing-hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH), which has the following structure:p-Glu-His-Trp-Ser-Tyr-Gly-Leu-Arg-Pro-Gly-NH2, (SEQ ID NO: 1)[LH-RH, gonadorelin].
For more than 20 years, researchers have sought selective potent antagonists of the LH-RH decapeptide [M. Karten and J. E. Rivier, Endocrine Reviews 7, 44-66 (1986)] The high interest in such antagonists is based on their usefulness in the field of endocrinology, gynaecology, contraception and cancer. A large number of compounds have been prepared as potential LH-RH antagonists. The most interesting compounds which have been found to date are those compounds whose structures are a modification of the LH-RH structure.
The first series of potent antagonists was obtained by the introduction of aromatic amino acid residues into the positions 1, 2, 3 and 6 or 2, 3 and 6. The customary way of writing the compounds is as follows: the amino acids are first indicated which have taken the place of the amino acids originally present in the peptide chain of LH-RH, the positions in which the exchange took place being marked by superscripted figures. Furthermore, by the notation "LH-RH" placed afterwards it is expressed that these are LH-RH analogues in which the exchange has taken place.
Known antagonists are:
[Ac-D-Cpa1,2, D-Trp3,6] LH-RH (D. H. Coy et al., In: Gross, E. and Meienhofer, J. (Eds) Peptides; Proceedings of the 6th American Peptide Symposium, pp. 775-779, Pierce Chem. Co., Rockville III. (1979): [Ac-Pro1, D-Cpa2, D-Nal(2)3,6] LH-RH (U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,347) and [Ac-Pro1, D-Cpa2, D-Trp3,6] LH-RH (J. L. Pineda, et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 56, 420, 1983).
In order to improve the action of antagonists, basic amino acids, for example D-Arg, were later introduced into the 6 position. For example [Ac-D-Cpa1,2, D-Trp3, D-Arg6, D-Ala10] LH-RH (ORG-30276) (D. H. Coy, et al., Endocrinology 100, 1445, 1982); and [Ac-D-Nal(2)1, D-Phe(4-F)2, D-Trp3, D-Arg6] LH-RH (ORF 18260) (J. E. Rivier et al., in: Vickery B. H. Nestor, Jr. J. J., Hafez, E. S. E (Eds). LHRH and its Analogs, pp. 11-22 MTP Press, Lancaster, UK 1984).
Further potent LH-RH antagonists are described in WO 92/19651, WO 94/19370, WO 92/17025, WO 94/14841, WO 94/13313, EP 0 413 209 A1 and DE 195 44 212 A1, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,300,492, and 5,140,009. Peptide LH-RH antagonists are also described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,268,044, 4,581,169, 5,527,777, 5,198,533, and 5,942,493, and in WO 97/19953, WO 98/25642, WO 00/55190, EP 0 328 090 A2, and EP 0 413 209 A1.
The latter discloses compounds having a modified ornithine or lysine unit in position 6 and which correspond to the following formula:Ac-D-Nal(2)1-D-Cpa2-D-Pal(3)3-Ser4-Tyr5-D-Xxx6-Leu7-Arg-Pro9-D-Ala10-NH2,
in which D-Xxx is an amino acid group of the general formula VI

Further known LH-RH antagonists are antarelix, ganirelix and cetrorelix.
Antarelix:Ac-D-Nal(2)1-D-Cpa2-D-Pal(3)3-Ser4-Tyr5−D-Hci6-Leu7-Lys(iPr)8-Pro9-D-Ala10-NH2 Ganirelix:Ac-D-Nal(2)1-D-Cpa2-D-Pal(3)3-Ser4-Tyr5-D-hArg(Et)26-Leu7-hArg(Et)28-Pro9-D-Ala10-NH2 Cetrorelix:Ac-D-Nal(2)1-D-Cpa2-D-Pal(3)3-Ser4-Tyr5-D-Cit6-Leu7-Arg8-Pro9-D-Ala10-NH2.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods of treatment using novel LHRH antagonists having improved solubility properties


In a semiconductor device formed on a semiconductor wafer, writing unit writes a result signal into an unvolatile memory. A testing unit tests whether or not an execution unit of the semiconductor device executes a predetermined function correctly and produces the result signal. The result signal is used to diagnose the semiconductor devise itself. The execution unit may be included in the unvolatile memory.

This invention relates to a semiconductor device which is formed on a semiconductor wafer and relates to a method of testing whether or not the semiconductor device is acceptable. In particular, this invention relates to a semiconductor device which includes an unvolatile memory and relates to a method of testing whether or not the semiconductor device is acceptable.
In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a plurality of semiconductor devices are formed on a semiconductor wafer in a lump. Subsequently, these semiconductor devices are individually tested whether or not each of semiconductor devices has a predetermined electric characteristic and whether or not executes a predetermined function correctly. Namely, each of the semiconductor devices is tested to ascertain quality. Afterwards, the semiconductor devices are cut away from semiconductor wafer into chips or pellets which have the semiconductor devices, respectively. At this time, the semiconductor devices are classified into acceptable group and nonacceptable group on the basis of results of the test, i.e. the quality. The semiconductor devices of the acceptable group are sent to a later process, for example, a packaging process, while the semiconductor devices of the nonacceptable devices are not send to the later process.
Some methods have been proposed to test the semiconductor devices. For example, there is a method which is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 322441/1992. In this method, the semiconductor devices tests themselves all at once in reply to a source voltage and a self-test starting signal. In this case, the source voltage and the self-test starting signal are supplied from a external tester through probes which are connected to the external tester and which are brought into contact with connecting pads connected to the semiconductor devices on the semiconductor wafer. Results of the test are transmitted to the external-tester through the probes and are memorized in a memory of the external tester.
Moreover, there is another method which is described in an Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 283641/1987. In this method, the semiconductor devices test themselves at a time in reply to a source voltage. The source voltage is supplied to the semiconductor devices through a voltage supply line and a ground line both of which are wired formed on the semiconductor wafer and which are connected to the semiconductor devices. Each of the semiconductor devices is connected to an output terminal and supplies a result signal of the test through the output terminal. The result signal is gathered by the external tester. Similar methods are described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 159149/1991, Nos. 320044/1992, and 257650/1990.
On the other hand, it is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 90549/1990 to give an unvolatile memory element to each of the semiconductor devices. The unvolatile memory element is used for memorizing a result obtained by testing each of the semiconductor devices. The result is written into the unvolatile memory element by the external tester to select acceptable devices before a package process. Similar technique is also disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 192344/1985.
In addition, it is further disclosed in an Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10230/1984 to connect a diode and a resistor to each of the semiconductor devices through a common wiring pattern for voltage supply. With this structure, a normal a voltage is kept even when a certain semiconductor device is shorted and much unusual electric current flows through the resistor. Therefore, the normal voltage is given to the other semiconductor devices than the shorted semiconductor device.
Other methods and other techniques for testing semiconductor devices one by one or two by two are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 217625/1987, 230086/1994, 171136/1987, 7136/1982, and 171137/1987.
In any case, results of the test must be gathered one by one from the semiconductor devices by the external tester. Therefore, either complicated lines on the semiconductor wafer or many probes connected to the external tester are necessary to gather the results. Moreover, it takes a long time to carry out the test because the results must be gathered one by one as mentioned above.

Semiconductor device on semiconductor wafer having simple wirings for test and capable of being tested in a short time


The present invention is directed to peptide sequences that were identified from combinatorial libraries and could serve as substrates of plague plasminogen activator (Pla). Another aspect of the present invention is drawn to peptides derived from the substrates for Pla as a result of chemical modifications leading to specific inactivation of the proteolytic activity of Pla. Additionally, the present invention is directed to the use of the substrates identified herein in the detection of bacteria expressing omptin family of proteases which includes Y. pestis. Furthermore, the present invention is also directed to the use of the inhibitors identified herein in the prevention and treatment of infection caused by these bacteria.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of protein chemistry. More specifically, the present invention discloses substrates and inhibitors of plague plasminogen activators and their use in detecting Yersinia pestis and controlling the infection caused by Yersinia pestis, respectively.
2. Description of the Related Art
Yersinia pestis, a Gram-negative bacterium is the causative agent of plague, an acute and lethal disease. Although plague is a zoonotic infection, it could be transmitted to humans via a bite from a flea that previously fed on an infected rodent. Typically, flea transmission of Yersinia pestis causes a form of disease referred to as bubonic plague. From the initial site of infection, bacteria disseminate to the draining lymph node, causing swelling of this lymph node to form a bubo, from which, if left untreated, can spread into the circulation, eventually causing bacteremia and the second form of the disease, septicemic plague. Sometimes septicemic disease occurs even without the development of buboes and is characterized by an elevated temperature, chills, headache, malaise and gastrointestinal disturbances.
In addition, pneumonic plague can result if the lungs become infected. Pneumonic plague is the most feared form of the disease that arises due to colonization of the alveolar spaces, and can also be caused by bacterial spread from an infected person (or animal) to a healthy individual by the aerosol route. Pneumonic plague develops rapidly (1-3 days), results in a high mortality rate in infected individuals (approaching 100%), and spreads rapidly from human-to-human. Yersinia pestis is responsible for at least three pandemics in the past, killing by estimation more than 200 million people (Perry et al. 1997). For that reason, and because plague is characterized as an emerging infectious disease, the Centers for Disease Control and prevention has classified it as a category A biological agent. For these reasons, the development of highly effective anti-plague treatments, particularly to combat Yersinia pestis resistant to traditional drugs is an immediate public health priority.
Yersinia pestis contains a unique, 9.5-kb plasmid pPCP that determines four known biochemical functions: a bacteriocin called pesticin, immunity to pesticin and fibrinolytic and coagulase activities. Subsequent studies showed that the latter two activities reside in a single gene encoding an outer membrane protein called plague plasminogen activator (Sodeinde and Goguen., 1988). Plague plasminogen activator expression is associated with the marked ability of Yersinia pestis to colonize the viscera and thus cause lethal infection upon administration by peripheral, i.e. intradermal, subcutaneous or intraperitoneal, routes of infection (Sodeinde et al., 1992).
The importance of plasminogen activator for plague pathogenesis was verified with isogenic plasminogen activator mutants of epidemic Yersinia pestis strains KIM and CO92, which showed up to 106 logs reduced virulence by the subcutaneous route (Sodeinde et al., 1992; Welkos et al., 1997). Since the plague is transmitted to humans via a fleabite, Yersinia pestis exhibits remarkably efficient spreading from the peripheral site of the fleabite to the draining lymph node. This spreading is followed by replication and further invasion of the circulation. The major role in this process has been attributed to plasminogen activator because this plague microbe protease resembles mammalian plasminogen activators in function by converting plasminogen to plasmin by limited proteolysis (Sodeinde and Goguen., 1989), possibly leading to clarification of fibrin deposits that could hinder bacterial migration in circulation (Beesley et al., 1967).
Additionally, it was also shown that plasminogen activator can directly inactivate major plasmin inhibitor α2-antiplasmin (α2AP) (Kukkonen et al., 2001) and mediate adhesion to eukaryotic cells (extracellular matrices and basement membranes) which invasive bacteria must penetrate in order to reach the circulation (Lähteenmäki et al., 1998; Lähteenmäki et al., 2001). Finally, recent work using plasminogen-deficient mice has proven importance of plasminogen activation in the pathogenesis of plague, since such mice had a 100-fold increase in the LD50 compared to the normal mice (Goguen et al., 2000). In addition to its role in adhesion, invasion and tissue damage, plasminogen activator has been reported to cleave complement component C3 (Sodeinde et al., 1992), to possess weak coagulase activity (Beesley et al., 1967) and to mediate the proteolysis of yersinia virulence factors (Yops) (Sodeinde et al., 1988). Moreover, a significant antibody response to plasminogen activator was induced after experimental plague infection in mice that survived lethal Yersinia pestis aerosol challenge following antibiotic treatment (Benner et al., 1999); human convalescent sera from plague patients contained antibodies to plasminogen activator as well (Easterbrook et al., 1995).
The plague plasminogen activator of Yersinia pestis is an outer membrane protein, which belongs to the omptin family of bacterial proteases that includes OmpT of E. coli, PgtE of Salmonella and SopA of Shigella flexneri (Lähteenmäki et al., 2001b). However, in contrast to the plague plasminogen activator, the three proteases do not possess the ability either to activate plasminogen or to degrade α2-antiplasmin (Kukkonen et al., 2001), although a recent study suggested that Pgt might have plasminogen-activating capability, which normally stays cryptic for Salmonella (Kukkonen et al., 2004). Further, the predicted structure of plasminogen activator is highly similar to that of its OmpT homolog and has a comparitive β-barrel topology with 10 transmembrane β-strands and five surface-exposed loops (Kukkonen et al., 2004). Although plague plasminogen activator is widely referred to as being a serine protease (Lähteenmäki et al., 2001b), the recently resolved structure of homologous OmpT contradicts such a classification (Vandeputte-Rutten et al., 2001). The model predicts that the omptins may constitute a novel class of proteases that is consistent with the observation that commonly used protease inhibitors do not weakly affect the activity of OmpT. Most likely, plague plasminogen activator is not a serine but rather an aspartate protease as predicted for OmpT (Vandeputte-Rutten et al., 2001).
Furthermore, the plasminogen activator protein of Yersinia pestis is significantly different from both mammalian plasminogen activators for example, tissue-type and urokinase, which are both serine proteases that are secreted in a single form and processed proteolytically into a fully active two-chain form (Lähteenmäki et al., 2001b). Crystal structures of the catalytic domains of tissue-type plasminogen activator and urokinase plasminogen activator have been resolved; their overall structures exhibit the typical serine proteinase fold, with insertion loops around the active site cleft determining their specificity for plasminogen. Therefore, the mammalian Pas and plague plasminogen activator of Yersinia pestis represent a classical case of totally unrelated enzymes that show a similar specificity towards the substrate (plasminogen cleavage resulting in a conversion to plasmin). Thus, compounds inhibiting plasminogen activator activity are unlikely to have any effect on the mammalian blood coagulation system.
Thus, features of plasminogen activator such as its surface location, immunogenicity, the existence of a predicted 3D-model and its involvement in Yersinia pestis systemic infection make this protein an excellent candidate to target for development of non-antibiotic therapeutics that are efficacious against plague infection. Despite this, neither substrate specificity nor inhibitors have been found or predicted for the plasminogen activator enzyme.
Thus, prior art is deficient in the knowledge regarding specific substrates and inhibitors of plague plasminogen activator and their use in the detection of Yersinia pestis and in the treatment of Yersinia pestis infection, respectively. The current invention fulfils this long-standing need in the art.

Substrate peptide sequences for plague plasminogen activator and uses thereof

The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System


An apparatus for reducing the diameter of an open end of a container is claimed. The apparatus comprises a housing having a longitudinal axis. A die is supported in the housing about the longitudinal axis. A radially expandable pilot member is also supported in the housing. The radially expandable pilot member is selectively moveable between a contracted position and an expanded position relative to the longitudinal axis. The radially expandable pilot member comprises a plurality of forming members. A method which utilizes the apparatus is also claimed.

This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for necking containers and, more particularly, concerns a solid, expandable pilot member for supporting the interior surface of a two-piece beverage can during a necking operation.
Two-piece cans are the most common type of metal containers used in the beer and beverage industry and also are used for aerosol and food packaging. They are usually formed of aluminum or tin-plated steel. The two-piece can consists of a first cylindrical can body portion having an integral bottom end wall and a second, separately-formed, top end panel portion which, after the can has been filled, is double-seamed thereon to close the open upper end of the container.
An important competitive objective is to reduce the total can weight as much as possible while maintaining its strength and performance in accordance with industry requirements. For pressurized contents such as soft drinks or beer, the end panel must be made of a metal thickness gauge that is on the order of at least twice the thickness of the side wall. Accordingly, to minimize the overall container weight the second end panel should be diametrically as small as possible and yet maintain the structural integrity of the container, the functionality of the end, and also the aesthetically-pleasing appearance of the can.
In the past, containers used for beer and carbonated beverages had an outside diameter of 2{fraction (11/16)} inches (referred to as a 211-container) and were reduced to open end diameters of (a) 2{fraction (9/16)} inches (referred to as a 209-neck) typically in a single-necking operation for a 209 end; or, (b) 2{fraction (7.5/16)} (referred to as a 207xc2xd-neck) typically in a double-necking operation for a 207xc2xd end; or, (c) 2{fraction (9/16)} (referred to as a 206-neck) in a triple- or quad-necking operation.
More recently, the open ends of beverage containers have been necked to 2{fraction (2/16)} (referred to as a 202-neck). The 202-neck is created using ten to sixteen separate, sequential operations. Further, different can fillers use cans with varying neck size. Hence, it is very important for the can manufacturer to quickly adapt its necking machines and operations from one neck size to another.
Years ago, the process used to reduce the open end diameter of two-piece containers to accommodate smaller diameter second end panels typically comprised a die necking operation wherein the open end was sequentially formed by one, two, three or four die-sets to produce respectively a single-, double-, triple- or quad-necked construction. Examples of such proposals are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,687,098; 3,812,896; 3,983,729; 3,995,572; 4,070,888; and 4,519,232. For these patents, it should be noted that in each die necking operation, a very pronounced circumferential-step or rib is formed. This stepped rib arrangement was not considered commercially satisfactory by various beer and beverage marketers because of the limitations on label space and fill capacity.
In an effort to offset the loss of volume or fill capacity resulting from the stepped rib configuration of the container, efforts have been directed towards eliminating some of the steps or ribs in a container neck. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,493 discloses a method of necking a container wherein a taper is formed in a first necking operation. A second step or rib neck is then formed between the end of the tapered portion and the reduced cylindrical neck.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,007 also discloses a method of necking a container in a multiple necking operation to produce a plurality of ribs. The necked-in portion is then reformed with an external forming roller to eliminate at least some of the ribs and produce a frustoconical portion having a substantially uniform inwardly curving wall section defining the necked-in portion.
However, beer and beverage marketers prefer a neck construction having a relatively smooth neck shape between, for example, the 206 opening and the 211 diameter can. This smooth can neck construction is made by a spin necking process, and apparatus as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,058,998 and 4,512,172.
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,839 disclosed a die necking apparatus for producing a smooth tapered wall between the container side wall and a reduced diameter neck. The apparatus includes a plurality of rotatable necking turrets, each having a plurality of identical necking substations with a necking die.
The necking dies in the respective turrets include an internal configuration to produce a necked-in portion on the container. The necking substations also have a floating form control element or pilot member that engages the inner surface of the container to control the portion of the container to be necked. The necked-in portion is reformed in each succeeding turret by dies to produce a smooth tapered wall between the arcuate segments without the need for subsequent roll forming.
The pilot member generally does not provide support or guidance from the moment the can edge contacts the die to the moment the can edge contacts the floating pilot member. Consequently, the can edge is susceptible to wrinkling or pleating
One way of overcoming the above problem is to reduce the clearance between the initial can contact with the necking die and the pilot member by increasing the number of necking operations. This is very expensive, however, because each necking operation requires a separate necking station.
Further, even with an increased number of necking operations, small wrinkles may form on or near the open edge of the can. These wrinkles are ironed out during subsequent necking operations by forcing the edge of the can between the cylindrical upper portion of the necking die and the floating pilot member. The ironed out wrinkles create localized regions exhibiting increased work hardening that are generally more brittle than adjacent areas and may fail (i.e. fracture or crack) when the open end is flanged.
Wrinkles become even more prevalent as the container sidewall is down-gauged from approximately 0.0062-0.0064 ins. to 0.0050-0.0054 ins. To avoid wrinkling, four to six additional necking operations may be required. Additional necking operations, however, require additional manufacturing space, pressurized air, electricity, and manufacturing time. Thus, adding additional necking operations is cost prohibitive.
Despite these difficulties, producing a suitable 202-neck container from thinner gauge material remains a manufacturing goal. To produce such a 202-neck container while maintaining the current number of necking stations requires extreme dimensional control of both the necking die and pilot member diameters, and the force required to insert the edge of the can between the necking die and the pilot member tends to crush the body of the can or flatten the bottom of the can. Consequently, the can has to be pressurized to twenty to thirty or more psi prior to forming.
To prevent loss of control of the can edge, the pilot member may be shaped over the entire inside profile of the die. Once the neck is formed, however, the can cannot be removed from the pilot member. Methods have been developed to expand the pilot member during the necking operation to keep the edge of the can in contact with the die and to return the pilot to its original size for can removal.
One such apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,130. The apparatus includes a pilot having an elastomeric sleeve and a means for providing for lateral deformation of the sleeve. During necking, the sleeve is controllably deformed in a manner such that the lateral portion of the sleeve is placed into supporting engagement with the interior wall of the can, pressing the can against the transition zone of the die. This supporting action of the elastomeric material against the can wall during the reduction in diameter is aimed at avoiding the formation of localized pleats.
Another such apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,502. The apparatus of this patent includes a die assembly having a cylindrical die for engaging the outer surface of the container and spinning pilot rollers which support the inner diameter of the portion of the container to be necked. The drawback of this method is that the inner surface of the container is only supported at the area where the roller contacts the inner surface.
The present invention provides a rigid, expandable pilot member to eliminate the drawbacks of the current necking apparatuses.
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for necking the open end of a container. The method disclosed herein overcomes the difficulties described above by using a rigid, expandable pilot member which provides a continuous surface for supporting interior surface of the container during a die-necking operation.
An object of the invention is to reduce the thickness of the metal at the open end of the container while reducing the diameter of the container""s open end. The apparatus replaces a conventional pilot member with an expandable metallic pilot member.
The expandable pilot member comprises a plurality of segments which are individually expandable to form a continuous surface. In its unexpanded condition, some of the segments are retracted inwardly of other segments. Upon expansion during the necking operation, end portions of the individual segments mate to form a continuous surface. Thus, the entire circumference of the interior wall of the container is supported because there are no gaps between the individual segments of the pilot member. The pilot member is retracted after the necking operation is completed to facilitate removal of the necked-in container from the tooling.
The pilot member is expanded by a rigid actuator which automatically pushes the segments into working position when the actuator is lifted. When the actuator is lowered, the pilot member is retracted by forces provided by four springs to each pilot member segment respectively.

Method and apparatus for necking the open end of a container


A catalytic chemical reactor of a sandwiched configuration is described. The reactor has at least one plate with a major surface and two minor ends opposite one another across the major surface. A plurality of reaction chambers are present in the plate, parallel to one another and the major surface, extending from one of the minor ends to the other. The reactor additionally comprises at least one heating panel adjacent and parallel to the flat plate. The plates may be configured in modular pairs with a heating panel in between each pair. The reactor is particularly adapted to produce organic chemicals, such as acrolein, in significant, but moderate quantities. Additionally, the reactor is of such a size that it is readily portable. Unusually, the reactor plates, or at least their inner surfaces, may be made from materials such as aluminum, tantalum, titanium, tungsten, niobium and mixtures thereof.

Chemical reactors are well known in the art and may take a number of different forms. For example, some of the well known types of reactors include, but are not limited to batch reactors, stirred tank reactors, continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs), tubular reactors, multiple-pass reactors, fixed bed reactors, fluidized bed reactors and spouted bed reactors. These last three are specific types of catalytic reactors.
Most commercial reactors are relatively large, on the order of tens of feet tall, which require that they remain permanent fixtures to the operating site. Chemical reaction devices which are portable most often refer to laboratory or bench scale equipment, which are not suitable for the production of large volumes of products. Skid- or trailer mounted reactors, are known, of course, where appreciable quantities of a certain material are required and it is also desired that the overall unit be modular or portable, but these tend not to be catalytic systems.
However, there remains a need for different kinds of portable catalytic chemical reactors which produce appreciable volumes of chemicals in good yields. It would be an additional advantage if the reactor were somewhat modular so that modules could be added to the system to adjust the capacity of the reactor system. A small reactor using aluminum tubes coated with copper as a catalyst was reported by Xing and Inoue, Kagaku Kogaku Ronbunshu, Vol. 10, No. 4, 439-45 (1984).


A keyboard portion hinders holding a personal computer upon opening and it is difficult to pick up image while the personal computer is held with hands. It is not easy to use since transfer rate of image data to the main body is limited. To eliminate such drawbacks, when moving or still image is picked up by a camera unit 4, keyboard is separated from main body 2 by releasing engagement of the connectors 7a and 7b and operation is conducted by only main body 2. When user depresses shutter button 5, still image of object is picked up by camera unit 4. The picked-up still image data is fed to a hard disk drive in the main body 2 and is stored therein. Pen 6 gives instructions to the computer circuit in the main body 2 from a digitizer included in the display 3. The image data stored in the hard disk drive can be displayed on the display 3 for personal computer by actuating of the pen 6.

The present invention relates to a portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon and in particular to a portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon as a device for inputting moving or still images thereto.
Various portable personal computers on which a camera is mounted as a device for inputting moving and still images thereto have been proposed (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Kokai Publications JP-A-10-051665, JP-A-10-164414, JP-A-11-053060). A prior art portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon which is a disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai Publication JP-A-10-051665 comprises an upper panel which is provided with a display unit for displaying graphical and character images on a screen and a lower panel having an operating unit for entering information thereto. The upper panel is on its part with a mounting recess having a spherical support for pivotally bearing an electronic camera which is at least partly spherical in shape while it is in contact with the spherical surface of the electronic camera.
A prior art portable personal camera having a camera mounted thereon disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai Publication JP-A-10-164414 comprises a camera having a lens system and a CCD. A deflection mirror is disposed on the side of an object to be photographed with respect to the lens system to form a tube lens unit in such a manner that the incident optical axis intersects with the optical axis of the lens system and CCD. The tube lens unit is held on a display so that it is pivotable around an axis which is parallel to said optical axis of the lens system and the CCD. The pivoting axis of the tube lens unit is disposed perpendicular to a pivoting axis of the display.
A prior art portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai Publication JP-A-11-053060 has a connector which is exclusively used for the camera. A camera unit can be directly detachably connected to the connector without any cable and can be connected to the connector via a cable.
In the prior art portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon which is disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Kokai Publication JP-A-10-051665, it is easy to adjust the camera in an image pickup direction whereas it is hard to carry due to the fact that the keyboard portion will hinder the carrying while the Keyboard is opened and it is hard to take a picture while holding the personal computer with both hands.
In the prior art portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon which is disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Kokai Publication JP-A-10-164414, the photographing of the camera in a lateral direction can be adjusted only by pivoting a camera without moving the entire of the computer since the tube lens unit can be pivoted about an axis perpendicular to the pivoting axis of the display. This computer is also hard to carry since the keyboard will hinder the carrying while the keyboard is opened and is hard to take a picture while the computer is held with both hands.
In the prior art portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon which is disclosed in the above-identified Japanese Patent Kokai Publication JP-A-11-053060, only the camera is detached from the computer main body and is connected with the personal computer via a cable, so that only the camera can be operated even if the keyboard is opened. However, the transfer rate of image data from the camera to the personal computer is restricted, so that it is not convenient to use the camera.
The present invention has been achieved to overcome the above-mentioned problems.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon, which is easy to operate the camera and is capable of shooting a stable image while maintaining easy operation of the keyboard.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon in which the transfer rate of the image data is not restricted.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon in which its portability can be enhanced.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon which can make the shot image more visible.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon, in which the computer comprises a keyboard including various keys, which is provided with a first connection at a predetermined position; a display displaying images; a camera unit shooting image of a desired object; a shutter button operatively associated with the camera unit for operating same. The display, camera unit and shutter button are provided integrally with a housing which accommodates therein a computer circuit including a storage device, to constitute a main body having, externally of the housing, a second connection which is detachably connectable with the first connection. Image data which is obtained by image shooting by the camera unit is stored in the storage device in the computer circuit.
Since the main body which is provided with the camera unit and the shutter button can be separated from the keyboard in accordance with the present aspect, image picking up can be conducted by using only the camera unit on the main body and the obtained image data can be stored in the storage device in the main body.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon, characterized in that the computer comprises: a keyboard including various keys, which is provided with a first connection at a predetermined position; a display displaying images; a camera unit for picking up image of a desired object; a shutter button which is operatively associated with the camera unit for operating same; a computer unit having therein a computer circuit including a storage device; and a detachable cable which connects the keyboard with the computer unit. The display, camera unit and shutter button constitute a display unit which is fixed at a desired angle to the computer by a hinge. Image data which is obtained by image picking up with the aid of the camera unit is stored in the storage device in the computer circuit. In the present aspect, the angle between the display unit and the computer unit can be selected and set at a desired angle by means of the hinge.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the display includes a digitizer, wherein an instruction is provided to the computer circuit from a pointing device via the digitizer of the display when the keyboard is separated from the main body.

Portable personal computer having a camera mounted thereon


A power generation system yielding exhaust providing both carbon dioxide and a preheated hydrogen source used to create liquid fuels from the reaction of the now heated hydrogen with cellulosic biomass, preferably where the hydrogen source is methanol.

Energy efficiency has important impact on both economics of operating costs and carbon dioxide "CO2" emissions. The production of fuels from biomass often has byproducts consisting of carbon dioxide, and in most cases the carbon dioxide is at an exergy level sufficient to yield power generation. One such source of carbon dioxide is the catalytic conversion of cellulosic biomass into liquid and/or gaseous fuels. Another source of carbon dioxide is the combustion exhaust of high temperature industrial processes and/or power generation cycles (a.k.a. top cycle).
Traditional power generation cycles using supercritical carbon dioxide "ScCO2" have distinct challenges associated with at least one of CO2 leakage from the otherwise closed loop cycle, and the direct impact of CO2 within the high pressure side of the closed loop cycle on the low pressure side of the closed loop cycle and vice versa.
The combined limitations of each individual component being the operation of power generation cycles using ScCO2 as a bottom cycle to a top cycle power generation cycle that has both waste heat and CO2 emissions.

Hybrid supercritical power cycle having liquid fuel reactor converting biomass and methanol, gas turbine power generator, and superheated CO2 byproduct


The invention is a decorative cover/actuator which can be used as a stand alone device or in combination with a door bell. The cover is pivotally mounted on a surface with an adjustable lever extending out the back of the cover. When the cover is pressed toward the wall, the push lever rings the door bell and actuates an electronic circuit inside the cover that can display lights, emit sounds, including music and voice, and cause movable objects on the cover to move.

Door bells are usually actuated by a single button that, when pushed, closes an electrical switch which connects power to the door bell ringer or chimes. Various door bell designs have incorporated features in addition to the door bell. U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,877 describes a musical chime device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,294 is a musical door lock wherein an electric door bell is incorporated into the door lock. The "door bell" sound may be of the sound of bird chirps.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,454 describes a door chime that includes an advertising display.
Each of the above door bell devices have additional features that are incorporated into the door bell, and are actuated when the door bell button is directly pushed, but none are actuated indirectly by an intervening actuator that is used to push the door bell switch and activate other features such as sound, lights, and motion.


A method for measuring a length variation of a spring, comprising the steps of associating a measurement device with a spring, determining a measurement of the intensity of a magnetic field of the measurement device, and, on the basis of the measurement of the intensity of the magnetic field, determining the length variation of the spring.

As it is known, there is a movement sensor of the inductive type which uses the LVDT principles, which consist of a primary coil and two secondary coils with a common movable magnetic core.
Sensors of the LVDT type are composed substantially of a fixed part and a movable part, both of which must be anchored to the two ends of the spring, or in any case to two separate points thereof; the measurement of the elongation is determined indirectly by the measurement of the relative position of the two parts of the sensor.
With a similar technique it is also possible to provide capacitive sensors.
Other sensors which can be used for the purpose are load cells, which measure the load to which the spring is subjected and allow to determine, starting from such measurement, the extent of the elongation.
In order to be able to measure the force applied by the spring, the cell must be connected between a fixed point and one end of the spring, or between the two ends of the spring.
These kinds of sensor are not free from drawbacks, including the fact that although they can be applied to the measurement of the elongation of a spring, they necessarily require the use of two anchoring points, at least one of which belongs to the body of the spring.

Method for measuring the length variation of a spring, and spring with associated sensor


An eye imagining apparatus where, in the case of a stereoscopic image, a beam from a left stop of a stereoscope stop and a beam from a right stop of the stereoscopic stop form an eye fundus image on a surface of a cylindrical lens array. These beams also reach adjacent image pickup device elements of an image pickup device of an image pickup unit, respectively. With the cylindrical lens array having the pitch width corresponding to two image pickup device elements, the focal length is determined so that an image of the stereoscope stop is focused in the pitch width, and the imaging plane of the cylindrical lens array is focused on the image pickup device by relay lens apparatus. On the other hand, with a monocular image, a single stop plate is put in the optical path instead of the stereoscope stop and the cylindrical lens array is retracted from the optical path, whereby the image is photographed with a higher horizontal image definition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image apparatus applicable to an eye fundus camera and the like.
2. Related Background Art
Dedicated devices for separately recording right and left images are conventionally known as stereoscopic image apparatus and particularly, simultaneous, stereoscopic eye fundus photographing cameras are dedicated devices for stereoscopic photography with two photographing optical systems for right and left images. For photography of stereoscopic image, two images are separately photographed on separate medium surfaces from right and left. Especially, when an image on an operation microscope is stereoscopically photographed, images of respective optical paths of right and left eyes are recorded by using two TV cameras, they are displayed on one TV monitor in time division, and they are observed through time-division stereoscopic spectacles.
However, since the stereoscopic image devices of the above-stated conventional examples are dedicated devices for stereoscopic photography, their structure is complex. In the case of an endoscope, two CCDs are used for image pickup. In the case of a stereophotographic, eye fundus camera, images are taken in a film having two frames. The photographing apparatus is big and complex in either case. A device for displaying a stereoscopic image by use of a cylindrical lens array has a problem in that the image will not appear stereoscopic unless the position of observer's face is appropriate, and it is thus hard to find where the display screen should be watched for stereoscopic view.
Since the images for the right and left eyes are projected to a transmission type screen with the cylindrical lens array, the structure of the projecting device is complex and positioning of right and left images is difficult. A further problem is a complex photographing operation, because the respective images for the right and left eyes are separately photographed.


The invention provides novel compounds and compositions and methods for making and using the compounds and compositions. In particular, the use of organic acid salts promotes solubility. These more soluble forms are suitable for use in various diseases, notably diseases of lung, muscle, metabolism and eyesight.

Macrocyclic lactones, and in particular, the "macrolides" are naturally derived and semi-synthetic compounds that are anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and also potentially able to modify ion transport (Saint-Criq et al. 2011 B). These biological activities have resulted in the use of Azithromycin, for a wide range of inflammatory diseases mediated by neutrophil activation. In particular, azithromycin is used to decrease airway inflammation and mucus hyper-secretion in patients with diffuse panbronchiolitis, chronic sinusitis, and chronic bronchitis. These properties have also led to the long-term use of azithromycin in cystic fibrosis (CF) where it is unclear whether its primary effect is on airway secretion properties, or on anti-bacterial effects on opportunistic pathogens such as Psuedomonas aeruginosa.
Given the observed efficacy of macrolides, notably azithromycin, in various lung diseases, we sought to solve two problems associated with their use. The first is to limit selection for antibiotic resistance associated with long-term use of the material. The second was to identify convenient formulations for inhaled or oral use. In particular, formulations or salts that are particularly soluble in biological solutions.
In a recent disclosure (61/391,679), we described the fact that oxidized descladinosyl macrolides were non-antibacterial in vivo while retaining desirable anti-inflammatory activity especially in lung inflammation. In the process of optimizing the use of macrolides in lung inflammation, we observed that organic salts of macrolides are more soluble in NaCl containing solutions and more suitable for promoting Cl-efflux from cells.
Here we describe novel salts of macrolides with improved solubility, novel pro-drugs of macrolides with improved solubility and associated uses for the treatment of inflammatory diseases of lung, liver, muscle and eye.


An object represented in an image can be segmented from the image background by capturing a pair of images, one with flash and one without, and generating a differential image. This differential image can be analyzed using an algorithm, such as a connected components or computer vision algorithm, to determine one or more portions of the image that correspond to an object. An appropriate one of these objects can be selected as corresponding to the object of interest, and an outline of the selected object can be used to determine a portion of one of the original images that corresponds to the object. This portion then can be provided to an object recognition or other such process for analysis, which can increase the efficiency and accuracy of the analysis.

Users are increasingly utilizing electronic devices to obtain various types of information. For example, a user wanting to obtain information about a book can capture an image of the cover of the book and upload that image to a book identification service for analysis. In many cases, the cover image will be matched against a set of two-dimensional images including views of objects from a particular orientation. While books are typically relatively easy to match, as a book cover generally includes several features that enable the cover to be matched against a set of cover images, other objects are not as straightforward to match. For example, an object such as a men's dress shoe that is captured from the side might not have many distinctive features, and may appear primarily as a shaped black object in the image. In order to efficiently perform image matching for such an object, the object of interest is often first separated from the background portion of the image. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to separate an object that does not have many unique features that help to distinguish the object from the background. Accordingly, objects such as shoes can take longer to recognize, and the results can be less accurate on average than for objects such as books or media packaging.

Segmentation approaches for object recognition


A tool pot according to the present invention includes an inner wall structure and an outer wall structure that constitute a circumferential wall of a tool attachment hole of the tool pot. The inner wall structure is located at least toward an opening end of the attachment hole and in inner side, and the outer wall structure is located around the inner wall structure. The inner wall structure and outer wall structure are both made from thermo-plastic resin, and the outer wall structure contains more reinforcing filler than the inner wall structure. The tool pot of the present invention prevents damages to tools, and is recyclable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tool pot used for a tool magazine of a machine tool, and more particularly, to a tool pot made from synthetic resin, whose circumferential wall has a two-layer construction of an inner wall structure located at least toward an opening end of an attachment hole and in inner side, and an outer wall structure located around the inner wall structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 2002-273633 discloses a tool pot made from synthetic resin and having two-layer construction. An inner wall of the tool pot is made from heat-hardening resin such as phenolic resin, and an outer wall located around the inner wall is made from thermo-plastic resin such as ABS resin containing reinforcing filler such as glass fiber.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 2001-347434 discloses a tool pot having a single layer construction that is entirely molded from thermo-plastic resin such as ABS resin containing reinforcing filler such as glass fiber.
In the former tool pot of two-layer construction, the inner wall of heat-hardening resin cannot be melted and recycled together with the outer wall of thermo-plastic resin.
In the latter tool pot of single layer construction, the inner part of a tool attachment hole has rigidity, too. Accordingly, if a tool is dislocated from an exact inserting position when inserted into the attachment hole, the tool is liable to contact the tool pot unexpectedly and be damaged by the tool pot.


A dust boot with enhanced protection from contaminants and improved lubrication characteristic includes a dust boot body having a housing opening on one end and on an opposing end a stud opening in an upper boot wall. The boot also includes a wiping lip located on an inner face of the upper boot wall in the stud opening, a grease channel on an outer surface of the upper boot wall bounded circumferentially by a rim seal, an offset opening hole through the upper boot wall into the grease channel which is offset from the wiping lip, and a flexible flap portion of said rim seal which is spaced away from said offset opening hole. The dust boot may also include an insert made from a plastic such as nylon housed in the upper boot wall such that the offset opening hole extends through the insert. The insert may also form a portion of the grease channel. The offset opening is preferably spaced opposite the flexible flap to promote the flow of grease around the outer surface of the stud. The dust boot may be incorporated into a joint assembly by placing it in sealing engagement with a housing which holds a stud in articulating engagement.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a boot type seal, especially adapted for ball and socket type joints, although useful in any installation for sealing relatively articulatable, tiltable or rotatable members while automatically venting or relieving excess pressures such as might be developed by high pressure lubrication or by the accumulation of excessive amounts of lubricants.
2. Related Art
Nearly all original chassis equipment, such as ball joints and tie rod ends, are sealed units. These "lube-for-life" parts are low maintenance since they are sealed, but generally do not have the life of a "greaseable" part. A greaseable part may be greased periodically to replace grease which has escaped or broken down during use, thereby flushing old grease, debris associated with wear of the joint parts or other contaminants (e.g., moisture, dirt or the like) from the joint in the process. Greasable parts offer reduced friction and increase the service life versus a lube-for-life part. Accordingly, greaseable parts are preferred for many applications.
The challenge in designing a dust boot for a greaseable part is that the dust boot must serve as a barrier to prevent contaminants from entering the articulating component. The dust boot must also allow existing grease to escape when the repair technician flushes the part with new grease.
Typical prior art dust boots for these applications utilize a small grease passage and a flexible flap on an outer rim seal to seal the part from contamination while allowing the grease to escape. Often, the annular dynamic wiping lip seals which surround the ball joint stud are interrupted with a bypass flap as well. This bypass flap represents a possible weak spot in the defense against contaminant infiltration, especially given its open relationship alongside the moving surface of the stud. Contaminants which manages to infiltrate the outermost flap can also get drawn through the inner bypass flap as the surface of the stud slides through the wiping lip seals.
The problem, therefore, with prior designs is that sealing capabilities may be compromised in order to ensure that the boot will also be able to allow grease to exit from the dust boot in a controlled manner. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved dust boot design that does not compromise the sealing capability from contaminants while also allowing the dust boot to purge grease during maintenance operations. Furthermore, there is a need for the stud opening of a dust boot to be lubricated as grease exits the dust boot which is not accomplished by prior designs.


A lock system for releasably maintaining a movable closure element in one of two different positions. The lock system has a latching assembly with a first state and a second, maintaining state. An actuating system has a first actuating assembly that is changeable from a first state into a second state by movement of a part of the first actuating assembly in an operating path. A blocking assembly in a first state allows the first actuating assembly to be changed from the first state into the second state. The blocking assembly in a second state blocks the operating path to prevent the part of the first actuating assembly from moving so as to allow the first actuating assembly from being changed from the first state into the second state.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to lock systems, as used to releasably maintain a movable closure element in a predetermined position therefor.
2. Background Art
Lock systems are utilized in many different environments for both static and dynamic applications. One exemplary lock system utilizes one or more U-shaped rotors which are designed to cooperate with a strike element on a support upon which a movable closure element is mounted and relative to which the movable element is movable through pivoting or translation. In a paired rotor construction, each of the rotors has a similar construction and is mounted to a housing for pivoting movement between a latched position and a release position. The rotors are normally spring biased towards their release positions. As the movable closure element is moved towards a predetermined position in which it is to be releasably maintained, the strike element encounters the rotors and causes them to be pivoted against the spring bias force into their latched positions, in which cooperatively captively engage the strike element. A catch assembly cooperates with the rotors, and in a first state maintains the rotors in their latched positions. By changing the catch assembly from the first state into a second state, through repositioning of at least the element on the catch assembly, the rotors are allowed to pivot, under the spring bias force, towards their release positions, thereby allowing separation of the rotors from the strike element, and repositioning of the associated closure element.
Various means have been devised for changing the state of the catch assembly from opposite sides of the movable closure element. It is known, for example, to change the state of the catch assembly utilizing a push button actuator, which is translatable to move a part of the catch assembly to change the state thereof.
In one design, the push button actuator is integrated into a housing defining a handle which can be grasped to a) provide leverage to the user to actuate the push button actuator as through the thumb and b) facilitate controlled movement of the movable closure element. Commonly, the push button actuator is locked relative to the housing through cooperating structure on the push button actuator and housing that blocks translational movement of the push button actuator through a range necessary to change the state of the catch assembly. Typically, the push button actuator is locked through the use of a conventional keying arrangement.
In certain environments, it is desirable to be able to unlock the push button actuator without requiring use of the key, as through a second actuating assembly. The second actuating assembly may be on the same side of the movable closure element as the push button actuator is on, or on the opposite side. As one example, on motor vehicles, it is known to unlock an actuating assembly through an electromechanical mechanism that may be operated, as by a keypad. In some environments, it is desirable to use a wireless transmitter to generate a signal to cause unlocking of an actuating assembly to permit operation thereof without requiring use of a key. For example, in the automotive industry, it is common to use key fobs with an integrated transmitter. In still other environments, a wired switch may be used for this purpose.
Heretofore, particularly with actuating assemblies operable utilizing a push button actuator, it has been impractical to unlock the actuating system other than through use of an operating key for the push button actuator. The housing/handle configuration has geometrical constraints which do not allow incorporation of structure for actuation independent of the keyed mechanism. In certain environments, there is a need for an actuating system, with a push button actuator, that can be locked and unlocked through separate actuating assemblies that may have a construction that has one, or a combination, of mechanical and electromechanical components, with the latter potentially operated in response to a signal generated through either a wired or wireless transmission means.


A slide adjusting device for a drawer includes a first rail member having a first opening; a fixture secured to the first rail member; a supporting member including a connecting portion, a supporting portion, and a guiding portion, the connecting portion being connected to the fixture, the supporting portion corresponding in position to the first opening, the guiding portion comprising a guiding surface, the fixture or the supporting member being provided with a plurality of first engaging portions; an adjusting member including an adjusting portion and a connecting rod driven by the adjusting portion, the connecting rod being provided with a plurality of second engaging portions. When the adjusting portion is turned, the second engaging portions will be driven to move and mesh with the first engaging portions and the supporting portion will move in relation to the first opening with the connecting portion as a fulcrum to hold against the bottom of the drawer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a slide adjusting device for a drawer, and more particularly to one which is able to adjust the height of the drawer in relation to the slide.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A slide adjusting device for a drawer has been disclosed, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,226,139 titled "device for adjusting the height of a drawer"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,283 titled "adjustment device to align a drawer"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,139 titled "device for fixing a drawer extension mechanism"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,334 titled "device for establishing a detent connection"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,945,618 titled "drawer slide adjustment mechanism"; U.S. Published Application No. 2004/0095407 titled "device for connecting a draw-out rail of a drawer guide set to a drawer"; and U.S. Published Application No. 2005/0231083 titled "undermount drawer slide".
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,226,139; 5,439,283; 5,580,139; 6,913,334; and U.S. Published Application No. 2004/0095047 all use a spaced gear teeth structure as a locating means, but they are unable to do a fine adjustment due to the spaced distance of the gear teeth. U.S. Pat. No. 6,945,618 and U.S. Published Application No. 2005/0231083 require a tool to do the adjustment, which is not convenient to the user.


The present application provides a dispersion dispersed satisfactorily cellulose nanofibers, powdery cellulose nanofibers obtained by pulverizing thereof, a resin composition obtained by blending thereof and a molding raw material for a 3D printer by using thereof. It is possible to obtain a composition uniformly finely dispersed the cellulose nanofibers by treating a mixture containing unmodified cellulose nanofibers and a dispersant using a high speed agitating Medialess disperser, and followed by pulverizing the composition to blend with a resin and a rubber component. Also, a resin composition improved in mechanical properties and heat resistance, obtained by blending the powdery cellulose nanofibers above with a thermoplastic resin or a thermosetting resin, is useful as a molding material for a 3D printer.

Cellulose, which is a biomass abundantly presenting in nature, has a fiber structure by converging nanofibers, and mainly functions as a strong structural material of plants.
In such structural materials of the cellulose fibers, it is difficult to disperse them in the original state of the nanofibers because they are strongly converged by the bonding force mainly between the nanofiber surfaces via the hydrogen bonding.
Thus, there has been proposed in Patent Document 1 a cellulose nanofiber dispersion obtained by subjecting a dispersion containing the cellulose nanofibers and an anionic dispersant of phosphoric acid or polyphosphoric acid, a salt of phosphoric acid or a polyphosphoric acid, a polyacrylic acid, a polyacrylic acid copolymer, a salt of polyacrylic acid, a salt of polyacrylic acid copolymer, or the like, in addition to an anionic dispersant binding thereto at least one kind selected from a group consisting of a phosphate group (P—OH), a carboxyl group (—COOH), a sulfo group (—SO3H), or each salt thereat to high pressure injection treatment.
However, in this Patent Document 1, since the anionic dispersing agent as described above is used as the dispersing agent, an anionic layer is formed on the surface of the cellulose nanofibers, and when a dispersion is produced, a special dedicated device is required to perform the high pressure injection treatment.
Also, there have been proposed conventionally, for example, many resin compositions using the cellulose nanofibers.
However, in a resin composition where conventional cellulose nanofibers and a resin are compounded, the dispersibility of the cellulose nanofibers in the resin may be low in some cases. In addition, when a resin having a relatively high hydrophobicity is used, the dispersibility of the cellulose nanofibers in the resin tends to be particularly low.
Therefore, for example, to improve the dispersibility of the cellulose nanofibers in the resin, a method of obtaining a composite resin composition, where resin particles are uniformly dispersed in a resin (Patent Document 2), and the like, has been proposed by polymerizing the polymerizable compound in a dispersion, where the polymerizable compound and the cellulose nanofibers are dispersed in a solvent.
However, in this method, since the polymerizable compound is polymerized in the dispersion of the cellulose nanofibers, the reaction system becomes complicated and high cost. Further, the obtained composite resin composition itself is dispersed in a solvent and must be separately dried.
Also, to improve the dispersibility of the cellulose nanofibers, there has been proposed a composition blending thereto a dispersant having a resin affinity segment A and a cellulose affinity segment B as well as having the block copolymer structure or the gradient copolymer structure as dispersants (Patent Document 3). However, according to the technique of Patent Document 3, it is necessary to synthesize the dispersant by a special living radical polymerization method, and further it becomes necessary to disperse the cellulose nanofibers in the organic solution of the organic solvent after allowing them to disintegrate and disperse in an organic solvent, thereby requiring complicated and precise control for operation and post-treatment, which has been problematic.
Furthermore, 3D printers capable of producing three-dimensional objects based on design data on a computer can make plastic parts, jigs, products without using molds and melt forming equipment and are rapidly spreading mainly in companies. Especially, 3D printers of fused deposition molding type using thermoplastic resin as a molding material are sold also for low price and are spreading to individuals as well.
As a molding material usable in such a thermal melting lamination method type 3D printer, there has been proposed a functional resin composition containing a thermoplastic resin and a functional nanofiller dispersed in the resin (Patent Document 4). The technical outline of this patent document is to use a twin screw extruder to knead carbon nanofibers or nanoclay particles with supercritical carbon dioxide without using a dispersant. In this case, the dispersion of the nanofillers is not sufficient, the original nano-filler function cannot be sufficiently exerted, and cellulose nanofibers are merely exemplified as the nanofibers.

Nanofiber dispersion, method of producing nanofiber dispersion, powdery nanofibers obtainable from the dispersion, resin composition containing the powdery nanofibers ad molding material for 3D printer using the resin composition


A video is provided to viewers using a web-based platform without restricted audio, such as a copyrighted soundtrack. To do so, a video comprising at least two audio layers is received. The audio layers can include separate and distinct audio layers or a mix of audio from separate sources. A restricted audio element is identified in a first audio layer and a speech element is identified in a second audio layer. A stitched text string can be generated by performing speech-to-text on both audio layers and removing the text corresponding to the restricted audio element of the second audio layer. When playing back the video, a portion of the video is muted based on the restricted audio element. A voice synthesizer is employed to generate audible sound during the muted portion using the stitched text string.

Many websites allow third parties to upload video content. Some of these websites actively seek to identify and remove video content that includes restricted information, such as copyrighted music. Copyrighted music sometimes appears advertently as some third parties incorporate music they do not have rights to within a video. In other case, it appears inadvertently in the background of the video. Traditional technology will flag a video and perhaps prohibit the video from being uploaded to the website upon detection of restricted information, like copyrighted music. Some websites require the user to post a disclaimer before uploading the video.

Identifying and removing restricted information from videos


An exemplary memory array including a plurality of memory cells, each of the memory cells comprises a first ferromagnetic layer, a second ferromagnetic layer spaced apart from the first ferromagnetic layer by a non-magnetic separating layer and being magnetically coupled to the first ferromagnetic layer by demagnetizing fields from the first ferromagnetic layer, a spacer layer above the second ferromagnetic layer, and a reference layer above the spacer layer. The first ferromagnetic layer, non-magnetic separating layer, and second ferromagnetic layer in combination function as a data layer of the memory cell.

A memory chip generally comprises a plurality of memory cells that are deposited onto a silicon wafer and addressable via an array of column conducting leads (bit lines) and row conducting leads (word lines). Typically, a memory cell is situated at the intersection of a bit line and a word line. The memory cells are controlled by specialized circuits that perform functions such as identifying rows and columns from which data are read or to which data are written. Typically, each memory cell stores data in the form of a "1" or a "0," representing a bit of data.
An array of magnetic memory cells can be referred to as a magnetic random access memory or MRAM. MRAM is generally nonvolatile memory (i.e., a solid state chip that retains data when power is turned off). At least one type of magnetic memory cell includes a data layer and a reference layer, separated from each other by at least one intermediate layer. The data layer may also be referred to as a bit layer, a storage layer, or a sense layer. The reference layer may also be referred to as a pinned layer. In a magnetic memory cell, a bit of data (e.g., a "1" or "0") may be stored by "writing" into the data layer via one or more conducting leads (e.g., a bit line and a word line). The write operation is typically accomplished via a write current that sets the orientation of the magnetic moment in the data layer to a predetermined direction.
Once written, the stored bit of data may be read by providing a read current through one or more conducting leads (e.g., a read line) to the magnetic memory cell. For each memory cell, the orientations of the magnetic moments of the data layer and the reference layer are either parallel (in the same direction) or anti-parallel (in different directions) to each other. The degree of parallelism affects the resistance of the cell, and this resistance can be determined by sensing (e.g., via a sense amplifier) an output current or voltage produced by the memory cell in response to the read current.
More specifically, if the magnetic moments are parallel, the resistance determined based on the output current is of a first relative value (e.g., relatively low). If the magnetic moments are anti-parallel, the resistance determined is of a second relative value (e.g., relatively high). The relative values of the two states (i.e., parallel and anti-parallel) are typically different enough to be sensed distinctly. A "1" or a "0" may be assigned to the respective relative resistance values depending on design specification. The sensed current is inversely proportional to the resistance of the magnetic memory cell. Thus, Is=V/R (when magnetic moments are parallel) or Is=V/(R+ΔR) (when magnetic moments are anti-parallel), where V is the applied voltage, Is is the sensed current, R is the nominal resistance of the magnetic memory cell, and ΔR is the change in resistance.
The intermediate layer, which may also be referred to as a spacer layer, may comprise insulating material (e.g., dielectric), non-magnetic conducting material, and/or other known materials, and is usually thick enough to prevent exchange coupling between the data and reference layers. The various conducting leads which are used to address the memory cells (e.g., bit lines, word lines, and read lines), and to provide currents to pass through the data and reference layers to read data from or write data to the memory cells are provided by one or more additional layers, called conducting layer(s).
Throughout this application, various exemplary embodiments will be described in reference to the TMR memory cells as first described above. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the exemplary embodiments may also be implemented with other types of magnetic memory cells (e.g., other types of TMR memory cells, GMR memory cells, AMR memory cells, CMR memory cells, etc.) according to the requirements of a particular implementation.
Generally speaking, desirable characteristics for any configuration of memory device include increased speed, reduced power consumption, and/or lower cost. A simpler fabrication process and/or a smaller chip size may achieve lower cost. However, as magnetic memory cells become smaller, typically, higher operating current is required for achieving "write" operations. FIG. 1 illustrates some exemplary relationships between various aspect ratios (at a fixed thickness) of a ferromagnetic layer and their coercivities. As shown in FIG. 1, magnetic coercivity increases as memory cell area decreases. As a result, an increased write current is generally needed to reverse the magnetic orientations of one or more layers of the memory cell. Higher operating current is undesirable because it goes hand-in-hand with higher power requirements, increased concern about electromigration, increased write circuitry area, and increased cost. One way to reduce the coercivity in a small magnetic memory cell is to reduce the thicknesses of the ferromagnetic layers. However, as the total magnetic volume decreases, the magnetic memory cell also becomes less thermally stable. FIG. 2 illustrates some exemplary relationships between temperature and the coercivities of ferromagnetic layers at various thicknesses (at a fixed lateral area).
Thus, a market exists for a multi-layered magnetic memory structure that has improved thermal stability as well as reduced coercivity.

Multi-layered magnetic memory structures


An MEMS vibrator includes a substrate, a fixation section disposed above a principal surface of the substrate, a support section extending from the fixation section, and a vibrating body (an upper electrode) separated from the substrate and supported by the support section in a node part of a vibration, and the vibrating body is a 2n-fold rotationally symmetric body having 2n beams radially extending from a node part of a vibration, wherein n is a natural number.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a vibrator, an oscillator, an electronic apparatus, a moving object, and a method of manufacturing a vibrator.
2. Related Art
In general, there are known electromechanical structures (e.g., a vibrator, a filter, a sensor, and an electric motor) provided with a mechanically movable structure called a micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) device formed using the semiconductor microfabrication technology. Among these examples, the MEMS vibrator is easy to manufacture so as to incorporate a semiconductor circuit, and is advantageous to miniaturization and sophistication compared to a vibrator and a resonator using an existing quartz crystal or dielectric body, and therefore the application range of the MEMS vibrator has been broadened.
As a representative example of MEMS vibrator of related art, there are known a comb-shaped vibrator and a beam-type vibrator, wherein the comb-shaped vibrator vibrates in a direction parallel to a surface of a substrate on which the vibrator is disposed, and the beam-type vibrator vibrates in a thickness direction of the substrate. The beam-type vibrator is a vibrator including a stationary electrode formed on the substrate, a movable electrode disposed so as to be separated from the substrate, and so on, and a clamped-free beam, a clamped-clamped beam, a free-free beam, and so on are known due to the way for supporting the movable electrode.
Since the free-free beam MEMS vibrator is supported by a support member at a part of the movable electrode thus vibrating, the part corresponding to a node of the vibration, a vibration leakage to the substrate is small, and the efficiency of the vibration is high. In the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 6,930,569 B2 (Document 1), there is proposed a technology of setting the length of the support member to a length appropriate to the frequency of the vibration to thereby improve the vibration characteristics.
Further, in JP-T-2004-515089 (Document 2), there is described a signal processing method asserted to be able to process the signal with low power consumption using a plurality of MEMS vibrators (vibrating micro-mechanical elements).
However, the MEMS vibrators described in Document 1 and Document 2 have a problem that it becomes difficult to obtain stable vibration characteristics or the desired vibration characteristics in the case of achieving further miniaturization. In the specific explanation, in a method of manufacturing a beam-type vibrator using the MEMS technology, there is generally adopted a method of stacking a sacrifice layer such as an oxide film as an upper layer of the stationary electrode formed on the substrate, and then removing the sacrifice layer after forming the movable electrode as an upper layer of the sacrifice layer to thereby separate the movable electrode from the substrate and the stationary electrode. Therefore, the movable electrode stacked as the upper layer part tends to have a shape reflecting the uneven shape of the lower layer part. For example, in the MEMS vibrator shown in FIG. 2 of Document 1 and the MEMS vibrator shown in FIG. 5a of Document 2 (partially extracted in accompanying FIGS. 2A and 2B), the pattern shape of the stationary electrode disposed in the lower layer appears as unevenness of the movable electrode in the upper layer. Such unevenness of the movable electrode exerts an influence on the stiffness of the movable electrode as a vibrating beam. Therefore, in the case of achieving further miniaturization of the vibrator, the influence becomes significant, and has caused a problem that it is unachievable to obtain the stable vibration characteristics and the desired vibration characteristics. More specifically, for example, even if the movable electrode (a vibrating beam) is disposed in a balanced manner in the plan view of the vibrator, since the unevenness of the pattern disposed in the lower layer is reflected, there is a case in which the uneven shape of the vibrating beam is off-balance in a side view. In this case, since the distribution of the stiffness in the vibrating beam is uneven, the balance of the vibration of the vibrating beam is lost, which leads the problem that the vibration efficiency is degraded, or the vibration leakage to the outside through the support section increases, as a result. Further, since the vibrating beam has such a complicated shape, there has been a problem that the vibration design in the case of manufacturing the vibrator becomes complicated.

Vibrator, oscillator, electronic apparatus, moving object, and method of manufacturing vibrator


A technique is described for providing interactive features to a composite plot for visualizing a multi-variable dataset. The interactive features include the presentation of curved links and associative highlighting, both of which can assist a user in the exploration of possible relationships between different variables.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
In practice, many real-world datasets are multi-dimensional and include multiple variables. While multi-variable databases are good for showing correlation and relationships between different variables, there is a problem of presenting the data in a format that is easy for the user to process and consume. For example, a relational database can include a count of all the flowers in a garden based on the type of flower and the number of petals the flower has. Thus a count can be maintained for each combination of the two variables; type and petal number. Due to the amount of information present, it can be challenging for users to gain an overview of the data in a moderately sized database. Users must typically choose some small subset of dimensions (such as flowers of a specific petal number) or variables of interest (such as specific types of flowers) before visualizing the data. However, this traditional form of visualization does not provide an overview of all the multiple dimensions simultaneously.

Interactive composite plot for visualizing multi-variable data


A process for the selective hydrodefluorination of a tetrafluorophthalimide compound of the formula ##STR1## where X is 1 and R is a monovalent organo group; or X is 2 and R is a divalent organo group; comprises reacting (I) the tetrafluorophthalimide with zinc in an aqueous alkali metal hydroxide medium. The product may be hydrolyzed to form 3,4,6-trifluorophthalic acid.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for the selective hydrodefluorination of an N-substituted 3,4,5,6-tetrafluorophthalimide. The product may be hydrolyzed to form 3,4,6-trifluorophthalic acid, which, in turn, is a useful chemical intermediate for the synthesis of 2,4,5-trifluorobenzoic acid. The latter is a valuable chemical intermediate for the further preparation of quinolone antibacterials.
2. Prior Art
Various methods for the preparation of 2,4,5-trifluorobenzoic acid, or precursors thereof, are disclosed in the literature. O'Reilly, N. J.; Derwin, W. S.; and Lin, H. C.; SYNLETT, June 1990; 339; disclose the preparation of 3,4,6-trichlorophthalic acid by hydrodechlorination of 3,4,5,6-tetrachlorophthalic acid with zinc dust in aqueous sodium hydroxide.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,999 to O'Reilly, Derwin, and Lin discloses the preparation of 3,4,6-trichlorophthalic acid by hydrodechlorination of 3,4,5,6-tetrachlorophthalic acid or anhydride with a hydrodechlorinating metal, such as zinc, in the presence of a base, such as aqueous sodium hydroxide. The trichlorophthalic acid may then be converted to the corresponding trifluorobenzoic acid. The patentees provide comparative data showing that the subject process of selective dehalogenation using zinc dust and aqueous sodium hydroxide produce 3,4,6-trihalophthalic acid, is efficient for the conversion of tetrachlorophthalic anhydride to 3,4,6-trichlorophthalic acid (97.8% yield) and substantially ineffective for the conversion of tetrafluorophthalic acid to 3,4,6-trifluorophthalic acid (about 3% yield of desired product with about 96% of hydroxy-trifluoro-phthalic and -benzoic acids).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,541 to Nowak and Lin discloses the preparation of trifluorophthalic acid by preparation and fluorination of an alkyl or aryl trichlorophthalimide followed by hydrolysis to the trifluorophthalic acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,493 to Ito, Matsushita, Shimizu, and Ishikawa discloses a similar process involving fluorination of an organo-N-tetrachlorophthalimide to form the corresponding N-tetrafluorophthalimide and hydrolysis to the tetrafluorophthalic acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,966 discloses the reaction of a tetrafluoroisophthalonitrile with a metal hydride, such as sodium borohydride, to give 2,4,5-trifluoroisophthalonitrile.
Treatment of tetrafluorophthalonitrile with zinc in H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 led to 3,4,6-trifluorophthalonitrile in an 88% yield (JP 01,160,944 (1988); CA 112:55243t). In a similar vein, 2,4,5,6-tetrafluoroisophthalonitrile was treated with zinc in aqueous sulfuric acid leading to 2,4,5-trifluoroisophthalonitrile (JP 01,258,639 (1989); CA 112:178350h); the same conversion was also reported using zinc in acetic acid solvent (JP 02,117,643 (1990); CA 113:131769g). Also, 3-chloro-2,4,6-trifluoroisophthalonitrile was converted to 3-chloro-2,6-difluoroisophthalonitrile using zinc in acetic acid solvent (JP 02,169,542; CA 113:190932c).
The conversion of pentafluorobenzonitrile to 2,3,5,6-tetrafluorobenzonitrile, by reaction with zinc in aqueous potassium dihydrogenphosphate is reported in Japanese Patent 02,115,156 (1990). A similar conversion using zinc in aqueous ethanol with added acetic acid is reported in Japanese Patent 01,56,656 (CA 112:7178d).

Process for selective hydrodefluorination


A telecommunications system (18) comprises a control node (24) and a base station node (22). The control node (24) maintains a first list (42) of idle radio channels which is consulted in order to obtain channels for a first type of telecommunications service. A second list (56) of idle radio channels is maintained for a specialized telecommunications service, the idle radio channels of the second list being radio channels which are unallocated with respect to the specialized telecommunications service but yet activated (e.g., having an established transmission path and synchronization). The second list of idle radio channels is initially consulted in order to obtain channels for the specialized telecommunications service. If no channels are available for the specialized telecommunications service on the second list, idle channels from the first list are adapted and utilized for the specialized telecommunications service. The specialized telecommunications service preferably involves packet data transfer (e.g., GPRS).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to cellular telecommunications, and particularly to allocation of radio channels for data services.
2. Related Art and other Considerations
In recent years cellular telephones have become increasingly popular. A cellular telephone is just one example of what is referred to in telephone parlance as a "mobile station" or "mobile terminal". Telecommunications services are provided between a cellular telecommunications network and a mobile station (e.g., cellular telephone) over an air interface, e.g., over radio frequencies. At any moment an active mobile station is communicating over the air interface with one or more base stations. The base stations are, in turn, managed by base station controllers (BSCs). The base station controllers are connected via control nodes to a core telecommunications network. Examples of control nodes include a mobile switching center (MSC) node for connecting to connection-oriented, circuit switched networks such as PSTN and/or ISDN, and a general packet radio service (GPRS) node for connecting to packet-switched networks such as Internet, for example.
A mobile station can take on various forms other than a cellular telephone, including a computer (e.g., a laptop computer) with mobile termination capabilities. In some forms, mobile stations are capable of engaging in differing types of services, or multimedia services. In other words, the mobile station can execute several differing types of programs (i.e., "applications") which interact with the user. Examples of these applications include Internet browsers and electronic mail programs. Several multimedia applications may reside in the same mobile station.
One type of standardized mobile telecommunications scheme, utilized, e.g., in Europe, is the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM). GSM includes standards which specify functions and interfaces for various types of services. A relatively recent data service available within the GSM system is General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). GPRS differs from existing data services in that GPRS is a packet switched service instead of a circuit switched data service. Whereas (in GSM) a circuit switched data user is connected continuously to the radio network during a data call (e.g., even when not transferring data), a GPRS user is connected to the radio network only when either (1) the mobile station desires to transmit or (2) the network has something to transmit to the mobile station. In other words, in GPRS the mobile station (e.g., a computer with mobile termination) is not connected to the network constantly while the computer is in use, but only during these two transmission events.
The GPRS service is provided to a connection over a GPRS packet data channel (PDCH). Before a GPRS packet data channel is reserved for a connection requesting such reservation, the GPRS packet data channel must first be allocated to GPRS from a pool of channels also available to other data services and to speech services. A list of the available channels in such pool, known as the GSM Idle List, is maintained at the base station controller.
Allocation of a packet data channel involves not only performance of a GPRS channel allocation procedure at the base station controller (BSC), but also performance of a GPRS channel activation procedure (e.g., at the base station). Whereas the time required at the base station controller to allocate a packet data channel is rather short (on the order of one to two milliseconds), the time required for the GPRS channel activation procedure is considerably longer (e.g., approximately one hundred milliseconds).
The standards documents concerning the GSM are relatively silent regarding GSM channel allocation. Regarding channel activation, the GSM standards documents describe that a channel is chosen first by the base station controller and then GSM channel activation is performed. In this regard, see the GSM Technical Specification 08.58 Version 5.2.0, July 1996.
GSM prescribes a channel release procedure whereby the base station controller releases a radio channel which is no longer needed. In accordance with this GSM channel release procedure, the channel being released is returned to the GSM Idle List maintained by the base station controller. The base station controller also sends an RF CHANnel RELease message to the relevant transmitter/receiver at the base station, specifying the channel-to-be-released. After having released the addressed sources, the base station sends a RF CHANnel RELease ACKnowledge message to the base station controller.
In view of the characteristics of GPRS as above described, fast access to GPRS is imperative. The existing circuit switched scheme for accessing and releasing channels is not ideal for GPRS. In the existing circuit switched scheme, a channel is released when it is deallocated. But if a channel has to be allocated again subsequently, it must again undergo the time-intensive channel activation procedure.
What is needed therefore, and an object of the present invention, is a fast channel allocation procedure for GPRS.

Allocation of channels for packet data services


An open roof construction for a vehicle comprises a roof opening provided in a stationary roof part, a movable panel for opening and closing said roof opening and a wind deflector assembly proximate a forward edge of the roof opening. The wind deflector assembly comprises a frame part extending substantially in a transverse direction and movable between a retracted position and extended position below and above, respectively, the level of the stationary roof part and a flexible member attached to said frame part at a first end and attached to a stationary part of the vehicle at a second end. The wind deflector assembly further comprises a guide rod for the flexible member extending in a transverse direction and movable in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The guide rod is moves so that the flexible member is maintained in a taut state in all positions of the frame part.

The discussion below is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Aspects of the invention relate to an open roof construction for a vehicle, comprising a roof opening provided in a stationary roof part, a movable panel for opening and closing said roof opening and a wind deflector assembly positioned near a forward edge of the roof opening, which wind deflector assembly comprises a frame part extending substantially in a transverse direction and movable between a retracted position below the level of the stationary roof part and an extended position above said level of the stationary roof part and a flexible member which with a first end is attached to said frame part and which with an opposite second end is attached to a stationary part of the vehicle.
For obtaining the best performance and appearance of the wind deflector the flexible member (which often comprises a mesh material) should be kept taut in at least all positions of the frame part above the level of the stationary roof part.