The invention relates to nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds of general formula (I)

The invention relates to nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds, to their preparation and to their use as antibacterial drugs.
The application WO 04/052891 notably describes compounds fitting the following formula:
wherein:R1 represents a hydrogen atom, a COOH, COOR, CN, (CH2)n′R5, CONR6R7 or radical
R is selected from the group formed by an alkyl radical containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, optionally substituted with one or more halogen atoms or with a pyridyl radical, a —CH2-alkenyl radical containing a total of 3 to 9 carbon atoms, a (poly)alkoxyalkyl group containing 1 to 4 oxygen atoms and 3 to 10 carbon atoms, an aryl radical containing 6 to 10 carbon atoms or an aralkyl radical containing 7 to 11 carbon atoms, the ring of the aryl or aralkyl radical being optionally substituted with an OH, NH2, NO2, alkyl radical containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, an alkoxy radical containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms or with one or more halogen atoms,R5 is selected from the group formed by a COOH, CN, OH, NH2, CO—NR6R7, COOR, OR radical, R being defined as above,R6 and R7 are individually selected from the group formed by a hydrogen atom, an alkyl radical containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, an alkoxy radical containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, an aryl radical containing 6 to 10 carbon atoms and an aralkyl radical containing 7 to 11 carbon atoms and an alkyl radical containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms substituted with a pyridyl radical,n′ is equal to 1 or 2,R3 and R4 form together a phenyl or a heterocycle with aromaticity with 5 or 6 apices containing 1 to 4 heteroatoms selected from nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur, substituted with one or more R′ groups, R′ being selected from the group formed by the —(O)a—(CH2)b—(O)a—CONR6R7, —(O)a—(CH2)b—OSO3H, —(O)a—(CH2)b—SO3H, —(O)a—SO2R, —(O)n—SO2—CHal3, —(O)a—(CH2)bNR6R7, —(O)a—(CH2)b—NH—COOR, —(CH2)b—COOH, —(CH2)b—COOR, —OR″, OH, —(CH2)b— phenyl radicals and (CH2)b-heterocycle with aromaticity with 5 or 6 apices containing 1 to 4 heteroatoms selected from nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur, the phenyl and the heterocycle being optionally substituted with one or more halogens, an alkyl containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, an alkoxy containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms or CF3, R, R6 and R7 being as defined earlier, R″ being selected from the group formed by alkyl radicals containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms substituted with one or more hydroxy, protected hydroxy, oxo, halogen or cyano radicals, a being equal to 0 or 1 and b being an integer from 0 to 6, it being understood that when R′ is OH, R1 represents the radical CONR6R7 wherein R6 or R7 is an alkoxy containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms,R2 is selected from the group formed by a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom and R, S(O)mR, OR, NHCOR, NHCOOR and NHSO2R radicals, R being as defined earlier and m being equal to 0, 1 or 2,X represents a divalent group —C(O)—B— linked to the nitrogen atom through the carbon atom,B represents a divalent group —O—(CH2)n″— linked to the carbonyl through the oxygen atom, a group —NR8—(CH2)n″— or —NR8—O— linked to the carbonyl through the nitrogen atom, n″ is equal to 0 or 1 and R8 is selected from the group formed by a hydrogen atom, an OH, R, OR, Y, OY, Y1, OY1, Y2, OY2, Y3, O—CH2—CH2—S(O)m—R, SiRaRbRc and OSiRaRbRc radical, Ra, Rb and Rc individually representing a linear or branched alkyl radical containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms or an aryl radical containing 6 to 10 carbon atoms, and R and m being defined as earlier,Y is selected from the group formed by the COH, COR, COOR, CONH2, CONHR, CONHOH, CONHSO2R, CH2COOH, CH2COOR, CHF—COON, CHF—COOR, CF2-COOH, CF2-COOR, CN, CH2CN, CH2CONHOH, CH2CONHCN, CH2-tetrazole, CH2-(protected tetrazole), CH2SO3H, CH2SO2R, CH2PO(OR)2, CH2PO(OR)(OH), CH2PO(R)(OH) and CH2PO(OH)2 radicals,Y1 is selected from the group formed by the SO2R, SO2NHCOH, SO2NHCOR. SO2NHCOOR, SO2NHCONHR, SO2NHCONH2 and SO3H radicals,Y2 is selected from the group formed by the PO(OH)2, PO(OR)2, PO(OH)(OR) and PO(OH)(R) radicals,Y3 is selected from the group formed by the radicals, tetrazole, tetrazole substituted with the radical R, squarate, NH or NR tetrazole, NH or NR tetrazole substituted with the radical R, NHSO2R and NRSO2R, CH2-tetrazole and CH2-tetrazole substituted with R, R being defined as above, andn is equal to 1 or 2,as well as the salts of these compounds with mineral or organic bases or acids.
The asymmetrical carbon atoms contained in the compounds of formula (I) may independently of each other have the R, S or RS configuration and the compounds of formula (I) therefore appear as pure enantiomers or pure diastereoisomers or as a mixture of enantiomers, notably of racemates, or mixtures of diastereoisomers. Further, the substituent R1, R2, or R4 taken individually on the one hand and X on the other hand may be in the cis and/or trans position relatively to the ring on which they are attached, the compounds of formula (I) appear as cis isomers or trans isomers or mixtures thereof. Moreover, the application WO 02/100860 describes related compounds. The applicant has discovered that among the compounds described in the application WO 04/052891, certain particular compounds, none of which are described in the experimental part of this application, have quite unexpected antibacterial properties.
The unique character of the compounds of the invention lies in the fact that they have excellent activity on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterial strain frequently encountered in nocosomial infections as well as in patients suffering from cystic fibrosis. This interesting and unexpected activity is not present in compounds closest to them as prepared in the application WO 04/052891. It is illustrated later on in the experimental part.
Moreover, the compounds of the invention proved to be active on animal infection models, including on strains usually resistant to commonly used antibiotics. The compounds of the invention are capable of thwarting the main mechanisms of bacterial resistance which are β-lactamases, efflux pumps and mutations of porins.
The compounds of the invention are compounds fitting the formula above wherein R2 represents a hydrogen atom, X represents a divalent group C(O)NR8 wherein R8 is a OY1 radical, Y1 being a SO3H radical, and especially including the following particular combination of substituents R1, R3, R4:
R1 represents an alkyl radical substituted with an amino radical and R3 and R4 form together a nitrogen-containing heterocycle with aromaticity with 5 apices substituted with a group including or consisting in a polar substituent of the amino or aminated aromatic heterocycle or carboxy type.
The object of the invention is thus the compounds of general formula (I), in their possible isomer or diastereoisomer forms or mixtures:
wherein:R1 represents a (CH2)n—NH2 radical, n being equal to 1 or 2;R2 represents an hydrogen atom;R3 and R4 form together a nitrogen-containing heterocycle with aromaticity with 5 apices containing 1, 2 or 3 nitrogen atoms, substituted on this nitrogen atom or on one of these nitrogen atoms with a (CH2)m—(C(O))p—R6 group, m being equal to 0, 1, 2 or 3, p being equal to 0 or 1 and R5 representing a hydroxy group, in which case p is equal to 1, or an amino, (C1-C6)alkyl or di-(C1-C6)alkyl amino group, or a nitrogen-containing heterocycle with aromaticity with 5 or 6 apices containing 1 or 2 nitrogen atoms, and, if necessary, an oxygen or sulphur atom; it being understood that when the sub-group (C(O))p—R6 forms a carboxy, amino or (C1-C6)alkyl or di-(C1-C6)alkyl amino group, m is different from 0 or 1; in free form and as zwitterions and salts with pharmaceutically acceptable mineral or organic bases and acids.
By alkyl radical containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms, is notably meant the methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl radical, as well as a linear or branched butyl, pentyl or hexyl radical. By heterocycle with aromaticity with 5 apices containing 1, 2 or 3 nitrogen atoms, are meant those selected in the following list, the two bonds symbolizing the junction with the nitrogen-containing ring formed by R3 and R4:

By nitrogen-containing heterocycle with aromaticity with 5 or 6 apices containing 1 or 2 nitrogen atoms and if necessary 1 oxygen or sulfur atom, are meant those of the type illustrated above, or an oxazole or thiazole ring, or a ring with 6 apices of the pyridine, pyrazine, pyrimidine or pyridazine type, the heterocycle being attached to the chain or to the heterocycle formed by R3 and R4 through a nitrogen atom or a carbon atom. Among the acid salts of the products of formula (I), mention may i.a. be made of those formed with mineral acids such as hydrochloric, hydrobromic, hydroiodic, sulfuric or phosphoric acids or with organic acids such as formic, acetic, trifluoroacetic, propionic, benzoic, maleic, fumaric, succinic, tartaric, citric, oxalic, glyoxylic, aspartic, alkane-sulfonic acids, such as methane- and ethane-sulfonic acids, arylsulfonic acids such as benzene- and paratoluene-sulfonic acids. Among the salts of the products of formula (I), mention may be made, i.a., of those formed with mineral bases such as for example, sodium, potassium, lithium, calcium, magnesium or ammonium hydroxide or with organic bases such as for example methylamine, propylamine, trimethylamine, diethylamine, triethylamine, N,N-dimethylethanolamine, tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, ethanolamine, pyridine, picoline, dicyclohexylamine, morpholine, benzylamine, procaine, lysine, arginine, histidine, N-methylglucamine, or further phosphonium salts such as alkylphosphoniums, arylphosphoniums, alkylarylphosphoniums, alkenylaryl-phosphoniums, or quaternary ammonium salts such as tetra-n-butylammonium salts.
The asymmetrical carbon atoms contained in the compounds of formula (I) may independently of each other have the R, S or RS configuration and the compounds of formula (I) therefore exist as pure enantiomers or pure diastereoisomers or as a mixture of enantiomers, notably of racemates or mixtures of diastereoisomers. Further, the substituent R1 on the one hand and the chain —C(O)—N(OSO3H)— on the other hand may be in the cis and/or trans position relatively to the ring on which they are attached, the compounds of formula (I) exist as cis isomers or trans isomers or mixtures.
Among the compounds of formula (I), the object of the invention is notably the compounds wherein R3 and R4 form together a substituted pyrazolyl heterocycle. Among the compounds of formula (I), the object of the invention is notably those wherein R1 is a (CH2)n—NH2 group, n being equal to 1 and the heterocycle formed by R3 and R4 is substituted with a (CH2)m—(C(O))p—R5 group as defined earlier, and more particularly among the latter, those wherein R5 represents an amino, (C1-C6)alkyl or di-(C1-C6)alkyl amino, m and p being as defined earlier.
Among the compounds of formula (I), the object of the invention is most particularly the compounds described later on in the experimental part and notably those of the following names:    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-2-carbamoyle-4,8-dihydro-5-(sulfo-oxy)-4,7-methano-7H-pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-6(5H)-one,    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-2-dimethylcarbamoyle-4,8-dihydro-5-(sulfooxy)-4,7-methano-7H-pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-6(5H)-one,    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-2-methylcarbamoyle-4,8-dihydro-5-(sulfooxy)-4,7-methano-7H-pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-6(5H)-one,    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-1-(2-aminoethyl)-4,8-dihydro-5-(sulfooxy)-4,7-methano-7H-pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-6(5H)-one,    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-2-(2-aminoethyl)-4,8-dihydro-5-(sulfooxy)-4,7-methano-7H-pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-6(5H)—O-one,    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-2-(2-pyridinyl)-4,8-dihydro-5-(sulfo-oxy)-4,7-methano-7H-pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-6(5H)-one,    trans [[8-(aminomethyl)-5,6-dihydro-6-oxo-5-(sulfooxy)-4H-4,7-methanopyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-2(8H)-acetic acid, trans    8-(aminomethyl)-5,6-dihydro-6-oxo-5-(sulfooxy)-4H-4,7-methanopyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-2(8H)-acetamide,in free form, as zwitterions and salt with pharmaceutically acceptable mineral or organic bases and acids, and as possible isomers or diastereoisomers, or mixtures.
Another object of the invention is a method for preparing compounds of formula (I), characterized in that a compound of formula (II) is treated:
wherein represents an R′1 radical wherein the nitrogen atom is protected, R2 is as defined above, R′3 and R′4 form together a nitrogen-containing heterocycle with aromaticity with 5 apices containing 1, 2 or 3 nitrogen atoms and P represents a group protecting the hydroxy radical, in the presence of a base, with a compound of formula (III):X—(CH2)m—(C(O))p—R′5  (III)wherein X represents a halogen atom or an OH group which may be activated, m and p are as defined above and R′5 represents an R5 radical wherein the reactive amino or carboxy group is, if necessary, protected, in order to obtain a compound of formula (IV):
wherein R′1, R2 and P are as defined above and R″3 and R″4 form together a nitrogen-containing heterocycle with aromaticity with 5 apices as defined above for R3 and R4, substituted with a (CH2)m—(C(O))p—R′5 group, m, p and R′5 being as defined above,and the hydroxyl radical is then deprotected and the obtained compound is submitted to a sulfatation reaction by action of complexed SO3, and then, if necessary the obtained compound is submitted to one or more of the following reactions, in a suitable order:
deprotection of the present aminated function(s) and if necessary of the carboxy group,
salification,
ion exchange,
resolution or separation of diastereoisomers.
Preliminary protection of the amine at R′1, and R′5 is notably carried out in the form of benzylated or tritylated derivatives, of carbamates, notably allyl, benzyl, phenyl or tertbutyl carbamates, or further in the form of silylated derivatives such as tertbutyl dimethyl, trimethyl, triphenyl or further diphenyltertbutyl-silyl derivatives, or further phenylsulfonylalkyl or cyanoalkyl derivatives. Deprotection may be carried out with different methods known to one skilled in the art, depending on the nature of the protective group. It may notably be carried out through the action of an acid, for example trifluoroacetic acid, the deprotected compound being then obtained as a salt of the acid. It may further be carried out by hydrogenolysis or with soluble complexes of palladium(0) or through the action of tetrabutylammonium fluoride or by reduction. An illustration is provided further on in the experimental part.
The preliminary protection of the carboxy at R′5 is notably carried out in the form of derivatives of the ester type, notably alkyl, allyl, benzyl, benzhydryl or p-nitro benzyl esters. Deprotection may be carried out with different methods known to one skilled in the art, for example by saponification, acid hydrolysis, hydrogenolysis or cleavage with soluble complexes of palladium(0). The base in the presence of which the compound of formulae (II) and (III) are reacted may for example be an alkaline carbonate but other bases known to one skilled in the art may be used.
The preliminary protection of the hydroxyl of the compound of formula (II) is carried out in a standard way, in the form of ethers, esters or carbonates. The ethers may be alkyl or alkoxyalkyl ethers, preferably methyl or methoxyethoxmethyl ethers, aryl ethers, or preferably aralkyl ethers, for example benzyl ethers, or silylated ethers, for example the silylated derivatives mentioned above. The esters may be any cleavable ester known to one skilled in the art and preferably an acetate, propionate or benzoate or p-nitrobenzoate. The carbonates may for example be methyl, tertbutyl, allyl, benzyl or p-nitrobenzyl carbonates.
Deprotection is carried out with means known to one skilled in the art, notably saponification, hydrogenolysis, cleavage by soluble complexes of palladium(0), hydrolysis in an acid medium or further, for silylated derivatives treatment with tetrabutylammonium chloride, an illustration is provided further on in the experimental part. The possible activation of the hydroxyl of the compound of formula (III) is achieved in the form of a mesylate or tosylate, under conditions known to one skilled in the art. The sulfatation reaction is carried out by action of SO3 complexes such as SO3-pyridine or SO3-dimethylformamide, by operating in pyridine or in dimethylformamide, the salt formed, for example the salt of pyridine, may be exchanged for example with a salt from another amine, a quaternary ammonium or an alkaline metal. An illustration is provided in the experimental part.
Salification by acids is if necessary carried out by adding an acid in a soluble phase to the compound. Salification by bases of the sulfo-oxy function may be achieved from the amine salt, and notably pyridine salt obtained during the action of the SO3-amine complex and the other salts are obtained from this amine salt. It is notably possible to operate with ion exchange on a resin. The separation of the enantiomers and diastereoisomers may be achieved according to techniques known to one skilled in the art, notably chromatography either on a chiral phase or not. Examples of conditions which may be used are also described in application WO 04/052891 or further application WO 02/100860.
The compounds of formula (I) wherein n is equal to 0, p is equal to 1 and R5 represents R″5, R″5 representing an amino, (C1-C6) alkyl or di-(C1-C6)alkyl amino, may further be obtained by a method characterized in that a compound of formula (II) as defined above is treated in the presence of a base, with diphosgene and then with an amine of formulaH—R″5 wherein R″5 has the values of R5 above, in order to obtain a compound of formula (IV′):
wherein R′1, R2 and P are as defined above and R3 and R4 form together a nitrogen-containing heterocycle with aromaticity with 5 apices as defined above, substituted with a —C(O)—R″5 group, R″5 being as defined above, and the synthesis is then continued as described above in the case of the compound of formula (IV).
The base used during the action of diphosgene may notably be a tertiary amine such as triethylamine. These same compounds of formula (I) may further if necessary be obtained with a method characterized in that a compound of formula (II) as defined above is treated with trimethylsilyl isocyanate or with an isocyanate of formula(C1-C6)alkyl-N═C═OIn order to obtain a corresponding compound of formula (IV), the synthesis is then continued as described above. The compounds of formula (I) wherein R5 represents a heterocycle may be obtained with different reactions known to one skilled in the art for forming C—N bonds and notably by catalysis with palladium or copper as the one described in one of the examples hereafter.
As indicated above, the compounds of general formula (I) have excellent antibiotic activity on Pseudomonas aeruginosa as well as on animal infection models by strains resistant to commonly used antibacterial agents. This remarkable and unexpected antibiotic activity had not been observed for the compounds described in application WO 04/052891 and notably for the compounds structurally close to them. This is illustrated later on. These properties make said compounds suitable in the free form or as zwitterions or salts of pharmaceutically acceptable acids and bases, for use as drugs in treating severe infections by Pseudomonas, notably nosocomial infections and, generally, major infections in subjects at risks. These may in particular be infections of the respiratory tracts, for example acute pneumonia or chronic infections of the lower tracts, blood infections for example septicemias, acute or chronic infections of the urinary tracts, those of the auditory system, for example malign external otitis, or suppurating chronic otitis, those of the skin and of soft tissues, for example dermatitises, infected wounds, folliculitis, pyodermatis, stubborn forms of acne, eye infections, for example corneal ulcer, those of the nervous system, notably meningitises and brain abscesses, heart infections such as endocarditis, infections of bones and joints, such as stenoarticular pyoarthrosis, vertebral osteomyelitis, pubic symphysitis, infections of the gastro-intestinal tract, such as necrosing enterocolitis and perirectal infections.
Therefore the object of the present invention also is, in the form of drugs, and notably as antibiotic drugs, the compounds of formula (I) as defined above, in free form and as zwitterions and salts with pharmaceutically acceptable mineral or organic bases and acids. Among the compounds of formula (I), the object of the invention is notably the compounds, as drugs, wherein R3 and R4 form together a substituted pyrazolyl heterocycle. Among of the compounds of formula (I), the object of the invention is more particularly the compounds as drugs, wherein R1 is a (CH2)n—NH2 group, n being equal to 1 and the heterocycle formed by R3 and R4 is substituted with a (CH2)m—(C(O))p—R5 group as defined earlier, and more particularly among the latter, those in which R5 represents an amino, (C1-C6)alkyl or di-(C1-C6)alkyl amino group, m and p being as defined earlier.
Among the compounds of formula (I), the object of the invention is most particularly the compounds, as a drug, with the following names:    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-2-carbamoyle-4,8-dihydro-5-(sulfo-oxy)-4,7-methano-7H-pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-6(5H)-one,    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-2-dimethylcarbamoyle-4,8-dihydro-5-(sulfooxy)-4,7-methano-7H-pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-6(5H)-one,    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-2-methylcarbamoyle-4,8-dihydro-5-(sulfooxy)-4,7-methano-7H-pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-6(5H)-one,    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-1-(2-aminoethyl)-4,8-dihydro-5-(sulfooxy)-4,7-methano-7H-pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-6(5H)-one,    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-2-(2-aminoethyl)-4,8-dihydro-5-(sulfooxy)-4,7-methano-7H-pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-6(5H)-one,    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-2-(2-pyridinyl)-4,8-dihydro-5-(sulfooxy)-4,7-methano-7H-pyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-6(5H)-one,    trans [[8-(aminomethyl)-5,6-dihydro-6-oxo-5-(sulfooxy)-4H-4,7-methanopyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-2(8H)-acetic acid,    trans 8-(aminomethyl)-5,6-dihydro-6-oxo-5-(sulfooxy)-4H-4,7-methanopyrazolo[3,4-e][1,3]diazepin-2(8H)-acetamide,in free form, as zwitterions and salts with pharmaceutically acceptable mineral or organic bases and acids, and in their possible isomer or diastereoisomer forms, or mixtures.
The object of the invention is also pharmaceutical compositions containing as an active ingredient, at least one of the compounds according to the invention as described above. These compositions may be administrated via a buccal, rectal, parenteral, notably intramuscular route, or via a local route, by topical application on the skin and mucosas. The compositions according to the invention may be solid or liquid and exist as pharmaceutical forms currently used in human medicine such as for example simple or sugar-coated tablets, gelatin capsules, granules, suppositories, injectable preparations, ointments, creams, gels; they are prepared according to the usual methods. The active ingredient(s) may be incorporated to excipients usually used in these pharmaceutical compositions, such as talc, gum arabic, lactose, starch, magnesium stearate, cocoa butter, aqueous carriers or not, fats of animal or plant origin, paraffinic derivatives, glycols, various wetting agents, dispersants or emulsifiers, preservatives. These compositions may notably exist as a lyophilisate intended to be dissolved extemporaneously in a suitable carrier, for example, apyrogenic sterile water.
The administered dose is variable depending on the treated disease, the subject in question, the administration route, and the relevant product. It may for example be comprised between 0.250 g and 10 g daily, orally in humans, with the product described in Examples 1, 4 or 5 or further comprised between 0.25 g and 10 g daily via an intramuscular or intravenous route. The products of formula (I) may also be used as disinfectants of surgical instruments.

Nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds, their preparation and their use as antibacterial drugs

Abstract: wherein:R1 represents a (CH2)n—NH2 radical, n being equal to 1 or 2;R2 represents a hydrogen atom;R3 and R4 form together a nitrogen-containing heterocycle with aromaticity with 5 apices containing 1, 2 or 3 nitrogen atoms, substituted on this nitrogen atom or one of these nitrogen atoms with a (CH2)m—(C(O))p—R5 group, m being equal to 0, 1, 2 or 3, p being equal to 0 or 1 and R5 representing a hydroxy group, in which case p is equal to 1, or an amino, (C1-C6)alkyl or di-(C1-C6)alkyl amino, a nitrogen-containing heterocycle with aromaticity with 5 or 6 apices containing 1 or 2 nitrogen atoms and if necessary, an oxygen or sulfur atom;                it being understood that when the sub-group (C(O))p—R5 forms a carboxy, amino, (C1-C6) alkyl or di-(C1-C6) alkyl amino, group, m is different from 0 or 1;        in free form or as zwitterions and salts with pharmaceutically acceptable mineral or organic bases and acids, to their preparation and to their use as antibacterial drugs.


In ultrasonic welding of a seam, such as for creation of an imaging belt, an ultrasonic welding horn is applied to an overlap area. The welding horn has a contact surface within a certain set of dimensions comparable to the overlap area. The welding horn defines a conical main body that tapers to the dimensions of the contact area through a short length.

Flexible electrostatographic belt imaging members are well known in the art. Typical electrostatographic flexible belt imaging members include, for example, photoreceptors for electrophotographic imaging systems, electroreceptors such as ionographic imaging members for electrographic imaging systems, and intermediate transfer belts for transferring toner images in electrophotographic and electrographic imaging systems. These belts are usually formed by cutting a rectangular sheet from a web containing at least one layer of thermoplastic polymeric material, overlapping opposite ends of the sheet, and joining the overlapped ends together to form a welded seam. The seam extends from one edge of the belt to the opposite edge. Generally, these belts comprise at least a supporting substrate layer and at least one imaging layer comprising thermoplastic polymeric matrix material. The "imaging layer" as employed herein is defined as the dielectric imaging layer of an electroreceptor belt, the transfer layer of an intermediate transfer belt and, the charge transport layer of an electrophotographic belt. Thus, the thermoplastic polymeric matrix material in the imaging layer is located in the upper portion of a cross section of an electrostatographic imaging member belt, the substrate layer being in the lower portion of the cross section of the electrostatographic imaging member belt. Although the flexible belts of interest consist of these mentioned types, nonetheless for simplicity reason, the discussion hereinafter will be focused only on the electrophotographic imaging member belts.
The flexible electrophotographic imaging member belts are fabricated from sheets cut from a web. The sheets are generally rectangular in shape. All edges may be of the same length or one pair of parallel edges may be longer than the other pair of parallel edges. The sheets are formed into a belt by joining overlapping opposite marginal end regions of the sheet. A seam is typically produced in the overlapping marginal end regions at the point of joining. Joining may be effected by any suitable means. Typical joining techniques include welding, gluing, taping, pressure heat fusing, and the like. Ultrasonic welding rapid, clean, and produces a thin and narrow seam. In addition, the mechanical pounding of ultrasonic welding causes generation of heat at the overlapping end marginal regions of the sheet to maximize melting of one or more layers therein. A typical ultrasonic welding process is carried out by holding down the overlapped ends of a flexible sheet with vacuum over a flat anvil and guiding the flat end of an ultrasonic vibrating horn transversely across the width of the sheet and along the length of the overlapped ends to form a welded seam.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,459,610 discloses ultrasonic welding of thermoplastic films, and discusses possible shapes of an ultrasonic welding tip for this purpose.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,698 discloses a method of ultrasonically welding seams for imaging belts.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,691, incorporated by reference above, discloses a method of ultrasonically welding seams for imaging belts.

Ultrasonic welding horn for welding a seam in an imaging receptor belt


A fire-resisting composite glass is comprised of at least two glass plates (1, 2) and an interspaced cavity (6). The distance between the glass plates (1, 2) is determined by an encompassing bead (3) of plastic spacer material. In addition, in the margin region between the glass plates (1, 2) a bead (4) of sealing material is introduced. With the aid of at least one core element an opening is formed in the bead (3) of spacer material for filling the cavity (6). After the filling, this opening is closed with an entrainer stopper and simultaneously the cavity (6) is vented. During the closing the plastic spacer material (3) is joined again in the region of the opening and subsequently the entrainer stopper is covered with sealing material (4). The method and the device for carrying out the method permits the automatic application of encompassing beads (3, 4) of spacer material or of sealing material as well as the sealing and protection of the margin regions before the cavity (6) is filled.

The invention relates to a method for filling a cavity between two plates of glass of a fire-resisting and/or insulating composite glass, in which onto one of the glass plates along the margin region of the inner surface and spaced apart from the edge faces an encompassing bead of plastic spacer material is placed, subsequently the second plate of glass is brought together with the first and placed in contact on the bead of spacer material, the two plates are introduced into a plate press and the structure comprised of plates and spacer material-bead is pressed together to a specific thickness with the formation of a margin groove, the cavity is filled with filler material through openings in the bead and, after filling these openings, they are closed, as well as a device with means for carrying out the method.
Fire-resisting composite glasses of this type are disclosed in EP 0 590 978 B1. In these known fire-resisting composite glasses a water-containing intermediate layer is disposed between two plates of glass arranged at a spacing from one another. The distance between the two glass plates is determined by spacers, with this spacer being comprised of a profile bead of a rigid material, namely metal or ceramics. The connection between the plates of glass and the spacer is established by an adhesive agent based on butyl rubber. On the side directed toward the edges of the glass plates of the spacer a margin groove is formed, which is filled and sealed with an additional sealer material of a synthetic rubber. The production of fire-resisting composite glasses of this type entails various problems. In particular with large-area plates or glasses, it is difficult to form and introduce spacers of rigid material such that a faultless and tight connection is generated between the glass plates and the rigid spacer. Preparing and introducing the spacer in the correct form is elaborate and most often requires manual labor. The openings for filling in the water-containing intermediate layer must be formed previously and their closure, after the cavity between the two glass plates has been filled, is also difficult and elaborate.
It is known from DE 25 55 383 A1 in the case of insulating composite glasses to replace the solid spacer by a bead of spacer material, for example a mixture of polyisobutylene and butyl rubber. This bead of spacer material is extruded by means of an extrusion press directly onto one of the glass plates and the second glass plate is subsequently brought together with the first, and the two plates are pressed together to the desired thickness in a plate press. Filling the cavity between the two glass plates with a filler material, for example a protective gas, is not described here. However, it is known per se, to punch the tube through the bead of spacer material and to fill the protective gas through one or several such tubes. The tubes are subsequently removed and the openings in the bead of spacer material are closed again and an outer layer or a bead of sealer material in the form of polysulfide is additionally applied into the outer margin groove. While the method described here and the associated device permit the automatic application of the bead of spacer material, they do not make possible the simultaneous or immediately following application of the bead of sealer material. The consequence is that the glass plates or composite glasses must be handled very carefully, since the connection of the glass plates via the elastic bead of spacer material is not sufficiently stable. There is also the danger that foreign bodies enter the margin groove and adhere on the spacer. When putting in openings for filling the cavity between the glass plates, fragments of the spacer material or other foreign bodies can also be introduced into the cavity, which can lead to a quality reduction of the composite glass or even to rejects of composite glasses.

Method and device for filling a cavity between two plates of fire-resisting composite glass

Vetrotech Saint-Gobain (International) AG


A kit for installing a replacement aglet on a shoelace includes a cutting tool configured to cut a damaged distal tip section from the shoelace. A replacement aglet is positioned on the trimmed free end of the shoelace following the cutting operation. The replacement aglet has a split-sleeve construction including a longitudinal slit that extends fully from end to end. The slit makes it easy to locate the replacement aglet on the trimmed tip section of the shoelace. A heat applicator applies heat to the aglet-bearing shoelace and causes the aglet to compressively shrink in the manner of a shrink wrap process. The aglet functions as an article of shrink wrap tubing. The heating process fuses together the lengthwise edges of the slit and thereby closes the slit.

Ancient civilizations differed quite significantly in many regards to those that originated thousands of years later. This is true of its societal structure, economic development, behavioral patterns, ideology, and survival. There are also indications that the ideas surrounding, for example, survival, did not evolve as expected. Apart from the weapons used to kill game and feed the village, the development of other survival tools suffered a stagnant advancement. Notably, shelter, clothing, footwear, and other forms of protection have remained antiquated in idea and execution. For example, there is striking semblance between footwear worn in 3000 BC to those worn in 1850 AD—however, there are significant differences between weapon advancement spanning those same dates, both in appearance and function.
This discrepancy may be attributed to the original footwear design being sufficiently adequate for its purpose to last thousands of years relatively unchanged. When it comes to weaponry, more efficient methods of killing game provided more adequate quality of life and thus precipitated evolvement. Although footwear function has remained relatively consistent through generations, its other facet—fashion—has seen major innovations. This is not surprising, as its uniqueness is one of its few sources of value—and valuable it is. According to Statista, the revenue generated by the footwear market in the United States alone was approximately $79 billion in 2017. Being a subset of apparel industry, which drew revenue of 260 billion in 2017 in store sales throughout the US, its societal value and importance is substantial. To this point, a monumental steppingstone of a child's development is determined by their ability to tie their shoelaces.
Footwear design has remained largely unaltered for thousands of years, and its longevity has not seen significant improvement either. This is especially true when considering shoelaces, which often experience wear and tear more frequently than the shoes themselves. For example, shoelaces are meant to be tied tightly as to not become undone when the individual walks. This frequent tightening of the shoelaces expedites its wear. Furthermore, some shoelaces are made longer than necessary to accommodate different tying styles or preferences. This will cause them to hang low enough to scrape the floor or be stepped on, leading to further deterioration. When expensive footwear experiences shoelace damage, such as a complete tear or the loosening of the aglet used to keep the end of the shoelace from unraveling, replacement is often an afterthought to repair.
Accordingly, there is an established need for a machine to provide the full range of operations needed to repair a shoelace, which addresses a broad range of repair conditions necessitating shoelace renewal, such as a damaged or missing aglet, an insecure attachment of the aglet to the shoelace, and fraying of the shoelace at the aglet end.


DGPS data obtained from an FM broadcast wave is extracted by a DGPS data extraction section (226). Adjustment error, the accuracy of which is not very high, has been appended to correction data to be used in actual positioning correction within the obtained DGPS data. A correction value creation section (228) judges, from the contents of DGPS data, which data in a correction value table (230) may be read. The method of this judgment is predetermined. Then, the correction value is created by reading the corresponding correction value from correction value table (230). Next, the correction value and correction data are added in a DGPS data specifying section (232) to yield proper correction data. Position information having high accuracy can be obtained from the obtained proper correction data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to positioning systems, fixed station apparatus, and positioning apparatus for detecting the position of mobile stations based on satellite transmission information that is transmitted from artificial satellites and DGPS data that is transmitted from fixed terrestrial stations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Global Positioning System (GPS) apparatuses are used to detect the absolute position (latitude, longitude, altitude) of moving objects and have become indispensable in many applications, such as, for example, automobile navigation apparatuses. GPS is used by moving objects to detect their position based on satellite transmission information that is transmitted from a plurality of satellites.
However, the position detection based on the information received by GPS apparatus has a position detection accuracy of approximately several hundred meters, which is not very precise. For this reason, differential GPS (DGPS) has been proposed for increasing the accuracy by virture of correction data, which reduces errors in the GPS positioning.
In DGPS, at a predetermined terrestrial location (i.e., fixed station) having an absolute position of confirmed accuracy, satellite transmission information is received from which the position of the receiver is detected (i.e., GPS positioned). By comparing the absolute position with the position obtained from GPS positioning, the error of the satellite transmission information is determined and correction data can, therefore, be supplied to the moving object to cancel the determined error.
The supply of correction data is performed through FM subcarrier broadcasts from FM broadcasting stations, where the FM subcarrier broadcasts have multiplex information (digital data) multiplexed in an ordinary 76 kHz FM broadcast band (a central frequency is 76 kHz). A moving object, such as a vehicle, receives the FM broadcasts on an FM multiplex receiver where the 76 kHz band signal is extracted from the received broadcast wave and is decoded to yield the multiplexed digital data. The correction data included in the multiplexed data is extracted, then used to correct the position information obtained at the GPS apparatus to yield position information having high accuracy. This sort of DGPS enables positions to be detected with an accuracy of a few meters.
There are instances where it is desirable to limit information provider services only to specific subscribing members. In this case, methods have been adopted which scramble information before it is provided. There scrambling methods render information completely unusable to those who are unable unscramble the information.
However, if the contents of services can be divided into levels according to the ranks of users, the degree of freedom in providing services increases so that services that meet the needs of users can be provided. For example, it would be convenient if the accuracy of correction data can be switched according to the rank of the user so that information meeting the rank of the user can be provided. In this manner, it is also possible to limit the positioning accuracy available to users when necessary.

Positioning system and fixed station and positioning apparatus for employing the same


The invention comprises an electric power distribution system for providing power to a plurality of loads. An energy reduction device receives high voltage electrical power from a utility. A processor controls three variable transformer windings to produce electrical power at three phases at three independent reduced voltages. The energy reduction device thereby controls the output voltage on each phase to provide an individualized regulated voltage for each phase. The regulated voltage provided includes a sufficient voltage required to power the loads connected to that phase, plus an additional voltage which compensates for the voltage drop caused by the length of wire run in that phase. The electrical distribution system eliminates the need for low voltage step-down transformers at the point of the load. The energy reduction device can regulate the voltage provided to lighting loads as a function of the time of day or the ambient light levels.

In conventional electrical power distribution systems for distributing power to street lighting and other types of public lighting, several lighting systems are typically powered off of a central high voltage step-down distribution transformer. One problem with this arrangement is that each lighting system is typically connected to the high voltage distribution transformer over a different length of wire ran. Because the wire runs are of different length, each wire run therefore introduces a different voltage drop. Accordingly, each lighting system will receive a different voltage level. This problem is typically overcome by using an additional set of low voltages step-down transformers located close to the loads. By selecting an appropriate tap on each low voltage transformer, the voltage for each lighting system can be set to a desired level.
What is needed is an electrical power distribution system which can regulate the voltage delivered to various loads and systems without the need for the low voltage transformers. What is also needed is an electrical distribution system which can properly vary the voltage for various conditions such as supplying a starting voltage to properly ignite and maintain the arc in luminaires and then applying a reduced voltage once a warm-up period is finished. What is also needed is a system which can control the illumination levels for varying requirements dependant on public use and availability of natural, ambient light. Finally, what is needed is a means of controlling the power used as a demand-side management tool, in a conventional or deregulated environment, to provide a savings in electrical consumption.

Electrical power distribution system for street lighting


The present invention discloses forward power converter. The power converter includes a transformer for transferring an input voltage from a primary side to a secondary side. The secondary side includes a main output voltage loop and at least one auxiliary output loop connected with a magnetic amplifier. A pulse width modulation (PWM) controller controls a switch on the primary side of the transformer for turning on the switch and turning off the main output voltage loop and the auxiliary output voltage loop for storing a magnetizing energy on windings of the secondary side. The magnetic amplifier includes a first and a second magnetization windings controlled by a first and a second control circuits respectively for providing a positive and negative magnetization current to carrying out a bi-directional magnetization process to achieve expanded load range operable for the forward power converter.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the circuit and methods for configuring and operating a switching power converter. More particularly, this invention relates to a bi-directional magnetization control circuit for magnetizing a magnetic amplifier for stabilizing an auxiliary output voltage of a power converter such that the converter can be applied to broader ranges of load imposed on the output terminals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The magnetic amplifier is commonly implemented for controlling the auxiliary output voltage of a switching power converter. Referring to FIG. 1A for a forward power converter implemented with a magnetic amplifier in an auxiliary output power control. In a forward power converter, the energy is transferred from the primary side receiving an input voltage from a power source to the secondary side that carries a load. The energy transfer is achieved through the transformer under a condition of constant voltage. According to the duty cycle of the pulse width modulation (PWM) control circuit, a pulse width modulation (PWM) control performs the function of stabilizing the primary output voltage. Referring to FIG. 1B for more details of the operational cycles of the forward power converter. The current of the primary side of the transformer is ip. When the main switch S is turned off at a time point t3, the current ip drops down to zero, and the voltage Vg on the auxiliary output loop turns to a negative voltage between t3 to t1. During this time period, the magnetic amplifier control circuit carries out a magnetic reset of the magnetic amplifier. The total amount of magnetic reset energy stored into the magnetic amplifier is shown as the shadowed area having a volt-time integrated value of (V2xe2x88x92Vg)(t3xe2x88x92t1). At the time point t1, the main switch S is turned on, the voltage Vg turns into a positive voltage. Meanwhile, the magnetic amplifier, after the magnetic reset, has a high impedance. With the discharge current from the inductor L2, the diode D4 becomes conductive and the voltage V2 is clamped to a voltage of zero. The voltage Vg next to the magnetic amplifier performs a magnetizing function to the magnetic amplifier until the magnetic amplifier reaches a saturation state when Vg(t2xe2x88x92t1) is equal to (v2xe2x88x92Vg)*(t3xe2x88x92t1). When the magnetic amplifier reaches a saturation state, the magnetic amplifier presents a low impedance condition. The voltage V2 is raised to a level of Vg. For this reason, adjustment of a value of the magnetic reset volt-time integration, i.e., the value of (v2xe2x88x92Vg)*(t3xe2x88x92t1), of the magnetic amplifier can control the pulse width (t2xe2x88x92t1) of V2 and that can in turn control the output voltage. Under the condition when the load of the output loop implemented with the magnetic amplifier is increased, the output voltage is decreased with higher load. In order to compensate for the higher load to maintain a stable output voltage, the magnetic amplifier control circuit can increase the pulse-width of the voltage V2 by decreasing the time required for magnetic saturation. However, even if the magnetic amplifier has an output reset current of zero, a certain time duration would still be required for the magnetic amplifier to magnetize from a residual flux density Br to a saturation low-impedance condition as described above. A minimum magnetization time is therefore required and that minimum time duration can be represented as:
Tdelay=[N*Ae*(Bsxe2x88x92Br)]/Vexcitingxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
Where Bs is the saturation magnetic flux density, Br is the residual magnetic flux density, N is the number of windings of the magnetic amplifier and Ae is a cross-section area of the magnetic amplifier. When the load of the power converter is small, the duty cycle of the main switch is also reduced. However, if the time duration in which the main switch is kept on is small than a minimum magnetization time duration Tdealy as that shown in Equation (1), the magnetic amplifier will never be magnetized to a saturation state. Under that condition, the auxiliary output voltage loop will not able to function properly and the auxiliary output voltage will be reduced thus adversely affect the stability of the output voltage of the power converter. In other words, for the purpose of assuring a stable output voltage, the duty cycle of the main switch must be maintained at a value higher than a minimum duty cycle to satisfy the requirement derived from Equation (1). For that reason, when the magnetic amplifier is implemented in an auxiliary output loop as that shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a minimum load must be maintained. The minimum load must be higher than a specific value in order to maintain the duty cycle of the main switch higher than a minimum duty cycle. Thus, application of the power converter becomes less flexible because it can only be used to handle a load that is limited to a predetermined range.
Therefore, a need still exists for those of ordinary skill in the art to provide a new and improved power converter implemented with magnetic amplifier for providing a stabilized auxiliary power that can resolve the above-discussed technical limitations.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved power converter implemented with control circuit for carrying out bi-directional magnetization for a magnetic amplifier to expand the range of load application of a forward converter employing a magnetic amplifier. A forward converter that enables a bi-directional magnetization of a magnetic amplifier significantly reduces the minimum magnetization time required for a magnetic amplifier. The converter thus allows a lower cycle duty of the main switch and that in turns expands the range of the load that is operable with the improved forward converter implemented with a magnetic amplifier. The new and improved forward converter implemented with a feature of bi-directional magnetization thus enable a person of ordinary skill in the art to resolve the above mentioned difficulties and limitations.
Specifically, magnetic amplifiers are implemented together with a pulse width modulation controller. The PWM controller is applied to control the main output voltage and the magnetic amplifiers are used to control the auxiliary output voltage such that stabilized output voltage is produced. For the purpose of expanding the operable range of the load processed by the magnetic amplifier, two magnetizing windings W1 and W2 are implemented with two control circuits are implemented to provide negative and positive magnetizing currents carry out a negative and positive magnetization. The limitation of keeping the load within a narrow range caused by inability to reach magnetic saturation condition as discussed above is therefore resolved.
Briefly, in a preferred embodiment, this invention discloses a power converter that includes a transformer for transferring an input voltage from a primary side to a secondary side. The secondary side includes a main output voltage loop and at least one auxiliary output loop connected with a magnetic amplifier. A pulse width modulation (PWM) controller controls a switch on the primary side of the transformer for turning on the switch and turning off the main output voltage loop and the auxiliary output voltage loop for storing a magnetizing energy on windings of the secondary side. The magnetic amplifier includes a first and a second magnetization windings controlled by a first and a second control circuits respectively for providing a positive and negative magnetization current to carrying out a bi-directional magnetization process to achieve expanded load range operable for the forward power converter.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after having read the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment which is illustrated in the various drawing figures.

Auxiliary output voltage control implemented with a bi-directionally magnetizing magnetic amplifier


An abnormal state of an allocated task in a processing node is detected correctly without using any resource of the processing node. A power usage statistics storing unit 240 stores a statistical value representing a power usage of the processing node in a state of executing the task. A power usage comparing unit 250 compares a newly collected power usage of the processing node in a state of executing the task with the statistical value representing a power usage of the processing node, which is stored in the power usage statistics storing unit 250, to detect an abnormal state of the task in the processing node.

In a typical distributed processing system which allows a plurality of processing nodes to execute tasks distributed thereto via a network, when an abnormal state of one of the processing nodes has been detected, a management node reallocates tasks having been allocated thereto to a normal processing node, and this method enables improvement of the availability of the entire system.
Well-known methods for detecting such an abnormal state of a processing node include a polling method, in which a management node inquires of each of processing nodes for normality thereof and detects an abnormal state thereof when a reply therefrom is not normal; a heartbeat method, in which each of processing nodes notifies a management node of its own state at predetermined constant intervals; and the like. In these methods, an abnormal state of a processing node is likely to be erroneously detected although allocated tasks are being normally executed in the processing node because of delays of replies or notifications, or the like, due to a delay of a network and/or execution of task processing which needs a large number of resources of the processing node.
In order to reduce the occurrences of such an erroneous detection, a method of causing each of processing nodes to sufficiently reserve resources allocated to processing for replying to polling or resources allocated to processing for notifying of heartbeats is conceived. In this case, however, the number of resources which can be allocated to task processing is decreased by a number equal to the number of resources allocated to such reply processing or notification processing.
In addition, as a related technology, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-086572, there is disclosed a technology which confirms an operational state of each of a plurality of devices by collecting a power consumption amount of the each of the devices. In the case where this technology is applied to the above detection of an abnormal state of a processing node, an energized state of the processing node can be detected, but it is difficult to detect whether or not allocated tasks are being normally executed in the processing node.

Information processing system and monitoring method


A pocketed necktie for holding items therein. The pocketed necktie includes front and back tie panels. The outer perimeters of the front and back tie panels are coupled together. A neck strap is also provided and has first and second ends. The first end of the neck strap is coupled to the back tie panel. The second end of the neck strap is detachably attached to the back tie panel. The pocketed necktie also has front and back pocket panels. The outer perimeters of the front and back pocket panels are coupled together to define a pocket space between the front and back pocket panels. The back pocket panel is coupled to the back tie panel. The back pocket panel has an elongate slit therethrough providing an opening into the pocket space.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to neck apparel and more particularly pertains to a new pocketed necktie for holding items therein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of neck apparel is known in the prior art. More specifically, neck apparel heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art neck apparel include U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,982; U.S. Pat. No. 3,206,765; U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,058; U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,436; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 378,007; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,011.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new pocketed necktie. The inventive device includes front and back tie panels. The outer perimeters of the front and back tie panels are coupled together. A neck strap is also provided and has first and second ends. The first end of the neck strap is coupled to the back tie panel. The second end of the neck strap is detachably attached to the back tie panel. The pocketed necktie also has front and back pocket panels. The outer perimeters of the front and back pocket panels are coupled together to define a pocket space between the front and back pocket panels. The back pocket panel is coupled to the back tie panel. The back pocket panel has an elongate slit therethrough providing an opening into the pocket space.
In these respects, the pocketed necktie according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of holding items therein.


A method scheduling data packets and control information in a telecommunication network for transmission in a group of OFDM symbols available in a transmission time interval. A set of the data packets to be scheduled is first selected by a scheduler, which then searches control solutions for scheduling control information associated to the set of data packets in a predetermined number of OFDM symbols of the OFDM symbol group. The scheduler searches data solutions for scheduling the selected data packets in other OFDM symbols available. The scheduler repeats searches of data and control solutions considering different sets of data packets and different numbers of OFDM symbols for scheduling control information. Finally, the scheduler schedules data packets and control information according to a scheduling solution, wherein control information is scheduled according to a control solution and data packets are scheduled according to a data solution associated to the control solution.

In packet switched transmissions, data transmitted between two equipments are organized into packets which include the information on the recipient of the packet. Packets sent from a user equipment, are received by the network that routes them to the final recipient, e.g. another user or a network server.
Since a public network provides services to a huge number of users sharing the same physical resources, resource allocation is of paramount importance to serve all users with the necessary Quality of Service (QoS).
An efficient resource allocation should take into account several parameters like Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, channel conditions of different users, priorities between different classes of services.
Packet scheduling is therefore an important task of the network, which is furthermore complicated in OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing Access) networks (like Long Term Evolution—LTE), wherein resources shall be managed both in time and in frequency.
In LTE, the elementary radio resource for the scheduler is the TTI (Time Transmission Interval) which is divided in two parts (along the time dimension): control region (carrying control channels, e.g. PDCCH—Physical Downlink Control Channel) and data region (carrying data channels, e.g. PDSCH—Physical Downlink Shared Channel). These two regions are adjacent in the time dimension, and the total occupation is equal to 14 OFDMA symbols (in case of normal cyclic prefix).
The length of the control region can be set to 2-3-4 OFDMA symbols (in case of TTI containing up to 10 Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs)) or 1-2-3 OFDMA symbols (in case of TTI containing more than 10 PRBs), and this switching point between control and data region can be set by the system with a certain degree of freedom.
Known network solutions provides for fixing the number of OFDM symbols intended for DCI before deciding how to allocate data packets in the remaining data region. In other words, the known solutions provide first for deciding how many network resources are to be dedicated to downlink control information (DCI) and than for allocating the data packets in the remaining resources of the TTI.
UK patent application GB 2434279A discloses a method for resource allocation in a communication system. The method comprises setting specific time and frequency chunks within a band to provide localised resources for localised and distributed users. The signalling resources allocation for each user is in the chunk at the same frequency range of the allocated resources, or a subset of the frequency range. Scientific article "HARQ Aware Frequency Domain Packet Scheduler with different degrees of fairness for the UTRAN Long Term Evolution" (published in Proceedings of the IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC), Dublin, Ireland, April 2007, by Pokhariyal, K. I. Pedersen, G. Monghal, I. Z. Kovacs, C. Rosa, T. E. Kolding, and P. E. Mogensen), discloses that by dividing the packet scheduler into a time domain and a frequency domain part the fairness between users can be effectively controlled. Different algorithms are applied in each scheduling part.
In the literature several other scheduling algorithms for OFDMA systems are known. In particular, scientific articles 'Optimal Power Allocation in Multiuser OFDM Systems', (published in IEEE GLOBECOM 2003 by Z. Shen, J. Andrews, B. Evans), 'Fair OFDMA Scheduling Algorithm Using Iterative Local Search with k-opt-Switches', (2008 by A. Ibing, H. Boche) and "MAC Scheduling Scheme for VoIP Traffic Service in 3G LTE", (published in VTC'2007, pp. 1441-1445, by S. Choi, K. Jun, Y. Shin, S. Kang, B. Choi) propose scheduling algorithms for OFDM systems. These articles do not consider separation between control region and data region in the radio subframe; the final solution is related only to a data region of OFDM subcarriers.
Applicants have perceived that, although several packet scheduling algorithms are known in the art, known solutions are not always that efficient, since they do not consider a cross dependency between data region and control region in terms of capacity. Since user data is transmitted over PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) and scheduled in the TTI in a certain number of data packets (Transport Blocks), the system capacity depends on the number and on the size of Transport Blocks (TBs) scheduled in each TTI. Moreover, since the propagation environment is characterized by a fast fading process, the frequency selectivity of the channel quality is an important issue to be taken into account during the resource allocation phase (i.e. the choice of the frequency position in terms of PRBs occupied within a TTI of a certain TB to be transmitted); in fact, the spectral efficiency of a TB transmitted in a TTI depends also on the set of used PRBs in that TTI, then also the overall capacity depends on the particular resource allocation algorithm used.
Finally, since the switching point between control region and data region determines the amount of resources destined to these regions, the system capacity depends also on this parameter: as a consequence the number of OFDMA symbols reserved to the control influences the capacity of the data region; on the other side also the amount of resources reserved to the data region influences the capacity in the control region, with a consequent cross-dependence of the two regions in the TTI.
As a result, in general the optimal choice of the switching point depends on users channel conditions but also on the set of packets to be scheduled, and on the other side the number of packets that it's possible to transmit depends in turn on the switching point.
There's therefore the need for a packet scheduling method which takes into consideration also this cross dependency between control and data region of a TTI, so as to improve scheduling efficiency.

Method for data packet scheduling in a telecommunication network


A method and apparatus for providing email notification for called and/or calling parties of a call placement are disclosed. The method enables a packet network service provider, e.g., a VoIP or SoIP service provider, to register customers for email notification service, to obtain the disposition of calls from Call Detail Records (CDRs), call control elements or application servers that have access to call signaling information in real time, to identify calls that resulted in ringing without an answer or busy disposition, and to determine whether or not the called and/or calling party subscribed to the email notification service. If the calling and/or called party subscribe to the notification service, the service provider sends an email notification to the calling and/or called party containing the caller and called party information, the time of the call, the disposition of the call and the like.

The Internet has emerged as a critical communication infrastructure, carrying traffic for a wide range of important scientific, business and consumer applications. Businesses and consumers are finding the Internet based infrastructure less costly and they are moving towards combining all the data and voice services on this infrastructure. Thus, customers may use a single connection to access an email system, to hold a telephone conversation, and so on. However, if a customer without a caller Identification (ID) and call waiting service is using the phone, the customer may not realize that someone is trying to call him or her. Similarly, if the customer is away from the phone and the customer does not have a voicemail service, then the customer would not be able to determine that someone has called while he or she was away.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus to notify the called and/or calling parties when the call results in an unanswered or a busy disposition.

Method and apparatus for notifying called and/or calling parties of a call placement


A belt pulley is described which includes a pulley member and a flanged wheel. The pulley member has a belt-bearing surface and a projection disposed at a position axially adjacent to the belt-bearing surface. The flanged wheel is capable of being assembled separately on the pulley member and includes a spring washer having an inside diameter and an outside diameter. The spring washer is substantially elastically extendable in the area of the inside diameter. The dimensions of the inside diameter are defined such that, upon assembly, the inside diameter elastically extends and touches upon a surface of the projection over at least a portion of the inside diameter such that the flanged wheel is mounted concentrically and non-rotatably in relation to the belt-bearing surface. The inner and outer diameters of the spring washer are defined such that, upon assembly, the flanged wheel projects outwardly in a radial direction beyond the belt-bearing surface, thereby delimiting the belt-bearing surface in the axial direction.

The invention relates generally to belt pulleys and, more particularly, to belt pulleys having at least one pulley member with a belt-bearing surface that is delimited in the axial direction by at least one separately assembled flanged wheel. The separately assembled flanged wheel projects outwardly from the belt-bearing surface in a radial direction and is mounted concentrically and non-rotatably in relation to the belt-bearing surface such that it is movable, together with the belt-bearing surface, around an axis of rotation.
Belt pulleys of this general type are known and are used, for example, to drive accessory machine units in the field of internal combustion engines. The generally known separately assembled flanged wheels are not very desirable from a production engineering standpoint, because such flanged wheels typically must be screwed or shrunk onto the belt pulley member during installation.
An object of this invention is to further develop a belt pulley of the above-mentioned type which would make use of a separately assembled flanged wheel, which can easily and cost-effectively be produced and which considerably simplifies assembly.


A power supply apparatus includes a transformer and a switching unit that causes two switching elements connected in series to drive the primary winding of the transformer. A detection unit detects current flowing on the primary side of the transformer and outputs a voltage corresponding to the detected current. A correction unit corrects the voltage output from the detection unit into a voltage proportional to a variation of an input voltage input into the primary side of the transformer A nonlinear correction unit corrects the corrected voltage corrected by the correction unit to be nonlinear independently of variation in the input voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply apparatus and an image forming apparatus and, in particular, to a power supply apparatus that includes a current resonance power supply.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating an overview of a circuit of a conventional current resonance power supply apparatus (hereinafter, simply called power supply apparatus). Detailed description of FIG. 6A will be made later. A power supply apparatus as illustrated in FIG. 6A detects overcurrent, based on a current detection voltage that occurs across both terminals of a current detection resistor 109 and is input into an OCP terminal of a power supply control IC 110. In the power supply apparatus illustrated in FIG. 6A, the resistor 109 is connected to a resonance circuit in series. Resonance current flows through the resistor 109. Accordingly, the power loss is large. The larger the current flowing through a load 128 is, the larger the normal rated power of a resistor required to be adopted is. Accordingly, the efficiency of the power supply apparatus is reduced. This reduction causes the need to adopt a resistor having a large normal rated power. Accordingly, the cost increases by that for the resistor. In the case of connecting multiple resistors in parallel or series to configure a current detection resistor 109, a large space is required. Thus, for instance, Japanese Patent No. 3013697 proposes a power supply apparatus as illustrated in FIG. 6B. Detailed description on FIG. 6B will be made later. The power supply apparatus in FIG. 6B converts, into a voltage, current flowing through a current detection capacitor 201 connected to a current resonance capacitor 108 in parallel, and inputs the voltage into an OCP terminal of the power supply control IC 110, thereby detecting overcurrent.
However, when the input AC voltage varies, current flowing through the resistor 109 in the case of the power supply apparatus in FIG. 6A and current flowing through the capacitor 201 in the case of the power supply apparatus in FIG. 6B vary inversely with variation in the input AC voltage. As a result, there is a possibility of performing an overcurrent protection operation with an inconstant value of current flowing through the load 128. To address this point, for instance, International Publication No. WO2011/132275 proposes a power supply apparatus as illustrated in FIG. 7A. FIG. 7A will be described later in detail. The power supply apparatus in FIG. 7A has a configuration of applying a correction voltage in proportion to the input AC voltage. This configuration suppresses variation in current value detected by a current detection circuit due to variation in voltage of a commercial AC power supply. The power supply apparatus illustrated in FIG. 7A can perform a more stable overcurrent protection operation than the power supply apparatuses in the foregoing FIGS. 6A and 6B even if the input AC voltage varies.
However, in the power supply apparatus illustrated in FIG. 7A, a correction voltage (1402) to be applied to the current detection circuit exhibits linear characteristics in proportion to the input voltage, as illustrated in FIG. 7B. In contrast, the output voltage (1401) of the current detection circuit exhibits nonlinear characteristics to variation in voltage of a commercial AC power supply. Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 7B, this apparatus exhibits a waveform 1403 similar to the waveform of the output voltage of the OCP terminal of the conventional power supply control IC 110, in comparison with an ideal output voltage of the OCP terminal (broken line) of the power supply control IC. Accordingly, this apparatus cannot exert sufficient correction effects against variation in voltage of a commercial AC power supply.
Recently, in every field, reduction in size and energy of products has been advanced. As a result, there is a tendency that reduction in size and energy of a power supply apparatus has also been advanced. In the case of a current resonance power supply apparatus, increase in current flowing through a load 128 causes a phenomenon that flow-through current occurs in both switching FETs 106 and 107 (hereinafter, simply called an off-resonance phenomenon). There is a possibility that the off-resonance phenomenon causes countercurrent to flow through the body diode of an off-state FET between the switching FETs 106 and 107, thereby breaking the off-state FET. As described above, in the case of performing an overcurrent protection operation with an inconstant value of current flowing through the load 128, it is required to prevent an off-resonance phenomenon from occurring in a condition of an AC voltage input when the maximum current flows through the load 128. This requirement increases the size of a transformer 115 and the current resonance capacitor 108, which are main parts for determining the output voltage. This increase causes a problem against reduction in size of the power supply apparatus.

Power supply apparatus and image forming apparatus


The invention relates to a semiconductor structure for use in the near infrared region, preferably in the range from 1.3 to 1.6 μm, said structure comprising an active zone consisting of a plurality of epitaxially grown alternating layers of Si and Ge, a base layer of a first conductivity type disposed on one side of said active zone, and a cladding layer of the opposite conductivity type to the base layer, the cladding layer being provided on the opposite side of said active zone from said base layer, wherein the alternating Si and Ge layers of said active zone form a superlattice so that holes are located in quantized energy levels associated with a valance band and electrons are localized in a miniband associated with the conduction band and resulting from the superlattice structure. The invention is also directed to a method of manufacturing aforementioned structure.

This invention relates to a semiconductor structure for use in the near infrared region, preferably in the wavelength range from 1.3 to 1.6 μm, and to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor structure of the aforementioned kind.
In the area of computers, telecommunications and fiber optics there is a need for optical circuits working in the near infrared region, i.e., in the range of wavelengths from 1.3 μm to 1.6 μm. Semiconductor devices operating in this wavelength region are generally known. Known emitters and detectors for use in this wavelength region typically comprise heterostructures made from III–V compound semiconductor based materials, for example GaAs, AlGaAs, or InGaAs. These heterostructures are of semiconductor type L i.e. they are characterized by a direct transition of the charge carriers from the conduction band CB to the valence band VB. The direct interband transition is indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1 which shows the energy band structure in momentum space of a type I semiconductor. Because of this direct interband transition, the recombination efficiency of carriers and, hence, the photoluminescent intensity are very high and the carrier lifetime typically is less than a few microseconds.
However, III–V heterostructure technology is very costly. Moreover, hazardous source materials are used in the production of such III–V heterostructures, for instance, if a metal oxide chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) technique is used. It is therefore desirable to have emitters, for example light emitting diodes, and detectors based on silicon which is approximately two hundred times less expensive than III–V semiconductor material. Further, the integration of Si based emitters and detectors would allow the realization of efficient interconnects between Si-based integrated circuits and internal light sources. Thus optical communications would be possible between components of computers and telecommunications equipment avoiding heat dissipation problems associated with existing circuits.
In the case of infrared emitting circuits there is, however, a general problem. Silicon is namely a type II semiconductor, i.e. it is characterized by an indirect fundamental band gap between the conduction band EC and the valence band EV as can be seen from the energy band structure in momentum space which is shown in FIG. 2. The maximum of the valence band VB and the minimum of the conduction band CB are not directly opposite to each other, but rather a global minimum of the CB is at a value of wave vector k≠0. Due to the principle of conservation of momentum, an electron can recombine with a hole and emit a photon only through exchanging momentum with a third particle, such as a phonon. This recombination process is very rare in comparison with direct transitions in type I semiconductors. Therefore, the recombination efficiency of carriers and, thus, the photoluminescent intensity of Si based emitters is strongly reduced.
Many attempts have been made to develop new concepts of light emitting structures or detectors which can be incorporated in silicon technology. For example, infrared detectors basing on germanium on Si wafers have been investigated, see for example L. Colace et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 1231 (2000). Moreover, porous silicon has been analyzed (A. G. Cullis et al., J. Appl. Phys. 83, 909 (1997)). In addition, Si-Ge quantum well structures have been investigated (H. Presting et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 69, 2376 (1996)), as well as quantum dot structures of SiGe (P. Schittenhelm, "Selbstorganisation und Selbstordnung in Si/SiGe-Heterostrukturen", in "Selected Topics of Semiconductor Physics", Eds: G. Abstreiter, M. Stutzmann, P. Vogl, TU München 1997, ISBN 3-932749-02-2). Moreover, carbon doped SiGe has been investigated, see T. Brunhes et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 1822 (2000) and K. Eberl et al., Thin Solid Films 294, 98 (1997). Furthermore, doping of silicon with centers for luminescence, for instance doping with erbium F. Priolo et al., "Excitation and nonradiative deexcitation process of Er3+ in crystalline Si", Phys. Rev. B 57,4443 (1998), and silicon nanocrystals have been investigated.
However, for reasons such as low efficiency and operation only at low temperatures, none of the above mentioned systems has yet lead to a commercial product. It is only low dimensional semiconductor structures, in particular quantum dots (QD), which have attracted increasing interest from the point of view of fundamental physics and device application. For example, the strained SiGe/Si system has been subject of numerous investigations (O. G. Schmidt and K. Eberi, Phys. Rev. B61, 13721 (2000) an M. Goryll et al., Thin Solid Films 336, 244 (1998)). Optical properties of Ge islands have been widely studied and the complex transition and recombination phenomena in multi-layer structures have been analyzed. Photoluminescence of Si/Ge islands is generally obtained at low temperatures. Recently, some papers reported on room temperature photoluminescence originating from Si/Ge quantum dot structures (H. Sunamura et al., J. Cryst. Growth 157, 265 (1995) and O. G. Schmidt et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 2509 (2000)). However, no detailed investigations on the optical properties were presented.

Semiconductor structure for use in the near infrared region and a method of manufacturing this semiconductor structure

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Wissenschaften e.V.


A synchronous converter including a control module including a pulse generator configured to produce a pulse. An input port suitable for receiving an input voltage from a voltage source, is couple to a first conversion stage of the converter. The first conversion stage preferably includes a first pair of transistors, a first stage capacitor, and a first winding of a coupled inductor. The first pair of transistors are preferably driven by the control module pulse generator such that the first conversion stage is coupled to the input port during the first interval of the pulse and isolated from the input port during the second interval of the pulse and the gain of the first conversion stage is approximately equal to the duty cycle of the pulse. The converter further includes a second conversion stage preferably including a second pair of transistors, a second stage capacitor, and a second winding of the coupled inductor. The second pair of transistors are preferably driven by the control module pulse generator such that the second conversion stage is coupled to the first conversion stage output during the first interval and isolated from the first conversion stage during the second interval. The gain of the second conversion stage, like the first stage, is approximately equal to the duty cycle of the pulse generator. The first and second conversion stages are coupled by the common inductive core of the coupled inductor.

1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of power systems and more particularly to voltage converters for use in computer systems and related technologies.
2. History of Related Art
The simplicity and effectiveness of synchronous converters makes them a popular choice in the design of non-isolated DC to DC voltage converters. The utility of a conventional synchronous converter is limited in a wide variety of applications by constraints on the gain achievable with such circuits (where gain refers to the ratio of the converter's output voltage to input voltage). More specifically, it is desirable in numerous applications to convert a relatively high voltage DC signal to a relatively low DC output signal. The high voltage DC signal is useful for distributing power to various components of a system with a minimum of distribution loss. The high voltage signal is typically not, however, preferred at the load point for many applications and thus it is frequently necessary to implement a DC voltage converter with a gain significantly less than one (i.e., a converter capable of producing a low voltage output from a high voltage input). Most notably in computer system applications, the desired load point voltage has decreased in recent years while the power and current requirements has increased, especially in high performance computer systems commonly referred to in the industry as enterprise systems. Enterprise systems are typically characterized by multiple high speed processors, high performance I/O and memory cards, and correspondingly, extremely high current and power requirements. The power demands of such systems place heightened significance on methods and circuits that are able to minimize distribution losses. Historically, it is known that distribution of DC power at the highest possible voltage is desirable to minimize I.sup.2 R power dissipation where R refers to the impedance of the distribution medium. In contrast to the demand for high distribution voltages, the trend in the supply voltages required for sub-micron semiconductor technologies used in state of the art computer systems is towards increasingly lower voltages. Where 12V and 5V supplies were once employed, 3.3V and 1.8V supplies are now implemented to combat well documented sub-micron effects of semiconductor transistors. The simultaneous desire for increasingly greater distribution voltages and increasingly lower load point voltages create a demand for DC to DC converters with gains significantly less than unity. Moreover, because these converters are typically packaged in close proximity to system electronics and because of the ever present demand to minimize the system package, it is highly desirable to implement the converter in the smallest and most cost effective manner available. Conventional synchronous converters offered these benefits for systems in which the gain required of the converter was not too demanding. For state of the art enterprise systems, however, conventionally designed synchronous converters typically cannot perform adequately because of fundamental limitations in the duty cycle associated with the pulse width modulation scheme utilized in synchronous designs. In conventional synchronous converters, the gain is proportional to the duty cycle of the pulse signal used to drive the converter. Unfortunately, practical limitations on the lower limits of achievable duty cycles limit the performance (i.e., the gain) of the converters. Due to the presence of inevitable stray capacitance, the pulse signal produced by any system will require finite rise and fall times that place fundamental limits on the duty cycles achievable. These limitations impose a significant constraint on the ability of system designers and manufacturers to minimize power dissipation in high performance computer systems through the use of a high voltage distribution system. Therefore it would be highly desirable to implement a converter incorporating the benefits of conventional synchronous designs while simultaneously enabling significantly wider latitude in the output voltage to input voltage ratio. Moreover, it would be desirable to implement such a design with at a minimum cost, complexity, and dimension, in a design compatible for use in close proximity to high speed, low voltage digital circuitry without diminishing the system reliability or performance.

International Business Machines Corporation


A water spray gun, including: a gun body, a valve switch, and a device for switching a spray pattern. The gun body includes: a water passage and double water hole. The valve switch includes: a button, a pressing piece including a unilaterally oblique plane, a rear plate including an inner guide rail, a rotating piece including a unilaterally oblique plane, a first spring, a front sealing ring, a switch rotating core, and a double sealing ring. The device for switching a spray pattern includes a water spray cap, a water spray plate, a decentered interface, a second spring, a wedge rotating piece for water diversion including a plurality of negative wedge blocks each including a negative wedge, a wedge push rod including a plurality of positive wedge blocks each including a positive wedge, a housing of a gun head, and a trigger.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a water spray gun.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical water spray gun generally includes: a handle, and an elastic top plug. Working principle of the water spray gun is as follows: the water is sprayed out when pressing the handle, and the top plug is reset and sealed under the force of the spring. Such a water spray gun brings in inconvenience in use. The user must continuously press the handle of the water spray gun to allow a continuous water jet to be sprayed out, which easily makes the user feel tired after long-term use. Consequently, a lock button having a triangular ring and a rotating shaft is disposed on the water spray gun for tackling the above problem. However, the water spray gun must operated by two hands. In other words, when the handle of the water spray gun is held by the right hand, the user must use fingers and nails of the left hand to release the lock button and make the lock button rotate for a relatively large angle (e.g. 45°) and be stably fixed in an inner part of an upper edge of the handle. To stop the water spray gun, the user must use the right hand to hold the handle of the water spray gun to allow the lock button to be released, and then use fingers and nails of the left hand to release the lock button and make the lock button rotate for a relatively large angle (e.g. 45°) again and be stably fixed in the upper edge of the handle. Thus, the double-handed operation of such water spray gun is troublesome, and it is desired to develop a new type of water spray gun with one-handed operation.


A method and system for variable speed fan control for thermal management of a device includes disposing a first temperature sensor proximate a variable speed fan to measure an air temperature of inlet air Tair that cools the device by convection air flow. A controller is configured to compensate for changes in Tair by varying a convection coefficient (h) which is a strong function of air velocity to maintain the product of h*ΔT at a constant value, wherein ΔT is a temperature differential between the device (TAD) minus Tair. Thus, h is varied by varying air velocity by varying a speed of the variable speed fan.

The present disclosure relates generally to a method for cooling a data acquisition system (DAS) and detectors associated with computer assisted tomography (CAT) and in particular, to a method for cooling a DAS/detectors in different air temperatures and air flow rates using a variable speed fan to compensate for rotation of the gantry.
The present disclosure pertains to the art of medical diagnostic imaging and more particularly to computerized tomographic (CT) scanners. The disclosure finds particular application in conjunction with cooling systems associated with CT scanners and will be described with particular reference thereto. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention has broader applications and may be advantageously employed in other environments.
CT scanner cooling systems of the type to which this invention pertains have ordinarily included air conditioning units housed within CT scanner gantries. Such air conditioning units were deemed necessary because they cooled sensitive radiation detectors and other components associated with the CT scanners. When a CT scanner is in operation, an X-ray beam rotates rapidly in a patient examination region. A rotating anode X-ray tube rotates continuously around the examination region and causes the beam to so rotate. The X-ray anode generates a significant amount of heat as well as the X-rays. Because the radiation detectors lose linearity and fail prematurely when heated, they are kept cool. A typical CT scanner cooling system uses an air conditioned sealed gantry to maintain radiation detectors at a proper working temperature.
The use of air conditioning systems in connection with CT scanners has several drawbacks. First, the air conditioning units take up valuable space within the CT scanner gantry. The units are relatively cumbersome, and limit the amount of space available for the various CT scanner features.
Second, air conditioning units require frequent maintenance. If the air conditioning unit breaks down, the detectors can overheat during CT scanner use. Further, the air conditioning units are not readily removable. Their position within a CT scanners makes it difficult to repair other CT scanner parts and features by inhibiting free access to such parts.
Currently, data acquisition system (DAS) cooling is also done with constant speed fans which are always on. A current integrated DAS/detector design is extremely sensitive to cooling air temperature control, air flow rate and rapid changes in cooling air flow rate and temperature. The most sensitive and therefore potentially useful detectors for this application are solid state devices made up of a scintillating crystal for converting the x-ray energy to light and a semiconductor photo-diode to convert the light to an electrical signal that can be computer processed. Unfortunately, however, both of these devices are temperature sensitive, with the photo diode responding exponentially to temperature. Operation of the x-ray source and power supplies generates a large amount of heat that causes the ambient temperature inside the CT system to rise significantly. Changes in A/D card temperatures are directly reflected in the diode temperatures operably connected to the A/D card. Accurate temperature control or compensation for each of the solid state detectors is therefore an important requirement.
It is a very difficult design challenge to control the air temperature variation within a gantry and is subject to a multitude of design constraints such as, room air temperature control, allowable system packaging volume in an existing CT gantry platform (e.g., major components and component placement not easily changed or modified). Current CT systems have air temperature variations (e.g., 15° C.) which are unacceptable for current DAS/detector design. Control of the air temperature and flow rate due to gantry rotations is an even more challenging design issue and is not addressed by current system designs and expected to get worse as system rotational speeds increase. Furthermore, current DAS cooling fans are loud and barely meet audible specifications for such fans.
Accordingly, a method and system to quietly cool a DAS/detector is desired that limits an air temperature variation in the gantry on the order of less than 15° C. and maintains cooling fan efficiency as the fan is rotated when the gantry is rotated.

Method and system for a variable speed fan control for thermal management


A medical system e.g. for diagnosing and/or treating a patient has a system controller for controlling the system-specific components. The controller works together with an input device and is additionally assigned a data storage unit in which it is possible to store at least one operating menu. The operating menu can be called up by means of the input device and can be displayed on an indicating or display device. The operating menu includes a plurality of operating functions which can be selected, e.g., by means of a movable marker. When an operating function is selected its associated executable function is executed under control of the system controller. The system is further provided with the functionality of allowing a user to freely select specific operating functions from among the totality of operating functions assigned to the one or more operating menus and store the selected functions in the data storage device grouped as a separate, independent operating menu. This independent operating menu can thereafter be displayed as a separate menu on the indicating or display device and utilized as a more direct means for executing those functions grouped with the independent operating menu.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in a medical system such as a medical treatment and/or diagnostic system. More particularly, the invention relates to a medical system having a system controller for controlling the system-specific components. The controller works together with an operating unit and is assigned a data storage unit in which it is possible to store at least one operating menu. The operating menu can be called up by means of the operating unit and displayed on a display device. The operating menu comprises a plurality of operating functions which can be selected, if appropriate, by means of a movable marker. When a particular operating function is selected its associated executable system function can be executed under control of the system controller.
Systems of this type, for example an X-ray system, are generally software-controlled multi-component systems comprising, e.g., an X-ray generator, an X-ray tube, a digital, image-amplifier-based image acquisition system, etc. In order to operate the system, menu pages are displayed to the operator on one or more suitable display devices. These menu pages reproduce the total number of stored functions and options that may be selected from this menu and whose associated system function can be executed, given appropriate selection.
The respective menu pages are predefined in terms of their functional composition and layout. That is to say, in the case of a specific menu, all the operating functions associated with that menu are always displayed. In order to be able to control the system appropriately during operation, it is therefore necessary to "leaf through" these various menus. In other words, the system forces the operator to display and select from a plurality of menu pages, e.g., in order to retrieve a desired operating function, or because the operation of a specific operating function requires display of a further submenu, reproducing a subordinate set of functions.
It is also disadvantageous that various components are often controlled via independent menus on various indicating devices, which means that, for example, the X-ray generator is controlled with its specific menus on a different display device than, for example, the digital image processor used thereafter. Thus, in addition to the added time and complexity associated with having to "leaf through" menus, the arrangement described above has an additional disadvantage in that it often is not possible for the user to operate the system from one single indicating device.

Medical treatment and or diagnostic system