A drainage device of an electric power steering system has a drain case and a drain valve. The drain case has a groove portion formed in a peripheral edge portion of a case inlet. The drain valve has a main body, and a flange disposed so as to face the case inlet. The flange has a bulged portion bulged toward the case inlet, and an annular seal portion. When the seal portion is brought into tight contact with the peripheral edge portion of the case inlet, the drainage device is placed in a valve closed state to form an annular space between the groove portion and the seal portion. When the seal portion is elastically deformed to form a gap between the seal portion and the peripheral edge portion of the case inlet, the drainage device is placed in a valve open state.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electric power steering system including a rack housing and a drainage device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electric power steering systems (EPS) have a higher degree of flexibility in layout and consume smaller amount of energy than hydraulic power steering systems. Therefore, in recent years, adoption of electric power steering systems not only in small-sized vehicles but also in large-sized vehicles has been under contemplation. In response to this, a demand for high-powered electric power steering systems has been increasing. In order to meet such an increasing demand, so-called rack assist-type electric power steering systems have become widely available. In a rack assist-type electric power steering system, a rack shaft of a rack pinion-type steering mechanism is equipped with a ball screw mechanism capable of producing a high rack axial force with a high speed reduction ratio, and assist force from an electric motor is transmitted to the rack shaft via the ball screw mechanism. A known rack assist-type EPS is a belt-driven-type EPS that includes an electric motor disposed parallel to a rack shaft, a speed reducer in which and a belt is looped over a pulley provided on a shaft of the electric motor and a pulley provided on a ball nut rotatably fitted to a ball screw shaft portion of the rack shaft, and a rack housing that houses these components. The driving force produced by the electric motor is transmitted from the ball nut to the rack shaft via the belt. Because the EPS is attached to a lower part of the vehicle body, which is relatively close to a road face, end portions of the rack shaft are covered by resin boots that are formed in a bellows shape.
If gravel or the like hits the boot while a vehicle is travelling on a rough road and its impact force damages the boot, water may enter the rack housing from the damaged part. The water that has entered the rack housing is not naturally drained. If the vehicle is placed in a low-temperature environment with the water left inside the rack housing, the water remaining around the speed reducer may freeze, raising a possibility that the operation of the speed reducer will be impeded. In the belt-driven-type EPS, in particular, the belt and the pulley are stuck together so that the belt cannot be driven. For example, the specification of German Patent Application Publication No. 10 2009 039 832 describes an EPS in which a rack housing is equipped with a drainage device and thus water that has entered an internal space of the rack housing can be drained therefrom. As illustrated in FIG. 5, a drainage device 200 includes a drain case 210 formed of a first drain case 220 and a second drain case 230, and a drain valve 240 formed of an elastic member. The first drain case 220 has a case inlet 221 that communicates with an internal space of the rack housing, and the second drain case 230 has case outlets 231 that communicate with the outside of the rack housing. The drain valve 240 has a main body 241 and a flange 242. The flange 242 contacts a protrusion 222 formed on an inner face of the case inlet 221, thus closing the case inlet 221. The water that has entered the internal space of the rack housing flows into the drain case 220 through the case inlet 221, and accumulates on the flange 242. Then, due to the pressure of the water, the flange 242 elastically deforms as illustrated in FIG. 6, so that a gap is formed between the flange 242 and the protrusion 222 formed on the inner face of the case inlet 221, and the water flowing out through the gap is drained through the case outlets 231 to the outside of the rack housing.
However, in the drainage device 200 of the above-described EPS, the water uniformly spreads and accumulates on the flange 242 of the drain valve 240. This makes the water pressure low, resulting in low water drainage performance. Furthermore, because the area of contact between the flange 242 and the protrusion 222 formed on the inner face of the case inlet 221 is small, the sealing performance is low. Therefore, for example, when the drainage device 200 is submerged in water, the water may enter the internal space of the rack housing through the case outlets 231.


This invention provides nucleic acid sequences and characterization of the gene cluster responsible for the biosynthesis of the enediyne C-1027 (produced by Streptomyces globisporus). The pathway comprises a nonriobsomal peptide synthetase (NRPS). Methods are provided for the biosynthesis of enediynes, enediyne analogs and other biological molecules.

The enediyne antibiotics are currently the focus of intense research activity in the fields of chemistry, biology, and medical sciences, because of their unique molecular architecture, biological activities, and modes of actions (Doyle and Borders (1995) Enediyne antibiotics as antitumor agents. Marcel-Dekker, New York, Thorson et al. (1999) Bioorg. Chem., 27: 172–188). Since the unveiling of the structure of neocarzinostatin chromophore (Edo et al. (1985) Tetrahedron Lett. 26: 331–340) in 1985, the enediyne family has grown steadily. Thus far, there have been three basic groups within the enediyne antibiotic family: (a) the calicheamicin/esperamicin type, which includes the calicheamicins, the esperamicins, and namenamicin, (b) the dynemicin type, and (c) the chromoprotein type, consisting of an apoprotein and an unstable enediyne chromophore. The latter group includes neocarzinostatin, kedarcidin, C-1027 (FIG. 1), and maduropeptin, whose enediyne chromophore structures have been established, as well as several others whose enediyne chromophore structures are yet to be determined due to their instability (Thorson et al. (1999) Bioorg. Chem., 27: 172–188). N1999A2, in contrast to the other chromoproteins, exists as an enediyne chromophore alone despite the fact that its structure is very similar to the other chromoprotein chromophore (Ando et al.(1998) Tetra. Letts., 39: 6495–6480).
As a family, the enediyne antibiotics are the most potent, highly active antitumor agents ever discovered. Some members are 1000 times more potent than adriamycin, one of the most effective, clinically used antitumor antibiotics (Zhen et al. (1989) J. Antibiot. 42: 1294–1298). All members of this family contain a unit consisting of two acetylenic groups conjugated to a double bond or incipient double bond within a nine or ten-membered ring; i.e., the enediyne core as exemplified by C-1027 in FIG. 1. As the consequence of this structural feature, these compounds share a common mechanism of action: the enediyne core undergoes an electronic rearrangement to form a transient benzenoid diradical, which is positioned in the minor groove of DNA so as to damage DNA by abstracting hydrogen atoms from deoxyriboses on both strands (FIG. 1). Reaction of the resulting deoxyribose carbon-centered radicals with molecular oxygen initiates a process that results in both single-strand and double-strand DNA cleavages (Doyle and Borders (1995) Enediyne antibiotics as antitumor agents. Marcel-Dekker, New York; Ikemoton et al. (1995) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:10506–10510; Myers et al. (1997) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 119: 2965–2972; Stassinopoulos et al. (1996) Science 272: 1943–1946; Thorson et al. (1999) Bioorg. Chem., 27: 172–188; Xu et al. (1997) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 119: 1133–1134). This novel mechanism of DNA damage has important implications for their application as potent cancer chemotherapeutic agents (Doyle and Borders (1995) supra.; Sievers et al. (1999) Blood 93: 3678–3684).
As an alternative to making structural analogs of microbial metabolites by chemical synthesis, manipulations of genes governing secondary metabolism offer a promising alternative allowing preparation of these compounds biosynthetically (Cane et al. (1998) Science 282: 63–68; Hutchinson and Fujii. (1995) Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 49: 201–38; Katz and Donadio (1993) Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 47: 875–912). The success of the latter approach depends critically on the availability of novel genetic systems and on genes encoding novel enzyme activities. The enediynes offer a distinct opportunity to study the biosynthesis of their unique molecular scaffolds and the mechanism of self-resistance to extremely cytotoxic natural products. Elucidation of these aspects provides access to rational engineering of enediyne biosynthesis for novel drug leads and makes it possible to construct enediyne overproducing strains by de-regulating the biosynthetic machinery. In addition, elucidation of an enediyne gene cluster contributes to the general field of combinatorial biosynthesis by expanding the repertoire of novel polyketide synthase (PKS) and deoxysugar biosynthesis genes as well as other genes uniquely associated with enediyne biosynthesis, leading to the making of novel enediynes via combinatorial biosynthesis.

Gene cluster for production of the enediyne antitumor antibiotic C-1027

The Regents of the University of California


A semiconductor memory device includes two memory cell arrays, a sense amplifier shared by the two memory cell arrays; and a control circuit configured to control data readout from the two memory cell arrays. Each memory cell array includes word lines, two or more bit lines, a dummy word line, memory cells provided at intersections of the bit lines and the word lines, and dummy cells provided at intersections of selected bit lines and the dummy word line. When the control circuit reads data from one memory cell array, the control circuit activates the dummy word line included in the other memory cell array and generates, with the dummy cell included in the other memory cell array, a reference level of the sense amplifier.

FIG. 23 illustrates a part of a read-only semiconductor memory device 110, which includes a memory cell array 111, a column switch 112, a reference level generation circuit 113 and a sense amplifier 114.
The memory cell array 111 includes a plurality (only one is illustrated in FIG. 23) word lines WL, a plurality of bit lines BL and a plurality of memory cells MC provided at intersections of the word lines WL and the bit lines BL. Each memory cell MC is a cell transistor T1 including a drain coupled to the corresponding bit line BL and a gate coupled to the corresponding word line WL.
The column switch 112 includes a plurality of switch circuits CS including first terminals coupled to the bit lines BL, respectively. A column selection signal COL is supplied to a gate of each switch circuit CS. A second terminal of each switch circuit CS is coupled to the sense amplifier 114 via a data bit line DB.
The reference level generation circuit 113 includes a dummy word line DWL, dummy bit lines DBL0, DBL1, one dummy cell DMCa provided in correspondence with the two dummy bit lines DBL0, DBL1 and N-channel MOS transistors TN. First terminals of the N-channel MOS transistors TN are respectively coupled to the dummy bit lines DBL0, DBL1. The dummy cell DMCa is a dummy transistor DTa including a drain coupled to the dummy bit lines DBL0 DBL1, a source coupled to a low-voltage power supply and a gate coupled to the dummy word line DWL. The transistor TN includes a gate coupled to a high-voltage power supply VDD and a second terminal coupled to a dummy common line DC.
In the case of reading data from an arbitrary memory cell MC of the semiconductor memory device 110, one word line WL and one bit line BL are activated. Data written in the memory cell MC coupled to the activated word line WL and bit line BL is read to the bit line BL. That is, the voltage of the bit line BL changes in accordance with the data written in the memory cell MC. The charge of the bit line BL is transmitted to the sense amplifier 114 through the data bit line DB in accordance with a column selection signal COL. At this time, in the reference level generation circuit 113, the dummy word line DWL and the dummy bit lines DBL0, DBL1 are activated and the dummy transistor DTa is turned on. The voltage of the dummy common line DC is changed by the turned-on dummy transistor DTa. The voltage of the dummy common line DC is supplied as a reference level to the sense amplifier 114. The sense amplifier 114 amplifies a voltage difference between the data bit line DB and the dummy common line DC and outputs an amplified signal as read data AX.
Since the reference level generation circuit 113 generates the reference level of the sense amplifier 114 in this way, the semiconductor memory device 110 may read data utilizing the sense amplifier 114 of a differential amplification type even in the case of reading the data of the memory cell MC by a single-phase bit line.
A technology relating to the above conventional technology is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 55-036479.
However, for the reference level generation circuit 113 to generate a desired reference level, the dummy bit lines DBL0, DBL1 need to be respectively formed to reproduce a load (parasitic capacity) of the bit line BL coupled to the memory cell MC. Thus, there is a problem of increasing a layout area by as much as the dummy bit lines DBL0, DBL1 are formed.

Semiconductor memory device and data reading method


It has been found that carboxylic acid functionalized high cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber which is comprised of polybutadiene rubber chains having a cis-1,4-microstructure content of at least 90 percent has much better interaction with metal salts of α,β-ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids, such as zinc diacrylate or zinc dimethacrylate. This results in such rubber compositions being stiff while still exhibiting a lower level of hysteresis. These characteristics are beneficial when used in manufacturing tire apex compositions, in manufacturing golf ball cores, and in a wide variety of other applications. Such rubber compositions can be used as substitutes for thermoplastic elastomers in many applications.

High cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber is a synthetic rubber that is used extensively in manufacturing various rubber products. For instance, high cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber is utilized in large quantities in tire tread rubber to attain better tread wear characteristics and better fuel economy. It is also broadly used in other tire components, such as in the apex of tires. High cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber is also used in manufacturing a variety of other products, for instance it is utilized extensively in the core of premium golf balls.
A conventional radial-ply tire includes radial plies that are wrapped around two annular inextensible beads. In the tire making process, a green tire carcass ("green" meaning as yet uncured and still tacky) is built by sliding a green innerliner and radial ply over a tire "building drum" (or "building mandrel"). Two beads (each comprising a cable of steel filaments encased in green rubber) are then slid over the carcass, one at each side. The portions of the plies that extend beyond the beads are then turned up around the beads, forming "turn-ups". Then, the portion of the plies between the beads is expanded radially outward so as to contact the ply turn-ups. The annular cross-sectionally triangular rubber filler bounded by the turned up ply and the bead is called an "apex".
In tire manufacturing there are two widely used methods of incorporating the apex into the tire structure. In the "pre-apexing" method, an apexing machine adheres an annular triangular apex to an annular bead. The bead, with the apex still adhering to it, is slid over the carcass on the building drum. The plies are then turned up and expanded as mentioned above, so that the apex is surrounded by the bead from below and by the plies from the sides.
In the "flat application of apex" method, the apex is circumferentially laid down onto the carcass while on the building drum. The apex is laid down as a triangular strip of green rubber ("gum strip") lying horizontally on the carcass, next to the bead, so that one of its tacky long flat sides adheres to the tacky green carcass, and its short base is close to, and faces, the bead. When the portion of the plies between the beads is expanded outward, the apex's wedge profile swings around 90 degrees, and rests atop the bead, aligned vertically.
The choice of triangular dimensions and material properties of the apex affects the performance of the tire, such as tire weight, sidewall stiffness, handling, ride comfort, flexural heat, material fatigue, and tire life. For example, since the apex extends up much of the length of the sidewall, increasing the stiffness of the apex increases the stiffness of the sidewall, yielding less sidewall flexing and hence less flexural heat and material fatigue, but at the cost of a rougher ride. Increasing the apex's radial length (so that it travels farther up the sidewall) further stiffens the sidewall and improves handling, which is beneficial for "high performance" tires.
Bead assemblies having a multilayered apex, a rubber material adjacent to an apex, or a flat rubber material between the bead and ply are described in the prior art. More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,943 discloses a method of securing a bead filler material to a bead by positioning "bead filler portions" (apex) on top of "reinforce material" (plies) on either side of the bead bundle, and folding the reinforce material around the bead bundle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,431 discloses a bead filler (apex) disposed above a ring of bead wire and a bead reinforcing layer disposed within the folded portion of the carcass and extending about the bead wire wherein the reinforcing layer may be composed of cords of carbon fiber with a rubber latex adhesive. U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,563 discloses a tire in which "a first filler element is provided to separate the turnup from both the apex strip and the carcass ply and which also has second and third filler elements. U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,324 discloses an apex of triangular cross-section formed of multiple apex leafs radially contacting each other. U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,971 discloses a bead assembly having a rubber bead filler (apex) and a reinforced rubberized ply flipper. U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,385 discloses a tire having a bead core (bead), a bead filler (apex), and a rubber sheet. U.S. Pat. No. 3,163,683 discloses a tire bead assembly having a bead core, an apex and a gum tie strip of uncured rubber material. U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,943 discloses a prior art bead subassembly having bead filler portions on the top surfaces of material wings (sections of ply) axially spaced from the bead bundle annular side surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,972,061 discloses a method of building a green tire carcass by wrapping a ply having a pair of spaced preassembled inner apexes around a building drum. Then, a pair of beads with preassembled middle apexes are mounted circumferentially over the ply to a location axially outward from the inner apexes. Next, the middle section of the ply between the inner apexes is expanded radially outward to bring the inner apexes against the middle apexes. Preferably, the ply has a pair of preassembled outer apexes, each outwardly spaced from one of the inner apexes. Each of the beads is positioned with the preassembled middle apexes between corresponding inner and outer apexes. Next, the ply turnup portions of the ply are turned up to bring the outer apexes against the corresponding middle apexes. Preferably, the inner apexes and the outer apexes have a rectangular cross-section, and the middle apexes have a substantially triangular cross-section. The inner apexes extend radially outward further than the outer apexes and the middle apexes extend radially outward less than the outer apexes. The inner apexes, the middle apexes and the outer apexes are selected from a material of the group consisting essentially of green rubber, cured rubber, and combinations thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,972,061 further discloses a pneumatic radial ply tire that comprises a tread, a belt structure, and a carcass. The carcass has a radial ply and two bead sections. The tire is characterized by each bead section having a bead and a compound apex with an inner apex and a middle apex. The compound apex preferably also has an outer apex. The inner apex and the outer apex have a substantially rectangular cross-section, and the middle apex has a substantially triangular cross-section. Preferably, the inner apex extends radially outward further than the outer apex and the middle apex extends radially outward less than the outer apex. The inner apex, the middle apex and the outer apex are each of a material selected from the group consisting essentially of green rubber, cured rubber and combinations thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,973,637 describes a pneumatic tire having a triangular shaped apex which extends radially outward of the bead core, and wherein the apex is formed of at least two zones. Each zone is formed of a different material, wherein the first zone extends from the base of the apex to the tip of the apex, and the second zone is located adjacent the ply. The zones are preferably formed by extrusion to form one cohesive apex. The first zone is formed of a material having a G″IG′ ratio in the range of about 0.155 to about 0.183. The second zone is formed of a material having a G″IG′ ratio in the range of about 0.125 to about 0.133. This apex design is reported to be optimal with respect to lower the rolling resistance of the tire.
As previously noted, high-1,4-cis-polybutadiene rubber is also used in premium golf ball core compositions. It is desirable for golf balls to provide a high level of spin and control at the green while offering a high launch angle and a lower level of spin off of the tee. However, it has been recognized for years that those traits and normally inconsistent and that one normally had to be sacrificed to enhance the other. In any case, to attain better performance characteristics it is desirable to for the core of a golf ball to be as stiff as possible and to exhibit the lowest possible level of hysteresis.
In general, golf balls may be divided into two categories: solid and wound. The wound golf ball has been viewed as a premier ball given its soft feel and high spin rate. Wound golf balls typically include a solid or fluid-filled center surrounded by a tensioned elastomeric thread and a cover. Wound balls generally are more difficult and expensive to manufacture than solid golf balls. Solid golf balls include one-piece constructions, two-piece constructions comprised of an elastomeric-based core and a cover, and three-piece and multi-layer balls which typically have an elastomeric-based core, at least one intermediate layer, and a cover. The elastomer-based cores typically represent the greatest volume within the golf ball. One-piece balls are the simplest and least expensive to manufacture but do not offer the desired playing characteristics. Their performance typically relegates them to use as range balls. The two-piece construction offers improved playing characteristics while being relatively easy to manufacture.
The solid golf balls or cores of wound balls generally have an elastomeric-based core that is formed by compression molding with subsequent vulcanization. In the case of a one-piece ball, the entire ball is constructed by this process. Polybutadiene rubber having cis-microstructure content of at least about 90 percent is generally preferred for golf balls possessing the best balance between feel and distance. The polybutadiene polymer is generally formulated with a free radical coagent and a free radical source. The free radical coagent is most often a metal salt of an α,β-ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid. The free radical source is predominantly a peroxide or combinations of peroxides. The free radical coagent is believed to both homopolymerize as well as graft to the polybutadiene during the crosslinking reaction. During this process, a high modulus filler is created in situ with connection to the elastomeric matrix. The result is a compound with sufficient rigidity, resiliency, and durability for golf ball play.
The high cis 1,4-polybutadiene used in golf ball cores can be made utilizing any suitable catalyst system or initiator. For instance, the high cis 1,4-polybutadiene can be synthesized by the polymerization of 1,3-butadiene monomer utilizing a nickel based Zeigler-Natta catalyst system, a rare earth metal catalyst system (which includes cerium, lanthanum, praseodymium, neodymium or gadolinium), or an anionic initiator, such an alkyl lithium compound. In any case, the high cis 1,4-polybutadiene will typically have a cis-1,4-microstructure content of at least about 90 percent.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0137849 A1 is based upon the unexpected discovery that cis-1,4-polybutadiene that is synthesized utilizing organometallic catalyst systems has superior characteristics for utilization in solid golf ball cores if the polymerization is terminated utilizing a fatty alcohol of the structural formula ROH, wherein R represents an alkyl group containing from 2 to about 30 carbon atoms. This publication more specifically discloses to a golf ball which is comprised of a solid core and a resin cover, wherein the solid core is comprised of cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber which is made by polymerizing 1,3-butadiene in the presence of an organometallic catalyst system wherein the polymerization is short-stopped with a fatty alcohol of the structural formula ROH, wherein R represents an alkyl group containing from 2 to about 30 carbon atoms. It also further discloses a rubber composition for a solid golf ball having excellent durability and rebound properties comprising: (a) cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber, wherein said cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber has a Mooney ML 1+4 viscosity of 30 to 90, wherein said cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber has a cis-1,4 bond content of at least 95 percent, wherein cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber is made by polymerizing 1,3-butadiene in the presence of organometallic catalyst system, wherein the polymerization is short-stopped by the addition of a fatty alcohol of the structural formula ROH, wherein R represents an alkyl group containing from 2 to about 30 carbon atoms.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,713,565 is based upon the discovered that cis-1,4-polybutadiene that is synthesized utilizing Zeigler-Natta catalyst systems has superior characteristics for utilization in solid golf ball cores if the polymerization is terminated utilizing a carboxylic acid of the structural formula RCOOH, wherein R represents an alkyl group containing from 1 to about 30 carbon atoms. U.S. Pat. No. 6,713,565 further reveals a rubber composition for a solid golf ball having excellent durability and rebound properties comprising: (a) cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber, wherein said cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber has a Mooney ML 1+4 viscosity of 30 to 90, wherein said cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber has a cis-1,4 bond content of at least 95 percent, wherein cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber is made by polymerizing 1,3-butadiene in the presence of organometallic catalyst system, wherein the polymerization is short-stopped by the addition of a carboxylic acid of the structural formula RCOOH, wherein R represents an alkyl group containing from 1 to about 30 carbon atoms. This patent also discloses the golf balls having a cis-1,4-polybtutadiene core which includes zinc acrylate and zinc oxide.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,056,269 and 4,264,075 disclosed a molded golf ball employing a filler-functioning cross-linking monomer comprising a polyvalent metal salt of an unsaturated acid. At sufficient levels of filler-functioning cross-linking monomer, the golf ball composition comprising cis-polybutadiene elastomer was reported to have good properties. However, it was also reported that the curing process generated an exotherm during the vulcanization step. The exotherm was reported to exceed the temperature of the mold by 60° C. This was reported to result in an internal temperature of 220° C.
The exotherm reported on curing the golf ball core composition is likely due to the expected exotherm that would be seen from the free radical initiated homopolymerization of the coagent in such a viscous medium as polybutadiene elastomer. As the internal temperature of the compound increases, the rate of decomposition of peroxide to free radicals also increases. Once decomposed, the oxygen-centered radical from the peroxide has the ability to both abstract a hydrogen radical from the polybutadiene or add to the double bond which is typically present in common peroxide coagents. As the flux of radicals in the system increases, the homopolymerization and grafting reactions also increase. This situation whereby the temperature increases the rate of an exothermic reaction which in turn continues to raise the temperature is classically termed a "runaway". It is speculated here that during this runaway time frame, the extent of cure experiences an asymptotic increase. The difficulty lies in the fact that to reach a necessary degree of crosslinking there needs to be a sufficient amount of polymerizable coagent as reported in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,056,269 and 4,264,075. However, it was also reported that the exotherm generated during the curing step made the molding process more difficult. If a golf ball core is formulated with a lower level of polymerizable coagent, the resiliency and durability of the ball are compromised. However, the degree of exotherm found during the cure is less and the time for complete conversion of the peroxide is conversely much longer. By formulating a golf ball core with a sufficient amount of polymerizable coagent for reasonable golf ball performance, an exotherm is created which is sufficient to induce further decomposition of peroxide. The increase in decomposition of peroxide introduces more radicals and an increase in the homopolymerization and grafting reactions. The ability to control the exotherm by cooling is limited by the dimensions of the ball, which offer very little surface area to volume. The result is a rapid increase in crosslink density that may be above that necessary for reasonable golf ball play.
There have been several citations in the patent literature which disclose the addition of a chemical agent to augment the properties of a golf ball. The augmentation has typically involved a decrease in compression.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,884 discloses a golf ball which exhibits a high coefficient of restitution when a metallic dithiocarbamate is used at levels between 0.1 and 0.5 parts by weight based on 100 parts of a polybutadiene elastomer or mixtures thereof. No disclosure is made as to the mechanism of improvement from the dithiocarbamate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,193 discloses the creation of a soft layer underneath the golf ball cover. This is accomplished by modifying the cure at the surface of a golf ball during the molding process. The modification occurs by exposing the surface to an agent that alters the cure. The only example and claim to a suitable agent is elemental powdered sulfur.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,652 first discloses the use of an organic sulfur compound and/or a metal salt thereof. The addition of said organic sulfur compound and/or a metal salt thereof to the rubber golf ball core composition produced a rubbery elastomer having improved rebound resilience after vulcanized. As a golf ball, the result produced by the compound is cited as an increase in initial velocity upon hitting and improved flying performance No disclosure is made as to the mechanism of improvement from the organic sulfur compound and/or metal salt thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,301 discloses the use of a sulfur halide to impart a solid golf ball with a good degree of both deformation and resiliency. In the final golf ball, the results translate into improved flight distance while maintaining a good feel. No disclosure is made as to the mechanism of improvement from the sulfur halide.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,666,780 and 6,679,791 disclose the design of a multi-piece golf ball whereby there exists an optimized hardness profile in which the hardness gradually increases radially outward from the center toward the outside edge or surface of the core. This construction feature is said to provide improved rebound energy, travel distance, durability, and feel of the ball. The patents offer suitable compounding ingredients such as a thiophenol, thionaphthol, halogenated thiophenol or metal salt thereof in order to obtain said hardness gradient. No disclosure is made in either patent as to the mechanism of improvement from the suggested suitable compounding ingredients.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,162,135 and 6,291,592 disclose the use of a cis-to-trans catalyst to produce golf balls with lower compression and increased resilience. The cis-to-trans catalyst will isomerize a portion of the cis-polybutadiene to the trans-configuration yielding a greater trans-polybutadiene content after curing than was originally present. The cis-to-trans catalyst can be applied to the center, intermediate layer, or both, depending on the golf ball construction. The lower modulus and increased resilience is explained, without being bound to this particular theory, by the increased mobility of the polymer backbones as a result of the combination of cis- and trans-polybutadiene.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,635,716 discloses the use of a halogenated organosulfur compound or metal salt thereof to increase the coefficient of restitution ("COR") and/or decrease compression. The halogenated organosulfur compound is introduced at levels between 2.2 and 5.0 parts per hundred polybutadiene. No description is given as to the mechanism by which the halogenated organosulfur compound improves COR or decreases compression.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,697,856 and 6,287,218 discloses the use of an organosulfur compound in combination with polybutadiene rubber of 90% or greater cis content to affect an increase in the trans-polybutadiene content upon curing to between 10% and 30% for the first patent and 10% to 50% for the second. The presence of the organosulfur compound is reported to generate a gradient in crosslinking from the center of the core to the exterior. The resultant golf ball has a lower compression while maintaining or increasing resiliency.
United States Statutory Invention Registration Number H 2036 H discloses a golf ball which is comprised of a solid core and a resin cover, wherein the solid core is comprised of cis-1,4-polybutadiene rubber which is made by polymerizing 1,3-butadiene in the presence of (a) an organonickel compound, (b) an organoaluminum compound, (c) a fluorine containing compound and (d) para-styrenated diphenylamine; wherein the organoaluminum compound and the fluorine containing compound are brought together in the presence of the para-styrenated diphenylamine.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,711,723 and 5,776,012 disclose the construction of a three-piece golf ball wherein the core and shell regions have different hardness. The difference in hardness between core and shell is brought about by the placement of a crosslinking adjuster in the core composition. The construction is reported to provide improved flight distance and feel. The benefit of the organosulfur compound and metal-containing organosulfur compound is said to be a result of the accelerated mastication of the rubber, and the resulting enhancement of the rebound performance of the soft part of the core.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,101 discloses a three-piece golf ball wherein the core of the golf ball employs an organic sulfide compound. The invention is described to provide a golf ball with good shot feel while maintaining excellent flight performance and durability.


Feedback control of a target system is provided which utilizes the imposition of a periodic modulating signal onto a command signal of a controller. The command signal with the period modulating signal imposed thereon is input to the target system to be controlled. A response of the target system to a manifestation of the periodic modulating signal in the command signal is detected, and a feedback signal is produced from the detected response. The periodic modulating signal and the feedback signal are processed together to produce an error signal, and the command signal is modified in accordance with the error signal to drive the current state of the target system toward a desired state, wherein the periodic modulating signal facilitates control of the target system.

Feedback control systems typically use sensors to measure states of the target system to be controlled by the control system. For example, optical sensors and Hall effect devices produce rotor position signals in feedback control systems for brushless direct current motors. However, such sensors add cost and complexity to a system and may also require maintenance from time to time to assure continued proper operation. Such sensors can also be a common point of failure in systems under feedback control.
As a result of the disadvantages of many sensor devices, sensorless feedback control systems, which are not based on direct sensing of target system states, are attractive for some applications. For example, the back electromotive force (EMF) generated by stator windings of a brushless DC motor as its magnetized rotor rotates can be detected and used to determine rotor position. The transitions in the resulting back-EMF signal indicate times at which the rotor is in known positions.
Existing feedback control systems drive the phase error, i.e. the difference between a command signal and the target system's response to the command signal, toward zero. Such a feedback control system is point optimized. However, rather than simply nulling the phase error and converging to a single operating point, it would be advantageous for a feedback control system to be able to track an error signal function, which is the difference between the actual state and desired state of the system, in order to deliberately run the motor with a non-zero phase error. The present invention provides a feedback control technique which provides this capability.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method, system, and program product for feedback control of a target system utilizing imposition of a periodic modulating signal onto a command signal

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of masking includes adhering a removable pressure sensitive adhesive to a masking surface to cover the masking surface and blasting the adhesive and an adjacent target surface with abrasive blast media to remove material forming the target surface wherein the adhesive protects against removal of material forming the masking surface. The blasting media does not abrade the adhesive. The adhesive may be applied in molten form or at room temperature by separating the adhesive from a flexible release liner. The adhesive may be removed by simply peeling the adhesive from the masking surface, leaving the masking surface essentially free of residue. Due to the adhesive characteristics throughout the adhesive, some blast media adheres to the adhesive and forms a barrier layer which repels additional blast media. The adhesive may also be used to adhere a masking device over the masking surface to cover large areas easily.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to masking to protect sensitive areas or areas which do not require application of or removal of coatings adjacent other areas where it is desired to apply or remove such coatings. More particularly, the invention relates to a masking material formed of a removable pressure sensitive adhesive. Specifically, the invention relates to a hot melt pressure sensitive adhesive which is easily removed by hand.
2. Background Information
Historically, masking has been utilized on aircraft, automobiles, equipment, rigs, ships and other structures to protect sensitive areas or areas not requiring cleaning, removal of a coating, or application of a coating from abrasive blasting, chemical stripper, new coatings, solvents or other exposure. This masking has been achieved by using a combination of tapes, hot glue, masking devices or sheet material. These traditional masking devices are time consuming in their application and removal and may or may not be adequate in their protection capabilities. In addition, they are typically rather expensive.
For example, it is generally difficult to remove hot glue, which must normally be chipped in multiple pieces from the surface that it was masking. In addition, hot glue embeds itself in tight places such as hinges, again compounding the difficulty of removal. Furthermore, adhesive tapes used in abrasive blasting generally do not have sufficient adhesion to withstand the blasting process to its edges even at low pressures such as 25 psi. Because of this drawback of such adhesive tapes, it has been required that hot glue be used to hold the edges of the adhesive tape down. Thus, abrasive blasting such as that used to depaint aircraft and the like requires the application of such adhesive tapes, which are typically rubberized, as well as the hot glue, thus making a costly and labor intensive masking device.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a masking material and process which reduces the labor hours required to mask and unmask an aircraft or the like while providing high quality masking. The present invention addresses this and other problems.

Method of masking and a hot melt adhesive for use therewith


A scanning exposure apparatus for exposing a substrate (8) to a pattern with an original (1) through a projection optical system (5), while scanning the original and the substrate, includes a first detection system (14c) which detects a first substrate reference mark (18c1, 18c3) corresponding to the substrate through the projection optical system on/at at least one of an optical axis of the projection optical and an off-axis position shifted from the optical axis in a scanning direction, and an alignment system (2, 9) which aligns the original and the substrate on the basis of a detection result of the first detection system.

A conventional scanning exposure apparatus forms and projects the image of a pattern of an original (reticle or photomask) onto a substrate (wafer) through a projection optical system, and scans (moves) the original and substrate simultaneously with respect to the projection optical system.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the schematic arrangement of the conventional scanning exposure apparatus. FIG. 4 is a front view showing the schematic arrangement of the conventional scanning exposure apparatus.
An original 1 (reticle) is held by an original stage 2 which is driven in a Y direction in FIG. 3 by a laser interferometer 3 and a drive control means (not shown).
In the vicinity of the original 1, reference originals 4a and 4b are fixed within a predetermined range of the original stage 2. The reflection surfaces of the reference originals 4a and 4b are almost flush with the reflection surface of the original 1. A plurality of original reference marks made of a metal such as Cr or Al are formed on the reflection surfaces of the reference originals 4a and 4b serving as reference portions.
The original stage 2 is driven while its position in a Z direction in FIG. 3 is held constant with respect to a projection optical system 5. A moving mirror 6 which reflects a beam emitted from the laser interferometer 3 is fixed to the original stage 2. The laser interferometer 3 measures the position and moving amount of the original stage 2 successively.
A predetermined pattern formed on the original 1 is illuminated by exposure light emitted from an illumination optical system 7, and is projected through the projection optical system 5 to form an image on a substrate 8 (wafer) held by a substrate stage 9.
In the vicinity of the substrate 8, a reference substrate 10 is fixed within a predetermined range of the substrate stage 9. The reflection surface of the reference substrate 10 is almost flush with the upper surface of the substrate 8. A plurality of substrate reference marks made of a metal such as Cr or Al are formed on the reflection surface of the reference substrate 10.
The substrate stage 9 has a drive control means (not shown) for rotatably driving the substrate 8 or reference substrate 10 during vertical driving, image surface blur correction driving, alignment and yawing control of the substrate 8 or reference substrate 10, so that the substrate 8 coincides with the image surface of the projection optical system. Furthermore, a moving mirror 12 which reflects a beam from a laser interferometer 11 is fixed to the substrate stage 9. The laser interferometer 11 measures the position and moving amount of the substrate stage 9 successively.
With the above arrangement, the substrate stage 9 can move in the direction of the optical axis (Z direction) of the projection optical system 5 and within a plane (X-Y plane.) perpendicular to the direction of the optical axis, and can be rotated (θ direction) about the optical axis.
The original 1 and substrate 8 are placed at optically conjugate positions through the projection optical system 5 by a plurality of position detection means. The illumination optical system 7 forms a slit-like exposure region or arcuate exposure region elongated in the X direction on the original 1. The exposure region on the original 1 forms a slit-like exposure region, having a size substantially proportional to the projection magnification of the projection optical system 5, on the substrate 8.
In the above scanning exposure apparatus, both the original stage 2 and substrate stage 9 are driven with respect to the optical path of the exposure light at a speed ratio corresponding to the optical magnification of the projection optical system 5, to scan the exposure region on the original 1 and that on the substrate 8, thus performing scanning exposure.
An oblique incident scheme first position detection means 13 is provided as a focal plane position detection means. The first position detection means 13 irradiates the surface of the substrate 8 (or the surface of the reference substrate 10), where the pattern of the original 1 is to be transferred by the projection optical system 5, in an oblique direction with non-exposure light, and detects light reflected obliquely by the surface of the substrate 8 (or the surface of the reference substrate 10).
A plurality of position detection light-receiving elements corresponding to the respective reflected beams are provided to the first position detection means 13, and are arranged such that the light-receiving surfaces of the respective position detection light-receiving elements and the reflection points of the respective beams on the substrate 8 are substantially conjugate. Therefore, a positional error of the substrate 8 (or reference substrate 10) depending on the direction of the optical axis of the projection optical system 5 is measured as a positional error of the corresponding position detection light-receiving element in a detection unit.
When, however, the projection optical system 5 absorbs exposure heat or the ambient atmosphere changes, the focal position of the projection optical system 5 changes, and an error occurs in the measurement origin and focal plane of the oblique incident scheme first position detection means 13. A second position detection means 14 is loaded to calibrate this error.
As shown in FIG. 3, the second position detection means 14 has a first position detection system 14a and second position detection system 14b as two position detection systems. The two position detection systems 14a and 14b extract from the illumination optical system 7 light components having substantially the same wavelength as that of the exposure light, and guide them through fibers or lens optical systems. The guided light illuminates an in-focus mark on the reference original 4a or 4b (note that "a reference original 4" includes "the reference original 4a or 4b" unless otherwise specified).
At least one optical system in the second position detection means 14 is driven in the direction of the detection optical axis, and the detection focal plane of the second position detection means 14 is aligned with the in-focus mark on the reference original 4. Subsequently, the substrate stage 9 is vertically driven in the direction of the optical axis (Z direction) in the vicinity of the zero point which is preset by the oblique incident scheme first position detection means 13 in advance.
During driving, the reference substrate 10 is located substantially immediately under the projection optical system 5. Light transmitted through the in-focus mark of the reference original 4 is transmitted through the projection optical system 5 to irradiate the reference substrate 10. Light reflected by the reference substrate 10 is transmitted through the projection optical system 5 again to become incident on the light-receiving portion of the second position detection means 14 through the reference original 4.
The second position detection means 14 has detection ranges for the two position detection systems 14a and 14b on the X-axis including the optical path of the exposure light, as shown in FIG. 3, so that the means 14 estimates the actual exposure image surface from the two, left and right measurement points on the X-axis. The detection ranges of the first and second position detection systems 14a and 14b are arranged substantially symmetrically with respect to the optical path of the exposure light. The first and second position detection systems 14a and 14b are retracted so they do not shield the exposure light during exposure, and wait at retracted positions away from the exposure region.
The second position detection means 14 also serves as a position detection means which detects the positions of the reference original 4 and reference substrate 10 relative to each other. The detection results serve as elements for calculating the baselines of off-axis microscopes 15 and 16. A baseline is the distance between the center of a shot when aligning the substrate 8 and the center of a shot (optical axis of the projection optical system) for exposure. The off-axis microscope 15 is a non-TTL (Through The Lens) microscope which uses non-exposure light, and the off-axis microscope 16 is a TTL microscope which uses non-exposure light.
The off-axis microscopes 15 and 16 detect the position of an alignment mark on the substrate 8.
The detection scheme includes a scheme of illuminating the alignment mark with a laser beam or light emitted from a halogen lamp as a light source and having a wide wavelength band, and image-processing the image data of the sensed alignment mark, thus measuring the alignment mark, an interfering alignment scheme of irradiating a diffraction-grating-like alignment mark on the substrate with laser beams having the same frequency or slightly different frequencies in one or two directions, causing interference between the two diffracted light components, and measuring the position of the alignment mark from the phases of the two diffracted light components, and the like.
The outline of baseline measurement with the off-axis microscopes 15 and 16 in the conventional scanning exposure apparatus will be described.
According to baseline measurement of the conventional scanning exposure apparatus, the original stage 2 and substrate stage 9 are driven to predetermined positions, and the positions of the reference original 4 and reference substrate 10 relative to each other are detected by the second position detection means 14 (first step).
The reference substrate 10 is moved to the detection range of the off-axis microscope 15 or 16 by driving the substrate stage 9, and the position of the reference mark formed in the off-axis microscope 15 or 16 and the position of the reference mark on the reference substrate 10, which positions are relative to each other, are detected (second step).
The baseline of the off-axis microscope 15 or 16 is calculated from the detection results of the first and second steps, and the baseline of the off-axis microscope 15 or 16 is corrected with the calculation result (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 9-298147 and 10-79340).
Recently, the patterns of semiconductor integrated circuits are becoming largely integrated and shrinking in size more and more. To further improve the alignment accuracy and throughput of the entire apparatus, an increase in detection processing speed of various types of detection devices is required.
According to the prior art as described above, the two position detection systems 14a and 14b are mounted on the second position detection means 14 to perform measurement. This technique advances the limit for the recent technique of a larger integration degree and a smaller feature size.
During detection of the focal plane position using the second position detection means 14, as the actual exposure image surface is estimated from the two, left and right measurement values, the detection ranges of the two position detection systems 14a and 14b are formed coaxially on the right and left sides, as described above. Accordingly, with the conventional scanning exposure apparatus, baseline measurement and the like cannot be performed on the optical path of the exposure light, and may be adversely affected by distortion or the like caused by the aberration of the projection optical system.
In detection of the focal plane position, measurement must be performed as close as possible to the optical path of the exposure light. Hence, during exposure, the position detection system must be driven to retract from the exposure range. The detection time and detection accuracy may accordingly be adversely affected by driving.
With the conventional scanning exposure apparatus, since the two position detection systems 14a and 14b have the detection positions within the exposure slit, baseline measurement cannot be performed during exposure or at an exposure end position. Furthermore, in baseline measurement, the original stage 2 and substrate stage 9 must also be driven to predetermined baseline measurement positions. This poses an issue in the throughput of the entire apparatus.
As the patterns of the semiconductor integrated circuits or the like become largely integrated and shrink in size more and more, the NA of the projection optical system increases, and the outer shape of the projection optical system tends to become large. Accordingly, the non-TTL off-axis microscope provided in the vicinity of the projection optical system must be separated from the optical path of the exposure light. When the baseline becomes long in this manner, the baseline measurement accuracy decreases, and the alignment accuracy decreases.
As the wavelength of the exposure light becomes short, the transmittance of the exposure light with respect to an optical member decreases. Also, the exposure light quantity increases to improve the throughput of the entire apparatus. Therefore, the exposure light absorbed by the original increases, causing thermal deformation of the original. The conventional scanning exposure apparatus, however, does not have any position detection system that can detect the thermal deformation of the original during exposure.


A connector is disclosed which comprises a housing including a plurality of terminal chambers formed inside of side walls and an opened space formed through to each of the terminal chambers, a cover having at least one receiving portion formed on a lower face thereof, for closing the opened space of the housing, and at least one connecting member provided for cutting, the connecting member uniformly combining an upper face of the housing with the lower face of the cover before the opened space is closed by the cover, wherein, when the opened space is closed by the cover, the receiving portion on the lower face of the cover is located so as to receive at least one piece of connecting member remaining on the upper face of the housing after cutting. The housing further includes at least one receiving portion provided on at least one of the side walls of the housing, and when the opened space is closed by the cover, the receiving portion on the side wall of the housing is located so as to receive the cut piece of the connecting member remaining on the lower face of the cover after cutting.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector for use preferably with a wire harness in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following describes a conventional connector for wire harnesses, with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10. In the connector 1, a plurality of terminal chambers 3 are formed in upper and lower rows of a housing 2 made of synthetic resin. On upper and lower faces of the housing 2, opened spaces 4 are formed through to each of the chambers 3. After press-connecting terminals 6 in which electric wires 5 connected therewith are disposed, in each of the terminal chambers 3, the opened spaces 4 are respectively closed by covers 7 which are combined with terminal engaging members. The upper and lower faces of the housing 2 and the covers 7 are connected by at least one hinges 8 respectively. At the central front of the upper and lower faces of the housing 2, a connecting member is formed, respectively. The covers 7 in a state prior to closing, are rigidly connected by the connecting members 9. Thus, the connectors 1 are not entwined with each other while packing or transferring the connectors 1 in which the covers 7 are not closed, thereby avoiding breakdown of the housing 2 and the covers 7.
As shown in FIGS. 9, 10(a), 10(b) and 10(c), when assembling the connector 1, each of the connecting members 9 is cut, each of the covers 7 is rotated by using each of the pair of hinges 8, and each of the opened spaces 4 of the housing 2 is closed. A similar structure is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication Hei. 2-41824.
In the conventional connector 1, as described heretofore, it is necessary to cut and remove the connecting members 9 for mounting the covers 7 onto the opened spaces 4 of the housing 2. Hence, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10(c), it is possible that remains 9a or chips 9b remaining from cutting the connecting members 9, cause the following problems to occur: (1) the remains 9a of the connecting members 9 project towards the outside of the housing 2 and the covers 7, and thus, they can cause an obstruction in engaging the connector 1 with a mating connector; (2) the possibility exists that the chips 9b of the connecting members 9 can trespass into the connecting portions of the press-connecting terminals 6, and thus, can cause inferior conduction.

Connector having integral connecting member for cutting and for subsequent placement within receiving portions


An arm exerciser includes a forearm section having a grip adjustably positioned in the forearm section via a securing device and an arm section pivotally connected to the forearm section. The arm section has two second pivot holes in alignment with the two first pivot holes of the forearm section so that each of the two pivot assemblies is able to extend through the aligned first pivot hole and the second pivot hole to allow the arm section to be pivotally connected to the forearm section and at least one second support formed on a bottom of the arm section so that two ends of at least one resilient element is able to be secured on the at least one first support and the at least one second support to provide resistance to the pivotal movement of the forearm section relative to the arm section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arm exerciser, and more particularly to an arm exerciser having an arm section and a forearm section pivotally connected to the arm section and having a grip securely yet rotatably received inside the forearm section so that the user is able to place his/her arm in the arm section and forearm in the forearm section and hold the grip to exercise his/her arm.
2. Description of Related Art
Normally, when a man wants to workout, he may go to the gymnasium or use the exercising apparatus purchased for designated purposes. However, going to and coming back from the gymnasium takes time and energy. Therefore, a lot of people choose to purchase the exercising apparatus and use them at homes. Still, despite the bulky dimension, shocking prices of the exercising apparatus often intimidate the shoppers for the exercising apparatus.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an improved arm exerciser to mitigate the aforementioned problems.


The present invention aims to provide an electrolyte solution for forming, for example, a secondary battery having excellent oxidation resistance and high-temperature storage characteristics; an electrochemical device such as a lithium-ion secondary battery that contains the electrolyte solution; and a module that contains the electrochemical device. The present invention provides an electrolyte solution containing a solvent and an electrolyte salt, wherein the solvent contains a fluorine-containing compound (A) represented by formula (1) shown below in an amount of 0.01 to 20% by mass, and a fluorine-containing compound (B) represented by formula (2) shown below in an amount of 10 to 80% by mass:Rf1OCOOR  (1)wherein Rf1 is a C1-C4 fluorine-containing alkyl group, and R is a C1-C4 non-fluorinated alkyl group, andRf2OCOORf3  (2)wherein Rf2 and Rf3 are the same or different, and each is a C1-C4 fluorine-containing alkyl group.

Along with a decrease in the weight and size of recent electronic devices, the development of lithium-ion secondary batteries having high energy density has been advanced. In addition, as the lithium-ion secondary batteries become applicable to a wider range of fields, there is an increasing demand for improved battery characteristics. In particular, in the case of in-vehicle use of the lithium-ion secondary batteries, the safety and battery characteristics will be more important in the future.
Unfortunately, the lithium-ion secondary batteries are insufficient in safety in the cases where, for example, the batteries are overcharged, internally short-circuited, and penetrated by a nail. Thus, the safety of the batteries must be higher in the case of in-vehicle use. Further, in the case of in-vehicle use, the voltage is required to be higher than that currently used in order to increase the capacity.
As a method for improving the safety and increasing the voltage of an electrolyte secondary battery, use of a fluorine-containing ether having a specific structure has been proposed (for example, see Patent Literature 1). However, in the case of the electrolyte secondary battery of Patent Literature 1, the discharge capacity unfortunately decreases when the battery is left in a high temperature environment or when the battery is repeatedly charged and discharged.
As a method for improving the cycle characteristics of the lithium-ion secondary battery, it has been proposed to set the amount of alcohol in an electrolyte solution to less than 50 ppm (for example, see Patent Literature 2). Patent Literature 2 discloses the following: HF is generated as a result of a gradual reaction at room temperature between a fluorine-containing electrolyte solution and a diol or monoalcohol contained in a high-permittivity solvent such as ethylene carbonate or in a low viscosity solvent such as dimethyl carbonate; and such a reaction causes an increase in the amount of HF in the electrolyte solution along with the time, leading to a decrease in the battery cycle characteristics.
In addition, in order to provide a highly stable electrolyte solution having excellent withstand voltage and charge-discharge cycle characteristics as well as a high flash point, there has been proposed an electrolyte solution having an carbonate ester represented by formula [I]
wherein R1 represents an alkyl group or halogenated alkyl group; and R2 represents an alkyl group or halogenated alkyl group not having a hydrogen atom at the position β (for example, see Patent Literature 3).
In addition, in order to provide an electrolyte solution having excellent safety, high conductivity, and low viscosity, and to provide an electrolyte secondary battery containing the electrolyte solution, there has been proposed an electrolyte solution containing [A] and [B], the [A] being a solvent containing a fluorinated carbonate, a cyclic carbonate, and a chain carbonate, wherein (i) the cyclic carbonate content is 2 to 63 mol %, (ii) the chain carbonate content is 2 to 63 mol %, and (iii) the fluorinated carbonate content is 60 to 96 mol % (provided that the total amount of (i) to (iii) does not exceed 100 mol %), and the fluorinated carbonate is a compound represented by the following formula [1]:
wherein R1 and R2 may be the same or different; one of them is a C1-C4 hydrocarbon group in which at least one hydrogen atom is replaced by a fluorine atom; the other one is a C1-C4 hydrocarbon group or a C1-C4 hydrocarbon group in which at least one hydrogen atom is replaced by a fluorine atom; and these hydrocarbon groups include a group containing a heteroatom such as oxygen and nitrogen; and[B] an electrolyte (for example, see Patent Literature 4).

Electrolytic solution, electrochemical device, lithium ion secondary battery, and module


A method includes receiving a user indication to create an online collaborative team within an online chat environment. The method further includes receiving a user selection of members for the online collaborative team. The online collaborative team enables the selected members of the online collaborative team to communicate with one another. The online chat environment maintains communication of the members and activities of the members of the online collaborative team. The online chat environment makes the activities and the communication available to the members when the members are within the online chat environment. The method further includes accessing attributes associated with the members of the online collaborative team. The method, responsive to the accessing the attributes associated with the members, determines a privacy setting of the online collaborative team.

Online collaborative communications environments such as online chats between various entities and/or individual participants within the same organization and/or different organizations have increased with the advent of the Internet. Online chats may allow participants and collaborators to create teams to discuss topics, projects, initiatives, etc., in one or more chat conversations. Typically, the team creator creates the online collaborative team by selecting individual team members, by assigning a title to the team, etc. The team creator may select whether the online collaborative team should be private (e.g. only visible to the team members) or whether the online collaborative team should be public (e.g. visible to other members of the organization that are not within the team).
The team creator's selection of an inappropriate privacy setting, e.g., selecting a private setting as opposed to public setting, may deprive the rest of the organization from the institutional knowledge that can benefit the organization as a whole. In contrast, selecting a public setting as opposed to private, may inappropriately disseminate confidential information or otherwise private information to the rest of the organization, thereby harming it. As an example, a general IT discussion may benefit a broader group within an organization, and selecting a private setting deprives the rest of the organization from that knowledge, and that knowledge can not be searched outside of the private setting. On the other hand, a specific discussion on the process to handle IT issues/requests within the IT group does not benefit the broader group within the organization, and, if such a security discussion was public, may in fact inappropriately jeopardize security by disclosing security holes within the organization.
In some examples, the online chat service may automatically default the privacy setting of the online collaborative team to either public or private. For example, some organizations may determine as a matter of policy that every online collaborative team created should be public, which may jeopardize sensitive information, confidential information, trade secret, private discussions, etc. Some organizations may determine as a matter of policy that every online collaborative team created should be private in order to "play it safe" and to guard against disseminating information that is not intended to be publicly available to the rest of the organization. In other words, the default privacy setting for online collaborative teams within the chat environment is a one size fit all and does not make the determination based on any intelligence.
Inappropriate designations of privacy settings for online collaborative teams, whether selected by the user or default designation of privacy setting for teams, may lead to limiting or complete loss of institutional knowledge, duplication of teams and redundancy of the information, waste of resources, and dissemination of inappropriate information such as sensitive, confidential, or private information, etc.

Collaborative communications environment and privacy setting associated therewith


An optical polymeric material that can substantially block the transmission of ultraviolet light as well as selected portion of violet light. The polymeric material will include monomeric units of one or more lens monomers, and monomeric units of a monomer of formula (I).

Harmful effects to the eye from ultraviolet (UV) light (from about 200 nm to about 400 nm in wavelength) have long been known. UV light reaching the eye has wavelengths in the range of UV-B and UV-A (i.e., from about 280 nm to about 400 nm) and has been linked to ocular disorders of the cornea, lens and retina including macular degeneration. Accordingly, most if not all, polymeric intraocular lenses include one or more UV absorbing compounds to block the transmission of the shorter wavelengths of light of the natural solar spectrum. More recently, a similar link to the same ocular disorders by visible violet light having wavelengths from about 400 nm to about 460 nm has also been discussed. UV light is said to account for about 67% of acute UV-blue phototoxicity between 350 nm and 700 nm, and violet light is said to be responsible for about 18% of acute UV-blue phototoxicity.
The natural lens is an essential component of the light filtering system of a human eye. From age twenty on, the crystalline lens absorbs most of the UV-A radiation (between about 315 and about 400 nanometers), protecting the retina from the damaging effect of this radiation. However, when a natural lens is surgically removed as a result of cataractogenesis, the retina is no longer protected from the damaging effect of UV-A radiation. One approach used to restore normal vision is achieved by surgical insertion of an artificial polymeric lens in the eye as a substitute for the removed lens. These artificial lenses are known as intraocular lenses ("IOLs"). Therefore, any IOL intended to act as a substitute for the natural lens should provide protection to the retina against UV radiation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,895 discloses the use of 2-hydroxy-4-methacryloyloxy-benzophenone and mixtures thereof as a monomeric ultraviolet light absorber copolymerizable with acrylic monomers and useful in the preparation of UV absorbing hard contact lenses. Similarly, the copolymerization of an allyl-2-hydroxy-benzophenone with an acrylate ester such as methyl methacrylate is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,650, and, the copolymerization of ethylenically unsaturated derivatives of 2,4-dihydroxy benzophenone with other vinyl type comonomers is broadly disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,162,676. The reported polymers that incorporate the bis-hydroxy-benzophenone compounds have little or no absorption in the violet spectral range (about 410 nm to 440 nm) even at concentrations up to 3 wt. %. In these polymers one typically observes a sharp transmission profile centered at about 380 nm with less than 20% absorption at 400 nm.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,311 discloses certain benzotriazole monomers which are copolymerizable with vinyl monomers such as methyl methacrylate to yield optically clear polymers useful in the preparation of intraocular and contact lenses. Representative of the disclosed benzotriazole monomers and a particularly preferred compound is 2-(2′-hydroxy-5′-methacryloyloxypropyl-3′-tert-butylphenyl)-5-chloro-2H-benzotriazole. U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,234 discloses certain benzotriazole monomers that are also copolymerizable with vinyl monomers. The benzotriazole monomers are defined by the general formula
wherein R1 is H, halogen or alkoxy of 1 to 3 carbon atoms, R2 is H or an alkyl with 4 to 6 carbon atoms, and R3 is a C2-C10 alkylene with an ethylenic polymerizable group.
Though not a critical for eye protection, there has been recent efforts of making contact lenses available with UV protection. The contact lens should not be a complete substitute for a good pair of sunglasses on a very sunny day, but contact lenses with some UV protection may prove to be clinical beneficial in some patients. For at least these reasons, there is this recognized need to provide means for protecting the human eye, e.g., the retina, from the potential harmful effects of solar radiation. In this manner, it is very desirable to provide artificial lenses that absorb UV-A and/or UV-B radiation, and perhaps, at least a portion of violet light.

Light absorbing compounds for optical polymers


Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to instant messaging and persistent chats and provide a method, system and computer program product for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation in an instant messaging session or persistent chat. In one embodiment of the invention, a method for controlling active and passive participation among participants in a thread of conversation can be provided. The method can include creating a thread of conversation in a messaging system, adding participants to the thread, classifying the participants as one of either active or passive, and permitting only those participants classified as active participants to post to the thread while providing merely a view of the thread to the passive participants.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of collaborative computing and more particularly to instant messaging and chat systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Real time communications systems provide a substantial enhancement over more traditional, asynchronous communications systems. Electronic mail delivery systems, the prototypical asynchronous communications systems, in its time represented a giant leap forward in respect to global interpersonal communications. Prior to electronic mail, individuals primarily communicated via telephone, facsimile and post. With electronic mail, however, individuals expect near instant delivery of text, and even imagery, audio and video, without incurring the delay typical of the postal system, or the expense associated with telephony and fax technologies.
Despite the ubiquity of electronic mail, asynchronous communications systems lack several elements common in the realm of real time communications systems. In particular, the seemingly instant delivery of a message cannot be experienced in the world of electronic mail. In an real-time society, the minor latencies associated with electronic mail often cannot be suitable for the task at hand where a real-time conversation will be required in addressing a problem or performing a collaborative task. More importantly, often the feel and nature of a "conversation" as it is known to human beings only can be approximated through real time communications where the participants to a conversation feel the spontaneity of an exchange of ideas, much as is the case in a live, face-to-face conversation.
The recent rapid development of the Internet has led to advanced modes of synchronous, real-time collaboration able to fulfill the real-time communicative requirements of the modern computing participant. Using the Internet as a backbone, individuals worldwide can converge in real-time in cyberspace to share ideas, documents and images in a manner not previously possible through conventional telephony and video conferencing. To facilitate collaboration over the Internet, a substantial collection of technologies and protocols have been assembled to effectively deliver audio, video and data over the single data communications medium of the Internet. These technologies include several human-to-human collaborative environments such as instant messaging, application sharing, shared document libraries and persistent chat rooms.
While instant messaging systems ordinarily are viewed to include on two conversants, advanced uses of instant messaging systems support a multiplicity of collaborators in a single thread of conversation. In either circumstance, current instant messaging and chat systems provide for an initiator of a thread of conversation, and one or more invited participants. Advanced messaging configurations permit the initiator of the thread of conversation to fulfill the role of moderator in setting the time of the session, the participants of the session and the duration of the session in advance of initiating the thread of conversation.
Frequent users of instant messaging systems and persistent chats will attest to the confusion and disorganization that can arise when many participants engage in a thread of conversation in an instant messaging system or persistent chat. While the moderator for the thread of conversation initially can establish a topic of conversation, participants easily and often digress into one or more side conversations. Given the limited screen real estate dedicated to a chat session, following a multi-topic discussion in a single thread of conversation can be quite challenging and oftentimes, important contributions can become overlooked in consequence.

Controlling active and passive participation in a thread of conversation


A hybrid system including a hybrid control module for operating the hybrid system to as to have its energy storage device meet a predetermined service life metric is disclosed. The hybrid control module stores experimental information indicative of the impact of certain usage parameters on the service life of the energy storage device, monitors the actual usage parameters observed during operation of the hybrid system, and dynamically determines a maximum operating temperature for the energy storage device in order to increase or decrease its utilization by the hybrid system.

The present invention generally relates to an energy storage system and, more particularly, to an energy storage control module to be incorporated into a hybrid electric motor vehicle to control the storage and usage of high voltage energy.
Over the past few years, there has been a growing concern over global climate change due to an increase in carbon dioxide levels as well as oil supply shortages. As a result, automobile manufactures and consumers are beginning to have a greater interest in motor vehicles having low emissions and greater fuel efficiency. One viable option is a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) which allows the vehicle to be driven by an electric motor, combustion engine, or a combination of the two.
Though various features are important to the overall HEV design, the system which stores the energy available for use by the vehicle is a key component. The energy storage system is provided within the HEV to store the energy created by a generator in order for that energy to be available for use by the hybrid system at some later time. For example, the stored energy may be used to drive an electric motor to independently propel the motor vehicle or assist the combustion engine, thereby reducing gasoline consumption.
However, energy storage systems face a variety of design complications, such as over-heating, weight, complexity, ease of incorporation into the vehicle, ease of service, service life and cost, just to name a few. Additionally, known energy storage systems utilize a specific and known number of battery packs and are designed to meet a particular HEV design specification, including a defined service life.
Numerous hybrid systems have been proposed which are statically designed to protect the service life of the battery packs. Typically, those hybrid systems include battery usage constraints which are programmed into the hybrid control module at the time of production to keep the battery in a good usage state for a certain service life, such as a warranty or contract obligation. If the operating temperature of the battery is too high, or short term amperage is too much, the hybrid control module will restrict or limit usage of the battery. However, these systems sacrifice potential fuel-economy for the vehicle each time they prevent the battery from being utilized. This often happens much more than necessary, as the manufacturer often conservatively assumes the worst with respect to the operation of the HEV in order to ensure that all vehicles meet their defined service life goal. Over the course of time, these restrictions upon the usage of the battery can amount to a significant reduction in the efficiency of the HEV. While this often leads to a battery life that significantly exceeds its defined service life, it would preferred to have that extended life exchanged for more usage and ultimately, increased fuel efficiency, given that the battery can often be replaced for a lesser cost.
In order to determine the battery usage limits, typically a number of laboratory tests are run based upon a predicted usage of the battery in customer applications. These predictions are often not very accurate as they are often quite conservative in order to prevent failure under the more extreme operational circumstances. However, this leads to a significant sacrifice with respect to an optimal balance between battery-life and fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
Thus, there is a need for improvement in this field.

System and method for optimizing hybrid vehicle battery usage constraints


Femoral portion of a hip prosthesis comprising a shank, preferably a collar and a neck, with a ball-like head or a head-receiving portion being integrally formed to the neck, respectively, whereby the shank is formed as hollow body which comprises a plurality of openings interconnecting the lateral surfaces of the shank and the hollow space of the shank.

For the use of known endoprostheses for hip joints there is a principal alternative to secure the femoral portion in the femoral canal either with or without bone cement. The use of bone cement enables an intimate and secure connection between the shank and the bone. However, the danger encounters that so-called micro motions lead to a loosening of the shank in the bone cement which may cause a malfunction of the endoprosthesis. A surgical reoperation then is necessary. However, it requires considerable efforts to remove femoral portions implanted with bone cement.
With cementless shanks it is attempted to achieve an effective power transfer from the shank to the bone. For this, it is prerequisite that the shank is held in the bone canal under considerable tension. The removal of such a shank is much more simply than a shank implanted with aid of bone cement. However, a cementless shaft effects a higher load of the bone so that distortions of the bone may occur during the implantation operation. In order to achieve an intimate contact between a cementlessly implanted shank and the bone, it is known to provide the shank with surface irregularities, indentations or the like or to give the surface a predetermined geometric structure. The bone tissue is to grow into the indentations or irregularities after implantation and to improve the fixation of the shank or the load transfer, respectively.
It is also known to improve the ingrowth of the prosthesis shank in that the spaces between the shank and the intermedullary canal are filling with spongy material. Normally, body-own spongy material is used which is removed for example by the surgeon from the hip bone.
From the German Gebrauchsmuster DE-Gm 87 12 607, a femoral portion has become known having a stem formed as hollow body including a plurality of openings connecting the hollow space within the stem with the outer surface thereof. The openings are preferably formed at the front and the dorsal side and can have various configurations. The hollow stem has the advantage that it can be filled with body-own autologeous or heterologeous spongy material enabling a genuine bony ingrowth of the prosthesis in the femur by a genuine bony connection so that a secure anchoring can be achieved without deterioration over a longer period. With these prostheses, the problem arises that the spongy material has to be inserted through the lateral openings which is somewhat difficult for the surgeon. In particular, it is difficult to charge the shaft such that the shaft accommodates a uniformly distributed and compressed mass.
The object of the invention is to provide a femoral portion of a hip joint prosthesis which can be implanted without bone cement, however, enables an intimate connection with or a genuine ingrowth of the adjacent bone portions, respectively.
The object of the invention is to design an effective configuration for the stem of a hip joint prosthesis by which the charging with spongy material is facilitated.
This object is attained by the device of the invention.


A single motor system for automatically changing the height and tilt angle of handlebars on a vehicle. The inventive system includes a first shaft; a solenoid for translating the first shaft along a first axis from a first position to a second position; a first motor for rotating the shaft about the axis in the first and the second positions; an arrangement for rotating the payload about a second axis, in response of the rotational motion of the shaft, when the shaft is in the first position; and a gear set for converting the rotational motion of the shaft in the second position to translational motion of a payload coupled thereto along a third axis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mechanical systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and for inducing translational and rotational movement.
2. Description of the Related Art
For a variety of applications, there is a need for a mechanism for inducing rotational as well as translational motion. For example, it is well-known in the motorcycle community that the typically fixed position of the handlebars has numerous limitations including: 1) a suboptimal positioning of the handlebars for a rider; 2) even if optimal at one time, the fixed handlebar position can be uncomfortable for a rider on another occasion due to injury, illness, weight gain or a variety of other changes in the riders condition or mood; and/or 3) the position of the handlebars, even if comfortable at the start of a ride, can become uncomfortable over time after long hours on the road.
Accordingly, a need existed in the art for an apparatus and method for adjusting the position of handlebars for motorcycles and other similar vehicles. While adjustable handlebars were known in the art, these systems typically required the user to adjust the handlebar positions mechanically and by hand. This was slow, cumbersome and typically provided a discrete set of position options as opposed to a continuous set of position options. Hence, a need remained in the art for an easy to use motorized system and method for adjusting motorcycle handle bars over a continuous range of motion.
The need was addressed by an invention disclosed by P. Oravecz in U.S. Pat. No. 9,038,500 B1 entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE MOTORIZED ADJUSTMENT OF MOTORCYCLE HANDLEBARS, issued May 26, 2015, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. This application discloses and claims a motorized system for adjusting the tilt angle and telescopic position of handlebars mounted on a motorcycle, bicycle or other vehicle.
While this invention substantially addresses the need in the art, unfortunately, it requires two motors. This adds to the cost and weight of the arrangement.
Hence, a need remains for a system for a system for adjusting the rider's position while still controlling the motorcycle (i.e., throttle, brake, clutch, etc.) and allowing for use of the original handlebars with a single motor. More generally, a need remains in the art for a system and method for inducing rotational as well as translational motion of a mechanism with a single motor.

Mechanism for effecting translational and rotational motion


A machine tool comprises a tool carrier, e.g. in the form of a turret disc (7) that is provided with receptacles (8) for tool holders (9), wherein each tool holder and tool carrier comprise support surfaces associated to each other and devices for fixing the tool holder at the tool carrier. At least one clamping element is provided at the tool carrier (7) that is adjustably supported between a clamping position and a release position in a direction transverse to a tie rod of a tool holder arranged on a slider (22) receptacle of the tool carrier. The clamping element is provided with a first clamping surface (24) that can be brought into engagement with a second clamping surface (35) at the tie rod of the tool holder in a self-locking and releasable manner.

For example, CNC-turning lathes or CNC-milling machines and machining centers frequently operate with a movable tool carrier in the form of a turret that is equipped with different tool holders that carry the tools required for the respective machining process. In doing so, it is known to fix the individual tool holders on the respective support surface of the associated support of the turret by means of multiple fixing screws. Examples for this are described in DE 199 40 330 A1 and DE 10 2008 048 206 A1. In automatically operated machine tools that operate with an automatic tool change, releasing and the retightening of the fixing screws of the tool holders is cumbersome. Simpler constructive conditions are achieved for an automatic tool holder change, if the tool holders work with a central clamping device in each case. One of the most known clamping systems with central clamping is subject of DIN ISO 10889. For machining processes that have to be carried out with high stress of the tools and, however, with high precision, the clamping force that can be achieved with these clamping systems is insufficient to retain the respective tool holder in a position that is sufficiently accurate on the support surface, e.g. of a star turret.
A tool clamping device that is equipped with a tool holder quick change system that complies with the highest requirements with regard to the positioning accuracy is known from DE 10 2014 119 482 A1. The devices for attaching the tool holders at the tool carrier comprise at least two tie rods that extend orthogonal to the support surface of the tool holder arranged with distance to each other and to at least one positioning or adjustment element. The tie rods are arranged separately at the tool holder or tool carrier. A clamping device provided at the tool carrier or the tool holder engages the tie rods during a clamping process and applies an axial clamping force thereon when the tool holder is inserted in the receptacle of the tool carrier. The clamping device comprises clamping elements in the form of clamping rods that are movably guided in the tool carrier or tool holder, that are coupled by the tie rods by means of wedge gears. The clamping elements are accessible from an outer side of the tool carrier and/or tool holder via actuating means.
Starting from the prior art, the object of the invention is to provide a machine tool, a tool carrier, particularly a turret, and a respectively assigned tool holder that are configured for an automatic tool change and that are characterized by a simple and very effective clamping function of the tool holder on the tool carrier while providing high positioning accuracy of the tool holder on the tool carrier.

Machine tool having a movable tool carrier, tool carrier and tool holder therefor