A method for controlling operations of an air-conditioner includes: a step in which when an operation load of an air-conditioner increases, if an outputted compressing capacity of the air-conditioner is smaller than a compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load and an operation frequency of the first compressor is a maximum frequency of the first compressor, a second compressor is operated; and a step in which when the operation load is reduced, if the outputted compressing capacity of the air-conditioner is greater than the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load and the operation frequency of the first compressor is a minimum frequency of the first compressor, the second compressor is stopped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air-conditioner and, more particularly, to a method for controlling operations of an air-conditioner.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, an air-conditioner is a device for conditioning a certain space to a temperature, humidity and air flow distribution suitable for humans' activity and cooling a room by using a principle of evaporation heat of taking ambient heat when a high temperature high pressure-compressed refrigerant is evaporated through various types of compressors to remove dust or the like in the air. As the refrigerant, a liquid that can be easily evaporated at a low temperature is used, and usually, a freon gas is used.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of a conventional air-conditioner.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional air-conditioner includes a controller 10 for measuring an indoor temperature and outputting a control signal for controlling a cooling capacity on the basis of the measured temperature and a pre-set temperature; a compressor 20 for compressing a refrigerant on the basis of the control signal; a condenser 30 for condensing the compressed refrigerant; an expansion valve 40 for expanding the condensed refrigerant; and an evaporator 50 for evaporating the expanded refrigerant.
An operational principle of the conventional air-conditioner will now be described.
First, the controller 10 measures an indoor temperature and outputs the control signal for controlling a cooling capacity on the basis of the measured indoor temperature and the temperature previously set by a user.
The compressor 20 includes a first compressor 21, a small capacity compressor, and a second compressor 22, a large capacity compressor. The first compressor 21 can vary a compression capacity to control a cooling capacity according to the control signal, and the second compressor 22 has a constant compression capacity. The second compressor 22 is a constant-speed compressor.
The first and second compressors 21 and 22 are selectively driven according to the control signal to compress the refrigerant to a high temperature high pressure. Namely, the compressor 20 operates in three types of modes: when only the first compressor is driven, only the second compressor is driven, and both first and second compressors are driven, to thereby change a compressing capacity of the refrigerant required for air-conditioning.
The range of controlling the cooling capacity differs depending on the types of the first and second compressors. The constant speed type compressor has a constant operation speed, so it controls an operation frequency an indoor temperature by being turned on/off. The inverter compressor is controlled in its operation speed, so it can control an indoor temperature relatively precisely by controlling an operation frequency.
For instance, if a compressing capacity of the air-conditioner is total 100, in which the first compressor 21 is an inverter compressor having a compressing capacity of 40 and the second compressor 22 is a constant-speed compressor having a compressing capacity of 60, an air-conditioner employing the first and second compressors can control indoor temperatures with compressing capacities of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 90 and 100 relatively precisely.
Recently, an air-conditioner employing 4 compressors is used. Its operation is the same as the compressor of FIG. 1, and capacities of compressors are 20, 20, 30 and 300 or the same compressors are used.
An air-conditioner employing two compressors will now be described as an example.
The condenser 30 condenses the refrigerant which has been compressed to a high temperature high pressure in the compressor 20, and the expansion valve 40 expands the condensed refrigerant. The evaporator 50 evaporates the expanded refrigerant, taking heat around it, whereby heat exchange is made that a temperature of air contacting with the surface of the evaporator 50.
The conventional air-conditioner having the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor is used to control a cooling capacity by using the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor, so that it can control the cooling capacity precisely according to air-conditioning operation load.
The method for controlling operations of the air-conditioner having the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are a flow chart of the method for controlling operation of the air-conditioner having the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor in accordance with the conventional art.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the method for controlling operations of conventional air-conditioner having the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor, including: a step (S21) in which whether an operation load of the air-conditioner is increased is determined; a step (S22) in which when the operation load is increased, an operation frequency of the inverter compressor is lowered to a minimum frequency of the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor is operated, and then, a compressing capacity of the air-conditioner is adjusted to be equal to a compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load by increasing the operation frequency of the inverter compressor in order to maintain a pre-set temperature; and a step (S23) in which when the operation load is reduced, the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is increased to a maximum frequency of the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor is stopped, and then, the compressing capacity of the air-conditioner is adjusted to be equal to the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load by reducing the operation frequency of the inverter compressor in order to maintain the pre-set temperature.
The method for controlling operations of the air-conditioner having the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor in accordance with the conventional art will now be described in detail.
The conventional air-conditioner having the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor determines whether its operation load is increased (step S21). That is, the air-conditioner determines whether the operation load is increased by comparing its outputted compressing capacity and a compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load.
When the operation load is increased, the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is lowered to the minimum frequency of the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor is operated, and then, a compressing capacity output of the air-conditioner and the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load are adjusted to be equal by increasing the operation frequency of the inverter compressor (step S22).
Namely, when the operation load of the inverter compressor is increased, the compressing capacity of the air-conditioner and the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load of the inverter compressor are compared (step S22-2) while increasing the operation frequency of the inverter compressor (step S22-1). Herein, when the compressing capacity of the air-conditioner becomes equal to the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load of the inverter compressor, the operation frequency which has been increased as much as a predetermined level is maintained as it is.
If, however, the outputted compressing capacity of the air-conditioner is different from the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load of the inverter compressor, it is determined whether the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is the maximum frequency of the inverter compressor (step S22-3). If the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is the maximum frequency, the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is reduced to the minimum frequency (step S22-4), and then, the constant-speed compressor is operated (turned on) (step S22-5).
In the state that the constant-speed compressor is being operated after the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is reduced to the minimum frequency, the outputted compressing capacity of the air-conditioner is adjusted to be equal to the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load while increasing the operation frequency of the inverter compressor by as much as certain levels (step S23). Namely, after the constant-speed compressor is operated, while the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is increased by as much as certain levels (step S23-1), the outputted compressing capacity of the air-conditioner is adjusted to be equal to the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load (step S23-2).
Meanwhile, when the operation load is reduced, the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is increased to the maximum frequency of the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor is stopped, and then, the outputted compressing capacity of the air-conditioner is adjusted to be equal to the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load by reducing the operation frequency of the inverter compressor (step S24).
Namely, when the operation load is reduced, while the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is being reduced by as much as certain levels (step S24-1), the outputted compressing capacity of the air-conditioner and the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load are compared (step S24-2). If the two compressing capacities are equal, the operation frequency which has been increased as much as the certain level is maintained as it is.
If, however, the outputted compressing capacity of the air-conditioner is different from the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load of the inverter compressor, it is determined whether the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is the minimum frequency (step S24-3). If the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is the minimum frequency, the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is increased to the maximum frequency (step S24-4). Thereafter, the constant-speed compressor is stopped (turned off) (step S24-5).
In the state that the constant-speed compressor is stopped after the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is increased to the maximum frequency, the outputted compressing capacity of the air-conditioner is adjusted to be equal to the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load by increasing the operation frequency of the inverter compressor by as much as certain levels (step S25). After the constant-speed compressor is stopped, the outputted compressing capacity of the air-conditioner is adjusted to be equal to the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load (step S25-2) by reducing the operation frequency of the inverter compressor by as much as certain levels (step S25-1).
Herein, the sum of the compressing capacity of the inverter compressor and the outputted compressing capacity of the constant-speed compressor, namely, the capability of varying the outputted compressing capacity of the air=conditioner to be equal to the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load is called an operation load coping capability. Accordingly, it is ideal that the relation between the outputted compressing capacity of the air-conditioner and the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load has a form of y=x graph.
However, the method for controlling operations of the air-conditioner having the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor in accordance with the conventional art has the following problems.
That is, in the process of switching from the inverter compressor to the constant-speed compressor, namely, when the constant-speed compressor is operated after the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is reduced to the initial frequency or when the constant-speed compressor is stopped after the operation frequency of the inverter compressor is increased to the maximum frequency, the compressing capacity of the operation load changes, so the compressing capacity of the air-conditioner fails to change accordingly to the compressing capacity corresponding to the operation load. Thus, the operation load coping capability, degrading refreshingness (agreeable atmosphere) in a room.
In addition, since the load of the air-conditioner is rapidly changed before and after the inverter compressor and the constant-speed compressor are switched, they cannot be stably switched.

Method for controlling operation of air-conditioner


An ultrasonic sensing device includes a housing, a piezoelectric assembly, a board and a plurality of fixing members. The housing includes a connecting board being a metal board and a supporting shell being a plastic member. The supporting shell includes a bottom wall opposite to a disposing opening of the connecting board and a surrounding side wall integrally surrounding and connecting to the bottom wall. The surrounding side wall encloses a portion of the connecting board. The piezoelectric assembly includes an encapsulating body and a piezoelectric sheet enclosed by the encapsulating body. The encapsulating body is disposed on the bottom wall and surrounded by the surrounding side wall. The piezoelectric sheet has a sensing surface exposed to the encapsulating body and facing the bottom wall. The fixing members fix the board on the connecting board, thereby pressing the sensing surface of the piezoelectric sheet to the bottom wall.

A diesel engine needs to be equipped with Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to reduce toxic nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission. SCR can neutralize the toxic nitrogen oxide by adding urea to the diesel fuel to convert the toxic nitrogen oxide into water and nitrogen. When the concentration of urea in the diesel is insufficient, the diesel engine may have too much toxic nitrogen oxide emission.
The urea used in the diesel engine may be mixed with water and stored in a storage tank adjacent to the diesel engine. Usually, a plurality of ultrasonic detecting devices can be arranged beside the storage tank to detect the urea concentration or liquid level of the urea in the storage tank.
The conventional ultrasonic sensing device primarily comprises a housing and a piezoelectric sheet placed in the housing. In order to attach the piezoelectric sheet to the sensing surface in the housing, it is necessary to inject an encapsulant into the housing after placing the piezoelectric sheet in the housing.
However, sometimes the adhesive force of the encapsulant may be not able to tightly attach the piezoelectric sheet to the sensing surface, therefore causing reliability issue of the conventional ultrasonic sensing device.
In addition, it is always difficult to precisely control the amount of the encapsulant for the process of injecting the encapsulant into the housing, thereby causing material waste. Moreover, it is also difficult to control the quality of the piezoelectric sheet and the encapsulant in the housing or rework them.
Further, material of the housing can be metal or plastic. When the housing is made of a metal material, the resonance effect between the housing and the piezoelectric sheet is low. However, the housing may have an insufficient strength problem when the housing is made of a plastic material.


A positive type, photosensitive epoxy resin composition comprising (a) an epoxy resin having two or more epoxy groups in one molecule, (b) a modified phenolic resin having a triazine ring, (c) a latent basic curing agent and (d) a photosensitive acid generator; and a preferably multilayered printed circuit board of buildup mode using said composition as an insulating layer.

The desire of the time for the size and enhancing the performance of electronic devices has promoted various rapid progresses in the field of mounting substrate, such as making thinner the wiring of multilayered printed circuit board in which substrate circuits are formed into a multilayered structure, increasing the number of layers and enhancing the density of wiring. As its result, prior multilayered wiring boards in which the wiring layers are connected by through-holes have become incapable of coping with the desire for enhancing the wiring density because of the large area occupied by through-holes. For such a reason, multilayered circuit board of buildup mode is actively studied in the recent years. In a multilayered printed circuit board of buildup mode, the wiring layers are connected one another through minute holes called "via holes".
As the interlaminar insulating layer thereof, epoxy resin compositions are used because of excellent electrical properties and adhesive properties of the compositions and excellent mechanical properties of the cured products thereof.
In addition, an interlaminar insulating layer is required to be flame-retarded from the viewpoint of safety, as typified by glass fiber-reinforced epoxy printed circuit boards, and they are flame-retarded by the use of halides (an example thereof is the brominated epoxy resin) or antimony compounds. In the recent years, however, the official regulation on the materials using halides such as bromides and the like and antimony compounds is becoming severer. In view of such a state of things, thermosetting interlaminar insulating layers using a triazine ring-containing epoxy resin as a curing agent for epoxy resin have been proposed (JP-A 11-87927, 11-1547, and 11-343398).
A buildup multilayered printed circuit board of photo-via mode using a photosensitive resin as interlaminar insulating layers on which via holes are formed by the photolithographic method has also been proposed. A buildup multilayered printed circuit board of photo-via type can decrease the diameter of via-holes, so that the area occupied by through-holes can be lessened to a great extent and, at the same time, many via-holes can be formed at once. Examples thereof include the negative type photosensitive resin compositions constituted of epoxy acrylate and epoxy resin (JP-A 9-40751, 10-36682, 10-173336); the negative type photosensitive resin compositions which are cured by the use of epoxy resin, novolac type epoxy resin and acrylate (JP-A 11-30855); the negative type photosensitive resin compositions in which an epoxy resin and a resol type phenolic resin are cured with a cationic photo-initiator (JP-A 5-136575); and the negative type photosensitive resin compositions composed mainly of a chalcone-containing bisphenol-epichlorohydrin type epoxy resin (JP-A 8-236945).
The above-mentioned interlaminar insulating layer using a triazine ring-containing phenolic compound as a curing agent for epoxy resin can achieve flame-retardation without use of brominated epoxy resin. However, this type of compositions are thermosetting, so that via-holes can be formed only by heat-curing the composition and thereafter forming the holes one by one by means of carbon dioxide laser. It takes a long period of time to produce a printed circuit board having a number of via-holes by such a method.
Further, prior epoxy resin compositions having photosensitivity have been difficult to flame-retard without use of brominated epoxy resin. Further, the above-mentioned photosensitive resin compositions are of negative type in which an area exposed to active energy beam cures and the unexposed area is removed by the process of development. Accordingly, the active energy beam is absorbed into resin and diffused at the time of exposure and the extent of cure differs with depth of interlaminar layer, due to which the via holes formed by development assume an inversely tapered shape. This can deteriorate the throwing power in the subsequent copper-plating step and thereby cause a defective connection.

Positive type photosensitive epoxy resin composition and printed circuit board using the same

Huntsman Advanced Materials Americas Inc.


An improved oil supply apparatus for a friction portion of a linear compressor which is capable of enhancing the lubricating performance of the piston by substantially supplying oil to the fricton portion between a cylinder (122') and a piston (129), thus enabling a desired reciprocating movement of the piston (129), which includes a cylinder (122') having a plurality of oil introducing holes (122a) for communicating the inside and the outside of the cylinder (122'); an oil mass (131) disposed between the cylinder and a core liner spaced apart from the cylinder (122') and slidable whithin an oil pocket (132) communicating with the cylinder (122') by an oil suction hole (143c); an elastic member (133, 134) for elastically supporting the oil mass (131); and a valve assembly (139') for a refrigerant gas flowing path for guiding the flowing of the refrigerant gas, a suction gasket (141) integral with an oil flowing path for guiding the flowing of the oil supplied to and discharged from the friction portion between the cylinder (122') and the piston (129), a suction valve (142), a valve sheet (143), a discharging valve (144), a discharging gasket (145), and a head cover (146).

Generally, a refrigerator works for 24 hours per day. The refrigerator accounts for one-third the total consumption of the electrical energy of the home appliance. The compressor uses about 80-90% of the power consumption of the refrigerator.
Therefore, much study with respect to the compressor has been conducted so as to enhance the efficiency thereof and reduce the power consumption.
However, so far since the compressor is fabricated in a method of using the crank shaft for converting the rotation movement of the motor into a linear reciprocating movement of the piston, the parts related to the crank shaft such as a connecting rod, a bearing, and the like are additionally necessary, so the number of elements are increased, and thus the fabricating cost is increased, thus degrading the productivity.
In addition, when the compressor is in operation, many friction occur between elements, so the efficiency of the compressor is degraded, and power consumption is increased.
Therefore, so as to resolve the above-mentioned problems, a linear compressor was introduced in the industry, which is directed to reciprocating the piston using a magnet and a coil without using the crank shaft.
Namely, the linear compressor is directed to reducing the fabricating cost and improving the productivity. In more detail, it is possible to increase the efficiency by more than 90% by reducing the friction portions between elements by reducing the number of elements, thus reducing the power consumption.
The linear compressor is directed to basically improving the efficiency by smoothly enabling the reciprocating movement of the piston.
In the industry, various types of the oil supply apparatus for a friction portion of the compressor was introduced, which was directed to smoothly enabling the reciprocating movement of the piston by supplying oil to the friction portion between the cylinder and the piston. Of which, for example, one conventional linear compressor equipped with the oil supply apparatus for a friction portion will now be described.
FIG. 1 shows the conventional linear compressor equipped with the oil supply apparatus for a friction portion. As shown therein, a cylinder 2 is disposed within a predetermined shaped hermetic housing 1.
Coil assemblies 3 and 3a are integrally engaged to the cylinder 2.
A piston spring 4 is provided at one side of the cylinder 2, and a piston 5 is connected to the intermediate portion of the piston spring 4 in order for the same to reciprocate within the cylinder 2.
A magnet 6 is disposed at the outer circumferential surface of the piston 5, and a plurality of mounting springs 7 for elastically supporting the piston spring 4 are elastically connected between the piston spring 4 and the hermetic housing 1.
Meanwhile, a valve assembly 8 is disposed at one side of the cylinder 2, and a suction-side muffler 9 and a discharging-side muffler 9a are mounted at both sides of the valve assembly 8.
An oil suction tube 10 is downwardly connected to a predetermined portion of the suction-side muffler 9 so as to suck the oil "O" filled in the bottom portion of the hermetic housing 1.
As shown in FIG. 2, the valve assembly 8 includes a suction gasket 11, a discharging gasket 15, a suction valve 12, a discharging valve 14, and a valve sheet 13. Here, the above-mentioned elements are tightly engaged to one another, and will be described in more detail.
First, a hole 11a is formed at the center portion of the suction gasket 11, and a predetermined shaped suction opening/closing portion 12a is movably attached at the center portion of the suction valve 12, and a discharging hole 12b is formed at one side of the suction opening/closing unit 12a.
In addition, a suction hole 13a is formed at the center portion of the valve sheet 13, and a discharging hole 13b is formed at one side of the suction hole 13a.
Meanwhile, a discharging opening/closing portion 14b is formed at a predetermined portion of the discharging valve 14 so as to open/close the discharging hole 13b of the valve sheet 13, and a suction hole 14a is formed at the center portion of the discharging valve 14.
In addition, a suction hole 15a is formed at the center portion of the discharging gasket 15.
In the drawings, reference numeral 16 denotes a head cover.
The operation of the conventional linear compressor will now be explained.
The conventional linear compressor includes the magnet 6 fixed to the coil assemblies 3 and 3a and the piston 5 which are fixed to the cylinder 2 for the major function of the linear motor.
In addition, so as to enhance the efficiency of the linear compressor, the piston 8 should most efficiently reciprocate in the system.
Therefore, when the piston 5 is moved in a predetermined direction indicated by the arrow "A" of FIG. 1 in the interior of the cylinder by an inertia energy and elastic energy which are generated by the coil assemblies 3 and 3a and the magnet 6, the pressure in a compressing space "C" is lowered, so that the refrigerant gas is introduced into the compressing space "C" of the cylinder 2 through the suction holes 15a and 14a of the discharging gasket 15 and the discharging valve 14.
Therefore, when the discharging opening/closing portion 14b of the discharging valve 14 closes the discharging hole 13b of the valve sheet 13, the refrigerant gas is introduced into the suction hole 13a of the valve sheet 13, so that the refrigerant gas pushes the suction opening/closing portion 12a in the right-side direction of FIG. 2, and then the refrigerant gas is introduced into the compressing space "C" of the cylinder 2 through the hole 11a of the suction gasket 11.
At this time, since the oil "O" filled at the bottom portion of the hermetic housing 1 is connected to the suction-side muffler, the oil "O" is sucked up along the oil suction tube 10 and then is introduced into the compressing space "C" together with the refrigerant gas along the flowing path of the refrigerant gas, and is supplied to the friction portion between the cylinder 2 and the piston 5.
Meanwhile, on the contrary, when the piston 5 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow "B" of FIG. 1, the refrigerant gas is compressed in the compressing space "C", and the refrigerant gas pushes the suction opening/closing portion 12a of the suction valve 12 in the leftside direction of FIG. 2, and thus the suction hole 13a of the valve sheet 13 is closed.
Therefore, the refrigerant gas pushes the discharging opening/closing portion 14b of the discharging valve 14 through the discharging holes 12b and 13b of the suction valve 12 and the valve sheet 13, and then passes through the discharging gasket 15, and is discharged to the outside of the hermetic housing 1 through the head cover 16 and the discharging-side muffler 9a.
When the piston 5 continuously reciprocates within the cylinder 2, and the suction, compression, and discharging of the refrigerant gas is repeatedly performed, the oil "O" serves to enable a smooth reciprocating operation of the piston 5 in cooperation with the oil "O" provided at the friction portion between the cylinder 2 and the piston 5.
In more detail, when the piston 5 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow "A" of FIG. 1, since the pressure in the compression space "C" is made lower, the oil "O" in the bottom portion of the hermetic housing 1 is sucked up along the oil suction tube 10 and then is introduced into the compression space "C" together with the suction refrigerant gas, and is supplied to the friction portion between the cylinder 2 and the piston 5.
However, since the conventional linear compressor has a disadvantage in that the oil "O" in the bottom portion of the hermetic housing 1 is supplied to the above-mentioned friction portion together with the suction refrigerant gas through the suction-side muffler 9. In addition, since the oil "O" introduced into the compression space "C" together with the suction refrigerant gas is not substantially provided to the cylinder 2 and the piston 5 and then is directly discharged through the discharging-side muffler 9a in cooperation with the compression operation of the piston, the oil "O" is not substantially supplied to the friction portion between the cylinder 2 and the piston 5.
In addition, since the conventional linear compressor has a disadvantage in that the oil is not substantially supplied to the friction portion between the cylinder and the piston, and a lot of the oil is directly discharged together with the compression refrigerant gas, whereby the cylinder heated due to the compression gas of the high temperature is not effectively cooled, thus reducing the efficiency of the compressor.

Oil supply apparatus for friction portion of linear compressor


Microwell biochips (11) are formed from a thin flat plate (13) of polymeric material having a plurality of regularly spaced holes (15) that extend completely therethrough and create microwells. The lower end of each hole is closed by a microporous, hydrophobic, polymeric membrane (17) laminated to the undersurface of the plate which retains an aqueous test solution in the wells until a vacuum is applied to the undersurface thereof to effect draining of the solution and of any wash solution that might be subsequently added. A spot of polymerizing isocyanate-functional hydrogel is applied generally centrally to the porous membrane surface at the bottom of each well in a manner so as to cover only a minor portion of the surface and out of contact with the well sidewalls, thus leaving substantial surface area through which drainage can be readily effected. Biological capture agents are associated with the polymerizing hydrogel so as to become immobilized as a part thereof.

High throughput screening is a term used to describe a method where many discrete assays are performed in parallel. Currently, the most widely established techniques utilize 96-well microtiter plates. Such microtiter plates have been used for decades in research and clinical laboratory practice, as they provide an easy method for increasing assay throughput. Typically made of polystyrene, such microtiter or microwell plates provide 6 to 96 individual wells, in which a matrix of samples can be mixed with reagents, agitated, incubated and the like, either manually or with automated handling equipment. A particular advantage of microtiter plates is that, not only can numerous samples be quickly simultaneously assayed, but alternatively, a number of different assay conditions can be employed. To obtain quantitative assay results, a beam of light is commonly scanned into each well to obtain spectroscopic information from each well.
Assays can also be performed on a surface of each individual well, such as in a sandwich immunoassay. A variety of surface-modified polystyrene microtiter plates are commercially available from different suppliers designed to fit various applications, such as ELISA or cell culture. A variety of automated equipment is also commercially available to process microtiter plates and samples.
Their ability to increase assay throughput has made microtiter plates the choice for use in many assays, e.g. those involving selective or enhanced immobilization on the surface of the wells of such plates. U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,638 describes a process of immobilizing a particular oligonucleotide sequence in a microtiter well for specific high sensitivity detection. U.S. Pat. No. 5,610,287 describes a method for non-covalently immobilizing synthetic nucleic acid molecules upon the surface of a polystyrene support, such as a microtiter plate, to allow hybridization and other nucleic acid assays to be performed in a rapid and cost-effective manner. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,667,976, 5,712,383, and 5,747,244 describe compositions and methods for covalently immobilizing nucleic acids onto appropriate surfaces, such as wells of a microtiter plate, for similar assay purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,769 describes a method for linking negatively charged macromolecules, such as DNA and RNA, to the plastic of a microtiter plate for assay purposes.
Ways for increasing the ability to wash and to exchange fluids within a well of a microtiter plate have also been described through the use of pervious materials, e.g. a porous structure, for the bottom of a microwell plates, examples of such are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,493,815, 5,326,533, 5,679,310 and 6,146,854. The use of a vacuum manifold beneath such a microtiter plate is alleged to allow controlled and rapid evacuation of fluid from such wells. U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,496 includes a circular membrane in the bottom of each well. Millipore Corporation sells 96-well plates having a membrane bottom as their MultiScreen™ plates.
Reducing the volume of each well in a microtiter plate may allow for higher well density in a microtiter plate and thus very high throughput analysis, perhaps even approaching that of biochips. U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,695 describes a device incorporating microwells of only 5 microliters each and suggests that microtiter plates may conceivably incorporate as many as 9600 wells. Some commercial plates presently offer 1536 wells in plates where the wells have working volumes of about 1 μl–10 μl. An example of the fluid handling and control that might be used with such microwell analysis systems is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,061. U.S. Pat. No. 6,235,520 describes the use of substrates with high-density microwells for measuring the response of cells in each well for drug screening, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,192 shows the use of a separate membrane sheet.
More recently, plates with higher densities than 96 wells per microtiter plate, e.g. 384 and greater, have begun to be commercially developed in order to provide increased throughput and reduced reagent requirements. However, such higher well densities in a conventional microtiter plate assay present three main challenges: 1) the additional cost associated with producing such high density microtiter plates, 2) the difficulties with fluid-handling due to small well volumes, and 3) difficulties with optically obtaining accurate quantitative assay results. Accordingly, the search continues for solutions to these challenges, particularly to obtaining quantitative accuracy.


The invention provides a method for reducing the average size of biologically active compound particles or agglomerates suspended in a fluid by flowing one or more times said fluid having biologically active compound particles or agglomerates suspended therein through one or more magnetic fields to reduce the average size of a substantial portion of the biologically active compound particles or agglomerates by at least 25%. This method may be incorporated into a process for manufacturing a 10 biologically active compound formulation.

The molecular structures of new chemical entities are becoming more complex leading to drugs with low aqueous solubility and dissolution rate limited absorption after oral administration, still the preferred route of drug administration. Considering the fact that many newly synthesized molecules are poorly soluble in aqueous environment, converting these compounds into useful therapeutics remains challenging. Techniques that have commonly been used to improve dissolution and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs in general, include micronization, the use of surfactants, and the formation of solid dispersions.
Six types of drug-carrier interactions in solid state dispersions were already outlined in literature: simple eutectic mixtures, solid solutions, glass solutions, glass suspensions, amorphous precipitates in a crystalline carrier and compound or complex formation. Other factors such as increased wettability, solubilization of the drug by the carrier at the diffusion layer, and the reduction or absence of aggregation and agglomeration may also contribute to increased dissolution.
Drugs having a dissolution-limited oral absorption might benefit from a reduction in particle size, as pointed out in the following equation that is a modification of the well-known Noyes-Whitney relation:
where dM/dt is the dissolution rate, A the specific surface area of the drug
            ⅆ      M              ⅆ      t        =            A                                              D                          (                                    C              s                        -                          C              t                                )                      h  particle, D the diffusion coefficient, h the diffusion layer thickness, Cs the saturation solubility, and Ct the drug concentration at time t. Since the surface area increases with decreasing particle size, higher dissolution rates may be achieved through the reduction of the particle size of drug substances. This effect has been highlighted by the superior dissolution rates after micronisation of certain sparingly water soluble drugs as opposed to regularly milled forms. However, particle size reduction does not necessarily always result in the expected improvement in dissolution rate. This effect arises as a result of the decrease of the effective surface area due to agglomeration and aggregation of very fine particles due to the increased surface energy and subsequent stronger van der Waals' attraction between non-polar molecules. Therefore, the surface of the particles needs to be protected from agglomeration.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,684 discloses particles consisting essentially of 99.9 to 10% by weight of a crystalline drug substance having a solubility in water of less than 10 mg/ml, said drug substance having a non-crosslinked surface modifier adsorbed an the surface thereof in an amount of 0.1 to 90% by weight and sufficient to maintain an effective average particle size of less than about 400 nm. In particular it discloses a modified steroid A aqueous dispersion, comprising 5% steroid A, with a particle size distribution ranging from about 68 to 520 nm and a number average particle size of 204 nm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,723 discloses refining a nanoparticle dispersion by placing it between two electrodes and applying an electric field between said electrodes, wherein the dispersion consists essentially of particles of poorly soluble crystalline therapeutic or diagnostic agent, wherein 99% of the particles have a particle size below 400 nm and are associated with a surface modifier which is capable of stabilizing the nanoparticles. In particular, it describes a danazol dispersion wherein 10% of the particles are reduced in size down to 180 nm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,410 discloses a drug carrier, prepared using the jet stream principle and using surfactants such as Tween 80 and mannitol, comprising particles of a therapeutic agent which is insoluble, only sparingly soluble or moderately soluble in water, aqueous media and/or organic solvents, wherein the therapeutic agent has an average diameter below 1,000 nm and the proportion of particles larger than 5 μm in the total population is less than 0.1%. In particular, it describes aqueous nanosuspensions comprising 2-15% of a substituted pteridine and at least 0.1% Tween 80 wherein the average particle diameter is in a range from 200 to 800 nm. It also teaches that for special tetracaine compositions with a low (1%) drug concentration, nanosuspensions with an average particle size of 91 nm may be obtained.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,922,355 discloses preparing microparticles of a water-insoluble or poorly soluble compound by, prior to or during reducing particle size (e.g. by sonication, homogenization, milling, microfluidization and precipitation, or recrystallization and antisolvent precipitation), mixing said particles with (a) a phospholipid and (b) at least one surfactant such that the concentration of phospholipid and surface modifier in the suspension or solid form is in the range of 0.1 to 50%, and thereafter applying energy to the mixture. It specifically describes drug formulations wherein the drug concentration is from 2 to 5%, wherein the mean particle size is between 35 and 98 nm and wherein there is no substantial variation in the mean particle size after one or more weeks storage of the formulations at 4° C.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,400 discloses nanocrystalline formulations of HIV protease inhibitors wherein the average particle size is below 400 nm. It specifically describes nanoparticulate compositions of indinavir wherein the mean size of the nanoparticles is between 127 and 267 nm.
International Patent application WO 02/055059 discloses methods involving both a water-miscible first solvent and an aqueous second solvent for preparing sub-micron sized particles of an organic compound. Using these methods, suspensions preparations wherein the average particle diameter is in the range from 180 to 700 nm.
Thus a common feature of the prior art publications is that it is extremely difficult to obtain drug suspensions wherein the average particle size is within the nanometer range, preferably below 500 nm. This was apparently achieved only in very specific drugs, provided further that the drug concentration in the suspension is low, e.g. below 5% by weight.
Because it is a sparingly water-soluble, normally crystalline active agent, itraconazole has attracted many attempts to improve its bioavailability. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,346,533 discloses a method for obtaining itraconazole in an amorphous form exhibiting an improved bioavailability and having a particle diameter 0.5 to 10 μm. U.S. Pat. No. 6,497,905 discloses converting crystalline itraconazole into its amorphous form as a solid solution of a normally hydrophobic vehicle such as glyceryl monastearate, a monoglyceride, a diglyceride, a triglyceride, or a wax. This solid solution may be used as a component of a granular particle wherein itraconazole is present at about 5 to 60% by dry weight. Particle size of this granular particle is not specified.
International Patent application WO 2004/043580 discloses an emulsification method comprising flowing, conducting or circulating a pre-mix of two or more immiscible liquids, said pre-mix preferably comprising at least a hydrophilic liquid and at least a lipophilic liquid, through one or more magnetic fields under conditions to emulsify the said pre-mix. Although emulsions prepared according to this method may be included into veterinary or pharmaceutical compositions, this document does not refer to the solubilization of poorly soluble drugs as such.
There is a growing need in the art for improving the bioavailability in animals and in man for a number of bioactive compounds of various therapeutic groups because the water-solubility of these compounds is too low.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Particle size reduction of bioactive compounds


A network managing method is utilized for a wireless network system. The wireless network includes multiple wireless access equipments and multiple user equipments. The method uses the wireless access equipments to measure a plurality of echo back time of the user equipments to obtain multiple measurement results, determines locations of the user equipments according to the measurement results and locations of the wireless access equipments, and adjusts wireless operations from the wireless access equipments to the user equipments according to the locations and priorities of the user equipments.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network managing method and a network managing device for a wireless network system, and more particularly, to a network managing method and a network managing device capable of adaptively providing wireless services for user equipments in a wireless network system to provide a convenient network environment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With advances in wireless communication technology, a portable wireless device, such as a notebook, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet, a smart phone, etc., has become an essential device for people in work or in life, and a user may simultaneously carry or use multiple potable wireless devices. Under such a condition, how to manage operations of the multiple portable wireless devices in a wireless network system becomes one of the industry goals.

Network managing method and device for wireless network system


Novel tools and techniques might provide for implementing remote application access, and, in some cases, by instantiating an application or service close to the intended recipient or user of the application or service, from a networking perspective. A network might provide connectivity between a first computer and a second computer. A file (comprising an application and data) might be transmitted, over the network, from the first computer. A node in the network, which might be on a path between the first and second computers, might determine that the file contains the application and the data, and, based on such determination, might capture the file (before the second computer can receive it). An instance of the application might be instantiated on a compute surface in the network as a service for the second computer, such that the compute surface can operate on the data with the instance of the application.

In current systems, when a user requests or is the recipient of a requested service or application, the service or application is executed at one or more servers at a central office, at a bank of servers, in a cloud environment, and/or the like that are logically and/or physically (e.g., geographically) distant from the user. In such cases, the interconnections with intermediate servers, nodes, network components, and/or the like might result in reduced or low efficiency network or computing characteristics (including, but not limited to, jitter, delay, bandwidth, and/or the like), which might be susceptible to network bottlenecks that may occur when traversing large networks or portions of networks belonging to (or operated by) different administrative domains.
In alternative systems, the service or application might be downloaded onto local computer systems associated with the user. Such implementations, however, might be susceptible to malicious software or attacks via the downloaded content. In some cases, the downloaded service and/or applications might be hardware and/or resource intensive, which might significantly (and in some cases detrimentally) tax the compute and/or hardware resources that are local to the user's computer systems. In other cases, the services or applications might require certain or particular versions or settings of execution software to optimally execute the applications or services (where such certain or particular versions or settings of execution software might not be installed in the local computer system).
Hence, there is a need for more robust and scalable solutions for implementing application access, by, e.g., implementing remote access of applications using remoting application servers or the like.


When a screw equipped with a check ring is moved forward, torque acting on the screw is detected, and whether the check ring is closed is determined on the basis of the detected torque. The screw is rotated in reverse when the check ring is determined not to be closed, and the reverse rotation of the screw is stopped when the check ring is determined to be closed. The reverse rotation of the screw is thereby controlled so that the screw is rotated in reverse by an optimal amount for reliably closing the check ring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an injection molding machine, and more particularly to an injection molding machine that determines whether a check ring is closed or not during forward movement of a screw and rotates the screw in reverse by an amount necessary to close the check ring.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a known technique described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-060621, the check ring in an injection molding machine is closed by rotating the screw in reverse (or in the direction reverse to the direction of the screw during metering process) at the start of injection. The amount of reverse rotation of the screw is calculated and set according to the spacing between the check ring and check seat when the check ring is open.
In another known technique described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-308611, the screw is rotated in reverse in synchronization with the injection speed during injection process. In yet another known technique described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-76321, the check ring is closed by rotating the screw in reverse while moving it in positive direction during the period between metering and injection.
The amount by which the screw must be rotated in reverse to close the check ring varies with the resin viscosity, injection speed, and other conditions. Therefore, if the amount of reverse rotation at injection is set as described in the above conventional art, the amount may be not enough to close the check ring completely, or the amount may be excessive, depending on the resin and molding conditions.
If the amount of reverse rotation of the screw is not enough to close the check ring completely, the amount of resin injected becomes disadvantageously unstable. If the amount of reverse rotation is excessive, an extra amount of resin is fed behind the screw, causing problems of increased metering time and accumulation of resin.

Injecting molding machine having a torque detecting device


A method of routing a message from a source node to a destination node in an adhoc wireless network comprising a plurality of nodes, comprising the steps of; transmitting a first message from the source node to the destination node, receiving said first message at said destination node, transmitting a second message from said destination node in response to the first message and, wherein at least one of said first message and said second message is sent between the source and destination nodes via a plurality of paths comprising at least one intermediate node, selecting a path for communication between the source node and the destination node using an indication of the time taken for at least one of said second and first messages to propagate between each node on each path.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an ad hoc network. An ad hoc network comprises nodes, such as mobile stations that can communicate directly with each other, without the use of a centralised access point. In such a network all nodes behave as routers. Since the nodes are free to move randomly the topology of the network changes with time. Data from a source node (1) (the terminal that is sending data) is sent to a destination node (2) (the terminal that is receiving the data), via intermediate nodes which forward the data from the source node to the destination node. Determining the route by which data is sent from the source node to the destination node is achieved by selecting which intermediate nodes are used to forward the data. This is known as routing.
Different routing protocols for ad hoc networks are currently known. These routing protocols can be classified as: 'table driven' and 'on demand' routing, otherwise known as 'proactive' and 'reactive' routing, respectively. In table driven protocols, each node maintains one or more tables containing outing information to other nodes in the network. These tables are updated using periodic transmissions between nodes so as to change with the topology of the network. Examples of table driven routing protocols include Dynamic Destination Sequenced Distance Vector Routing Protocol (DSDV), Global State Routing (GSR) and Wireless Routing Protocol (WRP). In contrast, on demand routing protocols invoke route discovery mechanisms only when a route is needed. Examples of on demand routing protocols include Ad Hoc On Demand Distance Vector Routing (AODV), Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), Temporally Ordered Routing Algorithm (TORA) and Associativity Based Routing (ABR).
In the DSDV protocol, every mobile station maintains a routing table that lists all available destinations, the number of hops to reach the destination and the sequence number assigned by the destination node. The sequence number is used to distinguish old routes from new ones and thus avoid the formation of loops. The mobile stations periodically transmit their routing tables to their immediate neighbours. A station also transmits its routing table if a significant change has occurred in its table from the last update sent. Therefore, the update is both time driven and event driven. The routing table updates can be sent in two ways; either by sending the full routing table to the neighbours or by incrementally updating entries that have changed since the last update.
Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector routing (AODV) is an improvement on the DSDV algorithm. AODV minimises the number of broadcasts by creating the routes on demand as opposed to DSDV that maintains the list of all the routes.
To find a path to the destination node, the source node broadcasts a route request message. The neighbouring nodes in turn broadcast the message to their neighbours until it reaches an intermediate node that has recent route information about the destination node, or until the message reaches the destination. A node discards a route request message that it has already seen. The route request message uses sequence numbers to ensure that the routes are loop free and to ensure that if the intermediate nodes reply to the route request message, they will reply with the most recent information only.
When a node forwards a route request message to neighbouring nodes, it also records in its tables the node from which the first copy of the request came. This information is used to construct the reverse path for the route reply, or acknowledgement message. AODV uses only symmetric links because the route reply message follows the reverse path of the route request message. As the route reply message traverses back to the source node, the nodes along the path enter the forward route into their tables.
Mobile device positioning is an important requirement of any telecommunications system and is an existing feature in both ad hoc and cellular networks. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires wireless service providers to support a detailed positioning mechanism. Positioning information of a mobile station may be used for many purposes:                pricing of calls may be based on the position of a mobile station, whereby calls made from the home area, for example, may be cheaper;        when an emergency call is placed from a mobile station, it is possible to determine the position of the mobile station;        the user of a mobile station may need information about his/her location e.g. when travelling;        the authorities can use the positioning information to locate a stolen mobile station or to trace a missing person, for example.
Generally, positioning methods are based on the propagation characteristics of a radio wave signal sent to or from the mobile station, using the delay and direction of the signal between the transmitter and the receiver to determine a position. Therefore, the accuracy and complexity of such methods are inclined dependent on the characteristics of the radio channel. Many different positioning methods have been developed for mobile positioning. They can be categorized based on the way they utilize the radio signal characteristics for determining the location of the mobile station.
Classifications of methods used to determine position include:                Cell_ID-based positioning        Round Time Trip (RTT)        Time Of Arrival (TOA)        Different Time Of Arrival (DTOA)        Angle Of Arrival (AOA)        Signal strength-based such as Reference Node-Based        Positioning (also called local positioning)Positioning methods may also incorporate any combination of these methods.
In a TOA method, the location calculation is based on the propagation delay of a signal from a transmitter to a receiver. By measuring the time of arrival of signals from three transmitters at a receiver, the position of the receiver can be calculated using triangulation techniques that are well known in the art.
The above-mentioned ways of calculating the position of a mobile station can be utilized in various systems such as cellular systems, purely location systems, or any similar systems. Presently, the most popular positioning system is Global Positioning System (GPS). Positioning features are extending to the cellular systems such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobil Telecommunication System (UMTS) and International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT2000).
GPS is the most popular position location system due to its accuracy and worldwide availability. GPS consists of a constellation of satellites in orbit above the Earth. GPS position determination is based on the arrival times, at a receiver at the mobile station, of precisely timed signals from the satellites that are above the user's radio horizon. Each satellite uses an atomic clock to record the time at which the signal is sent. An accurate clock at the receiver measures the time delay between the signals leaving the satellites and arriving at the receiver. This allows the calculation of the distance of the mobile station to each satellite. If three satellites are visible to the receiver, triangulation can be used to find the location of the mobile station. If a fourth satellite is used, the receiver may also calculate its latitude. Since the clock in the receiver is not as accurate as the atomic clocks in the satellite the calculation of the distance from each satellite will have a standard error, which prevents the spheres calculated during triangulation from intersecting at the same point. The receiver therefore can calculate the distance adjustment that will cause the four spheres to intersect at one point. This allows it to adjust its clock to adjust its measure of distance. For this reason, a GPS receiver actually keeps extremely accurate time, on the order of the actual atomic clocks in the satellites. Currently, the Standard Positioning Service offered by GPS provides a positioning accuracy of 100 meters horizontally and 156 meters vertically and time transfer accuracy to UTC within 340 nanoseconds (95 percent).


An H-Bridge motor controller having a floating, electrically isolated high side FET driver design where the motor driver circuity is electrically isolated from the logic circuitry. Back EMF generation during motor operation is minimized by employing a "fifth" power transistor to the H-Bridge that connects the motor coil to ground when the other transistors in the H-Bridge are turned off, so as to provide a direct path for the unused energy to be removed from the driver circuit without interfering with the normal switching of the FETs. Alternatively, back EMF generation is minimized by applying switching signals to the H-Bridge where, instead of turning the low side FET drivers between motor clocks, the low side FET drivers are both turned on during the "off time" period, so as to connect both ends of the motor coil to ground during the "off" period, thereby draining the coil of unused energy. The fifth power transistor also permits either one-half or the entire motor coil to be connected to the H-Bridge at the commencement of the energizing phase, thereby altering the inductive load seen by the H-Bridge upon motor energization. The motor controller also includes analog and digital circuits that automatically vary the voltage and/or current applied to the motor depending upon performance characteristics such as speed, electromagnetic characteristics and torque load.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to devices for controlling speed, direction, and torque of motors, and more particularly to H-Bridge type motor controllers which are commonly used to control stepping motors.
2. Description of the Background Art
H-Bridge type motor drivers are commonly used to control the speed, direction, and torque of stepping motors. Conventional H-Bridge type motor drivers, however, exhibit a number of operational limitations such as (i) limitations on the motor driving voltage, thereby restricting very high speed operation, (ii) a narrow range of frequency over which the power driver circuit can operate, (iii) noise transferring from the power switching circuit (H-Bridge) into the motor driver logic circuitry, and (iv) susceptibility of the motor driver logic circuitry to damage in the event of failure of the power circuit.
Further, conventional H-Bridge type drivers typically utilize a power supply which powers both the H-Bridge circuity and the digital control circuitry. When the electrical power applied to the motor coil by a conventional H-Bridge controller is turned off, the magnetic field in the motor collapses and the unused energy, along with the additional energy from the motor acting as an electrical generator, flows back into the field effect transistors (FET) which are typically used to form the H-Bridge. This energy can be quite large and can damage or destroy the high side FETs. As a result, most FET manufacturers incorporate protection diodes into FETs used for driving inductive loads like motors and relays. However, while these diodes prevent failure of the FETs, they have only limited success in dissipating the excess energy. In practice, significant energy leaks over to the gate of the high side FETs and ends up interfering with the gate driving signal. As a consequence, the FETs end up being switched "on" when they should be "off", thereby causing the motor to operate less efficiently, and ultimately to prematurely stall.
Also, a common practice with conventional H-Bridge motor drivers is to use a technique called current chopping whereby the logic "on time" for each leg of the H-Bridge is limited to that necessary to raise the current level in the motor coil to a desired level. This technique involves applying a fixed voltage to the motor and then monitoring the current developed across a sensing resistor connected between the sources of the low side FETs and ground. When the current rises to the desired level, the logic circuit turns off the FET driver signals. However, while current chopping is a very useful technique, it does not alleviate two of the most serious problems encountered in switching inductive motor loads. First, it does nothing about the energy from the collapsing magnetic fields flowing back into the H-Bridge FETs. Second, it does not solve the problem of trying to match the amount of driving voltage to the motor armature characteristics at a given speed.
It is well known that, in order to make stepping motors (and other motors as well) turn at faster speeds, it is necessary to apply greater amounts of electromotive force (voltage) to overcome the increasing inductive reactance of the motor armature. Generally, the higher the voltage, the higher the possible motor speed. However, when a fixed high voltage is applied to obtain a very high speed, the motor's low speed operation is degraded by increased vibration and noise and, in the case of stepping motors, by increased likelihood of missed steps.
Additionally, the inductance of the motor and the electrical pathway between the FETs and the motor causes a voltage spike upon turn on of the circuit. This spike increases dramatically as the voltage exceeds that needed for a given speed and work load. If the spike gets too large, it can lead to failure of the FETs. In conventional controllers, this voltage spike is typically treated symptomatically; either a snubber (consisting of a low value resistor and capacitor in series) is placed across the motor coil, or a fast switching diode is placed across the FET. The snubber acts to slow the rise time of the spike, while the fast switching diodes route the spike around the FET.


An exhaust system and method are adapted for use in a laser cutting device. The cutting device includes a base having a working surface for supporting a work piece thereon. A laser plotter head is mounted for movement over the working surface of the base. A laser communicates with the plotter head and directs a work piece cutting laser beam onto the work piece on the working surface. The exhaust system includes a multiplicity of exhaust ports formed in the working surface of the base. A manifold cooperates with an underside of the base and in substantially sealed fluid communication with the multiplicity of exhaust ports in the working surface. An elongated, flexible exhaust hose is connected at its first end to the manifold and at its second end to the laser plotter head. The second end is directed towards the work piece on the working surface and movable in unison with the movement of the plotter head. A vacuum is connected to the manifold for simultaneously drawing air inwardly through the exhaust ports in the working surface and through the exhaust hose. Fumes generated during operation of the laser are thereby simultaneously exhausted from an area above and below the work piece.

This invention relates to an exhaust system for a laser cutting device. The laser cutting device is particularly applicable for cutting designs, logos, and signatures in sheet material such as report covers, pocket folders, stationary, business cards, brochures, invitations, and greeting cards, and provides a convenient alternative to stamping, embossing, and conventional decorative die cutting. The invention quickly and efficiently removes smoke and fumes generated during operation of the laser from an area proximate the sheet material being cut.
In some prior art laser cutting devices, exhaust systems are provided which attempt to exhaust these fumes downwardly through openings in the cutting table. These type of systems are generally ineffective at the point of contact between the laser beam and the work piece being cut, since the work piece itself obstructs the flow of air through the nearest openings in the cutting table. Other systems utilize a top cover arranged over the laser cutting device and cutting table, and a widely distributed upper vacuum to remove the smoke and fumes from an area above the work piece. These systems are likewise ineffective and do not properly exhaust fumes from directly beneath the work piece during cutting. Unless properly exhausted, these fumes can scorch and stain the underside of the work piece, and will contaminate the laser optic over a relatively short period of use.
The present invention addresses these and other drawbacks and limitations of the prior art by providing an exhaust system for a laser cutting device which simultaneously removes smoke and fumes generated by the laser during cutting from an area directly above and below the work piece being cut. The invention includes a number of exhaust ports formed in the cutting table which cooperate with a vacuum source to draw smoke and fumes downwardly away from the sheet material to prevent scorching and staining of the sheet material. The invention further includes a traveling localized vacuum for drawing smoke and fumes vertically upwardly away from the sheet material during cutting operations to prevent contamination of the laser optic. The exhaust ports and localized vacuum communicate with a single vacuum source for practical and efficient operation.

Exhaust system for a laser cutting device


The electric machine, advantageously a generator, includes a machine housing with two end shields, a lamination bundle provided with a stator winding having winding heads and a rotor in the housing. To improve the cooling effect and reduce aerodynamic flow noise the machine housing is provided with at least one air guiding duct enclosing circularly at least one winding head on one side of the lamination bundle and the at least one air guiding duct is provided with at least one inlet opening and at least one outlet opening for cooling air to carry away heat dissipated during operation, and each of the at least one air guiding ducts is bounded exteriorly by one of the end shields of the machine housing and interiorly by one of the two annular walls inserted between the lamination bundle and the end shield bounding the at least one air guiding duct exteriorly.

The invention relates to an electric machine with means for guiding cooling air fed into the machine interior from the outside.
An electric machine of the above-described type is known having a machine housing including end shields, a lamination bundle carrying a stator winding with winding heads and received in the machine housing and a rotor also received in the machine housing so as to cooperate magnetically with the lamination bundle. The machine housing is provided with at least one inlet and outlet opening for cooling air from the exterior to carry away heat dissipated in the interior during operation of the machine.
In so-called dynamos in motor vehicles it is drive shaft of the generator which direct a flow of air through the machine to carry away the heat losses generated in the generator. The internal ventilators are arranged in such a way that the cooling air delivered by them flows outward over and past the winding heads, so that the heat layer around the winding heads is disrupted. This arrangement does improve the efficiency of the cooling compared with machines having external ventilators, but it poses problems with respect to aerodynamic noise in high-speed machines. To eliminate this problem, liquid-cooled generators have been used in which the housing surface at the stator, at the end shields and at the cooling bodies of the rectifier elements integrated in the generator are cooled with water or oil. The coolant is delivered by pumps and flows through ducts provided for this purpose at the surface of the machine, absorbs the heat losses, is cooled again and finally guided back to the pump. In most cases, this cooling circuit is a closed system which is completely sealed from the outside. The electrically conducting parts of the machine must be electrically insulated, particularly when water is used as coolant. However, the effectiveness of the cooling is substantially reduced by the insulating layer. Because of the expensive machining, the sealing which is required in great changes in temperature, and the necessary feeding and conducting away of the coolant, such systems are only used where no other possibility exists.
Finally, a separately cooled electric machine is known from DE 3303148 A1 in which inlet openings for the cooling air are provided on a front side and air outlet openings, from which the air heated by the heat losses of the machine escape, are provided on the opposite front side. The cooling air flows through the electric machine in the axial direction according to the laws of flow and escapes into the atmosphere. Because of narrow air gaps, sharp changes in cross section, and dead zones, a good cooling efficiency cannot be achieved in such cooling systems and, moreover, considerable aerodynamic noise also occurs in high-speed machines.
It is attempted with the solution according to the invention to improve the air guidance inside the machine in such a way that it flows as intensively as possible around the areas of the machine where most of the heat losses are generated.

Electric machine with means for guiding cooling air supplied from outside of the machine


The present invention pertains to a radial flow adsorption vessel comprising a cylindrical outer shell and at least one cylindrical porous wall disposed co-axially inside the shell, wherein inside the shell one or more fluid permeable screens are rigidly connected to the at least one cylindrical porous wall, by a multitude of separate standoff elements so that the screen has a cylindrical shape co-axial to the shell, and to an adsorption process using the radial flow adsorption vessel.

Purification of gases by adsorption often requires the removal of multiple impurities from a gas stream. While this can sometimes be done using a single adsorbent layer, it is often more economical to use at least two different adsorbents to optimize the adsorption process. In conventional axial flow vessels, this is easily achievable by loading particulate materials sequentially to create distinct layers perpendicular to the fluid flow path. However, radial flow adsorption vessels require annular segments for the distinct layers to be perpendicular to the fluid flow path which are usually created by cylindrical barriers disposed within the vessel.
Typically, radial flow adsorption vessels comprise an outer shell and porous walls, such as an inner and outer porous wall, which are formed of a perforated plate usually made out of metal for rigidity and strength with a fine wire mesh overlay to retain the adsorbent particles between the porous walls. These porous walls create the annular segment(s) wherein particles can be loaded. When designing a vessel with more than one annular adsorbent layer, further walls are required to enable each adsorbent layer to be loaded and retained separately. Such further walls are typically constructed in a manner similar to the inner and outer porous walls using a perforated (metal) plate to achieve shape stability overlayed with a fine wire mesh, and are affixed to either the top head of the vessel and/or to a bottom support plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,659 discloses a radial flow adsorption vessel, method of vessel assembly, and a method of manufacture for containment screens with bidirectional flexibility. The radial flow adsorption vessel includes a cylindrical shell and a plurality of cylindrical porous walls disposed concentrically inside the shell. The pores/openings in the supporting plates are designed to provide flexibility in both the axial and radial direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,770,120 discloses a vessel and a radial adsorption bed within the vessel and an inner adsorption bed or storage tank within the inner diameter of the radial adsorption bed. The inner adsorption bed is either an axial adsorption bed or an inner radial adsorption bed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,770,120 uses porous walls to define the adsorption beds.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,829,038 discloses a radial flow reactor which includes a plurality of supports affixed to the housing, i.e. the outer shell of the reactor, and a plurality of screens where each screen is affixed to a pair of neighbouring supports. Between the reactor shell, screens and supports fluid flow channels, are arrayed circumferentially around the inside of the reactor housing.
A first problem arising from the need to include porous walls into radial adsorption flow vessels and their usual construction is the increase in overall cost of the vessel. In addition, these walls increase the pressure drop through the particulate bed and reduce the adsorbent utilization due to the shadowing effect of the non-perforated area. Still further, the perforated plates made out of a rigid and non-flexible material such as metal are usually brought into cylindrical form by rolling and welding flat sheets of perforated plates. Many small sheets are often required in order to form a complete cylinder due to limitation of the perforating equipment. Dimensional tolerances of the individual sheets and weld distortion that occurs during fabrication cause imperfections in the finished cylinders. Cylinders can be out-of-round, out-of-straight and peaked at weld seams. When two cylinders with such defects are nested inside one another, large differences in the width of the annulus between them can result. These defects create non-uniform adsorbent layer depths along the fluid flow path within the radial vessel which causes early breakthrough of a contaminant and degrades the performance and efficiency of the separation process.
Finally, in radial flow adsorption vessels having several porous walls to create multiple annular segments for different adsorbents, maintenance problems are created, as e.g. repairs to the outermost porous wall are difficult because the intermediate wall(s) must be cut apart and re-welded in the field.

Radial flow adsorption vessel comprising flexible screen


A method for operating a hybrid drive train of a motor vehicle includes: starting the motor vehicle solely with the aid of an electric machine; engaging a torque converter lockup clutch for rotationally fixing an impeller of a torque converter to a turbine wheel of the torque converter, wherein the turbine wheel is rotationally fixed to the electric machine; and engaging a clutch in order to drivingly connect the impeller to a motor vehicle drive unit, in order to start the motor vehicle drive unit.

A plurality of differently designed hybrid drive trains, which are utilized in motor vehicles, is known from the prior art. For example, DE 10 2007 038 236 A1 describes a hybrid drive train in which a motor vehicle drive unit is directly drivingly connected to a starting unit. The starting unit is also drivingly connected to an electric machine. The hybrid drive train also includes a transmission, which is drivingly connected to the electric machine.
The disadvantage of the known embodiment is that the energy needed from the electric machine in order to start the internal combustion engine is high.

Method for operating a hybrid powertrain


A bar structure having support legs is arranged to include a mounting bracket mounted to each free distal end of each support leg pivotally mounting the bar relative to a deck surface of a swimming pool to permit positioning of the bar within the swimming pool for use as an exercise bar structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to swimming pool apparatus, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved swimming pool ballet bar wherein the same is arranged for the pivoting within a swimming pool for access of an individual in an exercise procedure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Exercise apparatus relative to a swimming pool structure is indicated in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,838,545; 4,875,673; 4,552,540; 4,948,118; and 4,822,031.
The instant invention is arranged to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by providing for a swimming pool exercise organization wherein the same is arranged for ease of mounting and rotative orientation of the exercise bar structure relative to the swimming pool and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.

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A reusable device for delivering a release of heat to an area such as a body portion. The device comprises a flexible, fluid-tight container holding a liquid which releases heat upon crystallization such as sodium acetate tetrahydrate. A trigger located within the container initiates the crystallization of the liquid to release the latent heat. The trigger comprises a plurality of rigid objects held within a receptacle located within the container. The receptacle is in fluid communication with the container so that the plurality of rigid objects are in contact with the liquid. The trigger initiates the crystallization of the liquid when pressure is applied to the plurality of rigid objects such as by squeezing the trigger between one's fingers.

The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for initiating the crystallization of a supercooled material such as those used for phase-change thermal energy storage. Such crystallization causes the supercooled material to change from its high-temperature phase to its low-temperature phase very rapidly, and in doing so, surrender its latent heat of transition.
The principles of thermal energy storage in phase-changer materials is well known. As the materials are heated from an initial phase, such as the solid phase, to a stage, such as the liquid phase, energy is absorbed. In the temperature range at which the material changes from one phase to another, more energy is required to raise the temperature an additional increment than to raise the temperature by the same increment when the material is not changing phase. This additional energy required at the phase change of the material is called the latent heat of transition.
The heat required for the phase change from liquid to gas is called the latent heat of vaporization. The heat required for the phase change from solid to liquid and given up in the reverse phase change from liquid to solid is known as the latent heat of fusion. When a material cools, the energy absorbed at the phase-change point is normally given up. Some materials will cool well below the normal phase change temperature, but still retain the latent heat of transition and remain in the higher temperature phase or state. For example, some materials under some circumstances may be cooled below the temperatures at which they normally change from liquid to solid, yet remain in the liquid state, thus still retain the latent heat of fusion. A material in this condition is said to be undercooled or supercooled. It is possible to create conditions in an undercooled material that will cause it to change very rapidly from the high-temperature phase to the low-temperature phase, thus giving up the energy stored as the latent heat of transition or fusion rapidly. The energy so release may be put to practical use in many ways.
Various types of trigger devices have been utilized in the past to initiate the reaction process necessary to obtain the stored heat when desired. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 708,549 (Heiliger) is disclosed a trigger device which utilizes the frictional rubbing together of two opposed surfaces to initiate a crystallization reaction which releases heat.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,729 is disclosed an apparatus to nucleate the crystallization of undercooled materials. That patent discloses a trigger device which traps a crystallite of the material between two solid objects and retains it there by pressing the objects together with enough force to create sufficient pressure to keep the crystallite isolated between the two solid objects when it is immersed in the phase-change material and to keep it from melting. Thereafter the crystallite is exposed to the supercooled, phase-change material by releasing the pressure and allowing the supercooled, phase-change material to contact the crystallite. It appears that this device may be lacking in flexibility to various types of applications because it requires the constant isolation of the crystallite from the surrounding solution in order to maintain the integrity of the trigger mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,390 (Stanley) discloses a heat pack enclosing supercoolable aqueous sodium acetate solution together with a metallic activator strip which initiates crystallization by the bending of the activator strip.
Other types of therapeutic heating devices which utilize heat generated from a chemical reaction or change are also disclosed in the following U.S. Patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,665 (Caillouette) ; U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,127 (Watson et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,383 (Arrhenius); U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,547 (Kapralis)
Accordingly, a need exists for a reusable heat pack device to be used in variety of applications.


The fuel cell assembly disclosed includes at least one unit fuel cell comprising a separator having flow channels for oxidizing gas, a cathode to which the oxidizing gas is fed, a membrane electrolyte of proton conductivity, an anode to which fuel gas is fed, and a separator having flow channels for the fuel gas, the above members being arranged in order. The fuel cell assembly further comprises a humidifier having a porous member to humidify at least the fuel gas to be fed to the anode. The porous member of the humidifier is so disposed as to face at least the flow channels for the oxidizing gas so that water is supplied to the flow channels from part of the surface of the porous member opposite to the water supplying face and/or from the outer periphery of the porous member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fuel cells, particularly to polymer electrolyte fuel cells.
2. Related Art
A polymer electrolyte fuel cell (hereinafter called PEFC) that uses a polymer electrolyte has merits of high output, long service life, little deterioration by starting and stopping, low operating temperature (approx. 70 to 80° C.) and needs no precise differential pressure control, etc. Therefore, it has a very wide range of applications such as power supplies for electric automobiles, distributed power supplies for industrial or business use and home use and so on.
A unit fuel cell of the PEFC comprises
a membrane-electrode assembly (hereinafter called MEA) having a proton exchange membrane (hereinafter called PEM), which is proton-conductive sandwiched between porous electrodes coated with platinum or alloy catalyst such as platinum-ruthenium alloy and
a unit cell separator having gas flow channels which supply hydrogen gas to the anode and air (oxygen) to the cathode, respectively.
The PEM must be wet to a certain level to let protons move. To keep the PEM wet, a humidified fuel gas is usually fed to the anode or cathode. Various mechanisms have been proposed as apparatus to humidify fuel gases (for example by patent documents 1 to 7 shown below).
A humidifying mechanism using only a water permeable membrane has a problem that hydrogen gas bubbles passing through the water permeable membrane gather in the water supply side and prevent water from passing through the membrane. To solve this problem, a method has been disclosed in patent document 4, which comprises providing a platinum catalyst layer in the water supply side of the membrane, causing the hydrogen gas passing through the membrane to react with the oxygen gas dissolved in the supplied water, and thus eliminating hydrogen bubbles.
Patent document 1: Japanese Application Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 06-124722 (Page 3, FIG. 4)
Patent document 2: Japanese Application Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 07-65845 (Page 2, FIG. 9)
Patent document 3: Japanese Application Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 08-138704 (Page 3, FIG. 2)
Patent document 4: Japanese Application Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 08-138705 (Page 2, FIG. 4)
Patent document 5: Japanese Application Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 08-250130 (Page 4, FIG. 7)
Patent document 6: Japanese Application Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 09-92308 (Page 5-6, FIG. 1)
Patent document 7: Japanese Application Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-185777 (Page 3, FIG. 5).
However, a humidifier using a conventional water permeable membrane has a problem that the pressure difference between the fuel gas and the cooling water that passes through the water permeable membrane will make the membrane project towards the low-pressure side during power generation. This membrane projection will narrow the fuel gas flow channels and reduces the flows of the fuel gas and the cooling water.
As a result, auxiliary devices that supply the cooling water and the fuel gas consume more power to supply them against the pressure loss. This reduces the efficiency of the fuel cell system including the auxiliary machines and the fuel cell.


A telecommunication system comprising a mobile telecommunication network and a mobile communication apparatus arranged to communicate with said mobile telecommunication network is disclosed. The mobile communication apparatus comprises a controller, and is associated with a first and a second display, wherein said controller is arranged to control said first display to view a first set of information and said second display to view a second set of information. A method for providing messages in the telecommunication system is also disclosed. The method comprises sending a message from said mobile telecommunication network to said mobile communication apparatus; receiving said message by said mobile communication apparatus; determining if one of said first and second displays is currently actively used; assigning said message information to the one of said first or second display not currently actively used to avoid interruption of an active session; and viewing said message information on said assigned display. A method for controlling the mobile communication apparatus, comprising viewing on said first display a first set of information, and viewing on said second display a second set of information, is also disclosed.

Many models of mobile communication apparatuses of today are provided with two displays. It is common that a main display is used when actively using the apparatus, e.g. for browsing, and-a secondary display is used to show information during stand-by. As the mobile communication apparatus becomes a more important tool for its user, there is a need for improvements.

Mobile communication terminal and mobile communication system, and method therefore


Addition-curable organopolysiloxane resin composition comprising an organopolysiloxane resin that contains at least alkenyl, hydroxyl, and phenyl directly bonded to silicon of which at least 30 mole % is phenyl; an organohydrogenoligosiloxane or organohydrogenpolysiloxane that contains at least phenyl directly bonded to silicon of which at least 20 mole % is phenyl; and an addition reaction-curing catalyst.

Organic resins are used as optical components (such as optical lenses) in place of inorganic glasses based on the former's processability, light weight, lost cost, and impact resistance. The last few years, however, have seen the exposure of organic resins to high temperatures and high luminosities in association with the miniaturization of optical components and the increasing intensity of light sources. As a consequence, there is demand for the development of highly heat- and light-resistant transparent organic resins. It is widely known that silicone resins exhibit an excellent performance with regard, inter alia, to heat resistance, cold resistance, electrical insulation characteristics, weathering resistance, water repellency, and transparency, and curable silicone resin compositions are in use in a variety of industrial fields. Among these, their use as optical component materials can be contemplated because they are much more resistant to discoloration and physical deterioration than other organic resins.
Among curable silicone resin compositions, i.e., curable organopolysiloxane resin compositions, the addition-curable organopolysiloxane resin compositions are characterized by a rapid cure, by the absence of by-product generation during cure, and by an excellent moldability. As examples of such addition-curable organopolysiloxane resin compositions, Japanese Patent Publication (hereinafter referred to as "Kokoku") No. Sho 52-44900 (44,900/1977), corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,732,330) discloses a curable organopolysiloxane resin composition comprising methylphenylvinylpolysiloxane resin comprising C6H5SiO3/2 unit and CH2═CH(CH3)2SiO1/2 unit, di(dimethylhydrogensiloxy)diphenylsilane with the formula [H(CH3)2SiO]2Si(C6H5)2, and a platinum catalyst.
Kokoku No. Sho 53-20545 (20,545/1978) discloses a curable organopolysiloxane resin composition comprising methylphenylvinylpolysiloxane resin comprising monophenylsiloxane unit, diphenylsiloxane unit, dimethylsiloxane unit, and vinylmethylsiloxane unit; straight-chain methylphenylhydrogenpolysiloxane comprising diphenylsiloxane unit, methylhydrogensiloxane unit, dimethylsiloxane unit, and trimethylsiloxane unit; and a platinum catalyst. These compositions are useful as encapsulants, potting agents, and coatings for electrical and electronic components.
Japanese Patent Application Publication (hereinafter referred to as "Kokai") No. 2002-265787 provides an addition-curable silicone resin composition comprising phenyl- and alkenyl-containing a organopolysiloxane resin, a phenyl-containing organohydrogenpolysiloxane, and a hydrosilylation curing catalyst; the cured product from this composition is transparent and exhibits high strength and high hardness and is useful for electrical and electronic instruments and devices, office automation equipment, and precision equipment and machinery.
However, methylphenylvinylpolysiloxane resins are generally solids or high-viscosity liquids, and for this reason the compositions referenced above do not exhibit good fluidity or good casting properties. Kokai No. Sho 54-159459 (159,459/1979) therefore provides an addition-curable organopolysiloxane resin composition that contains diphenylbis(dimethylvinylsiloxy)silane as a reactive diluent in addition to methylphenylvinylpolysiloxane resin comprising the C6H5SiO3/2 unit and CH2═CH(CH3)2SiO1/2 unit, dimethylhydrogensiloxyphenylsilane with the formula [H(CH3)2SiO]2Si(C6H5)2 or [H(CH3)2SiO]3Si(C6H5), and a platinum catalyst, while in its Example 1 Kokai No. Hei 11-1619 (1,619/1999) describes an addition-curable silicone resin composition that contains disiloxane with the formula [CH2═CH(CH3)2Si]2O in addition to a methylphenylvinylpolysiloxane resin, a methylphenylhydrogenoligosiloxane, and a platinum catalyst.
These patent references, however, neither describe nor suggest a curable organopolysiloxane resin composition or an addition-curable silicone resin composition that can give a cured product that is resistant to the phenomenon in which the entire cured product clouds up, with an attendant decline in light transmittance, when the cured product is cooled after being heated under high humidities. A cured article that has clouded up and suffered a decline in light transmittance is unqualified for use as an optical element. For example, with regard to such applications as an optical lens adjacent to a light-emitting element or as a molding material, sealant, coating, or adhesive for a light-emitting element or a light-receiving element, the reduction in light flux due to clouding of the cured material can cause defective operation or a decline in functionality. In addition, some of the preceding patent references suggest that a cured article with a hardness and strength satisfactory for practical applications is not obtained from addition-curable organopolysiloxane resin compositions that have a viscosity at 25° C. of less than 1 Pa·s.
The other patent references neither describe nor suggest a relationship between viscosity and hardness or strength. While a lower viscosity for an addition-curable organopolysiloxane resin composition is not necessarily always better, the viscosity is preferably as low as possible when the curing procedure involves, for example, spin coating or infiltration into a confined space under the action of an infiltration pressure. In the case of addition-curable organopolysiloxane resin compositions with a viscosity of 1 Pa·s or more, the additional requirement of, for example, solvent dilution or heating causes a reduction in processability.