The invention is a two part composition useful for initiating cure of one or more polymerizable monomers which cure when exposed to free radicals comprising in one part an organoboraneamine complex and in a second part an isocyanate which is capable of decomplexing the organoborane complex wherein the ratio of amine nitrogen atoms to boron atoms is greater than 4.0:1.0. In another embodiment the invention is a two part polymerizable composition comprising                part 1, a) an organoborane amine complex; and        part 2, b) one or more of monomers, oligomers or polymers having olefinic unsaturation which is capable of polymerization by free radical polymerization                    c) an effective amount of a compound which causes the complex to disassociate thereby freeing the borane to initiate polymerization of the one or more monomers, oligomers or polymers having olefinic unsaturation wherein the compound which causes disassociation of the complex is kept separate from the complex until initiation of polymerization is desired; and            d) a material which manages the heat of the polymerization reaction such that adhesion to the substrate is maintained, which material can be located in either part 1, part 2 or both parts.

This invention relates to compositions which contain organoborane amine complexes useful for initiating polymerization of compounds by free radical means. In another embodiment, this invention relates to polymerizable compositions comprising compounds containing moieties capable of free radical polymerization and organoborane amine complex initiators of the invention. In yet another embodiment the invention relates to a method of polymerizing compounds containing moieties capable of free radical polymerization.
In many practical situations in which compounds are subjected to polymerization or where adhesives are used, it is desirable to have polymerizable compositions and adhesive compositions which can cure on demand. Cure on demand means that the polymerization can be initiated when desired. A significant problem with cure on demand compositions is the stability of the compositions. Many such compositions will begin curing at, or near, ambient temperature or will partially cure at ambient temperature resulting in an increased viscosity causing difficulties in handling and reduced functionality of the polymerizable composition or adhesive composition.
Low surface energy olefins such as polyethylene, polypropylene and polytetrafluroethylene have a variety of attractive properties in a variety of uses, such as for toys, automobile parts, furniture applications and the like. Because of the low surface energy of these plastic materials, it is very difficult to find adhesive compositions which bond to these materials. The commercially available adhesives which are used for these plastics require time consuming or extensive pretreatment of the surface before the adhesive will bond to the surface. Such pretreatments include corona treatment, flame treatment and the like. The requirement for extensive pretreatment of the surface results in significant limitations to the designers of automobile components, toys, furniture and the like. What are needed are adhesive compositions which are capable of bonding to low surface energy substrates, and bonding low surface energy substrates to other substrates, without the need for extensive or costly pretreatment.
Mottus et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,275,611 (incorporated herein by reference) discloses a process for polymerizing olefinic compounds with a catalyst comprising an organoborane compound, a peroxygen compound and an amine. It is disclosed that the organoborane compound and amine may be added to the reaction mixture separately or as a preformed complex, and that the complex is preferred. The presence of the amine in the complex reduces the pyrophoricity of the organoborane in air. Among the amine complexing agents disclosed are pyridine, aniline, toluidine, dimethylbenzylamine, and nicotine. Many of the complexes disclosed in Mottus are pyrophoric at all amine to boron atom ratios. In addition, many of the amine complexes do not display significant adhesive properties when applied to low surface energy substrates.
A series of patents issued to Skoultchi (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,106,928, 5,143,884, 5,286,821, 5,310,835 and 5,376,746 (all incorporated herein by reference)) disclose a two-part initiator system that is useful in acrylic adhesive compositions. The first part of the two-part system includes a stable organoborane amine complex and the second part includes a destabilizer or activator such as an organic acid or an aldehyde. The organoborane compound of the complex has three ligands which can be selected from C1-10 alkyl groups or phenyl groups. Useful amines disclosed include octylamine, 1,6-diaminohexane, diethylamine, dibutylamine, diethylenetriamine, dipropylenediamine, 1,3-propylene diamine, and 1,2-propylene diamine. The adhesive compositions are disclosed to be useful in structural and semi-structural adhesive applications, such as speaker magnets, metal to metal bonding, automotive glass to metal bonding, glass to glass bonding, circuit board component bonding, bonding select plastics to metal, glass to wood, etc. and for electric motor magnets.
Zharov et al. discloses in a series of U.S. patent Nos. (5,539,070; 5,690,780; and 5,691,065 (all incorporated herein by reference)) polymerizable acrylic compositions which are particularly useful as adhesives wherein organoborane amine complexes are used to initiate cure. The organoboranes used have three ligands attached to the borane atom which are selected from C1-10 alkyl groups and phenyl. The amine is an alkanol amine, a linear alkyl diamine where the first amine group can be a primary or secondary amine and the second amine is a primary amine or an aromatic substituted alkyl amine. It is disclosed that these complexes are good for initiating polymerization of an adhesive which bonds to low surface energy substrates.
Pocius in a series of patents (U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,796; U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,143; U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,910; U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,544; U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,977; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,657(all incorporated herein by reference) disclose amine organoborane complexes with a variety of amines such as polyoxyalkylene polyamines and polyamines which are the reaction product of diprimary amines and compound having at least two groups which react with a primary amine. Pocius U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,544 discloses a composition comprising an organoborane polyamine complex, polyol and an isocyanate decomplexing agent. It is disclosed that the primary amine to boron ratio in the complex is between about 4:1 and 1:1 and most preferred at about 1:1.
Many of the complexes disclosed in the Zharov, Skoultchi and Pocius Patents are not stable in compositions containing olefinic unsaturation at, or near, ambient temperatures and thus the complexes disassociate and induce polymerization at, or near, ambient temperature with time. This instability at, or near, ambient temperature can result in polymerization before desired and can result in compositions which are unsuitable for the desired use. Further, the compositions generally are two part compositions in which one side is a resin side and the other side is a hardener. One side (hardener) contains the organoborane complex and the other contains the decomplexing agent. In most cases the volume ratio of the two parts is significantly different, that is greater, than 4:1, often greater than 10:1. The problem is that most commercial equipment designed to dispense two part compositions utilizes ratios of 4:1 or less. In order to get these compositions to work in such equipment resin or nonreactive ingredients are added to one side or the other to get a suitable volumetric ratio. The problem is that if resin is added to the side containing the complex the mixture is unstable and could begin to cure at ambient temperatures and render the composition useless. If excessive inert materials are added to the hardener side the inert ingredient can act as a plasticizer or create a weak continuous phase and negatively impact the properties of the polymerized composition.
After polymerization many of the compositions of the prior art demonstrate excellent stability, strength and adhesion at or near ambient temperatures, but at elevated temperatures undergo loss of strength and adhesion at significantly elevated temperatures. This limits the environments where substrates bonded using these adhesives can be used.
Therefore, there is a need for initiator systems for free radical polymerization which are safe to handle, not pyrophoric, which can be used to form cure on demand polymer systems or can be used in adhesive systems which cure on demand. What is further needed are adhesive systems which are capable of bonding to low surface energy substrates, and initiator systems which facilitate such bonding. In addition to such needs, the complexes need to be thermally stable, that is do not disassociate at, or near, ambient temperatures and thereby initiate polymerization before desired. What are further needed are polymer compositions and adhesive systems which are thermally stable at, or near, ambient temperatures and which will undergo polymerization when the user desires. Further compositions that can be used in existing commercial equipment at mix ratios of 4:1 or less are needed. Compositions that have stability, strength and adhesion at elevated temperatures are desired.

Organoborane amine complex polymerization initiators and polymerizable compositions


A front sight has a main body, a sight post body carrier, and a sight post body. The main body has an engagement structure for having a sight post body carrier movably engaged therewith and has a mounting structure for being attached to a weapon. The sight post body carrier is moveably engaged with the engagement structure of the main body in a manner allowing the sight post body carrier to be selectively translated at least partially along a length of the engagement structure and limiting unrestricted movement of the sight post body carrier in other directions. The sight post body includes a plurality of different length sight posts. The sight post body is moveably mounted on the sight post body carrier in a manner allowing each one of the sight posts to be selectively moved to a sight post use position with respect to the main body.

Traditionally, front sight posts have been placed on the tip of the discharge end of a firearm barrel, and are usually oriented in one of two ways. A first way in which a front sight post is oriented is such that is vertically positioned with a very small column that is round or square in cross section, and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the firearm barrel. A second way in which a front sight post is oriented is such that is horizontally aligned with the longitudinal axis of the firearm barrel and has a cylindrical shaped so that the shooter sees the sight in cross-section, in which it appears to be a round dot when aligned with a rear aiming sight of the firearm. Regardless of the shape of the front sight post, the shooter visually aligns the front sight post of the firearm with both the target and a gap, hole, etc of the same or similar shape on the rear aiming sight of the firearm.
A shortcoming of known front aiming sight posts for firearms is that their overall configuration (e.g., their shape and size) serves little function that aids in accuracy when a target is not in close proximity to a firearm on which the sight is mounted. More specifically, although the sight may allow the shooter to establish a line of sight (or referred to in shooting parlance as 'line of aim') from the rear sight through the front sight post to the target, it does nothing to help the shooter estimate the distance to the target, nor does it indicate to the shooter how much to raise the barrel of the firearm above the line of aim in order to hit a distant target. The amount that the tip of the barrel needs to be raised to hit a distant target is referred to as BDC (bullet drop compensation).
Many magnified and unmagnified scopes and non-optical sights include a feature for providing BDC functionality. Such a BDC-providing feature on a firearm scope or sight (i.e., a sighting apparatus), when it is included, is usually an integral feature instead of a separate device. A BDC device (i.e., a device that provides for BDC functionality) can be used to predict a curvilinear trajectory of a given projectile propelled by a specific ammunition, shot toward a certain distant target from a particular firearm, and within a certain set of environmental conditions. These are a partial collection of factors by which the curvilinear trajectory can be determined, as there are additional factors that can influence such determination. Therefore, it is of particular importance to emphasize that when any one of a multitude of factors changes, a BDC device that previously worked with high degree of accuracy may be of limited or no aid in assisting the shooter in hitting a distant target.
It must also be noted that a BDC device is essentially worthless without a method to estimate distance to a target. Although, many manufacturers apparently expect shooters to accurately estimate how far it is to a distant target because BDC devices typically do not have an integral means for reliably determining or estimating distance to a target. To demonstrate why a distance measuring function is essential, the theoretical example of a target at 200 yards and 300 yards will be compared. Assuming that an average firearm has been adjusted to accurately hit a target at 200 yards using a fixed sight on the firearm (i.e., sighted-in at 200 yards), and the same firearm was then shot at a target at 300 yards without any changes in the adjustments to the fixed sight, the point of impact on the target at 300 yards can be more than eight inches below the center, assuming all other factors are the same and there is no operator error. At 400 yards, the error can be in excess of 24 inches, whereby if the target was close to the ground, the projectile could impact the ground long before it got to the target.
Therefore, a front sight configured to help a shooter of a weapon estimate distance to a target and to indicate to the shooter how much to raise the barrel of the weapon for above the line of aim for BDC would overcome shortcomings associated with known gun sights thereby making it advantageous, desirable and useful.

Gun sight configured for providing range estimation and/or bullet drop compensation


An orthodontic cutter for cutting portions of orthodontic metal ligatures and the like having a pair of ATS-34 stainless steel plier halves, uniformly heat treated to within the range of about RC 57-59, with each plier half being of one piece construction and free of abrupt changes in width along its length, with the width being measured perpendicular to both the longitudinal axis of the plier half and the pivot axis. The entire orthodontic cutter is corrosion resistant and holds its edge without fracturing.

Plier-type cutters are often used in orthodontics to cut stainless steel, titanium alloy or other orthodontic metal ligatures and similar appliances. These orthodontic cutters typically include a pair of plier halves, with each plier half having a handle, a pivot section, and a cutting jaw. The two plier halves are pivotally connected at their pivot sections such that relative movement of the handles will cause relative movement of the jaws. Heretofore, one form of these cutters employed cutting edge inserts made of carbide or tool steel which were blazed or otherwise secured to the cutting jaws, with the balance of the cutting jaws and the associated handle being made of stainless steel, typically 17-4. Such cutting edge inserts were used because known stainless steel compositions were not as suitable for use as cutting edges of orthodontic cutters. The cutting edges of prior cutters, which did not use inserts, were made with stainless steel plier halves of one piece construction and were prone to fracture in use or loss of their edge in a relatively short time. On the other hand, cutters with cutting edges formed on carbide or tool steel inserts typically maintained their edge without fracturing.
In the orthodontic field, as in other medical fields, it is important to maintain clean and sterile instruments. Orthodontic cutters are typically cleaned or sterilized with high temperature steam after every use. The cleaning and sterilizing procedures, and even the orthodontic procedures in which they are used, often subject the cutters to corrosive environments. While carbide and tool steel cutting edge inserts enable the cutter to hold its cutting edge without fracturing, they are not as corrosion resistant as the remaining stainless steel portion of the cutter. Thus, the known carbide and tool steel inserts had a tendency to corrode after only limited use, requiring costly re-work or replacement. Another disadvantage with known orthodontic cutters using cutting edge inserts is the relatively high cost of manufacturing the inserts and the mounting thereof to the cutter jaws.


Acid digestion of liquid specimens which are to be subsequently analyzed by spectroscopy to identify recoverable or dissolved metals is effected in an open digestion operation in apparatus which includes inclined, vertically spaced saddles on which specimen containing glass jars are supported in corresponding inclined orientation so that a surface of the specimens in the jars is overlaid by the wall of the jar and the jar opening is remote from the specimen, this arrangement allowing that the vessel wall facing the specimen surface, during digestion, will serve as a condensing surface for specimen vapors evolved incident digestion. The saddles are carried on an upright frame rotatably mounted on a base so that the upright frame can be moved between jar loading/unloading and digestion operation positions, jar loading/unloading on the upright frame involving inserting/removing the jars on the saddles while the frame is in a position where it is conveniently accessed by an operator for this purpose, but the upright frame thereafter being rotated to a digestion position thereof that reduces greatly, to the safety advantage of an operator, any chance of splatter of specimen during the digestion striking the operator. The saddles each embody a heater therein.

The present invention relates to open digestion of liquid specimens which are to be thereafter analyzed by spectroscopy to determine metals content therein and, refers more particularly, to method and apparatus by which this open digestion is practiced.
Acid digestion is used, for example, to prepare surface water and ground water samples or specimens for analysis by spectroscopy to ascertain presence of various metals. This is done to effectively deal with recovery or safe disposal of the metals in the water. Metals of interest are numerous, cobalt, iron and lead, to name but a few, being examples.
The acid digestion generally will be carried out by placing the sample in a glass dish and heating the sample therein on a hot plate. A reflex cover is placed over the dish to condense vapors evolving in the digestion process and to prevent splatter of reagent acid added to the specimen as part of the digestion protocol.
In the heating of the specimen to reduce it from an initial volume of say 105 ml (100 ml water and 5 ml reagent) to a desired volume of, e.g., 5 or 10 or 25 ml, same is boiled slowly and the evaporation rate, due to the dish presenting a constant bottom surface heat transfer area, will be substantially constant. Due to constant evaporation rate, it becomes difficult to observe accurately reduction of specimen volume in the dish to a particular specimen level associated with a desired final specimen volume. As a result, specimens at volumes near that desired frequently pass to dryness before an operator realizes such is occurring, and the whole purpose of the protocol is vitiated.
Difficulty in marking a level at which a desired reduced volume is present can be appreciated by noting that in a large cross sectional area dish or beaker, a 1/8th inch depth of specimen may represent that volume. Noting a level change to 3/32nd or 1/16th inch can be hardly discernible but yet specimen volume of 25% to 50% below that desired can have taken place.
Utilization of hot plate heating of plural specimens in upright beakers at the same time has the additional disadvantages of possible misidentification of a given specimen with another on completion of heating, or chance of an operator accidentally knocking over a standing beaker.
It is desirable, therefore, that improved means and manner be provided by which liquid specimens can be treated in an open digestion/concentration operation without hazard that the specimens inadvertently will be dried, spilled or otherwise contaminated by events attending heretofore hot plate practiced protocols.

Method and apparatus for open digestion of specimens utilizing inclined container support means with electric heater


The system remotely manages the configuration of one or several network services (20). The management server (10) has access to a database (12) which stores a representation of the configuration of the network service (20). An agent software component (18)—running preferably on the network device providing the managed service (20)—has access to the configuration in the native language of the network service (20). The management server (10) and the agent software component (18) communicate synchronization information to each other and synchronize the representation of the configuration of the network service in the database (12) and the native language configuration of the network service (20) with each other based on the synchronization information. The synchronization information is in a language different from the native language of the configuration of the network service.

Effective IP address management is an overall business process issue. The growing network complexity associated with connecting mobile users to a number of disparate resources quickly becomes an enormous IT burden from a workload and cost standpoint. There is a need to make it possible for IT departments to provide high levels of service, rapidly deploy new services, and continue to maintain existing systems, with flat or decreasing budgets and headcount.
In particular, the administration of DNS (Domain Name System) and DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) servers as well as the secure and dynamic management of IP address has become a priority. Further, IP environment administration concerns multiple activities within the IT department and requires extensive IT resources. It implies defining multiple profiles in order to do the job while preserving security and confidentiality. Typically, IP administration tasks are handled manually and can take staffers an average of several weeks per year to complete. So, there is a need for eliminating tedious and time-consuming manual tasks.
To face these needs, IP management software products have been developed such as VitalQIP® of Lucent Technologies™ and IPm™ of Efficient IP™. These software products are run on a server connected to the IP network and make it possible to consolidate all IP address information of the network in a single database and to support DHCP and DNS servers.
However, a drawback of these products is due to the fact that the implementation thereof in existing networks already comprising DNS and DHCP servers is tedious and expensive because they require the replacement of the existing DNS and DHCP software products with specific DNS and DHCP software able to communicate via the network with the IP management software.

Network service configuration management


For easy and accurate assembly of a motor actuator with improvement of quality and productivity, a motor accommodating hole (2) continuously having a pressure insertion hole (2a) and an insertion hole (2b), and a coupler (4) having terminals (5, 6) are integrally formed in a motor case (1), the insertion hole (2b) is open to face to an opening (1c) of the motor case (1), the terminals (5, 6) are arranged in parallel to a longitudinal axis (X-X) of the motor accommodating hole (2), flat base plates (7, 8) which are orthogonal to a longitudinal axis (Y-Y) of a motor (3) and have connection holes (7a, 8a) are arranged in an outer periphery (3a) of the motor (3), the terminals (5, 6) are inserted into the connection holes (7a, 8a) when inserting the motor (3) into the insertion hole (2b) and then the motor (3) is pressure-inserted fixedly to the pressure insertion hole (2a).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor actuator in which a motor accommodating hole is formed by a motor case and a motor cover covering the motor case, a motor is arranged within the motor accommodating hole and rotation of an output shaft of the motor is output toward an outer portion directly or via a gear or the like, and the motor actuator is used as a drive actuator for an open and close control of a throttle valve arranged in a throttle body controlling an amount of air flowing toward an engine or for a control of an air jet control apparatus in a carburetor.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
A conventional motor actuator is shown in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 62-132262.
In accordance with the motor actuator mentioned above, U-shaped grooves constituted by bifurcated connection portions are provided in flat base plates protruding sideward from a motor, and leading end portions of terminals provided in a coupler integrally formed in a motor case are formed to be a taper-shaped end portions.
Further, when accommodating the motor within the motor case, the taper-shaped end portions of the terminals are inserted into the U-shaped grooves of the flat base plates, and the flat base plates constituted by the U-shaped grooves and the taper-shaped terminals are brought into contact and connected with each other, in the state mentioned above.


A thin plastic sheet has material displaced into braille characters protruding from the front face to provide information for the blind. The plastic sheet can be a clear plastic material having information for the sighted printed on the rear side for viewing from the front. The information containing area of the plastic sheet can be formed into a decal for application inter alia to an ATM.

There are social and legislative pressures and requirements to provide information and guidance in braille to the blind braille reader so that such braille reader can be guided to access not only to areas such as rest rooms but also guided by instructions to operate devices such as elevators, vending machines and ATMs.
With respect to ATMs in the United States, the American with Disabilities Act requires, inter alia, that instructions and all information for use of an ATM be made accessible to and independently usable by persons with vision impairment.
In some cases, such information is given audibly using sophisticated transmitting and receiving equipment such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,901.
In many instances, braille signage is provided in the form of cast metal plates or other plate material which has been suitably etched, machined or welded to provide the necessary information and guidance to the braille reader. Such signage, however, is relatively expensive and has a size such that it is not adapted to fit into and be secured to small areas.
In other cases, the buttons of an ATM are identified by braille.
To date, however, there is no signage available providing information for the blind which is low cost, yet rugged, can be configured in any shape or size can be produced to fit into limited size areas, and can be quickly and easily mounted or installed in position.
Further, there is no such signage that can combine information for the sighted as well as information for the blind.
Still further, there is no such signage that can be produced to provide sets of related pieces of information including related pieces of information for the blind and the sighted for applying to different parts or areas of a device and, in particular, to different parts or areas of an ATM.


A tone evaluation method acquires color information on the second color space of a patch image corresponding to a grid point in the first color space, and calculates as the feature amount of a color conversion table the variation of the color information between two grid points in the first color space. Then, on the basis of the feature amount, a tone evaluation value for the color conversion table is calculated. In addition, on the basis of the variation of the feature amount, a tone jump position in the color conversion table is extracted and displayed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tone evaluation apparatus and tone evaluation method of evaluating the tone in a color conversion table for converting image data on the first color space into data on the second color space.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of the important factors that determine image quality is the tone of an image. For example, when a color image is on an L*a*b* space, its tone has a three-dimensional distribution. For this reason, in order to evaluate the performance of a color image forming apparatus, it is very important to evaluate the tone of an image in a three-dimensional space.
As a method of evaluating the tone of an image in a three-dimensional space, there is proposed a method of performing so-called objective evaluation for an image output by a color image forming apparatus or the like (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-174133). According to this image evaluation method, a gradation image is read, color information such as lightness, chroma, and hue are acquired, and then correction considering the human visual characteristics is applied to the color information.
Subsequently, the difference of the corrected color information between the neighboring pixels of the gradation image is calculated, and the difference is compared with a threshold to calculate a tone jump position and a tone jump amount on the gradation image. Furthermore, the accumulated value of the acquired tone jump amounts for the entire gradation image is calculated as a tone evaluation value.
With the above-described processing, a tone evaluation value for at least one color information can be calculated, or the weighted sum of tone evaluation values acquired for two or more pieces of color information can be calculated as an overall evaluation value.
In the tone evaluation method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-174133, however, only the color space reproduced on the output gradation image can be evaluated.
Generally, a color image forming apparatus converts input image data on the first color space (e.g., RGB) into data on the second color space (e.g., L*a*b*) as a uniform color space so as to perform various processes. In addition, the image data which underwent processing on the second color space is converted into data on the third color space (e.g., CMYK) for output. In so-called color conversion processing for conversion between color spaces, a color conversion table is used. Since the content of the color conversion table influences the quality of a formed image, it is necessary to evaluate tone reproduction by the color conversion table.
When the tone evaluation method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-174133 is to be applied to a color conversion table, it is necessary to output a gradation image which covers the whole color space reproducible using the color conversion table. Furthermore, in order to detect a tone jump position, it is necessary to output a gradation image which surely includes the tone jump. However, it is difficult to generate such a gradation image. In addition, since a tone jump position calculated by the tone evaluation method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-174133 is presented as a position on the gradation image, it is difficult to pinpoint that portion of the conversion table, which has a problem.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has as its object to provide a tone evaluation apparatus and tone evaluation method comprising the following functions. That is, for a color conversion table used when performing color conversion from the first color space to the second color space, a tone in the entire area of an available gamut is easily and appropriately evaluated. In addition, a tone jump position on the color conversion table is effectively specified.

Tone evaluation apparatus and tone evaluation method


Sealed components for an MRI scanner, in particular carrying RF coils and gradient coils have actuators for active noise control that are a part of an actuator module having holding segments fastened rigidly to the opposite ends of the actuator. The holding segments are fastened by screws onto two actuator receiving elements that are embedded at a spacing from one another in the sealing compound, and so that each fastening segment protrudes into a recess in the compound.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sealed components, in particular carrying RF coils and gradient coils for MRI scanners, wherein actuators for active noise control are employed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Gradient coils in MRI scanners generate magnetic fields that are variable in time and in amplitude. They are operated inside a static basic magnetic field, i.e., in a basic field magnet. Here, dynamic Lorentz forces act on the gradient coil conductors, exciting vibrations in the structure thereof. This results in the production of significant noise during the operation of the scanner.
In order to actively reduce the production of noise, or the intensity of vibration, by a gradient coil, it has been proposed to install actuators (e.g., piezoceramics, magnetostrictive actuators, or the like) at suitable eigenmode-specific locations that during operation generate a counterforce to the Lorentz force of the gradient coil. In this way, in theory a 30 dB reduction in the vibrational amplitudes is quite realistic.
Heretofore, a practical realization of this measure has not occurred, probably due to the difficult technical problem of creating suitable fastening points for the actuators, which enable a transmission of force onto the gradient structure of, typically, around 10 kN per actuator. In each case, the fastening points must be situated inside the resin matrix of the vacuum-sealed coil, so that the points of application of the actuators for the production of a counterforce to the Lorentz force of the gradient coil also are situated at the points where the vibrations that are to be reduced occur.

Sealed component for an MRI scanner having an actuator for active noise control


To provide automatic, efficient and effective cleaning before or after laser marking, a control of a laser marker identifies a start number presented on a display and retrieves drawing data and drawing position data of the start number from a memory. The control determines an area to be cleaned from the retrieved drawing data and drawing position data (A3). Then, the control retrieves condition data, such as scanning speed, for an area sweeping-type cleaning mode. An area cleaning scan is performed in which a beam spot of YAG laser beam almost entirely scans or sweeps once an area of the workpiece (A5) surface to be cleaned (A5). The cleaning scan is repeated a predetermined number of times. By the projection of the YAG laser beam onto the area, workpiece surface materials are thinly and lightly melted or sublimated so that stains, such as dirt, are removed as if with an eraser.

The present invention relates to a scanning-type laser marking method and apparatus.
In the scanning-type laser marking method, a highly focused laser beam is projected onto a workpiece. The laser beam is swung by a scan mirror so that a beam spot of the laser scans a surface of the workpiece. A point on the workpiece surface where the laser beam spot hits is instantly metallurgically processed (melted, sublimated, discolored etc.,) by the laser beam energy. The laser beam scanning or drawing results in marking desired patterns, such as patterns of a character, figure or symbol, on the workpiece surface.
The laser marking method of scanning type has an advantage of non-contact marking of the workpiece. However, when a workpiece surface is dirtied or uneven, a mark pattern of poor quality, including broken or thinned portions, is formed.
In the prior art, an operator must pre-clean a surface of the workpiece, particularly a portion to be marked, if it has undesired impurities or unevenness. To this end, the operator uses cloth, tissue paper or the like, soaked in detergent or solvent such as acetone or ethanol, to wipe the workpiece surface, or uses a brush to scrub it.
A deeply etched pattern can be marked with higher energy of a laser beam. In such cases, metal particles or slag produced in the marking process remain in marked grooves, or burrs can be formed on groove edges. Since the results are unsatisfactory, the operator must post-clean the marked area and surrounding area by wiping or polishing.
The manual pre-cleaning and post-cleaning required in the prior art laser marking is, however, a painstaking labor on a part of an operator. In addition, filaments of a cloth or tissue paper may be caught in unevenness of a workpiece surface or burrs at the time of wiping or polishing. Sometimes, scratches may be formed on a workpiece surface (in particular, an area marked or to be marked) so that re-polishing is needed. Therefore, the prior art has problems of low productivity and difficult quality control.

Method and apparatus for laser marking with laser cleaning


A tape dispenser having a frame and a pair of opposed, unequal diameter hub mounts for rotatably mounting an adhesive tape roll thereon. The tape roll includes a hub about which the tape is wound and has first and second open ends with unequal diameter openings. Each of the hub mounts is compatible in diameter with a respective one of the hub open ends requiring the tape roll to be correctly mounted on the hub mounts to insure the adhesive side of the tape be properly oriented.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to tape dispensers. More particularly, the invention relates to hand-held tape dispensers adapted to dispense adhesive tape. Specifically, the invention relates to a hand-held tape dispenser that has a polarized hub configuration to prevent the user from installing the tape roll in an inverted, incorrect orientation on the supporting frame.
2. Background Information
There are numerous types of adhesive tapes that have a wide variety of uses. A frequently used type of adhesive tape is packaging tape that is used to secure the flaps of boxes and packages for shipping. This type of tape is typically two inches wide and is fairly difficult to pull off a roll by hand and maneuver it into position around the package. Industrial hand-held tape dispensers have been proposed in the prior art for applying such wide adhesive tape. Many of these devices, however, experience a number of problems in their usage, one of which is the correct position of the roll of adhesive tape on the frame so that the adhesive side of the tape is properly oriented for correctly dispensing the tape from the dispenser onto a package or other surface.
These prior art hand-held and operated tape dispensers usually include a frame formed of metal or plastic, which have a pair of axially opposed mounting hubs on which a hub of the roll of tape is engaged for rotatably mounting the roll of tape on the frame. These hub mounts are similar in shape and size, as well as the axial end openings of the hub of the reel of tape so that, unless the operator pays particular attention to the orientation of the adhesive side of the tape, it could be facing in the wrong direction for proper use of the dispenser when mounted on the hub mounts within the dispenser frame.
Also, for certain applications, it is desirable that a particular type of tape be used with a particular dispenser intended to be used for a particular type of job application. Dispenser having the same size hub mounts and corresponding tape hubs make such a restriction difficult.
Therefore, the need exists for an improved combination tape dispenser frame and tape roll hub, which is polarized, that is, it induces polarization to the combination to insure correct orientation of the tape reel on the frame, so that the adhesive side of the tape is oriented properly.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A data communication system comprises a transmitter and a receiver. A plurality of current mode drivers at the transmitter are used to transmit clock and data signals to the receiver. A plurality of current mode sinks at the receiver are used to receive the transmitted clock and data signal. The present invention provides an improved current mode interface receiver with a process insensitive common mode current extraction circuit. The proposed common mode current extraction circuit will generate a current reference based on the received clock signal, so as to accurately interpret the received clock and data signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a receiver and more particularly to a current mode interface receiver with process insensitive common mode current extraction and the method, which may be applied in a MPL communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The constraints of interconnect standard in small handheld electronic devices are severe. Today's cellular handsets and PDAs demand lower power, lower number of wires and lower Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). Mobile Pixel Link (MPL), compared to the existing interface such as LVDS and RSDS, provides an optimized interface between video ports on sources and targets. Its three main attributes are: fewer wires (2 active lines), low power, and very low EMI.
To gain its benefits of low power and low EMI, MPL uses small-magnitude current signaling transmission. The two logic states are determined by the magnitude of the current that is sourced from the receiver to the transmitter. The two currents can be thought of as an AC current riding on a DC bias current. Typically the two currents are 150 μA and 450 μA and considered to be ±150 μA riding on a constant 300 μA.
MPL defines the high current (i.e. 450 μA) as a Logic Low and the low current (i.e. 150 μA) as the Logic High with reference to a DC component of 300 μA. However, due to the chip to chip process variation during the semiconductor fabrication, a first current reference Icom obtained from a first BandGap reference circuit at the transmitter may differ from a second current reference Icom+Idiff obtained from a second BandGap reference circuit at the receiver, compared to the low small-magnitude current, wherein Idiff is a delta current due to the chip to chip process variation during the semiconductor fabrication. The inconsistence between the first and the second current references will cause a wrong signal interpretation at the receiver.
In FIG. 1, a block diagram illustrates a conventional data communication system, e.g. a MPL, featuring a first BandGap reference circuit 21 and a second BandGap reference circuit 31, locating at the transmitter and the receiver, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 1, at the transmitter, a transmitting system 10 is coupled to a plurality of current mode drivers 22-24 and provides an input signal to each of current mode drivers 22-24. The first BandGap reference circuit 21 is coupled to each of the plurality of current mode drivers 22-24 and provides a first current reference Icom. Each of the current mode drivers 22-24 compares the first current reference Icom with the corresponding input signal from the transmitting system 10 and generates an output signal to a signal channel, respectively. Specifically, the signal channels, connecting the transmitter and the receiver, are clock and data channels. Each of the output signals from the transmitter is coupled to the corresponding current mode sink 32-34 at the receiver as an input signal. The second BandGap reference circuit 31 is coupled to a plurality of current mode sinks 32-34 and provides a second current reference Icom+Idiff. Each of the current mode sinks 32-34 compares the second current reference Icom+Idiff with the input signal from the corresponding current mode driver 22-24 and generates an output signal to a receiving system 40, respectively.
The second current reference Icom+Idiff is expected to be identical to the first current reference Icom in order to properly interpret the input signals transmitted on the signal channels. Due to the chip to chip process variation during the semiconductor fabrication, the first current reference obtained from the first BandGap reference circuit 21 may differ from the second reference obtained from the second BandGap reference circuit 31. The aforementioned current references' inconsistencies will cause wrong signal interpretation at the receiver and generate a wrong output signal that will affect the accuracy of the receiver.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved interface receiver featuring a process insensitive common mode current extraction and the method extract the DC component of a clock signal as a common mode current for all clock and data signals.

Current mode interface receiver with process insensitive common mode current extraction and the method


A high-speed integer multiplier unit multiplying operands, wherein each operand can be either signed or unsigned. Type data is received for each operand which indicates whether the corresponding operand is to be treated as signed or unsigned. An extend bit is appended to each operand to provide extended operands, where the extend bit is the most significant bit of the corresponding operand if type data indicates that the operand is signed, and the extend bit is a logic zero otherwise. The extended operands are multiplied using a signed multiplication operation to provide the result. Overflow detection is done in parallel to the multiply operation, thus moving overflow-detection logic from the timing-critical path from the multiplier block's input to its output. The throughput performance of the multiplier unit is improved as a result.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits (IC) and more specifically to a method and apparatus for high-speed integer multiplication of signed and/or unsigned operands.
2. Related Art
An integer multiplier unit generally receives two integers (operands) to be multiplied and provides their product as an output. Often, each integer is received as an N-bit number and the result is provided as a (2*N) bit number. Integer multiplier units are often contained in arithmetic logic units (ALU) that perform various arithmetic operations on digital representations of numbers.
A multiplier unit may have to handle both signed and unsigned numbers. In the case of unsigned numbers, all the bits together generally represent the magnitude. In the case of signed numbers, the digits can represent either a positive number or a negative number. Signed numbers are represented using conventions such as twos complement representations.
In addition, a multiplier unit may need to indicate whether the result of the multiplication cannot be represented by the output bits (called an overflow condition). For example, in multiplication of two signed numbers represented in 2's complement form of N-bits each, a overflow would occur when both the signed numbers are maximum negative numbers (i.e., 1 in the most significant bit and 0 in all other positions), assuming (2N−1) bits of output.
The multipliers units may need to be implemented meeting several requirements. For example, it may be desirable to implement units while meeting requirements such as higher throughput performance and/or lower area consumed, etc.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.

High-speed integer multiplier unit handling signed and unsigned operands and occupying a small area


A solid-phase immunoassay for 6-keto-Prostaglandin F1α, the stable hydrolysis product of prostacyclin (Prostaglandin I2) is disclosed. Prostacyclin, a potent vasodilator with anti-platelet and anti-proliferative properties is an effective treatment for primary pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with scleroderma and scleroderma-like syndrome. Levels of 6-keto-Prostaglandin F1α can be directly correlated with levels of prostacyclin. Therefore, 6-keto-Prostaglandin F1α has become the indicator of choice to measure prostacyclin levels. The single step immunoassay for 6-keto-Prostaglandin F1α uses the bioluminescent protein, aequorin as a label. Analyte-label conjugates were constructed by linking the carboxyl group of 6-keto-Prostaglandin F1α and lysine residues of aequorin by chemical conjugation methods. The binding properties of 6-keto-Prostaglandin F1α towards its antibody and the bioluminescent properties of aequorin are retained in the conjugate. The concentration of 6-keto-Prostaglandin F1α after extraction from plasma shows good correlation with the concentration of 6-keto-Prostaglandin F1α obtained without prior extraction of the same plasma sample. The assay allows the measurement of 6-keto-Prostaglandin F1α directly in plasma without any pre-treatment of the samples, which results in a much simpler method with a faster assay time.

Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH) is a rare disease of the pulmonary vasculature, resulting in abnormally high pressure in the pulmonary artery, right ventricular failure, and death. While the pathogenesis of PPH is not clearly understood, the increased pulmonary vascular resistance observed is attributed to three main factors: 1) vasoconstriction, 2) thickening of the vessel wall due to vascular remodeling, and 3) in situ thrombosis. (Archer, S., Rich, S. Circulation 2000, 102, 2781-2791; Rich, S. Curr. Treat Options. Cardiovasc. Med. 2000, 2, 135-140). There is no cure for PPH and the treatment options are limited. (Naeije, R., Vachiery, J. L. Clin. Chest Med. 2001, 22, 517-527). The survival rate is less than a year in patients presented with New York Heart Association Functional Class IV symptoms. Although lung transplantation is a possible treatment option, there are obvious drawbacks such as shortage of donor organs and chronic rejection as well as the possibility of infection. (Franke, U., Wiebe, K., Harringer, W., Franke, T., Wittwer, T., Wahlers, T., Haverich, A. Eur. J. Cardiothorac. Surg. 2000, 18, 447-452). Long term intravenous treatment with epoprostenol (also known as prostacyclin or PGI2) has greatly increased the survival rate.
Prostacyclin or PGI2 (Prostaglandin I2) is a major cyclooxygenase metabolite of arachidonic acid, and is mainly produced by vascular endothelial cells. Prostacyclin is a prostaglandin, which occurs along with other eicosanoids like thromboxanes and leukotrienes. Prostacyclin is a potent vasodilator with platelet-inhibitory, anti-proliferative and fibrinolytic activities. (Moncada, S., Vane, J. R. Pharmacological Rev. 1979, 30).
The exact levels of prostacyclin in human plasma are unknown, however like most eicosanoids it occurs in very low amounts (pg/mL). Thromboxane B2 (metabolite of thromboxane A2, a vasoconstrictor) and its metabolites occur in very low amounts like 1-10 pg/mL in plasma. Leukotrienes generally function as vasoconstrictors and bronchoconstrictors and occur in varying amounts in plasma and urine. Leukotriene B4 occurs between 50 pg/mL-50 ng/mL, leukotriene E4 occurs between 80 pg/mL-1000 ng/mg of creatinine. Prostaglandin F2α concentrations are found between 10 pg/mL-100 pg/mL, prostaglandin D2 is generally found at 5 pg/mL-500 pg/mL, and prostaglandin F1α occurs at 1 ng/mL-100 ng/mL.
Currently intravenous epoprostenol is indicated for the chronic treatment of primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional Class III and Class IV patients who do not respond to conventional therapy. (Krishnan, U. Indian J. Pediatr. 2000, 67, 523-527; Nauser, T. D., Stites, S. W. Am. Fam. Physician 2001, 63, 1789-1798). There is no set dose of prostacyclin for PPH and the starting dose varies between 4-8 ng/kg/min. Following the initiation of intravenous prostacyclin, most patients require an automatic dose increase of 2 ng/kg/min every two weeks until the rate of administration reaches 20 ng/kg/min. Further dose increase of 0.5 to 1 ng/kg/min per week is needed only upon the return of symptoms. Common side effects of intravenous prostacyclin include flushing, muscle pain, and abdominal cramps and these symptoms are not necessarily dose dependent. Thus, a method to quantify and correlate the plasma levels of prostacyclin with the onset of the untoward side effects or functional improvement would be useful in determining the optimal level of plasma prostacyclin for an individual patient.
A method to quantify the plasma levels of prostacyclin would be useful in determining the optimal level of plasma prostacyclin for an individual patient. Prostacyclin is very unstable with a half-life of only 60 minutes in plasma and 2-3 minutes in buffer. The immediate and stable product of hydrolysis of prostacyclin, 6-Keto-Prostaglandin F1α (6-keto-PGF1α), is quantifiable and can be used as a surrogate marker of the level of plasma prostacyclin. The detection method for prostacyclin or its breakdown product has to be extremely sensitive and accurate since either molecule is present in very low amounts (pg/mL) in the body. Moreover, the existing methods are time consuming mainly due to the necessity to extract 6-keto-PGF1α from biological samples. (Schramm, W., Smith, R. H., Jackson, T. M., Craig, P. A., Grates, H. E., and Minton, L. L. Clinical Chem. 1990, 36, 509-514; Tonai T., Y., K., Yano, T., Hayashi, Y., Yamamoto, S., Yamashita, K., and Miyazaki, H. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1985, 836, 335-343). Thus there is a need for a rapid and sensitive detection method for prostacyclin. The present invention provides a single-step, solid phase immunoassay for 6-keto-PGF1α using the bioluminescent protein aequorin.

Method and kit for determination of prostacyclin in plasma

University of Kentucky Research Foundation


Methods for preparing thermally inhibited starch agglomerates are disclosed. Thermally inhibited starch agglomerates prepared by this method provide a higher viscosity over thermally inhibited starches that are not agglomerated but are thermally inhibited in the same manner as the thermally inhibited starch agglomerates.

Field of the invention. The present invention is directed towards physically modified starches and their applications in food products. More specifically, the present invention is directed towards a method of improving the viscosity of thermally inhibited, starch-based texturizers and application of those texturizers in food products.
Starch is a major raw material used in the food industry for its good thickening and gelling properties. However, in a wide range of starch applications, native starches alone cannot be used because of their lack of process tolerance and inability to deliver desired properties such as solubility, viscosity, texture and clarity. For example, in food processing, heat, shear and/or extreme pH, especially acidic pH, tend to disrupt starch granules and disperse the starch in the food. As such, unmodified native starches are generally unsuitable for use in processed foods. In order to overcome these deficiencies, native starches are often modified using any of a variety of starch modification techniques, namely, chemical, physical, and/or enzymatic modifications.
Chemical modification of starch molecules is often used to achieve the above mentioned desired properties. Numerous methods of chemically modifying starch have been developed over the past century to attain these coveted functional properties. Such modification techniques include acid conversion, crosslinking (e.g., with POCl3), and derivatization (e.g., acetylation, esterification, etherification, and propylation (e.g., PO modification)), among others. These modifications result in starches having any of a variety of desirable properties, including process tolerance, high viscosity, better thickening power, more resistance to gelatinization, and retrogradation stability compared to native starches.
For example, starches modified by chemical crosslinking are better able to withstand the effects of high temperature processing and high shear. Chemically crosslinked starches are prepared by modifying the starch granule with difunctional reagents (e.g., phosphorus oxychloride, sodium trimetaphosphate, adipic anhydride, acetic anhydride and epichlorohydrin). Chemically crosslinked starches have much better tolerance to processing treatments such as heat, shear, and pH extremes, and possess viscosity stability throughout the processing operation, as well as provide a desirable smooth texture and shelf life of the food, compared to their native counterparts.
In addition to chemical modification or alternatively, by treating at specific moisture and temperature conditions, certain properties of starch can be physically altered. Such physical processes provide starch with functional properties similar to those obtained by chemical modification. Physical modifications are often desired over chemical modifications due to growing consumer preference for non-chemically modified food ingredients. Usually, starch is physically modified by subjecting granular starch to specific heat and moisture conditions for a duration sufficient to develop granular structural changes adequate to achieve the desired functionality.
Two basic types of hydrothermal treatments are commonly employed in modifying the physiochemical properties of starch. Under these methods, starches having specific levels of moisture are heated for a specific period of time without causing a significant level of starch gelatinization (i.e., the starch granule retains its morphology). Treatment of starch with excess or intermediate moisture (e.g., about 40 wt % to about 80 wt % or 90 wt % moisture) at a temperature above the glass transition temperature but below the gelatinization temperature is referred to as "annealing" (ANN). The gelatinization temperature varies depending on the source of the starch, with starch gelatinization typically occurring over a temperature range. For example, the gelatinization temperature of native (i.e., unmodified) potato starch is from about 56° C. to about 66° C., whereas the gelatinization temperature of native corn starch is from about 62° C. to about 72° C. The term "heat-moisture treatment" (HMT) refers to starch heat treated at a temperature above its gelatinization temperature but with insufficient moisture to gelatinize (i.e., heat treated with limited moisture, which can be present in an amount of about 10 wt % to about 30 wt % moisture).
As noted above, these two types of physical modifications occur at temperatures above the glass transition temperature and either below (ANN) or above (HMT) the gelatinization temperature of the relevant starch, depending on the specific moisture content used for the treatment (e.g., excess moisture as in a slurry for ANN, or no or only a small amount of added moisture for HMT). In particular, hydrothermal treatment can be used to increase the gelatinization temperature, enzymatic susceptibility, solubility, swelling volume, and changes in X-ray diffraction patterns. The changes in these parameters vary depending upon the source of the starch and hydrothermal treatment conditions.
A third type of thermal modification of starch is thermal inhibition. Thermal inhibition is well known in the art and is exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,718,770; 5,932,017; 6,231,675; 6,451,121; 8,268,989; 8,471,003; and 8,759,511, hereby incorporated by reference. Thermal inhibition differs from ANN and HMT in that in the thermal inhibition process the moisture content of the starch granule is rendered at least substantially anhydrous, and the starch granule is then heat treated. In other words, dry thermal inhibition is a technology that involves heating substantially anhydrous, granular starch at elevated temperatures (e.g., 125° C. to 180° C.), which can occur in one embodiment under alkaline conditions. Thermally inhibited starches obtained by this process have characteristic functional properties such as limited granular swelling and less viscosity breakdown during pasting than native starch. Because these properties and functionalities of thermally inhibited starches are similar to those of chemically crosslinked starches, thermally inhibited starches, which lack chemical additives, are preferred for food applications.
Thermally inhibited starches are generally recognized as functional, native starches because the improved functionalities of the product are derived from a non-chemical process. Traditionally, thermally inhibited starches are made so that the starch granules are retained in the end product.
Like chemically crosslinked starch, thermally inhibited starch provides thickening in food products. The degree of thermal inhibition depends upon the viscosity required for a particular food application. In general, the higher the temperature at which the starch is cooked the greater the degree of starch inhibition In one aspect, the present invention is directed towards such thermally inhibited starches, specifically, those without any chemical modification.
Starches are thermally inhibited in a process that results in the starch granule structure becoming resistant to hydro-thermal destruction (hereinafter referred to as "inhibited" or "thermally inhibited") without addition of chemical reagents. The degree of thermal inhibition required depends upon the desired functionality sought by the thermally inhibited starch in the food (e.g., thickening, gelling, extending, etc.), as well as the particular processing conditions used to prepare the foods and the degree of functionality desired. These thermally inhibited starches have functional characteristics similar to chemically crosslinked starches (e.g., process tolerance, improved viscosity) but differ in that the onset of gelatinization temperature is lower, particularly when the starches are moderately or highly inhibited.
During cooking of certain native starches, such as waxy starches, the granules are gelatinized, a peak viscosity is reached, and then the viscosity begins to decrease as the starch granules breakdown and the starch polymers solubilized. For waxy starches, this typically results in a starch paste that is cohesive or runny. In contrast, when thermally inhibited starches are cooked, the starch granules are more resistant to structural breakdown, resulting in less or no viscosity breakdown, compared to native starches which are not thermally inhibited. This resistance to breakdown results in what is subjectively considered a non-cohesive, or "short" textured paste, meaning that the gelatinized starch tends to be salve-like and heavy in viscosity rather than runny or gummy.
Depending upon the extent of heat treatment, various levels of inhibition can be achieved. For example, higher viscosity products with little breakdown as well as highly inhibited, low viscosity products with no breakdown can be prepared by the thermal inhibition process described herein. Generally speaking, the degree of thermal inhibition varies based upon the processing conditions, such as temperature, time and pH. The higher the degree of inhibition, the greater the process stability of the product (i.e., lower paste viscosity breakdown with continued heating and/or shear applied to the starch paste). However, high levels of inhibition result in substantially low paste viscosities, limiting the application of thermally inhibited starches in certain food products. Attempts have been made to improve paste viscosities, color and flavor of thermally inhibited starches by refining the base starch to remove traces of proteins and lipids. Unfortunately, viscosity improvements obtained by such refinements are marginal at best.
Food products which are to be thickened or gelled—with or without heating—can be prepared by adding thermally inhibited non-pregelatinized or pregelatinized granular starch to one or more of the food ingredients prior to or during processing of the food ingredients. Food products can also be extended by replacing or partially replacing one or more of the ingredients typically used in the food (e.g., fat, protein, and the like) with thermally inhibited starch. A mixture of thermally inhibited starches, including granular non-pregelatinized and granular pregelatinized starches, may also be used.
In starch pasting (measured by either a Brabender® Micro Visco Amylograph or a Rapid Visco Analyzer), paste viscosity develops when starch granules absorb water, resulting in granular swelling. Thermal inhibition prevents the breakdown of these swollen granules, thereby impeding or reducing viscosity breakdown after reaching their fully swollen state. It is well recognized that a combination of factors (e.g., the degree of starch granule swelling, the swollen granule's ability to deform without destruction and leaching of starch polymers, the size and shape of the swollen granule and its rigidity, and the degree of friction between swollen starch granule surfaces) affect the paste viscosity of a given starch.
Thermally inhibiting a starch does not guarantee that it will provide the desired functionality needed in the food product. For example, thermally inhibited starches often provide lesser paste viscosities than chemically modified starches. Accordingly, there remains a need for thermally inhibited starches having even greater viscosity than those commercially available.


According to the method a relatively dry heated airflow is made to sweep around the product and the heat flow rate imparted to the airflow is controlled in dependence on the surface temperature of the product in the place where the product is expected to reach the highest temperature. The plant includes a heating assembly, a blower and means to provide a flow duct in which the products are piled with spaced relationship along part of said duct. A temperature sensor is disposed on an upstream surface of a product farthest upstream in the pile and a microprocessor receives signals from the temperature sensor and emits a control signal to the heating assembly.

Plants and methods of thawing deep-frozen products are known in various designs. The disclosure of EP-A-0 298 063 thus deals with a thawing-out method whereby air sweeping around the product is kept saturated with water vapour by adding atomized water at a specific temperature, thereby also controlling the temperature of the air. The thawing-out is stopped when the temperature in the middle of the product has risen to a predetermined value.
However, it is not all types of products that can be thawed out by means of humid air. Such a method causes water to condense on the product. This is desirable in certain cases (thawing out unpacked fish or meat), but in other cases it cannot be allowed, e.g. when thawing out products packed in materials soluble in water. GB patent No. 2 044 906 A thus discloses such a method according to which the temperature of the air sweeping around the product is controlled and thereby kept at a value a few centigrades above the temperature of the product in order to avoid moisture condensation on the product.
Various other systems and methods of thawing frozen products are known. The common features are that the air sweeping around the product is controlled to a larger or smaller degree in respect of temperature and water content and that the thawing is interrupted after a predetermined period or when the temperature in the middle of the product (the core temperature) has risen a predetermined value.
With respect to the thawing of a frozen product there are various demands to consider: A frequent interest is taken in that the thawing is effected as quickly as possible whereas, on the other hand, the temperature of the product must not locally rise so much that bacteria get favourable conditions of growth, thereby damaging the product.
The purpose of the invention is to comply with said requirements as well as possible.

Method and a system for defrosting frozen packed products


A power meter includes a first measurement unit 7 that measures a force applied to a first pedal B322 and calculates predetermined first information (power and/or torque) on the first pedal B322, and a second measurement unit 6 that measures a force applied to a second pedal B321 and calculates second information (power and/or torque) on the second pedal B321, which is the same kind of the first information. The first measurement unit 7 transmits first information data indicating the first information to the second measurement unit 6, and the second measurement unit 6 adds the first information to the second measurement information and transmits an added value data indicating an added value obtained by adding the first information to the second information.

Conventionally, a device called "cycle computer" mounted on a bicycle has been known, which calculates information on the running of the bicycle and information on the exercise of the cyclist, and displays these pieces of information. Such a cycle computer calculates predetermined information, based on detection signals transmitted from various sensors provided on the bicycle.
For example, there is a cycle computer that calculates the total power and torque of the pedaling, based on detection signals (measured data) transmitted from strain sensors provided on the right and left pedals, and displays the result. For another example, there is a cycle computer that calculates the total power and torque of the pedaling, based on a detection signal transmitted from a sensor provided on a sprocket, and displays the result.

Power meter, power measurement method, program and storage medium


A system, method, and computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein for causing a computer to create, store, and retrieve a main document with a formula that determines a reference to an insert document for inclusion in the main document. The system includes a data storage mechanism for storing the main document with a reference to an insert document and a shared resource database for storing one or more insert documents that may be referenced within a main document. A document destination module enables a user to create and store a main document with the formula or reference. That module also enables a user to open the main document and, upon opening the main document, extracts the formula and resolves the reference to the insert document. A document retrieval module then uses the reference to retrieve the insert document and a document insertion module then inserts the insert document into the main document.

Current computer systems store data in files. A stored data collection is often called a document. A document may comprise many different types of data formats, such as text, bitmaps, hypertext links, and other types of data. For example, a document created by a word processing program may comprise text and one or more images. Current systems provide mechanisms for incorporating images into documents for storage and retrieval by various user programs such as word processing, spreadsheet, and web browser programs, among others. The text and image portions of the document are stored together as a single main document.
Because images stored as bitmaps require a large amount of data, storing images with a document causes the main document to be voluminous. If multiple documents refer to the same image, then the system stores multiple copies of the same image, resulting in an unnecessary use of disk space. Accordingly, to reduce disk space required to store a document with an image incorporated therein, some current programs enable a user to use a link to select the image to insert in a main document. The link is then stored with the document, reducing the size of the document.
Current systems also enable an image that is referenced in a document to be changed. In order for those changes to be reflected in an open document, some current systems incorporate a program into the document that runs whenever the document is opened. That program then looks at the referenced image and updates the image within the document whenever the image is changed. The incorporation of such a program into the document again causes that document to be large and requires a great amount of disk space.
Additionally, current systems insert images and other objects into documents as a separate block of data. That inserted block of data is treated like a character. There are drawbacks to this treatment of images and other inserted objects into documents.
Other drawbacks also exist with current systems.

System and method for managing documents having formula based documents links

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for controlling operation of an integrated mobile communication and broadcast program reproduction device and of operating the device includes monitoring an occurrence of a trigger event at the device; and upon occurrence of the trigger event, recording a broadcast program signal received by the device. An integrated mobile communication and broadcast program reproduction device has a trigger event monitor and a broadcast program recorder for recording a broadcast program when a trigger event occurs. A trigger event may be receipt of an incoming call, the making of an outgoing call, the identification of predetermined content in a received program and the start of a predetermined program. Different trigger events may be prioritized. Recorded material may be reproduced, with broadcast material being received being recorded whilst previously recorded material is reproduced.

A mobile communication terminal device such as a cellular telephone for permitting mobile telephonic communication over a cellular communication network is well known. Portable reproduction devices such as a portable commercial radio broadcast receiver, a portable television broadcast receiver, and a playback device are also well known.
The integration of mobile communication terminal devices and portable reproduction devices has received attention from inventors in the past, thereby to satisfy a user who is desirous of a unit which serves as both an integrated communication and broadcast program reproduction device.
Integration of a mobile telephonic communication device and a portable broadcast program reproduction device to form an integrated mobile communication and broadcast program reproduction device (integrated device) may pose some inconvenience to a user.
It may thus happen that a person is listening to or watching a radio program or a television program and the person desires to use the integrated device for telephonic communication, with the result that the person has to stop listening to or watching the program.
Thus, the user may want to use the integrated device as a telephone whilst simultaneously recording a program that is being broadcast for later reproduction.
Further, a user of the integrated device may be unaware that a program is being broadcast in which he is interested. In such case, it may be desirable for a user automatically to be notified that the program has commenced, or is about to commence, so that the user may reproduce the program by means of the integrated device, or the program may be automatically recorded.
In addition, a user may want to monitor programs being broadcast to ascertain if any of them are of interest and then to reproduce or record the program. The user may also want to prioritize programs.

Integrated mobile communication and broadcast program reproduction device


Aspects of the disclosure provide methods for positioning transmitting stations, such as cell towers. Further, aspects of the disclosure provide a database for storing information of the transmitting stations. In addition, aspects of the disclosure provide methods for positioning a moving object having a receiver based on the database of the transmitting stations and wireless signals transmitted by the transmitting stations. The methods increase in-transit location visibility of shipment while reducing GNSS usage, and thus reduce power consumption. The methods allow positioning receiving stations when GNSS signals may not be available, such as due to interference.

Logistics management can use shipment location information to manage and optimize, for example, a supply chain. The shipment location information can be provided by a geographic positioning device attached to the shipment. The geographic positioning device can increase in-transit location visibility of the shipment. Thus, the supply chain can be timely and reliably managed.

Method and apparatus for geographic positioning


A current mirror with a transconductance amplifier containing the current mirror with a low static current. The current mirror includes: a load with first end and a second end, the first end coupling to a first input current and a fixed voltage difference existing between the first and second ends; a first transistor, whose drain is coupled to the second end of the load, whose gate is coupled to the first end of the load, and whose source is coupled to a second input current; and a second transistor, whose drain is coupled to a third port and an output current, whose gate is coupled to the second end of the load, and whose source is coupled to the ground. The transconductance amplifier contains: a voltage amplifier stage, a transconductance stage, and a current amplifier stage for amplifying the current and containing the current mirror.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a current mirror and a transconductance amplifier containing the current mirror. In particular, the invention relates to a current mirror with a low static current and a transconductance amplifier containing the current mirror with a low static current.
2. Related Art
The current mirror is a basic and important analog device, widely used in bias circuits and the loads in an amplifier stage.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional current mirror has a first transistor M1 and a second transistor M2. The drain of M1 is coupled to its gate, and its source is coupled to the ground. The gate of M2 is coupled to the gate of M1, and its source is coupled to the ground. The first transistor M1 receives an input current Iin via the drain and generates a bias at the gate. The second transistor M2 generates an output current Iout at the drain. This current mirror is limited by small signal space and low output impedance.
As shown in FIG. 2, another conventional current mirror has in addition a third transistor M3 and a fourth transistor M4. The source of M3 is coupled to the drain of M1. The source of M4 is coupled to the drain of M2. The gates of the third transistor M3 and the fourth transistor M4 are coupled to a bias voltage Vbias. The gate of M2 and the gate of M1 are coupled to the drain of the third transistor M3, which receives an input current Iin. The fourth transistor M4 generates an output current Iout at its drain. This current mirror can increase the output impedance, but still suffers from the restriction of small signal space.
FIG. 3 shows yet another current mirror in the prior art. The drain of the first transistor M1 receives an input current Iin. The drain of the third transistor M3 receives a bias current Ibias. The current mirror only requires a voltage drop from the drain to the source in order to operate. Therefore, it has a larger signal space. However, it needs a continuous supply of the bias current Ibias, rendering a larger power loss.
FIG. 4 shows a transconductance amplifier in the prior art. It has a voltage input and a current output. Since the transconductance amplifier can provide a large current output, it is often used to drive a large capacity load CL to obtain a high slew rate. The output stage of the transconductance amplifier can be stage A or AB. The output stage A consumes a larger static current, resulting in unnecessary power loss. The output stage AB consumes a smaller static current. Nevertheless, it has a dead zone and no large slew rate can be produced with a small input voltage.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,854,574 proposes a transconductance amplifier using three stages in series to increase the overall gain. It uses a push-pull output stage accompanied by a current mirror. Without any input signal, it only consumes a very small static current. When there is an input signal, a larger slew rate can be provided. However, this transconductance amplifier has four diode voltage drops between a fixed voltage VDD and the ground GND. Therefore, it cannot operate under a lower voltage supply.

Current mirror with low static current and transconductance amplifier thereof

Industrial Technology Research Institute


An electrically powered motor vehicle includes a system for recharging the on-board batteries, which system includes an air-flow conduit with an entrance at the front of the vehicle, a plurality of electric turbines mounted in tandem within a first portion of the conduit, and an additional electric turbine mounted within a second portion of the conduit, which exits at the underside of the vehicle. The tandem-mounted turbines are disposed for effective rotation, in reaction to air flow, on a generally horizontal axis, and the additional electric turbine is mounted for rotation in reaction to air flow on a second axis, generally transverse to the first axis and disposed proximate the exit end of the conduit.

A factor that is primary in the development of a practical electrically powered vehicle concerns the ability to conveniently and efficiently recharge the on-board batteries that serve as the power source. "The charging and recharging of electric vehicle batteries is a critical part of the energy cycle of an electric vehicle." (The Electric Car, Westbrook, M. H., The Institution of Engineering and Technology, and Society of Automotive Engineers, 2001, 2007) It has long been proposed to incorporate air-driven electric current generators of various kinds into electric vehicles for recharging their batteries, as evidenced by the following U.S. Pat. Nos. Dutchak No. 3,621,930, Stoeckert No. 3,876,925, Sparks No. 4,132,282, Treat No. 4,141,424, Howe No. 4,179,007, Han et al. No. 4,254,843, Boodman et al. No. 4,314,160, and Damron et al. No. 5,920,127.
Despite the activity in the art indicated by the foregoing, in many instances the recharging systems heretofore provided do not function efficiently to convert air flow forces into electric energy. Moreover, the prior art systems would often diminish the performance of the vehicle, and they tend to be unsightly or, at best, to be incompatible with desirable vehicular aesthetics.

Recharging system for electrically powered vehicle, and vehicle incorporating same


A video buffer that updates and holds an inputted video signal by a unit of a frame image includes: an image data holding unit having a first image data holding unit that holds the latest frame image, a second image data holding unit that holds a second frame image that goes back n pieces of frames in time from the first frame image and a third image data holding unit that holds the third frame image that goes back m pieces of frames in time from the first frame image; a moving picture display unit that displays the latest frame image held in the first image data holding unit; a print data selection unit that selects a frame image stored in any of the first to third image data holding units as a print object; a print confirmation display unit that displays the selected frame image; a print data generation unit that converts the image data of the displayed image into print data and so forth.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image output device, an image forming device and method for generating a video hard copy to print a video (moving images) displayed on a monitor screen and especially to technology that identifies suitably one image to be printed.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, as for a method for producing a hard copy of a video (moving images) displayed on a monitor screen of a television receiver, there is a method for using an analogue video printer.
This analogue video printer is connected with a television receiver and is provided with the same signal as an analogue video signal provided to a monitor screen of the television receiver. This analogue video signal is digitized in the analogue video printer and is recorded as image data in frame memory in the analogue video printer in sequence similarly to an image displayed in the monitor screen in a unit of frame.
In this case, when the analogue video printer receives an instruction from a user to print an image, an update of the image data by the frame memory of the analogue video printer is stopped and the image data of the image to be printed is decided. This decided image data are read out from the frame memory and are converted to printing data.
Furthermore, the analogue video printer executes print processing based on this printing data. As is described above, conventionally, one image displayed on the monitor screen of the television receiver is identified and this image is printed.
However, conventionally, in the case that the user gives a print instruction while he is watching the monitor screen of a television receiver, from the time the user captures the image by vision that he wants to print to the time he instructs to print, response delay time occurs generally, and therefore, an image later than the image he wants to print is printed and it is very irksome.
Additionally, from the time the analogue video printer starts the print processing to the time it finishes the printing processing, it takes, generally, several seconds to several tens of seconds. During this time, the video displayed on the monitor screen of the television receiver is ever changing. For this reason, it is impossible to select an image to be printed and to confirm its advisability using the monitor screen of the television receiver. When the user tries to select an image to be printed and to confirm its advisability, until the work is done, the video broadcast in real time is discontinued.
As is described above, in the case of printing using the conventional analogue video printer, since the image that the user does not want is printed and the video (the moving images) is discontinued, it is difficult to use.

Image output device, image forming device and method for generating video hard copy

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A control method and arrangement is provided that monitors the condition and operating parameters of a power electronic system having power electronic devices to optimize operation of the power electronic system. Further, electrically isolated power supplies to individual control stages for high-voltage, series-connected switch devices/power electronic devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of power electronic systems and more particularly to control methods and arrangements that monitor the condition and operating parameters of the power electronic system and power electronic switches and provide appropriate action to optimize operation thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
In high-voltage power electronic switches, several switch devices must be connected in series, e.g. as a stack of series-connected power electronic device modules or stages as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,333,853. To control and provide diagnostics for each individual switch device, an isolated power supply must be provided at the potential of each switch device. This requires that the power supply be adequately insulated from both ground potential and adjacent stages or modules. These insulation requirements require that any transformer that is used to provide the power supply and that is connected between ground and the full line potential of the power electronic switch be rather large and costly.
Additionally, prior art arrangements do not provide appropriate diagnostics or system control with sufficient emphasis on the priority of the continuous supply of the connected load.

Control arrangement and isolated power supplies for power electronic system


The present disclosure relates generally to a faucet valve cartridge configured for use within a dual handle faucet. The valve cartridge includes an upper plate and a bottom plate received within a valve housing and configured to control fluid flow from an inlet to an outlet. The valve may include anti-water hammer port geometry to reduce turbulent flow and shut-off shock wave noise.

The present disclosure relates generally to fluid control valves and, more particularly, to valve cartridges for use within a two handle faucet for controlling either hot water flow or cold water flow therethrough.
Faucets are typically controlled by either a single handle which utilizes a mixing valve to proportion the flow of hot and cold water to a faucet spout, or two handles which utilize individual valves to separately control the flow of hot water and cold water to the faucet spout. In the case of the standard prior art mixing valve, two inlets are provided, one each for the hot and cold water supplies. For two handle faucets, each valve typically includes a single inlet opening which fluidly communicates with the flow passageway of a valving member.
According to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a valve cartridge for a faucet includes a valve housing, and a first fluid flow member received within the valve housing and having a first sealing surface configured to rotate about a longitudinal axis. A second fluid flow member is received within the valve housing and is restrained from moving. The second fluid flow member includes a second sealing surface and at least one fluid opening extending into the second sealing surface, the first sealing surface of the first fluid flow member sealingly engaging the second sealing surface of the second fluid flow member to define a common interface including an outer portion having an inner boundary and an outer boundary, the inner boundary defined by the at least one fluid opening. A stem extends along the longitudinal axis and is operably coupled to the first fluid flow member and is configured to rotate the first fluid flow member about the longitudinal axis. At least one cleaning channel is formed within at least one of the inner and outer boundaries of the common interface. The at least one cleaning channel is configured to collect debris from between the first fluid flow member and the second fluid flow member and expel radially outwardly the debris from the common interface.
According to a further illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a valve cartridge for a faucet includes a valve housing defining a longitudinal axis, and a first fluid flow member received within the valve housing. The first fluid flow member includes a blind connecting recess and a first sealing surface extending around the connecting recess. The first fluid member is configured to rotate about the longitudinal axis. A second fluid flow member is received within the valve housing and restrained from moving. The second fluid flow member includes an inlet opening, an outlet opening, and a second sealing surface extending around the inlet opening and the outlet opening. The first sealing surface of the first fluid member sealingly engages the second sealing surface of the second fluid flow member. A stem extends along the longitudinal axis and is operably coupled to the first fluid flow member for rotating the first fluid flow member about the longitudinal axis to provide selective communication between the inlet opening and the outlet opening through the connecting recess. A cap includes a temperature limit stop and is supported for rotational adjustment relative to the valve housing. An engagement member is supported for rotation with the stem and is configured to selectively engage the limit stop to limit rotation of the stem and the first fluid flow member.
According to a another illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a valve cartridge for a faucet includes a valve housing, and a fluid flow control member supported within the valve housing and configured to control fluid flow from an inlet opening to an outlet opening. A stem is operably coupled to the fluid flow control member. A temperature limit stop is operably coupled to the valve housing for limited rotational adjustment. An indicator is supported for movement with the temperature limit stop. An engagement member is supported for movement with the stem and is configured to selectively engage the limit stop to limit movement of the stem and the fluid flow control member. Rotational adjustment of the limit stop relative to the valve housing to a first position provides a first rotational path to the fluid flow control member, and rotational adjustment of the limit stop relative to the valve housing to a second position provides a second rotational path to the fluid flow control member. The first rotational path is associated with a knob type arrangement such that movement of the fluid flow control member in a counterclockwise direction provides communication between the inlet and the outlet. The second rotational path is associated with a lever type arrangement such that movement of the fluid flow control member in a clockwise direction provides communication between the inlet and the outlet. The indicator is movable with the temperature limit stop to indicate one of the first rotational path associated with the knob type arrangement and the second rotational path associated with the lever type arrangement.
According to yet another illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a valve cartridge for a faucet includes a valve housing defining a longitudinal axis, and a first fluid flow member received within the valve housing and having a first sealing surface configured to rotate about the longitudinal axis. A second fluid flow member is received within the valve housing and is restrained from moving. The second fluid flow member includes a second sealing surface, the first sealing surface of the first fluid flow member sealingly engaging the second sealing surface of the second fluid flow member. The second fluid flow member further includes a first opening extending into the second sealing surface, and a second opening extending into the second sealing surface. A stem extends along the longitudinal axis and is operably coupled to the first fluid flow member for rotating the first fluid flow member about the longitudinal axis. A base supports the second fluid flow member and includes a first tubular member telescopingly received within the first opening of the second fluid flow member, and a second tubular member telescopingly received within the second opening of the second fluid flow member. A gasket is positioned intermediate the base and the second fluid flow member to provide a seal between the second fluid flow member and the base, and to provide a force for maintaining sealing engagement between the first sealing surface and the second sealing surface.
According to a further illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a valve cartridge for a faucet includes the valve housing, a fluid flow control member supported within the valve housing, and a stem operably coupled to the fluid flow control member. A cap is supported by the valve housing and includes a bore receiving the stem. A plurality of ribs extend inwardly toward the bore for contacting the stem. At least one finger is biased inwardly toward the bore for preloading the stem toward the ribs.
According to another illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a valve cartridge for a faucet includes a valve housing defining a longitudinal axis, a first fluid flow member received within the valve housing, the first fluid flow member including a first connecting recess, a second connecting recess, and a first sealing surface extending around the first connecting recess and the second connecting recess, the first fluid flow member being configured to rotate about the longitudinal axis. A second fluid flow member is received within the valve housing and is restrained from moving relative to the valve housing, the second fluid flow member including an inlet opening, an outlet opening, and a second sealing surface extending around the inlet opening and the outlet opening, the first sealing surface sealingly engaging the second sealing surface. A stem is operably coupled to the first fluid flow member for rotating the first fluid flow member about the longitudinal axis. Rotation of the stem in a first direction to a first angular orientation causes the first connecting recess to place the inlet opening in fluid communication with the outlet opening, while preventing fluid communication through the second connecting recess between the inlet opening and the outlet opening. Further rotation of the stem in the first direction to a second angular orientation greater than the first angular orientation causes the first connecting recess to place the inlet opening in fluid communication with the outlet opening, and the second connecting recess to place the inlet opening in fluid communication with the outlet opening.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.