An apparatus rides along a rail of a railroad track. A transmitter transmits ultrasonic guided waves bidirectionally along the rail while the apparatus and transmitter are moving along the railroad track. A sensor detects flaws in response to the transmitted ultrasonic guided waves while the apparatus, transmitter and sensor are moving along the railroad track. An electronic coupler operatively couples the sensor to monitoring equipment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rail inspection system and more particularly pertains to bidirectionally evaluating and detecting flaws in railroad tracks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of rail inspection systems of known designs and configurations is known in the prior art. More specifically, rail inspection systems of known designs and configurations previously devised and utilized for the purpose of detecting flaws in railroad tracks are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,572 issued Jul. 17, 2001, to Wojnarowski et al. discloses an electromagnetic system for railroad track crack detection and traction enhancement. U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,727 issued Feb. 7, 1995, to Earle discloses a dynamic rail longitudinal stress measuring system. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,966 issued Sep. 4, 1984 to Bradshaw discloses a railroad track inspection car.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a rail inspection system that allows bidirectionally evaluating and detecting flaws in railroad tracks.
In this respect, the rail inspection system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of bidirectionally evaluating and detecting flaws in railroad tracks.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved rail inspection system which can be used for bidirectionally evaluating and detecting flaws in railroad tracks. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


Orientation degree and smoothness of a substrate surface better than those of conventional ones are provided in a textured substrate for epitaxial thin film growth. The present invention is a textured substrate for epitaxial film formation, including a crystal orientation improving layer made of a metal thin film of 1 to 5000 nm in thickness on the surface of the textured substrate for epitaxial film formation having a textured metal layer at least on one surface, wherein differences between orientation degrees (Δφ and Δω) in the textured metal layer surface and orientation degrees (Δφ and Δω) in the crystal orientation improving layer surface are both 0.1 to 3.0°. Further, when another metal different from the metal constituting this textured substrate crystal orientation improving layer is added equivalent to a thin film which is 30 nm or less, and subsequently is subjected to heat treatment, the smoothness of that surface can be improved. At this time, the surface roughness of the substrate surface becomes 20 nm or less.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a textured substrate applied to a thin film formation surface in a textured substrate for epitaxial film formation. More in detail, the invention relates to a textured substrate further improved in crystal orientation and surface smoothness.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the material whose specific property an epitaxial crystal structure has is focused on has been used in various fields. Its typical examples include a superconducting conductor applied to a variety of power equipment and an oxide superconducting material constituting a superconducting shield and the like. The material having this epitaxial crystal structure is generally poor in workability, and is disadvantageous in cost when manufacturing a bulk material, and for this reason, it is often used in the form of its thin film on a predetermined substrate.
Since a substrate for epitaxial film formation allows an epitaxial crystal having an orientation structure to grow, its surface also is required to have an orientation structure. As such substrate, a textured substrate made of copper, silver, nickel or alloy of these metals and the like, and including a textured metal layer having a biaxially textured {100}<100>cube texture is used (for example, "Biaxially textured copper and copper-iron alloy substrates for use in YBa[2]Cu[3]0[7][−][×]" (Superconductor science and technology ISSN0953-2048, 2006, vol.19, pp.85-95), "Control of texture in Ag and Ag-alloy substrates for superconducting tapes" by T A Gladstone, JC Moore, B M Henry, S Speller, C J Salter, A JWilkinson and C R M Grovenor, Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Supecond, Sci. Techno. 13(2000) 1399-1407, printed in the UK, National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2001-518564 and National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2006-513553). These textured substrates are made by bonding a metal base such as stainless steel to a metal plate, i.e. textured metal layer such as a textured copper as a reinforcing material for securing handleability as a substrate.

Textured substrate for epitaxial film formation and surface improving method of textured substrate for epitaxial film formation


A load sharing method comprises: receiving a message and determining an outbound interface that is configured to forward the message; obtaining bandwidth usage parameters of the outbound interfaces when a number of the outbound interfaces is greater than 1; selecting one of the outbound interfaces as a forwarding outbound interface for forwarding the message, according to the bandwidth usage parameters of the outbound interfaces and a content of the message.

With the step-by-step capacity expansion of Internet Protocol (IP) service forwarding, a forwarding algorithm for traffic load sharing is becoming more and more important, and directly determines whether network resources can be automatically allocated and employed.
In conventional technology, two load sharing methods are used, including a method for load sharing per stream and a method for load sharing per packet. However, in the conventional load sharing methods, the sharing method and the proportion of the traffic are determined at an inbound interface. In this case, even when an outbound interface for load sharing is congested, the inbound interface would still send the traffic to the outbound interface according to a fixed sharing proportion, which results in traffic congesting and packet loss at the outbound interface.


A structure for supporting a collapsible steering column of a vehicle is covered partially by a column cover between an instrument panel and a steering wheel. The steering column passes through an opening formed in the instrument panel and extends towards a driver's seat. The column includes a meter cover for covering meters installed in the instrument panel. The meter cover is shaped so as to define an upper portion of the opening and is integrally formed with a knee pad adapted to be hit and forced, by knees of a driver thrown out of the driver's seat upon a collision of the vehicle, to move the meter cover upwards. Such expands the opening sufficiently to eliminate crushing of the column cover against the meter panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for supporting a steering column of a vehicle and, more particularly, to a collapsible steering column supporting structure of a vehicle which prevents an occupant of the vehicle from sustaining injuries upon a collision of the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
A steering column typically passes through a hole or opening formed in a vehicle instrument panel structure constituting part of a front wall of a front compartment of the vehicle. The steering column conventionally extends through the opening formed in the instrument panel structure and towards a driver's seat, in front of which the instrument panel structure is located. Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 2-69,554 discloses such a steering column extending through an opening in an instrument panel. In the steering column supporting structure disclosed by this publication, a meter hood panel, covering meters installed in the instrument panel structure, is shaped so as to form an upper wall defining an upper portion of the opening. A column cover, partially covering the steering column between the instrument panel and the steering wheel, is located close to the opening Such a steering column collapses axially towards the instrument panel upon a vehicle collision, so that the column cover abuts the instrument hood panel.
Collapsible steering columns are usually formed by two column portions These column portions are telescopically connected to each other via an impact absorption mechanism so as to allow the collapsible steering column to axially contract or collapse upon a collision of a vehicle During such a collapse, the steering column absorbs not only a primary impact, applied to a driver from the vehicle body, but also a secondary impact, such as a reaction force, developed on the steering column by the driver. Since the collapsible steering column must be installed in a limited vehicle body space, in which an engine and a transmission are disposed, and may have a force applied at its lower end by the engine and transmission during a collision of the vehicle, the steering column is connected to a pinion shaft of a steering gear unit by a flexible means, such as a cross joint, via a connecting shaft. The connecting shaft is connected to the collapsible steering column by the cross joint and is inclined downwards at an angle with respect to an imaginary line extending from the collapsible steering column. The connecting shaft, therefore, turns upwards during a collision of the vehicle, thereby preventing the collapsible steering column from being forced backwards and exerting a primary impact on the driver. Such a collapsible steering column is known from, for instance, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 63- 131,867.
If a collapsible steering column is intended to absorb both primary and secondary impacts, it is normally designed to have a long stroke of collapse However, since a column cover, partially covering the steering column between the instrument panel and the steering wheel, may crash into the meter hood if a serious steering column collapse occurs, the steering column is disabled from collapsing sufficiently to keep the driver safe, as it is intended to do. In addition, a sufficient clearance must be provided between an intermediate shaft of the column and an instrument panel or dashboard to allow backward movement of the engine and transmission during a collision of the vehicle without any interference with the dashboard. However, since a sealing collar, by which the intermediate shaft is supported in the dashboard, is integrally formed with ribs and flanges, the intermediate shaft is brought into abutment against the sealing collar before it abuts against the dashboard. Such forces the steering column itself, and hence the steering wheel secured to the top of the steering column, toward the driver. Such a sealing collar decreases substantially the clearance between the intermediate shaft and the dashboard.

Steering column supporting structure of automotive vehicle


A secondary battery has charging and discharging functions. The second battery prevents an external connection portion from being separated from a connection terminal due to external shocks.

1. Field
One or more embodiments of the present invention relate to a secondary battery.
2. Description of the Related Technology
A secondary battery is a chargeable battery. The secondary battery is used in electric driving apparatuses, such as in electric bicycles, electric scooters and electric vehicles. The secondary battery is also used in the portable electronics field, such as in cellular phones, notebooks and camcorders. The secondary battery has a structure in which an electrode assembly having a cathode, an anode and a separator that are wound to form a jelly roll. The wound electrode assembly is installed in a case, through an opening on the case and then the opening is covered by a cap plate. A current collector is installed at an end of the electrode assembly so as to be electrically connected to an electrode terminal included in the cap plate. Thus, when an external terminal is connected to the electrode terminal of the cap plate, a current generated by the electrode assembly is supplied to the external terminal through the current collector and the cap plate.


A gasket assembly is provided having a ring seal (100) and a ring joint gasket (12). The ring seal (100) has an annular sealing body (102) and an annular outer seal portion (106) disposed on and defining an outer edge of the annular sealing body (102). An annular inner seal portion (108) is disposed on and defines an inner edge of the annular sealing body (102). A central bore (104) is defined by an annular surface (110) of the annular inner seal portion (108). The ring joint gasket (12) has an inner surface (13) that engages the annular outer seal portion (106) of the ring seal (100), wherein the ring joint gasket is insertable into a flange of a ring-type joint.

Ring joints were initially developed for high pressure/temperature applications found in the petroleum industry for use in the oil field on drilling and completion equipment. However, today this style of joint is found on valves and pipework assemblies, along with some high integrity pressure vessel joints. Ring joints are often used in high pressure applications, and often for gas flow applications and are particularly well suited for corrosive environments, such as in ships and offshore oil platforms.
This type of connection uses a ring (often stainless steel) to seal against a groove in each flange. They are precision-engineered components designed to be used in conjunction with precision-machined flanges. Unfortunately, this style of seal creates a small gap between the flange faces which increases turbulence as the process fluid flows across it. With a large enough velocity the annular cavity resonates and introduces a large amount of flow noise into flow paths. This is especially prevalent in gas flow. In ring joint applications related to precision metering, both accuracy and repeatability may be adversely affected.
According to embodiments, a ring joint spacer is provided that is insertable between flange faces inside a ring joint. This spacer reduces turbulence in fluid flow, and an advance in the art is achieved.

Apparatus and method for decreasing flow noise in ring-type joints


A boot removal assistance device uses a base plate and a removal plate joined by a post. The removal plate has a bottom leg and an arcuate shaped top leg joined by a pair of opposing side members defining a central opening that is wider side to side relative to the top to bottom distance. A user places a boot into the central opening while standing on the base plate with the other leg. The heel of the boot is braced against the inside edge of the bottom leg while the toe portion of the boot is braced underneath the top leg. The boot is now braced and the user pulls his or her leg out of the boot.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a boot removal assistance device that allows a person to be able to remove a boot unassisted while in a standup position.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Boot wearers know that the only thing more difficult than putting on a pair of comfortable, tight fitting boots, is removing the boots at the end of the day. Boots, especially cowboy boots, also known as riding boots, are designed to snugly fit the wearer's foot without the use of closure devices such as laces, snaps, or cooperating hook and loop material. As a riding boot does not use a closure device, the boot itself provides the fit and securement about the wearer's foot so that the wearer's foot, including the ankle, is tightly fit within the boot. This tight fitting nature of the boot makes donning and doffing a properly sized boot somewhat difficult.
This donning and doffing difficulty is not only due to the tight fitting nature of the boot about the wearer's foot, but also due to the fact that a person's ankle is substantially more narrow relative to the metatarsal region of the foot, so that when the person's relatively wide metatarsal portion of his or her foot is passing through the relatively narrow ankle portion of the boot, through passage of the foot becomes difficult. While most boots have some give to allow the ankle portion to yield some room whenever the metatarsal portion of the foot is passing therethrough, foot passage through the ankle is often a challenge, especially in a newer boot that has yet to be fully broken in.
While both donning and doffing of a boot present a challenge, donning a boot tends to be a bit easier. The wearer grabs the top of the boot, inserts the foot, and uses gravity to assist in shoving the foot into the boot into proper position. Donning a boot tends to be a job for a single person—the wearer.
Doffing on the other hand presents a different problem. Not only does the wearer not have the benefit of gravity to assist him or her in boot doffing, typically the person's foot has swelled somewhat from wearing the boot, so that foot removal from the boot is even more challenging.
Many boot wearers employ a second person to help in the doffing process. The second person grabs the bottom portion of the boot and the wearer and the assistant pull in opposing directions until the foot is released from its boot confines. While effective, this technique is not without its limitations. Sometimes, a second person is simply not available so this boot removal method cannot be employed. Even if a second person is available, many boot wearers' egos do not permit employment of such assistance and such boot wearers will simply struggle to remove the boots themselves.
Of course, such boot doffing problems are not limited to riding boots. Snow ski boots, skates, and other types of boots and shoes also present problems during removal.
Recognizing the problems associated with boot doffing, devices have been proposed that allow a person to be able to remove a boot from his or her foot without the assistance of a second person. Such devices, which come in a variety of architectures, tend to suffer from one or more drawbacks. Many such prior art devices are simply complex in design and construction so as to be relatively expensive to produce so as to reduce the economic attractiveness of such devices. Some prior art devices are unduly complex in operation, so that many potential users, especially casual users, tend to shy away from usage of such devices. Such devices also tend to have relatively high maintenance requirements. Some devices are simply ineffective to use, offering little more assistance than solo removal of the boot by the wearer.
What is needed is a device that allows a person to be able to doff a tight fitting boot or other type of footwear from his or her foot without assistance from a second person, which device addresses the above mentioned limitations found in the art. Specially, such a device must be of relatively simple design and construction so that the device is relatively simple and inexpensive to produce and maintain. Such a device must be simple and straightforward to use so as to be welcoming to most boot wearers including casual boot wearers.


A sequentially accessible, non-volatile data storage circuit for generating constants includes a logic array for non-volatile storage of programmed data words and a recirculating shift register for causing the first one of the data words to appear at a data output of the data storage circuit in response to a reset signal and to cause the next data word to appear at the data output in response to a clock signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital memory circuits and, more particularly, to digital memory circuits that provide a predetermined series of fixed digital data words.
2. State of the Art
In the field of digital signal processing, it is often necessary to generate cyclically-repeated, multi-bit constant sequences. Such sequences must be generated, for example, in digital filters of the finite impulse response (FIR) type. In those filters, each of a series of incoming data points x.sub.i is multiplied in turn by each of a series of constant coefficients A.sub.i, with the resulting series of products being added together. The generation of cyclically-repeated, multi-bit constant sequences is also necessary when computing Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) as well as in other digital signal processing applications.
It is known to generate cyclically-repeated, multi-bit sequences by using a read only memory (ROM) in conjunction with an address generator. In such an arrangement, because storage and control are realized separately, it is difficult to realize a suitable constant generator in bit-slice form. The reason for such difficulties is that as the number of constants in the sequence increases, the number of ROM data locations increases linearly while the number of ROM address bits and hence the size of an address counter portion of the address generator increases only logarithmically. A single bit-slice size therefore cannot be used.

Sequentially accessible non-volatile circuit for storing data


A valve element (20), comprising a frame (21), at least one first inlet (26), at least one second inlet (27) and at least one outlet (28). The valve element consists of a combination comprising at least one burst disk (23) or equivalent, which, when unbroken, closes a passage from the second inlet (27) at least to the outlet (28), and a piston element (25) comprising a piercing element (24) or the like for piercing the burst disk, said piston element being arranged to be movable between at least two positions when the burst disk has been pierced, in which first position the passage from the second inlet (27) to the outlet (28) is closed while in a second position the passage from the second inlet (27) to the outlet (28) is open, to which second position the piston element is moved after the pressure difference between the second inlet and the first inlet has reached a predetermined value.

The present invention relates to a valve element as defined in the pre-amble of claim 1, which comprises a frame, at least one first inlet, at least one second inlet and at least one outlet.
The invention relates to so-called delay valves used in pressure medium systems to open a passage upon being triggered after a pressure difference has reached a pre-set value. As is known, such valves are rather complicated and, especially in the case of gaseous pressure mediums, problems have been encountered in respect of tightness. On the other hand, in applications where the valve elements may remain unused for very long times, e.g. in connection with fire extinguishing systems, reliable operation of the valve elements is also an important design factor.
The object of the present invention is to achieve a completely new type of solution that makes it possible to avoid the drawbacks of prior art. The object of the invention is to create a reliable apparatus that can be utilized especially in fire extinguishing applications.
The valve element of the invention is characterized by a combination comprising at least one burst disk (rupture disk) or equivalent, which, when unbroken, closes a passage from the second inlet at least to the outlet, and a piston element comprising a piercing element or the like for piercing the burst disk, said piston element being arranged to be movable between at least two positions when the burst disk has been pierced, in which first position the passage from the second inlet to the outlet is closed while in the second position the passage from the second inlet to the outlet is open, to which second position the piston element is moved after the pressure difference between the second inlet and the first inlet has reached a predetermined value.
The apparatus of the invention is additionally characterized by what is stated in claims 2–6.
The solution of the invention has numerous significant advantages. By using in the valve element a combination comprising a burst disk and a movable piston element that simultaneously acts as a valve stem, a tight delay valve solution that is reliable when triggered is achieved. The solution is very well applicable for use in high-pressure systems, e.g. in high-pressure extinguishing systems using water mist.


A stationery sheet having labels removably attached thereto by pressure-sensitive adhesive. The sheet may be sent through a laser printer or other printing equipment for the purpose of printing indicia on the sheet and the label. After the sheet exits the printer, the labels may be peeled off the sheet and attached to a letter or some other document. A release coating may be applied to the sheet at the areas where the labels are attached to facilitate peeling the labels from the sheet. A high temperature, stable, pressure-sensitive adhesive is used to facilitate passing the sheet through high temperature printers.

The present application relates generally to stationery and labels, and more particularly to stationery using printable labels.
In the past, office personnel first print stationery, such as a letter, and then print forwarding and return addresses on an envelope. This requires two printing steps. Typically, a letter is prepared by sending a sheet of paper through printing equipment, such as laser printing equipment. Labels with forwarding and return addresses are then printed for an envelope using a typewriter or printing equipment, or addresses are directly printed on the envelope using a typewriter. This requires considerable time by office personnel when a large amount of stationery is prepared.
Typical labels are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,007,663, issued to Moran on Apr. 16, 1991, 4,993,752, issued to Juszak on Feb. 19, 1991; 4,938,414, issued to Lippert on Jul 3, 1990; 4,771,891, issued to Sorensen, et al. on Sep. 20, 1988; 4,664,416, issued to Steidinger on May 12, 1987; 4,379,573, issued to Lomeli, et al. on Apr. 12, 1983; 4,029,341, issued to Neill, et al. on Jun. 14, 1977; and 3,822,492, issued to Crawley, on Jul. 9, 1974. Adhesives are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,925,584, issued to Suzuki, et al. on Dec. 9, 1975; 3,107,195, issued to Stegler, et al. on Oct. 15, 1963; and 2,109,583, issued to Bennett on Mar. 1, 1938.

Stationery with removable printable labels and method therefor


A computer system may include one or more hosts and a plurality of data storage devices for providing multihop system calls. The data storage devices are interconnected and also connected to the one or more hosts. Each data storage device classifies a data operation as a system call, a remote system call, or a multihop system call. Also described is a multipath multihop system call in which one or more communication paths may be selected using predetermined and/or dynamic communication path selection techniques. The number of communication paths determined may be in accordance with parameters that are included in a multipath multihop system call, tunable system parameters, or a combination of the foregoing.

1. Technical Field
This application relates generally to computer systems, and more particularly to specifying communication paths in a computer system.
2. Description of Related Art
Computer systems may include different resources that may be used by one or more processors. Resources and processors in a computer system may be interconnected by one or more communication connections. These resources may include, for example, data storage devices such as the Symmetrix™ family of data storage systems manufactured by EMC Corporation. These data storage systems may be coupled to one or more processors and provide storage services to each processor. An example data storage system may include one or more data storage devices, such as those of the Symmetrix™ family, that are connected together and may be used to provide common data storage for one or more processors in a computer system.
A processor may perform a variety of data processing tasks and operations using the data storage system. For example, a processor may perform basic system I/O operations, such as data read and write operations and also administrative tasks, such as data backup and mirroring operations. In performing any one of the foregoing operations, the processor may use one or more system calls in which the processor making the system call instructs a data storage device to perform a particular operation.
In some data storage device arrangements, a first data storage device may be connected to a second data storage device and a processor may only be able to send commands to the second data storage device indirectly using the first data storage device. In other words, the processor only has a direct connection to the first data storage device, and an indirect connection to the second data storage device. If the processor wishes to instruct the second data storage device to perform a data operation, the processor may use a remote system call using the first data storage device. The processor may issue a remote procedure call to the first data storage device which instructs the second data storage device to perform a data operation, for example.
A problem may exist in a data storage device arrangement that includes yet another level of indirect data storage devices. For example, in addition to the previously described data storage device arrangement of a first and a second data storage devices, a third data storage device may be connected to the second data storage device. In some applications, a processor may need to instruct the third data storage device to perform data operations. If the processor has a direct connection only to the first data storage device, remote system calls may be used to instruct the second data storage device to perform data operations, and system calls may be used to instruct the first data storage device to perform data operations. However, in the foregoing arrangement for the processor to instruct the third data storage device to perform a data operation may require such instructions pass through an indirect connection of the first and second data storage devices. There is no way for the processor to so instruct the third data storage device using system calls or remote procedure calls due to the additional storage device layering in the data storage device arrangement. Generally, similar problems may exist in data storage device arrangements that also include more than the foregoing three levels of indirect data storage it device access from a processor.
Two data storage devices, or a processor and a data storage device, may also communicate using one or more connections. For example a first and second data storage device may communicate over Storage Area Network (SAN), and a processor may communicate with a data storage device over a Local Area Network (LAN). Thus, a network may be used to facilitate communications between devices or devices and processors where the level of indirection may create a problem using system calls or remote procedure calls to facilitate data transfers. However, there is a connection between the two devices or the processor and a device.
A communication path between two data storage devices, or a processor and a data storage device, may be determined, for example, using a network, direct, or indirect connections and remote procedure calls. This communication path may be used in performing data transfers between the two particular data storage devices, a processor and a data storage device, and the like. However, a problem may exist in the event of component or connection failure included in a communication path in addition to the level of indirection of the data storage device accessed, for example, from a processor.
Thus, it may be advantageous to provide a technique for the processor and/or data storage device to perform data operations in data storage arrangements that include three or more levels of indirect data storage device access, and additionally provide for an alternate and dynamic selection and specification of a communication path, for example, in the event of a component or connection failure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The lacrimal duct therapy device includes a frame assembly and an actuator assembly mounted on the frame assembly. The actuator assembly includes a contact assembly and a motor assembly configured to drive the contact assembly. The contact assembly includes at least one cam member having a base portion and a lobe portion and at least one arm member. The at least one cam member is mounted on a rod member attached to the motor assembly for rotation therewith. The at least one cam member bears against a leg member pivotally attached to the frame assembly, the leg member terminating in a knob bearing against the user's lacrimal duct region. Actuation of the motor periodically pivots the leg member so that the knob massages the lacrimal duct.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical devices, and more particularly to a lacrimal duct therapy device for providing therapy to alleviate pain and/or pressure in the user's lacrimal duct.
2. Description of the Related Art
The lacrimal duct ("nasolacrimal duct") facilitates the movement of tears from a lacrimal sac into the nasal cavity. The opening of the nasolacrimal duct into the inferior nasal meatus is partially covered by a mucosal fold. Excess tears flow through the lacrimal duct, which drains into the inferior nasal meatus. The lacrimal duct is lined by stratified columnar epithelium containing mucus-secreting goblet cells and is surrounded by connective tissue.
Occasionally, a user may suffer blockage and/or pain in the lacrimal duct. Because the lacrimal duct is located above the nasal cavity, it can be difficult for the user to alleviate the blockage without forcing an evasive tool through the nose. Such a procedure may force the blockage further into the lacrimal duct, causing more pain or damage, instead of alleviating the pressure or blockage. Thus, a lacrimal duct therapy device solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


A speech recognition system displays a source text of one or more words in a source language. The system has an acoustic processor for generating a sequence of coded representations of an utterance to be recognized. The utterance comprises a series of one or more words in a target language different from the source language. A set of one or more speech hypotheses, each comprising one or more words from the target language, are produced. Each speech hypothesis is modeled with an acoustic model. An acoustic match score for each speech hypothesis comprises an estimate of the closeness of a match between the acoustic model of the speech hypothesis and the sequence of coded representations of the utterance. A translation match score for each speech hypothesis comprises an estimate of the probability of occurrence of the speech hypothesis given the occurrence of the source text. A hypothesis score for each hypothesis comprises a combination of the acoustic match score and the translation match score. At least one word of one or more speech hypot. This invention was made with Government support under Contract Number N00014-91-C-0135 awarded by the office of Naval Research. The Government has certain rights in this invention.

The invention relates to automatic speech recognition. More specifically, the invention relates to automatic speech recognition of an utterance in a target language of a translation of a source text in a source language different from the target language. For example, the invention may be used to recognize an utterance in English of a translation of a sentence in French.
In one study, it was found that the efficiency of a human translator who dictates a translation in one language corresponding to source text in another language, is greater than the efficiency of a human translator who writes or types a translation. (See, for example, "Language and Machines--Computers in Translation and Linguistics". National Academy of the Sciences, 1966.)
In one approach to speech recognition, speech hypotheses are scored using two probability models. One model is a language model which estimates the probability that the speech hypothesis would be uttered, but which uses no knowledge or information about the actual utterance to be recognized. The other model is an acoustic model which estimates the probability that an utterance of the speech hypothesis would produce an acoustic signal equal to the acoustic signal produced by the utterance to be recognized.
Statistical language models exploit the fact that not all word sequences occur naturally with equal probability. One simple model is the trigram model of English, in which it is assumed that the probability that a word will be spoken depends only on the previous two words that have been spoken. Trigram language models are relatively simple to produce, and have proven useful in their ability to predict words as they occur in natural language. More sophisticated language models based on probabilistic decision trees, stochastic context-free grammars, and automatically discovered classes of words have also been used.
While statistical language models which use no knowledge or information about the actual utterance to be recognized are useful in scoring speech hypotheses in a speech recognition system, the best scoring speech hypotheses do not always correctly identify the corresponding utterances to be recognized.

Speech recognition system for natural language translation

International Business Machines Corporation


An ink jet ink composition comprised an anti-curl agent and ink jet printing processing using such ink jet ink composition. The ink jet ink composition includes a hyperbranched polymer. The hyperbranched polymer acts as an anti-curl agent to control curl during a printing process. The anti-curl agent, i.e., the hyperbranched polymer, may be present in the ink amounts less than conventional anti-curl agents and still effectively control curl without detrimentally effecting intercolor bleed control water fastness or drying. Additionally, the ink composition do not exhibit increases in viscosity, and problems associated therewith, that occur in ink composition using conventional anti-curl agents.

The present disclosure relates to ink jet ink compositions and ink jet printing processes. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to ink jet compositions comprising novel anti-curl agents suitable for use in multi-color ink jet printing processes.
Ink jet printing is a non-impact printing method that produces droplets of ink that are deposited on a print substrate such as paper or transparent film in response to an electronic digital data signal. Thermal or bubble jet drop-on-demand ink jet printers have found broad applications as output for personal computers in the office and in the home.
In existing thermal ink jet printing processes, the printhead typically comprises one or more ink jet ejectors. Each ejector includes a channel communicating with an ink supply chamber, or manifold, at one end and an opening at the opposite end, referred to as a nozzle. A thermal energy generator, usually a resistor, is located in each of the channels at a predetermined distance from the nozzles. The resistors are individually addressed with a current pulse to momentarily vaporize the ink within the respective channel to form a bubble that expels an ink droplet. As the bubble grows, the ink rapidly bulges from the nozzle and is momentarily contained by the surface tension of the ink as a meniscus. This is a very temporary phenomenon, and the ink is quickly propelled toward a print substrate. As the bubble begins to collapse, the ink still in the channel between the nozzle and bubble starts to move towards the collapsing bubble, causing a volumetric contraction of the ink at the nozzle and resulting in the separation from the nozzle of the bulging ink as a droplet. The acceleration of the ink out of the nozzle while the bubble is growing provides the momentum and velocity for propelling the droplet in a substantially straight line direction towards a print substrate, such as a piece of paper. Important properties of the ink in this context include the ink's viscosity and surface tension. Subsequently, the ink channel refills by capillary action and is ready for the next repeating thermal ink jet process. Thermal ink jet processes are well known and described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,251,824, 4,410,889, 4,412,224, 4,463,359, 4,532,530, 4,601,777, 5,139,574, 5,145,518, and 5,281,261, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Because the droplet of ink is emitted only when the resistor is actuated, this type of thermal ink jet printing is known as "drop-on-demand" printing.
Another type of drop-on-demand ink jet printing is called piezoelectric ink jet printing. This ink jet printing system has an ink filled channel with a nozzle on one end and a regulated piezoelectric transducer near the other end to produce pressure pulses according to the digital data signal.
A third type of drop-on-demand ink jet printing is called acoustic ink jet printing which can be operated at high frequency and high resolution. The ink jet printing system utilizes a focused acoustic beam formed with a spherical lens illuminated by a plane wave of sound created by a piezoelectric transducer. The focused beam reflected from a surface exerts a pressure on the surface of the liquid ink, resulting in ejection of small droplets of ink onto an imaging substrate. Aqueous ink jet inks can be used in this printing system.
An ink jet printing method that is different from the drop-on-demand ink jet printing is called continuous ink jet printing. In this ink jet printing system, ink is emitted from a nozzle in a continuous stream under pressure. The stream is ejected out of an orifice and perturbed, causing it to break up into droplets at a fixed distance from the orifice. At the break up point, the electrically charged ink droplets are passed through an applied electrode which is controlled and switched on and off according to the digital data signals. The charged ink droplets are passed through a controllable electric field which adjusts the trajectory of each ink droplet in order to direct it to either a gutter for ink deletion and recirculation or a specific location on a print substrate to create an image. Multiple orifices or nozzles can be used to increase imaging speed and throughput.
In an ink jet printing apparatus, the printhead typically comprises a linear array of ejectors, and the printhead moves relative to the surface of the print substrate, either by moving the print substrate relative to a stationary printhead, or vice-versa, or both. In some types of apparatuses, at least a relatively small print head supplied with an ink moves across a print sheet numerous times in swaths in order to complete an image. For multicolor ink jet printing, a set of printheads and ink (e.g. cyan, magenta, yellow and black) can move across the print substrate numerous times in swathes and disperse selected inks in any desired pattern (e.g., ⅛, ¼, ½, fulltone (1/1)) according to digital signals. The speed of this type of single or multiple color ink jet printing on a substrate is determined by the moving speed of the printheads across the print substrate, ink jetting frequency (or frequency response), and the desired number of swathes needed for printing. The printing speed of this type of ink jet apparatus can be increased if two or more print heads are budded together to form a partial-width array printhead for printing each ink in a monochrome or multicolor ink jet printing system. The partial-width ink jet printhead has more ink jet nozzles per printhead, and can deliver a large number of ink droplets across the substrate in a swath in a short period of time. Monochrome or multicolor ink jet printing apparatuses using one or several partial-width printheads may have a faster printing speed than current commercial ink jet printers.
Alternatively, a printhead that consists of an array of ejectors (e.g., several butted printheads to give a full-width array printhead) and extends the full width of the print substrate may pass an ink down once onto the print substrate to give full-page images, in what is known as a "full-width array printer". When the printhead and the print substrate are moved relative to each other, image-wise digital data is used to selectively activate the thermal energy generators in the ink jet printhead over time so that the desired image will be created on the print substrate at a fast speed. For multicolor ink jet printing, several full-width array printheads and inks (e.g., cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) can be used to deliver multiple color inks onto a print sheet. This type of multicolor ink jet printing process is capable of printing multiple color images and monochrome color images on a print substrate at a much faster speed (e.g., more than five pages of full color images per minute) than current commercial color ink jet printers.
In multicolor ink jet printing processes, several inks can be printed on a print substrate. In some instances, two different inks can be printed next to each other. Intercolor bleed can occur if the inks are not dried properly or if the printing process is too fast for the inks to set. Undesired ink mixing on a print substrate, especially on the surface of a plain paper, can cause distorted images near the border of two inks. After the inks dry, the border of the two inks can appear irregular with poor edge sharpness (or raggedness) due to the invasion of one ink into the other. Such bleed images are visibly unattractive. This phenomenon is generally called intercolor bleed (ICB). Intercolor bleed occurs particularly when a darker colored ink (such as a black ink) and a lighter colored ink (such as a yellow ink, a cyan ink, a magenta ink, or the like) are printed next to each other because of the high contrast between the two colors. Intercolor bleed can also occur when two color inks are printed next to each other (for example yellow ink next to magenta ink, yellow ink next to cyan ink, magenta ink next to cyan ink or the like). The severity of the intercolor bleed generally is affected by the ink type and composition, absorption rate of the printer substrate, printhead design, ink drop mass, ink dot size and method and speed of printing. As a result, there is a need to reduce intercolor bleed and to produce high quality multicolor ink jet images on print substrates, including plain and coated papers, transparencies, textiles and other desired substrates.
In the thermal ink jet printing water is usually a key component, which is responsible for the bubble formation and propelling the ink out of nozzles toward the imaging substrate (print sheet). The use of water in large concentrations, however, has also some disadvantages. Water has a fast evaporation rate relative to high boiling organic solvents (e.g. humectants, anti-curl agents, etc.). Ink ingredients such as water soluble or water compatible dyes, pigments, biocides, and other chemical additives may become destabilized due to the loss of water during idling time. As a result printheads may become plugged, which produce some jetting failure.
Water also interacts with paper to cause two major distortions known as paper cockle and paper curl. Paper cockle is a distortion in which bumps, indentations and other irregularities are randomly produced on the printed paper, giving the paper a "wrinkled" appearance.
Curl is a phenomena in which the edges or corners of the paper migrate towards (toward imaging side) or away from (away from the imaging side) the center of the paper. Generally, the term "curl" refers to the distance between the base line of the arc formed by a recording sheet when viewed in cross-section across its width (or shorter dimension—for example, 8.5 inches in an 8.5×11 inch sheet, as opposed to length, or longer dimension—for example, 11 inches in an 8.5×11 inch sheet) and the midpoint of the arc. This type of curl applies to long grain cut paper, since curl is typically perpendicular to the process direction of a paper making machine. To measure curl, a sheet can be held with the thumb and forefinger in the middle of one of the short edges of the sheet (for example, in the middle of one of the 8.5 inch edges in an 8.5×11 inch sheet) and the arc formed by the sheet can be matched against a pre-drawn standard template curve. Such curl measurement is referred to as "hanging radius curl."
Curl is possibly caused by the printed aqueous ink on one side of the paper releasing stress on the surface of the paper which induces a differential paper stress or uneven stress between top and bottom surfaces for the paper after drying and aging. The direction of curl may be toward the printed (imaged) side of the paper, or it may be toward the non-printed (non-imaged) side. Application of liquid inks that contain water to paper causes an initial hydroexpansion of the fibers of the paper. This initial hydroexpansion causes an expansion curl away from the image which occurs typically right after printing. Steady state curl, also known as cool curl, is toward the image, and typically occurs over a period of time when the sheet tries to achieve a state of final stress release after being dried. Active drying accelerates the effect of towards the image curl or steady state curl. For the purpose of this disclosure, paper "curl" is defined as including both curling and cockling of the paper substrate.
Curl may appear immediately after printing or may take a day or two to manifest. In its final state, the paper sheet in a severe case may take the form of a tube, a roll, or a scroll. Curled paper cannot be stacked sheet upon sheet, thereby causing much inconvenience to the user. Curled sheets are difficult to display or store and cannot be used in processes requiring near planarity, such as media feeding, tracking, and print alignment. Curl is most prevalent in solid area printing and is therefore a more acute problem in graphics than in text printing. For the same reason, it is also a concern in four color printing especially when it involves printing composite colors or where graphics are prominent. Curl is also a problem when a large quantity of ink is needed to achieve high optical density images.
The severity of the paper curl may be affected by the property of the plain and coated paper substrates, the type of aqueous ink used in the printing, temperature of the substrate during printing, and the ink jet printing process. Papers that have a small built-in differential stress between the top and bottom surfaces in the paper manufacturing process may provide little curl after ink jet printing. On the other hand papers with a large built-in differential stress between the top and bottom surface will tend to exhibit significant paper curl after ink jet printing. The degree of differential stress that is built into the papers depends on the conditions of the paper manufacturing process. Papers that are thicker or heavier and have a stronger mechanical strength tend to give lower degree of paper curl as compared to those thinner papers with weaker mechanical strength. Once a paper used in the ink jet printing is selected then the fate of curl formation is somewhat fixed. Some papers will develop curl much easier than others. In an ordinary office environment, plain and coated papers are used in the ink jet printing. Depending on the paper supply situation in the office, a customer may not have a chance to select a proper paper with a smaller curl property for the ink jet printing. Thus, there is a need to have a process that reduces paper curl with minimum impact from the paper.
Inks having a large amount of anti-curl agent may reduce the curl. However, the use of the required amount of the anti-curl agents in the inks, which is generally in excess of 10% by weight of the ink composition, may increase the viscosity of the ink and cause great difficulty in jetting the inks, especially after some idling in a printhead. This is especially true when water evaporates near the nozzles during idling time, resulting in a dramatic increase in ink viscosity and possible jetting failure. Water evaporation during idling time can also cause crystallization and precipitation of dyes or agglomeration of pigments. Most of the anti-curl agents have high boiling point and high viscosity. Thus, the use of high viscosity anti-curl agents in required large quantities may cause short ink latency and increase jetting difficulty. This is especially true when a high resolution ink jet printhead is used, which has a narrow nozzle opening (about 10 to 49 microns for a 400 and 600 spots per inch resolution printhead as compared to greater than 49 microns in a 300 spots per inch resolution printhead). Due to these aforementioned limitations there is a need to develop a process for the ink jet printing whereby ink jet printing of solid area images for graphic applications can be easily carried out to give reduced paper curl.
In ink jet printing, it is desirable to reduce the consumption of paper for economic and environmental reasons. Duplex printing sometimes may be desired. However, if a paper has been printed with aqueous ink jet images having solid areas the paper may form curl or cockle, which prohibits smooth paper feeding in subsequent ink jet printing. Thus, printing duplex (on two sides of a paper) can be difficult if the imaged paper is not treated quickly after printing. Paper curl progressively becomes worse upon aging after printing. There is a need to provide a means for both single sided ink jet printing and two sided (duplex) ink jet printing to provide images on papers with reduced curl.
Ink jet printing (checkboarding or single pass) may also affect paper curl in multiple color printing especially printing that involves a solid area image. There is also a need to provide a decurling process to reduce paper curl.
Depending on the type of color images printed, paper curl caused by aqueous ink jet inks may vary. For example, printing blue, green and red images on a paper requires the use of several inks (e.g., 200% of normal ink coverage) which is significantly more than when printing single color cyan, magenta and yellow images (e.g. 100% of normal ink coverage). As a consequence, the printing of solid area images of blue, green and red (composite colors) create a greater paper curl problem than those of single color images (e.g., cyan, magenta and yellow). Increased curling also can be found when solid areas of images are printed in a single pass mode rather than multiple passes (e.g., checkerboarding) mode.
The permanence issue in thermal ink jet prints is usually related to the waterfastness, lightfastness and to a lesser extent the cool curl of plain papers which shortfall relative to traditional Xerography. Direct marking in thermal ink jet printing, however, does not benefit from fusing temperatures that essentially "iron out" curl issues in Xerography and must provide curl control through ink formulation. Cool curl control on plain papers remains a high priority for the Aruba and Caribbean refresh products and is an issue for Martinique products. Currently, cool curl is essentially not controlled, but merely delayed in formulations that contain up to 10% acetyl ethanolaine (AEA) or trimethylolpropane (TMP). This problem is readily observed in large solid areas of printed colors and causes plain papers to undergo dramatic scrolling.
In an effort to reduce cockle and curl in ink jet printers, efforts have been made to provide anti-curl and anti-cockling agents to reduce this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,464 to Hickman et al. describes anti-curl agents at a desired amount that may be utilized in ink jet inks. However, such anti-curl agents negatively affect the stability of inks by increasing the viscosity. Such inks decrease latency and increase clogging of ink jet printhead nozzles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,824 to Moffatt et al. describes an ink jet ink comprising an anti-cockling agent for thermal ink jet printers. In some cases, the use of a required amount of anticockling agents in the inks to reduce curl tends to aggravate the nozzle pluggage and jetting failure. This is possibly due to their contribution of the viscosity increase of inks and incompatibility of ink ingredients with some dyes or pigments. The effective use of anticockling agents in ink sometimes may be limited.
Dendrimers, which have highly branched architectures, have been used as low viscosity additives to improve binding and smear resistance in ink jet inks. The use of dendrimers in ink compositions is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,120,361 and 5,266,106, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. DSM has developed a poly(propylene imine) dendrimer, currently available under the name ASTRAMOL™. However, dendrimers are typically prepared in low volumes by the stepwise, controlled synthesis of very regular structures. The stepwise synthesis of dendrimers generally involves protect-deprotect strategies and purification procedures at the conclusion of each step. Consequently, synthesizing dendrimers can be a tedious, difficult and expensive process.
There is thus a need in the art for new methods of reducing curl in printed paper for ink jet printers. There is also a need for ink jet printers that utilize aqueous inks and clear aqueous liquids that can reduce paper curl.
A need also exists in the art for a printing process that allows printing in full page graphics/text without producing paper curl with inks having high pigment concentrations. There is a further need for a process, an apparatus and ink jet inks that provide enhanced print quality in high resolution printers without causing undesired curl of the printed materials.


A tandem type color printer, having optical beam scanning units and corresponding photosensitive drums, which detects a positional shift of a scanning locus occurring on a corresponding one of the plurality of photosensitive drums, and automatically corrects the detected positional shift of the scanning locus. A detecting window, in which a beam transmission time varies with a change in the beam scanning position, is provided at each of the start end side and the terminal end side of each of a plurality of beam scanning loci in a mask plate. The mask plate is arranged between the optical beam scanning units and the photosensitive drums, to provide output of a detection signal corresponding to the incident time of the transmission beam resulting from beam scanning by a light source, and thus determines and corrects the direction and the amount of positional shift of the scanning locus.

The present invention relates to a color printer printing a color image by the electronic photographing method, and more particularly, to a color printer provided with optical beam scanning units and photosensitive drums in numbers corresponding to the number of kinds of color used for color synthesis.
Recent progress of laser printers toward color printers has been remarkable, and is resulting in the emergence of low-cost compact color printers. In order to achieve a color laser printer, it is necessary to use a multiple transcription method based on a plurality of colors. Among other multiple transcription methods, there is known the tandem method, which comprises providing an optical beam scanning unit and a photosensitive drum for each color to be printed. For the YMCK system (yellow, magenta, cyanogen, and black), for example, four sets of an optical beam scanning unit and a photosensitive drum are provided. In the case of such a tandem type color laser printer, scanning lines must be created for each of the YMCK colors to be printed, and a strict color shift accuracy must be complied with: a positional accuracy of scanning line of under 100 .mu.m is required for a resolution of 600 dpi, for example.
In a conventional tandem type color laser printer, however, the necessary positional accuracy of scanning lines for each color to be printed is maintained through adjustment upon assembling each optical beam scanning unit. As a result, an adjustment operation in the manufacturing stage requires much time and labor, thus leading to a higher cost.
Because of the use of optical beam scanning units in a number corresponding to the number of colors to be printed, a trouble, if any, in an optical beam scanning unit for a particular color, naturally requiring replacement of the troubled optical unit, requires a positioning adjustment again as in the manufacturing stage, and the difficult replacement of each optical unit has thus been a problem in the conventional tandem type color laser printer.

Apparatus for printing color image by combination of optical beam scanning units and photosensitive drums


A system and for generating power associated with a hybrid vehicle or electrically propelled vehicle comprises a mode selector for selecting at least one of an operational mode and a power generation mode. A controller activates one or more switches to disconnect an inverter output from a drive electrical path to a drive motor and to connect the inverter output to a power generation path if the vehicle is in the power generation mode. An inverter inverts a direct voltage signal to an alternating current signal with a desired frequency in the power generation path. A transformer increases a voltage level of the alternating current signal to a desired voltage level.

A vehicle may be associated with a power generator for generating electrical power at remote locations. For a hybrid vehicle with an internal combustion engine, the engine may drive an alternator or generator for charging an energy storage device, such as a battery. An inverter may be connected to the direct current (DC) vehicle bus to generate an alternating current (AC) voltage at 50 HZ or 60 Hz for powering one or more auxiliary electrical devices, such as portable electronics equipment, computers, communications equipment, public safety electronics equipment, medical equipment, and military electronics equipment. Similarly, for an electrically propelled vehicle that uses a DC drive motor, an inverter may be connected to the DC vehicle bus to generate an AC voltage at 50 Hz or 60 Hz for powering one or more electrical devices. The inverter may be associated with heat sinks that add weight to the vehicle. Accordingly, there is a need to reduce the overall weight and improve usage of vehicle electronics for electrical power generation, among other things.

Power generator using traction drive electronics of a vehicle


A method of forming metal lines in a patterned dielectric layer. First, a thin (50 .ANG.-500 .ANG.) metal layer of a group VB metal, preferably niobium, is formed on a patterned dielectric layer. Next, an aluminum layer or an aluminum alloy layer is formed on the thin niobium layer. The aluminum layer is preferably formed by depositing a first thickness of collimated aluminum at low temperature followed by high temperature deposition of an equal thickness of aluminum. The aluminum layer is Chem-Mech polished (CMP) with an oxidizing acidic colloidal alumina slurry to expose and oxidize the thin niobium liner which acts as a polish stop. Then, the exposed thin niobium liner is removed using CMP. Alternatively, instead of niobium, the liner may be a thin layer of a group VB metal or an alloy thereof.

A semiconductor chip is an array of devices with conducting terminals that are interconnected by wiring patterns of metal strips. In Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) chips, these metal wiring patterns are multilayered. Each wiring layer is separated from other conducting layers by layers of insulating material. Interconnections between different wiring pattern layers are made through holes (vias) that are etched through the insulating material layers.
As VLSI chip features shrink and the number of wiring layers increases, surface irregularities in each layer translate to subsequent layers, making each subsequent layer's surface even more irregular. These irregularities distort shapes formed on the surface, making level to level alignment difficult. In some cases, this distortion is so severe as to make it nearly impossible to adequately replicate (print) the intended shape or align printing masks to previous levels.
One prior art way surface irregularities were reduced was to fill the vias with conducting material (i.e., form studs in the vias) before printing the wiring pattern on the surface. However, the raised wire shapes on the surface still left irregularities in subsequent surfaces. Therefore, techniques were developed that are used at various levels to create a nearly perfectly flat, or, planar surface, so that shapes are printed with high dimensional and geometric accuracy. These techniques are known, in the art, as planarization.
One such planarization process is Chemical-Mechanical Polishing, also known as Chem-Mech Polishing or CMP. CMP involves applying an abrasive in a dispersion (known as a slurry) to the wafer surface while polishing the surface. The solution may include additives that chemically react with the surface material. CMP is widely used to planarize dielectric layers to provide a smooth surface for printing wiring patterns.
A CMP application, known as the Damascene process, provides a planar surface with a wiring pattern embedded in an insulating layer, such as SiO.sub.2. The embedded wiring pattern is formed by first etching grooves into, but not through, the insulating layer. If the Damascene process is used to form vias instead of grooves, holes are opened through the insulating layer. Once the pattern is formed, a conformal metal layer is deposited onto the patterned surface. The conformal metal layer is chem-mech polished to remove all metal above the insulating layer. After polishing, metal remains only in the patterned grooves or in the holes in the insulating layer. Metal is completely removed from areas that have no grooves or holes, i.e., fields.
Currently, Damascene is preferred to Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) for forming aluminum alloy lines and vias for intra-chip wiring. Normally, the metal layer is an aluminum alloy formed on a thin liner. The liner is formed prior to the high temperature reflow step, when a 200-300 .ANG. thick layer is deposited on the patterned dielectric surface. Next, part or all of the alloy layer, usually Al--Cu or Al--Cu--Si, is deposited on the liner at high temperature, about 500.degree. C. If the liner is titanium, it absorbs oxygen at via interfaces, thereby preventing formation of aluminum oxide and insuring low via contact resistance. Titanium has this oxygen-gettering property because it solves about 10 atomic percent oxygen in its solid state. In addition to reduced via contact resistance, titanium promotes aluminum "flow" onto the liner in the Damascene process, because its oxygen-gettering property also prevents aluminum oxidation. Unfortunately, Damascene process includes both a high temperature reflow step and a CMP step. In both of these steps, a titanium liner also has distinct handicaps.
The first handicap is that during the high temperature reflow step, most of the liner and some of the aluminum is consumed as it combines to form TiAl.sub.3. During the high temperature step, typically, most of the 200 .ANG.-300 .ANG. titanium liner forms 600 .ANG.-900 .ANG. of TiAl.sub.3, with a much thinner titanium-rich film remaining at the dielectric interface. TiAl.sub.3 has a much higher resistivity than aluminum, around 70 .mu..OMEGA..multidot.cm. Thus, because this TiAl.sub.3 also consumes Al, it reduces the thickness of the aluminum, so that line sheet resistance increases.
FIGS. 1A-C represent Damascene reflow and polishing of a semiconductor structure. In FIG. 1A, aluminum alloy was deposited onto patterned SiO.sub.2 layer 102. The pattern recesses are typically 0.25 .mu.m wide and 0.5 .mu.m deep. The continuous aluminum layer 100 above the dielectric is thinner over the arrays (of lines) than over more sparsely patterned fields (hereinafter "fields"), because alloy from the layer 100 fills trenches 104 in the array, as identified by reference 108. If the width of the trenches 104 (i.e., the metal lines) and the width of the insulator spaces 106 are equal in the arrays 108, then the continuous aluminum film 100 is thinner by half the trench-depth (i.e., the average surface depression) in the arrays 108, than over the adjacent fields, as identified by reference 110.
Next, the surface aluminum alloy layer 100 is removed in a CMP step. As depicted in FIG. 1B, overpolishing during CMP may cause erosion of the narrow SiO.sub.2 spaces in the arrays 108. This is because the aluminum layer 100 is much thicker in the fields 110 than in the arrays 108. So, in this case, completely polishing the aluminum alloy away from the fields 110 causes the patterned array area 108 to be overpolished, because polishing continues long after the aluminum layer 100 has been cleared away. Consequently, the array line thickness 112 is much less than field line thickness (not shown), and much less than desired 114. Since pattern depth determines metal line thickness, the erosion from this overpolishing causes thinner array metal lines resulting in higher array wiring (line) resistance.
Continuing the previous example in FIG. 1C, if the starting line depth was 0.5 .mu.m, then because of overpolishing in the CMP step, the thickness of the metal 116 remaining in the polished array trenches 104 may be as thin as 0.25 .mu.m deep. Further, of this 0.25 .mu.m, as much as 0.1 .mu.m may have been converted to low conductivity TiAl.sub.3 117. So, the remaining high conductivity aluminum alloy 118 is only 0.15 .mu.m thick.
Consequently, because Al is consumed as TiAl.sub.3 during high temperature treatment and further because of overpolishing, it is difficult to lower line sheet resistance in arrays. Low line sheet resistance is a requirement for making acceptable wiring resistance. Further, this consumption of Al makes uniform wiring sheet resistance across a chip, much less across a wafer, an impossible goal.

Method of forming conductive lines on a semiconductor wafer


The present invention relates to a novel protein inhibiting β amyloid aggregation and a strain producing the protein, more precisely, to a novel protein inhibiting β amyloid aggregation, a gene coding the protein, a Streptomyces sp. strain producing the protein and a therapeutic agent for neurodegenerative disorders containing the protein as an effective ingredient. The therapeutic agent of the present invention containing the protein inhibiting β amyloid aggregation as an effective ingredient can be effectively used for the prevention and the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (referred as "AD" hereinafter) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder in the elederly effecting millions of individuals throughout the world. One of the pathological hallmarks of AD is the extracellular protein deposits referred as senile plaques (Geula, C. et al., Nat. Med., 4, 827–831 (1998)) that consist predominantly of an aggregated peptide known as β amyloid (referred as "Aβ" hereinafter). Aβ, 39–43 amino acid peptides, is produced through proteolytic processing of the β amyloid precursor protein (referred as "βAPP" hereinafter) by β-secretase and γ-secretase (Glenner, G. G. et al., Biochim. Biophys. Res. Commun., 120, 885–890 (1984); Yasojima, K. et al., Neurosci. Lett., 12, 97–100 (2001)). This peptide is particularly amyloidogenic and appears to form the core of the neuritic plaques. The number of plaques appears to correlate with the degree or severity of the dementia (Hasse, C. et al., Cell, 75, 1039–1042 (1993); Selkoe, D. J., J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol., 53, 438–447 (1994)). In addition, fibrillar Aβ, amorphous aggregates of Aβ, has been reported to cause neuronal cell death in primary rat hippocampal cultures whereas soluble monomeric species of Aβ are relatively less toxic than fibrillar Aβ (Yankner, B. A. et al., Science, 250, 279–282 (1990)). Other studies suggested that prefibrillar aggregates of Aβ are neurotoxic (Zhu, Y. J. et al., FASEB J., 14, 1244–1254 (2000)). Mutations in genes of either APP or presenilins (PS), which seemed to have a γ-secretase activity, may lead to elevation of the production of Aβ, and are associated with severe and early-onset forms of AD (Yoshiike, Y. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 276, 32293–32299 (2001)).
Taken together, Aβ aggregation is considered as a crucial event in the pathogenesis of AD. Accordingly, the efficient inhibition of Aβ aggregation is considered as a powerful way to prevent or treat AD. Therefore, extensive studies have been carried out to discover anti-amyloidogenic compounds from natural or synthetic sources.
Several low molecular weight compounds such as antioxidants, free radical scavengers, cholesterol lowering drugs, calcium channel blockers, and γ-secretase inhibitors have been developed as a therapeutic agent for AD (Selkoe, D. J., Physiol. Res., 81, 741–766 (2001)). Among these compounds, γ-secretase inhibitors are known to decrease Aβ production 30–40% (Schroeter, E. H. et al., Nature., 393, 382–386 (1989); Vandermeeren, M. et al., Neurosci Lett., 27, 145–148 (2001)). Among high molecular weight compounds, anti-Aβ antibody, a macromolecular protein, is a good example to enhance clearing of Aβ deposits in transgenic mice that already had begun to develop plaques, possibly by the recruitment of local microglia (Schenk, D. et al., Nature, 400, 173–177 (1999)). Recently, neprilysin which is also known as enkephalinase as well as the common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen (CALLA) has been confirmed to be involved in degradation of Aβ-amyloid by its proteolytic activity (Iwata, N. et al., Nat Med., 6, 718–719 (2000); Iwata, N. et al., Science, 292, 1550-1552 (2001)). Moreover, reduced neprilysin level in the plaque area of AD brain was found, suggesting that reduced degradation of Aβ caused by low levels of neprilysin may contribute to AD pathogenesis (Yasojima, K. et al., Neurosci Lett., 12, 97–100 (2001)). In addition, Eckman et al. reported recently that endothelin-converting enzyme-1 (ECE-1) degraded Aβ in vitro at multiple sites (Eckman, E. A. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 27, 24540–24548 (2001)). These results demonstrate that the endogenous concentration of Aβ peptides is regulated not only by its production but also by its catabolism with a specific proteolytic peptidase. Nevertheless, there is something yet to learn about not only high molecular weight compounds inhibiting neurotoxicity caused by Aβ peptide but also a therapeutic agent for neurodegenerative disorders using a high molecular weight biomolecule without side effects by low molecular weight.
Thus, the present inventors separated a Streptomyces sp. strain as a target strain producing an active protein inhibiting the aggregation of Aβ peptide inducing AD, and completed this invention by verifying that a protein separated from the strain could be used as a therapeutic agent for neurodegenerative disorders.

Protein inhibiting aggregation of beta amyloid peptide


In the state where a card having a hole or a cut-out portion of a predetermined shape is placed on a touch panel of a game apparatus, a player performs an input operation along the hole or the cut-out portion. Then, the input operation is detected. It is determined whether or not the input operation on the touch panel has been performed using the card, based on the detected input track and determination information for determining whether or not the input operation has been performed along the hole or cut-out portion of the card which is placed on the touch panel. In accordance with the determination result, an event is generated. Thus, a novel input system, as a combination of a touch panel and a card, for generating an event which influences the progress of the game is realized.

1. Field of the Technology
The technology presented herein relates to a game system, and in particular to a game system including a game apparatus having a touch panel and a card detachably mountable on the touch panel.
2. Description of the Background Art
Patent document 1 (Japanese Patent No. 3082200) discloses an image creation apparatus. A user places a flexible sheet having a predetermined graphic pattern printed on one or two surfaces thereof (play card) on an image drawing area of a tablet, and traces the graphic pattern printed on the card. Thus, the graphic pattern is displayed on a screen of a monitor.
Patent document 2 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-91085) discloses a transmission-type image drawing apparatus. While watching a target object through the tablet and an LCD panel, a user traces the target object on a tablet with a pen. Thus, the target object is displayed on the LCD panel.
Patent document 3 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-128315) discloses a character recognition apparatus for recognizing a handwritten character which is input through a tablet and displaying a character corresponding to the recognition result on an LCD based on character data stored on a memory card.
None of the above-mentioned patent documents discloses a technology for generating an event which influences the progress of a game in accordance with a track made on a touch panel by a user as a result of the player tracing an aperture formed in a card. With the image creation apparatus disclosed in patent document 1, when the user traces the graphic pattern printed on the play card, the track of the tracing is merely displayed on the screen. With the transmission-type image drawing apparatus disclosed in patent document 2, when the user traces the target object seen through the tablet, the track of the tracing is merely displayed on the screen. The character recognition apparatus disclosed in patent document 3 is not for merely displaying a handwritten character which is input through the tablet (i.e., an input track), but still this apparatus is basically for merely displaying the character intended by the user on the screen.

Game system and game apparatus used for the same


The present invention relates to binding proteins that bind to HER-3 and polynucleotides encoding the same. Expression vectors and host cells comprising the same for the production of the binding protein of the invention are also provided. In addition, the invention provides compositions and methods for diagnosing and treating diseases associated with HER-3 mediated signal transduction and/or its ligand heregulin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to binding proteins including antibodies and binding fragments thereof that bind to HER-3 and polynucleotides encoding the same. Expression vectors and host cells comprising the same for the production of the binding protein of the invention are also provided. In addition, the invention provides compositions and methods for diagnosing and treating diseases associated with HER-3 mediated signal transduction and/or its ligand heregulin.
2. Background of the Technology
The human epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (HER-3, also known as ErbB3) is a receptor protein tyrosine kinase and belongs to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) subfamily of receptor protein tyrosine kinases, which also includes HER-1 (also known as EGFR), HER-2, and HER-4 (Plowman et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87 (1990), 4905-4909; Kraus et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86 (1989), 9193-9197; and Kraus et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 90 (1993), 2900-2904). Like the prototypical epidermal growth factor receptor, the transmembrane receptor HER-3 consists of an extracellular ligand-binding domain (ECD), a dimerization domain within the ECD, a transmembrane domain, an intracellular protein tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) and a C-terminal phosphorylation domain.
The ligand Heregulin (HRG) binds to the extracellular domain of HER-3 and activates the receptor-mediated signaling pathway by promoting dimerization with other human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) family members and transphosphorylation of its intracellular domain. Dimer formation between HER family members expands the signaling potential of HER-3 and is a means not only for signal diversification but also signal amplification. For example the HER-2/HER-3 heterodimer induces one of the most important mitogenic signals among HER family members.
HER-3 has been found to be overexpressed in several types of cancer such as breast, gastrointestinal and pancreatic cancers. Interestingly a correlation between the expression of HER-2/HER-3 and the progression from a non-invasive to an invasive stage has been shown (Alimandi et al., Oncogene 10, 1813-1821; deFazio et al., Cancer 87, 487-498; Naidu et al., Br. J. Cancer 78, 1385-1390). Accordingly, agents that interfere with HER-3 mediated signaling are desirable. Murine or chimeric HER-3 antibodies have been reported, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,511, U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,968 and WO03013602.
A humanized monoclonal antibody against HER-2, Herceptin®, has recently been shown to interfere with HER-2 mediated signaling and is therapeutically effective in humans (Fendly et al., Hybridoma 6, 359-370; Hudziak et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 9, 1165-1172; Stebbing et al., Cancer Treat. Rev. 26, 287-290). Herceptin® has been shown to act through two different mechanisms, i.e. the engagement of the effector cells of the immune system as well as a direct cytotoxic, apoptosis inducing effect.
However, only patients with highly amplified HER-2 respond significantly to Herceptin® therapy, thus limiting the number of patients suitable for therapy. In addition the development of resistance to drugs or a change in the expression or epitope sequence of HER-2 on tumor cells may render even those approachable patients unreactive with the antibody and therefore abrogating its therapeutic benefits. Therefore more drugs for target based therapies approaching further members of the HER family, such as HER-3, are needed.

Antibodies directed to HER-3 and uses thereof


A method is disclosed for pre-conditioning inserts for improved replication during injection molding. The pre-conditioned inserts provide improved bonding with the injection-material and improved replication of complex molding surfaces. The pre-conditioning of the inserts comprises placing the insert in position against the molding surface, followed by heat-soaking the insert. Heat-soaking can be accomplished using infrared energy, preferably broadband infrared energy or energy that is preferentially absorbed by the insert.

This invention relates generally to injection-molded parts incorporating inserts and, more particularly, to methods for pre-conditioning such inserts for improved bonding to the injection-molded material and for improved replication of complex shapes.
It is often desirable to enhance or alter the properties of an injection-molded plastic part. One method to accomplish this is to include in the mold an insert having an additional desired feature. For instance, an insert having exceptional abrasion resistance can be placed in a mold, and softer plastic injected behind it, to create a composite part having a scratch-resistant outer surface. Similarly, an insert having specific optical properties or decorations can be used, to impart a specific optical performance or stylized appearance to the subsequently molded part.
However, challenges can arise when the insert and the molding plastic are formed of dissimilar materials, or when the resultant composite part must very accurately replicate the molding shape. These challenges generally increase with the complexity of the molding shape.
For example, in the case of an optical part, such as a lens, the part must exhibit excellent replication of the molding surface to perform its function. However, if this molding surface has a significantly different curvature from that of the insert placed against it, the insert might not fit or replicate this surface properly, resulting in optical distortion or incorrect optical power. In addition, the mismatch in shapes might irreparably damage the insert, e.g., by wrinkling, buckling, or burning from inconsistent thermal contact, causing optical and cosmetic defects in the molded part.
Various methods to join single sheets of one material to a molten plastic of a second material during injection molding have been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,084,226, 6,432,327, and 6,554,421. However, with thicker, multi-layer, or more resilient inserts, the insert might not conform to the mold without further steps to encourage replication. One common approach is to pre-shape the multi-layer insert into contours similar to that of the final part, using heat and pressure or vacuum force, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,599,608 and 6,177,032, and in published U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0080488 and in European Patent No. EP 0299 509 B1, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. This approach is sufficient in many instances to allow the shape of the composite part to replicate that of the mold. However, for more complex shapes, it is more difficult to pre-form the wafers with sufficient accuracy that they do not deform in use and thus add to cosmetic or optical distortions and aberrations. This is especially difficult when attempting to replicate highly asymmetrical or structured shapes. The problem is further compounded for optical parts, which must accurately control light paths to focus, magnify, or spectrally alter the light.
In addition to shape mismatches leading to poor replication, insert molding also can be complicated by poor bonding between the insert and the injected plastic. Again, this can burn or wrinkle the insert, and it can cause spot delaminations that can degrade the part's optical, cosmetic and structural integrity. A general weakness of the bond also can bring about unacceptable failures during normal use of the part. Improved bonding between discrete parts can be provided by appropriate surface treatments, by the use of adhesives, or by the use of local: heating, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,510. However, these approaches might not be suitable or effective for injection molding, because the insert will be subjected to much more extreme conditions of heat and pressure during the molding process, which can mitigate any pretreatment. Consequently, alternative methods to strengthen this bond are indicated.
It should, therefore, be appreciated that there remains a need for an improved method for bonding an insert to a substrate during an injection molding process, which is not unduly time-consuming, and which is more adaptable to a broad range of molded parts. The present invention satisfies this need.

Method for pre-conditioning inserts for injection molding