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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a light emitting semiconductor device having an optical element, and more particularly to an improved light emitting semiconductor device having a light emitting element, such as a semiconductor laser element, a light emitting diode or the like, and an optical element such as a Fresnel lens or the like condense, collimate or diverge a ray emitted from the light emitting element, both elements of which are packaged as a single unit.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In FIG. 19, there is shown a conventional light emitting element member A including a disk-shaped stem 1 made of metal, a rectangle metal projecting portion 2 formed on a center of a surface of the stem 1, a light emitting element 3 represented by a semiconductor laser element or the like which is mounted on a side wall of projecting portion 2 through a heat sink 4, a light receiving element 5 for monitoring the output of a ray emitted from the light emitting element 3 to control the output thereof, a metal cap 6 mounted on the stem 1 to cover the elements 3 and 5, and signal and ground terminals 7a through 7c. The pair of signal terminals 7a and 7b are mounted through the stem 1 in an insulated relationship to be electrically connected to light emitting element 3 and light receiving element 5 through wires 8. The ground terminal 7c is planted to stem 1 to be electrically connected thereto and further to elements 3 and 5.
This package type light emitting element member A is conventionally mass-produced and marketed at a reduced price, but has the disadvantages that, when it is employed as an optical pickup or sensor, it must be combined with an optical element such as a Fresnel lens to condense or collimate the diverging emitted light, so that many number of components are assembled and an optical axis is hard to be adjusted.
As illustrated in FIG. 20, the inventors have proposed a light emitting semiconductor device B further including an optical element 9 employing a Fresnel lens for collimating the light emitted from light emitting element 3, in addition to the construction of FIG. 19. A lens base plate 10 has a Fresnel lens at its central position, and its flat portion at a periphery of the lens is bonded to a top of the projecting portion 2 by bond. The distance between lens 9 and light emitting element 3 is adjusted by the thickness of an ultraviolet rays (UV) setting bond for securing the plate 10 to the projecting portion 2.
The light emitting semiconductor device of FIG. 20, however, still has the disadvantages that a focal position of a ray emitted from the light emitting element which has been thus adjusted to a predetermined position is varied by changes of temperatures of circumstances or the light emitting element itself, so that the focal distance of the device is unstable against temperatures. Such a poor temperature stability of the focal distance is caused by several reasons.
The primary reason for unstable focal distance is that the projecting portion employed by the light semiconductor device of FIG. 20 for supporting the lens base plate is made of metal having a large coefficient of thermal expansion, so that the distance between the laser chip and the Fresnel lens is delicately changed and the focal position of the ray emitted from the light emitting element is also changed.
The second reason is a change of a luminous wavelength by temperature of the semiconductor laser element. As shown in FIG. 21 illustrating the relation between luminous wavelength L and temperature T of a semiconductor laser element having a central wavelength 780 nm, the luminous wavelength L of the semiconductor laser element is varied by the temperature T of the element itself. The luminous wavelength L is shifted toward a long wavelength as the temperature T rises, but becomes shorter as the temperature T drops. A light emitting diode also has a similar luminous versus temperature curve in which its luminous wavelength becomes longer as a temperature of the diode rises. As shown in FIGS. 22(a) and (b), the Fresnel lens 9 is a kind of diffraction lens divided into a large number of ring-shaped lenses formed by lens materials, and generally mounted on a lens mounting base plate 10 at its surface. The Fresnel lens 9 provides a similar lens function to a conventional refractor with respect to rays emitted from a light emitting element represented by a semiconductor laser element or a light emitting diode as illustrated in FIGS. 22(a ) and (b) exemplarily showing a refracted ray. The lens can be formed of a miniaturized flat and thin plate, so that it plays as a short focus lens suitable to mounting and integrating use, which is easy to be manufactured by a molding process and has a reduced wave surface aberration. Accordingly, the Fresnel lens 9 can be used as a micro Fresnel lens in combination with a light emitting element employing a semiconductor laser element or a light emitting diode.
Since Fresnel lens is a lens utilizing diffraction phenomenon, a diffraction angle of a ray passing through Fresnel lens varies as an incident wavelength L varies, so that the focal position or distance F is fairly changed by the incident wavelength L. The focal distance F versus incident wavelength L is expressed by the following equation: EQU F=(Lo/L).multidot.Fo (1)
L: incident wavelength PA1 F: focal distance of incident ray PA1 Lo: designed wavelength of Fresnel lens PA1 Fo: designed focal distance of Fresnel lens
When a change of focal distance F is expressed by "f" as incident wavelength L is changed by "1", the change f is expressed by the following equation based on the above equation (1): EQU f=-f.multidot.l/L (2)
FIG. 23 shows a curve representing the relation between focal distance of Fresnel lens F and incident wavelength L expressed by the equation (1), in which the focal distance F is shortened as the incident wavelength L becomes longer but lengthened as the wavelength L becomes shorter.
Thus, even if a light emitting semiconductor device having a light emitting element in combination with Fresnel lens is designed to employ a Fresnel lens having the designed focal distance Fo versus the ray having a wavelength Lo emitted from the light emitting element, the focal distance L of Fresnel lens varies as the wavelength L of ray emitted from the light emitting element is varied by change of temperature T (hereinafter described as "thermal unstableness of focal distance caused by wavelength change of light emitting element"). For example, as shown in FIG. 24, the focal distance F of Fresnel lens is shortened as the temperature T of the light emitting semiconductor device rises while it is lengthened as the temperature T drops.
Thus, such a proposed light emitting semiconductor device is subject to change by temperatures of distance between an light emitting element and an optical element or thermal unstableness of wavelength of light emitting element, so that it has the disadvantages that focal distance or angle of emitting light is changed by temperature. The light emitting semiconductor device had the disadvantages that it cannot provide perfect collimated rays due to temperature change when it is employed as a collimated light source, the focal position is changed by temperature when the light emitting semiconductor device is employed as a condensed light source, and the angle of divergent is changed by temperature when the light emitting semiconductor device is employed as a diverged light source.
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To identify a tire or obtain information such as inner pressure, temperature and rotational speed of a tire, there is known a technique of such a type as to receive electric oscillating energy from a position distant from a specific tire and to transmit a signal from a transponder mounted on a wheel including the tire.
The transponder consists of an integrated circuit and a case for protecting the integrated circuit and the shape thereof is small coin-shaped or columnar or the like.
As this type of technique, there is conventionally proposed a transponder of which embedding position is set at the central portion of a front end level of carcass ply winding section or on a carcass ply outer surface of a pat-less section (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1).
Furthermore, a pneumatic tire fitted with a transponder formed by improving a foregoing technique is proposed (for example, refer to patent Literature 2).
That is, the transponder in the foregoing technique is a foreign substance for a tire and, if embedded into the tire, has a concern of some failure in the transponder itself due to high temperature and pressure received by the transponder during a vulcanization process for tire manufacture, an external force received by the transponder during tire load rolling, and heat or the like generated. To solve these problems, the pneumatic tire includes a pocket for transponder storage at a swelling section provided on an inner-periphery surface of a beads section of a toroidal tire.
Since the swelling section having the pocket for transponder storage is provided at the beads section having little movement during running in the inner-periphery surface of the tire, there is no adverse effect on the tire and the transponder can freely advance and retreat from/into the pocket, therefore the stored transponder can be inspected or freely replaced as needed. Patent Literature 1: Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. H2-123404 Patent Literature 2: Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. H7-13505
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N/A
The present invention relates generally to the field of optical transmission systems, and more specifically to a dense wavelength division multiplexed optical transmission system configured to provide per-band dispersion compensation with gap-free band structures.
In recent years, Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexed (DWDM) optical transmission systems have been increasingly deployed in optical networks. Although DWDM optical transmission systems have increased the speed and capacity of optical networks, the performance of such systems, especially those providing bit rates of 10 Gb/s or more, has traditionally been limited by various factors such as optical fiber dispersion and the non-linearity in an optical fiber""s refractive index, which can cause spectral broadening of optical pulses and degrade the transmission of high speed optical signals. Because such optical signal degradation tends to accumulate along transmission paths, fiber dispersion and non-linearity can significantly limit the transmission distance of high speed optical signals.
One approach to reducing the fiber dispersion limit and improving the performance of DWDM optical transmission systems is to install dispersion compensation fibers at intervals along a transmission path. For example, transmission fiber in the transmission path may have a positive dispersion shift that causes optical dispersion to accumulate along the path, and the installed dispersion compensation fibers may have a negative dispersion shift that allows the accumulated dispersion to return to zero or some nonzero value at a remote end of the transmission path.
However, this first approach has drawbacks in that both transmission fibers and dispersion compensation fibers generally have nonzero dispersion slopes. Different wavelengths included in a multi-wavelength optical signal may therefore be subject to different dispersion values in the transmission fibers and the dispersion compensation fibers. This can be problematic because the dispersion slope of a transmission fiber generally does not match that of a dispersion compensation fiber. As a result, although the accumulated dispersion may return to a desired value at the remote end of the transmission path for a particular wavelength, nonzero residual dispersion values detrimental to reliable optical transmissions may be evident for remaining wavelengths of the optical signal.
Moreover, in order to avoid a significant penalty or loss at the remote end of a transmission path, it is generally desirable to maintain residual dispersion values within a desired range of values. However, for high speed, multi-wavelength optical signals, the effects of fiber non-linearity, including self-phase modulation and/or cross-phase modulation, typically enhance the optical signal degradation caused by fiber dispersion, thereby making it difficult to keep residual dispersion within the desired range.
Another approach to reducing the fiber dispersion limit in DWDM optical transmission systems is to identify a plurality of spectral regions in multi-wavelength optical signals, and perform dispersion compensation on the respective spectral regions. Such an approach is employed in conventional xe2x80x9cRedxe2x80x9d-xe2x80x9cBluexe2x80x9d bi-directional transmission systems. However, this second approach also has drawbacks in that there is typically a gap between, e.g., the Red and Blue spectral regions that reduces the total channel count of the optical signal.
Still another approach is to filter multi-wavelength optical signals using conventional cascaded band filters before performing dispersion compensation on the filtered bands. However, gaps are generally required in this third approach to avoid a penalty or loss resulting from, e.g., isolation, polarization dependent loss, or polarization mode dispersion in the optical signal pass-band. As a result, this third approach also tends to reduce the total channel count of the multi-wavelength optical signal.
It would therefore be desirable to have a high speed DWDM optical transmission system that is capable of carrying multi-wavelength optical signals at bit rates up to 10 Gb/s or more. Such a DWDM optical transmission system would be configured to reduce a fiber dispersion limit without reducing the total channel count of a multi-wavelength optical signal.
In accordance with the present invention, a high speed DWDM optical transmission system is provided that reduces a fiber dispersion limit without reducing the total channel count of a multi-wavelength optical signal. The DWDM optical transmission system achieves such reduction in the fiber dispersion limit by employing a multi-wavelength optical signal comprising a gap-free band structure, and performing per-band dispersion compensation on the optical signal by adjusting residual dispersion values associated with one or more of the bands.
In one embodiment, per-band dispersion compensation of a multi-wavelength optical signal is provided by line terminating and/or regenerating apparatus at optical signal receiving sites of the DWDM optical transmission system. Each line terminating and/or regenerating apparatus comprises at least one band splitter, a plurality of fixed or tunable Dispersion Compensation Modules (DCM), and a plurality of optical de-multiplexors. A first DCM receives a multi-wavelength optical signal carried on a transmission fiber, and provides a dispersion-compensated multi-wavelength optical signal containing wavelength-dependent residual dispersion to the band splitter. The residual dispersion associated with the multi-wavelength optical signal is caused by the respective nonzero dispersion slopes of the transmission fiber and the first DCM. The band splitter separates the dispersion-compensated multi-wavelength optical signal into a plurality of bands such that no band gaps are formed between adjacent bands. In a preferred embodiment, the band splitter includes a 50/50 optical coupler configured to couple the optical signal to a first optical signal path and a second optical signal path, in which the first and second paths include respective pluralities of band filters. The plurality of band filters in the first path is configured to provide a first group of xe2x80x9coddxe2x80x9d bands, and the plurality of band filters in the second path is configured to provide a second group of xe2x80x9cevenxe2x80x9d bands. The band splitter provides each band in the odd and even groups of bands to a respective second DCM configured to reduce the residual dispersion associated with that band to a predetermined range of residual dispersion values. The second DCM""s provide the dispersion-compensated bands to respective optical de-multiplexors configured to separate the bands into their component wavelengths for subsequent processing.
Per-band dispersion compensation of a multi-wavelength optical signal is also provided at mid-points of optical signal paths by all-optical regenerating apparatus included in the DWDM optical transmission system. Each all-optical regenerating apparatus comprises at least one band splitter, a plurality of fixed or tunable Dispersion Compensation Modules (DCM), and at least one optical multiplexor. A first DCM receives a multi-wavelength optical signal carried on a transmission fiber, and provides a dispersion-compensated multi-wavelength optical signal containing wavelength-dependent residual dispersion to the band splitter. The band splitter separates the dispersion-compensated multi-wavelength optical signal into a plurality of odd and even groups of bands such that no band gaps are formed between adjacent bands. The band splitter provides each band in the odd and even groups of bands to a respective second DCM configured to reduce the residual dispersion associated with that band to a predetermined range of residual dispersion values. The second DCM""s provide the dispersion-compensated bands to at least one optical multiplexor configured to re-combine the bands to form a multi-wavelength optical signal for subsequent transmission. In a preferred embodiment, the optical multiplexor is configured to provide sufficient isolation to eliminate cross-talk between adjacent/non-adjacent bands.
In another embodiment, per-band dispersion compensation of a multi-wavelength optical signal is provided by transmitting apparatus included in the DWDM optical transmission system. Each transmitting apparatus comprises at least one band combiner, a plurality of optical multiplexors, and a plurality of DCM""s. Each optical multiplexor is configured to multiplex individual wavelengths into a respective band, and the respective bands are combined into a multi-wavelength optical signal by the band combiner. A respective DCM is disposed between each optical multiplexor and the band combiner to compensate dispersion contained in the respective bands.
In still another embodiment, per-band dispersion compensation of a multi-wavelength optical signal is provided by optical add/drop apparatus included in the DWDM optical transmission system. Each optical add/drop apparatus comprises at least one pre-amplifier, at least one post-amplifier, at least one first optical add/drop device configured to provide respective wavelengths that are dropped from the optical signal (xe2x80x9cdropped trafficxe2x80x9d), at least one second optical add/drop device configured to receive respective wavelengths that are to be added to the optical signal (xe2x80x9cadded trafficxe2x80x9d), and a plurality of fixed or tunable DCM""s. A first DCM is coupled to the input of the first optical add/drop device handling the dropped traffic, and a second DCM is coupled to the output of the second optical add/drop device handling the added traffic. The pre-amplifier receives a respective band of a multi-wavelength optical signal containing wavelength-dependent residual dispersion; and, provides an amplified representation of the band to the first DCM, which is configured to reduce the residual dispersion in the band to a predetermined range of residual dispersion values. The first DCM then provides the dispersion-compensated band to the first optical add/drop device, which provides the dropped traffic on a first optical signal path and remaining traffic to the second optical add/drop device. Next, the second optical add/drop device receives the added traffic on a second optical signal path, and provides a combination of the traffic provided by the first optical add/drop device and the added traffic to the second DCM. Like the first DCM, the second DCM is configured to reduce the residual dispersion in the combined traffic to a predetermined range of residual dispersion values. The second DCM then provides compensated traffic to the post-amplifier, which compensates for losses introduced by the first and second DCM""s and the first and second optical add/drop devices.
By providing per-band dispersion compensation with gap-free band structures at optical signal receiving sites, mid-points of optical signal paths, optical signal transmitting sites, and/or optical add/drop sites of a DWDM optical transmission system, fiber dispersion limits can be reduced or eliminated without reducing the total channel count of a multi-wavelength optical signal. In this way, transmission performances in high speed (i.e., 10 Gb/s or more) DWDM optical transmission systems can be improved.
Other features, functions, and aspects of the invention will be evident from the Detailed Description of the Invention that follows.
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The present invention relates to a method of producing regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particles to regenerate and reuse expanded polystyrene resins used as thermal and heat insulation materials, packing materials for packaging, etc. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of producing regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particles to regenerate foamed polystyrene resin materials discarded as waste after use, or flashes, defective products, etc. produced during the process of forming foamed materials and to reuse them as foamed materials.
Expanded polystyrene is used in large quantities as packing materials, cushioning materials, thermal insulation materials for buildings and refrigerators, tatami cores, roofing, container packaging materials, decorative materials, foundry materials, and so forth. Waste of these materials or foamed polystyrene resin materials produced as flashes or defective products and discarded as waste should preferably be recycled and reused as much as possible. However, expanded polystyrene is large in specific volume and bulky at sites where waste expanded polystyrene occurs. Therefore, it is desirable in order to recycle these waste expanded polystyrene materials that they should be subjected to volume reduction at sites where waste expanded polystyrene occurs from the viewpoint of ensuring a space for collection and storage and reducing the cost of transporting the waste to a regeneration factory.
Various methods for volume reduction have been proposed, e.g. a method wherein waste expanded polystyrene is crushed and formed into blocks by friction compression or melting under heating, and a method wherein waste expanded polystyrene is dissolved in a solvent to achieve volume reduction. For example, Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. Sho 50-109966 discloses a method wherein styrene resin particles having a size not larger than 1 cm and a specific gravity of about 0.2 and containing a large number of cells are dispersed in water containing an organic solvent and stirred for at least 30 minutes at a temperature not lower than the softening point of the resin and then impregnated with hydrocarbon to regenerate expandable styrene resin particles. With this method, it is generally difficult to compact foamed styrene resin articles to a specific gravity of 0.2 stably and industrially.
Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. Hei 6-87973 proposes a method wherein styrene resin particles with a size of 0.3 to 5 mm obtained by melting a compacted material of foamed styrene resin articles under heating with an extruder, a heated roll or the like are dispersed in an aqueous medium containing an organic dispersant and impregnated with an easily-volatile hydrocarbon at a temperature not lower than 100xc2x0 C. and not higher than 140xc2x0 C. to produce spherical regenerated expandable styrene resin particles. This method requires that impregnation with a volatile hydrocarbon should be carried out in a reaction pressure vessel, e.g. an autoclave, in order to keep pressure and temperature. It is difficult to use such equipment at a site where waste is produced. Moreover, the method suffers low productivity.
Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) Nos. Hei 5-310987 and Hei 11-269299 disclose a method wherein foamed styrene resin articles are heat-shrunk into blocks, which are then crushed to obtain styrene resin particles. The styrene resin particles are dispersed in an aqueous medium containing an organic polymer dispersant and impregnated with an easily-volatile blowing agent to produce regenerated expandable styrene resin particles.
However, this method uses a large amount of organic polymer dispersant. Therefore, wastewater treatment becomes a new problem. Thus, the method involves a problem in terms of cost and lacks practicality. The method requires that impregnation with a blowing agent should be carried out in a reaction pressure vessel, e.g. an autoclave, in order to keep pressure and temperature. In addition, the method suffers low productivity.
In Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. Hei 5-98062, a crushed, foamed styrene resin material is melted by heating in an extruder, extruded and cut into styrene resin particles. The styrene resin particles are dispersed in pure water, and a styrene monomer solution of benzoyl peroxide is added to the dispersion, thereby allowing the styrene resin particles to absorb and polymerize with the solution. Thereafter, the styrene resin particles are impregnated with butane as a blowing agent.
Thus, the resin destroyed by melting on heating is ensured a weight-average molecular weight in the range of 200,000 to 400,000. This method similarly uses a large amount of dispersant. Therefore, wastewater treatment becomes a new problem. Thus, the method involves a problem in terms of cost and lacks practicality. Further, the method requires that polymerization should be performed in a reaction pressure vessel, e.g. an autoclave, in order to keep pressure and temperature. Therefore, the method is difficult to use at a site where waste is produced, and suffers low productivity, as in the case of the above-described methods.
Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. Hei 9-208734 states that expandable styrene resin particles obtained by suspension polymerization, which are off-specification products having an average particle diameter not larger than 0.4 mm or not smaller than 1.3 mm, are introduced into an extruder, together with a styrene resin and a blowing agent, and the mixture is extruded into a heated liquid under pressure and instantaneously cut to obtain regenerated expandable particles. This method needs to carry out the process in a reaction pressure vessel, e.g. an autoclave, in order to allow the resin extruded from the extruder to maintain a pressure higher than the saturated vapor pressure of the blowing agent and a necessary temperature. Accordingly, the method is difficult to use at a site where waste is produced, and suffers low productivity, as in the case of the above-described methods.
As has been stated above, the regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particle producing methods that have heretofore been proposed are regeneration methods which are roughly as follows. From a compacted material reduced in volume with a volume reducing agent, the volume reducing agent and the polystyrene resin are separated. Alternatively, blocks of polystyrene resin are formed by heat shrinkage. Then, the polystyrene resin is impregnated with a blowing agent to obtain regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particles.
These conventional regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particle producing methods require that the operation for separating the volume reducing agent and the operation for impregnating the resin with the blowing agent should be performed separately from each other, and hence need a large number of man-hours. Further, because a dispersant is used, wastewater treatment is required. Therefore, the conventional methods are disadvantageous from the viewpoint of production cost.
Further, the conventional methods suffer from the problem of energy loss due to heat shrinkage. The method wherein the volume reducing agent is separated from the compacted material by heating or the polystyrene resin melted under heating is extruded by an extruder or the like for heat shrinkage to reduce the volume thereof suffers from the problem of deterioration of the resin due to heat history. The method wherein polymerization is performed again to compensate for the deterioration suffers from the loss of energy and needs a process for polymerization and hence requires an increasingly more complicated process. With the foregoing problems as background, the present invention was made to attain the following objects.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particles that is capable of simultaneously performing the recovery of a volume reducing agent from a waste foamed polystyrene resin material compacted with the volume reducing agent and the impregnation with a blowing agent at ordinary room temperature.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particles that consumes minimum heat energy.
(First Method of Producing Regenerated Expandable Polystyrene Resin Particles)
A first method of producing regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particles according to the present invention is characterized in that a waste foamed polystyrene resin material made of an expanded polystyrene resin is dissolved in a volume reducing agent having solubility with respect to the foamed polystyrene resin material and exhibiting a mutual solubility with a blowing agent to be used, thereby forming a compacted material, and the compacted material is dipped in the blowing agent for expanding the polystyrene resin at ordinary room temperature, thereby extracting the volume reducing agent from the compacted material and, at the same time, impregnating the compacted material with the blowing agent to regenerate the expanded polystyrene resin, and forming the regenerated expandable polystyrene resin into a predetermined shape.
The term xe2x80x9cpolystyrene resinxe2x80x9d as used in the present invention means a polymer obtained by polymerizing styrene or a copolymer obtained by copolymerization of a material containing a polystyrene as a main component with another monomer. The term xe2x80x9cexpanded polystyrene resinxe2x80x9d as used in the present invention means a resin having small closed cells produced by impregnating the above-described polystyrene resin with a blowing agent and expanding the impregnated polystyrene resin under heating. The term xe2x80x9cfoamed polystyrene resin materialxe2x80x9d as used in the present invention means the above-described expanded polystyrene resin shaped by a publicly known forming method, and mainly means foamed materials discarded as waste after use.
Further, foamed polystyrene resin materials in the present invention may be different from each other in the constituent material and the method of forming according to the purpose of use and the shape thereof, such as thermal insulation materials and packing materials, and roughly divided into those molded from expandable polystyrene resin particles (i.e. moldings), and those expanded by extrusion (i.e. boards, styrene paper, etc.). The expandable polystyrene resin is the above-described polystyrene resin containing a blowing agent, which is also used as a material for forming the above-described foamed polystyrene resin material. The above-described expandable polystyrene resin particles are globular or columnar beads of the above-described polystyrene resin containing a blowing agent, which are used as a foaming material. When heated, the beads expand and form closed cells therein.
The volume reducing agent in the present invention is a polar solvent having solubility with respect to the polystyrene resin and exhibiting a mutual solubility with the blowing agent. Generally speaking, the polar solvent used as the volume reducing agent in the present invention is a liquid consisting of molecules with a large dipole moment and having a large specific dielectric constant. The polar solvent used as the volume reducing agent in the present invention should desirably be a polar solvent whose hydrogen bond term xcex4h and polarity term xcex4p satisfy the following conditions when specified by the Hansen solubility parameters (Hansen 3D solubility parameters):
(xcex4pxe2x88x925.8)2+(xcex4hxe2x88x924.3)2 less than 50 and xcex4p2+xcex4h2 greater than 46xe2x80x83xe2x80x83[units:(J/cm3)1/2]
The range of numerical values for the polar solvent was determined by Examples and Comparative Examples (described later).
In the Hansen solubility parameters, solubility parameters introduced by Hildebrand are divided into three components, i.e. a dispersion term xcex4d, a polarity term xcex4p, and a hydrogen bond term xcex4h, and expressed in a three-dimensional space. The dispersion term xcex4d shows the effect of non-polar interaction. The polarity term xcex4p shows the effect of inter-dipole force. The hydrogen bond term xcex4h shows the effect of hydrogen bond strength. In practical application, a two-dimensional map of the polarity term xcex4p and the hydrogen bond term xcex4h is used. The values of the Hansen solubility parameters have been examined for many solvents and resins, and stated, for example, in Wesley L. Archer, xe2x80x9cIndustrial Solvents Handbookxe2x80x9d. Regarding mixtures of solvents, the Hansen solubility parameters can be calculated in terms of average solubility parameters according to the mixing ratio.
On a parameter map in which the polarity term xcex4p is plotted along the abscissa axis, and the hydrogen bond term xcex4h along the ordinate axis, polystyrene is at the position of xcex4p=5.8 and xcex4h=4.3 (see FIG. 1). Polar solvents falling within a circle centered at this position and having a radius of 7.1 exhibit solubility with respect to polystyrene. Meanwhile, publicly-known, easily-volatile hydrocarbons generally used as blowing agents for polystyrene resins are located at positions near the origin (xcex4p=xcex4h=0) on the parameter map.
Accordingly, solvents located at short distances from the origin defined by the Hansen solubility parameters can be said to exhibit a high mutual solubility with blowing agents (in general, easily-volatile hydrocarbons). When a compacted material formed by mixing together a polystyrene resin and a volume reducing agent is dipped in a blowing agent, the volume reducing agent in the compacted material diffuses into the blowing agent until an equilibrium is reached, and the blowing agent penetrates into the compacted material. The expandable polystyrene resin regeneration treatment according to the present invention is characterized in that the volume reducing agent in the compacted material is diffused into the blowing agent until the volume reducing agent in the compacted material and the blowing agent reach an equilibrium at ordinary room temperature. That is, the regeneration treatment is characterized by allowing the blowing agent to penetrate into the compacted material, which is a mixture of the volume reducing agent and the polystyrene resin swollen with the volume reducing agent, at ordinary room temperature.
Therefore, the expandable polystyrene resin regeneration treatment according to the present invention also features minimum energy loss and hence allows blowing agent penetration equipment to be minimized in scale. When a polar solvent exhibiting a high mutual solubility with the blowing agent is used as a volume reducing agent, the rate at which the volume reducing agent in the compacted material diffuses into the blowing agent is high. Consequently, the compacted material loses the volume reducing agent rapidly to become a solid resin. In other words, the penetration of the blowing agent is retarded, so that an extremely long time is required for the expandable polystyrene resin regeneration treatment performed at ordinary room temperature. From the practical point of view, the expandable polystyrene resin regeneration should preferably be carried out in such a way that the volume reducing agent in the compacted material gradually diffuses into the blowing agent in a short period of time, and the blowing agent is allowed to penetrate into the resin swollen with the volume reducing agent by dipping.
The term xe2x80x9cvolume reducing agentxe2x80x9d as used in the present invention means as follows. On a Hansen solubility parameter map in which the polarity term xcex4p is plotted along the abscissa axis, and the hydrogen bond term xcex4h along the ordinate axis, polystyrene is at the position of xcex4p=5.8 and xcex4h=4.3 (see FIG. 1). Polar solvents falling within a circle centered at this position and having a radius of 7.1 exhibit solubility with respect to polystyrene (i.e. within the region A in FIG. 1). Specific examples of polar solvents satisfying these conditions and hence usable as the volume reducing agent in the present invention are ketones, esters, polyhydric alcohol ether acetates, ethers, halogenated hydrocarbons, nitro compounds, and amines. At least one selected from the group consisting of such solvents in which a polystyrene resin is readily soluble is usable as a volume reducing agent, either alone or as a mixture.
However, aliphatic hydrocarbons, e.g. paraffin, olefin and acetylenic hydrocarbons, and aromatic compounds that are carbocyclic compounds having a benzene nucleus, e.g. benzene, toluene, and xylene, cannot be used alone (singly) as a volume reducing agent in the present invention. Such aliphatic hydrocarbons and aromatic compounds are at short distances from the origin defined by the Hansen solubility parameters and hence exhibit a high mutual solubility with the blowing agent (easily-volatile hydrocarbon). Accordingly, if any of these compounds having a high mutual solubility is used as a volume reducing agent, the volume reducing agent in the compacted material diffuses into the blowing agent at a high rate. Consequently, the compacted material loses the volume reducing agent rapidly to become a solid polystyrene resin.
Therefore, solvents that are within 6.8 from the origin on the Hansen solubility parameter map are excluded from the group of solvents usable as the volume reducing agent in the present invention (i.e. those within the region B in FIG. 1). Further, alcohols and polyhydric alcohols fall within the region C on the Hansen solubility parameter map (see FIG. 1) and cannot be used alone as a volume reducing agent. Thus, solvents falling within the region A on the Hansen solubility parameter map are usable alone in the present invention. If a mixed solvent is used, solvents falling within the regions A, B and C on the Hansen solubility parameter map should be mixed together as follows. Solvents falling within the regions A and B, respectively, are mixed together to prepare a mixed solvent. Solvents falling within the regions A and C, respectively, are mixed together to prepare a mixed solvent. Solvents falling within the regions B and C, respectively, are mixed together to prepare a composition serving as a solvent falling within the region A.
Regarding volume reducing agents comprising compositions prepared by mixing together solvents as stated above, polar solvents falling within the above-described circle having a radius of 7.1 exhibit solubility with respect to polystyrene (i.e. within the region A in FIG. 1). More specifically, the following solvents are used either alone or as a mixture of two or more:
Nitrobenzene, o-dichlorobenzene, acetophenone, 1,2-dichloroethane, tetrachloroethylene, 1,1-dichloroethylene, 1,1-dicholoroethane, quinoline, pyridine, ethyl cinnamate, methylene chloride, 1,4-dioxane, aniline, morpholine, N-methylmorpholine, N-ethylmorpholine, cyclohexanone, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, diethyl carbonate, dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, dioctyl phthalate, anisole, benzonitrile, 1-nitropropane, propylene glycol phenyl ether, propylene glycol hexyl ether, dipropylene glycol butyl ether, dipropylene glycol hexyl ether, triethylene glycol dimethyl ether, triethylene glycol ethyl ether, triethylene glycol butyl ether, triethylene glycol propyl ether, ethylene glycol hexyl ether, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether, diethylene glycol butyl ether, butylene glycol butyl ether, cyclohexylamine, ethylene glycol ethyl ether acetate, ethylene glycol butyl ether acetate, propylene glycol methyl ether acetate, diethylene glycol butyl ether acetate, dipropylene glycol methyl ether acetate, tetrahydrofuran, dimethyl succinate, dimethyl glutarate, dimethyl adipate, diethyl succinate, isophorone, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, propyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, butyl acetate, isobutyl acetate, amyl acetate, methyl isoamyl ketone, methyl ethyl ketone, diethyl ketone, methyl propyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, and methyl hexyl ketone.
The compacted waste expanded polystyrene resin has been swollen by the dissolving action of the volume reducing agent. The compacted material is dipped in the blowing agent. The volume reducing agent in the compacted material is extracted into the blowing agent. In other words, the volume reducing agent in the compacted material diffuses into the blowing agent until an equilibrium is reached, and the blowing agent penetrates into the compacted material.
Accordingly, the polystyrene resin can be impregnated with the blowing agent at the same time as the volume reducing agent is extracted from the compacted material. The term xe2x80x9cblowing agentxe2x80x9d as used in the present invention means an easily-volatile hydrocarbon. Butane, pentane, hexane, etc. and isomers thereof may be used either alone or as a mixture of two or more. However, when butane, which is gas under ordinary temperature and pressure conditions, is used as a blowing agent, it needs to be handled in a liquid state under a pressure not lower than 0.11 MPa (gauge pressure) when the treatment temperature is 20xc2x0 C. Therefore, a simple pressure vessel of 0.5 MPa (gauge pressure) or below is used.
After the compacted material has been dipped in or kneaded with the blowing agent, it is allowed to stand, thereby separating the solid matter from the mixed liquid consisting essentially of the volume reducing agent and the blowing agent. The remaining mixed liquid is separated by a distillation operation to recover the volume reducing agent and the blowing agent for reuse. The compacted material prepared by the above-described method is a viscous substance comprising the polystyrene resin swollen and dissolved in the volume reducing agent. It is necessary to obtain, from this substance, regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particles with a diameter of 0.5 to 1.5 mm generally used in the expanded bead foaming process. Because the compacted material is a viscous substance, it is necessary to form regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particles with the above-described particle diameter while preventing the polystyrene resin particles from adhering (fusing) together.
One method available for this purpose is as follows. The compacted material is extruded in the form of a string at room temperature, and this is held on a non-adhesive substrate of polyethylene, fluorocarbon resin, or the like. The string-shaped, compacted material held on the substrate is dipped in the above-described blowing agent at a temperature at least 20xc2x0 C. lower than the softening temperature of the polystyrene resin, preferably at a mild temperature of 10 to 40xc2x0 C., thereby performing the extraction of the volume reducing agent and the impregnation with the blowing agent. Thereafter, the string-shaped, compacted material is cut into particles with a desired shape.
(Second Method of Producing Regenerated Expandable Polystyrene Resin Particles)
A second method of producing regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particles according to the present invention is characterized in that a waste foamed polystyrene resin material made of an expanded polystyrene resin is dissolved in a volume reducing agent having solubility with respect to the foamed polystyrene resin material and exhibiting a mutual solubility with a blowing agent to be used, thereby forming a compacted material, and the compacted material and an extraction solvent for extracting the volume reducing agent are dispersed and kneaded with each other to extract the volume reducing agent, thereby forming a solid material. Then, the solid material is formed into a particulate material consisting of particles and dipped in the blowing agent for expanding the polystyrene resin at ordinary room temperature, and, at the same time, the volume reducing agent is further extracted to regenerate the expanded polystyrene resin.
The second method of producing regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particles according to the present invention is substantially the same as the above up to the step of dissolving a waste expanded polystyrene resin in a volume reducing agent to form a compacted material. The compacted material, which is a viscous substance, and an extraction solvent are kneaded together in a stirring machine to mix together the extraction solvent and the compacted material uniformly. As the result of kneading together the compacted material and the extraction solvent, the volume reducing agent in the compacted material diffuses into the extraction solvent phase. Thus, the volume reducing agent in the compacted material is extracted. In other words, the volume reducing agent in the expanded polystyrene resin is extracted to reduce the content of the volume reducing agent.
The process of kneading together the compacted material and the extraction solvent is carried out as a pretreatment for impregnation of the blowing agent into the compacted material. The compacted material is stirred, together with the extraction solvent, in a homogenizer or the like to effect dispersion. Alternatively, the compacted material and the extraction solvent are kneaded together at room temperature by using a mixer or the like. Thereafter, the mixture is allowed to stand, and the compacted material is taken out. Accordingly, it is possible to perform a treatment for minimizing the content of the volume reducing agent and for reducing the adhesion of the compacted material due to the viscosity thereof.
As the extraction solvent used in the pretreatment, it is possible to use one selected from easily-volatile hydrocarbons usable as blowing agents, and alcohols and polyhydric alcohols exhibiting a low solubility with respect to the polystyrene resin. The compacted material thus obtained, which is a solid material, is extruded at room temperature by using an extruder and cut into particles.
In the second method of the present invention, the shaped compacted material is dipped in the blowing agent at a temperature at least 20xc2x0 C. lower than the softening temperature of the polystyrene resin, preferably at a mild temperature of 10 to 40xc2x0 C., thereby performing the extraction of the volume reducing agent and the impregnation with the blowing agent in the same way as in the above-described first method of the present invention.
As has been detailed above, an advantage of the present invention is as follows. A compacted material obtained by reducing the volume of a waste foamed polystyrene resin material with a volume reducing agent is dipped in a blowing agent to extract the volume reducing agent and to perform impregnation with the blowing agent, thereby producing regenerated expandable polystyrene resin particles. Therefore, the operation for recovery of the volume reducing agent and the operation of impregnating the blowing agent into the resin can be performed in a single process step.
Accordingly, it is possible to simplify the process in comparison to the conventional post-impregnation method and to save heat energy. Another advantage of the present invention is as follows. It is unnecessary to carry out heating at a temperature not lower than the melting temperature of the resin during the process. Accordingly, deterioration of the regenerated resin due to heat history is minimized. Moreover, the blowing agent used to extract the volume reducing agent can be separated by a distillation operation to recover the volume reducing agent and the blowing agent for reuse. Accordingly, the method of the present invention is free from environmental pollution.
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In a diverse workplace, one often comes across names of colleagues and clients that he or she may not know how to pronounce. Consequently there is a possibility that one may inadvertently mispronounce a name, which may lead to embarrassment or even potential loss of a business opportunity.
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Semiconductor devices are commonly found in modern electronic products. Semiconductor devices vary in the number and density of electrical components. Discrete semiconductor devices generally contain one type of electrical component, e.g., light emitting diode (LED), transistor, resistor, capacitor, inductor, and power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET). Integrated semiconductor devices typically contain hundreds to millions of electrical components. Examples of integrated semiconductor devices include microcontrollers, microprocessors, charged-coupled devices (CCDs), solar cells, and digital micro-mirror devices (DMDs).
Semiconductor devices perform a wide range of functions such as high-speed calculations, transmitting and receiving electromagnetic signals, controlling electronic devices, transforming sunlight to electricity, and creating visual projections for television displays. Semiconductor devices are found in the fields of entertainment, communications, power generation, networks, computers, and consumer products. Semiconductor devices are also found in electronic products including military, aviation, automotive, industrial controllers, and office equipment.
Semiconductor devices exploit the electrical properties of semiconductor materials. The atomic structure of semiconductor material allows its electrical conductivity to be manipulated by the application of an electric field or through the process of doping. Doping introduces impurities into the semiconductor material to manipulate and control the conductivity of the semiconductor device.
A semiconductor device contains active and passive electrical structures. Active structures, including transistors, control the flow of electrical current. By varying levels of doping and application of an electric field, the transistor either promotes or restricts the flow of electrical current. Passive structures, including resistors, diodes, and inductors, create a relationship between voltage and current necessary to perform a variety of electrical functions. The passive and active structures are electrically connected to form circuits, which enable the semiconductor device to perform high-speed calculations and other useful functions.
Semiconductor devices are generally manufactured using two complex manufacturing processes, i.e., front-end manufacturing, and back-end manufacturing, each involving potentially hundreds of steps. Front-end manufacturing involves the formation of a plurality of die on the surface of a semiconductor wafer. Each die is typically identical and contains circuits formed by electrically connecting active and passive components. Back-end manufacturing involves singulating individual die from the finished wafer and packaging the die to provide structural support and environmental isolation.
One goal of semiconductor manufacturing is to produce smaller semiconductor devices. Smaller devices typically consume less power, have higher performance, and can be produced more efficiently. In addition, smaller semiconductor devices have a smaller footprint, which is desirable for smaller end products. A smaller die size may be achieved by improvements in the front-end process resulting in die with smaller, higher density active and passive components. Back-end processes may result in semiconductor device packages with a smaller footprint by improvements in electrical interconnection and packaging materials.
Another goal of semiconductor manufacturing is to produce higher performance semiconductor devices. Increases in device performance can be accomplished by forming active components that are capable of operating at higher speeds. In high frequency applications, such as radio frequency (RF) wireless communications, integrated passive devices (IPDs) are often contained within the semiconductor device. Examples of IPDs include resistors, capacitors, and inductors. A typical RF system requires multiple IPDs in one or more semiconductor packages to perform the necessary electrical functions. However, high frequency electrical devices generate or are susceptible to undesired electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI), or other inter-device interference, such as capacitive, inductive, or conductive coupling, also known as cross-talk, which can interfere with their operation.
The vertical electrical interconnection between stacked semiconductor packages and external devices can be accomplished with conductive through silicon vias (TSV) or through hole vias (THV). The THVs are formed in organic materials in a peripheral region around the device. In RF applications using THVs, the digital and RF signals carried by each THV may cause interference between adjacent THVs. The organic material itself does not provide adequate EMI or RFI isolation. As a result, signal integrity is reduced which can cause signal transmission errors and hinder operation of the die.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission device and a transmission method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a wireless communication system has been diffused in which transmission and reception of signals can be performed between devices using wireless communication such as communication through a wireless LAN (Wireless Local Area Network).
In the course of this diffusion, there has been developed a technique for reducing interference (electric wave interference) of one wireless communication with another wireless communication. In wireless communication using TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), as techniques for reducing interference between time division channels, for example, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications No. 2001-244881.
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Radiosurgery and radiotherapy systems are radiation treatment systems that use external radiation beams to treat pathological anatomies (e.g., tumors, lesions, vascular malformations, nerve disorders, etc.) by delivering a prescribed dose of radiation (e.g., x-rays) to the pathological anatomy while minimizing radiation exposure to surrounding tissue and critical anatomical structures (e.g., the spinal cord). Both radiosurgery and radiotherapy are designed to necrotize the pathological anatomy while sparing healthy tissue and the critical structures. Radiotherapy is characterized by a low radiation dose per treatment, and many treatments (e.g., 30 to 45 days of treatment). Radiosurgery is characterized by a relatively high radiation dose in one, or at most a few, treatments.
In both radiotherapy and radiosurgery, the radiation dose is delivered to the site of the pathological anatomy from multiple angles. As the angle of each radiation beam is different, each beam can intersect a target region occupied by the pathological anatomy, while passing through different regions of healthy tissue on its way to and from the target region. As a result, the cumulative radiation dose in the target region is high and the average radiation dose to healthy tissue and critical structures is low. Radiotherapy and radiosurgery treatment systems can be classified as frame-based or image-guided.
One challenge facing the delivery of radiation to treat pathological anatomies, such as tumors or lesions, is identifying the location of the target (i.e. tumor location within a patient). The most common technique currently used to identify and target a tumor location for treatment involves a diagnostic x-ray or fluoroscopy system to image the patient's body to detect the position of the tumor. This technique assumes that the tumor does not move appreciably over the course of a treatment.
Current methods track and account for tumor motion during delivery of radiation treatment using multiple diagnostic x-rays over the course of treatment, as the skilled artisan will appreciate. In these current methods and systems a user specifies how many radiation treatment beams should be delivered between each diagnostic x-ray image. In such systems, delivery of beams can vary drastically in time duration. For example, imaging every 3 beams could result in one pair of images taken 10 seconds apart, interleaved by 3 short beams, followed by an image taken more than a minute later after 3 long beams. However, the tumor may have moved between the two diagnostic x-ray images, thereby resulting in less than desired accuracy of delivery of treatment radiation beams to the target, and a larger than desired radiation dose delivered to healthy tissue surrounding the target.
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to data processing systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods for providing managed sharing of audio data between multiple speech technologies.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, there are many speech/audio processing systems in which audio data or processed speech data is stored in buffers for consumption and further processing by speech engines. The conventional systems, however, typically do not include mechanism for properly balancing the load on engines and managing the consumption of data from the buffers. For instance, in the area of telephony DSP (digital signal processing) cards, conventional systems include a hardware based TDM (time-division multiplexed) bus which carries speech data to single or multiple destinations. This architecture requires the use of dedicated chips to transport the signal as well as physical cards. These systems do not provide intelligent routing of the speech stream which may cause the speech stream to be transmitted twice to the same host.
In addition, in the area of embedded architectures, the currently existing systems have very limited capabilities. For example, these embedded systems typically operate by having an audio subsystem assigned temporarily to a specific conversational engine until the audio subsystem is released either by the engine, the controlling application or the underlying operating system.
Furthermore, conventional sound card systems, in general, capture an audio waveform and store the waveform in digitized form in a buffer. Typically, these systems are configured such that only one application will be consuming the content of the buffer at a given time. In specific cases, however, where an utterance is shared between different engines one of the following methods may be used. One method includes a hardware implementation of multiple parallel buffers on the sound card to which multiple engines could connect. Although such soundcard configuration is not commercially available at the present time, a hardware implementation would require adding the necessary circuitry to route the data stream to the aforementioned buffers. Such a system would not provide intelligent management of the consumption or tailoring of the systems resources according to the evolution of the speech sharing. With another method, a single buffer through one engine may be used which thereafter saves the utterance in a logged file for consumption by the other engines. These engines receive the file name and path information as handle to the data. Again, intelligent management of the data consumption in such an architecture is nonexistent.
Furthermore, with systems that generate output speech (playback or output from TTS), the output is typically sent to an output buffer that is consumed by a D/A converter of the audio subsystem. Such an approach typically does not provide management the output consumption, especially in conjunction with the input resource requirements when operating in a full duplex mode.
Accordingly, a system and method that provides intelligent routing and sharing of speech data for consumption by multiple engines operating in a given speech system is highly desirable.
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1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to voice verification in service centers. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a transparent method and system that registers a voice of a party in order to provide voice verification for communications with a service center.
2. Background Information
Many companies use service centers to provide information and services to callers and customers. Often, a company service center will use voice verification techniques to verify the identity of the caller. Voice verification technology uses human voice characteristics to verify whether a caller is the person that the caller claims to be.
During an enrollment phase, a statistical model of a caller's voice is computed and stored in a database. In the enrollment phase, the caller is requested to train the system by repeating random digits and/or phrases, under the supervision by a representative of the service center. The system then applies statistical learning methods to extract voice patterns of the caller, which will be used in subsequent calls to verify the identity of the caller. Then, during a subsequent call by the caller, the voice characteristics of the caller are compared with the stored voice model. If a match occurs, the system will permit the caller to continue. If no match occurs, the system can either reject the caller or direct the call to an operator. The accuracy of the system is dependent upon the quality of data collected from the caller during the enrollment phase.
For instance, ambient noise at the location of the caller during the enrollment phase may result in interference and a less than optimum voice model of the caller. Additionally, a customer's voice may change over time leading to a voice model that no longer matches the customer. Further, some callers who are cognizant of the enrollment phase may speak using a voice pattern, cadence, or tone not indicative of their ordinary conversational characteristics. All of these factors could lead to a potential future rejection of the caller, necessitating another enrollment phase.
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In a typical cellular radio system, wireless terminals (also referred to as user equipment unit nodes, UEs, and/or mobile stations) communicate via a radio access network (RAN) with one or more core networks. The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into cell areas, with each cell area being served by a radio base station (also referred to as a RAN node, a “NodeB”, and/or enhanced NodeB “eNodeB”). A cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the base station equipment at a base station site. The base stations communicate through radio communication channels with UEs within range of the base stations.
Moreover, a cell area for a base station may be divided into a plurality of sectors surrounding the base station. For example, a base station may service three 120 degree sectors surrounding the base station, and the base station may provide a respective directional transceiver and sector antenna array for each sector. Stated in other words, a base station may include three directional sector antenna arrays servicing respective 120 degree base station sectors surrounding the base station.
Multi-antenna techniques can significantly increase capacity, data rates, and/or reliability of a wireless communication system as discussed, for example, by Telatar in “Capacity Of Multi-Antenna Gaussian Channels” (European Transactions On Telecommunications, Vol. 10, pp. 585-595, November 1999). Performance may be improved if both the transmitter and the receiver for a base station sector are equipped with multiple antennas (e.g., an sector antenna array) to provide a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication channel(s) for the base station sector. Such systems and/or related techniques are commonly referred to as MIMO. The LTE standard is currently evolving with enhanced MIMO support and MIMO antenna deployments. A spatial multiplexing mode is provided for relatively high data rates in more favorable channel conditions, and a transmit diversity mode is provided for relatively high reliability (at lower data rates) in less favorable channel conditions.
In a downlink from a base station transmitting from a sector antenna array over a MIMO channel to a wireless terminal in the sector, for example, spatial multiplexing (or SM) may allow the simultaneous transmission of multiple symbol streams over the same frequency from the base station sector antenna array for the sector. Stated in other words, multiple symbol streams may be transmitted from the base station sector antenna array for the sector to the wireless terminal over the same downlink time/frequency resource element (TFRE) to provide an increased data rate. In a downlink from the same base station sector transmitting from the same sector antenna array to the same wireless terminal, transmit diversity (e.g., using space-time codes) may allow the simultaneous transmission of the same symbol stream over the same frequency from different antennas of the base station sector antenna array. Stated in other words, the same symbol stream may be transmitted from different antennas of the base station sector antenna array to the wireless terminal over the same time/frequency resource element (TFRE) to provide increased reliability of reception at the wireless terminal due to transmit diversity gain.
Four layer MIMO transmission schemes are proposed for High-Speed-Downlink-Packet-Access (HSDPA) within Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standardization. Accordingly, up to 4 channel encoded transport data blocks (sometimes referred to as transport data block codewords) may be transmitted using a same TFRE when using 4-branch MIMO transmission. Because ACK/NACK signaling and/or channel encoding for each transport data block to be transmitted during a same TFRE may require wireless terminal feedback (e.g., as ACK/NACK and/or CQI or channel quality information), feedback to define ACK/NACK and/or channel encoding for 4 transport data blocks may be required when using 4-branch MIMO transmission. Feedback signaling when using 4-branch MIMO transmission may thus be undesirably high, for example, because different MIMO layers may be received at a wireless terminal during a same TFRE with different qualities, signal strengths, error rates, etc.
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This invention involves an improvement in the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,913 issued Jan. 21, 1992. That invention was directed to an automatic mechanism for opening and closing an air exhaust outlet, according to whether or not air is being exhausted or ventilated therethrough.
Thus, in accordance with the prior invention, when an exhaust fan turns on and creates an over-pressure condition in the air exhaust conduit, the pressure sensing means will be activated. In the preferred embodiment, the pressure sensing means is a vane which swings in response to an over-pressure to close an air bleed outlet, activating a first switch which supplies current to a motor. The motor, will then open the conduit closure or flap. Once the flap is fully open, an interlock means interrupts the flow of current to the motor and holds the conduit closure in a static, "open" mode.
With the flap fully open the over-pressure condition in the conduit may fall in strength and the vane may erroneously indicate that the flap should no longer be in the fully open position. It is for this reason that the prior patent indicates that the this pressure sensing means may be combined with an air flow sensing means so as to keep the said first switch in the static, open mode if air flow is detected simultaneously with only a minimal over-pressure condition.
When the exhaust fan stops, the over-pressure condition in the conduit will drop and the air flow will stop. This causes both the pressure and air flow sensing means to be deactivated. In the preferred embodiment the pressure-sensing means will move, under a spring or gravity bias, to a second position wherein the bleed outlet is open. By this action the electrical interlock holding the conduit closure in its "open" state is over-ridden and a second switching means commences to provide current to the motor in a manner which causes the flap on the conduit to shut.
A second interlock means is provided to interrupt the flow of current to the motor, once the closure means on the conduit is in a fully closed condition. This second interlock may itself be over-ridden and combined with the first switch means to permit current to flow to the motor means, in a closure-opening direction, once the pressure-sensing means is reactivated by a resumption of over-pressure to its first closure-opening position.
The cited prior patent describes a pressure detection mechanism that relies upon a swinging vane that is responsive to an over-pressure condition between the interior of a conduit and the region outside. Reference is also made to an air-flow detecting vane operating in parallel with the pressure detecting vane to control the closing and opening of the closure of the conduit.
This present invention relates to an improvement in the inter-relationship between the two vanes used to control these actions.
The invention in its general form will first be described, and then its implementation in terms of specific embodiments will be detailed with references to the drawings following hereafter. These embodiments are intended to demonstrate the principle of the invention, and the manner of its implementation. The invention will then be further described, and defined, in each of the individual claims which conclude this Specification.
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This invention relates to orthodontic apparatus, and more particularly to orthodontic traction apparatus for applying traction to a patient's teeth in the anterior or forward direction with respect to the head.
Various types of orthodontic traction apparatus are used in connection with so-called reverse-pull extra-oral traction procedures in which traction is applied to a patient's teeth in the anterior or forward direction via elastic bands attached to an orthodontic instrumentality on the teeth. Typically, these types of apparatus are classified with reference to the direction in which they apply traction force to the teeth. High-pull traction apparatus, for example, applies traction along a line extending upwardly from the teeth to a point of attachment for the elastic bands on the apparatus forward and above the patient's mouth. Such apparatus is useful in the treatment of orthodontic deficiencies of the maxilla. In contrast, low-pull traction apparatus applies traction along a line extending downwardly from the teeth to a point of attachment on the apparatus forward and below the patient's mouth and is useful in the treatment of orthodontic deficiencies of the mandible. Because the prior art traction apparatus, in most instances, lacks a feature enabling adjustment of the position of the points of attachment relative to the patient's mouth, such apparatus is typically useful only in the treatment of the orthodontic deficiency for which it was specifically designed and not in the treatment of other orthodontic deficiencies. Consequently, a relatively large number of different types of orthodontic traction apparatus must be manufactured and maintained in inventory, thereby adding to the cost of such apparatus.
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Unlike the United States and other industrialized countries, many countries do not have an organized system which allocates frequency spectrum to specific applications, e.g., wireless communications. Without such an allocation system, anyone interested in setting up a communications system on a permanent or even temporary basis must first identify what frequency bands are available, i.e., which bands are uncongested or are associated with low noise levels, or are otherwise free from interference. In addition to determining which frequency bands are available, it is also necessary to determine the quality of any available channels. A low quality channel may require a different modulation scheme and power level in order to transmit a given amount of data compared to a higher quality channel.
In some countries there also exists internal military conflicts. This further complicates efforts to set up communications systems because not only may such countries lack an organized system for allocating frequency spectrum, but terrorists or anti-government groups also attempt to jam any frequency which may be used to transfer information, especially, when the communication system is a military or government system.
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The present invention relates to door locks, and more particularly to an assembly and method for preventing a battery fire originating in an electronic door lock.
Electronic door locks, as opposed to pure mechanical locks, need a power source to operate the locking and control mechanism. In battery operated electronic door locks, power is obtained from a set of batteries installed in the lock. The most commonly used batteries in electronic door locks are alkaline batteries. The service life (the time after which the batteries need to be replaced) depends on the usage of the lock, but is typically two to three years for normal usage doors. More recently, attempts have been made to increase battery life by incorporating other types of battery technology including lithium battery technology. However, practical application of lithium battery technology in electronic door locks has failed due in part to the technology's adverse affect on the integrity and specifications of fire rated doors. Lithium batteries adversely affect the integrity and specifications of fire rated doors because the batteries can experience severe outgassing of flammable gases and violently deflagrate when exposed to elevated temperatures achievable during a building fire. The violent deflagration of lithium batteries has the undesirable effect that it can cause the fire on one side of the fire rated door to propagate to the other side and hence compromise the intended function of a fire door. A circuit board commonly utilized in electronic door locks is commonly one of the first components to catch fire and act as a potential ignition source for constituents outgassed from the venting of lithium batteries.
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A non-volatile memory retains the contents of the information stored in a memory cell even when the power is turned off. Many System-on-Chip (SoC) design teams find themselves confronting a seeming conundrum: How to design non-volatile memory (NVM) into a SoC project. To achieve a single chip solution, the design team typically has little option but to select a special process technology that trails the most current standard logic process by two or three technology generations. This choice generally requires additional processing steps that increase wafer costs. Alternatively, the team could implement a less efficient, more costly, slower, and larger two-chip solution by separating the SoC and the NVM into discrete components.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior technique of creating a non-volatile memory cell. The previous technique created a two polysilicon layers for the nonvolatile memory cell. The second polysilicon layer was the word line, and the word line receives a bias voltage. The bias voltage is coupled from the word line to the first polysilicon layer, referred to as a floating gate, by a coupling capacitor. The floating gate is separated from the PWell of the polysilicon by an insulating material. The floating gate in connection with the PWell creates the cell channel or read transistor. The read transistor typically communicates the logical information stored by that particular memory cell during normal operations.
Typically, the read transistor for that memory cell functions as both the sensing component to communicate the information stored during normal operations, and a charging component to allow either erasing or programming information stored in that memory cell. The second polysilicon layer, the word line, typically is used to couple voltage into the floating poly gate either for write or read operations. Next, electrons charge through the coupling capacitor into the floating gate to store the information.
To create a prior non-volatile memory cell, typically a standard CMOS-based logic process is used as a starting foundation. Next, additional process steps are incorporated into the logic process flow to create the non-volatile memory cells. Examples of such additional process steps include second polysilicon deposition junction dopant optimization, etc. Integrating “non-volatile memory”-specific process steps into the standard CMOS-based logic process creates complications which require extensive qualifications. Consequently, embedded non-volatile memory technologies generally lag advanced logic fabrication processes by several generations. For a system-on-chip (SoC) approach, which requires embedding a non-volatile memory, a design team may have no choice but to accept a logic flow process usually two to three generations behind the current advanced standard logic process as well as the addition to that process of seven to eight additional lithographic masks. This prior approach not only typically increases the wafer cost, but also falls short of the peak performance that the most advanced standard logic process can deliver.
Also, the performance and reliability of a SiO2-based non-volatile memory cell typically degrades under extended program and erases operations due to the cycling-induced degradation of the SiO2. The previous technique of subjecting all of the non-volatile memory cell components to the higher program and erase voltages typically hastens the degradation of the SiO2.
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Consumer electronic products, for example, portable devices such as smart phones, pads, tablets, laptops and digital cameras, have been rapidly developed and commercialized. To function as a digital camera, these smart phones, pads, tablets and laptops are typically equipped with one or more camera modules to capture images or videos. Digital cameras and camera modules can sense light using a semiconductor sensor, a common example of which is Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor.
A CMOS image sensor includes a 2D (two dimension) array of pixels arranged in rows and columns, and a row decoder to control operation of the pixels. The row decoder includes a plurality of row-level decoders, the number of which corresponds to the number of the pixel rows, and each row-level decoder may drive a respective row of pixels. The row-level driver often requires a plurality of high and low voltages for its operation. However, logic control signals are usually in a low voltage domain, which cannot serve directly as the required high and low voltages. To solve this problem, voltage level shifters are needed in each row-level decoder to drive the high and low voltages.
As the resolution of the CMOS in sensor is continuously improved, the number of the pixel rows included in the CMOS image sensor increases accordingly. As a result, more and more row-level decoders are deployed in the CMOS image sensor to drive the pixel rows. These tow-level decoders consume a significant portion of the layout area and increase the overall cost of the image sensor.
Therefore, there exists a need for a compact row decoder that is capable of providing multiple voltage support. Advantageously, the present invention provides a solution that can meet such a need. The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
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Acrylic acid (AA) is currently made commercially by the two-step catalytic oxidation of propylene. More recent, but not-yet-commercial technology exists for its manufacture by the catalytic oxidation of propane. Propylene is a petroleum derivative, and its price reflects the growing scarcity and rising price of oil. Propane, derived from oil or natural gas liquids, makes a convenient fuel, and its price has risen as it has been used as a substitute for petroleum fuels in energy production. Both propylene and propane are non-renewable resources. It is desirable to find a renewable feedstock for the manufacture of acrylic acid.
A diesel fuel can be made from renewable materials by transesterification of natural fats and oils. Transesterification with methanol yields fatty acid methyl esters, also known as FAME or biodiesel, and glycerol. The amount of glycerol produced in this way has already outstripped demand, and the amount of this “waste” glycerol is projected to increase. It is desirable to find a use for this glycerol. Glycerol is also available as a by-product of hydrolysis of various oils and fats, as well as from waste fluids in soap production.
The dehydration of glycerol to acrolein, in either vapor or liquid phase, is well-known. A variety of acids have been used to catalyze this reaction, including mineral acids, potassium bisulfate, zeolites, Nafion composites, and modified zirconias. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 2,042,224, U.S. Pat. No. 2,558,520, U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,720 and U.S. Patent Publication US2006/092272. In processes for liquid phase dehydration of glycerol, the catalyst can be suspended in an organic liquid, such as an alkane or a mixture of alkanes (e.g., hexadecane or paraffin wax). In such liquid phase processes, some of the solvent distills and is separated from the water into the acrolein product, necessitating separation and recycle of the solvent. Not only does this complicate the process and add cost to it, but since acrolein has some solubility in the solvent, some acrolein is lost in this process. Also, it is known that acrolein is highly reactive at elevated temperatures such as those used during dehydration of glycerol and, therefore, prolonged exposure to the heat of the reaction mixture will result in losses of the desired acrolein product. Thus, prompt removal of the acrolein product from the reaction mixture is important to maximize acrolein yields.
The vapor phase reaction is generally most selective when carried out in the presence of a large quantity of water, e.g., aqueous solutions containing 20% or less by weight glycerol. As the fraction of glycerol in the feed is increased, side reactions forming glycerol ether dimers and oligomers occur with greater frequency, lowering the overall acrolein yield. Dehydration of an aqueous solution of glycerol having a glycerol concentration of only 20% would require a relatively large reactor for a given productivity, increasing both capital and operating expenses. Additionally, it is mentioned in U.S. Pat. No. 5,387,720 that, while dehydration occurs using aqueous glycerol of greater than 40% by weight glycerol, the selectivity of the reaction to acrolein and the service life of the catalyst are appreciably reduced at higher concentrations, and a glycerol concentration of between 10 and 25% by weight glycerol is recommended.
International Patent Application Publication WO 2006/092272 describes the dehydration of 0.1-90% glycerol solution to acrolein followed by the vapor-phase oxidation of acrolein to AA. The dehydration is carried out using catalysts having a Hammett acidity Ho of +2 to −3 for liquid-phase reactions, and −3 to −8.2 for gas-phase. While this patent application discusses liquid phase dehydration of glycerol to acrolein, no mention is made of an organic solvent.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,558,520 provides a process for liquid phase dehydration of glycerol to acrolein over a supported acidic or anhydrous phosphorous-based catalyst, using paraffin (alkane) hydrocarbons as a solvent. It is acknowledged that a small portion of the paraffin solvent distills over with the acrolein product.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication JP 2006-290815 describes the liquid phase dehydration of glycerol using a solid acid catalyst having a Hammett acidity Ho between +3.3 and −5.6 in a solvent. This application provides working examples using potassium bisulfate as the catalyst, and solvents include alkanes and paraffin wax.
The present invention addresses the aforesaid problems by using a melt of one or more vinyl polymers of suitable molecular weight as the liquid solvent. The reaction proceeds as with alkane or paraffin wax, but without distillation of solvent with the acrolein product. Thus, the aforesaid problems with product separation, solvent recycle, and yield loss are obviated. Also, a more concentrated aqueous glycerol solution (i.e., greater than about 20% by weight glycerol) may be used as the feed to this process.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a joint construction for cable piping.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a joint construction for cable piping used to obtain an expansion length for earthquakes and a temperature change in pipings buried in the ground to include cables for communication and transmission, an end side of each of two second cylindrical bodies is inserted to both opening portions of a first cylindrical body, respectively, as to relatively move in an axis direction within a certain range, each of third cylindrical bodies being fitted onto another end of each of the second cylindrical bodies through a spherical joint respectively as to relatively oscillate, and both ends of this joint are flanged onto pipings (Japanese provisional publication No. 10-169865, or example).
However, for the cable piping buried in the ground, to secure the communication network uncut even in a large earthquake, a joint construction, which can obtain a larger expansion length than that of a conventional expansion joint, is required. Further, the conventional joint construction has a large number of parts including at least five cylindrical bodies, spherical working for the spherical joint is required, and assembly of the joint requires fastening with bolts and nuts because the piping to be connected to each of the both ends of the joint has a flange.
The inventors of the present invention have proposed a construction described in Japanese patent application number 10-317155 to secure sufficient expansion length as a joint construction for piping (Japanese Patent No. 3048559).
However, the joint construction proposed in Japanese patent application number 10-317155 has the following problems. That is to say, firstly, the production process is complicated because the number of parts is large and welding is needed for assembly. Secondly, when press-fitting (caulking) is applied instead of the welding, configurations of other parts not relating to the connection is deformed by working force (causing deformation). Third, the construction tends to generate problems in sealability as a joint having long expansion length. Fourth, the piping tends to be unexpectedly drawn out for insufficient rigidity of a hitching blade of a stop ring. Fifth, the piping is hard to insert in some cases. These remaining problems have been revealed.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a joint construction for cable piping in which large expansion length in an axis direction of the piping can be secured with a simple construction having a small number of parts, and production is made easy.
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The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits (ICs) and methods of manufacturing integrated circuits. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing integrated circuits having transistors with specialized channel regions.
Integrated circuits (ICs), such as, ultra-large scale integrated (ULSI) circuits, can include as many as one million transistors or more. The ULSI circuit can include complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) field effect transistors (FETS). The transistors can include semiconductor gates disposed above a channel region and between drain and source regions. The drain and source regions are typically heavily doped with a P-type dopant (boron) or an N-type dopant (phosphorous).
The drain and source regions generally include a thin extension that is disposed partially underneath the gate to enhance the transistor performance. Shallow source and drain extensions help to achieve immunity to short-channel effects which degrade transistor performance for both N-channel and P-channel transistors. Short-channel effects can cause threshold voltage roll-off and drain-inducted barrier-lowering. Shallow source and drain extensions and, hence, controlling short-channel effects, are particularly important as transistors become smaller.
Conventional techniques utilize a double implant process to form shallow source and drain extensions. According to the conventional process, the source and drain extensions are formed by providing a transistor gate structure without sidewall spacers on a top surface of a silicon substrate. The silicon substrate is doped on both sides of the gate structure via a conventional doping process, such as, a diffusion process or an ion implantation process. Without the sidewall spacers, the doping process introduces dopants into a thin region just below the top surface of the substrate to form the drain and source extensions as well as to partially form the drain and source regions.
After the drain and source extensions are formed, silicon dioxide spacers, which abut lateral sides of the gate structure, are provided over the source and drain extensions. With the silicon dioxide spacers in place, the substrate is doped a second time to form deep source and drain regions. During formation of the deep source and drain regions, further doping of the source and drain extensions is inhibited due to the blocking characteristic of the silicon dioxide spacers. The deep source and drain regions are necessary to provide sufficient material to connect contacts to the source and drain regions.
As transistors become smaller, it is desirous to increase the charge carrier mobility in the channel region. Increasing charge carrier mobility increases the switching speed of the transistor. Channel regions formed from materials other than silicon have been proposed to increase charge carrier mobility. For example, conventional thin film transistors which typically utilize polysilicon channel regions have been formed on a silicon germanium (Sixe2x80x94Ge) epitaxial layer above a glass (SiO2) substrate. The Sixe2x80x94Ge epitaxial layer can be formed by a technique in which a semiconductor thin film, such as, an amorphous silicon hydride (a-Si:H), an amorphous germanium hydride (a-Ge:H) or the like is melted and crystallized by the irradiation of pulse laser beams.
In a bulk type device, such as, a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET), the use of Sixe2x80x94Ge materials could be used to increase charge carrier mobility, especially hole type carriers. A channel region containing germanium can have carrier mobility 2-5 times greater than a conventional Si channel region due to reduced carrier scattering and due to the reduced mass of holes in the germanium-containing material. According to conventional Sixe2x80x94Ge formation techniques for bulk-type devices, a dopant implanted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technique forms a Sixe2x80x94Ge epitaxial layer. However, the MBE technique requires very complicated, very expensive equipment and is not feasible for mass production of ICs.
Thus, there is a need for an integrated circuit or electronic device that includes channel regions with higher channel mobility. Further still, there is a need for transistors with a thin Sixe2x80x94Ge channel region and deep source and drain regions. Even further still, there is a need for a method of manufacturing a transistor having a thin Sixe2x80x94Ge channel region on a bulk-type semiconductor substrate.
An exemplary embodiment relates to a method of manufacturing an integrated circuit. The method includes providing an amorphous semiconductor material, annealing the amorphous semiconductor material, and doping to form source and drain regions. The amorphous semiconductor material contains germanium and is provided above a bulk substrate of semiconductor material. A single crystalline semiconductor layer containing germanium is formed from the amorphous semiconductor material via solid phase epitaxy. The source and drain regions can be formed by doping the single crystalline semiconductor layer and the substrate at a source location and a drain location. A channel region between the source region and the drain region includes a thin semiconductor germanium region.
Another exemplary embodiment relates to a method of manufacturing an ultra-large scale integrated circuit including a transistor. The method includes steps of depositing an amorphous silicon germanium material above a top surface of a semiconductor substrate, crystallizing the amorphous silicon germanium material utilizing solid phase epitaxy, depositing an amorphous silicon material above the crystallized silicon germanium material, crystallizing the amorphous silicon material utilizing solid phase epitaxy, and providing a source region and a drain region for the transistor. The source region and the drain region are deeper than a combined thickness of the silicon germanium material and the silicon material.
Still another embodiment relates to a process of forming a transistor with a silicon germanium channel region. The process includes depositing a thin amorphous silicon germanium material, crystallizing the amorphous silicon germanium material via solid phase epitaxy, depositing a thin amorphous silicon material, crystallizing the amorphous silicon material via solid phase epitaxy, and providing a source region and a drain region for the transistor. The thin amorphous silicon germanium material is provided above a top surface of a semiconductor substrate.
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While the invention can be used for joining and separating a variety of forms of sheets material including fabrics, wall surfacing materials and the like, the invention will be described hereinafter in relation to the joining and separating of carpet material.
It is well known to join adjacent abutting edges of carpets with a joining tape which is adhered to the carpet backing by an adhesive which may be either a solvent adhesive or, more recently, a heat softenable adhesive. In one known system, a carpet bonding tape is used which consists of a layer of material, such as paper, a layer of fabrice, woven material or other reinforcing material and an upper layer of a heat softenable adhesive composition, the nature and thickness of the heat softenable adhesive composition being such that an adhesive bond is formed between the fabric, woven material or reinforcing material and the underside of a carpet material when the tape is used in an operation in which heat is applied to the carpet and the adhesive by a heated "iron" which is moved along the seam to be joined. When the carpet material is pressed onto the heat softened adhesive layer and the heating source removed, the adhesive sets to thereby bond the carpet edges to the fabric, woven material or other reinforcing material.
The application of heat by the method described above to "melt" the adhesive is extremely difficult to control and a danger exists of burning or melting the carpet pile and/or backing.
Australian Pat. No. 464,878 describes a carpet bonding tape which consists of a layer of heat insulating material such as paper, a layer of metal foil and an upper layer of a ribbon of heat softenable adhesive composition, the nature and thickness of the ribbon of heat softenable adhesive composition being such that an adhesive bond is formed with the underside of a carpet material when the tape is used in an operation in which the carpet material is pressed onto the heat softened adhesive layer. The adhesive composition is softened by passing an electric current through the metal foil. A woven textile material may also be embedded in the ribbon of adhesive material to reinforce the tape.
In my U.S. application Ser. No. 171,865 filed July 24, 1980, I have described an improved method and apparatus for joining sheet material wherein the electrical current flow through the metal foil is controlled to thereby control the degree of softening of the adhesive to enable the carpet join to be correctly aligned prior to being adhered to the bonding tape.
While the carpet joining methods previously described generally provide a relatively firm joint between the edges of adjacent sheets of carpet material, it has been found that the cost of the electrically heated carpet bonding tape including the integral metal foil strip is relatively high. It has been thought necessary to bond the metal foil strip to the other layers constituting the carpet bonding tape i.e. the paper backing, reinforcing and adhesive materials, in order to ensure even heating of the adhesive and accurate alignment of the tape beneath the edge portions of the carpet material to be joined. However, I have now found that it is not necessary to fix the metal foil layer to the layers of other materials in the carpet bonding tape and that better and more economical results can be achieved with the tape and method of my invention.
Further, after carpet has been laid for some time a certain amount of stretching occurs which requires the carpet to be relaid if optimum appearance and wearing qualities are to be maintained. Such relaying generally requires separating and rejoining abutting edges to maintain correct alignment thereof. Carpet edge portions which have been joined with a tape using a heated iron to melt a heat softenable adhesive are extremely difficult to separate and to remove the joining tape therefrom.
Still further, in carrying out methods of joining carpet edges using an electrically heated carpet joining tape the electric current required to pass through the foil to soften the adhesive varies with ambient temperature and also varies as the temperature of the foil increases. Such variations may result in an initial current flow through the foil which overloads the electrical supply circuit to which the controlling apparatus is connected.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved method for joining sheet material in edge-butting relation whereby the join may be relatively quickly, simply and economically made.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for separating carpet joining tape which has been previously bonded to carpet edge portions with a heat softenable adhesive.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a tape which may be used in the joining of carpet edge portions and in separating a joining tape from such edge portions.
A still further object of the invention is to provide apparatus which may be used in conjunction with a carpet bonding tape utilizing an electrically heated metal foil whereby the current flow through the foil is maintained substantially constant during heating thereof.
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Modern automotive safety systems have dramatically increased the survivability of automotive accidents for occupants of a vehicle. However, the effectiveness of such systems decreases with increasing vehicular speed. While the annual number of fatalities on United States roadways continues to trend downward, speeding remains a contributing factor in approximately one third of all fatal accidents year-over-year. As such, vehicular speed remains the primary contributing factor to preventable fatalities. Despite the dangers presented by vehicular speed to drivers and others who share the roadway, efforts to change driver behaviors have proven ineffective. The driving public remains largely indifferent to speeding despite the risk to their safety and that of others. As such, many jurisdictions have imposed civil and/or criminal sanctions in an effort to reduce speeding. However, the police are understaffed and cannot adequately enforce speed restrictions.
While speeding presents a serious danger to drivers and others who share the roadway, speeding is substantially more dangerous to pedestrians, including children, on neighborhood streets, in school zones, and in parking lots. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has determined that a pedestrian hit by a vehicle going 20 MPH has a 90% chance of surviving, however, a pedestrian hit by a vehicle going 30 MPH has a 50% chance of surviving, and a pedestrian hit by a vehicle going 40 MPH has only a 10% chance of surviving. The statistics suggest that even modest speeding in these low-speed designated zones represents a substantially increased danger to the lives of pedestrians. As such, it is critically important to control vehicular speed on streets and roadways where pedestrians are present.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power transmission device that transmits power when a normal load is applied and interrupts the power transmission when an excessive load is applied.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a compressor for an automobile air conditioner, to which power is typically transmitted from an external power source, such as an engine, etc., via a belt, if the compressor seizes up, excessive torque load may occur and damage the engine, etc. Therefore, in order to interrupt the power transmission in such case, a power transmission device having a torque limiter is used.
FIG. 8 shows a power transmission device 11 as described above that has: a belt pulley 13 around which a belt and the like is wound; a hub 15 that is fitted and secured to this belt pulley 13 via an elastic member; a power interruption member 17 that is inserted and secured inside this hub 15; and a rotating shaft 19 that is screwed inside this power interruption member 17.
The rotating shaft 19 has: a rotating shaft body 21; a right hand male thread section 23 that is provided at a tip of this rotating shaft body 21 which has a diameter smaller than that of the rotating shaft body 21; and a stepped surface 25 that is formed between this male thread section 23 and the rotating shaft body 21.
The hub 15 has a contact surface 27 thereinside that makes contact with the rotating shaft body 21 via the stepped surface 25 and a washer 35.
The power interruption member 17 has: an interruption member body 29 that is secured to the hub 15; a tubular member 31 that is screwed to the male thread section 23 of the rotating shaft 19; and a narrow diameter section 33 that integrally couples this tubular member 31 with the interruption member body 29. Here, reference numeral 37 denotes a compressor that is driven by the rotating shaft 19.
In the power transmission device 11 described above, when a normal load is applied between the belt pulley 13 and the rotating shaft 19, due to the fact that the female thread section of the power interruption member and the male thread section of the rotating shaft 19 are screwed to each other, the contact surface 27 of the hub 15 is pressed against the stepped surface 25 of the rotating shaft 19 via the washer 35. This pressing force allows the hub 15 to be connected with the rotating shaft 19 in a static friction state, so that a driving force of the belt pulley 13 is transmitted to the rotating shaft 19 to drive the compressor.
During operation under a normal load, when the rotating shaft 19 is locked due to seize-up of the compressor and the like, this impact allows the static friction state to turn into a dynamic friction state, so that the contact surface 27 of the hub 15 rotates with respect to the stepped section 25 of the rotating shaft 19. Due to this rotation, the tubular member 31 of the power interruption member 17 also rotates with respect to the male thread section 23 of the rotating shaft 19, and as a result, the tubular member 31 is pulled by a large force in a direction away from the interruption member body 29 and the narrow diameter section 33 ruptures. Therefore, the power transmission between the belt pulley 13 and the rotating shaft 19 is interrupted, so that breakage of the belt and resulting damage of the engine can be prevented.
The torque limiter as described above has advantages that it is not sensitive to fatigue, etc., but it has a problem that variation of working torque at which power transmission between the belt pulley 13 and the rotating shaft 19 is interrupted is excessive.
The working torque is determined by a coefficient of friction between thread surfaces, and dimensional accuracy and material strength of the narrow diameter section. In particular, the material strength of the narrow diameter section varies significantly depending on production lots and manufacturers. Therefore, a tolerance range of the working torque of the torque limiter has to be set rather wide, for example, to 50-120 Nm and the like.
A lower limit of the tolerance range of the working torque has to be larger than the maximum torque under normal operation of the compressor, however, in order to protect the driving belt and prevent engine stall, its upper limit has to be smaller than a torque value at which the belt slips and the engine stalls.
In addition, with reference to FIGS. 4, 4a and 4b, the spacer 93 serves as a first abutment section that faces toward the rotating shaft body 47and abuts against the stepped surface 65, which may be referred to herein as a first stepped section. The hub 75, or wheel, includes the first inner circumferential surface 103 and a second stepped section 103a formed between the first inner circumferential surface 103 and a second inner circumferential surface 103b. The second inner circumferential surface 103b has a diameter larger than that of the first inner circumferential surface 103.
Further, with reference to FIGS. 4, 4a and 4b, the tubular member 81 includes the first outer circumferential surface 105 and a second abutment section 105a, which is formed between the first outer circumferential surface 105 and a second outer circumferential surface 105b. The first outer circumferential surface 105 is press-fitted into the first inner circumferential surface 103, and the second abutment section abuts against the second stepped section.
However, in recent years, measures for cost reduction, such as reduction of the number of pistons and the like in the compressor are taken, and as a result, fluctuations in driving torque tend to increase. On the other hand, tension on the driving belt is reduced for fuel consumption, and as a result, belt slip tends to decrease.
If the tolerance range of the working torque cannot be set narrow, it is impossible to incorporate the torque limiter into an automobile. Therefore, it is desirable to implement a torque limiter in which the variation of the working torque is reduced.
Other examples of the torque limiter described above are shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. 2003-206950 and 2003-307265.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydraulic transfer method which may be used for, for example, automobile parts and household-electric-appliances for which special surface properties and decorativeness are required. More particularly, the present invention relates to a hydraulic transfer method, which comprises transferring a transfer layer to a metal substrate having a cured coating film layer, such as a precoated metal plate, utilizing water pressure.
2. Description of Related Art
Formed articles used in appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines include, for example, formed articles obtained by coating a formed metal by means of spray coating, and formed articles obtained by forming a metal plate which has been coated in advance called a precoated metal (PCM). With the recent diversification of demand regarding design of metal formed articles, not only the shape, but also the color and the pattern are regarded as being of major importance. It is difficult to decorate a metal formed article with a pattern by conventional methods.
A formed article is decorated with a pattern by a method of applying a printed film onto a metal formed article. In the case of a product whose pattern is replaced within a short period, a film is a simple and advantageous means. However, in the case in which the above method is employed in the manufacture of a product used for long periods, such as appliances, there arises a problem in that the resulting product is not satisfactory in view of durability. Depending on the three-dimensional shape of the metal formed article, it is difficult to apply the film to the formed article and there is a problem in that thread holes of the metal formed article must be trimmed.
Similarly, it is also difficult to provide decoration with finely designed appearance to the precoated metal plate. As proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2001-079456, a uniform spotted pattern is provided with difficulty, and fine decorations such as patterns of gravure printing could not be provided.
The hydraulic transfer method is a method of transferring a patterned decorative layer onto a target body for transfer by floating a substrate film made of a water-soluble or water-swellable resin, which has a patterned decorative layer, on the water surface, activating a decorative layer with a solvent while dissolving or swelling the substrate film, and submerging a target body for transfer in water while pushing the target body for transfer against the substrate film, and is an excellent decoration method which may be used on a wide range of the formed articles as the target body for transfer, and design freedom is high. However, because of complicated steps, its application was limited to the manufacture of high-grade products for which finely designed appearance was demanded.
In the hydraulic transfer method, it is necessary that the target body for transfer be firmly attached to the decorative layer. For example, since a decorative layer such as printing ink or coating film transferred onto a metal material such as a galvanized steel plate has poor adhesion to a metal substrate, there arose problems in that a printed pattern collapsed during the hydraulic transfer and a decorative layer peeled off during washing with water or forming after drying.
As a means for solving the problems of the above hydraulic transfer method, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Sho 61-261100 proposes a method of producing an in-mold decorated formed article, which comprises hydraulically transferring a printed pattern layer onto a target body for transfer having a curing resin layer, which is dried but is not completely cured and in a semi- or non-cured state, forming a curable resin layer so as to cover the printed pattern layer, and completely curing the curing resin layer which exists on both surfaces of the printed pattern layer.
Although the method proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Sho 61-261100 is a method which can be employed in the case in which hydraulic transfer is carried out immediately after applying a curable resin to a metal substrate as the target body for transfer, there was a problem in that it is difficult to keep the metal substrate coated with the curable resin in the semi- or non-cured state while maintaining a clean and smooth coated surface, and curing of the curable resin proceeds during the storage, thus making it impossible to receive a transfer layer to be hydraulically transferred.
Also Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 1-22378 discloses a method comprising floating a hydraulic transfer plate made of a water-soluble or water-swellable film having a decorative layer made of a resin, which is cured by irradiation with radiation or heat, on the water surface, so that the water-soluble or water-swellable film in the hydraulic transfer plate faces downward, placing a formed body into water from the upper portion, thereby to firmly attach the hydraulic transfer plate to the outer surface of the formed body and to transfer the decorative layer in the hydraulic transfer plate onto the surface of the outer surface of the formed body, removing the water-soluble or water-swellable film in the hydraulic transfer plate, and irradiating the decorative layer with ionizing radiation or heating the decorative layer according to the kind of the composition in the transferred decorative layer, thereby curing the decorative layer.
However, in the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 1-22378, there still remains a problem in that the decorative layer is peeled off during washing with water or forming after drying because of poor adhesion between the layer and the metal substrate.
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{
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a noise reduction apparatus and method and to a noise reduction program.
2. Description of the Related Art
CCDs used in digital still cameras are continuing to be improved in terms of number of pixels and sensitivity. The influence of noise, therefore, has become a problem.
Use of a low-pass filter or median filter, etc., to remove noise from a video signal obtained by sensing an image has been considered (see the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-235472). Further, the removal of noise from an image without detracting from image sharpness also has been considered (see the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-222416).
It is still difficult, however, to remove noise completely.
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The disclosed subject matter relates to providing systems relating to improved camera focusing systems using subject location tags. More particularly, the disclosed subject matter relates to providing a system comprising camera accessories and in-lens technologies that allow for the continuous, automated focus of a subject by measuring the distance between the camera and a subject that has been “tagged” with a locator beacon.
Image focus is one the most critical aspects of film and video production. Incorrect image focus can result in significant impacts to production time and production costs. Captured footage that is ruined due to improper focus settings can be particularly damaging during the course of film and video production. Out-of-focus shots or scenes are frequently discarded as unusable by the production team. Unfortunately, such discarded footage often contains subject matter of a one-time-only nature, which cannot be reshot or otherwise reproduced. For example, it is impossible to “reshoot” one-time sporting events, weddings, etc., after they have occurred.
To achieve ideal focus, the distance of a subject from a camera's focal point must be measured and accurately matched to the focal settings of the camera's lens. Often, a scene requires that the camera focus shift between several subjects within the camera's field of view. In addition, the distances between the camera and subjects can be dynamic, as with dolly or jib-mounted cameras, or in scenes where the subjects are moving. An improved system to assist in maintaining proper camera focus during all aspects of image capture would be of great benefit to many in the field.
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In recent years, a domain wall movement-type magnetic memory element that utilizes the movement of domain walls due to a current has been proposed as a method for increasing the capacity of memory. In the domain wall movement-type magnetic memory element, selection elements and interconnects are disposed along a substrate in-plane direction; and magnetic units in which the information is stored are disposed in a substrate normal direction. By disposing the magnetic units in the substrate normal direction, it is possible to suppress an increase of the cost while realizing a higher memory capacity.
However, in the domain wall movement-type magnetic memory element, technology is desirable to provide the magnetic units at a higher density to increase the memory capacity.
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{
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1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to a tool; and more particularly, to a manual tool intended for use in the shaping of horseshoes.
2. Prior Art
The traditional tools used by a farrier to shape an individual horseshoe so that it snugly fits the horse's hoof are the hammer and anvil. In a typical shoeing operation, the hooves of the horse to be shod are first cleaned, cut and trimmed. Any irregularities in the shape of the hoof are reduced to the extent possible. Then, the farrier will either use standard, pre-formed shoes, or, on occasion, a farrier may form his own shoes from straight bar stock. In either event, the shoes must then be fitted to each individual foot on each individual horse. It is highly unusual that two or more of the hooves on any one horse will accept the same size and shape shoe. Further, it is highly unusual for any horse's hoof to accept the standard shoe without some further shaping. Accordingly, in virtually every instance, some shaping of the shoe must be done by the farrier before it is attached to the horse's hoof.
The procedure typically begins with the farrier placing the standard or his personally formed shoe against the horse's hoof and making a mental note of the modifications needed to the shape of the shoe to conform it to the shape of the hoof. The farrier will then take the shoe to the anvil and by placing the shoe in various positions on the anvil and striking the shoe repeatedly with the hammer, modify the shape of the shoe. This process involves repetitively removing the shoe from the anvil after several blows have been administered to check the amount of deformation. The shoe is then again fitted to the horse's hoof, and, in most instances, the process is repeated several times until an exact fit is accomplished. This will typically require several "sightings" of the shoe against the hoof to check for fit. Each such sighting requires that the farrier walk from the location where he has his hammer and anvil back to where the horse is located; the farrier must then position himself under the horse, raise the horse's hoof, compare the fit, put the horse's hoof back on the ground and walk back to the anvil for further modifications.
As the shape of the shoe approaches the shape of the hoof, the modifications may be quite slight, such that the entire operation of raising the horse's hoof, checking the fit, putting the horse's foot back down and walking back to the anvil is undertaken simply to make a very minor adjustment. This is not only time consuming, but can be irritating to the horse, and exhausting to the farrier who must repetitively position himself under the horse and pick up the horse's hoof. It is not unusual for horses to lean against the farrier during this operation, such that the farrier's work load is substantially increased.
Another drawback to the use of the hammer and anvil is that a farrier does encounter instances when it is impossible, or highly difficult, to transport the hammer and anvil to a location near the horse.
There is, therefore, a need in the art for a manual tool which could be used to change the shape of the horseshoe.
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An electronic shock from a socket is a threat for household electrical safety, especially for families having children. A shockproof socket is desirable.
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The present disclosure relates to a forklift bin, and more particularly, to a forklift bin that facilitates safe operation.
A forklift bin is frequently used inside manufacturing facilities to facilitate the transport of various materials. They may be of varying dimensions and are typically adapted for handling by a forklift.
Oftentimes the materials conveyed in the forklift bin, such as scrap, trash, or even manufactured products, are relatively heavy weight materials such that safe handing thereof is of paramount importance.
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1. Field
Methods and apparatuses consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to processing a holographic image, and more particularly, to methods and apparatuses for generating a computer generated hologram (CGH) image from a low resolution image transformed into a low resolution complex image that is interpolated into a high resolution image complex image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Three-dimensional (3D) graphics technology necessitates generating a large number of stereoscopic images to display 3D video. However, a user may experience various problems, such as eye fatigue or the user's view may be restricted, when viewing a 3D video generated using the large number of 3D images.
To improve the user experience, 3D videos generated using a hologram have been recently highlighted. Specifically, holography is a technology of reproducing an object in 3D space by controlling the amplitude and phase of light. Holography does not restrict a user's view or cause eye fatigue, and therefore research has been actively conducted into technology for reproducing high resolution holograms in real-time by generating a digital hologram such as a computer generated hologram (CGH).
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Power miter saws are typically used for sawing material, for example, construction lumber. The miter saws include a base or platform on which a turntable is positioned. The turntable is used to support a work piece thereon. A support assembly of the miter saw is connected to the turntable and functions to support a cutting assembly that is operable to perform a cutting operation on the work piece. The support assembly includes functionality that enables the cutting assembly to move upward and away from the turntable and downward toward the turntable in order to produce a cut. The support assembly also typically includes functionality to enable the cutting assembly to pivot in relation to the turntable in order to produce angled cuts. An example of such a miter saw is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,769,338 issued to Svetlik et al.
The cutting assembly of the miter saw is relatively heavy because it includes a motor, a cutting blade, a blade guard, and other structural components such as those components used to maintain a precise path for the cutting blade. When the support assembly is pivoted to change the angle of the cut of the cutting assembly, the user must temporarily disengage a lock that prevents pivoting of the support assembly relative to the table. Once the lock is disengaged, the user pivots the support assembly and related cutting assembly to a desired cut angle and then reengages the lock to prevent further pivoting of the support assembly. This action of unlocking and re-locking the pivotable support assembly requires the release and engagement of relatively high forces that may be difficult for the user to manage. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a support assembly arrangement that makes pivoting of the support assembly and related cutting assembly easier for the user, including easier disengagement and reengagement of a pivot lock.
Many miter saws include a positive stop arrangement that prevents the support assembly and related cutting assembly from pivoting past a desired bevel position. These positive stop arrangements typically include a two-position toggle capable of stopping the support assembly at an angle commonly used for compound-angle cuts when cutting trim. The arrangement typically includes separate override arrangements which allow the support arrangement to pivot past the most common start and end positions in the event that extra angular capacity is needed. Because these positive stop arrangements include multiple components in multiple positions, it would be advantageous to simplify the positive stop arrangement into a single control, thereby reducing the cost of manufacturing and simplifying operation of the positive stop arrangement for the user of the miter saw.
It is desirable for miter saw designers to construct a miter saw as compact as possible. To this end, designers of miter saws attempt to make the width of the miter saw, measured side to side, as small as possible. This provides for ease of transport and storage, and reduces space utilized at a work site. However, users of miter saws often require a relatively wide support surface that will hold work pieces to be cut with the miter saw. Accordingly, some miter saws have been provided in the past with extendable work surfaces. However, many of these extendable work surfaces remain undesirably large for packaging, transport and storage. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a work support surface for a miter saw that is moveable between a retracted position that is relatively compact and an extended position that is relatively wide.
In addition to the foregoing, many miter saw arrangements include a laser alignment device. However, it is often difficult for the designer of the saw to find a location on the saw to mount an alignment system where the laser beam is directed to a desired location without physical obstruction during operation of the saw. Furthermore, certain mounting locations on the saw will cause the laser beam to shift out of an intended cutting line when the blade of the saw is not in a cutting position. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a miter saw with a laser alignment guide that is mounted in a position that will not result in obstruction of the laser beam or movement of the laser beam out of the cut line. It would also be advantageous if such laser alignment arrangement could be easily adjusted to properly align the laser along the desired cut line. It would also be advantageous if the laser alignment arrangement could be easily and conveniently mounted and adjusted using an inexpensive mounting and adjustment system.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a miter saw with an improved bevel lock. It would also be desirable to provide a miter saw with an improved positive stop arrangement. Additionally, it would also be desirable to provide a miter saw with an improved extension support arrangement. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide a miter saw with an improved laser alignment system. While it would be desirable to provide a miter saw that provides one or more of these or other features, the teachings disclosed herein extend to those embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the above-mentioned advantages or include one or more of the above-mentioned features.
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This invention relates generally to electrical controls and in particular to a method of making an electrical switch.
In the past, various types of electric switches have been utilized as starting relays for various types of electric motors, such as for instance those known as permanent split capacitor types. Generally, these permanent split capacitor type motors have characteristics affording relatively high torque at normal running speeds and lower power consumption, but with the capacitor connected in the motor circuit, generally relatively poor starting torque is encountered. In the event of a locked rotor condition, as may be encountered in some motor applications or usages, rather high current may be drawn by the motor which may have a deleterious affect on the electric switch being utilized as a motor starting relay. This condition, of course, is believed to be considered as a disadvantageous or undesirable feature of at least some of the past electrical switches. Another one of the disadvantageous or undesirable features of at least some of these past electrical switches is believed to be that they were not automatically calibrated or at least they did not lend themselves readily to calibration. Another disadvantageous or undesirable feature of some of the past electrical switches is believed to be that they did not lend themselves to effect immediate restarting of the motor after a line or power interruption.
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The present invention is directed, in general, to a device and method for forming a semiconductor device local interconnect and, more specifically, to a method of forming an interconnect within a semiconductor tub.
Much attention is given to certain aspects of integrated circuit (IC) technology, such as the number or dimensions of the devices in the circuit and circuit processing speeds that can reach millions of instructions per second (MIPS). Clearly, progress in these areas has great appeal and is readily understood. However, there are other aspects of very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuit technology that are of significant importance. For example, the various devices, e.g., sources, gates and drains, of the integrated circuits must be electrically connected to be of any use within a larger electrical circuit. In the prior art, active devices have been successfully connected by depositing patterned metal, usually aluminum but more recently copper, in one or more layers above the device layers. To interconnect the appropriate devices and metal layers, metal plugs, typically tungsten (W) are formed through the dielectric layers and between the different metal layers. Significantly, the metal layering process is much more expensive than other processes such as ion implantation. The methods for defining and forming such patterned metal layers, tungsten plugs, and dielectric layers are well known to those who are skilled in the art.
Market demands for faster and more powerful integrated circuits have resulted in significant growth in the number of devices per cm2, i.e., a higher packing fraction of active devices. This increased packing fraction invariably means that the interconnections for ever-more-complicated circuits are made to smaller dimensions than before. However, as device sizes reach 0.25 xcexcm and below, physical limitations of the metal deposition processes prevent reducing the scale of the device interconnections at the same rate as the devices.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a method for forming semiconductor device interconnections that is more cost effective and is not size limited as in the prior art. The present invention addresses this need.
To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a semiconductor device, formed on a semiconductor wafer, comprising a tub, first and second active areas, and an interconnect. In one aspect of the present invention, the tub is formed in the substrate of the semiconductor wafer with the first and second active areas in contact with the tub. In one advantageous embodiment, the interconnect is formed in the tub and is in electrical contact with the first and second active areas. The interconnect extends from the first active area to the second active area to electrically connect the first and second active areas.
Thus, the present invention provides an interconnect that uses the tub region for device electrical connections. Because of the unique location of the interconnect, device space above the tub region is better utilized to allow for a higher packing fraction.
In one embodiment, the interconnect comprises an implanted pattern formed in the tub and that extends into the first and second active areas. The first and second active areas may be source or drain regions and in some embodiments may include gates.
In another aspect of the present invention, the tub is a p-tub or an n-tub.
In another embodiment, the semiconductor device further comprises a gate, a third active area, and a field oxide. The third active area is not in contact with the interconnect, and the field oxide is formed between the second and third active areas. In one aspect of this embodiment, the gate contacts the first and third active areas.
In yet another embodiment, the semiconductor device further comprises a second gate in contact with the second active area. In an alternative embodiment, the semiconductor device further comprises a dielectric formed over the gate, the field oxide, and the first, second and third active areas. In one aspect, the dielectric has dummy plugs formed over the first and second active areas and in contact with the interconnect.
In still another embodiment, the semiconductor device further comprises a dielectric formed over the first and second active areas. The dielectric has conductive dummy plugs that are formed over the first and second active areas and that are in contact with the interconnect. In one aspect of the present invention, the interconnect is electrically connected to a current source. In another aspect, the semiconductor device may be a DRAM device, a FLASH device, a ROM device, or an SRAM device.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, preferred and alternative features of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to retroviral protease inhibitors and, more particularly, relates to novel compounds and a composition and method for inhibiting retroviral proteases. This invention, in particular, relates to sulfonyl urea derivatives of hydroxyethylamine protease inhibitor compounds, a composition and method for inhibiting retroviral proteases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease and for treating a retroviral infection, e.g., an HIV infection. The subject invention also relates to processes for making such compounds as well as to intermediates useful in such processes.
2. Related Art
During the replication cycle of retroviruses, gag and gag-pol gene products are translated as proteins. These proteins are subsequently processed by a virally encoded protease (or proteinase) to yield viral enzymes and structural proteins of the virus core. Most commonly, the gag precursor proteins are processed into the core proteins and the pol precursor proteins are processed into the viral enzymes, e.g., reverse transcriptase and retroviral protease. It has been shown that correct processing of the precursor proteins by the retroviral protease is necessary for assembly of infectious virons. For example, it has been shown that frameshift mutations in the protease region of the pol gene of HIV prevents processing of the gag precursor protein. It has also been shown through site-directed mutagenesis of an aspartic acid residue in the HIV protease that processing of the gag precursor protein is prevented. Thus, attempts have been made to inhibit viral replication by inhibiting the action of retroviral proteases.
Retroviral protease inhibition may involve a transition-state mimetic whereby the retroviral protease is exposed to a mimetic compound which binds to the enzyme in competition with the gag and gag-pol proteins to thereby inhibit replication of structural proteins and, more importantly, the retroviral protease itself. In this manner, retroviral replication proteases can be effectively inhibited.
Several classes of compounds have been proposed, particularly for inhibition of proteases, such as for inhibition of HIV protease. Such compounds include hydroxyethylamine isosteres and reduced amide isosteres. See, for example, EP 0 346 847; EP 0 342,541; Roberts et al, xe2x80x9cRational Design of Peptide-Based Proteinase Inhibitorsxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cSciencexe2x80x9d, 248, 358 (1990); and Erickson et al, xe2x80x9cDesign Activity, and 2.8 xc3x85 Crystal Structure of a C2 Symmetric Inhibitor Complexed to HIV-1 Protease,xe2x80x9d Science, 249, 527 (1990).
Several classes of compounds are known to be useful as inhibitors of the proteolytic enzyme renin. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,198; U.K. 2,184,730; G.B. 2,209,752; EP 0 264 795; G.B. 2,200,115 and U.S. SIR H725. Of these, G.B. 2,200,115, GB 2,209,752, EP 0 264,795, U.S. SIR H725 and U.S. 4,599,198 disclose urea-containing hydroxyethylamine renin inhibitors. G.B. 2,200,115 also discloses sulfamic acid-containing hydroxyethylamine renin inhibitors, and EP 0264 795 discloses certain sulfamic acid-containing hydroxyethylamine renin inhibitors. However, it is known that, although renin and HIV proteases are both classified as aspartyl proteases, compounds which are effective renin inhibitors generally cannot be predicted to be effective HIV protease inhibitors.
The present invention is directed to virus inhibiting compounds and compositions. More particularly, the present invention is directed to retroviral protease inhibiting compounds and compositions, to a method of inhibiting retroviral proteases, to processes for preparing the compounds and to intermediates useful in such processes. The subject compounds are characterized as derivatives of hydroxyethylamino sulfonyl urea inhibitor compounds.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a retroviral protease inhibiting compound of the formula:
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, prodrug or ester thereof wherein:
R represents hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, alkoxycarbonyl, alkoxyalkyl, aryloxyalkyl, heteroaryloxyalkyl, aralkoxycarbonyl, alkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylalkoxycarbonyl, cycloalkylalkanoyl, alkanoyl, aralkanoyl, aroyl, aryloxycarbonyl, aryloxycarbonylalkyl, aryloxyalkanoyl, heterocyclylcarbonyl, heterocyclyloxycarbonyl, heterocyclylalkanoyl, heterocyclylalkoxycarbonyl, heteroaralkanoyl, heteroaralkoxycarbonyl, heteroaryloxycarbonyl, heteroaroyl, hydroxyalkyl, aminocarbonyl, aminoalkanoyl, and mono- and disubstituted aminocarbonyl and mono- and disubstituted aminoalkanoyl radicals wherein the substituents are selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyalkyl radicals, or wherein said aminocarbonyl and aminoalkanoyl radicals are disubstituted, said substituents along with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached form a heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl radical;
Rxe2x80x2 represents hydrogen, radicals as defined for R3 or Rxcex94SO2xe2x80x94wherein Rxcex94 represents radicals as defined for R3; or R and Rxe2x80x2 together with the nitrogen to which they are attached represent heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radicals;
R1 represents hydrogen, xe2x80x94CH2SO2NH2, xe2x80x94CH2CO2CH3, xe2x80x94CO2CH3, xe2x80x94CONH2, xe2x80x94CH2C(O)NHCH3, xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(SH), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(SCH3), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(SIOICH3), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(SIO12CH3), alkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl and cycloalkyl radicals, and amino acid side chains selected from asparagine, S-methyl cysteine and methionine and the sulfoxide (SO) and sulfone (SO2) derivatives thereof, isoleucine, allo-isoleucine, alanine, leucine, tert-leucine, phenylalanine, ornithine, histidine, norleucine, glutamine, threonine, glycine, allo-threonine, serine, O-alkyl serine, aspartic acid, beta-cyanoalanine and valine side chains;
R1xe2x80x2and R1xcex94 independently represent hydrogen and radicals as defined for R1, or one of R1xe2x80x2and R1, together with R1 and the carbon atoms to which R1, R1xe2x80x2and R1 xe2x80x2 are attached, represent a cycloalkyl radical;
R2 represents alkyl, aryl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl and aralkyl radicals, which radicals are optionally substituted with a group selected from alkyl and halogen radials, xe2x80x94NO2, xe2x80x94CN, xe2x80x94CF3, xe2x80x94OR9 and xe2x80x94SR9, wherein R9 represents hydrogen and alkyl radicals, and halogen radicals;
R3 represents alkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, hydroxyalkyl, alkoxyalkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heteroaryl, heterocycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heteroaralkyl, aminoalkyl and mono- and disubstituted aminoalkyl radicals, wherein said substituents are selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl, and heterocycloalkylalkyl radicals, or in the case of a disubstituted aminoalkyl radical, said substituents along with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached, form a heterocycloalkyl or a heteroaryl radical, and thioalkyl, alkylthioalkyl and arylthioalkyl radicals or the sulfone or sulfoxide derivatives thereof;
R4 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined by R3;
R6 represents hydrogen and alkyl radicals;
R7 and R7, independently represent hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3; amino acid side chains selected from the group consisting of valine, isoleucine, glycine, alanine, allo-isoleucine, asparagine, leucine, glutamine, and t-butylglycine; radicals represented by the formulas xe2x80x94C(O)R16, xe2x80x94Co2R16, xe2x80x94So2R16, xe2x80x94SR16, xe2x80x94CoNR16R17, xe2x80x94CF3 and xe2x80x94NR16R17; or R7 and R7, together with the carbon atom to which they are attached form a cycloalkyl-radical;
R8 represents cyano, hydroxyl, alkyl, alkoxy, cycloalkyl, aryl, aralkyl/heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radicals and radicals represented by the formulas C(O)R16, CO2R16, SO2R16, SR16, CONR16R17, CF3 and NR16R17; wherein R16 and R17 independently represent hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3, or R16 and R17 together with a nitrogen to which they are attached in the formula NR16R17 represent heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radicals;
x represents 1 or 2;
n represents an integer of from 0 to 6;
t represents either 0, 1 or 2; and
Y represents O, S and NR15 wherein R15 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3.
Examples of compounds of the present invention as defined by Formula I include:
A family of compounds of particular interest within Formula I are compounds embraced by Formula II:
wherein:
R represents hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, aryloxyalkyl, heteroaryloxyalkyl, alkoxycarbonyl, alkoxyalkyl, aralkoxycarbonyl, alklcarbonyl, cycloalkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylalkoxycarbonyl, cycloalkylalkanoyl, alkanoyl, aralkanoyl, aroyl, aryloxycarbonyl, aryloxycarbonylalkyl, aryloxyalkanoyl, heterocyclylcarbonyl, heterocyclyloxycarbonyl, heterocyclylalkanoyl, heterocyclylalkoxycarbonyl, heteroaralkanoyl, heteroaralkoxycarbonyl, heteroaryloxy-carbonyl, heteroaroyl, aminocarbonyl, aminoalkanoyl, and mono- and disubstituted aminocarbonyl and mono- and disubstituted aminoalkanoyl radicals wherein the substituents are selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyalkyl radicals, or where said aminoalkanoyl radical is disubstituted, said substituents along with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached form a heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl radical;
Rxe2x80x2 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3 or R and Rxe2x80x2 together with the nitrogen to which they are attached represent heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radical;
R1 represents hydrogen, xe2x80x94CH2SO2NH2, xe2x80x94CH2CO2CH3, xe2x80x94CO2CH3, xe2x80x94CONH2, xe2x80x94CH2C(O)NHCH3, xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(SH), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(SCH3), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(S[O]CH3), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(S[O]2CH3), alkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl and cycloalkyl radicals, and amino acid side chains selected from asparagine, S-methyl cysteine and methionine and the sulfoxide (SO) and sulfone (SO2) derivatives thereof, isoleucine, allo-isoleucine, alanine, leucine, tert-leucine, phenylalanine, ornithine, histidine, norleucine, glutamine, threonine, glycine, allo-threonine, serine, O-methyl serine, aspartic acid, beta-cyanoalanine and valine side chains;
R2 represents alkyl, aryl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl and aralkyl radicals, which radicals are optionally substituted with a group selected from alkyl and halogen radials, xe2x80x94N2, xe2x80x94C=N, CF3, xe2x80x94OR9, xe2x80x94SR9, wherein R9 represents hydrogen and alkyl radicals;
R3 represents alkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, hydroxyalkyl, alkoxyalkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heteroaryl, heterocycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heteroaralkyl, aminoalkyl and mono- and disubstituted aminoalkyl radicals, wherein said substituents are selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl, and heterocycloalkylalkyl radicals, or in the case of a disubstituted aminoalkyl radical, said substituents along with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached, form a heterocycloalkyl or a heteroaryl radical, and thioalkyl, alkylthioalkyl and arylthioalkyl radicals and the sulfone or sulfoxide derivatives thereof;
R4 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined by R3; R7 and R7xe2x80x2 independently represent radicals as defined for R3; amino acid side chains selected from the group consisting of valine, isoleucine, glycine, alanine, allo-isoleucine, asparagine, leucine, glutamine, and t-butylglycine; radicals represented by the formulas xe2x80x94C(O)R16, xe2x80x94CO2R16, xe2x80x94SO2R16, xe2x80x94SR16, xe2x80x94CONR16R17, xe2x80x94CF3 and xe2x80x94NR16R17; or R7 and R7, together with the carbon atom to which they are attached form a cycloalkyl radical;
R8 represents cyano, hydroxyl, alkyl, alkoxy, cycloalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radicals and radicals represented by the formulas C(O)R16, CO2R16, SO2R16, SR16, CONR16R17, CF3 and NR16R17; wherein R16 and R17 independently represent hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3, or R16 and R17 together with a nitrogen to which they are attached in the formula NR16R17 represent heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radicals;
n represents an integer of from 0 to 6;
A more preferred family of compounds within Formula II consists of compounds wherein:
R represents hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, alkoxycarbonyl, aralkoxycarbonyl, alkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylalkoxycarbonyl, cycloalkylalkanoyl, alkanoyl, aralkanoyl, aroyl, aryloxycarbonyl, aryloxycarbonylalkyl, aryloxyalkanoyl, heterocyclylcarbonyl, heterocyclyloxycarbonyl, heterocyclylalkanoyl, heterocyclylalkoxycarbonyl, heteroaralkanoyl, heteroaralkoxycarbonyl, xe2x80x2heteroaryloxy-carbonyl, heteroaroyl, aryloxyalkyl, heteroaryloxyalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, aminocarbonyl, aminoalkanoyl, and mono- and disubstituted, aminocarbonyl and mono- and disubstituted aminoalkanoyl radicals wherein the substituents are selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyalkyl radicals, or where said aminoalkanoyl radical is disubstituted, said substituents along with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached form a heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl radical;
Rxe2x80x2 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3 or R and Rxe2x80x2 together with the nitrogen to which they are attached represent heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radical;
R1 represents CH2C(O)NHCH3, C(CH3)2(SCH3), C(CH3)2(S[O])CH3), C(CH3)2(S[O]2CH3), alkyl, alkenyl and alkynyl radicals, and amino acid side chains selected from the group consisting of asparagine, valine, threonine, allo-threonine, isoleucine, tert-leucine, S-methyl cysteine and methionine and the sulfone and sulfoxide derivatives thereof, alanine, and allo-isoleucine;
R2 represents alkyl, cycloalkylalkyl and aralkyl radicals, which radicals are optionally substituted with halogen radicals and radicals represented by the formula xe2x80x94OR9 and xe2x80x94SR9 wherein R9 represents alkyl radicals; and R3 represents alkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkoxyalkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aralkyl and heteroaralkyl radicals;
R4 represents hydrogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, aralkyl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl and heterocycloalkylalkyl radicals;
R7 and R7, independently represent alkyl and aralkyl radicals or together with the carbon atom to which they are attached form a cycloalkyl radical having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms;
R8 represents alkylcarbonyl, aryl, aroyl, aryloxy, aralkanoyl, cyano, hydroxycarbonyl, arylsulfonyl, alkylsulfonyl, alkylthio, hydroxyl, alkoxy, heteroaryl, dialkylaminocarbonyl, dialkylamino, cycloalkylamino, heterocyclylamino and alkoxycarbonyl radicals; and
n is an integer of from 0 to 6;
Of highest interest are compounds within Formula II wherein
R represents alkoxycarbonyl, aralkoxycarbonyl, alkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylalkoxycarbonyl, cycloalkylalkanoyl, alkanoyl, aralkanoyl, aroyl, aryloxycarbonyl, aryloxycarbonylalkyl, aryloxyalkanoyl, heterocyclylcarbonyl, heterocyclyloxycarbonyl, heterocyclylalkanoyl, heterocyclylalkoxycarbonyl, heteroaralkanoyl, heteroaralkoxycarbonyl, heteroaryloxy-carbonyl, heteroaroyl, aminocarbonyl, aminoalkanoyl, and mono- and disubstituted aminocarbonyl and mono- and disubstituted aminoalkanoyl radicals wherein the substituents are selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyalkyl radicals, or where said aminoalkanoyl radical is disubstituted, said substituents along with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached form a heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl radical;
Rxe2x80x2 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3 or R and Rxe2x80x2 together with the nitrogen to which they are attached represent heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radical;
R1 represents CH2C(O)NHCH3, C(CH3)2(SCH3), C(CH3)2(S[O]CH3), C(CH3)2(S[O]2CH3), methyl, propargyl, t-butyl, isopropyl and sec-butyl radicals, and amino acid side chains selected from the group consisting of asparagine, valine, S-methyl cysteine, allo-iso-leucine, iso-leucine, and beta-cyano alanine side chains;
R2 represents CH3SCH2CH2xe2x80x94, iso-butyl, n-butyl, benzyl, 4-fluorobenzyl, 2-naphthylmethyl and cyclohexylmethyl radicals;
R3 represents propyl, isoamyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, cyclohexyl, cyclohexylmethyl, benzyl and pyridylmethyl radicals;
R4 represents hydrogen and methyl, ethyl, i-propyl, propyl, n-butyl, t-butyl, 1,1-dimethylpropyl, cyclohexyl and phenyl radicals;
R7 and R7xe2x80x2independently represent methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl radicals, or together with the carbon atom to which they are attached form a cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl radical;
R8 represents methylcarbonyl, phenyl, hydroxy, methoxy, cyano, methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, isopropoxycarbonyl, t-butoxycarbonyl, benzyloxycarbonyl, carboxyl, methoxycarbonyl, methylsulfonyl, methylthio, phenylsulfonyl, phenyl, 2-, 3- or 4-pyridyl, 2-, 3- or 4-pyridyl N-oxide, N,N-dimethylamino, 1-piperidinyl, 4-morpholinyli 4-(N-methyl)piperazinyl and 1-pyrrolidinyl.
Another family of compounds of particular interest within Formula I are compounds embraced by Formula III:
wherein:
R represents hydrogen, alkoxycarbonyl, aralkoxycarbonyl, alkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylalkoxycarbonyl, cycloalkylalkanoyl, alkanoyl, aralkanoyl, aroyl, aryloxycarbonyl, aryloxycarbonylalkyl, aryloxyalkanoyl, heterocyclylcarbonyl, heterocyclyloxycarbonyl, heterocyclylalkanoyl, heterocyclylalkoxycarbonyl, heteroaralkanoyl, heteroaralkoxycarbonyl, heteroaryloxy-carbonyl, heteroaroyl, alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, aryloxyalkyl, alkoxyalkyl, heteroaryloxyalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, aminocarbonyl, aminoalkanoyl, and mono- and disubstituted aminocarbonyl and mono- and disubstituted aminoalkanoyl radicals wherein the substituents are selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyalkyl radicals, or where said aminoalkanoyl radical is disubstituted, said substituents along with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached form a heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl radical;
Rxe2x80x2 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3 or R and Rxe2x80x2 together with the nitrogen to which they are attached represent heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radical;
R1 represents hydrogen, xe2x80x94CH2SO2NH2, xe2x80x94CH2CO2CH3, xe2x80x94CO2CH3, xe2x80x94CONH2, xe2x80x94CH2C(O)NHCH3, xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(SH), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(SCH3), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(S[O]CH3), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(S[O]2CH3), alkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl and cycloalkyl radicals, and amino acid side chains selected from asparagine, S-methyl cysteine and the sulfoxide (SO) and sulfone (SO2) derivatives thereof, isoleucine, allo-isoleucine, alanine, leucine, tert-leucine, phenylalanine, ornithine, histidine, norleucine, glutamine, threonine, glycine, allo-threonine, serine, aspartic acid, beta-cyano alanine and valine side chains;
R1xe2x80x2and R1 independently represent hydrogen and radicals as defined for R1, or one of R1 xe2x80x2 and R1xcex94, together with R1 and the carbon atoms to which R1, R1xe2x80x2 and R1xcex94 are attached, represent a cycloalkyl radical;
R2 represents alkyl, aryl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl and aralkyl radicals, which radicals are optionally substituted with a group selected from alkyl and halogen radials, xe2x80x94NO2, xe2x80x94C=N, CF3, xe2x80x94OR9 and xe2x80x94SR9, wherein R9 represents hydrogen and alkyl radicals;
R3 represents alkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, hydroxyalkyl, alkoxyalkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heteroaryl, heterocycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heteroaralkyl, aminoalkyl and mono- and disubstituted aminoalkyl radicals, wherein said substituents are selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl, and heterocycloalkylalkyl radicals, or in the case of a disubstituted aminoalkyl radical, said substituents along with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached, form a heterocycloalkyl or a heteroaryl radical, and thioalkyl, alkylthioalkyl and arylthioalkyl radicals and the sulfone or sulfoxide derivatives thereof;
R4 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined by R3; R7 and R7xe2x80x2 independently represent radicals as defined for R3; amino acid side chains selected from the group consisting of valine, isoleucine, glycine, alanine, allo-isoleucine, asparagine, leucine, glutamine, and t-butylglycine; radicals represented by the formulas xe2x80x94C(O)R16, xe2x80x94CO2R16, xe2x80x94SO2R16, xe2x80x94SR16, xe2x80x94CONR16R17, xe2x80x94CF3 and xe2x80x94NR16R17; or R7 and R7, together with the carbon atom to which they are attached form a cycloalkyl radical;
R8 represents cyano, hydroxyl, alkyl, alkoxy, cycloalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radicals and radicals represented by the formulas C(O)R16, CO2R16, SO2R16, SR16, CONR16R17, CF3 and NR16R17; wherein R16 and R17 independently represent hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3, or R16 and R17 together with a nitrogen to which they are attached in the formula NR16R17 represent heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radicals;
n represents an integer of from 0 to 6;
A more preferred family of compounds within Formula III consists of compounds wherein R represents an arylalkanoyl, heteroaroyl, aryloxyalkanoyl, aryloxycarbonyl, alkanoyl, aminocarbonyl, mono-substituted aminoalkanoyl, or disubstituted aminoalkanoyl, or mono-or dialkylaminocarbonyl radical;
Rxe2x80x2 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3 or R and Rxe2x80x2 together with the nitrogen to which they are attached represent a heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl radical;
R1 R1xe2x80x2 and R1 independently represent hydrogen and alkyl radicals having from to about 4 carbon atoms, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl radicals, and radicals represented by the formula xe2x80x94CH2C(O)Rxcex94 or xe2x80x94C(O)Rxcex94 wherein Rxcex94 represents R38, xe2x80x94NR38R39 and OR38 wherein R38 and R39 independently represent hydrogen and alkyl radicals having from 1 to about 4 carbon atoms;
R2 represents alkyl, cycloalkylalkyl and aralkyl radicals, which radicals are optionally substituted with halogen radicals and radicals represented by the formula xe2x80x94OR9 and xe2x80x94SR9 wherein R9 represents hydrogen and alkyl radicals; and
R3 represents alkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, alkoxyalkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heteroaryl and heteroaralkyl radicals;
R4 represents hydrogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, aralkyl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl and heterocycloalkylalkyl radicals, or R4 and R5 together with the nitrogen atom to which they are bonded from a heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl radical;
R7 and R7xe2x80x2 independently represent alkyl and aralkyl radicals or together with the carbon atom to which they are attached form a cycloalkyl radical having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms;
R8 represents alkylcarbonyl, aryl, aroyl, aryloxy, aralkanoyl, cyano, hydroxycarbonyl, arylsulfonyl, alkylsulfonyl, alkylthio, hydroxyl, alkoxy, heteroaryl, dialkylaminocarbonyl, dialkylamino, cycloalkylamino, heterocyclylamino and alkoxycarbonyl radicals. of highest interest are compounds of Formula III wherein:
R represents an arylalkanoyl, aryloxycarbonyl, heteroaroyl, aryloxyalkanoyl, alkanoyl, aminocarbonyl, mono-substituted aminoalkanoyl, or disubstituted aminoalkanoyl, or mono-or dialkylaminocarbonyl radical;
Rxe2x80x2 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3 or R and Rxe2x80x2 together with the nitrogen to which they are attached represent a heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl radical;
R1, R1xe2x80x2 and R1 xcex94 independently represent hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, benzyl, phenylpropyl, xe2x80x94C(O)NH2 and propargyl radicals;
R2 represents CH3SCH2CH2xe2x80x94, iso-butyl, n-butyl, benzyl, 4-fluorobenzyl, 2-naphthylmethyl and cyclohexylmethyl radicals;
R3 represents propyl, isobutyl, isoamyl, n-butyl, n-propyl, cyclohexyl, cyclohexylmethyl, benzyland pyridylmethyl radicals;
R4 represents hydrogen and methyl, ethyl, i-propyl, n-butyl, t-butyl, 1,1-dimethylpropyl, cyclohexyl and phenyl radicals;
R7 and R7xe2x80x2 independently represent methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl radicals, or together with the carbon atom to which they are attached form a cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl ov cyclohexyl radical;
R8 represents methylcarbonyl, phenyl, hydroxy, methoxy, cyano, methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, isopropoxycarbonyl, t-butoxycarbonyl, benzyloxycarbonyl, carboxyl, methoxycarbonyl, methylsulfonyl, methylthio, phenylsulfonyl, phenyl, 2-, 3- or 4-pyridyl, 2-, 3- or 4-pyridyl N-oxide, N,N-dimethylamino, 1-piperidinyl, 4-morpholinyl, 4-(N-methyl)piperazinyl and 1-pyrrolidinyl.
Another family of compounds of particular interest within Formula I are compounds embraced by Formula IV:
wherein:
R represents hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, aryloxyalkyl, heteroaryloxyalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, alkoxycarbonyl, aralkoxycarbonyl, alkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylalkoxycarbonyl, cycloalkylalkanoyl, alkanoyl, aralkanoyl, aroyl, aryloxycarbonyl, aryloxycarbonylalkyl, alkoxyalkyl, aryloxyalkanoyl, heterocyclylcarbonyl, heterocyclyloxycarbonyl, heterocyclylalkanoyl, heterocyclylalkoxycarbonyl, heteroaralkanoyl, heteroaralkoxycarbonyl, heteroaryloxy-carbonyl, heteroaroyl, aminocarbonyl, aminoalkanoyl, and mono- and disubstituted aminocarbonyl and mono- and disubstituted aminoalkanoyl,radicals wherein the substituents are selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyalkyl radicals, or where said aminoalkanoyl radical is disubstituted, said substituents along with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached form a heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl radical;
Rxe2x80x2 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3 or R and R together with the nitrogen to which they are attached represent heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radical;
R1 represents hydrogen, xe2x80x94CH2SO2NH2, xe2x80x94CH2CO2CH3, xe2x80x94CO2CH3, xe2x80x94CONH2, xe2x80x94CH2C(O)NHCH3, xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(SH), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(SCH3), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(SC[O]CH3), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(S[O]2CH3), alkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl and cycloalkyl radicals, and amino acid side chains selected from asparagine, S-methyl cysteine and methionine and the sulfoxide (SO) and sulfone (SO2) derivatives thereof, isoleucine, allo-isoleucine, alanine, leucine, tert-leucine, phenylalanine, ornithine, histidine, norleucine, glutamine, threonine, glycine, allo-threonine, serine, aspartic acid, beta-cyano alanine and valine side chains;
R2 represents alkyl, aryl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl and aralkyl radicals, which radicals are optionally substituted with a group selected from alkyl and halogen radicals, xe2x80x94NO2, xe2x80x94CF3 xe2x80x94OR9, xe2x80x94SR9, wherein R9 represents hydrogen and alkyl;
R3 represents alkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, hydroxyalkyl, alkoxyalkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heteroaryl, heterocycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heteroaralkyl, aminoalkyl and mono- and disubstituted.aminoalkyl radicals, wherein said substituents are selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl, and heterocycloalkylalkyl radicals, or in the case of a disubstituted aminoalkyl radical, said substituents along with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached, form a heterocycloalkyl or a heteroaryl radical, and thioalkyl, alkylthioalkyl and arylthioalkyl radicals and the sulfone or sulfoxide derivatives thereof;
R4 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3;
R7 and R7xe2x80x2independently represent radicals as defined for R3; amino acid side chains selected from the group consisting of valine, isoleucine, glycine, alanine, allo-isoleucine, asparagine, leucine, glutamine, and t-butylglycine; radicals represented by the formulas xe2x80x94C(O)R16, xe2x80x94CO2R16, xe2x80x94SO2R16, xe2x80x94SR16, xe2x80x94CONR16R17, xe2x80x94CF3 and xe2x80x94NR16R17; or R7 and R7, together with the carbon atom to which they are attached form a cycloalkyl radical;
R8 represents cyano, hydroxyl, alkyl, alkoxy, cycloalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radicals and radicals represented by the formulas C(O)R16, CO2R16, SO2R16 SR16, CONR16R17 CF3 and NR16R17;
wherein R16 and R17 independently represent hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3, or R16 and R17 together with a nitrogen to which they are attached in the formula NR16R17 represent heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radicals;
n represents an integer of from 0 to 6.
A more preferred family of compounds within Formula IV consists of compounds wherein
R represents hydrogen, alkoxycarbonyl, aralkoxycarbonyl, alkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylalkoxycarbonyl, cycloalkylalkanoyl, alkanoyl, aralkanoyl, aroyl, aryloxycarbonyl, aryloxycarbonylalkyl, aryloxyalkanoyl, heterocyclylcarbonyl, heterocyclyloxycarbonyl, heterocyclylalkanoyl, heterocyclylalkoxycarbonyl, heteroaralkanoyl, heteroaralkoxycarbonyl, heteroaryloxy-carbonyl, heteroaroyl, alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, aryloxyalkyl, heteroaryloxyalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, aminocarbonyl, aminoalkanoyl, and mono- and disubstituted aminocarbonyl and mono- and disubstituted aminoalkanoyl radicals wherein the substituents are selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyalkyl radicals, or where said aminoalkanoyl radical is disubstituted, said substituents along with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached form a heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl radical;
R1 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3 or R and Rxe2x80x2 together with the nitrogen to which they are attached represent heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radical;
R1 represents hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, and alkynyl radicals, and amino acid side chains selected from the group consisting of asparagine, valine, threonine, allo-threonine, isoleucine, tert-leucine, S-methyl cysteine and the sulfone and sulfoxide derivatives thereof, alanine, and allo-isoleucine;
R2 representsialkyl, cycloalkylalkyl and aralkyl radicals, which radicals are optionally substituted with halogen radicals and radicals represented by the formula xe2x80x94OR9 and xe2x80x94SR9 wherein R9 represents hydrogen and alkyl and halogen radicals;
R3 represents alkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkoxyalkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkylalkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heteroaryl and heteroaralkyl radicals;
R4 represents hydrogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, aryl, heceroaryl, aralkyl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl and heterocycloalkylalkyl radicals; R7 and R7, independently represent alkyl and aralkyl radicals or together with the carbon atom to which they are attached form a cycloalkyl radical having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms;
R8 represents alkylcarbonyl, aryl, aroyl, aryloxy, aralkanoyl, cyano, hydroxycarbonyl, arylsulfonyl, alkylsulfonyl, alkylthio, hydroxyl, alkoxy, heteroaryl, dialkylaminocarbonyl, dialkylamino, cycloalkylamino, heterocyclylamino and alkoxycarbonyl radicals; and
n represents an integer of from 0 to 6.
Of highest interest are compounds within Formula IV wherein
R represents hydrogen, alkoxycarbonyl, aralkoxycarbonyl, alkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylcarbonyl, cycloalkylalkoxycarbonyl, cycloalkylalkanoyl, alkanoyl, aralkanoyl, aroyl, aryloxycarbonyl, aryloxycarbonylalkyl, aryloxyalkanoyl, heterocyclylcarbonyl, heterocyclyloxycarbonyl, heterocyclylalkanoyl, heterocyclylalkoxycarbonyl, heteroaralkanoyl, heteroaralkoxycarbonyl, heteroaryloxy-carbonyl, heteroaroyl, aminocarbonyl, aminoalkanoyl, and mono- and disubstituted aminocarbonyl and mono- and disubstituted aminoalkanoyl radicals wherein the substituents are selected from alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, heteroaryl, heteroaralkyl, heterocycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyalkyl radicals, or where said aminoalkanoyl radical is disubstituted, said substituents along with the nitrogen atom to which they are attached form a heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl radical;
Rxe2x80x2 represents hydrogen and radicals as defined for R3 or R and Rxe2x80x2 together with the nitrogen to which they are attached represent heterocycloalkyl and heteroaryl radical;
R1 represents hydrogen, methyl, propargyl, t-butyl, isopropyl and sec-butyl radicals, and amino acid side chains selected from the group consisting of asparagine, valine, S-methyl cysteine, allo-iso-leucine, iso-leucine, threonine, serine, aspartic acid, beta-cyano alanine, and allo-threonine side chains;
R2 represents CH3SCH2CH2xe2x80x94, iso-butyl, n-butyl, benzyl, 4-fluorobenzyl, 2-naphthylmethyl and cyclohexylmethyl radicals;
R3 represents propyl, isobutyl, isoamyl, n-butyl, cyclohexyl, cyclohexylmethyl, benzyl and pyridylmethyl radicals;
R4 represents hydrogen and methyl, ethyl, i-propyl, n-propyl, n-butyl, t-butyl, 1,1-dimethylpropyl, cyclohexyl a phenyl radicals;
R7 and R7, independently represent methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl radicals, or together with the carbon atom to which they are attached form a cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl radical;
R8 represents methylcarbonyl, phenyl, hydroxy, methoxy, cyano, methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, isopropoxycarbonyl, t-butoxycarbonyl, benzyloxycarbonyl, carboxyl, methoxycarbonyl, methylsulfonyl, methylthio, phenylsulfonyl, phenyl, 2-, 3- or 4-pyridyl, 2-, 3- or 4-pyridyl N-oxide, N,N-dimethylamino, 1-piperidinyl, 4-morpholinyl, 4-(N-methyl)piperazinyl and 1-pyrrolidinyl; and
n represents an integer of from 0 to 6.
As utilized herein, the term xe2x80x9calkylxe2x80x9d, alone or in combination, means a straight-chain or branched-chain alkyl radical containing from 1 to about 10, preferably from 1 to 8, carbon atoms. Examples of such radicals include methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, pentyl, iso-amyl, hexyl, octyl and the like. The term lalkenyll, alone or in combination, means a straight-chain or branched-chain hydrocarbon radial having one or more double bonds and containing from 2 to about 18 carbon atoms preferably from 2 to 8 carbon atoms. Examples of suitable alkenyl radicals include ethenyl, propenyl, 1,4-butadienyl, 12-octadecene and the like. The term lalkynyll, alone or in combination, means a straight-chain hydrocarbon radical having one or more triple bonds and containing from 2 to about 10 carbon atoms, preferably from 2 to 8 carbon atoms. Examples of alkynyl radicals include ethynyl, propynyl, (propargyl), butynyl and the like. The term xe2x80x9calkoxyxe2x80x9d, alone or in combination, means an alkyl ether radical wherein the term alkyl is as defined above. Examples of suitable alkyl ether radicals include methoxy, ethoxy, n-propoxy, isopropoxy, n-butoxy, iso-butoxy, sec-butoxy, tert-butoxy and the like. The term xe2x80x9ccycloalkylxe2x80x9d, alone or in combination, means a saturated or partially saturated monocyclic, bicyclic or tricyclic alkyl radical wherein each cyclic moiety contains from about 3 to about 8 carbon atoms and is cyclic. The term xe2x80x9ccycloalkylalkylxe2x80x9d means an alkyl radical as defined above which is substituted by a cycloalkyl radical containing from about 3 to about 8, preferably from 3 to 6 carbon atoms. Examples of such cycloalkyl radicals include cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl and the like. The term xe2x80x9carylxe2x80x9d, alone or in combination, means a phenyl or naphthyl radical which optionally carries one or more substituents selected from alkyl, alkoxy, halogen, hydroxy, amino, nitro, cyano, haloalkyl and the like, such as phenyl, p-tolyl, 4-methoxyphenyl, 4-(tert-butoxy)phenyl, 4-fluorophenyl, 4-chlorophenyl, 4-hydroxyphenyl, 1-naphthyl, 2-naphthyl, and the like. The term xe2x80x9caralkylxe2x80x9d, alone or in combination, means an alkyl radical as defined above in which one hydrogen atom is replaced by an aryl radical as defined above, such as benzyl, 2-phenylethyl and the like. The term laralkoxy carbonyll, alone or in combination, means a radical of the formula xe2x80x94C(O)xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94aralkyl in which the term xe2x80x9caralkylxe2x80x9d has the significance given above. An example of an aralkoxycarbonyl radical is benzyloxycarbonyl. The term aryloxy, means a radical of the formula aryl xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94 in which the term aryl has the significance given above. The term xe2x80x9calkanoylxe2x80x9d, alone or in combination, means an acyl radical derived from an alkanecarboxylic acid wherein alkane means a radical as defined above for alkyl. Examples of alkanoyl radicals include acetyl, propionyl, butyryl, valeryl, 4-methylvaleryl, and the like. The term ocycloalkylcarbonyll means an acyl group derived from a monocyclic or bridged cycloalkanecarboxylic acid such as cyclopropanecarbonyl, cyclohexanecarbonyl, adamantanecarbonyl, and the like, or from a benz-fused monocyclic cycloalkanecarboxylic acid which is optionally substituted by, for example, alkanoylamino, such as 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2-naphthoyl,2-acetamido-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2-naphthoyl. The term laralkanoyll means an acyl radical derived from an aryl-substituted alkanecarboxylic acid such as phenylacetyl, 3-phenylpropionyl (hydrocinnamoyl), 4-phenylbutyryl, (2-naphthyl)acetyl, 4-chlorohydrocinnamoyl, 4-aminohydrocinnamoyl,4-methoxyhydrocinnamoyl, and the like. The term xe2x80x9caroylxe2x80x9d means an acyl radical derived from an aromatic carboxylic acid. Examples of such radicals include aromatic carboxylic acids, an optionally substituted benzoic or naphthoic acid such as benzoyl, 4-chlorobenzoyl, 4-carboxybenzoyl, 4-(benzyloxycarbonyl)benzoyl, 1-naphthoyl, 2-naphthoyl, 6-carboxy-2 naphthoyl, 6-(benzyloxycarbonyl)-2-naphthoyl, 3-benzyloxy-2-naphthoyl, 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoyl, 3-(benzyloxyformamido)-2-naphthoyl, and the like. The heterocyclyl or heterocycloalkyl portion of a heterocyclylcarbonyl, heterocyclyloxycarbonyl, heterocyclylalkoxycarbonyl, or heterocyclyalkyl group or the like is a saturated or partially unsaturated monocyclic, bicyclic or tricyclic heterocycle which contains one or more hetero atoms selected from nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur, which is optionally substituted on one or more carbon atoms by halogen, alkyl, alkoxy, oxo, and the like, and/or on a secondary nitrogen atom (i.e., xe2x80x94NHxe2x80x94) by alkyl, aralkoxycarbonyl, alkanoyl, phenyl or phenylalkyl or on a tertiary nitrogen atom (i.e. =Nxe2x80x94) by oxido and which is attached via a carbon atom. The heteroaryl portion of a heteroaroyl, heteroaryloxycarbonyl, or a heteroaralkoxy carbonyl group or the like is an aromatic monocyclic, bicyclic, or tricyclic heterocycle which contains the hetero atoms and is optionally substituted as defined above with respect to the definition of heterocyclyl. Such heterocyclyl and heteroaryl radicals have from four to about 12 ring members, preferably from 4 to 10 ring members. Examples of such heterocyclyl and heteroaryl groups are pyrrolidinyl, piperidinyl, piperazinyl, morpholinyl, thiamorpholinyl, pyrrolyl, imidazolyl (e.g., imidazol 4-yl, 1-benzyloxycarbonylimidazol-4-yl, etc.), pyrazolyl, pyridyl, pyrazinyl, pyrimidinyl, furyl, thienyl, triazolyl, oxazolyl, thiazolyl, indolyl (e.g., 2-indolyl, etc.), quinolinyl, (e.g., 2-quinolinyl, 3-quinolinyl, 1-oxido-2-quinolinyl, etc.), isoquinolinyl (e.g., 1-isoquinolinyl, 3-isoguinolinyl, etc.), tetrahydroquinolinyl (e.g., 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2-quinolyl, etc.), 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolinyl (e.g., 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-i-oxo-isoquinolinyl, etc.), quinoxalinyl, 9-carbolinyl, 2-benzofurancarbonyl, 1-,2-,4- or 5-benzimidazolyl, and the like. The term xe2x80x9ccycloalkylalkoxycarbonylxe2x80x9d means an acyl group derived from a cycloalkylalkoxycarboxylic acid of the formula cycloalkylalkyl-O-COOH wherein cycloalkylalkyl has the significance given above. The term xe2x80x9caryloxyalkanoylxe2x80x9d means an acyl radical of the formula aryl-0-alkanoyl wherein aryl and alkanoyl have the significance given above. The term xe2x80x9cheterocyclyloxycarbonylxe2x80x9d means an acyl group derived from heterocyclyl-O-COOH wherein heterocyclyl is as defined above. The term xe2x80x9cheterocyclylalkanoylxe2x80x9d is an acyl radical derived from a heterocyclyl-substituted alkane carboxylic acid wherein heterocyclyl has the significance given above. The term xe2x80x9cheterocyclylalkoxycarbonylxe2x80x9d means an acyl radical derived from a heterocyclyl-substituted alkane-O-COOH wherein heterocyclyl has the significance given above. The term xe2x80x9cheteroaryloxycarbonylxe2x80x9d means an-acyl radical derived from a carboxylic acid represented by heteroaryl-O-COOH wherein heteroaryl has the significance given above. The term laminocarbonyll alone or in combination, means an amino-substituted carbonyl (carbamoyl) group derived from an amino-substituted carboxylic acid wherein the amino group can be a primary, secondary or tertiary amino group containing substituents selected from hydrogen, and alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl radicals and the like. The term xe2x80x9caminoalkanoylxe2x80x9d means an acyl group derived from an amino-substituted alkanecarboxylic acid wherein the amino group can be a primary, secondary or tertiary amino group containing substituents selected from hydrogen, and alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl radicals and the like. The term xe2x80x9chalogenxe2x80x9d means fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine. The term xe2x80x9chaloalkylxe2x80x9d means an alkyl radical having the significance as defined above wherein one or more hydrogens are replaced with a halogen. Examples of such haloalkyl radicals include chloromethyl, 1-bromoethyl, fluoromethyl, difluoromethyl, trifluoromethyl, 1,1,1-trifluoroethyl and the like. The term xe2x80x9cleaving groupxe2x80x9d generally refers to groups readily displaceable by a nucleophile, such as an amine, a thiol or an alcohol nucleophile. Such leaving groups are well known in the art. Examples of such leaving groups include, but are not limited to, N-hydroxysuccinimide, N-hydroxybenzotriazole, halides, triflates, tosylates and the like. Preferred leaving groups are indicated herein where appropriate.
Procedures for preparing the compounds of Formula I are set forth below. It should be noted that the general procedure is shown as it relates to preparation of compounds having the specified stereochemistry, for example, wherein the absolute stereochemistry about the hydroxyl group is designated as (R), which is the preferred stereochemistry for the compounds of the present invention. However, such procedures are generally applicable to those compounds of opposite configuration, e.g., where the stereochemistry about the hydroxyl group is (S). In addition, the compounds having the (R) stereochemistry can be utilized to produce those having the (S) stereochemistry. For example, a compound having the (R) stereochemistry can be inverted to the (S) stereochemistry using well-known methods.
Preparation of Compounds of Formula I
The compounds of the present invention represented by Formula I above can be prepared utilizing the following general procedure. This procedure is schematically shown in the following Schemes I-V:
An N-protected chloroketone derivative of an amino acid having the formula:
wherein P represents an amino protecting group, and R2 is as defined above, is reduced to the corresponding alcohol utilizing an appropriate reducing agent. Suitable amino protecting groups are well known in the art and include carbobenzoxy, t-butoxycarbonyl, and the like. A preferred amino protecting group is carbobenzoxy. A preferred N-protected chloroketone is N-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone. A preferred reducing agent is sodium borohydride. The reduction reaction is conducted at a temperature of from xe2x88x9210xc2x0 C. to about 25xc2x0 C., preferably at about 0xc2x0 C., in a suitable solvent system such as, for example, tetrahydrofuran, and the like. The N-protected chloroketones are commercially available, e.g., such as from Bachem, Inc., Torrance, Calif. Alternatively, the chloroketones can be prepared by the procedure set forth in S. J. Fittkau, J. Prakt. Chem., 3, 1037 (1973), and subsequently N-protected utilizing procedures which are well known in the art.
The halo alcohol can be utilized directly, as described below, or, preferably, is then reacted, preferably at room temperature, with a suitable base in a suitable solvent system to produce an N-protected amino epoxide of the formula:
wherein P and R2 are as defined above. Suitable solvent systems for preparing the amino epoxide include ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, and the like including mixtures thereof. Suitable bases for producing the epoxide from the reduced chloroketone include potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, potassium t-butoxide, DBU and the like. A preferred base is potassium hydroxide.
Alternatively, a protected amino epoxide can be prepared starting with an L-amino acid which is reacted with a suitable amino-protecting group in a suitable solvent to produce an amino-protected L-amino acid ester of the formula:
wherein P1 and p2 independently represent hydrogen, benzyl and amino-protecting groups (as defined above), provided that P2 and p2 are not both hydrogen; p3 represents carboxyl-protecting group, e.g., methyl, ethyl, benzyl, tertiary-butyl and the like; and R2 is as defined above.
The amino-protected L-amino acid ester is then reduced, to the corresponding alcohol. For example, the amino-protected L-amino acid ester can be reduced with diisobutylaluminum hydride at xe2x88x9278xc2x0 C. in a suitable solvent such as toluene. The resulting alcohol is then converted, for example, by way of a Swern oxidation, to the corresponding aldehyde of the formula:
wherein p1, p2 and R2 are as defined above. Thus, a dichloromethane solution of the alcohol is added to a cooled (xe2x88x9275 to xe2x88x9268xc2x0 C.) solution of oxalyl chloride in dichloromethane and DMSO in dichloromethane and stirred for 35 minutes.
The aldehyde resulting from the Swern oxidation is then reacted with a halomethyllithium reagent, which reagent is generated in situ by reacting an alkyllithium or arylithium compound with a dihalomethane represented by the formula X1CH2X2 wherein X1 and X2 independently represent I, Br or Cl. For example, a solution of the aldehyde and chloroiodomethane in THF is cooled to xe2x88x9278xc2x0 C. and a solution of n-butyllithium in hexane is added. The resulting product is a mixture of diastereomers of the corresponding amino-protected epoxides of the formulas:
The diastereomers can be separated e.g., by chromatography, or, alternatively, once reacted in subsequent steps the diastereomeric products can be separated. For compounds having the (S) stereochemistry, a D-amino acid can be utilized in place of the L-amino acid.
The amino epoxide is then reacted, in a suitable solvent system, with an equal amount, or preferably an excess of, a desired amine of the formula:
R3NH2
wherein R3 is hydrogen or is as defined above. The reaction can be conducted over a wide range of temperatures, e.g., from about 10xc2x0 C. to about 100xc2x0 C., but is preferably, but not necessarily, conducted at a temperature at which the solvent begins to reflux. Suitable solvent systems include protic, non-protic and dipolar aprotic organic solvents such as, for example, those wherein the solvent is an alcohol, such as methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, and the like, ethers such as tetrahydrofuran, dioxane and the like, and toluene, N,N-dimethylformamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, and mixtures thereof. A preferred solvent is isopropanol. Exemplary amines corresponding to the formula R3NH2 include benzyl amine, isobutylamine, n-butyl amine, isopentyl amine, isoamylamine, cyclohexanemethyl amine, naphthylene methyl amine and the like. The resulting product is a 3-(N-protected amino)-3-(R2)-1-(NHR3)-propan-2-ol derivative (hereinafter referred to as an amino alcohol) can be represented by the formulas:
wherein P, P1, p2, R2 and R3 are as described above. Alternatively, a haloalcohol can be utilized in place of the amino epoxide.
The amino alcohol defined above is then reacted in a suitable solvent with a sulfamoyl halide, e.g. sulfamoyl chloride [R8(CH2)nC(R7R7xe2x80x2) [[R4]NSO2Cl or sulfamoyl anhydride in the presence of an acid scavenger. Suitable solvents in which the reaction can be conducted include methylene chloride, tetrahydrofuran. Suitable acid scavengers include triethylamine, pyridine. The resulting sulfamic acid derivative can be represented, depending on the epoxide utilized, by the formulas;
wherein P, P1, P2, R2, R3, R5, R7, R7xe2x80x2, R8 and n are as defined above. These intermediates are useful for preparing inhibitor compounds of the present invention and are also active inhibitors of retroviral proteases.
The sulfamoyl halides of the formula [R8(CH2)nC(R7R7xe2x80x2)]R4]NSO2X, wherein R4 is hydrogen can be prepared by the reaction of a suitable isocyanate of the formula [R8 (CH2)nC(R7R7xe2x80x2)R4]NCR with fuming sulfuric acid to produce the corresponding sulfamate which is then converted to the halide by well known procedures, such as by treating the sulfamate with PCl5. Alternatively the isocyanate can be treated with chlorosulfonic acid to produce the corresponding sulfamoyl chloride directly.
The sulfamoyl halides of the formula [R8(CH2)nC(R7R7xe2x80x2) ][R4]NSO2Cl, wherein R4 is other than hydrogen, can be prepared by reacting an amine of the formula [R8(CH2)nC(R7R7xe2x80x2) ][R4]NH, preferably as a salt such as the hydrochloride, with sulfuryl chloride in a suitable solvent such as acetonitrile. The reaction mixture is gradually warmed to reflux temperature and maintained at the reflux temperature until the reaction is complete. Alternatively, sulfamoyl halides of the formula [R8(CH2)nC(R7R7xe2x80x2) ][R4]NSO2Cl can be prepared by reacting an amine of the fomula [R8(CH2)nC(R7R7R7xe2x80x2)][R4]NH with sulfuryl chloride in boiling MeCN as disclosed in Matier et al., J. Med. Chem., la, No. 5, p.538 (1972).
Alternatively, the sulfamoyl halide can be prepared by reacting a sulfamoyl halide derivative of an isocyanate, i.e., a derivative of the formula ClSO2NCO with an appropriate alcohol of the formula HOC(R7R7,)(CH2)nR8 to produce the corresponding compound of the formula ClSO2NHC(O)OC (R7R7xe2x80x2)(CH2)nR8. Following deletion of the carbonyl moiety a sulfamoyl halide of the formula ClSO2NHC(R7R7xe2x80x2)(CH2)nR8 is produced. This procedure is described in J. or=. Chem., 54, 5826-5828 (1989). Alternatively, the amino alcohol can be reacted with a chlorosulfonyl methyl ester of the formula ClSO2O alkyl to produce the corresponding derivative and then reacted with an amine of the formula HNR4R5.
Following preparation of the sulfonyl urea derivative, the amino protecting group P or P1 and p2 amino protecting groups are removed under conditions which will not affect the remaining portion of the molecule. These methods are well known in the art and include acid hydrolysis, hydrogenolysis and the like. A preferred method involves removal of the protecting group, e.g., removal of a carbobenzoxy group, by hydrogenolysis utilizing palladium on carbon in a suitable solvent system such as an alcohol, acetic acid, and the like or mixtures thereof. Where the protecting group is a t-butoxycarbonyl group, it can be removed utilizing an inorganic or organic acid, e.g., HCl or trifluoroacetic acid, in a suitable solvent system, e.g., dioxane or methylene chloride. The resulting product is the amine salt derivative. Following neutralization of the salt, the amine is then reacted with an amino acid or corresponding derivative thereof represented by the formula (PN[CR1xe2x80x2R1xcex94]t CH(R1)COOH) wherein t, R1, R1xe2x80x2 and R1xcex94 are as defined above, to produce the antiviral compounds of the present invention having the formula:
wherein t, P, R1, R1xe2x80x2, R1xcex94, R2, R3, R4, R5, R7, R7, R8 and n are as defined above. Preferred protecting groups in this instance are a benzyloxycarbonyl group or a t-butoxycarbonyl group. Where the amine is reacted with a derivative of an amino acid, e.g., when t=1 and R1xe2x80x2 and R1 xcex94 are both i, so that the amino acid is a xcex2-amino acid, such xcex2-amino acids can be prepared according to the procedure set forth in a copending application, U.S. Ser. No. 07/345,808. Where t is 1, one of R1xe2x80x2 and R1xcex94 is H and R1 is hydrogen so that the amino acid is a homo-xcex2-amino acid, such homo-g-amino acids can be prepared by the procedure set forth in a copending application, U.S. Ser. No. 07/853,561. Where t is 0 and R1 is alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, cycloalkyl, xe2x80x94CH2SO2NH2, xe2x80x94CH2CO2CH3, xe2x80x94CO2CH3, xe2x80x94CONH2, xe2x80x94CH2C(O)NHCH3, xe2x80x94C(CH3) 2(SH), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(SCH3), xe2x80x94C(CH3)2(S(O)CH3], xe2x80x94C(CH3)2[S(O2)CH3], or an amino acid side chain, such materials are well known and many are commercially available from Sigma-Aldrich.
The N-protecting group can be subsequently removed, if desired, utilizing the procedures described above, and then reacted with a carboxylate represented by the formula:
wherein R is as defined above and L is an appropriate leaving group such as a halide. Preferably, where R1 is a side chain of a naturally occurring a-amino acid, R is a 2-quinoline carbonyl group derived from N-hydroxysuccinimide-2-quinoline carboxylate, i.e., L is hydroxy succinimide. A solution of the free amine (or amine acetate salt) and about 1.0 equivalent of the carboxylate are mixed in an appropriate solvent system and optionally treated with up to five equivalents of a base such as, for example, N-methylmorpholine, at about room temperature. Appropriate solvent systems include tetrahydrofuran, methylene chloride or N,N-dimethylformamide, and the like, including mixtures thereof.
Alternatively, the protected amino alcohol from the epoxide opening can be further protected at the newly introduced amino group with a protecting group Pxe2x80x2 which is not removed when the first protecting P is removed. One skilled in the art can choose appropriate combinations of P and Pxe2x80x2. one suitable choice is when P is Cbz and Pxe2x80x2 is Boc. The resulting compound represented by the formula:
can be carried through the remainder of the synthesis to provide a compound of the formula:
and the new protecting group Pxe2x80x2 is selectively removed, and following deprotection, the resulting amine reacted to form the sulfamic acid derivative as described above. This selective deprotection and conversion to the sulfonyl urea derivative can be accomplished at either the end of the synthesis or at any appropriate intermediate step if desired.
It is contemplated that for preparing compounds of the Formulas having R6, the compounds can be prepared following the procedure set forth above and, prior to coupling the sulfonamide derivative or analog thereof, e.g. coupling to the amino acid PNH(CH2)tCH(R1)COOH, carried through a procedure referred to in the art as reductive amihation. Thus, a sodium cyanoborohydride and an appropriate aldehyde or ketone can be reacted with the sulfonamide derivative compound or appropriate analog at room temperature in order to reductively aminate any of the compounds of Formulas I-IV. It is also contemplated that where R3 of the amino alcohol intermediate is hydrogen, the inhibitor compounds of the present invention wherein R3 is alkyl, or other substituents wherein the xcex1-C contains at least one hydrogen, can be prepared through reductive amination of the final product of the reaction between the amino alcohol and the amine or at any other stage of the synthesis for preparing the inhibitor compounds.
Contemplated equivalents of the general formulas set forth above for the antiviral compounds and derivatives as well as the intermediates are compounds otherwise corresponding thereto and having the same general properties, such as tautomers thereof as well as compounds, wherein one or more of the various R groups are simple variations of the substituents as defined therein, e.g., wherein R is a higher alkyl group than that indicated. In addition, where a substituent is designated as, or can be, a hydrogen, the exact chemical nature of a substituent which is other than hydrogen at that position, e.g., a hydrocarbyl radical or a halogen, hydroxy, amino and the like functional group, is not critical so long as it does not adversely affect the overall activity and/or synthesis procedure.
The chemical reactions described above are generally disclosed in terms of their broadest application to the preparation of the compounds of this invention. occasionally, the reactions may not be applicable as described to each compound included within the disclosed scope. The compounds for which this occurs will be readily recognized by those skilled in the art. In all such cases, either the reactions can be successfully performed by conventional modifications known to those skilled in the art, e.g., by appropriate protection of interfering groups, by changing to alternative conventional reagents, by routine modification of reaction conditions, and the like, or other reactions disclosed herein or otherwise conventional, will be applicable to the preparation of the corresponding compounds of this invention. In all preparative methods, all starting materials are known or readily preparable from known starting materials.
Without further elaboration, it is believed that one skilled in the art can, using the preceding description, utilize the present invention to its fullest extent. The following preferred specific embodiments are, therefore, to be construed as merely illustrative, and not limitative of the remainder of the disclosure in any way whatsoever.
All reagents were used as received without purification. All proton and carbon NMR spectra were obtained on either a Varian VXR-300 or VXR-400 nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer.
The following Examples 1 through 9 illustrate preparation of intermediates. These intermediates are useful in preparing the inhibitor compounds of the present invention as illustrated in Examples 13-17. In addition, the intermediates of Examples 4-9 are also retroviral protease inhibitors and inhibit, in particular, HIV protease.
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In the animal kingdom, as well as in some lower plants, i.e., nonvascular plants, fungi, yeast and bacteria, the primary reserve polysaccharide is glycogen. Glycogen is a polysaccharide containing linear molecules with .alpha.1, 4 glycosyl linkages and is branched via .alpha.1, 6 glycosyl linkages. Although from a linkage comparison, glycogen is analogous to starch, glycogen exhibits a different chain length and degree of polymerization. In bacteria, for example, the .alpha.1, 6 glycosyl linkages constitute only approximately 10% of the total linkages, indicating that the majority of the glycogen polymer resides as a linear glucose molecule.
In plants, i.e. vascular plants, reserve polysaccharides are stored in roots, tubers and seeds irk the form of starch. Starch, a complex polymer of glucose, consists of a mixture of linear chain and branched chain glucans known as amylose and amylopectin respectively. Starches isolated from different plants are found to have variable contents of amylose. Typically, amylose comprises from about 10-25% of plant starch, the remainder being the branched polymer amylopectin. Amylopectin contains low molecular weight chains and high molecular weight chains, with the low molecular weight chains ranging from 5-30 glucose units and the high molecular weight chains from 30-100 or more. The ratio of amylose/amylopectin and the distribution of low molecular weight to high molecular weight chains in the amylopectin fraction are known to affect the properties, such as thermal stabilization, retrogradation, and viscosity, and therefore utility of starch. The highest published low m.w./high m.w. chain ratios (on a weight basis) in amylopectin are 3.9/1 for waxy corn starch which has unique properties. Additionally, duwx, which has slightly more branch points than waxy has further unique properties.
In addition, starches from different plants or plant parts often have different properties. For example, potato starch has different properties than other starches, some of which may be due to the presence of phosphate groups. In some plant species, mutants have been identified which have altered contents of amylose and amylopectin. Mutations that affect the activity of starch-branching enzyme in peas, for example, result in seeds having less starch and a lower proportion of amylopectin. Also, mutations in the waxy locus of maize, which encodes a starch granule bound starch synthase, result in plants which produce amylopectin exclusively. Similarly, a potato mutant has been identified whose starch is amylose-free (Hovenkamp-Hermelink et al. Theor. Appl. Genet. (1987) 75:217-221). It has been found that varying the degree of starch branching can confer desirable physical properties; other changes in the characteristics of native starch could result in the production of polymers with new applications.
With the development of genetic engineering techniques, it is now possible to transfer genes from a variety of organism into the genome of a large number of different plant species. This process is preferable to plant breeding techniques whereby genes can only be transferred from one plant in a species to another plant in that same species or to a plant from a different, but closely related species. It would thus be desirable to develop plant varieties through genetic engineering, which have increased capacity for starch synthesis, altered amylose/amylopectin ratios, altered distribution of low to high molecular weight chains in the amylopectin fraction and also starches with novel molecular weight characteristics. In this manner, useful starches with a variety of viscosity or texture differences may be obtained.
To this end, nucleic acid sequences which encode glycogen biosynthetic enzymes are desirable for study and manipulation of the starch biosynthetic pathway. In particular, these enzymes may be expressed in plant cells using plant genetic engineering techniques and targeted to a plastid where starch synthesis occurs.
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Electrochromic rearview mirrors have long been incorporated into vehicles for providing automatic control of glare to a vehicle operator. EC rearview mirrors are often times mounted both inside and outside the vehicle or only on the inside. Some of the patents that describe electrochromic devices usable for mirrors are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,280,701; 4,712,879; 4,902,108; 5,140,455; 5,724,187; 6,111,684; 6,166,848; 6,853,472 and published patent application 2004/0233537.
Commercially available mirror assemblies comprise of an EC cell enclosed in a casing along with attachment mechanism to the vehicle, powering electronics and other electrical and electronic features. These mirror assemblies may comprise of materials which are harmful to the environment. In one aspect this invention describes novel combination of materials to reduce environmental degradation and safety, particularly for those who are involved when these systems are being made, removed, recycled or disposed at the end of their life cycle.
Most EC mirrors for vehicles in the market use a construction as shown in FIG. 1a. This prior art is shown schematically as a device cross-section, where an EC mirror is constructed using two substrates 10 and 20. 21 is a transparent conductor and 11 is a layer or a layer stack which is both electrical conductor and a reflector. This is assembled into a cavity using a perimeter adhesive 15 where the cavity thickness is determined by spacers in the adhesive and/or sprinkled throughout the cavity (not shown). The interior of the cavity has an electrochromic medium 23 which may comprise of one or more layers. For electrical connections busbar clips are attached to both substrates as 17 and 18 which are then connected to powering wires 13 and 14 respectively. The busbar clips in commercial mirrors are generally made of copper-beryllium alloy as described earlier; however, beryllium free busbars are preferred for environmental reasons. The electrical connections and the adhesive line is concealed from the user by an opaque bezel 16, generally made out of a colored plastic material (usually polypropylene, polyurethane or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene terpolymer).
FIG. 1a, shows a third surface mirror. The surfaces on the substrate are counted from the side the mirror is viewed, where the first surface is outside surface of the first substrate, the second surface is the inner surface of the second substrate, the third surface is the inner surface of the second surface and the fourth surface is the outside surface of the second substrate. The third surface reflective layer may comprise of several coats of materials both transparent conductors and reflective layers. More on this is discussed in several US patents such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,280,701, 5,724,187, 5,818,625 and published US patent application 2004/0233537. When the reflector is on the third surface then the mirrors are called third surface mirrors, and when the reflector is on the fourth surface then they are called fourth surface mirrors. As shown in FIG. 1a, the mirror cell is assembled using two substrates (20 and 10) coated with conductive coatings (21 and 11 respectively), and these are bonded using a perimeter sealant 15. During their manufacture a small hole is left in the sealant through which the electrolyte 23 is introduced in the chamber formed by the two substrates. Typically the perimeter sealant has spacer beads which result in a controlled chamber thickness. After filling the chamber (also called cavity) the hole is generally sealed with a UV curing sealant (also called plug sealant), Clips 17 and 18 are generally used to connect the conductive coatings on the substrates using wires 13 and 14 to the rest of the electronics. This mirror is enclosed in a case and 16 shows the front bezel of the case (one may also make without bezels as discussed in US patent application 2008/0074724). In the mirror housing (behind the mirror one has electronics) to power the mirror and provide any other features. FIG. 1b shows the schematics on a simplest EC mirror assembly. The EC mirror is powered and controlled by a controller which may be in the same housing as the mirror (which is generally the case) or external to it. The controller may have integrated chips which preferably should not use any components utilizing beryllium or beryllium oxide. The controller is supplied by power from the car power system or one may use a secondary (rechargeable) or a primary battery. It also receives two light intensity signals, one for glare level (typically a light transducer or sensor facing towards the rear of the car) and the other for ambient light (which is typically facing towards the front of the car), so that it can compare and decide if the glare is being caused at night by a vehicle trailing the car with the system. The controller may have other inputs such as if the car is in reverse gear or not (so that the EC mirror darkening may be disabled automatically when reversing), inputs for other added features such as for temperature, cameras for video displays, micro-phone and speaker for phone system, and may have added features such as compass, rain sensor, garage door openers, headlight control amongst many others. Many of these features are described in several patents and patent applications. Some of these are US patent application 2007/0,285,789; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,087,878.
Most commercial EC automotive mirrors use liquid or solid electrolytes, which when disposed have the potential to contaminate. To minimize disposal volume, it is preferred to reduce the quantity of electrolyte in these mirrors. The electrolytes typically comprise of electrochromic dyes, UV stabilizers, electrolytic salts, monomers, initiators, and polymers.
Commercial EC mirrors use glass coated with transparent conductors. These conductive coatings are usually indium tin oxide. Indium is an expensive material and is getting scarce due to its increased use in solar cells and displays. Other Conductors such as cheaper fluorine doped tin oxide are also used. However, for commercial mirror products fluorine tin oxide based conductors are not used when the substrate is thinner than about 2.3 mm. This invention also discloses use of tin oxide based conductors on thinner substrates to reduce weight to promote environment friendly cars (increased gas mileage) while also reducing cost. In another variation a standard 2.2 to 2.4 mm thick substrate with fluorine based tin oxide conductor may be combined with a thinner back element to fabricate a third surface EC mirror.
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The present invention relates to an induction generator comprising an injection-molded housing of plastic material provided with a port and further comprising one or more pole shoe(s), an associated permanent magnet and a plastic bobbin inserted into the port and having wound thereon a coil which is connected through soldering eyelets, to two contact tags in communication with an externally guided cable. It further comprises a mounting element, with the port, at the end facing the soldering eyelets being closely sealed by means of a lid welded to the housing. It also relates to a method of producing this induction generator.
An induction generator of the afore-described type is taught by DE-OS No. 34 00 870. According to the induction generator described therein, an orifice of a port extending through the housing is closely sealed by means of a flange formed on a cup-shaped coil-carrying bobbin and welded to the housing, with the pole shoes along with the permanent magnet being located in a recess of the coil-carrying bobbin.
The disadvantages involved with heretofore conventional induction generators relate to corrosion problems occurring in the pole shoe region caused by the ends of the pole shoes protruding from the housing. Such problems can be avoided by the use of high-quality materials for the manufacturer of the pole shoes. However, the use of such high-quality materials inevitably incurs substantial costs.
As metal particles or chips are likely to adhere to the protruding pole shoes in form-locking manner, a short-circuiting risk and a change in the output signal of the induction generator, respectively, cannot be excluded. A further disadvantage is that the joints require close tolerances to the pole shoe dimensions for proper operation. In addition, leak proofness of conventional induction generators, particularly in the pole shoe region, is considered critical. This is attributable to a plurality of seams and joints involving an enhanced risk of damage caused by changing temperature and impact stresses. Equally disadvantageous, is the need to provide for different generator configurations, different bobbins along with pole shoes and the associated permanent magnet, causing an increase in the manufacturing costs of conventional induction generators.
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In information theory, a low-density parity-check (LDPC) code is an error correcting code for transmitting a message over a noisy transmission channel. LDPC codes are a class of linear block codes. While LDPC and other error correcting codes cannot guarantee perfect transmission, the probability of lost information can be made as small as desired. LDPC was the first code to allow data transmission rates close to the theoretical maximum known as the Shannon Limit. LDPC codes can perform with 0.0045 dB of the Shannon Limit. LDPC was impractical to implement when developed in 1963. Turbo codes, discovered in 1993, became the coding scheme of choice in the late 1990s. Turbo codes are used for applications such as deep-space satellite communications. LDPC requires complex processing but is the most efficient scheme discovered as of 2007. LDPC codes can yield a large minimum distance (hereinafter “dmin”) and reduce decoding complexity.
The IEEE 802.11ad standard (also referred herein as “11ad”) enables communication in frequencies around 60 GHz for very high throughput. The IEEE 802.11ad standard also defines four LDPC matrices, each corresponding to a code rate 1/2, code rate 5/8, code rate 3/4, and code rate 13/16, respectively.
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Vehicles require means to influence air flow to and from the vehicle cabin to enhance passenger comfort. As the climate control system takes in ambient air from outside the vehicle, air exhaustion from the vehicle may be required to attain proper circulation. Similarly, as vehicle doors, liftgates, deck lids, window, etc. are closed, a sudden pressure rise may be created.
Air exhaustion devices are suitable to relieve the pressure rise caused by actuation of closure panels. These devices may function as a one-way valve that allows air to escape from the cabin while inhibiting ambient air, water, and contaminant infiltration. While current designs may be suitable for some applications, they often consume valuable package space and provide minimal flexibility for placement of other components that may be located in similar areas of the vehicle.
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In connection with the sealing of, for example, the upper and lower flap members of cases or cartons, into which a particular product has been deposited for shipment, transportation, or distribution, various types of case sealer assemblies or apparatus have been conventionally employed which effectively convey the cases or cartons, to be sealed, into and through a sealing station at which, for example, upper and lower flap member sealing mechanisms, comprising sealing tape cartridges, are disposed so as to in fact achieve the sealing of the upper and lower flap members of the cases or cartons. A significant operational drawback characteristic of such conventional, prior art case sealer assemblies or apparatus comprises, however, the fact that in order to accommodate and process various different cases or cartons having various, differently sized dimensions, the distance between the oppositely disposed drive mechanisms of the case sealer assembly or apparatus must be manually adjusted with respect to each other, when accommodating or processing various, differently sized cases or cartons, so as to in fact enable the case or carton drive mechanisms of the case sealer assembly or apparatus to properly engage the side wall portions of the particular case or carton to be sealed. More particularly, for example, if the interior width dimension of the case sealer assembly or apparatus is slightly smaller than the exterior width dimension of the particular case or carton being conveyed or driven through the sealing station of the case sealer assembly or apparatus, then there is a substantial likelihood that the particular case or carton will become stalled within the case sealer assembly or apparatus whereby continuous processing of cases or cartons through the case sealer assembly or apparatus will become jammed, or, still further, the particular case or carton will effectively be crushed within the case sealer assembly or apparatus. Conversely, if the interior width dimension of the case sealer assembly or apparatus is slightly greater than the exterior width dimension of the particular case or carton being conveyed or driven through the sealing station of the case sealer assembly or apparatus, then there is a substantial likelihood that the side wall portions of the particular case or carton will not be properly engaged by means of the drive mechanisms of the case sealer assembly or apparatus whereby, again, proper and continuous processing of the cases or cartons through the sealing station of the case sealer assembly or apparatus will be compromised.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved case sealer assembly or apparatus wherein, not only can the disposition of the pair of oppositely disposed drive mechanisms, for propelling or conveying the multiplicity of cases or cartons through the sealing station of the case sealer assembly or apparatus, be manually moved toward or away from each other so as to initially adjust the lateral distance defined between the pair of oppositely disposed drive mechanisms to any one of an infinite number of predetermined dimensions whereby various different cases or cartons, having various, different predetermined width dimensions, can be accommodated by means of the case sealer assembly or apparatus, but in addition, the pair of oppositely disposed drive mechanisms can be mounted for automatic expansible movement with respect to each other such that for each predetermined interior width dimension of the case sealer assembly or apparatus, as defined between the pair of oppositely disposed drive mechanisms, manually adjusted with respect to each other, additional automatic adjustment of the interior width dimension, defined between the pair of oppositely disposed drive mechanisms, can be automatically achieved, without the need for further or additional manual adjustment of the pair of oppositely disposed drive mechanisms with respect to each other, whereby various different cartons or cases, having various different width dimensions within a predetermined range of width dimensions, can in fact be accommodated.
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It is well known in the design and manufacture of vehicles to incorporate many parts into subassemblies to increase manufacturability. These subassemblies, commonly called modules, include a number of interrelated parts which can be assembled quickly and easily and then subsequently incorporated into the final assembly of a vehicle. Many of the modules concern structural portions of the vehicle and it is important in the design of these structural modules to provide the requisite structural stiffness and integrity while simultaneously ensuring the benefits of a modular design.
One such structural module is a structural panel within a vehicle door. Current state of the art door modules include a hardware support cross member, wiring harnesses, inside handle and latch system and window regulator and other components. Typical functional and reliability tests are performed on the module and its components prior to installation into a door frame to facilitate testing and trouble shooting. Once testing is complete the module is loaded into a door frame from the inboard side.
The door frame of a typical vehicle reacts and transmits loads among its members to predetermined locations. For instance, loads that are transmitted into the door from the vehicle or operation of the door are reacted within the door structure and subsequently transmitted to the body of the vehicle at the attachment points. A typical door frame is a monocoque structure which includes structural members integral with the periphery of the door and a belt which is a structural member positioned within the periphery below the window opening. The belt provides a fore-aft load path to increase strength and stiffness of the door which are compromised by the window opening. In some prior art embodiments, the belt is comprised of a box section structural member. section structural member.
Because the belt is a continuous member traversing the door frame in a fore aft direction, the window glass must be installed into the below belt window guides behind the belt separate from the module. Once the module and window glass are installed in the door frame, the regulator, including motor and lift and guidance system, is then connected to the window glass and is tested.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of coating a coating solution such as a photoresist to the surface of a substrate such as a glass substrate, a semiconductor wafer, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Photoresists for forming color filters are uniformly coated on the surface of a glass substrate for use in liquid-crystal display devices, and various coating solutions are uniformly coated on the surface of a semiconductor wafer. It has been customary to apply a uniform coating of such a coating solution by dropping the coating solution onto the center of the substrate and then rotating, with a spinner, the substrate to spread the dropped coating solution uniformly over the entire surface of the substrate under centrifugal forces.
According to the above coating process using a spinner, a large amount of coating solution tends to be scattered off the substrate because it is necessary to spread the coating solution dropped onto the center of the substrate uniformly outwardly to the peripheral edge of the substrate. As a result, the coating solution is consumed in a large quantity.
Use of a slit nozzle for minimizing the amount of coating solution consumed is disclosed. in Japanese laid-open patent publications Nos. 63-156320, 4-332116, and 6-151296.
According to the processes disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publications Nos. 63-156320 and 4-332116, while the slit nozzle positioned above a substrate is being translated parallel to the substrate, a coating solution is dropped from the slit nozzle onto the substrate. After the coating solution is deposited to a somewhat uniform thickness on the surface of the substrate, the substrate is rotated to uniformize the thickness of the coating solution thereon. However, since the coating solution is simply dropped on the surface of the substrate, the coating solution cannot completely uniformly be deposited because of the surface tension of the dropped coating solution. Therefore, it is necessary to apply a large amount of coating solution in order to form a uniform film of coating solution on the substrate. Another problem is that because the substrate is rotated in an atmosphere vented to the ambient air, the solvent in the coating solution tends to be evaporated quickly, making the coating solution more viscous soon. Therefore, it soon becomes difficult to spread the coating solution uniformly over the entire surface of the substrate.
According to the process revealed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 6-151296, the tip end of the slit nozzle is used to uniformize the thickness of a film of coating solution on the surface of a substrate. However, the slit nozzle is liable to be smeared with coating solution as its tip end contacts the coating solution. Further, the coated film tends to become irregular in thickness when the slit nozzle is lifted off the coating solution after the coating solution is deposited on the substrate.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of coating a coating solution quickly to a thin uniform thickness on the surface of a substrate.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of coating a solution on a surface of a rectangular substrate, comprising the steps of positioning a slit nozzle above the rectangular substrate, ejecting the solution from the slit nozzle toward the surface of the rectangular substrate while reducing or minimizing the surface tension of the solution, translating the slit nozzle parallel to the rectangular substrate to coat the solution on substantially the entire surface of the rectangular substrate while the solution is being ejected from the slit nozzle, and thereafter rotating the rectangular substrate to spread the solution uniformly over the surface of rectangular substrate.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a method of coating a solution on a surface of a circular substrate, comprising the steps of positioning a slit nozzle above the circular substrate, ejecting the solution from the slit nozzle toward the surface of the circular substrate while reducing or minimizing the surface tension of the solution, rotating the circular substrate at a first speed to coat the solution on substantially the entire surface of the circular substrate while the solution is being ejected from the slit nozzle, and thereafter rotating the circular substrate at a second speed greater than said first speed to spread the solution uniformly over the surface of circular substrate.
The surface tension of the solution may be reduced or minimized by reducing the distance between a lower end of the slit nozzle and the surface of the substrate and pressurizing the solution. Specifically, when the solution has a viscosity of at most 10 cP, it may be pressurized under a pressure ranging from 0.5 kg/cm2 to 10 kg/cm2, and the distance between the lower end of the slit nozzle and the surface of the substrate may be at most 10 mm.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a method of coating a solution on a surface of a rectangular or circular substrate, comprising the steps of setting the rectangular or circular substrate in a rotary cup, roughly coating the solution on substantially the entire surface of the rectangular or circular substrate, and thereafter rotating said rotary cup to spread the coated solution uniformly over the surface of the rectangular or circular substrate under centrifugal forces. It is preferable to close an upper opening of the rotary cup before the rotary cup is rotated.
According to yet still another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a method of coating a solution on a surface of a rectangular or circular substrate, comprising the steps of roughly coating the solution on substantially the entire surface of the rectangular or circular substrate, immediately thereafter setting the rectangular or circular substrate in a rotary cup, and then rotating said rotary cup to spread the coated solution uniformly over the surface of the rectangular or circular substrate under centrifugal forces. It is preferable to close an upper opening of the rotary cup before the rotary cup is rotated.
The solution may be roughly coated on substantially the entire surface of the rectangular or circular substrate by a slit nozzle, a jet nozzle, a roll coater, or a bar coater.
Since the distance between the lower end of the slit nozzle and the surface of the substrate is reduced and the solution is pressurized, according to some of the aformentioned aspects of the invention, it is possible to apply, to the solution, forces tending to cancel out or minimize effects of the surface tension of the solution when it is brought into contact with the surface of the substrate.
After the rectangular or circular substrate is set in the rotary cup, the upper opening of the rotary cup is preferably closed and then the rotary cup is rotated to spread the solution uniformly over the rectangular or circular substrate under centrifugal forces according to other aformentioned aspects of the invention. Therefore, it is possible to spread the solution over the substrate in an atmosphere which makes it difficult to dry the solution.
The above and further objects, details and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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Liquid specimen samples, including urine samples, are often used in medical testing procedures. Employers often require prospective employees to submit to drug screenings, which are often carried out by testing samples of the prospective employees' urine. Urine samples are often deposited in small containers including a bottle or cup with a screw-on or snap-on lid. It can be very time-consuming and inefficient for medical technicians to remove urine samples from these containers for testing. A need therefore exists for a specimen container for urine and other liquids that allows more efficient extraction of the liquid specimen.
After receiving the liquid specimen, closed specimen containers may be shipped by ground or air transport to a testing facility. During transport, the containers may be subjected to vibration, shock, and/or changes in external air pressure, which may dislodge the lids and/or cause the contents to leak or spill from the container. A need therefore exists for a specimen container for urine and other liquids having improved resistance to spillage during transport or pressure changes.
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Conventionally, there has been disclosed a method for correcting a coefficient of a model calculation formula of an intake valve model expressing a relation of an intake pipe pressure at a downstream side of a throttle valve and a cylinder intake air flow rate, based on comparison of an actual measurement value of an operation parameter which is measured during an operation of an internal combustion engine and an estimated value of the operation parameter calculated by using the model calculation formula, in Patent Literature 1, for example. The intake valve model configures a part of an air model for estimating a cylinder filling air amount, and therefore, if the coefficient of the model calculation formula of the intake valve model can be corrected, not only the cylinder intake air flow rate but also the cylinder filling air amount can be estimated with high precision.
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Waterproof housings for various devices are known in the art. However such water proof housings are not specifically designed for the actuation of buttons, switches, toggles or screens and sensors to function of the enclosed electronic device and to provide a clear transmission of sound from the interior of the case to an exterior of the case and/or from the exterior to the interior of the case. There is therefore a need in the art for a water tight case that has an improved sound transmission and allows a user to actuate various portions of the device and for sensors to function while positioned within the case.
While waterproof housings exist in the art, what is not understood is how to create a waterproof housing that allows the enclosed device to operate and effectively transmit sound into and out of a sealed enclosure using mechanical means through the use of strategically placed air cavities and acoustic membranes to translate acoustic energy into vibrational energy. Devices in most waterproof housings may not transmit sound effectively, may have problems with reverberations from vibrational effects of the housing itself or feedback from echoes from other sound sources within the housing, or may not allow the concurrent operation of other sensors of the electronic device as this is not obvious and is thus the subject of this patent. In order to allow the full functionality of the electronic device housed within a waterproof housing, such a housing requires the strategic use and placement of air cavities and the use of specific acoustic membranes for sound transmission.
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Autism may be defined as a condition, usually present from childhood, that is characterized by self-absorption, a reduced ability to respond to or communicate with the outside world and behavioral dysfunction. An autistic individual may suffer from several maladies with the accumulated symptoms being categorized as autism spectrum disorders, referred to in the field as autism or ASD. Symptoms of autism include stimming, reduced eye contact, perseveration (i.e., repeating same activity for long periods), poor communication and social skills and heightened sound sensitivity, amongst others.
It is estimated that about 1 in 100 children are affected by autism with an initial manifestation of symptoms by age three. Generally, males are more likely to suffer from autism than females. It should be noted that the overall percentage of persons exhibiting symptoms of autism may be increasing, in some instances dramatically. This rise may be due in part to an increase in the percentage of persons receiving childhood vaccinations.
There is a need for the identification of compositions to ameliorate or prevent symptoms associated with Pervasive Developmental Disorders, such as Autism, Asperger disorder and/or Retts disorder.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to filter and amplifier circuits for current signals, and in particular, to filter and amplifier circuits for current signals which use resistive-capacitive (RC), low-pass filter circuits implemented in integrated circuit (IC) form.
2. Description of the Related Art
In many circuits involving mixed signals (i.e., analog plus digital), it is often to necessary to include filter circuits to prevent switching noise or higher order signal frequency components from the digital signals from affecting the analog signals. This is particularly true for ICs which are processing both analog and digital circuits on one chip.
As ICs have become larger and more complex, the need for including filter circuits has grown greater due to the proximity of analog and digital circuits and signal lines, as well as the use of shared power supply lines within the chip. One of the simpler types of filter circuits used is a low-pass filter circuit which relys on resistors and capacitors. An implementation of an RC-type low-pass filter is typically done in one of two ways. One technique is to provide terminals for connecting external capacitors to the chip. However, this technique requires dedicated terminals for connecting the external capacitors. For many complex ICs, this is unacceptable due to the limited number of external pins or other terminals available for a particular size of IC package. The second technique involves the implementation of the filter using on-chip integrated components. For example, it is well know to use a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET), with its drain, source and substrate terminals all connected together, as a capacitor.
Referring to FIG. 3, however, using a MOS transistor as a capacitor requires that some form of stable voltage bias be provided to as to establish and stabilize the capacitance value C of such capacitor. For example, to maintain operation of the MOS transistor in its depletion mode, the drain/source/substrate terminal must be biased positively with respect to its gate terminal with a DC bias voltage Von which is greater than the transistor threshold voltage Vt. Alternatively, the DC bias voltage Von must be maintained at a negative value less than zero volts at the gate terminal with respect to the drain/source/substrate terminal to maintain operation in the accumulation mode.
Further, once the capacitance value has been stabilized in this manner, it must be maintained under signal conditions. Accordingly, it becomes necessary to combine the input AC signal with the DC biasing signal, thereby resulting in an output signal which contains both AC and DC components. However, this is generally undesired and it often becomes necessary to then somehow remove the DC signal component from the output signal.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a simple and reliable technique whereby on-chip integrated components can be used to implement an RC-type filter having stabilized values of capacitance while being capable of amplifying an AC input signal and providing a corresponding AC output signal with no DC components corresponding to any internal DC biasing signal.
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The present invention is related to a method and an arrangement for prefetching and aligning an instruction stream provided by a memory unit. Modern microprocessors have the ability of executing multiple instructions in parallel. Such microprocessors usually have a pipelined structure and comprise multiple execution units to execute instructions in parallel. For example, a microprocessor might have a load and store execution unit for performing load and store instructions and an arithmetic logic unit for executing data manipulating instructions. Furthermore, a 32-bit microprocessor might be able to execute instructions with variable lengths, for example, 16-bit instructions and 32-bit instructions.
To provide such a pipelined structure with the respective instructions from memory, usually a request is made to the memory unit. The memory unit has to load the respective number of instructions from the memory and provide the fetch unit with those instructions. As memory systems are usually slow compared to execution units, such an arrangement forms a bottleneck in the execution of instructions. Especially when it comes to a so-called boundary crossing, memory systems can not retrieve the requested data/instructions within one single access. A memory system is usually organized in lines and columns. Only a single line can be accessed at a time. Therefore, if the start and end addresses of a requested instruction stream lie not within a single line, the memory system will retrieve the requested instructions partly from one memory line and partly from the following memory line. Therefore, the memory system needs additional cycles until all information is retrieved.
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1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to hinge durability testing devices, particularly to a hinge durability testing device for testing a hinges lifespan.
2. Description of Related Art
Some electronic devices are flip type devices, which include a cover, a main body and a hinge rotatably coupling the cover and the main body. The hinge is used to open and close the cover relative to the main body, so the durability of the hinge is an important parameter of the electronic device. Thus, the durability of the hinge must be tested in the manufacture procedure. To test the durability of the hinge, a test device is used. The test device typically includes a cover holder used to hold the cover and a main body holder used to hold the main body. The cover holder rotates relative to the main body holder causing the cover to open and close relative to the main body, as a result, the durability of the hinge is tested. However, typical test device cannot steadily hold the cover, which makes it difficult to get a precise value of the durability of the hinge.
Therefore, there is a room for improved in the art.
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Compressed gas, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), has been used to drive or “power” various devices. For instance, CO2 has been employed for powering pneumatic tools, such as tools that are used in automotive applications (e.g., off-road applications, such as air chucks for airing up tires, etc.), construction applications (e.g., for powering nail guns, staple guns, wrenches, saws, sanders grinders, buffers, drills, hammers, chisels, painters, blow guns, grease guns, caulking guns, shears, ratchets, etc.), industrial applications, manufacturing applications (e.g., semiconductor fabrication applications, etc.), and various other applications. CO2 has also been employed as a propellant, such as for use in dispensing, a liquid solution, such as beverages, sanitizing solutions, pesticide solutions, etc. In any such application, whether driving a pneumatic tool or serving as a propellant, CO2 is referred to herein as “driving” (or “powering”) the device, and thus any such device is referred to herein as being CO2 driven (or powered). For instance, when being used in a pneumatic tool application, the CO2 drives the operation of the pneumatic tool; whereas when being used as a propellant, the CO2 drives the output of the target solution (e.g., through a spray nozzle or other output interface).
Gases other than CO2, such as nitrogen, are employed in some compressed gas-driven devices. However, CO2 is a particularly popular gas to use for many compressed gas-driven devices because of the often-desired quality that it maintains constant amount of pressure or power until the CO storage cylinder completely empties. That is, contrary to nitrogen and many other inert gases, the output pressure generated by CO2 does not change as the amount of CO2 remaining in the storage cylinder reduces, until the cylinder empties of CO2. Thus, largely why CO2 is popular for driving pneumatic tools and as a propellant is because it provides a steady pressure rate. Other inert gases may be used as the gas source for compressed gas-driven devices, but inconsistency in pressure may have to be addressed when using those other gases (e.g., as the gas reduces out of the gas storage cylinder, pressure loss may occur).
CO2 is often employed as an externally-supplied propellant source for dispensing some target solution. For instance, a CO2 storage cylinder may be used for outputting a flow of CO2 as a propellant for dispensing a separately-stored target solution (e.g., liquid solution) that is stored external to the CO2 storage cylinder. For instance, the target solution to be dispensed may be a beverage, sanitizing solution, pesticide, etc. As the CO2 flow is output, the separately-stored target solution (e.g., liquid solution) may be mixed with and/or carried/propelled by the CO2. In contrast, in some instances, CO2 or other gas propellant may be implemented as a propellant within an aerosol application. An aerosol is, by definition, a gaseous suspension of a fine solid or liquid particle. Thus, in an aerosol application, a substance such as paint, detergent, pesticide, etc. is packaged under pressure with the gaseous propellant (e.g., CO2) for release as a spray of fine particles. Accordingly, in the aerosol application, the target solution (e.g., liquid solution) to be dispensed is premixed with and packaged together with the gas propellant in a common storage cylinder. However, in general, CO2 has not gained great popularity for use in aerosol applications due, in part, to corrosive effects that the CO2 has when combined with certain liquids, especially water, on many aerosol containers, thereby reducing, shelf-life of the aerosol containers. In view of the above, in a propellant application, CO2 (or other gas) may be used as an aerosol propellant in which it is mixed and stored with the target solution to be dispensed, or it may be implemented as a separate/external propellant source that is stored separate from the target solution to be dispensed.
In general, there are two types of liquefied CO2 cylinders in commercial use: 1) the so-called standard type (sometimes called “gas” or “vapor” type), and 2) the so-called siphon type. Both the standard and siphon types of CO2 cylinders contain liquefied CO2 in them as long as they are filled. A standard cylinder stands upright and releases gas from the evaporation of the CO2 liquid when the valve is opened. Thus, the standard cylinder discharges gas in an upright position, and it discharges liquid when inverted. Siphon cylinders have a dip tube from the valve to the bottom of the cylinder so that when the valve is opened liquid CO2 comes out without having to invert the bottle. Thus, the siphon cylinder discharges liquid when the cylinder is in the upright position. The discharged liquid may be dispensed in certain applications, or it may be converted to gas through heating after it is dispensed from the cylinder. For instance, in certain applications, the discharged CO2 liquid is heated to convert it to gas, and the resulting gas is used to drive an end device (e.g., as a propellant or as an air power supply for a pneumatic device). Standard and siphon types of CO2 cylinders are well known in the art, see e.g., “Handbook of Compressed Gases”, by Compressed Gas Association, Edition: 4, illustrated, revised, Published by Springer, 1999, ISBN 0412782308, 9780412782305, (particularly see pages 295-311).
The operation of CO2 for driving a device (e.g., either for driving a pneumatic device or for serving as a propellant) is well known in the art, and is thus only briefly discussed herein. The following discussion concerning the operation of CO2 for driving a device is intended only for general informative purposes to aid the reader in understanding that operation of the CO2 for driving a device generally results in reduced temperature/cooling, and the discussion is not intended to be limiting of the scope of the concepts presented herein in any way. During typical operation of CO2-driven devices, the liquid CO2 stored in the CO2 storage cylinder converts from liquid to gas. The conversion from liquid to gas causes a reduction in temperature, which causes the cylinder to get cold. During typical operation, there usually exists both liquid and gas in the CO2 storage cylinder. As CO2 gas and/or liquid is output from the cylinder to drive a device (e.g., either to drive a pneumatic device or to act as a propellant), remaining liquid in the cylinder evaporates to restore the pressure in the cylinder. Just as water evaporating from a person's skin cools the person off, the evaporation of the liquid CO2 in the storage cylinder cools off the cylinder (liquid and gas). Over extended use, the cylinder and/or other components of the device will freeze (which ceases operation of the device), unless some counter-acting heating source is employed. As another description of this cooling process, the molecules of the liquid CO2 are generally in constant motion, some moving faster than average, some moving slower. The average speed of the molecules is related to temperature, and the higher the temperature, the faster they generally move. However, when molecules evaporate from a liquid, the faster “hot” molecules convert into the gas phase. As these molecules convert to gas, they lose some of their speed breaking away from the liquid, but the liquid that is left behind is colder than it previously was because it lost its “hot” molecules to the gas.
Thus, conventional compressed gas cylinders (which refers broadly to any storage vessel or container) typically have liquefied gas under its own vapor pressure at ambient temperature. As the vapor is withdrawn from the cylinder, the liquid evaporates at an equivalent rate to account for the decrease in pressure. This consumes energy from the remaining liquid in the tank. In the absence of some thermal counter-activity (e.g., heating of the cylinder), the liquid temperature drops, which may lead to a corresponding drop in the vapor pressure. If no thermal counter-activity is taken and the gas cylinder is outputting its gas (e.g., for driving a device) substantially continuously for an extended period of time, the reduced temperature will result in freezing of the cylinder or other components of the device, which causes proper operation of the device being driven by the gas to deteriorate or cease.
Various approaches have been taken with regard to the temperature reduction and potential freezing of CO2-driven devices. One approach, which does not attempt to alter the reduction in temperature, but instead attempts to insulate the cold temperature (e.g., protect a user's hands from the cold CO2 cylinder, etc.) is to cover the cylinder in a thermal insulation material. Merely using insulation does not keep the cylinder at sufficiently high temperatures (e.g., to avoid freezing over extended use) and may actually prevent ambient heat from heating the cylinder, which may encourage faster freezing of the CO2 cylinder in some instances. It should be understood that thermal insulators act to prevent the exchange of thermal energy, and thus isolate the thermal energy that is present on either side of the insulator (e.g., to contain the reduced temperatures generated within the insulator encasing the CO2 cylinder, and to isolate warmer temperatures that may reside on the opposite side of the insulator from being transferred to the cylinder). Similar thermal insulators are commonly used, for example, for encasing a cold beverage where the insulator aids both in maintaining the beverage cold and in preventing the cold from reaching a user's hand while holding the insulated beverage. Thus, thermal insulators do not perform a heat transfer or exchange, but have been employed in some instances to contain the reduced temperatures generated by a CO2 cylinder within an encasing insulator so not to cause frostbite or significant discomfort due to extreme cold when touching the cylinder.
The reduced temperature and potential freezing of CO2-driven devices has traditionally been addressed in varying ways, depending on the intended application of the compressed gas-driven device. First, there are certain devices that are not expected to encounter extended use. For instance in certain devices, the CO2 is expended in an unregulated-flow, such as in an explosive-type expulsion. As an example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,290 titled “Confetti Canon” (hereinafter “the '290 patent”) describes a device that employs an unregulated flow of CO2 for projecting confetti. For instance, the '290 patent describes a confetti canon that has “a cartridge puncturing mechanism which enables complete discharge of CO2 cartridge contents in less than three seconds,” see the abstract of the '290 patent. Such unregulated flow devices may not encounter freezing due to the quick expulsion of the CO2, rather than extended, regulated use thereof. Accordingly, in many such unregulated flow devices, measures are simply not taken for addressing the reduction in temperature and potential freezing that may occur through extended use of CO2 driving the device.
Other devices exist which employ regulated CO2 flow, but which do not address freezing. For instance, certain devices may be intended for such limited-time intermittent use that the freezing is not expected to become an issue. That is, the use of the CO2 may be intended to be sufficiently intermittent that temperature reduction to an extent that interferes with operation of the device (e.g., freezing) is not expected to be encountered (e.g., sufficiently long recovery periods of non-operation are expected to be present in the intermittent use of certain devices).
As another example, other devices may be intended for extended use, but are implemented to simply accept the reduction in temperature and eventual freezing of the device. For instance, a CO2-driven air chuck may be implemented for use in airing tires (as may be used for roadside emergencies or off-road application, for example), wherein the device does not attempt to counteract, in any way, the reduction in temperature and potential freezing encountered through use of the CO2 but instead accepts that after a certain amount of extended use it will freeze (and the air chuck will cease to operate while frozen).
Certain CO2 devices may be implemented with a piston-driven regulator for regulating the output flow of CO2 from the storage cylinder. Examples of such piston-driven regulators that may be implemented include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,053 titled “Fluid Pressure Regulator” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,421 titled “Fluid Pressure Regulator”, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Further examples of piston-driven regulators that be implemented include those commercially known as HyperFlo, HyperFlo2, HyperFloMAX, HyperFloDYN COMPACT available from Offroad Tuff (see e.g., http://www.offroadtuff.com.CO2Regulators.htm). Certain piston-driven regulators are marketed as being “no freeze.” However, such no-freeze regulators themselves do not prevent or counteract freezing from occurring in the CO2 storage cylinder, and over extended, substantially continuous use in dispensing CO2, the no-freeze regulators themselves have been found to eventually freeze if further counteracting measures are not employed.
Certain regulated-flow CO2-driven devices permit extended use and attempt to address reduced temperatures and potential freezing through persistently-maintained, active application of heat to the CO2 storage cylinder and/or other device components. One traditional approach for counteracting the reduced temperatures resulting from substantially continuous use of the regulated-flow, extended-use CO2-driven devices is to implement electrically-powered heater(s) for actively heating the cylinder and/or other components of the device. Such electrically-powered heater(s) provide a persistently-maintained heat source that can persist in actively generating heat for heating the cylinder over periods of extended use.
As one example, the Biomist™ Power Sanitizing System commercially available from Biomist, Inc. (see www.biomistinc.com) is a CO2-driven sanitizing device that employs on-board electrically-powered (i.e., AC-powered) heaters. The Biomist™ Power Sanitizing System employs a siphon-type CO2 cylinder, which discharges liquid CO2. The on-board electrically-powered heaters are used to heat the discharged liquid to convert it to gas, and the gas is then used as a propellant for outputting (e.g., via a spray nozzle) a sanitizing solution. Without the electrically-powered heaters, the desired conversion of liquid CO2 to gas for use as a propellant would not be achieved in the Biomist™ Power Sanitizing System, and eventual freezing of the CO2 cylinder and/or regulator (or other device components) would be encountered after a period of extended, substantially-continuous use so as to interfere with operation of the sanitizing device.
As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,043,287 (hereafter “the '287 patent”) titled “Disinfectant Composition and a Disinfection Method Using the Same,” the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, discloses “a disinfectant composition which is suited to the disinfection of confined spaces such as the interior of an ambulance or the like”, see abstract of the '287 patent. The '287 patent further proposes “atomizing and spraying this disinfectant composition by means of a high-pressure gas such as pressurized carbon dioxide gas”. Id. As illustrated in FIG. 1 of the '287 patent and discussed therein (e.g., at column 4, lines 18-29), the '287 patent proposes use of a siphon-type CO2 cylinder with an AC-powered heater. Thus, as with the Biomist™ Power Sanitizing System, the '287 patent proposes a system that relies on electrically-powered heaters for achieving the desired conversion of liquid CO2 to gas for use as a propellant, and without such electrically-powered heaters eventual freezing of the CO2 cylinder and/or regulator (or other device components) would be encountered after a period of extended, substantially-continuous use so as to interfere with operation of the sanitizing device.
As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,576 (hereafter “the '576 patent”) titled “Bulk Vessel Heater Skid For Liquefied Compressed Gases” describes generally “heating a container that stores and dispenses compressed gas and, specifically, with a heater arrangement attached to a skid for heating bulk vessels that store and dispense liquefied compressed gas”, see column 1, lines 5-8 of the '576 patent. In the '576 patent: a “heater skid comprises a framework for receiving the cylinder and one or more heaters coupled to the framework so that the received cylinder is proximate to the heaters, thus, allowing the heaters to heat the cylinder”, see abstract of the '576 patent.
Another example of a heating technique that has been proposed for use in gas delivery systems is an active heating/cooling jacket which is placed in intimate contact with the gas cylinder and the jacket is maintained at a constant temperature by a circulating fluid, the temperature of which is actively controlled by an external heater/chiller unit. As examples, U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,359 (hereafter “the '359 patent”) titled “System and Method for Controlled Delivery of Liquified Gases” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,412 (hereafter “the '412 patent”) titled “Gas Delivery at High Flow Rates.” the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference, each mention use of such an active heating/cooling jacket and/or other techniques for actively heating/cooling gas cylinders, particularly for use in controlled delivery of gas in semiconductor processing.
The '359 patent mentions in its background use of heating/cooling jackets (see column 2, line 59-column 4, line 27 thereof). The jacket is described as being placed in intimate contact with the cylinder and the jacket is maintained at a constant temperature by a circulating fluid, the temperature of which is controlled by an external heater/chiller unit. Thus, some persistently-maintained (e.g., electrically-powered) heater/chiller unit is employed for actively, persistently maintaining the temperature of the jacket at a constant temperature. The '359 patent further describes the use of such a jacket as being problematic for several reasons, and thus proposes a solution that avoids the use of the jacket altogether. In particular, the '359 patent proposes a system that increases the heat transfer between the ambient and the gas cylinder placed in a gas cabinet. The increase is achieved by altering air flow rate in the cabinet and adding fins internal to the cabinet. For instance, at column 9, line 37-column 10, line 37 (and see FIGS. 10-11 of the '359 patent), the '359 patent describes that air may be pulled into the cabinet containing the gas cylinder, and the air may be actively heated with an electrically-powered heating element, such as a hot plate-type heater. The circulating air passing through the cabinet is used to heat the gas cylinder. This is described as enhancing the heat transfer from the ambient to the cylinder.
The '412 patent also appears to propose use of a persistently-maintained, active heating means, such as an electrically-powered heater, for heating a jacket or hot fluid that is in direct contact with the gas cylinder, see e.g., column 4, line 48-column 5, line 35 thereof and see the heaters shown in FIG. 7, which are electrically powered as mentioned in column 10, lines 8-12 of the '412 patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,240 (hereafter “the '240 patent”) titled “Method and Apparatus for Maintaining Contents of a Compressed Gas Cylinder at a Desired Temperature,” mentions in its background (see column 1, lines 35-52 thereof) that a heating blanket may be wrapped around a cylinder to heat the cylinder. However, the '240 patent describes that the use of such a blanket is not desirable (see column 17 lines 35-48 thereof), and thus goes on to propose use of a persistently-maintained heat source, such as electrically-powered heaters, as mentioned at column 3, lines 2-5 and shown as element 15 in its FIG. 3, for warming the air around the gas cylinder within the cabinet.
As yet another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,822 (hereafter “the '822 patent”) titled “Low Temperature Inflator Apparatus” proposes another type of active heater for heating a CO2 cylinder. The '822 patent proposes use of a non-persistently maintainable heat source for heating a CO2 cylinder. In particular, the '822 patent proposes an inflator assembly (see assembly 10 of FIG. 1 of the '822 patent) for inflating an inflatable life raft or life preserver, where the inflator assembly includes a CO2 cylinder (see CO2 cylinder 15 in FIG. 1 of the '822 patent) for driving inflation of the life raft or preserver. The inflator assembly further includes an on-board solid pyrotechnic gas generator (see generator 16 in FIG. 1 of the '822 patent) that is positioned side-by-side the CO2 cylinder. The '822 patent employs a heat conductive material (see material 19 in FIG. 1 and core 46 and winding 47 of FIG. 3 of the '822 patent), such as aluminum, which conducts heat from the solid pyrotechnic gas generator to the CO2 cylinder, see column 2, lines 25-30 and column 3, lines 8-15. In operation, an actuator punctures the cartridge and ignites the generator, and combustion gas from the generator will begin immediate inflation of the inflatable gear, while heat developed by the generator is transferred to the liquid CO2 for accelerating the venting of high pressure CO2 gas to the gear, see column 1, lines 60-66.
As still another example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No 2004/0050877 (hereafter “the '877 application”) titled “Sterilizing and Disinfecting Apparatus,” the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, proposes “an apparatus for sterilizing and disinfecting a target space by spraying a chemical including alcohol”, see abstract of the '877 application. The proposed apparatus is driven by a compressed gas, such as CO2, that acts as a propellant for dispensing the sterilizing and disinfecting solution. The '887 application describes in its background (see paragraphs 0003-0011 thereof) that traditional such compressed gas-driven sterilizing and disinfecting devices have included electrically-powered heaters. The '887 application proposes a sterilizing and disinfecting apparatus that can “operate with a simple structure requiring no power supply”, see abstract of the '877 application. However, the '887 application recognizes in paragraph 0043 that in “the process of injecting the carrier gas . . . , there is a possibility that volume expansion due to decompression in the pressure reducing valve 2 causes the peripheral part to freeze,” but the '877 application explains that “it is possible to delay the time to freeze by appropriately determining the feed rate of the carrier gas.” Thus, the '877 application does not propose any technique for counteracting the reduced temperature generated by the operation of the compressed gas (e.g., CO2) in driving its apparatus (e.g., acting as a propellant), but instead accepts that freezing may eventually occur, and merely proposes to attempt to delay the occurrence of the freezing through controlling feed rate of the carrier gas.
One particular example of a compressed gas-driven device is a solution dispensing device (e.g., a sprayer, mister, etc.) which employs compressed liquefied gas (e.g., CO2) as a propellant for dispensing (e.g., spraying, misting, etc.) a target solution, such as a sanitizing solution (e.g., a disinfecting and/or sterilizing solution, such as the above-mentioned alcohol-based solutions of the '287 patent and the '877 application), a beverage, a pesticide solution, etc. In many applications of such a device, extended use may be desired which, if not counteracted, may lead to undesirable freezing of the CO2 cylinder and/or components of the device. As in the above-referenced '287 patent, electrically-powered heaters have commonly been proposed for use in persistently generating heat for actively heating the CO2 cylinder and/or components of the device (e.g., to maintain a constant temperature thereof). In some instances such as in the above-referenced '359 and '412 patents, the heater may actively heat a jacket that is in intimate contact with the cylinder, for example.
However, the implementation of electrically-powered heaters leads to increased weight, size, and cost of the device, and the use of electrically-powered heaters presents potential hazards that render the implementation unsuitable or undesirable for use in many environments in which electrical sparks may present a fire hazard. For instance, pet food production plants, grain silos, or other industrial environments may prohibit use of any electrical outlet or any electrically-powered devices due to the risk of sparking the airborne dust present in the facility. Similarly, other potential ignition sources, such as the pyrotechnic gas generator of the '822 patent, may be unsuitable for many environments because of the potential fire hazard.
Further, the AC powered solution, such as in the '287 patent, limits mobility of the device during operation (e.g., due to being tethered via an electrical cord to an electrical outlet), and it restricts use of the device to locations that have readily-accessible electrical outlets. On-board batteries may be implemented to alleviate the tethering effect of the AC power cord, but this further increases the size and weight of the device (due to the batteries), and still presents a potential electrical spark hazard.
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A soft error means, differently from a hard error in which a specific portion of a circuit is permanently destroyed, a temporary malfunction from which an operation can be recovered, the temporary malfunction randomly occurring in a semiconductor chip. An incidence of a neutron ray being a secondary cosmic ray, an alpha ray from an LSI material or the like causes the soft error.
Presently, various countermeasures are considered against the soft error. As the most effective and general countermeasure, there is a method of adopting a circuit configuration which does not effect a system even if an error occurs. For example, in an Error Correction Code (ECC) circuit, an error may be corrected comparatively easily. However, these countermeasures involve area increase, and moreover, are difficult to be applied to a logic circuit. Therefore, if a soft error ratio increases with high integration density, there is a high possibility that a problem of the soft error becomes more serious than ever.
A general soft error avoiding method is described in Patent Document 1 below. As depicted in FIG. 32, a capacitance C is added to a data holding node of a latch circuit constituted by inverters 3201 and 3202 thereby preventing data inversion due to charge generation by a radiation ray. Application of the above method to the latch circuit involves performance degradation in terms of a set up time, a delay time and the like.
Further, in Patent Document 2 below, there is described a memory cell having: first and second data lines; a bistable flip-flop circuit provided between the first and second data lines and including a first inverter having an input from the first data line and a second inverter having an output to the second data line; a first addressable transmission gate connected between the first inverter and the first data line; a second addressable transmission gate connected between the second inverter and the second data line; and a third addressable transmission gate connected between the output of the second inverter and the input of the first inverter to control feedback between the first and second inverters.
Further, in Patent Document 3 below, there is described a data holding circuit having: a data holding unit holding data to be outputted; a pull-up path taking in and holding inputted data as a pull-up control signal in synchronization with a clock and pulling up data held in the data holding unit when the pull-up signal has one of values; and a pull-down path taking in and holding the input data as a pull-down control signal in synchronization with the clock and pulling down data held in the data holding unit when the pull down control signal has the other of the values, wherein the pull-up path is configured so that an error in which the pull-up control signal changes from the other of the values to the one of the values does not occur, wherein the pull-down path is configured so that an error in which the pull-down control signal changes from the one of the values to the other of the values does not occur, wherein an error from the one of the values to the other of the values having occurred in the pull-up path does not change a value held in the pull-down path and the data holding unit, and wherein an error from the other of the values to the one of the values having occurred in the pull-down path does not change a value held in the pull-up path and the data holding unit.
Further, in Patent Document 4 below, there is described a semiconductor integrated circuit device multiplexed by connecting a first latch circuit and a second latch circuit in parallel, wherein the first latch circuit has an input terminal to make the first latch circuit operate independently of the second latch circuit.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-191454
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-59523
Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-60847
Patent Document 4: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 06-237151
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Many client applications are programmed to transmit data to a central server periodically. For example, all client computers in an enterprise system may be programmed to transmit diagnostic data to a central server daily at midnight. However, in large systems with thousands or millions of computers, a central server may not have the resources to handle all the data transmitted simultaneously. Furthermore, a computer network forwarding the data may not have the bandwidth to handle the large amount of data if they are all transmitted simultaneously.
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An active matrix substrate for use in a liquid crystal display device or the like includes a switching element, such as a thin film transistor (hereinafter, “TFT”), in each pixel. As such a switching element, a TFT which includes an amorphous silicon film as the active layer (hereinafter, “amorphous silicon TFT”) and a TFT which includes a polycrystalline silicon film as the active layer (hereinafter, “polycrystalline silicon TFT”) have been widely used in conventional devices.
Active matrix substrates usually have a display region which includes a plurality of pixels and a region exclusive of the display region (peripheral region). Each pixel of the display region includes a source wire extending in a column direction of the pixels, a gate wire extending in a row direction of the pixels, a pixel electrode, and a TFT. In the peripheral region, a plurality of terminal portions are provided for connecting the gate wires or source wires to external wires. For example, the gate wires extend from the display region to the peripheral region and are connected with a gate driver via the terminal portions (gate terminals). Meanwhile, the source wires are, for example, electrically coupled with gate connecting wires formed out of a same film as the gate wires. This connecting portion is referred to as “source-gate connecting portion”. The gate connecting wires are connected with a source driver via the terminal portions (source terminals) in the peripheral region. Wires, such as gate wires, source wires, and gate connecting wires, are metal wires, for example. In this specification, structures for connecting wires with each other, such as gate terminal portions, source terminal portions, and source-gate connecting portions, are generically referred to as “wire connecting portions”.
In recent years, using an oxide semiconductor as a material of the active layer of TFTs, instead of amorphous silicon and polycrystalline silicon, has been proposed. Such TFTs are referred to as “oxide semiconductor TFTs”. The oxide semiconductor has higher mobility than the amorphous silicon. Therefore, oxide semiconductor TFTs are capable of higher speed operation than amorphous silicon TFTs. Further, oxide semiconductor films can be formed through a simpler and more convenient process than polycrystalline silicon films and are therefore applicable to devices which require large surfaces.
As an oxide semiconductor TFT, a structure which has, for example, a bottom gate configuration and in which a protection layer (etch stop layer) is arranged so as to cover a channel region of an oxide semiconductor layer has been proposed. Such a structure is referred to as “channel protection type (or etch stop type)”. In a manufacturing process of an etch stop type TFT, source/drain electrodes are formed after a protection layer is formed on an oxide semiconductor layer. Thus, in etching for formation of the source/drain electrodes (source/drain separation), the protection layer functions as an etch stop, so that damage to the channel region from the etching can be reduced.
For an active matrix substrate which includes etch stop type oxide semiconductor TFTs, the step of forming a protection layer is added. Various processes for manufacture of such an active matrix substrate with a reduced number of photomasks have been studied (e.g., Patent Document 1).
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There is a game machine that gives a predetermined favor when at least one object moves in a predetermined area, and the object arrives at a favor giving position. As such a game machine, a pusher game machine that provides a pusher game is known in which a pusher pushes an object such as a medal placed on a table (for example, see Patent literature 1). Patent literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-037722.
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The present invention relates to a time base corrector, used with an image reproducing system such as a video disc player, in which a video signal is sampled to be digitized and the jitter of the video signal is removed.
A time base corrector (TBC) for removing the change in time base (jitter) of a video signal, used with a video disc and a VTR, is heretofore realized by sampling the video signal with a clock following the jitter of the video signal to write the resultant signal to a memory. At this time, the clock is generated using an analog VCO (voltage controlled oscillator) which is controlled by a PLL (phase locked loop). As an example for performing the full digital processing with PLL including VCO, as described in JP-A-2-58947, there is known a method in which a clock of low frequency is generated with a digital VCO, and the clock thus generated is multiplied by a frequency of a fixed oscillator to perform the frequency conversion to obtain a clock having a predetermined frequency. In this case, however, jitter is generated in the clock due an unnecessary frequency component which was produced during the processing, and the video signal is processed with that clock, and therefore, the jitter is also generated in the video signal. As a result, in the case where the video signal includes a carrier chrominance signal, there arises a problem in that a beat is generated in a chrominance signal.
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Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air intake chamber for a saddle-riding type vehicle for accumulating an engine intake air pressurized by a supercharger.
Description of Related Art
Hitherto in a saddle-riding type vehicle equipped with a supercharger, a surge tank is disposed on a downstream side of the supercharger so that air pressurized by the supercharger can be introduced into the surge tank prior to a distributed supply of such pressurized air from the surge tank into a cylinder through the throttle body.
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The invention relates to medical catheters, and, more particularly, to drainage catheters with distal anchoring mechanisms.
Some medical treatments involve the use of a medical catheter with a distal anchor that retains the catheter in position in the body of a patient. Some treatments use a drainage catheter. For example, procedures for the suprapubic catheterization of the bladder drain the bladder after surgery or when an obstruction plugs the genitourinary system. Percutaneously inserted catheters can also drain the kidneys, biliary system, abscesses, other sites of fluid collection and other viscera. As an alternative to providing drainage, percutaneously inserted catheters can introduce substances into the patient""s body such a fluids introduced through gastrostomy feeding tubes.
Since body movements can inadvertently lead to catheter displacement, various anchoring mechanisms have been developed. For example, a Foley bladder catheter includes an inflatable balloon at the distal end, an inflation channel in the walls of the catheter, an external supply of inflation fluid connected to the channel and a valve to keep the fluid in place and the balloon inflated.
Alternatively, the distal end of the catheter can include a xe2x80x9cpigtail loopxe2x80x9d formed from a flexible tube. Typically, the pigtail loop is preformed from a shape-memory material. For introduction into a patient, a physician inserts a stiff cannula or stylet into the catheter lumen to straighten the pigtail loop. The distal end of the flexible tube returns to the pigtail configuration after the physician removes the cannula. In some cases, return to the pigtail configuration may be aided or secured by the use of a suture thread that extends through draw ports at two spaced positions on the flexible tube. These draw ports move toward each other when the physician removes the cannula. The physician can then take up slack and secure the pigtail by applying tension to the suture thread. To remove the catheter, the physician can reverse the above procedures.
Other anchor mechanisms include malecots with xe2x80x9cwingsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9carmsxe2x80x9d in a distal portion of the catheter wall. The application of force to a distal tip of the catheter can expand the wings, and the wings extend outward protruding radially to create an anchor for the catheter. The force can be applied by pulling on a suture string or a rod extending through the lumen of the catheter. Alternatively, the wings of the malecot can be formed from a shape-memory material with a naturally protruding configuration, and a stylet is used to push the distal end of the catheter and collapse the malecot.
A catheter according to the invention does not require the use of a shape-memory material, a stylet, or dual tubes for collapsing an anchor mechanism. Also, catheters according to the invention do not require a physician to manipulate separately two different tension members (e.g., two sutures) extending through the catheter lumen.
A catheter of the present invention includes one or more tension members to pull on one or more arms of a dilating member to collapse the dilating member. The tension members, in cooperation with a lock member, can secure the dilating member in a collapsed state. A single tension control member (located, for example, at the proximal end of the catheter), and operable with one hand, can simultaneously produce opposite changes in tension in two tension members attached to a dilating member.
Catheters according to the invention do not require stylets. A physician can collapse and secure the dilating member, for insertion or removal of the catheter, by applying tension (e.g., a pulling force) to a tension member. Further, catheters of the invention can include a tension control member that cooperatively controls the tension in two separate tension members to permit a physician securely and controllably to expand and collapse the dilating member with the use of just one hand.
In general, in one aspect, the invention features a medical device for draining fluid from the body of a patient. The device comprises an elongate member that defines a lumen and includes a proximal end and a distal portion. The device further comprises a dilating member disposed in the distal portion of the elongate member. The dilating member comprises a plurality of arms movable from a collapsed state to an expanded state in which the arms protrude radially to anchor the device within the body of the patient. The device further comprises a tension member extending through the lumen to the dilating member and coupled to the plurality of arms such that the application of tension to the tension member causes the arms to move to the collapsed state thereby permitting insertion and removal of the device into and from the body of the patient.
Embodiments of this aspect of the invention can include the following features. The device can include a second tension member extending through the lumen to the dilating member. The second tension member couples to a distal end of at least one of the arms such that application of tension to the second tension member causes the arms to move to the expanded state.
The device can further include a tension control member disposed at the proximal end of the elongate member, movable in at least a first direction and a second direction. The tension control member is coupled to the tension members such that movement of the tension control member in the first direction causes an increase in tension of the tension member and a decrease in tension of the second tension member that causes the arms to move to the collapsed state. Movement of the tension control member in the second direction causes an increase in tension of the second tension member and a decrease in tension of the tension member that causes the arms to move to the expanded state.
In some embodiments, the tension members comprise a flexible material. In some embodiments, the tension control member is slidably coupled to the elongate member to permit movement in proximal and distal directions. In other embodiments, the tension control member is rotatably coupled to the elongate member to permit clockwise and counterclockwise rotational movement around a longitudinal axis of the elongate member. In some embodiments, the tension control member is lockable to fix the tensions in the tension members to secure the arms when in the collapsed state, and when in the expanded state.
In general, in another aspect, the invention features a device with a tension control member that cooperatively adjusts the tension in at least two tension members. The device comprises an elongate member that defines a lumen and includes a proximal end and a distal portion. A tension control member is disposed at the proximal end of the elongate member and movable in at least a first direction and a second direction. A first tension member couples to the tension control member at a first site and extends through the lumen to the distal portion. A second tension member couples to the tension control member at a second site and extends through the lumen to the distal portion.
Movement of the tension control member in the first direction causes an increase in tension of the first tension member and a decrease in tension of the second tension member. Conversely, movement of the tension control member in the second direction causes an increase in tension of the second tension member and a decrease in tension of the first tension member.
Embodiments of this aspect of the invention can include the following features. The first and second tension members can comprise a flexible material. The tension control member can be slidably coupled to the elongate member to permit movement in proximal and distal directions. In other embodiments, the tension control member is rotatably coupled to the elongate member to permit clockwise and counterclockwise rotational movement around a longitudinal axis of the elongate member.
The foregoing and other objects, aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description and from the claims.
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This application relates to several operating parameters in a refrigerant cycle that are controlled by management of an economized cycle in a multi-circuit refrigerant system.
Refrigerant systems are utilized to condition (e.g., heat/cool) an environment. As is known, in a cooling mode a refrigerant cycle typically includes a compressor that compresses a refrigerant and delivers the refrigerant to a condenser. From the condenser, the refrigerant passes into an expansion device, and then downstream to an evaporator. From the evaporator, the refrigerant is returned to the compressor. In a heat mode, the flow is generally reversed.
One type of refrigerant cycle that improves efficiency, increases the capacity and provides additional control options to a designer, is an economizer cycle. In an economized refrigerant cycle, the refrigerant downstream of the condenser is split into two flows. The smaller of the two flows is expanded to reduce temperature of this tapped refrigerant, and then passed through an economizer heat exchanger. A main portion of the split flow also passes through the economizer heat exchanger. The expanded economizer flow cools the main refrigerant flow. When this main flow refrigerant reaches the evaporator, it thus has greater cooling capacity. The tapped refrigerant is typically returned to a compressor at an intermediate compression point downstream of the economizer heat exchanger.
While economized cycles do provide increasing capacity, they also provide options for additional control features. Many of these features have yet to be exploited.
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Wi-Fi networks are becoming more widely used, and many new Wi-Fi capable devices are being deployed in the home/office. Many sites, e.g., homes and/or offices, already have a gateway which supports WiFi communications. Typical installation of a new WiFi devices involves user intervention of a customer and/or technician. A WPS (Wi-Fi protected setup) button exists on some devices, but it requires the user to physically press a button on the gateway and pair it with a device. Typically, the user would need to manually enter an SSID, e.g., obtained from packing provided with a WiFi gateway, and/or manually perform other steps to configure a new device to operate with an existing gateway device.
While the SSID to which a gateway device is initially configured may be indicated on the gateway device, e.g., via a label attached thereto, users often change the original SSID to one of their choosing for added security. Thus, after being deployed in a home the original SSID assigned to the gateway may not longer be valid due to a customer resetting the SSID.
It would be advantageous if methods and apparatus were developed which allowed a new device to automatically configure at a customer premise via WiFi signaling without having to know an SSID of a customer's home network which provides access to personal data stored on devices attached to the customer's home network and without having to know a network security parameter relating to the home network used at the home for Internet or home network access.
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1. Field of the Invention
An embodiment of the present invention relates to a drawing device, an operation controlling method of the drawing device, and an operation controlling program of the drawing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a related art, a drawing device to draw a nail design on a nail of a finger has been proposed.
For example, in JP 2003-534083 W, a technology to draw a nail design on a nail of a finger or toe by using an ink jet printing technology has been described. In a drawing device of this type, an image of a finger on which drawing is to be performed is acquired with a camera and a nail region is detected from the acquired image. In this detection, it is necessary to know a direction of the nail in addition to the nail region.
This is because a finger of a nail on which drawing is to be performed is not always inserted in a preferred angle with respect to a finger placed table of a drawing device. Here, FIGS. 14A to 14C are views for describing a technology of a related art. As illustrated in FIG. 14A, for example, a case where there is a nail design 101 and the nail design 101 is drawn on a nail 103 of a finger 102 is considered.
As illustrated in FIG. 14B, when the finger 102 is inserted straight with respect to the finger placed table, the nail design 101 can be drawn correctly (in state in which longitudinal direction (axis) 102a of finger 102 is identical to direction of axis 101a in vertical direction of nail design 101).
However, as illustrated in FIG. 14C, when the finger 102 is inserted obliquely with respect to the finger placed table, the nail design 101 is drawn obliquely on the nail 103.
In order to prevent the nail design 101 from being drawn obliquely on the nail 103 in such a manner, it is necessary to check the longitudinal direction 102a of the finger 102 based on a shape of the finger 102 before drawing the nail design 101 and to make a correction in order to make the axis 101a in the vertical direction of the nail design 101 becomes identical to the longitudinal direction 102a of the finger 102.
However, there is a case where a shape of the finger 102 is not symmetrical. Thus, there is a case where it is difficult to determine a longitudinal direction of the nail 103 based only on the shape of the finger 102.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method employed to electrically stimulate body surfaces so as to potentiate or elicit erotic sensations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since Luigi Galvani inferred that electric charge could be used to generate a response in excitable tissue in 1771, scientists, researchers and hobbyists have experimented with electricity as a means to evoke various electrophysiologically mediated responses. These responses include, but are not limited to, cardiac pacing and defibrillation, spinal cord stimulation (SCS), deep brain stimulation (DBS), peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS), transcutaneous neural stimulation (TENS), evoked myograms (EMG), erotic stimulation (e-stim), and sensory and motor prosthesis among many others.
The mechanism of action for electrostimulation-mediated sensation generation involves the use of applied electricity to modulate action potentials in the nervous system. Action potentials are depolarizations of neurons which are capable of propagating throughout the body. Inputs to the nervous system are provided by sensory receptors which transduce stimuli such as temperature, pain and touch. Two specific examples of sensory receptors are mechanoreceptors, which transduce mechanical deformation proximal to the receptor, and nociceptors, which transduce the sensation and response to pain. The nerve fibers originating from these sensory receptors terminate at specific points in the central nervous system, which in turn correspond to the signal being sensed. This sensory modality specific linkage is the so-called “labeled line principle.” By means of example, if a touch fiber is stimulated by exciting a touch receptor electrically or in any other way, touch is perceived because the nervous pathway originating from the activated mechanoreceptor terminates in the touch area of the brain. An auditory sensation would not be perceived in this example, as the sensory receptor and pathway is specific for touch not auditory sensation.
Some exemplary mechanoreceptors are shown in FIG. 1. These mechanoreceptors include, but are not limited to, free nerve endings, expanded tip receptors, tactile hair sensors, Pacinian, Meissner's and Krause's corpuscles, Merkel's disks, Ruffini's end-organ, Golgi tendon apparati and muscle spindles. These receptors may be excited in one of several different ways. These methods for excitation may include an appropriate applied electrical stimuli, mechanical deformation or chemical excitation, among others. Each of these receptors are preferentially excited in a slightly different manner. For example, Meissner's corpuscles are selective to light touch at 30-50 Hz. Pacinian corpuscles are more selective to deeper, vibratory touch at 250-350 Hz. Merkel's disks respond to frequencies in the 5-15 Hz range. This non-painful sensory information is carried by large diameter (5 to 12 microns) alpha-beta fibers back to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and eventually to the brain.
A characteristic of all sensory receptors is that they eventually habituate to some degree to their respective stimuli. When a continuous stimuli is applied, the receptors respond at an initially high rate, followed by a then progressively slower rate until many no longer fire. FIG. 2 shows the habituation of several types of receptors as a function of time, in response to supra-maximal electrical stimulation. The Pacinian corpuscle extinguishes within several hundred milliseconds whereas the Merkel's disk habituates to constant stimulation over the period of hours or days. Receptors with ultra-short habituation times are referred to as phasic receptors, and are responsible for transducing the rate at which change takes place.
A representative electrostimulation signal applied to a body surface so as to potentiate or elicit an erotic sensation is shown in FIG. 3. Biphasic stimulation consisting of a cathodic phase where charge flows out of the target body surface is followed by an anodic phase where charge flows into the body surface. Delivering the cathodic phase first, versus the anodic phase, generally results in lower stimulation amplitude needed to elicit a sensation. The application of a biphasic waveform is generally preferred as it limits undesirable electrochemistry which can result in tissue damage at the electrode-body surface interface. The stimulation is provided at a given site on the body surface with respect to at least a second body surface electrode located somewhere else on the body.
For some, electrostimulation on a body surface may generate a perception of pain. This perception may stem from a host of causes, including one or more of: (a) electrostimulation of sufficient strength to result in muscle contraction; (b) psychosomatic pain in response to the unique sensation of electrostimulation; (c) frank activation of a nociceptive neural circuit. When a nociceptive neural circuit is activated, small diameter neurons such as unmyelinated C fibers less than 2 microns in diameter and myelinated alpha-delta fibers, 2 to 5 microns in diameter, convey the pain sensation to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and eventually to the brain.
Recognizing that electrostimulation may be used to potentiate or elicit an erotic sensation, some references in the art have elaborated systems and methods which electrically stimulate the genitalia for the purpose of generating sensation therein. These systems and methods are generally designed with limited understanding of the target tissue electroneurophysiology and suffer in turn from habituation to the electrostimulation, numbness and pain in the recipient.
There are a number of patents and publications that teach various components or systems that provide background knowledge and also provide evidence of novelty of the present invention. The teachings and contents of these documents are incorporated herein in entirety by reference, and include the following U.S. patents and published applications: U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,783 by Timcke, entitled “Vibration therapy apparatus”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,092 by Landauer, entitled “Therapeutic apparatus”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,528 by Masaki, entitled “Electrical therapeutic equipment”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,299,892 by Kendall et al, entitled “Therapeutic pulse generation, control and transmission circuit”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,148 by Kendall, entitled “Control of electrotherapeutic apparatus”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,276 by Burghele et al, entitled “Method and apparatus, including a flexible electrode, for the electric neurostimulation of the neurogenic bladder”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,756 by Richards et al, entitled “Duplex ultrasound generator and combined electrical muscle stimulator”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,463 by Williams, entitled “Dual channel stimulator”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,136 by Bucalo, entitled “Method for artificially inducing urination, defecation, or sexual excitation”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,751 by Yarger, entitled “High-performance electrotherapeutic apparatus”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,983,881 by Wickham, entitled “Muscle stimulator”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,437 by Church, entitled “Electric massage apparatus and method”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,256 by Bucalo, entitled “Nerve stimulation method”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,584 by McCall, entitled “Electrical pulse acupressure system”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,253 by Greene et al, entitled “Transcutaneous pain control and/or muscle stimulating apparatus”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,565 by Scherer, entitled “Circuit arrangement for producing a low frequency alternating current”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,000 by Butler et al, entitled “Transcutaneous nerve stimulator with pseusorandom pulse generator”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,548 by Maurer et al, entitled “Method of improving sensory tolerance with modulated nerve stimulator”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,005 by Lue et al, entitled “Method and pacemaker for stimulating penile erection”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,543 by Heppenstall et al, entitled “Enhanced fracture healing and muscle exercise through defined cycles of electric stimulation”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,286 by Thomson, entitled “Optimized nerve fiber stimulation”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,479 by Maurer, entitled “Interrupted drive limb motion apparatus”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,142 by Ross et al, entitled “Method and system for utilizing electro-neuro stimulation in a bio-feedback system”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,138 by Nordenstroom, entitled “Method and apparatus for supplying electric energy to biological tissue for simulating the physiological healing process”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,139 by Brodard, entitled “Electrical neuromuscular stimulation device”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,879 by Sevrain et al, entitled “Electro-tactile stimulator”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,211 by Bartelt et al, entitled “Microprocessor controlled electronic stimulating device having biphasic pulse output”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,873 by Graupe et al, entitled “Method of and apparatus for electrically stimulating quadriceps muscles of an upper motor unit paraplegic”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,835 by Thomas, entitled “Electrotherapeutic treatment”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,826 by Bartelt et al, entitled “Combined nerve fiber and body tissue stimulation apparatus and method”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,041 by Toriu et al, entitled “Transcutaneous electric nerve stimulator”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,118 by Boutos, entitled “Apparatus for stimulating penile, scrotal, anal vaginal and clitoral tissue”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,428 by Tippey et al, entitled “Electrical stimulation for treatment of incontinence and other neuro-muscular disorders”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,212 by Gliner et al, entitled “External defibrillator capable of delivering patient impedance compensated biphasic waveforms”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,890 by Oldham, entitled “Stimulation of muscles”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,438,418 by Swerdlow et al, entitled “Method and apparatus for reduction of pain from electric shock therapies”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,493,580 by Cansell et al, entitled “Impulses or a series of impulses for defibrillation and device to generate them”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,319 by Kobayashi, entitled “Living body stimulating apparatus”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,535,767 by Kronberg, entitled “Apparatus and method for bioelectric stimulation, healing acceleration and pain relief”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,650,943 by Whitehurst et al, entitled “Fully implantable neurostimulator for cavernous nerve stimulation as a therapy for erectile dysfunction and other sexual dysfunction”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,671,546 by Cansell et al, entitled “Impulses or a series of impulses for defibrillation and device to generate them”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,671,557 by Gliner, entitled “System and method for providing percutaneous electrical therapy”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,106 by Herbst, entitled “Method and electronic components for multi-functional electrical stimulation systems”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,050,856 by Stypulkowski, entitled “Variation of neural-stimulation parameters”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,133,723 by Yu, entitled “Device for enhancing cell metabolism”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,167,752 by Lin-Hendel, entitled “Electronic electrical and electro-magnetic health enhancement and stimulation device”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,191,014 by Kobayashi et al, entitled “Living body stimulating apparatus”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,333,858 by Killian et al, entitled “Pulse burst electrical stimulation of nerve or tissue fibers”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,584,003 by Zanella, entitled “Apparatus of electro-stimulation and relative data support”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,593,775 by Campos et al, entitled “Sports equipment with resonant muscle stimulator for developing muscle strength”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,689,287 by Han, entitled “Method of aiding smoking cessation”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,890,182 by Parramon et al, entitled “Current steering for an implantable stimulator device involving fractionalized stimulation pulses”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,979,137 by Tracey et al, entitled “System and method for nerve stimulation”; U.S. Pat. No. 8,073,544 by Pless, entitled “Neurostimulator involving stimulation strategies and process for using it”; U.S. Pat. No. 8,165,695 by DiUbaldi et al, entitled “System and method for selectively stimulating different body parts”; Re 43,374 by Kronberg, entitled “Apparatus and method for bioelectric stimulation, healing acceleration and pain relief”; U.S. Pat. No. 8,315,711 by Campos et al, entitled “Resonant muscle stimulator”; 2010/0204624 by Vuillerme et al, entitled “Endo-buccal device for tactile stimulation and actuation”; and 2013/0237750 by Green and granted as U.S. Pat. No. 8,998,796, entitled “Sexual Stimulation Device”.
In addition to the aforementioned U.S. patents and published patent applications, the following additional patents and publications are also incorporated herein by reference: CA 2319525 by Kaczmarek et al, entitled “Tongue placed tactile output device”; EP 1916982 by Freebody, entitled “Skin surface stimulation using a matrix of controlled stimulation elements”; EP 0620025 by Kolen, entitled “Microprocessor-based nerve and muscle stimulator for localized application”; DE 202004017511 by Jobb, entitled “Sex toy with an electrode for erotic stimulation comprises an assembly of 2-core braided wire, latex strip, bent metal rods and Y cables”; WO 2006063461 by Murison, entitled “Electro-mechanical sexual stimulation device”; EP 0897706 by Ardatin, entitled “Vibrator with clitoris stimulator”; Geng, et al, “Impacts of selected stimulation patterns on the perception threshold in electrocutaneous stimulation”, Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation 2011, 8:9; and Scheibert J., Leurent S., Prevost A., Debregas G. (2009), “The role of fingerprints in the coding of tactile information probed with a biomimetic sensor”, Science, 323(5920): 1503-6. In addition, Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition copyright 1983, is incorporated herein by reference in entirety for the definitions of words and terms used herein.
As taught by Geng et al. incorporated by reference herein above, the primary challenge for any tactile feedback system, including erotic stimulation systems, is the necessity to manage target tissue habituation to sustained stimulation, and to manage electrostimulator adaptation to target tissue impedance changes. The first of these, target tissue habituation to sustained stimulation, has already been discussed herein above with reference to FIG. 2. The second, managing electrostimulator adaptation to target tissue impedance changes, has to do with the efficacy and safety of the electrostimulator responsive to target tissue impedance changes. For exemplary purposes, if the electrostimulator is designed to produce a pulse train having a voltage independent of target tissue impedance, then substantially more current and energy will be delivered to the tissue when there is low impedance. Described another way, if for exemplary purpose the environment is warm and humid, sufficient to cause a person to perspire, then the tissue will have significantly lower impedance than in a cool and dry environment. This means an apparatus functioning properly on a warm and humid day may be completely non-functional on a cool and dry day. In an alternative, if the electrostimulator is instead configured to produce a pulse train having a constant current, then when there is significantly more impedance in the target tissue, such as on a cold and dry day or when the electrode is poorly affixed or in only poor or partial contact, the electrostimulator may ramp the voltage up substantially to maintain the target current flow. This can harm the target tissue as well. As noted, there are many factors that can affect the impedance of the target tissue, including levels of perspiration, extent or pressure of tissue contact, amount and composition of electrode gels or lubricants, and many other factors. Consequently, managing electrostimulator adaptation to target tissue impedance changes is critical and yet very difficult in the prior art.
As those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate readily upon reading the Summary of the Invention, Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments and Claims set forth below, at least some of the devices and methods disclosed in the patents and publications listed herein above may be modified advantageously in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages, which will now become more readily apparent by referring to the following specification, drawings and claims, are provided by the various embodiments of the present invention.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique of signal transmission between devices such as multiple processors and memories (for example, between digital circuits constructed by CMOSs or between their functional blocks) in an information processing apparatus, and in particular to a technique for speeding up bus transmission which a plurality of elements are connected to a same transmission line for transferring data. In particular, the present invention relates to a bus to which a plurality of memory modules and a memory controller are connected and to a system using that bus.
2. Description of Related Art
As a bus system that is connected with many nodes and intended for high-speed data transfer, is mentioned a non-contact bus line of Japanese Unexamined Patent Laid-Open No. 7-141079 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,402). FIG. 5 shows the basic system of the conventional technique. In this technique, data transfer between two nodes is realized by utilizing crosstalk, i.e., using a directional coupler. Namely, FIG. 5 shows a technique in which transfer between a bus master 10-1 and slaves 10-2–10-8 is carried out utilizing crosstalk between two lines, i.e., between the line 1-1 and a line 1-2–1-8. The technique of FIG. 5 is suitable for transfer between the bus master 10-1 and the slaves 10-2–10-8, or data transfer between a memory controller and memories.
However, in the conventional technique of 7-141079 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,402), the line length occupied by a directional coupler decides module intervals. Accordingly, in order to shorten the module intervals, it is necessary to shorten the line length of the directional coupler. However, shorter line length becomes a cause of reducing the transmission efficiency, i.e., degree of coupling, and thus, it is impossible to make each interval less than certain length. Thus, a first problem is to realize high-density mounting of memories by making intervals between memory modules smaller.
A second problem is that, as transmission speed becomes higher in high-speed data transmission, waveform distortion increases owing to frequency-dependent effects such as the skin effect. This appears as a phenomenon that pulse waveform becomes dull at its rising and falling shoulders, and owing to this influence, appears as an increase of skew when a receiver takes in the pulse waveform. Namely, since the shoulders of the pulse waveform inputted into the receiver become dull, time when a signal exceeds or falls short of the receiver's reference voltage (Vref) increases. As a result, receiver's take-in time increases, causing the increase of the skew.
The reason why the skin effect makes the shoulders of the pulse dull is described as follows.
A high-speed pulse has a high-frequency component depending on the reciprocal of its transition (rise or fall) time. For example, the frequency bank (fknee) of a pulse having the transition time Tr can be written by the following equation:fknee=0.35/Tr (1)
Accordingly, when it is assumed that a pulse of 1 Gbps is transmitted and 30% of it is the transition time, then, fknee=0.35/(0.3 [ns])˜1 GHz. In this case, resistance increase owing to the skin effect is calculated as follows.
The volume resistivity ρ of copper at 20 [° C.] is 1.72*10^−8 [Ω·m]. In the case of a standard line (linewidth 0.1 [mm] and line thickness 0.030 [mm]) in a board, DC resistance becomes 5.7 [mΩ/mm]. Here, “^” expresses the power. Further, resistance per unit length owing to the skin effect is:r=2.6×10^−6√{square root over (f)}[Ω/mm] (2)and, at 1 GHz, it becomes:r=82[mΩ/mm].Thus, in comparison with the DC resistance 6 [mΩ/mm], the resistance in the transmission time increases 13 times. Namely, the high resistance appears only at the transition time, and this leads to the dull wave waveform. This is because a resistance component becomes larger as the frequency becomes higher, thus having larger effects at rising and falling times. As a technique for overcoming this, a driver can be used to make the pulse waveform steeper at the transition (rise and fall) times. For example, an article, “Limits of Electrical Signaling (Transmitter Equalization)”; IEEE HOT interconnect V (1997, 9/21–23), pp. 48 describes an equalizer system using DAC (Digital Analog Converter) of a driver (transmitter). This is realized in the driver by changing transition waveform steeply all the more when the quantity of dullness is larger. In the case of using this technique, the driver becomes complex and it is difficult to mount many devices on LSI.
As a third problem, a plurality of memories have different line lengths depending on their distances from a memory controller. This causes time differences in read and write data. Data arrival times are different depending on chip locations, and its correction makes system design very difficult. Thus, removal of these time differences is a problem.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an X-ray imaging tube having a high resolution.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional X-ray imaging tubes have been generally used in a variety of applications as medical X-ray image pickup apparatuses and industrial non-destructive testing X-ray TV monitors.
A conventional X-ray imaging tube comprises a vacuum envelope having an input window for receiving an X-ray. An arcuated substrate is arranged inside the vacuum envelope to oppose the input window. An input phosphor screen and a photocathode are sequentially stacked on the opposite surface of the arcuated substrate with respect to the input window. A focusing electrode is arranged along the inner side wall of the vacuum envelope. An anode and an output phosphor screen are arranged on the output side.
An X-ray emitted from an X-ray tube passes through an object to be examined and then passes through the input window and the substrate of the X-ray imaging tube. The X-ray is then converted into light by the input phosphor screen. This light is converted into electrons by the photocathode. The electrons are accelerated and focused by an electron lens constituted by the focusing electrode and the anode. The focused electrons are converted into a visible image by the output phosphor screen. This visible image is picked up by a television camera, movie camera, or spot camera and is used for medical diagnosis.
An arrangement of the input phosphor screen of the X-ray imaging tube will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, the input phosphor screen comprises an aluminum substrate 1, a discontinuous layer 2 made of cesium iodide (CsI) formed on the aluminum substrate 1, a continuous layer 3 made of cesium iodide (CsI) formed on the discontinuous layer 2, and a photocathode 4 formed on the continuous layer 3. The input phosphor screen having the above structure has a light guide effect. That is, since cesium iodide has a refractive index of 1.84 for emission at a wavelength of about 420 nm, light emitted by the cesium iodide crystal is theoretically subjected to total reflection when it is incident on an interface between the crystal and the vacuum at an obtuse angle of 33x or more. For this reason, the light cannot emerge outside the crystal. Part of emission cannot be scattered laterally and reaches the photocathode 4.
The light is attenuated at the interface between the crystal and the vacuum. Light emerging outside the crystal at a critical angle of 33.degree. or less reaches the adjacent discontinuous layer 2. At the time, most of the light is absorbed by the adjacent discontinuous layer 2, but the light partially returns to the original crystal by Fresnel reflection. This applies to emergence of light from the crystal to the vacuum. Light scattered laterally is gradually attenuated. Light farther away from a crystal growth direction passes the interface more frequently, thereby increasing the degree of attenuation. Therefore, light closer to the crystal growth direction can reach the photocathode 4 with a small attenuation amount.
Light emerging from the discontinuous layer 2 reaches the photocathode 4 which is not far away from a light emission point. A resolution of the input phosphor screen itself is thus obtained. Since a recent X-ray imaging tube aims at detecting X-ray signals passing through the object as much as possible, the thickness of the input phosphor screen is set to be 400 .mu.m or more, thereby improving X-ray absorption efficiency.
The light guide effect does not depend on the thickness of the input phosphor screen. When the thickness of the input phosphor screen, however, is increased, a light attenuation effect at the interface between the vacuum and the crystal is weakened, and the resolution of the input phosphor screen is decreased.
In order to increase this resolution, it is possible to reduce the diameter of each columnar crystal of the discontinuous layer 2 to obtain a dense optical interface in the planar direction. It is assumed that the dense optical interface increases the light attenuation rate (per unit optical length) of the laterally scattered light.
The diameter of each columnar crystal of the discontinuous layer 2 depends on the substrate temperature in a screen deposition process. When a cesium iodide film was formed at a pressure of 4.5 Pa while the substrate temperature was maintained at 150.degree. C. during deposition, a discontinuous layer 2 of columnar crystals each having a diameter of 6 fm was obtained. When the substrate temperature was set at 180.degree. C., a discontinuous layer 2 of columnar crystals each having a diameter of 9 .mu.m was obtained. When the resolutions of input phosphor screens having these discontinuous layers 2 were measured, CTF (Contrast Transfer Function) values of these samples were almost equal to each other, about 24% at 20 lp/cm. The CTF value of the input phosphor screen having the discontinuous layer of columnar crystals each having the diameter of 6 .mu.m was larger than that of the columnar crystals each having the diameter of 9 .mu.m by 1% at 50 lp/cm. This CTF difference results in a small difference appearing on the TV monitor through an image pickup system when the input phosphor screen is mounted in an X-ray imaging tube.
As another effective means for improving resolution characteristics of an input phosphor screen having such a columnar structure, a light-absorbing or light-reflecting layer is formed at the optical interface constituted by the columnar structure, thereby increasing the lateral light attenuation. In particular, a method of increasing light attenuation at the interface between the crystal and the vacuum is disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 62-43046. According to this method, a light-absorbing layer is formed between the crystal columns of the discontinuous layer. Another method is disclosed in Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 59-121733, in which a light-reflecting material powder is filled between the columns of the discontinuous layer. However, since the gap between the columns of the discontinuous layer is 1 .mu.m, it is very difficult to perform the above process in the small gap between the crystal columns.
To the contrary, Published Examined Japanese Patent Application No. 54-40071 describes that a columnar phosphor mixed with copper is annealed in an oxygen atmosphere to form an oxide film at the optical interface of the columnar phosphor, thereby obtaining an input phosphor screen. This prior art describes that light within the phosphor is reflected by the oxide film on the input phosphor screen and will not emerge outside the phosphor.
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Granular material is typically held in storage chambers until use. The ability of the material to flow through the exit orifice of the chamber depends in large part upon the particle size, shape and moisture content. The typical funnel shape of the storage chamber, along with gravity helps facilitate the flow of the material, and for most granular material that is enough. An excellent example of free-flowing material is sand. Fine powders, on the other hand, are much more resistant to flow due to their cohesive nature and/or bulk density and consequently need more than just the help of gravity to keep them flowing. An excellent example is baking flour, which is very resistant to flow and consequently needs the scraping action of a “flour sifter” to exit its chamber. In an effort to achieve a steady, even flow of material, the most common method of solving this flow problem is vibrating and/or pressurizing the entire storage chamber. However, there are still some powders that will not flow evenly, even with the use of vibration and air pressure. As a result, the phenomena of caking, bridging and rat holing are often seen in fine powders.
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown three prior art diagrams illustrating the phenomena of caking, bridging and rat holing that fine powders often exhibit. Caking occurs when a large amount of powder sticks to the sides of the chamber, and refuses to flow downward. Bridging occurs when the powder forms a bridge over the exit orifice, and effectively prevents the flow of material entirely. Rat holing occurs when a channel forms down the middle of the chamber, and a large amount of powder is left clinging to the sides of the chamber. In general, each of these three problems is seen at the entrance to the exit orifice.
Accordingly, there is a need for a flow facilitator that addresses the above-described problem phenomena often encountered at the entrance to the exit orifice.
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The present invention relates to a respirator mask for filtering breathed air and more particularly pertains to preventing a user from breathing unfiltered air.
The use of respirator devices is known in the prior art. More specifically, respirator devices heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of absorbing fumes and the like are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,900 to Thompson discloses et al. discloses a respirator filter means for the removal of tritiated water comprising fluid inlet and output ports. U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,742 to Theodorou discloses a portable breathing device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,751 to Mausteller et al. discloses an escape respirator having a mouthpiece that is directly connected to a chemical canister. U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,279 to Furuichi et al. discloses a semi-closed respirator used in diving.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objective and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a respirator mask for filtering breathed air for preventing a user from breathing unfiltered air.
In this respect, the respirator mask for filtering breathed air 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 preventing a user from breathing unfiltered air.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved respirator mask for filtering breathed air which can be used for preventing a user from breathing unfiltered air. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.
In the view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of respirator devices now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved respirator mask for filtering breathed air. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved respirator mask for filtering breathed air which has all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a mask portion dimensioned for covering the mouth of the user. The mask portion includes an inner portion, an outer portion, and an air chamber therebetween. The mask portion includes a generally circular peripheral edge. The peripheral edge includes a top edge, a bottom edge, and opposed side edges. The mask portion includes an elastic band having opposed ends secured to the opposed side edges thereof for extending around the user""s head when the mask portion is positioned on the mouth of the user. The mask portion includes a pair of nose sections extending upwardly from the top edge thereof. The pair of nose sections each include upper ends positionable within the nose of the user. The pair of nose sections each have an air tube positioned therein. The air tubes have open upper and lower ends. The open upper ends are exposed through the upper ends of the nose sections. The open lower ends are in communication with the air chamber. The mask portion includes a recessed mouth section on the inner portion thereof. The recessed mouth section includes a central aperture in communication with the air chamber. The recessed mouth section includes a plurality of peripherally disposed protrusions extending inwardly therefrom. The mask portion includes a pair of air vents secured to the outer portion thereof. The pair of air vents each have open inner and outer ends. The open inner ends are in communication with the air chamber. The open outer ends each have a filter screen disposed therein. A mouthpiece portion is removably coupled with respect to the mask portion. The mouthpiece portion includes a shield portion dimensioned for positioning within the recessed mouth section of the mask portion. The shield portion includes a central opening that is alignable with the central aperture of the recessed mouth section. The shield portion includes a plurality of peripherally disposed apertures therethrough for selectively snap-engaging the peripherally disposed protrusions of the recessed mouth section. The mouthpiece portion includes an inner tube having an open inner end and an open outer end. The open outer end is secured to the central aperture of the shield portion. The open inner end has a peripheral flange. The open inner end is positionable within the user""s mouth.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved respirator mask for filtering breathed air which has all the advantages of the prior art respirator devices and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved respirator mask for filtering breathed air which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved respirator mask for filtering breathed air which is of durable and reliable construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved respirator mask for filtering breathed air which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such a respirator mask for filtering breathed air economically available to the buying public.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved respirator mask for filtering breathed air for preventing a user from breathing unfiltered air.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved respirator mask for filtering breathed air including a mask portion dimensioned for covering the mouth of the user. The mask portion includes an inner portion, an outer portion, and an air chamber therebetween. The mask portion includes a generally circular peripheral edge. The peripheral edge includes a top edge, a bottom edge, and opposed side edges. The mask portion includes a recessed mouth section on the inner portion thereof. The recessed mouth section includes a central aperture in communication with the air chamber. The mask portion includes a pair of air vents secured to the outer portion thereof. The pair of air vents each have open inner and outer ends. The open inner ends are in communication with the air chamber. A mouthpiece portion is removably coupled with respect to the mask portion. The mouthpiece portion includes a shield portion dimensioned for positioning within the recessed mouth section of the mask portion. The shield portion includes a central opening that is alignable with the central aperture of the recessed mouth section. The mouthpiece portion includes an inner tube having an open inner end and an open outer end. The open outer end is secured to the central aperture of the shield portion. The open inner end is positionable within the user""s mouth.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to poly(carbosilane) copolymers and methods of making the same.
2. Discussion of Relevant Art
Poly(methylhydrosiloxanes) having repeating units of the formula: ##STR2## are well known. They can be prepared by hydrolysis of methyldichlorosilane or acid catalyzed ring opening polymerization of sym-tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane. Poly(methylhydrosiloxanes) contain reactive hydride groups bound to the silicon atoms. The poly(methylhydrosiloxanes) can be crosslinked to produce elastomeric products or reacted with unsaturated monomers to yield graft copolymers.
It is also known that poly(dimethylsilane) fibers can be pyrolytically converted into silicon carbide fibers. In S. Yajima et. al., J. Mater. Sci. 13, 2569 (1978), it is proposed that poly(methylsilylene methylene) having repeating units of the formula: ##STR3## is an intermediate in the formation of the silicon carbide fibers by this process.
The anionic polymerization of (4-vinylphenyl)dimethylsilane to produce poly[(4-vinylphenyl)dimethylsilane] is described in Hirao, A. et. al., Macromolecules 1987, 20, 1505. This anionic addition polymerization of carbon-carbon double bonds of (4-vinylphenyl)dimethylsilane produces polymers having repeating units of the formula: ##STR4##
The preparation of poly(1,1 dimethyl-1-silapent-3-ene) by the metathesis ring-opening polymerization of 1,1-dimethyl-1-silacyclopent-3-ene using a WCl.sub.6 /Na.sub.2 O.sub.2 /Al(isoBu).sub.3 catalyst system is disclosed in Lammens, H. et. al., Pol. Let. 1971, 9 341 and Finkel'shtein, E. Sh. et. al., Izvestiva Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya 1981, 3, 641. The preparation of poly(1,1-dimethyl-1-silapent-3-ene) and poly(1-1-diphenyl-1-silapent-3-ene) from 1,1-dimethyl-1-silacyclopent-3-ene and 1,1-diphenyl-1-silacyclopente-3-ene, respectively, by anionic ring-opening polymerization using butyllithium as a catalyst is disclosed in Horvath, R. H.; Chan, T. H., J. Org. Chem. 1971, 20, 4498. Anionic polymerization of 1-methyl-1-silacyclopent-3-ene to form a homopolymer is described in Macromolecules 23, 1915 (1990) and "Anionic Ring Opening Polymerization of 2-Methyl-2-Silaindan. Characterization of the Polymer and Mechanism of Polymerization" by S. Q. Zhou, et al and in Makromolekulare Chemie Rapid Communications, 11, 19-24 (1990) by S. Q. Zhou et al.
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Liquid crystal displays or flat panels are commonly used for active matrix displays such as computer and television monitors, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones and the like. Generally, flat panels comprise two glass plates having a layer of liquid crystal material sandwiched therebetween. At least one of the glass plates includes at least one conductive film disposed thereon that is coupled to a power supply. Power supplied to the conductive material film from the power supply changes the orientation of the liquid crystal material, creating patterns such as text or graphics that may be seen on the display. One fabrication process frequently used to produce flat panels is plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).
Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition is generally employed to deposit thin films on a glass substrate such as those utilized to fabricate flat panels. Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition is generally accomplished by introducing a precursor gas into a vacuum chamber that contains the substrate. The precursor gas is typically directed through a distribution plate situated near the top of the chamber. The precursor gas in the chamber is energized (e.g., excited) into a plasma by applying RF power to the chamber from one or more RF sources coupled to the chamber. The excited gas reacts to form a layer of material on a surface of a substrate that is positioned on a temperature controlled substrate support. The substrate support is typically grounded to the chamber body. In applications where a layer of low temperature polysilicon is deposited onto the substrate, the substrate support may be heated in excess of 400 degrees Celsius. Volatile by-products produced during the reaction are pumped from the chamber through an exhaust system.
During this process, the substrate support is biased negatively with respect to the plasma to further enhance deposition. This is accomplished by providing a bias voltage to an electrode within the substrate support assembly. With a negative bias voltage applied to the substrate support, positively ionized material in the plasma is attracted to and deposits on the substrate in a highly perpendicular manner, improving the deposition characteristic known as “step coverage”.
Ideally, the bias voltage on the substrate support remains stable as the ionized material is deposited onto the substrate. A stable bias voltage results in ionized deposition material being drawn and deposited uniformly across the width of the substrate. Voltage stability is realized when there is no appreciable voltage drop due to current flowing from the substrate support to ground. If the voltage drop is significant, the differential may induce plasma to strike between two points at substantially different voltages, such as the substrate support (at a high potential) and a nearby grounded feature (such as a chamber wall), thereby damaging the processing environment and possibly contaminating the substrate. Some systems employ a low impedance strap to couple the substrate support to the chamber body to facilitate grounding of the substrate support.
FIG. 10 is a simplified perspective, cutaway view of an exemplary conventional processing chamber 30 having a plurality of straps 20 for electrically coupling a substrate support 40 to a wall 32 or bottom 34 of the chamber 30. Four of eight straps 20 are shown in FIG. 10, two straps 20 coupled to each edge of the substrate support 40.
The substrate support 40 typically includes a plurality of lift pins 52, some of which are disposed along the edge of the substrate support 40 to lift the edges of the substrate during transfer. A lift plate 50 is disposed below the substrate support 40 and may be vertically actuated to extend the lift pins 52 through the substrate support 40 to space a substrate from the substrate support during substrate transfer.
Each of the straps 20 includes a first and second flexures 22, 24 separated by a bend 26. The straps 20 are generally aligned with the perimeter of the substrate support 40 and spaced to provide room for the lift pins 52 to extend below the substrate support 40. In order to provide clearance of a lift plate 50 positioned below the substrate support 40 that is utilized to vertically actuate the lift pins 52, the bend 22 of each strap 20 is oriented perpendicular to the proximate edge of the substrate support 40 (i.e., the edge of the support the strap is coupled to) to keep the bend 26 of the strap 20 from being positioned further inward relative to the substrate support 40 than the flexures 22, 24. As the straps 20 cannot extend into the area occupied by the lift plate 50 and lift pins 52, the number and size of the straps 20 are limited to the number that may be linearly aligned and nested along the edge of the substrate support 40, while remaining clear of those lift pins 52 positioned along the edge of the substrate support 40.
While this configuration has proven to be effective and reliable for smaller scale applications, it is less effective for larger area glass substrate processing applications which necessitate higher current flow for adequate grounding. As the next generation of large area substrates utilized for flat panel fabrication approaches 1100 mm×1300 mm, with even larger sizes envisioned for the near future, the substrate supports utilized to process these large area substrates have increased in size as well and would benefit from increased grounding capacity not currently available from conventional designs. The conductive straps such as those described above cannot be coupled between the processing chamber and the substrate support with sufficient density to adequately limit the voltage drop between the processing chamber and substrate support in such large scale processing applications. Additionally, because the straps are spaced around the perimeter of the substrate support to leave gaps for the lift pins and if the gaps are sufficiently wide, those portions of the substrate support between the straps may be biased at a higher potential relative to those portions that are directly coupled to a strap, which may adversely effect deposition uniformity.
Therefore, there is a need for a reliable low-impedance RF current return path suitable for use in large area substrate processing applications.
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Blood test in health check is effective for recognizing the state of heath and early detection of a disease. In the blood test upon health check, since a large number of samples are analyzed over multiple targets, large-scaled clinical analyzers are used. Since the clinical analyzers are expensive and have to be operated by expert engineers, they are introduced in large-scaled hospitals or blood testing centers, but are not placed in general clinics. Accordingly, when blood test is performed in a general clinic, it usually takes several days for obtaining the result. This time lag causes no problem in the case of health checks since most of them are performed at a frequency of once per year or one half year. In an urgent case, however, it is necessary to conduct blood test on the spot. For example, during surgery, it is necessary to monitor blood electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, or chlorine, an oxygen partial pressure, a carbon dioxide gas partial pressure, glucose, blood urea nitrogen, hematocrit. Further, in dialysis for renal insufficiency, creatinine is measured. In addition to such urgent testing, it is also a demand for point of care testing (POCT) in order to check the health state in general clinics. The apparatus coping with such demand is a POCT apparatus, which has an advantage capable of testing on-site optionally although the number of test targets and throughputs are not so favorable as those of the clinical analyzer. The test targets include electrolyte, glucose, cholesterol, lactic acid, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine. For general chemical measurement for glucose, cholesterol, lactic acid, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine other than the electrolyte, an enzyme electrode method is used.
The enzyme electrode method is a method of measuring the concentration of the substance, which is converted into another substance capable of being measured by an electrode using an enzymatic reaction, indirectly by the electrode as a current or potential change. For example, in a glucose sensor for measuring a blood glucose level, glucose as a substance to be measured is oxidized by a glucose oxidase and gluconolactone is produced. By the oxidation reaction, oxygen is consumed to produce hydrogen peroxide. Since both oxygen and hydrogen peroxide are redox active compounds, the concentration of the glucose as the substance to be measured can be measured by using an oxygen electrode or a hydrogen peroxide electrode as the electrode current. However, in a case where the glucose is at a high concentration, the rate of oxidation reaction is sometimes limited by the concentration of dissolved (partial pressure) oxygen in the blood. As a countermeasure, other redox compound is sometimes used instead of oxygen. Other chemical substances can also be measured on a similar principle. Such a type of sensor is generally referred to as an amperometric enzyme sensor.
In the amperometric enzyme sensor, a working electrode, formed of gold, platinum or the like, a counter electrode and a reference electrode for keeping the potential of the working electrode constant are arranged in a solution, and an enzyme and a redox compound are in the solution. The working electrode, the counter electrode, and the reference electrode are connected to a current measuring device such as a potentiostat, such that a current value which changes upon application of a voltage between the working electrode and the counter electrode can be measured. When a sample (for example, blood) containing a substance to be measured is added to the solution, the substance is oxidized by the enzyme and, at the same time, the redox compound in the oxidized state is reduced. When a constant voltage capable of oxidizing the redox compound is applied to the working electrode, the redox compound in the reduced state is oxidized on the working electrode and a current flows in accordance with the concentration of the redox compound in the reduced state. In this way, the oxidation reaction of the substance to be measured by the enzyme can be measured as a current, and the concentration of the substance to be measured can be measured indirectly. In this case, it is necessary for an enzyme at a sufficient concentration, a redox compound at a sufficient concentration, and a working electrode of a sufficient size such that a current value in accordance with the concentration of the substance to be measured can be obtained, that is, the concentration of the substance to be measured is a rate determining factor in the reaction system.
In the amperometric enzyme sensor, an enzyme is immobilized on a membrane mainly with an aim of re-utilizing the enzyme. However, in a case where the enzyme is immobilized, since the reaction efficiency of the enzyme and the substance to be measured and the enzyme and the redox compound is lowered, the redox compound is immobilized together with the enzyme on the membrane at the surface of the working electrode (Adv. Mater. 5(1993) 912-915). It is considered that lowering of the transfer efficiency of charges from the enzyme to the redox compound can be suppressed by immobilizing the enzyme together with the redox compound on the membrane at the surface of the electrode. Further, by immobilizing the enzyme and the redox compound at a multilayer, the sensitivity is improved more and lowering of the reaction efficiency between the enzyme and the object to be measured can be suppressed compared with a case of a monolayer.
In the glucose sensor for measuring the blood glucose level, since a necessary measuring sensitivity is not so high, measuring is possible with a blood amount of several droplets. However, in a POCT apparatus for general targets, more amount of blood is necessary for maintaining the measuring sensitivity. For example, i-Stat developed as a POCT apparatus (Clin. Chem. 39/2 (1993) 283-287) required a blood amount of about 65 μl. While the blood amount can be decreased by making the electrode area smaller, since a signal (that is, current value) decreases as the electrode area is made smaller in the amperometric enzyme sensor, it was difficult to simply decrease the electrode area.
A potentiometric enzyme sensor is known as an enzyme sensor using an electric measuring method in which signals do not depend on the electrode area. The potentiometric enzyme sensor consists of a working electrode formed of gold, platinum, etc. and a reference electrode in which an enzyme and a redox compound are present in the measuring solution (JP-T No. 9-500727). Further, the working electrode and the reference electrode are connected to a device for measuring voltage. When a substance to be measured is added to the measuring solution, the substance to be measured is oxidized by an enzymatic reaction and, at the same time, a redox compound in an oxidized state is reduced. The surface potential on the working electrode generated in this case is in accordance with the following Nernst's equation.
E = E 0 + RT n F ln ( C ox / C red ) [ Formula 1 ] whereE: surface potential of working electrode,E0: reference potential of redox compoundR: gas constantT: absolute temperaturen: difference of charges between oxidized state and reduced state of redox compoundF: Faraday constantCox: concentration of oxidized state of redox compoundCred: concentration of reduced state of redox compound
As can be seen from the equation described above, the change of the surface potential does not depend on the electrode area. Further, unlike the amperometric enzyme sensor, since a voltage is not applied to the working electrode, chemical reaction interfering the measurement less occurs. Further, since the voltage changes as the logarithm of the concentration as shown in the equation described above, a substance can be measured also in a low concentration region at an S/N ratio identical with that in a high concentration region and it is considered that a wider dynamic range can be obtained compared with the amperometric enzyme sensor.
However, in the existent potentiometric enzyme sensor, consideration is not taken on the insulative property between the working electrode and the measuring solution, and it involved a problem that actual measurement undergoes the effect of a leak current on the surface of the electrode and the sensitivity is lowered, particularly, in the low concentration region, the dynamic range narrowed and, further, the response speed is lowered.
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The ubiquity of cellular phones and similar mobile electronics has led to demands for ever more advanced features in these devices. Mobile phones are increasingly becoming multipurpose devices. For example, it is becoming much more common for mobile phones to include integrated devices such as cameras and alternate network interfaces (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi). Another feature that is expected to be included in many future mobile devices is the ability to determine location of the device.
Currently, location detection can be done on a coarse scale using wireless communication infrastructure, such as determining the approximate location based on the base station to which a device is connected. An even more useful form of location detection involves accessing Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. The GPS system uses a constellation of more than two dozen satellites whose signals can be accessed by receivers on the earth. A terrestrial GPS receiver and associated logic is able to determine its latitude and longitude by triangulating the signals from three satellites. If signals from a fourth satellite can be received, the elevation can also be determined.
For some time, small GPS receiving devices have been available for such purposes as vehicle navigation, outdoor activities, location based gaming, etc. Typically, the GPS receiving devices are incorporated into a standalone device that, in its most basic form, provides a readout of current location. Where memory, displays, and processing power permit, such devices may also include other features, such as map overlays and the storage of waypoints.
As the costs of GPS sensors decrease, they are being incorporated into other devices as well. For example, modern cell phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) have become ubiquitous, general-purpose, mobile data processing devices. Given the mobility and always-on nature of such devices, it is quite natural that these devices will include GPS receivers and similar device so that the users can to take advantage of location-aware data-processing applications. For example, the currently available Nokia® N95 model cellular phone includes an integrated GPS sensor. In addition, such mobile devices are capable of accessing data networks, and this network access can enhance location-aware processing. The present disclosure describes improved location-aware methods and devices that provide advantages over existing implementations.
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When memory shortage occurs in a virtual machine realized on a machine, a technique is known to solve the memory shortage by swapping unused memory between virtual machines on the same machine (for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 05-204760). Moreover, a hot migration technique is known to solve the memory shortage, in which a virtual machine in which the memory shortage occurs is moved to another machine having sufficient memory while keeping the virtual machine in operation.
The hot migration technique is superior than the technique disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 05-204760 because the hot migration technique can be used not only for solving the memory shortage of the virtual machine but also for solving shortage of other resources such as a computing power of a central processing unit (CPU) and a communication capacity of a network.
However, for moving a virtual machine between machines by using the hot migration technique, a free space enough to store the virtual machine to be moved needs to be prepared in advance in a memory of a destination machine. Therefore, an extremely large memory needs to always be allocated in an unused state, which leads low use efficiency of resources.
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The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Broussonetia plant, which is given the varietal denomination of ‘Jinhudie’.
In April 2006, a mutated Broussonetia naturally occurring whole plant was found among Broussonetia seedlings in a nursery at Chuxu Village, Suiping County, Henan Province, China. Leaf margins of the mutated Broussonetia plant were golden in spring, yellow in summer and golden in autumn, while leaf centers were light green in spring, and dark green in summer as well as autumn. However, leaves of other known seedlings in the same nursery were green. Since the main breeding material of this variety is branches and buds, branches of mutated were then grafted in spring and the mutated plant was reproduced by budding with xylem.
In April 2007, the mutated Broussonetia plant was grafted with a rootstock of a wild Broussonetia plant and branches of the mutated plant in the same nursery. According to observation, in spring, leaf margins of new-born plant were golden while leaf centers were green. In summer, leaves turned to slight yellow-green with blackish green spots. In autumn, the leaf margins were orange-yellow while leaf centers were yellow-green. All character were stable. In the nursery, except for some species of maple, there were no other varieties. The nursery has excellent land, smooth drainage, and no pollution sources around. The nursery is closed with only one entrance. Average summer maximum temperature at the nursery is 38 degrees Celsius, and average winter minimum temperature is −6 degrees Celsius. Annual average rainfall is 800 mm.
In spring 2008, the grafted plant was asexually reproduced by grafting and cottage. Characteristics thereof were all kept.
From 2009-2013, after generations of reproducing, no atavism or further mutation was observed. Characteristics of the distinct variety were kept stable.
The new and distinct variety of Broussonetia plant is not commercially available.
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In modern high speed disc drives, the recording head slider is usually maintained at a very small distance above the recording media. Typically, this distance is 25 nm. The disc is lubricated to improve its durability. Modern discs usually use a long chain polymer lubricant.
When disc heads fly over the disc for long periods of time, disc lube can accumulate on the slider. Once the disc drive is shut down and the disc stops spinning, the slider with the accumulated lube is parked on the disc. The accumulated lube transfers from the slider to the disc and can be held at the slider/disc interface by meniscus forces. This large amount of disc lubricant at the slider/disc interface may be responsible for the high stiction forces observed between slider and disc.
Lube can also accumulate on both the trailing edge of the slider and in the cavities downstream of the side rails of typical center transducer sliders. When the disc stops, the lube in the cavity will often wick along the rail edges and cause high stiction. Some recording heads use surface energy modifying agents to prevent lubricant from accumulating preferentially on the slider.
On sliders, carbon pads are typically fabricated on the air bearing rails to enhance tribology. These carbon pads are deposited using photolithographic processes.
FIG. 1 shows disc lube 103 accumulating at the trailing edge of a rail 101 of a typical modern slider 100. The air flow 104 in this diagram is generally in an downward direction as the air travels through the air bearing channel 102. The lube tends to preferentially accumulate at the trailing edge of the side rails 101.
FIG. 2 shows a similar situation. In FIG. 2, lube 201 has accumulated in the cavity just down stream of the trailing edge of the air bearing rail 202 of a slider 200, which is just outside the air bearing channel 202. Lube 204 has also accumulated in the area of the interface between the slider substrate and the basecoat/overcoat alumina. This lube accumulation along the alumina can wick along the alumina/substrate edge until it reaches the center pad and then onto the disc. Once the lube reaches the disc/pad interface, it can cause high stiction forces. It is therefore desirable to find a mechanism that controls lube flow across the slider.
The present invention provides a method and system for reducing accumulated disc lube. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for channeling lube off recording disc head sliders using pads.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a slider for supporting a transducer next to a lubricated recording medium. The slider includes a pad positioned to control a flow of lubricant. The slider can also include a raised rail. The pad can be positioned on the slider between the raised rail and a trailing edge of the slider. The pad can extend to the trailing edge of the slider. The pad can include at least two separated edges, which form a central channel. The pad can be made of carbon. The pads can be approximately 0.03-1.00 micron tall in a cavity that is approximately 2 micron deep. The pad can be angled in relation to an air flow across the slider to control lube.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method for fabricating a slider for supporting a transducer next to a lubricated recording medium. The method includes depositing a pad on the slider positioned to control a flow of lubricant. The method can include forming a raised rail. The pad can be deposited between the raised rail and a trailing edge of the slider. The pad can extend to the trailing edge of the slider. The pad can comprise at least two separated edges forming a central channel. The pad can be deposited using photolithographically patterned material. The pad can be made of carbon. The pad can be deposited at an angle in relation to an air flow across the slider to control lube.
The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Implementations can provide advantages such as preferentially controlling accumulation of lubricant at the trailing edge of slider rails. This invention can also be used to prevent wicking of lubricant along the interface between the slider substrate and basecoat or overcoat alumina. The pads can aid in controlling the flow of lubricant off the air bearing surface. The pads can also be used to reduce the flow of the lubricant along the substrate/alumina interface, which can help reduce the resulting stiction.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vanadium and sulfur compound corrosion-resistant ceramic coatings. More particularly, this invention relates to scandia-stabilized zirconia coatings and composites formed with them.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As demands increase on fuel resources and as manufacturing techniques become more complex, industrial equipment is exposed to fuels and materials which contain corrosive contaminants. These corrosive contaminants can cause extensive damage to the surface and structure of industrial equipment, particularly to all types of motors, turbines, engines, furnaces, stacks, fluidized beds and the like.
In addition, it is often necessary to protect industrial parts from damage and fatigue caused by operation at high temperatures. Ceramic coatings have been used to protect exposed surfaces from heat deterioration and corrosion.
Vanadium and sulfur compounds are particularly virulent corrosive materials which are found in many fuels and raw materials. Sulfur and vanadium compounds react during combustion to produce high temperature vanadium and sulfur oxide gases within the machine or engine, and also react with sodium or sodium oxide (Na being a contaminant found in virtually all environments and ingested into the engine or machine) to deposit thin films of molten sodium vanadates and sulfates on the hot machine parts such as turbine blade or piston surfaces. It is believed that vanadium is oxidized to V.sub.2 O.sub.5 in gas turbine combustion and that the sulfur compounds are present as oxides, acids and as free sulfur.
Because vanadium pentoxide (V.sub.2 O.sub.5) is an acidic oxide, it reacts with Na.sub.2 O (a highly basic oxide) to form a series of compounds in which the acidic nature of the compounds decreases with the V.sub.2 O.sub.5 /Na.sub.2 O ratio from Na.sub.2 V.sub.12 O.sub.31 (most acidic) to Na.sub.3 VO.sub.4 (least acidic). Each of the acidic oxides can cause damage to machine parts. The oxides are formed as follows: EQU Na.sub.2 O+6V.sub.2 O.sub.5 =Na.sub.2 V.sub.12 O.sub.31 (vanadium bronze I) EQU Na.sub.2 O+3V.sub.2 O.sub.5 =2NaV.sub.3 O.sub.8 (vanadium bronze II) EQU Na.sub.2 O+V.sub.2 O.sub.5 =2NaVO.sub.3 (sodium metavanadate) EQU 2Na.sub.2 O+V.sub.2 O.sub.5 =Na.sub.4 V.sub.2 O.sub.7 (sodium pyrovanadate) EQU 3Na.sub.2 O+V.sub.2 O.sub.5 =2Na.sub.3 VO.sub.4 (sodium orthovanadate)
The combination of both vanadium and sulfur compounds is particularly destructive to machine parts. Rahmel, in the "Proceedings of International Conference on Ash Deposits and Corrosion Due to Impurities in Combustion Gases," Byers, Editor, p.185, Hemisphere, Washington, D.C. (1978), reports electrochemical studies of the corrosion of superalloys in molten sulfates containing different concentrations of the different vanadium compounds which indicate that the corrosiveness of the vanadium compounds decreases from V.sub.2 O.sub.5 to NaVO.sub.3 to Na.sub.3 VO.sub.4.
With the increasing threat of an energy crisis, pulverized coal is becoming more attractive as a fuel source, but coal also contains vanadium and sulfur compounds which can destroy the insides of furnaces, including incinerators, or other combustion equipment, stacks servicing that equipment or furnaces, and the containers of fluidized beds.
Ceramic coatings have been used to try and protect surfaces from corrosion and to provide, when appropriate, a thermal barrier. Zirconia is a ceramic with excellent heat insulating properties as well as excellent resistance to corrosion by vanadium and sulfur compounds. Zirconia appears well suited to act as a protective coating to materials exposed to an atmosphere containing corrosive vanadium and sulfur compounds, but pure zirconia undergoes a catastrophic tetragonal-to-monoclinic phase structure change at 1000.degree.-1100.degree. C. This change results in an approximately 4% change in volume of zirconia. Such a volume change in the working parts of a machine, such as an engine, as it cycles through that temperature range is likely to result in flaking or deterioration of coatings formed from zirconia. These flakes would be calamitous to the machine.
It is known that zirconia can be stabilized to the tetragonal crystal structure by the addition of stabilizer compounds such as 5-20 wt-% of calcia (CaO), magnesia (MgO), or yttria (Y.sub.2 O.sub.3). Andreev et al., J Crystal Growth, V. 52, pp. 772-776 (1981), reports using zirconia crucibles stabilized with several different oxides, including scandia, to grow semiconductor crystals. Stabilized zirconia has also been used to form reaction vessels, electrodes, and electrolytes for electrochemical reactions.
NASA and others are developing zirconia "thermal barrier" coatings for use on gas turbine blades and diesel engine pistons. These coatings are expected to substantially increase engine thermal efficiency. Siemers et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,285, describes some of the prior art attempts to coat engine parts with ceramic base materials, and Siemers teaches using cerium oxide or ceria stabilized zirconia ceramic coatings to protect turbine and engine surfaces exposed to vanadium and sulfur compound corrosion.
The zirconia thermal barrier coatings have not been completely successful because stabilized zirconia has been found to react with, and be quickly degraded by traces of sulfur, and sulfur and vanadium compounds present in many commercial and industrial grade petroleum fuels. One of the inventors, together with colleagues, has reported in R. L. Jones, C. E. Williams, and S. R. Jones, J. Electrochem. Soc. 133, 227 (1986); R. L. Jones, S. R. Jones, and C. E. Williams, J. Electrochem. Soc. 132, 1498 (1985); and R. L. Jones and C. E. Williams, Surface and Coatings Tech. 32, Nr. 1-4, 349 (1987), that the instability of the zirconia is traceable to the leaching of the stabilizer from the coating and not to the zirconia itself. A stabilizer which will not be leached from the coating on high temperature exposure to vanadium and sulfur compounds is needed before zirconia can be successfully used as a corrosion resistant coating.
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The technical field of this invention relates to methods of decellularizing an isolated organ or part of an organ, by mechanically agitating the isolated organ with a fluid that removes the cellular membrane surrounding the isolated organ, and with a fluid that solubilizes the cytoplasmic and nuclear components of the isolated organ.
Techniques for restoring structure and function to damaged organs or tissue are used routinely in the area of reconstructive surgery. For example, artificial materials for replacing limbs and teeth. (See e.g. Paul (1999), J. Biomech, 32: 381-393; Fletchall, et al., (1992) J. Burn Care Rehabil, 13: 584-586 and Wilson et al., (1970) Artif. Limbs, 14: 53-56).
Tissue transplantation is another way of restoring function by replacing the damaged organ, and has saved the lives of many. However, problems exist when there is a transfer of biological material form one individual to another. Organ rejection is a significant risk associated with transplantation, even with a good histocompatability match. Immunosuppressive drugs such as cyclosporin and FK506 are usually given to the patient to prevent rejection. These immunosuppressive drugs however, have a narrow therapeutic window between adequate immunosuppression and toxicity. Prolonged immunosuppression can weaken the immune system, which can lead to a threat of infection. In some instances, even immunosuppression is not enough to prevent organ rejection. Another major problem of transplantation, is the availability of donor organs. In the United States alone there are about 50,000 people on transplant waiting lists, many of whom will die before an organ becomes available.
Due to these constraints, investigators are involved in the technology of producing artificial organs in vitro for in vivo transplantation. The artificial organs typically are made of living cells fabricated onto a matrix or a scaffold made of natural or manmade material. These artificial organs avoid the problems associated with rejection or destruction of the organ, especially if the subject""s own tissue cells are used for reconstruction of the artificial organ. These artificial organs also avoid the problem of not having enough donor organs available because any required number of organs can be reconstructed in vitro.
Vacanti et al have disclosed methods for culturing cells in a three-dimensional polymer-cell scaffold made of a biodegradable polymer. Organ cells are cultured within the polymer-cell scaffold which is implanted into the patient. Implants made of resorbable materials are suggested for use as temporary replacements, rather than a permanent replacement. The object of the temporary replacement is to allow the healing process to replace the resorbed material. Naughton et al. reported a three-dimensional tissue culture system in which stromal cells were laid over a polymer support system (See U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,531).
The above methods however, rely on shaping the support scaffold into the desired configuration of the organ. Shaping the matrix scaffold involves one of many procedures, such as solvent casting, compression, moulding, and leaching. These techniques do not always result in a matrix shape scaffold that is the same size as a native in vivo organ requiring replacement. A correct three-dimensional configuration is essential for the reconstructed organ to function properly in vivo. Not only is the shape required to fit into the body cavity, but the shape also creates the necessary microenvironment for the cultured cells to attach, proliferate, differentiate and in some cases, migrate through the matrix scaffold. These critical requirements can be met by the choice of the appropriate material of the scaffold and also be effected by the processing techniques. Optimal cell growth and development arises when the interstitial structure of the microenvironment resembles the interstitial structure of a natural organ.
The shaping process may have deleterious effects on the mechanical properties of scaffold, and in many cases produce scaffolds with irregular three-dimensional geometries. Additionally, many shaping techniques have limitations that prevent their use for a wide variety of polymer materials. For example, poly L-lactic acid (PLLA) dissolved in methylene chloride and cast over the mesh of polyglycolic acid (PGA) fibers is suitable for PGA, however, the choice of solvents, and the relative melting temperatures of other polymers restricts the use of this technique for other polymers. Another example includes solvent casting, which is used for a polymer that is soluble in a solvent such as chloroform. The technique uses several salt particles that are dispersed in a PLLA/chloroform solution and cast into a glass container. The salt particles utilized are insoluble in chloroform. The solvent is allowed to evaporate and residual amounts of the solvent are removed by vacuum-drying. The disadvantages of this technique is that it can only be used to produce thin wafers or membranes up to 2 mm in thickness. A three-dimensional scaffold cannot be constructed using this technique.
Due to the limitations of the shaping techniques, and due to the importance of having a scaffold with the correct three-dimensional shape, a need exists for producing a decellularized organ that has the same three-dimensional interstitial structure, shape and size as the native organ. Reconstruction of an artificial organ using a decellularized organ will produce an artificial organ that functions as well as a native organ, because it retains the same shape, size and interstitial structure which enables the deposited cells to resume a morphology and structure comparable to the native organ.
In general, the invention pertains to methods of producing decellularized organs, using an isolated organ or a part of an organ and a series of extractions that removes the cell membrane surrounding the organ, or part of an organ, and the cytoplasmic and nuclear components of the isolated organ, or part of an organ.
Accordingly, in one aspect, the invention provides a method for producing a decellularized organ comprising:
mechanically agitating an isolated organ to disrupt cell membranes without destroying the interstitial structure of the organ;
treating the isolated organ in a solubilizing fluid at a concentration effective to extract cellular material from the organ without dissolving the interstitial structure of the organ; and
washing the isolated organ in a washing fluid to remove cellular debris without removing the interstitial structure of the organ until the isolated organ is substantially free of cellular material, to thereby produce a decellularized organ.
The method can further comprise equilibrating the decellularized organ in an equilibrating fluid. The equilibrating fluid can be selected from the group consisting of distilled water, physiological buffer and culture medium. The method can further comprise drying the decellularized organ. The dried decellularized organ can be stored at a suitable temperature, or equilibrated in a physiological buffer prior to use.
In one embodiment, the step of mechanically agitating the isolated organ further comprises placing the isolated organ in a stirring vessel having a paddle which rotates at a speed ranging from about 50 revolutions per minute (rpm) to about 150 rpm.
In one embodiment, the step of mechanically agitating the isolated organ occurs in a fluid selected from the group consisting of distilled water, physiological buffer and culture medium.
In one embodiment, the step of treating the isolated organ in the solubilizing fluid also occurs in a stirring vessel. In a preferred embodiment, the solubilizing fluid is an alkaline solution having a detergent. In more preferred embodiment, the alkaline solution is selected from the group consisting of sulphates, acetates, carbonates, bicarbonates and hydroxides, and a detergent is selected from the group consisting of Triton X-100, Triton N-101, Triton X-114, Triton X-405, Triton X-705, and Triton DF-16, monolaurate (Tween 20), monopalmitate (Tween 40), monooleate (Tween 80), polyoxyethylene-23-lauryl ether (Brij 35), polyoxyethylene ether W-1 (Polyox), sodium cholate, deoxycholates, CHAPS, saponin, n-Decyl xcex2P-D-glucopuranoside, n-heptyl xcex2-D glucopyranoside, n-Octyl xcex1-D-glucopyranoside and Nonidet P-40. In the most preferred embodiment, the solubilizing solution is an ammonium hydroxide solution having Triton X-100.
In one embodiment, the step of washing the isolated organ also occurs in a stirring vessel. The washing fluid can be selected from the group consisting of distilled water, physiological buffer and culture medium.
In another aspect, the invention features a method for producing a decellularized kidney comprising:
mechanically agitating an isolated kidney in distilled water to disrupt cell membranes without destroying the interstitial structure of the kidney;
treating the isolated kidney in an alkaline solution having a detergent at a concentration effective to extract cellular material without dissolving the interstitial structure of the kidney;
washing the isolated kidney in distilled water to remove cellular debris without removing the interstitial structure of the kidney until the kidney is substantially free of the cellular material, to thereby produce a decellularized kidney.
In a preferred embodiment, the method further comprises equilibrating the decellularized kidney in a phosphate buffered solution. In another embodiment, the method further comprises drying the decellularized kidney. Embodiments for mechanically agitating a decellularized organ are described above and are reiterated here. In another preferred embodiment, the step of washing further comprises rotating the isolated kidney in distilled water in a stirring vessel.
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Munakata et al., Chem. Abs. 86:55073 g (1977) have recited preparing bis(octaidenyl) 1,2-cyclohexanedicarboxylates by reaction between active hydrogen-containing compounds or carboxylic acid anhydrides and 1,3-dienes, in the presence of Pd compounds and phosphines. The resulting reaction mixtures are treated with peroxides and then with hydrogen and/or carbon monoxide to reduce palladium compounds and remove palladium.
Collin et al., Chem. Abs. 96:122005 h, have recited reacting an alpha-olefin, tert-butyl hydroperoxide and carbon monoxide, in the presence of a palladium-phosphine mixture, to produce products of both oxidation and reduction. The mechanism is said to include decomposition of an alkyl-palladium sigma bond by the hydroperoxide.
The interaction of peroxides with organic compounds of Group V elements has been reviewed by Swern, ed., "Organic Peroxides," Krieger Publishing Co., vol. 3 (1981), pages 236-238. Various peroxides are reported to react with R.sub.3 P to produce corresponding phosphine oxides. See also, Goodyear, Jr., Chem. Abs. 54:16381 g.
Horner et al., "Die Reduktion organischer Peroxyde mit tertiaren Phosphinen" Annalen, vol. 591 (1955), pages 138-152, consider reduction products from reaction between tertiary phosphines and various organic peroxides.
Vinylically-unsaturated organosilicon compounds are useful as adhesion promoters, particularly for electronic applications. Formulators of adhesives for electronic utilization generally require vinylically-unsaturated organosilicon compounds, containing very low levels of impurities, particularly heavy metal and other inorganic impurities. Organosilicon compounds frequently contain heavy metals, halogens, alkali metals and phosphorus. Any of these materials, in amounts greater than about 1-10 ppm, can cause objectionable properties in adhesive formulations, containing vinylically-unsaturated organosilicon compounds.
The Heck vinylation reaction has been used to vinylate various kinds of compounds, including vinylically-unsaturated organosilicon compounds. The preparation of polysiloxane-bridged bisbenzocyclobutene monomers has been recited by Gros, U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,874, and Schrock, U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,588, both herein incorporated by reference. Schrock '588 discloses chromatography of a product from 4-bromobenzocyclobutene and 1,1'-divinyltetramethyldisiloxane over silica gel. Other silane-containing compounds have been synthesized by Hahn et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,172, herein incorporated by reference. Kirchhoff et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,260, herein incorporated by reference, have prepared an acetylenically-unsaturated organosilicon compounds from 4-bromobenzocyclobutene and trimethyl silylacetylene, using bistriphenylphosphine palladium (II) chloride and cuprous iodide catalysts and triethylamine as hydrogen halide acceptor.
The palladium-catalyzed vinylation of organic halides has been reviewed by Heck, Organic Reactions, vol. 27 (1982), beginning at page 345. Process conditions, recited at page 360, do not require the use of a solvent, although an organic amine can apparently function as a solvent. Other solvents used heretofore include acetonitrile, methanol, dimethylformamide, N-methylpyrrolidinone and hexamethyl phosphoramide.
Heck, U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,299, incorporated herein by reference, teaches that the reaction can be carried out with or without a solvent. Suggested solvents include acetonitrile, tetrahydrofuran or excess olefin.
It is therefore the object of this invention to provide an improved process for purification of vinylically-unsaturated organosilicon compounds to produce materials with very low levels of inorganic impurities, which are suitable for electronic applications.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates generally to rotorcraft, and more particularly to a remotely controlled co-axial rotorcraft for heavy-lift aerial crane operations and associated systems and methods.
2. Description of Related Art
Many industries use existing manned helicopter types, which are mostly based on 1960s technology. These aging, manned aircraft are generally ill-suited for crane operations, primarily due to inefficiencies inherent in the need to accommodate the human crew. A significant amount of lift capability is lost in order to provide for crew accommodations and safety, and helicopters designed initially as troop carriers are particularly inefficient in the heavy-lift crane role. In addition, carrying humans in the vehicle requires significant payroll, insurance, and training costs.
Where used in the various figures of the drawings, the same reference numerals designate the same or similar parts. Furthermore, when the terms “front,” “back,” “first,” “second,” “upper,” “lower,” “height,” “top,” “bottom,” “outer,” “inner,” “width,” “length,” “end,” “side,” “horizontal,” “vertical,” and similar terms are used herein, it should be understood that these terms have reference only to the structure shown in the drawing and are utilized only to facilitate describing embodiments of the present disclosure.
All figures are drawn for ease of explanation of the basic teachings of the present disclosure only; the extensions of the figures with respect to number, position, relationship, and dimensions of the parts will either be explained or will be within the skill of persons of ordinary skill in the art after the following teachings of the present disclosure have been read and understood. Further, the exact dimensions and dimensional proportions to conform to specific width, length, and similar requirements will likewise be within the skill of the art after the following teachings of the present disclosure have been read and understood.
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The conventional methods of prolonging a life of a cut flower and maintaining its freshness include a method of cutting the flower in fresh water; a method of crushing or burning the cut surface to improve preservation in water; a method of adding a nutrient source such as sugars to water; and a method of adding a preservative or germicide for preventing multiplication of a microorganism or fungus, an aggregating and precipitating agent for colloidal particles, such as aluminum sulfate, for the purpose of aggregating colloidal particles such as a substance leaked from the plant or a metabolite occurring upon generation of microorganisms, or chemicals such as silver thiosulfate for suppressing biosynthesis of ethylene; etc. That is, various techniques have been devised. Then, various agents for prolonging the life of the cut flower are commercially available.
However, the publicly known methods described above suffer from the various problems that their effect on keeping the freshness of the cut flower and vegetable is not satisfactory, that the limited type of the cut flower and vegetable is demonstrated to be effected, their procedure to use themselves is complicated, and the safety on the environment and humans and domestic animals is worried about.
Further, JP-A 6-336401 discloses a technique wherein a perfume glycoside enhances an aroma of a cut flower.
On the other hand, JP-A 6-227904 and JP-A 7-330502 only disclose techniques of keeping a freshness of a cut flower or the like by use of trehalose or a salt thereof but don't disclose a surfactant etc.
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Numerous methods and devices for determining at least one flow property of fluid media, thus, of liquids and/or gases, are conventional. The flow properties as possible parameter may be any measurable physical and/or chemical properties which qualify or quantify a flow of the fluid medium. In particular, it may be a flow velocity and/or a mass flow and/or a volumetric flow.
The present invention is described hereinafter particularly with reference to what are referred to as hot-film air-mass meters as described, for example, in Konrad Reif (editor): “Sensoren im Kraftfahrzeug” (Sensors in the Motor Vehicle), 1st edition, 2010, pages 146-148. Generally, such hot-film air-mass meters are based on a sensor chip, especially a silicon sensor chip, e.g., having a sensor membrane as measuring surface or sensor area which is able to be overflowed by the flowing fluid medium. The sensor chip usually includes at least one heating element as well as at least two temperature sensors which, for example, are disposed on the measuring surface of the sensor chip, the one temperature sensor being mounted upstream of the heating element and the other temperature sensor being mounted downstream of the heating element. A mass flow and/or volumetric flow of the fluid medium may be inferred from an asymmetry of the temperature profile detected by the temperature sensors, which is influenced by the flow of the fluid medium.
Hot-film air-mass meters usually take the form of plug-in sensors, which are permanently or exchangeably insertable into a flow pipe. For example, this flow pipe may be an induction tract of an internal combustion engine.
In this context, a partial flow of the medium flows through at least one main channel provided in the hot-film air-mass meter. A bypass channel is formed between the inlet and the outlet of the main channel. In particular, the bypass channel is formed in such a way that it has a curved section for redirecting the partial flow of the medium that has entered through the inlet of the main channel, the curved section transitioning in further course into a section in which the sensor chip is located. The last-named section represents the actual measuring channel in which the sensor chip is disposed.
In practice, hot-film air-mass meters of this kind must satisfy a multitude of requirements. Besides the goal of reducing a pressure drop at the hot-film air-mass meter overall by suitable designs in terms of fluid mechanics, one of the main challenges is to further improve the signal quality as well as the robustness of the devices with respect to contamination by oil droplets and water droplets as well as soot particles, dust particles and other solid-body particles. For example, this signal quality relates to a mass flow of the medium through the measuring channel leading to the sensor chip, as well as possibly to the reduction of a signal drift and the improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio. The signal drift refers to the deviation, for example, of the mass flow of the medium in the sense of a change in the characteristic-curve relation between the mass flow actually occurring and the signal to be output, ascertained in the course of calibration during manufacture. The sensor signals output in rapid temporal sequence are considered in the ascertainment of the signal-to-noise ratio, whereas the characteristic-curve drift or signal drift relates to a change in the average value.
In the case of conventional hot-film air-mass meters of the type described, generally, a sensor carrier having a sensor chip mounted on it or incorporated into it projects into the measuring channel. For example, the sensor chip may be glued into or onto the sensor carrier. The sensor carrier together, for instance, with a metal bottom plate on which electronics, a control and evaluation circuit (e.g., having a circuit carrier, especially a printed circuit board) may also be glued, are able to form one unit. For instance, the sensor carrier may be realized as an injection-molded plastic part of an electronic module. The sensor chip and the control and evaluation circuit may be joined to each other by bonds, for example. The electronic module thus obtained may be glued into a sensor housing, for instance, and the entire plug-in sensor may be closed with covers.
German Patent No. DE 198 15 654 A1 describes a measuring device for measuring the mass of a medium flowing in a line. The measuring device has a measuring element that is circumflowed by the flowing medium and is situated in a measuring-device flow channel provided in the line. The flow channel extends along a main flow direction between an inlet opening connected to the line and at least one outlet opening downstream of the inlet opening and leading into the line. The flow channel branches out at a first separation point, located between the inlet opening and the measuring element, into a measuring channel in which the measuring element is situated, and a bypass channel that bypasses the measuring element in the main flow direction.
European Patent No. EP 0 369 592 A2 describes a measuring device for measuring the mass of a flowing fluid medium. The measuring device has a flow channel which connects an inlet opening to an outlet opening. The flow channel branches out into several further channels, one of which is the actual measuring channel in which the sensor element is disposed.
The present-day sensor systems usually have a one-sided outlet from the main channel through which particles and water or other liquids such as oil, for example, are able to be eliminated again owing to their inertia.
In spite of the numerous advantages of the conventional methods and devices, they still include potential for improvement with regard to functional aspects. Thus, the one-sided outlet necessitates that the plug-in sensor be circumflowed asymmetrically. As a result, the sensitivity to changing incident-flow conditions, e.g., due to clogging filter mats, is increased. Such changes in the characteristic curve are perceived by the control device as drift, so that in the worst case, the hot-film air-mass meter is diagnosed as defective even though the cause for the deviation lies in the altered incident flow and, for example, a filter change would solve the actual problem.
In addition, an opening for the discharge of dirt or, in the event the lateral dirt outlet is shifted into the cover, a ramp for leading to the opening may be provided in the housing body of the sensor housing. Therefore, changes in the bypass cover are only possible in so far as the position of this opening or ramp remains the same. For maximum freedom in the design of the bypass cover, it would be advantageous if the housing body would have no opening or ramp, thus, were essentially just in the area of the bypass cover. This would also mean a significant simplification in the injection-molding process of the housing body.
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A common injury is the accidental introduction of foreign material into an eye. To date, the techniques for treating such an injury have various drawbacks. The most common form of treatment is an improvised method which consists of administering a liquid eyewash over the external surface of the eye by squirting an eyewash through a tube which extends from a bag of treatment solution. This method requires the person administering the eyewash to immobilize the eyelids with one hand, while holding the end of the tube with the other, and sweeping the eyewash across the eye until the entire surface of the eye is washed properly.
There are several disadvantages to this method. One disadvantage is that a patient tends to feel threatened by it. For an eye to be properly washed by the above method, it is generally required that the patient lie motionless in a recumbent position. It is difficult for the patient to do this when he is aware that he is about to undergo a rather uncomfortable process, i.e. having a fluid squirted into an eye. The eye is a sensitive organ and it is a natural reaction for the patient to try to protect the eye by either closing it or averting his head. The patient thus feels threatened by the above method, making it harder for him to remain motionless, with the resultant effect of making the eyewashing process more difficult.
Another disadvantage is that the technique described above requires an experienced person to administer the eyewash. This will usually be a medical person whose uninterrupted attention is required for eyewashing, making it impossible for him or her to treat other related injuries which possibly resulted from the same accident.
A further disadvantage is that drainage of the eyewash from the eye cannot be controlled. The eyewash can flow onto the face and clothing of the patient, and onto surrounding areas.
There are other, more innovative ways of treating an eye, such as the scleral lens disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 28,873, granted June 22, 1976 to Lorne B. Morgan. The lens employs a cup-like eye shield having a concave inner surface which overlies the front portion of the eye. However, the lens has many of the same drawbacks which were described above. For example, the lens must be used by a professionally trained individual. In addition, the lens does not enable the eye to be open while the lens is in use. Also, the system provides no way of controlling the drainage of the eyewash from the eye. Goggle type eyewashing devices are known. It is also known to use an eyecup placed over an eye as a method of confining an eyewash in a chamber for contacting the eye. It is also known to use tubing for delivering and draining eyewash to and from the chamber formed by the eyecup.
Prior art devices which are pertinent to the present invention are disclosed by the following United States patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 676,379, granted June 11, 1901 to Frank E. Young; No. 1,006,945, granted Oct. 24, 1911 to James D Houston; No. 1,246,971, granted Nov. 20, 1917 to Friedrich Maier; No. 1,362,682, granted Dec. 21, 1920 to Frank E. Dayton; No. 1,437,435, granted Dec. 5, 1922 to Friedrich Maier; No. 1,900,201, granted Mar. 7, 1933 to Solomon M. Sager; No. 2,524,720, granted July 24, 1946 to Charles A. Watrous; No. 2,818,068, granted Sept. 2, 1955 to Anthony De Felice; No. 3,261,355, granted Mar. 11, 1964 to Henry Burbig; No. 3,664,340, granted May 23, 1972 to Loran B. Morgan; No. 4,193,401, granted Mar. 18, 1980 to Rosolino Marinello; and U.S. Pat. No. Re. 28,873, granted June 22, 1976 to Loran B. Morgan.
Particularly pertinent to the present invention is Maier, U.S. Pat. No. 1,437,435. Although this patent, and the other above-cited patents, address some of the above discussed disadvantages to varying degrees, they fail to address a major problem associated with washing an eye.
When washing an eye, it is important to keep the eye open so that the eyewash contacts and covers as much surface of the eye as is possible. However, keeping the eye open is counter to the natural reaction a person has to close the eye when a foreign object or substance is introduced into it. Such a reaction is primarily involuntary because of the high sensitivity of the eye to contact.
The cornea region of the eye is particularly sensitive to contact. When the cornea is contacted by a foreign object or substance, such as for example, particles or dust or other particulate matter, a corneal reflex is induced causing a blepharal spasm. A blepharal spasm is a strong involuntary muscular reaction by the eye which reflexively closes the eye in response to the introduction of a foreign substance. It is not necessary that a particle contact the cornea region to induce a blepharal spasm. For example, applying eye drops to an eye directly on the pupil or iris can induce a blepharal spasm. Or, applying an eyewash by using one eyecup can also induce a blepharal spasm if the eyewash is applied improperly.
Therefore, for an eyecup to be effective in a method for washing an eye, it is desirable that it have two features. First, the eyecup should have the capability to hold the eye open while it is being washed. Second, the eyewash should be delivered into the chamber formed by the eyecup such that the eyewash does not induce a blepharal spasm. It is believed that none of the above-cited patents provide devices or methods which provide these two features.
The advantages of the present invention over the patents cited above will become apparent upon further reading of this application.
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The present invention relates to a technique for heating or cooling a substrate. More specifically, the present invention relates to a substrate temperature control system and a method for controlling the temperature of a substrate, which is preferably applicable to the lithography process of producing semiconductor devices and the like.
The process of producing semiconductor devices includes a process of heating and cooling substrates. In the lithography process, in particular, heating is conducted several times in repetition. The substrate heating system includes for example a spin-coater wherein a vacuum chuck mechanism is arranged on a hot plate to which a substrate is put in close contact (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Sho 62-53773). Additionally, there are many examples of a system of the proximity mode, by which a substrate is heated while the substrate floats slightly above a hot plate (see xe2x80x9cElectronics Parts and Materialsxe2x80x9d, published by Kogyochosakai Publishing Co. Ltd., extra number, 1994, pp. 77-83). The substrate heating system is a resist baking oven for a semiconductor wafer (proximity bake unit) as shown in FIG. 13, for example. The system is used in a process after resist coating process of the substrate (semiconductor wafer), and the figure schematically shows the system. In the figure, 1 represents a semiconductor wafer with resist coated thereon. Wafer 1 is transferred on an elevator mechanism composed of lift pin 8 and actuator 9 operable for moving the lift pin upward and downward and is then mounted on small block 52 arranged on the surface of hot plate 51. The hot plate 51 inside which heater element 4 is arranged is controlled to a predetermined temperature by means of thermocouple 6 and thermoregulator 7. Through the block 52, the wafer 1 is arranged in a floating fashion about 0.1 mm apart from the hot plate 51.
Where the substrate heating system is used for post-exposure bake (referred to as xe2x80x9cPEBxe2x80x9d) process of, for example, chemical amplified resist with the exposed part extremely temperature sensitive after lithography, the temperature variation can be controlled at about xc2x10.8xc2x0 C.; by such proximity mode with an additional control mode of the gas stream above substrates, the temperature variation can be controlled at about xc2x10.3xc2x0 C.
Following the high integration tendency of semiconductor devices in recent years, however, it is demanded that the temperature variation at the PEB process should be controlled to a more stricter value. However, the conventional substrate heating system cannot satisfy such demand, disadvantageously. Furthermore, the increase of semiconductor wafer size is now under way, so that the suppression of the temperature variation is more difficult than ever.
The increase of semiconductor wafer size induces the increase of thermal capacity, so that a longer time is required for the wafer to reach a desired temperature. In other words, a new problem of the prolongation of temperature elevation time occurs. A time of about 60 seconds is required to elevate the temperature of a wafer of an 8-inch size to the objective temperature of 60xc2x0 C. to 150xc2x0 C. The increase of temperature elevation time deteriorates the throughput (production efficiency) of the production process.
Where the float distance of the substrate from the hot plate is small as described above, gaseous heat conduction according to Fourier law of heat conduction from the hot plate to the substrate is predominant while the heat transfer through gaseous convection is negligible. As will be described below in the case of such heat conduction, the temperature difference between the substrate and the hot plate is in proportion to the float distance. Thus, the local variation of the float distance of the substrate causes the temperature variation of the substrate.
The variation of the float distance is primarily caused by substrate deformation. The deformation of the semiconductor wafer increases through various processes, and the resulting shape is so complex that the shape cannot be estimated. Additionally, the deformation is unavoidably enlarged as the wafer size is increased. Therefore, it is suggested that the deformation should be corrected.
The process of putting the substrate in close contact to the hot plate as described in the aforementioned reference is one of the processes of correcting the deformation of substrates, but particles deposited on the back face of the substrate and the surface of the hot plate inevitably influence the process so that the variation cannot be routinely suppressed in a stable manner.
What has been described above is focused only on the heating system, but in a cooling system, a cooling plate is simply replaced for the hot plate, wherein the direction of heat conduction is opposite to the direction thereof in the case of the hot plate. Therefore, the advantages and problems are the same as described above. Hereinbelow, heating and cooling are collectively referred to as xe2x80x9ctemperature controlxe2x80x9d, and also hot plate and cooling plate are collectively referred to as xe2x80x9ctemperature control platexe2x80x9d.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the problems of the prior art and provide a novel substrate temperature control system capable of unifying the temperature of the substrate and capable of shortening the temperature elevation time (temperature lowering time).
The problems of the present invention can be effectively solved by placing a temperature control plate (hot plate or cooling plate) with co-planar projections on the surface thereof as well as a substrate chuck mechanism fixing the substrate on the projections by pressing the substrate along the direction of the temperature control plate.
Through this arrangement of projections arranged, heat conduction through the contact surface to the projections and heat conduction through non-contact surface in a gas phase are formed between the substrate and the temperature control plate, but the heat conduction through the projections is prominent because the heat conduction through the projections is high compared with the conduction in gas. Therefore, the substrate temperature can be unified by unifying the heat transfer at the contact surface on the entire surface of the substrate. Because the efficiency of heat transfer then can be distinctively increased as compared with the conventional efficiency thereof through a gas phase, furthermore, the temperature elevation time (temperature lowering time) can be shortened. Because the float distance of the substrate is regulated and aligned through the co-planar projections, the deformation of the substrate is corrected so that the substrate becomes flat.
Additionally, a proposition to fix substrates by means of projections has been known as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Sho 62-45378. The system of the publication is a simple spin-coater for the purpose of separating a substrate from the gap for vacuum on a turn table thereby suppressing the temperature variation on the substrate, which variation develops in case that the substrate is put in close contact to a turn table with such gap. No reference is made therein about substrate heating (cooling) by utilizing temperature transfer from a temperature control plate, so that the system cannot suppress the temperature variation on a substrate to be heated.
In accordance with the present invention, furthermore, the efficiency of heat transfer is increased as the contact surface is larger, but particles deposited on the back face of a substrate and the surface of a hot plate influence the contact surface, with the resulting higher probability of temperature variation. Experimental results suggest that the upper limit of the ratio of the contact surface to the area of the whole back face is about 60%. Alternatively, the efficiency of heat transfer is decreased as the area of the contact surface is decreased, which induces the increase of the temperature elevation time (temperature lowering time). Experimental results suggest that the preferable lower limit of the ratio of the contact surface to the area of the whole back face is about 0.5%. Even in this case, the heat transfer through the contact surface is higher than the heat transfer through the non-contact surface. Based on experimental results, the preferable range is 20% to 50%, in particular.
The heat transfer through the contact surface between the substrate and the temperature control plate is controlled by means of thermal contact resistance. The heat quantity Q exchanged between the two can be represented by the formula (1), provided that contact surface is Sc and thermal contact resistance is Rc.
Q=Scxcex94T/Rcxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
Provided that the temperature difference between the substrate and the temperature control plate is uniform at any point, herein, the heat quantity exchanged between the substrate and the temperature control plate per unit area is disproportional to the thermal contact resistance Rc. The variation of the resistance causes the variation of the heat quantity and the irregularity of the temperature distribution of the substrate. A formula calculating the thermal contact resistance Rc, generally known widely, is represented by the formula (2), provided that the roughness values of the contact surface of the substrate and the temperature control plate are xcex41 and xcex42, ( respectively; the thermal conductivities thereof are xcex1 and xcex2, respectively; the contact pressure is P; the thermal contact resistance is R0; Brinel hardness is H; and the thermal conductivity of the gas in the contact surface is xcexf. 1 R c = { 1 δ 1 λ 1 + R 0 + δ 2 λ 2 - λ f δ 1 + δ 2 } P H + λ f δ 1 + δ 2 ( 2 )
The roughness values of the contact surface, namely xcex41 and xcex42, the thermal conductivities thereof, namely xcex1, xcex2 and xcexf, and the Brinel hardness H, are values intrinsic to a substance, while the thermal contact resistance R0 is empirically determined. Hence, the thermal contact resistance Rc is determined on the basis of the contact pressure P. Therefore, the vacuum pressure P is preferably controlled at a constant value, whereby the variation of the contact state between the back face of the substrate and the hot plate, which variation depends on the pressure variation, can be reduced, while the thermal contact resistance can be retained at a constant value. Through the thermal contact resistance at such constant value, the heat transfer at the contact surface can be unified on the whole surface of the substrate, whereby the substrate temperature can be unified.
For more detailed description of the contact surface, the contact surface between the projections and the back face of the substrate comprising countless micro-projections forming the surface roughness and microfine gaseous spaces embedded between these projections, forms a thermal contact resistance, which is expressed in the item including xcexf of the formula (2). When pressurizing along the direction of the temperature control plate of the substrate is done for example by vacuum chuck, the pressure of the gaseous space is decreased, but the gaseous thermal conductivity xcexf is almost equal to the conductivity at ambient pressure, with less variation of the thermal contact resistance if the pressure is about 10 Torr or more. If the pressure is below the value, the gaseous thermal conductivity is lowered to increase the thermal contact resistance and decrease the thermal conductivity.
Heat transfer at the non-contact surface in the gas phase is relatively slight, and description is now made concerning the heat quantity thereof. Heat transfer through the gas between the float distance (equal to the height of the projections in accordance with the present invention) of the substrate and the temperature control plate is via convection heat transfer and thermal conduction. If the float distance is slight, heat transfer is primarily done via heat conduction while the convection heat transfer is negligible. Provided that gaseous heat conductivity is xcex; the area of substrate at the non-contact surface not in contact to the projections is S; the temperature difference between the substrate and the temperature control plate is xcex94T; the float distance is h, the heat quantity QA exchanged between the substrate and the heat control plate via the gaseous heat conduction at the non-contact surface is represented by the formula (3) according to the Fourier law of heat conduction.
QA=xcexSxcex94T/hxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(3)
Thus, the temperature difference xcex94T is represented by the formula (4).
xcex94T=hQ/xcexSxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(4)
The formula (3) indicates that heat quantity QA is larger at the same temperature difference xcex94T, as float distance h is smaller. Because the formula (4) can be established locally at any position of the substrate face, it is indicated that the variation of the float distance h corresponds to the variation of the temperature difference xcex94T. In accordance with the present invention, the float distance h is aligned under the control of the co-planar projections, and therefore, the temperature variation based on the gaseous thermal conduction can be suppressed.
Because the thermal conduction through the projections is predominant as has been described above, the limitation of the height of the projections can greatly be reduced, compared with conventional cases wherein the thermal conduction through a gaseous phase is main. For vacuum chuck, however, the height above 1 mm readily causes disorders in the gaseous stream to be chucked; 1 xcexcm or below, the influence of particles as the problem of close contact readily occurs. Hence, the preferable range of the height of the projections is preset from 1 mm to 1 xcexcm.
As the press mechanism to pressurize and fix the substrate along the direction of the temperature control plate, a mechanism of for example vacuum chuck or electrostatic chuck may be employed. For using a vacuum chuck mechanism, a plurality of projections are arranged, together with a vacuum seal enclosing the projections and a vacuum chuck hole, on the faces of the temperature control plate. The vacuum seal on the same plane of the projections works as a vacuum seal so as to prevent the flow of air outside the vacuum seal into the space inside the vacuum seal. By chucking the space enclosed with these projections and the vacuum seals and the substrate into a negative pressure by using a hole for vacuum, a semiconductor wafer can be fixed at an equal distance at any position of the surface of the temperature control plate. Then, the contact surface for heat transfer be formed on the projections and the vacuum seals and the back face of the substrate.
For using an electrostatic chuck mechanism, a mechanism is arranged to load an electrostatic voltage between the substrate and an electrode, by embedding the electrode into a temperature control plate prepared from an insulator.
Because the pressure generated serves as the contact pressure in any case, the pressure of the space is preferably controlled to a predetermined constant value. It is indicated for vacuum chuck that the lower limit of the pressure is 10 Torr as described above, and the upper limit is 700 Torr, from the respect of the formation of contact resistance and the preparation of a substrate with flat surface, whereby preferable results are recovered.
These and other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the invention will be readily appreciated as they become better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.
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The present invention relates to metal working machines in general, and more particularly to a multifunction meta-working machine.
Heretofore, different types of metal working operations must be carried out on different types of machines. Each of these machines permits only one or two types of metal working operation to be carried out. This is disadvantageous, especially for small metal working shops, because it necessitates a large investment in many different types of metal working machines, and requires maintenance for all of this equipment which, especially in the case of the small shop, is rarely used to capacity.
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The present invention relates to document print job encryption, and in particular, to a method, and to a print job data file resulting from implementation of that method, whereby post-rendering analyses of the job's encrypted print stream can take place without revealing the substantive content of the print job per se.
Typically, a document print job is secured by encrypting the related PDL data such that if it is intercepted, as it may be, between the host and the intended recipient printing (imaging) device, it cannot be interpreted, viewed or printed in any unauthorized manner. However, it is also typical that the manner in which such PDL data is encrypted results in an attempted post-rendering analysis process, such as a process involving job auditing, job accounting, and job splitting, failing because of the fact that the analysis process itself, in order to succeed, needs to have access to certain non-substantive content data which it cannot get because of the overall and generalized encryption which has previously taken place.
Various approaches to encryption so far have not offered a satisfactory way to assure secure encryption only of substantive content materials, while leaving other print job data file information generally accessible for post-rendering analyses of the types generally suggested above, as well as others.
The present invention addresses this issue in a very complete and satisfactory way by proposing an encryption methodology whereby a document print job data stream is segmented appropriately to allow for encryption to take place at essentially all regions other than those which preferably should remain accessible for various post-rendering processes/analyses. Fundamentally, practice of the present invention, in its preferred and best-mode form, features a method for encrypting a document print job including the steps of (a) identifying and individuating, within such a job, the so-called content commands as distinguished from the non-content commands associated with the job, and (b) as a consequence of that identifying and individuating practice, encrypting only data that is contained within the content commands. This approach will, in most instances, yield an encrypted print job data stream whose relevant non-substantive contents will be fully accessible and available for all expected post-rendering processes and analyses.
Another approach to implementing the invention, which deals with a document print job data stream with an even smaller, or finer, degree of treatment granularity, involves recognizing that the content commands themselves typically include both non-content fields and content fields. In this practice of the invention, encryption only takes place with respect to such content fields, thus leaving the remainder of the entirety of the associated print job data stream accessible to post-rendering processes and analyses.
Provided immediately below is a hierarchical, textual representation of the typical architecture of a document print-job in relation to the make-up of page instructions for a given page in the associated document. I. Page Instructions A. Non-content commands—no ink-on-paper B. Content commands—ink-on-paper (1) Non-content fields (2) Content fields
Page non-content commands do not cause “ink-on-paper”. Typical of such commands are (a) the number of copies per page, (b) page orientation, (c) cursor position, and (d) pen color. Page content commands do cause ink-on-paper, and include, as above indicated, both non-content fields and content fields. Illustrations of non-content fields include (a) command opcode, (b) length of command operand, and (c) command delimiter. An illustration of a content field is a command operand itself.
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent as the detailed description below is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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This disclosure presents various embodiments of a method of segmenting an image into halftone and non-halftone regions. In several embodiments, the method is applied to define a process for identifying a block of pixels in a grayscale image to define a binary image, identifying a group of connected pixels in the binary image to define a region of interest, and to process the region of interest for classification as a halftone or non-halftone region based at least in part on using a scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) algorithm. However, the method can also be applied to multiple groups of connected pixels from the same block and to multiple blocks of pixels from the grayscale image. Parallel processing can be used to process multiple groups of connected pixels. Similarly, parallel processing can be used to process multiple blocks of pixels. Various embodiments of an image processing device for performing the method are also provided. The disclosure also presents various embodiments of a computer-readable medium storing program instructions that, when executed, cause an image processing device to perform the method.
For copy and scan jobs, different regions in the original image, such as contone, halftone, text and lines are usually processed differently for rescreening or for compression respectively. Separation of text regions from the rest of the objects is the main challenge in segmentation of the original image.
Separation of halftone and non-halftone regions in a document image is vital for numerous purposes, such as: i) to avoid image quality artifacts when rescreening the image while copying, ii) for better text recognition using OCR on scanned documents, iii) to improve any type of information extraction, such as data in forms, etc., and iv) for better image compression performance.
The existing approaches to separation of halftone and non-halftone regions have various limitations, such as: i) auto-windowing based methods are computationally complex for real time/software implementation in MFDs, as pixel based micro-segmentation tags are generated using algorithms implemented in ASICs; ii) in connected component based approaches, selecting proper threshold to form the connected component is difficult and, if the proper threshold is not selected, the possibility of misclassification is higher, iii) since the raw image handled by MFD's is of high resolution, time and computation costs are higher, and iv) when there is scale or rotational variation in the image, usage of certain methods (e.g., run-length) fails in determining halftone regions.
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Bevel gears are widely used in trucks, construction vehicles and mining machinery. The current trend is that the potential is still in growing. At present, there are mainly two versions of bevel gears in the market. The first type is the bevel gears manufactured by Gleason, Germany (about 90% m/s), and the second type is the bevel gears manufactured by Klingelnberg, Germany (about 10% m/s). Thousands of tools for face hobbing Gleason version bevel gears exist in the market.
In typical processes of face hobbing bevel gears, the milling cutter and the workpiece rotate independently in a timing relationship with each other, thereby allowing continue indexing of the workpiece and continual formation of the gear teeth. Thus, in most of the face hobbing processes, a single plunge of the cutting tool can result in all the teeth of the gear being formed.
In the current industry, tool bits of high speed steel (HSS) are predominantly employed to face hob the spiral bevel gears. Alternatively, blades of high speed steel or solid carbide blades with various coatings are employed to face hob the spiral bevel gears. The blades can be re-sharpened and re-coated, which, however, consumes time and requires high cost. The existing cutting tools are also adjustable in radial and angular planes. Gleason version cutting tools have several styles in order to meet requirements on low and high volume production, and roughing to finishing machining.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,986 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,291 disclose a grooving insert, which can be used for milling tooth roots. German patent DE 20016673 discloses a milling cutter assembly, which can be used for milling tooth flanks, and in which inserts having rectangular basic shapes are employed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,632,050 B2 discloses a face hobbing cutter system, in which blades are employed. Chinese patent CN 00807087.3 discloses a face hobbing cutter system for face hobbing gears. U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,858 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,736,099 disclose cartridged, face hobbing cutter systems. For example, FIG. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of the face hobbing cutter system of U.S. Pat. No. 7,736,099, wherein the reference sign 1 denotes the gear milling cutter system, the reference sign 2 denotes the cutter disc, the reference sign 3 denotes the top surface of the cutter disc, the reference sign 4 denotes the cartridge assemblies, the reference sign 5 denotes the side surface of the cutter disc, and the reference sign 6 denotes the slots. In the face hobbing cutter system shown in FIG. 1, the cartridge assemblies 4 are arranged in two rows, i.e., an inside row and an outside row, for respectively milling the inner side and the outer side of the gear teeth, and the cartridge assemblies each include a cartridges and an indexable insert, all the cartridges and inserts being the same.
However, the disadvantages generally existing in current face hobbing cutter systems are as follows: due to the employment of the high speed steel tool bits or the solid carbide blades to machine the spiral bevel gears, the productivity is comparatively low, a wet machining is required (i.e., a cooling liquid is required), the set-up time is long, and the cost and time for replacing the tool bits or regrinding the blades is high. In the existing milling cutter system employing cartridge assemblies with indexable inserts, all the cartridges and inserts are the same, and the machining result is still not satisfactory. Accordingly, there exits a need for a bevel gear face hobbing cutter system achieving high productivity, dry cutting and less set-up time. In addition, it is expected to improve the life of the cutting tool.
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Many attributes contribute to the appearance of hair considered to be attractive. For instance, hair with a full and thick appearance is very desirable. In contrast, hair with a thin appearance is not as attractive, and can even lead to a perception that the thin-haired individual is older than their chronological age. Because of the foregoing problems associated with thin hair, many individuals expend great effort and time on grooming, yet still do not attain their desired hairstyle and appearance. This can lead to frustration and/or lack of confidence in his or her appearance. These problems can be experienced by both female and male consumers and at a variety of ages.
In view thereof, there is a need to provide consumers with a hair care composition that includes actives which increase hair diameter and therefore create a fuller and thicker appearance of the hair.
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In sewage stations, septic tanks, wells, etc., it often occur that solid matter or pollutants, such as socks, sanitary pads, paper, etc., clogs the submersible pump that is lowered into the basin of the system. The contaminations are sometimes too big to pass through the pump if the impeller and the impeller seat are located at a fixed distance from each other.
In order to get rid of the clogging matter, it is known to equip centrifugal pumps with means for cutting up the solid matter into smaller pieces and thereafter evacuate the small pieces together with the pumped liquid. However, the cutting up of the solid matter is energy intensive, which is adverse especially since pumps of this kind usually operates for long periods of time. Another conventional way of getting rid of clogging matter is to use an impeller having only one vane, which present one large throughput channel capable of letting through the solid matter. One drawback with this type of pump is that the solid matter often get tangled around the leading edge of the vane. A third attempt, to solved the problem of large solid matter clogging the pump, use a arrangement in which the impeller is at a fixed distance from the impeller seat, e.g. 30-40 mm. A huge drawback is that the pump has a really low efficiency all the time.
A better way of solving the problem of solid matter clogging the pump should be to admit the impeller and the impeller seat to be movable in the axial direction in relation to each other, in order to form a gap. But known pumps comprising this feature uses said gap for other purposes. Furthermore, they only admit a small gap between the impeller and the impeller seat. In EP 1,247,990 is shown a pump, the impeller of which is movable in the axial direction in relation to the impeller seat along the longitudinal direction of the drive shaft. But the movability is strongly limited and the object solved is only to admit operational start in a dry state, e.g. now liquid in the pump. GB 751,908 shows a pump having a manually controlled movability of the impeller in relation to the impeller seat. The object of this construction is to admit a regulation of the efficiency of the pump. U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,058 shows a pump having an impeller which is movable in the axial direction in relation to the drive shaft. The object of the shown construction is to avoid the vanes of the impeller to be damaged if solid matter enters the pump.
More precisely, none of the abovementioned, or other, documents present a solution, or an object, usable for letting through large pieces of solid matter. Even though small pieces of solid matter might pass through the gap that is formed between the lower edge of the impeller and the impeller seat, it is more likely that large pieces of solid matter will get stuck in the narrow gap formed. In a worst case scenario, the impeller might get totally jammed and thus seriously damage the pump. Such an unintentional shutdown is costly, due to expensive, cumbersome and unplanned maintenance work. It is even better if the sol d matter blocks the inlet of the pump than the solid matter gets jammed between the vane of the impeller and the impeller seat. If the inlet is blocked the only effect is that less fluid will get pumped through the pump, but if the impeller is jammed he pump might get damaged.
A closely related patent, EP 1,357,294 directed to the applicant, shows a pump which is exposed for solid matter included in unscreened sewage water. The pump has a groove in the top surface of the impeller seat for transportation of the entire contaminating subject towards the periphery of the pump housing. However, it is strictly described that the impeller shall not be movable in relation to the impeller seat, due to the object of scraping of solid matter from the vane against the edge of the groove.
Furthermore, submergible pumps are used to pump fluid from basins that are hard to get access to for maintenance and the pumps often operate for long periods of time, not infrequently up to 12 hours a day or more. Therefore it is highly desirable to provide a pump having long durability.
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for detecting biological activities in a specimen, where the specimen and a culture medium are filled into a sealable container and are exposed to conditions enabling metabolic processes to take place in the presence of microorganisms in the sample, the concentration of initial substances being lowered and that of metabolic products being raised, and to a device for implementation of this method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many applications it must be possible to determine quickly whether a specimen is contaminated by microorganisms, such as bacteria, in particular in medical applications, in the pharmaceutical industry, food industry, or in environmental protection activities. The term "specimen" has a most comprehensive meaning here, including substances such as solid and liquid biological material (e.g., blood), food samples, such as frozen foods and preserved or canned foods, packaging material, clinical instruments and laboratory equipment, or samples taken from their surfaces, medical apparatus, first-aid and dressing material, soil and water samples, especially samples of drinking water.
For a long time, purely manual methods have been used in which the specimen to be assessed is put into a culture bottle containing a culture medium, and the growth of the culture is inspected only visually at given time intervals, and the type or presence of a microorganism is inferred from this observation.
In addition, some technical procedures and devices are known, with which the biological activities in a sample caused by microorganisms may be determined, and where the CO.sub.2 produced by the metabolism of the microorganism, or rather, the change in CO.sub.2 content, is employed as a measurement for determining the biological activity.
It is a known procedure, for instance, to bottle the sample to be assessed together with a radioactively labelled liquid culture medium and to test the atmosphere over the culture medium for radioactive gases, following which the presence of microorganisms in the simple may be determined.
Measuring systems of this kind are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,676,679 and 3,935,073, for example. Although such systems are quick and reliable, they have certain disadvantages, i.e., radioactive substances must be handled and samples must repeatedly be taken from the gas space above the culture medium for continuous monitoring. When the samples are removed from the gas space, the remaining samples to be monitored may easily be contaminated by the sample-taking element and measuring errors may occur.
In European application 0 158 497 a system is disclosed in which the biological activity of a specimen is determined by means of infrared absorption. In this method a specimen is introduced into a sealable vessel containing a liquid culture medium, and is tested for the presence of microorganisms. The vessel is subjected to specific conditions, i.e., certain temperatures are maintained over given periods of time, thus enhancing the metabolism of the microorganisms, during which process CO.sub.2 is produced in the gas space above the culture medium by conversion of the carbon source. A sample is taken from the gas space and introduced into a measuring cell, and the CO.sub.2 content is measured by infrared absorption. Again, the subsequent samples may be contaminated, and another drawback is that infrared absorption is a less sensitive manner of measuring than radioactive labelling.
In order to avoid the problem of cross-contamination, the European application 0 104 463 proposes a method as well as a device of the kind mentioned in the introduction, which also are based on the detection of CO.sub.2 --produced by metabolic processes--by way of infrared absorption. In this method no sample is taken, but infrared radiation is directly transmitted through the wall of the vessel into the gas space above the culture medium, and its absorption is determined. Due to this non-invasive measuring method cross-contaminations are largely eliminated; the disadvantage of this method, however, is its lack of sensitivity compared to radiometric methods, as well as the fact that the measurement is distorted by other gas components absorbing radiation in the same frequency band as CO.sub.2. A suitable example are the absorption bands of hydrogen vapor. The sample vessels employed must be permeable within a relatively narrow frequency range, which will only permit the use of specific materials for these vessels. An additional disadvantage is that the generation and filtering of the required infrared radiation is comparatively complex and expensive.
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The invention relates to a method of discrimination in spectrometry as well as to a device for implementing the method. The invention will be applicable particularly to Raman spectrometry for analysing samples, notably in the chemical industry.
At present, the analysis of samples in Raman spectrometry is a difficult operation in some cases.
As a matter of fact, the presence of fluorescent impurities in the samples is the main cause for failure in Raman spectrometry. In spite of any technical progress achieved that allowed for increasing sensitivity and in spite of the data processing of the signals that improves the signal-to-noise ratio, the detection of low intensity Raman lines can become quite difficult if they are superposed on a continuous high intensity background as encountered in phenomena of fluorescence.
The photoelectric detectors used in the visible close ultraviolet or very close infrared range have a high quantum gain and feature a very low dark current so that the predominant source of noise consists of what is generally known as "photon noise". Under these conditions, the presence of a wide spectral band of fluorescence in the spectral region where the Raman spectrum has to be observed, is the cause of significant fluctuations in photoelectric detection.
Most of the techniques proposed to remedy this situation such as frequency modulation or the subtraction of continuous background are ineffective where the "photon noise" is concerned.
At present, the only physically valid solution consists in eliminating most of the light emitted by fluorescence by using a spectroscopy technique resolved in time. This temporal discrimination technique requires the use of electronic or electrooptical picosecond "doors". Unfortunately, it is impossible to materialize them at reasonable cost and, consequently, to consider their development in the industry.
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This invention relates generally to the manufacture of valve seats and more particularly to improvements in forming valve seats of the type which have plastic face seals for sealing against the valve member.
It has long been recognized that a plastic insert known as a face seal may be attached to a metallic valve seat to provide an effective seal against a gate or ball valve member. The inert is usually formed of material available under the trademark "Teflon", although various other substances having similar properties may be used with satisfactory results. Typical methods which have been used in the past to attach the face seals to the valve seats are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,087,232 to Dow and U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,762 to Nowlin. Although these methods have been used successfully for the most part, they have not been entirely satisfactory in all respects.
The primary problem has been that the plastic insert is not always bottomed out completely against the bottom of the groove in the metal seat ring. Due to distortion caused by hammering of the insert into the groove or by imperfections and deformities in the insert, the outer surface of the insert is often uneven. Consequently, when a power driven ram is applied to the insert to press it into the groove in a manner causing it to cold flow into the serrations of the groove, there are gaps between the bottom of the insert and the bottom of the groove. Such gaps also result when the bottom of the groove is uneven or when a non-uniform driving force is applied to the ram, as sometimes occurs. After the insert has been attached to the seat in this manner and machined to provide a sealing surface, the seat is installed in a seat pocket of the valve body.
In service, the fluid pressures that are applied to the valve act against the sealing surface of the insert and can press the insert further into the groove in those areas where gaps exist. This causes portions of the sealing surface of the insert to be depressed far enough that they cannot effectively seal against the valve member. In some cases, the sealing surface is actually depressed within the groove so that it cannot seal at all. As can easily be appreciated, the lack of a good seal results in substantial leakage of the valve.
Defective inserts are sometimes discovered before the valve is put in service, as during a shell test of the valve body wherein the valve is subjected to fluid pressure of approximately one and one half times working pressure to test the integrity of the valve body. However, even if the defective insert is discovered during the shell test, the valve must still be disassembled and the seats must be removed and provided with new inserts if they are to function effectively. In addition, the time and expense of machining the defective insert has already been incurred.
A somewhat similar problem exists with respect to seat inserts of the type that are held in place by lips of the seats which are swaged into the inserts. After swaging of the lip, the sealing surface of the insert is machined and the seat assembly is installed in the valve body. If the insert is completely bottomed in its groove prior to swaging of the lip, the fluid pressure applied to the valve during service can bottom out those portions of the insert where gaps are present. The insert is thereby torn or otherwise damaged in the area of the swaged lip, and, more importantly, the sealing surface is depressed to such an extent that it fails to adequately seal against the valve member. Again, the defective inserts may be discovered during a shell test, but only after the seals have been installed in the valve body. The valve must then be disassembled and provided with new seats before it is reassembled and put in service. Consequently, even if a defect in the insert is discovered during the shell test, costly time is wasted and considerable difficulty is encountered in assembling and disassembling the valve.
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communication networks and, in particular, to transmitting text and/or multimedia messages over bearer connections that are reserved for non-voice circuit-mode data communications.
2. Statement of the Problem
A typical wireless or mobile network includes a plurality of base stations that communicate via radio frequencies to mobile devices, such as cell phones. Each base station connects to a Base Station System (BSS) which in turn connects to a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) or a similar switching office over a backhaul network. The interfaces between the MSC, the BSS, and the base stations may be based on a proprietary protocol that is defined by the vendor that manufactures the equipment. In other cases, non-proprietary interfaces may be used between the MSC, the BSS, and the base stations so that the equipment does not have to be provided by a single vendor. One example of non-proprietary interfaces is defined in the Interoperability Specification (IOS). The IOS is a standard that describes the overall system functions, including services and features required for interfacing a base station with an MSC (through a BSS), with other base stations, or with a Packet Control Function (PCF). The standard is intended to describe the interfaces used to support the interoperability of one vendor's equipment with another vendor's equipment.
The BSS and the MSC in a mobile network are connected through a signaling interface and one or more bearer interfaces. Signaling connections of the signaling interface are intended to provide a path for signaling traffic, which is used to setup and tear down calls. Bearer connections of the bearer interface are intended to provide paths for user traffic, which represents the actual voice traffic for a voice call, represents the actual data traffic for data calls, etc. As an example of signaling and bearer interfaces, the IOS standards have defined an A1 interface, which is a signaling interface that carries signaling traffic between Call Control (CC) and Mobility Management (MM) functions of the MSC and the call control component of a BSS (i.e., a Base Station Controller (BSC)). The IOS standards have also defined an A2 interface, which is a bearer interface that carries user traffic in the form of 64/56 kbps PCM information (voice/data traffic) between a switch component of the MSC and the BSS (i.e., a channel element or a Selection/Distribution Unit (SDU)). The IOS standards have further defined an A5 interface, which is an interface that carries user traffic for circuit-mode data calls (i.e., fax or modem calls) between the between the MSC and the BSS (i.e., an SDU).
In many mobile networks, text messaging and multimedia messaging has increased in popularity. Short Message Service (SMS) is a communications protocol allowing the interchange of short text messages (i.e., 160 characters) between mobile devices. Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a communications protocol allowing the interchange of multimedia objects (i.e., images, audio, video, rich text) in addition to text. Often times, mobile users more frequently use text messaging and multimedia messaging for communication than voice calls.
Text/multimedia messages are presently transmitted over the signaling interface between the BSS and the MSC. For example, in a Mobile Terminated (MT) SMS message the MSC receives the SMS message from an SMS Center (SMS-C), and routes the SMS message to the BSS using a signaling interface, such as the IOS A1 interface. In a Mobile Originated (MO) SMS message, the BSS receives the SMS message generated in the mobile device, and routes the SMS message to the MSC over a signaling interface, such as the IOS A1 interface.
The increased popularity of text/multimedia messages may cause a problem on the signaling interface with voice calls. In addition to transporting text/multimedia messages, the signaling interface is also used to transport call setup messages for voice calls. A large enough amount of text/multimedia message traffic can cause congestion on the signaling interface, which results in higher call setup delays for the voice calls. Also, during call setup, the MSC sets timers indicating when a signaling message response is expected back from the BSS, and vice-versa. If the signaling interface is congested by a large amount of text/multimedia message traffic, then the signaling message responses may not be received before a time-out, which results in a dropped call. High call setup delays and dropped calls are significant to mobile service providers that are guarantying particular Quality of Service (QoS) levels.
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High-density FLASH memory devices are used as non-volatile embedded memory or mass-storage devices. For either application, minimizing cell size while maintaining process simplicity is a top priority since every memory chip contains a large number (several million, for example) of cells in arrays which occupy most of the die. A smaller cell translates into a smaller die size and consequently lower manufacturing costs for each die. This is crucial if FLASH memory is to replace magnetic disk drive in mass storage applications.
The two popular types of architecture for high-density FLASH memory are the NAND, which utilizes Fowler-Nordheim (FN) tunneling for both write and erase, and the NOR, which uses channel hot-electron programming and FN tunneling erasure. In recent years, the NAND-type FLASH memory architecture has emerged as the most promising candidate to target the mass storage application. NAND architecture has the distinct advantage of a smaller cell size compared to the other popular NOR-type FLASH memory architecture. The reading or sensing of the content of the data stored in either the NAND-type FLASH cell or NOR-type FLASH cell has been described in other invention disclosures and should be obvious to ones skilled in the art.
One of the main drawbacks of such schemes, which is also a common cause of read error in NAND-type FLASH devices, is that the amount of current sensed by the bitline is not only a function of the content of the selected cell, but it also depends on the content of the other unselected cells that is connected in series together. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates the situation where the selected cell is the last cell is a serial connection of 8 NAND cells together. Assuming the floating gate of the selected cell is depleted of electrons, a channel resistance of about 10 KOhm is associated with the selected cell. If the floating gate of all the unselected cells are programmed, or filled with electrons, the channel resistance for the remaining 7 cells will be about 100 KOhm. This tends to reduce significantly the amount of current that can be sensed by the bitline and leads to a read error since the selected cell can be easily interpreted as "programmed" or filled with electrons due to the high series resistance associated with the other 7 unselected cells. In addition, using the static current to traverse through the high channel resistance will lead to long delay time and high power consumption. This problem has limited the usefulness of NAND architecture to serial access applications. This present invention addresses this problem by proposing a method of displacement current sensing as a way to sense the content of a FLASH memory cell. In addition, the present invention also proposes a new FLASH memory cell structure that is most suitable to be used with the new displacement current sensing scheme.
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The development of all-metal (i.e., metals and insulators but no semiconductors) memory known as SpinRAM by Integrated MagnetoElectronics (IME) has addressed three basic challenges at the memory-cell level: (1) scalability (decreasing drive currents and stable error rates with decreasing feature size); (2) high endurance (number of read/write cycles before cell breakdown); and (3) thermal stability of stored information (stability against errors due to thermally-induced transitions between two states that represent different bit values; an effect that increases with decreasing element volume and comes into play at deep nanoscale feature sizes).
Three interrelated features were developed by IME to enable scalability, increased endurance, and thermal stability in a memory array based on SpinRAM memory cells: (1) a closed-flux cell structure; (2) parallel drive lines at the memory cell; and (3) increased film thickness, respectively. These are three of the design features that distinguish SpinRAM cells from other magnetic-RAM designs. Endurance was incorporated in the early SpinRAM cells fabricated. A higher degree of scalability is enabled in the latest SpinRAM design by the fully-closed-flux structure of the memory cells and correspondingly lower drive fields. The issue of thermal stability has been resolved conceptually.
IME has also identified two basic issues beyond the cell level: (1) compatibility of fabrication technology with CMOS processing; at this time, already demonstrated by commercial magnetic RAM; and (2) high capacity. IME separated the development of scalability from that of capacity, as the issues attendant to the two are distinct. IME is pursuing independent programs in parallel to address each issue, with the intent of combining the results at a later development stage.
An important issue relating to magnetic-RAM scalability is control of the demagnetizing field Hd, the field produced by the magnetization M itself.
IME has chosen giant magnetoresistive (GMR) films for memory cell design, despite the smaller signal of some GMR structures relative to that of tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) structures, for reasons discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,741,923 entitled SpinRAM issued on Aug. 22, 2017, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
To realize high capacity, IME implemented two additional development programs. One program involves enhancing GMR by developing a ferromagnetically-coupled GMR superlattice with low drive fields and significantly higher GMR values than previously available, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,619,467 entitled High GMR Structure With Low Drive Fields issued on Dec. 31, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Such structures increase the signal strength of the memory cell. The other program involves development of a three-dimensional structure referred to as 3D SpinRAM.
The functional memory components of SpinRAM—the memory array without support electronics—is made of metal and insulators (no semiconductors), with the potential for monolithic 3D structures (vertically replicated 2D arrays); the storage density per unit area of such a 3D SpinRAM can exceed that of a hard disk; for many mainstream applications, e.g., ones that depend on a specific number of input/output operations per second, it should also cost less than hard disk. To date, SpinRAM has been implemented as a coincident-current architecture of the kind illustrated in FIG. 1 and described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 9,741,923, incorporated herein by reference above. In such an architecture, the storage cell is located in the portion of the overlap of the GMR line with the parallel portions of the drive lines, and co-linearity of the drive lines at a given memory cell (as represented by oval 102) ensures that the drive fields at the cell location are co-linear.
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U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,910 describes a mixture of polyvinylidene fluoride, nylon 11 and a compatible adhesive to secure the coating to the substrate. The preferred composition is polyvinylidene fluoride, nylon and a nylon terpolymer/caprolactam adhesive. The coating is preferably applied by plasma spray.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,340,222 suggests inter alia that amide group containing polymers may be used in connection with fluoropolymers to aid in film formation and ultimate coating performance. At a maximum 50% of the combination is to be the amide group containing polymer and on closer examination of the text it its clear that the amide containing polymers referred to are acrylamide polymers not polyamide polymers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,794 describes the addition of selected polyamide polymers to polyvinylidene fluoride based polymers for the purpose of improving the impact strength of PVDF polymers. The amount of polyamide is from 30% to 55% by weight and the choice of polyamide is stated to be critical. Polyamide from aminoundecanoic acid, polyamide (nylon) 11 if made from the commonly available aminoundecanoic acid, 10-aminoundecanoic acid, is specifically stated to be incompatible with PVDF polymers along with polyamides from 6-aminocaproic acid.
Suitable polyamides are stated to be those described from branched diamines having carbon chain lengths defined in the patent.
The present invention provides mixtures of PVDF polymers and polyamide 11, or polyamide 12, having less than 45%. by weight PVDF polymers which are fusible powders suitable for providing pigmented or unpigmented coatings on substrates, particularly metal substrates and which are also capable of being formed by common techniques, such as by injection molding or extrusion, into two or three dimensional objects having superior surface properties to corresponding polyamides not containing the PVDF polymers. The compositions of the instant inventions are free of the compatible adhesive of U.S. 5,106,910.
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{
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a composition for a surface modifying agent and in particular, a modified polysiloxane composition capable of forming a film having improved surface properties such as lubricity, non-adhesiveness, etc. on a surface of a rubber article and more specifically, it is concerned with a sanitary rubber article such as a rubber stopper for a medicament, instrument or device for medical treatment, etc. having improved and excellent surface properties by coating the surface with the said composition.
2. Prior Art
Various methods have hitherto been proposed for the purpose of improving the surface property of a molded rubber material, for example, decreasing the surface friction resistance, imparting a solvent resistance, water repellence or ozone resistance, removing the adhesiveness, etc. For example, there have been proposed a process comprising holding a rubber article in chlorine or bromine gas or in a solution of sodium sulfonate (Japanese Patent Publication No. 3807/1982), a process comprising holding a fluorine gas atmosphere (Japanese Patent Publication No. 19464/1983 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 218830/1984), a process comprising coating a rubber surface with an organopolysiloxane composition such as containing an organopolysiloxane having two or more hydroxyl groups bonded to silicon atoms in one molecule, polydiorganosiloxane with both terminal hydroxyl groups blocked, polyorganohydrogensiloxane, epoxy group-containing siloxane and amino- or alkoxy group-containing siloxane, followed by hardening (Japanese Patent Publication No. 47864/1981), a process comprising preparing a medical or sanitary rubber article by incorporating 0.1 to 10% by weight of an organo silicon compound capable of moving little by little in the rubber (Japanese Patent Publication No. 30089/1972), a process comprising coating the surface of a rubber molded article with a silcone raw rubber containing hydroxyl or methoxy groups in the molecule by crosslinking (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 96837/1982) and a process comprising producing a rubber stopper by coating and crooslinking a polydimethylsiloxane or a polydimethylsiloxane in which a part of the dimethyl groups is replaced by phenyl groups, vinyl groups, fluorine-containing groups, polyether groups, alkylallyl groups or fatty acid groups (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 182418/1982). The inventors have also proposed a process comprising coating a rubber surface with a silane coupling agent containing amino groups as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 104672/1981) and a sanitary rubber article coated with a modified polysiloxane and a process for the production of the same (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 318944/1988 and 62170/1989).
In polysiloxane compositions prepared for coating, however, various organic solvents for controlling the viscosity of the compositions and mixing and dissolving various additives are used as a conventional technique, but there is no solvent capable of satisfying all required properties, for example, solubility of the polysiloxane composition, compatibility with the surface of a rubber article, etc.
Since a crosslinking reaction in a polysiloxane composition starts after evaporation of a solvent, there occur delay of the reaction starting time and a large dispersion of the reaction state, depending on the evaporation state of the solvent used, thus causing sliding of the coated film surface of the modified polysiloxane composition, unevenness of the thickness thereof and stripping from the rubber surface.
In a modified polysiloxane-coated saniatry article and a process for the production of the same, the inventors have proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 318944/1988 and 62170/1989, examples are given in which irradiation of ultraviolet rays was carried out as a means for crosslinking and bonding a modified polysiloxane composition, but it has been desired to further improve the uniformity of the reaction, prevent the polysiloxane film from fine stripping and further shorten the reaction time.
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{
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Ordinary polymers, based upon pure non-polyenic acrylates or allelic monomers, do not have water-solvent ionic layers on their surfaces which are buffered against the sorption of proteins. Providing water-solvent ionic layers on the surface of the polymer is desirable because such layers will greatly improve the bio-compatibility of the lens with cell membranes of the recipient's eye.
Polyenic water-solvent ionic monomers may be used in order to produce a water-solvent layer. However, this decreases the resistance of such copolymers against swelling. For example, the system of polyenic copolymers, based upon acrylamid or acrylic acid with HEMA has a tendency towards excessive swelling beyond all bounds. This happens because pure homopolymers, polyacrylamide or polyacrylic acid, contained in this system, dissolve in water. Therefore, it is an advantage to produce a polymer which would be able to form such a vital water-solvent layer, and would not affect the polymer resistance against swelling.
References concerning graft-copolymers of collagen include U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,428 (Jun. 14, 1983) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,925 (Jun. 5, 1994). In these patents, a system of water-soluble monomers and A telo-collagen is used. However, this system is not hydrolytically stable and is not sufficiently optically transparent. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,925, nothing is mentioned of special optical conditions needed for transparent polymer production. The water-solvent A telo-collagen disclosed in this patent does not have the capacity to form a gel in the organic monomer solution, and therefore the collagen precipitates or coagulates.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to engine cooling systems and more particularly to a novel and improved cooling system in a turbo charged internal combustion engine.
The development of internal combustion engines for reduced exhaust emissions has resulted in significant increases in the amount of heat dissipation into engine cooling systems. Traditionally, increases in the required amount of heat dissipation has been accomplished by improving the radiator cooling capacity through increasing the core size of the radiator. In addition, increased coolant and cooling air flow has been used to deal with the increase in required heat dissipation.
Packaging space for larger radiator cores and high energy consumption due to increased coolant and cooling air flow limit the amount of heat dissipation capacity increase that can be accomplished with these traditional approaches.
It is possible to improve cooling capacity by elevating the maximum permissible coolant temperature above traditional levels. The adoption of pressurized cooling systems which permitted operation with coolants at 100xc2x0 C./212xc2x0 F. was a step in this direction. The addition of expansion tanks assisted in maintaining such temperature levels. However, it has become desirable to elevate coolant temperatures to even higher levels.
Utilization of elevated coolant temperatures requires proper pressurization under all operating, stand-still and ambient conditions in order to control cooling characteristics, secure coolant flow, prevent cavitation and cavitation erosion and to prevent unwanted boiling and overflow.
Temperature and pressure increase becomes more critical as the heat dissipation from the engine approaches the cooling capacity of the cooling system. A now traditional approach for pressurizing cooling systems is to rely on closed expansion or pressure tanks which depend on temperature increases of coolant and air to create and maintain desired pressures. Such a system communicates with ambient air by opening two way pressure valves to thereby communicating the system with ambient air to entrain new air into the pressure tank when entrapped air and the coolant cool to create a vacuum in the system. Such systems are passive and vulnerable to leaks. Moreover, if such a system is depressurized for any reason, such as maintenance or top-off, pressure is reduced to ambient and operating time and cycles are needed to increase the pressure in the system.
According to the present invention, an internal combustion engine cooling system is pressurized by introducing air under pressure from an external pressurized source. More specifically, in the preferred and disclosed embodiment, air under pressure from an engine intake manifold is communicated into the cooling system thereby to pressurize the system and elevate the maximum available coolant temperature. In its simplest form, a conduit connects an engine intake manifold with a cooling system expansion tank via a flow control check valve. The flow control valve is in the form of a spring loaded non-return valve connected in the conduit for enabling unidirectional flow from the intake manifold to the expansion tank.
In an alternate embodiment, a flow control valve in the form of a spring loaded non-return valve is also used. A second spring loaded non-return valve allows decompression of the expansion tank to a threshold pressure level corresponding to the spring pressure of the second valve plus the pressure in the engine air inlet system. In order to dampen decay of pressure in the coolant system, a restrictor is interposed in series with the second non-return valve.
A further alternative includes an electric or pneumatic switch between the restrictor and the second non-return valve. A control algorithm for this switch is based on coolant pressure, temperature, engine load parameters and duty cycles for optimizing the expansion tank pressure.
In a still further alternative, a two directional two way control valve is used together with pressure sensors respectively located on opposite sides of the control valve. A control algorithm for pressure control is based on selected parameters such as coolant pressure, engine load, charge air pressure, coolant temperature, ambient temperature and pressure, cooling system capacity, cooling fan speed and duty cycles.
The alternate embodiments using electronic control units enable diagnosis of the systems actual functioning condition. The system compares actual pressure levels, time temperatures and valve positions with expected critical pressures under given conditions in the setting and design parameters for the system and components used in it. Diagnostic information is available for drivers and service information. It also can be used for actively changing the functioning of the system to enable continued use of the engine vehicle in a so-called limp home mode in case of system malfunction.
Accordingly, the objects of this invention are to provide a novel and improved engine coolant system and a method of engine cooling.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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People's lives are becoming increasingly fast-paced and multi-tasking is becoming more prevalent. As a result, their attention span can become shorter and they often have limited time to concentrate, resolve, and digest information.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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There are several techniques used to separate water from various contaminants, such as hydrocarbons, salts, debris, dirt/clay, coal, hazardous material, or the like. Sources of industrial wastewater come from various industries generally, such as from facilities including chemical plants, fossil-fuel power stations, food production facilities, iron and steel plants, mines and quarries, nuclear plants, and others. Thus, evaporation from evaporation ponds has been used to separate various types of contaminants from water. For example, salt evaporation can be used to produce salt from seawater, or can be used to dispose of brine from desalination plants. Mining operations can use evaporation to separate ore or other material from water. The oil and gas industry can use evaporation separate various hydrocarbons from water. Evaporation can also be used to separate water from various types of hazardous or non-hazardous waste, reducing its weight and volume to make it more easily transportable and stored.
As many industries produce some wastewater, there is a trend towards minimizing wastewater production and/or recycling wastewater where possible. However, typical evaporation ponds can be large, taking up a significant amount of real estate (which may not be available in some instances), and evaporation ponds can take months to adequately evaporate/separate the waste material from the water though evaporation.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tone synthesizer for synthesizing a tone of an acoustic musical instrument.
b) Description of the Related Art
Such a tone synthesizer is known which electrically simulates a mechanism for generating a musical tone in an acoustic musical instrument. A tone synthesizer adapted for synthesizing a musical tone of a wind instrument, for example, comprises an exciting circuit for generating a driving waveform signal corresponding to pressure change in a mouthpiece, and a resonance circuit simulating characteristics of a resonance tube which responds to pressure change in the mouthpiece of the wind instrument. A cylindrical resonance tube can be simulated by a transmission circuit called a wave-guide usually constituted by a loop circuit which comprises a delay circuit and a filter. The transmission circuit receives a driving waveform signal from an exciting circuit and outputs a signal of a certain frequency range after amplifying the signal and repeatedly circulating the signal in the loop of the transmission circuit.
A wind instrument such as a saxophone or a trumpet has a conical resonance tube, which in general is considered equivalent to a number of cylindrical short resonance tubes having different diameters and connected in series in the order of the magnitude of the diameter. Consequently, a conical tube is usually simulated by a resonance circuit comprising a plurality of wave-guides and junctions cascading the wave-guides one by one. A tone synthesizer having such a resonant circuit is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication Laid-open Nos. Sho-63-40199 and Hei-3-235997.
In order to faithfully simulate a transfer function of a conical resonance tube by a resonance circuit described above, it is necessary to connect many stages of the combination of a waveguide and a junction. Generally, a junction comprises a multiplier for multiplying the input, which is usually large in size. Thus, a conventional resonance circuit comprising a number of Junctions for simulating a wind acoustic instrument with a conical resonance tube is usually large in size.
In order to maintain a similar tone color at different tone pitches, it is necessary to keep the shape of a flared or conical tube in similar shapes. For simulating such similar shapes, it is necessary to control the coefficients of junctions representing cylindrical resonance tubes of different diameter in connection with the tone pitch (delay length). Thus, the control becomes complicated and the circuit scale becomes larger.
In order to simulate a conical resonance tube by a digital signal processor (DSP) executing a certain program in place of an electronic circuit comprising a number of transmission circuits as described above, the amount of processing per unit time the DSP should handle becomes large. It is, therefore, necessary to employ a high speed DSP. Hence, the cost of the DSP increases.
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{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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