text
stringlengths 2
806k
| meta
dict |
|---|---|
Certain powersplit transmissions suffer from their associated power sources, such as an internal combustion engine, stalling when the vehicle encounters a load, such as when the vehicle enters a pile of aggregate material. The vehicle may be, by way of example, a wheel loader. In most cases, the stall condition occurs when the transmission is in a driving gear configuration used for higher speeds.
Typically, the stall occurs because the output of the transmission maintains driving engagement with the power source and the overall transmission ratio set cannot follow the fast deceleration (speed gradient) that the vehicle is subjected to when entering a pile. At a certain point, the power source is unable to deliver the requested drive torque, which results in an engine stall.
In a wheel loader equipped with a conventional powersplit transmission, this rapid changing ratio set is in the first instance accomplished by the torque converter. When the wheel loader is entering a pile (typically in a driving gear configuration used for higher speeds) the speed ratio of the torque converter changes from a high value (for example approximately 0.8 to approximately 0.9, which is typically associated with a driving mode) to a rather low value, or even zero (stall condition).
Another advantage of the torque converter is that the torque received from the engine is increased during the stall condition with a factor (typically a factor of 2 to 3 in these applications), enhancing the push power of the machine. To even further increase the push power of the machine, a downshift may be made from the second driving gear to the first driving gear to obtain a maximum push power available from the vehicle. This downshift typically occurs with an interruption in the torque delivered by the vehicle.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned deficiency, the transmission may be put into neutral. The vehicle thus comes to a full stop, such as during pile entry. Re-initialization of the drive train is then required prior to resuming the actual operation. This solution significantly compromises the performance of the wheel loader to a negative extent and therefore is unacceptable for modern vehicles. Generally, transmissions convert power from the power source, for example a diesel engine, to the drive axles of the vehicle. Some transmissions have a powersplit configuration. This means that power can be transferred by using a hydraulic branch, a mechanical branch or a combination of both branches used together.
Powersplit transmissions can be operated in different modes. In a first drive range, the transmission is operated in the hydrostatic mode, where only a hydrostatic motor drives an output of the vehicle. In a second or a third drive range, the transmission is operated in the powersplit mode, where a combination of the hydraulic branch and the mechanical branch of the transmission are used to drive the output of the vehicle.
It would be advantageous to develop a method of operating a driveline including a power split transmission that militates against a torque interruption from occurring during a shifting procedure and militates against a stall condition from occurring. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The invention relates generally to deorbit of spacecraft and more particularly to passive electrodynamic and aerodynamic drag.
Currently, satellite systems rely upon rockets for deorbit. This requires propellant masses reserved for deorbit that are a significant fraction of the spacecraft's dry mass.
Potential competitive devices may include other electrodynamic tether systems or inflatable or deployable drag-enhancement devices. The passive electrodynamic drag effect was first observed in the Echo balloon experiments.
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. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
During the past several decades, many kinds of industrial buildings were built all over the country along with the on-going economy development in China. Most of the industrial buildings are of 2 to 3 storied steel structure buildings, in the process of using, large loads from cranes are transmitted by crane beams to load-bearing columns or walls, which usually are supported by pile foundations and then settlements are small. Meanwhile, the floors of these buildings are usually designed as passageways, working or temporary storage areas, and the foundations of the floors are natural foundations without treatment in consideration of investment saving. Such buildings are built on soft soil layers in Ningbo, Wenzhou, Taizhou. And these buildings are suffering settlements of the indoor ground because of the effects of the loads from the usual storages and shipping carts, while the columns and walls for bearing the load of building structure and crane beam have relatively little settlement because of the pile foundations. Therefore, an obvious settlement difference occurs between the floor of the building and the pile foundation or wall of the building, and if the connection structure between the floor and pile foundation or wall was treated improperly, structure cracks in the floor or the unevenness of the floor would occur, which would lead the damage of the working environment, or even worse, like the stop-working of the shipping machine. Thus it is urgent to solve the connection problem between the floor and the pile or wall in the industrial buildings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
When manufacturing certain aircraft industrial parts it is desirable, due to the configuration of the part, to have holes cut and countersunk by a reverse feed operation. A standard industry drill for use in such an operation is a Cleco Quackenbush reverse feed drill. This drill is available from the Quackenbush Drill Company, a division of Dresser Industries.
This standard reverse feed Quackenbush drill has a feature that upon completion of a cutting stroke the drill automatically returns the spindle to the starting position, i.e., the beginning of the cutting stroke. The automatic return feature utilized in the Quackenbush drill, however, can only be set to a tolerance of plus or minus 1/16 of an inch (0.0625). In addition, when the automatic return is activated on the Quackenbush drill, the cutter immediately returns to the beginning of the cutting stroke and there is no dwell time for cutter clean up of the hole in the part at the end of the stroke and consequently, the cutter leaves marks on the part.
In the manufacture of diverse aircraft parts the desired tolerance is 0.01 inch and cutter marks may be undesirable and have to be removed in a secondary polishing or grinding step. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Various devices have been developed for improving traction between a vehicle's tires and a road surface made slippery by adverse weather or inferior roadbed conditions such as ice, snow, mud, and desert sand. Proposed traction devices help a vehicle drive out of a rut or pothole by gaining additional traction from materials placed in the path of the tires. Such traction aids include boards, burlap bags, pieces of carpeting, tire chains, and various bulky ramps, for example. These makeshift means are generally ineffective when caught and thrown out by the rotating tires. Typically, a standard block of wood is used with the assistance of numerous people to free off-roaders in desert terrain, which often leads to damaged tires and vehicles.
Other traction devices are prohibitively expensive to purchase and unsafe to handle because of sharp edges and heavy components. Prior traction mats are often difficult to position beneath the vehicle's tires for use. When a vehicle's tires become mired in snow, mud, or desert sand for some depth, the resulting ruts formed by the vehicle's tires are often deep and steeply sloping. Flexible traction mats tend to closely conform to steeply sloping was of a rut or may sink in various road conditions, making it difficult for a vehicle to climb out under its own power. When a prior traction mat is used to extricate a vehicle from such an environment, the tire frequently engages and slides against the leading or front edge of the mat without gaining a satisfactory grip.
A motorist may want access to a variety of vehicle tools without having to store numerous devices in the vehicle. While traction mats and other aids such as jacks and repair ramps can be carried in a vehicle, they fight for storage space with other items. Manual and automated vehicle jacks are usually carried in a vehicle and used principally to assist a motorist with changing a vehicle's tire. A manual jack that attaches to the bumper or frame of vehicle at designated points is a widely used method of jacking or lifting a vehicle. After placement, a manual jack is usually cranked to lift the vehicle and repair a desired tire. An all-in-one traction jack device needs to save the motorist time and effort by helping the tires to regain traction for return to the roadway and to eliminate the high cost of an emergency road service truck for winching the stranded vehicle from a slippery hole or rut.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an effective, space-saving vehicle traction jack device that provides additional traction and a ramped surface to lend traction to move a vehicle's tires when the tires are stuck in loose terrain or weather conditions. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The background of the invention will be discussed in two parts:
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toy vehicle launching and starting system and, more particularly, to a starting system having a delayed starting indicator which is gravity operated to a lower position to indicate the start of the race. The apparatus is simply constructed and inexpensive to manufacture and includes provisions for indicating a premature start of one of the racing vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Small toy vehicles have become exceedingly popular among small children. These vehicles are usually sold in sets which include track sections connectible together to allow various track layouts to be constructed. To enhance the play value of such sets, the sets generally include accessories such as starters and the like. In a typical set utilizing two vehicles and two tracks, generally in parallel to simulate a two lane racetrack, each track is provided with its own starter and accessory can be provided such as a finish gate at the terminal end of the two tracks, the finish gate having a mechanically actuated flag mechanism operable to a position indicative of the vehicle passing through the gate first.
Such vehicles, which may be of the die-cast metal variety, may also be employed with accelerators or toy vehicle launchers which are usually powered by resilient means such as an elastic band to propel the vehicle under control of the operator, the vehicles being otherwise free wheeling and may be of the type for example as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,510,981 to H. W. LaBranche, et al.
A delayed starting indicator of the prior art type is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,707,802 to J. I. Tucker, Jr. The utilization of such accessories enhances the amusement of the child when using the apparatus to simulate an automobile race of the drag race type. In this type of race, vehicles are raced over a measured relatively short course with the winner being that car which first crosses the finish line after accelerating from a stopped position.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a new and improved toy vehicle launching and starting system.
It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved delayed start signalling and indicating apparatus having audible signalling means.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a new and improved delayed start signalling and indicating apparatus wherein the amount of delay is adjustable.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a new and improved starting apparatus which is compact in size yet simple and effective in construction. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to amplifiers and, more particularly, to an adaptive power amplifier architecture.
2. Description of Related Art
An ideal power amplifier amplifies an input signal with no waveshape alteration. The ideal power amplifier is therefore characterized as having a transfer function (input signal vs. output signal) which is linear with no transfer function discontinuities. In practice, a power amplifier, however, has a transfer function with nonlinear and xe2x80x9clinearxe2x80x9d regions. Whether the power amplifier is operating in a linear or nonlinear region depends on the amplitude of the input signal. For the power amplifier to achieve as near to linear operation as possible, the power amplifier is designed to operate within its linear region given the range of possible input signal amplitudes. If the input signal has an amplitude which causes the power amplifier to operate outside the linear region, the power amplifier introduces nonlinear components or distortion to the signal. When the input signal possesses peak amplitudes which cause the amplifier to compress, to saturate (no appreciable increase in output amplitude with an increase in input amplitude) or to shut-off (no appreciable decrease in output amplitude with a decrease in input amplitude), the amplifer is being overdriven, and the output signal is clipped or distorted in a nonlinear fashion. In addition to distorting the signal, the clipping or nonlinear distortion of the input signal, generates spectral regrowth or adjacent channel power (ACP) that can interfere with an adjacent frequency.
In wireless communications systems, high power amplification of signals for transmission are commonly encountered with very large peak to average power ratios. (PAR). For example, in a time division multiple access (TDMA) system, when multiple carriers signals are combined for amplification with a power amplifier, the resulting PAR is about 9 dB for a large number of carriers. In a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a single loaded 1.25 Mhz wide carrier can have a PAR of 11.3 dB. These signals have to be amplified fairly linearly to avoid generating ACP. To satisfy the linearity requirement, power amplifiers are usually operated in Class A and Class AB configurations. To be able to handle large signal peaks linearly, the amplifiers are biased at high bias currents. The efficiency of the amplifiers is low because of the high bias and the high peak to average power ratios.
Accordingly, efficiency of the amplifier is inversely related to the ability to handle high peaks in a linear fashion. To achieve a high degree of linearity, the amplifiers are biased to operate, in class A or xe2x80x9cslightxe2x80x9d class AB (meaning class AB operation that is closer to class A than to class B). Maximum theoretical AC to DC efficiency achievable for class A operation is 50%, whereas that of a class AB amplifier is between 50 and 78.5% (the latter representing the maximum efficiency of a class B amplifier). The closer the particular class AB operation is to class A, the lower the maximum efficiency. For amplifiers employing field effect transistors, the class of operation is set in accordance with the gate voltage applied, which controls the quiescent (idle) drain current. For class A operation, the gate voltage is set so that the idle drain current is approximately in the middle of the range between pinch-off and saturation. Class B amplifiers are biased near pinch-off, resulting in a rectified drain current waveform. Class AB amplifiers are biased in between the bias points of classes A and B.
Typically, strict linearity requirements in modern wireless communication systems dictate the use of the relatively inefficient class A or slight class AB modes. As a result, significant DC power is dissipated by the amplifiers, thereby generating heat which must be controlled to avoid degrading amplifier performance and reliability. Hence, the use of elaborate heat sinks and fans become a necessary by-product of the high linearity system. Naturally, these measures add to the cost, size and weight of the base station equipment. As the number of wireless communications users continues to grow, so do the number of base stations and the need to keep them small, light and inexpensive. Thus, a great deal of research has focused on the quest to improve amplifier efficiency in these and other systems.
Various methods are used to enable the use of more cost-effective and more power efficient amplifiers while maintaining an acceptable level of linearity. Feed-forward correction is routinely deployed in modern amplifiers to improve the linearity of the main amplifier with various input patterns. The essence of the feed forward correction is to isolate the distortion generated by the main amplifier on a feed forward path. The distortion is provided to a correction amplifier on the feed forward path which amplifies the distortion. The distortion on the feed forward path is combined with the distortion on the main signal path to cancel the distortion on the main signal path. Pre-distortion techniques distort the input signal prior to amplification by taking into account the transfer function characteristics for the amplifier. As such, the desired amplified signal is achieved from the pre-distorted input signal. A technique-described by Adel A. M. Saleh and Donald C. Cox, xe2x80x9cImproving the Power-Added Efficiency of FET Amplifiers Operating with Varying Envelope Signals,xe2x80x9d IEEE Transactions On Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 31, No. 1, January 1983 uses the input signal envelope to dynamically adjust the amplifier bias such that a high bias is only applied when a large peak is encountered. Baseband processing techniques can also be used to improve the efficiency and/or linearity of the power amplifier architecture.
Wireless base stations use a variety of radio frequency (RF) amplifers in both single carrier and multicarrier configurations operating in Class A and Class AB modes. FIG. 1 shows a typical feed-forward power amplifier architecture 10 which includes a main amplifier 12 to amplify the input signal on the main signal path 13 and a correction amplifier 14 used in reducing the distortion produced from the main amplifier 12. In performing feed forward correction, the distortion generated by the amplifier 12 is isolated on a distortion cancellation path 16. To isolate the distortion on the distortion cancellation or feed forward path 16, a coupler 17 provides a version of the amplified input signal and distortion from the output of the main amplifier 12 onto a coupling path 18 to a coupler 19. A coupler 20 provides a version of the input signal from the main signal path 13 to the coupler 19. The coupler 19 combines the amplified input signal and distortion from the coupling path with the version of the input signal from the feed forward path 16. As such, the input signals cancel and the distortion is left on the distortion cancellation path 16. The distortion is provided to the correction amplifier 14 which amplifies the distortion on the distortion cancellation path 16. A combiner 22 cancels the distortion on the main signal path 13 with the distortion on the distortion cancellation path 16 to reduce the distortion produced from the main amplifier 12.
Other power amplifier architectures are possible which use different structures and do not use a correction amplifier 14 as described above to reduce the nonlinear distortion of the signal. For example, the correction amplifier 14 can be replaced with a second amplifier or amplifiers in an arrangement where the amplifiers amplify versions of the original signal, and the amplified versions of the original signal are combined to produce the amplified signal while producing reduced distortion. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,375 issued on Jun. 29, 1999 entitled xe2x80x9cLow Distortion Amplifier Circuit with Improved Output Powerxe2x80x9d describes a power amplification architecture using multiple amplifiers.
In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the main amplifier 12 is configured as parallel amplifier stages of like amplifiers to provide the same gain as the individual amplifiers while increasing the output; power of the main amplifier 12 with each amplifier stage 26a-d. The main amplifier 12 includes an arrangement of 1:2 splitters 24a-cwhich split the input signal among parallel amplifiers 26a-d. An arrangement of 2:1 combiners 28a-c combines the outputs of the parallel amplifiers 26a-d to produce an amplified signal on the main signal path 13. The main amplifier 12 has the same gain as an individual amplifier 26a-n but the power handling capability of the main amplifier 12 is increased by the power handling capability of each individual amplifier 26a-d.
In the described feed forward architecture, the main amplifier 12 is the largest single contributor to the overall power consumption in CDMA, TDMA and frequency division multiple access (FDMA) base stations. Due to the potential for high peak powers, the main amplifier 12 is biased with a high current to be able to handle those peak powers when they do occur. As such, the efficiency of the main amplifier 12 is typically less than 30%. This low efficiency leads to higher power consumption, shorter battery backup time, lower overall reliability and higher operating temperatures. Accordingly, there is a need for a more efficient power amplifier architecture.
The present invention involves a power amplifier system using adaptive distribution of signals through an amplifier architecture of parallel amplifier stages. For example, the power amplifier system can adjust the operation of individual amplifier stages in the amplifier arrangement, for example to reduce power handling capability of the amplifier stages based on information of the signal to be amplified by the amplifier arrangement, such as the power level. To take advantage of the adjusted operation of the amplifier stages, the power amplifier system uses a variable power divider to reapportion the input-signal power among the amplifier stages and at least one variable combiner to adaptively combine amplified signals from, the amplifier stages in changing proportions. As such, the power amplifier system is reconfigurable and/or can adapt to changing conditions to provide improved performance and/or efficiency. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Electronic equipment involving semiconductive devices are essential for many modern applications. Technological advances in materials and designs have produced generations of semiconductive devices where each generation has smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In the course of advancement and innovation, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometric size (i.e., the smallest component that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. Such advances have increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing semiconductive devices. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Besides endoscopes for medical and non-medical technical applications, the viewing direction of which is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft of the endoscope, endoscopes having different fixed viewing directions were developed early on. Here and in what follows, the viewing direction of an endoscope always means the direction from the distal end of the endoscope in which an object, which appears in the middle of the image acquired by means of the endoscope, lies. In many applications, however, a fixed viewing direction is disadvantageous. In the least favorable case, for example, the endoscope must be changed several times during a medical intervention. In such cases, the use of an endoscope having an in-situ adjustable or variable viewing direction is advantageous.
The observation of an object in a cavity by means of an endoscope generally requires illumination of the object. To this end, for example, an endoscope comprises light waveguides, in particular glass fibers, by means of which illumination light is transmitted from the proximal end of the endoscope along the shaft to the distal end of the endoscope. Light exit surfaces of the light waveguides at the distal end of the endoscope are arranged and formed in such a way that the entire field of view, or viewing field, is illuminated sufficiently.
In an endoscope having an adjustable viewing direction, in the simplest case the illumination light is distributed at the distal end of the endoscope in such a way that the entire field of view is illuminated independently of the respectively adjusted viewing direction. This, however, entails a number of disadvantages. In particular, light power is wasted, because the entire fields of view of all adjustable illumination directions are constantly illuminated, independently of the actually adjusted viewing direction. For a predetermined desired brightness, a significantly higher light power must therefore be provided overall than in an endoscope having a fixed viewing direction.
Another disadvantage is based on the fact that high-intensity illumination light can damage tissue or other objects photothermally or photochemically. In an endoscope having a fixed viewing direction, too small a distance of the distal end of the endoscope from an object is generally apparent, at least when observing the acquired image. When using a camera on the endoscope, automatic warning of users is also possible when the brightness of an acquired image exceeds a predetermined threshold. In an endoscope having an adjustable viewing direction, however, a part of the illumination light strikes objects which lie outside the field of view. Undesired proximity of the distal end of the endoscope to these objects, and resulting exposure of these objects to a radiation power which is too high, are therefore not apparent.
Another disadvantage is that illumination light which is emitted outside the field of view can also be scattered or reflected by objects or opaque media. The reflected or scattered illumination light may directly or indirectly enter the observation beam path. Contrasts and, above all, the distinguishability of objects in dark image regions can thereby be reduced.
Another disadvantage is due to the fact that the illumination strength or intensity of the illumination light is essentially constant in the direction in which the viewing direction can be varied (also referred to as the vertical direction), while in the direction perpendicular thereto (also referred to as the horizontal direction) it generally decreases slightly toward the edge of the field of view. From endoscopes having a fixed viewing direction, however, users are generally used to an illumination strength which decreases slightly toward the edge of the field of view both in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction. The constant illumination strength in the vertical direction can therefore be perceived as irritating.
DE 600 15 375 T2 describes an arrangement of a plurality of prisms. One of the prisms can be rotated about an axis in order to shine illumination light in an adjustable viewing direction. The inventors of the present invention have, however, established that the mounting of the rotatable prism is in many cases elaborate in terms of design and production. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
A processing system may include hardware resources, such as a central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), and nonvolatile storage such as read only memory (ROM) and one or more hard disk drives. The processing system may also include software resources, such as a basic input/output system (BIOS) and one or more operating systems (OSs). When the computer system is started or reset, it may load and run the BIOS, and then boot to the OS. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
A laser printer generates an image on a piece of paper by scanning a focused laser beam over a cylindrical photosensitive drum, the signal directed to the laser beam for each pixel controlling the length of time which the laser beam is on. The drum converts the laser power incident on the drum to electrostatic charges, and the electrostatic charges attract and retain a powdered ink or "toner" (generically referred to as a "marking medium"). When an electrostatically charged paper (generically referred to as a "printing surface") is rolled against the drum, the toner is transferred to the paper, and the paper is then heated to fuse the toner to the paper. The resolution of the image is determined by the number of scan lines per inch (pi) and the density of pixel values along each scan line, as measured in dots per inch (dpi). A typical high-resolution laser printer has 600 scan lines per inch and 600 dots per inch along each scan line.
A graph of an exemplary laser signal 100 as a function of pixel position is shown in FIG. 1A, and a graph of the resulting line thickness 130 and a magnified view of the toner line 170 generated by the laser printer are shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C, respectively. (For clarity, the toner line 170 is shown with no toner in the scan lines 160 and 180 directly above and below it 170, respectively, although generally there will be toner in those scan lines 160 and 180 as well.) As may be noted by inspection of FIGS. 1A-C, the thickness of the toner line 170 is roughly proportional to the signal level directed to the laser. The thickness of the toner line 170 reaches a width of one pixel when the level of the laser signal has its full-pixel-width value, PP, and the thickness of the line 170 having a maximum toner width, WM, (which is three pixels in the example of FIG. 1C) when the level of the laser signal has its maximum value, PM.
While a monochromatic image will only require one toner line per scan line, a full-color image will require multiple colored inks per scan line. Most commonly, fill-color printed images are generated using cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks, and the image is referred to as the "CMYK" image. Although the present invention applies to full-color image printing as well as monochromatic image printing, for ease of discussion of the present invention only one toner color per scan line is discussed, since the generalization to multiple toners per scan line is straightforward.
Although laser printers can generate images quickly, nonlinearities in the relation between the level directed to the laser and the amount of deposited toner are problematic in the accurate generation of images, especially in regions where the toner density is low (highlight regions) and regions where the toner density is high (shadow regions). One of the nonlinearities associated with the process is the result of interparticulate attraction between toner particles which causes them to clump together, preventing dots of toner deposited on the paper from being below a minimum size. Another cause of nonlinearities between the signal applied to the laser and the resulting toner density is a result of the time required to turn the laser off and on. As illustrated by the graph of the laser signal as a function of pixel number of FIG. 1D and the corresponding graph of incident laser power as a function of distance on the toner drum of FIG. 1E, the length of time that the laser power signal has the maximum laser power value (which is normalized to a value of unity in FIG. 1E) is roughly proportional to the laser signal value. However, the laser power cannot reach the value of unity instantaneously, nor cannot it return to zero power instantaneously. These ramp times effect the proportionality between the laser signal and the laser power. The non-proportionality is most dramatic for small laser signals, such as the signal at pixel number 1, where the finite-length rise and fall times of the laser power prevent the laser power from reaching the unity value.
A graph of an exemplary low-power laser signal 200 is shown in FIG. 2A, and a graph of the resulting line thickness 230 and a magnified view of the toner line 260 generated by the laser printer are shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, respectively. As may be noted by inspection of FIGS. 2A-C, for pixels which are surrounded by laser values of zero and have laser values which are below an isolated-single-pixel cutoff value, PC1, such as the second pixel, the laser engine cannot deposit any toner on the paper. However, for a pixel which is surrounded by laser values of zero and is above the isolated-single-pixel cutoff value PC1 (such as the fourth pixel), the laser engine can generate a toner covered area 262. Similarly, the laser engine cannot generate a toner covered area for a pair of laser values which are surrounded by laser values of zero, and for which the average value is below an isolated-double-pixels cutoff value, PC2. However, when an isolated pair of pixels, such as the sixth and seventh pixels, have an average value above the isolated-double-pixels cutoff value PC2, a toner covered area 264 is produced. Similarly, the isolated-triple-pixels cutoff PC3 has a value below the isolated-double-pixels cutoff value PC2, and when an isolated triple of pixels (not shown) have an average value above the isolated-triple-pixels cutoff value PC3, a toner covered area is produced, and so on.
The situation is actually somewhat more complex than indicated above, since non-zero values of surrounding pixels influence the cutoff values. For instance, when the laser values surrounding a pixel have a value of one, the smallest printable dot corresponds to a value somewhat less than PC1. And when the laser values surrounding the dot have a value of two, the smallest printable dot corresponds to a value somewhat less still. Similarly, when the laser values surrounding a pair of pixels have a value of one, the smallest printable dot corresponds to an average value of the pair of pixels somewhat less than PC2.
Another nonlinearity of laser printer imaging is found in the larger laser values which produce shadowed regions. A graph of an exemplary laser signal 300 is shown in FIG. 3A, and a graph of the resulting line thickness 330 and a magnified view of the toner line 360 generated by the laser printer are shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, respectively. As may be noted by inspection of FIGS. 3A-C, for laser values 300 which are near the middle of the range between zero and the full-pixel-width value PP (in this case the first through sixth pixels), the laser engine generates a line 360 whose thickness is roughly proportional to the laser values. However, for laser values which are near the full-pixel-width value PP (such as those of the seventh, eighth and ninth pixels), the laser engine tends to overly darken the pixels.
The underemphasis of low-power laser signals and the overemphasis of high-power laser signals (in scan lines of uniform darkness) is represented by the graph 400 of FIG. 4A, which plots laser value versus toner line thickness, i.e., toner "density." As can be seen from the graph 400, for low values 410 of the laser signal the line thickness is zero, as discussed above in reference to FIGS. 2A-C, and for high values 430 of the laser signal the line thickness reaches unity prior to the laser signal reaching the value PP, as discussed above in reference to FIGS. 3A-C.
Another drawback illustrated by FIG. 4A, is the fact that the laser values have a finite number of discrete values and the line thicknesses therefore have a finite number of discrete thicknesses. This "quantization" of line thicknesses can produce "false contours" when there is an area over which the color changes slowly--false contours occur at boundaries between a region having a gray scale of a first level and an adjoining region having a gray scale at an adjacent level.
These non-linearities and quantization effects makes accurate image printing a difficult and complex problem. An object of the present invention is therefore to provide method, apparatus, system and media for laser printing which has accurate tonal reproduction and is visually pleasing.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide method, apparatus, system and media for accurate laser printing in areas with low toner densities.
It is another object of the present invention to provide method, apparatus, system and media for accurate laser printing in areas with high toner densities.
It is another object of the present invention is to provide method, apparatus, system and media for laser printing with smooth transitions between gray scales, especially in areas where the image gray scale changes slowly. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Shaving implements typically include a razor cartridge mounted to a handle. The cartridge includes a housing having at least one razor blade having a cutting edge, that is located aft of a leading portion of the housing and forward of a trailing portion of the housing. A guard is mounted to or integral with the leading portion and a cap is mounted to or integral with the trailing portion. The guard and cap each have skin-engaging surfaces that cooperate to define a theoretical shave plane tangential to each of the guard and cap skin-engaging surfaces. The at least one razor blade is disposed such that its cutting edge is adjacent the shave plane. The razor cartridge may be movably mounted to the handle to allow the razor blades an increased range of movement during a shaving operation. Shaving aid material is often applied in anticipation of, or during a shaving operation to soften the hairs, condition the skin, provide lubrication, etc.
In some shaving implements, a shaving aid body comprising a soap-type shaving aid material may be positioned to partially or entirely surround the razor cartridge, thereby enabling a user to apply shaving aid material during the shaving process. However, because soap-type shaving aid materials erode during use, most of these types of shaving implements include a self-leveling mechanism that keeps the top surface of the shaving aid body and the shave plane of the razor cartridge substantially coplanar during use in order to provide the device with a suitable service life.
In shaving implements that utilize self-leveling mechanism, the shaving aid body and the razor cartridge move relative to each other in order for the shaving aid body and the razor cartridge to remain coplanar during the shaving operation. By remaining coplanar, both the shaving aid body and the razor blades contact the skin simultaneously during normal shaving. In some embodiments, pivotal motion of the razor cartridge relative to the shaving aid body is also permitted.
In any of the above-described shaving implements, the nature of limited pivotal movement or non-pivotal movement of the razor cartridge may cause the razor blades to occasionally lose contact with the surface being shaved, particularly as the user moves the implement over a relatively sharply-defined contour in the surface (e.g., over the edge defined by the ankle or shin, or over a fold of skin in the axillary region). In these instances a less-than-optimum shave may be produced, which may result in the user having to shave one area several times. By causing the razor blades to engage and re-engage the same surface multiple times, the skin, particularly in sensitive areas, may become irritated and cause discomfort to the person being shaved.
Based on the foregoing, what is needed is a shaving implement that is capable of maintaining the razor blades and the shaving aid body in contact with the surface being shaved over difficult-to-shave contours. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of asymmetric catalysis. More particularly, the invention relates to the field of organometallic catalysts useful for enantioselectively epoxidizing prochiral olefins with a new class of organorhenium complexes (i.e., an optically active metal ligand complex catalyst) as novel catalysts.
Asymmetric epoxidation of an olefin constitutes an extremely appealing strategy for the synthesis of optically active organic compounds. Several advances in this area have occurred in recent years. The most commonly and successfully used catalysts for asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized olefins are porphyrin and salen based systems. Chiral metal porphyrins have been reported to catalyze asymmetric epoxidation of styrene derivatives with high turnover numbers and moderate enantioselectivities (J. P. Collman et al. Science, 1993, 26, 1404). Unfortunately, the chiral porphyrin systems are usually difficult to prepare and are limited to styrene derivatives as substrates. E. N. Jacobsen (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1990, 112, 2801) and T. Katsuki (Tetrahedron Lett. 1990, 31, 7345) independently reported asymmetric epoxidation of olefins by bleach or iodosobenzene catalyzed by chiral manganese salen complexes. These chiral salen complexes were designed based on Kochi's achiral cationic manganese salen complex that was reported in 1986 (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1986, 108, 2309). The salen based catalyst gave very high enantioselectivities for the epoxidation of cis olefins, e.g., cis-.beta.-methylstyrene and dihydronaphthalene. However, the turnover numbers of these catalysts are typically 10 to 30, and they are limited to conjugated cis olefins. In 1980, Katsuki and Sharpless (references 43 and 44 below) reported a method for the epoxidation of allylic alcohols which proceeds with high enantioselectivities. However, this method is restricted to only allylic alcohols.
While Herrmann et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,247) have suggested the use of certain organorhenium compounds as catalysts for the oxidation of multiple C-C bonds, these do not produce a chiral epoxide.
Given the broad synthetic utility of chiral epoxides, more efficient catalytic and enantioselective catalysts besides porphyrin, salen and simple rhenium systems for asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized olefins are clearly desirable.
Description of the Prior Art
The following prior art references are disclosed for informational purposes.
1. Herrmann, W. A.; Wagner, W.; Flessner, U. N.; Volkhardt, U.; Komber, H. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 1991, 30, 1636.
2. Herrmann, W. A.; Wang, M. Angew. Chem, Int. Ed. Engl., 1991, 30, 1641.
3. Thiel, W. R.; Fischer, R. W.; Herrmann, W. A. J. Organomet. Chem., 1993, 459, C9.
4. Yamazaki, S.; Espenson, J. H.; Huston, P. Inorg. Chem., 1993. 32, 4683.
5. Huston, P; Espenson, J. H.; Bakac, A. Inorg. Chem., 1993, 32, 4517.
6. Espenson, J. H.; Pestovsky, O.; Huston, P.; Staudt, S. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1994, 116, 2869.
7. Beattie, I. R.; Jones, J. P.; Inorg. Chem., 1979, 18, 2318.
8. Herrmann, W. A. J. Organomet. Chem., 1986, 300, 111.
9. Herrmann, W. A.; Voss, E.; Floel, M. J. Organomet. Chem, 1985, 297, C5.
10. Herrmann, W. A.; Fischer, R. W.; Scherer, W.; Rauch, M. U. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 1993, 32, 1157.
11. Herrmann, W. A.; Fischer, R. W.; Marzz, D. W. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 1991, 30, 1638.
12. Fischer, R. W. Ph.D. Thesis, Technische Universitae Munchen, 1994.
13. Herrmann, W. A.; Romao, C. C.; Fischer, R. W.; Kiprof, P.; de Meric de Beliefon, C. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 1991, 30, 185.
14. Herrmann, W. A.; Kuhn, F. E.; Fischer, R. W.; Thiel, W. R. Romao, C. C. Inorg. Chem., 1992, 31, 4431.
15. Herrmann, W. A.; Ladwig, M.; Kiprof p.; Riede, J. J. Organomet. Chem. 1989, 371, C13.
16. Herrmann, W. A.; Kuhn, F. E.; Romao, C. C.; Kleine, M.; Mink, J. Chem. Ber., 1994, 127, 47.
17. Herrmann, W. A.: Kiprof, P.; Rypdal, K.; Tremmel, J.; Blom. R.; Alberto. R.; Behm, J.; Albach, R. W.; Bock, H. Solouki, B.; Mink, J.; Lichtenberger, D.; Gruhn. N. E. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1991, 113, 6527.
18. Herrmann, W. A. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 1988 27, 1297.
19. Kunkely, H.; Turk, T.; Teixera, C.; de Meric de Bellefon, C. Organometallics, 1991, 10, 2090.
20. Mealli, C.; Lopez, J. A.; Calhorda, M. J.; Romao, C. C.; Herrmann, W. A. Inorg. Chem., 1994, 33, 1139.
21. Takacs, J.; Cook, M. R.; Kiprof P.; J. G.; Herrmann, W. A. Organometallics, 1991, 10, 316.
22. Takacs, J.; Kiprof P.; Riede, J.; Herrmann, W. A. Organometallics, 1990, 9, 782.
23. Herrmann, W. A.; Thiel, W. R.; Herdtweck, E. Chem. Ber., 1990, 123, 271.
24. Herrmann, W. A.; J. Organometallic Chem., 1990, 382, 1.
25. Herrmann, W. A.; Kuchler, J. G.; Weichselbaumer, G.; Herdtweck. E.; Kiprof P. J. Organometallic Chem., 1989, 372, 351.
26. Edwards, P.; Wilkinson, G. J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans., 1984, 2695.
27. Schurig, V.; Hintzer, K.; Mark, L. C.; Pitchen, P.; Kagan, H. B. J. Organomet. Chem., 1989, 370, 81.
28. Corey, E. J.; Link, J. O. Tetrahedron Lett., 1992, 33, 4141.
29. Mathre, D. J.; Jones, T. K.; Xavier, L. C.; Blacklock, T. J.; Reamer, R. A.; Mohan. J. J.; Jones, E. T. T.; Hoogsteen, K.; Baum, M. W.; Grabowski, E. J. J. Org. Chem., 1991, 56, 751.
30. Rozema, M. J.; AchyuthaRao, S.; Knochel, P. J. Org. Chem., 1992, 57, 1956.
31. Rozema, M. J.; Eisenberg, C.; Lutjens, H.; Belyk, K.; Knochel, P. Tetrahedron Lett., 1993, 34, 3115.
32. McKillop. A.; Taylor, R. J. K.; Watson, R. J.; Lewis, N. Synthesis, 1994, 31.
33. Okada, K.; Samizo, F.; Oda, M. Chem Lett., 1987, 93.
34. Kanai, H.; Matsuda, H. J. Mol. Cat., 1985, 29, 157.
35. Deziel, R.; Goulet. S.; Grenier, L.; Bordeleau, J. J. Org. Chem., 1993, 58, 3619.
36. Sheldon, R. A. "Chirotechnology. Industrial Synthesis of Optically Active Compounds," Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1993, 322.
37. "Chirality in Industry. The Commercial Manufacture and Applications of Optically Active Compounds," Sheldon. R. A., Ed., Wiley, 1992.
38. Sharpless, K. B.; Finn, M. G. in Asymmetric Synthesis, Morrison. J. D., Ed., Academic Press, 1985, Vol. 5, 247.
39. Jacobsen, E. N. in Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis, Ojima, I., Ed., VCH Publishers, 1993, 159.
40. Sharpless, K. B.; Johnson, R. A.; in Comprehensive Organic Synthesis, Trost, B. M.; Fleming, I., Eds., Pergamon Press, 1991, Vol 7, 389.
41. Kolb, H. C.; Van Nieuwenhze, M. S.; Sharpless, K. B. Chem. Rev., 1994, 94, 2483.
42. Olah, G. A.; Surya Prakash, G. K. Synthesis, 1978, 397.
43. Rossiter, B. E.; Katsuki. T.; Sharpless, K. B.; J. Am. Chem Soc. 1991, 103, 464.
44. Katsuki, T.; Sharpless, K. B.; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1980, 102, 5974. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) often incorporate backlight panels to permit viewing in poor lighting conditions. A cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) is widely used as a light source of a conventional backlight for an LCD. Since the CCFL uses mercury gas, it may cause environmental pollution. Furthermore, the CCFL has a relatively slow response time and a relatively low color reproduction. In addition, the CCFL is not proper to reduce the weight, thickness, and overall volume of an LCD panel to which it is applied.
The use of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) is also known for the purpose of illuminating such LCD displays. LEDs are eco-oriented and have a response time of several nanoseconds, thereby being effective for a video signal stream and enabling impulsive driving. Furthermore, the LEDs have 100% color reproduction and can properly vary luminance and color temperature by adjusting a quantity of light emitted from red, green and blue LEDs. In addition, the LEDs are proper to reduce the weight, thickness and overall volume of the LCD panel. Therefore, in recent years, they have been widely used as a light source of a backlight unit for the LCD.
The LCD backlight employing the LEDs can be classified into an edge type backlight and a direct type backlight according to positions of the light source. In the edge type backlight, the light source is positioned at a side and emits light toward a front surface of the LCD panel using a light guide plate. In the direct type backlight, the light source is a surface light source placed under the LCD panel and having a surface area almost identical to that of the LCD panel and directly emits light toward the front surface of the LCD panel.
For direct type LED backlighting of LCD displays, it is desirable to use color (red, green, blue) LEDs to achieve the best color presentation through the LCD glass. The high brightness color LEDs are arranged in a pattern behind the LCD glass, and for many applications the surface area available for LEDs is no larger than the area of the LCD glass. This results in a pattern that will be non uniform along the edges of the LCD. For example, the top edge of this pattern may have too much red and green light, and the bottom edge of the pattern may have too much blue light.
There is an unmet need in the art for a system that produces color uniformity along the edges of LED or OLED displays. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital television and in particular to a television signal recording apparatus capable of making recordings of television signals and to a receiver-decoder apparatus capable of receiving and decoding a television signal.
(2) Description of Related Art
In particular the present invention is concerned with the user interface for such a television signal recording apparatus or receiver-decoder apparatus. The user interface is provided to allow the user to control the operation of the television signal recording apparatus. Numerous aspects of the operation are typically so controlled, notably in the case of a television signal recording apparatus the control of the recording itself and in the case of a receiver-decoder apparatus the control of the reception and decoding of the television signal.
One of the difficulties faced is allowing the user to appreciate what recordings have been made. As the technology of television signal recording apparatuses improves, for example with the use of high capacity storage media such as hard disk drives, increasing numbers of recordings are being made. This can result in the television signal recording apparatus storing large numbers of recordings. The user typically will not have knowledge of all the recordings. The recordings may have been made automatically or by other users, or may simply have been forgotten. This fundamentally affects the use of the television signal recording apparatus. In the absence of knowledge of a given recording, the user can fail to watch a recording that would otherwise be desired. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates generally to firearm safety lock devices and more particularly to cable type locks arranged to extend through the barrel and/or the cartridge ejection port.
Thousand of handguns, shotguns and rifles are purchased every year by citizens for use in sporting events, such as hunting or trap and skeet shooting, or for use in home protection. Typically, guns are stored at one""s home or apartment in drawers, closets or even under the bed. While a minority of gun owners have gun safes to store their guns, most gun owners store their guns in unlocked areas of the home accessible to others dwelling there. As such, guns provide a danger to children or adolescents whose curiosity may lead them to find and play with a gun. Additionally, a child finding a firearm may take it to show friends or take it to school. While adults may believe that guns are safely put away, children and adolescents always seem to find them, and as a result, fatalities and injuries resulting from the accidental discharge of firearms, particularly by children, has become problematic. Also the intentional use of guns by children against classmates and teachers in schools has been increasing over the last several years. Suicides by use of firearms are also at an alarming rate. In response to the rise of this danger, the US Congress and many state legislative bodies throughout the country have enacted or are in the process of enacting legislation requiring that each new purchase or transfer of a gun be accompanied by the purchase or transfer of a suitable lock.
Most conventional gun locks are made of an easily manufactured material such as die cast aluminum or plastic to make the locks economically feasible for the gun manufacturers to bundle with each gun or the gun owner to purchase separately. Such material is subject to being compromised, for example, by forced removal of the lock by a prying and/or sawing attack.
This latter problem came to a head early in 2001 when the California legislature, aware that there were many inadequate gun locks on the market, passed legislation which will make it unlawful for a firearm to be sold or transferred within the State of California after Jan. 1, 2002 without an approved safety device. In implementing the legislation the California Department of Justice, Firearm Division, has required that among other things any approved lock resist destruction of the lock.
Gun locks are typically classified into two categories, i.e., trigger locks and cable locks. Trigger locks such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,437,119 and 5,918,402 and application Ser. Nos. 09/593,533, 09/871,753 and 10/029,689, assigned to the assignee of this application, have two sides which clamp around the trigger guard of a gun to prevent access to the trigger. While trigger locks, if properly constructed, function as satisfactory determents to the unauthorized use of a firearm, such locks have a drawback of not insuring that a bullet is not present in the chamber of the locked gun. In addition, trigger locks are generally more expensive than cable locks.
A typical gun cable lock includes an elongated flexible cable which is generally armored, i.e., the individual sockets or links (not shown) are joined together by a twisted wire with the links being made of hardened steel to deter access to the inner wire. The flexible cable is shown in FIG. 1 as being threaded through the barrel 12 of a handgun 14. The fixed end 10a of the cable is secured within a lock housing 16 by means of a sheave 16b wedged within a groove 10b in the fixed end. See FIGS. 2-4. The lock housing is formed from a plurality of steel laminations 16c secured together via rivets 16d and includes a cable free end receiving bore 16e within which is positioned a plunger member 18 biased upwardly by compression spring 20. See FIG. 2A plastic cover 22 encompasses the sides and a portion of the top and bottom of the housing.
A conventional key cylinder lock 28, mounted in the lock housing, includes a spring biased split tumbler casing 28a and a plug or inner barrel 28b which is rotatable, through a given angle, 90xc2x0 or less, with a key 29. The plug 28b is formed with two upwardly projecting spaced posts 28c positioned on the underside 30a of a cam 30 which includes downwardly projecting triangular-shaped stops 30b. Only one of the posts is shown in FIGS. 2-4. The stops 30b are engaged by the posts 28c to rotate the cam to its unlocked position by action of the key 29 as will be explained. An upstanding rib 30c and a short spring retaining rod 30d are formed on the upper surface 30e of the cam. See FIGS. 7 and 8. A spiral spring 32 extends between a center in the rod 30d and a stationary notch 16f in one of the laminated plates, to bias the cam in a counterclockwise direction viewing the top surface of the cam as is illustrated in FIG. 7. The cam and bias spring are sometimes referred to as a spring/cam assembly herein.
A locking member or bar 34 rides on the upper surface 30e of the cam and is biased toward the bore 16e but prevented from entering the bore by the spring biased plug 18 unless the free end of the cable has depressed the plunger and placed an annular groove 10c at the cable free or active end 10d opposite the locking member 34. In this case, the locking member is pushed by the rib 30c into the groove via the action of spring 32 to lock the cable free end 10d to the housing.
The prior cable lock housings, designed to deter a cutting or sawing attack, employ hardened steel laminations with non-hardened rivets to secure the laminations together. While the laminations are stamped out and partially assembled by automatic machines there is still some hand labor involved in inserting the key lock cylinder, cam, locking bar, sheave and plunger/spring components (if used) during the assembly process. In total about 20 laminations, 4 rivets, a key cylinder, a locking bar and a cam (assuming that the plunger/spring is not used) are needed for each lock housing.
There is a need for a simpler, less expensive and lighter lock housing for cable locks designed to meet anti-strict testing criteria now in place in at least one state and under consideration at the Federal Government.
In accordance with the present invention an elongated cable, preferably armored, or alternatively a shackle, is provided with a free end. The free end of the cable is adapted to be inserted through a barrel, cartridge ejection port or magazine chamber of a firearm and a fixed end which is not insertable through such firearm. The shackle is adapted to be inserted through a hasp, for example. The free end defines an annular groove or detent.
A lock housing, formed of an inner substantially rigid non-steel body encapsulated or enclosed within a hardened steel shell, has a top and bottom wall and a cable (or shackle) free end receiving bore defining a longitudinal axis extending from the top wall and capturing the fixed end of the cable. The rigid inner body, having a hardness value less than steel, shell may, for example, be made of plastic. The housing further includes a lock cylinder cavity extending into the housing from the bottom wall and also oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis, the housing having a key access opening into the cavity.
A key lock cylinder is mounted in the cavity and includes a rotatable plug for receiving and turning through a predetermined angle from a locked to an unlocked position with a key. A locking member or deadbolt is coupled to the cylinder and arranged for movement out of the cable (or shackle) free end receiving bore when operated by the key to enable the cable or shackle free end to be removed from the housing. Preferably the deadbolt or locking member moves into and out of the cable free end receiving bore only in response to the rotation of the plug to the locked (first) and unlocked (second) positions, respectively.
The construction and operation of the invention can best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like components are given the same reference numeral in the several figures. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The use of modern communication systems through which to communicate is a necessary aspect of modern society. Many different communication services are regularly effectuated by many different users to effectuate many different types of communication services. Many essential, as well as many other, services are predicated upon the ready availability of, and ready access to, communication systems.
As advancements in communication technologies continue, additional communication services, as well as improvements to existing communication services, shall likely become available. Generally, the advancements in communication technologies provide manners by which to communicate data, communicated to effectuate a communication service, in more efficient manners, or at higher data communication rates, or in manners that better provide for successful delivery of data to a receiving station in spite of adverse communication conditions.
The use of digital communication techniques, for instance, has been made possible as a result of technological advancements in communication technologies. Many modern communication systems utilize digital communication techniques. The use of digital communication techniques provides various advantages. By digitizing data, redundancies in the data are more readily removed, permitting the data to be communicated in more efficient form, free of redundancies. Improved data throughput rates or reduced bandwidth requirements needed to communicate the data are permitted.
A radio communication system is an exemplary type of communication system. Digital communication techniques are regularly utilized in many modern radio communication systems.
A cellular communication system is an exemplary type of radio communication system. While cellular communication systems are constructed to be operable in conformity with any of various operating standards, the cellular communication systems generally include network infrastructures having a plurality of spaced-apart base transceiver stations. The base transceiver stations each define cells, and portable communication stations, carried by users, are generally able to communicate with a base transceiver station in whose cell that the portable communication station is positioned when communications are effectuated.
Several analogous types of wireless communication systems have been implemented, and others have been proposed, to encompass limited areas, for example, areas encompassed by a business office or building structure. So-called micro-cellular networks, private networks, and WLANs (Wireless Local Area Networks) are representative of radio communication systems that are operable, at least in various aspects, in manners analogous to operation of a cellular communication system. Additionally, communication systems that utilize ad hoc networks, i.e., do not utilize a fixed network, are also utilized or undergoing development.
Wireless communication systems, such as the aforementioned wireless local area networks are generally constructed to be operable in conformity with the operating protocols of a selected communication standard. While various promulgated operating standards have achieved widespread adoption, many wireless local area networks are constructed to be operable in conformity with an IEEE 802.11(b), operating specification, or a variant thereof. The IEEE 802.11(b) standard is promulgated by the IEEE, and the operating specification has become a predominant wireless LAN standard pertaining to a commercial 2.4 GHz wireless LAN (Local Area Network) frequency range as well as an unregulated band in the 5 GHz frequency range. The 802.11(b) standard specifies, amongst other things, an over the air interface between a wireless client, e.g., a mobile node, and a base station or access point.
Cellular communication system are generally operable pursuant to other operating specifications. Mobile nodes are increasingly constructed to be operable in both a WLAN and in a cellular communication system. And, standard-creating groups, such as the 3GPP, are promulgating standards related to interworking arrangements between WLANs and the networks of cellular communication systems.
Unlike some other communication systems implemented at other frequency bands, the frequency bands allocated for wireless local area networks are relatively unregulated, permitting their speedy deployment and re-deployment, as needed.
Mobile nodes operable in wireless local area networks are typically constructed to monitor selected frequencies within the allocated frequency bands to detect a wireless local area network within communication range of the mobile node. Access points, or other devices, of a wireless local area network broadcast signals to alert mobile nodes of the wireless local area networks of which the access points, or other devices, form portions.
A mobile node might well be positioned at a location encompassed by more than one wireless local area network with which the mobile node is capable of communicating. Selection is required to be made of with which of the networks with which the mobile node shall attempt to communicate. Proposals have been set forth to define manners by which the mobile node makes its selection. For instance, in proposals for the 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) operating specification relating to third-generation radio communication systems, proposals are set forth that define the manner by which the mobile node is to select the network with which to communicate. And, in particular, the proposals make use of network selection lists that indicate which WLAN networks with which the mobile node should first attempt to communicate.
In existing proposals, the network selection list is to be formed at a removable storage element, herein referred to, at times, as a smart card, such as a smart card (U) SIM/R-UIM. While, prospectively, the smart cards are well capable of storing such network selection lists, certain legacy smart cards are unable to store, and permit maintenance of, the network selection lists in manners now-proposed.
A manner is thereby required by which to facilitate network selection utilizing network selection lists at the mobile node irrespective of whether the mobile node utilizes a smart card of new construction or a legacy smart card.
It is in light of this background information related to network selection by a WLAN-capable mobile node that the significant improvements of the present invention have evolved. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
As devices are progressively decreasing in size due to technical developments, use of metal such as aluminum (Al) during processing may cause numerous problems. Some more serious problems include a short-channel effect during a front-end process and an RC time constant delay during a Back-End-Of-the-Line (BEOL) process. To minimize the short-channel effect, optimization attempts for new device schematics, various ion implantation methods, junction depth fine control, etc. have been made. In addition, to minimize the RC time constant delay, attempts for the use of low dielectric constant materials, copper (Cu) interconnection, etc. have been made. In particular, electroplating methods have been frequently used for copper interconnection due to a simplified through-put process. Electroplating methods entail depositing copper ions on a wafer edge by the application of an electric field. To adopt the electroplating methods, a conductor material, e.g., a copper seed layer must be present on the wafer edge.
FIG. 1 illustrates a sectional view of a semiconductor device that includes inter metal dielectric (IMD) layer 12 formed on and/or over a semiconductor substrate or lower metal line 10. IMD layer 12 may have via-holes or contact-holes provided therein. Anti-diffusion layer 14 is formed on and/or over IMD layer 12 and inside the via-holes and, in turn, copper-plated layer 16 is formed on and/or over the anti-diffusion layer 14. For example, a copper seed layer may be formed on and/or over anti-diffusion layer 14 and then copper-plated layer 16 may be formed using the copper seed layer by an electroplating process.
In the case of the semiconductor device including a plurality of layers vertically stacked one above another as illustrated in FIG. 1, it is troublesome to deposit a copper seed layer using a separate process to form copper-plated layer 16 on a per layer basis. Further, since via-holes and trenches, in which the copper-plated layer will be buried, are decreasing in size due to rapid technical development, the gap-filling capability of the copper-plated layer has its limitations. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to an improvement in the elastic support of the filtering sleeve of a filtering machine. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to online sales and marketing, and, more specifically, to the dispensing of rebates and coupons to customers on the Internet and to the redemption of the rebates and coupons for customers by a system for online sales during online purchase on the Internet.
2. Related Art
Coupons have been traditionally dispensed by manufacturers and retailers to customers by means of inserts in newspapers. Some manufacturers also mail coupons to customers. Rebates have traditionally been offered by manufacturers to push the volume of sales of specific products. Such products are typically those for which the manufacturers have excess inventories or those that are being phased out.
Of late Internet based sales have increased in volume. Some manufacturers have made it possible for a potential customer to obtain rebate forms or coupons from their web site. These rebate or coupons can be downloaded and printed by customers to be redeemed in traditional neighborhood stores.
In general, there are several problems associated with dispensing and redeeming coupons in online sales and marketing activities. These include the frequent inability of a customer to use a coupon placed by an advertiser or merchant in a newspaper or brochure during the activity of online product purchase due to the remoteness of the merchant or vendor. That is because traditional coupon delivery and redeeming methods do not integrate well with Internet based sales where a customer visits a vendor or merchant's web site rather than a store for purchases. The customer and the vendor are also typically located in different cities and it is not possible to redeem traditional coupons in such a scenario.
These problems are also true for manufacturer's rebates. Such rebates are typically dispensed in traditional neighborhood stores and are to be mailed back to manufacturers with receipts for the related purchases. Customer's seldom redeem them as redemption requires making a photocopy of their receipts and mailing the receipts along with the rebates to the manufacturer and waiting a few weeks for a check from the manufacturer.
Sellers often provide coupons and rebates as an incentive to promote sales of specific products. A manufacturer attempts to identify the amount and quantity of each rebate or coupon and the time period during which such offer will be valid. Such rebates and coupons are typically delivered in a paper form to distributors and retailers. Distributors receiving such rebates and coupons further forward the rebates and coupons to their associated retailers.
To use the rebates and coupons online, the retailer often has to modify the product database, web server content, and, possibly, its sales application. This burden along with the burden of having to collect from the manufacturer dissuades the retailer from participating in the rebate and coupon process. Without knowing whether or to what extent the retailers will participate, a manufacturer may under or overestimate the number or amount of rebates or coupon offerings.
An overestimation may, for example, cause a manufacturer to over sell a product beyond an inventory. Similarly, an underestimation may fail to move an inventory before the value of such inventory plummets. Complicating this problem, a manufacturer by law must honor any coupon or rebate once distributed at least for a period of time identified on the rebate or coupon.
In addition to the difficulties associated with integrating rebates and coupons into their online sales systems, retailers have monetary disincentives to do so. In particular, a retailer typically purchases goods expecting a certain profit margin upon selling such goods. To apply a manufacturer's coupon or rebate at the time of the sale requires the retailer to seek at least a part, if not all of their profit from the manufacturer 30-90 days after making the sale.
Some online retailers offer their own “coupons and rebates”, hoping to capture the attention of price conscience buyers. Such online retailers who post their own coupons or rebates are typically suspect in creating a façade pricing scheme.
Because retailers have little incentive to provide support for manufacturer's coupons and rebates on-line, buyers are left with coupon rebate options. In some cases, buyers may still use such coupons and rebates but must do so via post (snail mail) and subsequently receive the redemption value via return post.
After receiving a product, if a buyer is interested in redeeming a coupon or rebate and/or registering the product, for technical support or update reasons, the buyer must typically fill out a form, which they mail via post to the manufacturer. Upon receipt, the manufacturer will have to read the handwriting of the buyer to add the buyer's information from the form to their database. If the good purchased is software, only registration information may be gathered during installation. The buyer is still forced to interact with the manufacturer via post for coupons or rebates. The entire process fails if the buyer misplaces the receipt or the coupon or rebate or fails to file the same within a required timeframe. Upon receipt of such information the manufacturer must determine whether or not to honor a coupon or rebate. To do so, they must determine whether the coupon or rebate applies to a specific good that has been sold to the specific buyer. Because this process is difficult, it is not only time consuming but is also subject to fraud. Such fraud may involve a purported buyer operating independently, a buyer and retailer operating together, or a retailer operating independently.
To combat fraud, manufacturers apply complicated approaches to attempt to link the coupon or rebate to the specific good, often confusing and disappointing buyers and retailers. For example, a fifteen digit model number may appear to correspond to a coupon being offered and causing a sale even though one digit may be off and only identified after a manufacturer's rejection has been received. If this happens to a retailer, the retailer may lose money on the sale of the item. If it happens to the buyer, the buyer may be angry with the retailer and/or the manufacturer and avoid their businesses in the future.
With large distributed channels, manufacturers typically do not know the identity of their retailers. This further complicates the rollout of coupon or rebate offering.
Many other problems and disadvantages associated with prior systems will become apparent to one of skill in the art upon review of such prior systems and in light of the teachings herein. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Internal combustion engines require a source of combustion air. A typical source for combustion air is outside air which commonly includes particulate contaminants. An air cleaner including an air filter element is normally provided to capture these particulate contaminants before combustion air is delivered to the vehicle engine. When operated in colder climates where heavy or blowing snow is common, snow may be drawn into the air cleaner and lead to eventual blockage of the air filter element, thereby cutting off the supply of combustion air and leading to poor engine performance.
In the prior art, air cleaners are known that include a secondary air inlet having a movable damper or power operated valve operable to open a secondary air supply to the air cleaner when the primary air supply becomes obstructed by snow. One example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,939 which discloses an air cleaner equipped with a slideable valve including mechanical linkage extending into the operator cabin and operable by a vehicle operator to admit secondary air into the air cleaner in the event the normal air inlet becomes blocked by snow.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,395,048 discloses an air cleaner having an annular door with an open window that is rotatable between a first and a second position. In the first position outside air is admitted to the air cleaner. In the second position warmer under the hood air is provided to the air cleaner and the normal outside air inlet is blocked. The door is rotated by a mechanical actuator.
As can be understood from the above, many varieties of air cleaners equipped for secondary air induction are known. As can be seen from the prior art, air cleaners equipped for secondary air induction have a number of moving parts, are more complex and are therefore more costly that similar air cleaners lacking secondary air adaptations.
As can be appreciated, at the time of manufacture the ultimate service condition of the vehicles are not typically known and therefore the proper air cleaner type and configuration can not be predetermined. Only a portion of manufactured vehicles find service in northern frigid environments in which heavy snows and air cleaner snow pack conditions can be expected. Providing all manufactured vehicles with more costly secondary air equipped air cleaners is unnecessary and undesirable. Also as can be understood, known air cleaners are either secondary air equipped or are not so equipped. Known air cleaners are not configured for end user conversion to add secondary air induction to an air cleaner after market or in the field. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field
This invention relates to devices for cleaning submerged structural surfaces of water bodies such as the bottoms of swimming pools, spas and the like, and particularly concerns unique structure of a water jet operative vacuum type cleaner for removing and filtering out leaves and other such debris from said structural surfaces.
2. Prior Art
A device of this general type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,269B1 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. A major problem with the cleaner of this patent is that the water-debris intake of the cleaner is in direct fluid communication with intake of the jet pump. In situations where the pool debris contains organic material such as leaves or small pieces of sticks or the like, the pump intake filer will rapidly clog and render the cleaner inoperative.
Principal objects therefore of the invention are: to provide a water jet vacuum type, pool cleaning device which is easy to use and maintain and which preferably utilizes a battery operated water jet pump which, in normal use, virtually cannot be clogged with pool debris; and to provide such device in a structurally simple design and at an economical cost. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In order to produce a compact easy to carry push cart, various carts are made in compact size, by folding each parts of a cart, however, such design still possesses many defects. Later, a compact push cart was developed which comprises a handle that is foldable against the supporting rod and to link wheels to collapse inwardly or to expand inwardly, however, the support will still be needed to operate manually. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an alkaline secondary battery provided with a paste-type electrode, and in particular to an alkaline secondary battery wherein a binder to be contained in the paste for the paste-type electrode is improved.
2. Description of the Related Art
The alkaline secondary battery is generally constructed such that a group of electrodes comprising a positive electrode and a negative electrode with a separator interposed therebetween, and an alkaline electrolyte are contained in place in a case. A paste-type electrode is utilized for these positive electrode and negative electrode. This paste-type electrode can be prepared for example by the steps of mixing an active material, a binder and water thereby forming a paste, filling the paste into a conductive substrate such as a perforated metal or mesh-like sintered fibrous substrate, and after being dried, molding the substrate.
Since the paste thus prepared is formed of an aqueous dispersion, a binder that has been conventionally employed is a water-soluble binder such as a water-soluble cellulose derivatives, typically methylcellulose (MC), carboxy methylcellulose (CMC) and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyacrylic acid salts, polyacryl amide (PA), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) or polyethylene oxide (PEO).
However, if such an aqueous binder is employed together with an active material for example nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)2) particles for preparing a paste-type positive electrode to be used for an alkaline secondary battery, the following problems will be raised. Namely, since this water-soluble binder is poor in flexibility due to its linear structure obtained from the polymerization of sole monomer, and also poor in bonding strength to the nickel hydroxide particles, the capability of this water-soluble binder for retaining the nickel hydroxide particles on the conductive substrate is naturally poor. Therefore, the secondary battery having such a paste-type positive electrode is accompanied with the problem that the nickel hydroxide particles are more likely to be fallen off from the positive electrode in the process of charge and discharge cycles. The nickel hydroxide particles thus fallen off may give rise to another problem that they contact with the negative electrode thereby causing an inner short circuit. Further, since the water-soluble binder is low in viscosity, it is hardly possible to stably disperse the nickel hydroxide particles in the paste. Moreover, since the water-soluble binder is poor in capability for absorbing an alkaline electrolyte, the amount of electrolyte to be held by the positive electrode will be decreased. As a result, the amount of redox reaction between the nickel hydroxide and the nickel oxyhydroxide (NiOOH) to be undergone in the presence of an alkaline electrolyte in the charge and discharge reaction will also be reduced. In particular, since the polyacrylic acid salt mentioned above is extremely poor in capability to absorb a salt-containing solution such as an alkaline electrolyte, the amount of the electrolyte retained by the positive electrode containing the polyacrylic acid salt becomes extremely low. Because of this, the amount of redox reaction is extremely decreased. Due to these problems as mentioned above, the conventional secondary battery is accompanied with problems that the internal pressure is increased in the process of charging/discharging cycles thereby shortening the cycle life of charging/discharging.
On the other hand, if such an aqueous binder is employed for preparing a paste-type negative electrode together with an active material for example hydrogen-absorbing alloy particles, and the negative electrode is used for the manufacture of an alkaline secondary battery, the following problems will be raised. Namely, since this binder swells when it absorbs an alkaline electrolyte, the swelling of the negative electrode is caused in the process of the charging/discharging cycles thereby causing the gas-absorbing capacity thereof to become gradually lowered. Further, the binder is poor in capacity to retain nickel hydroxide particles on a collector, and a paste containing such a binder is also poor in dispersion stability. Accordingly, in such a negative electrode comprising an active material having a larger specific gravity as compared with nickel hydroxide, for example hydrogen-absorbing alloy, the falling amount of the hydrogen-absorbing alloy during the process of charging/discharging cycles becomes more conspicuous, and the dispersion stability of the paste is extremely lowered. Due to these problems as mentioned above, the conventional secondary battery is accompanied with problems that the internal pressure is increased in the process of charging/discharging cycles thereby shortening the cycle life of charging/discharging.
If a paste is to be prepared from a mixture of homopolymers comprising polyvinyl alcohol and polyacrylate, some difficulty will be encountered in obtaining a homogeneous mixture of these polymer, making it very difficult to stably disperse the active material in the paste. Because even though the polyacrylic acid salt is soluble in water, the polyvinyl alcohol has a characteristics that when the molecular weight thereof is increased so as to be useful as a binder, the water-solubility thereof becomes decreased. If an alkaline secondary battery is provided with an electrode prepared from a paste which is poor in dispersion stability, the active material is caused to fall off in the process of the charging/discharging cycles, thereby causing an increase in internal pressure of the battery and shortening the cycle life of charging/discharging. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to engine analyzer apparatus used for testing internal combustion engines. In particular, the present invention relates to apparatus for measuring the condition of an ignition coil of an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical internal combustion engine used to power automobiles, trucks, and other land vehicles typically has several cylinders, and has an ignition system which includes a battery, an ignition coil, a condensor, a circuit interrupter (either breaker points or a solid state switching device), a distributor, and spark plugs for each of the cylinders. As the engine runs, the circuit interrupter periodically interrupts current flow through the primary winding of the ignition coil, thus inducing a high voltage output pulse which is supplied by the distributor to one of the spark plugs.
This type of ignition system requires periodic testing and maintenance in order to obtain the desired performance from the engine. It is necessary, on occasion, to determine whether the ignition coil is functioning properly and is providing the necessary output voltages to fire the various spark plugs. In the past, the testing of ignition coil condition has required the removal of a spark plug wire. This type of test, however, can be detrimental to the ignition system and dangerous to the person performing the test.
First, with improved components and materials used in modern vehicles, the length of time a spark plug wire is attached to a spark plug and the higher temperatures at which the engine is operating can cause the spark plug wire to become very difficult to remove without breaking. Second, since there is a tremendous amount of energy available in the secondary of the ignition system (especially in modern solid state ignition systems such as the General Motors HEI System), the opening of a spark plug wire may lead to a breakdown of the ignition voltage which may be damaging to the test equipment, or may cause carbon tracking in the distributor cap. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field
Embodiments relate to an organic light-emitting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Organic light emitting devices are self-emission devices that have wide viewing angles, high contrast ratios, short response times, and excellent brightness, driving voltage, and response speed characteristics, and produce full-color images.
An organic light-emitting device may include a first electrode disposed on a substrate, and a hole transport region, an emission layer, an electron transport region, and a second electrode, which are sequentially disposed on the first electrode. Holes provided from the first electrode may move toward the emission layer through the hole transport region, and electrons provided from the second electrode may move toward the emission layer through the electron transport region. Carriers, such as holes and electrons, are recombined in the emission layer to produce excitons. These excitons change from an excited state to a ground state, thereby generating light. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Lighting devices intended to provide illumination for a room have tended to operate according to one of two principles; to provide light that is desirable for everyday use, or light that is desirable for entertainment value. Light intended for the former has been static, consistently producing light of a given color, color temperature, or brightness, although so-called dimmer lights, which change the brightness of the light, are known. Light intended for the latter tends to be colored, hence usually having a lower color rendering index (CRI), and has also tended to be dimmer, which tends to make such light generally unsuitable for normal lighting purposes. Therefore, there is a need for a lighting device that can simultaneously produce light that is dynamic and entertaining while also being suitable for normal lighting purposes.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Fuchsiaxc3x97hybrida cultivar xe2x80x98Shabettyxe2x80x99.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Fuchsia plant, botanically known as Fuchsiaxc3x97hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Shabettyxe2x80x99.
The new Fuchsia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Hebrechtingen, Germany. The objective of the breeding program was to create new freely flowering Fuchsia cultivars with compact plant habit and numerous attractive flowers.
The new Fuchsia originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor of a proprietary selection Fuchsiaxc3x97hybrida identified as code number 137/95, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection Fuchsiaxc3x97hybrida identified as code number 197/97, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Shabetty was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Hebrechtingen, Germany.
Asexual reproduction of the new Fuchsia by terminal cuttings taken at Hebrechtingen, Germany has shown that the unique features of this new Fuchsia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Shabetty has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and daylength, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Shabettyxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Shabettyxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Fuchsia cultivar:
1. Upright and cascading plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plant growth habit.
3. Numerous red and white-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Fuchsia flower earlier than plants of the female parent. In addition, sepal color of plants of the new Fuchsia is more intense than sepal color of plants of the female parent. Plants of the new Fuchsia are more freely flowering than plants of the male parent.
Plants of the new Fuchsia can be compared to the cultivar Lucy, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Hebrechtingen, Germany, plants of the new Fuchsia were more vigorous and more upright than plants of the cultivar Lucy. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Conventionally, the sequencing and sorting of biomolecules, and the sorting of cells, is carried out using electrophoresis. A variety of different approaches are possible, but most take a considerable amount of time to run to completion. Furthermore, a balance has to be struck between reading out the results relatively quickly (when the bands will be narrow but very close together) and delaying the readout (in which case the bands, although further apart, will have become broader and more diffuse). | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Carbonless copy forms are well known. A typical two-part form includes a top sheet having a coated back (CB) containing microencapsulated (generally colorless) dye, and a bottom sheet having a coated front (CF) containing a reactive dye-revealing substance. The top and bottom sheets are assembled, such as by gluing, into a "manifold", or many part set, which typically has a "stub". The pressure of writing on the front surface of the top sheet ruptures the microcapsules on the CB-coated back surface of the top sheet, releasing dye onto the CF-coated front surface of the bottom sheet, whereupon the writing is revealed in a contrasting (visible) color on the front surface of the bottom sheet. "CB" and "CF" are "components" of a carbonless "system".
Multiple carbonless copies are produced in a similar manner. One or more intermediate sheets are assembled between the CB top and CF bottom sheets. Each intermediate sheet has a carbonless front (CF) coating on its front surface for revealing the dye from the previous sheet, and has a carbonless back (CB) coating on its back surface for releasing dye to the next sheet in the set. The intermediate sheets are termed "CFB" sheets.
With these techniques, one or more carbonless copies of information entered on the front surface of the original (top) sheet can be reproduced on the one side surface of the copy (intermediate and bottom) sheets.
The chemistry of the CB (image-transferring) and CF (image-revealing) coatings is well known, as are techniques for applying these coatings to paper stock. These coatings and techniques include various coatings applied to paper stock at the mill, as it is being produced, and coatings applied later (typically during the printing process) to plain paper stock. OPAS (On Press Application System) coatings offered by Mead Corporation are an example of the latter.
One well known variation of the two part CB/CF chemistry is 10 the "Self-Contained" ("SC") coating. The SC coating is essentially a mixture of CB and CF, and is applied to the front surface of an underlying sheet for autogenously revealing an image of writing on the front surface of an overlying, un-coated sheet.
Another coating is a "transfer-onto-plain-paper" coating, wherein the back side of the overlying sheet is coated and the front surface of the underlying sheet is not coated. Since this type of coating functions in conjunction with plain paper, in an autogenous manner similar to SC, but is applied to the overlying versus underlying sheet, it can be termed "anti-SC". U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,855 discloses such a "transfer-onto-plain-paper" coating.
A variation of the single-sided carbonless form is found in so-called "two-way-write" systems. One such example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,916, issued to Lucas, which describes a manifold report form having three superimposed record sheets (top, middle and bottom). Carbon sheets and protective sheets are arranged between the record sheets. Information entered on the front surface of the top record sheet is reproduced on the front surfaces of the middle and bottom sheets. The form is then flipped over, in its entirety, and various carbon and protective sheets are removed. Information entered on the back surface of the bottom sheet is reproduced on the back surface of the middle and top sheets. Other examples of two-way-write systems are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,101 (Sternberg), and in U.K. Publication No. 2,085,359 (Johnsen).
With such two-way-write systems, a "true-original" is not created. Rather, each of the top and bottom sheets contains "original" (e.g., hand written) information on only one surface, and "copy" (reproduced by carbon paper or the CB/CF dye reaction) information on the other surface. This feature of two-way rite systems is acceptable in instances where a "true" two-sided original is not required.
For a "true-original", two-sided self-replicating form, the top sheet would have original writing on both sides, and additional sheets would have copy images in both sides. A "true-original" is often required in legal documents, and the like.
An early example of a true-original system is found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,802,678 (Bright; 1957), wherein several sheets, interleaved carbon papers and interleaved guard sheets are employed. This patent also discloses an alternate configuration of the sheets wherein a "two-way-write" manifold assembly is produced.
Another example of a true-original system is U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,981,523, 4,036,511, RE 30,041 and RE 30,116 (Maalouf), which employ separate, non-manifolded carbonless-coated sheets.
Another example of a true-original type system is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,334 (Van Malderghem), which discloses a manifold assembly of three sheets. Information is entered on one side of a top sheet, and is imaged onto corresponding one sides of an intermediate and bottom sheet. The intermediate sheet is removed from the assembly, the top sheet is flipped over, and information entered on the opposite side of the top sheet is imaged onto the corresponding opposite side of the bottom sheet.
Additional examples of "two-way-write" and "true-original" manifold form assemblies are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,715,620 and 4,762,342, issued to Thompson. As with Van malderghem, the examples set forth in the Thompson patents are also manifold assemblies, and rely on flipping the top sheet over a stub for entering information on the opposite side of the top sheet.
Some problems with any of the techniques of employing a manifold form assembly for either "two-way-write" or "true-original" systems is that 1) if the top sheet is to be repositioned, it is extremely difficult to maintain registration (alignment) when a stub of any kind is involved; 2) they are generally formed of many sheets of different paper stock, and require collating and assembling at the end of the production line; and 3) they are generally not very user-friendly.
Copending U.S. patent application No. 334,183, filed on Apr. 6, 1989 by Keith E. Schubert discloses the "genesis" of true-original two-sided (or duplex) copying of both sides of an original form, wherein an original portion of a single folded sheet has information entered, such as by pen, on both sides thereof, which information is replicated on both sides of a copy portion of the folded sheet. An important feature of the disclosed structure is that the original and copy portions, or panels, are formed from a single sheet of paper, rather than from several sheets assembled into a manifold.
Copending U.S. patent application No. 436,189, filed on Nov. 13, 1989 by Keith E. schubert discloses further techniques for effecting true-original two-sided copying using carbonless coatings, discloses techniques for "patterning" the carbonless coatings, and discloses techniques for making more than one copy of information entered on both sides of an original.
U.S. patent application No. 484,686, filed Feb. 23, 1990 (now abandoned), and its continuation U.S. patent application No. 723,690, filed Jun. 24, 1991 by Keith E. Schubert, discloses a true-original technique wherein a single sheet is divided into three panels: an original panel which is void of any carbonless coating; a copy panel which is coated with carbonless CF (image revealing) on both sides; and an intermediate transfer panel which is coated with carbonless CB (image transferring) on both sides. The intermediate image-transferring panel, which may also be a separate sheet, may be discarded after use, since it is used solely for image transferring.
Copending U.S. patent application No. 494,565, filed on Feb. 26, 1990 (improperly recorded by the Patent Office) by Keith E. Schubert and Gerald E. Linden discloses various techniques of patterning coatings on a single sheet of paper to avoid writing in coated areas. Again, the structure is directed to a true-original system.
Copending U.S. patent application No. 497,219, filed on Mar. 22, 1990 by Keith E. Schubert and Gerald E. Linden discloses true-original techniques for making two copies of information entered on both sides of an original, without patterning, employing two dissimilar (mutually non-reactive) carbonless systems.
Copending U.S. patent application No. 591,781, filed on Oct. 2, 1990 by Keith E. Schubert and Gerald E. Linden discloses various improvements to single sheet true-original forms, including making the copy panel larger (e.g., wider), and forming the single sheet as a laminated structure. Techniques for fabricating the form from two initially separate sheets are also disclosed therein.
Generally, these copending applications are directed solely to true-original systems, and for the most part are directed to the making of a single copy. There remains a need to address the requirements of a two-way-write system, while preserving the single sheet concept. There also remains a need for further alternate configurations for making two or more copies, while generally preserving the single sheet concept. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to glass melters for vitrification of wastes. More particularly, the present invention relates to the design of a melter for stabilization of radioactive and hazardous wastes by encapsulation of the waste in glass.
2. Discussion of Background:
Melters and furnaces have been in existence for many years to manufacture metals and glass and to vitrify waste. Early glass melters included inner walls lined with refractory to insulate the vessel from its molten contents. A refractory is an earthy, ceramic material of low thermal and electrical conductivity capable of withstanding extremely high temperatures.
Early glass melters used direct heat from gas or other combustible fuel burned in the upper portion of the melter (the plenum) directly above the pool of molten material. Later, electric melters were developed that used electrical resistance heat applied to the outside melter wall to heat the glass indirectly or applied directly to the glass by one or more electrode pairs. Direct heating is commonly referred to as Joule heating or Joule-effect heating. Initially, the electrodes were positioned above the melt line of the molten material and heat from the electrode electric arcs or plasma arc torches was absorbed by the molten material.
In other electric melter designs, the electrodes are mounted to the floor or the sides of the melter interior so that the electrodes are submerged in the body of molten material. Alternatively, the electrodes extend vertically into the molten material from the top of the melter or horizontally into the molten material through the melter outside wall and refractory.
Many melter design developments have occurred over the years, including the use of various materials to replace refractories, which are relatively expensive. Even soils and other bulky materials that are naturally insulative are being used to replace refractories in melters. Such materials make the melters too large and heavy for many vitrification applications. Also, electrical current can short circuit from the electrodes through the refractory when the conductivity of the melter contents decreases relative to the conductivity of the refractory or through molten high metal contents that accumulate on the bottom floor of waste glass melters. Also, refractories need to be repaired or replaced periodically, thus increasing expense and downtime. Also, if the melter is radioactive, its repair and maintenance necessitates high personnel exposure and, for extremely contaminated melters, may not be economically feasible.
In the process known as "skull" melting, a layer of non-conducting material, usually of the same type as that being melted, is allowed to form a shell or "skull" on the inside wall of the melter. For metal melting, the skulls are typically made from refractory oxides such as Y.sub.2 O.sub.3, ZrO.sub.2, La.sub.2 O.sub.3, as well as mixed oxides such as LaAlO.sub.3, CaZrO.sub.3.
Glass skulls in glass making am also known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,488 describes a method and apparatus for rapidly solidifying a material using a "skull" within a pool of molten material. The skull is of the same material as the material to be solidified, thereby avoiding compositional fluctuations or dissolution of refractory into the molten pool. U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,248 also discloses a skull employed in combination with a rotatable shell. The rotatable shell distributes the heat throughout the molten material and provides for an even melt.
However, prior to the instant invention, there existed no vitrification melter design that provides adequate insulation for the melter vessel without the use of a refractory, while being compact, reliable and requiring little maintenance. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to compressed air equipment and more particularly to an air hose reel for winding up and paying out an air hose having greater than atmospheric pressure.
A compressed air hose is usually considered a necessary part of an automotive service shop in the interest of personnel safety, as well as maximizing the useful light of an air hose. It is desirable for having a reel for winding up the hose in an out-of-the-way and yet readily accessible position. This invention accomplishes this purpose.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,820 issued Jan. 17, 1995 to Chandler for Hose Reel Apparatus discloses an inverted U-shape bracket mounted the handle of a portable air compressor which horizontally journals a reel between the legs of the U-shape bracket. The bight portion of the U-shape bracket forms a guide track for guiding a hose when wound on the reel to form multiple layers of juxtaposed convolutions of the hose.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,165 issued Jan. 19, 1982 to Rose, Jr. for Hose Reel Automatic Rake, discloses a hose wound on a reel journaled on a horizontal axis which includes a brake mechanism energized by opening the exit end of the hose so that fluid pressure in the hose also energizes a brake to stop the uncoiling action of the hose from the reel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,939 issued Feb. 6, 1979 to Chow for Hose Reel Cart, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,215 issued Aug. 27, 1985 to Roman for Portable Winding Device for Flexible Pipe, particularly for cars, caravans, coaches, crafts, balconies and small gardens, are believed good examples of the further state-of-the-art. The Chow patent mounts a cylindrical reel on a two-wheel cart manually supported by a handle forming a portable hose reel cart. The Roman patent discloses a fixed casing which rotatably supports a drum around which a hose is manually wound on or payed out from.
This invention is believed distinctive over the above named patents by providing an open framework type reel and support which is simple in operation and ease of construction, and contains a minimum of moving parts which will not easily get out of order and provides a long useful life as an air hose reel. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Quinolone derivatives having a condensed pyridonecarboxylic acid skeleton are known as synthetic antimicrobial agents and to provide potent antimicrobial compounds on substitution of the 1-position thereof with a cyclopropyl group.
It is further known that the 1-cyclopropylquinolone derivatives having introduced a fluorine atom to the 2-position of the cyclopropyl group in a cis-configuration with the pyridonecarboxylic acid moiety also exhibit potent anti-microbial activity as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,852 which corresponds to JP-A-87-12760 (the term “JP-A” as used herein means an “unexamined published Japanese patent application”). They are thought to have not only potent antimicrobial activity but improved safety. One example of the quinolone derivatives having a cis-fluorocyclopropyl group at the 1-position is shown below.
Quinolone derivatives having a cis-halogeno-cyclopropyl group, inclusive of a cis-fluorocyclopropyl group, at the 1-position as stated above possess excellent properties in antimicrobial activity and safety. In these compounds, even when they have a substituent without stereo-isomerism at the 7-position of the pyridonecarboxylic acid moiety, the halogeno-cyclopropane ring of itself provides two enantiomers attributed to the static steric relationship between the pyridonecarboxylic acid moiety and the halogen atom with respect to the cyclopropane ring as illustrated below; wherein R1, R2, A, X1, and X2 are hereinafter defined. These quinolone derivatives are applicable as medicines as long as they are racemates. On the other hand, when there is stereoisomerism at the 7-positioned substituent of the pyridonecarboxylic acid moiety, such quinolone derivatives contain four kinds of stereoisomers. With mixtures of the stereoisomers, it is difficult to specify the excellent species and to supply them as medicines. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The invention relates to techniques for maintaining an IP (Internet protocol) connection in a mobile network.
In a packet-switched mobile network, a mobile terminal is not normally assigned a dedicated circuit-switched connection. Instead, the network establishes and maintains a session for the terminal, and data packets are sent when necessary. In order to integrate mobile terminals with office applications, it is becoming increasingly popular to maintain Internet Protocol (IP) connections over packet data channels in packet-switched mobile networks. Maintaining an IP connection to/from a mobile terminal is desirable in order to keep data banks synchronized between the mobile terminal and an office computer, for example.
Maintaining an IP connection in packet-switched mobile networks involves certain problems. For example, it consumes the mobile terminal's battery. Further, many networks apply operator-defined policies to break connections after a certain period of inactivity. This period can be quite short, such as five minutes. When the IP connection to/from the mobile terminal is disconnected, database synchronization is impossible before connection reestablishment. Connection re-establishment must be initiated from the mobile terminal's side, the network cannot initiate connection re-establishment.
But connection re-establishment involves further expenses in tariff and/or battery consumption. Yet further, since the network cannot initiate reestablishment of the IP connection, network-initiated data synchronization must be initiated by means of an out-band trigger, ie, signalling independent from the Internet Protocol. A short message service (SMS) and its derivatives are examples of theoretically suitable out-band triggering mechanisms. But a single GSM-compliant short message can only transfer approximately 160 characters, which means that it is impracticable to transfer actual data in the trigger message. This has the consequence that the subscriber must bear the expenses and delays in re-establishing the IP connection.
The mobile terminal can send keep-alive messages in order to prevent the network from disconnecting a temporarily inactive IP connection. A keep-alive message is a message sent for the purpose of preventing the network from disconnecting the IP connection.
The mobile terminal's operating parameters in respect of the keep-alive messages could be optimized for a single network, but connection break-up habits vary between networks and in a single network they may depend on roaming arrangements between operators. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper supply apparatus which feeds roll paper wound around a winding core, and an image formation device which is equipped with this paper supply apparatus, and more particularly relates to a paper supply apparatus and image formation device provided with a sensor for detecting when there is no more roll paper.
2. Description of the Related Art
Apparatuses which are mounted at image formation devices, such as copiers, facsimile machines, printers and the like, and which supply recording paper wound in the form of a roll (hereinafter referred to as roll paper) are well known. At a roll paper paper supply apparatus, accurate detection of a paper end when there is no more roll paper and detection of the paper end without any influence from the type of the paper are difficult, and paper supply apparatuses with various detection methods have been proposed heretofore.
For example, a paper supply apparatus has been proposed in which an outer peripheral surface of a winding core around which roll paper is wound is colored black, a light-emitting member irradiates light toward the roll paper that has been installed in the paper supply apparatus, and a reflection-type sensor which measures an amount of light reflected from the roll paper is provided. A paper end is detected in accordance with a difference between an amount of light reflected when there is roll paper and an amount of light reflected from the outer peripheral face of the winding core when there is no more roll paper.
However, with the method described above, it is necessary that winding cores be colored black. Moreover, even given the same black color, errors may occur in paper end detection because of some winding cores featuring glossiness and others not, and there are many limitations on materials and fabrication methods of the winding cores. Furthermore, there is also a problem in that errors may occur in paper end detection in cases in which the paper has high transparency.
For another method, for example, a detection apparatus 200 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 05-338335, as shown in FIG. 10, has been proposed. At this detection apparatus 200, a slit plate 204 is attached to a roll paper fixing shaft 202, which rotates in accordance with an operation of drawing of roll paper P (paper supply and conveyance). A photosensor 206 is provided, which detects slits 204A formed in the slit plate 204. Hence, the slits 204A of the slit plate 204 which rotates in accordance with conveyance of the roll paper P are detected by the photosensor 206, and a remaining amount of roll paper is detected on the basis of a period of signals that the photosensor 206 outputs. Further, for this method, it has been written that the fact that there is no more roll paper can be detected by the slit plate 204 consequently not rotating any more and the above-mentioned signals not being generated.
Thus, when the detection apparatus 200 as described in JP-A No. 05-338335 is employed, it is possible to detect changes in an outer diameter of the roll paper P, and it is possible to detect that there is no more roll paper P from the fact that the roll paper fixing shaft 202 is not rotating any more.
However, with ordinary roll papers, a trailing end portion is often fixed to the winding core. In such a case, when there is no more roll paper, it is not possible to draw out the roll paper further. Therefore, the roll paper slips at a conveyance roller section. At this time, if the slit plate 204 is fixed to the roll paper fixing shaft 202, as in the method described in JP-A No. 05-338335, the slit plate 204 does not rotate, but small agitations thereof occur repeatedly. As a result, it is mistakenly detected that pulses corresponding to rotation of the roll paper are being generated. In consequence, a failure in which the detection of there being no more roll paper is greatly delayed occurs and, depending on circumstances, a failure in which a paper jam is mistakenly detected occurs.
To avoid erroneous detection of small oscillations, a method in which a spacing of the slits of the slit plate is widened has been considered. However, in such a case, a problem of it not being possible to precisely detect a remaining amount of the roll paper would occur. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
A conventional information editing apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-353375. The information editing apparatus is used to edit a reproduced form of recorded information which includes one or more images and is recorded on an optical disk. In the apparatus, a part of the recorded information that includes one or more images is selected from the recorded information, the timing of the reproduction of the selected part is specified, the image included in the part is extracted as a representative image of the part, and the specified timing of reproduction and the extracted representative image are recorded on the optical disk as a play list separately from the recorded information.
That is, in the format of the conventional information editing apparatus, information indicating the reproduction position of recorded information is recorded on the optical disk serving as a recording medium and a thumbnail image is generated from the recorded information, the thumbnail image showing what is in the recorded information (herein after also referred to as contents) on the optical disk.
In the method in which a thumbnail image of the contents recorded on the optical disk is specified in the conventional information editing apparatus, it is possible to reset the thumbnail image, whereas there is no device indicating the prohibition of resetting. Therefore, in the conventional information editing apparatus, a thumbnail image set by the user and a contents holder may be accidentally changed by a misoperation of the user.
The present invention is devised in view of the circumstances. An object of the present invention is to provide an information editing apparatus capable of preventing an accidental change of a thumbnail image which shows the contents of recorded information, an information editing method, an information editing program, and an information recording medium. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Electron deficient metalloporphyrins are efficient catalysts for the highly selective air oxidation of light alkanes to alcohols, P. E. Ellis and J. E. Lyons, Cat. Lett., 3, 389, 1989; J. E. Lyons and P. E. Ellis, Catt. Lett., 8, 45, 1991; Lyons and Ellis, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,900,871; 4,970,348, as well as for efficient decomposition of alkyl hydroperoxides, Lyons and Ellis, J. Catalysis, 141, 311, 1993; Lyons and Ellis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,886. They may be prepared by the co-condensation of pyrrole with the appropriate aldehyde, Badger, Jones and Leslett, Aust. J. Chem., 17, 1029, 1964; Lindsey and Wagner, J. Org. Chem., 54, 828, 1989; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,970,348 and 5,120,882, followed by metal insertion, Adler, Longo, Kampos and Kim, J. Inorg. Nucl. Chem., 32, 2443, 1970, and .beta.-halogenation, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,892,941 and 4,970,348. Other patents disclosing use of metal coordination complex catalysts in oxidation of alkanes are Ellis et al U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,895,680 and 4,895,682.
Meso-tetrakis(perhaloalkyl)porphyrins, for example meso-tetra(trifluoromethyl)porphyrin, have been prepared by the self-condensation of the corresponding 2-hydroxy(perhalo-alkyl)pyrrole by prior activation of the hydroxy leaving group, Wijesekera, U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,062.
t-Butyl alcohol has been prepared by the catalytic decomposition of t-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP), preferably in solution in t-butyl alcohol, in the presence of a metal phthalocyanine of a metal of Group IB, Group VIIB or Group VIIIB, for example chloroferric phthalocyanine and rhenium heptoxide-p-dioxane or oxotrichloro-bis(triphenylphosphine) rhenium, Sanderson et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,349.
t-Butylhydroperoxide may be decomposed to t-butyl alcohol using a metal porphine catalyst, for example tetraphenylporphine, optionally promoted with a thiol and a heterocyclic amine, Sanderson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,034, or using an imidazole-promoted phthalocyanine (PCY) catalyst, for example Fe(III)PCYCl or Mn(II)PCY or VOPCY, Sanderson et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,266.
Isobutane may be converted continuously to isobutyl alcohol by a process including the step of deomposing t-butylhydroperoxide to t-butyl alcohol, using a monocyclic solvent and a PCY decomposition catalyst, Marquis et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,602.
t-Butylhydroperoxide may be decomposed to t-butyl alcohol using a metal porphine catalyst such as a trivalent Mn or Fe tetraphenylporphine, optionally promoted with an amine or thiol, or a soluble Ru catalyst promoted with a bidentate ligand such as Ru(AcAc).sub.3 promoted with bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine, or a promoted PCY catalyst such as a Mn, Fe or vanadyl PCY promoted with an amine, a Re compound such as NH.sub.4 ReO.sub.4, a mercaptan and a free radical inhibitor, a base or a metal borate, Derwent Abstract (Week 8912, Other Aliphatics, page 58) of reference 89-087492/12 (EP 308-101-A).
Hydroperoxides may be decomposed with metal ligand complexes in which hydrogen in the ligand molecule has been substituted with electron-withdrawing elements or groups, for example halogen or nitro or cyano group, Lyons et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,886, which is incorporated by reference herein, | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
With the development of smart phones, the electronic component within mobile phones, such as camera device, is often supported by a bracket. Some mobile phone adopts two electronic components such as cameras or speakers. The two electronic components have different design parameters to achieve special shooting or audio playback. However, the two electronic components often generate electromagnetic interference. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates in general to controllers for electric trailer brakes and in particular to a deceleration sensor for an electric brake controller.
Towed vehicles, such as recreational and utility trailers adapted to be towed by automobiles and small trucks, are commonly provided with electric brakes. The electric brakes generally include a pair of brake shoes which, when actuated, frictionally engage a brake drum. An electromagnet is mounted on one end of a lever to actuate the brake shoes. When an electric current is applied to the electromagnet, the electromagnet is drawn against the rotating brake drum which pivots the lever to actuate the brakes. Typically, the braking force produced by the brake shoes is proportional to the electric current applied to the electromagnet. This electric current can be relatively large. For example, the electric brakes on a two wheeled trailer can draw six amperes of current when actuated and the electric brakes on a four wheeled trailer can draw 12 amperes of current.
Automotive industry standards require that electrically-actuated vehicle brakes be driven against the ground potential of the vehicle power supply. Accordingly, one end of each of the towed vehicle brake electromagnets is electrically connected to the towed vehicle ground and the towed vehicle ground is electrically connected to the towing vehicle ground. The other end of each of the brake electromagnets is electrically connected through an electric brake controller to the towing vehicle power supply.
Various electric brake controllers for towed vehicle electric brakes are known in the art. For example, a variable resistor, such as a rheostat, can be connected between the towing vehicle power supply and the brake electromagnets. The towing vehicle operator manually adjusts the variable resistor setting to vary the amount of current supplied to the brake electromagnets and thereby control the amount of braking force developed by the towed vehicle brakes. An example of such a controller is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,691.
Also known in the art are more sophisticated electric brake controllers which include electronics to automatically supply current to the brake electromagnets when the towing vehicle brakes are applied. Such electronic brake controllers typically include a sensing unit which generates a brake control signal corresponding to the desired braking effort. For example, the sensing unit can include a pendulum which is displaced from a rest position when the towing vehicle decelerates and an electronic circuit which generates a brake control signal which is proportional to the pendulum displacement. One such sensing unit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,627. Alternately, the hydraulic pressure of the brake fluid in the towing vehicle""s braking system or the pressure applied by the driver""s foot to the towing vehicle""s brake pedal can be sensed to generate the brake control signal. A pressure transducer for sensing the brake fluid pressure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,162, while a brake pedal pressure sensor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,002.
Known electronic brake controllers also usually include an analog pulse width modulator. The input of the pulse width modulator is electrically connected to the sensing unit and receives the brake control signal therefrom. The pulse width modulator is responsive to the brake control signal for generating an output signal comprising a fixed frequency pulse train. The pulse width modulator varies the duty cycle of the pulse train in proportion to the magnitude of the brake control signal. Thus, the duty cycle of the pulse train corresponds to the amount of braking effort desired.
Electronic brake controllers further include an output stage which is electrically connected to the output of the pulse width modulator. The output stage typically has one or more power transistors which are connected between the towing vehicle power supply and the towed vehicle brake electromagnets. The power transistors function as an electronic switch for supplying electric current to the towed vehicle brakes.
The output stage is responsive to the pulse width modulator output signal to switch the power transistors between conducting, or xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d, and non-conducting, or xe2x80x9coffxe2x80x9d, states. As the output transistors are switched between their on and off states in response to the modulator output signal, the brake current is divided into a series of pulses. The power supplied to the towed vehicle brakes and the resulting level of brake application are directly proportional to the duty cycle of the modulator generated output signal. A typical electronic brake controller is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,344.
Recently, microprocessors have been incorporated into electronic brake controllers. The microprocessor replaces the analog pulse width modulator described above. The microprocessor is connected directly to the controller output stage and switches the output transistors between their on and off states as a function of the brake control signal. Such a unit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,236.
This invention relates to a deceleration sensor for an electric brake controller.
As described above, it is known to use a pendulum device to generate a brake control signal which is proportional to the deceleration of a towing vehicle. Because the pendulum rest position is determined by gravity, it is necessary to level the pendulum when the controller is mounted upon a vehicle dashboard in a nonhorizontal position. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a structure for supporting the pendulum that would allow a maximum amount of adjustment to compensate for a variety of mounting positions.
The present invention contemplates a device for sensing the deceleration of a vehicle which includes a housing adapted to be secured to the vehicle. The housing includes a pair of spaced apart supporting members with a U-shaped bucket suspended between the housing support members and pivotable about an axis. A pendulum is suspended within the bucket and also pivotable about the same axis. A positioning device is carried by the housing and connected to the bucket. In the preferred embodiment, the positioning device includes a crank which is connected to the bucket and operable to rotate the bucket relative to the housing. The positioning device is operable to rotate the bucket about the axis relative to the housing in either a forward or a rearward direction with the bucket being rotatable sufficiently in either the forward or rearward direction such that at least of portion of the bucket extends beyond both of housing supporting members.
At least one of the housing support members has a recess formed therein, the recess receiving a portion of the crank whereby the amount of rotation of the bucket about the pivot pin is increased over prior art sensor designs. The housing further includes a cross member supported by a pair of arms which extend from the housing support members. The cross member is urged by the arms against a portion of the bucket such that the bucket is frictionally retained in a particular position relative to the housing.
It is also contemplated that the device includes a carrier mounted upon the bucket, the carrier having a slot formed therein which slidingly receives and frictionally retains a Hall Effect Device. The end of the pendulum opposite from the pivot carries a permanent magnet. The permanent magnet cooperates with the Hall Effect Device upon movement of the pendulum to cause the Hall Effect Device to generate a voltage which is proportional to the deceleration of the vehicle.
In the preferred embodiment, the device is included in an electric brake controller installed upon a towing vehicle. The voltage generated by the Hall Effect Device upon deceleration of the towing vehicle is utilized by the brake controller as a brake control signal for controlling a set of electric wheel brakes mounted upon a towed trailer. The electric brake controller can have an outer housing with the device mounted inside the outer housing. In such a case, the outer housing has an aperture formed therethrough with an end of the crank extending through the outer housing aperture. An adjustment lever is formed upon the extended end of the crank. A vehicle operator can manipulate the adjustment lever to move the bucket relative to the housing in order to position of the Hall Effect Device relative to the pendulum magnet.
Various objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Cooling fans typically used in refrigerators include a brushless motor because of its features of long life and energy saving. The fans are controlled to follow their air volume and driving noise depending on the ambient temperature and the temperature of an object to be cooled. It is known that variations in the air volume depend on variations in the rotation speed of the motor attached to the impeller, whereas the driving noise depends on the rotation torque of the motor.
Sensorless three-phase brushless motors driven by pulse width modulation (hereinafter, PWM) have been controlled by, for example, the following brushless motor drive device. In this motor drive device, the rotational position of the motor is estimated from the values of the currents flowing through the three-phase coils, and the actual rotation speed is calculated from the amount of change in the rotational position per unit time. The calculated actual rotation speed is then used to control the switching pulse width of MOS-FET devices in the inverter circuit performing PWM operation.
Assume here that there is an error in any of the following circuits: current detection circuits for detecting the current values of the coils, AD converter circuits for inputting the outputs of the current detection circuits into a microcomputer, and a clock generation circuit for generating a unit time pulse. In this case, a similar error may occur in the actual rotation speed and torque that are to be calculated and cause a deviation from a target value.
A previously proposed approach is to diagnose faults in a clock generation circuit and an AD converter circuits by applying a pulse voltage with a predetermined time interval generated based on a clock pulse to an RC filter and determining whether the voltage for diagnosis at a predetermined clock cycle number falls outside a predetermined range (see, for example, PTL 1).
Another previously proposed approach is to correct the rotation speed by calculating the error rate of a reference clock to operate a microcomputer based on the cycle of a PWM signal (command signal) received from a host unit (see, for example, PTL 2).
However, in PTL 1, when the voltage for diagnosis is within the predetermined range, an error in the AD converter circuit makes it impossible to accurately calculate the current value detected by the current detection circuit and causes a torque error. Meanwhile, in PTL 2, the error rate of the reference clock can be used to correct the rotation speed, but it is impossible to detect an error in the AD converter circuit. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a document editing apparatus or system having functions such as inputting of text and other data, creating, editing or updating of documents, printing thereof and the like functions carried out, for example, by a word processor.
2. Description of the Related Art
With increased use of word processors in recent years, a variety of document processing functions have been developed to allow various types of information or data, such as graphics, patterns, illustrations and the like, to be handled in addition to character and text data for the creating and editing of documents. Besides, there exists a growing trend to utilize the document information generated by a word processor not only in the form of printed matter, i.e. document information printed on sheets of paper, but also to make such data available to other word processor(s) installed at remote location(s) by transmitting the document information in the form of code data so that the document information as transmitted can be processed and/or regenerated by the remote word processor.
On the other hand, there has been developed a document editing system which is capable of pronouncing input text information in a semi-natural voice by making use of audio information stored in a memory unit with a view to verifying that the input text information (i.e. information of character strings) has been correctly inputted. For particulars of this kind of word processor, reference may be made to JP-A-58-16330 and JP-A-58-125100. On the other hand, an audio input apparatus for converting audio information into text information is also provided in many of the word processors which are now on the market as a means for facilitating the information input process. As one of such a kind of processing apparatus, "ONSEI SHOIN" (made by Sharp Corporation) which has been exhibited in the Business Show which was held on May, 1988, can be mentioned. However, whether audio information is to be synthesized on the basis of text information or audio information is to be converted into text information, the information processed or handled internally of the document editing system is only the text information and the audio information which corresponds to the text information. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for recording the data state in a data processing system in which at least one program is executed and, in this context, at least one data set within one or more data memories is accessed, where an exceptional situation determined by prescribed characteristics is reached in a triggering program, and at least one relevant data set which is at least indirectly affected by an access operation by the triggering program and is intended for subsequently deducing the circumstances leading to the exceptional situation is selected on the basis of a prescribed rule.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Data processing systems frequently operate with a number of files or other data sets, e.g. the data on a data medium, in a database or a stipulated subset thereof. The data in these files, which is also understood to mean data sets in general below, in a data processing system can be read, processed and written back to files by programs executed on the data processing system. During execution of a program, a situation may arise, at a wide variety of points in the program execution, in which it is not appropriate for the program to continue. Such exceptional situations may arise, for example, when erroneous or unexpected data sets arise or on account of logical errors in the program structure. The occurrence of an exceptional situation makes it necessary to analyze the circumstances which have led to this situation. This requires that the exceptional situation, including the information from all the files used, be recorded as accurately as possible.
In many cases, the analysis is not performed by the user, but rather by the manufacturer of the data processing system or of the programs designed for it. In this case, the relevant files need to be saved by the user, possibly combined and sent to the manufacturer so that the latter can determine the causes of the exceptional situation. Even if the analysis of the exceptional situation is performed by the user or at the site of the data processing system, it is helpful if the data profile for the relevant files is recorded and stored. The reason for this is that, after recording, the user can continue to work on the data processing system at least using another application. In many cases, it is necessary to record a situation because the predominant part of data processing is not directly affected by the exceptional situation and, thus, is not interrupted. This as may be the case, for example, on a multiprocess or multiuser system, which is why the state of the relevant files is also variable after the occurrence of the exceptional situation.
With situation recording, particularly when it is done xe2x80x9cmanuallyxe2x80x9d by the user, the problem often arises that, between the exceptional situation arising and the files being saved, a certain time necessarily elapses in which the file contents may be changed. Hence, the consistency of the data in terms of the exceptional state which is to be documented is not ensured.
Previous solutions for recording a situation are limited to an index file in which an error number and possibly a few additional items of data are stored at the instant of an error. Although this information describes the error situation, it does not describe the entire profile of the situation, which includes not only the data concerned in the program but also the files involved, so that error reproduction and reliable analysis using the index file are often not possible. Within the context of this description, an error is understood as meaning an exceptional condition on the basis of whichxe2x80x94for whatever reasonsxe2x80x94it appears appropriate at least to interrupt, if not to terminate, the program, e.g. on account of an error situation in the narrower sense (the program cannot be continued), when a parameter structure which is not envisaged during program execution or is classed as not being possible arises, if inconsistent operating data are discovered etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,777 describes a computer system analysis device in which, in the case of a system error, a dedicated section of the system produces a crash dump file. Another system section is provided in order to produce a device file representing a memory profile during system operation. In the event of a system error, these files and a kernel file are accessed for the purposes of system analysis. Another system section is used to search for data which is requested for system analysis. The computer system in this document thus contains a number of system sections for performing system analysis which are distinguished from the actual system section which is subject to the analysis.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to consistently and completely record the data state of a data processing system for an exceptional situation arising on this system.
This object is achieved by a method of in which, according to the teachings of the present invention, a recording module is called by the triggering program and receives information from the latter regarding which data sets need to be treated as relevant data sets for creating the recording copy and creates a recording copy of the content of the at least one relevant data set via at least read access to the at least one relevant data set, the recording copy being in a form which permits transfer to another data processing system independently of the triggering program.
Such a recording module may, in particular, be produced independently of the triggering program and, thus, may be called by a number of triggering programs. This solution permits an interfile, consistent snapshot of the entire surroundings of the triggering program at the instant of the error or of the exceptional condition. The level of control required from the user is thus reduced, since he now need only occupy himself with the recording copy; in particular, he no longer has the bother of determining which files are, in fact, relevant. Often, files which are of no significance and thus act simply as xe2x80x9cballastxe2x80x9d are also stored in this case, of course. The personnel analyzing the error obtains a consistent and complete picture of the exceptional situation. This increases the rate of errors being found and results in the programs and the associated file and data structures being corrected more quickly.
One advantageous embodiment of the present invention is used for dealing with the case of an error in program execution. In this case, the exceptional situation is an error situation for data in a data set and/or for the program execution of the triggering program or of a program associated with the latter.
In order to make handling a simple matter, it is beneficial if the recording copy is created in the form of an individual file.
It is likewise beneficial if a data compression method is used for creating the recording copy.
In another beneficial embodiment of the present invention, additional information supplied by the triggering program is incorporated into the recording copy. This information is used, for example, for documenting the error state beyond the recorded data sets.
In this context, it is beneficial if the recording module receives the information relating to the relevant data sets in a prescribed data set.
In addition, it is advantageous for obtaining a consistent data profile if the relevant data sets are blocked for write access operations on account of the exceptional situation, and this block is not removed before the recording copy has been completed.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the following Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments and the Drawings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates in general to a firearm in which firing is initiated by the strike of a hammer which is controlled by a trigger mechanism. The invention is particularly directed to a firearm in which a hammer block is employed to prevent the hammer from reaching its striking position for firing except under a predetermined set of conditions.
In the typical firearm which utilizes a hammer block, the hammer block remains in a blocking position when the hammer alone is actuated. The hammer block is moved from its blocking position through the action of the trigger mechanism. In other firearms, a transfer plate is used in place of a hammer block. In such a firearm, the hammer is incapable of striking the percussion element in its extreme forward position. The transfer plate is interposed between the percussion element and the hammer by the action of the trigger mechanism. The mechanism for activating the hammer block or transfer plate for each firearm involves a complicated lever and linkage arrangement. The parts which makeup the actuating mechanism for the hammer block or transfer plate require a high degree of precision. The plurality of moving parts which make up the hammer block actuating mechanism add considerably to the cost of the firearm and are subject to wear. This, in turn, affects the long term reliability of the firearm. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art firearms have been obviated by the present invention.
It is, therefore, a principal object of the invention to provide a firearm having a hammer block which requires no moving parts between the trigger mechanism and the hammer block.
Another object of this invention is the provision of a firearm having a hammer block in which the firearm cannot be fired by pulling the trigger alone.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a firearm having a hammer block which is also utilized for holding the hammer in a cocked position and for preventing release of the hammer to a firing position except by operation of the trigger mechanism.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a firearm having a hammer block which is actuated, in part, by the hammer and, in part, by the trigger, so that firing of the gun requires operation of both the trigger and hammer in a predetermined sequence.
A still further object of the invention is a provision of a firearm having a hammer block which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to operate, and which provides a long life of useful service.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention is directed to a processing apparatus of the type which includes an upper tank and a lower tank for holding processing fluid and a narrow processing chamber located between the tanks through which a sheet of photosensitive material is advanced for processing of latent images on the material. Processing fluid is delivered to opposite sides of the photosensitive material from each of the tanks for forming a fluid layer on each side of the photosensitive material. A return drain is provided on each side of the photosensitive material for removing and returning the processing fluid to the sump tank. Examples of such devices are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,989,028; 4,994,840and 5,059,997. Such devices are often referred to as fluid suspension processors.
In fluid suspension processors of the prior art it is important to maintain the photosensitive material suspended in the processing fluid. It has been found that excessive contact of the photosensitive material with the sides of the processing chamber results in numerous undesirable artifacts being produced on the photosensitive material. In this regard, the prior art teaches the providing the processing fluid to the entrance of the chamber at a substantially equal pressure on both sides of the photosensitive material. In order to control the amount of fluid being removed from each side of the film, return passages, which form the drains, are adjusted in size in an attempt to control the back pressure being experienced on both sides of the film. A problem with this method is that the size of the openings is directly dependent upon the flow rate into the chamber from both the upper and lower tanks. As the flow rate fluctuates the back pressure at the drain will vary significantly such that the photosensitive material will no longer be in a stable position between the two fluid layers. This unstable condition results in the film contacting the sides of narrow processing chamber which in turn results in artifacts being formed on the photosensitive material. Controlling the flow rate is extremely difficult to accomplish and maintain in processors of the prior art. Thus, it is extremely difficult to provide a pressure balanced system in prior art processors.
The present invention is directed to solving the problems experienced in prior art fluid suspension processors by providing means for equalizing the back pressure of the processing fluid at the drains on both sides of the film so as to stabilize the photosensitive material in the chamber and thereby minimize contact with the sides of the chamber. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates generally to mobile search and, in particular, to returning responses to queries based on localizing tokens in the queries.
As the number of cell phones and other mobile devices has increased in the world, the number of search queries originating from mobile users has also similarly increased. Many users utilize mobile devices to search for information using popular search services such as GOOGLE™ and BING™. These services provide search results but often have drawbacks. First, such services may require mobile devices that support an Internet connection, while many mobile users are still using cell phones that only support voice and text messaging. Second, such services may require a user's device to run specific applications, or at the very least a web browser, while many users are still operating mobile hardware that does not support third party applications or web browsers. Third, many search services are oriented to providing search results for touch screen devices or devices with mouse controls, and as such often provide verbose results, such as multiple items in their responses, assuming that the user will be able to navigate through the responses and select from amongst them. In reality, many mobile users operate devices that cannot display large amounts of data, and which lack input means, such as touch screens or mouse controls, to easily select and navigate data. Finally, many search services depend upon location-sensing technologies, such as GPS, to determine the location that is relevant for a user's search query. However, many users operate devices that are not GPS enabled, and which do not have any location-sensing capability.
Thus there is a need for a search service that can provide accurate search results that are relevant to a user's current location, without requiring location-sensing technology or sophisticated input controls in the user's device. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Controlled access areas have become increasingly commonplace in modern society. From hospitals to gated communities, sensitive industries to prison complexes, there is a need to control the flow of human capital. Systems for doing so are often rudimentary, such as those that utilize a guard who checks an individual's identification and access rights. Other systems involve physical keycards and passes, which allow access past static checkpoints.
These systems are often insufficient for controlling and tracking the movement of guests who have access for a particular, limited purpose. Once past a static checkpoint, control systems have limited means for tracking a guest's movements. Furthermore, guests may become lost or enter into areas beyond the scope of their invitation.
Additionally, the hospitality industry is highly competitive with companies always looking for competitive advantages, whether it be on price, features or customer service. In recent years, in an effort to differentiate themselves from other competitors, many hospitality companies such as Hotels, Restaurants and Casinos have implemented customer reward and tracking programs. These programs reward customers for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, spending time at specific locations, spending money at specific locations and/or performing certain activities. Additionally, the reward programs provide a treasure trove of data for the companies on their customers, which assist in marketing efforts, administrative decisions and more.
Current systems require both the customer and company to proactively perform a task in order to be recognized at the location and receive the proper rewards program recognition. Most of the time this is done by the customer handing a card to a company representative and that card information then entered into an existing system. This process is often insufficient for proper tracking of the customer.
It is to addressing or reducing these problems that the current disclosure is directed. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Shut-off devices for infusion devices or blood-drawing devices are already known that can be connected by flexible tubes or injection syringes to an emplaced catheter in order to supply an infusion fluid to a patient or in order to remove blood or other body fluids from the patient.
In order to shut-off fluid flow of such a connection both after completion of the catheterizing process and also in the case of an emplaced catheter, a cannula closure piece with a sleeve-like casing of the type described above has been utilized. In such devices a pressure body is constructed as a pair of balls, each of which is arranged along a diametrically opposite lateral side of the flow passage and its associated elastic tube piece. A U-shaped pusher grips both balls and in one of its end positions permits the tube piece to leave the passage free and open, while in the other end position of the pusher, the balls are moved toward one another to close the passage.
This known cannula connection, however, is not only complicated in construction, but, above all, the movement direction or stroke of the pusher or actuator extends lengthwise in the direction of the cannula, whereby the operator must use two hands in order to use the device. Furthermore, the movement of the pusher or actuator in the direction of the operating cannula frequently causes (blood) vessel injuries; and as can be vividly imagined, catheterizing with such an instrument can be extremely painful.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for the provision of a shut-off valve or device of the type mentioned that is not only simple to produce and easy to operate, but is capable of being operated without resulting in injury or severe pain to the patient. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
A page register or page buffer may store data for writing to a non-volatile storage array, or data that has been read from the non-volatile storage array. A column or bit line of the storage array may be coupled to a data register, latch, buffer, or the like, that stores data of a read or write operation for the column. Multiple data registers or latches for a column of the storage array may provide additional caching or buffering. For example, a first data register for a column of the array may store data for an ongoing write operation, while a second data register for the column receives additional data for a subsequent write operation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus with a filing function, such as a copying machine, which can store image data, e.g., document data, and can efficiently perform document filing. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Managed service providers (MSPs) and other network or cloud oriented information technology (IT) outsourcing organizations provide computing services to client users via a network. A client that subscribes to such a service may access the various computing services and resources to which that client subscribes. In this manner, a subscribing client may be able to access significant computing resources, which, due to the expense and expertise required to maintain those resources, could otherwise be unavailable to the client. For example, a business that is starting up, or which prefers not to employ technical staff, would be able to access computing resources without the delay or expense that may be entailed by assembling in-house resources.
An MSP may provide concurrent access to resources to a large number of client users. Resources, such as a hardware device or database, may be shared among several clients. Each client user of an MSP or other cloud oriented IT organization may be restricted to access only those parts (e.g. hardware, software, service) of the IT network that are relevant to that client. Access is provided in such a manner that each client is unaware of other clients of the MSP.
A configuration management database (CMDB) may be used to model shared resources that are made available by the MSP. A CMDB may model the resources, for example, using virtualization. With virtualization, the MSP IT environment is modeled such that an abstracted virtual computing platform is presented to each client. Components are modeled as accessible by the client only in abstracted virtual form. In other cases, a cloud oriented IT organization may be modeled using a multi-instance approach in which a separate instance of a topological database is created for each client.
A cloud oriented IT organization may be modeled using a multi-tenancy approach. In a multi-tenancy approach, various clients, or tenants, are enabled to access a modeled single shared resource (instance) or shared information. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In a distributed computing environment, work can be performed on multiple computing entities, often referred to as "nodes." One example of a node is a computer system on which one or more processes or threads may execute. Nodes in a distributed computing environment are typically communicatively coupled, for example via a network, to allow processes on any given node to access resources on other nodes. In a hardware context, a resource is generally a device such as a printer, disk drive or memory. In a software context, a resource is generally a set or item of data or a routine.
An important concern in a distributed computing environment is how to manage access to resources by remote processes to ensure that work is completed in an orderly and efficient manner. In a typical scenario, a first process executing on a first node, requires access to a resource, for example a database, on a second node, sometimes referred to as a "remote node." The first process sends a request to the second node for particular work to be performed using the resource on the second node. A process on the second node is assigned to the first process to perform the requested work on behalf of the first process. When the work is completed, the results are made available to the first process. In practice, this scenario can become significantly more complicated as the first process requires access to multiple resources on multiple nodes or other processes also require access to the same resources. As a result, numerous approaches for managing resources in distributed computing systems have been developed. Three known approaches include: (1) dedicated process; (2) remote process management and (3) global synchronization, which are each described hereinafter. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Charged droplet production unassisted or pneumatic nebulization assisted Electrospray (ES) requires oxidation of species (positive ion polarity ES) or reduction of species (negative ion polarity) at conductive surfaces in the sample solution flow path. When a metal electrospray needle tip is used that is electrically connected to a voltage or ground potential, such oxidation or reduction reactions (redox) reactions occur on the inside surface of the metal electrospray needle during electrospray ionization. If a dielectric electrospray tip is used in electrospray ionization, redox reactions occur on an electrically conductive metal surface contacting the sample solution along the sample solution flow path. This conductive surface typically may by a stainless steel union connected to a fused silica electrospray tip. The electrospray sample solution flow path forms one half cell of an electrochemical or voltaic cell. The second half of the electrochemical cell formed in electrospray operates in the gas phase. Consequently, operating rules that explain or predict the behavior of liquid to liquid electrochemical cells may be applied to explain a portion of the processes occurring in electrospray ionization. The electrolyte aids in promoting redox reactions occurring at electrode surfaces immersed in liquid in electrochemical cells. The electrolyte not only plays a role in the initial redox reactions required to form single polarity charged liquid droplets but also fundamentally affects the production of sample related ions from rapidly evaporating liquid droplets and their subsequent transport through the gas phase into vacuum. Additional charge exchange reactions can occur with sample species in the gas phase. The mechanism by which the electrolyte affects liquid and gas phase ionization of analyte species is not clear.
The type and concentration of electrolyte species affects ES ionization efficiency. The electrolyte type and concentration and sample solution composition will affect the dielectric constant, conductivity and pH of the sample solution. The relative voltage applied between the Electrospray tip and counter electrodes, the effective radius of curvature of the electrospray tip and shape of the emerging fluid surface determine the effective electric field strength at the electrospray needle tip. The strength of the applied electric field is generally set just below the onset of gas phase breakdown or corona discharge in electrospray ionization. With an effective upper bound on the electric field that is applied at the electrospray tip during electrospray operation, the electrospray total ion current is determined by the solution properties as well as the placement of the conductive surface along the sample solution flow path. The effective conductivity of the sample solution between the nearest electrically conductive surface in contact with the sample solution and the electrospray tip plays a significant in determining the electrospray total ion current. It has been found with studies using electrospray membrane probes that the ESMS analyte signal can vary significantly with electrospray total ion current. A description of the electrospray membrane probe is given in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/132,953 and 60/840,095 and incorporated herein by reference.
ES signal is enhanced when specific organic acid species such as acetic and formic acids are added to organic and aqueous solvents. Conversely, ES signal is reduced when inorganic acids such as hydrochloric or trifluoroacetic acid are added to electrospray sample solutions. Although mechanisms underlying variation in electrospray ionization efficiency due to different electrolyte counter ion species have been proposed, explanations of these root modulators underlying electrospray ionization processes remain speculative. Conventional electrolytes added to sample solutions in electrospray ionization are generally selected to maximize electrospray MS analyte ion signal. Alternatively, electrolyte species and concentrations are selected to serve as a reasonable compromise to optimize upstream sample preparation or separation system performance and downstream electrospray performance. Trifluoroacetic acid may be added to a sample solution to improve a reverse phase gradient liquid chromatography sample separation but its presence will reduce the electrospray MS signal significantly compared with electro spraying with an organic electrolyte such as formic or acetic acid added to the sample solution. Generally for polar analyte species, the highest electrospray MS signal will be achieved using a polar organic solvent such as methanol in water with acetic or formic acid added as the electrolyte. Typically, a 30:70 to 50:50 methanol to water ratio is run with acetic or formic acid concentrations ranging from 0.1% to over 1%. Running non polar solvents, such as acetonitrile, with water will reduce the ESMS signal for polar compounds and adding inorganic acid will reduce ESMS signal compared to the signal achieved using a polar organic solvent in water with acetic or formic acid. Several species of acids bases and salts have been used at different concentrations and in different solvent compositions as electrolyte species in electrospray ionization to maximize ESMS analyte species. For some less polar analyte samples that do not dissolve in aqueous solutions, higher ESMS signal is achieved running the sample in pure acetonitrile with an electrolyte. For compounds such as carbohydrates with low or no proton affinity, adding a salt electrolyte may product higher ESMS signal.
The invention comprises using a new set of electrolyte species in electrospray ionization to improve the electrospray ionization efficiency of analyte species compared with ES ionization efficiency achieved with conventional electrolyte species used and reported for electrospray ionization. Electrospraying with the new electrolyte species increases ESMS analyte signal amplitude by a factor of two to ten for certain analyte species compared to the highest ESMS signal achieved using acetic or formic acids for these sample species. ESMS signal enhancements have been achieved whether the new electrolytes are added directly to the sample solution or added to the second solution of an electrospray membrane probe. When convention acid or salt electrolytes added to the sample solution are electrosprayed in positive polarity mode, the anion from these electrolytes does not readily appear in the positive ion spectrum. As expected, the anion of these electrolytes does appear in the negative ion polarity ESMS spectrum. One distinguishing characteristic of the new electrolytes comprising the invention is that a characteristic protonated or deprotonated parent related ion from the electrolyte species appears in both positive and negative polarity spectrum acquired using electrospray ionization. The positive polarity electrolyte ion appearing in the positive polarity electrospray mass spectrum is the (M+H)+ species with the (M−H)− species appearing in the negative polarity electrospray mass spectrum.
An alternative embodiment of the invention is the addition of certain electrolytes into the second solution of an electrospray membrane probe to enhance the ESMS signal amplitude of certain analyte species added to the sample solution flow. The alternative embodiment of the invention increases the ESMS signal compared to the ESMS signal amplitude achieved when the same electrolyte species are added directly to the sample solution during electrospray ionization. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
A thin film is caused to adhere to the surface of an article to provide the article with a favorable design or to add some function to the article. For example, a colorful film imitating stained glass or a nontransparent film to protect privacy may be caused to adhere to a transparent window of a building, or a UV ray shielding film is caused to adhere to vehicle windows to protect the skin of passengers and drivers. Because applying film to an article can protect the surface from air (oxygen), applying films instead of providing a coating is favorably accepted.
It is well known in the art that neatly applying a thin film onto the surface of an article is difficult. One reason is a difficulty in precisely positioning the film on the article. Another reason is invasion of air between the article and the film. The air may remain as bubbles after applying the film, resulting in an unfavorable appearance. If the application job is not quickly completed, a line mark (a shock line) may be formed in the area in which the application job is suspended, and this would result in impairing the external appearance. In the case where a film has an adhesive layer on the side contacting an article, the film must be so positioned that the adhesive does not come into contact with an application surface to maintain the adherence of the film to the article for a long period of time. This requirement increases the difficulty of the job for neatly and accurately applying the film to an article.
For instance, some automobile assembly lines have a step of applying a thin film (e.g., a narrow width paint replacement film) onto the surface of the automobile. More specifically, for example, in a door sash frame 80 of a vehicle shown in FIG. 9, a black adhesive tape (i.e., an adhesive-backed paint replacement film) is applied to improve the design of the vehicle by making the window outline of the door black. The black adhesive tape, for example, comprises a film layer (made of vinyl chloride, for example) as a substrate and an adhesive layer (an acrylic-type pressure sensitive adhesive, for example) provided on the back side of the film layer. In the past, the door sash frame 80 was colored with a conventional coating of paint. However, a coating operation increases the environmental load due to splashing of solvent and liquid waste therefrom and requires a considerable number of process steps and a significant operation cost. For these reasons, an adhesive-backed tape having a colored film layer (i.e., an adhesive-backed paint replacement film) has become more popular in recent years.
A seam impairs the appearance when a black adhesive tape is applied along the door sash frame of a vehicle. Therefore, in the case where the door sash has a contour figuring a curve in a conspicuous position, a piece of long tape is preferably applied along the area including the curve. The curve herein refers to a curve 91 of a door sash frame 80 of a vehicle shown in FIG. 9, for example.
However, when an adhesive tape is applied along the door sash frame of a vehicle, the application operation may not follow a curve in the door sash frame. The adhesive tape may deviate from the application surface, requiring that the application operation be carried out again from the beginning. There is another problem that a long period of time is required for an adhesive tape application operation because the adhesive tape cannot be properly positioned on curved lines in a short time. Because all these problems decrease productivity and increase costs, improvement of technologies has been desired.
Tools useful for applying an adhesive tape have been proposed to solve these problems.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 123127/2001 proposes an adhesive tape application tool shown in FIG. 3, which is capable of consistently and precisely applying an adhesive tape at high speed. The adhesive tape application tool 101 applies an adhesive tape with a release paper to a door sash frame 80 while removing the release paper by causing the tool to move along a door sash frame 80 of a vehicle. The adhesive tape can be applied without bubbles included therein because the tool is provided with an elastic roller 105 which presses the adhesive tape against the tape-applying surface of the door sash frame 80. In addition, a guide roller 106 with a concave groove 116 is formed on the back of the tape applying surface of the door sash frame 80. The guide roller 106 engages a projected line portion 83 (convex) extending longitudinally along the door sash frame 80, whereby high precision positioning can be ensured. The tool can accurately apply an adhesive tape in this manner.
However, many vehicle designers in recent years prefer a curve with a small radius for a door sash configuration or a curved configuration with a corner rather than a smooth curve. This inevitably requires the projected line portion 83 (convex) extending longitudinally along the door sash frame 80 to also be formed with a steep curve or a corner. In such an instance, a guide roller 106 with a concave groove 116 can engage the projected line portion 83 (convex) at the curve of the door sash frame 80 due to an inside-outside ring difference. As a result, if the adhesive tape is applied at a stretch, deviation of the adhesive tape may occur in the curve; or, if the tool is caused to travel slowly in the curve to avoid derailing the guide roller 106 with a concave groove 116 from the projected line portion 83 (convex line), the adhesive tape may include bubbles which result in a shock line. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In today's digital age, companies selling goods and services to consumers must engage in on-line marketing and sales over the Internet to be competitive. For example, many large department stores that traditionally have brick and mortar stores also have sophisticated web sites providing detailed product information and the ability for visitors to purchase products on-line. Furthermore, many companies have large marketing budgets directed to on-line marketing, including marketing on their web sites.
One of the key challenges facing these companies is how to evaluate their online marketing efforts. On-line activity, such as web site traffic and online sales may be used as a measure of online marketing efforts. However, on-line marketing may impact in-store sales as well as online sales. For example, a consumer may view product information on-line and then go to the brick and mortar store to see the product and ultimately purchase the product at the store. It is very difficult to track the impact of on-line marketing when purchases are made in this manner. To optimize marketing efforts and justify spending for on-line marketing, companies need to have the ability to accurately capture the impact of their on-line marketing efforts on offline sales.
To date, there is no structure in place that allows for formulating strategies around product offerings based on online activity and overall company key performance indicators (KPIs). Website owners typically operate within information silos and make isolated decisions around product and promotional offerings. As a result, promotional and product information content displayed on a website may be disconnected to the visitor's universe as often these products are either out of stock or promotions not available in the visitors geographic area. Eventually this causes an unfavorable consumer experience, and thus, there is a constant struggle by website owners to manage the relationship between visits to their website and offline outcomes. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuits for converting serial data into parallel data and storing the data, and more particularly to semiconductor integrated circuits such as LCD drivers for driving liquid crystal displays (LCDs) with random access memories (RAMs) embedded therein.
2. Related Art
Some LCD drivers for driving a number of areas separated in the segment direction of LCD convert serial data, which is input via an interface, into parallel data and write it into embedded RAMs and then read out the data stored in the RAMs so as to produce driving signals. FIG. 4 illustrates such a conventional LCD driver.
As shown in FIG. 4, an LCD driver 100 includes a shift register 109 for converting serial data (DATA), which is input together with a clock signal CLK, into parallel data, a latch circuit 110 for latching the parallel data, and a RAM 111 for storing the latched data.
Moreover, the LCD driver 100 includes a counter 101 for counting clock signals CLK and outputting a pulse every 9 counts from an output terminal Q9; a flip-flop FF1 for outputting a pulse signal S2 in synchronization with a pulse signal S1 output from the counter 101; a delay circuit 102 for outputting a pulse signal S3 obtained by delaying the pulse signal S2; a flip-flop FF2 for outputting a pulse signal S4 in synchronization with the pulse signal 3; a delay circuit 103 for outputting a pulse signal S5 obtained by delaying the pulse signal S4; a buffer circuit 104; two NOR circuits 105 and 106; two inverters 107 and 108; and a command producing circuit 112 for controlling data writing/reading to and from the RAM111.
FIG. 5 shows operations at parts of the LCD driver shown in FIG. 4. After an inversion resetting signal (RESET bar) turns to a high-level in response to canceling the reset state, a 1-bit data/command identifier D/C and 8-bit data D7 to D0 are sequentially input to the shift register 109 in synchronization with the clock signal CLK as shown in FIG. 5, so that the total 9-bit signals are stored in a flip-flop in the shift register 109. In the meantime, the counter 101 counts 9 pulses included in the clock signal CLK and outputs the pulse signal S1 from the output terminal Q9.
The flip-flop FF1 turns the pulse signal S2 to a high-level in synchronization with the leading edge of the pulse signal S1. The delay circuit 102 delays the pulse signal S2 by a predetermined period of time and outputs the pulse signal S3. The pulse signal S3 is inverted by the NOR circuit 105. Here, the inverted pulse signal S3 is input to a reset terminal R of the flip-flop FF1, so that the flip-flop FF1 is reset and the pulse signal S2 returns to a low-level. As a result, the flip-flop FF1 outputs the pulse signal S2 including a pulse having a pulse width the same as the time delayed by the delay circuit 102. The pulse width of the pulse signal S3 is also the same as that of the pulse signal S2.
The latch circuit 110 latches the 1-bit data/command identifier D/C and the 8-bit data D7 to D0, which are output as parallel data from the shift register 109, in synchronization with the trailing edge of the pulse signal S3. Since the pulse signal S3 is produced by delaying the pulse signal S2 with the delay circuit 102, the signals are latched by the latch circuit after completely outputting the signals from the shift register 109.
The flip-flop FF2 turns the pulse signal S4 to a high-level in synchronization with the leading edge of the pulse signal S3. The delay circuit 103 delays the pulse signal S4 by a predetermined period of time and outputs the pulse signal S5. The pulse signal S5 is inverted by the NOR circuit 106. Here, the inverted pulse signal S5 is input to a reset terminal R of the flip-flop FF2, so that the flip-flop FF2 is reset and the pulse signal S4 returns to a low-level. As a result, the flip-flop FF2 outputs the pulse signal S4 including a pulse having a pulse width the same as the time delayed by the delay circuit 103. The pulse width of the pulse signal S5 is the same as that of the pulse signal S4.
The pulse signal S5 from the buffer circuit 104 as well as the data D7 to D0 from the latch circuit 110 are input to the RAM111. Moreover, the pulse signal S5 from the buffer circuit 104 as well as the data/command identifier D/C and the data D7 to D0 from the latch circuit 110 are input to the command producing circuit 112. When the data/command identifier D/C indicates a command, the command producing circuit 112 determines the timing for data writing/reading to and from the RAM111 and designates an address in accordance with the command sent as the data D7 to D0 and with the pulse signal S5. On the other hand, when the data/command identifier D/C indicates data, the RAM111 writes the data D7 to D0 into designated addresses. Here, the pulse width of the pulse signal S5, which indicates a period of time for writing data into the RAM111, is determined by the time delayed by the delay circuit 103.
As described above, in the conventional semiconductor integrated circuit, the period of time for writing data into a RAM is determined by time delayed by a delay circuit. As a result, the delay circuit needs to be adjusted in some cases when the RAM is replaced with new one, and also shortening the cycle of data writing/reading remains difficult.
In light of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a semiconductor integrated circuit that includes a function of converting serial data into parallel data in order to store the data and also enjoys stable operation even when the cycle of the data writing/reading is shortened. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to a data display circuit which may be used for a display unit of an electronic clock or watch.
In integrating a display circuit which converts display data of an electronic clock or watch into display segment data and displays the same, the integrated circuit design has had to be modified according to the variations in the number of display digits and functions as specified.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art data display circuit used with an electronic clock. The data display circuit of FIG. 1 is provided with a data source 2 composed of a timer circuit or the like which is driven by a timing pulse generator 4 to produce serial time data. The serial time data from the data source 2 are converted into parallel time data by a shift register circuit including four cascade-connected 1-bit shift registers 6 to 9, and then supplied to a decoder circuit 10. The decoder circuit 10, which includes decoders for processing, for example, decimal, duodecimal and scale-of-24 data to process output data from the shift register circuit, converts the output data from the shift register circuit into segment data by digit for each segment in accordance with segment designating signals C1 to C7 and digit designating signals D1 to DN from a control circuit 12. Output data from the decoder circuit 10 are successively supplied to N cascade-connected shift registers 14-1 to 14-N driven by digit enable signals DE which are delivered from the control circuit 12 in synchronism with the digit designating signals D1 to DN. The respective output terminals of these shift registers 14-1 to 14-N are coupled to latches 16-1 to 16-7. The latches 16-1 to 16-7 are controlled, respectively, by output signals of AND gates 18-1 to 18-7 which receive the digit designating signal DN at their respective one input terminals and the segment designating signals C1 to C7 at the other input terminals, respectively. Exclusive OR gates 20-1 to 20-7 which receive respectively the output data of the latches 16-1 to 16-7 modulate the input data into segment energizing signals in accordance with a modulation signal from the control circuit 12, and supply them to display devices 22-1 to 22-7.
In the display circuit as shown in FIG. 1, the decoder circuit 10 decodes the input data from the shift registers 6 to 9 in response to the digit designating signals D1 to DN that are produced while the segment designating signal C1 is being produced, and delivers the decoded data to the shift registers 14-1 to 14-N. When shifting of the output data from the decoder circuit 10 to the shift registers 14-1 to 14-N is completed, the data held in the shift registers 14-1 to 14-N are introduced into the latch circuit 16-1 which is energized by the digit designating signal DN produced at the ending stage of the segment designating signal C1. In consequence, the latch circuit 16-1 may hold first- to Nth-digit data for one of seven segments that are arranged "8"-shaped, for examle. Likewise, during a period when the segment designating signal C2 is produced, first- to Nth-digit data for another segment may be held in the latch circuit 16-2. Thus, first- to Nth-digit segment data for the seven segments are stored respectively in the latch circuits 16-1 to 16-7, and each of the display devices 22-1 to 22-N displays predetermined one of the seven segments, covering from first to Nth digits.
The decoder circuit 10 used with the data display circuit of FIG. 1 includes a number of decoders which are selectively caused to operate by the digit designating signals D1 to DN, the output terminals of the decoders being coupled to a common output terminal through OR circuits. Accordingly, modification of the function of the data display circuit requires substantial modification of the decoder circuit 10 and timing control circuit 12. Further, in order to store the output data of the decoder circuit 10 in the latch circuits 16-1 to 16-7, it is required that the digit designating signals D1 to DN be repeated seven times or be produced for each of the segment designating signals C1 to C7, thereby prolonging the time required.
Thus, this type of data display circuit is unfit for a case where data display need be made on a fine unit of time for stop-watch operation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Control gates are commonly known for regulating the flow and level of water in water channels especially for irrigation. Control gates are typically of the vertical slide type e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,709; the radial control type e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,230; or the swing down type e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,147. Such gates have proved popular but require large motors or complex actuating devices to lift the gates against the weigh of water, the flow of the water or the weight of the gate. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Many physiologically active agents are best applied topically to obtain desirable results. Topical application, as contrasted to systemic application, can avoid metabolic degradation of the agents, largely avoids side effects of the agents and permits high local concentrations of the agents.
The greatest problem in applying physiologically active agents topically is that the skin is such an effective barrier to penetration. The epidermis of the skin has an exterior layer of dead cells called the stratum corneum which is tightly compacted and oily and which provides an effective barrier against gaseous, solid or liquid chemical agents, whether used alone or in water or oil solutions. If a physiologically active agent penetrates the stratum corneum, it can readily pass through the basal layer of the epidermis and into the dermis.
Although the effectiveness of the stratum corneum as a barrier provides great protection, it also frustrates efforts to apply beneficial agents directly to local areas of the body. The inability of physiologically active agents to penetrate the stratum corneum prevents their effective use to treat such conditions as inflammation, acne, psoriasis, herpes simplex, eczema, infections due to fungus, virus or other microorganisms, or other disorders or conditions of the skin or mucous membranes, or of conditions beneath the exterior surface of the skin or mucous membranes. The stratum corneum also prevents the skin from absorbing and retaining cosmetic-type materials such as sunscreens, perfumes, mosquito repellants and the like.
Physiologically active agents may be applied to locally affected parts of the body through the vehicle system described herein. Vehicles such as USP cold cream, ethanol and various ointments, oils, solvents, and emulsions have been used heretofore to apply physiologically active ingredients locally. Most such vehicles are not effective to carry significant amounts of physiologically active agents through the skin. One such vehicle is dimethyl sulfoxide.
The 1-lower alkyl substituted azacyclopentan-2-ones having 1-4 carbon atoms in the alkyl group are known to moderately enhance percutaneous absorption of chemicals, e.g. drugs. It was earlier recognized that it would be desirable to obtain the same or higher level of percutaneous absorption with substantially lower concentrations of the penetration-enhancing compound. Therefore, various N-substituted azacycloalkan-2-ones were invented having the desired properties. These new penetration-enhancing agents are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,989,815; 3,989,816; 3,991,203; 4,122,170; 4,316,893; 4,405,616; 4,415,563; 4,423,040; 4,424,210; and 4,444,762, which are hereby incorporated by reference.
It is an object of this invention to provide new penetration-enhancing agents having the desirable property of enhancing the percutaneous absorption of physiologically-active agents at concentrations lower than the 1-lower alkyl substituted azacyclopentan-2-ones.
It is also an object of this invention to provide penetration-enhancing agents that are equivalent to the aforesaid new penetration-enhancing agents described in the above U.S. patents.
Other objects and advantages of the instant invention will be apparent from a careful reading of the specification below.
In this description, the term "animal" includes human beings as well as other forms of animal life, and especially domesticated animals and pets. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Due to the rise of cloud computing, the demand for larger data center networks (DCN) has increased to allow users to store access information from virtually any location. A DCN may include hundreds of thousands of servers connected to each other, which makes routing of information into and out of the DCN a very complex task. Pure software based systems, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) platforms (e.g., NetFPGA), and OpenFlow switches are often used to manage data packet routing and congestion control within the DCN. However, software based routing systems require high processor overhead and can include processing latency issues while waiting for processing time on the CPU. For example, using CPU intensive software-based systems with high latency issues may prevent efficient implementation of control plane functions such as signaling and congestion control. FPGA platforms are difficult to program and are expensive to implement. OpenFlow is limited to operating on a limited type of protocols (e.g., Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) packets) and would be susceptible to compatibility issues. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to small utility trailers and, more particularly, to small utility trailers that are capable of tilting to load and unload equipment carried by the trailers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Small utility trailers are popular devices for hauling small machines such as golf carts, lawn mowers, and motorcycles, among other machinery. For convenience, the beds of many small utility trailers tilt back to facilitate loading and unloading of the trailer. A problem, however, is associated with the tilting trailers. When the machinery is loaded onto the tilted trailer, after the machinery goes past the tilt fulcrum, the bed of the tilt trailer may rapidly slam from the tilted to the horizontal orientation. The rapidly slamming trailer bed when it moves from a tilted position to a horizontal position may be unsafe to the machinery, to the trailer, and to personnel. In this respect, it would be desirable if a device were provided for small tilt trailers that prevented a rapid slamming of a trailer bed when it moves from a tilted to a horizontal position. Conversely, a trailer bed may rapidly slam when it moves from a horizontal to a tilted position when the trailer is unloaded. Similarly, the rapidly slamming trailer bed may be unsafe to machinery, to the trailer, and to personnel. In this respect, it would be desirable if a device were provided for small tilt trailers that prevented a rapid slamming of a trailer bed when it moves from a horizontal to a tilted position.
There are many small utility trailers that are currently in use that are not equipped with devices for reducing rapid slamming described above. In this respect, it would be desirable if a device were provided for small tilt trailers that facilitated retrofitting of present utility trailers with devices for eliminating rapid slamming.
For convenience and for keeping retrofitting costs low, it would be desirable if the devices used for retrofitting small utility trailers to eliminate rapid slamming were readily available and relatively inexpensive.
Throughout the years, a number of innovations have been developed relating to small utility trailers, and the following U.S. patents are representative of some of those innovations: U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,690,490; 3,833,263; 3,901,397; and 4,394,105. None of the above cited patents provide a device for eliminating rapid slamming as described above.
The following U.S. patent may also be of interest. U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,548 discloses a device for securing a truck trailer thereto and tilting the device so that contents of the truck trailer are dumped. The tilting is carried out by hydraulically powered cylinders.
Small utility trailers described above are not hydraulically powered. Providing hydraulic power for tilting on a small utility trailer would be unnecessarily complex and expensive, especially for retrofitting trailers currently in use. In this respect, it would be desirable if a device were provided for small tilt trailers which eliminates rapid trailer bed slamming without using hydraulically powered devices.
Still other features would be desirable in a tilt trailer device that prevents the trailer bed from slamming rapidly. For example, a small utility trailer is often loaded and unloaded by a single person. In this respect, it would be desirable if a device were provided for small tilt trailers that prevents rapid trailer bed slamming and permits a single person to load and unload a trailer.
Thus, while the foregoing body of prior art indicates it to be well known to use small utility tilt trailers, the prior art described above does not teach or suggest a tilt trailer stabilizer apparatus which has the following combination of desirable features: (1) prevents a rapid slamming of a trailer bed when it moves from a tilted to a horizontal position; (2) prevents a rapid slamming of a trailer bed when it moves from a horizontal to a tilted position; (3) facilitates retrofitting of present tilting utility trailers with devices for eliminating rapid slamming; (4) employs devices for retrofitting small utility trailers which are readily available and relatively inexpensive; (5) eliminates rapid trailer bed slamming without using hydraulically powered devices; and (6) prevents rapid trailer bed slamming and permits a single person to load and unload a trailer. The foregoing desired characteristics are provided by the unique tilt trailer stabilizer apparatus of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This disclosure relates to biodegradable magnesium alloys, methods of manufacture thereof and articles comprising the same.
Magnesium and its alloys have been investigated for use as materials in biodegradable implants. Although properties of magnesium such as biocompatibility and susceptibility to dissolution are desirable for biodegradable implant applications, its high degradation rate and low strength pose a significant challenge in applications where a longer life cycle (in the body of a living being) is desired.
Elements like aluminum, zinc, calcium, rare earth and other elements have been alloyed with magnesium to improve the mechanical properties of magnesium and to reduce the degradation rate of magnesium and its alloys. In addition to alloying, organic and conversion coatings like micro arc oxidation (MAO) and calcium phosphate coatings have also been employed to develop magnesium-based materials with low degradation rates. These coatings have shown promising results, leading to approximately 70 to 80% initial reduction in degradation rate with calcium phosphate coatings and almost 90% reduction with MAO as compared to uncoated samples. Although these techniques show an improved degradation behavior, they often require specialized equipment, surface pre-treatments and/or simplified substrate geometries. For example, coating a porous metallic foam implant would be difficult using these technologies.
It is therefore desirable find methods and compositions to control the degradation rate of magnesium and its alloys, when these alloys are used in the body of living beings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Most automotive vehicles currently produced have disc brakes on at least the front wheels. Additionally, many automotive vehicles including trucks now include disc brakes on the rear wheels. The majority of disc brakes include a rotor which is attached to the vehicle wheel via a hub. Extending radially outward from the hub is a braking portion. The braking portion typically includes two discs. A inner disc is typically directly connected to the hub along its inner diameter. An outer disc is spaced away from the inner disc and is connected to the inner disc by a plurality of radial ribs. The ribs have two functions. First, to connect the outer disc to the inner disc, and second, to provide a flow path between the discs to allow for air cooling of the rotor. The first and second discs provide opposed surfaces first and second friction faces. The friction faces are engaged by inner and outer brake pads. The brake pads engage the friction surfaces in response to a fluid actuated brake caliper. The brake caliper is supported by the vehicle suspension system to be adjacent to the rotating rotor.
Since the rotor is attached to the wheel, it is required that the rotor be balanced. Many rotors are fabricated by a gray iron casting process. Therefore most rotors require a balancing correction after finish machining. To balance the rotor, typically the peripheral outer diameter edges are machined. The machining of the disc rotor causes the friction faces of the rotor to have a non-constant radius outer diameter.
To achieve aerodynamic efficiency, the hood and roof heights of automotive vehicles have been reduced. Accordingly, the space envelope between the top of the wheel well and the disc brake caliper has been minimized. To achieve maximum brake pad wear life, the engagement surface area of the brake pads should be as large as practically possible. However, from a noise wear and vibration standpoint, the engagement surface area with the brake pads should be constant regardless of the angular orientation of the rotor. When the rotor has been balanced by circumferentially machining off a part of its perimeter at the outer diameter of the rotor, the brake pads will have the situation of fluctuating engagement area with the rotor depending upon the rotor's angular orientation. This situation of non-constant area engagement can be a generator of undesirable wear and noise. The noise parameter is especially critical in providing a commercially attractive product.
One way to avoid shaving off the perimeter of the rotor to achieve balancing is to add weights to the rotor. The addition of weights is undesirable due to the possibility of their breaking off after prolonged periods of use. Additionally, it is difficult to weld on weights or add weights by virtue of a weld bead due to the metallurgical properties of many of the rotors. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method of balancing disc brake rotors while providing friction surfaces which have a constant radius outer diameter with a radial center coterminous with the axis of the rotor without requiring the connection of additional weight to the rotor. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Recently, some techniques for dialysis apparatuses serving as blood-purification apparatuses have been proposed, such as a technique of performing priming, blood returning, or substitution (emergency fluid infusion) by using dialysate to be supplied to a dialyzer when dialysis treatment (particularly, on-line HDF or on-line HF) is given, and a technique of using the dialysate as substitution fluid for the treatment of on-line HDF or on-line HF. For example, a dialysis apparatus is disclosed by PTL 1 that includes a dialysate-supplying line having one end connected to a dialysate-extracting port (hereinafter referred to as “collecting port”) provided at a predetermined position of a dialysate-introducing line and the other end connected to a blood circuit (an arterial blood circuit or a venous blood circuit), and a substitution pump provided for supplying the dialysate. With such a dialysis apparatus, when priming, blood returning, or substitution (emergency fluid infusion) is performed, the dialysate in the dialysate-introducing line can be supplied to the blood circuit (the arterial blood circuit or the venous blood circuit) by activating the substitution pump.
Typically, as illustrated in FIG. 15, the collecting port is provided with an opening-and-closing device I that is detachable therefrom and attachable thereto. The opening-and-closing device I is detached from a collecting port 102, and a substitution line or the like is connected thereto. If the substitution line or the like is not connected, the opening-and-closing device I is attached to the collecting port 102 so that the dialysate flowing in the dialysate-introducing line does not leak to the outside. The opening-and-closing device I is provided with a seal member 103 and a cap member 104 that are fixed therein. With the opening-and-closing device I attached to the collecting port 102, a seal portion 103a of the seal member 103 is in contact with the collecting port 102 and can seal the collecting port 102.
The collecting port 102 is provided thereinside with an introducing member 101 into which the dialysate is introduced. With the opening-and-closing device I attached, when fluid such as a cleaning solution or a disinfecting solution is introduced from the dialysate-introducing line through the introducing member 101, the fluid collides with the opening-and-closing device I and flows backward (downward in FIG. 15). Then, the fluid is allowed to flow through the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the introducing member 101 and the inner peripheral surface of the collecting port 102 into the dialysate-introducing line. In such a process, it is preferable to allow the cleaning solution and the disinfecting solution to reach a top end 102a of the collecting port 102 so that the top end 102a is cleaned and disinfected. Therefore, the seal portion 103a of the seal member 103 is configured to come into contact with the outer peripheral wall of the collecting port 102 and seal the collecting port 102. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Active surfaces of in-process semiconductor wafers, and semiconductor devices comprising stacks of semiconductor dice located on those active surfaces, may be at least partially encapsulated in encapsulation materials. For example, encapsulation material may be dispensed over a portion of the active surface of a thinned semiconductor wafer supported by a carrier to cover and protect semiconductor devices located on the active surface. More specifically, a mold body having a smaller inner diameter than an outer diameter of the wafer may be used to contact a major surface, such as the active surface, of the wafer around a periphery of the wafer. Encapsulation material in the form of a so-called molding compound may flow into the mold, over the active surface, and over and around each semiconductor device. The encapsulation material may be cured, and the mold may be removed from contact with the periphery of the wafer. Contact of the mold body with the wafer surface prevents contamination by preventing the mold compound from reaching the edge of the wafer.
However, the above approach results, after debonding of the wafer from the carrier, exposure of the wafer edge, which is vulnerable to edge chipping and cracking, causing handling issues. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic communication. More specifically, the present invention relates to the in-band generation of low-frequency periodic signaling.
2. Description of the Related Art
Universal Serial Bus (USB) protocol is a standard communications protocol for sending signals between devices and host controllers. USB has become the standard mechanism to communicate between computer devices, and is commonly used to link peripherals, such as keyboards, mice, external disk drives, etc. with personal computers. It is also quite commonly used to link various self-sufficient devices, such as cellular phones, portable media devices, etc. with personal computers.
USB 3.0, also known as SuperSpeed USB, is the latest iteration of the USB standard. It incorporates a “SuperSpeed” bus to achieve communication speeds of up to 5.0 Gb/s. Part of the USB 3.0 protocol describes the use of Low-Frequency Periodic Signaling (LFPS). Specifically, a high-frequency oscillator is used to generate high-frequency communications for the main data communication (e.g., content) that is being transferred between devices. However, a separate low-frequency oscillator is used for low-frequency sideband communication between two ports of a link in a low power state for various auxiliary functions, such as signal initialization and power management. It is also used when a link is under training, or when a downstream port issues a Warm Reset command to reset a link.
LFPS is commonly used when the link is in a low power mode, and thus a low power low-frequency oscillator is used for such communications. The low-frequency oscillator's clock is neither frequency nor phase synchronous to the high-frequency oscillator's clock, which is typically a PLL generated clock used for high-speed data generation. Thus, while the low-frequency oscillator uses less power than the high-frequency oscillator, it is in a different clock domain and requires separate management, which adds complexity and cost to any circuits designed for the transmission and receipt of the LFPS signals.
What is needed is a solution that does not suffer from these issues. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to an ink jet head for ejecting ink drops and performing printing with the ink drops on paper or the like, and an ink jet recording apparatus with such an ink jet head mounted thereon.
Recently, an ink jet recording apparatus has become required to have a very small actuator because it has become higher in printing speed and smaller in size due to its multi-nozzle structure. Therefore, there is an ink jet recording apparatus in which electrostatic power is used for an actuator (for example, JP-A-6-71882). In this ink jet recording apparatus, the actuator is constituted by parallel plate electrodes, so that the apparatus has a feature that the actuator can be miniaturized, and a multi-nozzle structure can be realized.
The summary of this ink jet head driven by an electrostatic actuator will be described on the basis of the sectional view of FIG. 12 and the plan view of FIG. 13. The ink jet head of FIGS. 12 and 13 has a stack structure in which an electrode glass substrate 100, a diaphragm substrate 200 and a nozzle plate 300 are alternately stacked one after another and bonded with each other. Ink 400 supplied to a reservoir 204 from an ink supply port 104 opened in the electrode glass substrate 100 is distributed equally to a plurality of cavities 203 through orifices 302. The lower surface of each cavity 203 is constituted by a transformable diaphragm 201 so as to face an individual electrode 101 through an insulating film 202 for preventing shortcircuit to thereby constitute an electrostatic actuator 50. A voltage is applied between the diaphragm 201 and the individual electrode 101 so that an electrostatic attractive force is generated to thereby transform the diaphragm 201 downward. Then, an ink drop 401 is ejected from a nozzle 301 by the pressure of a spring force of the diaphragm 201 generated when the applied voltage is removed.
However, in a direct driving system in which a voltage is applied to individual electrodes 101 directly, n wirings to individual electrode pads 102 and one wiring to a GND pad, that is, (n+1) wirings in total from a control circuit 2 are required when n electrostatic actuators (C1 to Cn) 50 are provided, as shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 14. Therefore, not only the space for a wiring connection portion increases, but also it is difficult to ensure the reliability. Particularly, the electrostatic capacity of the electrostatic actuators 50 is very small so that it may couple with the electrostatic capacity of each of the individual wirings from the control circuit 2. Accordingly, there has been a possibility of generation of scattering in the electrical characteristics of the electrostatic actuators 50.
In addition, JP-A-5-31898 discloses an ink jet head in which, in order to avoid complex wiring, on a substrate having a plurality of exoergic resistance elements arranged thereon, functional elements, integrated circuits and contacts for connecting the substrate to the outside are formed on the substrate. However, this ink jet head adopts a driving method called a bubble jet system, and its configuration is different from that of the above-mentioned ink jet head having the electrostatic actuators. Therefore, it was impossible to apply the head disclosed in the above Publication, as it is, to an ink jet head adopting electrostatic actuators.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet head adopting electrostatic actuators in which the total number of wirings is reduced so that not only the reduction of the space of a wiring connection portion can be intended, but also the reliability can be ensured.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ink jet head in which printing accuracy is improved in addition to the above-mentioned object.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording apparatus mounted with the above-mentioned ink jet head mounted thereon.
(A) According to the present invention, provided is an ink jet head which comprises an ink jet head chip having a plurality of nozzle holes, a plurality of independent ejection chambers communicating with the nozzle holes respectively, diaphragms constituting at least one-side walls of the ejection chambers, and individual electrodes disposed so as to be opposite to the diaphragms through air gaps respectively, and a control circuit for applying voltages between the diaphragms and the electrodes to perform charging/discharging so as to transform the diaphragms so that ink drops are ejected from the nozzle holes, respectively, wherein at least a part of the control circuit is constituted by an integrated circuit, and provided in the ink jet head chip.
In this invention, the control circuit is provided in the ink jet head chip. Therefore, not only it is possible to reduce the space of the wiring connection portion, but also it is possible to prevent the electrical characteristics of the electrostatic actuators from scattering. Accordingly, also from these points, it is possible to ensure the reliability.
(B) Further, in the above ink jet head according to the present invention, a part of or a whole of the control circuit is provided on a substrate (nozzle substrate) in the ink jet head chip, the plurality of nozzle holes being formed on the substrate.
The reason why control circuit is provided on the nozzle substrate according to the present invention is as follows.
{circle around (1)} The nozzle substrate is preferable for manufacturing an integrated circuit, because the heating step is gentle although the substrate is subjected to the heating step.
{circle around (2)} The nozzle substrate and the diaphragm substrate can be bonded with a bonding agent, and there is no fear that the control circuit is broken.
{circle around (3)} Since any substrate is sufficient for the nozzle substrate so long as a nozzle hole is opened therein, there is less limitation about the thickness in the nozzle substrate, and an Si substrate of a standard thickness (400 to 500 xcexcm) may be used as the nozzle substrate.
In addition, when the control circuit is provided on the front surface (outside surface) of the nozzle substrate, there is an advantage that the availability of the substrate is high since a one-side mirror wafer can be used as the nozzle substrate.
In addition, when the control circuit is provided on the back surface (bonded surface) of the nozzle substrate, epoxy resin used for bonding the nozzle substrate with the diaphragm substrate may be used for a mold, so that no step is produced in the front surface of the nozzle substrate.
(C) Further, in the above ink jet head according to the present invention, a part of or a whole of the control circuit is provided on a substrate in the ink jet head chip, the diaphragms being formed on the substrate.
The reason why the control circuit is provided on the diaphragm substrate in the present invention is as follows.
{circle around (1)} Since the diaphragm substrate is formed of an Si single-crystal wafer, the control circuit can be built in on one and the same substrate.
{circle around (2)} All the steps other than the wet etching step, that is, the boron diffusion step, the thermal oxidation step, the patterning step of a thermally oxidized film, the electrode sputtering step, and so on, are common to each other between the cavity formation and the integrated circuit formation. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the number of step.
Particularly, when the control circuit is provided on the back surface (on the electrode glass substrate side) of the diaphragm substrate, the mechanism becomes simple since a current can be applied to the individual electrode only by providing bumps or the like.
(D) Further, in the above ink jet head according to the present invention, a part of or a whole of the control circuit is provided on a substrate in the ink jet head chip, the individual electrodes being formed on the substrate.
When the control circuit is formed on the electrode substrate (glass substrate) according to the present invention, there are advantages as follows.
{circle around (1)} When a part of the control circuit is constituted by a TFT, the individual electrode and the control circuit can be manufactured on one and the same substrate by manufacturing the TFT on a neutral borosilicate glass through a passivation film, so that the connection between the individual electrode and the control circuit becomes easy.
{circle around (2)} The operation of the TFT can be confirmed by bringing a contact probe into contact with the individual electrode having a large area, so that inspection is easy.
(E) Further, in the above ink jet head according to the present invention, the control circuit has a resistor interposed in a charging path for each of electrostatic actuators constituted by the diaphragm and the individual electrode, and a resistor interposed in a discharging path for the electrostatic actuator, the value of the resistor interposed in the charging path being set to be larger than the value of the resistor interposed in the discharging path.
The time constant is increased by increasing the resistant value of the charging path, so that the electrostatic actuator can be driven gently. Accordingly, the electrostatic actuator can cope with the fluid resistance of an ink supply system. In addition, the time constant is reduced by reducing the resistant value of the charging path, so that the electrostatic actuator can be driven suddenly. A stable operation can be obtained by driving the electrostatic actuator in a manner as described above so that high resolution printing can be obtained.
(F) Further, in the above ink jet head according to the present invention, the control circuit switches the direction of charging for each electrostatic actuator constituted by the diaphragm and the individual electrode between the forward and backward directions alternately so as to make the ink jet head eject an ink drop twice for every dot. For example, the control circuit has switching elements connected in a bridge form to the each electrostatic actuator, and controls the open/close of the switching elements to thereby switch the direction of charging.
The quantity of ink to be ejected every time is reduced by ejecting an ink drop twice for every dot in such a manner, so that high resolution printing can be performed. In addition, since the direction of charging the electrostatic actuator is switched between the forward and backward directions alternately, residual charge after ejection is canceled, so that the relative displacement between the diaphragm and the electrode at the time of printing becomes stable. Also from this point, high resolution printing can be performed.
(G) In addition, an ink jet recording apparatus according to the present invention is provided with the above-mentioned ink jet head mounted thereon. Accordingly, an ink jet recording apparatus in which high quality printing can be performed is realized. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The cellular behavior responsible for the development, maintenance, and repair of differentiated cells and tissues is regulated, in large part, by intercellular signals conveyed via growth factors and similar ligands and their receptors. The receptors are located on the cell surface of responding cells and they bind peptides or polypeptides known as growth factors as well as other hormone-like ligands. The results of this interaction are rapid biochemical changes in the responding cells, as well as a rapid and a long-term readjustment of cellular gene expression. Several receptors associated with various cell surfaces may bind specific growth factors.
The phosphorylation of tyrosines on proteins by tyrosine kinases is one of the key modes by which signals are transduced across the plasma membrane. Several currently known protein tyrosine kinase genes encode transmembrane receptors for polypeptide growth factors and hormones such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), platelet derived growth factors (PDGF-A and -B), and fibroblast growth factors (FGFs). (Heldin et al., Cell Regulation, 1:555-566 (1990); Ullrich, et al., Cell, 61:243-54 (1990)). In each instance, these growth factors exert their action by binding to the extracellular portion of their cognate receptors, which leads to activation of the intrinsic tyrosine kinase present on the cytoplasmic portion of the receptor. Growth factor receptors of endothelial cells are of particular interest due to the possible involvement of growth factors in several important physiological and pathological processes, such as vasculogenesis, angiogenesis, atherosclerosis, and inflammatory diseases. (Folkman, et al. Science, 235: 442-447 (1987)). Also, the receptors of several hematopoietic growth factors are tyrosine kinases; these include c-fms, which is the colony stimulating factor 1 receptor, Sherr, et al., Cell, 41: 665-676 (1985), and c-kit, a primitive hematopoietic growth factor receptor reported in Huang, et al., Cell, 63: 225-33 (1990).
The receptor tyrosine kinases have been divided into evolutionary subfamilies based on the characteristic structure of their ectodomains. (Ullrich, et al. Cell, 61: 243-54 (1990)). Such subfamilies include, EGF receptor-like kinase (subclass I) and insulin receptor-like kinase (subclass II), each of which contains repeated homologous cysteine-rich sequences in their extracellular domains. A single cysteine-rich region is also found in the extracellular domains of the eph-like kinases. Hirai, et al., Science, 238: 1717-1720 (1987); Lindberg, et al. Mol. Cell. Biol., 10: 6316-24 (1990); Lhotak, et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 11: 2496-2502 (1991). PDGF receptors as well as c-fms and c-kit receptor tyrosine kinases may be grouped into subclass III; while the FGF receptors form subclass IV. Typical for the members of both of these subclasses are extracellular folding units stabilized by intrachain disulfide bonds. These so-called immunoglobulin (Ig)-like folds are found in the proteins of the immunoglobulin superfamily which contains a wide variety of other cell surface receptors having either cell-bound or soluble ligands. Williams, et al., Ann. Rev. Immunol., 6: 381-405 (1988).
Receptor tyrosine kinases differ in their specificity and affinity. In general, receptor tyrosine kinases are glycoproteins, which consist of (1) an extracellular domain capable of binding the specific growth factor(s); (2) a transmembrane domain which usually is an alpha-helical portion of the protein; (3) a juxtamembrane domain where the receptor may be regulated by, e.g., protein phosphorylation; (4) a tyrosine kinase domain which is the enzymatic component of the receptor; and (5) a carboxyterminal tail which in many receptors is involved in recognition and binding of the substrates for the tyrosine kinase.
Processes such as alternative exon splicing and alternative choice of gene promoter or polyadenylation sites have been reported to be capable of producing several distinct polypeptides from the same gene. These polypeptides may or may not contain the various domains listed above. As a consequence, some extracellular domains may be expressed as separate, secreted proteins and some forms of the receptors may lack the tyrosine kinase domain and contain only the extracellular domain inserted in the plasma membrane via the transmembrane domain plus a short carboxyl terminal tail.
A gene encoding an endothelial cell transmembrane tyrosine kinase, originally identified by RT-PCR as an unknown tyrosine kinase-homologous cDNA fragment from human leukemia cells, was described by Partanen, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 87: 8913-8917 (1990). This gene and its encoded protein are called "tie" which is an abbreviation for "tyrosine kinase with Ig and EGF homology domains." Partanen, et al. Mol. Cell. Biol. 12: 1698-1707 (1992).
It has been reported that tie mRNA is present in all human fetal and mouse embryonic tissues. Upon inspection, tie message has been localized to the cardiac and vascular endothelial cells. tie mRNA has been localized to the endothelia of blood vessels and endocardium of 9.5 to 18.5 day old mouse embryos. Enhanced tie expression was shown during neovascularization associated with developing ovarian follicles and granulation tissue in skin wounds. Korhonen, et al. Blood 80: 2548-2555 (1992). Thus tie has been suggested to play a role in angiogenesis, which is important for developing treatments for solid tumors and several other angiogenesis-dependent diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, psoriasis, atherosclerosis and arthritis.
Two structurally related rat TIE receptor proteins have been reported to be encoded by distinct genes with related profiles of expression. One gene, termed tie-1, is the rat homolog of human tie. Maisonpierre, et al., Oncogene 8: 1631-1637 (1993). The other gene, tie-2, may be the rat homolog of the murine tek gene, which, like tie, has been reported to be expressed in the mouse exclusively in endothelial cells and their presumptive progenitors. Dumont, et al. Oncogene 8: 1293-1301 (1993).
Both genes were found to be widely expressed in endothelial cells of embryonic and postnatal tissues. Significant levels of tie-2 transcripts were also present in other embryonic cell populations, including lens epithelium, heart epicardium and regions of mesenchyme. Maisonpierre, et al., Oncogene 8: 1631-1637 (1993).
The predominant expression of the TIE receptor in vascular endothelia suggests that TIE plays a role in the development and maintenance of the vascular system. This could include roles in endothelial cell determination, proliferation, differentiation and cell migration and patterning into vascular elements. In the mature vascular system, TIE could function in endothelial cell survival, maintenance and response to pathogenic influences. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to electronic memories and more specifically to synchronous random access memory design.
2. Description of Related Art
Random access memory (RAM) is the most common type of memory found in computers, printers and other devices that use microprocessors. Memory is required in microprocessors because only data that is stored in memory can be manipulated. The two basic types of RAM are dynamic RAM (DRAM) and static RAM (SRAM). SRAM is faster and more reliable than the more common and less expensive DRAM.
SRAM is typically used for cache memory which is accessed frequently, and DRAM is used for main memory. Additionally, many systems allow for direct memory access (DMA) to RAM. DMA is a technique for transferring data from memory to a processor without passing it through a memory management system.
Regardless of whether and how a SRAM or DRAM is used and implemented, the overall architecture is somewhat standard. All RAM modules contain an array of memory cells and have peripheral circuits. A memory cell stores either a single bit of information (1 or 0) or a group of bits, depending upon the architecture of the RAM module. Each memory cell is defined by a unique address and accessed with peripheral circuits.
Synchronous RAM uses a clock signal to time the phases of operation of the RAM module. For active-high logic circuits, the set-up phase is performed during the high portion of the clock signal and the access phase ("AC phase") during the low portion. The phases of an active-low circuit are performed in the opposite clock states.
Certain types of asynchronous RAM also use the set-up phase and the AC phase to time its operation. When a request is sent to the RAM, signal detection circuitry is used to initiate the set-up phase. A clock generation circuit, such as a boot-strap clock buffer, is then used to separate the AC phase from the set-up phase.
During the set-up phase, the address is decoded, the decision of whether to read or write is made, and, when necessary, the memory array pre-charges. The actual reading or writing to the memory cell is performed during the AC phase. Since both phases are necessary, only one complete read or write operation can be performed during a full clock cycle for a standard RAM module.
A DMA request, however, could occur at either the first half or the second half of a clock cycle. If a DMA request were received in the second half of a clock cycle, a RAM module would not be able to process the request until the next clock cycle, delaying the time that it would take to respond to the request. Additionally, the processor would need to arbitrate the DMA request. The microprocessor could only grant a DMA request by pausing its own use of the memory while allowing the device requesting the DMA to access the memory. Although dual port memory modules would allow for dual memory access during a single clock cycle, they are far too large and costly to be used regularly.
The cost effectiveness of RAM depends not only on the module's size, but also on the speed of the clock signal. A system with a clock signal that remains in its high state for longer than is needed to complete the set-up phase is inefficient. Similarly, it is inefficient for an RAM module to remain in its AC phase for longer than is required while the clock signal is low. Since the speed of a system clock is usually selected based on the requirements of the processor rather than to optimize operation of a RAM module, many RAM modules are unnecessarily idle.
What is needed is a synchronous RAM module that overcomes shortfalls of the RAMs currently known in the art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Ionic conductivity is commonly associated with the flow of ions through a liquid solution of salts. In the vast majority of practical uses of ionic conductors, i.e., as electrolytes for dry cell and sealed lead acid batteries, the liquid solution is immobilized in the form of a paste or gelled matrix or is absorbed in a separator to overcome the difficulties associated with handling and packaging a liquid. However, even after immobilization, the system is still subject to possible leakage, has a limited shelf life due to drying out or crystallization of the salts and is suitable for use only within a limited temperature range corresponding to the liquid range of the electrolyte. In addition, the use of a large volume of immobilizing material has hindered the aims of miniaturization.
Improved microelectronic circuit designs have generally decreased the current requirements for electronic devices. This in turn has enhanced the applicability of solid electrolyte power sources which usually can deliver currents only in the microampere range. These solid electrolyte systems have the inherent advantages of being free of electrolyte leakage and internal gassing problems due to the absence of a liquid phase. In addition, they also have a much longer shelf life than the conventional liquid electrolyte power sources.
In attempting to avoid the shortcomings of liquid systems, investigators have surveyed a large number of solid compounds seeking to find compounds which are solid at room temperature and have specific conductances approaching those exhibited by the commonly used liquid systems. Solid electrolytes must be essentially electronic insulators so as not to internally short the cell while at the same time they must allow for ionic migration if the cell is to operate properly. There are many solid state electrolytes disclosed in the art that can be used for solid state cells but many can only operate efficiently at higher temperatures, have low operating voltages, or have high resistance.
In some applications requiring a portable constant current source, a battery is appropriately arranged with a constant current device so as to provide a constant current. In some applications, the connection between a battery and a current regulating device requires insulated wires and careful attention to the polarity of the connections. The connections are commonly made by welding or soldering the leads together. In humid environments, these types of connections can corrode.
Constant current devices connected to flat aqueous battery have been used but when using such batteries there is always a tendency that the batteries could leak and short out the connections of the constant current devices.
It is an object of the present innovation to provide a constant current source power supply employing a flat solid electrolyte battery which is flexible and not subject to electrolyte leakage.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a constant current source power supply that employs a solid electrolyte battery and a constant current device composed of a transistor and resistor means mounted on a circuit board.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a constant current source power supply that employs a flexible flat solid electrolyte battery having a solid electrolyte separator strip of poly(ethylene oxide) along with a lithium salt, ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate, and a transistor-resistor assembly electrically secured to said battery to insure a constant current supply. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
One of the problems with a spring assembly of the kind wherein a plurality of spring elements are positioned in transversely and longitudinally-spaced relation to each other between a rigid base frame and a rigid grid frame comprising a border wire and transversely and longitudinally-extending grid wires connected at their ends to the border wire and at their crossings to each other is that pressure brought to bear on the grid frame tends to bend the border wires downwardly so that the border wire sags. In order to minimize this, bent wire reinforcements are sometimes used to support the border wire relative to the base frame. Adding such reinforcing wires requires added operations in manufacture and increases the cost without materially improving the structure. It is the purpose of this invention to employ the unique characteristics of the bent wire spring units disclosed in my pending application in such a way as to impart tension to the border wire, hence, to prevent sagging without interposing reinforcing springs along the sides and ends. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to three-color plasma-panel display devices, fluorescent lamps and display devices equipped with low-energy electron sources.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The 253.7 nm radiation from mercury vapor has hitherto been widely and generally utilized for exciting phosphor screens. In recent years, however, it has been recognized that mercury is detrimental to the human body, and the development of light emitting devices employing no mercury has been being carried forward. In, for example, a fluorescent discharge lamp for illumination, it is desirable to excite a phosphor by ultraviolet radiation shorter than 253.7nm, but being preferably chosen to be between 58.4nm and 250nm. The first resonance line and ionization potential of helium gas lie at 58.4nm and 50.4nm. In terms of the energy of photons, such wavelengths correspond to an energy range of 5eV to 25 eV.
In a display tube equipped with a low-energy electron source, the upper limit of the accelerating voltage should desirably be 25 V in consideration of the first ionization potential 24.581 eV (50.4nm) of helium and also the maximum plasmon energy of various phosphors to be utilized for a solid luminescent screen.
A gas discharge cell which contains phosphors therein and in which they absorb the energy of gas plasma to emit different colors of light, has been known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,190. An attempt to obtain multicolor in plasma-display devices containing well-known phosphors and vacuum ultraviolet radiation sources has been reported in "Three-Color-Plasma-Panel-Display Device" prepared by F. H. Brown, C. W. Salisbury, H. G. Slottow and M. J. Tamm, Owens-Illinois, Inc., Ohio, under Contract No. DAAB 07-70-C-0243, December, 1970). Therefore, it will be regarded as being already known to use, for example, lead activated calcium tungstate phosphor (CaWO.sub.4 :Pb) for blue of the three primary colors, manganese activated zinc silicate phosphor (Zn.sub.2 SiO.sub.4 :Mn) for green, and europium activated yttrium vanadate phosphor (YVO.sub.4 :Eu) for red.
Where the above-mentioned lead activated calcium tungstate is employed for a blue emitting device associated with this invention, the following two disadvantages are involved. The first is that although the phosphor has comparatively high luminous efficiency under 253.7nm excitation and also usual X-ray excitation, the luminescence when excited by 5 to 25 eV photons or electrons is feeble. For example, it is difficult to obtain an intensity ratio of more than 70% under 147 nm excitation relative to the luminescence intensity under 253.7 nm excitation even by controlling the shape of the individual phosphor particles and also by optimizing the activator concentration. The second is that the emission spectrum of the phosphor is very wide and then the purity of blue color is extremely inferior as will be stated later.
On the other hand, where the europium activated yttrium vanadate phosphor described in the report is employed for a red light emitting device associated with this invention, the following two disadvantages are involved. The first is that although the phosphor has comparatively high luminous efficiency under 365nm (3.4 eV) or 253.7nm (4.8 eV) excitation and also under the usual electron beam excitation of 8 - 25 eV, the luminescence when excited by 5 to 25 eV photons or electrons is feeble. For example, it is difficult to obtain an intensity ratio of more than 60% under 147nm excitation relative to the luminescence intensity under 253.7nm excitation even by controlling the shape of individual phosphor particles and also by optimizing the activator concentration. The second is that where the phosphor is used in combination with a well-known phosphor, such as manganese activated zinc silicate phosphor and any suitable blue phosphor in a three-primary-color plasma display device which is operated by an identical discharge current, it is difficult to establish the white balance because the green phosphor is very good in color purity and reveals high brightness.
When the excitation energy of 5 - 25 eV according to the present invention is compared with that of the photons or electrons widely employed, there exists two peculiar points stated hereunder. As the first peculiarity, the excitation energy is higher than that of characteristic absorption bands (3 - 5 eV) of various activators or sensitizers to be added to the phosphors, and belongs to an energy region equal to or higher than the energy of the fundamental absorption edge of various phosphors. The second peculiarity is that the excitation energy belongs to an energy region equal to or lower than the plasmon energy in a number of insulating inorganic phosphors. Therefore, when a well-known blue phosphor such as zinc sulfide activated by silver and co-activated by chlorine (ZnS:Ag:Cl) is used jointly with the exciting source of this invention, the phosphor does not reveal high efficiency, because it is difficult to convert transmission of the plasmon energy effectively to the activator. The situation is the same with a red phosphor, for example, europium activated yttrium oxide (Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 :Eu), yttrium oxysulfide (Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 S:Eu) and yttrium vanadate (YVO.sub.4 :Eu). In order to get efficiency under excitation of 5 - 25 eV, a phosphor composition having a unique property in the absorption and relaxation processes of the excitation energy is accordingly requested. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains in general to techniques for detecting the type of modulation performed on a received radio frequency carrier signal, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for distinguishing between analog frequency modulation and .pi./4 Differential Quadrature Phase Shift Key (DQPSK) modulation in a cellular telephone network. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to high performance resin systems containing bismaleimides. More particularly, the subject invention relates to toughened bismaleimide resin systems prepared by adding tougheners which are alkenylphenoxy terminated polysiloxanes. The toughened resins find use as matrix resins in fiber-reinforced prepregs and composites, and as structural adhesives.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bismaleimide resin systems are noted for their high strength, high temperature performance, particularly as matrix resins in fiber-reinforced prepregs and composites Unfortunately, bismaleimides tend to be somewhat brittle, and thus subject to impact-induced damage. For the same reasons, structural adhesives based on bismaleimides have not achieved the wide use attributable to more flexible resins such as the epoxies.
In the past, efforts have been made to toughen bismaleimides, for example, by the addition of acrylonitrile/butadiene elastomers to the resin system. Unfortunately, the degree of toughening available by this method is less than desirable. Moreover, a loss of heat resistance is seen as the amount of elastomeric toughener increases. Finally, the amount of toughener added is limited due to the formation of multiphase systems. Modifying bismaleimide systems with long chain, flexible epoxy resins has not proven successful for somewhat the same reason. Only minor amounts of epoxy resins are generally compatible with bismaleimide formulations.
The addition of alkenylphenols such as 2-allylphenol and 2-propenylphenol and their multiring homologues such as 2,2'-diallylbisphenol A has increased the toughness of bismaleimide resin systems, but once again, the degree of toughness obtained is less than that ultimately desirable. It would be desirable to prepare a toughener for bismaleimide resin systems which is compatible with other resin components, which forms a homogenous resin system and which does not cause a loss of heat resistance. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Antibodies are well known to bind antigens and it is generally recognized that the antigen-binding segment of antibodies is composed of the variable portion of a heavy (H) and a light (L) chain. Both of these chains are thought to be important in defining the paratope conformation to one that binds antigen with high affinity. It has recently been found that antibodies can catalytically enhance the rate of chemical reactions. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,281, it is disclosed that catalytic antibodies can bind a substrate, cause the conversion thereof to one or more products, and release the product. The catalytic antibodies may be prepared by immunological methods wherein they are elicited to antigens, as taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,281.
Fab fragments of an antibody catalyze hydrolysis of an amide bond (1). Fv fragments, which are heterodimers consisting of the variable regions of associated light and heavy chains of an antibody, have been shown to catalyze ester hydrolysis (2). These antibody components are not known to catalyze the cleavage or formation of peptide bonds, a class of reactions which is energetically more demanding.
Iverson and Lerner (3) report that while peptide bond cleavage is very energetically demanding, cleavage of a peptide bond by a catalytic antibody is enabled by the presence of a metal trien cofactor and will not take place without the presence of such a cofactor. The trien complexes of Zn(II), Ga(III), Fe(III), In(III), Cu(II) , Ni(II), Lu(III) , Mg(II) or Mn(II) were most favored. However, a naturally occurring autoantibody able to selectively catalyze the cleavage of the peptide bond between amino acid residues 16 and 17 of the neurotransmitter vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) without any metal cofactor, has been reported by Paul (4, 5).
It is also known that antibody binding is energetically most favored by the presence of the entire H-chain and L-chain binding site (6). The V.sub.H fragments of anti-lysozyme antibodies bind the antigen with an affinity of only 10% of the intact antibody (7). L-chains are also likely to participate in antigen binding interactions, although most studies suggest that the contribution of L-chains is smaller than that of H-chains (8-10). It could not be expected that an antibody component smaller than an intact catalytic antibody would possess the favorable steric conformation provided by the intact catalytic antibody to permit the catalysis of a peptide bond without the assistance of a metal trien cofactor as taught by Lerner and Iverson.
The reports of Fv and Fab catalysis of ester and amide bonds do not disclose that other types of heterodimers catalyze any chemical reactions (8-10). A heterodimer not known or expected to catalyze chemical reactions is the heterodimer consisting of an intact H-chain and intact L-chain linked by at least one disulfide (S--S) bond. Another heterodimer not known or expected to catalyze chemical reactions is a heterodimer analogous to the Fab, but consisting of the Fd- fragment (the H-chain with the Fc portion removed) linked to or associated with an intact L-chain by non-covalent bonding (e.g. hydrogen bonding, charge interaction or similar association), in contrast to the Fab which consists of the Fd fragment linked to the L-chain by at least one disulfide bond.
Heavy chain homodimers and light chain homodimers have heretofore not been shown to catalyze chemical reactions. It would not be expected that these homodimers would have catalytic activity because the classic binding function of antibodies is considered to require the combination of the variable regions of both a light and heavy chain, or at least a heavy chain (8, 11-13). Catalytic light and heavy chain homodimers would be advantageous because they consist of the same or similar components, and thus could be manufactured with less effort than is required to manufacture a standard antibody or a heterodimer.
There are obvious advantages that single chain proteins offer over multichain proteins (antibodies), both from the point of view of structure-function analysis as well as pharmacological and therapeutic stability. It would be advantageous if the binding and catalytic domains on an antibody were either the same or closely positioned to one another such that the benefits of catalytic activity could be achieved by a simple protein as opposed to a multichain antibody. Heretofore, the art has not demonstrated the capability of using such components of an antibody for catalytic purposes. Similar advantages are offered by dimers formed of the several combinations of light and heavy chains.
It is known to use a catalytic antibody to convert a prodrug to a drug (14). However, a catalytic component able to convert a prodrug to a drug, or a protoxin to a toxin has special advantages, particularly when the catalytic component is incorporated into a fusion or chimeric protein with a biological binding agent able to bind to cells or tissues which it is desirable to contact with the drug or toxin. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to a scaffold structure positioned for accessing a corner of a construction area, a free-standing structure that can be incorporated into and used in conjunction with existing modular supports used in scaffold assembly.
Scaffolds are widely used in industrial, commercial, and residential construction settings for supporting workers and equipment. Scaffolds are erected as free-standing structures along and beside surfaces or areas where work is to be performed, allowing workers access to such surfaces or areas. Thus, scaffolds must be rigid enough to safely support workers and their equipment, yet easily assembled and disassembled
Scaffolds generally are assembled from a plurality of modular supports coupled by horizontal or diagonal braces to create frames. Secured to these frames are horizontal members, often referred to as xe2x80x9chop irons,xe2x80x9d for supporting scaffold planks. Workers can travel across these planks to access the working surface or area.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a common prior art scaffolding arrangement positioned for accessing a corner of a construction area, the intersection of two perpendicularly oriented walls. As shown in FIG. 1, the assembled scaffold comprises two modular supports 12, 14. These two supports 12, 14 are connected to one another and supported by opposing pairs of diagonal and intersecting braces 18, 20. Extending from and secured to the supports 12, 14 are three hop irons 22, 24, 26. These hop irons 22, 24, 26 provide support for two scaffold planks 28, 30 (shown in phantom) which extend into the corner of the construction area and are oriented perpendicular to one another.
This prior art scaffolding arrangement presents some attendant dangers. First and foremost, there is often a significant unsupported span between hops irons, for example, the span of the scaffold plank 28 between hop iron 22 and hop iron 24. This may cause the plank 28 to sag significantly as a worker walks along the plank 28. Secondly, due to minimal underlying support (i.e. few hop irons), if a worker were to walk to the end of a particular plank, it is possible that his weight would be sufficient to cause the opposite end of the plank to xe2x80x9ckick up,xe2x80x9d causing the worker to fall. To prevent such a xe2x80x9ckick upxe2x80x9d hazard, it is common to strap or otherwise secure the scaffold planks to the hop irons; however, this requires significantly more labor time in the assembly and disassembly of the scaffold.
Furthermore, prior art scaffolding arrangements create some accessibility problems. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, to access into the space enclosed by the modular supports 12, 14 and pairs of braces 18, 20 would require a worker to crawl through the modular supports 12, 14 or under the braces 18, 20. This could prove problematic if a worker was attempting to deliver materials to others working in the corner of the construction area.
It is therefore a paramount object of the present invention to provide a corner scaffold structure that appropriately supports workers and equipment and allows a worker to access a corner of a construction area without subjecting that worker to unnecessary danger.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a corner scaffold structure that is free-standing.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a corner scaffold structure that includes double latch connectors that facilitate attachment and detachment of braces that secure the corner scaffold structure to adjacent modular supports.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a corner scaffold structure that includes adjustable braces to allow for more versatility in assembling a scaffold at a particular construction site, specifically, allowing for adjustments to the span between adjacent modular supports and the corner scaffold structure.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a corner scaffold structure that allows for the attachment of a diagonally oriented hop iron to the vertex of the generally isosceles triangle formed by the corner scaffold structure such that the hop iron would extend into the corner of a construction area, thereby supporting the scaffold planks at the intersection of their respective distal ends.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon a reading of the following description.
The present invention is a corner scaffold structure preferably comprised of three vertical legs. These three legs are connected to one another at their upper distal ends by three horizontal legs which generally form a right isosceles triangle. Similarly, there are three horizontal legs connected to and joining the vertical legs near the lower distal ends thereof.
To allow for connection of braces that join the corners of the corner scaffold structure to adjacent modular supports, a plurality of rods are joined to and extend from the corner scaffold structure. In one preferred embodiment, there are at least two corresponding pairs of rods secured to and extending from each of the two outer vertical legs of the corner scaffold structure. A preferred double latch connector fits over each pair of rods and can be manipulated to attach or detach a particular brace to the corner scaffold structure.
Because of the three-dimensional geometry of the corner scaffold structure, multiple hop irons can be secured to each side of the structure to provide additional support to scaffold planks, increasing their stability. It is further contemplated that adjustable braces be used with the corner scaffold structure of the present invention in securing it to adjacent modular supports, thus allowing for more versatility in assembling a scaffold at a particular construction site, and perhaps most importantly, would allow for shortening of potentially dangerously long, unsupported spans between the corner scaffold structure and adjacent modular supports. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an incontinent garment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a male incontinent garment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous innovations for male incontinent devices have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.
A FIRST EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 2,439,683 to Broderick teaches a sanitary receptacle comprising a body-encircling belt, an outer flexible waterproof bag connected to and depending from said belt, and an inner flexible bag within said waterproof bag arranged to receive liquid-absorbing material, said inner bag having an organ-receiving aperture in the inner wall thereof, one of said bags having its opposite side edges open, and separable fasteners disposed between said open edges for releasably closing said open edges.
A SECOND EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,943 to Smith teaches a wearable urinary incontinence collector. It consists of a pair of bags designed and shaped to be worn on the inside thighs of an individual appropriately strapped to the legs. A frontal web covers the groin area and supports the bags in connection with a suitable array of straps. The arrangement is virtually leak-proof and inconspicuous when worn while standing, sitting, or lying.
A THIRD EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,837 to Ishikawa teaches a urine-absorbent bag for incontinence having a surrounding wall and an upper peripheral edge defining an opening for insertion of the wearer""s penis, the surrounding wall being provided with a cut extending from the upper peripheral edge of the opening toward a bottom edge of the bag so as to divide an upper portion in two, an elastic sheet being attached to the surrounding wall over a region extending in the proximity of the cut.
A FOURTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,910 to Berke teaches an urinary incontinence device for use by a male that includes an undergarment worn closely to the body and including an opening or hole through which the penis passes and is kept upright and close to the body by a flap across the opener in the undergarment. The flap may include an occlusion device integrally incorporated therein and aligned with the opening to be positioned between the base of the shaft of the penis and the scrotum to occlude the urethral passage of the penis. The occlusion device is designed to apply sufficient pressure to occlude the urethral passage without cutting off circulation of blood within the penis through the dorsal vein. The flap design maintains and retains an optimum position of the penis and occlusion of the urethral passage to prevent urine discharge in a form fitting undergarment that allows significant freedom of movement by the wearer. The occlusion device has alternative embodiments where there is no integral undergarment, such as a bands and stretchable wraps that include the occlusion device. One alternative embodiment includes an occlusion device having an adjustably expandable chamber and pump. A method for using the urinary incontinence device of the present invention is also disclosed.
A FIFTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,718 to Wada teaches a urine-receiving pad for men including a bag of a laminated sheet which includes an inner sheet, an outer sheet and an absorbent core therebetween, and a pair of elastic members provided along the opening. By holding and pushing both ends of the elastic members with fingers, the elastic members are buckling-deformed to open the opening. When a penis is inserted into the opening and then the fingers are released, the penis is suitably pressed by elastic restoration forces of the elastic members, to prevent easy coming out of the penis therefrom. Since the pressing force resulting from the buckling-deformation of the elastic members is so small, too much pressure onto the penis is prevented. Further, the urine-receiving pad can be attached with only one hand.
A SIXTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,011 B1 to Wada teaches a male incontinence diaper for absorbing urine from a male user. The male incontinence diaper includes a back panel with a hole therethrough extending between the front and back faces of the back panel. A front flap is coupled to back panel along the side edges and the bottom edge of the back panel to cover the hole of the back panel. An elongate flexible belt strap is coupled to the back panel adjacent the top edge of the back panel.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for male incontinent devices have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
ACCORDINGLY, AN OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a male incontinent garment that avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.
ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a male incontinent garment that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
STILL ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a male incontinent garment that is simple to use.
BRIEFLY STATED, STILL YET ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a male incontinent garment that includes a waistband, a crotch band, and a pouch. The crotch band has an anterior portion with an posterior surface. The pouch is a sheet of material that is folded unto itself to form a tube. The tube has an interior surface, an exterior surface with an anterior portion, and is vertically-oriented and open ended for receiving and holding the penis in an up position and a down position depending upon user preference. The interior surface of the tube is lined with an absorbent material, while the anterior portion of the exterior surface of the tube has hooks of hook and loop fasteners thereon that cooperate with the posterior surface of the anterior portion of the crotch band which is not only of a material that is absorbent but is also of one that is cooperative with hooks of hook and loop fasteners.
The novel features which are considered characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiments when read and understood in connection with the accompanying drawing. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of recording an image on a recording medium and a recording apparatus suitable for carrying out the same.
2. Related Background Art
The recent trend of the copying machine market is towards compact and light-weight products designed for personal use.
In this situation, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 126632/1985 discloses a copying machine including: a charge transfer device serving as an image sensor responsive to light reflected from an copy original to be copied for generating a corresponding image signal; and a thermal head having an array of heating elements responsive to this image signal for generating heat, whereby recording is effected by causing heat-sensitive paper to generate heat.
The above-mentioned related-art example, however, requires the thermal head including an array of heating elements and an array of charge transfer elements serving as an image sensor as well as an optical lens. This may lead to the problems that the production cost is increased and that a complicated mechanism is needed. In addition, since digital recording is effected on heat-sensitive paper via the thermal head including arrayed heating elements, any attempt at improving the fidelity of recorded images cannot avoid the use of higher precision parts. This may result in the problem that the production cost is further increased. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to the art of turbomachines and, more particularly, to a combustor assembly for a turbomachine.
In conventional turbomachines, a first fluid, such as fuel, is directed into a combustor casing prior to being mixed with another fluid, such as air, and combusted to form hot gases. The first fluid enters the combustor casing through a fuel manifold. The fuel manifold extends about, and is joined to, the combustor casing. The fuel manifold is generally formed by joining three strips of material to form an inverted U-shaped structure having one open end. The open end is then placed over fuel inlets provided in the combustor casing. At this point, the fuel manifold is joined to the combustor casing by welding. Fluid is then introduced into the fuel manifold and directed into the combustor casing via the fuel inlets. Compressor discharge air is fed through feed holes formed in a cap coupled to the combustor casing. The compressor discharge air mixes with the fuel flowing from the fuel manifold to form a combustible mixture that is directed through an injector and combusted to form the hot gases. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) is a third generation public land mobile telecommunication system. Various standardization bodies publish standards for UMTS, each in their respective areas of competence. For instance, the 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) publishes standards for GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) based UMTS, and the 3GPP2 (Third Generation Partnership Project 2) publishes standards for CDMA2000 (Code Division Multiple Access) based UMTS. Standard document 3GPP TS 22.129 addresses UMTS handover requirements between UTRAN (UMTS Terrestrial Access Network) and other radio systems, and is incorporated herein by reference. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Integrated circuits (ICs) such as Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), including Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), require some form of “power up reset” (PUR) detector. The PUR detector informs the IC when to start configuration and/or resetting of its registers. The PUR detector provides a signal to the IC informing it that the supply voltage to the IC has reached an acceptable level after the IC is powered up.
Typically, a band-gap regulated PUR is used to determine when the main power (supply voltage) of the IC is high enough to start configuration and/or resetting of the IC registers after a reset or power-up condition has occurred. Although useful, a band-gap regulated PUR circuit has several disadvantages, mainly it consumes a lot of power. It also needs to use precisely manufactured diodes and resistors since it requires tight component tolerances to function properly.
With the need in the electronics industry for lower power consumption and lower voltage ICs to support such areas as portable communication devices and portable computers, a need exists in the art for a power-up reset and/or brownout detector circuit that can operate at lower voltages and consume less power than some of the previous PUR circuits. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
A typical telecommunications access network is a distributed arrangement of communications facilities between end users and one or many centralized network facilities. The implementation of services (e.g., streaming content, web and content caching, firewalling etc.) over the access network is implemented conventionally using server-specific platforms that are independent of the access network equipment itself. The equipment used to provide such services (i.e., the service delivery platform) is generally centrally located with respect to the telecommunications access network.
Generally, operators of telecommunications access networks are cautious about introducing changes into their networks because the integrity of their network is key in their continued viability as an operator. Because operators are cautious about deploying new equipment, they rigorously test new equipment to ensure that it will interoperate faultlessly with their existing network and operate within the engineering constraints of their facilities. Determining a new product's suitability and risk is often an arduous process for the network operator and supplier alike.
Even though service delivery platforms are commonly independent from the platform that provides the network access, telecommunications network operators generally test the proposed service delivery platform as they would any other new and independent piece of equipment within their network. New service delivery platforms are generally subjected to more rigorous tests than extensions of existing platforms because there are more aspects of an independent system that need to be examined relative to enhancements and extensions of an existing system. The complexity of testing such new service delivery platforms is an impediment to the deployment of new service platforms.
The time to launch a new service associated with a particular service delivery platform that requires complex tests is often more lengthy than for a service associated with a service delivery platform requiring less complex tests. Additionally, even though a certain service delivery platform may have passed an operator's tests, a service may not be able to be launched until a related service delivery platform has passed its tests. Furthermore, when several independent platforms must be deployed for the delivery of a particular service, the complexity of managing each of the independent platforms can become complex.
Offering a subscriber service via a service delivery platform hosted by a DSLAM presents a number of application-specific resource management issues that must be addressed in order to provide such subscriber service in an efficient and effective manner. One such issue is providing a means for fulfilling bandwidth and quality of service (QoS) requirements for subscriber connections with the DSLAM. Another such issue is providing a means for optimising the use of and minimizing the need for application-specific resources at the DSLAM. Conventional DSLAM management systems are limited in their ability to address these and other application-specific resource issues.
Therefore, a method and system capable of enabling new services and service capabilities to be deployed in a telecommunications access network in a manner that overcomes the limitations associated with conventional methods and systems is useful. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The conversion of oxygenates to olefins (OTO) is currently the subject of intense research because it has the potential for replacing the long-standing steam cracking technology that is today the industry-standard for producing world scale quantities of ethylene and propylene. The very large volumes involved suggest that substantial economic incentives exist for alternate technologies that can deliver high throughputs of light olefins in a cost efficient manner. Whereas steam cracking relies on non-selective thermal reactions of naphtha range hydrocarbons at very high temperatures, OTO exploits catalytic and micro-architectural properties of acidic molecular sieves under milder temperature conditions to produce high yields of ethylene and propylene from methanol.
Current understanding of the OTO reactions suggests a complex sequence in which three major steps can be identified: (1) an induction period leading to the formation of an active carbon pool (alkyl-aromatics), (2) alkylation-dealkylation reactions of these active intermediates leading to products, and (3) a gradual build-up of condensed ring aromatics (coke or coke-like molecules). OTO is therefore an inherently transient chemical transformation in which the catalyst is in a continuous state of change. The ability of the catalyst to maintain high olefin yields for prolonged periods of time relies on a delicate balance between the relative rates at which the above processes take place. The formation of coke-like molecules is of singular importance because their accumulation interferes with the desired reaction sequence in a number of ways. In particular, coke renders the carbon pool inactive, lowers the rates of diffusion of reactants and products, increases the potential for undesired secondary reactions and limits catalyst life.
Over the last several decades, many catalytic materials have been identified as being useful for carrying out the OTO reactions. Crystalline molecular sieves are the preferred catalysts today because they simultaneously address the acidity and morphological requirements for the reactions. Particularly preferred materials are eight-membered ring aluminosilicates, such as those having the chabazite (CHA) framework type, as well as silicoaluminophosphates of the CHA structure, such as SAPO-34. These molecular sieves have cages that are sufficiently large to accommodate aromatic intermediates while still allowing the diffusional transport of reactants and products into and out of the crystals through regularly interconnected window apertures. By complementing such morphological characteristics with appropriate levels of acid strength and acid density, working catalysts are produced. Extensive research in this area indicates that silicoaluminophosphates are currently more effective OTO catalysts than aluminosilicates. In particular, the control of the silica to alumina molar ratio is a key requirement for the use of aluminosilicates in OTO reactions. Nevertheless, aluminosilicate zeolites continue to be explored for use in OTO and appear to have yet undiscovered potential.
Molecular sieves are classified by the Structure Commission of the International Zeolite Association according to the rules of the IUPAC Commission on Zeolite Nomenclature. According to this classification, framework-type zeolites and other crystalline microporous molecular sieves, for which a structure has been established, are assigned a three letter code and are described in the Atlas of Zeolite Framework Types, 5th edition, Elsevier, London, England (2001).
One known molecular sieve for which a structure has been established is the material designated as AEI, which is a molecular sieve having pores defined by two sets of generally perpendicular channels each having a cross-sectional dimension about 3.8 Angstrom. Molecular sieves of the AEI framework type do not exist in nature, but a number of aluminophosphates and silicoaluminophosphates having the AEI framework type have been synthesized, including SAPO-18, ALPO-18 and RUW-18. Moreover, because of their small pore size, AEI-type molecular sieves have been reported as suitable catalysts for a variety of important chemical processes, including the conversion of oxygenates to olefins. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,163, incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,370, incorporated herein by reference, discloses an aluminosilicate zeolite designated SSZ-39 and having a silica to alumina molar ratio greater than 10, such as 10 to 100. SSZ-39 is produced by crystallizing an aqueous mixture comprising active sources of a trivalent element, such as aluminum, and a tetravalent element, such as silicon, in the presence of certain cyclic or polycyclic quaternary ammonium cations, such as N,N-dimethyl-2,6-dimethylpiperidinium cations, as templating agents. The synthesis can be conducted in the presence of SSZ-39 seed crystals, and there is no disclosure of the presence or absence of fluoride ions in the synthesis mixture.
The highest silica to alumina ratio exemplified for SSZ-39 in U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,370 is a ratio of 51. In column 5, lines 56 to 61, the patent teaches that SSZ-39 can be synthesized directly only as an aluminosilicate, although it suggests that the silica to alumina mole ratio can be increased, potentially to produce an essentially aluminum-free material, by use of standard acid leaching or chelating treatments. However, as is shown in the Comparative Example 13 below, attempts to dealuminize SSZ-39 by acid leaching or chelation have met with only limited success and have failed to produce materials having a silica to alumina ratio greater than 100.
In an article entitled “Guest/Host Relationships in the Synthesis of the Novel Cage-Based Zeolites SSZ-35, SSZ-36 and SSZ-39”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2000, 122, pages 263-273 Zones and certain of the co-inventors from U.S. Pat. No. 5,958,370 discuss the synthesis and structure of the molecular sieves, SSZ-35, SSZ-36 and SSZ-39. According to this article SSZ-39 is isomorphous with the AEI framework type aluminophosphate molecular sieve SAPO-18 and is a frequently observed product of high-alumina containing syntheses using cyclic and polycyclic quaternized amine structure directing agents. In particular, the article reports that, although SSZ-39 is produced at silica to alumina mole ratios of 30 with a variety of directing agents, including N,N-dimethyl-2,6-dimethylpiperidinium compounds, when the silica to alumina mole ratio is increased to 40 or higher, other crystalline phases, such as SSZ-35 and MFI and MTW framework type materials, are produced.
Chabazite-based zeolites have also been made, some even using preparations that do not contain fluoride, but these reported materials generally have relatively low Si/Al ratios. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,538 discloses the synthesis details of SSZ-13, which was experimentally made only at Si/Al ratios as low as 15, with a fluoride-free preparation. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,709,644 and International Publication No. WO 03/1020641 A1 both disclose the synthesis details of SSZ-62, though, because of the relatively low Si/Al ratios, these disclosures tend to concentrate on aspects of crystal size so as to attain product having less than 0.5 micron particle size.
The present invention relates to methods for converting oxygenates to olefins using aluminosilicates having a CHA framework type, having an intermediate Si/Al ratio, and that are made using a substantially fluoride-free preparation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
For suppliers of egg products, it is desirable to extend the shelf life of an egg product, such that the purchaser can store the product for several weeks and reliably use the product without the product having developed unacceptable levels of harmful microbes or undesirable taste and/or flavor properties during storage, (e.g., rotten smell or sour taste).
Egg products intended for consumption are often stored and/or treated by one or more methods in order to increase the shelf life of the egg product. For example, egg products are typically stored at about 4° C. to hinder the growth of microbes, which typically grow best at higher temperatures. By storing the egg product at cool temperatures, the shelf life of the egg product can be extended for several weeks. The shelf life of the stored egg product is typically assessed by determining the concentration of bacteria in the product and subsequently evaluating organoleptic properties of the product.
In addition, the egg product may also be treated by one or more methods to decrease or eliminate harmful microbes from the egg product before storage. In particular, the egg products may be pasteurized (e.g., heat-treated). Pasteurization will also essentially eliminate the number of harmful microbes (e.g., Salmonella and/or Listeria) in the egg product by several log orders, such that the product is safe to consume. Pasteurization will also reduce the number of bacteria detrimental to the quality of the egg product by several log orders. As such, the time period for these microbes to reach unacceptable levels in the egg product is extended. Electromagnetic radiation may also be used to reduce or eliminate the number of harmful microbes present in the egg product. For example, the egg product may be treated with radio waves and/or gamma irradiation. These methods of pasteurization may be useful in extending the shelf life of processed egg products by several weeks.
Anti-microbial agents may also be used to extend the shelf life of egg products. For example, anti-microbial agents can extend the shelf life of egg products by killing microbes (i.e., cidal agents) or by keeping microbes from growing (i.e., static agents).
However, present commercial methods of storing and/or treating egg products only increase the shelf life of the product by several weeks. For suppliers and users of egg products, a method of further extending the shelf life of egg products is desirable. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Nowadays' production of solar cells mainly relies on silicon. Crystalline silicon solar cells (including multi-crystalline and single-crystal) account for 90% of solar cell production [http://www.epia.org]. But a major issue is currently threatening the impressive 40% annual growth of both market and production: the world of photovoltaics is currently undergoing a deep silicon feedstock shortage [Photon International]. In addition, the price of a commercially available silicon solar module is driven by the cost of the semiconductor material which represents by itself almost half of the production cost of the finished module. Furthermore, independently of the material price, with currently industrially achievable surface recombination velocities (˜200 cm·s−1), the optimum thickness for achieving the highest efficiency on a crystalline silicon solar cell lies in the range of 50 μm, a lot thinner than the currently available 250 μm-thick wafers. Moreover below a few tens of microns, silicon becomes flexible. Encapsulated in a suitable and flexible material, it can provide a building block for new applications requiring lightweight, flexible, high efficiency solar modules, such as energy generating clothes, ambient intelligence devices, solar vehicles, etc. These arguments favor, independently of one another, the development of cells and/or wafers as thin as possible.
At the moment, silicon wafering (e.g. for solar cells) is still performed by wire saw techniques, which bring an important kerf loss of around 200 μm per wafer. The relative loss is thus even increasing for thinner substrates.
Silicon ribbon technology (W. Koch et al., Proceedings Td World PVSEC. 1998, p. 1254, Photon International, June 2004, R Janoch, R Wallace, J I Hanoka—CONFERENCE RECORD IEEE PHOTOVOLTAIC SPECIALISTS CONFERENCE, 1997), leads to the production of 150-μm-thick wafers. It is difficult to achieve thinner wafers with the conventional ribbon technologies. Moreover, the throughput of most ribbon technologies is low.
The Smart Cut technique relies on H+ implantation at a given depth in a wafer in order to weaken an underlying layer and detaching the top layer from its parent wafer. This technique is not cost competitive for solar applications [L. Shao et al., Applied Physics Letters 87, 091902, 2005, and S Bengtsson—Solid-State and Integrated Circuit Technology, 1998].
Other technologies (‘lift-off’ or ‘layer transfer’ approaches) rely on the creation of a weaker layer (crystal mismatch, porous layer, defect-full layer), on which a crystalline silicon layer is grown. The grown layer is then detached from the parent layer. [R. Brendel, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 40, Part 1, No. 7, 4431 (2001); C. S. Solanki, et al. (IMEC), Phys. Stat. Sol. (a), 182 (2000) 97; K. J. Weber et al., Appl. Phys. A, A69 (1999) 195].
Another alternative takes benefit of the fact that the kerf loss is reduced when a laser is used to cut the wafers. A full-laser wafering technique has not been performed yet but only thin silicon slices (1-2 mm large) have been produced, which are not ideal for solar cells because of the complexity of the assembling of the solar module. [A. W. Blakers et al., “Recent development in Sliver Cell Technology”, 20th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, 6-10 Jun. 2005, Barcelona, Spain]. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of Application
The present invention relates to a TAD (Time Analog-to-Digital) type of A/D (Analog-to-Digital) converter, in which only digital signal processing is utilized.
2. Description of Related Art
Various TAD A/D converters have been proposed, for example as described in Japanese patent publication No. 5-259907 (referred to in the following as related document 1), in which a pulse delay circuit formed of a plurality of series-connected stages (with each stage made up of a delay unit) delays a pulse signal by an amount that is determined by the voltage level of an (analog) input signal, and in which A/D converted data are outputted as numeric values that express the voltage level of the converter input signal as the number of stages that are traversed by the pulse signal during a predetermined sampling interval. That number of stages can be measured by simultaneously registering (e.g., using latch circuits) the respective output signal values from the delay units at the end of the sampling interval, to thereby detect the position that has been reached by the pulse signal within the series of stages in the pulse delay circuit.
In addition as described in documents such as Japanese patent publication No. 2004-7385 (referred to in the following as related document 2), rather than forming the pulse delay circuit as a linear delay line formed of a set of series-connected stages, the output signal from the final delay unit is transferred to a first input terminal of the first-stage one of a set of series-connected delay units, such as to form a ring-configuration delay line, with a pulse signal being applied to an activation input terminal of the first-stage delay unit at the start of each sampling interval. In each A/D measurement operation, a circulation number counter counts the total number of times the pulse signal circulates around the pulse delay circuit during the sampling interval, while in addition the position reached by the pulse signal within the pulse delay circuit during the sampling interval is also detected, as described for related document 1 above. Each A/D converted output value is obtained as a combination of the count value attained by the circulation number counter (expressing the high-order bits of the converted output value) and a numeric value expressing the position attained by the pulse signal within the pulse delay circuit (expressing the low-order bits of the converted output value).
Another related example is described in Japanese patent publication No. 2004-357030 (referred to in the following as related document 3), whose principles are based on those of the A/D converter of related document 1 above. With that example, instead of detecting the number of delay stages that have been traversed by the pulse signal a single time in each conversion operation at the end point of a single measurement interval, that number is detected n times in succession in each conversion operation, (where n is an integer), at time points that are successively shifted by 1/n times the amount of delay that is currently being applied by each delay unit.
To define each set of successively shifted time points, it is necessary to utilize a clock signal generating circuit which produces a set of sampling clock signals that are respectively shifted in phase from one another by the aforementioned amount, and are supplied to respective ones of a set of circuits referred to as pulse position numerizing circuits, each of which obtains the position of the pulse signal, when the corresponding time point is reached. The clock signal generating circuit can be implemented as a circuit formed only of transistors, in particular, formed of CMOS inverters producing respectively predetermined amounts of delay.
With the above types of TAD A/D converters, it becomes possible to eliminate components such as operational amplifiers, capacitors, resistors, etc., that are required with a conventional type of A/D converter that must operate upon very small-amplitude analog signals. Hence, a TAD A/D converter can readily be implemented in integrated circuit form. In particular, such an A/D converter can be advantageously implemented by using CMOS integrated circuit technology.
At present, the design rule used in the manufacturing process for CMOS ICs is that the design rule in a transistor structure (i.e., minimum line width) is less than 100 nm, and sizes of 90 to 65 nm and even as small as 45 nm have been achieved. It is expected that such transistors will be made even smaller in future, and that it will soon be possible to achieve a design rule as small as 30 nm. Since TAD types of A/D converter employ only digital circuitry, they are especially suitable for being produced using such a leading-edge CMOS integrated circuit manufacturing process, with extremely small transistor sizes.
That is to say, since digital circuits perform only logical operations (AND, OR, etc.) and need only switch a signal between two levels, i.e., the “0” and “1” levels, it is not necessary to discriminate between small differences in signal level, such as a change from a “0.2” to a “0.35” level. As the size of the transistors used to constitute digital circuits is reduced, the effects of manufacturing defects (resulting in deviations of line widths from the design values) and effects of small dust particles adhering to the IC surface, will have a correspondingly greater adverse effect upon the operating characteristics of the transistors. In particular, deviations in line width that cause variations in the pattern areas of the gates of the transistors will result in differences between the respective drive capabilities of the transistors. However when the transistors constitute a digital circuit, whose input and output signals change only between the “0” and “1” levels, problems resulting from such manufacturing defects and dust, etc., are substantially avoided.
In particular, in the case of circuits produced using the latest CMOS IC manufacturing processes for micro-miniaturization, digital circuits will in general have a much greater tolerance for the effects of manufacturing defects than will analog circuits.
However when the design rule becomes extremely small, the effects of manufacturing defects and adhering dust particles cannot be ignored, even in the case of digital circuits, so that these effects will become of increasing importance in the future.
FIGS. 13A, 13B, 13C are respective explanatory diagrams, in which FIG. 13A is a pattern diagram of an inverter circuit formed of a P-channel FET (field effect transistor) and an N-channel FET formed in an IC chip, FIG. 13B is an expanded view of a P-channel FET in FIG. 13A, and FIG. 13C illustrates the effect of reducing the transistor width W and the transistor length L (i.e., the pattern width of the gate G) each by one half.
As illustrated in these diagrams, a portion of the pattern of a gate G such as gate Gp of the P-channel FET may be missing, due to manufacturing defects, so that the total effective area of that gate (i.e., the region enclosed by the drain D and source S of that transistor) is accordingly reduced. As can be readily understood from FIG. 13C, the smaller the transistor size (i.e., the smaller the transistor width W and transistor length L) the greater will become the effects of such manufacturing defects. This will have an adverse effect upon the transistor characteristics, and in particular upon the drive capability.
In order to achieve stable operation of a TAD type of A/D converter, it is necessary that the delay units of the pulse delay circuit produce respectively identical amounts of delay, so that the pulse signal will be transmitted along the successive delay units at a uniform speed during each measurement interval, as illustrated conceptually by the arrow lines in FIG. 14A. In FIG. 14A, for example, (K) corresponds to the time at which the pulse signal is outputted from the k-th delay unit, after successively traversing the first to k-th delay units.
However if there are small differences between the respective levels of drive capability of the transistors constituting the delay units, due to the effects of manufacturing defects and adhering dust particles, etc., then deviations will occur between the respective delay times of the delay units. This is conceptually illustrated in FIG. 14B, and it can be understood that this will result in deviations in the resolution of the A/D converted data. The resolution expresses the amount of change in level of the converter input voltage that will result in a corresponding change in the LSB (least significant bit) of the A/D converted data. It can be seen that this will result in the resolution varying in accordance with the level of the converter input signal, i.e., there will be large amounts of differential non-linearity.
In the case of the A/D converter of related document 2 above, it is necessary that each operation for detecting the position of the pulse signal within the pulse delay circuit, at the end of a measurement interval be performed while also correctly obtaining the count of total number of circulations from the circulation number counter This is necessary in order for the high-order bits (counter data) and low-order bits (pulse delay position data) of each A/D converted value to be matched. For that reason, a single timing signal is used to control latching of the circulation number counter data and pulse delay position.
The circulation number counter is generally a synchronous type of counter. As the number of bits constituting the count value is increased, the amount of load imposed on a clock signal supply line of the counter will increase accordingly. This increase in load results in a delay in operation of the circulation number counter, which results in problems.
The clock signal supplied to the circulation number counter is the output signal from a specific one of the delay units, in general, the final-stage delay unit. At a time point when the respective outputs of the delay units are latched to find the position reached by the pulse signal within the series of delay units, and the count value of the circulation number counter is also registered by a latch circuit, the aforementioned delay in operation of the circulation number counter may result in the count value being registered before it has been incremented by the most recent occurrence of outputting of the delayed pulse signal from the pulse delay circuit. In such a case, the high-order bits and low-order bits of the resultant A/D converted value will not correctly match, so that an accurate value will not be obtained.
Due to the above problem, it is necessary to insert a supply line drive buffer circuit for transferring the output from the final-stage delay unit to the circulation number counter. Accordingly, it is also necessary to insert a delay buffer circuit for supplying the latch timing signal to the counter latch circuit, in order to compensate for (i.e., balance) the delay introduced by the supply line drive buffer circuit.
However with increasing degrees of miniaturization of IC components, so that manufacturing defects and adhering dust particles result in greater deviations between the drive capabilities of respective transistors that constitute the delay buffer circuit and the supply line drive buffer circuit, it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve accurate matching of the respective amounts of delay that are introduced by these circuits. Hence, it becomes increasingly difficult to ensure that the high-order bits and low-order bits of each A/D converted value are correctly matched, so that accurate A/D converted data may not be obtainable.
In the case of the A/D converter of the related document 3 above, designating the delay time of a delay unit as Δt, it is necessary for the respective pulse position numerizing circuits to accurately use (in each A/D conversion operation) measurement intervals (sampling intervals) which respectively differ by a unit time amount Δt=Td/n, where Td is the amount of delay that is currently being produced by each of the delay units under the currently applied level of converter input voltage. As a result, it is necessary to generate sampling clock signals that are successively shifted in phase by the unit time interval Δt.
To generate such sampling clock signals, a total of n CMOS inverter circuits are utilized, each of which receives a reference clock signal, and the respective sizes of the transistors in the inverter circuits are adjusted such as to produce specific small differences in the switching voltage levels (and hence, in the signal level inversion timings) of the respective inverter circuits, such that the output signals from the inverter circuits will respectively differ in phase by the unit time amount Δt.
Hence, with such a clock signal generating circuit, if small differences occur between the respective drive capabilities of the transistors that constitute the clock signal generating circuit (i.e., due to the effects of manufacturing defects and adhering dust particles), it becomes impossible to accurately shift the phase by precise units of Δt. Thus, the resolution of A/D conversion will be lowered and the differential non-linearity will become large, since the A/D converted data are obtained by adding together the outputs from the respective pulse position numerizing circuits. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Polycarbonates are engineering plastics having excellent impact resistance, heat resistance, and transparency and widely used as various types of mechanical parts, optical disks, and automobile parts. Recently, higher fluidity is required in the field of optical disks.
In response to this requirement, a polycarbonate which is obtained by interfacial polycondensation using a solvent such as methylene chloride and has a chain end structure modified with a group such as cumylphenoxy group has been proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Heisei 1(1989)-245016). However, complete removal of impurities, such as sodium and chlorine, from the polycarbonate obtained by the interfacial polycondensation is difficult, and the polycarbonate is not satisfactory for optical applications.
On the other hand, as the process for obtaining a polycarbonate containing decreased amounts of impurities without using any solvent, a transesterification process (a melt polymerization process) is known. As the process for producing a polycarbonate having cumylphenoxy group at the chain ends in accordance with this transesterification process, for example, a process in which a catalyst comprising a combination of a basic compound containing nitrogen, an alkali metal compound or an alkaline earth metal compound, and boric acid is used as the polymerization catalyst (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Heisei 2(1990)-175723) and a process in which polymerization is conducted in the presence of an alkali metal compound or an alkaline earth metal compound used as the catalyst, and then an acidic compound is added (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Heisei 5(1993)-9287) have been proposed. However, polycarbonates obtained in accordance with these processes have a problem in that cracks are formed at high temperatures in high moisture and strength is decreased. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
A business object is a software entity representing real-world items used during the transaction of business. For example, a business object may represent a business document such as a sales order, a purchase order, or an invoice. A business object may also represent items such as a product, a business partner, or a piece of equipment.
A business object may include business logic and/or data having any suitable structure. The structure of a business object may be determined based on the requirements of a business scenario in which the business object is to be deployed. A business solution for a particular business scenario may include many business objects, where the structure of each business object has been determined based on the requirements of the particular business scenario.
A customer deploying a business solution may desire changes to the business objects included in the business solution. For example, a customer may require a field (e.g., “SerialNumber”) which does not exist within the “Product” business object of a business solution. In addition, another customer may require a different additional field in the “Product” business object and/or in another business object of the same business solution.
Conventional techniques for adding a field to an existing business object include APPEND mechanisms which change the definition of the business object at the data dictionary level. An entire database system must be recompiled to effect such a change, and the change occurs globally with respect to all instantiations of the business object within the system. Moreover, the change may require reprogramming of application clients which interact with the changed business object.
In some scenarios, particularly service-on-demand scenarios, multiple customers (tenants) receive services from a single application platform. If one of the multiple tenants adds an extension field to a business object using a conventional technique as described above, each other tenant would be forced to adapt to the additional extension field.
Improved systems for adding an extension field to a business object are desired. An improved system may reduce a need for recompiling the application platform, may reduce a need to adapt application clients to a thusly-changed business object, may enable one or more tenants to add one or more extension fields, and/or may provide tenant-specific views of tenant-specific extension fields. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Resin-plated products treated by various resin plating methods have heretofore been proposed. On the other hand, the number of accidents is increasing with respect to resin-plated products available on the market. For example, accidents have occurred in the case of resin-plated products which are frequently handled directly by hand such as products used as substitutes for washing metal fittings, e.g., faucets and shower parts in bathrooms, and automobile parts, e.g., radiator grille, door opening/closing handles and interior decorative parts. In these resin-plated products there has occurred an injury accident such that a resin-plated film floats and a hand is cut by the resulting sharp portion.
For example, in the case of an automobile indoor handle formed by molding with use of PC/ABS resin, a so-called “blister” may occur from a parting portion of a resin-plated product, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 which are enlarged photographs of sections of resin-plated products. The blistered portion of the resin-plated product is in a floated state of a plating film as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 6. For example, when the resin-plated product is peeled with an acid, ply separation of a thin film occurs in the blister portion and at the same time the plating film assumes a floating state.
As shown in FIG. 7, the ply separation of a thin film of the resin-plated product may occur also in a resin molding which incorporates a resin apt to form a layered structure during molding such as PP resin or incorporates a different kind of incompatible resin. This was confirmed when such a thermal shock test or thermal cycle test as will be described later was performed for resin-plated products using PC/ABS (polycarbonate/ABS) resin or ABS resin. When viewed from the standpoint of molding conditions for resin moldings, the phenomenon in question tends to occur more frequently when the injection speed is high or when there evolves much gas of a low-boiling fraction. The state of occurrence of the phenomenon in question also differs depending on the product shape or the mold structure.
FIGS. 8 to 10 are photographs of a resin surface of a resin molding taken through a transmission electron microscope (TEM).
With respect to a resin molding obtained under the same conditions as those adopted for a product which underwent ply separation when there was conducted such a strong thermal shock test as illustrated, the present inventor checked a state of deformation of the resin surface with use of photographs taken through a transmission electron microscope (TEM).
FIG. 8 is a photograph showing the state of a cavity surface (a front surface) of a resin molding. In the same figure, a circular or black dot-like portion represents a rubber component contained in resin. In this resin molding, the rubber component is uniformly dispersed in a circular shape in the resin surface of the cavity surface and a molding stress in the resin surface is reduced.
FIG. 9 is a photograph showing the state of a parting portion (the center and the vicinity thereof) of the resin molding. In this state of the resin molding, as compared with the cavity surface shown in FIG. 8, the rubber component in the surface resin layer is stretched like a bamboo leaf and is in a layered form. Deformation is found also in the rubber component located in a lower portion of the section and there is a residue of a molding stress.
FIG. 10 is a photograph showing the state of a parting portion (a front end) of the resin molding. In this state, the rubber component in the resin surface layer is deformed to a greater extent than the parting portion shown in FIG. 8. Further, the proportion of the rubber component located in a lower portion of the section is smaller than that of the parting portion shown in FIG. 9 and the dispersion thereof is sparse.
Such a concentration of the molding stress on the parting portion is presumed to be a cause of thin film ply separation in the surface resin layer in a state of excess heat history of the resin molding. In the surface resin layer during a resin plating process, innumerable anchor holes are formed and hydration occurs by etching, so that deterioration is unavoidable in the surface resin layer of the resin-plated product. In the hydrated layer there may occur hydrolysis of the resin due to a synergistic action between water or a slight amount of residue of a plating chemical and an excess heat history.
Thus, the blister phenomenon of the resin-plated product is a phenomenon in which the resin surface floats together with the plating film adhered thereto not due to imperfect contact between the plating film and the resin but due to ply separation of a thin resin film caused by heat history applied to the resin-plated product. That is, the floating of the plating film in the resin-plated product is attributable to the resin molding or feed resin itself, which is unavoidable in the resin plating process.
There also is a case where a problem in the manufacturing process is an obvious cause like imperfect plating-resin contact or intermetallic separation in the case of a multi-layered plating film.
Even if a problem exists in the manufacturing process, it is often misunderstood in appearance that the cause is separation or floating of a metal plating in a resin-plated product. In many cases, the true cause is not imperfect contact between resin and metal plating film, but is peeling of a thin surface resin film of a resin molding which occurs when a resin-plated product is exposed under a specific environment involving high and low temperatures and repetition thereof.
In view of this point there have been proposed plating methods for producing resin-plated products having a good plating appearance. For example, like “Method for improving the appearance of resin-plated products and products obtained by the method” described in Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2004-300566 (Patent Literature 1), there has been proposed a method for improving the appearance of a resin-plated product, involving incorporating a solid substance other than a main component into a synthetic resin which constitutes a synthetic resin product, for the purpose of modifying or improving the synthetic resin, and forming on the resin surface fine concaves and convexes for irregular reflection of light by electrolytic nickel plating.
Patent Literature 1:
Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2004-300566 | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
By way of background, a number of medical conditions such as compression of spinal cord nerve roots, degenerative disc disease, tumor, and trauma can cause severe back pain. Intervertebral fusion is one surgical method of alleviating back pain. In intervertebral fusion, two adjacent vertebral bodies are fused together by removing the affected intervertebral disc and inserting an implant that would allow for bone to grow between the two vertebral bodies to bridge the gap left by the disc removal. Another surgical method of relieving back pain is by corpectomy. In corpectomy, a diseased or damaged vertebral body along with the adjoining intervertebral discs are removed and replaced by a spinal implant that would allow for bone to grow between the closest two vertebral bodies to bridge the gap left by the spinal tissue removal.
A number of different implant materials and implant designs have been used for interbody fusion and for vertebral body replacement with varying success. Current implant materials used include metals, radiolucent materials including plastics, elastic and polymeric materials, ceramic, and allografts. Current implant designs vary from threaded cylindrical implants to rectangular cages with teeth-like protrusions.
Medical implant devices used in surgical procedures, such as those described above, can be associated with particular information to guide medical professionals before and after the surgical procedure. Each implant device carries a wealth of information that is valuable to the patient, the implant manufacturer, medical researchers, healthcare professionals, and medical facilities. However, the information, which may include the implant manufacturer and manufacturer's lot number, the date and location of surgical implantation, the responsible surgeon, any medical notes, photographs, or diagrams relating to the implant, surgery, or condition, may not be adequate, properly recorded, or readily accessible for beneficial use by a healthcare professional, implant manufacturer, or medical researcher after implantation. Problems relating to poor implant records can lead to unnecessary delay or even medical error by healthcare professionals. Moreover, there are many different implant identification methods currently in place instead of a common system to allow manufacturers, distributors, and healthcare facilities and professionals to effectively track, identify, and manage implant devices and medical device recalls. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently announced a program focusing on requirements for unique device identifiers for every medical implant device to address the need for a more robust implant device identification system, the details of which are incorporated by reference herein: www.fda.gov/udi as of the filing date.
In imaging implanted devices post implantation, it is oftentimes desirable to be able to retrieve encoded data and images from the structure of the implanted device itself, and to do so in such a way as to maintain the confidentiality and security of the encoded information. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Tissue in vertebrates (in particular mammals) responds to cell or organ damage associated with an injury or a disease or aging by activating the regenerating system to recover from the cell or organ damage. Stem cells (tissue stem cells, somatic stem cells) that reside in the tissue play a significant role in this response. Stem cells have multipotency to differentiate into any cell or organ and are considered to compensate the cell or organ damage with this property to achieve the recovery. The regenerative medicine, the next-generation medicine that employs such stem cells, has raised high expectations.
The tissue for which stem cell studies are most advanced in mammal is bone marrow. It has been revealed that bone marrow contains hematopoietic stem cells of the living body and is the source of reproduction of all hemocytes. Furthermore, it has been reported that bone marrow contains stem cells that can differentiate into organs and tissues (e.g., bone, cartilage, muscle, fat, and the like), besides hematopoietic stem cells (see Non-Patent Document 1).
Recently, it has been further revealed that stem cells reside in every organ and tissue, such as skin, liver, pancreas, and fat, besides bone marrow and are responsible for the reproduction of each organ or tissue and maintenance of homeostasis (see Non-Patent Document 2 to 5). Moreover, stem cells that reside in organs and tissues have excellent plasticity and may be available in the reproduction of an organ or tissue whose self-replication has been impossible so far.
On the other hand, some of these stem cells have been known to decrease with aging and techniques for preventing the decrease of stem cells for maintaining homeostasis of the tissues have been actively studied (Non-Patent Document 6). Recently, techniques for culturing stem cells after the separation from living tissue for the proliferation thereof have been also developed in the fields of cell transplantation therapy and tissue engineering (regenerative medicine and regenerative cosmetic treatment) to apply the ability (multipotency) of stem cells to the reproduction of an organ or tissue (Non-Patent Documents 7 and 8).
In particular, it is very important for culturing stem cells in vitro to proliferate the stem cells while maintaining a state in which multipotency, the ability of stem cells, is maintained, that is, an undifferentiated state. The induction of differentiation by failing to maintain the undifferentiated state of the stem cells during the culture will result in the loss of the ability (multipotency) of the stem cells finally prepared and the failure to achieve the effect of interest (reproduction of an organ or tissue, or the like).
Based on the foregoing, it must be possible to culture stem cells while maintaining the undifferentiated state in order to use stem cells in cell transplantation therapy and tissue engineering (regenerative medicine and regenerative cosmetic treatment) for reproduction of an organ or tissue.
To date, some techniques for proliferating stem cells while maintaining the undifferentiated state have been reported, but such techniques are yet developing. For example, embryonic stem cells (ES cells) and hematopoietic stem cells can be maintained in an undifferentiated state by coculturing them with sustaining cells (stromal or feeder cells) (see Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Documents 9 to 11). However, cases of infection with endogenous virus derived from feeder cells transmitted between different species of animals have been reported recently (cf. Non-Patent Document 12) and culturing stem cells using sustaining cells is not suitable for the culture of stem cells for medical applications.
Other methods include a method for maintaining the undifferentiated state of stem cells by combining cytokines complicatedly. For example, murine ES cells can be maintained in an undifferentiated state by adding LIF (Leukemia Inhibitory Factor)) to the medium (see Patent Document 2 and Non-Patent Document 13). In addition, the undifferentiated state has been reported to be maintained in the presence of early acting cytokines thrombopoietin (TPO), interleukin-6 (IL-6), FLT-3 ligand, and Stem Cell Factor (SCF) in embryonic stem cells, somatic stem cells, and the like (see Patent Document 3 and Non-Patent Document 14).
However, cytokines are expensive, problematic in harvesting their sources and storing, and difficult to be used in an easy way. In addition, it has been revealed that the effect of LIF is limited to very specific cell lines and ES cells and somatic stem cells in primate, in particular, cannot be maintained in an undifferentiated state only by the addition of LIF (see Non-Patent Document 10).
As seen above, currently reported methods for maintaining the undifferentiated state of stem cells require complicated manipulation and are not effective in maintaining the undifferentiated state. Therefore, a technique for proliferating stem cells while maintaining the undifferentiated state has been desired to use stem cells for regenerative medicine. Accordingly, a technique for proliferating stem cells safely, easily, and effectively while maintaining the undifferentiated state been desired.
Recently, patients with chronic wound such as diabetic foot ulcer or decubitus ulcer, which are hard to be treated only by epidermization have been increasing with increase of diabetes and arteriosclerosis and aging. Usually, a wound in the skin is treated with first aid such as washing of the wound and allowed to cure spontaneously by the healing ability of the living body. However, a wound healing is sometimes required to be promoted since natural healing may take a long time depending on the severity of the wound and elderly people and diabetic patients are in particular slow in natural healing in comparison with young people. As agents for promoting a wound healing in the skin, lysozyme chloride, solcoseryl, and the like are known but any of them has been hardly sufficiently effective in promoting a wound healing. In the wound healing of skin, tissue is reconstructed and therefore the migration of required cells and the production of extracellular matrices such as collagen are promoted. Type 3 collagen, which is mainly produced early in wound healing and is important for the reconstruction of tissue, has a promoting effect on wound healing and is used as an agent for promoting a wound healing (Non-Patent Document 15 and Patent Document 4). Moreover, as materials that stimulate the proliferation or differentiation of stem cells and promote a wound healing, substance P (Patent Document 5) and the like are known. However, these substances are problematic in cost and storage stability because of being protein and not suited for the case where a large amount of skin regenerative treatment in a short period of time, such as therapy application is required. Moreover, increased awareness of cosmetic treatment and anti-aging has heightened interest in regenerative cosmetic treatments of skin for improvement of wrinkles, slackness and pigmentation caused by aging and ultraviolet rays. Therefore, a substance that can be obtained easily, safe, and inexpensive is desired for skin regenerative medicine such as wound healing or regenerative cosmetic treatment of skin. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the field of drug delivery devices, and more particularly is directed to a process for electroplating a porous layer for holding and delivering a drug.
2. Description of Related Art
Drug delivered directly to adjacent tissue can provide a pharmacological action superior to response generated by the drug if taken orally, intravenously or by other means. The direct application of a drug to the tissue or organ requiring treatment can avoid toxic effects of the drug on healthy tissue and organs and avoids the body's natural ability to remove drug or destroy it before the drug can reach the intended target. Direct drug delivery can be achieved through a variety of devices, including through transdermal, subcutaneous and implanted devices. Recently, efforts have been made to develop stents that are capable of drug delivery.
It is also often desirable to deliver the drug over an extended time. Timed released drugs result in a more uniform drug concentration over time and the benefits are well known and understood by the medical profession. Many systems for timed released drugs and direct drug delivery to adjacent tissue employ a polymer or other non-drug material to control the release of the drug. The drug release rate is slowed by diffusion through the polymer, or the drug can be released as the polymer degrades or disintegrates in the body. However, the polymer used to control the release of the drug can complicate the drug delivery process. For example, reactions between the polymer and the drug may change the drug before it reaches the target tissue, or the polymer or its disintegration products may produce undesirable cellular responses. In addition, it is often difficult to adhere the polymer to the delivery device. Thus, a need remains for a drug delivery device that can be used to directly deliver a drug over a sustained period of time. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a printing method and a printing program for printing onto creased paper.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the diversification of printing and improvement of printing quality in recent years, there has been a demand for making original book covers. Since a book cover is normally used to cover a book or other printed matter, strong durability is required and in terms of paper quality, a paper that is rather thick and exhibits a strong repulsive force against bending, in other words, has stiffness is preferable to be used. A book cover paper can thus be fitted to printed matter readily and yet in a manner that is pleasing to the eye by being subject in advance to a creasing to the size and shape of the printed matter. Creasing refers to a process of forming folds to make a paper foldable readily by pressure, etc.
In general, a conventional printer performs printing by moving a head in a main scanning direction while feeding a paper in a sub scanning direction and thus has a paper feeding mechanism. Since a paper feeding mechanism normally feeds a paper in the sub scanning direction by rotating a plurality of rollers, etc., the paper which is to be printed on is preferably flat without any folds, etc. Printing onto a book cover or other paper that has been creased in advance was thus not considered.
However, in using the conventional printer, when printing is started onto an original book cover, such as that described above, with folded portions as they are, the folded portions of the paper become close in distance to the head and the paper thus causes so-called head rubbing, which leads to lowering of image quality. Furthermore, depending on the degree of folding of the folded portions of the paper, the head that moves in the main scanning direction may collide with the paper. Such collision may cause not just damage in the paper but may also cause damage of the collided head itself since, as mentioned above, paper that is thick and highly strong in terms of paper quality is used.
Also in some printer models of the conventional printer cannot perform such printing onto an original book cover, such as that described above, because the printing range is too long with respect to the sub scanning direction in comparison to a normal, regular paper. That is, skewing (oblique deviation of the paper with respect to a paper feeding direction) due to a long length of a paper occurs during printing at a rear end of a book cover paper or other paper of long length that is not supported at either end, unlike a roll paper which, though being long in length, is supported by a roll at one end. Printing onto such paper is thus prohibited in some cases to prevent the degradation of printing quality or to prevent unwanted paper jam. Also in using the conventional printer to print onto an original book cover paper, shortage of the memory capacity may occur due to an increase in the data quantity. It is thus considered that there exist models with which printing across a range that far exceeds that of a regular paper is prohibited as an inherent specification.
Furthermore, in using the conventional printer to print onto an original book cover, because the printing range is too long with respect to the sub scanning direction in comparison to a normal regular paper, skewing occurs more readily than in printing onto single sheets due to inadequate pressing by roller pressure. It is also considered that tension cannot be applied readily as in the case of a roll paper. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
A network may be defined by the pattern of connections between elements of the network, commonly referred to as the network topology. Data centers often use a multi-stage Clos or folded-Clos network topology, in which a network element may be linked to multiple higher-level network elements: servers are connected to top-of-rack (ToR) switches, each ToR switch is connected to multiple switches of the next layer, which in turn are connected to multiple next-tier switches, and so on. Such a topology provides both high bandwidth and a high tolerance for path failures, and is therefore excellently suited to periods of high network demand.
But such a topology may be over-provisioned. Actual network demand is often much lower than peak demand, but the servers and switches in the network will draw largely as much power when they have no demand to respond to as they will when working at full capacity. A data center must be able to meet the highest level of demand for its services, but it should minimize the overall power consumption while providing resiliency. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Consumers use a variety of personal care products which include, without limitation, lip and skin balms, lotions, ointments, sunscreens and treatments, as well as a variety of cosmetic products such as lipstick and glosses.
Often it is necessary to apply or reapply such products at frequent intervals and this sometimes necessitates application at inconvenient times.
Further, depending upon environmental circumstances, it is sometimes a nuisance to carry the required products at all times.
It will be recognized that there is a need for a convenient receptacle for such personal care products which not only contains the required components, but facilitates the ready availability of such products whenever necessary. To have such convenient availability as well as a variety of attractive applicators will be seen as an advantage over prior methods. The present invention relates to a ring construction adapted to facilitate use of personal care products by a wearer of the ring.
All of the foregoing advantages can be accomplished with the ring construction described herein. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to thermosetting compositions that contain copolymers of vinyl monomers. More specifically, the present invention is directed to thermosetting compositions that contain functional copolymers containing isobutylene type monomers.
2. Description of Related Art
Reducing the environmental impact of coating compositions, in particular that associated with emissions into the air of volatile organics during their use, has been an area of ongoing investigation and development in recent years. Accordingly, interest in high solids liquid and powder coatings has been increasing due, in part, to their inherently low volatile organic content (VOC), which significantly reduces air emissions during the application process. While both thermoplastic and thermoset coating compositions are commercially available, thermoset coatings are typically more desirable because of their superior physical properties, e.g., hardness and solvent resistance.
Low VOC coatings are particularly desirable in the automotive original equipment manufacture (OEM) market due to the relatively large volume of coatings that are used. However, in addition to the requirement of low VOC levels, automotive manufacturers have very strict performance requirements of the coatings that are used. For example, automotive OEM clear top coats are typically required to have a combination of good exterior durability, acid etch and water spot resistance, and excellent gloss and appearance. While liquid top coats containing, for example, capped polyisocyanate and polyol components, can provide such properties, they have the undesirable drawback of higher VOC levels relative to higher solids liquid coatings or powder coatings, which have essentially zero VOC levels.
Coating compositions containing polyol and capped polyisocyanate components, (“isocyanate cured coatings”) are known and have been developed for use in a number of applications, such as industrial and automotive OEM topcoats. Such isocyanate cured coating compositions are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,997,900, 5,439,896, 5,508,337, 5,554,692, and 5,777,061. However, their use has been limited due to deficiencies in, for example, flow, appearance and storage stability. Isocyanate cured coating compositions typically include a crosslinker having two or more capped isocyanate groups, e.g., a trimer of 1-isocyanato-3,3,5-trimethyl-5-isocyanatomethylcyclohexane capped with e-caprolactam, and a hydroxy functional polymer, e.g., an acrylic copolymer prepared in part from a hydroxyalkyl acrylate and/or methacrylate.
Electrodeposition as a coating application method involves deposition of a film-forming composition onto a conductive substrate under the influence of an applied electrical potential. Electrodeposition has become increasingly important in the coatings industry because, by comparison with non-electrophoretic coating means, electrodeposition offers increased paint utilization, improved corrosion protection, and low environmental contamination.
Initially, electrodeposition was conducted with the workpiece being coated serving as the anode. This was familiarly referred to as anionic electrodeposition. However, in 1972, cationic electrodeposition was introduced commercially. Since that time, cationic electrodeposition has steadily gained in popularity and today is by far the most prevalent method of electrodeposition. Throughout the world, more than 80 percent of all motor vehicles produced are given a primer coating by cationic electrodeposition.
Electrodepositable coating compositions comprising active hydrogen-containing polymers which contain onium salt groups are known and have been developed for use, inter alia, in electrodepositable automotive OEM primer coatings. Such electrodepositable coating compositions typically comprise a crosslinking agent having at least two functional groups that are reactive with active hydrogen groups, and an active hydrogen-containing polymer which contains onium salt groups.
Functional polymers used in liquid, powder, and electrodepositable coating compositions are typically random copolymers that include functional group-containing acrylic and/or methacrylic monomers. Such a functional copolymer will contain a mixture of polymer molecules having varying individual functional equivalent weights and polymer chain structures. In such a copolymer, the functional groups are located randomly along the polymer chain. Moreover, the number of functional groups is not, divided equally among the polymer molecules, such that some polymer molecules may actually be free of functionality.
In a thermosetting composition, the formation of a three-dimensional crosslinked network is dependent on the functional equivalent weight as well as the architecture of the individual polymer molecules that comprise it. Polymer molecules having little or no reactive functionality (or having functional groups that are unlikely to participate in crosslinking reactions due to their locations along the polymer chain) will contribute little or nothing to the formation of the three-dimensional crosslinked network, resulting in decreased crosslink density and less than optimum physical properties of the finally formed thermoset coating.
Many patents express the potential for using isobutylene-containing polymers in coating compositions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,114,489 to Vicari et al. discloses a coating composition that includes a functional acrylic resin binder; a co-reactant capable of reacting with the functionality of the acrylic binder; a degasser; and a hyperbranched polyester flow and leveling agent. Isobutylene is suggested as a potential co-monomer for use in the acrylic binder as part of a long list of monomers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,487 to Clark et al. discloses powder coating compositions that include a copolymer having a reactive functionality and a suitable crosslinking agent capable of reaction with the reactive functionality of the copolymer. The copolymer is a made by copolymerizing functional monomers with other monomers, isobutylene being one among many listed as potential co-monomers. Although only two are referenced herein, of the many patents that express the possibility of using isobutylene-type co-monomers, none actually shows or discloses a working example of such a copolymer.
The fact that no examples of isobutylene-type; monomer-containing copolymers in coating compositions can be found is most likely due to the generally non-reactive nature of isobutylene with acrylic and methacrylic monomers. Reactivity ratios for monomers can be calculated using the Alfrey—Price Q-e values (Robert Z. Greenley, Polymer. Handbook, Fourth Edition, Brandrup, Immergut and Gulke, editors, Wiley & Sons, New York, N.Y., pp. 309–319 (1999)). The calculations may be carried out using the formulas I and II:r1=(Q1/Q2)exp{−e1(e1−e2)} Ir2=(Q2/Q1)exp{−e2(e2−e1)} IIwhere r1 and r2 are the respective reactivity ratios of monomers 1 and 2, and Q1 and Q2 and eland e2 are the respective reactivity and polarity values for the respective monomers (Odian, Principals of Polymerization; 3rd Ed., Wiley-Interscience, New York, N.Y., Chapter 6, pp. 452–467 and 489–491 (1991)). Table 1 shows the calculated reactivity ratios of selected monomers with isobutylene:
TABLE 1Monomerr1 (isobutylene)r2Methyl acrylate0.1013.67Glycidyl methacrylate0.0834.17Methacrylic acid0.0939.71As one skilled in the art of polymer chemistry can appreciate, when r1 is near zero and r2 has a value of 10 or more, monomer 2 is reactive toward both monomers and monomer 1 is reactive toward neither monomer. In other words, it is extremely difficult to prepare copolymers having significant amounts of both monomers. It is not surprising then that no examples can be found of coating compositions that include isobutylene-type monomer-containing copolymers, because the monomers do not tend to copolymerize.
In some cases, it is observed that monomers that do not readily homopolymerize are able to undergo rapid copolymerization reactions with each other. The most typical situation occurs when a strong electron donating monomer is mixed with a strong electron accepting monomer from which a regular alternating copolymer results after free radical initiation. Maleic anhydride is a widely used example of a strong electron accepting monomer. Styrene and vinyl ethers are typical examples of electron donating monomers. Systems, such as maleic anhydride—styrene, are known to form charge transfer complexes, which tend to place the monomers in, alternating sequence prior to initiation. The application of the free radical initiator “ties” the ordered monomers together to form an alternating copolymer (Cowie, Alternating Copolymers, Plenum, New York (1985)).
U.S. Pat. No. 2,378,629 to Hanford and U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,336 to Sackman et al. disclose that even when a moderately electron donating monomer, such as diisobutylene, is copolymerized with a strong electron acceptor monomer, such as maleic anhydride, an alternating copolymer results.
When a moderately electron donating monomer, such as isobutylene, is copolymerized with a moderately electron accepting monomer, such as an acrylic ester, poor incorporation of the electron donating monomer results. For example, free radical copolymerization of isobutylene (IB) and acrylic monomers, has resulted in copolymers that contain at no more than 20–30% of IB and have low molecular weights because of the degradative chain transfer of IB. Examples of such copolymerizations of IB are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 2,411,599 to Sparks et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 2,531,196 to Brubaker et al.
Conjugated monomers, such as acrylic esters and acrylonitrile, have been shown to react with monomers such as propylene, isobutylene, and styrenes in the presence of Lewis acids, such as alkylaluminum halides, to give 1:1 alternating copolymers. The alternating copolymers were obtained when the concentration ratio of the Lewis acids to the acrylic esters was 0.9 and the concentration of IB was greater than the concentration of the acrylic esters (Hirooka et al, J. Polym. Sci. Polym. Chem., 111, 1281. (1973)). The metal halides vary the reactivity of the monomers by complexing with them. The electron donor monomer—electron acceptor monomer—metal halide complex leads to alternating copolymers (Mashita et al. Polymer, Vol. 36, No. 15, pp. 2973–2982, (1995)).
Copolymers of IB and methyl acrylate (MA) have also been obtained by using ethyl aluminum sesquichloride and 2-methyl pentanoyl peroxide as an initiating system. The resulting copolymer had an alternating structure, with either low (Kuntz et ai, J. Polym. Sci. Polym. Chem., 16, 1747 (1978)) or high isotacticity in the presence of EtAlCl2 (10 molar % relative to MA). (Florjanczyk et al, Makromol. Chem., 183, 1081 (1982)).
Another method for making IB copolymers with acrylic esters involved alkyl boron halide, which was found to be much more active than alkyl aluminum halides in forming alternating copolymers. The resulting copolymer was an elastomer of high tensile strength and high thermal decomposition temperature with good oil resistance, especially at elevated temperatures (Mashita et al, Polymer, 36, 2983 (1995)).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,937 to Matyjaszewski et. al. discloses a method of making alternating copolymers of isobutylene and methyl acrylate using an atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) process. The method requires the use of a suitable ATRP initiator, such as 1-phenylethyl bromide, and a suitable transition metal salt, such as CuBr with a ligand, such as 2,2′-bipyridyl to perform the complex redox initiation and propagation steps of the polymerization process.
Copolymers containing relatively high amounts. (≧30 mol %) of IB and acrylic esters have only been attained by free radical polymerization when Lewis acids or ATRP initiation systems have been employed. The polymer that results from such processes requires expensive and time consuming clean up to remove the transition metal salt and/or Lewis acid residues in order to make the polymer commercially useful.
Copolymer compositions that contain Lewis acids and/or transition metals intermingled with the copolymer can have a number of drawbacks when used commercially in coating compositions. First, some Lewis acids and transition metals are toxic and have adverse environmental effects if they are leached from the copolymer: and enter the environment. Second, in coating applications the Lewis acids and transition metals may lead to poor color stability when the coating is exposed to UV light or simply cause the coating to discolor through other reactions or interactions. Further, the Lewis acids and transition metals may react with other ingredients in a coating formulation resulting in undesired properties, such as a shortened shelf-life for a given coating formulation.
It would be desirable to develop thermosetting compositions that comprise functional copolymers having a well-defined polymer chain structure. In particular, alternating copolymers containing isobutylene-type monomers that are substantially free of Lewis acids and transition metals would be desirable. Such compositions would have lower VOC levels due to lower viscosities and a combination of favorable performance properties particularly in coatings applications. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a collapsible haven for use with a bird feeder which prevents squirrels from gaining access to the feed meant for birds and for preventing large birds such as blackbirds and grackles from consuming bird feed meant for smaller birds.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many attempts have been made to provide squirrel-proof bird feeders. Many attempts have also been made to prevent large birds such as blackbirds and grackles from consuming bird feed intended for small birds. For example, Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 7,992,520 (“the '520 patent”) discloses a feeder having an outer housing that encloses an inner housing and prevents squirrels from accessing the inner housing. The disclosure of the '520 patent is hereby expressly incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. The outer housing of the feeder disclosed in the '520 patent is effective in preventing squirrels and large birds from accessing seed in the bird feeder, but increases the size of feeder both in use and when stored.
To facilitate storage of bird feeders, many collapsible bird feeders have been developed such as that disclosed in Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,582 (“the '582 patent”) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,661 (“the '661 patent”). The disclosures of the '582 patent and the '661 patent are hereby expressly incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. The feeders set forth in the '582 patent and the '661 patent do not, however, provide a means for deterring squirrels.
Therefore, a need exists for a feeder assembly that is resistant to access by squirrels and large birds and which can also be collapsed for compact storage. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data recording/reproduction device for recording and reproducing data of all types such as computer data and relates in particular to random access type data recording/reproduction devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to disk type data recording/reproduction devices utilized while mounted in a host device such as a computer system and relates in particular to disk type data recording/reproduction devices for recording and reproducing for recording and reproducing computer data, requiring reliability, and video data and audio data requiring real-time characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
All types of information processing systems such as general-purpose computers contain a data recording/reproduction device to store large quantities of data and data for large scale applications in a non-volatile manner. Data recording/reproduction devices are for example comprised of disk type devices to store data on a rotating disk and tape type devices to store data on wound reel of tape.
A typical disk device is the HDD or hard disk drive. The hard disk drive has an amazing data storage capacity due to advances made in magnetic head technology and signal processing technology, etc. From 1990 up to the present for example, the surface recording density of data has increased approximately 60 percent each year. One 3.5 inch disk is expected to be capable of recording 10 to 20 gigabytes of data some time after the year 2000. In other words, one hard disk drive unit having a plurality of disks would have a recording capacity in excess of 100 gigabytes
Therefore, by utilizing high efficiency digital moving picture compression technology such as DV (digital video) or MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts Group Phase 2) made practical in recent years, moving picture information for a plurality of channels can be recorded on and reproduced from a hard disk drive, and multichannel video recorders capable of using a hard disk drive as a recording medium are now feasible.
However, from a historical point of view the hard disk drive was developed as an external storage device for computers and technical progress has been made in improving so-called discrete text type data and in making random access of data as fast as possible. In other words, hard disk drive operation is broken up or discrete along the time axis.
The computer system (hereafter “host”) incorporating the hard disk drive (HDD) issues commands (hereafter “host commands”) specifying the recording or reproduction of data. The operations in response to each command from the host are executed one at a time as discrete operations. Restated, the hard disk drive guarantees high reliability but does not guarantee the recording or reproduction operation will finish within a specified time (real time guarantee).
One cause that prevents guaranteeing the actual time required for an operation is the retry process. The recording and reproduction of data on a hard disk drive is performed in short data sector unit (for example 512 bytes each) equivalent to the (information) packet used in communications technology. In the retry process, an operation is repeated again when an error occurs in implementing instructions such as to perform recording or reproduction of a data sector assigned by the host.
Various types of errors cause the retry operation to be used. On such error is in the operation (seek) to move the head to the target sector. To resolve the seek error, the recording and reproducing onto that target sector must be abandoned and continued elsewhere or retry operation must be performed. One retry requires from a few to several dozen milliseconds of wasted time and is a factor in poor real-time characteristics. Next, is retries (Write-Retry) during recording of data. If a deviation in the head position exceeding the established tolerance occurs such as from mechanical shock applied for example externally onto the hard disk drive during recording onto one data sector, then the recording operation will be halted. After waiting for the head to be restored to a normal position and the head to once again come to a position directly above the applicable sector by disk rotation, the recording of data onto the applicable sector starts once again (Write-Retry).
A third cause is retries (Read-Retry) during data reproduction (or playback). When an error is determined to occur that exceeds the correction capacity of the ECC (error correction code) in each sector during reproduction of one data sector, the operation stands by until the head once again comes to a position directly above the applicable sector by disk rotation and reproduction of the applicable sector starts again (Read-Retry). Further, when determined that the error was not corrected by one Read-Retry, a second Read-Retry is implemented. If the error is not a soft error due for example to noise, but is a hard error due definite cause such as damage of the magnetic film on the disk, then Read-Retry might be attempted 10 times or more without correctly reading the data, thus requiring at least 100 milliseconds of wasted time. Retries can therefore be a fatal problem in guaranteeing the actual time for a recording/reproduction operation.
The maximum number of retries implemented and other such error processing methods are fixedly incorporated into the design of related hard disk drives so that effective control according to the overall status of the disk recorder was not possible. Also, in the related art, a means was proposed for implementing or prohibiting retries without restrictions (For example, in a portion of the interfaces standards, of the ATA (AT-Attachment) established by ANSI (American National Standards Institute)) however a means for setting a maximum allowable time required for error processing, or a means for dynamic control according to the urgency or criticality (namely, the real-time characteristics) of recording and reproduction were not proposed.
In the disk type data recording/reproducing device of the related art, it was also assumed that data files would be handled discretely from each other so that instructions for recording or reproducing on individual sectors were treated as mutually unrelated items. So in applications such as multi-channel video and recorders with hard disk drives, even when recording/reproducing with a small number of long AV data streams, information on what data stream that the data for a recording/reproducing instruction belonged to was not utilized.
Therefore as related above, in the related art, the host device incorporating the disk type data recording/reproducing device had no simple means for monitoring items such as the error processing time of the disk device. Consequently, the related art had the problem that the continuous real time required during the recording or reproducing of information such as moving picture or audio information could not be guaranteed.
Still further, in the disk type data recording/reproducing device of the related art, the individual recording/reproducing operations were implemented without assigning a mutual rank or order (relation) so that a high throughput could not always be maintained. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to hydraulic brake pressure control devices of the type in which an inertia-controlled valve is adapted to control the braking pressure applied to rear wheel brake cylinders from a master cylinder in accordance with the rate of deceleration of the vehicle, and more particularly to an improvement of such an hydraulic brake pressure control device as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,363 dated Feb. 7, 1978. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 11-313614 filed on Nov. 4, 2000 including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of producing an interior trim material. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of producing an interior trim material, such as a ceiling materials or a door trim for use in automobiles, in which a skin material is bonded to a substrate,.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Conventionally, an interior trim material comprised of a rigid substrate and a skin material bonded to at least one surface thereof has been widely used in the interior or vehicle compartment of an automobile.
In this case, inorganic fibers and thermoplastic fibers are mainly used for producing the substrate. The inorganic fibers provide certain rigidity and dimensional stability, and the thermoplastic fibers provide certain formability, while the skin material provides a certain design quality.
A known example of method (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cknown method 1xe2x80x9d) of producing an interior trim material having the above-described substrate and the skin material bonded to the surface thereof includes three processes, i.e., a process of producing a substrate, a process of tentatively bonding a skin material to the substrate, and a forming process.
In the substrate production process of the known method 1, the substrate is prepared by laminating a thermoplastic resin film or films onto either one or both of the opposite surfaces of a mat-like fiber structure mainly formed from inorganic fibers containing thermoplastic fibers. This substrate is then fed onto an endless belt formed from a Teflon sheet that is bonded to the substrate when the thermoplastic resin film is in a molten state but not bonded thereto when the same film is not in a molten state, and is then heated in a furnace.
Subsequently, the substrate thus heated is compressed under pressure by a pressing portion on the endless belt so that the mat-like fiber structure is impregnated with the thermoplastic resin film. At the same time, the inorganic fibers contained in the mat-like fiber structure are firmly bonded together by means of the thermoplastic fibers contained in the mat-like fiber structure. The substrate thus compressed under pressure is thereafter naturally or forcibly expanded so as to restore its original thickness, and the cooled at a cooling portion on the endless belt. In this manner, a substrate is produced in which inorganic fibers are bonded together by thermoplastic resin and thermoplastic fibers.
In the next process of bonding the skin material, the substrate produced in the above step is cut into a suitable size, and a skin material is laminated on the cut piece of the substrate, and locally melted by heat so as to be tentatively bonded to the substrate.
Finally, in the forming process, the substrate to which the skin material has been tentatively bonded is reheated in the furnace so that the thermoplastic fibers and thermoplastic resin are melted. A cold press machine is then used to form the substrate with the skin material into a desired shape, thereby to provide an interior trim material consisting of the substrate and the skin material bonded to the substrate.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI 8-80601 discloses a method in which a skin material as well as a substrate is fed onto an endless belt in the substrate production process as described above, thereby eliminating the process of tentatively bonding the skin material to the substrate, and a flat composite sheet with the skin material can be produced in a single process step.
According to a method of producing an interior trim material as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-315396 (hereinafter referred to as the xe2x80x9cknown method 2xe2x80x9d), a mat-like fiber structure formed from thermoplastic fibers and glass fibers is prepared, and hot air having a temperature high enough to melt the thermoplastic fibers is caused to pass through the fiber structure from the front side to the back side thereof, thereby providing a substrate in which the density distribution of the thermoplastic resin has been thus varied. Then, a skin material with thermoplastic resin formed on its back surface, which has been heated such that the thermoplastic resin is given certain plasticity, is laminated on a surface of the substrate provided in the above manner. The thus laminated skin material and substrate are then formed into a desired shape by press molding using a forming die, so as to form a substrate in which the glass fibers are bonded together by thermoplastic fibers, while at the same time bonding the skin material to the substrate, thereby to produce an interior trim material.
In the known method 1 as described above, the substrate is heated in the furnace so that the thermoplastic fibers and thermoplastic resin are melted, and the substrate thus heated is compressed under pressure so that the inorganic fibers are firmly bonded together by the thermoplastic fibers and thermoplastic resin, whereby the resulting substrate is given rigidity.
In the known method 1, a series of steps included in the substrate production process are carried out by use of the endless belt. This eliminates such a problem that melted thermoplastic resin sticks to local parts of a press mold or die, or the like, when the substrate is compressed under pressure, resulting in a failure to transport the substrate to the following process step. Thus, the substrate can be favorably produced with high reliability and efficiency.
The endless belt used in the known method 1, however, is required to have sufficiently high heat resistance, durability, and rigidity, and therefore cannot be suitably used for forming interior trim materials having complicated shapes. Thus, in the process step of impregnating the mat-like fiber structure with the thermoplastic resin film, the heated substrate material is compressed under pressure, only to be formed into the shape of a flat plate or sheet. Namely, the substrate can be formed only in the shape of a flat plate or sheet.
In order to form a substrate into a desired shape other than the flat shape, therefore, it is necessary to re-heat the substrate to soften the thermoplastic fibers and thermoplastic resin, so as to form the substrate into the desired shape in another process without using an endless belt, for example, in the forming process of the known method 1. If the substrate, in which organic fibers have been firmly bonded together by thermoplastic resin and thermoplastic fibers through the process of impregnating the substrate with the thermoplastic resin, is reheated, however, the bonding strength of the fibers in the substrate is weakened, and the strength of the resulting substrate is reduced. If the density (mass per unit area) of the substrate is increased so as to ensure a required strength of the substrate, the weight of the substrate may be undesirably increased, and the production cost may also be undesirably increased.
In the known method 2 as described above, on the other hand, only one heating step is required in the whole manufacturing process beginning with the production of the substrate and ending with the production of the interior trim material to which the skin material is bonded.
In the method as described above, the substrate through which hot air has been passed and the skin material backed with the melted thermoplastic resin and laminated on the substrate are formed directly into a desired shape using a suitable die. In order to provide sufficiently high bonding strength with the skin material by impregnating the substrate with the backing resin, the die clearance of the forming die needs to be reduced. This may result in a reduction in the substrate thickness, and insufficient rigidity due to the reduced substrate thickness. If the die clearance of the forming dies is increased, on the contrary, the compressing force may be reduced, resulting in insufficient bonding of inorganic fibers by use of the thermoplastic fibers contained in the substrate. It is thus difficult or impossible to provide sufficiently high rigidity of the substrate through the bonding of the inorganic fibers, and provide sufficiently high bonding strength with the skin material.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of producing an interior trim material, which makes it possible to easily produce an interior trim material including a substrate with sufficient rigidity and a skin material bonded to the substrate, by carrying out simple process steps.
The inventors of the invention have found, as a result of studies, that the substrate and the skin material may be compressed under pressure by means of a flat type hot press machine while the thermoplastic resin is being melted, so as to assure sufficiently high bonding strength of the skin material bonded to the substrate while assuring sufficiently high rigidity of the substrate.
The inventors have also found that in order to produce an interior trim material having a desired shape while assuring sufficient rigidity of the substrate, the substrate and the skin material that have been compressed under pressure by the flat type hot press machine may be expanded to restore its original thickness, and then formed into the desired shape by a cold press machine while the thermoplastic resin is being softened.
The inventors have also found that in order to prevent thermoplastic fibers contained in the substrate from sticking or adhering to the flat type hot press machine while the substrate and skin material are compressed under pressure by means of the hot press machine, the substrate may be constructed such that a high-melting-point fiber sheet composed of high-melting-point fibers is to be located in contact with the hot press machine.
On the basis of the above findings, the inventors have developed the present invention, which provides a method of producing an interior trim material, comprising the steps of: forming a laminated structure by laminating a skin material, a mat-like fiber structure, and a high-melting-point fiber sheet on each other to be arranged in this order, the mat-like fiber structure being prepared by blending thermoplastic fibers and inorganic fibers, the high-melting-point fiber sheet comprising high-melting-point fibers having a melting point higher than that of the thermoplastic fibers of the mat-like fiber structure, at least the mat-like fiber structure being heated such that the thermoplastic fibers are melted; compressing the laminated structure under pressure by a hot press machine; expanding the laminated structure that has been compressed, so as to restore at least part of the thickness thereof; and forming the laminated structure into a certain shape by a cold press machine, while the thermoplastic fibers of the mat-like fiber structure maintains plasticity.
In short, the present invention is concerned with a method of producing an interior trim material having a substrate and a skin material bonded integrally to the substrate, wherein the substrate comprises a mat-like fiber structure prepared by blending thermoplastic fibers with inorganic fibers, and a high-melting-point fiber sheet.
In the method of producing an interior trim material according to the present invention, the substrate includes two layers, i.e., the mat-like fiber structure and the high-melting-point fiber sheet, the latter being one constituent element of the substrate. In addition, the skin material is laminated on the side of the mat-like fiber structure of the substrate, and thus bonded to the substrate. With the high-melting-point fiber sheet provided as one constituent element of the substrate, the interior trim material can be more easily and simply produced as compared with conventional ones. Namely, when the substrate and the skin material are compressed under pressure by the hot press machine, melted thermoplastic fibers can be prevented from sticking to dies of the hot press machine since the mat-like fiber structure containing thermoplastic fibers is laminated between the skin material and the high-melting-point fiber sheet.
The method of producing an interior trim material according to the present invention includes a laminated structure forming process, a compressing process, a thickness restoring process, and a forming process, but does not include a cooling process in the middle of producing the interior trim material. Thus, the interior trim material can be produced without setting or solidifying the melted thermoplastic fibers, thus eliminating a need to melt the thermoplastic fibers again. This prevents a reduction in the rigidity of the substrate which would otherwise occur due to repeated melting of the thermoplastic fibers. Also, the cooling process is not required, and therefore the time required for producing the interior trim material can be shortened.
Furthermore, according to the method of the present invention, the thermoplastic fibers contained in the mat-like fiber structure may be substantially entirely and sufficiently melted, making it possible to firmly bind the inorganic fibers together, thus assuring improved rigidity of the substrate.
In addition, the method of producing an interior trim materials according to the invention may employ a flat-type hot press machine that provides a flat die surface or surfaces. This allows the laminated structure to be uniformly pressed and compressed. It is therefore possible to cause the melted thermoplastic fibers to bind the inorganic fibers together more uniformly throughout the substrate, thus assuring improved rigidity of the substrate. Also, the melted thermoplastic fibers may penetrate into the high-melting-point fiber sheet so as to bond the mat-like fiber structure integrally with the high-melting-point fiber sheet to form the substrate. In addition, the substrate and the skin material may be firmly bonded to each other over the entire area thereof.
According to the method of the present invention, the laminated structure that has been compressed is naturally or forcibly expanded so as to be given a sufficient thickness, thus assuring sufficient rigidity of the substrate.
In the method of the invention, the laminated structure is formed into an intended shape using a cold press machine in the forming process while the thermoplastic fibers keep plasticity, namely, while the thermoplastic fiber are softened. This may avoid a reduction in the rigidity of the substrate that would otherwise occur due to re-heating of the thermoplastic fibers. Furthermore, since the laminated structure is formed by the cold press machine after it has expanded to a certain thickness, a sufficiently large forming clearance can be provided in the cold press machine. With the thickness of the substrate thus increased, the rigidity of the interior trim material may be further improved. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates to method and apparatus for controlling water distribution networks of waterworks to the like and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for controlling the pressure and flow in water distribution networks.
The water distribution systems of waterworks include the complex distribution networks extended over a wide area. The present invention is intended to remotely operate the pumps and valves arranged on the distribution networks and thereby properly control the pressure and flow distribution in the distribution networks so as to ensure the service pressure for consumers and for preventing a high pressure which causes the leakage of water.
A number of methods have been proposed for controlling the distribution of water in waterworks. More particularly, in, for example, "Uniform Pressure Control in Water Distribution Networks", Sato, Journal of Japan Water Association, November, 1971, and "Program for Maintaining the Required Head at the Extremities of a Water Distribution Network", Ozawa, Mitsubishi Denki GiHo, September, 1980, systems are proposed respectively employing Newton's method and quadractic programming for obtaining the desired manipulated variables for controlling the pressure at the proper value.
Disadvantages of these proposed systems resides in the fact that the systems are incapable of correcting a difference between the estimation and actual measurement relating to the pressure and flow which might be caused if the control is effected by means of calculated manipulated variables. Moreover, a computation of the manipulated variables requires an excessive time and the systems cannot be used on an on-line basis.
The aim underlying the present invention essentially resides in over-coming the above-noted disadvantages of the the prior art by providing a control method and apparatus whereby manipulated variables or control amounts for properly controlling the pressures and flows are computed in such a short time so as to allow the system to be used on the on-line basis (less than five minutes) so that if, after the actual operation, the actual measured pressures and flows are still insufficient, the desired corrections for the control amounts are computed rapidly and the corrections are actually effected thereby always maintaining the proper pressures and flows.
In accordance with the present invention a method and apparatus is provided featuring a pressure/flow controller including a unit for computing optimum manipulated variables or a control amount optimum computing unit and a unit for correcting the control amounts in accordance with the actual measured values or a correction computing unit, with the optimum computing unit incorporating a network model simulating hydraulic phenomena within a distribution network so as to input the current total demand (the sum of the reservoir outlet flow rates) and thereby compute the optimum control amounts in a short time by high speed computation according to a network algorithm (see R. G. Busacher, T. L. Saaty: Finite Graph and Networks, McGraw-Hill, 1965), and with the correction computing unit utilizing a sensitivity matrix which indicates the effects of variations in the control amounts on the pressures and flows so as to compute control amount corrections and thereby correct the deviations from the estimated pressure and flow rate values. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.