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In wireless communication systems, transmission techniques involving multiple antennas are often categorized as open-loop or closed-loop, depending on the level or degree of channel response information used by the transmission algorithm. Open-loop techniques do not rely on the information of the spatial channel response between the transmitting device and the receiving device. They typically involve either no feedback or the feedback of the long term statistical information that a base unit may use to choose between different open loop techniques. Open-loop techniques include transmit diversity, delay diversity, and space-time coding techniques such as the Alamouti space-time block code.
Closed-loop transmission techniques utilize knowledge of the channel response to weigh the information transmitted from multiple antennas. To enable a closed-loop transmit array to operate adaptively, the array must apply transmit weights derived from channel state information (CSI) between each of the transmitter's antennas and each of the receiver's antennas which may include the channel response, its statistics or characteristics, or a combination thereof. One method to obtain the CSI is through a feedback channel between the receiver and the transmitter. This CSI feedback channel may consist of any technique known in the art such as analog feedback of the channels, analog feedback of the statistics (e.g., the covariance matrix or the eigenvector/eigenvectors), quantized feedback of the statistics, quantized feedback of the channel, or codebook feedback.
In order to calculate any of the CSI feedback needed for closed-loop operation, the transmitter must have a mechanism that enables the receiver to estimate the channel between the transmitter's antennas and the receiver's antennas. The channel estimation between the transmit and the receive antennas is also needed for the calculation of non-spatial feedback information including modulation and coding rate (MCS), sub-band selection that are applicable for both open-loop and closed-loop transmissions. The usual mechanism to enable the channel estimation by the receiver is by the transmitter sending pilot signals (also known as reference symbols) from each of the transmit antennas which essentially sound the channel. A pilot signal (also known as reference symbols or RSs) is a set of symbols known by both the transmitter and receiver. The mobile would then use the pilot signals to compute channel estimates which can then be used to determine the CSI feedback. Typical methods for pilot transmission use a frequency-domain pilot sequence and possibly some spreading of the pilot signal with repetition or a Walsh code. The frequency-domain pilot sequence would be different for each unique transmitter and the sequences are typically designed to have a low correlation between transmitters to keep interference at a low level. The frequency-domain sequence can be made to be orthogonal between a limited set of base stations, but to do so requires a substantial increase in the pilot density in frequency. The Walsh codes if properly used can provide some orthogonality to transmitters, but are limited to a few orthogonal codes which are insufficient to keep interference at a minimum when there are many interferers. Also the Walsh codes are limited to being only orthogonal between the small set of transmitters and cannot be quasi orthogonal to a much larger set of transmitters (where quasi-orthogonality means a guaranteed level of interference suppression such as 6.0 dB).
While the above-techniques for pilot signal transmission may provide a mechanism for pilot signal transmission for use in CSI determination, the methods are not optimized for multi-transmitter operation which needs both orthogonal and quasi-orthogonal pilot signals. Thus there is a need for an improved pilot signal design without the need of increasing the pilot density in frequency for enabling optimal CSI determination at a receiver.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. Those skilled in the art will further recognize that references to specific implementation embodiments such as “circuitry” may equally be accomplished via replacement with software instruction executions either on general purpose computing apparatus (e.g., CPU) or specialized processing apparatus (e.g., DSP). It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a resuscitative device and more particularly to a cardio-pulmonary resuscitator combined with an airway object clearing resuscitator for patients choking on food or other objects. "Airway", as used herein, is defined to refer generally to the pharynx, larynx and trachea of a patient, i.e., wherein air is unable to pass between the nose and/or mouth and the lungs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many cardio-pulmonary massage apparatus, respiratory aids and the like body engaging devices, among which are those shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 793,527--King; 1,050,836--Jones; 1,091,310--Dunn; 2,463,728--Wallin; 3,219,031--Rentsch, Jr.,; 3,228,392--Speyer; 3,401,686--Edwards; and 3,750,654--Shiu. Conventional techniques for emergency or manual cardio-pulmonary resustitation (C.P.R.) are well known and need not be repeated herein. Also, the Heimlich Maneuver technique to prevent food or other object choking fatalities is well known and described in the literature (See Journal of American Medical Association, Volume 234, No. 4, Oct. 27, 1975, pages 398-401, "A Life-Saving Maneuver to Prevent Food-choking", by Henry J. Heimlich).
There are several problems with the use of the prior art devices and/or in administering the life saving techniques recommended for C.P.R. and chocking victims or patients, and this invention is directed to alleviating some of the problems with such devices as well as increasing the effectiveness of the first aid techniques in life saving procedures. | {
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1. Field
Aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an organic electroluminescence display device and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an image display device, an organic electroluminescence display device using an organic electroluminescence device has been actively developed. An organic electroluminescence display device is different from a liquid crystal display device, and the like, in that it is a so-called self-luminescence display device which realizes a display by recombining holes and electrons injected from a first electrode and a second electrode in a light emitting layer to emit a light emitting material which is an organic compound included in the light emitting layer.
As an organic electroluminescence device, for example, an organic device composed of a first electrode, a hole transport layer disposed on the first electrode, a light emitting layer disposed on the hole transport layer, an electron transport layer disposed on the light emitting layer, and a second electrode disposed on the electron transport layer is known. From the first electrode, a hole is injected, and the injected hole moves through the hole transport layer to be injected to the light emitting layer. From the second electrode, an electron is injected, and the injected electron moves through the electron transport layer to be injected to the light emitting layer. The hole and the electron both injected to the light emitting layer are recombined to generate an exciton in the light emitting layer. An organic electroluminescence device emits light using light generated when the exciton falls to a ground state again. However, an organic electroluminescence device is not limited to the configuration described above, and various modifications thereof are possible. | {
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This invention relates to P-I-N photodiodes, particularly avalanche photodiodes, and to a method of manufacturing such photodiodes.
The generic structure of an Avalanche Photodiode (APD) consists of two electrical contacts separated by a P-I-N diode. The two electrical contacts are separated by at least three layers of semiconductor material. One electrical contact is in contact with a P-doped semiconductor layer (P-layer). The second electrical contact is in contact with an N-doped semiconductor layer (N-layer). The P-doped semiconductor layer is separated from the N-doped semiconductor layer by at least one intrinsic semiconductor layer (I-layer). More than one I-layer may be used to enhance performance of the APD. The dimensions, doping levels, and material of each layer depend on the application for which the APD will be used. The APD is bounded on its edges by termination junctions lying perpendicular to the planes of the junctions between the layers.
One current APD structure widely available commercially is a planar structure. A lower I-layer is epitaxially grown on the N-layer. An upper I-layer is epitaxially grown on the lower I-layer. Rather than growing a P-layer, a P-region is introduced into a portion of the upper I-layer by diffusion of P-type impurities through a window in a dielectric mask. The APD is bounded on its edge by imaginary termination junctions. These termination junctions are imaginary in that they are not defined physically, but occur because the upper I-layer electrically isolates different P-regions diffused into the same material. Because the termination junctions are never exposed to any processing or ambient environment, the termination junctions are strong and planar structures are of superior reliability. However, the depth of the P-region is difficult to control precisely due to the nature of the diffusion process. As a result, the high performance required of APDs is difficult to achieve. In addition, because the diffusion process allows P-type impurities to end up under the edges of the mask and the P-region is therefore extended horizontally in undesired locations, parasitic capacitance effects arise.
A second current APD structure used in research and available commercially in small quantities is a mesa structure. As with the planar structure, an I-layer is epitaxially grown on a N-layer. However, the P-layer is then epitaxially grown on the I-layer. The termination junctions are formed by dry etching all layers at the desired width of the APD. Formation of the P-layer through epitaxial growth results in a well defined P-layer thickness and doping profile, and the horizontal dimension of the P-layer is well defined because of the dry etching process, and parasitic effects are much less than in a planar structure. The well defined thickness and horizontal dimension of the P-layer allow high performance APDs to be built. Edge breakdown can be reduced by bevelling the edges of the layers. However, edge breakdown is still a factor as the termination junction is exposed to ambient air during the fabrication process, and the reliability of the APD is reduced.
The present invention provides a method of fabricating a semiconductor photodiode comprising epitaxially grown layers of semiconductor material. A first doped layer is formed on a semi-insulating substrate, and has a p-type conductivity. An intrinsic layer is formed lying adjacent to the first doped layer. Other intrinsic layers may be formed over the first intrinsic layer. A second doped layer having an n-type conductivity is formed adjacent to the uppermost intrinsic layer. The second doped layer is etched to leave an island-like structure. The edge regions of the intrinsic layers and the first doped layer are doped using deep diffusion to produce doped regions having a p-type conductivity. The result of the deep diffusion process is that the horizontal dimension in each layer of the portion which does not contain the doped region decreases with vertical proximity to the second doped layer. The deep diffusion may be achieved by placing a dielectric over the second doped layer and extending partially over the uppermost intrinsic layer, and diffusing impurities through the uncovered portions of the uppermost intrinsic layer as far as and into the first doped layer. Alternately, the first doped layer has an n-type conductivity, the second doped layer has a p-type conductivity, the doped regions have an n-type conductivity, and the doped regions are formed by ion implantation through the vertical surfaces of a mesa structure. The invention is particularly suited to avalanche photodiodes, in which suppression of edge breakdown is most beneficial.
High performance photodiodes can be produced using this method because the formation of the various layers through epitaxial growth results in well managed doping profiles and layer thicknesses. Furthermore, because the junctions between the N-layer and the intrinsic layer are not diffused junctions there is less parasitic capacitance than in planar devices. The photodiodes are highly reliable as the termination junctions are formed by the doping regions, and are never exposed to the ambient environment. No guardrings and no special layers are needed to suppress edge breakdown.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. | {
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Plasma lamps provide extremely bright, broadband light, and are useful in applications such as projection systems, industrial processing, and general illumination. The typical plasma lamp manufactured today contains a mixture of gas and trace substances that are excited to form a plasma. Plasma interaction with the trace substance (Selenium or other) gives rise to light in the UV, visible, and near infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Gas ionization resulting in plasma formation is accomplished by passing a high-current through closely-spaced electrodes contained within the vessel that is the gas fill reservoir. This arrangement, however, suffers from electrode deterioration due to sputtering, and therefore exhibits a limited lifetime.
Electrode-less plasma lamps driven by microwave sources have been disclosed in the prior art. For example, both U.S. Pat. No. 6,617,806B2 (Kirkpatrick et. al.) and U.S. patent application No. US2001/0035720A1 (Guthrie et. al.) disclose similar basic configurations of a gas fill encased either in a bulb or a sealed recess within a dielectric body forming a waveguide, with microwave energy being provided by a source such as a magnetron and introduced into the waveguide and heating the plasma resistively. U.S. Pat. No. 6,737,809B2 (Espiau et. al.) discloses a somewhat different arrangement whereby the plasma-enclosing bulb and the dielectric cavity form a part of a resonant microwave circuit with a microwave amplifier to provide the excitation.
In each of the embodiments described above, a dielectric or metal/dielectric waveguiding body forming—whether deliberately or unwittingly—a resonant cavity surrounding the bulb containing the plasma is used. The driving microwave energy is introduced into the waveguide body using various probing means well-known to those skilled in the art of microwave engineering. The waveguide body surrounding the bulb brings with it a host of difficulties including wasted light, lamp size related to resonance or excitation frequency, manufacturing obstacles, and related costs. These obstacles are overcome by the approach presented herein. | {
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Pacemakers are perhaps the most well known devices that provide chronic electrical stimulus, such as cardiac rhythm management. Pacemakers have been implanted for medical therapy. Other examples of cardiac stimulators include implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) and implantable devices capable of performing pacing and defibrillating functions. Such implantable devices provide electrical stimulation to selected portions of the heart in order to treat disorders of cardiac rhythm. An implantable pacemaker paces the heart with timed pacing pulses. The pacing pulses can be timed from other pacing pulses or sensed electrical activity. If functioning properly, the pacemaker makes up for the heart's inability to pace itself at an appropriate rhythm in order to meet metabolic demand by enforcing a minimum heart rate. Some pacing devices synchronize pacing pulses delivered to different areas of the heart in order to coordinate the contractions. Coordinated contractions allow the heart to pump efficiently while providing sufficient cardiac output. Clinical data has shown that cardiac resynchronization, achieved through synchronized biventricular pacing, results in a significant improvement in cardiac function. Cardiac resynchronization therapy improves cardiac function in heart failure patients. Heart failure patients have reduced autonomic balance, which is associated with LV (left-ventricular) dysfunction and increased mortality.
Commonly treated conditions relate to the heart beating too fast or too slow. When the heart beats too slow, a condition referred to as bradycardia, pacing can be used to increase the intrinsic heart rate. When the heart beats too fast, a condition referred to as tachycardia, pacing can be used to reduce the intrinsic heart rate by, for example, inhibiting electrical signals used to generate a contraction of the heart.
When pacing for bradycardia, percutaneously placed pacing electrodes are commonly positioned in the right-side chambers (right atrium or right ventricle) of the heart. Access to such chambers is readily available through the superior vena cava, the right atrium and then into the right ventricle. Electrode placement in the left ventricle is normally avoided, where access is not as direct as in right ventricle placement. Moreover, emboli risk in the left ventricle is greater than in the right ventricle. Emboli which might develop in the left ventricle by reason of the electrode placement have direct access to the brain via the aorta from the left ventricle. This presents a significant risk of (cerebral) stroke. Pacing of both the right atrium and right ventricle was developed. Such dual chamber pacing resulted in better hemodynamic output than right ventricle-only pacing. In addition to treating bradycardia, dual chamber pacing maintained synchrony between the (atrial and ventricle) chambers.
Recent clinical evidence suggests that conventional ventricular pacing from the right ventricle creates asynchronous contraction of the left and right ventricles, thereby resulting in inefficient mechanical contraction and reduced hemodynamic performance. Long term right ventricular pacing has even been found to be associated with an increased risk of developing or worsening heart failure. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of tensioning rollers or winders used particularly for adjusting and maintaining the tension and/or orientation of the strands of a belt, for example in a motor vehicle internal combustion engine.
Such rollers are used, for example, with timing belts or belts for driving accessories.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Tensioning rollers generally include a pulley rotatably mounted on a non-rotating pin or shaft that can be displaced radially so that the pulley is caused to apply the appropriate tension to the belt with which it is in contact. The radial displacement of the pin or shaft can be adjusted by a screw mechanism. In order to reinforce the protection and sealing of the roller, typical tensioning rollers include a cap mounted on the rotating part of the pulley by snap-fitting it into an annular channel formed in the pulley. However, if it is then required to orient the shaft to fasten it to the support, this operation can prove very difficult owing to the small available space generally present between the roller and the support and owing to the lack of visual references for the angular indexing of the shaft. | {
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The present invention relates to the field of vehicular traffic data and information and, more particularly, to a method and system for modeling and processing vehicular traffic data and information, and using the modeled and processed vehicular traffic data and information for providing a variety of vehicular traffic related service applications to end users.
Despite continuing investing in massive amounts of financial and human resources, current road network capacities insufficiently meet the needs dictated by current levels and growth rates of traffic volume. This dilemma relates to current road network capacities, in general, and current road network capacities in urban, suburban, and rural, environments, in particular. Road congestion, or, equivalently, inconveniently high levels or volumes of vehicular road traffic, is a persistent major factor resulting from this dilemma, and needs to be given proper attention and taken into account for efficiently scheduling trips, selecting travel routes, and for attempting to efficiently allocate and exploit time, by individual drivers, as well as by vehicular traffic logistics personnel such as company vehicular fleet managers, responsible for performing such activities. Road congestion and associated traffic data and information also need to be well understood and used by a wide variety of public and private occupations and personnel, such as designers, planners, engineers, coordinators, traffic law makers and enforcers, directly and/or indirectly involved in designing, planning, controlling, engineering, coordinating, and implementing, a wide variety of activities, events, and/or construction projects, which depend upon accurate descriptions of current and future vehicular traffic situations and scenarios. This situation is a main driving force for the on-going development and application of various methods, systems, and devices, for acquiring, analyzing, processing, and applying, vehicular traffic data and information.
There are various prior art techniques for acquiring, analyzing, processing, and applying, vehicular traffic data and information. A few examples of recent prior art in this field are U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,933, issued to Lang, entitled xe2x80x9cInstantaneous Traffic Monitoring Systemxe2x80x9d, U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,012, issued to Fleck et al., entitled xe2x80x9cMethod And System For Determining Dynamic Traffic Informationxe2x80x9d, U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,364, issued to Kerner et al., entitled xe2x80x9cMethod And Device For Providing Traffic Informationxe2x80x9d, and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,227, issued to Peterson, entitled xe2x80x9cMethod And Apparatus For Providing Shortest Elapsed Time Route And Tracking Information To Usersxe2x80x9d.
Prior art techniques typically include calculating velocities of vehicles, for example, by acquiring series of exact locations of the vehicles located along roads in known time intervals, by measuring vehicular traffic flux along roads, especially, along highways, and/or, by a variety of other means known in the field. There are prior art techniques which are either based on, or, include, the use of networks of fixed or static traffic sensors or electronic devices, such as video cameras, induction boxes, tag readers, traffic detectors, and so on, which are installed and fixed along known locations of main traffic arteries and/or traffic volume. Fixed or static traffic sensors or electronic devices, positioned at known locations, relay crossing times of vehicles to a computerized central traffic data and information handling (gathering, collecting, acquiring, analyzing, processing, communicating, distributing) system that consequently calculates velocities of the vehicles between two such sensors.
Significant limitations of developing and implementing comprehensive, highly accurate and precise, techniques for acquiring, analyzing, processing, and applying, vehicular traffic data and information, primarily based upon a system or network of fixed or static traffic sensors or electronic devices, are the relatively large amounts and expense of the necessary infrastructure and maintenance, especially if such resources are to account for and include vehicular traffic data and information associated with a plethora of minor roads characterized by low volumes of vehicular traffic.
More recent prior art techniques are either based on, or, at least include, the use of mobile sensors or electronic devices physically located in or attached to vehicles, each of which is uniquely or specifically designated or assigned to a particular vehicle, whereby the mobile sensors or electronic devices automatically transmit vehicle locations to the computerized central traffic data and information handling system according to pre-determined time intervals, and, whereby, vehicle velocities are relatively simple to calculate for vehicle locations acquired with sufficient accuracy.
For obtaining dynamic vehicle location and velocity data and information, having varying degrees of accuracy and precision, from uniquely or specifically dedicated in-vehicle mobile sensors or electronic devices, such prior art techniques make use of well known global positioning system (GPS) and/or other types of mobile wireless communication or electronic vehicular tracking technologies, such as cellular telephone or radio types of mobile wireless communications networks or systems, involving the use of corresponding mobile wireless devices such as cellular telephones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), transceivers, and other types of telemetric devices, which are uniquely or specifically designated or assigned to a particular vehicle. Establishing and maintaining various communications of the mobile sensors or electronic devices, the computerized central traffic data and information handling system, and, vehicular end-users, are also performed by mobile wireless communication networks or systems, such as cellular telephone mobile wireless communications networks or systems, for example, involving the Internet.
It is noted, however, that due to the requirement of uniquely or specifically designating or assigning each mobile sensor or electronic device to a particular vehicle during the process of gathering, collecting, or acquiring, the vehicular traffic data and information, the potential number of mobile sensors or electronic devices providing dynamic vehicle location and velocity data and information to the computerized central traffic data and information handling system is limited, in proportion to the number of vehicles featuring the particular mobile wireless communication or electronic vehicular tracking technology. For example, currently, there is a significantly larger potential number of vehicles associated with cellular telephone types of a mobile wireless communication network or system compared to the potential number of vehicles associated with GPS types of a mobile wireless communication network or system.
Various specific techniques for manually and electronically gathering, collecting, or acquiring, vehicular traffic data and information are relatively well developed and taught about in the prior art. Moreover, various specific techniques for electronically communicating, sending, or distributing, analyzed and processed vehicular traffic data and information in vehicular traffic related service applications to end users are also relatively well developed and taught about in the prior art. However, there remains a strong on-going need for developing better, more comprehensive, highly accurate and precise, yet, practicable and implementable techniques for analyzing, modeling, and processing, the acquired, collected, or gathered, vehicular traffic data and information. This last aspect is especially true with regard to using vehicular traffic data and information for comprehensively, yet, accurately and practicably, describing current and predicting future vehicular traffic situations and scenarios, from which vehicular traffic data and information are used for providing a variety of vehicular traffic related service applications to end users.
In the prior art, a critically important aspect requiring new and improved understanding and enabling description for developing better, more comprehensive, highly accurate and precise, yet, practicable and implementable techniques for analyzing, modeling, and processing, the acquired, collected, or gathered, vehicular traffic data and information, relates to the use of a geographical information system (GIS), or, other similarly organized and detailed spatial representation of a network of roads, for a particular local or wide area region, within which the vehicular traffic data and information are acquired, collected, or gathered. In particular, there is a need for properly and efficiently xe2x80x98spatiallyxe2x80x99 modeling a road network, and, properly and efficiently xe2x80x98spatiallyxe2x80x99 modeling, interrelating, and correlating, the vehicular traffic data and information which are acquired, collected, or gathered, among a plurality of sub-regions, sub-areas, or, other designated sub-divisions, within the particular local or wide area region of the spatially modeled road network. Furthermore, there is a particular need for incorporating the factor or dimension of time, for properly and efficiently xe2x80x98spatially and temporallyxe2x80x99 defining, interrelating, and correlating, the vehicular traffic data and information which are acquired, collected, or gathered, among the plurality of sub-regions, sub-areas, or, other designated sub-divisions, within the particular local or wide area region of the spatially modeled road network.
In the prior art, another critically important aspect requiring new and improved understanding and enabling description relates to the modeling and processing of vehicular traffic data and information which are acquired, collected, or gathered, using techniques based on cellular telephone types of mobile wireless communications networks or systems, which to date, feature relatively low accuracy and precision of vehicle locations compared to the less widely used, but significantly more highly accurate and precise, GPS types of mobile wireless communication or electronic vehicular tracking technologies.
In prior art, another critically important aspect requiring new and improved understanding and enabling description relates to the modeling and processing of vehicular traffic data and information which are acquired, collected, or gathered, from an xe2x80x98arbitraryxe2x80x99, non-pre-determined or non-designated, population or group of vehicles each including a uniquely or specifically designated or assigned mobile sensor or electronic device, therefore, resulting in a potentially large number of mobile sensors or electronic devices providing dynamic vehicle location and velocity data and information to the computerized central traffic data and information handling system.
In the prior art, another critically important aspect requiring new and improved understanding and enabling description relates to the proper and efficient combining or fusing of a variety of vehicular traffic data and information which are acquired, collected, or gathered, using a combination of a various techniques based on networks of fixed or static traffic sensors or electronic devices, GPS and/or cellular telephone types of mobile wireless communications networks or systems, and, various other manual and electronic types of vehicular traffic data and information such as historical and/or event related vehicular traffic data and information.
In the prior art, another important aspect requiring understanding and enabling description relates to techniques for protecting the privacy of individuals associated with or hosting the sources, that is, the mobile sensors or electronic devices, of vehicular traffic data and information which are acquired, collected, or gathered, using techniques based on GPS and/or cellular telephone types of mobile wireless communications networks or systems. The inventors are unaware of any prior art teaching for performing this in the field of vehicular traffic data and information.
There is thus a strong need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have a method and system for modeling and processing vehicular traffic data and information, and using the modeled and processed vehicular traffic data and information for providing a variety of vehicular traffic related service applications to end users. Moreover, there is a particular need for such a generally applicable method and system with regard to using vehicular traffic data and information for comprehensively, yet, accurately and practicably, describing current and predicting future vehicular traffic situations and scenarios, from which vehicular traffic data and information are used for providing the variety of vehicular traffic related service applications to the end users.
The present invention relates to a method and system for modeling and processing vehicular traffic data and information, and using the modeled and processed vehicular traffic data and information for providing a variety of vehicular traffic related service applications to end users. The present invention especially includes features for using vehicular traffic data and information for comprehensively, yet, accurately and practicably, describing current and predicting future vehicular traffic situations and scenarios, from which vehicular traffic data and information are used for providing the variety of vehicular traffic related service applications to the end users.
Thus, according to the present invention, there is provided a method and a system for modeling and processing vehicular traffic data and information, comprising: (a) transforming a spatial representation of a road network into a network of spatially interdependent and interrelated oriented road sections, for forming an oriented road section network; (b) acquiring a variety of the vehicular traffic data and information associated with the oriented road section network, from a variety of sources; (c) prioritizing, filtering, and controlling, the vehicular traffic data and information acquired from each of the variety of sources; (d) calculating a mean normalized travel time (NTT) value for each oriented road section of said oriented road section network using the prioritized, filtered, and controlled, vehicular traffic data and information associated with each source, for forming a partial current vehicular traffic situation picture associated with each source; (e) fusing the partial current traffic situation picture associated with each source, for generating a single complete current vehicular traffic situation picture associated with entire oriented road section network; (f) predicting a future complete vehicular traffic situation picture associated with the entire oriented road section network; and (g) using the current vehicular traffic situation picture and the future vehicular traffic situation picture for providing a variety of vehicular traffic related service applications to end users.
The present invention successfully overcomes all the previously described shortcomings and limitations of presently known techniques for analyzing, modeling, and processing, the acquired, collected, or gathered, vehicular traffic data and information. Especially with regard to using vehicular traffic data and information for comprehensively, yet, accurately and practicably, describing current and predicting future vehicular traffic situations and scenarios, from which vehicular traffic data and information are used for providing a variety of vehicular traffic related service applications to end users. Another important benefit of the present invention is that it is generally applicable and complementary to various different xe2x80x98upstreamxe2x80x99 prior art techniques of gathering, collecting, or acquiring, vehicular traffic data and information, and, generally applicable and complementary to various different xe2x80x98downstreamxe2x80x99 prior art techniques of electronically communicating, sending, or distributing, the analyzed, modeled, and processed, vehicular traffic data and information in vehicular traffic related service applications to end users.
Implementation of the method and system for modeling and processing vehicular traffic data and information, and using the modeled and processed vehicular traffic data and information for providing a variety of vehicular traffic related service applications to end users, according to the present invention, involves performing or completing selected tasks or steps manually, automatically, or a combination thereof. Moreover, according to actual instrumentation and/or equipment used for implementing a particular preferred embodiment of the disclosed invention, several selected steps of the present invention could be performed by hardware, by software on any operating system of any firmware, or a combination thereof. In particular, as hardware, selected steps of the invention could be performed by a computerized network, a computer, a computer chip, an electronic circuit, hard-wired circuitry, or a combination thereof, involving any number of digital and/or analog, electrical and/or electronic, components, operations, and protocols. Additionally, or alternatively, as software, selected steps of the invention could be performed by a data processor, such as a computing platform, executing a plurality of computer program types of software instructions or protocols using any suitable computer operating system. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tool for removing a chisel, in particular from a chisel holder, having a base element which receives an actuating member, wherein the actuating member has an expeller mandrel, and the actuating member is adjustable.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Similar tools are employed, for example, in connection with road milling machinery, recyclers, surface miners, and the like. They are used for removing chisels, in particular shank chisels, such as round shank chisels. In this case, the chisels are clampingly held in chisel receivers. Customarily, the chisel receivers are designed as through-bores. The chisel holders themselves are fastened to the surface of a milling roller tube, in particular welded to it, or are interchangeably fixed in base supports, which also are welded to the surface of a milling roller tube. Tools are known for making the removal of the chisels easier, such as are described in German Patent Reference DE 296 23 508 U1.
This tool has two lever arms, which are connected with each other by a joint. Here, one of the arms constitutes the expeller mandrel, and the other lever constitutes a handle element. The expeller mandrel can be inserted with its free end into the chisel receiver so that its end contacts the chisel shank of the chisel to be expelled.
The tool can be placed with the second lever against a support shoulder on the milling roller tube. Then, the chisel can be pushed out of the chisel receiver by a lever displacement. Finally, the expeller mandrel is threaded out of the chisel receiver. In the restricted assembly space, the manipulation of the double lever is difficult and is time-consuming. Further, the tool requires a support shoulder on the milling roller, which is not always available.
Removal tools are also known, which can be placed with draw-off claws against the chisel head of the chisel. In this case, a circumferential groove is required in the chisel head, into which the draw-off claws enter. It is not possible to perform a removal of the chisels, if the chisel heads are worn to such a large extent that the groove is no longer sufficiently available. Also, chisels with broken-off chisel heads cannot be removed. Such tools are known from German Patent References DE 43 23 699 C2, DE 32 23 761 A1, and DE 84 03 441 U1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,641 B1.
A further tool is described in German Patent Reference DE 30 26 930 A 1. This tool has a support arm, which can be fixed in place against the chisel holder. A pivot lever, which has a handle, is coupled with the support arm. The chisel holder has a linearly displaceable plunger. For removing the chisel, a pivot arm facing away from the handle is placed against the plunger. As a result of displacing the handle, the plunger can be displaced and the chisel can be pushed out of the chisel receiver by it. The plunger, which is structurally connected with the chisel holder, constitutes an additional part and assembly cost. Further, it requires an increase in the structural space in the chisel holder, which is not always acceptable in connection with modern precision milling machines.
Also, this type of construction requires the fixation of the chisel in a blind hole-like chisel receiver which can become soiled during operation, which leads to a loss of the system. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
MicroRNAs (miRNA) are a recently discovered class of small non-coding RNAs (17-14 nucleotides). Due to their function as regulators of gene expression they play a critical role both in physiological and in pathological processes, such as cancer (Calin and Croce 2006; Esquela-Kerscher and Slack 2006; Zhang, Pan et al. 2007; Sassen, Miska et al. 2008).
There is increasing evidence that miRNAs are not only found in tissues but also in human blood both as free circulating nucleic acids and in mononuclear cells. A recent proof-of-principle study demonstrated miRNA expression pattern in pooled blood sera and pooled blood cells, both in healthy individuals and in cancer patients including patients with lung cancer (Chen, Ba et al. 2008). In addition, a remarkable stability of miRNAs in human sera was recently demonstrated (Chen, Ba et al. 2008; Gilad, Meiri et al. 2008). These findings make miRNA a potential tool for diagnostics for various types of diseases based on blood analysis.
Thus, although various markers have been proposed to indicate specific types of disorders such as prostate cancer, Wilms' tumour or COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) there is still a need for more efficient and effective methods and compositions for the diagnosis of diseases. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Molecular imaging identification of changes in the cellular structures indicative of disease remains a key to the better understanding in medicinal science. Microscopy applications are applicable to microbiology (e.g., gram staining, etc.), plant tissue culture, animal cell culture (e.g. phase contrast microscopy, etc.), molecular biology, immunology (e.g., ELISA, etc.), cell biology (e.g., immunofluorescence, chromosome analysis, etc.), confocal microscopy, time-lapse and live cell imaging, series and three-dimensional imaging.
There have been advances in confocal microscopy that have unraveled many of the secrets occurring within the cell and the transcriptional and translational level changes can be detected using fluorescence markers. The advantage of the confocal approach results from the capability to image individual optical sections at high resolution in sequence through the specimen. However, there remains a need for improved systems and methods for digital processing of images of pathological tissue that provide accurate analysis of pathological tissues with increased efficiency and speed.
It is a desirable goal in digital pathology to obtain high resolution digital images of samples on slides for viewing in a short period of time. Manual methods whereby the pathologist views a slide through the ocular lens of a microscope allows a diagnosis upon inspection of cell characteristics or count of stained cells vs. unstained cells. Automated methods are desirable whereby digital images are collected, viewed on high resolution monitors and may be shared and archived for later use. It is advantageous that the imaging process be accomplished efficiently at a high throughput and minimal damage to the handling system and slides during slide handling within the imaging system.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a system that efficiently provides focused, high quality images at a high throughput while minimizing the potential for delays and damage during slide handling within the imaging system. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to telephone number information displaying devices in which, while the bell of a telephone set is ringing, the telephone number of a calling party is displayed at high speed.
A variety of techniques have been developed as means in which, while a called party is talking with a calling party after the latter dialed and the former picks us the handset the telephone exchange performs counter detection for the telephone number of the calling party upon the called party's request. Furthermore, there are some subscriber-owned systems in which the calling party's number can be transmitted to the called party side by the devices provided on both sides after the talk condition has been established.
However, these conventional devices are basically different in technical concept from this invention. Primarily, the invention has been developed for protecting privacy of a subscriber; that is, the invention has been developed for eliminating drawbacks inherent to the present telephone communication system. In the invention, while the bell of the telephone set is ringing, the dial information of the calling party is displayed at high speed (within one second). The Applicant has a Japanese Patent on this subject. However, it is in its early stage, and it is not so practical for other than use in a PBX (private branch exchange) in the present telephone exchange system as its dial information transmitting speed is very slow.
With respect to the above-described conventional device, a technique in which, when the user dials a telephone number, the telephone number is displayed on the device so that he may not make a mistake in dialing it, has been developed already. In the displaying device according to the invention, this effect is obtained by switching necessary or selected circuits with a greater part of the device maintained as it is. More specifically, the circuit for this purpose is so designed that if the user picks up the handset to dial, the necessary switching operation is automatically achieved. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Computer systems generally utilize auxiliary memory storage devices having media on which data can be written and from which data can be read for later use. A direct access storage device (disk drive) incorporating rotating magnetic disks is commonly used for storing data in magnetic form on the disk surfaces. Data is recorded on concentric, radially spaced tracks on the disk surfaces. Magnetic heads are then used to read data from the tracks on the disk surfaces.
FIGS. 1-2 illustrate a method of manufacturing a coil structure associated with a magnetic head, in accordance with the prior art. FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an initial stack 100 with which a prior art coil structure may be manufactured. As shown, the stack 100 includes a first layer 102 including Al2O3 or some other substrate material. Deposited on the first layer 102 is a second layer 104 including Cr or the like. A third layer 106 is deposited on the second layer 104. The third layer 106 is constructed from a conductive material such as Cu or the like.
On the third layer 106 is a fourth layer 108 including masked photoresist that defines a plurality of channels 110. Such channels 110, in turn, define a coil structure. Deposited in the channels 110 is a conductive material 111 such as Cu or the like.
FIG. 2 illustrates another cross-sectional view of the stack 100 of FIG. 1 after various processes. In particular, a protective layer may be positioned on the conductive material in the channels 110 of FIG. 1 so that the fourth layer 108 may be removed using a wet or plasma etch process while portions of the third layer 106 thereunder may be removed utilizing an ion milling process. As a result of the foregoing process, the conductive material 111 takes the form of a coil structure. Various well-known processes may then be exploited to incorporate the coil structure in a magnetic head for use. For example, another layer of photoresist may be applied, and leads may be connected to the conductive material 111 of the coil structure.
A coil structure is thus provided with a certain aspect ratio (B/A). As is well known, high aspect ratios are desirable. Traditionally, however, such aspect ratio is limited due to inherent deficiencies with the ion milling process. For example, ion milling may exhibit difficulties in removing the third layer 106 if the (A) dimension is too small. As a result of such deficiencies, aspect ratios are typically less than six (6).
There is thus a need for a magnetic head coil structure and a method of manufacturing the same with high aspect ratios without the problems associated with the prior art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drive system for a vehicle, more particularly, to a drive system capable of transmitting driving force of a longitudinally mounted engine through a continuously variable transmission to drive wheels of the vehicle.
2. Prior Art
A belt driven continuously variable transmission has a primary pulley mounted on a primary shaft, a secondary pulley mounted on a secondary shaft provided in parallel with the primary shaft and a belt looped over the primary and secondary pulleys. Generally, the pulley diameter of the primary and secondary pulleys is determined based on miscellaneous design requirements such as pulley strength, belt strength, speed ratio and others. As a result, the pulleys need some amount of diameter and therefore a large distance is needed between the primary and secondary shafts. In case of a transversely mounted engine, that is, an engine whose crank shaft is arranged in the widthwise direction of the vehicle, such distance is not so big problem because the transversely mounted engine provides a relatively large longitudinal space in an engine room.
On the other hand, in a longitudinally mounted engine, an engine whose crank shaft is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, since the primary shaft of the continuously variable transmission is connected with the crank shaft through a starting apparatus such as torque converter, electromagnetic clutch and the like, the secondary shaft must be arranged under the primary shaft. This arrangement requires a large vertical size to the transmission and also increases agitation loss of lubrication oil.
Further, in case of a vehicle such as front wheel drive vehicle or four wheel drive vehicle, a front differential must be incorporated in the engine room. In this case, a problem is that the total vertical length of the continuously variable transmission including the front differential extends further downwardly. In order to reduce the vertical length of the transmission, it is considered that the differential is arranged in an offsetting manner from the center of the vehicle to a left or right side. The problem of this arrangement is an unbalance in weight due to the left and right drive axles with unequal length.
In general, in case where an engine is longitudinally mounted, the longitudinal length of the engine room tends to become large. It is desirable to reduce the longitudinal size of the drive system in order to secure a large space of the passenger compartment. Particularly, it is desirable to design so as not to make a protrusion of a toe board into the passenger compartment.
Japanese Patent Applications Laid-open No. Toku-Kai-Hei 9-267652 and No. Toku-Kai-Hei 9-277842 disclose drive systems having a belt driven continuously variable transmission combined with a longitudinally mounted engine. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mask employed in a step of fabricating a semiconductor device or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a mask is employed for imparting a constant pattern onto a substrate in a step of fabricating a semiconductor device or the like. In order to manufacture this mask, a mask preparation system executes a mask preparation job. FIG. 8 shows the contents of a general mask preparation job. The system accepts mask pattern information and carries out a rendering step S1 on the basis of this information. Then, the system carries out a development step S2, an etching step S3 and an inspection step S4. A mask passing the inspection step S4 is regarded as a completed mask.
Following recent refinement and densification of the structure of a semiconductor device, a mask required therefor is also improved in precision and refined. Further, fabrication of mask patterns is complicated due to techniques such as shrink shrinking and fitting a pattern in a constant section at a constant magnification, optical proximity correction (OPC) correcting the thickness or the like in consideration of the difference between quantities of actually arriving light and the like. While a single mask pattern may include a generic part and a specific part or a part requiring high precision and a part requiring moderate precision, the rendering step disadvantageously requires excess time if the mask pattern is collectively prepared by the conventional mask preparation job.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a mask capable of efficiently manufacturing a mask having a desired mask pattern.
In order to attain the aforementioned object, the method of manufacturing a mask according to the present invention comprises a mask preparation step of dividing a first desired mask pattern into a first mask pattern part and a second mask pattern part and performing rendering, development and etching on the first and second mask pattern parts independently of each other for preparing a first mask having the aforementioned first mask pattern part and a second mask having the second mask pattern part independently of each other and a first superposition step of superposing the aforementioned first mask and the aforementioned second mask for combining the aforementioned first mask pattern part and the aforementioned second mask pattern part with each other so that the upper surfaces and the lower surfaces of the aforementioned first and second mask pattern parts are flush with each other respectively thereby forming the aforementioned first desired mask pattern. According to this method, a desired mask pattern can be obtained by separately preparing masks in a divided manner in response to the difference between conditions of mask pattern parts included in the desired mask pattern and thereafter combining these masks with each other, whereby useful processing can be properly performed in response to the mask pattern parts for enabling efficient work.
In order to attain the aforementioned object, a mask according to the present invention comprises a first mask having a first mask pattern and a second mask having a second mask pattern prepared independently of each other, while the aforementioned first mask and the aforementioned second mask are superposed for combining the aforementioned first mask pattern part and the aforementioned second mask pattern part with each other so that the upper surfaces and the lower surfaces of the aforementioned first and second mask pattern parts are flush with each other respectively. According to this structure, the mask can be obtained by separately preparing the first and second mask patterns and combining the same with each other, whereby the mask can be efficiently manufactured.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Young livestock confined to gated pens typically obtain drinking water from animal waterers. The height of the animal waterer must be periodically adjusted to accommodate for the growing size of the animals. Conventional animal waterers include a metal pipe, with the top end of the pipe being attached to a water supply and the bottom end of the pipe terminating in a nipple. The nippled end is shaped to fit into the animals' mouths. The pipe is usually attached to the gate by a metal bracket. The metal bracket includes a spring located between two tabs, with each tab having an oval shaped opening for the pipe to pass through. The spring forces the tabs apart and into a position angled with respect to the pipe, resulting in a frictional engagement of the pipe and the tabs. As the tabs are squeezed together, the spring compresses and the tabs become substantially perpendicular to the pipe, allowing the pipe to move vertically through the oval shaped openings and to adjust for the appropriate height of animals. Releasing the tabs results again in frictional engagement of the pipe at the newly adjusted height.
One problem that arises with existing animal waterers is that metal corrodes. Corrosion necessitates frequent replacement of parts and of the entire assembly. Also, corrosion of both the pipe and the bracket makes moving the pipe vertically within the tabs difficult. Another problem with conventional animal waterers is that a certain force must be exerted to compress the spring. An even greater amount of force is required to compress the spring when the spring and the tabs corrode. Additionally, existing animal waterers are costly because these assemblies include many parts that require labor intensive assembly. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for data processing for IC tags and an image forming device such as a label printer. In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for data processing for IC tags by which electronic information is read from and/or written to IC tags moving in a given direction, the IC tags being transported by a conveying medium on which they are mounted, and an image forming device with the data processing apparatus for IC tags.
2. Prior Art
A wireless communication device comprising a storage device, a transceiver, and an antenna is a semiconductor device from/to which contactless reading and/or writing of electronic information can be performed, which is generally called a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) device. RFID devices are used, embedded in various kinds of IC cards such as credit cards. Recently, it has been proposed to use the RFID devices for management of commercial goods by embedding them into labels tagged to commercial goods, recording information about the goods electronically onto them, and reading the information from them as required.
To read and/or write electronic information from/to such an RFID device (hereinafter referred to as an IC tag), a system is known in which a conveying medium such as recording paper on which IC tags mounted by bonding and other means is allowed to pass through a reader/writer which performs reading and/or writing of electronic information, electronic information is transmitted and received between the antenna of the reader/writer and the antenna of each IC tag, and reading and/or writing of electronic information from/to the IC tags will be performed in a contactless state.
Some reader/writer of this kind quickly reads and/or writes electronic information from/to IC tags mounted on a conveying medium, arranged in multiple rows along the direction in which the conveying medium moves. In this case, the plurality of IC tags on the conveying medium are sequentially identified and electronic information for each identified IC tag is read from and/or written to each IC tag. To do this, the antenna of the reader/writer is moved in a direction orthogonal to the direction of moving of the IC tags to sequentially identify the IC tags arranged in multiple rows; this mechanism is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2003-300356.
A conveying medium on which IC tags are mounted, arranged in multiple rows and columns along the direction in which the conveying medium moves is also known, which is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2003-331220.
Moreover, in sorting a device that uses IC tags for sorting packages, an antenna device allowing for reliable reading of electronic information from IC tags is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2004-244140. This antenna device consists of two coil antennas placed to surround a conveyer belt for conveying packages and the two antennas extend in the direction of conveyance and are placed asymmetrically to widen the area where communication with IC tags is possible in the conveyance direction and ensure longer communication time during which more read operations are performed.
Furthermore, when the conveying medium on which IC tags are mounted is moved at a constant speed, if the amount of data for electronic information to be read from and/or written to an IC tag is great, reading and/or writing of the information may be uncompleted during the passage of the IC tag through the antenna coverage of the reader/writer. When a plurality of IC tags exist in the antenna coverage of the reader/writer, an IC tag for which reading and/or writing of electronic information should be performed cannot be identified and a communication error may take place. The use of a smaller antenna for countermeasures against such error may result in incompletion of reading and/or writing of electronic data during the passage through the antenna coverage. To address such a problem, a system in which multiple readers/writers or their antennas are provided and one of them is selected according to condition is disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2004-082432.
The above prior art readers/writers that read and/or write electronic information from/to IC tags each bring about disadvantages below: need for the mechanism to move the antenna orthogonally to the direction in which IC tags are conveyed (Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 2003-300356); provision of multiple antennas for countermeasures against communication errors which may occur when a plurality of IC tags exist in the antenna coverage of the reader/writer; and need for communication error preventing measures such as providing more spacing between IC tags on the conveying medium in the conveyance direction. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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To provide cellular wireless communication service, a wireless service provider or “wireless carrier” typically operates a radio access network (RAN) that defines one or more coverage areas in which mobile stations can be served by the RAN and can thereby obtain connectivity to broader networks such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the Internet. A typical RAN may include one or more base transceiver stations (BTSs) (e.g., macro network cell towers and/or femtocells), each of which may radiate to define a cell and cell sectors in which mobile stations can operate. Further, the RAN may include one or more base station controllers (BSCs) (which may also be referred to as radio network controllers (RNCs)) or the like, which may be integrated with or otherwise in communication with the BTSs, and which may include or be in communication with a switch or gateway that provides connectivity with one or more transport networks. Conveniently with this arrangement, a cell phone, personal digital assistant, wirelessly equipped computer, or other mobile station that is positioned within coverage of the RAN can then communicate with a BTS and in turn, via the BTS, with other served devices or with other entities on the transport network.
Wireless communications between a mobile station and a serving BTS in a given coverage area will typically be carried out in accordance with one or more agreed air interface protocols that define a mechanism for wireless exchange of information between the mobile station and BTS. Examples of such protocols include CDMA (e.g., EIA/TIA/IS-2000 Rel. 0, A (commonly referred to as “IS-2000” or “1xRTT”), EIA/TIA/IS-856 Rel. 0, A, or other version thereof (commonly referred to as “IS-856”, “1xEV-DO”, or “EVDO”)), iDEN, WiMAX (e.g., IEEE 802.16), LTE, TDMA, AMPS, GSM, GPRS, UMTS, or EDGE, and others now known or later developed.
The air interface protocol will generally define a “forward link” encompassing communications from the BTS to mobile stations and a “reverse link” encompassing communications from mobile stations to the BTS. Further, each of these links may be structured to define particular channels, through use of time division multiplexing, code division multiplexing (e.g., spread-spectrum modulation), frequency division multiplexing, and/or some other mechanism.
The forward link, for example, may define (i) a pilot channel on which the RAN may broadcast a pilot signal to allow mobile stations to detect wireless coverage, (ii) system parameter channels (e.g., a sync channel) on which the RAN may broadcast system operational parameters for reference by mobile stations so that the mobile stations can then seek network access, (iii) paging channels on which the RAN may broadcast page messages to alert mobile stations of incoming communications, and (iv) traffic channels on which the RAN may transmit bearer traffic (e.g., application data) for receipt by mobile stations. And the reverse link, for example, may define (i) access channels on which mobile stations may transmit “access probes” such as registration messages and call origination requests, and (ii) traffic channels on which mobile stations may transmit bearer traffic for receipt by the RAN.
When a RAN receives an incoming communication for a mobile station, the RAN typically pages the mobile station via a paging channel in at least the coverage area in which the mobile station last registered. When a cellular wireless communication system seeks to page a mobile station (e.g., for an incoming call or for some other reason), a switch in the network may send the page message to numerous base stations in the switch's coverage area, with the hope that when the base stations broadcast the page message, the mobile station will receive the page message in one of the associated sectors, and will respond. Furthermore, to increase the chances that a mobile station receives a page, a RAN may re-send a page, possibly multiple times, in the event that an attempt to page a mobile station fails.
Once a mobile station is successfully paged, the RAN and mobile station typically proceed to set up a forward-link traffic channel between the BTS and the mobile station, via which the RAN can communicate with the mobile station. As part of this process, the RAN determines the transmit power to use for forward-link traffic. To do so, the RAN may first transmit at an initial transmit power, which is typically a constant power level that is preset at the RAN. The mobile station then evaluates the forward-link signal quality, such as by determining the frame error rate (FER), and reports back to the RAN. Then, depending on the signal quality, the RAN may increase or decrease the transmit power by a predetermined increment. The RAN and mobile station may then repeat this process until a satisfactory signal quality is achieved. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
For some time now, it has been known by the medical profession that certain drugs may be administered to patients by being absorbed over a period of time directly through the epidermis or skin of the patient without using a hypodermic syringe or other invasive technique. Drugs that are intended to be administered in this manner may be compounded in a matrix of other materials suitable for contact with the skin of the patient. One technique for doing so is to combine the drug to be administered transdermally with a pressure sensitive adhesive which can be firmly attached to the skin in a manner which will assure excellent contact with the skin and allow migration of the drug from the pressure sensitive adhesive transdermally to the body of the patient. When this technique is employed, the structure of the article of manufacture includes a backing to protect the pressure sensitive adhesive from contact with other objects and to prevent loss of the drug. Also included is a release liner which is to be removed from the pressure sensitive adhesive immediately prior to application thereof to the skin of the patient. The structure of such transdermal drug delivery devices is shown and described in our application Ser. No. 407,874, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,207, issued Jul. 16, 1991.
In order to facilitate practical and economical manufacture and use of such a transdermal device, it has been found useful to score the release liner so as to permit said liner to be easily removed from the adhesive carrying drug in one step. Our prior related applications describe various techniques and apparatus to accomplish this objective of scoring the liner to permit said liner to be easily removed from the drug-containing pressure sensitive adhesive. However, continuing development for improved manufacturing efficiency and operational considerations has resulted in improvements and variations to that described in the earlier cross-referenced applications. Accordingly, this application is directed to a reflection of those improvements.
Several apparatus and methods are believed to have been devised for intermittently or continuously scoring the release liner portion of a transdermal drug delivery device in order to permit said liner to be easily removed from the drug-containing pressure sensitive adhesive disposed between the release liner and the backing in such devices. The liner is, of course, removed from the device immediately prior to its being applied to the skin on the patient. The typical procedure for the preparation of a transdermal drug delivery device involves a plurality of steps. First, a dilution or suspension of the adhesive is compounded with an appropriate concentration of the drug and is applied to a flexible layer intended to function as a disposable release liner, frequently made of plastic. This release liner also forms, during processing, the means to carry a pressure sensitive drug-containing adhesive through the manufacturing and cutting operation thereafter. Next, a non-releasable or primed backing material is applied over the adhesive. The result is a laminate in the form of a web containing an adhesive with a backing on one side and a disposable release liner on the other side. A shaped and precisely sized device is then formed by peripheral cutting through all the layers of the resulting web. The disposable release liner can then be removed and a second, scored release liner can be attached to the transdermal drug-containing adhesive.
Alternatively, the liner can be first scored and assembled with the adhesive and the backing and then the laminate web cut to the desired dimensions.
The purpose of the multi-step procedure for applying the backing and the release liner to the adhesive containing the drug is to avoid problems encountered when a scored release liner is used in processing. If a completely cut release liner is used prior to coating, the drug-containing adhesive can pass through the release liner at the score causing equipment problems, cracking, separation, heat damage, loss of raw materials, and possible exposure of factory workers to the drug or similar environmental concerns.
Moreover, these prior art methods suffer from the disadvantage that the procedure for applying the release liner requires several steps, and thus have a tendency to be more expensive in mass production than a procedure which involves fewer steps.
In one aspect, the present invention overcomes the difficulties and disadvantages associated with prior art devices by providing a method and apparatus for simultaneously cutting an assembled transdermal drug delivery device from a web comprising a backing layer, a drug-containing pressure sensitive adhesive and a release liner while at the same time scoring the release liner at a position intermediate to the periphery of the transdermal drug delivery device.
In another aspect, the present invention overcomes the difficulties and disadvantages associated with prior art devices by providing a method and apparatus for sequentially first scoring the release liner of an assembled transdermal drug delivery device from a web comprising a backing layer, a drug-containing pressure sensitive adhesive and a release liner, and thereafter cutting the transdermal drug delivery device from the web.
Accomplishing the objectives of this invention is achieved, in part, by providing two types of cutting edges, one sized to cut completely through the periphery of the laminate web to size and form the transdermal drug delivery devices, and a second type sized to only cut or score the release liner at a position intermediate to the periphery, and which intermediate or center scoring does not extend all the way to the adhesive nor to the non-releasable backing. These advantages are accomplished by the use of the first type of cutting edges having the configuration and size of the transdermal drug delivery device to be cut from the web which cutting edges are sufficient in dimension to cut completely through the web and thus through the backing, adhesive, and release liner layers. At the same time, the second type or intermediate or center portion cutting edge is sized to score the release liner to a point just short of the adhesive liner or through the release layer, but not to the adhesive.
There are, of course, prior art devices which relate to apparatuses for scoring or cutting material in the form of a sheet, even when the same is formed from a laminated product. For example, Forbes, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,786,732, relates to an apparatus for scoring a sheet like material. However, it refers to the scoring of carton blank material. The material thereby scored, is substantially different from a pressure sensitive adhesive containing laminate having a degree of dimensional instability and less resistance to cutting action. It is recognized that the apparatus of Forbes, Jr. does not teach a formation for cutting of a drug-containing pressure sensitive adhesive sandwiched between a backing layer and a release liner.
Another prior art reference is Woodall, U.S. Pat. No. 1,963,393, which relates to the cutting of a laminated panel, particularly for a sun visor, to protect automobile drivers. The disclosure relates a panel formed of a sheet of thermal plastic material, which has a fabric on one side attached by an adhesive.
However, both of these references constitute non-analogous prior art, because one skilled in the art attempting to construct a nearly paper-thin transdermal drug delivery device, substantially in the form of a bandage, and having a dimensionally unstable cross-section, would not expect to look for guidance in the arts of cutting and scoring laminated panels or sheet materials. The laminate of the subject transdermal drug delivery device includes one relatively hard surface, i.e., the release liner, a soft or flexible surface, i.e., the backing layer, and a dimensionally unstable inner layer, i.e., the drug-containing pressure sensitive adhesive. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels are present in neurons and excitable tissues where they contribute to processes such as membrane excitability and muscle contraction (Ogata et al., Jpn. J. Pharmacol. (2002) 88(4) 365-77). Nine different transmembrane α-subunits (Nav1.1-1.9) from a single Nav1 family combine with auxiliary β-subunits that modify channel function to form functional Nav channels. Of the nine Nav1 α-subunit isoforms, five are expressed in the dorsal root ganglion where they are involved in setting the resting membrane potential and the threshold for generating action potentials, and also contribute to the upstroke as well as firing of action potentials during sustained depolarization. In particular, the tetrodotoxin (TTX) sensitive Nav1.7 and TTX-insensitive Nav1.8 channel subtypes act as major contributors to both inflammatory and neuropathic pain (Momin et al., Curr Opin Neurobiol. 18(4):383-8, 2008; Rush et al., J Physiol. 579(Pt 1):1-14, 2007).
Calcium channels mediate a variety of normal physiological functions and are also implicated in a number of human disorders. Examples of calcium-mediated human disorders include but are not limited to congenital migraine, cerebellar ataxia, angina, epilepsy, hypertension, ischemia, and some arrhythmias (see, e.g., Janis et al., Ion Calcium Channels: Their Properties, Functions, Regulation and Clinical Relevance (1991) CRC Press, London). T-type, or low voltage-activated, channels describe a broad class of molecules that transiently activate at negative potentials and are highly sensitive to changes in resting potential and are involved in various medical conditions. For example, in mice lacking the gene expressing the 3.1 subunit, resistance to absence seizures was observed (Kim et al., Mol Cell Neurosci 18(2): 235-245, 2001). Other studies have also implicated the 3.2 subunit in the development of epilepsy (Su et al., J Neurosci 22: 3645-3655, 2002).
Novel allosteric modulators of the slow-inactivation sodium or the slow-inactivation calcium channel are thus desired. Modulators may affect the kinetics and/or the voltage potentials of the slow-inactivation of one or any combination of Nav1.7, Nav1.8 or Cav3.2 channels. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat-dissipating fan and, more particularly, to a miniature heat-dissipating fan that includes a stator having a reduced axial thickness.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional heat-dissipating fan is described in China Patent Publication No. 101060766 (with Application No. 200610072272.8) entitled “SMALL HEAT-DISSIPATING DEVICE”. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional heat-dissipating fan 8 includes a casing 81 defining a compartment 811 and a lid 82 mounted on a top of the casing 81. A circuit board 83 and coils 84 are mounted to a base 812 delimiting a bottom of the compartment 811. An axial tube 813 extends from a center portion of the base 812, with an impeller rotor 86 being coupled rotatably in the compartment 811 by the axial tube 813. Furthermore, at least two positioning members 85 are provided on the base 812 and located outside the axial tube 813. As shown in FIG. 2, a magnet 861 and a metal ring 862 are fixed to a bottom surface of the impeller rotor 86, with the metal ring 862 being sandwiched between the impeller rotor 86 and the magnet 861. In use, the coils 84 are provided with an electric current to generate flux linkage between the coils 84 and the magnet 861, such that the impeller rotor 86 is driven by the excited coils 84 to rotate. Hence, the conventional heat-dissipating fan 8 can be mounted to an electronic device or electronic apparatus and dissipate heat generated by said electronic device or electronic apparatus.
Nevertheless, said conventional heat-dissipating fan 8 has several drawbacks as follows:
First, the metal ring 862 provides a leakage flux absorbing effect during rotation of the impeller rotor 86 that is driven by alternating magnetic fields generated by the coils 84. However, the metal ring 862 only can prevent an occurrence of magnetic flux leakage above the coils 84 and the magnet 861. Thus, magnetic flux that is generated by the coils 84 and doesn't react with the magnet 861 results in magnetic flux leakage under the coils 84 to cause electromagnetic interference (EMI), so that functions of the electronic device or electronic apparatus may easily be affected.
Second, the current trend of research and development in electronic products is miniaturization. However, the circuit board 83 and the coils 84 both have fixed axial thicknesses, which lead to a difficulty in reducing the entire axial thickness of the conventional heat-dissipating fan 8. As a result, minimizing dimensions of the conventional heat-dissipating fan 8 is not feasible, so that it is hard to apply the conventional heat-dissipating fan 8 to a miniature electronic device or electronic apparatus.
Another conventional heat-dissipating fan, Taiwan Patent Issue No. 1293106 entitled “THIN TYPE FAN”, is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. The conventional heat-dissipating fan 9 includes a base plate 91 having an axial hole 911 and a plurality of stator coils 912, a flat-type impeller 92 having a series of bent vanes 921, a magnet sheet 93 attached to a bottom of the flat-type impeller 92, and a shaft member 94. One end of the shaft member 94 extends into the axial hole 911 of the base plate 91, and the other end of the shaft member 94 is fixed to the flat-type impeller 92. Therefore, the conventional heat-dissipating fan 9 can be mounted to an electronic device or electronic apparatus to provide a heat dissipating effect.
However, owing to the fixed axial thicknesses of the base plate 91 and the stator coils 912 of the conventional heat-dissipating fan 9, it is difficult to reduce the entire axial thickness of the conventional heat-dissipating fan 9, too. Also, a difficulty of minimizing dimensions of the conventional heat-dissipating fan 9 is caused, and, thereby, the conventional heat-dissipating fan 9 is hard to be mounted to a miniature electronic device or electronic apparatus. Hence, there is a need for an improvement over the conventional heat-dissipating fan. | {
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Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a resistive random access memory device and method for fabricating the same, and in particular to a high reliability resistive random access memory device and method for fabricating the same.
Description of the Related Art
Resistive random access memory (RRAM) has advantages like low power consumption, low operating voltage, lower writing-erasing time, long durability, long memory time, nondestructive access, multi-state memory, simple process of element and scalable, and thus RRAM has become a mainstay of novel random access memory. The basic structure of conventional resistive random access memory is a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) stacked structure consisting of a bottom electrode, a resistive switching layer and a top electrode. The resistive switching (RS) resistance of the RRAM is an important feature of the device. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power adapter, and more particularly to a power adapter which can make a plug and a main body thereof to be engaged with each other firmly.
2. The Related Art
Generally, a power adapter is always used for adapting different sockets provided in different countries when one traveling all over the world. Therefore, a plug of the power adapter for connecting with the socket also must be exchangeable for adapting. At present, the power adapter generally includes a main body and a plug rotatably mounted to the main body. The main body has an opening, and a side of the plug has an arm with a protruding portion located on an end thereof and away from the main body. A guiding recess in the main body is the pathway passed by the arm and the protruding portion so that the protruding portion is wedged into the opening for preventing the plug from reverse rotation.
However, such assembling structure needs a biggish space so as to add the volume of the main body, which is not only inconvenient for user to carry the adapter during traveling, but also restrains other electrical devices from connecting with the socket when the power adapter is connected to the socket. In additional, in assembly or disassembly, the protruding portion is necessary to be pressed down firstly so that the plug can rotate with respect to the main body, which is not quite convenient for user to use. | {
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Various notational systems have been used to encode classes of chemical units by assigning a unique code to each chemical unit in the class. For example, a conventional notational system for encoding amino acids assigns a single letter of the alphabet to each known amino acid. A polymer of chemical units may be represented using such a notational system using a set of codes corresponding to the chemical units. Such notational systems have been used to encode polymers, such as proteins, in a computer-readable format. A polymer that has been represented in such a computer-readable format according to a notational system may be stored and processed by a computer.
Conventional notational schemes for representing chemical units have represented the chemical units as characters (e.g., A, T, G, and C for nucleic acids), and have represented polymers of chemical units as sequences or sets of characters. Various operations may be performed on such a notational representation of a chemical unit or a polymer comprised of chemical units. For example, a user may search a database of chemical units for a query sequence of chemical units. In such a case, the user typically provides a character-based notational representation of the sequence in the form of a sequence of characters, which is compared against the character-based notational representations of sequences of chemical units stored in the database. Character-based searching algorithms, however, are typically slow because such algorithms search by comparing individual characters in the query sequence against individual characters in the sequences of chemical units stored in the database. The spread of such algorithms is therefore related to the length of the query sequence, resulting in particularly poor performance for long query sequences.
The study of molecular and cellular biology is focused on the macroscopic structure of cells. We now know that cells have a complex microstructure that determine the functionality of the cell. Much of the diversity associated with cellular structure and function is due to the ability of a cell to assemble various building blocks into diverse chemical compounds. The cell accomplishes this task by assembling polymers from a limited set of building blocks referred to as monomers. The key to the diverse functionality of polymers is based in the primary sequence of the monomers within the polymer and is integral to understanding the basis for cellular function, such as why a cell differentiates in a particular manner or how a cell will respond to treatment with a particular drug.
The ability to identify the structure of polymers by identifying their sequence of monomers is integral to the understanding of each active component and the role that component plays within a cell. By determining the sequences of polymers it is possible to generate expression maps, to determine what proteins are expressed, to understand where mutations occur in a disease state, and to determine whether a polysaccharide has better function or loses function when a particular monomer is absent or mutated. | {
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In a restaurant, it is not unusual to see that people leave their purses on the table or on the floor, or their jackets on the back of a chair while they dine. By doing so, they risk losing those personal items to petit-theft. It is desirable to provide a table-edge hanger for hanging a personal item next to the owner. Furthermore, the hanger may be equipped with an anti-theft warning device. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spiral die assembly suitable for forming tubular body by an extrusion molding.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
In conventional extrusion molding methods for forming tubular bodies, a spider die which frequently causes spider marks and a straight die which tends to cause uneven thickness in molded products are not employed, but spiral die assemblies as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B are employed instead. In such a spiral die assembly a spiral groove 3 is formed on the outer surface of a mandrel 2 which is inserted in a main body 1 of the die assembly. Molten resin supplied from an extruder is usually introduced into the mandrel via an inlet 31 and divided its flow path into two to eight flow paths at a dividing inlet 32, and finally moved to a die lip (rightmost end of FIG. 4A or 4B) via the spiral groove 3. Depth of the spiral groove 3 is gradually decreasing toward the die lip. Portion of molten resin is moved between the inner surface of the main body 1 and the mandrel 2 as molten resin being moved in the spiral groove 3 and its flow is adjusted in a reserving portion 33 (see FIG. 4B) and a straight portion (a land portion: a rip gap portion), so that molten resin reaches to the die lip in an adjusted flow. Sometimes, a spiral die assembly having no reserving portions (see FIG. 4A) is used depending on products to be molded.
Except the above-mentioned spiral die assemblies, various dies have been proposed in order to homogenize molten resin at the outlet of the die lip.
1) When a porous pipe is formed out of high viscous material, the material between a cylinder and a mandrel is heated by frictional force in order to disperse strands after passing a breaker plate or in order to adhere and to polymerize powdered material. The frictional heat is obtained by rotating the cylinder. The Japanese laid open patent No. 8-57936 (reference 1) discloses a die arrangement such that a die for extrusion molding and a molded product can be relatively rotated (see FIG. 5). The relative rotation is continuously or intermittently executed and is controlled its rotational mode and degree of the rotation so as to control properties of the molded products.
2) The Japanese laid open patent No. 59-9035 (reference 2) discloses a method to modify a thickness of an extruded pipe by controlling a gap between a die and a rotatable eccentric nipple (mandrel) and also controlling a detected temperature difference in a circumferential direction. In the extruder for forming the pipe, a cross head 62 in which a resin passage between a die 64 and a nipple 65 is eccentrically arranged except at the end of the resin passage (see FIG. 6) and a sensor is arranged to detect temperature of molten resin in the radial direction. The die and the nipple are arranged such that either one of them can be rotated around an axis for preventing uneven thickness in the extruded product.
3) The Japanese laid open patent No. 10-29237 (reference 3) discloses a molding method for forming laminated products out of different materials. Distributed and leaked different materials from spiral grooves can be laminated in a predetermined order by rotating a mandrel equipped with the spirals (see FIG. 7).
Usually in a die assembly, a molten resin flow along the inner surface of the cylinder (hereinafter referred as “land flow”) and molten resin flows in spiral grooves (hereinafter referred as “spiral flow”) are moved to a die lip as a flow ratio between the two molten resin flows being kept in a fixed balance. This fixed balance is very important in order to keep good appearance in the molded pipes. When the balance breaks, defects such as streak, uneven appearance, uneven thickness, uneven strength and the like appear in the molded pipes.
An appropriate balance between the land flow and the spiral flow is empirically determined according to a width of the spiral groove, a depth of the groove, a pitch of the groove and the like. And the appropriate balance is also varied according to a flow rate, a temperature, a visco-elasticity of molten resin and the like. When the balance is varied, weld marks are frequently formed in the molded products, since proper measures against such varied balance are not established. Sometimes molten resin is kneaded in order to eliminate weld marks by raising the temperature and lowering the visco-elasticity of molten resin, but uneven thickness, contamination (die marks etc.) due to thermal degradation of the molten resin and like are caused.
A round die or a flat die is used in the extruder for forming molten and kneaded resin into a desired shape.
A pipe body such as film, pipe, blown container, net and the like are formed through the round die. Performance of the die for distributing molten resin uniformly around a circumference on an imaginary plane, affects quality of the pipe body, except molding asymmetrical product out of molten resin extruded from the die lip. When the molten resin is not distributed uniformly or homogeneously around the circumference, the following defects are caused: (a) uneven thickness, (b) deteriorated appearance (weld mark, streak, unevenness, wrinkle and so forth), (c) dispersion in strength, (d) dispersion in electrical properties, and the like. In addition, the round die has the following problems: difficulty to substitute remaining resin in the groove with different type of new resin, to require a considerable time and a considerable amount of wasted resin for substituting resins.
Since visco-elasticity of molten resin in the die depends on its temperature and pressure, and varies according to its flow rate, a molten resin flow in the die should be controlled variably. But the molten resin flow in a straight portion (land portion) near the die lip should be controlled by a fixed means in order to attain stable and straight flow.
The weld mark (weld line) mentioned in (b) means a fine line appearing in the extruded pipe, in other words “a streaked state” when molten resin being flowed in the grooves are combined but not mixed homogeneously.
These problems cannot be solved in the above-mentioned prior arts (spiral dies shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B and references 1 to 3). | {
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Conventionally, there has been a mobile IP (Mobile Internet Protocol) as a technique in which even if a communication terminal (MN: Mobile Node) has moved, it can continue communication in the same manner before moving. In the mobile IP, the mobile node has a home address (HoA) and a care-of address (CoA). A home agent (HA) forwards a packet addressed to the home address to a care-of address through which the mobile node is communicable at that time so that the mobile node can continue communication using the same address as that before moving. A mobile IP corresponding to IPv6 (IP version 6) is called MIPv6, and its specification is defined by IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) (see Non-Patent Document 1 below).
The mobile node performs processing (binding update) for notifying the home agent of the care-of address as a forwarding destination of the packet addressed to the home address. The mobile node transmits a BU (Binding Update) message to notify the home agent of the care-of address. The home agent updates a BC (Binding Cache) in which a pair of the home address and the care-of address of the mobile node is registered, and returns a BA (Binding Acknowledgement) message as a reply to the BU message.
Non-Patent Document 1: “Mobility Support in IPv6,” RFC3775.
However, in this conventional binding update procedure, there is a case where the binding update cannot be made well. Specifically, the BA message ends up in a loop on a route so that it cannot be delivered to the mobile node.
The case where the binding update cannot be made well will be specifically described in detail with reference to FIG. 14A to FIG. 14D. It is assumed that a MN registers its home address in a HA1 and a HA2. It is also assumed that, as shown in FIG. 14A, the MN registers HoA1=Addr1 and CoA1=Addr2 in the HA1. Therefore, a packet addressed to Addr1 is forwarded to Addr2. Further, it is assumed that the MN registers HoA2=Addr2 and CoA2=Addr3 in the HA2. Thus, the packet addressed to Addr1 is forwarded by the HA1 to Addr2, further forwarded by the HA2 to Addr3, and received by the MN.
Suppose that the MN transmits a BU message to the HA2 at this time to change the CoA from Addr3 to Addr1 as shown in FIG. 14B. In this case, as shown in FIG. 14C, the HA2 updates the BC and transmits a BA message. Since the BA message is transmitted toward the MN, the destination is Addr1. Therefore, the packet addressed to Addr1 is delivered to the HA1, and forwarded by the HA1 to Addr2. Further, since the destination of this packet is Addr2, it is delivered to the HA2 and forwarded by the HA2 to Addr1. Thus, as shown in FIG. 14D, the BA message ends up looping between the HA1 and the HA2. Here, FIG. 15 shows a packet structure when such a situation that a BA message is transferred in a loop between HAs occurs in the BU procedure.
First, a case where a communication partner (CN: Correspondent Node) transmits a packet to Addr1 of the MN as a basic action will be described. The CN transmits a packet with its destination=Addr1 and source=CN. The HA1 receives the transmitted packet, adds a header indicative of being addressed to Addr2, and forwards it to Addr2. The HA2 receives the packet addressed to Addr2, adds a header indicative of being addressed to Addr3, and forwards it to Addr3.
Next, a case where the MN transmits a BU message will be described with reference to FIG. 16. The MN creates a BU message for causing the HA2 to change the CoA to Addr1. In the data part of the BU message, information indicating that the HoA is Addr2 is inserted. The CoA(Addr1) is the source address (Src.) of the BU message. The MN adds, to this BU message, a header indicating that the destination address (Dst.) is the HA1 and the source address is Addr2. When the HA1 receives this encapsulated packet, the HA1 checks the source address of the outer header and the source address of the inner header before removing the outer header. The HA1 has an entry (HoA1=addr1, CoA1=addr2) of the MN in BC. The HA1 checks if the source address of the outer header is CoA1 (=addr2) and if the source address of the inner header is HoA1 (=addr1). If these addresses are correct, the HA1 removes the outer header and transmits the inner packet to HA2. In this case, the inner packet includes the BU message as data.
Further, the MN adds, to the above-mentioned encapsulated BU message addressed to the HA1, a header indicating that the destination address is to the HA2 and the source address is Addr3. When the HA2 receives this encapsulated packet, the HA2 checks the source address of the outer header and the source address of the inner header before removing the outer header. The HA2 has an entry (HoA2=addr2, CoA2=addr3) of the MN in BC. The HA2 checks if the source address of the outer header is CoA2 (=addr3) and if the source address of the inner header is HoA2 (=addr2). If these addresses are correct, the HA2 removes the outer header and transmits the inner packet to HA1. In this case, the inner packet includes the encapsurated packet that includes the BU message as data.
In other words, the MN creates a BU message addressed to the HA2, encapsulates it in such a manner that the BU message passes through the HA1, further creates a packet encapsulated in such a manner that the encapsulated packet passes through the HA2, and transmits the created packet to the HA2. The outer header is removed from the packet by the HA2 and transmitted to the HA1. Further, the outer header is removed by the HA1 so that the BU message is decapsulated and transmitted to the HA2. The HA2 receives this BU message, updates the BC, and transmits a BA message.
Here, the BA message has a packet structure as shown in FIG. 17. The HA2 creates and transmits a BA message addressed to Addr1 as a new CoA of the MN. The packet addressed to Addr1 is delivered to the HA1, and the HA1 forwards it with additional header in which the destination address is Addr2 according to the BC. The packet addressed to Addr2 is delivered to the HA2, and the HA2 forwards it with additional header in which the destination address is Addr1 in the same manner according to the BC. Thus, the BA message transmitted by the HA2 ends up looping between the HA1 and the HA2. As mentioned above, in the binding update procedure for the conventional mobile IP, when a binding is to be updated, there is a case where the binding update cannot be made correctly. Therefore, there is a problem that the BA message as a reply message is forwarded endlessly between the HAs and hence it can never be delivered to the MN. Note that, although the above described the case where the number of HAs is two, the same situation can occur when the number of HAs is three or more. For example, such a case is shown in FIG. 18.
Here, a situation as shown in FIG. 19A to FIG. 19E is considered as the case where the number of HAs is two and the MN transmits the above-mentioned BU message. As shown in FIG. 19A, it is assumed that the MN is communicating with a CN1 using Addr1. Then, as shown in FIG. 19B, it is assumed that the MN moves to another network and gets a new address Addr2. The MN transmits the BU message to the HA1, having the HA1 forward a packet addressed to Addr1 (HoA) to Addr2 (CoA). Next, as shown in FIG. 19C, it is assumed that the MN initiates communication with a CN2 using Addr2, and then, it further moves and gets a new address Addr3. The MN transmits the BU message to the HA2 to that the HA2 forward a packet addressed to Addr2 (HoA) to Addr3 (CoA).
Here, as shown in FIG. 19D, it is assumed that this MN has returned to the initial (previous) network. Then, as shown in FIG. 19E, it is assumed that the MN makes changes to return a packet from the CN1 so as to receive the packet via the HA1, and to forward, to the HA1, a packet from the CN2 after being forwarded to the HA2 so as to receive the packet via the HA1. At this time, there are two ways depending on which of bindings, a binding of the HA1 or a binding of the HA2, should be changed first.
As shown in FIG. 20B (indicating one state after FIG. 20A) to FIG. 20D, if a way to update the binding of the HA1 first and the binding of the HA2 next is performed, they can be changed to desired binding states. However, as shown in FIG. 20E (indicating the other state after FIG. 20A), if the binding of the HA2 has been updated first, the total binding is not updated correctly as described above, resulting in a situation where the BA message is forwarded in a loop between the HAs and cannot be delivered to the MN. Thus, it can be said that the problem to be solved by the present invention can arise under a certain condition. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to printing devices such as typewriters and printers and more particularly to means for detachably coupling a typewriter or printer printwheel with a typewriter or printer drive plate. According to the present invention, the radial and angular position of the printwheel with respect to the drive plate is maintained in alignment and relative movement between the printwheel and the drive plate is inhibited.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Printwheels used in typewriters and printers ("printing devices") are generally affixed in such a manner as to be readily and easily removed and replaced in order to change the printwheel or, in some products in which the printwheel must be removed before changing the ribbon cartridge, to remove and replace the ribbon cartridge. It is desirable that the structure for affixing the printwheel should be simple, reliable and capable of being manufactured at low cost.
Attempts to achieve these characteristics have included, for example, the printing device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,335 which includes a printwheel centered on a printwheel drive shaft by an operator and prevented from slipping relative to the shaft by the spring-loaded retention of pivot posts in the channels of a printwheel connector. The printer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,999 includes a resilient "Z" shaped arm on a printwheel seated in a bracket by an operator which provides securement between the printwheel and the bracket by means of a wedgelike engagement in a recess formed in a bracket.
According to the present invention a hubbed printwheel has a recess formed with a radially offset cam surface. The drive plate associated with the printing device includes an alignment pin which engages the offset cam surface on the printwheel for inhibiting radial and angular movement of the printwheel relative to the drive plate. Smith Corona Corporation, the assignee of the present application, has sold prior art printing devices, such as its typewriter model XL 1700, which have included a hubbed printwheel having a recess formed with an offset cam surface.
The drive plates associated with the Smith Corona devices do not, however, include an alignment pin engaging the radial offset cam surface on a printwheel, nor do the drive plates include any structure for automatically engaging an alignment pin with a radial offset cam surface. | {
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Embodiments of the present invention relate to an assembling process for mounting a rolling bearing on a gear shaft. Gears having a shaft and two toothings which are axially distanced from each other and connected to each other by an intermediate portion of such shaft are well known. Gears of this type are coupled to a supporting structure by means of a pair of rolling bearings, which are mounted on opposite ends of the shaft, with two toothings arranged in intermediate positions between the bearings.
The need is felt to provide a gear which is more compact in the axial direction, in particular for applications in which it is used as planet gear in an epicyclic transmission. | {
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Various interactive haptic technologies exist, which provide a user or users with tactile information or feedback, often in combination with visual information displayed on an interactive screen. For example, previous haptic feedback devices include pins moving to physically change a deformable surface. A pen connected to an articulated arm may be provided, as in the SensAble PHANTOM device. Alternatively, a user may wear, for example in the form of a glove, one or more actuators which are activated to provide haptic feedback to a user. However, in each of these technologies, a user requires physical contact with a deformable surface, a pen, or a specially adapted glove. Such requirements reduce the usability and spontaneity which with a user may interact with a system.
Tactile sensations on human skin can be created by using a phased array of ultrasound transducers to exert an acoustic radiation force on a target in mid-air. Ultrasound waves are transmitted by the transducers, with the phase emitted by each transducer adjusted such that the waves arrive concurrently at the target point in order to maximise the acoustic radiation force exerted.
However, existing ultrasound haptic devices do not allow for the provision of distinctive multiple localised feedback points in mid-air. A user is not able to distinguish between such multiple localised feedback points if they are separated only by a small distance. Therefore, there is also a limit to the resolution of the haptic feedback devices which in turn limits how useful such devices can be.
Examples of when a high resolution haptic feedback device could be useful include when a user cannot properly see a display because they are driving, or when a user does not wish to touch a display because they have dirty hands. It would be advantageous to be able to provide user feedback above such a surface in order to allow information to be transmitted via an additional, haptic, channel in parallel with or as an alternative to the visual display.
The subject matter described herein seeks to mitigate the above-mentioned problems. | {
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The use of optical fibers in telecommunication networks is gaining favor as a method for increasing the capacity, and providing longer communication links and system economy for the network. Since the bandwidth, or the information carrying capacity of optical fiber, is about 200 nm (25 THz) at 1550 nm, wavelength-division multiplexing can fit 256, 0.8 nm channels within this bandwidth. To take advantage of this fiber capacity, there is a need for an inexpensive, high speed, wide range tunable optical filter.
Several optical tunable filters are now available in the commercial market or are under extensive research. Several are based on Fabry-Perot (FP) resonance cavities. A Fabry-Perot filter is simply a cavity enclosed between two mirrors. The wavelength selected (the resonant peak) depends on the optical path length between the two mirrors. The filter can be tuned either by changing the cavity length mechanically or by changing the refractive index of the material inside the cavity. Mechanical modulation of the cavity length generally is achieved by applying a voltage to the piezoelectric material, which typically has a milliseconds response time. Refractive index modulation of the material within the cavity also has been achieved using nematic liquid crystals. However, the response time is still limited to milliseconds.
In our previous high speed tunable filter work (Johnson et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/056,415, filed May 3, 1993), homeotropically or tilted layer aligned SmA* liquid crystalline material with lateral electrodes is used within a Fabry-Perot cavity. In the homeotropic alignment the layers are parallel to the cell walls and in the tilted alignment they are at an angle to the walls. Application of an electric field parallel to the cell walls by lateral electrodes rotates the molecular directors in a plane containing the polarization vector of the incident optical field, thereby tuning the material birefringence and modulating the phase of the incident light. Within a Fabry-Perot cavity the phase modulation produces wavelength tuning.
Surface-stabilized planar aligned smectic liquid crystals are increasingly finding application, offering microsecond switching times and either analog (SmA*) or discrete (SmC* and antiferroelectric) switching. Due to their planar alignment with respect to glass restraining substrates smectic layers perpendicular to cell walls, the molecules rotate in a plane perpendicular to the direction of propagation of light through the device and do not provide variable phase modulation. Rotation of the molecules (SmC* or SmA*) in the plane of the substrate can provide a modulation of the intensity of an incident optical field when viewed through crossed polarizers, but can not provide variable retardation. However, in a Fabry-Perot resonator, it is necessary to modulate the phase of the incident optical field to tune the wavelength of maximum transmission of the FP device.
Chiral smectic C* liquid crystals have microsecond response due to their first order coupling between their macroscopic polarization and an applied electric field. In the planar (bookshelf) alignment, as positive and negative electric fields are applied to the cells, the molecules switch between a first and a second stable state, both of which have molecular directors in a plane parallel to the cell walls. It is widely accepted that chiral smectic C* liquid crystals are binary and are incapable of providing analog modulation.
In surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystals (SSFLC), such as the SmC* phase, it has been found that the smectic layers are not necessarily perpendicular to the cell walls but may have tilted layers or may contain chevron defects. In the chevron structure the layers lean at an angle to the cell wall and have an interface at which the leaning direction is reversed. Considerable effort has been spent finding materials which are not prone to chevron defects and finding alignment techniques which suppress the chevron structure. Typically the cell thickness is set below 2 .mu.m so that the surface stabilization persists throughout the liquid crystal structure. | {
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The concept of devices for tilting a sofa bed or futon frame between a bed position and a couch position are old in the art. Typically, they use some type of a pawl or dog which lockingly engages one part of a folding frame with a second part of a folding frame. Generally, these members require gravity to force the pawl or dog into a position which causes latching between the two parts of the folding frame. The present invention eliminates the need for separate pawls or dogs by using pad support members that can be brought into temporary mechanical lever type engagement with one another to move one of the pad support members from the bed position to the couch position. | {
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} |
The present invention relates to a stitchless seam system between laminates which results in a functionally liquid-proof stitchless seam width created between adjacent panels of laminates. The stitchless seam system is of use in the construction of high performance waterproof apparel and footwear. While traditional fused seams are useful in liquid proof garments, such seams tend to be rather stiff. Further, the continual flexing of the stitchless seam leads to a reduced lifespan of the garment. The stitchless seam of the present invention allows the formation of seams of very small dimension which provide flexibility and retain the integrity of the seam to prevent cracking. The use of coated textile composites or laminates of textiles and liquid protective barrier membrane layers to create liquid-proof protective apparel and protective footwear is known in the industry. The most common of these applications is waterproof breathable apparel. Typical examples are laminate materials sold by W. L. Gore and Associates, Inc. under the registered trade name GORE-TEX, which contain a waterproof breathable film laminated, or bonded, to one or more textile layers. These laminates are fabricated into apparel and footwear and sold as GORE-TEX® garments and the like. Coated textiles can also be used in textile composites for these same purposes.
Pieces or panels of these laminates are joined together to form garments and other similar textile structures. In the case of footwear, pieces or panels of laminates are typically joined together to form booties which are then integrated as a liner in the shell of the footwear and combined with the sole. For the garments and footwear to be liquid proof and protective, there is a need to seal the seams where the panels of laminate are joined together. The joining of these laminate panels is typically done by first sewing the laminates together using conventional sewing techniques. Liquid-proof sealing of these sewn seams is then accomplished by the application of a seam seal tape having a thermoplastic hot-melt adhesive which seals to the surface of the coating or protective barrier film and creates a seal over the sewing holes and the area where the layers join between the stitches. The seam seal tape may be heated, for example, using a nozzle to direct a stream of hot air so as to melt the adhesive. The tape is then applied over the seam and both are passed through the nip of a pair of pressure rollers in order to squeeze the molten adhesive onto the protective layer surface to ensure good bonding of the tape to the surface. For aesthetic reasons, the seam sealing tape is generally applied to the interior of a garment so that it is hidden from view. In the case of a bootie for covering the foot, the seam sealing tape is generally applied to the exterior of a bootie which is between the lining material and the shell of the footwear so that it is hidden from view. Less common sealing techniques such as gluing and fusing are also known in the art.
Different fused seams have been disclosed in the art, but none of the prior art teaches the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 6,797,088 discloses a method for connection of pieces of textile fabric. In this method, a cut edge is formed and the threads bound at the cut edge of each of the textile pieces. The textile pieces are then laid on each other in an overlapping manner and the pieces are pressed together between a sonotrode and an anvil. At least one of the sonotrode or anvil has a surface profile with a number of elevations. The textile pieces are connected by ultrasonic oscillation of the sonotrode. The pattern of elevations in the sonotrode and/or anvil results in fusion or plasticization of the textile pieces at particular points only while leaving textile fabric at other points. Thus, a discontinuous ultrasonically fused seam is produced.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,103,325 discloses an ultrasonically formed seam comprising a laminate sheet constructed solely of a polyester fabric on one side and a polyurethane coating on the other side of the sheet. To form the seam, sides of the fabric coated with polyurethane are brought into contact and ultrasonic energy is applied to fuse the fabrics together to form a unitary, monolithic fluid-proof seam;
Publication No. WO2005/000055 discloses a fused seam between the edges of two laminates wherein each textile layer is made up of two components with different melting temperatures. The seam is formed by the melted second component and the non-melted first component of the textile layers of each laminate. Edges of the seamed laminates are in an edge-to-edge butt orientation.
Publication No. US2003/0135185 discloses adhesiveless absorbent garments, the components of which are held together by one or more adhesiveless bonds. In one embodiment, the adhesiveless bonds are formed ultrasonically.
A need exists in the garment and footwear industry for a reliable and effective technique for joining two or more panels of a complex or multi-layered textile laminate construction to form a flexible liquid-proof seam in garments and protective footwear. There is a further need in the industry for a liquid-proof fused seam which exhibits flexibility, durability, strength, and crack resistance. The present invention solves the need of the industry. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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PD-L1 inhibitors are a group of drugs that inhibit the interaction between programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) with its receptor, programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1). This pathway, once activated, is a mechanism for tumor escape by T-cell exhaustion. Inhibition of this pathway is one approach to treating cancer. Nivolumab, a human IgG4 anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody, works as an immune checkpoint inhibitor that blocks this pathway. Nivolumab is used to treat chemotherapy refractory advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). As immunotherapy agents, such as nivolumab, become more widely used in treating NSCLC, medical practitioners face a challenge in the evaluation of the clinical efficiency of such immunotherapy agents.
There are no standard guidelines for evaluating response to treatment with PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors such as nivolumab. In clinical practice, conventional radiological tools, including the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), have been employed. The RECIST criteria consider a significant increase in the size of tumor lesions and the development of new lesions to be unequivocal disease progression. Conventional approaches such as the RECIST criteria are used as operational thresholds that mandate the cessation of current therapy and the initiation of an alternate therapeutic regime. However, these conventional approaches that take into account the widest diameter of the tumor have underestimated the benefit of therapy to patients because of the increase in tumor dimensions in patients who otherwise responded favorably to the treatment.
Such patients may be referred to as “pseudoprogressors”. Some patients respond to immunotherapy with tumor shrinkage or stable disease and are thus more likely to be accurately characterized by the RECIST criteria. However, pseudoprogressors may exhibit distinct immune-related patterns of response, including new lesions associated with edema, infiltrates of immune cells, and transient increases in baseline tumor lesions. Delayed clinical responses to immunotherapeutic agents may also be observed, resulting in an initial increase in total tumor burden which is then followed by tumor regression. These pseudoprogressor findings are misclassified by conventional approaches as progressive disease, which may lead to poor patient outcomes because treatment that would be helpful is mischaracterized as ineffective and then terminated. Additionally, positron emission tomography (PET) also shows false positives because of the activation of T-cells against cancer cells, which may lead to uptake of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). Thus, conventional approaches to predicting patient response to immunotherapy and determining courses of treatment are not optimal. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Usually, traditional electronic billboards, smart cards, and electronic identifiers display specific images to convey certain information by using liquid crystal displays (LCDs). However, the smart cards and the electronic identifiers, using the liquid crystal displays, are not only power-hungry but also inflexible, causing various restrictions and inconvenience in use. Furthermore, the traditional electronic billboards, using the liquid crystal displays, are also power-hungry, and the images displayed under sunlight cannot be clearly identified. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to substituted aminoethers and to such compounds that are useful in treatment of Alzheimer's disease and similar diseases, more-specifically it relates to such compounds that inhibit β-secretase, an enzyme that cleaves amyloid precursor protein to produce Aβ peptide, a major component of the amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's sufferers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain primarily associated with aging. Clinical presentation of AD is characterized by loss of memory, cognition, reasoning, judgement, and orientation. As the disease progresses, motor, sensory, and linguistic abilities are also affected until there is global impairment of multiple cognitive functions. These cognitive losses occur gradually, but typically lead to severe impairment and eventual death in the range of four to twelve years.
Alzheimer's disease is characterized by two major pathologic observations in the brain: neurofibrillary tangles and beta amyloid (or neuritic) plaques, comprised predominantly of an aggregate of a peptide fragment know as A beta. Individuals with AD exhibit characteristic beta-amyloid deposits in the brain (beta amyloid plaques) and in cerebral blood vessels (beta amyloid angiopathy) as well as neurofibrillary tangles. Neurofibrillary tangles occur not only in Alzheimer's disease but also in other dementia-inducing disorders. On autopsy, large numbers of these lesions are generally found in areas of the human brain important for memory and cognition.
Smaller numbers of these lesions in a more restricted anatomical distribution are found in the brains of most aged humans who do not have clinical AD. Amyloidogenic plaques and vascular amyloid angiopathy also characterize the brains of individuals with Trisomy 21 (Down's Syndrome), Hereditary Cerebral Hemorrhage with Amyloidosis of the Dutch-Type (HCHWA-D), and other neurogenerative disorders. Beta-amyloid is a defining feature of AD, now believed to be a causative precursor or factor in the development of disease. Deposition of A beta in areas of the brain responsible for cognitive activities is a major factor in the development of AD. Beta-amyloid plaques are predominantly composed of amyloid beta peptide (A beta, also sometimes designated betaA4). A beta peptide is derived by proteolysis of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and is comprised of 39-42 amino acids. Several proteases called secretases are involved in the processing of APP.
Cleavage of APP at the N-terminus of the A beta peptide by beta-secretase and at the C-terminus by one or more gamma-secretases constitutes the beta-amyloidogenic pathway, i.e. the pathway by which A beta is formed. Cleavage of APP by alpha-secretase produces alpha-sAPP, a secreted form of APP that does not result in beta-amyloid plaque formation. This alternate pathway precludes the formation of A beta peptide. A description of the proteolytic processing fragments of APP is found, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,441,870; 5,721,130; and 5,942,400.
An aspartyl protease has been identified as the enzyme responsible for processing of APP at the beta-secretase cleavage site. The beta-secretase enzyme has been disclosed using varied nomenclature, including BACE, Asp, am Mamepsin. See, for example, Sindha et.al., 1999, Nature 402:537-554 (p501) and published PCT application WO00/17369.
Several lines of evidence indicate that progressive cerebral deposition of beta-amyloid peptide (A beta) plays a seminal role in the pathogenesis of AD and can precede cognitive symptoms by years or decades. See, for example, Selkoe, 1991, Neuron 6:487. Release of A beta from neuronal cells grown in culture and the presence of A beta in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of both normal individuals and AD patients has been demonstrated. See, for example, Seubert et al., 1992, Nature 359:325-327.
It has been proposed that A beta peptide accumulates as a result of APP processing by beta secretase, thus inhibition of this enzyme's activity is desirable for the treatement of AD. In vivo processing of APP at the beta-secretase cleavage site is thought to be a rate-limiting step in A beta production, and is thus a therapeutic target for the treatment of AD. See for example, Sabbagh, M., et al., 1997, Alz. Dis. Rev. 3, 1-19.
BACE1 knockout mice fail to produce A beta, and present a normal phenotype. When crossed with transgenic mice that overexpress APP, the progeny show reduced amounts of A beta in brain extracts as compared with control animals (Luo et.al., 2001 Nature Neuroscience 4:231-232). This evidence further supports the proposal that inhibition of beta-secretase activity and reduction of A beta in the brain provides a therapeutic method for the treatment of AD and other beta amyloid disorders.
Published PCT application WO00/47618 entitled “Beta-Secretase Enzyme Compositions and Methods” identifies the beta-secretase enzyme and methods of its use. This publication also discloses oligopeptide inhibitors that bind the enzyme's active site and are useful in affinity column purification of the enzyme. In addition, WO00/77030 discloses tetrapeptide inhibitors of beta-secretase activity that are based on a statine molecule
Various pharmaceutical agents have been proposed for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease but without any real success. U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,281 discloses 21-aminosteroids as being useful for treating Alzheimer's disease. U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,187 discloses bicyclic heterocyclic amines as being useful for treating Alzheimer's disease.
The hydroxyethylamine “nucleus” or isostere, of which the compounds of the invention is a truncated analog, has been used with success in the area of HIV protease inhibition. Many of these hydroxyethylamine compounds are known as well as how to make them. See for example, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 93, 288-291 (1993), Tetrahedron Letters, 28(45) 5569-5572 (1987), J. Med. Chem., 38(4), 581-584 (1994), Tetrahedron Letters, 38(4), 619-620 (1997). European Patents, numbers 702 004, 678 503, 678 514, 678 503 and 716077 by Maibaum, et al. are directed to similar isosteric strategies directed at renin inhibition. See also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,606,078 and 5,559,111, both to Goschke, et. al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,719,141, to Rasetti, et. al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,778, to Maibaum, et. al.
At present there are no effective treatments for halting, preventing, or reversing the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, there is an urgent need for pharmaceutical agents capable of slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease and/or preventing it in the first place.
Compounds that are effective inhibitors of beta-secretase, that inhibit beta-secretase-mediated cleavage of APP, that are effective inhibitors of A beta production, and/or are effective to reduce amyloid beta deposits or plaques, are needed for the treatment and prevention of disease characterized by amyloid beta deposits or plaques, such as AD. | {
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Programmable logic devices (“PLDs”) are a well-known type of integrated circuit that can be programmed to perform specified logic functions. One type of PLD, the field programmable gate array (“FPGA”), typically includes an array of programmable tiles. These programmable tiles can include, for example, input/output blocks (“IOBs”), configurable logic blocks (“CLBs”), dedicated random access memory blocks (“BRAMs”), multipliers, digital signal processing blocks (“DSPs”), processors, clock managers, delay lock loops (“DLLs”), and so forth. Notably, as used herein, “include” and “including” mean including without limitation.
One such FPGA is the Xilinx Virtex® FPGA available from Xilinx, Inc., 2100 Logic Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95124. Another type of PLD is the Complex Programmable Logic Device (“CPLD”). A CPLD includes two or more “function blocks” connected together and to input/output (“I/O”) resources by an interconnect switch matrix. Each function block of the CPLD includes a two-level AND/OR structure similar to those used in Programmable Logic Arrays (“PLAs”) and Programmable Array Logic (“PAL”) devices. Other PLDs are programmed by applying a processing layer, such as a metal layer, that programmably interconnects the various elements on the device. These PLDs are known as mask programmable devices. PLDs can also be implemented in other ways, for example, using fuse or antifuse technology. The terms “PLD” and “programmable logic device” include but are not limited to these exemplary devices, as well as encompassing devices that are only partially programmable.
For purposes of clarity, FPGAs are described below though other types of PLDs may be used. FPGAs may include one or more embedded microprocessors. For example, a microprocessor may be located in an area reserved for it, generally referred to as a “processor block.”
A more recent addition to FPGA architecture is the inclusion of an Auxiliary Processor Unit (“APU”). The APU provides a high-bandwidth interface between programmable logic of an FPGA and an embedded processor of the FPGA. Although, an APU is generally intended for coupling a co-processor to the embedded processor, it may be used for other applications.
In the APU provided in Virtex-4 FPGAs available from Xilinx, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., information may be read from or written to cache memory via an embedded processor and the APU of the FPGA. All types of information, such as addresses, data, instructions, control signals, and the like, are referred to hereinafter as data for purposes of clarity and not limitation. In an example, cache memory may be read a wordline at a time where each wordline is 128 bits long, namely a quadword at a time where each word is 32 bits long. However, there may be situations where data to be obtained from cache memory is not quadword-aligned.
A limitation of the APU interface is that high-bandwidth operation generally requires data to be quadword-aligned. Thus, the APU may indicate that a high-bandwidth operation is invalid if data is not quadword-aligned, or the APU may transfer the data from an incorrect location in memory. However, using embedded processor instructions to pre-align data consumes embedded processor cycles and complicates instruction programming.
Accordingly, it would be desirable and useful to provide an interface to an APU to facilitate high-bandwidth operation that overcomes the above-mentioned limitation associated with quadword alignment. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to a circuit configuration of a redundancy determination circuit for replacing a defective memory cell with a redundant memory cell.
2. Description of the Background Art
A dynamic random access memory (hereinafter referred to as DRAM) used as a main memory, though having been progressed in its high speed operation, still cannot follow an operating speed of a microprocessor (MPU). Therefore, a fear exists that an access time and a cycle time of a DRAM act as bottle necks against performance of the system as a whole to reduce it. In recent years, a proposal has been made, in light of such a situation, of a double data rate SDRAM (hereinafter referred to as DDR-SDRAM) operating in synchronization with a complementary clock signal as a main memory for a high speed MPU.
In DDR-SDRAM, for the purpose of a high speed access, specifications are common that get a high speed access to consecutive bits in synchronization with a rise and fall of a clock signal.
A double data rate scheme commonly employs a configuration in which a memory array is divided into two memory blocks: a memory block having even-numbered bit lines corresponding to even-numbered addresses and a memory block having odd-numbered bit lines corresponding to odd-numbered addresses, wherein an even-numbered bit line and an odd-numbered bit line are selected in parallel to each other to get simultaneous accesses, thereby facilitating a data output operation at a double clock frequency. In such a configuration, there has generally been used a method in which an address inputted externally is converted to even-numbered and odd-numbered addresses.
FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing an overall configuration of a conventional synchronous semiconductor memory device 10.
Referring to FIG. 7, a synchronous semiconductor memory device 10 includes: a memory block 6a corresponding to even-numbered addresses and a memory block 6b corresponding to odd-numbered addresses, which are obtained by dividing a memory array into the two blocks. Memory blocks 6a and 6b each have memory cells arranged in a matrix and redundant memory cells for saving a defective memory cell. Here, typically shown in memory block 6a are one word line WL provided correspondingly to a row, one even-numbered bit line BLE provided correspondingly to a column and one redundant bit line BLSE provided corresponding to a redundant memory cell column constituted of redundant memory cells. In addition, typically shown in memory block 6b are one word line WL provided correspondingly to a row, one odd-numbered bit line BLO provided correspondingly to a column and one redundant bit line BLSO provided corresponding to a redundant memory cell column constituted of redundant memory cells. Hereinafter, the redundant bit lines are simply referred to as redundant bit line BLS in a collective manner.
Note that in the following examples, memory blocks 6a and 6b each have 256 bit lines and a plurality of bit lines, which is one example. Furthermore, in memory block 6a, even-numbered addresses are sequentially allocated to even-numbered bit lines. For example, addresses 0#, 2#, 4#, . . . and so on are sequentially allocated. Furthermore, in memory block 6b, odd-numbered addresses are sequentially allocated to odd-numbered bit lines. For example, addresses 1#, 3#,5#, . . . and so on are sequentially allocated.
Synchronous semiconductor memory device 10 further includes: a control signal generating circuit 20 generating control signals for internal circuits and control signal generating circuit 20 especially generates an internal clock signal CLK (hereinafter also simply referred to as clock signal CLK) used in timing control of internal circuits in synchronization with an external clock signal Ext.CLK.
Synchronous semiconductor memory device 10 further includes: a now decoder 2 performing row selection in memory blocks 6a and 6b; column decoders 3a and 3b receiving, as respective inputs, even-numbered and odd-numbered addresses to perform column selection; spare column decoders 4a and 4b performing column selection for redundant bit lines BLS in respective memory blocks according to a defect determination signal; a multiplexer 5a outputting read data read out from memory block 6a to an amplifier 7a on the basis of a column select operation by one of column decoder 3a and spare column decoder 4a; and a multiplexer 5b outputting read data read out from memory block 6b to an amplifier 7b on the basis of a column select operation by one of column decoder 3b and a spare column decoder 4b.
Synchronous semiconductor memory device 10 further includes: amplifiers 7a and 7b amplifying read data outputted from multiplexers 5a and 5b; a parallel-serial conversion circuit 8 sequentially arranging two read data amplified by amplifiers 7a and 7b so as to output the two data in synchronization with a rise and fall, respectively, of clock signal CLK; and an output buffer 9 outputting read data arranged by parallel-serial conversion circuit 8 to an external terminal DQ.
Synchronous semiconductor memory device 10 further includes: a redundancy determination circuit 35a for determining redundancy of memory block 6a corresponding to an even-numbered address; and a redundancy determination circuit 35b for determining redundancy of memory block 6b corresponding to an odd-numbered address. Redundancy determination circuits 35a and 35b include respectively: program circuits 33a and 33b (hereinafter also referred to as program circuit 33 in a collective manner) setting column addresses of defective memory cells (hereinafter also referred to as defect address); and comparison circuits 32a and 32b (hereinafter also referred to as comparison circuit 32 in a collective manner) comparing a defective address and an inputted address with each other to generate defect determination signals SCEE and SCEO on the basis of results of the comparisons.
Synchronous semiconductor memory device 10 further includes: an address buffer 30 buffering a column address CA inputted from an external address terminal PINA to output addresses to column decoders 3a and 3b. Address buffer 30 has a burst counter 31. Burst counter 31 counts up a bit or bits of part of a column address on the basis of a preset burst length in synchronization with clock signal CLK. Address buffer 30, on burst reading, latches residual bits obtained after excluding the bit or bits of part of the column address and outputs the residual bits together with the bit or bits of part which have been counted up. Herein, the burst length indicates a length of data outputted consecutively.
Synchronous semiconductor memory device 10 includes an even-numbered address buffer 40, provided between address buffer 30 and column decoder 3a, and generating an even-numbered address CAE for performing a column select operation in memory block 6a and even-numbered address buffer 40 receives, as an input, a column address CA including the bit or bits of part, which have been counted up by a burst counter 31 of address buffer 30. Synchronous semiconductor memory device 10 further includes: an odd-numbered address buffer 50, provided between address buffer 30 and column decoder 3b, and generating an odd-numbered address CAO for performing a column select operation in memory block 6b and odd-numbered address buffer 50 receives, as an input, a column address CA including the bit or bits of the part, which have been counted up by burst counter 31 of address buffer 30.
Address buffer 30 receives column address CA less than 8:0 greater than from external address terminal PINA. Note that column address CA less than 8:0 greater than is indicated column addresses CA less than 0 greater than to CA less than 8 greater than . Similarly, a symbol less than x:0 greater than is hereinafter used in collective expression of a sequence of less than 0 greater than to less than x greater than . Alternatively, column addresses CA less than 0 greater than to CA less than x greater than are also collectively referred to as column address CA.
Description, here, will be given of burst reading of synchronous semiconductor memory device 10.
Column decoders 3a and 3b select groups of bit lines on which burst reading is performed in respective memory blocks 6a and 6b according to column address CA of an upper bit or bits defined according to a burst length. For example, when a burst length is 2, one even-numbered line and one odd-numbered bit line are selected. When a burst length is 4, two even-numbered bit lines and two odd-numbered bit lines are selected.
Similarly, when a burst length is 8, four even-numbered bit lines and four odd-numbered bit lines are selected.
For thus selected bit line or lines corresponding to a burst length, designation is performed of an address in the leading place (hereinafter also referred to as a start address) at which data is firstly read out according to column address of a lower bit or bits, followed by designations of an address in the next place in ascending order. That is, when a start address is an even-numbered address, an odd-numbered address in the next place is designated in ascending order, thus selecting both addresses in parallel to each other.
Then, column address CA of a lower bit or bits is counted up by burst counter 31 according to a burst length, followed by designation of the next start address. With repetitions of the operation, burst reading corresponding to a burst length is performed. Burst reading is disclosed in technical literatures such as Samsung electronics DDR SDRAM Specification Version 0.6, REV. 0.6 Mar. 21, 2001.
FIG. 8 is a timing chart in a case of a burst length 4. Here is shown a case where addresses 0# to 3# are selected according to upper bits of column address CA.
For example, a start address is designated on the basis of column address CA inputted from an external address terminal together with a read instruction at time point t1.
When a start address is 0#, bit lines with addresses 0# and 1# are both selected, followed by selection of bit lines with addresses 2# and 3# in the next run.
Parallel selection is performed of even-numbered and odd-numbered bit lines corresponding to start address 0# and address 1# according to column address CA from outside in synchronization with a rise of clock signal at time point t1. In response to this, read data is outputted to parallel-serial conversion circuit 8. The next start address is designated as address 2# by counting-up of burst counter 31 in synchronization with a fall of clock signal at time point t2 and address 3# is also designated in ascending order. Parallel selection is performed of even-numbered and odd-numbered bit lines corresponding to start address 2# and address 3# in synchronization with a rise of clock signal at time point t3. In response to this, read data is outputted to parallel-serial conversion circuit 8.
Parallel-serial conversion circuit 8 arranges and outputs read data in response to a rise and fall of clock signal starting at time point t4, and read data on bit lines corresponding to addresses 0#, 1#, 2# and 3# in ascending order starting with a start address 0# in the first time of the runs are sequentially outputted from output buffer 9.
Similarly, in a case where a start address is 1#, bit lines with addresses 1# and 2# are both selected, followed by selection of both of bit lines with addresses 3# and 0#. In company with this, read data on bit lines corresponding to addresses 1#, 2#, 3# and 0# in ascending order starting with start address 1# in the first time of the runs are sequentially outputted from output buffer 9.
Similarly, in a case where a start address is 2#, bit lines with addresses 2# and 3# are both selected, followed by selection of both of bit lines with addresses 0# and 1#. In company with this, read data on bit lines corresponding to addresses 2#, 3#, 0# and 1# in ascending order starting with start address 2# in the first time of the runs are sequentially outputted from output buffer 9.
Similarly, in a case where a start address is 3#, bit lines with addresses 3# and 0# are both selected, followed by selection of both of bit lines with addresses 1# and 2#. In company with this, read data on bit lines corresponding to addresses 3#, 0#, 1# and 2# in ascending order starting with start address 3# in the first time of the runs are sequentially outputted from output buffer 9.
FIG. 9 is a table showing a relationship of a start address designated according to an input of column address CA of a lower bit, and even-numbered address CAE less than 0 greater than and odd-numbered address CAO less than 0 greater than given to respective column decoders 3a and 3b when the start address is designated in such a way. The table shown in FIG. 9 is corresponding to a case of burst length 2. Here, addresses 0# and 1# are selected according to column address CA of an upper bit. Furthermore, when column address CA less than 0 greater than of a lower bit is 0, address 0# is selected, and when column address is 1, address 1# is selected. As one example, when column address CA less than 0 greater than is 0, start address is designated as 0#. The next address 1# is designated similarly in ascending order. Therefore, when start address 0# is designated, even-number address CAE less than 0 greater than of a lower bit given to column decoder 3a is 0. Furthermore, odd-numbered address CAO less than 0 greater than of a lower bit given to column decoder 3a is 1.
In company with this, data is read out from bit lines corresponding to addresses 0# and 1# in parallel to each other. The order for outputting data is such that read data is outputted from output buffer circuit 9 in the order of addresses 0# and 1#.
FIG. 10 is a table showing a relationship of a start address designated according to an input of column address CA less than 1:0 greater than of lower bits, and even-numbered address CAE less than 1:0 greater than and odd-numbered address CAO less than 1:0 greater than given to respective column decoders 3a and 3b when the start address is designated in such a way. The table shown in FIG. 10 is corresponding to a case of burst length 4. Here, addresses 0# to 3# are selected according to column address CA of upper bits.
Furthermore, addresses 0# to 3# are selected correspondingly to values of column address CA less than 1:0 greater than . To be concrete, start address 0# is designated in correspondence to xe2x80x9c00xe2x80x9d from an upper bit side of column address CA less than 1:0 greater than . Start address 1# is designated in correspondence to xe2x80x9c01xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 1:0 greater than . Start address 2# is designated in correspondence to xe2x80x9c10xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 1:0 greater than . Start address 3# is designated in correspondence to xe2x80x9c11xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 1:0 greater than .
As one example, when xe2x80x9c00xe2x80x9d is inputted from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 1:0 greater than , a start address in the leading place is designated as 0#. With such designation, even-number address CAE less than 1:0 greater than given to column decoder 3a assumes xe2x80x9c00xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side in correspondence to address 0#. Odd-numbered address CAO less than 1:0 greater than given to column decoder 3b assumes xe2x80x9c01xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side in correspondence to address 1#. In company with this, parallel selection is performed of an even-numbered bit line and an odd-numbered bit line corresponding to respective addresses 0# and 1#. Read data is arranged in and outputted from parallel-serial conversion circuit 8 in the order of bit lines corresponding to respective addresses 0# and 1#. Then, burst counter 31 counts up column address of the lower bits in synchronization with clock signal CLK to increment a value of column address CA less than 1:0 greater than by 2. Here, a value xe2x80x9c00xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 1:0 greater than is counted up to xe2x80x9c10xe2x80x9d. That is, start address 0# is changed to 2#. Then, even-numbered address CAE less than 1:0 greater than corresponding to address 2# given to column decoder 3a assumes xe2x80x9c10xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side. Furthermore, odd-numbered address CAO less than 1:0 greater than corresponding to address 3# given to column decoder 3b assumes xe2x80x9c11xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side. In company with this, parallel selection is performed of bit lines corresponding to addresses 2# and 3#. Read data is arranged in and outputted from parallel-serial conversion circuit 8 in the order of bit lines corresponding to respective addresses 2# and 3#. Burst counter 31, in a case of a burst length 4, counts up values of the lower 2 bits on counting-up without a carry-over.
FIG. 11 is a table showing a relationship of a start address designated according to an input of column address CA less than 2:0 greater than of lower bits, and even-numbered address CAE less than 2:0 greater than and odd-numbered address CAO less than 2:0 greater than given to respective column decoders 3a and 3b when the start address is designated in such a way. The table shown in FIG. 11 is corresponding to a case of burst length 8. Here, addresses 0# to 7# are selected according to column address CA of the upper bits.
Furthermore, addresses 0# to 7# are selected in correspondence to respective values of column addresses CA less than 2:0 greater than . To be concrete, start address 0# is designated in correspondence to xe2x80x9c000xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 2:0 greater than . Start address 1# is designated in correspondence to xe2x80x9c001xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 2:0 greater than . Start address 2# is designated in correspondence to xe2x80x9c010xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 2:0 greater than . Start address 3# is designated in correspondence to xe2x80x9c011xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 2:0 greater than . Start address 4# is designated in correspondence to xe2x80x9c100xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 2:0 greater than . Start address 5# is designated in correspondence to xe2x80x9c101xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 2:0 greater than . Start address 6# is designated in correspondence to xe2x80x9c110xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 2:0 greater than . Start address 7# is designated in correspondence to xe2x80x9c111xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 2:0 greater than .
When xe2x80x9c000xe2x80x9d is inputted from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 2:0 greater than , a start address in the leading place is set to 0#. In response to this, xe2x80x9c000xe2x80x9d corresponding to address 0# and xe2x80x9c001xe2x80x9d corresponding to address 1# are therefore given to respective column decoders 3a and 3b.
Burst counter 31 then counts up to add 2 to a value of column address CA less than 2:0 greater than in synchronism with clock signal CLK. A value of xe2x80x9c000xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 2:0 greater than is counted up to xe2x80x9c010xe2x80x9d. That is, start address 0# in the leading place is changed to 2#. In response to this, xe2x80x9c010xe2x80x9d corresponding to address 2# and xe2x80x9c011xe2x80x9d corresponding to address 3# are therefore given to respective column decoders 3a and 3b.
Burst counter 31 then counts up in synchronism with clock signal CLK to increase column address CA less than 2:0 greater than to xe2x80x9c110xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side. That is, start address 2# in the leading place is changed to 4#. In response to this, xe2x80x9c100xe2x80x9d corresponding to address 4# and xe2x80x9c101xe2x80x9d corresponding to address 5# are therefore given to respective column decoders 3a and 3b.
Burst counter 31 then counts up in synchronism with clock signal CLK to increase column address CA less than 2:0 greater than to xe2x80x9c110xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side. That is, start address 4# in the leading place is changed to 6#. In response to this, xe2x80x9c110xe2x80x9d corresponding to address 6# and xe2x80x9c111xe2x80x9d corresponding to address 7# are therefore given to respective column decoders 3a and 3b.
In company with this, data of a burst length 8 from bit lines corresponding to start addresses 0#, 1#, . . . 7# is sequentially arranged in and outputted from parallel-serial conversion circuit 8. Note that, burst counter 31, in a case of a burst length 8, counts up lower three bits on counting-up without a carry-over.
Considered here is about even-numbered address CAE and odd-numbered address CAO inputted to column decoders 3a and 3b on the basis of an input of column address CA.
Column address CA less than 0 greater than corresponds to an address indicating one of even-numbered and odd-numbered addresses. When column address CA less than 0 greater than is 0, it is an even-numbered address, while when column address CA less than 0 greater than is 1, it corresponds to an odd-numbered address. Therefore, even-numbered address CAE less than 0 greater than and odd-numbered address CAO less than 0 greater than are only to simply express, for the sake of convenience, that those are even-numbered address and an odd numbered address; an even-numbered address CAE less than 0 greater than is fixed to 0 as a value and an odd-numbered address CAO less than 0 greater than is fixed to 1 as a value.
Therefore, effective even-numbered address CAE less than 8:1 greater than other than even-numbered address CAE less than 0 greater than is inputted to column decoder 3a. Furthermore, effective odd-numbered address CAO less than 8:1 greater than other than even-numbered address CAO less than 0 greater than is inputted to column decoder 3b.
Then, in a case of a burst length 4 of FIG. 10, for example, if a start address even-numbered in counting starting with the leading place is 0# as selected according to an input of xe2x80x9c00xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 1:0 greater than , a necessity arises for selecting the next address 1# in ascending order. That is, it is required to give xe2x80x9c00xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c01xe2x80x9d to respective column addresses 3a and 3b from the upper bit side. Then, inputted column address CA less than 1:0 greater than as is can be used for even-numbered address CAE without conversion in any way. Odd-numbered address CAO can be used as is since, though odd-numbered address CAO assumes a value obtained by adding 1 to column address CA less than 1:0 greater than , odd-numbered address CAO less than 0 greater than is fixed to 1; therefore no necessity arises for converting column address CA less than 1:0 greater than .
However, for example, in a case where start address 1# odd-numbered starting with the leading place in correspondence to inputting of xe2x80x9c01xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side of column address CA less than 1:0 greater than , a necessity arises for giving xe2x80x9c10xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c01xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side to respective column decoders 3a and 3b since it is required that the next address 2# is selected in ascending order. In this case, inputted column address CA less than 1:0 greater than can be used as odd-numbered address CAO as is. Even numbered address CAE assumes a value obtained by adding 1 to inputted column address CA less than 1:0 greater than , thereby requiring a carry-over. In this case, it is required that column address CA less than 1 greater than is converted to generate effective even-numbered address CAE less than 1 greater than .
That is, in a case where a start address in an even-numbered place of the order is selected in correspondence to column address CA less than 1:0 greater than , an odd-numbered address selecting an address in an odd numbered place is not necessary to be converted since the lowest bits CAE less than 0 greater than and CAO less than 0 greater than of an even-numbered address and an odd-numbered address, respectively, are fixed, though a value of CA less than 0 greater than , which is the lowest bit of column address CA, assumes 1. On the other hand, in a case where a start address in an odd-numbered place of the order is selected in correspondence to column address CA less than 1:0 greater than , an even-numbered address selecting an address in an even numbered place requires conversion of column address CA less than 1 greater than to even-numbered address CAE less than 1 greater than used for a column select operation since even-numbered address CAE assumes a value with a carryover due to adding 1 to column address CA less than 1:0 greater than .
In a case of a burst length 8 of FIG. 11 as well, similar to the case of a burst length 4 of FIG. 10, if a start address is selected in correspondence to column address CA less than 2:0 greater than of lower bits, a necessity arise for a conversion operation when a carry-over occurs in selection of the next address.
To be concrete, in a case where, similar to the case of a burst length 4, a start address in an odd-numbered place is selected in correspondence to column address CA less than 2:0 greater than , an odd-numbered address selecting an address in an even-numbered place requires conversion of column address CA less than 1 greater than to even-numbered CAE less than 1 greater than since a carry-over occurs due to adding 1 to column address CA less than 2:0 greater than .
For example, in a case where column address CA less than 2:0 greater than is inputted from the upper bit side with xe2x80x9c011xe2x80x9d to select a start address 3# odd-numbered in counting starting with the leading place, xe2x80x9c100xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c011xe2x80x9d are necessary to be given from the upper bit side to respective column decoders 3a and 3b since it is required that the next start address 4# is selected in ascending order. In this case, inputted column address CA less than 2:0 greater than has only to be used as is as odd-numbered address CAO. However, even-number address. CAE requires conversion of column address CA less than 2 greater than to effective even-address CAE less than 2 greater than since a carry-over is required by adding 1 to inputted column address CA less than 2:0 greater than . For example, in a case where column address CA less than 2:0 greater than is inputted with xe2x80x9c111xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side to select start address 7# odd-numbered in counting staring with the leading place as well, effective even-number CAE less than 2 greater than has to be obtained from conversion of column address CA less than 2 greater than .
Therefore, while odd-numbered address CAO can be used as is without conversion of column address CA, even-numbered address CAE requires conversion of column address CA in a prescribed condition.
FIGS. 12 and 13 are diagrams of configuration of decoders DC1 and DC2 converting even-numbered address CAE less than 1 greater than and even-numbered address CAE less than 2 greater than included in even-number address buffer 40 in a prescribed condition.
Referring to FIG. 12, decoder DC1 includes NOR circuits 41 to 43; a NAND circuit 44; an OR circuit; and inverters 46 to 48.
NOR circuit 41 outputs a result of a NOR logical operation according to inputs of burst control signals MBL4 and MBL8 through inverter 46 to NAND circuit 44. NAND circuit 44 transmits a result of a NAND logical operation according to an output signal from inverter 46 and, as an input, column address CA less than 0 greater than to a node NO. NOR circuit 43 receives column address CA less than 1 greater than and an input, which is an output signal of NAND circuit 44 transmitted to node NO to output a result of a NOR logical operation to OR circuit 45. NOR circuit 42 receives, as inputs, an inverted signal of a signal transmitted to node NO through inverter 47 and an inverted signal of column address CA less than 1 greater than through inverter 48 to output a result of a NOR logical operation to OR circuit 45. OR circuit 45 receives inputs from NOR circuits 42 ad 43 to output a result of an OR operation as even-address CAE less than 1 greater than . Note that burst control signals MBL2 and MBL4 are inputted on the basis of a set burst length. Here, burst control signal MBL4 is a signal indicating that a burst length is 4. Burst control signal MBL8 is a signal indicating that a burst length is 8.
Decoder DC1 converts column address CA less than 1 greater than to generate even-numbered address CAE less than 1 greater than if column address CA is in a prescribed condition in a case of a burst length 4 or 8. The prescribed condition is a case where, when inputted column address CA is added with 1, a carry-over of column address CA less than 0 greater than is required, that is a case where column address CA less than 0 greater than is 1.
To be concrete, when column address CA less than 1:0 greater than is xe2x80x9c01xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c11xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side, the next column address CA is accompanied with a carry-over. In the cases, even-numbered address CAE less than 1 greater than is converted to inverted data of column address CA less than 1 greater than .
FIG. 13 shows decoder DC2 outputting even-numbered address CAE less than 2 greater than .
Referring to FIG. 13, decoder DC2 includes: a NAND circuit 49 receiving inputs of burst control signal MBL8 and column address CA less than 1:0 greater than to transmit a result of a NAND logical operation to a node N1; a NOR circuit 53 outputting a result of a NOR logical operation on column address CA less than 2 greater than and a signal transmitted to node N1 to OR circuit 54; a NOR circuit 52 receiving, as inputs, an inverted signal of a signal transmitted to node N1 through inverter 50 and an inverted signal of column address CA less than 2 greater than through inverter 51 to output a result of a NOR logical operation result; and an OR circuit 54 receiving inputs from NOR circuits 52 and 53 to output a result of an OR logical operation as even-numbered address CAE less than 2 greater than .
Decoder DC2 converts column address CA less than 2 greater than to generate even-numbered address CAE less than 2 greater than if column address CA is in a prescribed condition in a case of a burst length 8. The prescribed condition is a case where, when inputted column address CA is added with 1, a carry-over of column address CA less than 1 greater than is required, that is a case where column address CA less than 1:0 greater than is xe2x80x9c11xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side.
To be concrete, when column address CA less than 2:0 greater than is xe2x80x9c011xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9c111xe2x80x9d from the upper bit side, the next column address CA is accompanied with a carry-over. In the cases, even-numbered address CAE less than 2 greater than is converted to inverted data of column address CA less than 2 greater than .
Column address CA is converted using decoders DC1 and DC2 in the prescribed condition to thereby, be able to select a desired address. Accordingly, parallel selection can be performed of two bit lines corresponding to an even-numbered address and an odd numbered address; therefore a high speed double data rate scheme can be realized.
On the other hand, in a case where a defective memory cell is included in memory cells, redundant memory cells are provided in order to save such a defective memory cell and, when a column address selecting a defective memory cell is inputted, a redundant bit line corresponding to a redundant memory cell is selected instead of a bit line corresponding to a defective cell. A redundancy determining circuits 35a and 35b performs a redundancy determination on whether or not a defective memory cell has been selected.
FIG. 14 is a circuit diagram of a program unit PU setting a defect. address of one bit included in a program circuit in each of redundancy determining circuits 35a and 35b.
Program unit PU includes a P-channel MOS transistor 82; an N-channel MOS transistor 83; inverters 80 and 81; and a fuse element 84. P-channel MOS transistor 82 is connected between power supply voltage VCC and node N10 and receives a control signal xcfx861 to turn itself on/off. N-channel MOS transistor 83 is connected between node N10 and fuse element 84 and receives, as an input, a control signal xcfx862 to turn itself on/off. Fuse element 84 is placed between N-channel MOS transistor 83 and substrate voltage VSS and can be blown by irradiation with laser light from outside in a non-volatile manner. Inverter 80 inverts a signal transmitted to node N10 to transmit the inverted signal to a node 11 and inverter 81 inverts a signal transmitted to node N11 to transmit the inverted signal to node N1. A latch is constituted of inverters 80 and 81. A signal transmitted to node N11 is outputted to a comparison circuit 32 as a defect address FCA of one bit. For example, if control signal xcfx861 is at L level for a prescribed period, defect address FCA of one bit is reset to 0. If control signal xcfx862 is at H level for a prescribed period, defect address FCA of one bit is 1 in a case where fuse element 84 is not blown. On the other hand, if fuse element 84 has been blown, defect address FCA of one bit stays at 0 as is. Therefore, by blowing fuse element 84, defect address FCA of one bit can be set to 0 through programming.
Therefore, a plurality of program units PU are arranged in parallel to each other and programming is performed in each of plurality of program units PU, thereby enabling setting of defect address FCA corresponding to a column address of a defective memory cell.
FIG. 15 is a circuit configuration diagram of comparison circuit 32a.
Comparison circuits 32a and 33b are of the same circuit configuration as each other and description here will be given of comparison circuit 32a.
Comparison circuit 32a includes: exclusive NOR circuits 60 to 67; NAND circuits 68 to 71 and 74; NOR circuits 72 and 73; and an inverter 75. Exclusive NOR circuit 60 receives, as inputs, even-numbered address CAE less than 1 greater than and defect address FCA less than 1 greater than to output a result of an exclusive NOR logical operation. The other exclusive NOR circuits 61 to 67, in a similar manner, receive even-numbered addresses CAE less than 2 greater than to CAE less than 8 greater than and defect addresses FCA less than 2 greater than to FCA less than 8 greater than of bits corresponding to respective even-numbered address CAE less than 2 greater than to CAE less than 8 greater than to output results of exclusive NOR logical operations. NAND circuit 68 receives inputs from exclusive NOR circuits 60 and 61 to output a result of a NAND logical operation to NOR circuit 72. NAND circuit 69 receives inputs from exclusive NOR circuits 62 and 63 to output a result of a NAND logical operation to NOR circuit 72. NAND circuit 70 receives inputs from exclusive NOR circuits 64 and 65 to output a result of a NAND logical operation to NOR circuit 73. NAND circuit 71 receives inputs from exclusive NOR circuits 66 and 67 to output a result of a NAND logical operation to NOR circuit 73. NAND circuit 72 receives inputs from NAND circuits 68 and 69 to output a result of a NOR logical operation to NAND circuit 74. NAND circuit 73 receives, as inputs, outputs of NAND circuits 70 and 71 to output a result of a NOR logical operation to NAND circuit 74. NAND circuit 74 receives inputs from NOR circuits 72 and 73 to output a result of a NAND logical operation to inverter 75. Inverter 75 outputs an inverted signal of an output signal of NAND circuit 74 as defect determination signal SCE.
Comparison circuit 32a compares even-numbered address CAE less than 8:1 greater than and defect address FCA less than 8:1 greater than from program circuit 33a to generate defect determination signal SCE. To be concrete, when each bit of even-numbered address CAE less than 8:1 greater than and each bit of defect address FCA less than 8:1 greater than all coincide with each other, defect determination signal SCE is set to H level. In response to the setting, spare column decoder 4a is activated and data is read out from a redundant bit line corresponding to a redundant memory cell column.
Consideration is given to a determination operation of redundancy determining circuits 35a and 35b of an even-numbered bit line and an odd-numbered bit line, respectively, and in a case of odd-numbered address CAO corresponding to an odd bit line, a bit address of column address CA is used as is in redundancy determining circuit 35a, while in a case of even-numbered address CAE, even-numbered address CAE is a conversion of column address CA on the basis of even-numbered address buffer 40 in a prescribed condition; therefore, a determination operation of redundancy determining circuit 35b of even-numbered address CAE lags by a conversion time of even-numbered address buffer 40. In company with the delay, a column select operation also delays; therefore, a problem arises of no possibility of a high speed operation in a double data rate scheme in which data reading is performed in synchronization with clock signal.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a synchronous semiconductor memory device canceling a delay in a determination operation accompanying a conversion operation of an even-numbered address buffer to perform high speed data reading and so on.
A semiconductor memory device according to an aspect of the present invention includes: plural memory cells arranged in a matrix; redundant memory cells for being substituted for a defective memory cell among the plural memory cells for the sake of saving; an address conversion circuit; a defect address conversion circuit; an address comparison circuit; and a select circuit. The address conversion circuit receives an address signal of L bits (where L is an integer of 2 or more) for selecting plural memory cells to apply a prescribed conversion operation to a bit or bits of part of the L bits when necessary. The defect address conversion circuit receives a defect address signal of L bits, stored in advance, and corresponding to the defective memory cell to apply an inverse conversion operation, exercised by inverting a relationship between an input and output in the prescribed conversion operation applied by the address conversion circuit, to a bit or bits of part of the defect address signal. The address comparison circuit receives an address signal before passage through the address conversion circuit and a defect address signal after passage through the defect address conversion circuit to compare them with each other. The select circuit gets access to one of a memory cell corresponding to an address signal after passage through the address conversion circuit and a redundant memory cell according to a result of comparison in the address comparison circuit.
A main advantage of the present invention is that an address signal before passage through the address conversion circuit and a defect address signal after passage through the defect address conversion circuit are compared with each other in the address comparison circuit, thereby enabling access to a redundant memory cell according to a result of the comparison. That is, since no necessity arises for use of an address signal after passage through the address conversion circuit in the address comparison circuit, suppression can be achieved of a delay time accompanying passage through the address conversion circuit in the address conversion circuit. Accordingly, high speed access to a memory cell and a redundant memory cell can be obtained, thereby enabling times required for data reading and writing to be shortened.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. | {
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In an existing technology of detecting errors of the training data, first, a feature is generated from initial training data and a training model is generated using machine learning. Training data candidates are generated by automatically attaching tags to a raw corpus using the training model. Then, a reliability of the training data candidates is calculated to select and provide training data candidates to a user. When the user corrects errors of the training data candidates through a graphic user interface and adds the corrected training data candidates to the training data, a new training model is generated from the newly generated training data. This new training model is used to estimate an answer using a voting together with the existing training model. By repeating the above-described process, the accuracy of automatic tagging is gradually increased and the training data are enhanced.
As mentioned above, the existing technology of detecting errors of training data provides a method of additionally establishing the training data using the initial training data, but cannot determine errors of the initial training data. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for determining speed when sporting goods implements, particularly, such as a golf club, a baseball bat, etc is swung.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices used to measure swing speed or the like of a golf club or a baseball bat heretofore proposed include, for example, a needle-movable type in which a spring is extended by a centrifugal force produced at the time of swing to move a needle, and after swinging has been finished, the spring is returned to its original position with the result that the needle remains stopped at a position in which it has moved to determine the maximum centrifugal force (head speed) (see Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open Nos. 60-7,858 and 60-32,972); a system in which the sound through the air is produced by air resistance caused by swinging (see Japanese Utility Model Application No. 60-30,267); a system in which a propeller is provided, and a measured value is calculated from rotation of the propeller (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-10,536); and a system in which a centrifugal force produced when swinging is made is applied to a weight being normally tensioned by means of a spring to rotate the weight which then comes into contact with a stopper thereby determining whether or not a set swing speed comes out (see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 49-12,125).
However, the above-described conventional devices have been proposed to measure a swing speed to calculate a distance covered or flow, or to merely determine whether or not a set swing speed was reached, but were not possible to find whether or not the maximum speed (maximum accleration) as reached at a reasonable position in a swinging orbit, and what that speed it was. That is, there has been encountered problems that swinging in the proper form suitable for respective players cannot be determined; and in addition, a player is apt to swing with all his strength and when measurement is made, his swing form tends to get out of shape. | {
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Techniques for obtaining intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) images of an interior vessel in the body, such as a coronary artery, are known in the art. Generally, a catheter including an ultrasound apparatus is introduced into the vessel. As the catheter is gradually moved along the vessel, the ultrasound apparatus transmits ultrasonic signals and detects the reflected signals. A processing device derives an image based on the detected ultrasound signals. In this manner, a sequence of images of the interior structure of the vessel is obtained. However the image sequence by itself does not reveal or identify the exact position of different features of the vessel. For example, with such images of a coronary artery, it is difficult to distinguish between areas of blood and tissue, and regions of calcium deposits. This information can assist and enhance the performance of medical operations, including various types of diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventative procedures.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,895 to Slager entitled “Catheter for obtaining three-dimensional reconstruction of a vascular lumen and wall”, is directed to a catheter system and method for obtaining three-dimensional reconstruction of a vessel by X-ray angiography and intravascular ultrasound. A catheter is pulled back through a blood vessel at a certain speed. The catheter system includes an elongated sheath having proximal and distal regions. The distal region houses an ultrasound transducer and permits rotation and longitudinal translation. The transducer captures a stack of cross-sectional ultrasound images during pull-back. A sequence of radiopaque markers is disposed along the sheath, equally spaced. The markers speed up the three-dimensional reconstruction of the catheter centerline, and may also provide positional feedback during pull-back.
A computer program detects the contours of the luminal and wall-adventitia boundaries at fixed intervals, based on end diastolic samples of the IVUS images. Biplane fluoroscopy records the start and end of the pull-back, and biplane angiography is performed without changes in geometrical X-ray settings. The geometry of the longitudinal centerline, representing the path of the IVUS transducer, is determined using the biplane fluoroscopy image data. A three-dimensional reconstruction of the vessel is made using the IVUS data stack, the catheter path, and the lumen contours. In particular, the contours are combined with the centerline using features of the angiograms, such as the position of the centerline relative to the lumen border, to establish the rotational position of the contours around the spatial curve.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,878 to Nachtomy et al entitled “Intravascular ultrasound enhanced image and signal processing”, is directed to a device and method for processing intravascular ultrasound image information to remove distortions and inaccuracies caused by various types of motion in the catheter and the bodily lumen. A transducer attached to a catheter emits and receives ultrasonic signals. The catheter is inserted into a blood vessel. An ultrasound beam from the transducer is continuously rotated within the vessel, forming a 360° internal cross-sectional image in a transverse plane of the vessel. The catheter is gradually moved along the blood vessel, and images of various segments of the vessel are obtained.
The detected ultrasound signal is processed to form a set of vectors comprising digitized data. Each vector represents the ultrasonic response of a different angular sector of the vessel. The digitized vectors are initially stored in a matrix in polar coordinate form. The polar matrix is converted into a matrix in Cartesian coordinate form, in which the axes correspond to the Cartesian representation of the cross-section of the vessel. The image is then further processed and transferred to a display.
The images are stabilized in order to compensate for different types of relative motion experienced by the catheter and the vessel. These types of motion include: rotation in the plane of the image, Cartesian displacement, global vasomotion or a radial contraction and expansion of the entire vessel, local vasomotion or a radial contraction and expansion of different parts of the vessel with different magnitudes and directions, local motion by different tissue, and through plane motion or movements perpendicular to the plane of the image.
The first three types of motion are stabilized using global stabilization, which compare whole parts of the image to one another. The next two types of motions in the list are stabilized by applying closeness operations on a localized basis. The last type of motion is stabilized using cardiovascular periodicity detection.
In global stabilization, shift evaluation is performed using a closeness operation. A first image is transformed and its closeness to its predecessor second image is measured. The transformation is performed by shifting the entire first image along a combination of axes. The images are then compared using a predefined function. The transformation is repeated until all shifts are measured and the global extremum of the comparisons indicates the direction and magnitude of the movement between the two images.
“A State-Space Model for a Sequence of Image Characterisitics” by Dethlefsen, Hansen, and Lundbye-Christensen, discusses an automated method for determining the evolution of the cross-sectional area of a coronary artery. A sequence of images of the coronary artery is obtained through ultrasound imaging. The artery wall is modeled as a pulsating disc parameterized by a center and a radius. The center and radius may both exhibit fluctuations due to random factors. The cross-sectional area of the artery can be calculated at a given time from estimates of the center and the radius. The vector of image characteristics is estimated at any given time by utilizing the series of images previously observed and calculating the posterior mean and variance matrices. In order to obtain the series of posterior means, the recursive structure of the Kalman filter is combined with a Markov chain Monte Carlo method, such as the Metropolis-Hasting's algorithm.
“Near-Infrared Raman Spectroscopy for In Vitro Human Coronary Artery Tissue Identification” by Silveira Jr, Zângaro, Pacheco, Sathaiah, Chavantes, and Pasqualucci, discusses the use of Near-infrared Raman Spectroscopy for in vitro diagnosis of atheromatous plaque. An algorithm is presented that classifies the human coronary artery segments into two segments: non-pathologic (NP) or atherosclerotic (AT) plaque, based on spectral features extracted from Raman data. The classification is done using Mahalanobis distance using histopathological results as a gold standard.
A collection of coronary artery fragments are extracted and prepared. The samples are placed before the spectrograph of the NIRS and spectral data is obtained. The fragments are classified in four main tissue types by a pathologist. The spectra are separated according to histopathology, plotted, and spectral features obtained. The atheromatous plaque exhibited distinct Raman features, such as main bands at specific wavelengths, and a higher relative intensity. Different features of the spectra are used in classifying the spectra into two categories. For a clear separation into groups, separation surfaces are drawn based on the Mahalanobis distances, which takes into account the relative distance between the sample to the mean of a group as well as the covariance matrix of the data. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Causal risk factors that directly promote the development of coronary and peripheral atherosclerosis include elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), hypertension, cigarette smoking and diabetes mellitus. Other synergistic risk factors include elevated concentrations of triglyceride (TG)-rich lipoproteins, small, dense low-density lipoprotein particles, lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)), and homocysteine. Predisposing risk factors modify the causal or conditional risk factors and thus affect atherogenesis indirectly. The predisposing risk factors are obesity, physical inactivity, family history of premature CVD, and male sex. The strong connection between coronary heart disease (CHD) and high LDL-C levels in plasma, and the therapeutic advantage of lowering elevated LDL-C levels are now well established (Gotto et al., Circulation 81, 1990, 1721-1733; Stein et al., Nutr. Metab. Cardiovasc. Dis. 2, 1992, 113-156; Illingworth, Med. Clin. North. Am. 84, 2000, 23-42). Cholesterol-rich, sometimes unstable, atherosclerotic plaques lead to the occlusion of blood vessels resulting in an ischemia or an infarct. Studies with respect to primary prophylaxis have shown that a lowering of plasma LDL-C levels in plasma reduces the frequency of non-fatal incidences of CHD, while the overall morbidity remains unchanged. The lowering of plasma LDL-C levels in patients with pre-established CHD (secondary intervention) reduces CHD mortality and morbidity; meta-analysis of different studies shows that this decrease is proportional to the reduction of the LDL-C (Ross et al., Arch. Intern. Med. 159, 1999, 1793-1802).
The clinical advantage of cholesterol lowering is greater for patients with pre-established CHD than for asymptomatic persons with hypercholesterolemia. According to current guidelines, cholesterol lowering treatment is recommended for patients who had survived a myocardial infarct or patients suffering from angina pectoris or another atherosclerotic disease, with a target LDL-C level of 100 mg/dl.
Preparations such as bile acid sequestrants, fibrates, nicotinic acid, probucol as well as statins, i.e. HMG-Co-A reductase inhibitors such as simvastatin and atorvastatin, are used for usual standard therapies. The best statins reduce plasma LDL-C effectively by at least 40%, and also plasma triglycerides, a synergistic risk factor, but less effectively. In contrast, fibrates reduce plasma triglycerides effectively, but not LDL-C. Combination of a statin and a fibrate proved to be very efficacious in lowering LDL-C and triglycerides (Ellen and McPherson, J. Cardiol. 81, 1998, 60B-65B), but safety of such a combination remains an issue (Shepherd, Eur. Heart J. 16, 1995, 5-13). A single drug with a mixed profile combining effective lowering of both LDL-C and triglycerides would provide additional clinical benefit to asymptomatic and symptomatic patients.
In humans, statins are well tolerated at standard dosage, but reductions in non-sterol intermediates in the cholesterol synthesis pathway, such as isoprenoids and coenzyme Q, may be associated with adverse clinical events at high doses (Davignon et al., Can. J. Cardiol. 8, 1992, 843-864; Pederson and Tobert, Drug Safety 14, 1996, 11-24).
This has stimulated the search for, and development of compounds that inhibit cholesterol biosynthesis, yet act distal to the synthesis of these important, non-sterol intermediates. 2,3-oxidosqualene:lanosterol cyclase (OSC), a microsomal enzyme, represents a unique target for a cholesterol-lowering drug (Morand et al., J. Lipid Res., 38, 1997, 373-390; Mark et al., J. Lipid Res. 37, 1996, 148-158). OSC is downstream of farnesyl-pyrophosphate, beyond the synthesis of isoprenoids and coenzyme Q. In hamsters, pharmacologically active doses of an OSC inhibitor showed no adverse side-effects, in contrast to a statin which reduced food-intake and body weight, and increased plasma bilirubin, liver weight and liver triglyceride content (Morand et al., J. Lipid Res., 38, 1997, 373-390). The compounds described in European Patent Application No. 636 367, which inhibit OSC and which lower the total cholesterol in plasma, belong to these substances.
OSC inhibition does not trigger the overexpression of HMGR because of an indirect, negative feed-back regulatory mechanism involving the production of 24(S),25-epoxycholesterol (Peffley et al., Biochem. Pharmacol. 56, 1998, 439-449; Nelson et al., J. Biol. Chem. 256, 1981, 1067-1068; Spencer et al., J. Biol. Chem. 260, 1985, 13391-13394; Panini et al., J. Lipid Res. 27, 1986, 1190-1204; Ness et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 308, 1994, 420-425). This negative feed-back regulatory mechanism is fundamental to the concept of OSC inhibition because (i) it potentiates synergistically the primary inhibitory effect with an indirect down-regulation of HMGR, and (ii) it prevents the massive accumulation of the precursor monooxidosqualene in the liver. In addition, 24(S),25-epoxycholesterol was found to be one of the most potent agonists of the nuclear receptor LXR (Janowski et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 96, 1999, 266-271). Considering that 24(S),25-epoxycholesterol is a by-product of inhibition of OSC it is hypothesized that the OSC inhibitors could also indirectly activate LXR-dependent pathways such as (i) cholesterol-7alpha-hydroxylase to increase the consumption of cholesterol via the bile acid route, (ii) expression of ABC proteins with the potential to stimulate reverse cholesterol transport and increase plasma HDL-C levels (Venkateswaran et al., J. Biol. Chem. 275, 2000, 14700-14707; Costet et al., J. Biol. Chem. June 2000, in press; Ordovas, Nutr Rev 58, 2000, 76-79, Schmitz and Kaminsky, Front Biosci 6, 2001, D505-D514), and/or inhibit intestinal cholesterol absorption (Mangelsdorf, XIIth International Symposium on Atherosclerosis, Stockholm, June 2000). In addition, possible cross talks between fatty acid and cholesterol metabolism mediated by liver LXR have been hypothesized (Tobin et al., Mol. Endocrinol. 14, 2000, 741-752). | {
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Users of wireless devices, communicating within wireless networks such as Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs), often attempt to connect to a network that is connected to the wireless network. For example, the user of a wireless device may attempt to use a web browsing application at the wireless device to connect to the Internet via a PLMN. In such wireless networks, Access Point Names (APNs) may be used for identifying another network (e.g., the Internet, an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network), and/or a particular gateway associated with the other network, that a wireless device user wants to communicate with, and, additionally, may be used for defining a type of service to be provided via the other network.
When the wireless network receives a connection request that includes a particular APN, the wireless network examines the APN to determine what type of network connection should be created, and to which other network the requesting wireless device should be connected. The wireless network uses the APN to set up a connection between the requesting wireless device, and a gateway between the wireless network and the other network. As one particular example, the APN may identify the Internet as the other network being requested (e.g., APN=“internet”). An APN typically includes an identifier that identifies the other network to which a connection is being requested, and may optionally identify the particular service requested by the device user. Each wireless carrier network may maintain its own specific set of APNs that may only be valid within that carrier's wireless network. Therefore, APNs that are valid for use within a first wireless carrier network may be invalid for use within a second wireless carrier network (and vice versa). | {
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This invention relates to a radio frequency tuner and more particularly but not by way of limitation to an electrically controlled radio frequency tuner using a signal waveguide housing having a ferromagnetic fluid therein which is controlled by a plurality of magnets attached to the exterior of the waveguide housing.
Heretofore, there have been various types of devices used for magnetically controlling ferromagnetic fluids in waveguide sections. These devices are described in the following U.S. patents. U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,938 to Carrico, U.S. Pat. No. 3,001,154 to Reggia, U.S. Pat. No. 2,532,157 to Evans, U.S. Pat. No. 2,798,207 to Reggia, U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,594 to Bongianni and a 1949 Article to Miller. None of these prior art devices specifically use controlled electromagnets for partially blocking or blocking the cavity of the waveguide housing.
Heretofore, reflections and circulator feedthrough in a radio frequency system using a common antenna for both the transmitter and receiver caused a part of the transmitted signal to be reflected back into the receiver. This unwanted signal effectively created a noise threshold which decreased the sensitivity of the receiver. Current methods used in tuning a transceiver are subject to error, are labor intensive and are subject to shift as a result of a particular environment. The subject invention provides the unique combination of structure and advantages of eliminating signal feedback, thereby improving the sensitivity of the receiver. | {
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Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a crimp terminal for electrical connection with other components, a connecting structure using the crimp terminal, a method of manufacturing the crimp terminal and a laser welding method of the crimp terminal.
Background
In the field of vehicles, in view of improving fuel consumption, there is a need for lightweighting of various components constituting automobiles. Particularly, a wire harness used in automobiles is a component having a considerable weight in an automobile and thus, for lightweighting, there have been efforts to change a material of a conductor (core wire) of an electric wire used in the wire harness from copper to one of aluminum and an aluminum alloy. Normally, a crimp terminal made of one of copper and a copper alloy is used for a terminal connected to a leading end portion of an aluminum or aluminum alloy wire. Accordingly, since there is a possibility that exposed aluminum produces dissimilar metal corrosion and the conductor becomes defective at a connecting portion between the conductor and the terminal that are made of the aforementioned materials, it is necessary to take measures such as to shield the aluminum conductor from the outside world.
To this end, it is known to mold an entire crimp portion with a resin (e.g., see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2011-222243). However, this results in a bulky connector since the size of a connector housing needs to be larger because of a bulky mold portion, and thus a wire harness as a whole cannot be miniaturized or have a higher density. With a molding method, since individual crimp portion is processed after the crimping of an electric wire, there is a problem that manufacturing processes of a wire harness may largely increase or become cumbersome.
In order to solve such a problem, there are proposed techniques such as a technique in which a metal cap is placed to cover the electric wire conductor and thereafter crimped to thereby bring an aluminum conductor into a sealed state and a technique in which a crimp terminal and a metal cap are not provided as separate components but rather an electric wire is covered with a part of a strip of terminal to provide a sealed state (e.g., see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 2004-207172 and 2012-84471, and International Publication WO2014/010605).
Here, an electric wire including an aluminum conductor is crimped in a covered state, a method in which a part of a substrate (metal plate) stamped to correspond to a shape of the crimp terminal is bent into a cylindrical shape, and a butted portion or a lapped portion at both ends thereof is welded by a laser provides both improved formability and productivity.
However, when laser welding the overlapped portion to make an electric wire into a sealed state, there is a possibility that a keyhole 101 could be formed at the end of welding as shown in FIG. 10. As a result, there was a drawback that the welding of the overlapped portion 102 may become incomplete, and a possibility that an electric wire cannot be sealed increases.
Accordingly, the present disclosure is related to providing a crimp terminal that can accurately perform the welding of the overlapped portion without lowering the quality of the crimp terminal, a connecting structure using the crimp terminal, a method of manufacturing the crimp terminal and a laser welding method of the crimp terminal. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer capable of effectively using a register by recognizing a use state of the register in interruption processing or the like caused by executing a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a computer, the following processing is generally performed during execution of a program. For example, when the program is discontinued by procedure calling or interruption processing, a register is saved. In contrast to this, when control is returned from a procedure, or the program which has been interrupted by the interruption processing is continuously executed, the register is returned.
However, the conventional machine has no means for recognizing a register supposed to store values for normally operating a program during execution of the procedure calling or interruption processing.
As a result, in the conventional machine, when the procedure calling or interruption processing is to be performed, it is not recognized which register is required after the program is continued. Therefore, in a conventional machine, all registers including registers which need not be saved are saved, and, as in a returning operation, all the registers including registers which need not be returned are returned. This operation is an important factor for prolonging an execution time of the program.
In the procedure calling, for example, a case wherein a new procedure B is called from a procedure A will be described below. In this case, a register may be used after control is returned from the procedure B to the procedure A, and the value of the register changed by the procedure B must often be saved.
There are two methods for saving a register. The first method is a method of saving a register on a caller side, i.e., on the procedure A (to be referred to as caller saved convention). The second method is a method of saving a register on a callee side, i.e., the procedure B (to be referred to as callee saved convention).
According to the first method, in order to perform a saving operation in the procedure A, it is not recognized which register can be changed in the procedure B. Therefore, all registers which may be used after control is returned from the procedure B must be saved regardless of whether the registers are changed in the procedure B. In contrast to this, according to the second method, it is not recognized which register is used in the procedure A after control is returned from the procedure B. Therefore, all registers which are to be changed in the procedure B must be saved regardless of whether these registers are used in the procedure A after control is returned from the procedure B. For this reason, in both the first and second methods, an operation for saving registers which need not be saved is performed.
In the interruption processing, a case wherein a currently executed program is interrupted by interruption processing such as a trap or interruption will be described below. In this case, a register used during the interruption processing must be saved to continue the program. However, since it is not recognized which register is required after the program is continued, an operation for saving all registers, i.e., an operation for saving registers which need not be saved, is performed.
In returning registers, as in the saving of registers, an operation for returning registers which need not be returned is performed in each of the procedure calling and the interruption processing.
As described above, when the conventional procedure calling and interruption processing are to be performed, it is not recognized which register is a register whose value is required to normally operate an execution program. As described above, in all the procedure or interruption processing, all registers are saved/returned. Therefore, since saving/returning operations of the registers are redundant, an execution speed of the program is decreased.
A program generally consists of several procedures. In order to minimize saving/returning operations of registers, different registers are preferably used on a callee side and a caller side with respect to calling of the procedures. In this case, a procedure calling relation is checked in a compiling or linking operation, and registers are assigned such that the registers used on the caller and callee sides do not overlap each other. However, the register assignment can be performed only when very severe conditions are satisfied, e.g., when a target procedure is called from only one portion or when the calling does not depend on the input series of a program. For this reason, in many cases, since assignment must be performed without recognizing the use state of the registers when a procedure is called, assignment means is not used effectively.
As described above, in a conventional computer, register assignment cannot be performed sufficiently using hardware resources. Although there is an empty register, a register in use may be assigned without assigning the empty register. Therefore, in the conventional machine, registers which need not be saved/returned must be saved/returned.
The following method is known. Registers which are returned in procedure calling and registers which are not returned are permanently classified, and the number of registers subjected to saving/returning operations in the procedure calling is decreased, thereby decreasing the load of the saving/returning operations. However, according to this method, when registers of one type are short, since registers of the other type cannot be used as the registers of one type, the registers cannot be effectively used.
In addition, in a computer program, after the value of a register is defined, the value is to be referred to. However, when the program has an error, the value may be referred to without defining the value. The program must be detected before the program is executed or during execution of the program. However, in a conventional technique, even when a program is analyzed by software before the program is executed, a relation between the definition and reference of the value is not always detected. In addition, since there is no analyzing means during execution of the program, reference of an undefined register cannot be easily checked.
With the above arrangement, in a conventional computer, it is not realized which register is generally required after a program is continued. Therefore, all registers including registers which need not be saved are saved. On the other hand, as in returning registers, all registers which need not be returned are returned. This is an important factor of prolonging an execution time of the program.
Related arts of the present invention are U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,993 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,945, 510. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This application relates to the field of compositions for the treatment of oily skin, more specifically to a topical treatment for the skin to reduce sebum.
There are three major facial skin types: (1) skin that is slightly to extremely oily; (2) skin that is slightly to extremely dry; and (3) skin that is slightly to extremely oily across the forehead and down the nose to the chin (the so-called T-zone) and simultaneously slightly to extremely dry across the rest of the face.
In order to treat dry skin to reduce the tightness, flakiness and scaliness, humectants and emollients are used.
However, there are no such ready treatments for oily skin. Skin oils, which are properly called sebum, can be removed by applying low molecular weight alcohols, such as ethyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol. Alternatively, the skin can be cleansed with soaps or surfactants. Usually, these techniques offer only a temporary reprieve from the oiliness, since the removed sebum is readily replaced by an abundant reservoir of oil residing in the sebaceous glands just below the surface of the skin.
Sebum is a secretion of the sebaceous gland. This gland is found in the epidermis of the entire body except for the palms of the hands, the soles and dorsal (upper) surfaces of the feet. They are found in their highest numbers on the head, particularly on the face and the scalp (Strauss, J. S. and Pochi, P. E. In: Gans, O., Steigleder, G. K., eds. Hanbuch der Haut-und Geschlechtskrankheiten; Normale und Pathologische Anatomie der Haut I. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1968:184-223; Wilkinson, J. B. and Moore, R. J., eds. Harry""s Cosmeticology, 7th ed. New York:Chemical Publishing, 1982). The amount of sebum produced by these glands is controlled by endogenous hormones, especially particularly the sexually related hormones such as testosterone, and therefore varies from one individual to another. Sebum flow is also controlled by a variety of other factors, such as temperature and humidity (Stauss, J. S., Downing, D. T., and Ebling, F. J. In: Goldsmith, L. A., ed. Biochemistry and Physiology of the Skin. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983:569-595).
Hormonal control is at least partially under the influence of an enzyme, namely 5-alpha reductase, that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, which effects the production of sebum. Levels of sebum produced by the sebaceous glands are normally highest during the teenage years. In women, the output of sebum normally decreases after menopause. The level remains relatively unchanged into old age in men (Pochi, P. E., Strauss, J. S., and Downing, D. T., J. Invest. Dermatol. 73:108-111(1979)).
Sebum is composed of triglycerides, diglycerides, free fatty acids, wax esters, squalene, cholesterol and cholesterol esters (Greene, R. S., Downing, D. T., Pochi, P. E., and Strauss, J. S., J. Invest. Dermatol. 54:240-247(1970)). Although the function of sebum is believed to be primarily in helping to maintain the skin""s barrier integrity, it also is known to have mild bactericidal and antifungal properties (Kligman, A. M. In: Montagna, W., Ellis, R. A., and Silver, A. F., eds. Advances in Biology of Skin:The Sebaceous Glands, Oxford, England: Pergamon Press, 1963: 110-124). Sebum is also well know to protect the hair shaft from damage brought about by brushing, combing and styling of the hair (Agache, P. G. In:Zviak, C., ed. The Science of Hair Care. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1986: 469-500).
There are two primary ways that sebum is believed to affect the severity of acne. The first is that excess sebum can contribute to the packing of horny skin cells at the opening of the sebaceous follicle on the surface of the skin. This abundance of dead skin cells causes a constriction in the follicular opening ultimately leading to a plug or comedone.
A comedone is one of the earliest physical manifestations of acne. Furthermore, once the comedone is formed, regardless of its origin, it is normally found to be populated with an anaerobic microorganism, namely Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes). The sebum in the follicle provides an excellent growth medium for this organism. The products of the growth of P. acnes on sebum results in the generation of free fatty acids that are irritating to the skin and have been shown to be acneogenic. If a break in the thin walls of follicle occurs, these microbially-derived irritants can escape into the surrounding epidermal and surrounding dermal tissue producing significant irritation and therefore redness and tissue damage. This latter effect of sebum on acne is believed to be one of the principal sources of the redness of acne.
Therefore, for both cosmetic and dermatological reasons, the ability to reduce the presence of sebum on the skin is important. An even greater effect would be to reduce the amount of sebum on the surface of the skin initially as well as to reduce it for a significant period of time following a topical treatment.
Thus, a significant amount of research has been devoted to identifying ways to reduce sebum on the skin. Many different approaches have been tried, most with only limited success. The primary approach has been to try to avoid putting oils on the surface of the skin. Such xe2x80x9coil-freexe2x80x9d approaches have met with little success. However, by providing products to apply to their skin that do not feel oily or greasy, consumers believe that they are taking positive steps to avoid making the skin more oily than normal.
Numerous products have been developed that contain materials to absorb the oils secreted by the sebaceous glands. These products contain materials such as starches, clays, silica, and even porous polymer beads that bind surface skin oils. Although these products actually exhibit some efficacy in absorbing sebum, they are difficult to deliver to the skin in sufficient quantities to absorb a significant quantity of sebum without radically detracting from the form or feel of the formulation. Therefore, this method of sebum reduction often results in products that are either less effective than needed or less aesthetically appealing to consumers. Therefore, there is a definite need for better, more technically advanced methods to reduce sebum on the skin.
Currently techniques for treating oily skin offer only a temporary reprieve from the oiliness, since the removed sebum is readily replaced by an abundant reservoir of oil from the skin. For both cosmetic dermatological reasons, the ability to reduce the presence of sebum on the skin is important. Described herein are novel compositions and methods which reduce the amount of sebum on the surface of the skin after initial application, and continue to reduce the presence of sebum on the surface of the skin for a significant period of time following a topical treatment.
A method of reducing sebum on the surface of skin is provided. The method includes applying topically to the skin a composition that includes an alcohol, pyridoxine hydrochloride or a salt or derivative thereof, and a zinc salt, wherein the composition is applied to the surface of the skin in an amount sufficient to reduce sebum.
In one embodiment, the method includes applying a composition that includes alcohol as about 0.01 to 40% by weight of the composition, pyridoxine hydrochloride, or a salt or derivative thereof, as about 0.00001% to 5% by weight of the composition, and zinc salt as about 0.0001 to 10% by weight of the composition. In one specific, non-limiting example, the alcohol is present as about 10% by weight of the composition, the zinc salt is present as about 0.5% by weight of the composition, and the pyridoxine hydrochloride is present as about 0.05% by weight of the composition.
Other embodiments also include a topical composition for reducing sebum on the surface of the skin, wherein the composition includes an alcohol, pyridoxine hydrochloride or a salt or derivative thereof, and a zinc salt in an amount sufficient to reduce the amount of sebum on the surface of the skin.
In another embodiment, the composition includes alcohol as about 0.01 to 40% by weight of the composition, pyridoxine hydrochloride, or a salt or derivative thereof, as about 0.00001% to 5% by weight of the composition, and zinc salt as about 0.0001 to 10% by weight of the composition. In one specific, non-limiting example, the alcohol is present as about 10% by weight of the composition, the zinc salt is present as about 0.5% by weight of the composition, and the pyridoxine hydrochloride is present as about 0.05% by weight of the composition. | {
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This invention relates to a mobile medical X-ray apparatus and, more particularly, to an X-ray apparatus of a kind carried on a mobile table.
A mobile X-ray apparatus of this kind has been disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication Jikkai 2-55919, characterized as having an X-ray source and an X-ray detector supported at both ends of a C-shaped arm held by a holder attached to a support column which is vertically moveable with respect to a wheeled table such that the heights of the X-ray source and the X-ray detector can be freely and conveniently adjusted. A spring is provided such that its force will balance the total weight of the components supported by the support column for vertically moving the C-arm holder, the X-ray source and the X-ray detector such that their heights can be adjusted without exerting a strong force. An apparatus thus structured, however, requires a large number of components for balancing and varying the directions of the forces since ropes and pulleys are used to balance the weight of the apparatus components with the force of the spring. Moreover, the mechanism is complicated and takes up a large space. As a result, some of these additional components must be placed inside the base part of the mobile table although this base part should preferably be reserved for a better use such as for housing the steering mechanism. If this cannot be done, a so-called rear wheel steering mechanism may have to be incorporated although it is not an ideal mechanism for such a medical apparatus from the point of view of operability. | {
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The invention relates to a printing machine having a printing drum with which there is associated an intermittently indexable transporting element for the articles to be printed which are of non-circular cross-section, the supports of the transporting element having a rotatably supported arbor supporting the article internally thereof.
From the published German specification 2039880 such a printing machine is known which is adapted for the printing of non-circular hollow bodies. Since no further means, other than the internally arranged rotatably supported arbor, are provided for supporting the article to be printed, it is possible to set a particular initial position at the beginning of the printing operation only by the operator holding the article in a particular initial position firmly until the article is held between the arbor and the printing drum by these two last-mentioned parts. Automatic feeding of the article to be printed to the printing drum and automatic removal of the printed article upon completion of the printing operation are consequently not possible, so that the throughput capacity of the known machine is necessarily small. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The invention relates to indicating lights; and, more particularly, to warning lights on the panel of a vehicle or the like which light up to warn or indicate a particular function. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process for reclaiming vulcanized rubber and to the resultant mixture of organic compounds.
2. Discussion of the Background
In recent years the problem of disposing of discarded tires has become acute. At present over 200,000,000 tires are discarded annually and much research has been directed to addressing this problem.
Scrap tires have been disposed of by open-burning. However, this results in an intolerable level of air pollution. Non-polluting incineration of scrap tires is possible, yet, this method is viewed only as a matter of expediency and is wasteful of a rather valuable raw material. Incineration with waste-heat recovery to generate steam is another method to utilize scrap tires. However, this procedure is not a true recycling technology and again is wasteful of a valuable resource.
Disposal of scrap tires without reclamation of some, if not most, of the material therein must be considered extremely wasteful. Accordingly, efforts have been directed towards recovery of this potential resource.
Few practical methods have been developed for recycling scrap tires. Reclaiming of scrap rubber has been practiced for many years, with digestion and separation of textile materials and some "de-vulcanization" and degradation of the polymer. Recent increases in processing costs have made these operations uneconomical, however, and many plants have discontinued operation. Thus, the need exists for a reclaiming process which would permit inexpensive recycling of scrap tires to recover the organic material therein. Pyrolysis, either in bulk or in solution, has also been explored to degrade and recover the styrene-butadiene copolymer in scrap tires, see Larsen et al, Rubber Chem. Technol., 49, 1120 (1976), Lucchesi et al, Conservation & Recycling, 6, 85 (1983), Kawakami et al, ACS Symp. Ser. 130, 557 (1980).
However, compared to the studies on the thermal depolymerization of polystyrene, polybutadienes and their blends, the research on pyrolytic recovery of styrene-butadiene copolymer has not been fully developed. The degradation reaction of styrene-butadiene rubber in tetralin at 140.degree. C. was examined but the resulting material was not otherwise characterized, except to note it as randomly cross-linked material, see Gur et al, Indian J. Chem., 6, 495 (1969).
High-boiling naphthenic oils have also been utilized to dissolve scrap rubber, suggesting that the hot oil serves both physically as a solvent and a heat-transfer medium promoting chain scission, and chemically as a chain-transfer vehicle, see Crane et al, Rubber Chem. Technol., 48, 50 (1975). Although the resulting product was asserted to be a low molecular-weight depolymerized material, no attempts were made to investigate the degradation components.
The use of a supercritical fluid (SCF) as a reaction medium can provide an alternative approach for lowering the operating temperature of pyrolysis reactions. Improved yields and selectivities have been reported in an SCF reaction medium when compared with the results obtained under pyrolysis, see McHugh et al, Supercritical Fluid Extraction-Principles and Practice; Butterworth; Stoneham, pp. 195-215 (1986). Supercritical acetone has been used as the reaction medium for the thermal degradation of cellulose, obtaining higher extraction yields at temperatures lower than those used for conventional pyrolysis, see Koll et al, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., 17, 754 (1986). Thermal intermolecular organic reactions have been studied in supercritical fluid media at pressures of up to 50.7 MPa and temperatures of up to 500.degree. C. and found that alkanes could be coupled ito alkenes, to 1,3-dienes, and to alkynes, see Metzger et al, Chemical Engineering at Supercritical Conditions; Paulaitis et al, Eds.; Ann Arbor Science; Ann Arbor, Mich. (1983); Chapter 26. The oxidation of n-butane in both liquid and SCF phases has also been studied, see, The Oxidation of Hydrocarbons in the Liquid Phase; Emanuel, N. M., Ed.; McMillan; New York, 1985.
A unique feature of a supercritical fluid is that it displays a wide spectrum of solvent characteristics. To a first approximation, the solvent power of a supercritical fluid can be related to the solvent density in the critical region. For a reduced temperature (T.sub.R) range of 0.9 to 1.2 and at reduced pressures (P.sub.R) greater than 1.0, the reduced density (.rho..sub.R) of the solvent can vary from a value of approximately 0.1 to 0.9, which possess gas-like densities, and a range of 1.0 to approximately 2.5, which possess liquid-like densities. When operating in the critical region, both pressure and temperature can be used to regulate the density and solvent power of a supercritical fluid.
The extraction of organic material from used tires with supercritical fluids has been reported, see Funazukuri et al, Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan, 18, 455 (1985), however, such an extraction employed supercritical solvents whose densities were in the gas-like range. As such, the extraction is time-consuming and the recovery of organic material is incomplete. The average molecular weight of the resultant organic material ranges from 325 to 480 daltons. Accordingly, this reference fails to recognize the advantages which are obtained from the production of a valuable mixture of organic compounds from the reclamation process. This reference neglects to adjust the parameters of the extraction process so as to obtain a commercially important material. Rather the process of this reference merely converts one form of waste (scrap tires) to a second almost equivalently useless form. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety switches, that is, switches for providing fail-safe switching of a load in an environment where, for safety purposes, it is extremely important that the load be supplied or not when the switch is operated.
An example of such an environment is an aircraft, for which it is essential to activate suitable elements as soon as the pilot or a computer acts on the corresponding switches. The failure of a switch, for example the absence of switching when the switch is operated, or a spurious switching, may have dangerous consequences. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The oil and gas industry expends sizable sums to design cutting tools, such as downhole drill bits including roller cone rock bits and fixed-cutter bits. Such drill bits may have relatively long service lives with relatively infrequent failure. In particular, considerable sums are expended to design and manufacture roller cone rock bits and fixed-cutter bits in a manner that minimizes the opportunity for catastrophic drill bit failure during drilling operations. The loss of a roller cone or a polycrystalline diamond compact from a fixed-cutter bit during drilling operations can impede the drilling operations and, at worst, necessitate rather expensive fishing operations.
Diagnostic information (e.g., temperature) related to a drill bit and certain components of the drill bit may be linked to the durability, performance, and the potential failure of the drill bit. For example, thermal measurements of a cutting element has been obtained, at least in a laboratory environment, through the use of one or more embedded thermocouples within the cutting element. The embedded thermocouples may be relatively large and may require careful implementation and placement of partially drilled holes through the substrate and into the diamond table adjacent the cutting surface of a cutting element. The drilled portions through the substrate and diamond table for housing the thermocouples may compromise the mechanical strength of the cutting element. Thermocouples may also require the use of relatively large voltage drivers, which may limit the downhole usefulness in obtaining accurate and representative temperature measurements during actual rock cutting during a subterranean drilling operation or, at the least, in a drilling simulator. As a result of these and other issues, conventional thermal measurements have been limited to laboratory experiments rather than obtaining real-time performance data during rock cutting. | {
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The present invention is directed to methods of playing wagering games and gaming devices comprising a second gaming unit for displaying a randomly determined interactive video driving game which also allows a player to interact with the gaming device.
Games of chance have been enjoyed by people for thousands of years and have enjoyed widespread popularity in recent times. Many people enjoy playing variations of games that they have not previously played before. Playing new variations of games adds to the excitement of this recreational activity particularly when some form of gaming is involved. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cgaming and gaming devicesxe2x80x9d are used to indicate that some form of wagering is involved, and that players must make wagers of value, whether actual currency or some equivalent of value, e.g., token or credit.
Players involved in games of wagering often enjoy new games or variations of old games with relatively simple rules that can be readily learned by a beginner or casual player. Variations to a game with respect to the method of wagering and the ability to increase winnings attracts more players and is highly desired in the industry. The ability to increase winnings where risk is involved based on the selection of a possible random outcome is also highly desired. Therefore, it is desirable to offer players new variations of games that allow players additional opportunities to increase winning payouts. It would be particularly desirable to provide opportunities to increase winning payouts and also allow a player to interact with a gaming device in the form of a video game. For example, offering a player the opportunity to play a video game and increase his winnings by playing such a video game is also desirable.
Various embodiments of the present invention comprise gaming devices having a first gaming unit for displaying randomly selected indicia and means for generating a signal corresponding to some signal from the first gaming unit, for example, input by the player, the randomly displayed indicia, or some interim event occurring during the play of the first gaming unit. The gaming device also includes a secondary unit for displaying an interactive driving video wherein the second gaming unit is connected to the first gaming unit and becomes operational in response to a signal generated by the first gaming unit. According to one embodiment, a first payout indicator is responsive to the first gaming unit of the gaming device, and a second payout indicator is responsive to the second gaming unit.
In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the displayed indicia of the first gaming unit may be in the form of reels, indicia of reels, playing cards, indicia of playing cards, dice, indicia of dice, numbers, indicia of numbers, and combinations thereof. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Flash memory is non-volatile, which means that it stores information on a semiconductor in a way that does not need power to maintain the information in the chip. Flash memory is based on the Floating-Gate Avalanche-Injection Metal Oxide Semiconductor (FAMOS transistor), which is essentially a Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) Field Effect Transistor (FET) with an additional conductor suspended between the gate and source/drain terminals. Current flash memory devices are made in two forms: NOR flash and NAND flash. The names refer to the type of logic used in the storage cell array. Further, flash memory stores information in an array of transistors, called “cells,” each of which traditionally stores one or more bits of information.
A flash cell is similar to a standard MOSFET transistor, except that it has two gates instead of just one. One gate is the control gate (CG) like in other MOS transistors, but the second is a floating gate (FG) that is insulated all around by an oxide layer. The FG is between the CG and the substrate. Because the FG is isolated by its insulating oxide layer, any electrons placed on it get trapped there and thus store the information.
When electrons are trapped on the FG, they modify (partially cancel out) an electric field coming from the CG, which modifies the threshold voltage (Vt) of the cell. Thus, when the cell is “read” by placing a specific voltage on the CG, electrical current will either flow or not flow between the cell's source and drain connections, depending on the Vt of the cell. This presence or absence of current is sensed and translated into 1's and 0's, reproducing the stored data.
Programming efficiency in flash memory, which is defined as a ratio of transistor gate current to programming drain-source current, is an important factor in determining power consumption in flash memories. The programming efficiency of flash memory cells, which utilize hot-electron injection, has been enhanced by applying substrate bias.
Mechanisms of hot-electron injection in a floating gate transistor during a program operation are well known. The channel hot electron (CHE) component comes from energetic channel electrons which are accelerated by lateral electric fields along a channel of the floating gate transistor. A channel initiated secondary electron (CHISEL) component comes from energetic electrons which are generated by hole impact ionization in the substrate and accelerated by vertical electric fields. As such, a gate current (Ig) by hot-electron injection in program mode can be expressed as Ig=ICHE+ICHISEL.
Known techniques for writing electrons onto the floating gate are still very inefficient. The drain current is on the order of a million times the gate current, or only about one in every millionth electron flowing down the transistor channel is injected or results in an electron being injected onto the floating gate. This requires that a high drain current be used during writing and excessive power dissipation.
A different non-volatile memory, Nitrided Read Only Memory (NROM), utilizes inherent physical features of an oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) gate dielectric and known mechanisms of program and erase operations to create two separate physical bits per cell. The NROM cell is based on localized charge trapping. The cell is an n-channel MOSFET device where the gate dielectric is replaced by an ONO stack. Two spatially separated narrow charge distributions are stored in the nitride layer above junction edges. The NROM cell is programmed by channel hot electron injection.
A NROM or SONOS flash memory device has a charge trapping layer between a control gate (CG) and a channel of a MOSFET. Electrons are injected into the trapping layer in a program operation, whereas they are released during the erase operation. NROM memory components are gaining wide acceptance and usage in a wide variety of portable battery operated electronic equipment such as personal digital assistants, PDA's, cellular phones and cameras.
The SONOS or NROM memory devices have attracted much attention due to their advantages over the traditional floating-gate flash device, including lower programming voltage, better scalability, and improved cycling endurance. An advantage of the NROM cell is the negligible vertical retention loss due to inhibition of direct tunneling. Further, in floating gate technology the charge is stored in a conductive layer, and any minor oxide defect or oxide trapped charge under the gate might cause leakage and loss of all the stored charge. NROM technology, however, uses a nitride insulator as a retaining material, hence only a large defect in the oxide (comparable to the cell size) could degrade retention.
A BiMOS structure has been used to study the basic physical mechanisms of electron trapping in MOS gate oxides; see FIG. 1. The test structure 100 included a gate 110, a gate oxide layer 120, source 130 and drain 140. A buried bipolar emitter-base diode, regions 150 and 160, was used to inject electrons which were accelerated in a surface depletion region and injected into the gate oxide 120. Excess electrons were collected by reverse biasing the drain and/or surface regions.
There is a need for improved efficiency and reduced power consumption in programming a non-volatile memory cell. | {
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The present invention is a self-contained, wash and paint facility, which may be transportable on a truck bed or trailer to a work site. At the site the facility can be used to retrieve the object to be processed, bring it into the facility, wash dirt and grease from the object, repaint the object, and return it to service. All such operations are performed inside the facility in an environmentally safe manner. The facility also has the capability of making limited repairs to the object before painting.
The facility is particularly useful for processing grease containers, but it also may be used for the processing of other objects which will fit with the truck or trailer, such as refuse and other containers, engines, machinery, equipment, and other objects which accumulate organic or inorganic dirt, grease, and/or oils. After cleaning, all such objects may also be painted.
Operation of a transportable cleaning and painting facility, capable of travel to the site of objects to be cleaned and painted, offers significant savings in labor, transportation, and facility costs. Such a system totally eliminates the need to establish and maintain a central cleaning plant and the need to transport objects to the central plant and back to the site. Further, on site servicing eliminates downtime for container or the like, and the need for providing a replacement while cleaning and painting takes place at a central plant.
Such a system totally eliminates the need to establish and maintain a central cleaning plant and the need to transport objects to the central plant and back to the site. Further, on site servicing eliminates downtime for container or the like, and the need for providing a replacement while cleaning and painting takes place at a central plant. Such a system totally eliminates the need to establish and maintain a central cleaning plant and the need to transport objects to the central plant and back to the site. Further, on site servicing eliminates downtime for containers or similar objects, and the need for providing a replacement while cleaning and painting takes place at a central plant. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Over the last ten years orbital disc sanders have gained acceptance in the marketplace. Orbital disc sanders are characterised by a rotational and orbital motion of the sanding disc surface. This combined motion is in contrast with the purely orbital motion of more traditional random orbital sanders.
Orbital disc sanders need to be stopped before they are set down, otherwise they are likely to vibrate off of the work surface and fall to the ground where they may be damaged. Due to the rotational inertia of the rotating sanding head, the head may take over ten seconds to fully stop. As such, every time the operator of an orbital disc sander needs to attend to a different task there is time wasted waiting for the sander to completely stop.
The sanding surface of orbital disc sanders comprises of a disc shaped sanding sheet that is attached to the sanding head with a pressure sensitive adhesive or a hook and loop fastener. These sanding disc sheets must routinely be replaced when their surface wears out or becomes packed with dust and grit. Industries that intensively use orbital disc sanders can spend considerable amounts of time and money replacing the sanding disc sheets. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a system with an integrated packaging manufacturing method, and more particularly to a wafer level integrated packaging manufacturing method forming at least a passive component in the packaging structure to reduce the package volume and the system volume and decrease the signal degeneration due to the external connecting with passive components and breakdown problems.
2. Description of Related Arts
With the long time development, the IC packaging method can be categorized as pin through hole and surface mounting. The surface mounting method is processed to achieve an electric connecting through metal pads and substrate.
In a developing process for the surface mounting, there are some methods developed for an increasing of an integration of IC, such as the chip scale package (CSP) employed for the volume ratio of the naked die to the package less than 1:5. The CSP is achieved by fine pinch ball grid array or flip chip. There are many modified methods in the conventional flip chip packaging process. No matter what kind of modification, the flip chip packaging process employs the front surface of a wafer to achieve the electric connecting, such as the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,720,100, 6,074,895, and 6,372,544. They all disclosed the flip chip structure as mentioned above. Therefore, those who employ the semiconductor structure of the front surface of a wafer, such as the photo sensor (CMOS or CCD structure), pressure sensor, or thermal sensor, cannot employ the flip chip packaging method.
Meanwhile, the wafer level chip scale package (WLCSP), which the volume ratio of the naked die to wafer is close to 1:1, is developed. WLCSP employs two surfaces and the lateral side of a wafer to process packaging so that the package volume can be reduced further.
An integrated method to integrate the passive components in the semiconductor packaging structure employing a semiconductor manufacturing process is developed to reduce the electronics system volume and decrease the signal degeneration due to the external connecting with passive components and the breakdown probability due to the malconnecting. But it needs the extra manufacturing process to form passive components. Not only the manufacturing process is complicated, but also does the breakdown problems of the manufacturing process increase.
Therefore, there is a need to provide an integrated packaging process and structure to integrate passive components in the packaging structure to reduce the system volume and increase the reliability through the integration of the passive components when processing the wafer level packaging. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to semiconductor memory devices and, more particularly, to a semiconductor memory device adapted for preventing a test mode operation from undesirably occurring. The present invention has particular applicability to static random access memories (SRAMs). | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to an artificial kidney system for use in providing dialysis. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a hemodialysis system incorporating an at least one ammonia sensor which significantly improves hemodialysis therapy so as to provide hemodialysis to a broader base of patients and to decrease the overall cost of hemodialysis.
Applicant(s) hereby incorporate herein by reference any and all patents and published patent applications cited or referred to in this application.
Hemodialysis is a medical procedure that is used to achieve the extracorporeal removal of waste products including creatine, urea, and free water from a patient's blood involving the diffusion of solutes across a semipermeable membrane. Failure to properly remove these waste products can result in renal failure.
During hemodialysis, the patient's blood is removed by an arterial line, treated by a dialysis machine, and returned to the body by a venous line. The dialysis machine includes a dialyzer containing a large number of hollow fibers forming a semipermeable membrane through which the blood is transported. In addition, the dialysis machine utilizes a dialysate liquid, containing the proper amounts of electrolytes and other essential constituents (such as glucose), that is also pumped through the dialyzer.
Typically, dialysate is prepared by mixing water with appropriate proportions of an acid concentrate and a bicarbonate concentrate. Preferably, the acid and the bicarbonate concentrate are separated until the final mixing right before use in the dialyzer as the calcium and magnesium in the acid concentrate will precipitate out when in contact with the high bicarbonate level in the bicarbonate concentrate. The dialysate may also include appropriate levels of sodium, potassium, chloride, and glucose.
The dialysis process across the membrane is achieved by a combination of diffusion and convection. The diffusion entails the migration of molecules by random motion from regions of high concentration to regions of low concentration. Meanwhile, convection entails the movement of solute typically in response to a difference in hydrostatic pressure. The fibers forming the semipermeable membrane separate the blood plasma from the dialysate and provide a large surface area for diffusion to take place which allows waste, including urea, potassium and phosphate, to permeate into the dialysate while preventing the transfer of larger molecules such as blood cells, polypeptides, and certain proteins into the dialysate.
Typically, the dialysate flows in the opposite direction to blood flow in the extracorporeal circuit. The countercurrent flow maintains the concentration gradient across the semipermeable membrane so as to increase the efficiency of the dialysis. In some instances, hemodialysis may provide for fluid removal, also referred to as ultrafiltration. Ultrafiltration is commonly accomplished by lowering the hydrostatic pressure of the dialysate compartment of a dialyzer, thus allowing water containing dissolved solutes including electrolytes and other permeable substances to move across the membrane from the blood plasma to the dialysate. In rarer circumstances, fluid in the dialysate flow path portion of the dialyzer is higher than the blood flow portion, causing fluid to move from the dialysis flow path to the blood flow path. This is commonly referred to as reverse ultrafiltration. Since ultrafiltration and reverse ultrafiltration can increase the risks to a patient, ultrafiltration and reverse ultrafiltration are typically conducted only while supervised by highly trained medical personnel.
Unfortunately, hemodialysis suffers from numerous drawbacks. An arteriovenous fistula is the most commonly recognized access point. To create a fistula, a doctor joins an artery and a vein together. Since this bypasses the patient's capillaries, blood flows rapidly. For each dialysis session, the fistula must be punctured with large needles to deliver blood into, and return blood from the dialyzer. Typically, this procedure is done three times a week and for 3-4 hours per each treatment. To a lesser extent, patients conduct hemodialysis at home. Home hemodialysis is typically done for two hours, six days a week. Home hemodialysis is considered less stressful and is considered more simplistic as typically conducted with catheters. However, home hemodialysis requires more frequent treatment.
Home hemodialysis suffers from still additional disadvantages. Current home hemodialysis systems are big, complicated, intimidating and difficult to operate. The equipment requires significant training. Home hemodialysis systems are currently too large so as to be portable, thereby preventing hemodialysis patients from traveling. Home hemodialysis systems are expensive and require a high initial monetary investment, particularly compared to in-center hemodialysis where patients are not required to pay for the machinery. Present home hemodialysis systems do not adequately provide for the reuse of supplies, making home hemodialysis economically less feasible to medical suppliers. Because of the above mentioned disadvantages, very few motivated patients undertake the drudgery of home hemodialysis.
Currently, most hemodialysis systems employ peristaltic roller pumps which engage flexible tubing to push fluid through a dialysis flow path or blood flow path. These roller pumps are expensive and inefficient. Also troubling, roller pumps for use in hemodialysis can cause damage to blood platelets and introduces the risk of coagulation.
Accordingly, there is a significant need for a hemodialysis system that is transportable, light weight, easy to use, patient friendly and thus capable of in-home use.
Moreover, it would be desirable to provide a home hemodialysis system that possessed no single point of failure in the pumps, motors, tubes, or electronics which would endanger a patient.
Furthermore, it would desirable to provide a hemodialysis system that employed pumps that did not squeeze blood in the blood flow path and did not incorporate flexible materials such as employed with peristaltic roller pumps.
In still an additional aspect, it would be desirable to provide a hemodialysis system wherein pump components that came in contact with blood or dialysate could be disposed of after a single patient treatment, but that the pump motor could be reused.
In still an additional aspect, it would be desirable to provide a hemodialysis system that incorporates an at least one ammonia sensor for detecting the presence of ammonia.
Aspects of the present invention fulfill these needs and provide further related advantages as described in the following summary. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The subject matter discussed in this section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in this section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in this section or associated with the subject matter provided as background should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in this section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to implementations of the claimed technology.
Motion-capture systems have been deployed to facilitate numerous forms of contact-free interaction with a computer-driven display device. Simple applications allow a user to designate and manipulate on-screen artifacts using hand gestures, while more sophisticated implementations facilitate participation in immersive virtual environments, e.g., by waving to a character, pointing at an object, or performing an action such as swinging a golf club or baseball bat. The term “motion capture” refers generally to processes that capture movement of a subject in 3D space and translate that movement into, for example, a digital model or other representation.
Most existing motion-capture systems rely on markers or sensors worn by the subject while executing the motion and/or on the strategic placement of numerous cameras in the environment to capture images of the moving subject from different angles. As described in U.S. Ser. No. 13/414,485 (filed on Mar. 7, 2012) and Ser. No. 13/724,357 (filed on Dec. 21, 2012), the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference, newer systems utilize compact sensor arrangements to detect, for example, hand gestures with high accuracy but without the need for markers or other worn devices. A sensor may, for example, lie on a flat surface below the user's hands. As the user performs gestures in a natural fashion, the sensor detects the movements and changing configurations of the user's hands, and motion-capture software reconstructs these gestures for display or interpretation.
In some deployments, it may be advantageous to integrate the sensor with the display itself. For example, the sensor may be mounted within the top bezel or edge of a laptop's display, capturing user gestures above or near the keyboard. While desirable, this configuration poses considerable design challenges. As shown in FIG. 11A, the sensor's field of view θ must be angled down in order to cover the space just above the keyboard, while other use situations e.g., where the user stands above the laptop—require the field of view θ to be angled upward. Large spaces are readily monitored by stand-alone cameras adapted for, e.g., videoconferencing; these can include gimbal mounts that permit multiple-axis rotation, enabling the camera to follow a user as she moves around. Such mounting configurations and the mechanics for controlling them are not practical, however, for the tight form factors of a laptop or flat-panel display.
Nor can wide-angle optics solve the problem of large fields of view because of the limited area of the image sensor; a lens angle of view wide enough to cover a broad region within which activity might occur would require an unrealistically large image sensor—only a small portion of which would be active at any time. For example, the angle it, between the screen and the keyboard depends on the user's preference and ergonomic needs, and may be different each time the laptop is used; and the region within which the user performs gestures—directly over the keyboard or above the laptop altogether—is also subject to change.
Accordingly, there is a need for an optical configuration enabling an image sensor, deployed within a limited volume, to operate over a wide and variable field of view. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Electrolytic capacitors (e.g., tantalum capacitors) are increasingly being used in the design of circuits due to their volumetric efficiency, reliability, and process compatibility. For example, one type of capacitor that has been developed is a solid electrolytic capacitor that includes an anode (e.g., tantalum), a dielectric oxide film (e.g., tantalum pentoxide, Ta2O5) formed on the anode, a solid electrolyte layer, and a cathode. The solid electrolyte layer may be formed from a conductive polymer, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,457,862 to Sakata, et al., 5,473,503 to Sakata et al., 5,729,428 to Sakata, et al., and 5,812,367 to Kudoh, et al. In some electrolytic capacitors, a polymeric layer can be included between the dielectric oxide film and the solid electrolyte layer or cathode. For example, esters of unsaturated or saturated fatty acids have been used to form such a polymeric layer. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,674,635 of Fife, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,864,147 of Fife, et al. However, a need for an improvement nevertheless remains. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Inkjet technology has expanded its application to high-speed, commercial and industrial printing, in addition to home and office usage, because of its ability to produce economical, high quality, multi-colored prints. This technology is a non-impact printing method in which an electronic signal controls and directs droplets or a stream of ink that can be deposited on a wide variety of media substrates. These printable media or recording material can be cut sized sheets or commercial large format media such as banners and wallpapers. Current inkjet printing technology involves forcing the ink drops through small nozzles by thermal ejection, piezoelectric pressure or oscillation, onto the surface of such media. Within said printing method, the media substrate plays a key role in the overall image quality and permanence of the printed images.
Nowadays, there is a growing demand for digitally printed contents which is no longer limited to the “traditional” black-white text images and full color photo images, but extends also to prints with visual special effects such as the metallic appearance and/or reflectivity, for example. Accordingly, investigations continue into developing media and/or printing methods that can be effectively used with such printing techniques, which imparts good image quality and which allow the production of specific appearances. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The basic purpose of wheel alignment service is to restore any deviations on the automobile wheel/suspensions to factory specifications. These specifications apply to the vehicle when the suspension is loaded with a normal weight so that the wheels are at a normal ride height relative to a datum plane of the automobile. The ride height of the automobile is controlled by the spring tension of the suspension systems. The suspension systems distribute the weight and act as the basis for all steering geometry angles.
Apart from the wheel alignment angles (camber, caster, steering-axis-inclination (SAI) or Kingpin inclination (KPI), toe in/out, and toe-out-on-turns (TOOT)), there are the vehicle centerline, the geometrical centerline, and the thrust line. All three of these centerlines should coincide with each other.
There are several four-wheel alignment systems currently available, some of which are computerized. Examples of such systems are those manufactured by Bee-Line, Hunter, HP Andersen, Kansas Jack, and Rotary Lift. Although these systems accurately measure wheel alignment and alignment relationships between all four wheels, these measurements are not related to the vehicle itself. Thus, correct four-wheel alignment is not determined because no determination is made that the vehicle centerline coincides with the geometrical centerline which in turn coincides with the rear wheel thrust line.
With the introduction of the unibody design (self-supporting chassis) having MacPherson type suspension, front-wheel and all wheel drive, and independent rear suspensions, accurate wheel alignment has become even more critical. To make matters worse, camber and caster in many cases are not adjustable. In these cases, a very accurate chassis alignment is necessary to obtain acceptable wheel alignment values.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,108 (Davis), a method for determining caster, camber, and toe-in is disclosed. According to this method, the wheel alignment is measured and adjusted without a load on the wheel and then subsequently with a load on the wheel.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,808,695 (LaMoreux), a testing and measuring apparatus for vehicle wheel front end assemblies is disclosed. A jack is used to support the vehicle and a lever 38 is provided to impart a force onto the bottom of the tire to take up axial play in the ball joints.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,327 (Fouchey et al), an apparatus and method are provided for aligning the front two planes of a motor vehicle. A pair of tie rod adjustment mechanisms including an air cylinder and drive unit are projected along an inclined path so as to enable a pair of adjustment heads to contact serrated adjustment surfaces on the tie rods. The drive pressure holds the heads in place without pushing the tie rod forward to keep from changing camber values which distort toe sets.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,487,551 (Eggert et al), a device for indicating a condition in an unloaded state of a load carrying ball joint and suspension is provided.
A simple gage engineered to check camber, toe, and rear wheel alignment while a car is still mounted on a repair bench or anchoring system is manufactured by Steck Manufacturing, Inc. of Dayton, Ohio. The gage is in the form of a bar which is horizontally attached to the front-brake disc by magnets. Toe is checked by measuring side-to-side at each end of the bar. The bar is then attached vertically to check the camber setting using a bubble level on the bar.
It has also been disclosed that the wheels of a vehicle can be supported on individual wheel turntables during wheel alignment. However, when the front wheels are turned to the angles necessary to achieve caster measurements (usually 20.degree. in both directions), the vehicle moves sideways and thereby moves the centerline/thrust line affecting the measuring operation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to aids in transporting handicapped persons, and in particular to aids and means for transferring handicapped persons into automobiles.
II. Prior Art
Devices for assisting disabled or handicapped persons into automobiles are known such as special doors, hydraulic or electrical lifts and the like are known. These devices are expensive to make and sell and, furthermore, require extensive modification of the car to be installed. Furthermore, powered devices for assisting persons into a car are prone to mechanical problems, such as wear and exposure to the elements, thus, requiring expensive maintenance. These problems amplify the need for providing an inexpensive, simple, reliable device for enabling the transfer of non-ambulatory persons into a car that requires little or no modification of the car to be used. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to golf bags. More specifically, the present invention is a golf bag system having separated and angled receptacles integrated by a pocketed netting, a retractable bipod, and carried by a pair of integral back pack straps. Accessories such as a large poncho-like rain cover and towels can be stored in the pockets of the netting.
2. Description of the Related Art
The related art of interest describes various golf bags with accessories, but none discloses the present invention. There is a need for a simplified and economical golf bag system configured as separate golf club receptacles held together by a pocketed netting and including shoulder straps, retractable legs and a poncho. The related art of interest will be discussed in the order of perceived relevance to the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,346 issued on Apr. 7, 1987, to Orville A. Reinholz describes a self-standing golf bag comprising a cylindrical bag in three longitudinal sections of equal length that are hinged to permit the middle bag section to pivot out to form a tripod for self-standing. Each section has 4 to 5 individual club compartments. A should strap is provided on the middle bag section. The self-standing golf bag is distinguishable for its equal length, the pivoting feature and the lack of any netting.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,422,315 issued on Jun. 17, 1947, to Albert P. Robertson describes a supporting frame for twin golf bags to separate the woods from the iron clubs. The golf bags are of equal height and supported by a U-shaped rod frame of unequal height having a pivot pin on top and a cross arm with a release latch finger on the bottom. This structural configuration permits standing the two bags by spreading the bottoms thereof. A handle is positioned on the taller rod with a bent top portion to provide a swinging motion while carrying on one""s shoulder. The top end secures a carrying strap to position the golf bags on the golfer""s one shoulder. The carrying strap can be looped around both bags in fair-leader guides on the back bag. The supporting frame is distinguishable for its required U-shaped frame and single shoulder strap on a flexible portion of the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,502,627 issued on Apr. 4, 1950, to Leslie T. Martin describes a sectional self-supporting golf bag comprising three sections hinged at the top, and having three horizontal metal loop members and a bottom cup supported by three or four upright rods to include bags. The cross-sections of the two front sections are identical and triangular. The rear section has an arcuate outer edge and two inner edges which align with the inclined edges of the front two sections to form a circular package having a strap. The legs are spread out as a tripod for standing the golf bag. The golf bag is distinguishable for its tripod structure.
Swedish Patent Application No. 214,555 published on Aug. ?, 1967, describes a compartmentalized golf bag having three compartments of different height hinged on the bottom with collapsible hinges proximate the top portions connecting and spreading the compartments. As best understood, brackets are shown on the taller two compartments to possibly cover the smaller two compartments which also have upright tabs. A carrying strap is provided on the tallest compartment. The golf bag is distinguishable for its top and bottom hinges and the lack of a connecting netting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,284 issued on May 16, 1995, to Larry King describes golf club carrying case comprising two rigid housing sections hingedly connected along abutting edges each other or to a middle section, wherein all sections have notches on a top cover capable of holding clubs and recesses in their bases. A right angled bracket on top is connected to a strap handle and a flexible strap attached to one rigid housing section and looped around the sections. A folding stand is attached to the bracket. A cart and a handle can be substituted for the bracket embodiment. The carrying cases are distinguishable for having a book-type folding feature requiring a central hinge.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,563,816 issued on Dec. 1, 1925, to Charles C. Worthington describes a golf bag comprising a series of five single club containing tubes connected by two straps in a window shade manner. The top tube has a small handle and a carrying strap. The golf bag is distinguishable for lacking the netting and the angular connection of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,565 issued on Dec. 1, 1998, to Smith M. Hagaman describes a box-shaped golf bag for orienting inclined golf clubs for use with a powered golf cart. The rear and middle compartments house golf balls on top, and the middle and front compartments are tiered on top with the compartment walls inclined toward the rear. The golf bag is distinguishable for its singular box-like construction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,923 issued on Apr. 4, 1995, to Morris E. Snyder describes a golf bag having two identical tubular containers joined by one flexible padded shoulder strap on top and the container bottoms joined by another rigid crossbar to be held by the right hand as the bag is carried diagonally on the left shoulder. The golf bag is distinguishable for its configuration for carrying the golf bag in split portions in front and in back.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,739 issued on Feb. 21, 1978, to John H. Rodeghier describes a golf club and accessories carrier comprising two elongated corrugated panels bonded back to back to hold golf clubs. A top portion has a handle and compartments for golf balls and tees. The bottom portion has folding bipod legs. The carrier is distinguishable for its corrugated panel structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,229 issued on Oct. 12, 1976, to Isao Maki describes a detachably interlinked and reinforced tubular golf club protectors comprising a plurality of elongated, thin wall, lightweight tubes made of synthetic resin. The club protector tubes are distinguishable for being limited to protection during transport only.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,227 issued on Jul. 20, 1982, to William J. Dopkowski describes a golf club set and carrying case comprising disconnected club heads stored in a foam rubber insert of a case with one pocket for balls and tees, and one shaft stored in a pouch on one side of the case. A shoulder strap and a removable cover are provided. The golf club set is distinguishable for its integrated structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,024 issued on Dec. 13, 1983, to Charles R. Clayton describes a golf club bag comprising a plurality of elongated receptacles to hold one club each, attached together in a row and parallel to each other, adapted to be bundled and having a shoulder strap. The golf club bag is distinguishable for its parallel bundling feature.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,563 issued on May 17, 1983, to Christian H. Kirchhoff, Jr. describes a full service golf bag comprising a rectangular box structure having a separate tube for each club, a removable cover, a shoulder strap, a clip for the putter, and compartments for shoes, a rake/retriever, thermos, umbrella, towel, and balls. A rotatable base with rollers is provided for rolling the golf bag in airport concourses. The golf bag is distinguishable for its integrated block structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,397 issued on Oct. 6, 1998, to Michael J. Pratt describes a tiered assembly for separating the woods, irons and putter, and to hold tees and an umbrella to fit atop a conventional golf bag. An off centered highest tiered cylinder with circular grooves holds the woods. The next lower inside tier holds the putter and umbrella, and the lowest peripheral ridged tier holds the irons. The tees are apparently held in holes on a peripheral shelf. The tiered assembly is distinguishable for being limited to the top of a golf bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,010,166 issued on Aug. 6, 1935, to Robert E. Thompson describes a golf bag which can be inverted to expose the individual pockets for each club. A hood can also be inverted and tucked inside. The golf bag is distinguished for its parallel pocket arrangement and bag invertability.
The following three patents describe double shoulder straps for conventional golf bags holding a plurality of golf bags in one container. U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,727 issued on Nov. 9, 1999, to Steven T. Steurer describes the attachment of dual buckled shoulder straps with padding to the upper portions of a conventional golf bag. U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,111 issued on Sept. 23, 1958, to Anna K. Williams describes the addition of two buckled shoulder straps to a golf bag having tiered and slotted holders for separating and holding the various clubs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,255 issued on Sep. 21, 1999, to Jay N. Beebe et al. describes a dual shoulder strap arrangement by attaching both straps at the bags opening and at a mediate position of the conventional golf bag. U.S. Design Patent No. 419,294 issued on Jan. 24, 2000, to Jesse L. Wang describes a golf bag having double shoulder straps anchored together at each end to a conventional golf bag. These patents are distinguishable for being limited to shoulder straps for conventional golf bags.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,739,631 issued on Mar. 27, 1956, to Lester H. Hamley describes an open sided golf bag with dual shoulder straps and dual handles on opposite sides of the folded bag. The bag has no separation for any club. The golf bag is distinguishable for its open side and non-separation of the clubs.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,680,354 issued on Aug. 14, 1928, to Clark C. Williams describes a golf bag having a central cylindrical casing to receive golf balls and a multiplicity of vertical club-receiving pockets arranged entirely around the casing. The golf bag is distinguishable for its integrated structure.
British Patent Application No. 358,195 published Oct., 1931, describes a golf bag comprising a central pocket with an stepped opening and a number of similarly stepped separate sleeves or pockets disposed on its outside surface adapted to receive individual clubs. A shoulder strap is attached at the taller end and a bag at the bottom for golf balls. The golf bag is distinguishable for its integrated golf bag.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
The present invention is directed to a golf bag system having separated and angled receptacles connected by a netting with pockets, an integrated pair of back pack straps, a storable large poncho-like rain cover, and integrated retractable bipod legs.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a golf bag system having separated and angled receptacles for golf clubs.
It is another object of the invention to provide a golf bag system having separated and angled receptacles connected by a pocketed netting.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a golf bag system with a storable poncho-like rain cover to cover the shoulders and golf clubs.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a golf bag system with integrated bipod legs to stand up the golf bag.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to wireless networks. More particularly, the invention relates to managing the quality of service (hereafter “QoS”) in a wireless network.
As the use of mobile terminals in wireless networks increases, a serious challenge confronting wireless network service providers is providing and maintaining a high quality of services for their subscribers. In particular, in view of the expanding range of applications for mobile wireless terminals (which will be referred to simply as “terminals” henceforth), including video, audio and text applications, wireless network service providers must allocate sufficient bandwidth and assign appropriate scheduling (e.g., priority) schemes to the traffic of subscribing terminals on the end-to-end path of traffic across the network. The allocation of bandwidth determines the transfer speed of a terminal's application traffic across the network, and the scheduling determines the order of processing and transmission of the different application' traffic at network nodes. Examples of such network nodes include, but are not limited to, base stations and routers. A priority scheme provides an example of such scheduling, by providing one type of traffic precedent over another. For instance, in a network that supports both voice and data traffic, the priority schemes may assign voice traffic priority over data traffic. As a result the nodes in the example network transmit voice traffic packets before they transmit data packets. However, meeting this QoS challenge is made more difficult by the ever-increasing volume of network traffic, and the fact that the terminals are usually roaming around a given network and frequently change their points of connection to the network.
The challenge, noted above, of providing and maintaining the QoS in a wireless network is a difficult one due to the fact that the terminals are often roaming around the network and frequently change their points of attachment to the network.
As an example, consideration is given to a communication between the terminals of two subscribers to the services of a particular network, whereby at least one of the subscriber terminals is a mobile terminal. When a first terminal, which is a mobile terminal, attempts to contact the other subscriber terminal, which may be referred to as the “corresponding terminal”, an end-to-end connection traversing a wireless/wireline infrastructure having sufficient resources, as well as an appropriate scheduling scheme is established between the two terminals. The end-to-end connection begins in the mobile terminal's present location in its present cell, which will be referred to as the “serving cell” hereafter. QoS for such connection is easily maintained so long as the mobile terminal remains in the serving cell.
However, as the mobile terminal moves from its serving cell to another cell, which will be referred to as a “target cell” hereafter, within the network, the network connection to the mobile terminal is handed off from the serving cell to the target cell. The hand off from the serving cell to the target cell interrupts the end-to-end connection between the two terminals, and thus QoS then becomes an issue of concern, for both the terminal users and the network providers.
In order to maintain a high level of QoS and to further ensure minimal disruption of an ongoing communication session, a new end-to-end connection that has sufficient bandwidth and an appropriate priority scheme must be established from the target cell between the mobile terminal and the corresponding terminal as quickly as possible.
Presently, maintaining a high level of QoS for an ongoing communication session by providing sufficient bandwidth and an appropriate priority scheme is not ensured after handoff from a service cell to a target cell due to at least a handoff delay or a bandwidth deficiency in the target cell. A handoff delay occurs when the time taken to set up a new end-to-end connection between the mobile terminal in the target cell and the corresponding terminal is so great that the communication session is disrupted, if not terminated altogether. Further, a bandwidth deficiency in the target cell prohibits completion of the connection between the mobile terminal and its corresponding terminal. As a result the communication session may be terminated because there is no transfer of information between the mobile terminal and its corresponding terminal.
Interruptions in communication sessions, in particular, may often be attributed to the network traffic management system not having sufficient notice of the target cell to which the mobile terminal is moving in time for the handoff to be handled efficiently. As a result, sufficient resources are not assured for the roaming terminal in a timely manner after the handoff to the target cell.
Thus, there is a need for a systems and technique that ensures that a high level QoS is provided and maintained for a mobile terminal's applications as the mobile terminal roams throughout a wireless network, the quality-of-service pertaining to, for example, the provision of sufficient bandwidth and appropriate priority schemes. | {
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Oil refineries are under intense pressure to process lower quality crudes for reason of price or availability, or both. Unfortunately, in many cases, oil refiners do not possess enough information and knowledge about certain crudes and crude blends and how they behave in an operating environment to make processing these crudes feasible. Individual refiners only have access to information and knowledge about crudes they have actually tested or used.
In an effort to address the problem of not possessing enough information about certain crudes and how they behave in an operating environment, some refiners have begun to use laboratory simulations to develop predictive models of certain performances. These models, however, are limited and do not address specific, often complex problems that may arise during processing of these crudes and how these problems can be alleviated by using appropriate chemical treatment solutions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,581 discloses and claims a process for predicting and evaluating the physical properties of hydrocarbons using spectrometry.
Linear programming systems have also been implemented which focus on defining crude cut and the corresponding cut yield, but these systems do not address the use of treatment chemical in the crude selection mode, nor do they assess the amount of fouling in equipment during processing to allow for a risk assessment of the lower cost crudes. These methods cannot tell refiners how the crude blends will effect operations and equipment. Therefore, refiners lack critical information they require to access the risk and economic viability of using lower quality crudes.
Crude preheat train fouling is not a well-understood phenomena. Many times refiners do not have enough information to determine whether or not the use of a new crude or crude blend is fouling up the refinery equipment, particularly heat exchange networks. Fouling of the heat exchange network can result in rapid decrease in furnace inlet temperature and lead to substantial economic and environmental consequences. Although proper chemical treatment can extend the life of the heat exchangers, lack of quantitative understanding of the phenomenon makes proposing a treatment more challenging. Therefore, it is desirable to have the ability to quantify the fouling propensity of a particular crude being processed and its impact on operating conditions.
Accordingly, there is a need for means for assessing and evaluating crude selection, and predicting the cost and risk associated therewith.
More particularly, there is a need to determine the optimal dosing of the crudes with treatment chemicals so that crude blends including cheaper crudes can be utilized without detrimental effects on the operating equipment of the refineries, such as fouling of the heat exchange networks.
More particularly, what is needed is a methodology and system which enables refineries to process cheaper or opportunity crudes, or blends comprising opportunity crudes, by using models to predict the fouling propensity of said crudes. The methodology should enable refineries to achieve benefits of using cheaper crudes, lower potential treatment chemical costs, increase throughput, extend run lengths and lower operating costs all in a more ecologically beneficial environment. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A known method for compounding a pharmaceutical formulation involves mixing the formulation in a compounding vessel such as an EMP jar, as a non-limiting example. A suitable EMP jar is commercially available and manufactured by GAKO® International GmbH in Munich, Germany. The EMP jar is cylindrical and has a movable piston bottom that requires a manual, physical force applied coaxially to dispense contents through a nozzle at a top of the EMP jar.
Due to the dimensions of the EMP jars, it can be difficult to push the movable piston bottom to dispense material completely or in a controlled manner. It is also known that these issues are exacerbated in EMP jars of volumes of 200 mL and larger, due to the greater surface area of the piston.
Several methods to actuating the moveable piston bottom of a compounding vessel are known, and can be selected depending on the volume size of the EMP jar. For 200 mL EMP jars, an applicator tip is typically provided, and doubles as a manual push rod and an applicator. However, this is problematic as the applicator tip can only be used as either the manual push rod or the applicator during a dispensing operation of the EMP jar.
For EMP jars having volumes of 300 mL to 1000 mL, an attachable spindle or a pneumatic pump can be attached to the bottom of the EMP jar. The spindle has some disadvantages in that it can perforate the piston bottom, introducing plastic particulates into the formulation contained by the EMP jar. The spindle is also not intuitive, in terms of utilization, and is prone to malfunction due to misalignment of threads.
The pneumatic pump requires introducing air below the piston bottom via a pump ball that is used by hand. This method can be inefficient in dispensing large dosages and does not allow for reliable control. In addition, the pneumatic pump can be difficult to use in any orientation other than when the pneumatic pump is vertically upright. This may be impractical, as dispensing the formulation often requires that the EMP jar be tilted at an angle relative to the vertical.
Another dispensing mechanism available for the EMP jars is the Topi-Click® Filling Station, manufactured by Custom RX TDA, LLC in Woodstock, Ga., USA. This mechanism provides better control of dispensing the formulation through manual force via a plunger that pushes downward on the movable piston bottom while holding the EMP jar upside-down. However, the Topi-Click® Filling Station is not portable, i.e., it is a large, bench top unit that is not hand-held and does not dispense metered amounts. Furthermore, larger EMP jar sizes need to have a custom hole cut in the piston bottom to accommodate the plunger diameter of the Topi-Click® Filling Station. Considering that the Topi-Click® Filling Station is run manually, without any automated assistance, it may not be a cost-efficient solution for many compounding pharmacists.
There is a continuing need for a cost-efficient system that permits an easy and ergonomically efficient dispensing of pharmaceutical compounds from varying sizes and types of compounding vessels. Desirably, the system also allows the pharmaceutical compounds to be dispensed in a controlled, metered, and decontaminated manner. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The disclosed invention is directed generally to video microscopy systems, and more particularly to a quick-release video camera support system for a video microscopy system that can have a plurality of microscope and/or direct view work areas.
A video microscopy system basically includes a microscope, a video camera coupled to the microscope, and a video monitor, and is generally utilized for presentation of microscope images to a group of observers. Video microscopy systems offer the advantages of lower cost in comparison to having a number of microscopes, the affordability of better grade microscopes since fewer are needed, the capability of using a pointer, and more effective communication since all observers are observing the same image.
Typically, the video camera in a video microscopy system is secured to the microscope via a threaded fitting that engages the internally threaded lens mount of the video camera. While such mechanism for supporting a video camera might be acceptable where only one microscope is utilized, it is cumbersome in a video microscopy system having one camera and more than one microscope. Generally, the use of a threaded connection for supporting a video camera on a microscope makes moving the video camera, for example, to view something other than the microscope image, cumbersome, time consuming, and possibly disruptive of a presentation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer peripherals, and more particularly to a self-locking hub for a computer tape drive.
2. Related Art
Magnetic tape drives have long been used for storage and retrieval of information, particularly in connection with high speed digital computers. A tape supply reel is normally secured on a supply hub and the free end of the tape is threaded along a predetermined path past a read/write head assembly. The tape end is then secured to a take-up reel mounted on a take-up hub. The supply and take-up hubs have individual drive motors. In response to various commands sent to the magnetic tape drive, the reels are simultaneously rotated clockwise or counter-clockwise so that various blocks of data on the tape may be read or written by the head assembly. However, the drive motor of the reel from which tape is unwinding at any one time is operated to provide torque in the appropriate direction to maintain approximately constant tension on the tape. Thus, the drive motor may provide torque in either direction with respect to the direction of tape motion. Such torque helps to maintain the tension of the tape across the read/write head assembly, and to prevent tape spillage upon a reversal of direction.
Standardized 9-track tape reels are designed for a friction drive hub. In order to prevent slippage of a tape reel around a drive hub, and to prevent a tape reel from falling off of a drive hub, each reel must be clamped to its respective hub so that a positive drive is established for precisely controlling the rotation of the reels during the normal read-write operation of the tape drive. In the past, this has been accomplished by manually securing reels to tape hubs by means of mechanical clamping mechanisms.
In recent years, the advent of horizontal-mount open reel tape drives has permitted a design in which the hubs are not directly exposed. A user inserts a tape into a slot, and a mechanism centers the inserted tape reel on a drive hub, automatically clamps the tape drive to the drive hub, and automatically threads the tape past the read/write head assembly and attaches the tape to the take-up reel. Two such designs are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,236,682 and 4,243,186.
It would be desirable to automatically secure or lock a tape reel to a drive hub without manual intervention. In the past, automatic hub locking mechanisms have typically relied upon one of two approaches: (1) use of a separate motor or actuator to directly clamp a reel to a hub, by means, for example, of an expansion ring, or (2) use of a solenoidtype mechanism to hold a hub in place and permit the torque of the drive hub motor to actuate a locking mechanism. An example of one such mechanism in the first category is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,682. An example of one such mechanism in the second category is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,186.
A problem of such automatic reel locking devices is that they are very complex, requiring not only electro-mechanically sophisticated apparatus, but also special sensing and/or control mechanisms to properly engage the locking apparatus at the appropriate time.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a self-locking tape drive hub mechanism that is mechanically simple, requires no special actuators or control systems, is inexpensive to manufacture, and provides automatic self-locking of a tape reel to a drive hub.
The present invention accomplishes these goals. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Freezeless wall hydrants and faucets have long been in existence. They characteristically have a fluid closure valve located in the end of an inlet pipe located within the wall or a warmer interior area of the building of which the wall is a part. This closure valve is operated by an elongated rod connected to an exterior handle. The freezeless characteristics of the hydrant are caused by the closure valve shutting off the flow of water within the wall or building at a freezing temperature, with the residual water in the inlet pipe flowing by gravity outwardly through the conventional outlet drain of the hydrant.
The foregoing structure works very successfully except in situations where a hose or the like is attached to the outlet drain of the hydrant, whereupon the residual water is not able to easily flow by gravity out of the hydrant when the closure valve connected to the pressurized water is closed. With a hose attached during freezing weather, the residual water freezes within the hydrant, and the inlet pipe or related components thereupon rupture from the freezing conditions within the hydrant.
It has in recent times been recognized that the rupture of such a hydrant under freezing weather conditions does not take place because of the frozen water in the hydrant. Rather, the rupture results from the ice imposing severe pressure on the captivated non-frozen fluid in the inlet pipe. Thus, the increased pressure on this water by the expanded ice is the principal cause for the rupture of the hydrant.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a freezeless wall hydrant which has the ability to drain at least some of the residual water in a hydrant when, under freezing conditions, the residual water towards the exterior part of the hydrant freezes by reason of a hose or the like being attached to the discharge nozzle.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a relief valve for the captured residual water under the foregoing conditions to escape back towards the supply of pressurized water when the frozen water in the exterior of the hydrant creates excessive pressure on the remainder of the residual water in the hydrant.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Traditional print devices typically support the “pushing” of content to a print device from a second device. Most often, this involves a computer communicating with a print device. The communication may follow the format of a hard-wired connection interface, such as when a print device connects to a computer over a serial or parallel computer port. The communication might also follow a wireless connection such as that used for communication through an infrared light or radio frequency port. The basic operation in either case involves a device, e.g., a computer, linking to a print device, converting content into a format acceptable to the print device, and then transferring the content to the print device.
As an example, a computer printing a Microsoft Word document addresses a printer, converts the document data and format information into a printer ready format, and pushes the print content to the printer. The communication between the printer and the device is formatted according to protocols. Print servers that typically comprise software resident or cooperative with a data generating program translate the data into a printer format and otherwise convert print job data into a protocol useful for control of the print job.
Print devices for supporting these traditional models limit print operations in a number of disadvantageous manners. For example, one limitation relates to an inability of a print device to be used by second devices lacking means for converting data into a printer ready format. While this limitation may potentially be overcome by equipping the second device with a driver capable of translating the data, this is often impractical due to the number or size of drivers required to accommodate a variety of print devices and print jobs. This is particularly true for second devices having limited memory resources, such as portable devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, wireless data terminals, laptop computers, and the like.
These portable devices are faced with still additional limitations in using traditional print devices. Specifically, limited memory resources not only pose problems for storage of drivers, but likewise pose problems for storing content to be printed. Recent popularity of data files requiring relatively high memory resources such as graphics and photos, for instance, has further contributed to these problems. A proposed solution to these problems has been the addition of memory resources to the devices. This solution disadvantageously increases the cost, size, and weight of these devices, however. Additionally, even if these devices had the capacity to store more and larger data files for printing, they may face disadvantages associated with speed and reliability of communicating relatively large data files to a printer.
Advances in wireless communications have made these and other problems in the art more critical. Many portable devices such as cellular phones and PDA's can now communicate with one another as well as networked resources for widespread applications. By way of example, wireless communications may allow a user to connect with the Internet from a PDA or cell phone and surf websites. The problems discussed above, however, as well as others in the art have limited the practicality of such methods as the portable devices generally lack memory and communications resources for downloading, storing, and printing relatively large files.
Unresolved needs in the art therefore exist. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present disclosure generally relates to tagged scale inhibition compositions and methods of inhibiting scale. More particularly, the present invention relates to imidazole tagged scale polymeric inhibitors for use in water treatment and/or oil field applications.
Scale inhibiting polymers are often used in water treatment and oil field applications to minimize and/or prevent scale deposition. The deposition of scale can occur in the transport of aqueous mixtures and in subterranean rock formations due to the presence of water bearing alkaline earth metal cations such as calcium, barium, strontium, and the like as well as the presence of anions such as phosphate, sulfates, carbonates, silicates and the like. When these ions are in sufficient concentrations, a precipitate can form that builds up on interior surfaces of the conduits used for transport or in the subterranean rock formations, which restrict flow of the media of interest, e.g., water or oil. In oilfield applications, scales that are commonly formed include calcium sulfate, barium sulfate, and/or calcium carbonate that are generally formed in the fresh waters or brines used in well stimulation and the like as a result of increased concentrations of these particular ions, the water pH, pressures, and temperatures. In addition, calcium phosphate can form from the phosphate chemistry that is commonly used to treat wells and pipes for corrosion. The buildup of these mineral precipitates can reduce or block flow in the conduits and rock formations as well as cause other problems. In many cases, the first warning of the existence of a significant scale deposit may be a decline in well performance. In these instances, scale removal techniques may become necessary. As a result, a potentially substantial cost including downtime is required lost to effect repair as a result of scaling.
Scale inhibiting materials are often added directly to a fluid to be treated or applied to oil bearing rock formations by means of “squeeze treatment”. Squeeze treatment is a treatment used to control or prevent scale deposition in a rock formation. In the squeeze application, the scale inhibitor is pumped into a water-producing zone and attaches to the formation by chemical adsorption or by temperature-activated precipitation. When the well is put back into production, the scale inhibitor leaches out of the formation rock to treat the fluid. Some chemicals typically used in scale-inhibitor squeeze applications include phosphonated carboxylic acids or polymers.
Scale formation is only controlled if the scale inhibitor polymer is present at a treatment level equal to or above the product's defined minimum inhibitor concentration. When the scale inhibitor is below the minimum inhibitor concentration such as may occur during use, adsorption or degradation, additional amounts are then needed. For example, once the well is subjected to the squeeze application and the well is again operational, the concentration of the scale inhibitor in the produced fluids will diminish over time until such time that the scale inhibitor is at about or below the minimum inhibitor concentration. However, it is difficult to determine when more scale inhibitor is needed and in which conduit or well it is needed. To address this problem, scale inhibitors are often tagged or labeled so that the presence or absence of the scale inhibitor can be readily detected. Prior art scale inhibitors are generally tagged by introduction of specific atoms such as phosphorous, boron, and the like such that the concentration can be readily detected by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis for the tagged atom. Alternatively, the scale inhibitor can be tagged fluorescent moieties. However these compounds are generally limited to structures that include one or more conjugated six member benzene rings that fluoresce at about 292 nm.
While the prior art fluorescent tagged scale inhibitors are suitable for their intended, there is a need in the art for additional fluorescent moieties that emit at different wavelengths, which would be beneficial in multi-tagged systems where multiple scale inhibitors with tags having different fluorescent wavelengths are utilized. Examples of such a system would be when more than one wells are drilled and the oil is collected from one central location. The multi-tagged system would allow the operators to know which specific wall requires more antiscalent, simply by looking at what frequency is missing. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a platform for fiber optic cabling for optical data multiplexing, and methods to align the fiber optic carriers to the laser sources and photonic chips.
Radiation-based, optical communications systems are increasingly popular in data centers that support the “cloud”, because of their intrinsically high data rate compared to lower frequency carriers. On the macroscale, optical data centers use thousands of optical fibers to interconnect the servers to one another. Ideally the technicians who maintain this web of interconnections could unplug one patch cable and plug in a new patch cable or a patch cable that provides a different multiplexing path much in the same way that one plugs a video cable into a television. Because the patch cable is optical and not electrical, the alignment of the myriad fibers is critical to data integrity. Also, dirt and particles can attenuate the optical path and affect data integrity. Ideally a technician could reach around to the back of the rack, disconnect the old patch cable and connect the new without being able to see the connectors.
On the microscale, optical communication applications employ a diverse set of micro-optical components. For this plurality of components, as a light beam traverses each material interface along an optical path, there is loss of optical power at each interface. This loss is generally minimized by a tedious alignment process that maximizes the system throughput and thus requires that optical power be present. Micron-level position tolerances (often sub-micron) are generally required to achieve best performance. This is further complicated by the necessity for 6-axis placement control (x, y, z, pitch, roll and yaw) and mode matching, wherein the latter refers to the numerical aperture or cone angle of a converging or diverging light beam. The refractive index change at each of the transitions causes reflections, which produce interfering scattered light and further increase losses and can be a source of noise.
Thus, complicated thin film stacks are required to form anti-reflection coatings to manage or reduce these losses. Ideally, such multilayer structures can be deposited on easily accessible surfaces for manufacturability and low cost. However, in many such systems, these multilayers are not on exposed surfaces, making them difficult to fabricate.
Supporting and disposed alongside these micro components are photonics circuits, fibers, optical waveguides, lenses, semiconductor lasers, gratings, isolators, mirrors, transparent thin films which are generally employed to create complex systems that can launch laser-generated light into a modulator that imposes a data stream onto the light. The modulated data stream is then inserted into an optical fiber. Because light from a semiconductor laser diverges from the emitting facet of the laser at an extremely high angle (20-40 degrees HWHM), a micro-lens must be precisely placed in close proximity to the laser. The placement and alignment of these components to form a laser micro-package (LMP) is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/931,883. Using a vertical grating coupler described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/931,883, the light from the LMP can be injected into an optical circuit such as a photonics chip where a Mach-Zehnder interferometer imposes data on the light stream. The light stream then can be coupled into an optical fiber by butt-coupling the fiber onto a second vertical grating coupler. Generally packaging space constraints dictate that this output fiber be bent at a very small radius of curvature, resulting in yield loss, optical loss and reliability failures.
What is needed is an assembly mount or platform that provides precise datums for component registration and highly accessible surfaces to enable accurate and low cost anti-reflection coating processes. The platforms must provide microscopic datums and be manufacturable at low cost. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This disclosure is directed to a shock activated switch which is capable of providing electrical circuit switching. The switch is adapted to be installed in a downhole perforating gun assembly which supports a number of perforating guns. The perforating gun assembly supports a plurality of shaped charges which are used to form perforations into the surrounding pipe, which defines the well, the cement on the exterior and into adjacent formations to produce from productive formations. The perforating gun assembly normally incorporates a number of such shaped charges and they are collectively fired by additional explosives in the perforating gun assembly. A significant shock wave is formed in the confines of the well borehole, the shock wave propagating up the borehole. The shock wave may substantially destroy the operating equipment that is included in the perforating gun assembly. It is particularly important to have equipment in the perforating gun assembly which is able to withstand this shock wave. It is important so that signals can be conveyed from the perforating gun assembly back to the well surface so that the operator knows the operative state of the equipment. One important signal which is required is the signal that firing has actually occurred.
The present apparatus is directed to a pressure responsive switch. It is exposed to the shock wave created by the explosion of the shaped charge in the well borehole. Moreover, the switch is intentionally exposed to this high pressure shock wave so that surface personnel and provided with switch initiated signals to identify the actual moment or instant of firing. This is therefore a rugged, difficult environment in which to expect a pressure operated switch to operate properly. The present apparatus provides such safe operation and is particularly able to transmit the requisite electrical signal notwithstanding the fact that the switch itself may be destroyed by the shock wave originating in the narrow confines at the location of the perforating gun assembly.
The present apparatus is surprisingly and particularly simple in construction so that it has only a single moving assembly. This moving assembly can be treated as a sacrificial member. In other words, it is not necessary to be used again and again. Rather, it may be destroyed in the violence of the explosion, but it will, even in its own destruction, provide the necessary signal through electrical conductors connected to the surface which indicates that the firing has actually occurred. This therefore is a highly reliable switch which forms the electrical signals of interest. The present apparatus includes a movable switch element which will be described as the piston operated, stem mounted actuator. It is cooperative with a sleeve which is positioned in the perforating gun assembly having a countersunk and undercut hole therein. The sleeve is fixed in location. It is constructed so that it can make one circuit on movement and break another circuit at the same instant. In this arrangement, the event of interest (detonation of explosives) can be signaled either by the make or break which occur on actuation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Known acoustic microscopes are used for imaging structures such as integrated circuit (IC) structures. The spatial resolution, w, of an acoustic microscope is given by:
w = 0.51 ϑ f . NA where θ is the speed of sound in the coupling medium, f is the frequency of the acoustic/ultrasonic wave, and N.A. is the numerical aperture of the lens. For a frequency of 1 GHz, the nominal spatial resolution attainable is approximately 1.5 μm. Further, the acoustic microscope has two other major roadblocks in getting high resolution: (1) impedance mismatches and coupling fluid attenuation that is proportional to f2. Higher resolution alternatives for nondestructive mechanical imaging include the atomic force microscope (AFM) or scanning probe microscope (SPM) platforms. A few examples include: force modulation microscopy (FMM) as described by P. Maivald, H. J. Butt, S. A. C. Gould, C. B. Prater, B. Drake, J. A. Gurley, V. B. Elings, and P. K. Hansma in Nanotechnology 2, 103 (1991); ultrasonic-AFM as described by U. Rabe and W. Arnold in Appl. Phys. Lett. 64, 1423 (1994); and, ultrasonic force microscopy (UFM) as described by O. V. Kolosov, K. Yamanaka in Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 32, 1095 (1993); by G. S. Shekhawat, O. V. Kolosov, G. A. D. Briggs, E. O. Shaffer, S. Martin and R. Geer in Nanoscale Elastic Imaging of Aluminum/Low-k Dielectric Interconnect Structures, presented at the Material Research Society, Symposium D, April 2000 and published in Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Vol. 612 (2001) pp. 1; by G. S. Shekhawat, G. A. D. Briggs, O. V. Kolosov, and R. E. Geer in Nanoscale elastic imaging and mechanical modulus measurements of aluminum/low-k dielectric interconnect structures, Proceedings of the International Conference on Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology, AIP Conference Proceedings. (2001) pp. 449; by G. S. Shekhawat, O. V. Kolosov, G. A. D. Briggs, E. O. Shaffer, S. J. Martin, R. E. Geer in Proceedings of the IEEE International Interconnect Technology Conference, 96-98, 2000; by K. Yamanaka and H. Ogiao in Applied Physics Letters 64 (2), 1994; by K. Yamanaka, Y. Maruyama, T. Tsuji in Applied Physics Letters 78 (13), 2001; and by K. B. Crozier, G. G. Yaralioglu, F. L. Degertekin, J. D. Adams, S. C. Minne, and C. F. Quate in Applied Physics Letters 76 (14), 2000. Each of these techniques is traditionally sensitive to the static elastic properties of the sample surface.
Recent developments in atomic force microscopes have involved the application of ultrasonic frequency (MHz) vibrations to the sample under study and non-linearly detecting of the deflection amplitude of the tip at the same high frequencies. With this arrangement, which is commonly identified as an ultrasonic force microscope, the ultrasonic frequencies employed are much higher than the resonant frequency of the microscope cantilever. The microscope exploits the strongly non-linear dependence of the atomic force on the distance between the tip and the sample surface. Due to this non-linearity, when the surface of the sample is excited by an ultrasonic wave, the contact between the tip and the surface rectifies the ultrasonic vibration, with the cantilever on which the tip is mounted being dynamically rigid to the ultrasonic vibration. The ultrasonic force microscope enables the imaging and mapping of the dynamic surface viscoelastic properties of a sample and hence elastic and adhesion phenomenon as well as local material composition which otherwise would not be visible using standard techniques at nanoscale resolution.
The drawback of ultrasonic microscopy is that it measures only the amplitude due to ultrasonically induced cantilever vibrations. Moreover, where the sample is particularly thick and has a very irregular surface or high ultrasonic attenuation, only low surface vibration amplitude may be generated. In such circumstances the amplitude of vibration may be below the sensitivity threshold of the microscope in which case measurement is impossible. Moreover, none of the above mentioned techniques measures with high resolution the acoustic phase, which is very sensitive to subsurface elastic imaging and deep defects identification which are lying underneath the surface, without doing any cross sectioning of the samples.
Out-of-plane vibrations created by non-linear tip sample interaction make a very hard elastic contact with the sample surface. Ultrasonic force microscopy (UFM) uses the same method except for a amplitude component rather than a phase contrast. If non-linearity is present in the system, most of the phase contrast will come from the surface and not from a surface/sub-surface phase contrast. Additionally, non-linear tip sample interaction may not provide results for soft materials. Furthermore, in UFM, high mechanical contrast may be acquired with little sub-surface contrast. | {
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Variable pulley transmissions for transferring torque from an input shaft to an output shaft have been used for some time. In such arrangements a first pulley is mounted on the input shaft, and this pulley has at least one flange axially movable relative to its other flange to change the effective pulley diameter. A second, similarly adjustable pulley is mounted on the output shaft. A flexible belt intercouples the two pulleys to transfer torque between them. As the effective diameter of one pulley is changed, and simultaneously the effective diameter of the other pulley is changed in the opposite direction, the drive ratio between the input and output shafts is adjusted in a smooth, continuous manner.
For over 30 years automotive engineers have recognized that the maximum operating efficiency of the engine could be achieved if the transmission could be controlled by adjusting to different loads and speed ratios such that the engine is maintained at its maximum efficiency point. This is not possible with a conventional geared transmission in which the drive ratio is adjusted in discrete steps, rather than continuously. Accordingly, efforts have been directed to the use of a continuously variable transmission of the type described above. This has resulted in the production and marketing in Europe of the Daf passenger car, using a flexible rubber belt in such a continuously variable transmission (CVT). Such a belt must be relatively wide because of the torque it must handle, and operates under severe temperature, vibration and other adverse conditions. Accordingly, efforts have been channeled to produce a flexible belt of metal, and some of these efforts are described in the patent literature. Such belts can be relatively narrow and possess more load-t torque handling capacity than a rubber belt of the same cross-section and, in addition, provide greater efficiency in transmitting torque between the pulleys of the transmission.
A chain belt for a pulley transmission comprising ranks or sets of links interleaved with other sets of links and connected by pivot means, and drive or load blocks of generally trapezoidal shape located between adjacent pivot pins to transmit load to the pins is disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,730, issued Feb. 2, 1982 to Cole et al. In this patent, the drive or load blocks have a centrally located "window" through which links of the chain pass, and angled side edges which drivingly engage the pulley flanges. This belt is of the "pull" or tension type because the drive or load blocks do not move longitudinally along the chain but are constrained by the pivot means.
Another type of metal drive belt for a pulley transmission is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,113 and comprises a flexible band of superimposed, nested steel strips with metal blocks longitudinally movable thereon. Each of the blocks has tapered edges to engage the flanges of the pulleys of the transmission. The metal blocks move longitudinally along the band, and this belt is classified as a "push" or compression type. The projected cost of the described "push" type belt is several times the cost of a "pull" chain-belt as taught by Cole et al. Thus, economically, the Cole et al chain-belt is much more attractive than the belt of U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,113.
One factor to be considered in using the CVT for automotive torque transfer is the noise generated by the engagement of drive blocks and pulley flanges. Noise which "peaks" (that is, rises to a high amplitude over a relatively narrow bandwidth) at certain frequencies in a regular pattern can be disagreeable and annoying to humans. Acoustic research results have proven that a white, irregular or arrhythmic noise is less noticeable and annoying than a noise which contains recognizable pure tones or a single frequency. The most annoying chain noise is the single tone or frequency signal which may occur above 100 Hz, which signal rises above the average noise level by 5 to 10 dB. Some of the prior art chain-belts described may produce a noise which is annoying to humans. | {
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Anisotropy is ubiquitously observed in many oil and gas exploration areas (e.g., the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, and offshore West Africa) because of preferred ordering of minerals and defects related to stresses. In these regions, often the rock properties can be characterized as transversely isotropic (“TI”) media with either a vertical or tilted axis of symmetry. Wave propagation in anisotropic media exhibits different kinematics and dynamics from that in isotropic media, thus, it requires anisotropic modeling and migration methods to image reservoirs properly for oil and gas exploration.
Three-dimensional (“3D”) anisotropic seismic modeling and migration, however, are computationally intensive tasks. Compared to prior art solutions of full elasticity, modeling and migration based on dispersion relations are computationally efficient alternatives. In one prior art method, Alkhalifah (2000), a pseudo-acoustic approximation for vertical transversely isotropic (“VTI”) media was introduced. In the approximation of that prior art method, the phase velocity of shear waves is set to zero along the vertical axis of symmetry. This simplification doesn't eliminate shear waves in other directions as described by Grechka et al. (2004). Based on Alkhalifah's approximation, several space- and time-domain pseudo-acoustic partial differential equations (PDEs) have been proposed (Alkhalifah, 2000; Zhou et al., 2006; and Du et al., 2008) for seismic modeling and migration in VTI media. These systems of PDEs are close approximations in kinematics to the solutions of full elasticity involving vector fields.
As an extension from VTI media, the axis of symmetry of a TI medium can be tilted (“TTI”) as observed in regions associated with anticlinal structures and/or thrust sheets. Zhou et al. (2006) extended their VTI pseudo-acoustic equations to a system for 2D TTI media by applying a rotation about the axis of symmetry. Consequently the phase velocity of quasi-SV waves is zero in the direction parallel or perpendicular to the tilted axis. Lesage et al. (2008) further extended Zhou's TTI system from 2D to 3D based on the same phase velocity approximation. However, these prior art pseudo-acoustic modeling and migration methods can become numerically unstable due to rapid lateral variations in tilt and/or certain rock properties (when the vertical velocity is greater than the horizontal velocity) and result in unstable wave propagation.
As one skilled in the art will appreciate, the plane-wave polarization vector in isotropic media is either parallel (for P-waves) or orthogonal (for S-waves) to the slowness vector. Except for specific propagation directions, there are no pure longitudinal and shear waves in anisotropic media. For that reason, in anisotropic wave theory the fast mode is often referred to as the “quasi-P” wave and the slow modes “quasi-S1” and “quasi-S2”. | {
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Micromirror devices are small structures typically fabricated on a semiconductor wafer using techniques such as optical lithography, doping, metal sputtering, oxide deposition, and plasma etching which have been developed for the fabrication of integrated circuits. One commercially successful micromirror device is the digital micromirror device manufactured by Texas Instruments, which is used as the spatial light modulator in the DLP-branded image projectors.
Micromirror devices are primarily used in optical display systems. In display systems, the micromirror is a light modulator that uses digital image data to modulate a beam of light by selectively reflecting portions of the beam of light to a display screen. While analog modes of operation are possible, micromirrors typically operate in a digital bistable mode of operation and as such are the core of the first true digital full-color image projection systems.
Micromirrors have evolved rapidly over the past ten to fifteen years. Early devices used a deformable reflective membrane which, when electrostatically attracted to an underlying address electrode, dimpled toward the address electrode. Schlieren optics illuminate the membrane and create an image from the light scattered by the dimpled portions of the membrane. Schlieren systems enabled the membrane devices to form images, but the images formed were very dim and had low contrast, making them unsuitable for most image display applications.
Later micromirror devices used flaps or diving board-shaped cantilever beams of silicon or aluminum, coupled with dark-field optics to create images having improved contrast. Flap and cantilever beam devices typically used a single metal layer to form the top reflective layer of the device. This single metal layer tended to deform over a large region, however, which scattered light impinging on the deformed portion. Torsion beam devices use a thin metal layer to form a torsion beam, which is referred to as a hinge, and a thicker metal layer to form a rigid member, or beam, typically having a mirror-like surface: concentrating the deformation on a relatively small portion of the micromirror surface. The rigid mirror remains flat while the hinges deform, minimizing the amount of light scattered by the device and improving the contrast of the projected image.
Recent micromirror configurations, called hidden-hinge designs, further improve the image contrast by fabricating the mirror on a pedestal above the torsion beams. The elevated mirror covers the torsion beams, torsion beam supports, and a rigid yoke connecting the torsion beams and mirror support, further improving the contrast of images produced by the device.
In addition to the improvements to the structure of the micromirror itself, many improvements have been made in the pulse width modulation techniques used to create the perception of analog intensity levels from the purely digital device. The creation of the appearance of smooth analog intensities depends in large part on the ability of the micromirror system rapidly to switch the micromirror elements on and off to transmit very short pulses of light onto the image plane. Short bit pulses increase bit depth, or the number of data bits that may be displayed in a given frame period. As the contrast and bit depth of the projected image increases, very minor pulse width modulation errors become noticeable to the human eye are result in objectionable image artifacts. What is needed is a method and system of reducing the occurrence and effect of pulse width modulation errors. | {
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In the EDM process, electric energy is supplied in the form of discrete electrical pulses across the machining gap filled with a machining fluid or liquid dielectric (e.g., kerosene, transformer oil, distilled water or weekly conductive water) to effect a succession of electrical discharges between the tool electrode and the workpiece to remove material from the latter. As material removal proceeds, the tool electrode is advanced relatively towards the workpiece by servo feed means adapted to maintain the machining gap spacing substantially constant and thereby to allow material-removal discharges to be successively created. The contamination of the machining gap region with chips, tar and gases produced by machining discharges may be clarified by continuously or intermittently flushing the gap with a fresh machining fluid and/or intermittently or cyclically retracting the tool electrode away from the workpiece to allow the fresh machining medium to be pumped into the machining gap and the machining contaminants to be carried away from the latter.
Parameters of individual and successive electrical discharges, i.e. pulse on-time .tau.on, peak current Ip and off-time .tau.off are, for a given combination of electrode materials, determinative of machining results, e.g. removal rate, surface roughness and relative electrode wear and, therefore, are individually or in combination adjusted to establish a particular machining condition suitable to achieve desired machining results.
As proposed by the present inventor in Japanese Patent Specification No. 39-20494 published Sept. 19, 1964 and No. 44-8317 published Apr. 18, 1969, there is known an improved EDM pulse supply technique in which a succession of pulse trains individually consisting of discrete elementary pulses of short on-time (.tau.on) and off-time (.tau.off) occurring at a high frequency, say, 10 kHz to 100 kHz, are applied across the machining gap, the pulse trains occurring at a low frequency, say, 100 Hz and having a longer duration (Ton) with the successive trains being separated by a longer cut-off time interval (Toff). Elementary pulses in each train may be modified as to their triggering or peak voltage as described in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Specification No. 44-8317. Other have also proposed various circuits generally of this or similar genre, which are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,056,065 and 3,943,321.
Fine-surface and precision machining results are obtained with a train of elementary pulses of a duration .tau.on set to be short and preferably at a minimum which, when repeated at a high frequency and with a pulse interval .tau.off set to be at most equal in length to the pulse duration .tau.on, permits an increased removal rate to be obtained. The shortness of the pulse interval .tau.off may, however, cause the production of machining gap chips and other products to bring about a continuous arc discharge with ease within a short time period. This possibility can advantageously be eliminated or alleviated by the presence of cut-off time periods Toff which separate from one another the successive trains Ton of elementary pulses (.tau.on, .tau.off). Thus, the cyclic interruption of elementary pulses allows accumulated machining products to be carried away substantially within each interruption period from the machining gap and may thereby serve to maintain the latter from continued contamination. By establishing the cut-off interval Toff at a level sufficient to allow clarification of the contaminants resulting from the machining action of the previous train of elementary pulses, the gap can be ready to accept the next train of elementary pulses to continue stabilized machining discharges.
On the other hand, in the interest of increasing the removal rate, it is desirable to have the electrode-feed servo system operate so as to minimize production of non-striking pulses or pulses which do not cause an electrical discharge. In order to facilitate production of discharges by application of successive trains of elementary pulses, the gap can be reduced but this can also facilitate production of a continuous arc or result in a difficulty in gap flushing or decomtamination.
When a continuous arcing, short-circuiting or excessive gap contamination condition arises during a given course the machining operation, it has been recognized to be desirable to stretch or increase either of the off-time .tau.off of elementary pulses in each train or the cut-off time period Toff between successive trains. Thus, the pulsing power supply may include a timer circuit having a time constant determining the time .tau.off or Toff varied by a control signal and a sensing circuit may be connected between the machining gap and the timer circuit to respond to a change in the gap condition for providing the control signal which is acted upon the timer circuit for increasing the pulse interval .tau.off or Toff. When both .tau.off and Toff are arranged to be variable, it has commonly been believed that they should proportionally be stretched or increased in response to a signal indicating the continuous arcing, short-circuiting or excessive gap contamination condition. These prior recognitions or belief simply derive by way of analogy from the generally accepted practice in an earlier simpler pulsing system using a uniform train of machining pulses whereby, when an abnormal gap condition develops, the pulse interval (.tau.off) can selectively be controlled with or without a simultaneous change in the pulse duration (.tau.on). This latter basic control concept is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,755 issued Nov. 10, 1970 and U.S. Pat. No. Re. 29,589 issued Mar. 21, 1978.
The stretching of the .tau.off or Toff period of both continues for a preselected time interval determined in the timer circuit by the control signal or until after the gap sensor indicates recovery of a normal gap condition. When the gap condition fails to be resumed within the time interval, the control signal is again developed and the stretching control is reestablished or continues. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to the field of keyboards for devices utilizing coded binary signals and particularly to a keyboard which is self-encoding.
Since the advent of data display and other types of systems devices utilizing binary codes representative of alphanumeric characters or control functions, a number of keyboard-connected systems have been devised to provide coded information, but all have had major disadvantages. Many of these systems have the costly disadvantage of requiring each character or function key to be unique in some way, and some of these systems cannot even utilize standard typewriter keyboard format and spacing. Systems which do use identical keys require elaborate switching and/or highly individualized wiring to produce the coded output signal. Typical instructions for keyboard encoders to be coupled to a keyboard read, "Use Truth Tables and required output codes to determine wiring from each key to the two Encoders". Some of these latter also require complex diode matrices to produce the coded output. | {
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The invention is directed to a method and apparatus for use in burning and dodging selected areas of an image formed on photographic paper from a developed negative.
The invention is particularly directed to a frame having plural spaced light transmissive elements preferably arranged in a grid pattern. One or more cut-outs of light blocking material may be placed on the filaments to dodge selected areas on the photographic paper. A sheet of light blocking material having one or more apertures may be placed on the grid to burn selected areas on the photographic paper.
By "burning" is meant giving additional exposure to part of the image projected on the photographic paper to make that part of the image darker. By "dodging" is meant holding back the imageforming light from a part of the photographic paper to make that part of the image lighter.
By "photographic paper" is meant light-sensitive paper used to produce an image from a developed negative. The photographic and physical characteristics of such paper are well-known and are described in the literature.
Heretofore, a selected area of a photographic paper could be dodged by holding a piece of cardboard or plastic light blocking material between the negative and the photographic paper during the printing operation. A stiff wire or other makeshift handle could be attached to the light-blocking material to facilitate placement of the material at the desired location between the negative and the photographic paper without obstructing the path of light to the paper by the user's hand.
Generally, the light blocking material is opaque so that the user cannot view the image being formed on the photographic paper through the material. Accordingly, initial alignment of the material to dodge the precise area of interest on the paper is somewhat difficult.
In addition, this technique permits only one area of the paper to be dodged at any given instant of time. If more than one area on the paper must be dodged, it is necessary to manipulate the light blocking material between two or more locations to alternatively block light from reaching each of the areas of interest on the paper. This may be difficult and, in some cases, impossible to do with accuracy.
The present invention permits accurate alignment of the light blocking material with the precise area to be dodged on the photographic paper.
The invention also permits the simultaneous dodging of more than one area on the photographic paper.
The invention also permits the rapid and accurate burning of more than one area of the photographic paper.
Heretofore, in burning a selected area on the photographic paper, a sheet of black plastic material was provided with one or more apertures and mounted on a piece of cardboard or the like. The cardboard itself was provided with an aperture. The plastic material could be rotated to bring any one of the apertures in the plastic into alignment with the aperture in the cardboard to burn a selected area of the photographic paper.
Two or more spaced areas on the photographic paper could not be simultaneously burned.
In addition, alignment of the apertures in the plastic and cardboard with the precise area of interest on the photographic paper was troublesome.
By the present invention, several areas on the photographic paper can be burned simultaneously and with increased accuracy. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Heating, Ventilation, and/or Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems are often used to control the comfort level within a building or other structure. Such HVAC systems typically include an HVAC controller that controls various HVAC components of the HVAC system in order to affect and/or control one or more environmental conditions within the building. In many cases, the HVAC controller is mounted within the building and provides control signals to various HVAC components of the HVAC system. Improvements in the hardware, user experience, and functionality of such HVAC controllers would be desirable. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shower head and, more particularly, to a shower head for a bathroom.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional shower head 60 in accordance with the prior art shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 comprises a nozzle 63, a connector 62 mounted on an open top of the nozzle 63, a sealing ring 632 mounted in the open top of the nozzle 63 and located between the connector 62 and the nozzle 63, and a fastening member 61 secured on the open top of the nozzle 63 and abutting the connector 62 to limit the connector 62 on the nozzle 63. The nozzle 63 has a peripheral wall provided with a control handle 631 to regulate a water flow injected from the nozzle 63. The open top of the nozzle 63 has an inner portion formed with an inner threaded portion 633. The connector 62 has a first end provided with a spherical body 622 rotatably mounted on the open top of the nozzle 63 and abutting the sealing ring 632 and has a second end provided with a threaded tube 621 that is connected to a water source (not shown). The connector 62 has an inner portion formed with a flow channel 623. The flow channel 623 of the connector 62 has a bottom formed with a reduced water outlet 624. The fastening member 61 has an outer wall formed with an outer threaded portion 612 screwed into the inner threaded portion 633 of the nozzle 63 and has an inner wall formed with a limit hole 611 mounted on the spherical body 622 of the connector 62. In operation, when the threaded tube 621 of the connector 62 is connected to the water source, the water from the water source in turn flows through the flow channel 623 and the water outlet 624 of the connector 62 into the nozzle 63 and is injected outward from the nozzle 63 for use with a user.
However, when the threaded tube 621 of the connector 62 is connected to the water source, a closed vacuum condition is formed in the inner space of the shower head 60 so that the inner space of the shower head 60 has a larger water pressure to push and inject the water from the nozzle 63 quickly and violently to form multiple concentrated and convergent water beams, thereby decreasing the flushing angle and area of the shower head 60. In addition, the water beams are injected outward from the nozzle 63 strongly due to the larger water pressure in the shower head 60, thereby easily causing an uncomfortable sensation to the user. | {
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1. Field of the Disclosure
The embodiments relate to a phase locked loop (PLL).
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) devices, technological development is in progress to achieve further enhancement of operation speeds and further reduction of power consumption. In a PLL circuit in a semiconductor IC device, reduction in noise occurring along the time axis, which is called “jitter,” is desired. In particular, in a semiconductor IC device including both analog and digital circuits, noise attributed to a digital circuit causes a PLL circuit to generate jitter.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a conventional PLL circuit. In the conventional PLL circuit, a frequency of a reference signal ref-CLK generated from an oscillator circuit (not shown), such as a quartz oscillator, is divided into a 1/N frequency component by a first frequency divider 1, and is then input into a phase comparator 2. An output signal of a second frequency divider 3 having a division ratio of 1/M, for example, is input as a feedback signal into the phase comparator 2. The phase comparator 2 detects a phase difference between the output signals of the first frequency divider 1 and the output signal of the second frequency divider 3, and outputs a pulse signal in accordance with the phase difference to a charge pump 4.
As shown in FIG. 1, the charge pump 4 outputs an output voltage to a low pass filter 5 (LPF), in accordance with the pulse signal output from the phase comparator 2. The output voltage of the charge pump 4 has a DC component and a pulse component from the pulse signal output from the phase comparator 2. The DC component varies in accordance with frequency variation of the pulse signal, and the pulse component varies in accordance with the pulse signal corresponding to the phase difference.
As further shown in FIG. 1, the low pass filter 5 smoothes the output voltage of the charge pump 4, and outputs an output signal with a removed high frequency component to a voltage/current converter (WI converter) 6. The V/I converter 6 converts the output voltage of the low pass filter 5 to a current, and outputs the current to a current control oscillator (ICO) 7.
As further shown in FIG. 1, the ICO 7 outputs an output signal out-CLK, having a frequency based on the output current of the V/I converter 6, to a digital circuit 8 and to the second frequency divider 3. The digital circuit 8 performs required operations in accordance with the output signal out-CLK.
The PLL circuit of FIG. 1 operates so as to conform the frequency and phase of the output signal of the second frequency divider 3 to the frequency and phase of the output signal of the first frequency divider 1.
FIG. 2 illustrates an operation in the case where the division ratio of each of the respective first and second frequency dividers 1 and 3 of FIG. 1 is 1. In accordance with the loop from the phase comparator 2 of FIG. 1 to the ICO 7 of FIG. 1, the frequency and phase of the output signal out-CLK converge, so that the reference signal ref-CLK and the output signal out-CLK are in-phase with each other.
As shown in FIG. 2, upon output of the output signal out-CLK from the ICO 7 of FIG. 1, the digital circuit 8 of FIG. 1 operates a required switching operation, in accordance with a timing of a rise and fall of the output signal out-CLK. Therefore, in accordance with the operation of the digital circuit 8, power-supply noise N, synchronous with the output signal out-CLK, is generated in a power supply Vcc potential and a ground GND potential that are supplied to the respective circuits, which are coupled between the phase comparator 2 and the ICO 7 through power supply lines.
As further shown in FIG. 2, since a comparison operation is performed in the phase comparator 2 of FIG. 1 in accordance with a timing of a rise or fall of the reference signal ref-CLK, the output signal is destabilized, due to the power-supply noise N. The output signal of the charge pump 4 of FIG. 1, operating on the common power supply with the digital circuit 8, is also destabilized.
As a consequence, as shown further in FIG. 2, a jitter Z frequently occurs during the rise and fall of the output signal out-CLK.
As one example of a related conventional technique, Laid-Open Japanese Patent Application (JP-A) No. 2005-79835 discloses a PLL circuit that includes a phase shifter interposed between a voltage control oscillator and a frequency divider to reduce jitter occurrence. However, in such a configuration, which includes the phase shifter in a feedback loop that feeds back the output signal of the voltage control oscillator to the phase comparator, the loop affects the lock-up speed until the frequency of the output signal of the voltage control oscillator is stabilized. Since the delay time caused as a result of the phase shifter has to be adjusted optimally, the phase shifter must include a delay length switching portion. Consequently, the circuit size of the phase shifter is increased.
As another example, JP-A-2006-174243 discloses a PLL circuit, in which a delay value of a delay circuit in a voltage control oscillator is controlled to enable stepwise switching of an oscillation frequency characteristic. However, a jitter reduction feature is not disclosed.
As still another example, JP-A-08-56157 discloses a PLL circuit that includes a variable delay circuit provided with a voltage control circuit. However, a jitter reduction feature is not disclosed.
Conventional PLL circuits, such as described above, are problematic at least in that, when the timing of occurrence of power-supply noise N with the output signal out-CLK and the phase comparison timing in the phase comparator 2 overlap, the jitter Z increases in the output signal out-CLK. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for forming a thin film for an SOI substrate, or photoelectric transducers such as solar cells and area sensors.
2. Related Background Art
The integrated circuit formed on a SOI substrate (semiconductor on insulator) has various advantages over integrated circuits formed on a usual silicon wafer, such as (1) ease of separation of a dielectric material and potentiality of high integration, (2) high resistance against radiation rays, (3) low floating capacity and high speed processing, (4) no welling process required, (5) capability of latch-up prevention, and (6) high speed and low energy consumption owing to formation of a thin complete depletion type field effect transistor.
For formation of a substrate of the SOI structure, methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,037, and T. Yonehara et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 64, 2108 (1994). FIGS. 16A to 16E, and FIGS. 17A to 17D show the processes. In the drawings, the numerals 1 and 5 indicate a Si wafer, 2 a nonporous Si layer, 3 a porous Si layer, 4 an epitaxial Si layer, 6 a single crystalline Si layer, and 7 a Si oxide layer. Si wafer 1 as a device substrate shown in FIG. 16A is anodized to prepare a substrate constituted of nonporous Si layer 2 and porous Si layer 3 formed thereon as shown in FIG. 16B. Epitaxial layer 4 is formed on the surface of porous Si layer 3 as shown in FIG. 16C. Separately, Si wafer 5 as a supporting substrate shown in FIG. 16D is provided, and the surface is oxidized to form a substrate constituted of monocrystalline Si layer 6 and Si oxide layer 7 on the surface as shown in FIG. 16E. The substrate (2, 3, 4) of FIG. 16C is turned over, and is placed on the substrate (6, 7) of FIG. 16E with epitaxial layer 4 and Si oxide layer 7 counterposed as shown in FIG. 17A. The two substrates are bonded by adhesion of epitaxial layer 4 to Si oxide layer 7 as shown in FIG. 17B. Then nonporous Si layer 2 is removed mechanically by grinding from the non-bonded layer side to uncover porous Si layer 3 as shown in FIG. 17C. Porous Si layer 3 is removed by wet etching with an etching solution for selective etching of porous Si layer 3 as shown in FIG. 17D to obtain a SOI substrate having epitaxial layer 4 of extremely uniform thickness for a semiconductor of an SOI substrate.
In the above process for producing the SOI substrate, nonporous Si layer 2 is removed from the substrate of FIG. 17B by grinding to obtain the substrate of FIG. 17C. Therefore, one substrate 1 to be worked into two-layers of nonporous layer 2 and porous layer 3 is required for production of one SOI substrate. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-302889 discloses a method of repeated use of nonporous Si layer 2 in the SOI substrate production process. In the disclosed process, parts 4,7,6 for the SOI substrate are separated from part 2 at porous layer 3 by applying a pulling, squeezing, or shearing force, or inserting a jig into porous layer 3, and separated nonporous Si layer 2 is used repeatedly as Si wafer 1 of FIG. 16A.
Nowadays, most solar cells employ amorphous Si for the structure suitable for large areas. However, monocrystalline Si and polycrystalline Si are also noticed for the solar cells in view of the transducing efficiency and the life thereof. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-213645 discloses a process of providing a thin film solar cell at a low cost. In this process, porous Si layer 3 is formed on Si wafer 1; thereon, p.sup.+ -type Si layer 21, p-type Si layer 22, and n.sup.+ -type Si layer 23 are grown epitaxially for solar cell layers; protection layer 30 is formed on n.sup.+ -layer 23; jig 31 is bonded to the reverse face of Si wafer 1 and jig 32 is bonded onto the surface of protection layer 30 by adhesive 34; jigs 31,32 are pulled respectively in opposite directions to break porous Si layer 3 mechanically to separate solar layers 21,22,23. The solar cell layers 21,22,23 are interposed between two plastic substrates to provide a flexible thin film solar cell. This disclosure mentions repeated use of Si wafer 1, and partial notching 33 of the edge side face of porous Si layer 3 by a mechanical method or laser beam irradiation.
In production of SOI substrates, the process disclosed in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-302889 enables reduction of the production cost by repeated use of the Si wafer. However, this method is not satisfactory in reproducibility.
In production of solar cells, the process disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-213645 does not always allow definite separation at the porous Si layer, causing occasional cracking in the epitaxial layer to result in lower production yield. Further, this process conducts the separation by mechanical pulling, which requires strong adhesion between the jig and the monocrystalline Si layer and is not suitable for mass production. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the use of two tandem microfiltration (MF) steps in a process for making recombinant insulin.
(2) Description of Related Art
Tangential flow filtration (TFF) is a robust and versatile separation technique used in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. TFF is typically categorized as microfiltration (MF; pore sizing in microns) or ultrafiltration (UF; pore sizing in nominal molecular weight limit). MF processes have been classically employed in harvest and primary recovery, whereas UF processes have been largely used as polishing steps for buffer exchange or concentration (Marichal-Gallardo and Alvarez; van Reis and Zydney 2001).
Successful scale-up is a key challenge in implementation of microfiltration processes. Most commonly, MF unit operations are scaled on constant load factor (volume or mass per filter area), membrane channel geometry, path length, crossflow velocity, and transmembrane pressure (TMP) (Marichal-Gallardo and Alvarez 2012). However, performance upon scale-up is difficult to predict, heavily dependent on the nature of the feedstock, and often must be optimized empirically (Roush and Lu 2008; Saxena et al. 2009). The most common operational challenge for MF processes is filter fouling due to deposition of insoluble material on the membrane surface or inside membrane pores, which increases flow resistance (Marichal-Gallardo and Alvarez 2012; van Reis and Zydney 2007). Fouling is typically quantified as decreased flux at constant TMP or increased TMP at constant flux. Although models such as pore blockage, pore constriction, and cake filtration have been developed to aid in mitigation of fouling (Ho and Zydney 2000; Palacio et al. 2002), efficient scale-up remains a significant challenge. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates generally to electronic circuits. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of integrated oscillator circuits for controllers and, in particular, controllers for ultra-low power battery applications.
Integrated circuit oscillators are often used in (micro)-controller circuits. In addition, integrated oscillators are also used to provide clock signals and ramp signals (or sawtooth signals) in pulse width modulation (PWM) based systems, such as those used in switch mode power supplies (SMPS) and amplifier circuits.
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram illustrating a system 100, in which a controller is configured for frequent power-on and power-off operations. In this example, the (micro)-controller circuit 110 is in a power down state, while it monitors the state of a terminal GPIO1. In this example, GPIO1 is connected to a temperature actuated switch 120, which trips at a preset temperature. An LED (light-emitting-diode) 130 is used to indicate when the temperature actuated switch has tripped, based on operations performed by the controller core. When the temperature actuated switch trips, the logic powers up the controller. As shown in FIG. 1, The GPIO1 signal is passed through a debounce filter 112 in order to ensure that the switch has completely changed state to avoid false indications and waste of power through the LED. The debounce filter is coupled to an oscillator 114 for the debounce timer. This debounce filter 112 is continuously monitoring the GPIO, and the oscillator 114 is continuously running while the controller is in a power down state. Therefore, for long battery life, an ultra low power debounce filter and oscillator is desired.
Some conventional integrated circuit oscillators use ring oscillators, with resistors, capacitors, inductors, crystals and MOS invertor stages. These ring oscillators often use precision external voltage and current references. Other conventional integrated circuit oscillators use capacitor charging circuit, but also may rely on external reference circuits and control circuits. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Current flight deck communication systems may not provide a desired level of performance.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a flight deck communication system which obviates problems associated with current solutions. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a load-driving circuit for driving a load such as a resistor of airbag squib, the load-driving circuit having two transistors that are switched to be equally heated.
2. Description of Related Art
Examples of a load-driving circuit for driving a resistor of an airbag squib by means of a high side transistor and a low side transistor are shown in JP-A-10-264765, JP-A-10-297420 and JP-A-2005-88748. The driving circuit supplies current, when a collision impact is detected by an acceleration sensor, to the resistor of the airbag squib by controlling the low side transistor to a full-on control while controlling the high side transistor to a constant current control. In this case, current is set in the high side transistor and the low side transistor as shown in FIG. 18A attached hereto. A drain-source voltage Vds of the low side transistor (constituted by an LDMOSFET, for example) is almost zero because the low side transistor is used under a full-on state as shown in FIG. 18C. Therefore, influence of heat in the low side transistor is negligible. On the other hand, drain-source voltage Vds of the high side transistor is almost equal to a power source voltage as shown in FIG. 18B. Therefore, the high side transistor is considerably heated, and the heat may exceed a heat margin in the high side transistor. Accordingly, a size of the transistor has to be enlarged, or circuit components which are sensitive to heat have to be separated from the transistor as shown in FIG. 19.
To cope with the above problem, JP-A-2007-328683 proposes to switch the high side transistor and the low side transistor between the full-on control and the constant current control using a timer. However, it is required to provide a timer having a large size in the load-driving circuit. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention relates generally to heterocyclic substituted pyrazolones, including pharmaceutical compositions, diagnostic kits, assay standards or reagents containing the same, and methods of using the same as therapeutics. The invention is also directed to intermediates and processes for making these novel compounds.
Protein kinases play a critical role in the control of cell growth and differentiation. Aberrant expression or mutations in protein kinases have been shown to lead to uncontrolled cell proliferation, such as malignant tumor growth, and various defects in developmental processes, including cell migration and invasion, and angiogenesis. Protein kinases are therefore critical to the control, regulation, and modulation of cell proliferation in diseases and disorders associated with abnormal cell proliferation. Protein kinases have also been implicated as targets in central nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer""s disease, inflammatory disorders such as psoriasis, bone diseases such as osteoporosis, atheroscleroses, restenosis, thrombosis, metabolic disorders such as diabetes, and infectious diseases such as viral and fungal infections.
One of the most commonly studied pathways involving kinase regulation is cellular signaling from receptors at the cell surface to the nucleus. Generally, the function of each receptor is determined by its pattern of expression, ligand availability, and the array of downstream signal transduction pathways that are activated by a particular receptor. One example of this pathway includes a cascade of kinases in which members of the Growth Factor receptor Tyrosine Kinases deliver signals via phosphorylation to other kinases such as Src Tyrosine kinase, and the Raf, Mek and Erk serine/threonine kinase families. Each of these kinases is represented by several family members which play related, but functionally distinct roles. The loss of regulation of the growth factor signaling pathway is a frequent occurrence in cancer as well as other disease states. Fearon, Genetic Lesions in Human Cancer, Molecular Oncology, 1996, 143-178.
The raf1 serine/threonine kinase can be activated by the known oncogene product ras. The raf kinase enzyme positively regulates cell division through the Raf/MEK/ERK protein kinase cascade. This activation is the result of cRaf1 catalyzed phosphorylation of the protein kinase, MEK1, which phosphorylates and activates the protein kinase ERK. ERK phosphorylates and regulates transcription factors required for cell division. Avruch et al., TIBS, 1994 (19) 279-283. cRaf1 negatively regulates cell death by modulation of the activity of Bcl-2, a critical regulator of apoptosis. This regulation involves direct phosphorylation of Bcl-2 family members. Gajewski and Thompson, Cell, 1996 (87) 619-628.
These aspects of cRaf1-mediated regulation of cell proliferation require the kinase activity of cRaf1. It has also been reported that the reduction of Raf protein levels correlates with a reduction in tumor growth rate in vivo tumor mouse models. Monia, Johnston, Geiger, Muller, and Fubro, Nature Medicine, Vol. 2, No. 6, June 1996, 668-674. Inhibitors of the kinase activity of cRaf1 should therefore provide effective treatment for a wide variety of human cancers.
Activation of the MAP kinase signaling pathways represents an attractive target for tumor therapy by inhibiting one or more of the kinases involved. An additional member of the MAP kinase family of proteins is the p38 kinase, alternatively known as the cytokine suppressive drug binding protein or reactivation kinase, RK. Activation of this kinase has been implicated in the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1 and TNF. Inhibition of this kinase could therefore offer a treatment for disease states in which disregulated cytokine production is involved.
The signals mediated by kinases have also been shown to control cell growth, cell death and differentiation in the cell by regulating the processes of the cell cycle. Progression through the eukaryotic cell cycle is controlled by a family of kinases called cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs). The loss of control of CDK regulation is a frequent event in hyperproliferative diseases and cancer.
Inhibitors of kinases involved in mediating or maintaining particular disease states represent novel therapies for these disorders. Examples of such kinases include inhibition of Src, raf, and the cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) 1, 2, and 4 in cancer, CDK2 or PDGF-R kinase in restenosis, CDK5 and GSK3 kinases in Alzheimers, c-Src kinase in osteoporosis, GSK-3 kinase in type-2 diabetes, p38 kinase in inflammation, VEGF-R 1-3 and TIE-1 and -2 kinases in angiogenesis, UL97 kinase in viral infections, CSF-1R kinase in bone and hematopoetic diseases, and Lck kinase in autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection.
Thus, there is a need for novel classes of compounds which demonstrate activity toward receptor and non-receptor types of protein kinases. It has been discovered that a class of compounds, referred to herein as heterocyclic-substituted pyrazolones, are useful as agents for the regulation of protein kinase. The present invention is therefore directed to, inter alia, their use as therapetic agents for the treatment of the foregoing disorders.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide novel compounds which are kinase inhibitors. In certain objects, the compounds of the present invention are inhibitors of one or more of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) kinase, trkA tyrosine kinase (trkA), mixed lineage kinase (MLK) or fibroplast growth factor receptor kinase (FGFR).
It is another object of the present invention to provide pharmaceutical compositions comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and a therapeutically effective amount of at least one of the compounds of the present invention, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt form thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel method for treating or preventing disorders associated with the aberrant activity of protein kinases. In certain objects, the disorders are characterized by the aberrant activity of one or more of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) kinase, trkA tyrosine kinase (trkA), mixed lineage kinase (MLK) or fibroplast growth factor receptor kinase (FGFR), and the method comprises administering to a host in need of such treatment or prevention a therapeutically effective amount of at least one of the compounds of the present invention.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for inhibiting protein kinases in a body fluid sample. In certain objects, the method comprises treating the body fluid sample with an effective amount of at least one of the compounds of the present invention to inhibit one or more protein kinases.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a kit or container containing at least one of the compounds of the present invention in an amount effective for use as a diagnostic, standard or reagent.
These and other important objects, which will become apparent during the following detailed description, have been achieved by the inventor""s discovery that compounds of Formula I:
stereoisomeric forms, mixtures of stereoisomeric forms, or pharmaceutically acceptable salt forms thereof, wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, and Het are defined below, are effective kinase inhibitors.
Thus, in a first embodiment, the present invention provides a novel compound of Formula I:
or a stereoisomer or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein:
Het is a heterocycle;
R1 is selected from H, C1-10 alkyl substituted with 0-5 R6, C2-8 alkenyl substituted with 0-5 R6, C2-8 alkynyl substituted with 0-5 R6, NRaRa, C(xe2x95x90O)Rb, C(xe2x95x90O)NHRa, CO2Rc, and heterocycle substituted with 0-5 R6;
with the provisos that when R1 and Het are both 2-pyridinyl, R2 and R3 are other than 4-diethylamino-2-phenyl; and when R1 is 4-carboxy-phenethyl, Het and either R2 or R3 are other than both dimethylamino-thiophene;
R2 and R3 are independently selected from H, C1-2 alkyl substituted with 1-5 R6, C3-10 alkyl substituted with 0-5 R6, C2-8 alkenyl substituted with 0-5 Ri, C2 6 alkynyl, Cl, Br, I CN, (CH2)rNRaRa, (CH2)rORc, (CH2)rSRc (CH2)rC(xe2x95x90O)Rb, (CH2)rCO2Rc, (CH2)rOC(xe2x95x90O)Rb, (CH2)rC(xe2x95x90O)NRaRa, (CH2)r NRaC(xe2x95x90O)Rb, (CH2)rNRaC(xe2x95x90O)ORb, (CH2)rOC(xe2x95x90O)NHRa, (CH2)rNRaS(xe2x95x90O)2Rb, (CH2)rS(xe2x95x90O)2NRaRa, (CH2)rS(O)pRb, (CH2)rcarbocycle substituted with 0-5 R4, and (CH2)rheterocycle substituted with 0-5 R4;
with the provisos that R2 and R3 are other than both H or both SMe; and when R2 is H, and R3 is phenyl, Het is not 2-furanyl;
alternatively, R2 and R3 join to form a heterocycle substituted with 0-4 R4, with the proviso that the heterocycle is other than 2-thiazolidinyl or 5-methyl-2-oxazolidinyl;
R4, at each occurrence, is independently selected from H, F, Cl, Br, I, CN, CF2CF3, CF3, NO2, CN, OH, NRaRa, ORc, C(xe2x95x90O)Rb, CO2Rc, OC(xe2x95x90O)Rb, NRaC(xe2x95x90O)Rb, C(xe2x95x90O)NRaRa, OC(xe2x95x90O)NRaRa, NRaC(xe2x95x90O)ORb, NRaS(xe2x95x90O)2Rb, S(xe2x95x90O)2NRaRa, NRaC(xe2x95x90S)Rb, C(xe2x95x90S)NRaRa, NRaC(xe2x95x90O)NRaRa, NRaC(xe2x95x90S)NRaRa, CHxe2x95x90NORc, CHxe2x95x90NRa, CHxe2x95x90NNRaRa, (CH2)rS(O)pRb, O(CH2)qNRaRa, O(CH2)qORc, (CH2)rORd, (CH2)rC(xe2x95x90O)Rdxe2x80x2, (CH2)rNHRd, (CH2)rS(O)pRdxe2x80x2, C1-10 alkyl substituted with 0-5 R6, C2-8 alkenyl substituted with 0-5 R6, C2-8 alkynyl substituted with 0-5 R6, carbocycle substituted with 0-5 R6, and heterocycle substituted with 0-5 R6;
R5 is either absent or is selected from H, C1-8 alkyl, C2-6 alkenyl, C2-6 alkynyl, (CH2)rC3-6 cycloalkyl, and (CH2)rphenyl;
R6, at each occurrence, is selected from C1-6 alkyl substituted with 0-5 Rh, C2-8 alkenyl, C2-8 alkynyl, F, Cl, Br, I, CN, CF2CF3, CF3, NO2, CN, NRfRf, ORf, C(xe2x95x90O)Rf, CO2Rf, OC(xe2x95x90O)Rg, NRfC(xe2x95x90O)Rf, C(xe2x95x90O)NRfRf, OC(xe2x95x90O)NRfRf, NReC(xe2x95x90O)ORg, NReS(xe2x95x90O)2Rg, S(xe2x95x90O)2NRfRf, NRaC(xe2x95x90S)Rg, C(xe2x95x90S)NRfRf, NRfC(xe2x95x90O)NRfRf, NRfC(xe2x95x90S)NRfRf, CHxe2x95x90NORe, CHxe2x95x90NRe, CHxe2x95x90NNReRe, S(O)pRf, O(CH2)pNRfRf, O(CH2)pORf, ORd, NHRd, C(xe2x95x90O)Rdxe2x80x2, S(O)pRdxe2x80x2, carbocycle substituted with 0-5 Rh, heterocycle substituted with 0-5 Rh, P(xe2x95x90O)(ORc)2, and a C5-7 monosaccharide wherein each hydroxyl group of the monosaccharide is unsubstituted or replaced by a group selected from H, C1-4 alkyl, C1-4 alkoxy, and OC(xe2x95x90O)C1-4 alkyl;
Ra, at each occurrence, is independently selected from H, C1-6 alkyl, C2-6 alkenyl, C2-6 alkynyl, (CH2)rC3-6 cycloalkyl, and (CH2)rphenyl, wherein when Ra is other than H, Ra is substituted with 0-5 Rh;
alternatively, two Ra may join to form a linker selected from (CH2)qS(CH2)q, (CH2)qS(CH2)q, and (CH2)m, wherein the linker is substituted with 0-5 Rh;
Rb, at each occurrence, is independently selected from C1-6 alkyl, C2-6 alkenyl, C2-6 alkynyl, (CH2)rphenyl, and (CH2)rheterocycle, wherein Rb is substituted with 0-5 Rh;
Rc, at each occurrence, is independently selected from H, C1-6 alkyl, C2-6 alkenyl, C2-6 alkynyl, C3-6 cycloalkyl, and (CH2)rphenyl, wherein when Rc is other than H, Rc is substituted with 0-5 Rh;
Rd, at each occurrence, is the residue of an amino acid after the hydroxyl group of the carboxyl group is removed;
Rdxe2x80x2, at each occurrence, is the residue of an amino acid after the hydrogen of the amine is removed;
Re, at each occurrence, is selected from H and C1-6 alkyl;
Rf, at each occurrence, is selected from H, C1-6 alkyl substituted with 0-5 Rh, and (CH2)rphenyl substituted with 0-5 Rh;
Rg, at each occurrence, is selected from C1-6 alkyl substituted with 0-5 Rh and (CH2)rphenyl substituted with 0-5 Rh;
rh, at each occurrence, is selected from F, Cl, Br, I, OH, NO2, CN, CF3, CF2CF3, C1-4 alkyl, C2-6 alkenyl, C2-6 alkynyl, alkoxy, C3-7 cycloalkyl, carboxyl, formyl, acetyl, propanoyl, butyryl, valeryl, pivaloyl, hexanoyl, acetamido, acetate, carbamyl, carboxy, NH2, monoalkylamino, dialkylamino, phenyl, benzyl, phenethyl, napthyl, heterocycle, and keto;
Ri, at each occurrence, is selected from F, Cl, Br, I, OH, NO2, CN, CF3, CF2CF3, C1-4 alkyl, C2-6 alkenyl, C2-6 alkynyl, alkoxy, C3-7 cycloalkyl, carboxyl, formyl, acetyl, propanoyl, butyryl, valeryl, pivaloyl, hexanoyl, acetamido, acetate, carbamyl, carboxy, NH2, monoalkylamino, dialkylamino, phenyl, benzyl, and phenethyl;
m is selected from 2, 3, 4, and 5;
n is selected from 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5;
p is selected from 0, 1, and 2;
q is selected from 1, 2, 3, and 4; and
r is selected from 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4.
As will be readily understood by the skilled artisan, the position of the double bond in the structure of Formula I will be dependent upon the nature of R5. For example, in certain embodiments wherein R5 is absent, Formula I may have the structure:
In other embodiments wherein R5 is hydrogen, Formula I may have the tautomeric structure:
In other embodiments wherein R5 is a substituent, Formula I will have the structure:
In certain preferred embodiments, Formula I has the formula:
wherein R1 is selected from hydrogen and alkyl. In other preferred embodiments, R2 or R3 is selected from H and alkyl.
In other preferred embodiments, the heterocyclic substituted pyrazolones are represented by the formula:
wherein either R2 or R3 is H.
In other preferred embodiments, Het is selected from:
a) a 6-membered heterocyclic ring containing 1 to 3 heteroatoms selected from O, N and S;
b) a 5-membered heterocyclic ring containing either:
1) one oxygen, one nitrogen, or one sulfur atom;
2) a sulfur and a nitrogen atom, an oxygen and a nitrogen atom, or two nitrogen atoms; and
3) three nitrogen atoms, one oxygen and two nitrogen atoms, or one sulfur and two nitrogen atoms;
In other preferred embodiments, Het is heteroaromatic. In other preferred embodiments, Het is selected from:
wherein X is selected from O, S, NH, and N-alkyl.
In other embodiments, Het is non-aromatic. In certain preferred embodiments, Het is selected from:
In certain embodiments, R4 is selected from F, Cl, Br, I, OH, NO2, CN, CF3, methyl, ethyl, propyl, iso-propyl, butyl, sec-butyl, t-butyl, pentyl, ethenyl, propenyl, butenyl, ethynyl, propynyl, butynyl, methoxy, ethoxy, n-propoxy, i-propoxy, n-butoxy, s-butoxy, t-butoxy, phenyl, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, CO2H, formyl, acetyl, propanoyl, butyryl, NH2, mono- or di-alkylamino, phenyl, heteroaryl, and keto (Cxe2x95x90O). In other preferred embodiments, n is selected from 0, 1, and 2.
In certain embodiments, R3 is a heterocycle selected from:
a) a 6-membered heterocyclic ring containing 1 to 3 heteroatoms selected from O, N and S;
b) a 5-membered heterocyclic ring containing either:
1) one oxygen, one nitrogen, or one sulfur atom;
2) a sulfur and a nitrogen atom, an oxygen and a nitrogen atom, or two nitrogen atoms; and
3) three nitrogen atoms, one oxygen and two nitrogen atoms, or one sulfur and two nitrogen atoms;
In other preferred embodiments, one of R2 or R3 is a heterocycle which is aromatic. In other preferred embodiments, one of R2 or R3 is selected from:
wherein X is selected from O, S, NH, and N-alkyl.
In other embodiment, one of R2 or R3 is a heterocycle that is non-aromatic. In certain preferred embodiments, one of R2 or R3 is selected from:
In other embodiments, compounds of Formula I are represented by those set forth in Tables 1 and 1a.
In other embodiments, the present invention provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising a compound of Formula I, a stereoisomer or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. In a preferred composition, the compound of Formula I is one set forth in Table 1 or Table 1a.
In other embodiments, the present invention provides a method for inhibiting protein kinase activity comprising providing a compound of Formula I in an amount sufficient to result in effective inhibition. In a preferred embodiment, the kinase receptor is vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) kinase, trkA tyrosine kinase (trkA), mixed lineage kinase (MLK) or fibroplast growth factor receptor kinase (FGFR).
In other embodiments, the present invention provides a method for treating or preventing disorders characterized by the aberrant activity of a protein kinase which comprises administering to a host in need of such treatment or prevention a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of Formula I.
In other embodiments, the present invention provides a method for treating or preventing disorders where either the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) kinase, trkA tyrosine kinase (trkA), mixed lineage kinase (MLK) or the fibroplast growth factor receptor kinase (FGFR) contributes to pathological conditions, the method comprising providing a compound of Formula I in an amount sufficient to result in the receptor being contacted with an effective inhibitory amount of the compound.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method for treating or preventing angiogenic disorders which comprises administering to a host in need of such treatment or prevention a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of Formula I. In a preferred embodiment, the angiogenic disorder is cancer of solid tumors, ocular disorders, macular degeneration, endometriosis, diabetic retinopathy, psoriasis, or hemangioblastoma.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method of treating or preventing a disease mediated by a kinase selected from ab1, AKT, bcr-ab1, Blk, Brk, Btk, c-kit, c-met, c-src, CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, CDK6, chk1, chk2, cRaf1, CSF1R, CSK, EGFR, ErbB2, ErbB3, ErbB4, ERK (Eph), Fak, fes, FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3, FGFR4, FGFR5, Fgr, FLK-4, flt-1, Fps, Frk, Fyn, GSK, Hck, IGF-1R, INS-R, Jak, JNK, VEGFR1, VEGFR2, VEGFR3, Lck, Lyn, MEK, p38, PDGFR, PIK, PKC, PYK2, ros, tie1, tie2, TRK, UL97, Yes and Zap70, the method comprising administering to a patient in need of such treatment or prevention a pharmaceutically effective amount of a compound of Formula I.
In other embodiments, the present invention provides a method for treating or preventing disorders where a kinase selected from ab1, AKT, bcr-ab1, Blk, Brk, Btk, c-kit, c-met, c-src, CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, CDK6, chk1, chk2, cRaf1, CSF1R, CSK, EGFR, ErbB2, ErbB3, ErbB4, ERK (Eph), Fak, fes, FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3, FGFR4, FGFR5, Fgr, FLK-4, flt-1, Fps, Frk, Fyn, GSK, Hck, IGF-1R, INS-R, Jak, JNK, VEGFR1, VEGFR2, VEGFR3, Lck, Lyn, MEK, p38, PDGFR, PIK, PKC, PYK2, ros, tie1, tie2, TRK, UL97, Yes and Zap70 contributes to pathological conditions, the method comprising providing a compound of Formula I in an amount sufficient to result in the receptor being contacted with an effective inhibitory amount of the compound.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method for treating or preventing Alzheimer""s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson""s disease, stroke, ischaemia, Huntington""s disease, AIDS dementia, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, injuries of the brain or spinal chord, cancer, restenosis, osteoporosis, inflammation, angiogenesis, viral infections, bone or hematopoetic diseases, autoimmune diseases or transplant rejection which comprises administering to a host in need of such treatment or prevention a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of Formula I.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to inhibition of one or more of Src, raf, and the cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) 1, 2, and 4 for the treatment of cancer.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to inhibition of one or more of CDK2 or PDGF-R kinase for the treatment of restenosis.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to inhibition of one or more of CDK5 or GSK3 kinases for the treatment of Alzheimers.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to inhibition of one or more of c-Src kinase for the treatment of osteoporosis.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to inhibition of one or more of GSK-3 kinase for the treatment of type-2 diabetes.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to inhibition of one or more of p38 kinase for the treatment of inflammation.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to inhibition of one or more of VEGF-R 1-3, TIE-1, or TIE-2 kinases for the treatment of angiogenesis.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to inhibition of one or more of UL97 kinase for the treatment of viral infections.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to inhibition of one or more of CSF-1R kinase for the treatment of bone and hematopoetic diseases.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is directed to inhibition of one or more of and Lck kinase for the treatment autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection.
In certain embodiment, the present invention provides a method of treating or preventing a disorders mediated by topoisomerases Topo-I or Topo II for the treatment of cancer.
Definitions
The following terms and expressions have the indicated meanings. As used herein xe2x80x9cstable compoundxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cstable structurexe2x80x9d is meant to indicate a compound that is sufficiently robust to survive isolation to a useful degree of purity from a reaction mixture, and preferably capable of formulation into an efficacious therapeutic agent. The present invention is directed only to stable compounds. As used herein, xe2x80x9csubstitutedxe2x80x9d is intended to indicate that one or more hydrogen atoms on an indicated group is replaced with a selected group referred to herein as a xe2x80x9csubstituentxe2x80x9d, provided that the substituted atom""s valency is not exceeded, and that the substitution results in a stable compound. When the term xe2x80x9csubstitutedxe2x80x9d preceeds a group containing (CH2)r or (CH2)q, for example, (CH2)rphenyl, it is intended that the substituent may reside on the group, i.e., phenyl, or the CH2 chain. By way of illustration, groups which may be further substituted include, but are not limited to, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, alkoxy, acyl, carbocyclic, and heterocyclic, along with additional groups which contain these moieties. A substituted group preferably has 1 to 5 independently selected substituents. Preferred substituents include, but are not limited to F, Cl, Br, I, OH, NO2, CN, CF3, CF2CF3, alkyl including, but not limited to, methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, and pentyl; alkenyl including but not limited to, ethenyl, propenyl, and butenyl; alkynyl including, but not limited to, ethynyl, propynyl, and butynyl; alkoxy including, but not limited to, methoxy, ethoxy, n-propoxy, i-propoxy, n-butoxy, s-butoxy, and t-butyloxy; cycloalkyl including, but not limited to, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, and cyclohexyl; carboxyl, acyl including, but not limited to, formyl, acetyl, propanoyl, butyryl, valeryl, pivaloyl, and hexanoyl; acetamido, carbamyl, carboxy, hydroxamino, NH2, monoalkylamino, dialkylamino, (CH2)rcarbocycle including, but not limited to, phenyl, phenyl, benzyl, phenethyl, and napthyl; heterocycle, and keto (xe2x95x90O).
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9calkylxe2x80x9d means a straight-chain, or branched alkyl group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, pentyl, isoamyl, neopentyl, 1-ethylpropyl, hexyl, octyl. As used herein, xe2x80x9ccycloalkylxe2x80x9d is intended mean monocyclic, bicyclic or tricyclic alkyl groups including, but not limited to cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, and the like.
As used herein, xe2x80x9calkenylxe2x80x9d is intended to include hydrocarbon chains of either a straight or branched configuration and one or more unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds which may occur in any stable point along the chain, such as ethenyl, propenyl and the like.
As used herein, xe2x80x9calkynylxe2x80x9d is intended to include hydrocarbon chains of either a straight or branched configuration and one or more triple carbon-carbon bonds which may occur in any stable point along the chain, such as ethynyl, propynyl, and the like.
As used herein, xe2x80x9calkoxyxe2x80x9d is intended to include hydrocarbon chains of either straight or branched configuration bonded through an oxygen. Alkoxy includes, but is not limited to methoxy, ethoxy, n-propoxy, i-propoxy, n-butoxy, s-butoxy, t-butyloxy, and the like.
As used herein, xe2x80x9ccarbocyclexe2x80x9d is intended to mean any stable monocyclic, bicyclic or tricyclic ring made up on carbon atoms, which may be saturated, partially unsaturated, or unsaturated. Carbocycles are intended to include, but are not limited to, compounds referred to herein as xe2x80x9ccycloalkylxe2x80x9d. Carbocycles are also intended to include xe2x80x9carylxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9caromaticxe2x80x9d compounds. Examples of aryl compounds include, but are not limited to phenyl, biphenyl, naphthyl, indanyl, adamantyl, or tetrahydronaphthyl (tetralin).
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cheterocyclexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cheterocyclic ringxe2x80x9d is intended to include a stable monocyclic, bicyclic or tricyclic heterocyclic ring which is saturated, partially unsaturated, or unsaturated rings. Accordingly, heterocycles may be aromatic or non-aromatic. Heterocycles preferably consist of carbon atoms and heteroatoms which are preferably independently selected from the group consisting of N, O and S. The nitrogen and sulfur heteroatoms may optionally be oxidized. The heterocyclic ring may be attached to its pendant group at any heteroatom or carbon atom which results in a stable structure. The heterocycles described herein may be substituted on, for example, a carbon or a nitrogen atom if the resulting compound is stable. If specifically noted, a nitrogen in the heterocycle may optionally be quaternized. It is preferred that when the total number of S and O atoms in the heterocycle exceeds 1, then these heteroatoms are not adjacent to one another. It is preferred that the total number of S and O atoms in the heterocycle is not more than 1.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cheteroaromaticxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cheteroarylxe2x80x9d is intended to mean a stable heterocycle which is aromatic and consists of carbon atoms and heteroatoms, wherein the heteroatoms are preferably independently selected from the group consisting of N, O and S.
Examples of heterocycles include, but are not limited to, 2-pyrrolidonyl, 2H-pyrrolyl, 4-piperidonyl, 6H-1,2,5-thiadiazinyl, 2H,6H-1,5,2-dithiazinyl, furanyl, furazanyl, imidazolidinyl, imidazolinyl, imidazolyl, isoxazolyl, morpholinyl, oxadiazolyl, 1,2,3-oxadiazolyl, 1,2,4-oxadiazolyl, 1,2,5-oxadiazolyl, 1,3,4-oxadiazolyl, oxazolidinyl, oxazolyl, piperazinyl, piperidinyl, pteridinyl, piperidonyl, 4-piperidonyl, pteridinyl, purinyl, pyranyl, pyrazinyl, pyrazolidinyl, pyrazolinyl, pyrazolyl, pyridazinyl, pyridinyl, pyridyl, pyrimidinyl, pyrrolidinyl, pyrrolinyl, pyrrolyl, tetrahydrofuranyl, 6H-1,2,5-thiadiazinyl, 1,2,3-thiadiazolyl, 1,2,4-thiadiazolyl, 1,2,5-thiadiazolyl, 1,3,4-thiadiazolyl, thiazolyl, thienyl, thienothiazolyl, thienooxazolyl, thienoimidazolyl, thiophenyl, triazinyl, 1,2,3-triazolyl, 1,2,4-triazolyl, 1,2,5-triazolyl, 1,3,4-triazolyl, and tetrazole. Also included are fused ring and spiro compounds containing, for example, the above heterocycles. Suitable heterocycles are also disclosed in The Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 76th Edition, CRC Press, Inc., 1995-1996, pages 2-25 to 2-26, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Preferred heterocyclic groups formed with a nitrogen atom include, but are not limited to, pyrrolidinyl, piperidinyl, piperidino, morpholinyl, morpholino, thiomorpholino, N-methylpiperazinyl, indolyl, isoindolyl, imidazole, imidazoline, oxazoline, oxazole, triazole, thiazoline, thiazole, isothiazole, thiadiazoles, triazines, isoxazole, oxindole, indoxyl, pyrazole, pyrazolone, pyrimidine, pyrazine, quinoline, iosquinoline, and tetrazole groups.
Preferred heterocyclic groups formed with an oxygen atom include, but are not limited to, furan, tetrahydrofuran, pyran, benzofurans, isobenzofurans, and tetrahydropyran groups. Preferred heterocyclic groups formed with a sulfur atom include, but are not limited to, thiophene, thianaphthene, tetrahydrothiophene, tetrahydrothiapyran, and benzothiophenes.
Preferred heteroaryl groups include, but are not limited to, pyridyl, pyrimidyl, pyrrolyl, furyl, thienyl, imidazolyl, triazolyl, tetrazolyl, quinolyl, isoquinolyl, benzoimidazolyl, thiazolyl, pyrazolyl, and benzothiazolyl groups.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cmonosaccharidexe2x80x9d has its accustomed meaning as a simple sugar. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9camino acidxe2x80x9d denotes a molecule containing both an amino group and a carboxyl group. Embodiments of amino acids include xcex1-amino, xcex2-amino, xcex3-amino acids. As used herein, xe2x80x9cxcex1-amino acidsxe2x80x9d are carboxylic acids of general formula HOOCxe2x80x94CH(NH2)-(side chain). Side chains of amino acids include naturally occurring and non-naturally occurring moieties. Non-naturally occurring (i.e., unnatural) amino acid side chains are moieties that are used in place of naturally occurring amino acid side chains in, for example, amino acid analogs. See, for example, Lehninger, Biochemistry, Second Edition, Worth Publishers, Inc, 1975, pages 73-75, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In certain embodiments, substituent groups of formula Rd include the residue of an amino acid after removal of the hydroxyl moiety of the carboxyl group thereof; i.e., groups of Formula xe2x80x94C(xe2x95x90O)CH-(side chain)-NHRxe2x80x2, wherein Rxe2x80x2 is H, C1-6 alkyl, or an amine protecting group. In certain embodiments, substituent groups of formula Rdxe2x80x2 include the residue of an amino acid after removal of the hydrogen of the amine group thereof; i.e., groups of Formula xe2x80x94NHxe2x80x94CH-(side chain)-C(xe2x95x90O)ORxe2x80x2, wherein Rxe2x80x2 is H, C1-6 alkyl, or a carboxyl protecting group.
Functional groups present on the compounds of Formula I or intermediate compounds may also contain protecting groups. Preferred protecting groups include the benzyloxycarbonyl (Cbz; Z) group and the tert-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc) group. Other preferred protecting groups may be found in Greene, T. W. and Wuts, P. G. M., Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis 2d. Ed., Wiley and Sons, 1991, a common text in the field, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
As used herein, terms commonly used to describe the effects of therapeutic agents in biological systems, assays, and the like, are intended to have their art-recognized meanings. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9ceffectxe2x80x9d when used to modify the terms xe2x80x9cfunctionxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9csurvivalxe2x80x9d means a positive or negative alteration or change. An effect which is positive may be referred to herein as an xe2x80x9cenhancementxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cenhancingxe2x80x9d, and an effect which is negative may be referred to herein as xe2x80x9cinhibitionxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cinhibiting.xe2x80x9d
As used herein, the terms xe2x80x9cenhancexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cenhancingxe2x80x9d when used to modify the terms xe2x80x9cfunctionxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9csurvivalxe2x80x9d means that the presence of an heterocyclic substituted pyrazolone compound has a positive effect on the function and/or survival of a trophic factor responsive cell compared with a cell in the absence of the compound. For example, and without limitation, with respect to the survival of, e.g., a cholinergic neuron, the compound would evidence enhancement of survival of a cholinergic neuronal population at risk of dying (due to, e.g., injury, a disease condition, a degenerative condition or natural progression) when compared to a cholinergic neuronal population not presented with such compound, if the treated population has a comparatively greater period of functionality than the non-treated population. As used herein, xe2x80x9cinhibitxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cinhibitionxe2x80x9d mean that a specified response of a designated material (e.g., enzymatic activity) is comparatively decreased in the presence of a heterocyclic substituted pyrazolone compound.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9ctrkxe2x80x9d refers to the family of high affinity neurotrophin receptors presently comprising trk A, trk B, and trk C, and other membrane associated proteins to which a neurotrophin can bind.
As used herein, the terms xe2x80x9ccancerxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccancerousxe2x80x9d refer to any malignant proliferation of cells in a mammal. Examples include prostate, benign prostate hyperplasia, ovarian, breast, brain, lung, pancreatic, colorectal, gastric, stomach, solid tumors, head and neck, neuroblastoma, renal cell carcinoma, lymphoma, leukemia, other recognized malignancies of the hematopoietic systems, and other recognized cancers.
As used herein the terms xe2x80x9cneuron,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9ccell of neuronal lineagexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cneuronal cellxe2x80x9d include, but are not limited to, a heterogeneous population of neuronal types having singular or multiple transmitters and/or singular or multiple functions; preferably, these are cholinergic and sensory neurons. As used herein, the phrase xe2x80x9ccholinergic neuronxe2x80x9d means neurons of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) whose neurotransmitter is acetylcholine; exemplary are basal forebrain, striatal, and spinal cord neurons. As used herein, the phrase xe2x80x9csensory neuronxe2x80x9d includes neurons responsive to environmental cues (e.g., temperature, movement) from, e.g., skin, muscle and joints; exemplary is a neuron from the dorsal root ganglion.
As used herein, a xe2x80x9ctrophic factor-responsive cell,xe2x80x9d is a cell which includes a receptor to which a trophic factor can specifically bind; examples include neurons (e.g., cholinergic and sensory neurons) and non-neuronal cells (e.g., monocytes and neoplastic cells).
As used herein, a xe2x80x9ctherapeutically effective amountxe2x80x9d refers to an amount of a compound of the present invention effective to prevent or treat the symptoms of particular disorder. Such disorders include, but are not limited to, those pathological and neurological disorders associated with the aberrant activity of the receptors described herein, wherein the treatment or prevention comprises inhibiting, inducing, or enhancing the activity thereof by contacting the receptor with a compound of Formula I.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cpharmaceutically acceptablexe2x80x9d refers to those compounds, materials, compositions, and/or dosage forms which are, within the scope of sound medical judgment, suitable for contact with the tissues of human beings and animals without excessive toxicity, irritation, allergic response, or other problem complications commensurate with a reasonable benefit/risk ration.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cpharmaceutically acceptable saltsxe2x80x9d refer to derivatives of the disclosed compounds wherein the parent compound is modified by making acid or base salts thereof. Examples of pharmaceutically acceptable salts include, but are not limited to, mineral or organic acid salts of basic residues such as amines; alkali or organic salts of acidic residues such as carboxylic acids; and the like. The pharmaceutically acceptable salts include the conventional non-toxic salts or the quaternary ammonium salts of the parent compound formed, for example, from non-toxic inorganic or organic acids. For example, such conventional non-toxic salts include those derived from inorganic acids such as hydrochloric, hydrobromic, sulfuric, sulfamic, phosphoric, nitric and the like; and the salts prepared from organic acids such as acetic, propionic, succinic, glycolic, stearic, lactic, malic, tartaric, citric, ascorbic, pamoic, maleic, hydroxymaleic, phenylacetic, glutamic, benzoic, salicylic, sulfanilic, 2-acetoxybenzoic, fumaric, toluenesulfonic, methanesulfonic, ethane disulfonic, oxalic, isethionic, and the like.
The pharmaceutically acceptable salts of the present invention can be synthesized from the parent compound which contains a basic or acidic moiety by conventional chemical methods. Generally, such salts can be prepared by reacting the free acid or base forms of these compounds with a stoichiometric amount of the appropriate base or acid in water or in an organic solvent, or in a mixture of the two. Generally, nonaqueous media like ether, ethyl acetate, ethanol, isopropanol, or acetonitrile are preferred. Lists of suitable salts are found in Remington""s Pharmaceutical Sciences, 17th ed., Mack Publishing Company, Easton, Pa., 1985, p. 1418, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
As used herein, xe2x80x9cprodrugxe2x80x9d is intended to include any covalently bonded carriers which release the active parent drug according to Formula (I) or other formulas or compounds of the present invention in vivo when such prodrug is administered to a mammalian subject. Since prodrugs are known to enhance numerous desirable qualities of pharmaceuticals (e.g., solubility, bioavailability, manufacturing, etc.) the compounds of the present invention may be delivered in prodrug form. Thus, the present invention contemplates prodrugs of the claimed compounds, compositions containing the same, and methods of delivering the same.
Prodrugs of a compound of the present invention, for example Formula I, may be prepared by modifying functional groups present in the compound in such a way that the modifications are cleaved, either in routine manipulation or in vivo, to the parent compound. Accordingly, prodrugs include, for example, compounds of the present invention wherein a hydroxy, amino, or carboxy group is bonded to any group that, when the prodrug is administered to a mammalian subject, cleaves to form a free hydroxyl, free amino, or carboxylic acid, respectively. Examples include, but are not limited to, acetate, formate and benzoate derivatives of alcohol and amine functional groups; and alkyl, carbocyclic, aryl, and alkylaryl esters such as methyl, ethyl, propyl, iso-propyl, butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, cyclopropyl, phenyl, benzyl, and phenethyl esters, and the like.
Synthesis
The compounds of the present invention may be prepared in a number of ways well known to those skilled in the art. The compounds can be synthesized, for example, by the methods described below, or variations thereon as appreciated by the skilled artisan. All processes disclosed in association with the present invention are contemplated to be practiced on any scale, including milligram, gram, multi-gram, kilogram, multi-kilogram or commercial industrial scale.
It will be appreciated that the compounds of the present invention may contain one or more asymmetrically substituted carbon atoms, and may be isolated in optically active or racemic forms. Thus, all chiral, diastereomeric, racemic forms and all geometric isomeric forms of a structure are intended, unless the specific stereochemistry or isomeric form is specifically indicated. It is well known in the art how to prepare and isolate such optically active forms. For example, mixtures of stereoisomers may be separated by standard techniques including, but not limited to, resolution of racemic forms, normal, reverse-phase, and chiral chromatography, preferential salt formation, re-crystallization, and the like, or by chiral synthesis either from chiral starting materials or by deliberate generation of target chiral centers.
As will be readily understood, functional groups present on the compounds of Formula I may contain protecting groups during the course of synthesis. For example, the amino acid side chain substituents of the compounds of Formula I can be substituted with protecting groups such as benzyloxycarbonyl or t-butoxycarbonyl groups. Protecting groups are known per se as chemical functional groups that can be selectively appended to and removed from functionalities, such as hydroxyl groups and carboxyl groups. These groups are present in a chemical compound to render such functionality inert to chemical reaction conditions to which the compound is exposed. Any of a variety of protecting groups may be employed with the present invention. Preferred protecting groups include the benzyloxycarbonyl (Cbz; Z) group and the tert-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc) group. Other preferred protecting groups according to the invention may be found in Greene, T. W. and Wuts, P. G. M., Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis 2d. Ed., Wiley and Sons, 1991.
Compounds having formula (I-i or (I-ii):
may be prepared, for example, as described in Schemes 1 through 6. For certain embodiments, the xcex2-ketoester (V) serves as a key intermediate to I-i and I-ii.
In certain embodiments, compounds of the present invention may contain heterocycles, which are further substituted. Heterocyclic compounds which are further substituted (including additional heterocycles) may be obtained by a variety of methods known to those skilled in the art. Starting materials as well as methods which may be used for the synthesis of xcex2-ketoester intermediate (V) are described, for example, by Thompson and Gaudino, J. Org. Chem. 1984, 49, 5237-5243; and by Kamal M. R. et. al., Phosphorous, Sulfur, Silicon Relat. Elem. 1997, 126, 65-74; the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Generally, compounds of formula (V) may be prepared, for example, by methods set forth in Scheme 1.
Reaction of a heterocyclic methyl ester, acid halide or imidazolide (III), with an ester enolate, affords compound (V) (Scheme 1a). Similar methods are taught, for example, in Bunting, J. W.; Kanter, J. P., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1993, 115, 11705-11715, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. By way of further guidance, to a solution of heterocyclic carboxylic ester (III) (1 equiv.) in methyl acetate (0.5-1 mL/mmol of the ester) may be added NaH (60% dispersion in mineral oil, 1.1 equiv.) with continuous stirring for approximately 0.5 hours. The reaction mixture is preferably stirred under reflux for about 2.5 hours, cooled to room temperature, poured to water (1 ml/mmol of the ester), and extracted from a suitable solvent such as diethyl ether. The aqueous layer may be neutralized with concentrated acid and extracted repeatedly with a polar solvent such as methylene chloride. The combined organic layers are preferably combined and concentrated in vacuo to provide the crude xcex2-ketoester (V), which may be used for pyrazolone formation without further purification.
Alternatively, compounds of formula (V) may be prepared by carboxy-alkylation of a heterocyclic methyl ketone, using a dialkyl carbonate (Scheme 1b). The synthesis of xcex2-ketoesters prepared in this manner are also described, for example, in Krapcho, A. P.; Diamanti, J.; Cayen, C.; Bingham, R., Org. Synth. 1973, 5, 198-201, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. By way of further guidance, to a vigorously stirred suspension of NaH (2.9 equiv.) and diethyl carbonate (2 equiv.) in dry toluene (1.5 mL/mmol of the methyl ketone) may be added dropwise a solution of the desired heterocyclic methyl ketone (II) (1 equiv.) in toluene under reflux. After addition, the mixture may be stirred at reflux for approximately 0.5 hour. The mixture is preferably cooled to room temperature and acidified with a suitable acid, such as glacial acetic acid. After addition of cold water, the mixture may be extracted from a suitable solvent, such as toluene. After work up, the solvent may be evaporated to furnish the crude xcex2-ketoester, (V), which may be used for pyrazolone formation without further purification.
Intermediate (V) may also be obtained from a heterocyclic compound (IV) following metalation and reaction with ethyl propinyl chloride (Scheme 1c). This method is further described by Morales-Rios, et.al, Heterocycles, 1996, 43, 1483-96, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The xcex2-ketoester (V), prepared by any of the foregoing methods may be reacted, for example, with various hydrazine derivatives (Scheme 2).
Reaction with hydrazine provides 4-unsubstituted pyrazolones (VI) (Scheme 2a). By way of further guidance, to a mixture of 0-ketoester (V) in absolute ethanol (3-5 mL/mmol of xcex2-ketoester) may be added hydrazine hydrate (5-10-fold excess) and the mixture kept under reflux for approximately 3-5 hours. The mixture is preferably cooled to room temperature and the solvent was evaporated. The pyrazolone may be isolated by filtration (if solid separation was noticed) or flash chromatography using an appropriate chromatographic solvent system such as EtOAc/methanol. Subsequent tituration with ether or ethyl acetate may help aid in further purification. The 4-unsubstituted pyrazolones (VI) may also be obtained by reaction of a heterocylic propargyl ester (VII) with excess hydrazine (Scheme 2b).
Upon Knoevenagel condensation with appropriately substituted carbonyl compounds, the pyrazolone (VI) provides the desired pyrazolone analogs (I-i) (Scheme 3).
By way of further guidance, a mixture of the appropriate pyrazolone (1 equiv.) and the desired aldehyde (1.1 equiv.) in absolute ethanol (2.5-3 mL/mmol of pyrazolone) may be stirred at 80-90 xc2x0 C. for approximately 1 to 5 hours. The product that separates as a solid (either from hot reaction mixture or upon subsequent cooling in ice bath) may be isolated by filtration and washed with small amounts of a protic solvent such as ethanol. NMR of the solid preferably shows one geometrical isomer. Other methods are taught, for example, in the text Organic Synthesis, G. Jones, edited by R. Adams, John Wiley and Sons, INC., New York, 1967, pp 204-599, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Alternatively, the xcex2-ketoester (V) may be first condensed with an appropriately substituted carbonyl compound to provide intermediate (VIII), which may be subsequently converted to the pyrazolone (I-i) (Scheme 4).
The pyrazolone derivative bearing the R5 substituents may be obtained by the reaction of mono-substituted hydrazine (or disubstituted hydrazine, e.g. when R1 not hydrogen is desired) either with a xcex2-ketoester (V) or the acetylenic derivative (VII) (Schemes 5a and 5b, respectively). The substituent at the 4 position may then be introduced, for example, with an aldehyde and a secondary amine (Scheme 5c). Compounds wherein R2 is a heterocycle attached through a heteroatom may be prepared, for example, by reacting compound (XI) with formaldehyde in the presence of a nucleophilic heterocycle (Scheme 5d).
Alternatively, the xcex2-ketoester (X), already bearing a substituent, may be subsequently converted to the pyrazolone analogs (I-ii). Compound (X) may be prepared, for example, by reaction of a heterocyclic methyl ester, acid halide or imidazolide (III), with an appropriately substituted ester enolate (Scheme 6a). Alternatively, compound (X) may be prepared by deprotonating a heterocyclic xcex2-ketoester and reacting the enolate with an appropriately substituted alkyl halide, alkyl mesylate, or the like (Scheme 6b).
Compounds of Formula (I-ii) and/or (I-iii) may also be prepared, for example, from pyrazolone (I-i), upon treatment with an appropriate reducing agent, such as NaBH4, LiBH4, and the like (Scheme 7). As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, compounds of Formula (I-ii) or (I-iii) may be further reacted under suitable conditions to add R5 groups, wherein R5 is other than hydrogen.
Other features of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following descriptions of exemplary embodiments. These examples are given for illustration of the invention and are not intended to be limiting thereof. | {
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A privileged supply system is known from document U.S. Pat. No. 6,857,272. This privileged supply system operates on the basis of predetermined operating ranges depending on the flow rate of the fuel, in which privileged injection is either enabled or not.
However, such a system has the drawback of being enabled even for operating conditions for which this is not necessary. Indeed, there exist steady state operating conditions with a low fuel flow rate which do not have any risk of extinction, wherein the privileged supply is enabled even when this is not necessary. In this case, a hot trail forms, which may in certain extreme cases ovalize the turbine rings. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for printing indicia on a recording carrier wherein toner is dissolved with the aid of a solvent and is fixed on the recording carrier.
2. Prior Art
Nonmechanical printers or copiers are well known. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,863. Such nonmechanical printers generally work on electrostatic principles. In such devices, toner images of the symbols or image to be printed or copied are applied to a recording carrier, such as a paper web. The creation of the toner images can be done, for example, by generating electrophotographic or electrographic charged latent images corresponding to the indicia to be imprinted on a photoelectric or dielectric intermediate carrier, such as a drum. The latent images are then developed at a developing station by application of toner. The resultant toner images are then transferred to the recording carrier at a transfer station. To make the toner images permanent and unblurable, they must thereafter be fused into the recording carrier at a fixing station. Such fusing of the toner image can be done, for example, by exposing the toner image to a solvent vapor. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,810. The solvent vapor dissolves the toner to the extent that it can easily penetrate into the recording carrier and become securely adhered thereto.
It is further known in the art to procure the latent image directly on the recording carrier and to thereafter develop the latent image on the recording carrier by application of toner which is subsequently fixed. In such usages, the recording carrier has to have appropriate properties. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrophotographic apparatus or an electrostatic recording apparatus (hereinafter, an image forming apparatus) such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile includes a developing assembly for visualizing an electrostatic latent image using a non-magnetic single-component toner. Conventionally, a developing assembly which includes a developing roller as a developer bearing member for bearing and conveying toner and a supply roller disposed around the developing roller and serving as a developer supply member for supplying toner to the developing roller is known. In this developing assembly, toner is supplied to the developing roller while being triboelectrically charged by mechanical rubbing between the supply roller and the developing roller. The supplied toner, of which the thickness of a toner layer on the developing roller is regulated to a predetermined amount by a developer regulating member, is conveyed to a developing zone near a photosensitive drum, which is an electrostatic latent image bearing member, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized as a toner image.
Toner which remains on the developing roller without being used for development in the developing zone (hereinafter referred to as a “residual developing toner”) is scraped off the developing roller by mechanical rubbing between the supply roller and the developing roller in a contact region contacting the supply roller. Simultaneously with this, toner is supplied from the supply roller to the developing roller. On the other hand, the scraped toner is mixed with toner present inside and near the supply roller.
Conventionally, depending on a printing pattern during an image formation period in such a developing assembly, a phenomenon in which a halftone density immediately after a background portion is different from a halftone density (hereinafter referred to as a “development ghost”) immediately after solid print may occur. The development ghost occurs due to a difference in toner charge amount which results from a difference in printing pattern and is likely to occur when the supply roller has low scraping performance.
In particular, in a developing assembly in which the respective surfaces of a developing roller and a supply roller rotate in the same direction in the contact region therebetween (called a “co-rotating developing assembly” below) as in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-228584, there have been cases where development ghost has occurred in marked fashion due to the weak mechanical stripping action of the supply roller.
In this case, in order to reduce image density non-uniformity in the leading end portion of the image, there are examples in which the biases applied respectively to the developing roller and the supply roller differ between the front half portion and the latter half portion of the development of the first page of paper after a print preparation operation of the developing roller, as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 5062183. The problem in Japanese Patent No. 5062183 is that in the first page of paper after the print preparation operation, in particular, the density is high during one revolution of the developing roller from the leading end of the image, and becomes weaker thereafter. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
An in-house generation power supply system is a system which supplies power to a load by connecting the commercial electric power system and an in-house power generation device to the load in parallel. Normally, as an in-house power generation device, there is implemented an engine generator device which utilizes fossil fuel, or a solar power generator which utilizes sunlight, or the like.
However, with an in-house generation power supply system, in order to perform supply of power to the load with the power system and the in-house power generation device operating in cooperation, if the power generated by the in-house power generation device exceeds the amount of power consumed by the load, sometimes it happens that this surplus power may flow in reverse into the commercial electric power system. In this case, unless the electrical power company has made a contract to purchase this power flowing in reverse, it is necessary to ensure that this surplus power does not flow into the system.
With this objective, a converter for electrical power recovery may be provided to an in-house generation power supply system. Such a converter for electrical power recovery may comprise, for example, a device which converts the surplus power into heat and stores it thermally as hot water. A converter for electrical power recovery having this structure is a so called co-generation system. With a co-generation system, the energy which has been stored as heat may be recovered with a fuel cell system, or may be used for some other application by being conducted to a heat exchange device.
The converter for electrical power recovery described in Patent Document #1 comprises a thermal storage unit which accumulates power (comprising a heater which stores heat from the surplus power), a sensor unit which detects the power received from the system, a switching circuit which controls the input power to the thermal storage unit, and a control unit which controls the switching circuit based upon the received power detected by the sensor unit and sets the input power to the thermal storage unit. With a converter for electrical power recovery having this type of structure, since it is possible to detect with the sensor unit whether or not surplus power is being generated (by detecting the presence or absence of reverse flow in a power reception unit), when surplus power is available, it is possible to recover surplus power into the thermal storage unit by controlling the switching unit. Since the amount of power received from the system is zero when it is possible to recover the surplus power perfectly in the thermal storage unit, the output of the sensor unit also becomes zero. Accordingly, the control unit is able to decide that the surplus power is being recovered by knowing that the output of the sensor unit becomes zero. Patent Document #1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2004-92458. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Magnetic media are widely used in various applications, particularly in the computer industry, and efforts are continually made with the aim of increasing the areal recording density, i.e., bit density of the magnetic media. In this regard, so-called “perpendicular” recording media have been found to be superior to the more conventional “longitudinal” media in achieving very high bit densities. In perpendicular magnetic recording media, residual magnetization is formed in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the magnetic medium, typically a layer of a magnetic material on a suitable substrate. Very high linear recording densities are obtainable by utilizing a “single-pole” magnetic transducer or “head” with such perpendicular magnetic media.
It is well-known that efficient, high bit density recording utilizing a perpendicular magnetic medium requires interposition of a relatively thick (i.e., as compared to the magnetic recording layer), magnetically “soft” underlayer or “keeper” layer, i.e., a magnetic layer having a relatively low coercivity of about 100 Oe or below, such as of a NiFe alloy (Permalloy), between the non-magnetic substrate, e.g., of glass, aluminum (Al) or an Al-based alloy, and the “hard” magnetic recording layer having relatively high coercivity of several kOe, typically about 3–6 kOe, e.g., of a cobalt-based alloy (e.g., a Co—Cr alloy such as CoCrPtB) having perpendicular anisotropy. The magnetically soft underlayer serves to guide magnetic flux emanating from the head through the hard, perpendicular magnetic recording layer. In addition, the magnetically soft underlayer reduces susceptibility of the medium to thermally-activated magnetization reversal by reducing the demagnetizing fields which lower the energy barrier that maintains the current state of magnetization.
A typical conventional perpendicular recording system 10 utilizing a vertically oriented magnetic recording medium 1 with a relatively thick soft magnetic underlayer, a relatively thin hard magnetic recording layer, and a single-pole head, is illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein reference numerals 2, 2A, 3, 3A, 4, and 5, respectively, indicate a non-magnetic substrate, an adhesion layer (optional), at least one magnetically soft underlayer, an amorphous or crystalline seed layer (optional), at least one non-magnetic interlayer, and at least one perpendicular magnetically hard recording layer. Reference numerals 7 and 8, respectively, indicate the single and auxiliary poles of a single-pole magnetic transducer head 6. The at least one relatively thin interlayer 4 (also referred to as an “intermediate” layer), comprised of one or more non-magnetic materials, serves to (1) prevent magnetic interaction between the soft underlayer 3 and the hard recording layer 5 and (2) promote desired microstructural and magnetic properties of the hard recording layer.
As shown by the arrows in the figure indicating the path of the magnetic flux φ, flux φ emanates from single pole 7 of single-pole magnetic transducer head 6, enters and passes through vertically oriented, hard magnetic recording layer(s) 5 in the region above single pole 7, enters and travels along soft magnetic underlayer(s) 3 for a distance, and then exits therefrom and passes through the perpendicular hard magnetic recording layer 5 in the region above auxiliary pole 8 of single-pole magnetic transducer head 6. The direction of movement of perpendicular magnetic medium 1 past transducer head 6 is indicated in the figure by the arrow above medium 1.
With continued reference to FIG. 1, vertical lines 9 indicate grain boundaries of each polycrystalline (i.e., granular) hard magnetic layer and interlayer of the layer stack constituting medium 1. As is apparent from the figure, the width of the grains of each of the polycrystalline hard magnetic layer(s) and interlayer(s) constituting the layer stack of the medium (as measured in a horizontal direction in the figure) may be substantially the same, i.e., each overlying layer may replicate the grain width of the underlying layer. A protective overcoat layer 11, such as of a diamond-like carbon (DLC), is formed over hard magnetic layer 5, and a lubricant topcoat layer 12, such as of a perfluoropolyether material, is formed over the protective overcoat layer.
Substrate 2 is typically disk-shaped and comprised of a non-magnetic metal or alloy, e.g., Al or an Al-based alloy, such as Al—Mg having an Ni—P plating layer on the deposition surface thereof, or substrate 2 is comprised of a suitable glass, ceramic, glass-ceramic, polymeric material, or a composite or laminate of these materials; adhesion layer 2A is typically comprised of an about 2 to about 5 nm thick layer of a material selected from the group consisting of Cr, CrTi, Ti, and TiNb; underlayer(s) 3 is (are) typically comprised of an about 500 to about 4,000 Å thick layer(s) of at least one soft magnetic material selected from the group consisting of NiFe (Permalloy), NiFeNb, CoZr, CoZrCr, CoZrNb, CoFe, Fe, FeN, FeSiAl, FeAlN, FeSiAlN, FeCoC, FeCoB, FeCoTaZr, FeTaN, and FeTaC, or a laminated structure comprised of magnetic layers spaced-apart by thin spacer layers, such as of Ta, C, Si, etc., or a laminated structure comprised of magnetically soft layers spaced apart by anti-ferromagnetic coupling (AFC) layers, e.g., Ru, IrMn, etc.; amorphous or crystalline seed layer(s) 3A are typically comprised of an about 1 to about 5 nm thick layer(s) of at least one material selected from the group consisting of Pd, TiCr, Pt, Cu, Au, Ti, and Ag; interlayer(s) 4 typically comprise(s) an up to about 500 Å thick layer(s) of at least one non-magnetic material, such as Ru, Ti, CoCr, CoCrPt, CoCrTa, CoCrMo, etc.; and hard magnetic layer(s) 5 is (are) typically comprised of an about 50 to about 250 Å thick layer(s) of at least one Co-based magnetic alloy including one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Cr, Fe, Ta, Ni, Mo, Pt, V, Nb, Ge, B, Ti, Zr, Hf, and Pd; and iron nitrides or oxides. The hard magnetic recording layer material has perpendicular anisotropy principally arising from magneto-crystalline anisotropy.
Notwithstanding the improvement (i.e., increase) in areal recording density and SMNR afforded by perpendicular magnetic recording media as described supra, the escalating requirements for increased areal recording density, media stability and SMNR necessitate further improvement in media performance.
As indicated above, perpendicular magnetic recording media typically include at least one magnetically soft underlayer for guiding magnetic flux through the media and to enhance writability, at least one non-magnetic intermediate or interlayer (hereinafter referred to as “interlayer”), and at least one main recording layer. The role of the interlayer(s) is critical for obtaining good media performance. Specifically, in perpendicular magnetic recording media the interlayer(s) serve to provide:
1. control of the crystallographic orientation of the main recording layer(s);
2. control of the grain size and grain distribution of the main recording layer(s);
3. destruction of exchange coupling between magnetically hard recording layers and magnetically soft layers; and
4. physical separation between adjacent grains of the main recording layer(s), which feature is particularly desirable and important when the latter is formed by a low temperature, high gas pressure sputtering process, and/or by a reactive sputtering process, so that an oxide, e.g., Co-oxide, occurs in the boundaries between adjacent grains.
More specifically, the SMNR of perpendicular magnetic recording media is improved by increasing the strength of the preferred c-axis out-of-plane orientation of the perpendicular main recording layer(s) while maintaining a small uniform grain size of the layer(s). The preferred orientation of the magnetic layer(s) depends upon the structural properties of and the interactions between the various previously deposited underlying layers of the media, as well as upon the nature of the substrate.
In general, control of the strength (or amount) of the preferred orientation of thin-film layers is difficult. Formation of a Co-alloy magnetic recording layer with a strong <0002> growth orientation on a structure including a substrate, a soft magnetic underlayer, and non-magnetic seed and interlayers between about 0.2 and 40 nm thick is extremely difficult.
Differences in crystallographic orientation between adjacent thin film layers are affected by the surface and interfacial energies of the materials of the layers, and by heteroepitaxial (or coherent) growth of one layer upon another layer of a chemically incompatible material with related crystal lattice structure and atomic interplanar spacings.
The soft magnetic underlayer of perpendicular magnetic recording media generally is composed of a small grain or amorphous material containing at least one of Fe and Co. According to prior practice, a non-magnetic material of hcp structure, e.g., Ru, may be deposited on the soft magnetic underlayer, which non-magnetic hcp material grows with a moderately strong <0002> preferred orientation and small grain size. A magnetic material of hcp structure, typically a Co-based alloy, may grow coherently on the hcp non-magnetic layer, also with <0002> growth orientation and small grain size. The quality of the <0002> growth orientation can be determined from the size of symmetric X-ray diffraction (“XRD”) peaks and rocking curves. Strong preferred growth orientation of the Co-based alloy with the hcp <0002> axis out-of-plane is generally necessary for achieving good performance of high areal recording density perpendicular magnetic media. Unfortunately, however, the quality of growth orientation of an hcp material upon the soft magnetic underlayer depends upon the selected material, and prior intermediate or underlayer structures, such as with a Ru layer and a Co-alloy layer, generally have not afforded the desired strength of <0002> growth orientation.
As indicated supra, one type of perpendicular magnetic recording media comprises Co alloy-based recording layers wherein oxides are present between adjacent magnetic grains for enhancing inter-granular separation. Such layers are typically formed by a sputtering process performed at a high pressure, e.g., about 30 mTorr, with Ru alloy-based films utilized as interlayers beneath the recording layer(s). When the Ru alloy-based interlayers are deposited, as by sputtering at a relatively high gas pressure, the physical separation between neighboring grains afforded by the oxides and/or voids promotes de-coupling of the magnetic grains and enhances the coercivity of the layer. However, the crystallographic (0002) orientations of the Ru/Co-alloy interlayer/magnetic alloy bi-layer structure are not as good as when the Ru interlayer is sputter-deposited at a lower pressure.
The above-described behavior may be demonstrated by reference to FIG. 2, which presents, in graphical form, the variation of the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of XRD (X-ray diffraction) rocking curves and coercivity (Hc) of perpendicular magnetic media of the following structure: 200 nm FeCoB soft magnetic underlayer/30 nm Ru interlayer/9 mm CoCrPtOx perpendicular recording layer/4.2 nm C protective overcoat layer, as a function of the gas pressure during sputter deposition of the Ru interlayer.
As is evident from FIG. 2, media for which the Ru interlayer is deposited at a lower gas pressure (i.e., ˜0.8 mTorr) during sputter deposition have narrower FWHM of the Ru/Co (0002) peaks of the XRD rocking curves than media for which the Ru interlayer is deposited at a higher sputter gas pressure (˜7 to ˜30 mTorr). However, the coercivity (Hc) of the media is significantly higher when the Ru interlayer is deposited at the higher sputter gas pressures, which high coercivities are much desired. From a consideration of these apparent competing factors or tendencies, it is apparent that the problem/drawback of poor crystallographic orientations of media (i.e., with wide FWHM) wherein the Ru interlayer is deposited at the higher sputter gas pressures requires resolution.
In view of the above-demonstrated critical nature of the intermediate or interlayer in obtaining high performance perpendicular magnetic recording media, there exists a clear need for improved film or layer structures for facilitating highly oriented crystal growth thereon, and for highly crystallographically oriented perpendicular magnetic recording media comprising improved intermediate or interlayer structures for providing enhanced performance characteristics.
The present invention, therefore, addresses and solves problems attendant upon the design and manufacture of improved film or layer structures for facilitating highly oriented crystal growth and fabrication of high performance, ultra-high areal recording density perpendicular magnetic recording media, while maintaining full compatibility with the economic requirements of cost-effective, large-scale, automated manufacturing technology. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
ICs generally include an isolation structure for electrically isolating devices from one another. Isolation options include trench isolation (e.g., Shallow Trench Isolation (STI)) or Local Oxidation of Silicon (LOCOS).
For LOCOS processing a thin silicon oxide layer is thermally grown on the wafer surface, generally called a pad oxide. A layer of silicon nitride is then deposited which is used as an oxide barrier. The pattern transfer is performed by photolithography. A lithography pattern is then etched into the silicon nitride. The result is a silicon nitride hard mask, which has openings that define the active areas defined by the LOCOS process.
The next step is the growth of the thermal LOCOS oxide which is termed a field oxide (FOX) as it is selectively grown in all non-active regions. After this LOCOS process is finished, the last step is the removal of the silicon nitride layer and the pad oxide layer underneath. A drawback of the LOCOS technique is the so-called bird's beak effect and the surface area which is lost due to this encroachment. Advantages of LOCOS fabrication include a simple process flow and the high FOX layer quality because the entire LOCOS structure is thermally grown.
STI is generally a preferred isolation technique for the sub-0.5 μm IC technology, because it avoids the bird's beak shape characteristic. With its zero oxide field encroachment STI is more suitable for the increased IC density requirements, as it enables forming smaller area isolation regions. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer program product, system, and method for distributing a plurality of tracks to add to cache to lists assigned to processors.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cache management system buffers tracks in a storage device recently accessed as a result of read and write operations in a faster access storage device, such as memory, than the storage device storing the requested tracks. Subsequent read requests to tracks in the faster access cache memory are returned at a faster rate than returning the requested tracks from the slower access storage, thus reducing read latency. The cache management system may also return complete to a write request when the modified track directed to the storage device is written to the cache memory and before the modified track is written out to the storage device, such as a hard disk drive. The write latency to the storage device is typically significantly longer than the latency to write to a cache memory. Thus, using cache also reduces write latency.
A cache management system may maintain a linked list having one entry for each track stored in the cache, which may comprise write data buffered in cache before writing to the storage device or read data. In the commonly used Least Recently Used (LRU) cache technique, if a track in the cache is accessed, i.e., a cache “hit”, then the entry in the LRU list for the accessed track is moved to a Most Recently Used (MRU) end of the list. If the requested track is not in the cache, i.e., a cache miss, then the track in the cache whose entry is at the LRU end of the list may be removed and an entry for the track data staged into cache from the storage is added to the MRU end of the LRU list. With this LRU cache technique, tracks that are more frequently accessed are likely to remain in cache, while data less frequently accessed will more likely be removed from the LRU end of the list to make room in cache for newly accessed tracks.
When processes access a track in the cache, a track identifier of the accessed cache needs to be moved to the MRU end of the LRU list. To move a track identifier to the MRU end, a lock needs to be obtained on the LRU list. If multiple processes are trying to access the cache, then contention for the LRU list lock among the multiple processes may delay cache processing. One technique for addressing LRU list lock contention is to defer MRU processing and perform the MRU processing to move track identifiers to the MRU end of the list in a batch mode. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
An optional function of software for the digital device such as an optical transmission apparatus is used at a user terminal via a network.
However, since the optical transmission apparatus has no license function, when the optional function of software is extended, the expense of upgrade cannot be charged to the user. Accordingly, the expense of software can be charged only when the hardware is purchased.
Therefore, in the case where the user purchases all the hardware at the time of newly introduction of the optical transmission device, the subsequent addition of the optional function of software is supported with no charge (no set price). Also, since the price was set for only the hardware of the optical transmission apparatus, it was impossible to configure a business model with addition of the optional function of software involving lowering the initial introduction price of the user and withdrawing the expenses in accordance with a use situation of the user after the introduction.
Thus, it has been proposed that the user gains access to the digital device such as an optical transmission apparatus from the user terminal using a license key. One example of such a technique was described in patent document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 2003-67072) and patent document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 2004-213469). Also, a technique associated with the patent documents 1 and 2 was described in patent document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication No. 2007-259315).
The “digital device having an optional function” of patent document 1 is a digital device including various kinds of optional functions and being set not to operate the optional functions at the time of shipment, comprising means for storing an input license key by the user when the license key of the optional function is inputted by the user, means for judging an option type of the input license key to start a function corresponding to the concerned option type, means for reading a preset serial number of the digital device along with the input of the license key, means for creating the license key from the serial number with the function, and means for comparing the input license key with the created license key and starting the optional function corresponding to the type of the input license key if both license keys are matched. The digital device operates in the following way.
This digital device starts a function corresponding to the option type of the input license key, when the license key of the optional function is inputted by the user. Then the function creates a license key using the serial number. If this created license key and the input license key are matched, the optional function corresponding to the type of the input license key starts. Accordingly, the user does not need to ask the maker to withdraw the purchased digital device and install the option for the version up, whereby the user can save trouble.
The “image forming apparatus” of patent document 2 is an image forming apparatus comprising storage means for storing a plurality of programs for implementing apparatus identification information intrinsic to the apparatus and an optional function, program management means for holding starting program identification information indicating whether or not the plurality of programs are set as programs to be executed at the time of starting the apparatus, and license management means for granting use permission for the plurality of programs, in which the license management means includes license information acquisition means for acquiring, from an external apparatus, license information including apparatus specifying information and program specifying information for specifying one program designated as the program to be executed at the time of starting the apparatus, determination means for determining whether or not the program specified by the program specifying information is set as the program to be executed at the time of starting the apparatus by referring to the starting program identification information held in the program management means, if the apparatus specifying information included in the license information acquired by the license information acquisition means and the apparatus identification information stored in the storage means are matched, and the program specified by the program specifying information included in the license information corresponds to any of the plurality of programs, and update means for updating the starting program identification information held in the program management means to set the program specified by the program specifying information as the program to be executed at the time of starting the apparatus, if the determination means determines that the program specified by the program specifying information is not set as the program to be executed at the time of starting the apparatus. The image forming apparatus operates in the following way.
This image forming apparatus acquires, from the outside, license information including apparatus specifying information and program specifying information for specifying one program designated as the program to be executed at the time of starting the apparatus, determines whether or not the program specified by the program specifying information is set as the program to be executed at the time of starting the apparatus by referring to the starting program identification information, if the apparatus specifying information included in the acquired license information and the apparatus identification information stored in the storage means are matched, and the program specified by the program specifying information included in the license information corresponds to any of the plurality of programs, and updates the starting program identification information to set the program specified by the program specifying information as the program to be executed at the time of starting the apparatus, if it is determined that the program specified by the program specifying information is not set as the program to be executed at the time of starting the apparatus. Therefore, the program for implementing the optional function can be validated without taking an extra cost and the security for validating the optional function can be improved.
The “optical transmission apparatus, optical transmission method and optical transmission control program” of patent document 3 involves the optical transmission apparatus that sets an input/output band on an optical communication channel in an optical network of TDM method using the GMPLS (Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching), comprising optical communication channel change means for changing the input/output band used by the optical communication channel on the optical transmission line to the an adjacent optical transmission apparatus for each transmission line, and band adjustment means for rearranging, if the input/output bands used by the optical communication channel are arranged discontinuously on the optical transmission line, the discontinuously arranged input/output bands to continuous bands by controlling the optical communication channel change means. The apparatus operates in the following way.
The optical transmission apparatus rearranges the discontinuously arranged input/output bands to the continuous bands by controlling the optical communication channel change means for changing the input/output band used by the optical communication channel on the optical transmission line to the adjacent optical transmission apparatus for each transmission line, if the input/output bands used by the optical communication channel are arranged discontinuously on the optical transmission line. Therefore, fragmentary bands occurring on the optical transmission line can be resolved, whereby the degree of freedom in setting the path on the optical network can be improved. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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