The instant invention relates to a modular device for transporting, aligning and stacking envelopes, and more particularly to such a device which can be combined with other like devices to provide any desired length of transport path and any desired number of stacking bins.
In high volume mailing applications, a plurality of documents are fed from document feeding devices to a location where they are inserted into an envelope. The envelopes are then transported seriatim from the document inserting position to another location for further processing, which typically includes the printing of postage on the envelopes. In many applications, it is desirable to separate the output of the inserter by diverting certain envelopes from the mainstream, or by directing certain envelopes, such as all those having the same zip code, to a designated collecting bin. When the objective is to print postage on the envelopes downstream of the inserting apparatus, it is necessary not only to transport the envelopes from the inserting apparatus to the postage meter or other printing device employed, but also to align the envelopes so that the printing occurs uniformly at the proper location on the envelopes.
There are available today various modules to perform each of the processes described hereinabove, i.e. transporting, aligning, diverting and stacking. These modules are situated at an appropriate location in the envelope path and perform their function as required. However, there is no single module available today which can be used to perform all of these tasks. Such a module obviously would provide significant cost savings to both the producer of the module and to the end user who would be able to simply purchase a plurality of similar modules and then deploy them as he saw fit.
Accordingly, the instant invention comprises a single module to be used in the envelope transport path which can be set up in a variety of formats and modified in order to perform the functions of transporting the envelopes, aligning the envelopes, stacking the envelopes and deflecting the envelopes out of the envelope path, all at a speed which does not slow down the inserting apparatus or the postage meter or other printing apparatus used to print the postage on the envelope.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to storage managers that provide data storage services to software applications. More particularly, the invention concerns the provision of filtering functions such as encryption, compression and other data conversions as part of storage manager operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By way of background, a storage manager is a system that acts as an intermediary between a software application (such as a backup/restore program or a web server) and a data storage resource (such as a tape drive, a disk drive, a storage subsystem, etc.). The storage manager, which could be integrated with the application program or implemented separately therefrom, provides an interface that accepts objects for storage and subsequently retrieves the objects upon request. Applications for which a storage manager has been used include the management of backup images of database installations, enterprise application data, individual workstations, web content, etc.
There is often a need for a storage manager to filter the data being written to or read from physical storage devices by compressing or encrypting the data. Existing storage managers that provide support for compression and/or encryption do so in one of two ways. Most commonly, such filtering is provided by algorithms that are embedded in the storage manager product itself. Less commonly, such filtering is supported by providing a programming hook that gives a storage manager user the option of writing their own algorithm(s). With this option, the user is also required to re-implement much of the functionality of the storage manager on their own.
Drawbacks of the first approach include:                The user is limited to the compression and/or encryption algorithms that are built into the storage manager product.        Some products support encryption but not compression and vice versa.        Some products support only weak encryption or poor compression.        The storage manager vendor may charge customers extra to enable the compression and/or encryption algorithms that are built in.        If a built-in algorithm is found to have a security flaw or a crippling bug, a customer cannot immediately swap in a different off-the-shelf algorithm to avoid exposure to the risk.        Storage manager customers must wait for the vendor to update the embedded algorithms with the latest technology when better algorithms are invented, even though the new technology may already exist in stand-alone off-the-shelf programs.        A vendor may not implement a particular compression or encryption algorithm that a customer desires.
Drawbacks of the second approach include:                The storage manager programming hook places a burden on the customer to re-implement much of the functionality the storage manager otherwise provides. The user must typically write a program that can accept objects for storage, track the location of these objects, write and read them to/from physical storage devices, and retrieve them upon request based on whatever query protocol the storage manager requires, as well as write in the desired compression and/or encryption algorithms. In this solution, the storage manager essentially delegates all work to the user and does not provide any functionality of its own. The storage manager mostly acts as a hollow shell or “stub” that forwards all storage and retrieval requests to the user-written external program for handling. The storage manager itself merely assembles and disassembles buffers of information that pass between it and the application that is calling it, and provides stubs for the interface APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) but delegates most of the work to the user's program.        This approach provides very little support for compression and encryption. There is the programming hook but the customers are required to create the needed support at great additional expense and effort to themselves.        A customer who uses the programming hook but does not sufficiently test and debug their external program may find that their data has been corrupted by their own custom program, or that bugs in the program prevent the retrieval of storage objects at a critical time, such as when they need them to restore a down system.        If the event described in the preceding paragraph occurs, the storage manager vendor may find itself exposed to liability for the customer's own programming mistakes.
Accordingly, a need exists for a storage manager filtering technique that overcomes the foregoing disadvantages. What is required is a solution that allows storage manager filters to be easily implemented without having to redesign the storage manager or duplicate its functionality in a custom program. It would be further desirable to provide the capability of implementing new and different filters. At present, the most common needs for storage manager filtering are compression and encryption. However, it is submitted that the possibilities are broader, and it may be advantageous in some circumstances to provide other data conversions, such as converting between English and metric units, or between different code pages or character sets like ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange), EBCDIC (Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code), and Unicode. By way of example, this capability would be useful if backup data was generated by a first system in a first character format (e.g., a mainframe computer using EBCDIC character) and the data needed to be restored to a second system that used a second character format (e.g., a workstation using ASCII character encoding). Another area where storage manager filtering could be used is the generation of audit trails. Such a filter could be used to inspect the data being stored or retrieved and generate audit information for management purposes.


Aircraft regulations require designers to consider flight conditions that contribute to ice formation and ice accumulation on critical portions of the aircraft. Leading edges of wings and engine nacelles can be particularly susceptible to ice formation, and require active ice protection in many aircraft designs. With respect to aircraft engines, accumulated ice can break away from the lip of the nacelle inlet, and enter the engine. Ice entering an engine can damage an engine's fan blades, or other critical engine components. Ice formation and accumulation on a nacelle inlet lip also can restrict airflow, thereby hindering engine performance. Accordingly, ice protection systems are needed for wing leading edges and engine nacelles in general, and for nacelle inlet lips in particular.
Various systems and methods are known for minimizing and eliminating ice accumulations on critical surfaces of aircraft. For example, the airport crews commonly spray an ethylene glycol de-icing solution on accumulated ice on aircraft wings while the aircraft are on the ground preparing for departure. Alternatively, some aircraft are equipped with pneumatically actuated bladders along leading edge surfaces of their wings that can be periodically inflated to shed accumulated ice. Many jet aircraft direct hot gases from their engine compressors onto the wing or nacelle inlet leading edges to melt accreted ice. Though such hot gas systems can generally be effective, such systems are not available for aircraft that do not have jet engines, or aircraft that do not have sufficient hot air capacity for such purposes.
Another method of preventing and/or eliminating ice from aircraft leading edges employs resistance-heating elements positioned along an aircraft's leading edges. Such electrothermal systems use various types of electric heating elements that are affixed on a surface structure of an aircraft. For example, the heating elements may include metallic electrodes arranged in a serpentine pattern, and affixed to a substrate that is attached to a surface structure of an aircraft. Other similar systems use ribbons or sheets of electrically conductive material as heating elements. Such systems commonly include heating elements that are intermittently spaced along an aircraft surface in a manner such that individual heaters can be selectively energized. Because most aircraft have limited available electrical power, the individual heating elements or sets of heating elements can be sequentially energized to conserve the amount of power consumed at any one time during a heating cycle.
An airplane's airframe and engines produce varying amounts of audible noise during takeoffs and landings. For example, an aircraft's engines typically operate at or near maximum thrust as the aircraft departs from or approaches an airport. Aircraft engine fan noise can be at least partially suppressed at the engine nacelle inlet by a noise absorbing liner. Such liners are provided inside of and proximate to the nacelle inlet. These liners can convert acoustic energy into heat, and typically consist of a porous skin supported by an open-cell honeycomb matrix. The open-cell matrix provides separation between the porous skin and a non-perforated backskin. Some have postulated that the partially open cells of the liner create a Helmholtz resonant effect that absorbs sonic energy, and thereby effectively suppresses at least a portion of the generated engine noise. Government regulators often mandate aircraft engines with reduced noise signatures, and as a result, aircraft manufacturers, airline companies, and airport communities frequently demand such engines on aircraft.
Though electrothermal systems can be effective in preventing ice formation or shedding ice from various sensitive areas of aircraft, such systems generally do not provide for noise attenuation, such as is beneficial at the lip of an engine nacelle inlet. Conversely, prior art noise attenuation systems for aircraft generally do not provide ice protection for leading edges of the aircraft. Accordingly, there is a need for an electrothermal ice protection system for the leading edges of aircraft that also includes noise attenuation capability. In particular, there is a need for an electrothermal ice protection apparatus for a nacelle inlet noselip that is capable of attenuating at least some engine fan noise.


Since its introduction in 1975, the well-known Kohler and Milstein technique (Nature 256:495, 1975) for the production of mouse hybridoma cells has made it possible to produce large quantities of mouse antigen-specific monoclonal antibodies that are useful in a number of investigative, diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The mouse hybridoma cells, which are initially produced by the fusion of antibody-producing cells (B-lymphocyte cells, hereinafter referred to as B-cells) with malignant, transformed B-cells (in vivo transformed, myeloma cells from mice afflicted with myeloma or plasmacytoma) are capable of producing large quantities of monoclonal antibodies with predetermined specificities.
Using the Kohler and Milstein technique, a B-cell and a plasmacytoma cell are fused using, for instance, polyethylene glycol, lysolecithin or Sendai virus as the cell-fusing agents. A selectable marker must be present in the fused cells to enable them to be selected from parent cells and other non-hybridoma cells. As an example, the plasmacytoma fusion partner is generally deficient in an enzyme, (for instance, hypoxanthine-guanosyl phosphoribotransferase (HGPRT)) that is necessary for growth of the fused cell in certain media (hypoxanthine-, aminoprotein-, and thymidine- containing medium or HAT medium). This enzyme deficiency enables the resultant hybrids to be selected for their ability to grow in such media. This insures that only B-cell:plasmacytoma cell hybrids are recovered since neither parental cells (nor hybrids comprising B-cell: B-cell and plasmacytoma: plasmacytoma cell) can survive in selective media.
Murine antibodies produced with the Kohler and Milstein technique are generally unsuitable for administration to human subjects as in-vivo therapeutic agents, e.g., to provide passive immunity to an infectious agent. The extension of the Kohler and Milstein hybridoma technology to the production of human monoclonal antibodies has been limited, largely due to: (1) the lack of good human plasmacytoma cells for use as fusion partners; (2) the low frequency of cell fusion events ("fusion efficiency"); and (3) the relative scarcity of B-cells circulating in human blood and producing specific antibodies against antigens of interest (and the inherent difficulties in isolating such cells). These factors make it difficult to obtain hybridoma cell lines secreting human monoclonal antibodies of a predetermined specificity.
Casali et al. (Science 234:476-479, 1986) disclosed a method which represents some progress toward making human monoclonal antibody-producing cells. Normal B-cells obtained from peripheral human blood were pre-selected for their specificity to a given antigen using Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS). Positively selected clones were then established as lymphoblastoid cells in vitro by infecting such cells with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The EBV infected cells produced antigen-specific human monoclonal antibodies. However, the method of Casali et al. has several significant drawbacks which impair its usefulness: (1) the amount of monoclonal antibodies produced by the Casali et al. cells is relatively low, and (2) the antibody producing cells are relatively unstable and some clones stop antibody production prematurely. In addition maintenance of the antigen-specific antibody production requires repeated cloning of the cells, a time-consuming and inefficient procedure given the low clonogenic (i.e. growth) properties of the resultant lymphoblastoid or lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL); (3) large-scale production and purification of the monoclonal antibodies is inefficient in view of the long doubling time and high serum requirements of the LCL; and (4) the LCL produced by this process cannot be grown as tumors in animals. Such tumor cell growth permits the amplification and purification of antibodies from ascitic fluids, an efficient method for large scale antibody production that is widely used in making murine monoclonal antibodies. Finally, the Casali et al. method does not dispense with the requirement for identifying a human B-cell specific to a certain antigen.
Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 041,803 (allowed) filed Apr. 23, 1987 of Riccardo Dalla-Favera discloses a method for the production of human monoclonal antibody-producing cells. Specific B lymphocytes are selected using the method of Casali et al. (supra), infected with Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and transfected with activated c-myc DNA sequences. The resultant cells are tumorigenic (i.e. can grow in semisolid medium and animals such as rats or mice) and clonogenic and produce monoclonal antibodies of a predetermined specificity. However, it was found that these cells still produce relatively low amounts of antibody because the transfected lymphoblastoid cells had not undergone differentiation.
Currently there is no convenient and reliable system available for the production of human monoclonal antibodies wherein the monoclonal antibody-producing cells are stable, highly malignant and which can be readily manipulated to produce high antibody titers.
It, is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for the production of tumorigenic human cells that are capable of producing human monoclonal antibodies.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a transformed lymphoblastoid cell that is useful as a fusion partner in the production of human monoclonal antibodies.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a transformed lymphoblastoid cell that demonstrates high level proliferative, differentiation and antibody production properties.
Another object of the present invention is to produce a new human cell line comprising human B-cells infected with Epstein-Barr virus and which have at least one exogenous activated K-, N- or H-ras oncogene DNA sequences.


Targeting disease-causing gene sequences was first suggested more than thirty years ago (Belikova et al., Tet. Lett., 1967, 37, 3557-3562), and antisense activity was demonstrated in cell culture more than a decade later (Zamecnik et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 1978, 75, 280-284). One advantage of antisense technology in the treatment of a disease or condition that stems from a disease-causing gene is that it is a direct genetic approach that has the ability to modulate (increase or decrease) the expression of specific disease-causing genes. Another advantage is that validation of a therapeutic target using antisense compounds results in direct and immediate discovery of the drug candidate; the antisense compound is the potential therapeutic agent.
Generally, the principle behind antisense technology is that an antisense compound hybridizes to a target nucleic acid and modulates gene expression activities or function, such as transcription and/or translation. The modulation of gene expression can be achieved by, for example, target degradation or occupancy-based inhibition. An example of modulation of RNA target function by degradation is RNase H-based degradation of the target RNA upon hybridization with a DNA-like antisense compound. Another example of modulation of gene expression by target degradation is RNA interference (RNAi). RNAi generally refers to antisense-mediated gene silencing involving the introduction of dsRNA leading to the sequence-specific reduction of targeted endogenous mRNA levels.
An additional example of modulation of RNA target function by an occupancy-based mechanism is modulation of microRNA function. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of protein-coding RNAs. The binding of an antisense compound to a microRNA prevents the microRNA from binding to its messenger RNA target, and thus interferes with the function of the microRNA. Regardless of the specific mechanism, this sequence-specificity makes antisense compounds extremely attractive as tools for target validation and gene functionalization, as well as therapeutics to selectively modulate the expression of genes involved in the pathogenesis of malignancies and other diseases.
Antisense technology is an effective means for reducing the expression of one or more specific gene products and can therefore prove to be uniquely useful in a number of therapeutic, diagnostic, and research applications. Chemically modified nucleosides are routinely incorporated into antisense compounds to enhance one or more properties, such as nuclease resistance, pharmacokinetics or affinity for a target RNA. In 1998, the antisense compound, Vitravene® (fomivirsen; developed by Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., Carlsbad, Calif.) was the first antisense drug to achieve marketing clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and is currently a treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV)-induced retinitis in AIDS patients.
New chemical modifications have improved the potency and efficacy of antisense compounds, uncovering the potential for oral delivery as well as enhancing subcutaneous administration, decreasing potential for side effects, and leading to improvements in patient convenience. Chemical modifications increasing potency of antisense compounds allow administration of lower doses, which reduces the potential for toxicity, as well as decreasing overall cost of therapy. Modifications increasing the resistance to degradation result in slower clearance from the body, allowing for less frequent dosing. Different types of chemical modifications can be combined in one compound to further optimize the compound's efficacy.
Various antiviral monomers based on the bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane pseudo-sugar analog scaffold have been reported (see PCT International Application WO 2006/128159, published on Nov. 30, 2006; PCT International Application WO 2006/091905, published on Aug. 31, 2006; PCT International Application WO 01/51490, published on Jul. 19, 2001; PCT International Application WO 95/08541, published on Mar. 30, 1995; PCT International Application WO 02/08204, published on Jan. 31, 2002; and Kim et al., J. Med. Chem., 2003, 46, 4974-4987).
siRNAs with one or two ribo-like north bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane pseudosugars (2′-OH) have been prepared (see Terrazas et al., Organic Letters, 2011, 13(11), 2888-2891). The Tms of the resulting oligos was lowered by addition of the modified pseudo-sugar analogs (−1.6° C./modification). In vitro studies using the siRNA with one or two modifications compared to wild type guide strand showed that one incorporation had comparable results to wild type and two modifications was less active.
Oligonucleotides have been prepared with one or two ribo-like north bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane pseudosugars (2′-H) (see Maier et al., Nucleic Acids Research, 2004, 32(12), 3642-3650).


My invention relates to a signal restoration circuit, and particularly to a signal restoration circuit for accurately restoring distorted binary digits or bits to their original form.
Binary data is used extensively for signalling and information purposes. While such binary data has many advantages, it is subject to distortion or error, particularly when transmitted over a medium such as a radio system. Consequently, there is a need for an arrangement to restore the binary digits or bits to their original form.
Accordingly, a primary object of my invention is to provide a binary digit or bit restoration circuit.
Another object of my invention is to provide a new and improved circuit that accurately restores received bits to their original form despite severe distortion of the bits by the transmission medium.
Another object of my invention is to provide a new and improved bit restoration circuit that can be implemented with digital circuits.
In addition to being subject to distortion during transmission, binary digits or bits are liable to be improperly interpreted or detected at their leading and trailing edges when the relevant circuits are responding to those edges.
Accordingly, another object of my invention is to provide a new and improved bit restoration circuit which, in determining the logic of received bits, omits consideration of the bits in the vicinity of their leading and trailing edges.


1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automatic layout apparatus and method of automatically selecting and laying out layout candidate elements in an analog LSI.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
In an analog LSI layout design, a differential pair or current-mirror-connected bipolar transistors are laid out close to each other in consideration of the layout direction so as to satisfy the relative precision of element characteristics in order to satisfy the electrical characteristics of a circuit.
The feature in this case is common connection of emitters or bases. When a measure against crosstalk must be taken depending on a circuit arrangement, a layout in which lines need not be crossed is performed in a line design upon a layout design. When a measure against a heat source is necessary, a power transistor serving as the heat source and a signal system transistor having electrical characteristics changed by the heat must be laid out apart from each other.
Since the analog LSI layout design has many limitations including these items on the electrical characteristics of the circuit, it has manually been performed. However, as the analog LSI becomes larger in scale year by year, the design becomes more difficult to perform by the method of manually selecting layout candidate elements one by one such that the development period becomes longer. For this reason, the design period is tried to be shortened by, e.g., using the layout candidate element automatic selection function of an automatic layout/wiring apparatus used for a MOS or the like. Although layout candidate elements can be automatically selected by using the automatic layout/wiring apparatus, automatic selection is independent of the electrical characteristics and the intention of the layout designer because the automatic selection method is selection based on the element number order and selection based on the description order in a circuit information file. Accordingly, the layout designer must manually select elements again, so the design efficiency cannot be improved.
An example of a conventional layout flow in the use of the automatic layout/wiring apparatus will be described with reference to a flow chart shown in FIG. 1 and a circuit example shown in FIG. 6.
In the first step, connection information of a circuit shown in FIG. 6 is input (F-1). In the second step, an arbitrary element is manually selected and laid out (F-2). In this case, a transistor Q1 is selected and laid out. In the third step, a transistor Q2 is selected as a next layout candidate element in a tool of selecting elements in the element number order (F-3). Finally, in the fourth step, whether the transistor Q2 selected in the third step is proper is checked (F-4).
Since a transistor Q6 constituting a differential pair with the transistor Q1 is wanted to be laid out in an original analog LSI layout, the layout designer selects either of
1 selection is canceled, and the flow returns to the second step to manually select the transistor Q6; and PA1 2 the transistor Q2 is tentatively laid out in the fifth step (F-5), and the flow returns to the third step to automatically, newly select a next layout candidate element. When tentative layout is performed, manual selection and re-layout must be performed at a proper time. In this manner, the processing from the second step to the fifth step is repeatedly executed until all elements are laid out.
As described above, the conventional operation is very cumbersome such that an automatically selected element is canceled to manually repeat selection/layout, or re-layout is performed at a proper time upon temporary tentative layout. Various automatic layout methods using an automatic layout/wiring apparatus are examined. In these methods, constraint items are registered in a database by, e.g., designating a relative layout definition or the like serving as a constraint item based on electrical characteristics unique to an analog circuit for a group in units of blocks, and automatic layout is performed on the basis of the database. This database has no versatility, and must be prepared for each product, resulting in a low efficiency.
The first problem of the prior art is therefore a low design efficiency. In the conventional manual layout method, layout candidate elements must be selected one by one, or when the layout candidate element automatic selection function of the automatic layout/wiring apparatus is used, layout candidate elements are automatically selected from elements which are not laid out yet. However, an element intended by the layout designer in consideration of a layout that satisfies the electrical characteristics such as the relative or absolute precision is not always selected as a layout candidate because the selection method is executed in the element number order or the description order in a connection information file. For this reason, an element must be manually selected again, or an optimal layout must be performed by temporarily performing tentative layout and selecting an element again at proper time.
The second problem of the prior art is that a database (limitation item) used in performing automatic layout by the conventional automatic layout/wiring apparatus has no versatility, and must be prepared for each product because the database is formed mainly using the element numbers or the element numbers of groups. That is, since the element numbers of respective products are different from each other, the database must be prepared for each product. Even in the same product, the database must be constructed again upon changing the circuit.


Signal processing architectures are one of the main foundational components of the modern digital age. As is common in ordinary desktop or mobile computer applications, users are given a plurality of multimedia choices when viewing, listening, and/or interacting with data that has been processed by such systems. Before users actually utilize such data in a respective application, however, analog information is typically sampled and captured in real time via an analog-to-digital converter and processed via a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and/or other signal processing techniques. Sampled data is often stored in a database whereby subsequent signal processing and/or data manipulation is performed thereon. After the data has been stored, a plurality of database algorithms or techniques may be employed to retrieve such data and are described below. Unfortunately, the form of data storage such as via a floating-point format is not very conducive to efficient processing and retrieval of the data. Moreover, noise that may be present in any given sample of data may cause significant problems when determining if another previously stored and/or related sample can be located in the database. For example, if a recently captured data sample were sent to a database of stored samples that are potentially related to the captured data, and the recently captured data was taken in a noisy environment, it may be substantially difficult (or not possible) to determine if the noisy sample matches or relates to any of the previously stored samples in the database (e.g., require large amounts of processing bandwidth to determine a match, if any).
As noted above, many database techniques have evolved to locate and retrieve previously stored data such as can be provided by various tree lookup procedures. For example, there are many variants of tree lookup processes that attempt to speed-up basic nearest neighbor determinations. One of the earliest known is the k-d tree, which is a binary tree wherein the data is split, according to the value of a particular component, such that roughly half of the data falls on either side of the split, whereby the particular component is selected to maximize the variance of the data in a direction perpendicular to a corresponding hyperplane. In a test phase, a rectangle containing a test point is located by descending the tree, wherein backtracking (e.g., process of retracing a search path) is performed if the closest training point in an associated hyperectangle is such that points in adjacent rectangles may be closer. It is believed that k-d trees are somewhat limited to applications having lower dimensional structures (e.g., about 10 dimensions). In addition, the k-d tree has the property that rejection (of a point that falls farther than a threshold away from all other points in the database) can be as computationally expensive as finding the nearest neighbor.
More recently, a variety of trees—an R-tree, an R* variant, and for example S—S trees have been proposed. In these trees, processed nodes correspond to regions in space into which the data falls, so if a test point falls in a node, the other points in that node are known or assumed to be close to the test point. However, this does not obviate the need for backtracking, but facilitates making an early rejection possible—a property that k-d trees do not have. In R-trees, the nodes are populated by rectangles. R-trees are a variant that tend to minimize the area, margin and overlap of the rectangles (whereby the ‘margin’ of a rectangle may be defined as the sum of the lengths its sides), which generally results in faster lookup, and also introduces ‘forced reinsertion’, for providing a more balanced tree.
The S—S (similarity search) tree approach may even out-perform R-trees on high dimensional data. In this approach, leaves of the tree correspond to ellipsoids, in which a center and radius are defined by the data enclosed (generally, the principal axes of the ellipsoid are selected beforehand, and represent the relative importance of different dimensions). The center of the ellipsoid is thus, the centroid of the data, wherein the radius is selected to enclose the data. Again, forced reinsertion is employed to balance the tree. Other approaches have focused on how approximate matching (that is, given a query q and some set of points P, find a point pεP such that ∀p′εP,d(p,q)<(1+e)d(p′,q), for some small e, wherein d(p,q) is a distance measure between p and q) can yield more optimal bounds on preprocessing and lookup times than exact matches provide, however, the lookup time scales as (1/e)d, wherein d is the dimension of the space which may cause an impractical computational expense for many applications that employ higher dimensional data sets.


The invention concerns cosmetic compositions for the treatment of hair or skin, having a content of new, macromolecular compounds derived from chitosan, which are employed in a suitable cosmetic foundation.
The invention further concerns new N-hydroxypropyl-chitosans, as well as processes for the production thereof.
It is already known to employ cationic polymers, in particular polymers which display quaternary ammonium groups, as conditioning agent in cosmetic compositions, particularly for the treatment of hair. Based upon a reciprocal action between their ammonium groups and the anionic groups of the hair, the cationic polymers possess a great affinity towards keratin fibers.
It has been determined that the employment of such cation-active polymers in such cosmetic compositions provides numerous advantages: the disentanglement of the hair, as well as its treatment, are facilitated, and, moreover, the hair is provided with elasticity and lustrous effect. On account of their affinity towards keratin, however, these polymers tend to accumulate in the hair upon repeated use, so that the hair becomes heavier, which is undesirable as a final effect.
Moreover, synthetic polymers provide problems on account of the physiological activity of possibly present trace monomers, which are removable from the polymers only with difficulty.
It has already been attempted to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages by emplying in such cosmetic compositions the water-soluble salts of chitosan, i.e. polyglucosamines producable from chitin by means of entacetylation. In this connection, reference is made to European Patent 0 002 506, as well as German Pat. No. 26 27 419.
In the same manner as with the plurality of cation-active polymers having quaternary groupings, chitosan likewise frequently provides the disadvantage that it is not too compatible with the anion-active surface-active agents which in customary manner find use in cosmetic compositions for the treatment of hair, particularly in shampoos. It is therefore necessary to apply the chitosan for penetration in separate treatments, namely before and/or after the shampooing.
In addition, the chitosan displays, in neutral and alkaline medium, near insolubility, so that its use, for example, in alkaline permanent shaping compositions or hair dyeing compositions, is not possible.
By means of employment of glycidyl chitosans instead of chitosan salts according to DE-OS 32 No. 23 423, the above-mentioned disadvantages can be avoided. The reaction of chitosan with glycide is, however, very cost-intensive, since glycide is a more expensive raw material, not produced on a large scale.


The term “prion” was coined in 1982 by Stanley Prusiner when describing his findings on the causative agents of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies: proteinaceous infectious particles that lack any nucleic acid. These agents are truly unprecedented in medical science as infectious pathogens that cause fatal neurodegenerative disorders through an entirely novel mechanism. While prions may present as infectious, genetic, or sporadic disorders, they all develop as a direct result of a biochemical modification to the prion protein (PrP) that is a normal constituent of all mammalian cells (Prusiner, S. B., Proc. Natl. A cad. Sci. USA 9513363-13383(1998)).
The earliest studies of scrapie pathogenesis demonstrated that the disease could be directly transmitted from one animal to another. The scrapie agent was originally believed to be a virus, but it has, unlike known animal or any other kind of viruses, many unique characteristics such as the extraordinarily long incubation period to disease, the noninflammatory degenerative abnormalities that developed in the brain, and the lack of any demonstrable virion particles by classical virological techniques. The long incubation periods of the scrapie agent sets them apart from most viral infections. The complete absence of a detectable immune response is puzzling but this may now be explained by the fact that the agent may be a modified host protein. PrP is a host-specific protein, encoded by a single exon of a unique host gene. PrP is the product of highly conserved gene found in diverse organisms, and is a membrane bound protein thought to have an important, but yet unknown function.
Brains of scrapie-infected hamsters contain two forms of PrP: the cellular PrP (PrPC) and the scrapie PrP (PrPSc) isoforms. Both proteins have a mass of 33-35 KD but they have different physical properties. PrPC is anchored to the cell surface and can be solubilized with ionic detergents as well as being susceptible to proteolytic agents. In contrast, PrPSc cannot be solubilized by ionic detergents and looses only an amino-terminal peptide to proteolytic agents to yield a protein of mass 27-30 KD called PrP 27-30 (Prusiner et al. Cell 38:127-140(1994)).
PrP 27-30 is the major constituent of the pathognomonic amyloid plaques that are found in the brains of many hosts with spongiform encephalopathies. The quantity of this novel protein correlated with the titer of prion infectivity in brain. Moreover, PrP 27-30 was absent from uninfected brain, and it was found that various procedures that denatured, hydrolysed, or modified PrP 27-30 also inactivated prion infectivity.
No differences in the primary structure (i.e. amino acid sequence) of PrPC and PrPSc have been detected, nor have any differences been found between PrP genes or mRNAs from normal and infected brains with respect to structure or copy number. The physical differences such as three-dimensional configuration between the two proteins are therefore attributed to post-translational chemical modification. In general, during the refolding of PrPC into PrPSc, some of the normal α-helical protein structure is partially converted into β-sheet.
To describe the nature of scrapie agent, two hypotheses were proposed: 1) a “protein only” hypothesis, in which the prion particle is devoid completely of nucleic acid; and 2) a “nucleoprotein or virino” hypothesis, in which the prion consists of a small nucleic acid and host-encoded protein. Sparrer et al.'s experiments suggest that protein only hypothesis is correct by using a yeast prion-like system (Sparrer H. E. et al. Science 289, 595 (2000)).
The recent pathogenesis studies of bovine spongiform encephalopathy have shown that experimentally infected cattle can show prion infectivity in the ileum (small intestine) in advance of their neurologic disease (Collee et al., Lancet 349:636-640 (1997)). Epidemiologic data now support an oral route of transmission in a number of animal prion disease outbreaks, although how sporadic prion diseases, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, develop still remains unknown. Nevertheless, the fact that brain tissue from an affected host can transmit disease to an unaffected recipient (particularly if such material is inoculated directly into the brain of that recipient) now stands as one of the defining characteristics of all prion diseases. In addition, it has become clear that scrapie can induce disease in rodents following either a peripheral (subcutaneous, intraperitoneal, and oral) or an intracerebral inoculation.
It was reported that prion neuroinvasion requires B lymphocytes (Klein M A et al. Nature 390:687-690 (1997)). Almost paradoxically, normal PrP expression is not required for B cells to transmit disease to the brain, suggesting either that other cell type(s) whose maturation depends on B cells or their products (such as follicular dendritic cells) may promote neuroinvasion, or that B cells carry prions to the nervous system in a PrP-independent manner (Klein M A et al. Nature Med 4:1429-1433 (1998)).
In initial experiments, it was demonstrated that a prion disease in one species could be transferred to another. However, subsequent attempts at cross-species transmission were inconsistent. Recently, it has become clear that the successful passage of prions between species is almost always characterized by a prolonged incubation period during the first passage in the new host.
This time delay is often referred to as the prion “species barrier.” However, on the next passage into a homologous host, the incubation period shortens and remains remarkably constant for all subsequent passages in that species. The species barrier occurs because new prions synthesized de novo in an experimentally inoculated host are generated from, and therefore reflect the protein sequence of, the host PrP and not that of the PrPSc molecules in the inoculum (Bockman J M et al. Ann Neurol. 21:589-595 (1987)). Thus, the prion donor is the last mammal in which the prion was passaged and its PrP sequence represents the “species” of the prion.
The prion species is differs from the prion “strain” whose information appears to be enciphered in the conformation of the nascent PrPSc. Both the species and strain influence the ability of a given prion to cause symptomatic disease in a heterologous host. The species barrier concept is of practical importance in assessing the risk that humans may develop a prion disease after consuming scrapie-infected lamb or bovine spongiform encephalopathy-infected beef.
In yeast, two notable prion-like determinants [URE3] and [PSI], have been described (Reed B. Wickner, Science 264, 566-569 (1994); Wickner et al., J. Biol. Chem 274(2), 555-558 (1999)). Interestingly, different strains of yeast prions have been identified. Conversion to the prion-like [PSI] state in yeast requires the molecular chaperone Hsp 104; however, no homolog of Hsp 104 has been found in mammals (Patino, M. M et al., Science 273, 622-626(1996)). The NH2 terminal prion domains of Ure2p and Sup35 that are responsible for the [URE3] and [PSI] phenotypes in yeast have been identified. In contrast to PrP, which is a GPI-anchored membrane protein, both of Ure2p and Sup35 are cytosolic proteins (Reed B. Wickner,. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94, 10012-10014(1997)).
There have been efforts to provide treatment of prion diseases. For example, Tomiyama et al. disclose that antibiotic, rifampicin and its derivatives, which possess a naphthohydroquinone or naphthoquinone structure, inhibited Aβ1-40 aggregation and neurotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner. Hydroquinone, p-benzoquinone and 1,4-dihydroxynaphthalene also inhibit Aβ1-40 aggregation and neurotoxicity at comparable molar concentrations to rifampicin (Tomiyama et al. JBC 271 (12): 6839-6844 (1996)).
Caspi et al. showed anions such as Congo red(CR) reduce the accumulation of PrPSc in a neuroblastoma cell line permanently infected with prions as well as to delay disease onset in rodents when administered prophylactically.(Sigal Caspi et al., The Anti-prion Activity of Congo Red, The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 273(6), 3484-3489 (1998)).
DE 4229805 discloses that toxic effects displayed by PrPSc and its peptide fragment can be blocked by antagonists of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor channels, like Memantine. Flupirtine, a non-opiod analgesic drug, which is already in clinical use, was found to display in vitro a strong cytoprotective effect on neurons treated with PrPC or PrP106-126.
WIPO International Patent Publication No. WOOO09111 discloses treatments of amyloidogenic diseases and prion diseases associated with conversion of protease sensitive PrP(PrP-sen) to protease resistant PrP(PrP-res) by administering tetrapyrrole such as phthalocyaninines, deuteroporphyrins and meso-substituted prophines.
DE 4330388 discloses a curing or prevention of AIDS or mad cow disease by using L-tryptophan, indole, 3-indolylacetic acid or indomethacin to increase indole levels.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,927 to Vitek et al. teaches a method for stimulating amyloid removal in amyloidogenic diseases using advanced glycosylation endproducts to increase the activity of scavenger cells within the body at recognizing and removing amyloid deposits from affected tissues and organs.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,020,537 to Prusiner discloses prion protein standards for use as reference materials for prion detection and methods for the preparation of the prion protein standard. U.S. Pat. No. 5,962,669 to Prusiner describes a protein designated Prion Protein Modulator Factor (PPMF), which is an auxiliary factor in prion replication.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,750,361 discloses a method of screening for compounds which inhibits the binding of PrPSc to a PrP peptide based on the fact that PrPSc an increased β-sheet content, a diminished aqueous solubility, and a resistance to proteolytic digestion, relative to PrPC.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,763 to Soto-Jara et al. discloses peptides capable of interacting with a hydrophobic structural determinant on a protein or peptide for amyloid or amyloid-like deposit formation inhibit and structurally block the abnormal folding of proteins and peptides into amyloid or amyloid-like deposits.
References in the art of treatment of prion diseases are scarce. Recently, U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,293 to Bohr et al. proposes treating prion related diseases by changing the functionality of the three-dimensional structure of proteins by applying high frequency energy having maximum frequency in the range of 0.01-100 GHz to a fluid system containing such proteins. However, it is not clear from the '293 patent how one would go about treating a mammal with such a disease.
Therefore, a need still exists for treating prion diseases, such as CJD and mad cow disease.


This invention relates to an electric surgical knife device.
A prior art electric surgical knife device supplies an incision current for incising body tissues, a coagulation current for coagulating the blood at the area of the incision and a blend current, i.e. blend of incision and coagulation currents, for both incising body tissues and coagulating the blood at the area of the incision. The incision current, the coagulation current and the blend current are supplied independently of one another by actuating respectively provided switches. An operating physician may mistakenly actuate two of these switches or all these switches at the same time. If this happens, the device may fail to supply the desired current. For example, when the physician mistakenly actuates the incision current supply switch and the coagulation current supply switch at the same time though he intends to coagulate the blood, the incision current may be supplied. In this case, the body tissue is cut without a blood coagulation procedure which will result in an enormous bleeding.
It is an object of this invention to provide an electric surgical knife device which helps carry out electric surgery in a safe and sound manner, if erroneously operated.


In recent years, attention has been given to sealing joints in moving vehicles, and more particularly to an apparatus for sealing a track joint in a track chain. For example, crawler tractors, such as a bulldozer, typically have a sprocket, an idler, a track chain and a number of track shoes attached to the track chain for propelling the tractor over the ground. During use of the crawler tractor the sprocket rotates and engages the track chain, thereby causing the track chain, along with the attached track shoes, to rotate around a path defined by the sprocket and the idler. The rotation of the track chain causes the track shoes to engage the ground, thereby propelling the crawler tractor over the ground to perform various work functions.
Track chains generally include a pair of parallel chains, with each parallel chain being made up of a series of entrained master links and track links. Some track chains may further include a series of pins and bushings interposed between and connected to the parallel chains. The bushings and the entrained track links cooperate to form a number of track joints which allow the necessary movement of the bushings relative to the track links during use of the track chain, for example when the track chain rotates about the sprocket and the idler. Track joints are typically equipped with a track seal assembly to keep out various corrosive and abrasive mixtures of water, dirt, sand, rock or other mineral or chemical elements to which the track chain is exposed during its use. The track seal assembly also functions to keep a lubricant within the track joint to facilitate the aforementioned relative movement of the bushings and the track links.
A problem with track seal assemblies is to keep dirt out and keep lubrication within the track joint. Mud packing resistance should preferably be kept as high as possible. Another problem to consider is to maintain sealing capability. It is desired to maintain the different parts of a track seal assembly in place to avoid displacement of any parts and resulting loss of sealing capability. Wear life of a seal assembly may be a problem. The stability of a load ring and/or seal ring within a seal assembly may be a problem. A problem with seal assemblies may be to take up or compensate for misalignments within a seal assembly.
Other problems to consider alone or in combination with other mentioned problems relate to grooving of the different parts of a seal assembly. Grooving may arise by various abrasive particles found in the working environment of a track chain finding its way in to a seal assembly. If such grooving arises, then not only dirt may enter a track joint, but also lubrication within the track joint may escape.
It is further desirable to keep costs for manufacturing and/or assembling a seal assembly within a track joint down. It may also be desirable to avoid cumbersome arrangements. It may also be desirable to provide a simple assembling process of a track joint seal assembly.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom lens and an image projection apparatus including the same, suitable for, for example, a liquid crystal projector having a long back focus and maintaining good pupil consistency with a lighting system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, various kinds of liquid crystal projectors (image projection apparatuses), each including a display device such as a liquid crystal display and projecting an image formed in the display device onto a screen, have been proposed.
In particular, the liquid crystal projector is in widespread use for a conference and a home theater, as an apparatus capable of projecting an image outputted from a personal computer or the like onto a large screen. A projection lens for use in the liquid crystal projector is requested to have, for example, the following features.
(a) In a three-panel color liquid-crystal projector including three liquid crystal displays, light emitted from a white light source is generally separated into red, green and blue colors by a color-separation optical system and introduced into the corresponding liquid crystal displays. Three kinds of light emitted from the respective liquid crystal displays are synthesized by a color-synthesis optical system and incident on a projection lens.
Due to its configuration, a space having a prism and the like arranged therein, for synthesizing the three kinds of color light passing through the liquid crystal displays, must be provided between the liquid crystal displays and the projection lens, thereby causing the projection lens to have a certain length of back focus. In addition, use of a reflective liquid-crystal display, i.e. use of a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) as the liquid crystal display causes the projection lens to have a longer back focus than upon use of a transmissive liquid crystal display.
(b) When the angle of a light flux emitted from the liquid crystal display and incident on the color-synthesis optical system is changed, the spectral transmittance of the color-synthesis optical system is accordingly changed. As a result, a brightness of each color of the projected image is changed in accordance with the angle of view, thereby causing an image hard to be viewed. In order to reduce the influence of the angle dependency, the projection lens must be a so-called telecentric optical system in which a pupil close to the liquid crystal display (a reduction conjugate surface) lies substantially at infinity.
(c) When pictures (images) of the three color liquid-crystal displays are synthesized and projected onto a screen, pixels of the respective colors must be overlaid one another across the overall screen so as prevent a loss of a resolution sensation caused by phenomena, for example, seeing two of a character.
To achieve this, a color drift (a chromatic aberration of magnification) generated in the projection lens must be satisfactorily compensated for in the visible light zone.
(d) A distortion aberration must be satisfactorily compensated for so as to prevent the projected image from being hard to be viewed because of distortion.
(e) The projection lens must have a small F-number (hereinafter, referred to as an Fno) and be a bright one so as to efficiently take in light emitted from the light source.
(f) Recently, needs for a higher brightness and a high resolution of a projector are present, and at the same time, a projector having small liquid crystal panels installed therein is required to have a reduced size and weight for giving greater importance to its portability and mobility. At the same time, taking account of a use environment of such a small-sized projection apparatus, the projection lens must be a large magnification-varying zoom lens with which an image is projected onto a large screen with a shorter projection distance and the size of a projection screen is easily adjusted.
The liquid crystal projector-use projection lens required to have a long back focus and a variety of high optical properties as described above sometimes has an aspherical lens (a lens having an aspherical surface) incorporated therein as an effective mechanism for satisfactorily compensating various aberrations without increasing the number of lenses.
Also, when focusing attention on easy workability and productability, the aspherical lens should be composed of a plastic material.
Hitherto, a variety of liquid crystal projector-use projection lenses are proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2004-004964, 2001-100100, and 2002-131636).
While Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-004964 discloses an optical system aiming at a reduced size and a low cost, the system is directed to use in a transmissive liquid-crystal projector and, in addition to a limit for achieving a wider angle and a larger magnification, has an excessively short back focus when used in a reflective liquid-crystal projector.
While Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-100100 discloses an optical system having a reduced size and inhibiting various aberrations generated due to its magnification of varying, in addition to a limit for achieving a larger magnification, the system has an excessively small back focus when used in the reflective liquid-crystal projector.
While Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-131636 discloses an optical system having a long back focus, taking account of use for in the reflective liquid-crystal projector while keeping a wide angle of view, the system has a large Fno and includes a single focal-point lens.
Also, as a projection lens for use in the liquid crystal projector, US Published Application. 2001050818 discloses a six-group zoom lens configured by six lens groups as a whole, having a structure in which first to sixth lens groups respectively having negative, positive, positive, negative, positive (or negative), and positive refractive power are arranged in order from its magnification conjugate side (from its front side), and performing zooming by appropriately moving a predetermined lens groups of these lens groups.
With a structure in which the first and sixth lens groups are fixed and all of the inside second to fifth lens groups are moved towards the reduction conjugate side (the rear side of the zoom lens) upon zooming from its wide angle end to telephoto end, the above six-group zoom lens maintains the overall length constant at the time of zooming and serves as a telecentric zoom lens towards the reduction conjugate side while reducing the distortion aberration and the chromatic aberration upon zooming.
Other than the above-described lenses, as a projection lens for use in the known liquid crystal projector, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-108900 discloses a six-group zoom lens configured by six lens groups as a whole, having a structure in which first to sixth lens groups respectively having negative, positive, positive, negative, positive, and positive refractive power are arranged in order from its magnification conjugate side (from its front side), and performing zooming by appropriately moving a predetermined lens groups of these lens groups.
With a structure in which the first, fourth, and sixth lens groups are fixed and the inside second, third, and fifth lens groups are moved upon magnification of varying from its wide angle end to telephoto end, the six-group zoom lens maintains the overall length constant and serves as a telecentric zoom lens on the reduction conjugate side while inhibiting variations in various aberrations including the chromatic aberration during magnification of varying.
Also, as a zoom lens for use in the liquid crystal projector, US Published Application. 2003117716 discloses a five-group zoom lens having a structure in which, in order from its front to rear sides, five lens groups respectively having negative, positive, negative, positive, and positive refractive power, and performing zooming by moving a plurality of the lens groups of these lens groups.
Also, while a zoom lens disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-138678 has an optical system having a relatively long back focus, its Fno at its wide angle end is large on the order of 2.3 or 2.4, in other words, it serves as a dark zoom lens. In addition, with a large number of glass lenses, the zoom lens is required to improve its cost and weight.
In conjunction with achieving further miniaturization of the liquid crystal projector, presently, achievement of its short-range projection, that is, its wider angle of view, which contributes especially to a home-theater-use projector as a great advantage is strongly requested.
Also, in order to achieve a higher brightness of a projected picture, the projection lens is required to be bright and have a large aperture ratio.
In general, when the projection lens is made so as to achieve a wider angle of view while maintaining a long back focus, its lens group closest to the magnification side has larger refractive power.
Also, in order to achieve a telecentric zoom lens on the reduction conjugate side, the overall lens group arranged from its aperture to the reduction conjugate side has larger positive refractive power, and the overall lens system has a retrofocus refractive-power arrangement. Hence, an asymmetry of the lens system increases, resulting in difficulty in compensating for especially distortion aberration, chromatic aberration of magnification, and the like.
In addition, a curvature of field increases without minimizing the Petzval sum in accordance with a wider angle of view, resulting in difficulty in compensating for this phenomenon.


SSL devices generally use semiconductor light emitting diodes (“LEDs”), organic light emitting diodes (“OLED”), and/or polymer light emitting diodes (“PLED”) as sources of illumination rather than electrical filaments, plasma, or gas. For example, FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a conventional indium-gallium nitride (InGaN) LED 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the LED 10 includes a substrate material 12 (e.g., silicon), N-type gallium nitride (GaN) 14, GaN/InGaN multiple quantum wells (“MQWs”) 16, and P-type GaN 18. The LED 10 also includes a first contact 20 on the P-type GaN 18 and a second contact 22 on the N-type GaN 14. During manufacturing, the N-type GaN 14, the GaN/InGaN MQWs 16, and the P-type GaN 18 are formed on the substrate material 12 via metal organic chemical vapor deposition (“MOCVD”), molecular beam epitaxy (“MBE”), liquid phase epitaxy (“LPE”), hydride vapor phase epitaxy (“HVPE”), and/or other epitaxial growth techniques, each of which is typically performed at elevated temperatures.
One operational difficulty of forming the LED 10 is that the N-type GaN 14, the GaN/InGaN MQWs 16, and the P-type GaN 18 may be delaminated from the substrate material 12 and/or otherwise damaged during high-temperature epitaxial growth and/or cool-down thereafter. Typically, the substrate material 12 includes silicon (Si), sapphire (Al2O3), silicon carbide (SiC), and/or other “non-native” materials because “native” materials (e.g., GaN or InGaN) with usable dimensions are difficult to produce. The non-native substrate materials have different coefficients of thermal expansion (“CTEs”) than the GaN/InGaN materials 14, 16, and 18. For example, the CTE of silicon is substantially less than that of GaN, and the CTE of sapphire is substantially greater than that of GaN. Such CTE differentials induce thermal stress as the wafer cools, which warp the substrate material 12 and/or cause crystal defects in epitaxial GaN/InGaN materials 14, 16, and 18. Additionally, the non-native substrate materials that facilitate particularly good epitaxial growth, such as Si(1,1,1) silicon wafer, can be expensive. Accordingly, several improvements in reliably and cost-effectively manufacturing SSL devices may be desirable.


1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to the deposition of thin films using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processing. More particularly, embodiments generally relate to methods for depositing barrier layers onto large area substrates.
2. Description of the Related Art
Organic light emitting diodes (OLED) are used in the manufacture of television screens, computer monitors, mobile phones, other hand-held devices, or other devices for displaying information. A typical OLED may include layers of organic material situated between two electrodes that are all deposited on a substrate in a manner to form a matrix display panel having individually energizable pixels. The OLED is generally placed between two glass panels, and the edges of the glass panels are sealed to encapsulate the OLED therein.
The encapsulation is achieved by sealing the active materials in inert atmosphere using a glass lid secured by a bead of UV-cured epoxy resin. The rigid encapsulation is not applicable to flexible displays, where a durable and flexible encapsulation is necessary to protect the active OLED materials from water moisture and oxygen. One approach is to use a multilayer encapsulating structure as a barrier to water moisture and oxygen permeation. Inorganic layers can be incorporated into the multilayer encapsulating structure as the main barrier layer. Organic layers can also be incorporated for the purposes of stress relaxation and water/oxygen diffusion channels decoupling layer.
Silicon nitride (SiN) is known as a good barrier material, thus it shows potential as an inorganic barrier layer in the multilayer encapsulation structure. However, SiN films deposited at low temperatures such as below 100 degrees Celsius have high stress, which can induce film peeling, also known as delamination, or mismatch issues in multi-film stack configurations. Due to the sensitivity of some of the layers of the OLED device, subsequently deposited layers over OLED materials will need to be deposited at lower temperatures, such as at temperatures less than 100° C.
Thus, there is a need for methods of depositing encapsulation/barrier films onto large area substrates with improved water-barrier performance to protect the devices underneath.


Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air duct and a cooling system for a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to an air duct and a cooling system for a vehicle for improving cooling performance and aerodynamic performance.
Description of Related Art
Generally, an air duct is a passage through which air passes, and is a pipe for guiding air to parts requiring air from a part through which air can easily flow inside.
For example, there are an air duct that guides air to be sucked into an engine and an air duct for cooling a brake system.
Recently, techniques for preserving temperature of an engine and minimizing fuel consumption at the time of initial starting of the engine have been actively developed.
However, cooling of an engine may not be performed well, fuel consumption may be deteriorated during high speed driving, and heat damage may be generated to components which are disposed to a periphery of an exhaust passage at a high temperature if only the method for preserving temperature of an engine is performed. In addition, the performance of cooling an engine and fuel consumption may be deteriorated, and the heat damage may be become serious if air flowing through a radiator grille is interfered with by ancillary machinery disposed to the periphery of an engine.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an image sensor, and more particularly to an image sensor that performs a Time Delay Integration (TDI) scanning at high speed.
2. Description of Related Art
A charge coupled device (CCD) line sensor is a one-dimensional sensor in which photo-sensors receiving image light are arranged in line. To image a two-dimensional image, the CCD line sensor or the object is moved so that the object can be imaged on a line-by-line basis. A scanner having the CCD line sensor is used in a copy machine and a product inspection machine, for example.
When the CCD line sensor captures the object that is moving at high speed, or when the CCD line sensor is moved at high speed to capture the object, the signal charge must be repeatedly accumulated and transferred at high speed on a line-by-line basis. Consequently, the signal charge can be accumulated for only a short period of time per line. For this reason, there is a problem in that a sufficient quantity of light is not obtained for imaging.
To solve this problem, a TDI sensor is used to scan the object at high speed. The TDI sensor is constructed in such a way that a plurality of CCD line sensors are arranged in a scan direction. The TDI sensor transfers signal charge accumulated in the CCD of each line to the CCD of the next line in synchronism with the movement of the image. Consequently, the signal charge is successively accumulated in the plurality of CCD line sensors, and the high-speed scanning can obtain a sufficient quantity of light for imaging.
The scan speed of the TDI sensor is limited. That is because there is a limit to a speed at which the signal charge accumulated in the CCD is shifted to the outside. Specifically, the signal charge accumulated in the CCD line sensors is finally discharged to the outside as serial analog signals, and an A/D converter converts the analog signals into digital signals. Owing to the limited processing capacity of the A/D converter, the scan speed is limited.
To raise the scan speed, one CCD line sensor is divided into a plurality of patches, and the signal charge accumulated in each patch is discharged as serial analog signals, which are converted into digital signals by each of a plurality of A/D converters provided for each patch. In this case, however, there is a limit to the width that can be divided into patches, and therefore, the scan speed cannot be raised sufficiently.
The present invention has been developed in view of the above-described circumstances, and has as its object the provision of an image sensor that realizes a high-speed scanning.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is directed to an image sensor comprising: a light receiving part having photo-sensors, the photo-sensors receiving object light and converting the object light into signal charge, the photo-sensors being arranged in a plurality of lines in a line direction and being arranged in a plurality of lines in a scan direction perpendicular to the line direction; a plurality of scan direction signal charge transfer parts for transferring the signal charge, read from the photo-sensors, in the scan direction in accordance with a scan speed and accumulating the signal charge representing the same image read from the photo-sensors in the same line, each of the scan direction signal charge transfer parts being provided for each line of the photo-sensors in the scan direction; a plurality of line direction signal charge transfer parts for transferring the signal charge, transferred through the scan direction signal charge transfer parts, in the line direction, each of the line direction signal charge transfer parts connecting with every a predetermined number the scan direction signal charge transfer parts; a plurality of digitizing parts for converting a plurality of signal charge lines, transferred through the line direction signal charge transfer parts, to digital signals; and an image signal producing part for producing image signals according to the digital signals output from the digitizing parts.
According to the present invention, the signal charges are read from the photo-sensors and are transferred in the scan direction in accordance with the scan speed, and the signal charges read from the photo-sensors on the same line, which represent the same image, are accumulated. The signal charges of every the predetermined number lines in the line direction are sequenced in a signal charge line in the line direction. The signal charge lines are transferred in the line direction, and are separately converted to the digital signals, from which the image signals are generated.
Thus, the signal charge line representing the image of one line can be converted into the digital signal by a plurality of processing circuits. For this reason, one processing circuit processes only a small amount of data, and the object can be scanned at high speed.
The photo-sensors are arranged at intervals of more than predetermined distance at the light receiving part, and the light receiving surface of each photo-sensor can be enlarged by shifting the peripheral circuits. As a result, the light receiving surface can receive a large quantity of light.


The invention relates to handles for carrying batteries, and more particularly to a rope-type battery carrying handle that has an end of the rope removably attached to an end of a grip.
Starting, lighting, and ignition (SLI) batteries are typically used in automotive, recreational, and other applications, are heavy, cumbersome, and usually require two hands, or often two people, for carrying. The desirability of providing such batteries with attachable/detachable handles for facilitating carrying, placement, and retrieval of such batteries has long been known. Such handles are a particular convenience in batteries designed for use in boats or in uninterrupted power supply (UPS) applications which must be frequently moved for storage, service, or recharging.
Bail-type handles, which are known in the art, typically comprise a U-shaped or C-shaped member attached to opposing sides of a battery casing, either on its container or cover. With such handles, the battery may be carried in much the same fashion as a picnic basket or bail.
Substantially rigid bail-type handles are known in the art. A variety of such handle designs have been proposed for carrying batteries. Detachable, substantially rigid bail handles are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,093,515 to Rector, U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,022 to Fox, U.S. Pat. No.4,029,248 to Lee, U.S. Patent No. 4,673,625 to McCartney et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,232,796 to Baumgartner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,769 to Cole et al., and U.S. Pat. Des. No. 292,696 to Sahli.
Rope-type handles are likewise known in the art. Rope-type handles typically have one or more injection molded plastic part coupled by flexible rope sections and, accordingly, are physically highly flexible. The rope sections are generally a braided synthetic material such as polypropylene.
According to one type of rope handle design, the ends of the rope handle are manually fed into two holes and coupled to the battery container. In the battery disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,092,520 to Buskirk et al., the rope handle is coupled to the battery container by cementing the ends of the rope in recesses in projections on the sides of the battery container. Alternately, the ends of the rope handle may include an enlarged molded plastic portion and may be pressed into slots underneath the handle bracket area as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,876 to Gummelt and U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,819 to Grabb. According to other designs, the ends of the rope may be enlarged as shown for example in British Patent 869,329, or the ends coupled or welded together as shown for example in British Patent 869,329 and British Patent 1,453,977.
In another type of rope handle design, looped rope portions extend from the ends of a molded plastic grip portion as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 971,876 to Apple, U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,702 to McVey, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,769 to Cole et al. The looped rope portions are then coupled to the battery container via dedicated protrusions extending from the walls of the battery by looping the rope around the protrusion and then securing it into a recess or the like.
Another such rope handle design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,719 to Arthur. The Arthur patent discloses a xe2x80x9cU-shapedxe2x80x9d handle having one end of the rope embedded in one depending leg of the handle. The opposite end of the rope includes an enlarged head, which may be fed through lugs on the battery. The enlarged head and the adjacent length of rope are then laid into a tri-part vertical slot on the other depending leg of the handle, the head being disposed in the upper portion of the slot, the adjacent rope extending through the lower two portions of the slot. Significantly, however, the head and adjacent rope section are not secured to the handle. As may be seen in the illustrations of the reference, there is sufficient clearance between the head and the slot, as well as the adjacent rope section and the slot such that the head and rope section may become easily dislodged from the handle leg unless a constant vertical force is maintained on the handle. Accordingly, the Arthur handle does not provide an attachment mechanism which is reliable. Moreover, the intricate coupling design requires the user to have a high level of manual dexterity and a working knowledge of the defailed structure of the complex attachment.
Installation of these rope handle designs may be labor intensive. Properly securing the ends of the rope to the battery container or securing the loop ends around a protrusion and into a recess can be quite time consuming and may require manual dexterity. These difficulties in installing the battery handles can lead to improper installation, which can result in an unreliable battery handle.
Additionally, these designs generally require specialized handle brackets to be molded into specific containers. Complicated grip and/or rope end configurations may also be required. These requirements can result in increased costs in the form of mold and tooling costs, as well as increased labor and downtime costs during changeover. Further, storage and floor space costs increase because the battery manufacturer must maintain larger inventories.
It is a primary object of the invention to provide a rope handle that may be reliably and easily assembled onto a battery container and which remains securely coupled to the battery until purposely removed by the user.
A related object of the invention is to provide a rope handle arrangement that has a relatively simple design, and does not require high manual dexterity to assembly for a secure, reliable handle.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a rope handle that may be utilized with a battery that produces an acceptable appearance.
It is another object of the invention to provide a rope handle that contributes to the production of an economical battery. A related object of the invention is to provide a rope handle design that minimizes manufacturing and inventory costs.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following summary and detailed description and upon reference to the drawings.
In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, there is provided a battery that includes rope handles each of which engages a handle bracket on an end wall of a conventional battery container. Each rope handle includes a grip with a retaining recess at one end of the grip and a rope secured to the other end of the grip by molding or the like. The rope has an enlarged distal end or a cylindrical plug molded for engaging the retaining recess of the grip. The retaining recess includes a generally keyhole-shaped slot which extends through the grip from a first surface to a second surface and which has a hole portion and a channel portion projecting radially from the hole portion and terminating at an end. The retaining recess also includes a counterbore located on the first surface of the grip and encompassing the hole portion of the slot. To secure the rope to the grip, the rope is slid through the slot and the plug is subsequently drawn towards the grip and is retained within the counterbore, thus securing the handle to the battery container. In other words, the retaining recess includes a counterbore with a subjacent retaining surface for receiving and supporting the plug, and radially extending slot. The rope is laterally advanced through the slot to move the plug into position above the counterbore. The plug is then pushed down into position in the counterbore and/or a downward force is exerted on the rope to position the plug and secure the rope handle.


Immobilized Reagents For Removal Of Circulating Immune Reactants In Vivo
The role of immune reactants in many experimental and human diseases is now well established, Cochrane C. C., Koffler D.: Immune complex disease in experimental animals and man. Advances Immunol 16:185-233, 1973; Wilson C. B., Border W. A., Lenham D. H.: Renal diseases in Basic and Clinical Immunology. (Fudenberg, HH, ed.). Lange Publications, Los Altos, Calif., 1976, pg. 562. Therapy for many of these immunologically mediated diseases has consisted largely of the use of pharmacological agents that widely and non-specifically suppress host immunity leading to numerous undesirable effects. With increasing awareness of the etiopathogenic factors in many autoimmune diseases many sensitive radioimmunological techniques to measure them in serum. Various immunoadsorbents designed to extract pathogenic immune reactants from the circulation have been developed. For example, immunoadsorbents consisting of immobilized antigens, antibodies and enzymes have been developed. When placed in an extracorporeal circuit, these immunoadsorbents have shown a capacity to extract or hydrolyze immune reactants in the circulation without demonstrable release of immobilized substances or significant immediate or long-range toxicity to the host.
Graf et al, Graff M. W., Uhr J. W.: Regulation of antibody formation by serum antibody. I. Removal of specific antibody by means of immunoadsorption. J Exp Med 50:130-1175, 1969, were the first to show that immunoadsorbents could be employed to selectively remove antibodies from actively and passively immunized rabbits. In later studies, Schenkein et al., Schenkein I., Brystryn J. C., Uhr, J. W.: Specific removal of in vivo antibody by extracorporeal circulation over an immunoadsorbent in gel. J Clin Invest 50:1864-1870, 1971, developed an extracorporeal immunoadsorbent system in which bovine serum albumin (BSA) was immobilized in agarose and proved capable of selectively removing BSA antibodies from the circulation. A similar immunoadsorbent in which ssDNA antigen was immobilized and proved capable of extracting ssDNA antibody in both passively and actively immunized rabbits, Terman D. S., Stewart I., Robinette J., Carr R., Harbeck R.: Specific removal of DNA antibodies in vivo with an extracorporeal immunoadsorbent. Clinical and Experimental Immunology 24:231-238, 1976. Because of the fragility of the supporting matrix and the possibility of leaching of immobilized substances, new and more stable extracorporeal immunoadsorbents were subsequently developed.
Various antigens such as bovine serum albumin (BSA), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), glomerular basement membrane (GBM) extract have been immobilized on several solid supports and these have been employed as extracorporeal immunoadsorbents, Terman D. S., Durante D., Buffaloe G., McIntosh R.: Attenuation of canine nephrotoxic glomerulonephritis with an extracorporeal immunoadsorbent. Scandinavian Journal of Immunology 6, 1977: Terman D. S., Petty D., Ogden D., Harbeck R., Buffaloe G., Carr R.: Specific removal of DNA antibodies in vivo by extracorporeal circulation over DNA immobilized in collodion-charcoal. Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology 8, 1977; Terman D. S., Tavel T., Petty D., Racic M. R., Buffaloe G.: Specific removal of antibody by extracorporeal circulation over antigen immobilized in collodion-charcoal. Clinical and Experimental Immunology 28, 1977; Terman D. S., Tavel T., Petty D., Tavel A., Harbeck R., Buffaloe G., Carr R.: Specific removal of bovine serum albumin (BSA) antibodies by extracorporeal circulation over BSA immobilized in nylon microcapsules. Terman et al, Journal of Immunology 116:1337, 1976; Terman D. S., Stewart I., Robinett J., Carr R., Harbeck, R.: Specific removal of DNA antibodies in vivo with an extracorporeal immunoadsorbent. Terman et al, Clin Exp Immunol 24:231, 1976.
Circulating immune complexes have now been implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous diseases. Their presence in the circulation often correlates with disease activity and they may be found deposited in tissues, Zubler R. H., Lambert P. H.: Detection of immune complexes in human diseases. Prog Allergy 24:1, 1978. In addition to studies described above for hydrolysis of nDNA:antiDNA complexes, preliminary work has shown that Clq, the first component of complement, may be immobilized in collodion membranes and will bind to immune complexes circulated over them. Terman et al FEBS, Letters, 68, 89, 1976.


The thermoregulatory system of homeotherms has an inherent ability to hold core body temperature within a small variation of a set point. Excursions above and below the set point can cause compromised body function, injury, and even death may occur.
Operation of the thermoregulatory system is based on a complex, nonlinear network of feedback control signals and responses to adjust the thermal resistance between the body core and the environment and to modulate the rate and distribution of internal energy generation. The operation of the thermoregulatory system is remarkably efficient over a broad spectrum of physiological states and environmental conditions.
In certain circumstances, however, the thermoregulatory system is unable to maintain the core temperature within the set operational range, or there may be therapeutic or prophylactic reasons to override the system to maintain a reduced core body temperature.


Electrical cables for transmission of electrical signals are known. One common type of electrical cable is a coaxial cable. Coaxial cables generally include an electrically conductive wire surrounded by an insulator. The wire and insulator are typically surrounded by a shield, and the wire, insulator, and shield are surrounded by a jacket. Another common type of electrical cable is a shielded electrical cable comprising one or more insulated signal conductors surrounded by a shielding layer formed, for example, by a metal foil. To facilitate electrical connection of the shielding layer, a further un-insulated conductor is sometimes provided between the shielding layer and the insulation of the signal conductor or conductors.


Modern organizations, particularly technology driven organizations, have a constant need to innovate. Unfortunately, innovation is often hindered by an existing lack of technology to properly explore new technologies. In a sense, future technologies are “stacked” upon previous technologies. That is, without a proper technological foundation, there is no support for technological innovation. It is difficult to skip generations of technology.
One technology often needed to support innovation is data processing power. Modem organizations require processing power for many different purposes. Technology companies, for instance, rely on processing power for research and development (“R&D”) efforts. Pharmaceutical research companies spend large sums of money on the latest data processing equipment to discover and test new drug compounds. Financial institutions need processing power for stock trend modeling and other computation-intensive activities. Defense contractors need processing power to test new missile designs. While these various organizations operate in different industries, each would benefit by owning or having access to computer systems that offer more data processing power.
At any given time, there are millions of unused data processing devices throughout the world. Workstations, personal computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”) are often not in use. Many computers sit in a room overnight, during meals, and sometimes throughout the workday. Further, even when people are using these data processing devices, the devices rarely operate at full capacity. The processors in these data processing devices are often available to provide data processing for others.
Data processing devices are possessed by various entities including corporations, academic institutions, and private individuals. These entities, however, are generally only concerned with solving their particular problems. The entities described above have no incentive to share the processing power of their respective devices with others. Thus, most never consider the greater need for data processing power.


The present invention relates generally to a device for detecting whether any one of a number of fuses in an electrical system has blown out.
A machine, such as an automobile, which incorporates a large number of electrical devices, such as ignition loads, radio sets, various different lamps, etc., requires a relatively large number of fuses for protecting the loads from excessive current, and for guarding against fire and so on caused by short circuits. Various devices have been proposed for detecting whether any of thses fuses have been blown out. For example, a fuse blowing detector such as shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings has been suggested. In this device, an automobile has an electric system which includes loads L1, L2, L3 fed from a battery 1 through an accessory switch SW1, loads L4 and L5 fed through an ignition switch SW2, and loads L6 and L7 fed directly from the battery. These loads L1-L7 are fused by fuses F1-F7 respectively. Several switches are shown as controlling supply of power to some of the loads, such as S1, S3, S4, and S6. The fuse blowing detector shown in FIG. 1 includes wires to each of the junctions between a fuse and its load, and a slidable changeover switch 2 which has a plurality of fixed contact points 2a connected to the other ends of these wires. The slidable contact 2b is capable of contacting each of these fixed contacts, by the movement of a slide lever 3 and an indicator lamp 4 having one terminal connected to the slidable contact 2b and an other terminal to the earth of the vehicle.
In operation, the ignition switch SW2 and the accessory switch SW1 are closed, and the slide lever 3 is moved to and fro. If all the fuses are intact, the lamp 4 is lighted each time slidable contact 2b and a fixed engage 2a contact. However, if any one of the fuses is blown, contact between slide lever 3 and the corresponding fixed contact, does not cause lamp 4 to light, thereby signalling blowing of the fuse.
This detector, however, has certain disadvantages because the use of a mechanical part, such as the slide lever 3, makes the detector prone to malfunctions. Another disadvantage is that the number of movements of the slide lever 3 for each test sequence is equal to the number of fuses. Further, use of only one lamp has made it difficult to know which fuse is defective.


Two critical parameters effect the quality and consistency of a weld between two or more work pieces, weld gun pressure and the current density in the region to be welded. Weld gun pressure is readily regulated by pneumatic, hydraulic, or other mechanical means. Current density regulation requires an electronic solution. Many methods have been utilized to regulate and maintain the current density constant within the contact area between weld gun contact tips and the material to be welded. As the contact tips deteriorate, the contact area increases, resulting in a decrease in the current density at the weld nugget. This results in a decreased heat input and can result in weld defects. Compensation for this decrease in current density over the life of the tips can be accomplished through several different methods to increase or boost the current. Less heat and thus less current, is required during the first or early stage of the contact tips' life. Once the contact tips have settled in, during a second stage, a gradual increase in heat is required. During the last stage, as the contact tips start to deform, even more heat is required. These three stages form a user profile for the current or heat boost.
Earlier weld controllers modified the firing angle of SCR switches to regulate the conduction angle of the SCRs to a particular percentage of full or 180 degree conduction. This mode of operation, known as a voltage compensation method, does not regulate current directly. A second method measures the available heat as a function of the overall system power factor, and provides a user programmed percentage of that available heat following a profile based on the above mentioned three stages of the contact tip lifetime. This method will or could provide for line voltage variations. The user adjusts either the percent conduction angle or the percent heat in either of these methods to achieve a desired weld current as measured by external means.
Some weld controllers provide a third method which uses a constant current control which will adjust the firing angle of the SCRs to maintain a predetermined current flow to the contact tips based on the user profile. The use of stepper programs implements this method by increasing the current in equal increments according to the user profile. Some prior art weld controllers employ a manual stepper to adjust for the current boost, which typically is increased as a series of scheduled linear steps as specified by a weld engineer to obtain metallurgically sound welds during the life of the weld contact tips. For example, the first stage may be programmed to reach a 5 percent current boost in one percent increments after 200 weld cycles, the second stage may be programmed to reach a 10 percent current boost after 2000 weld cycles, and the last stage may be programmed for a 15 percent current boost after 8000 weld cycles. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,003 discloses an adaptive stepper which increases the heat boost and thus the current density as a function of not only the number of weld cycles but also as a function of expulsions. Expulsions, also known as spitting, generally indicate that too much heat is being applied during the weld cycle. Molten material is blown away from the weld zone during expulsion, resulting in a significant drop in resistance at the primary of the weld transformer supplying the contact tips.
In all of these cases, it becomes difficult to detect process variations in the welding cycle that could indicate other fault conditions. These variations occur as a result of either short term or long term impedance changes in the welder system. Short term changes are caused by variations in the workpiece and contact tip interface such as oxidation of the surface of the workpieces or poor part fit Long term effects are associated with tool or weld cable degradation or poor connections. With the first and second methods, this increased impedance will result in lower weld current. In the third method, the weld controller will attempt to directly compensate for the increase and regulate the current to maintain it at the constant, preset level, providing more and more power to the weld system, with possible expulsions occurring. The user would have no indication of a problem until it may be too late, as the system would have to detect an inability to regulate current to reach a current limit before error messages are generated. At that time, it would only indicate a failure of the control to regulate the weld current, which could be from many sources. There would be no indication of a change in system impedances. The current controlled system will continue to make metallurgically sound welds until it fails catastrophically from lack of maintenance. A method to indicate changes in system impedances is therefore desirable.
Quality and strength of a spot weld can be correlated with a change in resistance as measured through the weld as the weld progresses during the fusion process. This will effect a change in the power factor of the circuit which will be reflected from the secondary circuit of the welding transformer coupling power to the contact tips to the primary circuits and will result in a significant drop in resistance at the primary circuit. The timing changes resulting from this change can be sensed by the microprocessor based weld controller system. The amount of increase or decrease in the current conduction angle can be determined from these changes and can become a basis for controlling the welding heat applied to the workpiece being welded. U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,511 describes one such type of control. The controller measures the weld current conduction time from the point of initiation to the point of extinction. The conduction time, when added to the original time delay of the initiation signal, is related to the power factor. Using a numerical representation a characteristic resistance curve that relates the ohmic resistance of the work piece as a function of time and weld cycles, the measured and calculated power factor changes can be compared with this curve to determine if more or less energy is required to be supplied to the welding tips. This requires the use of look-up tables or complicated calculations that are non-trivial to calculate the power factor for each weld cycle.