Many different types and styles of memory exist to store data for computers and similar type systems. For example, random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) and flash memory are all presently available to accommodate data storage.
Each type of memory has its own particular advantages and disadvantages. For example, DRAM and SRAM allow individual bits of data to be erased one at a time, but such memory loses its data when power is removed. EEPROM can alternatively be easily erased without extra exterior equipment, but has reduced data storage density, lower speed, and higher cost. EPROM, in contrast, is less expensive and has greater density but lacks erasability.
Flash memory, has become a popular type of memory because it combines the advantages of the high density and low cost of EPROM with the electrical erasability of EEPROM. Flash memory can be rewritten and can hold its contents without power, and thus is nonvolatile. It is used in many portable electronic products, such as cell phones, portable computers, voice recorders, etc. as well as in many larger electronic systems, such as cars, planes, industrial control systems, etc. Flash memory is generally constructed of many memory cells where single bits of data are stored in and read from respective memory cells.
Individual memory cells are generally organized into individually addressable units or groups, which are accessed for read, program, or erase operations through address decoding circuitry. The individual memory cells are typically comprised of a semiconductor structure adapted for storing a bit of data. For instance, many conventional memory cells include a stacked gate metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) device, such as a transistor in which a binary piece of information may be retained. The memory device includes appropriate decoding and group selection circuitry, as well as circuitry to provide voltages to the cells being operated on.
The erase, program, and read operations are commonly performed by application of appropriate voltages to certain terminals of the memory cell. In an erase or write operation the voltages are applied so as to cause a charge to be removed or stored in the memory cell. In a read operation, appropriate voltages are applied so as to cause a current to flow in the cell, wherein the amount of such current is indicative of the value of the data stored in the cell. The memory device includes appropriate circuitry to sense the resulting cell current in order to determine the data stored therein, which is then provided to data bus terminals of the device for access by other devices in a system in which the memory device is employed.
The traditional memory cell generally has a source, a drain, and a channel in a substrate or P-well, as well as a stacked gate structure overlying the channel. The stacked gate may further include a thin gate dielectric layer (sometimes referred to as a tunnel oxide) formed on the surface of the P-well. The stacked gate also includes a polysilicon floating gate overlying the tunnel oxide and an interpoly dielectric layer overlying the floating gate. The interpoly dielectric layer is often a multilayer insulator such as an oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) layer having two oxide layers sandwiching a nitride layer. Lastly, a polysilicon control gate overlies the interpoly dielectric layer.
In a NOR configuration, the control gate is connected to a wordline associated with a row of memory cells to form sectors of such cells. In addition, the drain regions of the cells are connected together by a conductive bitline. The channel of the cell conducts current between the source and the drain in accordance with an electric field developed in the channel by the stacked gate structure. Respective drain terminals of the transistors within a single column are connected to the same bitline. In addition, respective flash cells associated with a given bitline have stacked gate terminals coupled to a different wordline, while all the flash cells in the array generally have their source terminals coupled to a common source terminal. In operation, individual flash cells are addressed via the respective bitline and wordline using the peripheral decoder and control circuitry for programming (writing), reading or erasing functions.
By way of further detail, the single bit stacked gate flash memory cell is programmed by applying a relatively high voltage to the control gate and connecting the source to ground and the drain to a predetermined potential above the source. A resulting high electric field across the tunnel oxide leads to the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling phenomena. During this process, electrons in the core cell channel region tunnel through the gate oxide into the floating gate and become trapped in the floating gate since the floating gate is surrounded by the interpoly dielectric and the tunnel oxide. As a result of the trapped electrons, the threshold voltage of the cell increases. This change in the threshold voltage (and thereby the channel conductance) of the cell created by the trapped electrons is what causes the cell to be programmed.
In order to erase a typical single bit stacked gate flash memory cell, a relatively high voltage is applied to the source, and the control gate is held at a negative potential, while the drain is allowed to float. Under these conditions, a strong electric field is developed across the tunnel oxide between the floating gate and the source. The electrons that are trapped in the floating gate flow toward and cluster at the portion of the floating gate overlying the source region and are extracted from the floating gate and into the source region by way of Fowler-Nordheim tunneling through the tunnel oxide. As the electrons are removed from the floating gate, the cell is erased.
For a read operation, a certain voltage bias is applied across the drain to source of the cell transistor. The drain of the cell is the bitline, which may be connected to the drains of other cells in a byte or word group. The voltage at the drain in conventional stacked gate memory cells is typically provided at between 0.5 and 1.0 volts in a read operation. A voltage is then applied to the gate (e.g., the wordline) of the memory cell transistor in order to cause a current to flow from the drain to source. The read operation gate voltage is typically applied at a level between a programmed threshold voltage (Vt) and an unprogrammed threshold voltage. The resulting current is measured, by which a determination is made as to the data value stored in the cell.
A very modern memory technology is dual bit memory, which allows multiple bits to be stored in a single cell. In this technology, a memory cell is essentially split into two identical (mirrored) parts, each of which is formulated for storing one of two independent bits. Each dual bit memory cell, like a traditional cell, has a gate with a source and a drain. However, unlike a traditional stacked gate cell in which the source is always connected to an electrical source and the drain is always connected to an electrical drain, respective dual bit memory cells can have the connections of the source and drain reversed during operation to permit the storing of two bits.
In a virtual ground type architecture, dual bit memory cells have a semiconductor substrate with implanted conductive bitlines. A multilayer storage layer, referred to as a “charge-trapping dielectric layer”, is formed over the semiconductor substrate. The charge-trapping dielectric layer can generally be composed of three separate layers: a first insulating layer, a charge-trapping layer, and a second insulating layer. Wordlines are formed over the charge-trapping dielectric layer substantially perpendicular to the bitlines. Programming circuitry controls two bits per cell by applying a signal to the wordline, which acts as a control gate, and changing bitline connections such that one bit is stored by the source and drain being connected in one arrangement and a complementary bit is stored by the source and drain being connected in another arrangement.
A continuing trend in the electronics industry is to scale down electronic devices to produce smaller, yet more powerful devices (e.g., cell phones, digital cameras, etc.) that can perform a greater number of increasingly complex functions faster and with less power. To achieve this, semiconductors and integrated circuits (e.g., memory cells, transistors, etc.) utilized in these devices are continually reduced in size. The ability to “pack” more of these components onto a single semiconductor substrate, or a portion thereof (known as a die), also improves fabrication efficiency and yields. Accordingly, there are ongoing efforts to, among other things, increase the number of memory cells that can be fabricated onto individual semiconductor wafers (or die).
One technique to pack more memory cells/transistors into a smaller area is to form their structures and component elements closer together. Forming bitlines closer together, for example, shortens the length of a channel defined there-between and allows more devices to be formed in the same area. This can, however, cause certain phenomena to become more prevalent and have a substantial impact on device performance. For example, Vt roll-off may become more pronounced as respective channel lengths are decreased. In particular, a threshold voltage (Vt), or voltage at which a transistor or memory cell “turns on” or becomes active to store and/or erase a bit of data (e.g., a charge), may vary (e.g., become reduced) as the respective channel length is decreased (e.g., source and drain regions are brought closer together). Additionally, the severity of Vt roll-off may vary among different memory cells. In this manner, not all of a selected group of memory cells may be programmed/erased when the same or a similar voltage is applied to the cells. This could result in corrupt data and/or inaccurately stored or programmed data.
Similarly, other issues, such as leakage currents, cross talk, etc. can also result from scaling. For example, isolating two bits or charges stored in a charge trapping layer becomes increasingly difficult as the channel length is decreased and the bits are brought closer together. In this manner, cross-talk can occur, the bits can contaminate one another and operations performed on one bit can affect the other bit (sometimes referred to complimentary bit disturb or CBD). Accordingly, it would be desirable to reduce feature sized so as to increase packing density while mitigating the adverse affects that may result there-from, such as Vt roll-off and CBD.


1. Field of the Invention
This technology relates to linearized power amplifiers (LPAs).
2. Description of Related Art
Prior LPAs have a variety of issues as follows.
1. Prior LPA Efficiency and Linearity Issues:
Prior linearized power amplifiers have several deficiencies including less than optimal efficiency, linearity, and performance over a voltage range and over a temperature range. One of the primary goals of any LPA is to provide a linear signal at as high a power level as possible. In a prior art LPA, the LPA current increases steadily with RF power out. At some high RF power level, clipping begins to occur to the RF signal thereby degrading linearity and efficiency at high RF power. One approach is to delay the onset of clipping, by reducing the bias current at high RF power levels to delay the onset of clipping.
2. Prior LPA Performance Over Voltage Range Issue:
Prior LPAs also tend to have significant variation in performance as power supply voltage level varies.
3. Prior LPA Performance Over Temperature Range Issue:
Another shortcoming of prior LPAs is LPA performance over a temperature range. A prior art LPA with a fixed bias exhibits large changes in current/efficiency and linearity performance as the temperature changes from cold to room to hot.
4. Other Prior LPA Issues:
Some prior art LPAs attempt to improve these deficiencies by utilizing complex digitally modulated PA and digital pre-distortion schemes. However these types of designs are complex to design and implement, and tend to be large and consume much power. They are also usually silicon based technologies with inherently inferior RF characteristics, they cannot take advantage of the inherently superior RF characteristics of GaAs materials. Our novel LPA would be relatively simple and compact and able to be implemented on GaAs as a single die.


There are a very wide variety of requirements in sanitary fittings as to how the water guides to a shutoff valve and away from said shutoff valve are to be configured. Depending on the type and shape of the fitting, the water inlet may arrive at the shutoff valve from below or from the side, and also the outlet from the valve may adopt a very wide variety of directions.


1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a discharge controller for controlling a discharge from a plurality of storage cells in a multiple cell battery to equalize remaining electricity storages in the storage cells.
2. Related Art
In the vehicle such as Electric Vehicle (EV), Hybrid Electrical Vehicle (HEV), or the like, the multiple cell battery for feeding an electric power to a motor is installed, and a plurality of storage cells connected in series with each other are provided in the multiple cell battery.
FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing a relationship between a multiple cell battery installed in the vehicle, a part of an electric drive system, and accessories. The vehicle shown in FIG. 23 is equipped with a multiple cell battery 10, an inverter 11, a motor 13, a DC-DC converter 15, a battery 17, and an electric motor 19 for a cooling fan (referred to as an “electric motor” hereinafter). An output voltage of the multiple cell battery 10 is a high voltage (e.g., 100 to 200 V), and an output voltage of the battery 17 is a voltage for the accessories (e.g., low voltage of 12V). The output voltage of the multiple cell battery 10 is converted from DC to AC by the inverter 11, and then is fed to the motor 13. Also, the output voltage of the multiple cell battery 10 is stepped down by the DC-DC converter 15, and then charges the battery 17. An electric power is supplied from the battery 17 to the electric motor 19. An airflow is generated by the cooling fan driven by the electric motor 19, and cools the multiple cell battery 10.
The multiple cell battery 10 shown in FIG. 23 includes a plurality of storage cells C1 to Cm (m is an integer of 2 or more) connected in series with each other (simply referred to as “cells” hereinafter), discharge switch units Cc1 to Ccm connected in parallel with the cells respectively, voltage detection units S1 to Sm connected in parallel with the cells respectively, and a control unit 21 for controlling respective discharge switch units. In this case, the discharge switch units Cc1 to Ccm, the voltage detection units S1 to Sm, and the control unit 21 are integrated and formed on an IC chip.
Each discharge switch unit has a discharge resistor R and a switch Sw connected in series. The voltage detection units S1 to Sm detect a voltage across the cell (cell voltage) among the series-connected cells respectively. The control unit 21 controls ON/OFF of the switches in respective discharge switch units, in response to the result decided by the voltage detection units S1 to Sm.
Also, the multiple cell battery 10 has a charge control unit (not shown). The charge control unit performs the control to prevent an overcharge of each cell (overcharge preventing control), in charging the multiple cell battery 10. There is a variation in cell voltages of the cells depending on application conditions of the multiple cell battery 10, qualities of the cells, and the like. Therefore, the charge control unit executes the overcharge preventing control to meet the cell having the highest cell voltage. As the cells of the multiple cell battery 10, a lithium-ion battery, a nickel-hydrogen battery are employed, for example. In this case, this overcharge preventing control is particularly needed in employing the lithium-ion battery.
In this manner, the overcharge preventing control of the multiple cell battery 10 is applied based on the cell having the highest cell voltage. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 24, when a variation in cell voltages is increased due to repetition of the charge/discharge operation, a reduction in capacity of the multiple cell battery 10 is brought about. That is, the remaining electricity storage of the overall multiple cell battery 10 is restricted by the overcharge preventing control applied in charging the multiple cell battery 10. As a result, as indicated with a dotted line in FIG. 24, a capacity of the multiple cell battery 10 is lowered. When a sufficient electric power cannot be fed to the motor 13 because a capacity of the multiple cell battery 10 is lowered, either the cells of the multiple cell battery 10 must be equipped much more or the multiple cell battery 10 must be replaced with another multiple cell battery having a larger capacity.
For this reason, in the multiple cell battery 10 shown in FIG. 23, the control unit 21 controls individually the switches of respective discharge switch units such that cell voltages of the cells are kept at the same level. For example, as shown in FIG. 25, when the cell voltage of the cell C1 is higher than the cell voltages of the other cells C2 to Cm, the control unit 21 turns ON the switch Sw1 of the discharge switch unit Cc1 corresponding to the cell C1, and closes the circuit consisting of the cell C1 and a discharge resistor R1. At this time, a current flows to the discharge resistor R1 from the cell C1, and this current is converted into a heat by the discharge resistor R1. As a result, the cell voltage of the cell C1 is lowered, and the control unit 21 turns OFF a switch Sw1 when the cell voltage of the cell C1 is set at the same level as the cell voltages of the cells C2 to Cm. In this manner, a variation in cell voltages is reduced by equalizing the cell voltages of the cells, and therefore a reduction in capacity of the multiple cell battery 10 can be prevented (see e.g., JP-A-8-19188 and JP-A-2003-164069).
In the multiple cell battery 10 explained above, a heat is generated along with the equalization of the cell voltages of the cells. That is, in the multiple cell battery 10, an electric power accumulated in the cells is consumed wastefully by the equalization of the cell voltages of the cells. Also, as described above, the integrated circuit consisting of the discharge switch units Cc1 to Ccm, the voltage detection units S1 to Sm, and the control unit 21 is provided in the multiple cell battery 10. Since the constituent elements whose characteristics are varied depending on the ambient temperature are contained in the integrated circuit, it is advantageous that an amount of heat generated in the discharge resistors R1 to Rm should be made small.
According to the Joule's law, an amount of heat generated in the resistor is proportional to “current2×resistance value”. Therefore, the resistor having a large resistance value is employed as the discharge resistors R1 to Rm. When a resistance value the discharge resistor is large, a discharge current becomes small, so that a quantity of heat generated by the discharge resistor is reduced. However, when the discharge current is small, a time required for the equalization of the cell voltages of the cells is prolonged. As a result, the resistance value of the discharge resistors R1 to Rm is decided in consideration of the balance between a quantity of heat generated by the discharge resistor and an equalizing time for the cell voltages. In any event, a heat is generated from the discharge resistors R1 to Rm along with the equalization of the cell voltages of the cells. Therefore, high-level heat measures such as thermal diffusion, heat resistance, etc. must be applied to the multiple cell battery 10 such that the integrated circuit is not affected by such heat.


1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a curable composition and a cured polymer product.
2. Description of the Related Art
The ion exchange membrane is used in electrodeionization (EDI), continuous electrodeionization (CEDI), electrodialysis (ED), and electrodialysis reversal (EDR). The ion exchange membrane is used not only for general usage but also for medical use, and recently the ion exchange membrane has also been used in a solid polymer electrolyte-type fuel cell.
The electrodeionization (EDI) is a water treatment process for removing ions from aqueous liquids by using an ion exchange membrane and a potential in order to achieve ion transport. EDI differs from other water purification technologies, such as conventional ion exchange, in that it is does not require the use of chemicals such as acids or caustic soda, and can be used to produce ultra pure water. The electrodialysis (ED) and the electrodialysis reversal (EDR) are electrochemical separation processes for removing ions and the like from water and other fluids.
Recently, the ion exchange membrane has been generally manufactured in the method of thermally polymerizing a styrene-based monomer and introducing an ion exchangeable substituent (quaternary ammonium salt group or sulfo group) by substitution reaction or the like (for example, see JP2006-225459A). Recently, research for improving a film provided with ionic groups and crosslinking bonds at high density has been actively conducted by using a monomer (also referred to as a charged crosslinker or an ionic crosslinking agent) also having an ionic group and a crosslinking group (2 or more polymerizable groups). For example, mainly in a polymer, an anion exchange membrane (for example, see WO2013/011273A) having a cationic group such as quaternary ammonium or a cation exchange membrane (for example, see WO2013/011272A, JP2007-305371A, and JP2011-189223A) having an anionic group such as a sulfo group is suggested.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement of a data reproducing device which was previously filed by the applicant of this invention in U.S. Patent Office on Dec. 14, 1993, and is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/165,885, and more particularly to a data reproducing device which is suitably used to reproduce both of video data and audio data recorded on an optical disc in a time division multiplexing (TDM) imode while separating and decoding these data.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the data reproducing device which is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/165,885 (FIG. 6).
The data reproducing device has a disc driver 1 for reproducing data from an optical disc, on which video data and audio data are recorded in a time division multiplexing (TDM) mode, a decoding unit 2 to which reproduction data output from the driver 1 is supplied to decode the input data, and an ECC circuit 3 for receiving data output from the decoding unit 2 to detect and correct errors of the data. The output of the ECC circuit 3 is supplied to each of a ring buffer 4 and an address extracting circuit 31. The ring buffer 4 serves to accumulate a predetermined amount of data input thereto, and then output the accumulated data to a multiplexed data separating unit 5.
The multiplexed data separating unit 5 has a data separation circuit 21 for separating each of video data, audio data, an SCR (system clock reference), a DTS (decoding time stamp) for video data (hereinafter referred to as "DTSV"), and a DTS for audio data (hereinafter referred to as "DTSA") from data supplied from the ring buffer 4.
A data format for the data to be supplied to multiplexed data separation unit 5 is defined as shown in FIG. 2, for example. The format is defined as a multiplexed bit stream of MPEG (ISO11172). As shown in FIG. 2, the multiplexed bit stream comprises one or more packs (PACK), and each pack comprises one or more packet (PACKET). At the head of the pack is disposed a pack header (PACK HEADER), and at the packheader are disposed a pack start code (PACK START CODE) representing a start point of the pack, SCR and MUX RATE. The SCR represents a time when its final byte is input to the multiplexed data separation unit 5 (a time when a demultiplexing operation is started). The MUX RATE represents a transmission rate.
In an embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a video packet (VIDEO PACKET) and an audio packet (AUDIO PACKET) are successively disposed subsequently to the pack header. A packet header (PACKET HEADER) is disposed at the head of each of these video and audio packets, and the packet header has a video packet start code (VIDEO PACKET START CODE) or audio packet start code (AUDIO PACKET START CODE) representing a start point of the video or audio packet, and a DTSV or DTSA representing a start time of a decoding operation of the video or audio data. The video data (VIDEO DATA) or audio data (AUDIO DATA) are disposed subsequently to each packet header.
The timing data (time information) such as SCR, DTS (DTSV or DTSA) are represented with a count value of 90 kHz frequency clocks, and have 33-bit significant digit.
The video data which are separated in the data separation circuit 21 are supplied to a video code buffer 6 (FIFO), and the audio data are supplied to an audio code buffer 8 (FIFO). The SCR is supplied to and stored in an STC register 26. The STC register 26 serves to count clocks of 90 kHz frequency output from a clock generating circuit 27 and increment its storage value to generate an STC (system time clock).
The DTSV and DTSA which are separated by the data separation circuit 21 are supplied to and stored in a DTSV register 22 and a DTSA register 24 respectively. The data stored in the DTSV register 22 and the DTSA register 24 are supplied to comparators 23 and 25 respectively, and these data are compared with the STC output from the STC register 26.
The data reproducing device shown in FIG. 1 also has a control circuit 28 which comprises a CPU or the like and controls a reproducing operation on the basis of an instruction which is input in correspondence with an user's manipulation of an input unit 29, and an address storing circuit 30 for storing a reproduction start address and a reproduction end address which are input through the input unit 29.
The video data stored in the video code buffer 6 are read out and supplied to a video decoder 7, and decoded by the video decoder 7 to generate video signals. The generated video signals are output to a circuit (not shown). The video decoder 7 is supplied With a video decode start signal output from the comparator 23.
Likewise, the data output from the audio code buffer 8 are supplied to an audio decoder 9, and decoded therein. The audio decoder 9 is also supplied with an audio decode start signal output from the comparator 25.
Next, the operation of the data reproducing device as described above will be described with reference to FIG. 3. First, through manipulation of the input unit 29, a reproduction start address, a reproduction end address and a reproduction start are instructed to the control circuit 28. The reproduction start address and the reproduction end address are stored in the address storing circuit 30. At this time, the control circuit 28 outputs an instruction to the driver 1 to reproduce data recorded on an optical disc which is mounted in the driver 1. The reproduction data output from the driver 1 are supplied to the decoding unit 2 and decoded therein, and then supplied to the ECC circuit 3 in which the data are subjected to an error detection and correction processing.
The data which have been subjected to the error detection and correction processing in the ECC circuit 3 are supplied to the address extraction circuit 31 to read out an address disposed at a predetermined position in the data. The read-out address is supplied to the control circuit 28. The control circuit 28 is on standby until the read-out address supplied thereto is coincident with the reproduction start address from the address storing circuit 30, and if both of the addresses are coincident with each other, the control circuit 28 generates and outputs an accumulation start command to the ring buffer 4. Through this operation, the reproduction data output from the driver 1 are accumulated in the ring buffer 4. Thereafter, the data stored in the ring buffer 4 are read out from the ring buffer 4, and supplied to the data separation circuit 21 of the multiplexed data separation unit 5.
The data separation circuit 21 is controlled by the control circuit 28 to separate the video data and the audio data from the data supplied from the ring buffer 4. These video data and audio data are supplied to the video code buffer 6 and the audio code buffer 8, respectively. In addition, the data separation circuit 21 separates the SCR, the DTSV and the DTSA from the data, and supplied to and stored in the STC register 26, the DTSV register 22 and the DTSA register 24, respectively.
The STC register 26 stores the SCR, and subsequently it counts the clocks output from the clock generating circuit 27 to increment its storage value (SCR) in response to each clock. The storage value of the STC register 26 is supplied to the comparators 23 and 25 as an inner time (STC).
The DTSV register 22 keeps a DTSV which is first supplied thereto after the reproduction is started by the driver 1. This DTSV corresponds to a decode start time of the data of a picture at the head of the video data which are separated by the data separation circuit 21 and supplied to and stored in the video code buffer 6.
Likewise, the DTSA register 24 keeps a DTSA which is first supplied thereto after the reproduction is started. This DTSA corresponds to a decode start time of the data of a decode unit at the head of the audio data which are stored in the audio code buffer 8.
The SCR corresponds to a time when the data are supplied from the ring buffer 4 to the multiplexed data separation unit 5 and the demultiplexing operation is started (a time at the input time point of the input data). That is, it corresponds to a time t1 in FIG. 3. The STC register 26 serves to input a time data (current time) from the time t1 to one inputs of the comparators 23 and 25.
The DTSV register 22 supplies the other input of the comparator 23 with the time DTSV when the video decoder 7 starts its decoding operation. The comparator 23 outputs the video decode start signal to the video decoder 7 when the current time (STC) output from the STC register 26 is coincident with the decode start time output from the DTSV register 22 (time t2 in FIG. 3). The video decoder 7 reads out one frame of video data which have been written in the video code buffer 6 when supplied with the video decode start signal, and starts its decoding operation.
In FIG. 3, a straight line A represents a writing state of data into the video code buffer 6 (its slope represents a write-in transfer rate), and a polygonal line B represents a read-out state of data from the video code buffer 6 by the video decoder 7. Accordingly, data remains in an area represented by a shadow in the video code buffer 6. The storage capacity of the video code buffer 6 is represented by the distance in a vertical direction between lines A and C.
Upon input of the video code start signal, the video decoder 7 starts its decode operation to generate a video vertical synchronizing signal at the time when the decoding operation is completed, that is, at the time when a video decode delay time (VIDEO DECODE DELAY) elapses after the start of the decode operation, and output video signals subsequently to this generation. Accordingly, a display is started when the video decode delay time elapses after the start of the decoding operation.
Likewise, the comparator 25 outputs the audio decode start signal when the current time (STC) output from the STC register 26 is coincident with the decode start time (DTSA) of the audio data output from the DTSA register 24. When the audio decode start signal is input, the audio decoder 9 reads out from the audio code buffer 8 data whose amount corresponds to a decode unit and starts its decode processing to generate audio signals, and outputs the generated audio signals to a circuit (not shown).
During the reproducing operation of the driver 1, addresses being read out are supplied from the address extraction circuit 31 to the control circuit 28 at all times. The control circuit 28 compares the address of data being read out and supplied thereto with the reproduction end address stored in the address storing circuit 30, and if both addresses are coincident with each other, it ends the read-out operation from the driver 1.
Since the data remain in the ring buffer 4 and the code buffers 6 and 8, the actual end time of the reproducing operation is the time when there exists no data to be input to the video decoder 7 and the audio decoder 9. In this case, the control circuit 28 finishes the reproducing operation when detecting the absence of the data to be input to the video decoder 7 and the audio decoder 9.
Now, it is considered to continuously reproduce any discontinuous two points on an optical disc having video signals recorded thereon while compressed in the MPEG system. In other words, an edition of the reproducing operation is now considered.
FIG. 4 is a timing chart for a continuous reproducing operation of a predetermined range of data on the optical disc. Here, sectioning points for an edition are represented by G, H and I, and pictures before and after the sectioning points G, H and I are represented by (a,b), (c,d) and (e, f), respectively.
In FIG. 4, a straight line D represents a write-in state of data into the video code buffer 6, and its slope represents a write-in transfer rate. A polygonal line E represents a data read-out state from the video code buffer 6 by the video decoder 7. Accordingly, data remain in an area represented by a shadow in the video code buffer 6. The storage capacity of the video code buffer 6 is represented by the distance in a vertical direction between the lines D and F.
It is now assumed that the reproduction point is jumped from the point G to the point H in FIG. 4. If a continuous reproduction is performed with no jumping operation, a picture b is reproduced subsequently to a picture a. However, if the jumping operation is performed, a picture d is reproduced subsequently to the picture a. Assuming a time required for the jump from the point G to the point H to be zero, the write-in and read-out operations of the data of the video code buffer 6 when the jumping operation as described above is performed are carried out as shown in FIG. 5.
That is, when no jumping operation is performed, at the point G, the write-in operation of the picture b and subsequent pictures are performed for the video code buffer 6 at a time t11, and this write-in operation is continued until a time t12. At the time t12, the data of the picture b is read out from the video code buffer 6, and supplied to the video decoder 7 to decode the data. The read-out of the data of the picture b at the time t12 is started after a time corresponding to one frame elapses from the read-out of the data of the picture a just before the picture b. The time period Tb between the time t11 and the time t12 is a start up delay of the picture b, and it corresponds to a time from the input of the data of the picture into the video code buffer 6 till the decoding of the data. In the MPEG system, an image compression processing is performed in accordance with complication of an image of each picture, so that a data amount becomes larger as an image is complicated while the data amount becomes smaller as an image is simple. Therefore, a different start up delay is basically adopted every picture in the MPEG system.
In the above case, the start up delay Tb of the picture b to be reproduced subsequently to the picture a when no jump is performed at the point G becomes smaller than the start up delay Td of the picture d to be reproduced subsequently to the picture a through the jumping operation from the point G to the point H.
Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5, just before the jump is performed at the point G, the video decoder 7 is about to read out and decode the data of the next picture b from the video code buffer 6 at the timing when the data of the picture a written in the video code buffer 6 is decoded and a time corresponding to one frame elapses from the above decoding. However, in this case, since the jump is performed, the write-in operation of the data of the picture d into the video code buffer 6 is started at the time t11. Therefore, when the video decoder 7 is about to read out and decode the data of a next picture at the time t12 when the start up delay Tb of the picture b elapses from the time t11, one frame data of the picture d has not yet been written in the video code buffer 6 because the start up delay Td of the picture d is larger than the start up delay Tb of the picture b. Consequently, if the video decoder 7 reads out one frame data from the video code buffer 6, the video code buffer 6 falls into an underflow state.
On the other hand, in a case where the jump is performed from the point H to the point I in FIG. 4, the start up delay Td of the picture d to be reproduced subsequently to a picture c when no jump is performed at the point H becomes larger than the start up delay Tf of a picture f to be reproduced subsequently to the picture c through the jump operation from the point H to the point I. Consequently, the operation of the video decoder 7 when the jump is performed from the point H to the point I is performed as shown in FIG. 6 on the assumption that the time required for the jump operation is equal to zero as described above.
In this case, through the jump from the point H to the point I at a time t13, the write-in operation of the data of the picture f into the video code buffer 6 is started at the time t13. However, the start up delay Tf of the picture f is smaller than the start up delay Td of the picture d which would be reproduced if no jump is performed at the point H, so that the data of the picture f will have been stored in the video code buffer 6 for a time longer than the original start up delay Tf of the picture f.
That is, the video decoder 7 cannot start the decoding of the data of the picture f from the time when it reads out the data of the picture c until a time t32 when a time corresponding to one frame elapses from the above read-out time (this time corresponds to the end time of the start up delay Td of the picture d). As a result, the decode timing for data which contain the picture f data and subsequent picture data (read-out timing from the video code buffer 6) is delayed by the difference between the start up delay Td of the picture d and the start up delay Tf of the picture f (Td-Tf). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the picture f data and the subsequent data are accumulated, and the video code buffer may fall into an overflow state.
In order to prevent the underflow as described above, the decode timing of the video decoder 7 must be delayed from the time t12 in FIG. 5. Likewise, in order to prevent the overflow, the write-in of the data into the video code buffer 6 from the point I when the jump is performed at the point H is required to be delayed by the difference (Td-Tf) of the start up delays of the pictures d and f.
However, the device shown in FIG. 1 has no element for adjusting the start up delay before and after an edition point. Therefore, when an editing operation is instructed, the overall reproducing operation is temporarily stopped at the reproduction point at which the jump is instructed. Thereafter, the reproducing operation is re-started at a jumped reproduction point.
As a result, for example when the jump is performed from the point G to the point H, the overall reproducing operation of the driver 1 is temporarily stopped at the point G (time t11) as shown in FIG. 8. However, since the data of the picture a has been already written in the video code buffer 6, the video decoder 7 reads out the data of the picture a at a time t41 to decode and output the data. After the decode processing of the data of the picture a is completed, the control circuit 28 controls the driver 1 again to restart the reproducing operation from the point H (time t42). Through this operation, at a time t43 when the start up delay Td of the picture d elapses from the time t42, the data are read out from the video code buffer 6, and then decoded in the video decoder 7.
In a case where the jump is performed from the point H to the point I, the overall reproducing operation of the driver 1 is temporarily stopped at the time t13 (when arriving at the point H) as shown in FIG. 9. Thereafter, the data which have been already written in the video code buffer 6 are decoded in the video decoder 7. The decode processing is completed at a time t51.
As described above, when the decoding operation of the data which have been already stored in the video code buffer 6 is completed, the driver 1 is controlled again, and the reproduction is started from the point I at the time t52 to write the data in the video code buffer 6. Thereafter, at the time t53 when the start up delay Tf of the picture f elapses from the time t52, the decode of the picture f is started.
In the device shown in FIG. 1, when the reproduction point is discontinuously shifted as described above, the reproducing operation is temporarily finished at a predetermined reproduction point, and then the reproducing operation is restarted from a shifted reproduction point. Therefore, there exists a problem of a data lack time of reproduction data, that is, a time in which the reproduction data are lacking (the period from the time t41 till the time t43 in FIG. 8 or the period from the time t51 till the time t53 in FIG. 9).


1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to rescue apparatus, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved rescue beacon apparatus wherein the same is arranged for selective inflation and disposition above an individual requiring assistance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art has utilized inflatable gas balloons wherein U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,498 to Neumeier sets forth a gas balloon utilizing an illumination member therewithin for use in an advertising situation, wherein a housing mounting a battery container is secured relative to a lower end portion of the balloon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,664 to Labrecque sets forth a survival kit utilizing an inflatable balloon arranged for projection relative to an individual supporting a holder mounting a reel therewithin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,575 to Stewart sets forth a signal balloon mounted relative to a base container that is ground supported and includes a quantity of tether line for securing the balloon relative to the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,242 to Russell sets forth a rescue balloon including an inflation cylinder and a tether line for securing the balloon relative to a ground supported container.
As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a new and improved rescue beacon apparatus as set forth by the instant invention which addresses both the problems of ease of use as well as effectiveness in construction and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a plug seedling extractor to facilitate the removal or extraction of seedlings from plug seedling trays. After germination, transplantation of the tiny fragile seedlings from the seedling tray to a larger growing environment is necessary. The present invention quickly and efficiently extracts the seedlings from the plug seedling tray with minimal damage to the plug of soil, the seedling, and its root system.
2. Description of Related Art
Traube in British Patent No. 341,819 dated Jan. 22, 1931 discloses a device for molding seedling plugs and extracting the molded seedling plugs from the mold. The device is impractical because the seedlings are grown apart from the device, molded in the device, and then presumably transplanted into another device immediately after molding. The device is too bulky for mass marketing or shipping.
Blackmore, et al, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,078 generally discloses a method of transplanting plug seedlings from a plug seedling tray to larger containers. The method involves extractor pins with concave openings at the tips of the pins. The extractor pins push the plug seedlings downwardly through the plug seedling tray. There is a great likelihood of damage to the foliage of the seedling if it is not extracted from the plug seedling tray relatively soon after germination.
Blackmore, Jr., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,674 discloses a plug seedling tray for use with extractor pins that pass upwardly through the bottom of the seedling tray to extract the plug seedlings, but no particulars of the device used with the plug seedling tray are provided.
Accordingly, no device is disclosed in prior art suitable for use with a plurality of variously-sized plug seedling trays for extracting the seedlings with minimal damage to the seedling itself and to the plug containing the root system.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image formation apparatus such as a copying apparatus or a recording apparatus having a mechanism for manually or automatically feeding sheets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are known apparatus in which a sheet is fed from a place such as a cassette containing a number of sheets therein and exposure or image transfer is applied to the sheet to obtain a copy image or a sheet is manually fed to obtain a copy image thereon.
It is particularly convenient to manually feed a sheet along another path and preferentially obtain a copy image on the sheet which is different in size or paper quality from the sheets contained in the cassette.
However, provision of independent and exclusive paths for manual supply and automatic supply from a cassette which lead to the image formation station would result in a bulky and complicated construction of the copying apparatus.
Also, feeding sheets by the use of a common path would cause jam of the sheets or apparatus trouble which would be inconvenient to the operator.
In a case where the cassette process sequence is controlled by the same control circuit in accordance with various signals from the cassette, the process sequence concerned with the manual supply may also be controlled by those signals and this may cause a process trouble or cause formation of an incomplete image on the manually supplied sheet.
It would also be convenient to make it possible to form an image or manually supplied sheets of different sizes. However, when a sheet of a width smaller than the width of the insertion bed is inserted, the sheet may be obliquely inserted with a result that an image is formed at an unsuitable position on the sheet or the sheet jams.
In a case where a sheet is supported and fed so as to be inserted into the apparatus and then a copy start button is operated, the operator is required to use both of his hands and this means very poor operability. Moreover, it is very difficult to insert a sheet straight feed and it is often the case that the sheet is fed obliquely.
Particularly, in a transfer type copying apparatus, where the sequence control is effected by detecting a manually supplied sheet, it is necessary to select the position of the sheet detector to an optimal position so as not to harm the image transfer registration. This imposes a limitation on the compactness of the copying apparatus.
In a transfer type copying apparatus, if the path leading to the image transfer station is long, sheet jam or image transfer misregistration is liable to occur. For example, there are apparatus in which a sheet is stopped by stopped register rollers and image transfer registration is effected by driving a roller in synchronism with the image on the drum. In this case, the sheet is caused to strike against the register rollers to provide a flexure of the sheet, but if the path to the register rollers is long, an appropriate flexure may not be provided sometimes. This may lead to poor registration accuracy or occurrence of sheet jam.
Also, in a transfer type copying apparatus, if the photosensitive drum is made small, the time required for the leading end of the image on the drum to reach the image transfer station from the start of copying becomes so much shorter that there is not enough time allowed for good image transfer registration to be obtained, and this may result in poor registration accuracy.
Further, in a transfer type copying apparatus, an image has been formed on the photosensitive drum by reciprocal movement of an original platen to make the apparatus compact and to obtain copies of a relatively large size. However, a complicated mechanism is necessary to move the platen and automatically return it and thus, low cost and compactness of the apparatus have been difficult to provide.
Also, the compactness of the copying apparatus has been limited due to the size of its photosensitive drum and the length of the optical path of the original image relative to the drum.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cartons and more particularly to the combination of a shipping carton and merchandise fixture for attachment to a vertically oriented structural member, such as a conventional slotted upright or standard for shelving, a wire rack, a slat wall, a peg board, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
Various structures for displaying merchandise are commonly found in commercial enterprises and several are the subject of patents. Many of such structures make use of a horizontally disposed member arranged to be mounted on a vertical surface to support, e.g., suspend, merchandise for sale or other purposes. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,866 (Shea), U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,706 (Shea) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,747 (Shea).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,720 (Mandelbaum) discloses a combination shipping and display device for neckties and the like. The device basically comprises a generally rectangular, open faced inner carton. That carton includes an assembly of hanger rods supported from an assembly of horizontal and vertical rods. The assembly of hanger rods and the associated horizontal and vertical rods are located and secured within the inner carton. The top of the inner carton folds backward and includes a flap affording an advertising panel and a tongue retained between the carton back panel and a top horizontal rod member in the display mode. A retainer assembly is also provided and includes spaced U-shaped apertures and baffles for laterally supporting columns of ties on the hangers. The inner carton and retainer assembly are inserted into a conventional outer carton for shipping. The assembly of hanger rods and the inner carton in which they are mounted, are arranged to be connected via a hook to a mesh panel, peg board or other vertical structure to support the inner carton holding the ties on that vertical structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,131 (Mandelbaum) discloses a combination shipping and display device for neckties and the like that is similar to the device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,720 (Mandelbaum), but which includes a hanger support structure. In particular, the hanger support structure is similar to the assembly of the hanger rods and associated horizontal and vertical rods, but is in the form of an outward facing U including a pair of end strips with holes for receipt of “Christmas tree” fasteners to secure the hanger support structure in the inner carton. The hangar support structure and the inner carton in which it is mounted, are arranged to be connected via a hook to a mesh panel, peg board or other vertical structure to support the inner carton holding the ties on that vertical structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,668 (Fenton et al.) discloses a revolvable rack for neckties that can be either temporarily or permanently hooked or fastened to a rod or a store fixture, and a container for shipping the rack while it is fully loaded with ties. The rack is easily rotated by hand, has a relatively small turning radius and has the capacity to hold several dozen ties. Once the tie rack is placed in the container, the container serves to both store and protect the ties in an organized and out-of-the-way manner. The tie rack and container combination can be hung together in an existing space. The container allows the fully loaded tie rack to be quickly and easily lifted out of the container in one smooth motion, and directly hung on a rod or on a merchandising fixture in a store without the use of special tools or equipment, such that the ties are readily and pleasingly displayed.
Other cartons including or adapted to make use hangers for garments or other merchandise are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No. 2,796,977 (Divine), U.S. Pat. No. 3,659,704 (Collura et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,898 (Crane), U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,399 (Behtune et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,280 (Dove et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,369 (Lagin) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,415 (Runyan).
While the devices of the aforementioned prior patents appear generally suitable for their intended purposes, they still leave something to be desired from one or more standpoints, such as simplicity of construction, ease of opening the container, ease of use, ease of disassembly of the container, ease of assembly of the container's fixture components, ease of carrying the container to effect the mounting of the fixture onto a vertical support surface and the ability of the fixture to be mounted on various types of vertical support surfaces to project out from those surfaces in either of two opposite directions.
In our copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/305,501, filed on Nov. 27, 2002, entitled Ambidextrous Merchandise Fixture And Method of Displaying Merchandise Therefrom, which is assigned to the same assignee as this invention and whose disclosure is incorporated by reference herein, there is disclosed a fixture and method of use for supporting merchandise, e.g., plural garment belts, on a vertical support structure. That fixture is arranged to be mounted any one of various types of conventional vertical oriented support structures, such as a conventional slotted upright, a wire rack, a slat wall and a peg board, with the fixture projecting out from any of those structures in either of two opposite directions. To that end the fixture includes a bracket and an elongated display member having a pair of ends. The bracket includes a section for snap connection to either end of the display member and a connector that is configured to engage the vertically oriented support structure. The display member includes merchandise holders, e.g., plural prong hangers, for holding the merchandise thereon, e.g., suspending the merchandise therefrom.
The subject invention makes use of the fixture of our aforementioned patent application in an integrated system, i.e., a system including a shipping carton and the merchandise, that is simple in construction, low in cost and easy to use.


The present invention relates to compositions, in either liquid or granular form, for use in laundry applications, wherein the compositions comprise certain amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials which impart appearance and integrity benefits to fabrics and textiles laundered in washing solutions formed from such compositions.
It is, of course, well known that alternating cycles of using and laundering fabrics and textiles, such as articles of worn clothing and apparel, will inevitably adversely affect the appearance and integrity of the fabric and textile items so used and laundered. Fabrics and textiles simply wear out over time and with use. Laundering of fabrics and textiles is necessary to remove soils and stains which accumulate therein and thereon during ordinary use. However, the laundering operation itself, over many cycles, can accentuate and contribute to the deterioration of the integrity and the appearance of such fabrics and textiles.
Deterioration of fabric integrity and appearance can manifest itself in several ways. Short fibers are dislodged from woven and knit fabric/textile structures by the mechanical action of laundering. These dislodged fibers may form lint, fuzz or xe2x80x9cpillsxe2x80x9d which are visible on the surface of fabrics and diminish the appearance of newness of the fabric. Further, repeated laundering of fabrics and textiles, especially with bleach-containing laundry products, can remove dye from fabrics and textiles and impart a faded, worn out appearance as a result of diminished color intensity, and in many cases, as a result of changes in hues or shades of color.
Given the foregoing, there is clearly an ongoing need to identify materials which could be added to laundry detergent products that would associate themselves with the fibers of the fabrics and textiles laundered using such detergent products and thereby reduce or minimize the tendency of the laundered fabric/textiles to deteriorate in appearance. Any such detergent product additive material should, of course, be able to benefit fabric appearance and integrity without unduly interfering with the ability of the laundry detergent to perform its fabric cleaning function. The present invention is directed to the use of amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials in laundry applications which perform in this desired manner.
Amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials which are suitable for use in laundry operations and provide the desired fabric appearance and integrity benefits can be characterized by the following general formula:
wherein the polymer, oligomer, or copolymer contains at least about 5 mole %, preferably at least about 10 mole %, more preferably from about 20 mole %, and most preferably at least about 40 mole %, of a basic amino acid;
each R1 is selected from the group consisting of H, C1-C18 saturated or unsaturated, branched or linear alkyl, C2-C18 saturated or unsaturated, branched or linear hydroxyalkyl, C3-C8 cycloalkyl, C6-C18 aryl, and C7-C18 alkylaryl;
each R2 is independently selected from the group consisting of H, NH2,
each R3 is independently selected from the group consisting of OH, OM, N(R1)2,
each R5 is independently selected from the group consisting of C1-C12 linear or branched alkylene, cyclic alkylene, C2-C12 linear oxa-substituted alkylene, C2-C12 branched oxa-substituted alkylene, C3-C12 cyclic oxa-substituted alkylene, and
xe2x80x83wherein:
each x is independently from 0 to about 200;
each y is independently from 0 to about 10, preferably y is 0, 3, or 4, and most
preferably y is 4;
each z is independently from 1 to about 7;
each a is independently from about 1 to about 12;
M is selected from compatible cations; and
provided that:
the sum of all x""s is from 2 to about 200, preferably from about 3 to about 150, more preferably from about 5 to about 120, and most preferably from about 5 to about 100;
any basic amine site on the polymer, oligomer, or copolymer may be optionally protonated, alkylated, or quaternized with groups selected from the group consisting of H, CH3, alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, benzyl and mixtures thereof;
any amine site may be optionally alkoxylated; and
when two R1 groups are attached to a common nitrogen the two R1s may form a cyclic structure selected from the group consisting of C5-C8 alkylene, and C4-C7 alkyleneoxyalkylene.
The amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials defined above can be used as a washing solution additive in either granular or liquid form. Alternatively, they can be admixed to granular detergents, dissolved in liquid detergent compositions or added to a fabric softening composition. Preferably the fabric treatment compositions of this invention comprise from about 0.1% to about 10%, preferably from about 0.2% to about 8%, more preferably from about 0.3% to about 6%, and most preferably from about 0.4% to about 5%, by weight of a mixture of the amino acid based polymers, oligomers or copolymers defiened by the general formula above. The forgoing description of uses for the amino acid based fabric treatment materials defined herein are intended to be exemplary and other uses will be apparent to those skilled in the art and are intended to be within the scope of the present invention.
The laundry detergent compositions herein comprise from about 1% to 80% by weight of a detersive surfactant, from about 0.1% to 80% by weight of an organic or inorganic detergency builder and from about 0.1% to 5% by weight of the amino acid based fabric treatment materials of the present invention. The detersive surfactant and detergency builder materials can be any of those useful in conventional laundry detergent products.
Aqueous solutions of the amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials of the subject invention comprise from about 0.1% to 50% by weight of the amino acid based fabric treatment materials dissolved in water and other ingredients such as stabilizers and pH adjusters.
In its method aspect, the present invention relates to the laundering or treating of fabrics and textiles in aqueous washing or treating solutions formed from effective amounts of the detergent compositions described herein, or formed from the individual components of such compositions. Laundering of fabrics and textiles in such washing solutions, followed by rinsing and drying, imparts fabric appearance benefits to the fabric and textile articles so treated. Such benefits can include improved overall appearance, pill/fuzz reduction, antifading, improved abrasion resistance, and/or enhanced softness.
As noted, when fabric or textiles are laundered in wash solutions which comprise the amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials of the present invention fabric appearance and integrity are enhanced. The amino acid based fabric treatment materials can be added to wash solutions by incorporating them into a detergent composition, a fabric softener or by adding them separately to the washing solution. The amino acid based fabric treatment materials are described herein primarily as liquid or granular detergent additives but the present invention is not meant to be so limited. The amino acid based fabric treatment materials, detergent composition components, optional ingredients for such compositions and methods of using such compositions, are described in detail below. All percentages are by weight unless other specified.
A) Amino Acid Based Polymer Oligomer or Copolymer Materials
The essential component of the compositions of the present invention comprises one or more amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer. Such materials have been found to impart a number of appearance benefits to fabrics and textiles laundered in aqueous washing solutions formed from detergent compositions which contain such amino acid based fabric treatment materials. Such fabric appearance benefits can include, for example, improved overall appearance of the laundered fabrics, reduction of the formation of pills and fuzz, protection against color fading, improved abrasion resistance, etc. The amino acid based fabric treatment materials used in the compositions and methods herein can provide such fabric appearance benefits with acceptably little or no loss in cleaning performance provided by the laundry detergent compositions into which such materials are incorporated.
The amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer component of the compositions herein may comprise combinations of these amino acid based materials. For example, a mixture of lysine and hexamethylenediamine condensates can be combined with a mixture of lysine and octylamine condensates to achieve the desired fabric treatment results. Moreover, the molecular weight of amino acid based fabric treatment materials can vary within the mixture as is illustrated in Example I below.
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, an oligomer is a molecule consisting of only a few monomer units while polymers comprise considerably more monomer units. For the present invention, oligomers are defined as molecules having an average molecular weight below about 1,000 and polymers are molecules having an average molecular weight of greater than about 1,000. Copolymers are polymers or oligomers wherein two or more dissimilar monomers have been simultaneously or sequentially polymerized. Copolymers of the present invention can include, for example, polymers or oligomers polymerized from a mixture of a primary amino acid based monomer, e.g., lysine, and a secondary amino acid monomer, e.g., tryptophan.
The amino acid based fabric treatment component of the detergent compositions herein will generally comprise from about 0.1% to about 10%, preferably from about 0.2% to about 8%, more preferably from about 0.3% to about 6%, and most preferably from about 0.4% to about 5%, by weight of a mixture of the amino acid based polymers, oligomers or copolymers defiened by the general formula below. But when used as a washing solution additive, i.e. when the amino acid based fabric treatment component is not incorporated into a detergent composition, the concentration of the amino acid based component can comprise from about 0.1% to about 50% by weight of the additive material.
One suitable group of amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials for use herein is characterized by the following formula:
wherein the polymer, oligomer, or copolymer contains at least about 5 mole %, preferably at least about 10 mole %, more preferably from about 20 mole %, and most preferably at least about 40 mole %, of a basic amino acid;
each R1 is selected from the group consisting of H, C1-C18 saturated or unsaturated, branched or linear alkyl, C2-C18 saturated or unsaturated, branched or linear hydroxyalkyl, C3-C8 cycloalkyl, C6-C18 aryl, and C7-C18 alkylaryl;
each R2 is independently selected from the group consisting of H, NH2,
each R3 is independently selected from the group consisting of OH, OM, N(R1)2,
each R5 is independently selected from the group consisting of C1-C12 linear or branched alkylene, cyclic alkylene, C2-C12 linear oxa-substituted alkylene, C2-C12 branched oxa-substituted alkylene, C3-C12 cyclic oxa-substituted alkylene, and
xe2x80x83wherein:
each x is independently from 0 to about 200;
each y is independently from 0 to about 10;
each z is independently from 1 to about 7;
each a is independently from about 1 to about 12;
M is selected from compatible cations; and
provided that:
the sum of all x""s is from 2 to about 200, preferably from about 3 to about 150, more preferably from about 5 to about 120, and most preferably from about 5 to about 100;
any basic amine site on the polymer, oligomer, or copolymer may be optionally protonated, alkylated, or quaternized with groups selected from the group consisting of H, CH3, alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, benzyl and mixtures thereof;
any amine site may be optionally alkoxylated; and
when two R1 groups are attached to a common nitrogen the two R1s may form a cyclic structure selected from the group consisting of C5-C8 alkylene, and C4-C7 alkyleneoxyalkylene.
Preferred amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials for use herein include lysine and hexamethylenediamine condensates of the general formula:
wherein x and y are individually from 0 to about 50, provided that x+y greater than 0. As is illustrated in Example I below, the lysine and hexamethylenediamine condensates of the present invention are often a mixture of various molecules having different values for x+y. Especially preferred lysine and hexamethylenediamine condensates have x+y equal to from about 2 to about 5. The above, simplified structure depiction is meant to include also those oligomers and polymers with more branching which arise from amide bond linkages formed at the alpha aimino group and from amide bond linkages formed at both amino groups of a single lysine-derived unit.
Compositions which are also preferred for use herein are lysine and octylamine condensates of the general formula:
wherein x is from about 1 to about 50.
Additionally preferred compositions for use herein are lysine and tryptophan condensates of the general formula:
Wherein p and q independently are from about 1 to about 50.
Synthesis of the amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials defined herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of Example I wherein the synthesis of 5:1, L-Lysine: 1,6-Hexanediamine is exemplified. Example I details the condensation reaction of lysine and hexanediamine which produces a preferred product for achieving the desired fabric appearance and integrity benefits of the present invention. However, other amines are equally suitable for condensation reactions with amino acids such as lysine, and those suitable amines which are readily available and/or possess interesting structural characteristics include:
aliphatic and cycloaliphatic amines, preferably methylamine, ethylamine, proplyamine, butylamine, pentylamine, hexylamine, heptylamine, ethylhexylamine, octylamine, nonylamine, decylamine, undecylamine, dodecylamine, tridecylamine, stearylamine, palmitylamine, 2-ethylhexylamine, isononylamine, hexamethyleneimine, dimethylamine, diethylamine, dipropylamine, dibutylamine, dihexylamine, ditridecylamine, N-methylbutylamine, N-ethylbutylamine;
alkoxyalkylamines, preferably 2-methoxyethylamine, 2-ethoxyethylamine, 3-methoxypropylamine, 3-ethoxypropylamine, 3-[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]-1-propanamine, 3-(2-methoxyethoxy)-1-propanamine, 2-methoxy-N-(2-methoxyethyl)ethanamine;
alicyclic amines, preferably cyclopentylamine, cyclohexylamine, N-methycyclohexylamine, N-ethylcyclohexylamine, dicyclohexylamine;
diamines, triamines and tetramines, preferably ethylenediamine, propylenediamine, butylenediamine, neopentyldiamine, hexamethylenediamine, octamethylenediamine, imidazole, 5-amino-1,3,-trimethylcyclohexylmethylamine, 4,4xe2x80x2-methylenebiscyclohexylamine, 4,4xe2x80x2-methylenebis(2-methylcyclohexylamine), 4,7-dioxadecyl-1,10-diamine, 4,9-dioxadodecyl-1,12-diamine, 4,7,10-trioxatridecyl-1,13-diamine, 2-(ethylamino)ethylamine, 3-(methylamino)propylamine, 3-(cyclohexylamino)propylamine, 3-(2-aminoethyl) aminopropylamine, 2-(diethylamino)ethylamine, 3-(dimethylamino)propylamine;
dimethyldipropylenetriamine, 4-aminomethyloctane-1,8-diamine, 3-(diethylamino)propylamine, N,N-diethyl-1,4-pentanediamine, diethylenetriamine, dipropylenetriamine, bis(hexamethylene)triamine, aminoethylpiperazine, aminopropylpiperazine, N,N-bis(aminopropyl)methylamine, N,N-bis(aminopropyl)ethylamine, N,N-bis(aminoproply)methylamine, N,N-bis(aminopropyl)ethylamine, N,N-bis(aminopropyl)hexylamine, N,N-bis(aminopropyl)octylamine, N,N-dimethyldipropylenetriamine, N,N-bis(3-dimethylaminopropyl)amine, N,Nxe2x80x3-1,2-ethanediylbis-(1,3-propanediamine), N-(aminoethyl)piperazine, N-(2-imidazole)piperazine, N-ethylpiperazine, N-(hydroxyethyl)piperazine, N-(aminoethyl)piperazine, N-(aminopropyl)piperazine, N-(aminoethyl)morpholine, N-(aminopropyl)morpholine, N-(aminoethyl)imidazole, N-(aminopropyl)imidazole, N-(aminoethyl)hexamethylenediamine, N-(aminopropyl)hexamethylenediamine, N-(aminoethyl)ethylenediamine, N-(aminopropyl)ethylenediamine, N-(aminoethyl)butylenediamine, N-(aminopropyl)butylenediamine, bis(aminoethyl)piperazine, bis(aminopropyl)piperazine, bis(aminoethyl)hexamethylenediamine, bis(aminopropyl)hexamethylenediamine, bis(aminoethyl)ethylenediamine, bis(aminopropyl)ethylenediamine, bis(aminoethyl)butylenediamine, bis(aminopropyl)butylenediamine;
aliphatic amino alcohols, preferably 2-aminoethanol, 3-amino-1propanol, 1-amino-2-propanol, 2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethanol, 2-[(2-aminoethyl)amino]ethanol, 2-methylaminoethanol, 2-(ethylamino)ethanol, 2-butylaminoethanol, diethanolamine, 3-[(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-1-propanol, diisopropanolamine, bis(hydroxyethyl)aminoethylamine, bis(hydroxypropyl)aminoethylamine, bis(hydroxyethyl)aminopropylamine, bis(hydroxypropyl)aminopropylamine;
monoamino carboxylic acids, preferably glycine, alanine, sarcosine, asparagine, glutamine, 6-aminocaproic acid, caprolactam, 4-aminobutyric acid; and
glucosamine, melamine, urea, guanidine, polyguanides, piperidine, morpholine, 2,6-dimethylmorpholine.
B) Detersive Surfactant
The detergent compositions herein comprise from about 1% to 80% by weight of a detersive surfactant. Preferably such compositions comprise from about 5% to 50% by weight of surfactant. Detersive surfactants utilized can be of the anionic, nonionic, zwitterionic, amnpholytic or cationic type or can comprise compatible mixtures of these types. Detergent surfactants useful herein are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,961, Norris, issued May 23, 1972, U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,678, Laughlin et al., issued Dec. 30, 1975, U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,905, Cockrell, issued Sep. 16, 1980, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,659, Murphy, issued Dec. 16, 1980. All of these patents are incorporated herein by reference. Of all the surfactants, anionics and nonionics are preferred.
Useful anionic surfactants can themselves be of several different types. For example, water-soluble salts of the higher fatty acids, i.e., xe2x80x9csoapsxe2x80x9d, are useful anionic surfactants in the compositions herein. This includes alkali metal soaps such as the sodium, potassium, ammonium, and alkylolammonium salts of higher fatty acids containing from about 8 to about 24 carbon atoms, and preferably from about 12 to about 18 carbon atoms. Soaps can be made by direct saponification of fats and oils or by the neutralization of free fatty acids. Particularly useful are the sodium and potassium salts of the mixtures of fatty acids derived from coconut oil and tallow, i.e., sodium or potassium tallow and coconut soap.
Additional non-soap anionic surfactants which are suitable for use herein include the water-soluble salts, preferably the alkali metal, and ammonium salts, of organic sulfuric reaction products having in their molecular structure an alkyl group containing from about 10 to about 20 carbon atoms and a sulfonic acid or sulfuric acid ester group. (Included in the term xe2x80x9calkylxe2x80x9d is the alkyl portion of acyl groups.) Examples of this group of synthetic surfactants are a) the sodium, potassium and ammonium alkyl sulfates, especially those obtained by sulfating the higher alcohols (C8-C18 carbon atoms) such as those produced by reducing the glycerides of tallow or coconut oil; b) the sodium, potassium and ammonium alkyl polyethoxylate sulfates, particularly those in which the alkyl group contains from 10 to 22, preferably from 12 to 18 carbon atoms, and wherein the polyethoxylate chain contains from 1 to 15, preferably 1 to 6 ethoxylate moieties; and c) the sodium and potassium alkylbenzene sulfonates in which the alkyl group contains from about 9 to about 15 carbon atoms, in straight chain or branched chain configuration, e.g., those of the type described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,220,099 and 2,477,383. Especially valuable are linear straight chain alkylbenzene sulfonates in which the average number of carbon atoms in the alkyl group is from about 11 to 13, abbreviated as C11-13 LAS.
Preferred nonionic surfactants are those of the formula R1(OC2H4)nOH, wherein R1 is a C10-C16 alkyl group or a C8-C12 alkyl phenyl group, and n is from 3 to about 80. Particularly preferred are condensation products of C12-C15 alcohols with from about 5 to about 20 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of alcohol, e.g., C12-C13 alcohol condensed with about 6.5 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of alcohol.
Additional suitable nonionic surfactants include polyhydroxy fatty acid amides of the formula:
wherein R is a C9-17 alkyl or alkenyl, R1 is a methyl group and Z is glycityl derived from a reduced sugar or alkoxylated derivative thereof. Examples are N-methyl N-1-deoxyglucityl cocoamide and N-methyl N-1-deoxyglucityl oleamide. Processes for making polyhydroxy fatty acid amides are known and can be found in Wilson, U.S. Pat. No. 2,965,576 and Schwartz, U.S. Pat. No. 2,703,798, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Preferred surfactants for use in the detergent compositions described herein are amine based surfactants of the general formula:
wherein R1 is a C6-C12 alkyl group; n is from about 2 to about 4, X is a bridging group which is selected from NH, CONH, COO, or O or X can be absent; and R3 and R4 are individually selected from H, C1-C4 alkyl, or (CH2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94O(R5)) wherein R5 is H or methyl. Especially preferred amines based surfactants include the following:
R1xe2x80x94(CH2)2-NH2
R1xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94(CH2)3-NH2
xe2x80x83R1xe2x80x94C(O)xe2x80x94NHxe2x80x94(CH2)3-N(CH3)2
wherein R1 is a C6-C12 alkyl group and R5 is H or CH3. Particularly preferred amines for use in the surfactants defined above include those selected from the group consisting of octyl amine, hexyl amine, decyl amine, dodecyl amine, C8-C12 bis(hydroxyethyl)amine, C8-C12 bis(hydroxyisopropyl)amine, C8-C12 amido-propyl dimethyl amine, or mixtures thereof.
In a highly preferred embodiment, the amine based surfactant is described by the formula:
R1xe2x80x94C(O)xe2x80x94NHxe2x80x94(CH2)3xe2x80x94N(CH3)2
wherein R1 is C8-C12 alkyl.
C) Detergent Builder
The detergent compositions herein may also comprise from about 0.1% to 80% by weight of a detergent builder. Preferably such compositions in liquid form will comprise from about 1% to 10% by weight of the builder component. Preferably such compositions in granular form will comprise from about 1% to 50% by weight of the builder component. Detergent builders are well known in the art and can comprise, for example, phosphate salts as well as various organic and inorganic nonphosphorus builders.
Water-soluble, nonphosphorus organic builders useful herein include the various alkali metal, ammonium and substituted ammonium polyacetates, carboxylates, polycarboxylates and polyhydroxy sulfonates. Examples of polyacetate and polycarboxylate builders are the sodium, potassium, lithium, ammonium and substituted ammonium salts of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid, nitrilotriacetic acid, oxydisuccinic acid, mellitic acid, benzene polycarboxylic acids, and citric acid. Other suitable polycarboxylates for use herein are the polyacetal carboxylates described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,226, issued Mar. 13, 1979 to Crutchfield et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,495, issued Mar. 27, 1979 to Crutchfield et al., both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Particularly preferred polycarboxylate builders are the oxydisuccinates and the ether carboxylate builder compositions comprising a combination of tartrate monosuccinate and tartrate disuccinate described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,071, Bush et al., issued May 5, 1987, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Examples of suitable nonphosphorus, inorganic builders include the silicates, aluminosilicates, borates and carbonates. Particularly preferred are sodium and potassium carbonate, bicarbonate, sesquicarbonate, tetraborate decahydrate, and silicates having a weight ratio of SiO2 to alkali metal oxide of from about 0.5 to about 4.0, preferably from about 1.0 to about 2.4. Also preferred are aluminosilicates including zeolites. Such materials and their use as detergent builders are more fully discussed in Corkill et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,509, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Also discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,509 are crystalline layered silicates which are suitable for use in the detergent compositions of this invention.
D) Optional Detergent Ingredients
In addition to the surfactants, builders and amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials hereinbefore described, the detergent compositions of the present invention can also include any number of additional optional ingredients. These include conventional detergent composition components such as enzymes and enzyme stabilizing agents, suds boosters or suds suppressers, anti-tarnish and anticorrosion agents, soil suspending agents, soil release agents, germicides, pH adjusting agents, non-builder alkalinity sources, chelating agents, organic and inorganic fillers, solvents, hydrotropes, optical brighteners, dyes and perfumes.
pH adjusting agents may be necessary in certain applications where the pH of the wash solution is greater than about 10.0 because the fabric integrity benefits of the defined compositions begin to diminish at a higher pH. Hence, if the wash solution is greater than about 10.0 after the addition of the amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials of the present invention a pH adjuster should be used to reduce the pH of the washing solution to below about 10.0, preferably to a pH of below about 9.5 and most preferably below about 7.5. Suitable pH adjusters will be known to those skilled in the art.
Normally, a preferred optional ingredient for incorporation into detergent compositions is a bleaching agent, e.g., a peroxygen bleach. However, many common bleaching agents will degrade some, but not all, of the amino acid based fabric treatment materials of the present invention. Hence, before adding a bleaching agent to a detergent composition comprising an amino acid based fabric treatment material as defined herein compatibility between the bleaching agent and the amino acid based fabric treatment material must be investigated.
Another highly preferred optional ingredient in the detergent compositions herein is a detersive enzyme component. While it is known that some enzymes will degrade the peptide bonds of amino acids, the amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials defined herein do not exhibit such degradation in the presence of enzymes. Hence, enzymes can be added to detergent compositions which comprise the amino acid based fabric treatment materials of the present invention with substantially no degradation.
Enzymes can be included in the present detergent compositions for a variety of purposes, including removal of protein-based, carbohydrate-based, or triglyceride-based stains from substrates, for the prevention of refugee dye transfer in fabric laundering, and for fabric restoration. Suitable enzymes include proteases, amylases, lipases, cellulases, peroxidases, and mixtures thereof of any suitable origin, such as vegetable, animal, bacterial, fungal and yeast origin. Preferred selections are influenced by factors such as pH-activity and/or stability, optimal thermostability, and stability to active detergents, builders and the like. In this respect bacterial or fungal enzymes are preferred, such as bacterial amylases and proteases, and fungal cellulases. xe2x80x9cDetersive enzymexe2x80x9d, as used herein, means any enzyme having a cleaning, stain removing or otherwise beneficial effect in a laundry detergent composition. Preferred enzymes for laundry purposes include, but are not limited to, proteases, cellulases, lipases, amylases and peroxidases.
Enzymes are normally incorporated into detergent compositions at levels sufficient to provide a xe2x80x9ccleaning-effective amountxe2x80x9d. The term xe2x80x9ccleaning-effective amountxe2x80x9d refers to any amount capable of producing a cleaning, stain removal, soil removal, whitening, deodorizing, or freshness improving effect on substrates such as fabrics. In practical terms for current commercial preparations, typical amounts are up to about 5 mg by weight, more typically 0.01 mg to 3 mg, of active enzyme per gram of the detergent composition. Stated otherwise, the compositions herein will typically comprise from 0.001% to 5%, preferably 0.01%-1% by weight of a commercial enzyme preparation. Protease enzymes are usually present in such commercial preparations at levels sufficient to provide from 0.005 to 0.1 Anson units (AU) of activity per gram of composition. Higher active levels may be desirable in highly concentrated detergent formulations.
Suitable examples of proteases are the subtilisins which are obtained from particular strains of B. subtilis and B. licheniformis. One suitable protease is obtained from a strain of Bacillus, having maximum activity throughout the pH range of 8-12, developed and sold as ESPERASE(copyright) by Novo Industries A/S of Denmark, hereinafter xe2x80x9cNovoxe2x80x9d. The preparation of this enzyme and analogous enzymes is described in GB 1,243,784 to Novo. Other suitable proteases include ALCALASE(copyright) and SAVINASE(copyright) from Novo and MAXATASE(copyright) from International Bio-Synthetics, Inc., The Netherlands; as well as Protease A as disclosed in EP 130,756 A, Jan. 9, 1985 and Protease B as disclosed in EP 303,761 A, Apr. 28, 1987 and EP 130,756 A, Jan. 9, 1985. See also a high pH protease from Bacillus sp. NCIMB 40338 described in WO 9318140 A to Novo. Enzymatic detergents comprising protease, one or more other enzymes, and a reversible protease inhibitor are described in WO 9203529 A to Novo. Other preferred proteases include those of WO 9510591 A to Procter and Gamble. When desired, a protease having decreased adsorption and increased hydrolysis is available as described in WO 9507791 to Procter and Gamble. A recombinant trypsin-like protease for detergents suitable herein is described in WO 9425583 to Novo.
Cellulases usable herein include both bacterial and fungal types, preferably having a pH optimum between 5 and 10. U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,307, Barbesgoard et al., Mar. 6, 1984, discloses suitable fungal cellulases from Humicola insolens or Humicola strain DSM1800 or a cellulase 212-producing fungus belonging to the genus Aeromonas, and cellulase extracted from the hepatopancreas of a marine mollusk, Dolabella Auricula Solander. Suitable cellulases are also disclosed in GB-A-2.075.028; GB-A-2.095.275 and DE-OS-2.247.832. CAREZYME(copyright) and CELLUZYME(copyright) (Novo) are especially useful. See also WO 9117243 to Novo.
Suitable lipase enzymes for detergent usage include those produced by microorganisms of the Pseudomonas group, such as Pseudomonas stutzeri ATCC 19.154, as disclosed in GB 1,372,034. See also, the lipase in Japanese Patent Application 53,20487, laid open Feb. 24, 1978. This lipase is available from Amano Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Nagoya, Japan, under the trade name Lipase P xe2x80x9cAmano,xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cAmano-P.xe2x80x9d Other suitable commercial lipases include Amano-CES, lipases ex Chromobacter viscosum, e.g. Chromobacter viscosum var. lipolyticum NRRLB 3673 from Toyo Jozo Co., Tagata, Japan; Chromobacter viscosum lipases from U.S. Biochemical Corp., U.S.A. and Disoynth Co., The Netherlands, and lipases ex Pseudomonas gladioli. LIPOLASE(copyright) enzyme derived from Humicola lanuginosa and commercially available from Novo, see also EP 341,947, is a preferred lipase for use herein.
The enzyme-containing compositions herein may optionally also comprise from about 0.001% to about 10%, preferably from about 0.005% to about 8%, most preferably from about 0.01% to about 6%, by weight of an enzyme stabilizing system. The enzyme stabilizing system can be any stabilizing system which is compatible with the detersive enzyme. Such a system may be inherently provided by other formulation actives, or be added separately, e.g., by the formulator or by a manufacturer of detergent-ready enzymes. Such stabilizing systems can, for example, comprise calcium ion, boric acid, propylene glycol, short chain carboxylic acids, boronic acids, and mixtures thereof, and are designed to address different stabilization problems depending on the type and physical form of the detergent composition.
E) Detergent Composition Preparation
The detergent compositions according to the present invention can be in liquid, paste or granular form. Such compositions can be prepared by combining the essential and optional components in the requisite concentrations in any suitable order and by any conventional means.
Granular compositions, for example, are generally made by combining base granule ingredients, e.g., surfactants, builders, water, etc., as a slurry, and spray drying the resulting slurry to a low level of residual moisture (5-12%). The remaining dry ingredients, e.g., granules of the essential amino acid based fabric treatment materials, can be admixed in granular powder form with the spray dried granules in a rotary mixing drum. The liquid ingredients, e.g., solutions of the essential amino acid based fabric treatment materials, enzymes, binders and perfumes, can be sprayed onto the resulting granules to form the finished detergent composition. Granular compositions according to the present invention can also be in xe2x80x9ccompact formxe2x80x9d, i.e. they may have a relatively higher density than conventional granular detergents, i.e. from 550 to 950 g/l. In such case, the granular detergent compositions according to the present invention will contain a lower amount of xe2x80x9cinorganic filler saltxe2x80x9d, compared to conventional granular detergents; typical filler salts are alkaline earth metal salts of sulphates and chlorides, typically sodium sulphate; xe2x80x9ccompactxe2x80x9d detergents typically comprise not more than 10% filler salt.
Liquid detergent compositions can be prepared by admixing the essential and optional ingredients thereof in any desired order to provide compositions containing components in the requisite concentrations. Liquid compositions according to the present invention can also be in xe2x80x9ccompact formxe2x80x9d, in such case, the liquid detergent compositions according to the present invention will contain a lower amount of water, compared to conventional liquid detergents. Addition of the amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials to liquid detergent or other aqueous compositions of this invention may be accomplished by simply mixing into the liquid solutions the desired amino acid based fabric treatment materials.
F) Fabric Laundering Method
The present invention also provides a method for laundering fabrics in a manner which imparts fabric appearance benefits provided by the amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials used herein. Such a method employs contacting these fabrics with an aqueous washing solution formed from an effective amount of the detergent compositions hereinbefore described or formed from the individual components of such compositions. Contacting of fabrics with washing solution will generally occur under conditions of agitation although the compositions of the present invention may also be used to form aqueous unagitated soaking solutions for fabric cleaning and treatment. As discussed above, it is preferred that the washing solution have a pH of less than about 10.0, preferably it has a pH of about 9.5 and most preferably it has a pH of about 7.5.
Agitation is preferably provided in a washing machine for good cleaning. Washing is preferably followed by drying the wet fabric in a conventional clothes dryer. An effective amount of a high density liquid or granular detergent composition in the aqueous wash solution in the washing machine is preferably from about 500 to about 7000 ppm, more preferably from about 1000 to about 3000 ppm.
G) Fabric Conditioning
The amino acid based polymer, oligomer or copolymer materials hereinbefore described as components of the laundry detergent compositions herein may also be used to treat and condition fabrics and textiles in the absence of the surfactant and builder components of the detergent composition embodiments of this invention. Thus, for example, a fabric conditioning composition comprising only the amino acid based fabric treatment materials themselves, or comprising an aqueous solution of the amino acid based fabric treatment materials, may be added during the rinse cycle of a conventional home laundering operation in order to impart the desired fabric appearance and integrity benefits hereinbefore described.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a polishing and scrubbing apparatus similar to polishing pads used with electric or propane fueled internal combustion engine polishing machines.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
The prior art shows numerous structures of polishing pads for use with floor polishing machines. These pads conventionally have a central aperture for attaching them to the undersurface of a polishing machine. One of the disadvantages of these conventional pads is that they do not present cutting surfaces to cut wax from the floor. An additional disadvantage of conventional pads is that they create a great amount of drag on the machine often resulting in overheating and consequent overloading of electrical circuits.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages in conventional pads by providing a polishing apparatus having multiple cutting edges to remove hardened wax on a floor as well as reduced surface area thus preventing drag.
Representative of prior art devices are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. and copies are furnished for the record: 3,183,542 on 5/1965 to Anders; 3,793,665 on 2/1974 to Thielen; 4,307,480 on 12/1891 to Fallen; 4,502,174 on 5/1985 to Rones.


The mobile telephone industry has been associated with tremendous growth over the last several years. For instance, in the recent past, mobile telephones were costly, bulky and awkward to transport. Moreover, network coverage was not extensive enough to enable robust service. Only areas associated with dense population were provided with extensive wireless network coverage. In contrast, today's mobile phones (and other portable devices) have decreased in both size and cost and can be utilized as full-service computing machines. For example, many of the most recent and advanced mobile phones can be associated with word processing software, accounting software, and various other types of software. Network coverage has expanded to cover millions, if not billions, of users.
Advances in technology relating to mobile devices in general, and mobile phones in particular, continue to occur. For example, recently mobile telephones have been designed to communicate over disparate networks. For example, a dual mode handset can connect to a cellular network to effectuate communications between a user of the mobile phone and another phone device, and can further connect via WiFi to a wireless local access network (LAN) and thereafter utilize the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to effectuate communication between users. Use of VoIP is often desirable to users as it is associated with lower costs than employing a cellular network. In fact, some users may consider phone calls made over VoIP (or other IP-based network) completely free, despite the fact that they pay for Internet service.
Implementation of this dual mode service (DMS) is due at least in part to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), which have created specifications that define a mechanism that provides signal integrity for session initial protocol (SIP) signals between an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) (P-SCCF) and user equipment (UE) (e.g., a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, . . . ). This integrity prevents identity spoofing, man-in-the-middle attacks, and the like. The IMS represents a 3GPP and 3GPP2 effort to define an all-IP-based wireless network as a replacement for the various voice, data, signaling, and control network elements currently in existence. Furthermore, the IMS enables support for IP multimedia applications within the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The UMTS is a 3G broadband packet-based transmission of text, digitized voice, video, and multimedia that offers a consistent set of services to mobile computer and phone users regardless of their physical location.
The telecom industry is currently shifting towards all IP-systems, thereby rendering dual mode service handsets an important tool (as they are compatible with existing cellular systems and emerging IP-systems). This shift is driven by desires to reduce costs and create new streams of revenue while protecting an operator business model. IMS is a new service domain that facilitates this shift by enabling convergence of data, speech, and network technology over an IP-based infrastructure. For users, IMS-based services enable transmittal and receipt of various data at significantly reduced cost, including voice, text, pictures, video, and/or any combination thereof in a highly personalized and secure manner. In summary, IMS is designed to bridge the gap between existing, traditional telecommunications technology and Internet technology that increased bandwidth does not provide.
As stated above, these emerging IP-based technologies have created demand for dual mode services, and thus for dual mode handsets. Using this technology, subscribers can employ WiFi to effectuate voice calls, transmission of data, and the like. In more detail, a subscriber can connect to a LAN by way of WiFi. Upon such connection, subscribers can employ services offered by their service provider.
As VoIP systems and dual mode handsets have become more accepted and prevalent, these systems have been required to provide the same capabilities as traditional telephone networks, including emergency services. During an emergency situation, a user can be flustered or injured and unable to provide accurate location information, whether due to age, infirmity, injury or ignorance. Typically, traditional fixed line telephone networks can connect a caller to local emergency services and automatically provide location information to the emergency service center. In the past, VoIP systems have not reliably provided location information or even connection to emergency services such as Enhanced 911 (E911). However, government regulations adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) now require VoIP providers to supply E911 service capabilities to their subscribers.