Computer aided process planning for non-axisymmetric deep drawing products
In general, deep drawing products have various cross-section shapes such as cylindrical, rectangular and nonaxisymmetric shapes. The application of the surface area calculation to non-axisymmetric deep drawing process has not been published yet. In this research, a surface area calculation for non-axisymmetric deep drawing products with 
elliptical shape was constructed for a design of blank shape of deep drawing products by using an AutoLISP function of AutoCAD software. A computer-aided process planning (CAPP) system for rotationally symmetric deep drawing products has been developed. However, the application of the system to non-axisymmetric components has not been 
reported yet. Thus, the CAPP system for non-axisymmetric deep drawing products with elliptical shape was constructed by using process sequence design. The system developed in this work consists of four modules. The first is recognition of shape module to recognize non-axisymmetric products. The second is a three-dimensional (3-D) modeling module to calculate the surface area for non-axisymmetric products. The third is a blank design module to create an oval-shaped blank with the identical surface area. The forth is a process planning module based on the production rules that play the 
best important role in an expert system for manufacturing. The production rules are generated and upgraded by interviewing field engineers. Especially, the drawing coefficient, the punch and die radii for elliptical shape products are 
considered as main design parameters. The suitability of this system was verified by applying to a real deep drawing product. This CAPP system constructed would be very useful to reduce lead-time for manufacturing and improve an accuracy of products.
A Knowledge Based System for Selection of Components of Deep Drawing Die
Design of deep drawing die is a skilled and experienced based activity. Selection of die components is a vital step in the design process of a deep drawing die. This paper describes a knowledge based system (KBS) developed for the selection of major components of a deep drawing die. The proposed system uses production rule based approach of artifi- cial intelligence (AI) and consists of eight modules. Production rules are coded in AutoLISP language and user interface is created in Visual Basic 6 on AutoCAD platform. The system output includes recommendations for selection of proper type and size of various die components of deep drawing die like die block, stripper, die gages, punch plate, die set, fasteners, etc. Validation of the proposed system is demonstrated by taking an industrial sheet metal part. As this system can be im- plemented on a PC having AutoCAD software, therefore its low cost of implementation makes it affordable even for small scale sheet metal industries.
ATP-dependent S-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)glutathione transport in canalicular plasma membrane vesicles from rat liver.
Uptake of the thioether S-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)glutathione (DNPSG) in canalicular plasma membrane vesicles from rat liver is enhanced in the presence of ATP and exhibits an overshoot with a transient 5.5-fold accumulation of DNPSG. Stimulation by ATP is not caused by the generation of a membrane potential, based on responses of the indicator dye oxonol V. ATP-dependent uptake has an apparent Km of 71 microM for DNPSG and a Vmax of 0.34 nmol.min-1.mg of vesicle protein-1. Protein thiol groups are essential for transport activity as indicated by the sensitivity of DNPSG transport to sulfhydryl reagents. There is competitive inhibition with other thioethers, S-hexylglutathione (Ki = 66 microM), the photoaffinity label S-(4-azidophenacyl)glutathione (Ki = 56 microM), as well as with glutathione disulfide (Ki = 0.44 mM) and with the bile acid taurocholate (Ki = 0.61 mM). GSH (2 mM) or cholate (0.4 mM) does not inhibit. Both glutathione disulfide and taurocholate show ATP-dependent transport in the canalicular membrane vesicles which is inhibited by DNPSG. No ATP-dependent transport is found for GSH. Transport of DNPSG is also inhibited competitively by alpha-naphthyl-beta-D-glucuronide (Ki = 0.42 mM) but not by alpha-naphthylsulfate (2 mM), and there is substantial inhibition with the glucuronides from ebselen and p-nitrophenol. The results indicate that the canalicular transport system for DNPSG is directly driven by ATP and that the biliary transport of other classes of compounds may also proceed via this system.