A contact configuration for producing an electrical connection between a plug and a socket, preferably for connecting an electrode to an electronic implantable device (such as a pacemaker), has a contact section on the plug and/or the socket. The contact section includes metallic conductive fibers which project between the plug and socket when the socket receives the plug. The contact configuration has a high degree of redundancy in providing electrical communication between the socket and plug, and high contact stability under mechanical load. In addition, friction corrosion is avoided.

Implantable apparatuses which are provided with electronic devices, such as circuit boards or the like, are frequently used in the field of medicine. Electronic devices such as cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators, or neurological devices, such as cerebral pacemakers for deep brain stimulation, spinal cord stimulation devices, TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulators), or devices for muscular stimulation therapy, as well as diagnostic apparatuses, which assay the chemical properties of the blood of the patient or other body parts or other body characteristics, use electrodes which are guided through the body of the patient and are electrically connected to the implantable apparatus. The implantable electronic apparatus often has an essentially socket-shaped or hollow-cylindrical connection apparatus (socket, contact pin) for this purpose, in the form of a contact assembly, into which the plug of the electrode line is inserted to produce an electrical connection between the electrode and the electronic apparatus situated in the implantable apparatus. The connection apparatus is often referred to as a header. An essentially cylindrical plug having a contact assembly, which is inserted into the socket to produce the electrical connection, is also provided on the electrode line which has the electrode.
In the future, multi-pole plugs having more than two poles will be increasingly used. For example, the plug according to the standard IS-4 is a 4-pole plug which has an essentially cylindrical shape and has four electrically conductive contact sections which are situated neighboring one another in the axial direction.
An essentially cylindrical plug, which may be inserted into a socket, is specified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,104. For this purpose, the socket has an essentially cylindrical opening. Three contact configurations situated one behind another in the direction of the longitudinal axis are provided on the multi-pole plug, which are each separated from one another by insulating areas. A conductive ring in the form of a woven metal toroid is situated in a retention element provided with a groove. The toroid is produced from a leaf-shaped woven metal. After the toroid has been shaped by rolling up the leaf-shaped material, the material is welded together on its ends to form a closed elastic ring. The conductive ring is situated in the retention element in such a way that it projects slightly beyond the lateral surface of the adjoining areas of the plug. After the plug is inserted into the opening of the contact assembly, the conductive ring contacts the contact sections situated on the socket, each of which has the form of a metal ring. An electrical connection is thus produced between the particular contact configuration on the plug and the contact section of the socket to electrically connect the electrode to the electronic apparatus in the implantable device.
In the publication WO 2005/014108, a contact configuration for connecting an electrode and an implantable medical device is described. The contact configuration has a connection clip which comprises a single wire and is shaped in such a way that it has a first spring arm and a second spring arm. Both spring arms adjoin an upper curved section which forms the upper section of the connection clip. The spring arms have essentially linear lateral sections, which extend from the upper curved section to a lower curved section. The connection clip is situated in a partially bent-up position in the housing of the contact configuration having a through opening. The connection clip is situated in the housing of the contact configuration in such a way that it projects slightly inward in the radial direction from the housing. The housing is shaped for this purpose in such a way that after the plug is inserted into the opening of the contact configuration, the connection clip is pressed further outward in the radial direction, so that a connection between plug and electronic device is produced.
An implantable electronic device having a regulating device for the plug and an electrode line connectable to the device is known from the document EP 1 062 986 B1. The electronic device has an essentially socket-shaped connection apparatus for the plug of the electrode line to the regulating device, which is formed by a manually operable, eccentrically mounted clamping cam and a contact element provided in the connection apparatus for the different pole of the plug of a coaxial electrode line to be connected to the cardiac pacemaker. The eccentrically mounted clamping cam is operationally linked at its edge to the contact element, so that a rotational movement of the clamping cam is transmitted to the contact element. The contact element, which encloses the different pole of the plug in a formfitting way, is thus reversibly deformed in such a way that a friction-locked connection results between the different pole and the contact element, which fixes the plug inside the connection apparatus and simultaneously ensures a good electrical contact between the contact element and the different pole of the plug.
An electrical connector, in particular a medically implantable electrical connector having a housing and a through hole is known from the publication WO 2005/105207 A2. A spring is situated in a groove of the housing, which is used for the purpose of scraping off a coating (typically an oxide layer) from the surface of the groove and the plug surface, so that a reduced resistance and a reduced resistance variability are achieved. In particular, the spring is implemented as a diagonally lying coiled spring.
An electrical contact having a spring ring is also known from the publication US 2006/0047322 A1. This publication discloses a contact assembly having multiple contact configurations having electrically conductive spring rings, which are provided in corresponding depressions of the contact configurations.
A contact assembly which has multiple contact configurations having annular spring contacts is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,389.
A contact configuration for connecting an electrode line to an implantable device is known from the publication DE 10 2004 017 659 A1. The contact configuration has an electrical terminal socket having a socket longitudinal axis and at least one opening for inserting a plug along the socket longitudinal axis. A one-piece metallic spring contact tongue having spring contact tongue sections running transversely to the spring deflection direction, which are connected to one another by coil sections, is provided as the contact element. The spring contact tongue is particularly used in such a way that it has a wavy shape, such as an S-shaped wavy shape.
A contact element made of a one-piece metallic spring contact tongue is also specified in the publication US 2005/0261745 A1. Multiple contact elements are bent here in such a way that their end section extends into the opening and forms a tangent on an imaginary circle, which has a smaller diameter than the opening of the electrode configuration for the plug. In this publication, a second variation of a contact configuration is also described, in which the contact elements comprise rod-shaped elements, whose end sections are directed away from the opening for the plug. Analogously to the leaf-shaped elements, the rod-shaped elements are bent in such a way that they form a tangent on an imaginary circle which has a smaller diameter than the cross-section of the plug opening.
A further possibility for a contact configuration is disclosed in the publication US 2002/0128692 A1. The contact configuration contains annular spring elements in which circular openings are provided. Spherical contact elements are situated in the circular openings, which are pressed by the spring action of the spring in the direction away from the opening, but project somewhat therein, so that a contact is produced between the inserted plug and the metal balls.
High-precision and therefore costly manufacturing devices are necessary for producing the above-mentioned contact configurations having metallic spring elements or tongues. These contact elements are typically from a strip material produced via a punching-bending process in a progressive composite die. For example, a rectangular sheet metal strip is generated, which is reshaped over the longer side in such a way that it becomes the lateral surface of a tube which is not entirely closed. By punching out segments in the direction of the shorter side from this lateral surface, a specific number of webs arise. These webs are reshaped to half the height of the lateral surface in such a way that they project radially inward uniformly and thus form a constriction in the lateral surface, via which the electrical contact may occur later. A contact element of this type does not have a defined radius, however, via which a contact force on a cylindrical plug may be adjusted. A functional contact assembly first arises when a contact element is inserted into the hole of a dimensionally stable sleeve with radial pretension.
The contact materials which are common in everyday electronic apparatuses and are therefore also cost-effective may not be used in long-term implants, because in addition to the rather general criterion of corrosion stability, the criterion of biocompatibility must also be fulfilled. For materials which are not frequently used, however, the continuous availability of the materials needed for running production may be problematic.
For a stable electrical contact of a plug-in connection, a macroscopic minimum contact pressure between the contact partners of plug and socket is primarily needed. This minimum contact pressure for a single contact is a function of the materials used, in a first approximation, a normal force of greater than 1 N may be used. If a minimum contact pressure of this type is not achieved, electrically insulating cover layers of the material surfaces may not be removed in the contact area and, in addition, the long-term stability of the electrical contact is not ensured.
In the constructive mechanical design of a plug contact system, however, the plugability must also be ensured. A parameter for this purpose is the maximum permissible insertion force. The spring rigidity of the contact elements may not be increased arbitrarily to thus achieve better electrical contact security, because otherwise problems may occur in the plugging procedure.
Therefore, for a stable electrical contact it is necessary for the mechanical tension built up upon insertion of the cylindrical plug (contact end) to be so great that electrically insulating cover layers which interfere in the contact area are removed, so that the contact partners may come into direct metallic contact. For chronological consistency of the electrical contact resistance, the contact area thus produced must remain metallically conductive over the entire duration of the contact. It is accordingly to be ensured by the construction that such a contact may not lift off (breathe) in the event of weak mechanical tension and under radial mechanical load. However, it is also to be ensured that a contact of this type does not begin to rub in the event of strong mechanical pretension and axial mechanical load, because friction corrosion (fretting) may thus occur.

Contact configuration, contact assembly, implantable apparatus and electrode line


A method and a device for operating a robot are provided. According to an example of the method, information of a first gesture is acquired from a group of gestures of an operator, each gesture from the group of gestures corresponding to an operation instruction from a group of operation instructions. A first operation instruction from the group of operation instructions is obtained based on the acquired information of the first gesture, the first operation corresponding to the first gesture. The first operation instruction is executed.

Various types of robots, such as civilian unmanned aerial vehicles, industrial robots, and consumer robots, have gone through rapid developments in terms of both technology and market adoption. A robot is a mechanical device that can automatically perform a job, and rely on its own power and control capabilities to implement different functions. A robot may function by receiving human commands or running pre-scheduled programs, and may also act based on strategies established by artificial intelligence.
An operator may remotely control a robot to perform relevant operations. Specifically, the operator may use a manual remote control to issue an operational command to the robot wirelessly. The robot executes an operation specified by the operational command after receiving the operation command so as to complete the relevant function.
However, the operating method described above may demand a very high level of entry barrier for the operator, and thus has low operability for the operator.


A timing signal generating device includes a GPS receiver and a processing unit. The GPS receiver functions as a positioning calculation unit, and receives satellite signals transmitted from GPS satellites and performs positioning calculation based on trajectory information and time information contained in the received satellite signals. Further, the processing unit functions as a position information generation unit, and generates position information of a receiving point based on a mode value or a median value in results of the positioning calculation at a plurality of times by the GPS receiver.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a timing signal generating device, an electronic apparatus, a moving object, a method of generating timing signals, and a method of controlling a satellite signal receiver.
2. Related Art
GPS (Global Positioning System) as one of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) using artificial satellites have been widely known. An extremely high precision atomic clock is mounted on a GPS satellite and transmits satellite signals on which trajectory information, accurate time information of the GPS satellite, etc. are superimposed to the ground. A GPS receiver receives the satellite signals transmitted from the GPS satellites, and performs processing of calculating a current position and a current time based on the trajectory information and the time information superimposed on the satellite signals, processing of generating accurate timing signals in which time is updated every second (1 PPS), etc.
The GPS receiver may be mounted on a moving object and used for knowing the position of the moving object, or may be installed in a location that does not move with respect to the surface of the ground (a building or the like) and used for obtaining accurate timing of 1 PSS (for example, a stock exchange or the like). In the former case, the GPS receiver is necessary to continuously perform calculation of the current position, however, in the latter case, the GPS receiver is not necessary to continuously perform calculation of the current position. Accordingly, a normal positioning mode for continuous positioning calculation and a position fix mode for outputting 1 PPS based on preset position information are generally provided in the GPS receiver.
In the normal positioning mode, satellite signals from a predetermined number (at least three for two-dimensional positioning, four for three-dimensional positioning) of GPS satellites or more are necessary for processing of solving an equation with a plurality of parameters (latitude and longitude for two-dimensional position, latitude, longitude, and altitude for three-dimensional position) for position determination and a time parameter as variables. Further, the larger the number of GPS satellites from which satellite signals can be received, the more improved the precision of positioning calculation. In contrast, in a situation in which the reception environment of satellite signals is too poor for receiving satellite signals from many GPS satellites, precision of position information of positioning results and 1 PPS is deteriorated. On the other hand, in the position fix mode, position information is preset in the GPS receiver, and 1 PPS may be generated only when satellite signals from at least one GPS satellite can be received. Therefore, in the case where the GPS receiver is installed in a location that does not move and accurate 1 PPS is necessary, use in the position fix mode is appropriate.
The precision of 1 PPS in the position fix mode depends on the precision of the set position information, and it is important to set accurate position information in the PGS receiver. As a method of acquiring accurate position information for setting in the GPS receiver, for example, a method of map reading, surveying, etc. are conceivable. However, there are problems that, in the former case, it may be difficult to acquire position information depending on the receiving location and, in the latter case, costs including expense and time may be required.
In order to solve the problems, a method of determining a position of a receiving point by performing positioning calculation using the installed GPS receiver itself and averaging position information of positioning results over a predetermined period has been proposed in Patent Document 1 (JP-A-9-178870), and position information in an arbitrary receiving location may be acquired and the cost may be reduced.
However, in the case where some error such as multipath occurs, position information as a result of positioning calculation contains a significant error. Accordingly, in the method of Patent Document 1 of averaging results of positioning calculation, an error of the position of the receiving point obtained as the averaging result may be significant. On this account, in the method of Patent Document 1, there is a problem that the precision of 1 PPS (timing signal) may be deteriorated depending on the reception environment for positioning calculation. The problem is a common problem not only for the GPS receiver but for receiving devices of other global navigation satellite systems (GLASS).

Timing signal generating device, electronic apparatus, moving object, method of generating timing signals, and method of controlling satellite signal receiver


Disclosed and claimed is a novel protective coating for metal surfaces. The protective coating includes one part by weight of the organosilane-modified silica nanoparticles made by the disclosed process and further includes from 0.3 to 3 parts by weight of the reaction product of (1) a compound comprising a polyamine in which a plurality of amine groups are bonded to at least one radical selected from the group consisting of hydrocarbon and hydrocarbon ether groups that separate nitrogen atoms of said amine groups by at least four intermediate atoms in a chain, and (2) a silane which carries a plurality of silicon-bonded hydrolyzable groups and a silicon-bonded organic group that is covalently reactive to and which bonds with said amine group, said silane also comprising hydrolyzable groups, to provide a reaction product molecule which comprises an average of 2.5 to 3.5 silane groups per molecule.

In the prior art, it is known to graft organically modified silanes onto a silica nanoparticle surface. Natural silica is covered with hydroxide groups, which are reactive with silanes having silanol or hydrolyzable groups, to bond the silane to the silica. Such silanes may carry a bonded organic radical such as an allyl group, an aminoalkyl group, or any of a variety of organic groups, which can change the surface characteristics of the silica.

Organically modified silica and use thereof


A method for producing bright steel, particularly bar-shaped bright round steel produced from hot-rolled steel. The method includes rounding the round steel coming from rolling heat in a sizing mill to close tolerances, extensively removing the oxide film of the round steel and subsequently subjecting the round steel to a straightening and polishing procedure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for the production of bright or cold-drawn steel, particularly bar-shaped bright round steel produced from hot-rolled steel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bright steel, particularly bright round steel, is a rolled or wrought bar steel with a metallically bright surface. Surface quality is usually divided into technical quality classes which are determined by allowable dimension tolerances, e.g. according to German Industrial Standard DIN 668 corresponding to International Standard (JSO Tolerance group h11 ). The metallically bright surface of the steel is conventionally produced by means of peeling or bright-drawing. Bright-drawing is a process for the production of drawn steel in which the oxide film on the surface is removed and a non-cutting cold forming is affected. Stands suited for this method are drawing rolling mills in which a coiled rolling material is drawn through the non-driven rolls of a roll stand. Drawing benches, which are outfitted with correspondingly shaped drawing tools are also known as suitable machine tools for the production of bright steel.
The peeling of the round steel for producing a bright surface is a cutting process and is affected on so-called peeling machines which are outfitted with correspondingly shaped peeling knives and with guiding and driving rolls. Peeling of the round steel is a step which always involves material loss, even with steel qualities which have not undergone any surface decarburization of the skin and thus need not, necessarily, be treated by material removal.
The investment costs for a drawing rolling mill, a drawing bench, or a peeling machine are high, as are the continuous tooling costs for scalping knives, guide and driving rolls, etc. In addition, there is the fact that the discontinuous operation in drawing and the requirements of devices arranged upstream and downstream make it difficult to incorporate the aforementioned processing machinery in the layout of production-line finishing.

Method for the production of bright round steel


A method for allocating an address in an IP network includes: receiving, by a server, a request message from a client, where the client is connected to the server through at least one routing device, and the request message received by the server carries a device identifier of a preceding stage routing device of the client; obtaining, by the server, according to the device identifier of the preceding stage routing device, a first address prefix pool that is pre-allocated to the preceding stage routing device, and allocating a second address prefix pool to the client according to the first address prefix pool, where an address range corresponding to the second address prefix pool falls within an address range corresponding to the first address prefix pool; and sending, by the server, the second address prefix pool to the client.

Versions of the Internet Protocol (Internet Protocol, referred to as IP) may be classified into two types: IPv4 and IPv6. An IPv4 address prefix pool is allocated by using a dynamic host configuration protocol (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, referred to as DHCP). A routing device between a client (client) and a DHCP server (DHCP server) may apply to a preceding stage (a DHCP server or a preceding stage routing device) for an IPv4 address prefix pool stage by stage, and then allocates the IPv4 address prefix pool to a following stage (a following stage routing device or a client) stage by stage. An IPv6 address prefix pool is allocated by using an IPV6 dynamic host configuration protocol (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6, referred to as DHCPv6). A routing device between a client (client) and a DHCPv6 server (DHCPv6 server) may apply to a preceding stage (a DHCPv6 server or a preceding stage routing device) for an IPv6 address prefix pool stage by stage, and then allocates the IPv6 address prefix pool to a following stage (a following stage routing device or a client) stage by stage.
Each routing device between a client and a DHCP server/DHCPv6 server needs to be configured with configuration information for allocating an address prefix pool to a following stage routing device or the client. Because of different configuration information, complexity of a configuration operation is increased and efficiency of improving address allocation is decreased.

Method, device, and system for allocating address in IP network


Electroabsorption-modulated Fabry-Perot lasers and methods of making the same are described. In one aspect, a light source includes a Fabry-Perot (FP) laser that is operable to generate multimode laser light, an electroabsorption modulator (EAM) that is configured to selectively absorb and transmit laser light traveling therethrough, and an optical isolator. The optical isolator is on an optical path between the FP laser and the EAM. The optical isolator is configured to transmit laser light traveling along the optical path from the FP laser to the EAM.

Two general approaches typically are used to modulate the intensity of light: direct modulation and external modulation.
In a direct modulation approach, a laser (e.g., a laser diode) is directly modulated by an information signal to generate a modulated laser output. The laser output power often is modulated directly by modulating the input drive current to the laser. The laser begins lasing when the drive current exceeds a threshold current level. Typically, the modulation range of input drive current that is applied to a directly modulated laser extends above and near the threshold current level.
In an external modulation approach, a modulator modulates the intensity of light generated by a continuous wave laser in accordance with an information signal. The modulator and laser may be disposed on separate, discrete substrates or they may be fabricated together on a single substrate. External modulators fall into two main families: electro-optic type modulators, such as Mach-Zehnder type electro-optic modulators, which modulate light through destructive interference; and electro-absorption modulators, which modulate light by absorption (e.g., through the quantum-confined Stark effect).
Under direct modulation linear and nonlinear effects within the laser create chirp. Chirp is a variation in optical signal wavelength over the duration of a laser light pulse during modulation. For positive transient chirp, the leading edge of the laser light pulse comprises shorter wavelengths than the trailing edge. In positive dispersion fibers, shorter wavelengths travel faster than longer wavelengths. The pulse therefore broadens as it propagates. Regenerators often are required in order to compensate for this positive chirp, raising the cost of communications networks considerably. Chirp effects are manageable at direct laser modulation bit rates up to a few GHz. Direct modulation of lasers typically is not used at bit rates above a few GHz, especially when the laser is driven to create sharp laser pulses with abrupt rising and falling edges.
External modulation is favored for applications that are sensitive to chirp because external modulation introduces very little chirp into the output signal. For this reason, external modulation is used almost exclusively in long-distance digital optical communications, where excessive spectral broadening in a directly modulated laser due to chirp leads to a greater pulse distortion during propagation and a reduction in overall performance.
Distributed feedback (DFB) lasers are typically used for long-distance optical communication applications. A DFB laser produces an output that is characterized by a narrow spectral linewidth, which allows a DFB laser to transmit signals over long distances. This feature also allows a DFB laser to be used in narrow-linewidth applications, such as wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) where it is desirable to carry as many multiplexed signals as possible without interference in the same optical fiber. DFB lasers, however, are extremely sensitive to back-reflections, which broaden the spectral linewidth and increase noise. For this reason, DFB lasers typically are assembled in one package with an optical isolator that blocks back-reflections.
The narrow linewidth features of DFB lasers and the low chirp characteristics of external modulators are leveraged in long-haul optical data transmission systems. The output wavelength temperature coefficient of a DFB laser and the absorption edge wavelength coefficient of an electroabsorption modulator, however, typically are significantly different, which degrades operation over wide temperature ranges. For this and other reasons, systems that include DFB lasers and electroabsorption modulators also typically include direct active temperature-regulating devices, such as thermoelectric coolers. In one such approach, a DFB laser and an electroabsorption modulator are mounted on an optical platform that is mounted on a submount, which is attached to a thermoelectric cooler. A thermistor mounted on the submount provides thermal feedback that allows the thermoelectric cooler to maintain the temperature of the DFB lasers and the electroabsorption modulators within a prescribed narrow temperature range.
For the reasons explained above, DFB laser designs tend to be bulky, expensive, and high in power consumption.

Electroabsorption-modulated Fabry-Perot laser and methods of making the same

Avago Technologies Fiber IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


A method performed by an apparatus for inducing a sound sleep to induce a sound sleep of an object who is sleeping includes: determining a first wake-up time of the object based on schedule information of the object; receiving bio-information of the object; determining a sleep state of the object from the bio-information of the object; changing the first wake-up time to a second wake-up time by taking into account the sleep state of the object; and outputting a wake-up alarm signal at the second wake-up time.

1. Field
Aspects of one or more exemplary embodiments relate to a method and apparatus for improving and monitoring sleep of an object.
2. Description of the Related Art
Materials that are harmful to humans are present in the air and diseases caused by physical and psychological stress are increasingly common. Also, electromagnetic waves released from various electronic devices greatly threaten human health. Accordingly, home appliances designed taking into account users' health, such as washing machines using negative ions, rather than home appliances having improved functions, have been produced.

Method and apparatus for improving and monitoring sleep


This item of male underwear, in the form of boxer shorts or underpants, has, at the front, a moulded central portion (16) and elongate reinforcement elements (20, 20′, 21, 21′, 22, 22′) made, for example, from silicone, provided in three areas (A, B, C) of the front face (11), i.e. —A support area (A) located at the bottom of the central portion (16), the elongate elements (20, 20′) being shaped substantially like a cradle in this area, —A control area (B) located at the top of the central portion (16), the elongate elements (21, 21′) being shaped substantially like an inverted cradle in this area, —A reinforcement area (C) located to each side of the central portion, the elongate elements (22, 22′) having, in this area, an inclined direction linking the edges (19) of the central portion (16) to the top of the front face (11) in such a way as to pull the support area (A) upwards and towards the sides.

Such an under-garment exhibits a rear side and a front side, which can be achieved in the form of the same, single, knit tube or can be obtained by assembling front and rear panels.
For the comfort of the wearer's genitals, the front side includes a central part exhibiting a curve towards the exterior, advantageously obtained by molding, forming a pouch. This curve provides considerable comfort to the wearer by offering more room for the genitals. Even so, depending on the particular anatomy of the wearer, the space formed by the curve is more or less filled, and an unaesthetic appearance of the under-garment can result when worn. If a thicker textile material is chosen in which to execute this curved part, such as a 3D spacer knit, the visual appearance of the pouch is improved to some extent, at the expense, however, of a natural look, and the degree of opacity is increased. But if the material is thick and heavy, it is detrimental to comfort and yields a protruding curve when the article is laid flat. Briefs are known from patent document FR 2621457, which include elongated, elastic reinforcing elements provided on the front side of the briefs, and particularly over the central part, to reinforce support of the genitals, but these elongated elements are in the form of bands fastened only at their ends onto the front side, and they lead to unsightly deformations. Briefs are known from patent document GB 2474558 which complies with the preamble to Claim 1 hereto attached.


This system for dental X-ray image acquisition comprises an X-ray generator and a control module for controlling an intra-oral sensor. The module includes means for sending a command to the generator in application of at least one predetermined criterion for preventing, stopping, or modifying the power of X-ray emission. The use of this system for optimizing the quantity of X-rays received by a patient.

The present invention relates to a dental X-ray image acquisition system, to an X-ray generator, and to a command module for controlling an intra-oral sensor suitable for use in such a system.
In known manner, a dental X-ray image acquisition system mainly comprises an X-ray generator and an intra-oral sensor that is sensitive to said X-rays, and that is associated with a command module for acquiring the X-ray image.
The X-ray generator is required to be fitted with control means, generally a button, enabling the operator to trigger the emission of X-rays in manual and deliberate manner.
Such an X-ray generator is also fitted with a timer enabling the operator to set a predetermined duration for X-ray emission, it being understood that the operator can also voluntarily stop the emission of X-rays by using the above-mentioned control means.
In a first known system, the starting and the end of acquisition by the sensor are under the control of the generator.
In another known system, in particular as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,166, X-ray sensitive pellets are integrated in the intra-oral sensor, said pellets being adapted to send a signal to the command module of the sensor which controls the starting and the stopping of digital image acquisition as a function of the intensity of said signal.
Also known, in particular from the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,448, is an imaging system in which the output level from a charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor is continuously monitored so as to detect when the generator is emitting X-rays, i.e. whenever said level becomes greater than a noise level. When such emission is detected, image acquisition proper is performed.
Given that the CCD sensor is read and emptied continuously in cyclical manner, in order to make a comparison with the noise level, a most unfavorable circumstance can arise during which no image is acquired even though X-rays have begun to be emitted by the generator.
In practice, 10% to 20% of the X-rays emitted by the generator can be lost in this way, and that is naturally harmful to the patient.
To sum up, none of the above-mentioned prior art systems is capable of optimizing the quantity of X-rays received by the patient since the practitioner can adjust the timer in intuitive manner only. In practice, practitioners prefer to use an overdose of X-rays in order to be sure of obtaining an image of good quality.

Optimizing the quantity of X-rays received by a patient in a dental X-ray image acquisition system


One-step offset bender for speed and accuracy in offsetting pipe or other materials. The offset bender (100) includes a base (110) on which is mounted a fixed shoe support (130) and a traveling shoe support (160). The fixed shoe support fixedly holds a first shoe assembly (200), and the traveling shoe support holds a second shoe assembly (200xe2x80x2) that can be moved vertically and horizontally. The offset bender simultaneously produces two, aligned, equal and opposite bends in conduit by pressing down on the second shoe assembly (200xe2x80x2). The conduit shoe assemblies include a plurality of conduit shoes that can be selectively aligned to accommodate the desired conduit. The fixed shoe support is pivotally attached to the base, and the traveling shoe support is removable, such that the bender may be folded for easy transport. A motor (361) or other power system may be used to facilitate making the bend.

The present invention relates generally to offset benders and, more specifically, to one-step offset benders for pipe and other materials.
Conduit bending is one of the fundamental tasks of the electrical construction industry. For example, conventional electrical wiring installations may use EMT (electrical metallic tubing), galvanized steel conduit, or intermediate conduit for protecting runs of wiring. Installation of the conduit generally requires following a path that may be irregular and may include protuberances and other irregularities that must be negotiated. Very frequently, a step-type bend is required, wherein a straight length of conduit is bent twice such that the end portions of the conduit are parallel but offset. This is commonly referred to as an xe2x80x9coffset bend.xe2x80x9d It will be appreciated that an offset bend typically requires two equal and opposite bends in the conduit.
When the conduit must be bent to generally go around or over an obstacle in an otherwise linear path, two complementary offset bends are made, producing what is commonly called a xe2x80x9csaddle bend.xe2x80x9d A saddle bend generally requires four bends in the conduit, which bends are all equal, with two bends opposite in direction to the other two bends.
Often a number of parallel runs of conduit are required. In such cases, it is desirable that the offset bends for all of the parallel runs be very nearly identical, in order to have an easily followed and aesthetically pleasing result. Producing a good, consistent offset bend, however, requires practice, and can be difficult and time-consuming even for experienced installers. Moreover, if an error is made in an offset bend or saddle bend, the conduit may be rendered unusable.
With a conventional bender, a mechanic in the trade typically bends one end of the pipe a selected amount, and then calculates the appropriate the location and angular amount for a second bend that must be accomplished to achieve a specified offset, while accounting for the xe2x80x9cconduit shrinkagexe2x80x9d caused by the bent portion of the conduit. This is a time-consuming process and can be less than a science. It may take hundreds of hours to learn the skill to make a good offset bend. Another problem with conventional benders is that if the pair of bends are not appropriately aligned, i.e., precisely at 180 degrees opposite, you get what is called a xe2x80x9cdog leg,xe2x80x9d wherein the offset end is not parallel to the starting end. Even when everything is done right and efficiently, it simply takes time to carefully produce two separate bends in a conduit.
A conventional conduit bender includes a conduit shoe having a curved groove that is sized generally to receive the conduit, and a ring or hook element near the end of the groove that is adapted to hold the end of the conduit in alignment during the bending process. An example of a conduit shoe is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,056 to Kozinski. As disclosed by Kozinski, the conduit shoe, or conduit bender, has a rocker base portion formed by a pair of laterally spaced, curved sidewalls that define a longitudinally extending conduit-receiving groove therebetween. A hook is formed at one end of the rocker base portion. Other suitable, somewhat similar conduit shoe members for bending conduit are in common use and are well known in the field. Such suitable shoes are simply referred to as xe2x80x9cconduit shoesxe2x80x9d herein.
It will also be appreciated that, although the present invention is described with reference to conduit, it is also suitable for producing offset bendsxe2x80x94including, for example, saddle bendsxe2x80x94in other tubular materials or other materials, such as metal pipe for water, gas, or the like. Producing such bends in other tubular materials may be particularly important in applications where space is tight and/or the desired routes for such materials are not straight and/or regular, such as in boats, ships, and other vehicles. It should be understood that the term xe2x80x9cconduit,xe2x80x9d as used herein, includes any metal tubular or other-shaped material and, in particular, is not restricted to tubing used for housing wiring.
Although devices for producing offset bends in one step in pipe, conduit, and other materials have been proposed, prior art offset benders have one or more disadvantages. For example, they often are not suitable for producing large offset bends (over one inch) in a single step; they may require mechanical assistance and/or leverage; they cannot accommodate different-sized materials; they often are large and difficult to transport to a construction site; they can be difficult to use; they may not permit easy removal of the bent pipe or conduit; and may not produce repeatable or sufficiently accurate offset bends.
While conventional offset benders may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for speed and accuracy in offsetting pipe or other materials. In these respects, the one-step offset bender, according to the present invention, substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing, provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of improving speed, accuracy, and portability in offsetting pipe or other materials.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of offset benders now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new one-step offset bender construction wherein the same can be utilized for speed and accuracy in offsetting pipe or other materials.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new one-step offset bender that has many of the advantages of conventional conduit benders and novel features that result in a new one-step offset bender that is easy to use, easy to manufacture, and easily transportable.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises: (i) a base; (ii) a first shoe support; (iii) a first shoe assembly attached to the first shoe support, the first shoe assembly including at least one conduit shoe; (iv) a second shoe support that is movable horizontally with respect to the first shoe support; and (v) a second shoe assembly that is movable vertically with respect to the first shoe assembly, the second shoe assembly including at least one conduit shoe. The conduit shoes include a curved radius with a curved groove and a hook arm, as are known in the art, that hold one end of the conduit in a substantially horizontal position.
In the preferred embodiment, each shoe assembly includes a plurality of shoes of differing sizes that are pivotally and lockably mounted to the supports, allowing the user to easily select a desired size.
In the preferred embodiment, the frame includes a horizontal rail that movably supports the second shoe support, and the second shoe assembly is mounted on a vertical rail, whereby the second shoe assembly may be moved generally toward and away from the first shoe assembly, and may be moved vertically with respect to the first shoe assembly.
In another aspect of the preferred embodiment, two or more different sized conduit shoes are mounted on opposite ends of a shaft to allow the shoe size to be changed by pulling a pin and spinning the arm 180 degrees and replacing the pin. A single set of shoes may be used with different sized.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, a motor is used to provide motive power for vertically moving the second shoe assembly. The motive power may be provided with and electric motor, hydraulically, or the like.
In this respect, before describing one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.
An object of the present invention is to provide a one-step offset bender for speed and accuracy in offset bending of pipe or other materials.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a one-step offset bender that makes a straight or true offset in a pipe, conduit, or flat stock in one bend. One of the problems to overcome was that the overall length gets shorter as the material is bent.
Another object is to provide a one-step offset bender that will save time on the job. It may incorporate a built-in guide, so one can read the guide instead of getting out a measuring tape.
Another object is to provide a one-step offset bender that will provide a more uniform outcome on parallel runs of pipe.
Another object is to provide a one-step offset bender that, for smaller uses, could be transported and handled by one person, put in a truck, and used on a small site.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to the user, and it is intended that these objects and advantages are within the scope of the present invention.


An electrical connector is shown having a housing having terminal receiving passageways, which receives a plurality of electrical terminals therein. The connector housing has a rear wire seal having a plurality of apertures at a rear face thereof for receiving terminals and a terminated conductor therethrough. At least one of the plurality of electrical terminal passageways is empty, and the sealing plug is positioned in the terminal receiving passageway to seal the cavity from the rear side thereof. The sealing plug also includes a latching surface for latching with the latch of the housing, and further provides a forward portion to deflect an installed shunt downwardly to prevent stubbing of a pin contact of a mating connector.

Some conventional connector assemblies include a housing that houses an electrical terminal, where some of the terminal receiving cavities of one of the electrical connectors, particularly the socket housing, require an empty cavity, that is, where an electrical terminal is not loaded therein. In such cases, and when a rear seal is installed, a sealing plug can be inserted through the seal to seal the empty cavity. However, some of these connector assemblies include shunted contacts, and when the terminals are not loaded, the shunts themselves extend into the terminal receiving passageway adjacent to the front mating face and can cause stubbing while electrical connection is attempted with the pin header.

Connector assembly with cavity sealing plug


The present disclosure relates to providing a continuous, autonomous monitoring system of environmental parameters, harmful gases and greenhouse gases in animal stables. A network of internet-of-things (IoT) sensors can be installed in a stable that produce alarm signals in case of danger or if predetermined threshold values are exceeded. The sensors work continuously and communicate through different wireless protocols with a dedicated cloud platform. The cloud platform stores the values received by the various sensor units and transmitted via dedicated monitoring devices and elaborates them applying data analysis processes.

The agricultural and zootechnical activities emit pollutants that can impact on all the environmental sectors: air, water, soil, plants and animals. In particular, intensive livestock farms are a considerable source of irritating gases such as ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S), and greenhouse gases such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2), believed to be the agents responsible for soil acidification and global warming (IPCC 2013, http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/). It is known that more than 90% of ammonia released into the atmosphere derives from agriculture and it is also known that about 97% of agricultural emissions derive from animal husbandry and related activities; moreover 50% of these emissions are released by zootechnical structures intended as animal shelters and stored sewage. Ammonia (NH3) is produced by the fermenting urea in animal dejections and is toxic at concentrations above 50 parts per million (from now on ppm). In closed environments such as barns, stalls and sheds for animal husbandry, its concentration can reach levels even higher than 60 ppm. Through a series of chemical reactions it can be transformed into nitrogen oxides (NOx) and contribute to the phenomenon of acid rain. Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) in animal farms originates from the decomposition of animal dejections. Normally present in the atmosphere at concentrations between 0.11 and 0.33 ppb (parts per billion), in intensive farms it is found at concentrations lower than 2-3 ppm, but it can reach peaks of 80-800 ppm during the handling of slurry.
This acid has a toxic effect already at 50 ppm. Nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) are other emissions typically produced by zootechnical sewage. The methane (CH4) is one of the most significant greenhouse gases, having a specific impact 21 times higher than the carbon dioxide emitted by animals during respiration and fermentation of sewage. In zootechnics, the ability to control greenhouse gas emissions is often limited and difficult to manage. However, it is possible to intervene through targeted mitigation actions. Currently available techniques to reduce harmful gas emissions (NH3, H2S) in the animal stables are often easy to implement if performed promptly, such as the rapid removal of animal manure to an external tank; nonetheless, currently the concentration of gas in the stables is monitored manually and sporadically by operators who are in turn exposed to the gaseous emissions.
The automation and digitalization of the measurement system would allow farmers to implement targeted actions to mitigate emissions in a timely and efficient manner Such actions would have a beneficial effect on farmers as they would improve the productivity of the farm by limiting the risks to the health of operators and animals, reducing the energy consumption and, generally, lowering production costs.
An automated gas monitoring service would also provide farmers not only with data about harmful gases, but also with values useful to define their carbon footprint, i.e. the parameters that currently must be communicated to the competent authorities in accordance with the European directives on the mitigation of agricultural activities environmental impacts (protocol E-PRTR, http://www.eprtr.it/homepage.asp).
Monitoring the concentration of gas and environmental parameters in animal stables is still an open issue; to date there are no autonomous systems working continuously, 24/7, nor processes for data collection on harmful gas emissions (for humans, animals and environment) or environmental parameters such as temperature and humidity values in livestock farms allowing to analyse and return such data, processed, to the end user. Moreover, there are no integrated sensor systems to warn in real time if significant and predetermined threshold values of the above mentioned chemical and physical parameters are exceeded, thus putting at risk the welfare of the animals and operators.
Recently, wireless systems have been introduced (Hong et al., CN105608876) to deal with the problem of the detection of limited and sporadic environmental data (temperature and humidity) and the measurement of NH3 in the stables. However, these solutions do not allow the measurement of H2S or greenhouse gases or the other parameters necessary to guarantee an optimal environment for animal breeding, for the health of the operator in the stables and to obtain maximum production efficiency. Furthermore, these solutions do not provide real-time alerting services, nor services for the analysis and return of data useful for environmental parameters monitoring and for the prevention, or the subsequent data visualisation via web applications. Moreover, they do not guarantee the safety of the environmental monitoring through storage systems on remote servers and not on site.
In addition to the patent mentioned before, there are other environmental monitoring systems through IoT networks that are based on an architecture made up of sensors distributed in different areas of the premises to be monitored that communicate with a single monitoring device responsible for transmitting data to a remote platform (GB 2537170 A, WO 2014/129966 A1, CN105608876). This bottleneck structure implies a complete loss of the collected data should the monitoring device communicating with the cloud stop working. The damage resulting from this weakness in the system design is potentially enormous for a production process that requires constant control as it happens with animal breeding.

Network of IoT sensors for monitoring harmful gas in animal stables


Humid waste air is produced in heated laundry machines. This humid waste air has a still relatively high temperature. In order for the energy contained in the humid waste air to be recovered, at least in part, the humid waste air is directed through a heat exchanger (12). Condensate is produced in the heat exchanger (12), and it has proven difficult, in the case of known heat exchangers (12), for this condensate to be directed away. Moreover, the humid waste air contains accompanying substances, for example fluff from the treated laundry. These accompanying substances are deposited in known heat exchangers (12), which adversely affect the efficiency of the heat exchanger (12) over time. The invention makes provision for the heat exchanger (12) to be equipped with upright heat-exchanger plates (13), from which the condensate can run off. The condensate can then be discharged in a specific manner out of the heat exchanger (12). The invention further provides for the accompanying substances to be separated from the humid waste air at least in part in the heat exchanger (12) and to be directed away together with the condensate. It is thus no longer possible for the accompanying substances to settle in the heat exchanger (12) and adversely affect its effectiveness.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a method of treating waste heat from heated laundry machines, the still hot, humid waste air being directed through a heat exchanger and condensate forming in the heat exchanger as the humid waste air cools. The invention also relates to an apparatus for treating the waste air from laundry machines, having a heat exchanger with heat-exchanger plates, with the waste air flowing along the outside of the heat-exchanger plates.
2. Prior Art
In part, considerable quantities of energy, to be precise of heat energy in particular, are required for operating the laundry machines in commercial laundries. This applies, in particular, to mangles, driers and finishers. In order to recover this energy, at least in part, it is known for the energy which is produced or given off during the operation of laundry machines to be directed through a heat exchanger, as a result of which preferably liquid which is required in laundries, for example cold water, is heated up.
The waste heat is humid waste air from laundry machines which has various accompanying substances in it. Such accompanying substances are predominantly constituted by fluff from the items of laundry which are to be treated. However, the accompanying substances may also be residues of mangle wax, detergent or the like. These accompanying substances result, over time, in the heat exchanger being adversely affected. In particular the effectiveness of the heat exchanger suffers as a result.

Method of, and apparatus for, treating the waste air from heated laundry machines


A method for removing a fluid and a material in contact with the fluid from a borehole penetrating the earth, the method including: operating a pump coupled to the borehole at a first speed for a first time interval to remove the fluid; and operating the pump at a second speed greater than the first speed for a second time interval to remove the fluid and the material.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed herein relates to a method and apparatus for removing a liquid in contact with another material from an earth formation and, in particular, to using an electrical submersible pump for the removing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical submersible pumps are generally used by the hydrocarbon production industry to remove a liquid from an earth formation. An electrical submersible pump (ESP) is placed in a borehole that provides access to the liquid. The ESP is electrically energized from a power supply at the surface of the earth. Thus, when energized, the ESP pumps the liquid that has entered the borehole to the surface of the earth for removal.
Other materials may also be present in the borehole. For example, a gas may be present along with the liquid in the borehole. In certain wells, the borehole may have long horizontal lengths to increase flow. It is not uncommon for an ESP to be landed in a section of a horizontal borehole that extends thousands of feet without a casing from the ESP. The geometry of the open-cased borehole is generally not perfectly horizontal allowing for high points in the borehole. The high points in turn can accumulate pockets of the gas.
During pumping operations, the pockets of gas can release all at once causing the ESP to gas lock and stop lifting fluid. Gas locking of the ESP can hamper continued flow of the liquid and water removal thus reducing production. In addition, gas locking can damage the ESP due to mechanical wear from gas affects and/or high temperature from excessive high speed as the gas flows through the ESP.
Another type of material that may be present with the liquid in the borehole is solid matter. Wellbore solids can enter the borehole at a point that is not cased. The solids entrained with the liquid can flow into and out of the ESP causing a potential for future damage. Sometimes the solids in the form of scale can build up on inner surfaces of the ESP or on inner surfaces of the production tubing. If the scale breaks off a surface, the scale may not have sufficient velocity to flow through and out of the tubing. The scale that does not exit the tubing can fall back towards the ESP and onto a check valve if used, plugging the check valve. If a check valve is not used, the scale can fall back into stages of the ESP accelerating mechanical wear, increasing power consumption, and/or plugging the ESP.
Therefore, what are needed are techniques to remove a liquid that is in contact with another type of material from a borehole penetrating the earth without damaging a pump.

Mini-surge cycling method for pumping liquid from a borehole to remove material in contact with the liquid


An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a developing device configured to develop an electrostatic image formed on the image bearing member into a toner image, and an exchangeable developer container configured to supply the developer into the developing device. A content sensor detects information relating to a toner content in the developing device, and an exchange detecting portion detects an exchanging operation of the developer container. A controller controls a supplying operation for supplying the developer from the developer container to the developing device on the basis of a detection result of the content sensor and executes a developer supplying mode for supplying developer prohibiting an image forming operation. The controller controls the supplying operation so as to permit the image forming operation without executing the developer supplying mode until an amount of formed images reaches a predetermined level.

An image forming apparatus provided with a developing device for developing an electrostatic image formed on an image bearing member, into a toner image, using the developer (two component developer) containing toner and carrier is widely used. An image forming apparatus comprising an exchangeable developer container containing a reservoir developer including toner in which the reservoir developer is exchanged to supply the developer is widely used. Ordinarily, the developing device is provided with a sensor for detecting a toner content (toner weight ratio in the developer), and an amount of the developer response to the sensor output and the toner consumption amount for each image forming operation is supplied into the developing device in accordance with image forming operation.
In the image forming apparatus provided with the exchangeable developer container, it is not the fact that immediately after the start of the supply of the reservoir developer by the developer supply portion after the exchange of the developer container, the supplied developer flows into the developing device. Not less than ten sec is required for the developer supplied from the developer container to reach and to be stirred and mixed and to recover the toner content.
For this reason, with the image forming apparatus provided with the exchangeable developer container, it is ordinary that when the developer container is exchanged, the image forming operation is temporarily interrupted, and the developer supply portion is operated for not less than ten sec, and then the image forming operation is permitted (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2005-62848).
However, in the case that the developer supply portion is automatically operated after the exchange of the developer container, the image forming operation is not possible for that time period, with the result of down time of the image forming apparatus. Particularly in the case of a full-color image forming apparatus comprising a plurality of developing containers, the frequency of the occurrences of such down time is multiplied by the number of the developer containers.
In view of this, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2007-65325 discloses an image forming apparatus of one component developing type (magnetic toner type), in which the image forming operation is enabled to start immediately after the exchange of the developer container. The developer supply portion is provided with a multi-level toner level sensor, and the image forming operation is stopped only when the toner level becomes lower than the lowest toner level, and the toner supply from the developer supply portion is continued.
In the two component developing type developing device, the developer amount in the developing device hardly changes whatever amount of the toner is consumed, and therefore, the method using the toner level sensor disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2007-65325 cannot be employed. Then, it has been proposed that the image forming operation is permitted immediately after the exchange of the developer container, and thereafter, when the toner content in the developing device becomes lower than a first reference value which is set to be lower than the normal level, the image forming operation is prevented, and the toner supply from the developer supply portion is continued.
However, the output of the toner density sensor significantly changes depending on the temperature and humidity, the toner charge amount and the fluidity state of the developer, and therefore, the discrimination based on the output of the toner density sensor may lead to failure of the necessary prevention of the image forming operation. If the first reference value is raised in a attempt to assure the prevention of the image forming operation in order to avoid excessive decrease of the toner content, the frequency of unnecessary preventions of the image forming operation increases, with the result of increase of the down time of the image forming apparatus.

Image forming apparatus having developer supplying control


An object is rotated by a rotation device 15 in X rays 25 generated by a X-ray generation device 11. The rotation device 15 makes constant the integration value of the X rays 25 reaching a two-dimensional X-ray sensor 12 during each charge integration time during which a plurality of image data are acquired.

In recent years, much effort has been made to develop two-dimensional X-ray sensors (also referred to as "FPDs (Flat Panel Detectors)) for radiography in order to acquire digital data for large screens (see Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-288184). A radiographic device has been applied to medical radiography; the radiographic device performs a plain radiographic operation using a two-dimensional X-ray sensor having a large detector surface of size 43×43 cm.
On the other hand, another radiographic device is known which exposes the object to X rays and uses an X-ray detector to detect the dose of X-ray radiation having penetrated the object, thus obtaining projection image data (sometimes called "scanogram" or "SCOUT image"), tomogram, or three-dimensional image data on the object on the basis of the X-ray detection output (photon count of the X ray) from the X-ray detector.
An improvement in a technique for developing a two-dimensional X-ray sensor has resulted in development of a cone beam CT (Computed Tomography) device (hereinafter referred to as a CBCT device) that is a radiographic device that generates three-dimensional image data. Conventional X-ray CT devices use X-ray beams that are sliced thin in a Z direction (body axis direction); these X-ray beams are called fan beams. In contrast, the CBCT device uses X-ray beams spreading also in the Z direction (hereinafter referred to as "cone beams") and receives the cone beams using a two-dimensional detector (having a built-in two-dimensional X-ray sensor). Compared to the CT device using fan beams, the CT device using cone beams can image a wider range of the object during one rotation of scan. This reduces the number of rotations required for computed tomography, thus advantageously allowing a radiographic operation to be efficiently performed. In other words, a radiographic operation can be efficiently performed by increasing a cone angle (spread angle in the Z direction) corresponding to the spread of cone beams. On the other hand, too large a cone angle disadvantageously results in an error in image generation.
A certain type of cone beam CT device (hereinafter referred to as a CBCT device) carries out scanning (collects image data) while rotating a pair of an X-ray source and a detector around the object as shown in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-21372) (image data may be referred to as "projection images"). However, to irradiate the entirety of the large detector surface of a two-dimensional detector with radiation from a radiation source, having a cone angle less than a given angle, at least a given distance must be set between the two-dimensional detector and the radiation source. Accordingly, with a CBCT device of a type that carries out scanning (collects image data) while rotating a pair of an X-ray source (X-ray generation device) and a detector around the object, it is very difficult, owing to the size of the device, to set a certain distance between the two-dimensional detector and the radiation source so as to allow the large detector surface of the two-dimensional detector to be effectively used.
On the other hand, effort has been made to develop and put to practical use an object rotating type CBCT device that rotates the object while a pair of an X-ray source and a two-dimensional detector has been fixed as described in Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-217810). The object rotating type CBCT device acquires image data at every given rotation angle and uses a plurality of acquired image data to reconstruct an image.
The penetration rate of X rays varies depending on the direction in which the X rays are incident on the human body. Further, to obtain a predetermined image SN ratio, it is necessary that X-ray radiation of at least a given dose reaches the two-dimensional detector. Moreover, the dose of X-ray radiation to which the patient is exposed needs to be minimized. Thus, the dose of X-ray radiation reaching the two-dimensional detector during acquisition of one image data desirably falls within a predetermined range.
The following is used to solve the above problems, in a spiral CT and a multi-slice CT which are the traditional type of X-ray CT device rotating the X-ray source: (1) a method of adjusting X rays emanated by the X-ray generating means, for each slice position on the basis of projection image data or (2) a method of adjusting X rays emanated by the X-ray source, at every rotation angle on the basis of data on the dose of X-ray radiation having penetrated the patient. In other words, the conventional CT devices adjust the dose of X-ray radiation reaching the detector (sensor unit) by adjusting the output from the X-ray generation device (Patent Document 4 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-124152) and Patent Document 5 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-206107)).
On the other hand, the object rotating type CBCT device can be used as a radiographic device for normal plain radiography by stopping the rotation of the object (testing object). That is to say, the single device can advantageously be used both for CT and for plain radiography. Further, it has been proposed that X-ray generation devices for plain radiography already installed in general hospitals be diverted to object rotating type radiographic devices. Moreover, it has been desired that a single X-ray generation device be used both as a radiographic device for plain radiography and as an object rotating type radiographic device.

Radiographic device and radiographic method


A k-anonymization device includes: a list creation unit 1 that creates, based on generalization hierarchies about attribute values of attributes of a database, lists of values, each being obtained by generalizing each attribute value of each attribute of the database to each generalization level of the corresponding generalization hierarchy, and codes representing the values; a search unit 3 that searches for a node with k-anonymity of a lattice structure in parallel by determining whether a generalized database obtained by generalizing the database to generalization levels corresponding to each node of the lattice structure has k-anonymity based on the generalized database represented by the codes, which is obtained by referring to the created lists; and an output unit 4 that outputs a generalized database obtained by generalizing the database to generalization levels corresponding to a node with k-anonymity, which was found by the search, of the lattice structure.

As techniques of concealing individual data of a database by a deterministic technique, there are Non-patent Literatures 1 to 3. In concealment processing of these Non-patent Literatures 1 to 3, by performing generalization processing or record deletion on data, the data is processed so that k or more identical records exist (k-anonymity). This processing is called k-anonymization.
The generalization processing is generalizing data. For example, "an apple" is generalized to "fruit" and "age 13" is generalized to "a teenager". In many of the types of generalization processing, a tree structure, which is called a generalization hierarchy, indicating the generalized and specialized relationship between values is prepared and processing is performed by performing coding of a value by following the path of the tree structure. For instance, in generalization processing, processing to raise the level of the generalization hierarchy is performed.
In FIG. 7, an example of the generalization hierarchy is shown. FIG. 7 shows examples of generalization hierarchies about a date, gender, and an address.
In many of the existing techniques, minimum generalization and deletion processing that satisfies k-anonymity is performed. This corresponds to selecting, from combinations of ways to raise the generalization levels of attributes, a combination that requires the smallest number of operations of generalization and deletion processing. This is also called optimal k-anonymization. If a set of the generalization levels of attributes is assumed to be a node, the combinations of ways to raise the levels can be expressed as a lattice structure. Optimal k-anonymization is a problem of efficiently searching the lattice structure for a node on which optimal k-anonymization is performed.
In FIG. 8, an example of the lattice structure is shown. FIG. 8 is an example of the lattice structure of the levels of the generalization hierarchies about a date (depth 3), gender (depth 2), and an address (depth 5) shown in FIG. 7. (0, 0, 0) are the values of a date, gender, and an address at level 0; for example, the values are (1, 0, 0) when the level of a date is raised by one tier. The level of the lattice shown on the right side of FIG. 8 indicates how many times the level was raised.
This search problem has been demonstrated to be NP-hard, and various methods of heuristically and efficiently executing this problem have been studied (for example, see Non-patent Literatures 1 to 3). These algorithms achieve an increase in efficiency by narrowing a search space in a lattice structure based on the property: "if a certain node in a lattice structure satisfies k-anonymity, an arbitrary higher-order node also satisfies k-anonymity".

κ-anonymization device, method, and program

NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION


All-optical photoacoustic spectrometer sensing systems (PASS system) and methods include all the hardware needed to analyze the presence of a large variety of materials (solid, liquid and gas). Some of the all-optical PASS systems require only two optical-fibers to communicate with the opto-electronic power and readout systems that exist outside of the material environment. Methods for improving the signal-to-noise are provided and enable mirco-scale systems and methods for operating such systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to spectrometry, and more specifically, it relates to solid, liquid and gas sensors.
2. Description of Related Art
A variety of different molecules (solid, liquid and gas) can absorb energy at specific wavelengths of light. The resulting energy increase by the optically excited gas molecules may dissipate via collisions between the excited molecules and the surrounding molecules present, ultimately transferring the energy from vibration to translation. If the optical excitation source is pulsed, this results in periodic local heating the molecules, which induces a pressure change. The pressure change induces an acoustic wave which can be detected using a microphone. As different molecules absorb energy at different wavelengths, optically scanning a variety of different wavelengths allows identification of the molecules present based on the wavelengths at which an acoustic wave is detected. This technique has been used in large scale sensing apparatuses; however, a successful sensor fabricated on a micro-scale has not been achieved.

Micro-optical-mechanical system photoacoustic spectrometer

Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC


This invention relates to a type of "automatic gas spray device & its safety system", particularly to one that can be installed at various locations to automatically spray irritative gas activated by an electronic control main unit and a sensor in case of an attack, robbery or burglary to hinder villains and with a closed-circuit monitor, illumination equipment, alarm and such components as solenoid sensor to comprise an integrated safety system, so that in case of an emergency, to simultaneously give alarm and switch on the illumination equipment and take a photo of the villain with a closed-circuit monitor to facilitate identification of the villain.

This invention relates to a type of "automatic gas spray device & its safety system", particularly to one that can be installed at various locations to automatically spray irritative gas activated by electronic control main unit and a sensor in case of an attack, robbery or burglary to supress villains, and with a closed-circuit monitor, illumination equipment, alarm and such components as solenoid sensor, vibration sensor, etc. to compose an integrated safety system, so that in case of an emergency, to simultaneously give alarm and switch on the illumination equipment and take the photo of the villain from the closed-circuit monitor to facilitate identification of the villain.
Robbery and burglary have been known through long history. In this day of highly advanced science and technology and upgraded living standards, however, robbery and burglary are not on the decline. Villains are nowadays using more dangerous weapons than before. When the police arrives at the scene of a robbery case, the villains would have gone away leaving no trace behind. Therefore, it is imperative to develop a more effective protection device to ensure the safety of human life and properties. In view of the above, the inventor has actively studied the ways to solve such problems, and has come up with a type of "automatic gas spray device & its safety system" which will be able to protect human life and reduce financial loss. This invention is mainly composed of a gas cylinder a solenoid, sliding seat, spray nozzle, base casing, adjustment seat, fixing rod to form an automatic gas spray device which is installed in a particular place at one's house or other locations, when the robber activates the sensor, the pushing rod at the center of solenoid pushes the gas cylinder in the sliding seat, gas is sprayed from the nozzle to stop the robber. Meanwhile, it activates the alarm, lighting fixture and closed circuit monitor, as well as an automatic call to nearby police force or relatives or friends. This invention, can be used at one's house and other facilities or locations to protect human life and properties against robbers.

Automatic gas spray device & its safety system


The present invention relates to a coating composition containing. A) 30 to 99 wt. % of an aqueous hydroxy- and/or amino-functional resin dispersion and PA0 B) 1 to 70 wt. % of a water dispersible polyisocyanate mixture prepared from aliphatic, cycloaliphatic, araliphatic and/or aromatic diisocyanates and having. a) an average isocyanate functionality of at least 2.0, PA1 b) a content of 5.0 to 25.0 wt. %, based on resin solids, of isocyanate groups (calculated as NCO; molecular weight=42) and PA1 c) a content of 2 to 50 wt. %, based on resin solids, of ethylene oxide units calculated as C.sub.2 H.sub.4 O; molecular weight 44) incorporated within polyether chains containing an average of 5 to 35 ethylene oxide units,. wherein at least 60 mole % of the polyether chains are connected via allophanate groups to two polyisocyanate molecules which are each prepared from at least two diisocyanate molecules.. The present invention also relates to the use of these coating compositions for preparing coatings, primers and sealing compositions, in particular for automotive refinish and original equipment manufacture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to new aqueous two-component coating compositions based on hydroxy- and/or amino-functional water dilutable resins and new water dispersible polyisocyanate hardeners and to their use in coating and sealing compositions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Because of their outstanding properties, two-component polyurethane coating compositions have acquired great importance in the coatings sector. A disadvantage is that in most cases relatively large amounts of organic solvents are required for their processing. However, in almost all fields of use, high-solids and especially water dilutable coating compositions are required to reduce or avoid solvent emissions to the extend possible.
Until a few years ago, it did not seem possible to use water as a solvent for two-component polyurethane coating compositions because isocyanate groups can react not only with the hydroxyl groups of the resin to give urethanes, but also with water to form urea and carbon dioxide. As a result, the processing time, the application reliability and the ability to obtain adequate blister-free coating thicknesses were made difficult, and the resistance properties of the coating compositions and coatings deteriorated to values which no longer met practical requirements.
In recent years efforts have increasingly been made to reduce these problems. EP-A 358,979 discloses that selected polyhydroxy polyacrylate secondary dispersions can be combined with polyisocyanates having free isocyanate groups to give aqueous two-component compositions.
It is also possible to apply this principle to other hydroxy-functional resin dispersions, which means that the properties of the coating compositions can be varied. For example, EP-A 557,844 describes two-component polyurethane coatings based on hydroxy-functional primary dispersions, EP-A 543,228 describes those based on polyester-polyacrylate hybrid dispersions, EP-A 741,176 describes those based on alkyd resins emulsified with foreign components, EP-A 496,205 describes those based on urethane-modified polyester dispersions, and EP 542,105 describes those based on mixtures of various types of resin.
Both hydrophobic and hydrophilic, self-emulsifying polyisocyanates can be used as the polyisocyanate component in the aqueous two-component polyurethane systems. Hydrophilically modified polyisocyanates, such as those described in EP-A 206,059, in EP-A 540,985 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,489, are particularly suitable crosslinking agents. Such polyisocyanate mixtures containing polyether-urethanes can be emulsified very easily, e.g., by simple manual stirring, into the aqueous resin dispersion, which is of substantial importance, in particular for automotive refinish car repair and original equipment manufacture. Due to the simplified incorporation of the hardener, a more homogeneous thorough mixing of the components is achieved, and the application reliability and optical properties, especially the gloss of the coatings, are increased significantly.
However, when these polyether-modified polyisocyanates are used, because of the additional hydrophilic groups introduced into the system and the reduced NCO functionality of the crosslinking agent due to the hydrophilic modification, other important properties of the coating composition, in particular the resistance to solvents and water, are impaired. Also, the compatibility of certain dispersions, e.g. primary dispersions (emulsion copolymers), even with the known hydrophilic polyisocyanates, is often not yet adequate, so that cloudy clear varnish films are often obtained. The problems of a limited pot life and the occurrence of reaction blisters in high coating thicknesses also have not yet been satisfactorily solved.
An object of the present invention is to provide new aqueous two-component polyurethane coating compositions with improved resistance to solvents and water combined with a high gloss, reduced haze, prolonged pot life, high application reliability and adequate blister-free coating thicknesses. These new coating compositions should be suitable in particular for automotive refinish and original equipment manufacture, both as a priming filler, filler, top coat and clearcoat.
Surprisingly, it has been possible to achieve this object with the coating compositions according to the invention, which are based on hydroxy- and/or amino-functional water dilutable resins and new water dispersible polyisocyanate hardeners.
The present invention is based on the surprising observation that by reacting low-monomer polyisocyanates with monofunctional polyethylene oxide polyether alcohols to form allophanate groups, it is possible to prepare new water dispersible polyisocyanate mixtures of high isocyanate functionality which can readily be stirred into aqueous compositions considerably more easily and in a more finely divided form at significantly lower polyether contents than prior art water dispersible polyisocyanates which are prepared from the same polyether alcohols with the exception that the polyether chains are connected to the polyisocyanate via urethane groups. Because of their outstanding emulsifiability in water at lower polyether contents in combination with a higher isocyanate functionality, the use of these new polyisocyanate mixtures as the hardener component in aqueous polyurethane coating compositions results in coatings with outstanding optical properties, in particular high surface gloss, flow and high transparency, and also significantly improved water and solvent resistance.

Aqueous two-component polyurethane coating compositions


The present invention provides geometric arrangements for channels through which liquids or other fluids can be made to flow, for enhanced performance of fuel cells or other chemical or biochemical reactors or analyzers. Systems and methods including these improved geometries are described herein for enhanced performance of a variety of devices. Specifically, in one set of embodiments, the reactors comprise one or more microchannels comprising a tapered cross-sectional area and at least one reactive surface portion. By flowing a liquid comprising one or more reactants through the channel such that the cross-sectional area decreases in a downstream direction, relatively more reactant may be supplied to the wall at downstream positions relative to the amount that would be supplied in a system without a tapered cross-section. In some embodiments, the microchannel may be constructed and arranged such that the amount of reactant supplied to the wall conforms to a predetermined distribution.

Laminar flow of fluids within microchannels has been studied for use in microfluidic fuel cells, which consist of an anode and cathode configured as a galvanic cell within a microchannel Parallel streams of fuel and oxidant flow across the anode and cathode, respectively, where electrochemical reactions occur when the potential difference between fuel and oxidant is thermodynamically favorable.
In many conventional reactive microfluidic channels (e.g., fuel cells), the rate of reaction declines along the length of the microfluidic channel. In fuel cells, this may lead to declines in current and power density. These effects may be explained in terms of the diffusion layer. The diffusion layer is the thin layer of liquid near the electrode surface where rapid changes in the concentration of oxidized or reduced species occurs during an electrochemical reaction. Under conditions of convective flow and high Peclet number, the diffusion layer is confined near the surface of the electrode analogous to Prandtl's boundary layer. As the electrochemical reaction proceeds, electroactive species are depleted cumulatively. As such, the leading edge of the electrode experiences a higher concentration of electroactive species relative to the trailing edge because the thickness of the diffusion layer is increasing along the length of the electrode. As the thickness of the diffusion layer increases, the average mass flux toward the electrode decreases along with the corresponding current and power density.
Accordingly, improved compositions and methods are needed.

Reactant delivery to a reactive surface in a channel


Exemplary image calibration systems and methods are described herein. An exemplary method includes an image calibration system receiving data representative of an input camera image, detecting a face of a person represented in the input camera image, determining a predefined skin tone template associated with the person, and modifying the input camera image to change an appearance of the face of the person based on the predefined skin tone template associated with the person. In certain embodiments, the modification changes one or more skin tones represented by an image of the face of the person in the camera image based on the predefined skin tone template. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.

As digital imaging technologies have advanced, digital cameras have become commonplace in modern society. Digital cameras are found in dedicated camera devices (e.g., dedicated video and/or still-shot camera devices), mobile phone devices, smartphone devices, tablet computers, laptop computers, gaming devices, and other computing devices.
The proliferation of digital cameras in modern society has led to digital camera images being captured in numerous different environments having a wide variety of lighting conditions. Because the quality and features of camera images are highly dependent on the lighting conditions in which the camera images are captured, the differences in lighting conditions within which camera images that include a person are captured can result in the person appearing different from one camera image to another. The appearance (e.g., skin tones) of the person in a camera image captured under certain lighting conditions may be preferred over the appearance of the person in another camera image captured under different lighting conditions. To illustrate one example, the skin tones of the face of a person may blend into the shadow tones of a camera image that is captured in dim lighting and/or underexposed. Unfortunately, such results are not uncommon considering that the various lighting conditions in which camera images of a person are captured may not be controllable in all situations and that many digital cameras are programmed to be biased, when operated in an automatic image capture mode, toward erring on the side of underexposing an image in order to avoid white light clipping that may result from overexposing an image.
Because of such differences in the appearance of a person across camera images captured in various lighting conditions, manual editing of digital camera images has become a common practice. However, such manual editing of camera images may require expensive editing tools, proficient image editing skills, tedious labor, and significant amounts of time.
Moreover, for certain uses of camera images, there is insufficient time available for manual editing of the camera images. For example, more and more people use mobile devices to indiscriminately capture and share camera images with one another by way of messages, social networking services, and/or photo sharing services in a way that leaves insufficient time for manual review and/or editing of the camera images before they are shared.

Automatic skin tone calibration for camera images