A removable air bleed assembly for use with between a paintball gun and an auxiliary system includes a pin having an elongated pin channel extending through a majority of the pin to bleed pressurized air from the paintball gun. An air conduit is coupled between and in fluid communication with the removable pin and an auxiliary assembly to facilitate passage of the pressurized air from the paintball gun to the auxiliary assembly. The removable pin can be manually removed from the paintball gun without the need for any tools. The auxiliary system can be at least one of an agitator system and an uploader system, as an example.

1) Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to a pneumatic gun for shooting balls, such as balls filled with liquid paint for sporting events.
2) Description of the Prior Art
Popularity and developments in the paintball industry have led to the demand for increased performance from paintball guns. Paintball gun users usually partake in paintball war games. A paintball war game is generally played between two teams of players that try to capture the opposing team's flag. Each flag is located at the team's home base. Such a game is played on a large field with opposing home bases at each end. The players are each armed with a paintball gun that shoots paintballs. Paintballs are gelatin-covered spherical capsules filled with paint.
During the game, the players of each team advance toward the opposing team's base in an attempt to steal the opposing team's flag. The players must do so without first being eliminated from the game by being hit by a paintball shot by an opponent's gun. When a player is hit by a paintball the gelatin capsule ruptures and the paint is splashed onto the player. As a result the player is "marked" and is out of the game.
These war games have increased in popularity and sophistication resulting in more elaborate equipment. One such improvement is the use of semi-automatic and automatic paintball guns that allow for rapid firing of paintballs. As a result of the increased firing speed, a need has developed for increased storage capacity of paintballs in the paintball loaders that are mounted to the gun. Also, users demand faster feed rates as the guns continue to develop.
Paintball loaders typically include a housing that sits on an upper portion of a paintball gun and which is designed to hold a large quantity of paintballs. There is an outlet tube at the bottom of the housing through which the paintballs drop by the force of gravity. The paintballs pass into an inlet tube located in the upper portion of the gun.
In use, paintballs fall sequentially through the outlet tube into the inlet of the gun. The inlet tube directs each paintball into the firing chamber of the gun where the paintball is propelled outwardly from the gun by compressed air. Because existing paintball loaders rely on the force of gravity to feed the paintballs to the gun, they function properly to supply paintballs only if the gun and the loader are held in a substantially upright position. If, during a game, a player is forced to hold the gun sideways or upside down, the loader will not function properly.
Furthermore, it is not uncommon that, while feeding paintballs to the gun, the paintballs jam in the gun. In order to correct the problem, the player may shake the gun or strike the loader in order to dislodge the jammed paintball. This obviously places the player at risk during the game since the player is distracted by the need to adjust the equipment.
Conventional paintball loaders, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,232 to Bell et al., the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein, utilize an optical sensor mounted within the loaders to detect the absence of a paintball in the infeed tube of a paintball gun. When the sensor detects that there is no paintball in the infeed tube of the paintball gun, a motor is activated which causes a paddle to force a paintball into the paintball gun. Other conventional paintball loaders, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,511 to Kotsiopoulos et al., the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein, utilize agitators having sound sensors to sense a gun firing event. In response to the sound of the gun firing, an electrical signal is sent to activate an agitator that moves a paintball into the feed tube.
While recent feed systems are an improvement over the prior feeders, the current feed systems are complicated and costly to manufacture. Such systems may also lead to jamming.


A planter includes a pair of toothed wheels which sweep mulch away from the path followed by furrow opening discs. The sweeper wheels are carried on the trailing end of a parallel bar linkage attached to a tool bar by which the planter is pulled. As a result of the parallel bar linkage, the sweeper wheels may float upwardly and downwardly independently of the planter frame in order to conform to uneven ground and achieve more effective removal of the mulch without significantly disturbing the soil. The forward location of the sweeper wheels enables a coulter to be mounted on the planter frame and slice vertically into the ground ahead of the furrow opening discs.

The present invention relates to a rotary, ground-driven row cleaner for use in conservation tillage farming (i.e., no-till or low-till) and particularly useful in conjunction with row planter units. A planter unit with a ground-driven row cleaner is disclosed in Martin U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,890. Several planter units may be attached to an elongated and laterally extending tool bar adapted to be pulled forwardly across the field by a tractor.
The row cleaner of the Martin patent comprises two toothed wheels which are located so as to sweep residue (e.g., organic mulch) laterally away from the path followed by furrow opening means which may take the form of a pair of forwardly converging discs adapted to create a furrow in the soil. The toothed sweeper wheels are mounted on the rigid frame of the planter unit ahead of a pair of depth gauge wheels and are located at the position usually occupied by a rotatable coulter. When used, a coulter slices vertically into the soil ahead of the furrow openers and facilitates formation of the furrow by the openers.
In the Martin apparatus, the advantages of a coulter are lost since the coulter is replaced by the sweeper wheels. Moreover, the rigid mounting of sweeper wheels on the frame of the planter unit ahead of the gauge wheels makes it difficult for the sweeper wheels to rise and fall as they move over uneven ground. As a result, the sweeper wheels tend to move too much soil as they pass through a ridge and tend to leave too much residue as they pass over a valley.


Various embodiments include computer-implemented methods, computer program products and systems for analyzing at least one feature in a layout representing an integrated circuit (IC) for an overlay effect. In some cases, approaches include a computer-implemented method including: modeling a topography of the IC by running at least one of a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) model, a deposition model or an etch model on a data file representing the IC after formation of an uppermost layer; modeling the at least one feature in the IC for an overlay effect using the topography model of the IC; and modifying the data file representing the IC after formation of the uppermost layer in response to detecting the overlay effect in the at least one feature, the overlay effect occurring in a layer underlying the uppermost layer.

The disclosure relates generally to integrated circuits. More particularly, various aspects relate to overlay analysis, modeling and optimization of overlay in integrated circuits.
Developing and testing integrated circuit (IC) devices, also referred to as semiconductor devices, involves designing, manufacturing and testing these devices according to desired operating parameters. Quality assurance has been a concern in the development, fabrication and testing of IC devices, but is particularly important as these devices become ever more complex.
Ever increasing pattern density and more complicated lithography techniques require a greater understanding of the placement and locational relationship between components in distinct levels of the IC. This relationship, generally referred to as overlay, can be used to predict and modify (if necessary) masking processes in the formation of an IC. However, current approaches for analyzing overlay fail to be predictive in nature, lacking models for upcoming processing nodes. These current approaches also fail to accurately characterize topographical features, and as such, can lead to costly and unnecessary late-stage modification of masking and formation processes.

Early overlay prediction and overlay-aware mask design

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides fuel saving systems. Fuel consumption can be reduced by 5% to 40% or more by pre-combustion heating the fuels. The heat exhaust of a combustion chamber can be used to heat a heat transfer fluid, which exchanges heat with the incoming fuel stream.

Industrial and consumer applications commonly use fossil fuels to create energy. Fossil fuel derived gases can be referred to as natural gas, which comprises a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills. It is an important fuel source, a major feedstock for fertilizers, and a potent greenhouse gas.
Natural gas is a major source of electricity generation through the use of gas turbines and steam turbines. Most grid peaking power plants and some off-grid engine-generators use natural gas. Particularly high efficiencies can be achieved through combining gas turbines with a steam turbine in combined cycle mode. Natural gas burns more cleanly than other fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, and produces less carbon dioxide per unit energy released. For an equivalent amount of heat, burning natural gas produces about 30% less carbon dioxide than burning petroleum and about 45% less than burning coal. Combined cycle power generation using natural gas is thus the cleanest source of power available using fossil fuels, and this technology is widely used wherever gas can be obtained at a reasonable cost.
At the current state of the technology, natural gas is transferred to its final destination of use in gas form by means of pipes or pressure resistant tankers or in liquid form again in pressure resistant tankers. Gases that are transferred under high pressure by means of pipes or tankers from their production points are reduced in pressure at pressure reducing stations and then delivered to the end user. Valves and security equipment are used in order to ensure the security of the stations and impede the back charge of the gas.
Extraction, production and transportation from long distances by means of pipes or pressure resistant tankers are a costly process. In many systems, the gas delivered to the end user by pipes enters into the combustion chamber at the delivery temperature, which can vary according to geography, season, transfer method and storage location.
The present invention provides fuel savings and enhanced efficiency of many kinds of combustible fuels, including without limitation natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), cold compressed natural gas (CCNG), etc. Fuel consumption can be reduced by 5% to 40% or more by pre-combustion heating of the fuels.


A bone implant (10) is implanted in a cavity parallel to an implant axis (l) and without substantial rotation. The implant includes, on an implant portion to be implanted, cutting edges (14), which do not extend in a common plane with the implant axis and are facing toward the distal end of the implant. The implant also includes surface ranges (16) of a material that is liquefiable by mechanical oscillations. The cutting edges (14) are dimensioned such that they are lodged in the cavity wall after implantation. For implantation, the implant is impinged with mechanical oscillations, resulting in the thermoplastic material being at least partially liquefied and pressed into unevennesses and pores of the cavity wall to form a form-fit and/or material-fit connection between implant (10) and cavity wall, when re-solidified. The cutting edges (14) anchor the implant in the cavity wall.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention lies in the field of medical technology and concerns an implant to be implanted in bone tissue, which implant may be a standardized one being implanted in a cavity especially created or adjusted for the purpose, or an individual implant being implanted in an individual bone cavity (e.g. dental implant, joint implant, or an implant to fill a bone defect). The invention further concerns methods for producing and implanting the implant.
2. Description of Related Art
Implants to be implanted in bone tissue are usually implanted in bone cavities, which are especially created for the purpose (e.g. bore or stepped bore) or which are caused by other circumstances, e.g. trauma or degenerative disease. According to state-of-the-art technology, such implants are either fitted into the cavity by means of cement placed around the implant, or the shape of the implant is adapted to the cavity so accurately that, after implantation, as much as possible of the functionally essential implant surface is in direct contact with the bone tissue. For an individual implant this means that the shape of the implant is irregular, in particular it is an irregular cone without consistently round cross sections and/or without a straight axis.
Dental implants to be implanted in the jaw bone for replacing a natural tooth root and for supporting e.g. an artificial crown, an abutment, a bridge, or a set of dentures, are known as standardized implants to be implanted in specially produced or at least correspondingly adapted cavities, and also as individual implants adjusted to the shape of an individual root or alveolus.
Standardized dental implants to be implanted in specially created bores are cylindrical or slightly conical, in essence rotationally symmetrical pins, mostly screws. They are available on the market in various sizes and shapes, from which the dental surgeon chooses the implant most suited to a specific case. Implantation of such a dental implant is generally not possible until the cavity resulting from the extraction of the natural root to be substituted has filled with regenerated bone tissue, i.e. until after a waiting period of 3 to 6 months following the extraction. Usually the screwed implant is not loaded immediately after implantation, as the risk is too high that the stress would cause the implant to move too much in relation to the bone tissue. This would prevent a successful integration of the implant in the bone tissue (osseointegration). In a vast majority of cases therefore, a part protruding from the jaw (crown, bridge, etc.) is not mounted on the implant until after a further waiting period of 3 to 6 months, i.e. not until the implant is fully integrated in the bone tissue and relative movements between the implant and the bone tissue caused by normal loading no longer exceed a physiologically tolerable range.
Experience shows that screw-shaped dental implants which are fully integrated in the jawbone have a stability which is sufficient for normal load situations and remains unchanged over a long time. Among other things, this is due to the implant being firmly anchored laterally in the bone tissue by the thread, which reduces shearing relative to the bone tissue and prevents undesirable pressure on the base of the alveolus.
It is well known that bone tissue tends to recede in an undesirable manner during the waiting periods mentioned above, in which the dental implant or jawbone is locally not loaded. It is also known that relative movements between implant and bone tissue which do not exceed a physiologically tolerable range would stimulate bone regeneration and therefore osseointegration of the implant. For these reasons there are a number of attempts to find ways and means for reducing or even eliminating the waiting periods.
In order to reduce the first waiting period, i.e. the time it takes the cavity caused by the extraction of the natural root to fill with regenerated bone tissue, as well as to be able to exploit the advantage of the denser bone layer (alveolar bone) surrounding the natural cavity (alveolus) as a supporting element, it is suggested to shape the implant not rotationally symmetrical and round like a screw, but essentially corresponding with the shape of the natural root to be substituted (individual implant). Such an implant can be implanted in the existing cavity (natural alveolus) immediately or shortly after the extraction of the natural root.
However, since under natural conditions there is a fibrous support membrane between the dental root and the alveolar wall, an implant which is an exact copy of the natural root (e.g. produced by negative-positive casting method) does not sit tightly in the alveolus. This has a negative effect on osseointegration during the second waiting period such that a kind of connective tissue forms in the gap between the alveolar wall and the implant, which connective tissue prevents osseointegration at least locally and is not able to lend the implant sufficient stability.
In order to improve the implant stability for the osseointegration phase (second waiting period) and therewith the starting conditions for successful osseointegration, it is suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,450 (Gieloff et al.) and WO-88/03391 (Lundgren) to oversize the implant compared to the natural root, i.e. to give it slightly larger cross sections, and structure the implant surface coming into contact with the bone, in particular with depressions (honeycomb structures, structures with undercuts). The said implants are e.g. produced by contact-less measuring of the natural root after its extraction or of the alveolus, by processing the measuring data in a CAD-system and by fashioning the implant from an appropriate blank in a CAM-system, based on the processed measuring data, by milling, grinding, electronic erosion, etc.
Due to the 'press fit' of such oversized dental implants sit considerably tighter in the alveolus than exact replica of natural roots. However, experience shows that the alveolar wall counteracts the applied press-fit forces within a short time by modification processes and mechanical relaxation. Thus the implant is no longer stabilized by 'press-fit' but sits loosely in the alveolus once more, so that conditions for osseointegration are not optimal in spite of the improved primary stability immediately after the implantation. It is also evident that even after the osseointegration phase (second waiting period) these implants tend to loose their grip in the jawbone when loaded. As reported by R.-J. Kohal et al. (published in Dent Sci (2) 7: 11) at the 52nd annual conference of the German Society for Dental Prosthetics and Material Science (DGZPW) in May 2003, the jawbone regresses a great deal in the area of such implants during the osseointegration phase and under subsequent loading, and the implants may even get completely loose.
The aforementioned findings can be explained by, among other things, the large-surface contact between implant and bone tissue which is subjected to intense modification resulting from surgery (tooth extraction) so that the stresses induced in the bone are only very slight. This applies not only to dental implants but generally to implants that are to be implanted into bone cavities. Although the surface geometries can raise the tension very locally via the 'press fit', the concerned volume however, appears to be too small for effectively reach a mechanically induced stimulation of bone regeneration. The force of pressure upon the implant created by load (chewing movement) lead mainly to shearing forces in the cavity wall. Furthermore, the form-fit between implant and cavity wall can hardly give enough stability against torsional forces. Due to the lack of sufficient rotational stability, dislocations can occur in the region of the regenerating bone, which dislocations prevent successful osseointegration. These problems have been discussed in depth, particularly in connection with hip joint prostheses. For dental implants transfer of the axial stress to the lateral alveolar wall is only possible to a limited degree, due to the steepness of this wall. This means that the stress shifts from the proximal part of the alveolus (natural tooth) toward the distal part of the alveolus (implant), possibly resulting in excessive loading of the alveolar base, which, being the point of exit for the blood vessels and nerves, is of course not fully ossified immediately after extraction. Pressure necrosis and other problems induced by misdirected load may be the consequences. In the design of conventional screw implants a great deal of attention is paid to these problems, even though in this case the alveolus is normally completely ossified.
To sum up, it can be said that of the known bone implants to be implanted without cement, the screw-shaped implants are preferable to all other forms with regard to stability, but that they often cannot be used due to the inevitable geometrical preconditions necessary for their application, or at least not without suffering other disadvantages. Something similar applies to many other implants to be implanted in bone tissue.

Implant that can be implanted in osseous tissue, method for producing said implant and corresponding implant


A high voltage coil manufactured by alternately winding coils and mounting rigid insulating tubes on a coil form having end plates with terminals. After each coil is wound with its ends terminated at the end plates, a first axially slitted insulator tube is snapped over the coil with about a one-quarter inch gap and a second tube with no gap is snapped over the first rotationally displaced 180 degrees enclosing the gap which forms a flow conduit. Another coil is wound on the second tube and the process is repeated to form as many as six coils. Potting material is applied to the completed assembly and vacuum impregnated, and the tube conduits form flow paths to achieve complete impregnation.

The present invention is exemplified by a high voltage coil for projection television systems, but it should be understood that the present coil may find utility in a variety of high voltage coil applications where a plurality of electrically isolated coils are formed on the same coil form.
In the past two methods have been employed in the manufacture of high voltage coils. The first utilizes an automatic coil winding machine that wraps layers of coil wire, terminating each coil on pins on coil form end plates. After each coil is wound, and at the same station, a plurality of layers of Mylar insulator are wrapped on each coil by an automated winding device.
While this process has acheived a significant degree of commercial success, it has several disadvantages. One is that the Mylar insulators, because they are wrapped by automatic winding machinery, are wound so tightly against its own layers, against the underlying coil and also against the coil formed end plates, that complete impregnation by fluid epoxy, even by advanced vacuum impregnation techniques is not possible on a consistent basis.
The second method of making these high voltage coils is to wind the coils, not on the final coil form with end plates, but instead on separate insulator tubes having increasing diameters so that they may be subsequently concentrically mounted. Then, beginning with the smallest tube and coil assembly, they ate inserted over a coil form with one of the end plates removed. Then, the additional incrementally larger coil and tube assemblies are slid serially over one another until the desired number of coils and tubes are mounted. The previously removed end plate is then reattached to the coil form and the respective coils are terminated at the opposite end plate terminals.
This method, to some extent, ameliorates the problems noted above in the wrapping method because the diameter of the tubes with respect to the outer diameter of the underlying coil can be varied as desired to achieve potting material flow. However, it is diffucult to control the axial gap between the tubes and the end plates and between the coils and the end plates because the tube and coils are formed without the end plates in situ, so that while the inner diameter of the various insulating tubes can be controlled, complete impregnation is not consistently possible because there is no effective way for the epoxy to get down into the coils at the various radial levels of these concentric tubes.
The second method also requires a significant amount of assembly time because the coil is effectively formed in two stages.
It is a primary object of the present invention to ameliorate the problems described above in high voltage coils and their method of manufacture.

High voltage coil having split plastic tubes


A total artificial heart having a rotor with an impeller, wherein the rotor is mounted within a pump housing on a hollow shaft. The rotor is magnetically driven to produce rotary motion of the impeller for pumping blood. The motor is disposed within the pump housing such that axial translation within the housing acts as a shuttle valve to alternate flow between pulmonary and systemic circulation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to cardiovascular implants, and more particularly to devices that completely replace a failing heart to provide blood flow to the pulmonary and systemic circulation.
2. Description of Related Art
Congestive heart failure is a major, rapidly growing public health problem that results in hundreds of thousands of deaths annually. Patients with bi-ventricular end stage heart failure who are refractory to medications, surgical intervention and resynchronizer pacing are best treated with cardiac transplantation. However, donor hearts are limited to about 2,000 per year in the United States and, consequently, there is a large unmet need for approximately 75,000 patients who would benefit from cardiac transplantation, but for whom no donor heart is available. A mechanical total artificial heart (TAH) could replace a failing heart and offer improved survival and functional capability comparable to cardiac transplantation.
Extensive research since the mid 1960's has resulted in numerous left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) intended to take over part or all of the work of the left ventricle while working in parallel with the native heart. The HeartMate™, is a positive displacement pump used as a bridge to cardiac transplantation and destination therapy in patients with severe congestive heart failure. Most recently, the HeartMate™ II, a rotary pump, has received PMA approval for bridge to transplantation. LVAD's such as these are gaining clinical acceptance, but development of total artificial hearts (TAH) has not kept pace, particularly for permanent assistance without intention to bridge to cardiac transplantation. Two total artificial hearts are clinically available on a very limited basis in the United States.
The SynCardia TAH by CardioWest is implanted in the chest and is powered by an external pneumatic driver via air hoses which penetrate the chest. It has been approved for temporary use as a bridge to transplantation in patients who cannot be supported with an LVAD alone and has demonstrated clinical efficacy in several hundred patients. The Abiocor™ TAH by Abiomed, Inc. is intended for permanent use and is totally implantable. It has a self-contained electric motor and receives power by means of transcutaneous power transmission, but has been approved by FDA only for compassionate use.
Each of the CardioWest and Abiocor devices employ two separate pumps to replace the right and left ventricles, respectively. These pumps are positive displacement pumps with two valves per pump (total of four valves) to ensure unidirectional flow of blood. The anatomical compatibility of these devices has limited their use to larger patients, since positive displacement pumps are inherently large.
Rotary blood pumps based on centrifugal or axial flow hydraulics have proven to be safe and durable pumps for use as left ventricular devices and could offer many advantages over positive displacement pumps if they were adapted for use as a total artificial heart. Most importantly, rotary blood pumps would be much smaller than existing pulsatile TAH's and would not require artificial valves or a means for volume compensation or venting. In addition, rotary blood pumps, such as the HeartMate II, have proven durability for many years.
To date, all total artificial hearts employ two pumps whether they are positive displacement type or rotary pumps. All of the TAH's based on rotary blood pumps integrate the right and left heart pumps into a single housing which is an improvement over the use of two separate pumps.
A total artificial heart based on a single rotary impeller would offer significant advantage in reduced size, simplicity and cost over existing devices intended for complete replacement of the heart.


A device for coding and decoding locations in a transportation network, providing that information concerning these locations are transmitted from one transmitter to one receiver. In the device, the code is composed of a declaration portion and a coordinate portion corresponding to each coded location. The coordinate portion includes a plurality of coordinate pairs, one coordinate pair representing the coordinates of the coded location stored on the transmitter side and at least one other coordinate pair representing an auxiliary point. The declaration portion includes at least the number of coordinate pairs contained in the coordinate portion, the position of the coordinate pair of the coded location in the coordinate portion, and an indication of the type of coded location. For decoding purposes, locations falling within the tolerance range of the received coordinate pairs are determined in a location database that contains the coordinates, the position at any time on the traffic route and additional location information. Of the specified locations, the ones situated on a common traffic route are selected; and of these selected locations, the one that falls within the tolerance range of the specified coordinate pair can be defined as the decoded location.

The present invention relates to a device for coding locations in a transportation network, information concerning the locations being transmitted from one transmitter to one receiver, and to a device for decoding received information, which signifies a location on a street and contains a plurality of coordinate pairs, each of which is given a tolerance range and of which at least one specific coordinate pair along with its tolerance range includes the location.
In traffic control engineering systems, vehicles exchange information with central systems Via remote data transmission. This information exchange enables different applications, such as emergency call service, or, traffic information service, or, help with directions or dynamic guidance services, to be implemented. The transmission of location information is necessary for all these services. Location information can be used, for example, to depict the positions of vehicles, location and extent of traffic jams and destinations or selected intermediate points of a driving route.
The information exchange can also use intermodal mobility services, which permit linking of different means of transportation, for example, automobile travel and public transportation. In this case, location information would be useful, for example, as an interface between one transport operator and the other.
In the exchange of location information, different degrees of precision are required depending on the particular service. For example, an emergency call service requires a higher degree of precision in the specification of a location than does a traffic information service. In the interplay between a traffic control engineering central system and the vehicles, a unique understanding of the location information is therefore necessary. If, for example, the central system transmits hotel A as the destination for the route of a vehicle, then the vehicle navigation system must not route the vehicle to hotel B.
Because of the ultimately limited capacity of the means of transmission between central system and vehicle, an effective coding of the location information is required. However, a transmission of geographic coordinates by itself is not sufficient since different locations can be found at one geographic position, for example, on bridges or in tunnels. Moreover, not all locations are punctiform; therefore, it is usually necessary to also indicate a direction.
For coded transmission of locations, information used for coding and decoding is contained in read-only-memory in both the vehicle and the central system. For a traffic information service, the transmission of a code xe2x80x9cED73EF5xe2x80x9d, for example, using a read-only memory within the device can lead to the output of the text xe2x80x9cA5 from Basel to Karlsruhe at junction 58 Herbolzheimxe2x80x9d. For decoding, the location, being addressed must therefore be present in the read-only memory. Additional information that is not required for the decoding itself, for example location names and street numbers, can also be stored for the individual locations, and therefore does not need to be uniquely determined between central system and vehicle. A key-based coding system of that type is, for example, the coding of location information in the TMC system according to CEN ENV 12313-3. An important feature of the location database used in that system is that references are made to adjacent locations. Because of those references, among other things, the maintenance and synchronization of this location database is technically critical. However, received information can only be coded if the same location database has been used for the coding.
An object of an exemplary embodiment present invention is to specify a device for coding locations that permits decoding of location information in the receiver even for different coding and decoding tables. The exemplary embodiment of the present invention can be used for several of the aforementioned services.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides that: This objective is met according to the present invention in that
the coordinate portion includes a plurality of coordinate pairs, one coordinate pair representing the coordinates of the coded location stored on the transmitter side and at least one other coordinate pair representing at least one auxiliary point, and
the declaration portion includes at least the number of coordinate pairs contained in the coordinate portion, the position of the coordinate pair of the coded location in the coordinate portion and a type indication of the coded location.
Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides that the declaration portion also can contain indications for the type of coding and for tolerances of the coordinate pairs.
In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, road systems, route networks for various means of transport (rail, bus, plane), rail systems and waterway systems, thus, all networks in which places can be described in relation to each other using geographic coordinates ultimately fall under the meaning of transportation networks. In this context, even locations that belong to different transportation networks can be addressed using the coding according to the present invention.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a user can be guided on a Saturday morning as to what the fastest route in a pedestrian zone may be, the fast route can incorporate a bus or train into the consideration of the best solution. In addition to established points in the road system, for example addresses or intersections, other types of locations, such as a traffic jam within the road system or a streetcar stop on a streetcar line, may be considered as locations to be coded.
The exemplary embodiment of the present invention also provides that an exactly defined location can be coded in spite of the limited degree of precision of the transmitted coordinates. It is not assumed that the location databases of the transmitter and receiver have an identical structure. All that is required is an assignment to the contents by indicating the geographic coordinates.
A rough similarity of the street elements defined using the step-by-step process of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is sufficient for decoding. In this context, the depth of detail in the receiver must at least correspond to the depth of detail of the location database of the transmitter. Moreover, the relationships between the points that are assumed on the transmitter side when selecting the points must be reproducible for the receiver. For example, all points can lie on one street. In this case, these streets and the points situated on them must be known in the receiver and in the transmitter. The individual steps in the system according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention form a maneuver to be performed on the basis of a route description that one would give to a stranger if asked for directions.
When using geographic coordinates, a declaration of the coding to be used is required. In this context the declaration can be performed explicitly or implicitly. In any of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the system can precede all location information described by a maneuver with information on the coding used. For this purpose, the declaration portion can be at least semi-permanently stored in the transmitter and in the receiver. A declaration portion of this type can be established, for example, in a standard that is valid for all transmitters and receivers.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present invention the declaration portion can be at least partially transmitted when communication is established between the transmitter and the receiver. Another exemplary embodiment of the present invention can further provide that the declaration portion is at least partially transmitted together with the coordinate portion and temporarily stored in the receiver. In this way, different declarations that are adapted to the particular circumstances can be transmitted from one location coding to another location coding.
One beneficial device for the decoding process includes an exemplary embodiment of a decoder device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention can include features that locations falling within the tolerance range of the received coordinate pairs are determined in a location database containing the coordinates, the position at any time on a traffic route and additional information about locations, that of the specified locations those situated on a common traffic route are selected, and that of the selected locations the one that falls within the tolerance range of the specified coordinate pair is defined as the decoded location.

Device for coding and decoding locations


A pull station for an alarm includes a housing having an actuator mounted for movement with respect thereto. The actuator has a standby (i.e., normal) position and an alarm position. The actuator has a contoured actuation surface configured such that downward pressure on the actuation surface moves the actuator from the standby position to the alarm position. The actuator may be rotatably or slidably coupled to the housing. The actuation surface may extend beyond the front face of the housing when in the standby position. In some embodiments, the actuation surface is cup-shaped. In other embodiments, the actuation surface is v-shaped, with first and second angled portions forming oblique angles with respect to a lateral axis of the housing. Thus arranged, the actuator can be operated by a disabled who may not have complete hand or finger dexterity. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Fire alarm pull stations are well known and, as often required by laws and municipal ordinances, are secured to the walls of corridors and hallways in many locations throughout buildings such as schools, hospitals, and the like. In known fire alarm pull stations, a lever is provided which can be manually pivoted or pulled to set off a local or centralized fire alarm. The alarm pull stations mount on a wall and are typically color coded to be easily recognizable in an emergency.
Current pull stations are designed for hand operation, requiring the user to insert one or more fingers laterally into a recess in the pull station to grip an interior surface of the handle or lever to pull it outward, away from the housing. This movement trips a mechanical or electrical switch which activates the fire alarm.
The problem with such pull station actuators is that they may not be readily operated by the disabled. Specifically, many disabled individuals may not possess the hand or finger dexterity required for operating current pull stations. For persons suffering from quadriplegia, for example, operating current pull stations may be impossible.
Thus, there is a need for an improved pull station that can be easily and reliably operated by disabled individuals. Preferably, such a pull station will be operable without the use of hands.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A resistive memory device includes: a bottom electrode formed over a substrate; and an insulation layer having a hole structure formed over the substrate structure. Herein, the hole structure exposes the bottom electrode, has sidewalls of positive slope, and has a bottom width equal to or smaller than a width of the bottom electrode; a resistive layer formed over the hole structure; and an upper electrode formed over the resistive layer.

The present invention relates to a memory device and a method for fabricating the same, and more particularly, to a resistive memory device which uses resistance change, such as a resistive random access memory (ReRAM) device, and a method for fabricating the same.
Recently, researches on next-generation memory device, which can replace Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and flash memory, are actively being conducted.
One of such next-generation memory device is a resistive memory device that uses a resistive layer. The resistive layer includes a material of which resistance rapidly changes according to the applied bias and a switching is performed between two or more different resistive states.
The resistive layer material having the above described characteristic includes a binary oxide including a transition metal oxide or a perovskite-based material.
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a first typical resistive memory device.
Referring to FIG. 1, the first typical resistive memory device includes a substrate 10. An insulation layer 11 including a contact plug 12 is formed over the substrate 10. A stack structure is formed over the insulation layer 11 and the contact plug 12.
The stack structure includes a bottom electrode 13 formed over the insulation layer 11 and in contact with the contact plug 12, a resistive layer 14, and an upper electrode 15. The stack structure including the bottom electrode 13, the resistive layer 14, and the upper electrode 15 is referred to as a resistive unit 100.
In the first typical resistive memory device, the resistive layer 14 is switched between high resistance state and low resistance state according to a bias applied to the bottom electrode 13 and the upper electrode 15. Thus, data corresponding to each resistance state are stored.
The above mentioned switching mechanism is briefly explained as follows. According to the applied bias, filamentary current paths are formed in the resistive layer 14 to have the low resistance state or the existing filamentary current paths are destroyed to allow the resistive layer to have the high resistance state.
There is, however, a limitation in providing a sufficient switching characteristic to the first typical resistive memory device. Generally, the dimensions of the bottom electrode 13 are substantially the same as or larger than that of the resistive layer 14. Thus, the size of the contacting area between the bottom electrode 13 and the resistive layer 14 depends on the dimensions of the resistive layer 14.
Consequently, the whole resistive layer 14 becomes a switching region when a certain bias is applied to the bottom electrode 13 and the upper electrode 15. When the whole resistive layer 14 becomes a switching region, it becomes difficult to uniformly control generation of filamentary current paths, and in particular, a high reset current may be necessitated. Thus, it becomes difficult to clearly distinguish between the two resistance states. Therefore, it is not easy to implement such a resistive memory device in a current application.
An article by Baek, I. G., Kim, D. C., Lee, M. J., Kim, H. J., Kim, E. K., Lee, M. S., Lee, J. E., Ahn, S. E., Seo, S., and Lee, J. H, entitled "Multi-layer Cross-point Binary Oxide Resistive Memory (OxRRAM) for Post-NAND Storage Application," Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Vol.-No.-[2005], p 769-772 (2005), discloses technology for improving the switching characteristic by forming a bottom electrode in a plug shape to reduce a contacting area between the bottom electrode and a resistive layer. This technology is described in detail hereinafter with reference to FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a second typical resistive memory device.
Referring to FIG. 2, the second typical resistive memory device includes a substrate 20. An insulation layer 21 including a contact plug 22 is formed over the substrate 20. A stack structure is formed over the insulation layer 21 and the contact plug 22.
The stack structure includes a resistive layer 23 formed over the insulation layer 21 and in contact with the contact plug 22 and an upper electrode 24. A resistive unit 200 includes the contact plug 22, the resistive layer 23, and the upper electrode 24.
In other words, unlike the first typical resistive memory device shown in FIG. 1 where a bottom electrode is formed separately from a contact plug, the contact plug 22 is used as a bottom electrode in the second typical resistive memory device shown in FIG. 2.
In FIG. 1, the entire resistive layer becomes a switching region. On the other hand, in FIG. 2, only a portion of the resistive layer 23 in contact with the contact plug 22 becomes a switching region (refer to reference denotation 'A' shown in FIG. 2).
Therefore, it becomes easier to uniformly control the generation of filamentary current paths in the second typical resistive memory device shown in FIG. 2. In particular, the number of filamentary current paths decreases as the switching region A decreases so that a reset current may be reduced.
Consequently, the switching characteristic of the device improves. Furthermore, as the dimensions of the contact plug 22 are decreased, the number and distribution of the filamentary current paths may be decreased as well, further enhancing the switching characteristic of the device.
As semiconductor devices are becoming highly integrated recently, the size of devices is getting smaller. It may be generally demanded that the dimensions of a contact plug be further reduced in fabricating a resistive memory device which employs a contact plug as a bottom electrode. However, reducing the dimensions of a contact plug further is reaching a maximum limit due to the process limitations associated with photolithography process and etching process. Therefore, an improved resistive memory device and a method for fabricating the same are in need to overcome the limitations.

Resistive memory device and method for fabricating the same


Back end of line (BEOL) metallization structures and methods according to aspects of the invention generally include forming an interconnect structure including a recessed via structure in an interlayer dielectric. The recessed via structure is lined with a liner layer and filled with a first metal such as copper, tungsten, aluminum, alloys thereof or mixtures thereof. The recessed portion is filled with a second metal such as tantalum, titanium, tungsten, cobalt, ruthenium, iridium, platinum, nitrides thereof, or mixtures thereof, which in combination with the liner layer provides effective barrier properties for the bulk first metal.

The present invention generally relates to semiconductor integrated circuits, and more particularly, to a recessed via structure for back end of line metallization structures.
Integrated circuit processing can be generally divided into front end of the line (FEOL), middle of the line (MOL) and back end of the line (BEOL) metallization processes. The FEOL and MOL processing will generally form many layers of logical and functional devices. By way of example, the typical FEOL processes include wafer preparation, isolation, well formation, gate patterning, spacer, extension and source/drain implantation, silicide formation, and dual stress liner formation. The MOL is mainly gate contact (CA) formation. Layers of interconnections are formed above these logical and functional layers during the BEOL metallization processing to complete the integrated circuit structure. As such, BEOL metallization processing generally involves the formation of insulators and conductive wiring. Often, the BEOL metallization process can further include fabrication of magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) devices, capacitors, resistors and the like.

Back end of line metallization structures

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An exemplary data refresh method disclosed herein reading data into volatile memory from a first storage region using a read element controlled by a first actuator assembly and writing the data from the volatile memory to a second storage region using a write element controlled by a second actuator assembly, where the first actuator assembly and the second actuator assembly are configured to receive data from control circuitry via independent read/write communication channels.

Data stored on magnetic disks may degrade over time due to various phenomena such as side track erasure (STE), adjacent track interference (ATI), tribological issues such as lube depletion or deposition, magnetic stress defects due to media grain thermal instability, and other magnetic disk reliability phenomena. Some storage devices regularly perform certain processing and media operations, background or foreground, to monitor these and other phenomena that may lead to loss of data. For example, a storage device controller may regularly read back data tracks or track segments to measure degradation of stored data. In general, a small degree of data degradation may be acceptable if the data is still recoverable via an error correction code (ECC) of the storage device. However, if the degradation becomes too severe, the ECC may be unable to repair the data. To prevent unacceptably high loss of data reliability storage device controllers may implement firmware operations for refreshing (e.g., re-writing) data.
In some devices, data refresh operations entail reading and re-writing logical block address ranges that may span contiguous sets of adjacent data tracks. In some of these devices, a group of data tracks is refreshed by moving the data of an LBA range (an extent) to a new storage location and updating a physical-to-logical block mapping scheme to remap the logical block addresses (LBAs) of the data to the new location. In other implementations, a data refresh is performed by moving data from a main store to a temporary non-volatile cache (e.g., a media cache) location and then reading the data out of the non-volatile cache and writing the data back to the main store location.
When a group of data is moved from one physical location to another, as in either of the above-described data refresh techniques, an actuator arm may be moved some number of times back and forth between the locations to complete a single refresh operation. This excessive movement of the actuator arm contributes to high latencies and reduced device performance during these refresh operations.

Reduced latency I/O in multi-actuator device


A method for producing an aerated confectionery foam from a sugar solution and a foam-promoting solution. The aerated confectionery foam is produced batch by batch using a boiler and a beater. The sugar solution is boiled in the boiler and transferred to the beater. The aerated confectionery foam is formed from the foam-promoting solution and the boiled sugar solution, and removed from the beater through pressure application. The foam-promoting solution is beaten in a vacuum either by itself or along with the boiled sugar solution. The pressure in the beater during the beating procedure is sub-atmospheric. The aerated confectionery foam is produced with small and finely distributed bubbles. The pressure during beating the foam-promoting solution differs from the pressure at which the aerated confectionery foam solidifies.

The invention concerns a method of producing an aerated confectionery foam from a sugar solution and a foaming-promoter solution batch by batch with a boiler and a beater, wherein the sugar solution is boiled in the boiler and transferred to the beater and the aerated confectionery foam is created out of the foaming promoter and the boiled sugar solution and pressure-extracted from the beater. A sugar solution is a solution of sugar, glucose syrup, and other ingredients in water. Sugarless ingredients can also be employed as sugar solutions. A foaming-promoter solution is also a solution in water of such foaming promoters as egg white, gelatine, etc. The foaming-promoter solution can also contain some sugar solution or similar material. The same solution may include colorants, flavorings, etc.
A method of this type is known from German Patent 3 528 637. The boiling process can be carried out in the boiler under atmospheric pressure because the processing in the beater is carried out in a vacuum. The sugar solution, boiled under atmospheric pressure, is transferred to the beater and processed in a vacuum to reduce it to the requisite residual-water content and to a temperature desirable for future processing. Once the vacuum has been lifted, the foaming-promoter solution is added to the sugar solution in the beater. The two masses are then beaten together under atmospheric pressure or in a vacuum. Increased pressure is preferably introduced during the beating process in order to provide as much air as possible for working into the confectionery foam that forms during the beating process. The purpose of increasing the pressure is to induce the mass to expand later when it is extracted from the beater to obtain masses with a low specific gravity. The individual bubbles of air that are worked into the mass will of course expand in accordance with the drop in pressure. The drawback to this approach is that the foaming-promoter solution comes into contact with the hot sugar solution before the beating stage and coagulates prematurely, so that its contribution to producing the foam is reduced. The foaming capacity of the foaming-promoter solution is accordingly incompletely exploited.
Creating a preliminary foam in a beater without any sugar solution present is also known. The foaming-promoter solution is usually beaten under atmospheric pressure. The sugar solution can be boiled in the boiler under atmospheric pressure, subject to increased pressure, or in a vacuum. The boiled sugar solution is then added to the preliminary foam in the beater, under atmospheric pressure for practical purposes. The preliminary foam and the sugar solution are then mixed together and beaten again, with increased pressure being multiply employed with the objective of ensuring enough air during the beating process to expand the confectionery foam as it is extracted from the beater and hence obtaining the associated low specific gravity. The potentially desirable vacuum treatment of the confectionery foam after beating that would be expected to reduce its residual moisture content is impossible because the expansion of the mass that would then occur inside the beater would force some of it into the line and into the vacuum generator.
The bubbles worked into the mass and full of gas, preferably air, in all known methods of producing aerated confectionery foams are considered too large for many purposes. Especially when the aerated confectionery foam is released from increased to atmospheric pressure, the volume of each individual bubble can only be increased.

Method of producing an aerated confectionery foam from a sugar solution and a foaming-promoter solution batch by batch


An eyeglass frame, particularly suitable as a temporary or permanent frame for a broken frame or as a replacement frame, has a central nose-piece; at least one pair of flexible straps extending from the nose-piece or an intermediate fixed top bar; and separate or integral ratcheting clasps. Each of the straps has a transverse ratchet surface adjacent its distal end and each clasp has a ratcheting mechanism such as a flexible pawl. Each of the loose lenses of the eyeglasses are mounted against the nose-piece and each strap in seriatim is wrapped around the periphery of a lens with the distal end of the strap inserted into the ratcheting clasp and pulled therethrough so that the strap ratchet surfaces intermeshes with the pawl or pawls of the ratcheting clasps so as to cinch-up and tighten the strap(s) around the lens. Temple bars are attachable to the clasps. Any excess length of strap extending outwardly from the clasp(s) are cut-off. Marking of the correct optical position and alignment of the lenses in the old frame for use in alignment of those lenses in the replacement frame is also provided for.

The present invention concerns eyeglass frames. More particularly the invention is directed to a frame which can be used as a replacement frame for bent or broken frames while utilizing the sight-correcting lens or other sun or other protective plain lens of the unusable frame.
This invention relates to spectacles and more particularly to a "universal" or variable dimension eyeglass frame wherein the rims of the frame can be adjusted in length and shape to accommodate almost any size and shape of lens. Such a frame can be used as a temporary replacement of a person's normal frame when broken or as a low cost fashion alternative frame.
Typically when a person breaks their eyeglass frame they have few choices to fix it. They can attempt to tape or glue the broken portion, or attempt to obtain a replacement part. However, the former alternative usually results in an unattractive appearance, and the latter is usually not available because of the rapid changes in eyeglass styles and the limited inventories maintained by eyeglass frame vendors. Even if a replacement frame is still in a manufacturer's or distributor' stock it may be several days before it can be delivered to the retail establishment for assembly with the person's lenses. If a replacement frame is not available the person then must choose a new frame and have new lenses made which have an internal periphery to accommodate the chosen fixed opening in the newly chosen frame.
Traditional eyeglass frames are generally made of plastic, metal or a combination thereof, and are designed to hold a lens of a single specific design and shape. So called "semi-rimless" frames have greater versatility in that the bottom portion of the lens is typically retained by a flexible wire, strip or cord. This permits this type of frame to accommodate a greater variety of lens sizes. However, these frames have an upper rim portion which is of a fixed size and shape. Thus, they also can only accommodate lenses which have matching upper rims.
Since the dimensions of existing frames are completely or substantially fixed, each lens must be modified to satisfy the dimensions of the frame. If the lens is not modified properly, the lens may fit loosely or not fit in the frame at all. Modification of the lens requires the optician to work with great care, otherwise damage will result to the lens.
In a preliminary search no "temporary" or "universal" eyeglass frame was uncovered. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,464,025; 4,466,713; 4,842,399; and 4,432,616 disclose spectacle (eyeglass) frames having fixed rigid rails or top-pieces which correspond in their inner periphery with a corresponding fixed upper peripheries of the two eyeglass lenses. Nose pad elements are provided attached either to the top rail in whole or in part. The lenses are held in the top rail by a flexible filament such as metal or Nylon plastic; a super elastic Ni--Ti alloy wire by a barbed nylon cord or a headed wire connected to the lower ends of the top rail, respectively in the three patents. All of these cords or wires are of fixed length. The '616 patent does permit mounting the headed wire in one of two fixing means in the top rail. U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,989 end pieces and threads with the threads soldered or welded to the end piece are provided. In a second embodiment clamping plates or bars are included. These constructions provide for the movement by the optician of the nose bridge and/or end pieces in fitting on an individual's face. The '989 patent envisions making lenses of various shapes and having threads, bands or wires of various fixed lengths to hold such lenses. In a dissimilar art, cable ties employ flat plastic strips with a serrated end and a pawl-containing clasp end.

Frame for eyeglasses having flexible straps lens retainers


An electrical insulator including: a first connector of an electrically conducting material; a second connector of an electrically conducting material; and an electrically insulating material being arranged between the first connector and the second connector, insulating the connectors from each other; wherein a part of the first connector extends past a part of the second connector, partly enveloping part of the second connector. The invention also relates to a surge arrester arrangement, to a use of an electrical insulator for insulating a surge arrester, and to a method for production of such an electrical insulator.

In order to insulate a surge arrester (also known as lightning arrester) from ground potential and thereby allow current measurements to be performed, the surge arrester is mounted on insulators. These insulators must in addition to a high insulation level also be mechanically strong since they are serving as foundation for the surge arrester. In the current design of such an insulator, two from each other separated threaded metal inserts are embedded in a moulded insulating material e.g. epoxy. The resulting mechanical strength is thereby limited by the moulded compound's adhesion strength to the respective inserts and by the tensile strength of the moulding compound itself. This presents a problem since the insulator may be subjected to significant and variable tensile stress over long periods of time, whereby the moulded material may crack.
The mechanical strength of the insulator may thus desirably be improved. Today the limiting factor is the moulding compounds adhesion to the inserts and the tensile strength of the moulding compound itself. It has been considered to increase the strength of the insulator by including supporting and strengthening electrically insulating material, such as glass fibre or ceramics in the moulded material.
GB 1,139,050 discloses an insulator for supporting overhead power lines, which is made by casting an epoxy resin body around a pre-stressed glass fibre loop, the tensile load on the loop being progressively reduced during curing of the resin so that the extension of the loop decreases at the same rate as the contraction of the resin, which may include plasticizers. The body may include an encapsulated strengthening member, e.g. a solid or tubular porcelain or glass fibre member.
GB 421,679 discloses an insulator comprising a body of insulating material and clamping bolts extending from two opposite faces of the body and overlapping or interleaving within the body such that a part of the body is held in compression between the heads of the bolts. The bolts and an annular clamping plate are positioned in and through the body after manufacture of said body. The insulator can be used for electrically conducting lines or rails.
U.S. Pat. No. 530,498 discloses a ball-shaped insulator where the insulated material is moulded around and between metallic parts comprising eye bolts.

Electrical insulator and method of production


A plurality of first lattice passing line segments are defined. The first lattice passing line segments extend in a first direction through lattice points adjacent to each other among a plurality of lattice points at which a plurality of first component portions and a plurality of second component portions of a black matrix are connected to each other. Ones of two or more first partial wires and two or more first lattice passing line segments are arranged in straight lines extending in the first direction, and the other ones are arranged along the first direction and located at unequal distances from the ones.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a touch screen, a touch panel, a display, and an electronic apparatus.
Description of the Background Art
A touch panel is a device that detects a touch of a finger or the like and specifies coordinates of a position of the touch. A touch panel is attracting attention as one of excellent user interface means. Various types of touch panels such as resistive film touch panels and capacitive touch panels are commonly available now. A touch panel typically includes a touch screen with a built-in touch sensor and a detection device for specifying coordinates of a position of a touch based on a signal from the touch screen.
A projected capacitive touch panel is an example of the capacitive touch panel (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-103761). The projected capacitive touch panel allows detection of a touch even if a front side of a touch screen with a built-in touch sensor is covered with a protective plate such as a glass plate having a thickness of approximately several millimeters. The touch panel of this type has excellent ruggedness since the protective plate can be disposed on the front side. Further, the touch panel can detect a touch even when a user touches it with gloves on. Moreover, the touch panel is long-lived because the touch panel has no movable part that is mechanically deformed.
The projected capacitive touch panel includes, as detection wiring for detecting capacitance, a first series of conductive elements formed on a thin dielectric film and a second series of conductive elements formed above the first series of conductive elements with an insulating film therebetween, for example. These series of conductive elements three-dimensionally intersect each other at a plurality of intersections without electrically contacting each other. A detection circuit detects capacitance formed between an indicator such as a finger and the first series of conductive elements and the second series of conductive elements as the detection wiring, to thereby specify coordinates of a position of a touch of the indicator. Such a detection method is commonly referred to as a self-capacitance detection method (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 9-511086 (1997)).
For example, there is a detection method for detecting a change in electric field, namely, a change in mutual capacitance, between a plurality of row-direction wires extending in a row direction and a plurality of column-direction wires extending in a column direction to specify coordinates of a position of a touch. Such a detection method is commonly referred to as a mutual capacitance detection method (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2003-526831).
Both configurations of the self-capacitance method and the mutual capacitance method described above typically include a method for specifying, when an indicator such as a finger touches a planar area (detection cells) partitioned into a lattice pattern by the row-direction wires and the column-direction wires, coordinates of a position of the touch based on a balance between a detection value in a sensor block and a detection value in a detection cell near the sensor block.
In recent times, a touch panel formed of a fine-wire electrode made of a low-resistive metal material has been increasing instead of a touch panel made of a transparent conductive film such as indium tin oxide (ITO), which has been used, for the purpose of increasing size and speed of the touch panel. A liquid crystal module in which the touch panel including the fine-wire electrode is installed needs to suppress moiré caused by interference between a fine-wire electrode pattern and a black matrix (BM) pattern formed on a color filter (CF) substrate. For this matter, a technology of suppressing moiré by, for example, forming the fine-wire electrode and the black matrix so as to overlap each other in plan view is disclosed (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-259063).
When a touch screen is mounted on the inner side of a polarizing plate on a display surface side of a liquid crystal panel in the liquid crystal module including the touch panel installed therein, a fine-wire electrode formed on the glass substrate for the touch screen may sometimes change, to an unexpected direction, a polarization direction of polarized light passing through a polarizing plate on the back side of the liquid crystal panel from a backlight. This causes a portion to be illuminated regardless of whether black is displayed, thereby lowering a contrast ratio.
Forming sensor wiring only in a direction of a polarization axis or a direction perpendicular to the polarization axis and forming the sensor wiring and a black matrix so as to overlap each other in plan view, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-259063, are effective to suppress the decrease in the contrast ratio. However, if the sensor wiring is displaced from the black matrix due to manufacturing variations, portions having regular intervals between the sensor wiring and the black matrix relatively increase in length. Thus, interference of light easily occurs, which easily causes moiré.

Touch screen, touch panel, display, and electronic apparatus


The invention relates to a carrier enclosing tip, a carrier treating apparatus, and a method of carrier treatment. An object is to perform separation/purification more efficiently and rapidly as compared with treatments using conventional liquid chromatography or filters. There is provided a carrier enclosing tip comprising: a tip-like container having a fitting opening which is fittable to a nozzle for use in gas suction and discharge, or a member to be fitted to a nozzle, and a port through which fluid inflow and outflow can be effected by the gas suction and discharge; and a carrier which is enclosed in the tip-like container, and is capable of adsorbing a biosubstance in the fluid or is capable of reacting with or binding to the biosubstance.

Conventionally, there has been liquid chromatography using a principal of liquid chromatography in which a cylindrical container, called a column, having a liquid inlet and outlet in the center of an upper and lower circular plates, is filled with a particulate filler, called a gel, having a particle diameter of ten to several hundred microns, so that separation/purification of a substance is performed utilizing the interaction between solute molecules and conclusion when a liquid is made to flow from either the upper or lower liquid inlet or outlet by a pump or the like. Currently, various gels for liquid chromatography having different surface structures are commercially available. Gels whose surface displays ion exchange groups, function as an ion exchange gel, which is capable of separation of a substance by means of ion exchange chromatography utilizing the interaction of ionic charges with solute molecules.
Incidentally, these chromatography separation systems have been applied as a system of a complicated structure combined with; a pump for making liquids flow through the column, a container for containing these liquids, a valve for appropriately switching the passage, and measuring equipment for detecting the absorbance, pH, the electrical conductivity of an object substance flowing out from the column.
Normally, separation of a substance in chromatography involves a method for combining columns at several steps to achieve a required purified purity. Two or three steps of chromatography are often combined such as ion exchange chromatography->hydrophobic chromatography->gel filtration chromatography. However, in reality, when a substance is searched for and examined for use in research and development, only one or two steps of chromatography are sufficient in many cases. However, even when only one step of chromatography is performed, there is a problem in that the liquid chromatography system is likely to be a large scale system combined with a pump, a passage switching system, a column, containers for chromatography developing solutions, a detection system, and the like.
Moreover, even in such a large scale system, each specimen can be treated only one by one. Therefore in conventional liquid chromatography there is also a problem in that the treatment efficiency is low. Moreover there is a problem in that the flow direction is limited to one way only.
[Non Patent Document 1] "Liquid Chromatography Q&A" (published by Gihodo Shuppan Co., Ltd., June 2006, written by Itaru Matsushita)
[Non Patent Document 2] "Reality of Liquid Chromatography" (published by Sankyo Publishing Co. Ltd., 1976, written by Akira Etoh)

Carrier enclosing tip, carrier treating apparatus and method of carrier treatment


A short-range conducted electrical weapon (“conducted electrical weapon”) may be configured to deploy electrodes having a minimum spacing when coupled to a target at short-range. The conducted electrical weapon may comprise a housing. The housing may comprise a target end opposite a grip end. The grip end may be configured to removably receive a cartridge. The cartridge may house two or more electrodes. The target end may comprise one or more activation buttons or terminals. In response to the activation buttons or terminals being activated, the electrodes may be launched from the cartridge in the grip end. The electrodes may be disposed in the cartridge at an obtuse angle relative to the placement of the opposite electrode. The obtuse angle may enable the electrodes to be deployed effectively at short range.

CEWs provide and deliver an electrical current through tissue of a human or animal target. The current may interfere with the voluntary locomotion, for example, walking, running, moving, etc., of the target. The current may cause pain or other discomfort that encourages the target to stop voluntary locomotion. The current may cause neuromuscular incapacitation by causing skeletal muscles of the target to become stiff, lock up, and/or freeze so as to disrupt voluntary control of the muscles. This incapacitation interferes with voluntary locomotion by the target. Typical CEW's launch two or more electrodes to remotely deliver the current through tissue of the target. The electrodes may electrically couple to the target to enable the CEW to deliver the current through the electrodes to the target. The current may be more effective when a minimum spacing exists between the coupled electrodes. In situations where the CEW is deployed at short range, the minimum spacing may be difficult to obtain using a typical CEW.


A driver and sensor assembly that is hermetically sealed so that the assemblies may be fully implanted in a being. The assemblies employ a transducer that has a longitudinal axis and that vibrates or picks up vibration in a direction substantially transverse to its longitudinal axis. A sheath covers the transducer and is hermetically sealed to a housing. Leads from a sound processor are coupled to the housing and the entire assembly is hermetically sealed.

In some types of partial middle ear implantable (P-MEI) or total middle ear implantable (T-MEI) hearing aid systems, piezoelectric transducers are used in which sounds produce mechanical vibrations which are transduced by an electromechanical input transducer into electrical signals. These electrical signals are in turn amplified and applied to an electromechanical output transducer. The electromechanical output transducer vibrates an ossicular bone in response to the applied amplified electrical signals to improve hearing.
Because of the transducers location, they need to be protected from the ambient environment. In particular, the transducers need to provide moisture, microbial and tissue adhesion resistance. In addition, they need to be biocompatible. Also, the protection provided must have a low spring rate and low mass loading to not interfere with the operation of the transducer and to minimize vibrational transmission losses to the middle ear ossicles.

Hearing aid system and transducer with hermetically sealed housing


A relay apparatus which comprises an armature, means for pivotally mounting the armature, first and second pole pieces dimensioned, configured and disposed for cooperation with the armature, a magnetic circuit including at least one coil, a plurality of iron shunt lamina spanning the magnetic circuit intermediate at least one of the coil and the first and second pole pieces, and a plurality of copper washer slugs in the magnetic circuit intermediate at least one of the first and second pole pieces and the iron shunt lamina. The invention also includes a method of immunizing a relay from alternating current.

The invention relates to railway signaling relays and particularly to relays used in railway signalling apparatus and particularly for broken rail detection systems. Such relays are widely used and a model which has particularly wide use is known as the "B" relay. Forms of that relay are described in greater detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,829, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,258,122 both assigned to the same assignee as the present application. The relay description in these patents is incorporated herein by reference.
Although the invention also has particular application to bias neutral relays, it will be understood that the invention also has application to conventional neutral relays. Bias neutral relays have been around for a long time and are characterized by a magnet disposed near the pole pieces that works on the armature. The relay includes a magnetic shunt that is near the coil of the relay. The relay is "biased" in the sense that you can effectively only energize or pick the relay with the current in a single direction. In the opposite direction the current required to pick the relay may be as much as 40 times the current required in the opposite direction of current flow. A neutral relay can be picked or energized with either polarity direct current.
A broken rail detection system typically has the two rails of an axial section of track electrically isolated from the end abutting sections of track by the installation of insulating joints in each rail at two axially spaced locations. A battery is coupled to the rails at one axial location and the coil of a relay is connected to the two rails approximately five or more miles away. Any break in either rail causes the relay contacts to separate and cause a warning signal to be displayed to the engineer operating a locomotive on that section of track. The broken rail detection circuit is short circuited by the wheels of a train and thus the relay may also be released due to this effect.
For many years, circuits of this type were designed specifically for train detection and secondarily to provide broken rail detection. Currently, many railroads are adding fail safe radio detection equipment and want to remove the train detection track circuits while retaining the broken rail detection capability. It is thus desirable to optimize the circuit for just detecting broken rails even though such a system cannot consistently detect the presence of trains on a given section of track. In other words, such a system may or may not detect the presence of a train on a track system. By optimizing the system for broken rail detection, the circuit can be three to four times as long as what would be required if both reliable train and reliable broken rail detection were essential. The track circuit for just detecting broken rails can be as much as ten miles in length as opposed to a typical track circuit for detecting trains which seldom can be more than about three miles in length. Therefore, if all that is desired is to detect broken rails and not detect trains, only about 1/3 as much apparatus is required to cover the same length of track or the same amount of equipment or cover about three times as much track. Thus, the cost of the system is substantially reduced. The maximum length of track being protected is obtained if the resistances of the circuits at both the battery end of the rails and the relay end of the rails are made as low as possible.
It is common practice to position alternating current transmission lines parallel to railroad tracks because the easement for the railroad tracks often allows power lines to be located along the same right of way. Power lines may also be positioned along side the railroad tracks to power electrically powered trains as well as signalling circuits. Particularly, in foreign countries alternating current power is used to power the trains and thus those power transmission lines are particularly likely to induce alternating current currents in the rails. These lines can all contribute to inducing alternating current voltages in the tracks and this can interfere with satisfactory operation of a broken rail detection system. More specifically, induced alternating current in the rails can cause a relay to be energized at voltage and current conditions that will cause a broken rail detection system to give a false assurance of a safe operating condition. Thus, a malfunction of the broken rail detection system may create a serious risk of personal and property injury.
Traditional approaches used in the United States to avoid a problem with the induced alternating current are (1) to make the line circuits very short which means you have to use a lot more relays and equipment and/or (2) to bury a heavily shielded power transmission cable in the ground. The latter approach involves spending a lot of money to bury a special cable which could be avoided by merely using an alternating current immune relay.
The prior art includes the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. These relays have been made in Great Britain. The apparatus of FIG. 1 includes a special airgap structure which provides an alternating current path so that very little of the alternating current flux flows through the armature and thus does not affect the operation of the relay to provide alternating current immunity. In this structure, a core C, a waist W and a pole extension PX directing alternating current to the yoke Y. A small amount of the alternating current flows through the pole P to the armature A and then to the yoke Y.
FIG. 2 illustrates a structure with a relatively heavy monolithic magnetic shunts which directs both the alternating current and the direct current. Because of the heavy copper slugs CS a high reluctance is provided to the alternating current so that essentially just the direct current flux flows through the armature A. The copper slugs CS act like an inductor or shorted turn that also provides an impedance to the alternating current flux flow. Because the copper slugs CS act as a shorted turns, some relays having this feature may unfortunately have a much higher alternating current flow through the coils C, C. The known copper washer slugs used in the prior art have been used strictly to provide longer operating times. In other words, to make the relay a slow pick up relay or a slow drop away relay.
The prior art includes relays made and sold by the assignee of the present invention which have utilized a plurality of copper slug washers for the purpose of varying the timing characteristics of the relay. Magnetic shunt lamina have not been used in the prior art to the best of the applicant's knowledge.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method for and a relay apparatus for providing a substantial immunity to induced alternating current voltages and which will thus promote safe railroad operation.
It is another object of the invention to provide an AC immune relay that does not increase the resistance of the operating coil and thus render the relay less suitable for use in a broken rail detection system.
It is another object of the invention to provide apparatus which will have adjustable alternating current immunity, adjustable sensitivity and adjustable timing characteristics and further that such adjustability can be readily varied to make a relay meet unique specifications for particular applications and which will minimize the requirements to maintain inventory.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide apparatus which will utilize substantially all of the component parts of existing production relays and thus will be inexpensive to manufacture.
It is another object of the invention to provide a relay which can have substantially the same pick up (energization) and drop away (de-energization) voltage and current characteristics as the existing relay which has not been modified.
It is an object of the invention to provide an alternating current immunized relay utilizing a magnetic structure means which does not insert additional resistance in the relay circuit and does not require external components for the relay.
It is a further object of the invention to provide apparatus which, at least in some embodiments, will have less sensitivity than conventional relays and thus will be less vulnerable to noise pulses.
A further object of the invention is to provide a more efficient shunt path for alternating current than has been provided by monolithic magnetic shunts in the past.

Alternating current immunized relay and method of immunizing a relay to alternating current


The invention provides a runoff water purification system for removing pollutants which accumulate on road surfaces, thereby reducing the workload of the sewage water treatment plants and preventing environmental water pollution. The system 1 is installed under the ground of the side of the road 2. Runoff water runs into the system 1 through a curb inlet 120, is purified and discharged to a sewage pipe 56. The system is made up of a concrete box 11, in which a wall 10 separates the box into a maintenance tank 7 and a treatment tank 9, both of which are connected to each other at their lowest ends. Runoff water flows into the maintenance tank 7 and to the treatment tank 9, through the connecting conduit where pollutants are removed, and discharged to the sewage pipe.

Pollutants from the exhaust gas of automobiles, especially from diesel engine vehicles, abraded tire dust, asphalt dust, and further, a large volume of pollutants contained in the flue gas from industries accumulate on road surfaces. These pollutants include organic pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic-hydrocarbons, heavy metals such as chrome and cadmium, nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which cause eutrophication, and further include materials of potential environmental hormones. These pollutants and the like are washed out by rainfall and pass into storm drains adjacent to paved surfaces, such as streets and parking lots and through curb inlets, and flow into the sewage systems or into the rivers.
Larger spills of oil can also flow into storm drains, such as from loading docks, gas stations, and the like. In addition, quantities of oil or other hydrocarbons are frequently spilled on the ground and subsequent water flow, such as from rain, can cause the oil to flow into storm drains. This is referred to as "non-point-source pollution."
The volume of oil from non-point-source pollution in typical water runoff is surprisingly large and consequently, cause enormous annual costs, both financial and environmental, by contaminating natural receiving waters.
When the sewage system is a combined flow system, pollutants are treated and disposed of at the sewage treatment plants. But if the pollutants include heavy metals, such as chrome or cadmium, the sludge needs a special treatment.
On the other hand, when the sewage system is a separate flow system, road surface run-off water containing pollutants flows into the rivers with no proper treatment, the pollutants potentially cause a eutrophication or environmental water pollution, and causes a disruption of the ecosystem.
The chemicals, such as insecticides or herbicides, in the effluent from rice fields or the like, and the suspension solids caused by plowing the rice fields for young rice plants flow into the rivers and cause water pollution.

Road surface waste water treatment device and tubular water treatment unit


A multilayer paint system wherein each layer of paint uses the same activator and the same mixing ratio of film-forming binder to activator. The paint system herein is particularly useful for automotive refinishing applications.

In the automotive paint and refinish market, a number of different paints are manufactured to meet consumer demands and workflow goals. A refinish paint manufacturer will offer many different paint grades (lines) that will produce differing qualities of finishes on a vehicle. The manufacturer will also produce for use within each paint line, primer fillers, sealers, basecoats, single-stage topcoats, and clearcoats that are specifically designed to adhere to and to produce quality finishes with one another. More than one of each of the individual paint layers is typically, produced. For example, two different clearcoats generally may be used; one being a fast-drying clearcoat for use in repairing a small area and another being a slower-drying clearcoat that has very good visual appearance for use over a large portion of the surface being repaired, typically an entire body panel or the entire vehicle.
In general, each of these paint layers will consist of two (2K) or a three-components (3K) which must be mixed in the correct ratio prior to application. A 2K paint mixture consists of a first component which is generally the film-forming binder and other adjuvants. The second component, called the activator or activator package, is the crosslinker and its adjuvants. In refinish paint, the crosslinker is usually a polyisocyanate or a mixture of polyisocyanates. Within this second component, a paint manufacturer will have several activator packages which the application specialist will chose generally based upon the ambient spray conditions. The activator packages that the manufacturer supplies is most often chosen from a low temperature activator package for use when the ambient spray conditions are relatively cool, a medium temperature activator package, and a high temperature activator package for use when the ambient spray temperature is relatively high. Other activator packages may also be provided to further allow for spray condition latitude. While the activator packages have typically been formulated to conform to ambient spray temperatures, the application specialist has a certain amount of freedom in choosing which component to use depending upon the workflow and customer expectations.
In a 3K paint system, the first two components are the same as a 2K but this system adds a third solvent component, also called the reducer. The reducer is added if a mixture of the first two components, called a pot mix, is too viscous for the spray equipment. As with the activator packages, the reducer is chosen with ambient spray temperature in mind. For low temperature spray conditions, a reducer is chosen that is relatively volatile. For relatively high ambient temperature spray conditions, a reducer is chosen that is less volatile. A paint manufacturer may provide several reducer packages for the application specialist to choose from.
While an activator package may be useful for one layer such as the primer layer, different activator packages may have to be developed for each of the individual layers. To help alleviate the problem of different activator packages for each paint layer, some paint manufacturers have developed a series of common activator packages that can be used for more than one of the layers. However, the mixing ratio of the film-forming binder and the activator package in one layer is a different ratio than what is required for the other layers and, no paint system uses only one activator for all of the layers. Complicating this system even more is the fact that one layer may require a reducer while another layer will not use any reducer at all.
The refinish paint application specialist is required to consult multiple sources to make sure the correct mixing ratios are used, the correct activator package is added to the film-forming binder, and the correct reducer along with its corresponding correct amount is added if one is needed. In addition to all of these requirements, the shop owner must be sure that the application specialist has all of the correct components on hand to meet the demands of the job conditions.
The present invention is directed at a simplified paint system that uses a common activator for each of the layers and wherein all of the layers use the same binder to activator mix ratio and preferably, no reducer addition is required to form a sprayable pot mix. The invention allows the refinish paint application specialist to simplify the painting process. Preferably, in countries that use non-metric units, the paint system is formulated to have a binder to activator mix ratio of from about 8:1 to about 1:1, preferably from about 4:1 to about 1:1 and in countries that use metric units, the paint system can be formulated to a binder to activator ratio of from about 5:1 to about 1:1. This will also allow the shop owner to reduce the number of paint cans held in their inventory.

Coatings system with common activator and common volumetric mix ratio