Presbyopia is treated by a method which uses various lasers to remove a portion of the scleral tissue and increase the accommodation of the presbyopic patient""s eye. Stable accommodation is achieved by the filling of the sub-conjunctival tissue to the laser-ablated scleral areas. The proposed laser wavelength ranges from ultraviolet to infrared of (0.15-0.36) microns, (0.5-1.4) microns and (0.9-10.6) microns. Both scanning and fiber delivered systems are proposed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for the treatment of presbyopia using scanning and fiber-coupled lasers to ablate the sclera tissue.
2. Prior Art
Corneal reshaping, including a procedure called photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and a new procedure called laser assisted in situ keratomileusis, or laser intrastroma keratomileusis (LASIK), has been performed by lasers in the ultraviolet (UV) wavelength of 193-213 nm. Commercial UV refractive lasers include ArF excimer lasers at 193 nm and other non-excimer, solid-state lasers, such as the one patented by the present inventor in 1992 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,630). Precise, stable corneal reshaping requires lasers with strong tissue absorption (or minimum penetration depth) such that the thermal damage zone is at a minimum (less than few microns). Furthermore, accuracy of the procedure of vision correction depends on the amount of tissue removed in each laser pulse, in the order of about 0.2 microns. Therefore, lasers at UV wavelengths between 193 and 213 nm and at the mid-infrared wavelengths between 2.8 and 3.2 microns are two attractive wavelength ranges which match the absorption peak of protein and water, respectively.
The above-described prior arts are however limited to the use of reshaping the corneal surface curvature for the correction of myopia and hyperopia. A variation of farsightedness that the existing laser surgery procedures will not treat is presbyopia, the gradual age related condition of suddenly fuzzy print and the necessity of reading glasses. When a person reaches a certain age (around 45), the eyes start to lose their capability to focus sharply for near vision. Presbyopia is not due to the cornea but comes about as the lens loses its ability to accommodate or focus sharply for near vision as a result of loss of elasticity that is inevitable as people age.
The present patent uses a xe2x80x9ccoldxe2x80x9d laser to remove sclera tissue (outside the limbus area) versus a xe2x80x9cthermalxe2x80x9d lasers in Sand""s patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,432) to shrink the corneal shape (inside the limbus area). The cold laser of the present has a wavelength range of (0.15-0.36) microns and (2.6-3.2) microns which are also different from that of the xe2x80x9cthermalxe2x80x9d laser range of (1.80-2.55) microns proposed by Sand.
The prior arts of Ruitz (U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,997) and Lin (U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,679) are all limited to the corneal central portion and are designed to change the curvature of the cornea by ablation the surface layer of the cornea. The present patent, on the contrary, does not change the corneal central curvature and only ablating tissue outside the limbus.
The technique used in the prior art of Bille (U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,586) is specified to below conditions: (a) quasi-continuous laser having pulse duration less than 10 picoseconds and focused spot less than 10 micron diameter; (b) the laser is confined to the interior of a selected tissue to correct myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism, and (c) the laser is focused into the lens of an eye to prevent presbyopia. He also proposed to use laser to create a cavity within the corneal stroma to change its visco-elastic properties.
The xe2x80x9cpresbyopiaxe2x80x9d correction proposed by Ruitz using an excimer (ArF) laser also required the corneal surface to be reshaped to form xe2x80x9cmultifocalxe2x80x9d effort for a presbyopia patents to see near and far. However, Ruitz""s xe2x80x9cpresbyopiaxe2x80x9d correction is fundamentally different from that of the present patent which does not change the corneal curvature and only ablate the scleral tissue outside the limbus area. In the present patent, we propose that the presbyopia patent is corrected by increasing patient""s accommodation rather than reshaping the cornea into xe2x80x9cmultifocalxe2x80x9d.
To treat presbyopic patients, or the reversal of presbyopia, using the concept of expanding the sclera by mechanical devices has been proposed by Schachar in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,489,299, 5,722,952, 5,465,737 and 5,354,331. These mechanical approaches have the drawbacks of complexity and are time consuming, costly and have potential side effects. To treat presbyopia, the Schachar U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,529,076 and 5,722,952 propose the use of heat or radiation on the corneal epithelium to arrest the growth of the crystalline lens and also propose the use of lasers to ablate portions of the thickness of the sclera. However, these prior arts do not present any details or practical methods or laser parameters for the presbyopic corrections. No clinical studies have been practiced to show the effectiveness of the proposed concepts. The concepts proposed in the Schachar patents regarding lasers suitable for ablating the sclera tissues were incorrect because he did not identify which lasers are xe2x80x9ccold lasersxe2x80x9d. Many of his proposed lasers are thermal lasers which will cause thermal burning of the cornea, rather than tissue ablation. Furthermore, the clinical issues, such as locations, patterns and depth of the sciera tissue removal were not indicated in these prior patents. In addition, it is essential to use a scanning laser to achieve the desired ablation pattern and to control the ablation depth on the sclera tissue. Schachar""s methods also require the weakening of the sclera and increase its diameter by expansion.
Another prior art proposed by Spencer Thornton (Chapter4, xe2x80x9cSurgey for hyperopia and presbyopiaxe2x80x9d, edot3d by Neal Sher (Williams and Wilkins, MD, 1997) is to use a diamond knife to incise radial cuts around the limbus areas. It requires a deep (90%-98%) cut of the sclera tissue in order to obtain accommodation of the lens. This method, however, involves a lot of bleeding and is difficult to control the depth of the cut which requires extensive surgeon""s skill.
Another drawback for presbyopia correction provided by the above-described non-laser methods is the major post-operative regression of about (30%-80%). And this regression is minimum in the laser method proposed in the present invention. The important concept proposed in the present invention is to support the post-operative results which show minimum regression. We proposed that the laser ablated sclera tissue xe2x80x9cgapxe2x80x9d will be filled in by the sub-conjunctival tissue within few days after the surgery. This filled in sub-conjunctival tissue is much more flexible than the original sclera tissue. Therefore the filled-in gap in the sclera area will cause the underlaying ciliary body to have more space to move. This in turn will allow the ciliary body to contract or expand the zonular fiber which is connected to the lens, when the presbyopic patient is adjusting his lens curvature to see near and far. The above described sub-conjunctival tissue filling effects and the increase of xe2x80x9cflexibilityxe2x80x9d of the sclera area are fundamentally different from the scleral xe2x80x9cexpansionxe2x80x9d (or weakening) concept proposed by the prior arts of Schachar and proposed by the implant of a scleral band. In the present invention, the laser ablated sclera area is not weakening, it becomes more flexible instead.
One objective of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method to obviate these drawbacks in the above Schachar patents.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to use a scanning device such that the degree of ciliary mussel accommodation can be controlled by the location, size and shapes of the removed sclera tissue.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to define the non-thermal lasers for efficient tissue ablation.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to define the optimal laser parameters and the ablation patterns for best clinical outcome for presbyopia patients, where sclera ablation will increase the accommodation of the ciliary mussel by the increase of the flexibility in the laser-ablated areas.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide the appropriate scanning patterns which will cause effective ciliary body contraction and expansion on the zonules and the lens.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a new mechanism which supports the clinical results of laser presbyopia correction with minimum regression. One important concept proposed in the present invention is to support the post-operative results which show minimum regression when presbyopia is corrected by a laser ablation for the sclera tissue.
We proposed that the laser ablated sclera tissue xe2x80x9cgapxe2x80x9d will be filled in by the sub-conjunctival tissue within few days after the surgery. This filled in sub-conjunctival tissue is much more flexible than the original sclera tissue. Therefore the filled-in gap in the sclera area will cause the underlaying ciliary body becomes more flexible. This will allow the ciliary body to contract or expand the zonular fiber connected to the lens when the presbyopic patient is adjusting his lens curvature to see near and far.
The concept presented in the present patent is to remove, by any methods including laser or non-laser methods, portion of the sclera tissue which is filled in by sub-conjunctival tissue to increase the flexibility of the scleral area and in turn causes the movement of the ciliary body and zonular fiber to increase the lens accommodation.
The preferred embodiments of the present surgical laser consists of a combination of an ablative-type laser and delivery unit. The ablative-type laser has a wavelength range of from 0.15 to 0.35 microns and from 2.6 to 3.2 microns and is operated in a pulsed mode such that the thermal damage of the corneal tissue is minimized.
It is yet another preferred embodiment of the present surgical laser to provide a scanning mechanism to effectively ablate the sclera tissue at a controlled depth by beam overlapping or by controlling the number of laser pulses acting on the sclera.
It is yet another embodiment of the present surgical laser to provide an integration system in which the ablative laser may be delivered by a scanner or by a fiber-coupled device which can be manually scanned over the cornea.
It is yet another embodiment of the present surgical laser to focus the laser beams to generate the sclera ablation patterns in radial lines, curved lines, dotted rings, or a slit pattern.
It is yet another embodiment of the present surgical laser to provide an integration system in which the sclera ablation leads to the increase of the accommodation of the ciliary muscle for the treatment of presbyopia and the prevention of open angle glaucoma.
It is yet another preferred embodiment of the present application to provide a non-laser mechanical method including a diamond knife to remove a portion of the scleral tissue and cause the movement of the ciliary body for lens accommodation.
Further preferred embodiments of the present surgical laser will become apparent from the description of the invention which follows.

Methods and apparatus for presbyopia treatment using a scanning laser system


A ski guard assembly for use with skis of different lengths that have tip and tail end portions, sides, tops with top corners and bottoms with bottom edges includes an outboard and an inboard guard. The outboard guard has a channel that is closed at one end and open at an opposite end for removably receiving an end portion of a ski. The inboard guard has a assembly complimentary channel that is open at each end for removably receiving a portion of the ski adjacent the end portion of the ski. The inboard guard is slideably attached to the outboard guard so that it slides along the length of the ski to adjust to the length of the assembly when the outboard guard member is installed on the end portion of the ski. The ski guard assembly is secured to the ski by clamping the inboard guard onto the ski after the length adjustment is made.

Background of the Invention
This invention relates to ski guards for shielding skis and more particularly to ski guards for protecting the end portions of the skis during transportation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,044 granted to me Nov. 19, 1991 is hereby incorporated in this patent specification by reference. This patent discloses a ski guard assembly that includes two pairs of tip guard members and two pairs of tail guard members that combine to protect the metal edges, tops and corners of different length skis. Each of the guard members includes a base portion with two spaced side walls forming an open channel that captures the tips or the tails of the skis so as to protect the sharpened metal edges, tops and corners of the tips or tails against damage from foreign objects during transportation of the skis. Two pairs of straps cooperate with the ski guards to hold a pair of skis together and to hold the tips and tails of each ski within one of the guard members. The tip and tail guard members may also be integrated so that one tip guard holds and protects both tips and one tail guard holds and protects both tails.
These ski guards are configured and adapted for use with a wide range of ski lengths and types. They provide good impact protection for the top, bottom, top corners and metal edges of the skis at the most vital segments of the skis, namely the tip and tail portions of the skis where the metal edges are used to carve turns.
However, it has been found that it would be desirable to protect longer segments of the skis and to extend the range of ski lengths that can be protected by a given configuration.


Light modulation devices are provided. At least one Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO) is used to create an oscillating signal used to drive an intensity parameter, a color parameter or both in a light modulator. The oscillating signal may be mixed with a base signal. The modulated signal driving either of the intensity or color parameters may be simple or complex. Systems having a plurality of light projection devices, each associated with a corresponding light modulation device, are also provided. Such Light modulation systems may be used for a variety of applications.

Many visually interesting lighting effects can be obtained by cyclically pulsing light intensity and/or color. For example, many fundamental biological phenomena are related to frequencies in the range of 0.01 Hz and 100 Hz, and their pulsations resonate deeply within human perception. For example, it is well established that when one is exposed to light pulsations within the frequency range of typical brainwaves (approximately 2 Hz to 30 Hz), the brain has a tendency to eventually fall in synchronism with the light pulsations: this phenomenon is known as photic brainwave entrainment. Since different brainwave frequencies are associated to different mind states, it follows that light pulsations can have an influence on mood and state of mind. As another example, pulsations near the typical heartbeat frequency of 1.2 Hz usually strongly attract the attention. As yet another example pulsations at 7.8 Hz, a frequency known as the "Schumann Resonance" which relates to the resonance frequency of the electromagnetic field surrounding the Earth, are perceived as very soothing by most people
Light pulsations are already commonly generated in parts of this frequency range with stroboscope-type luminaires such as seen in discotheques or ambiance lighting systems. However, such systems usually generate crude on/off light pulses, as shown in FIG. 1 (PRIOR ART), which can trigger epileptic episodes in some individuals. Current research indicates that 1 in 20,000 adults over 25 years of age have epileptic photosensitivity to pulsing light, without necessarily being aware of it. While this risk associated to standard stroboscopic light pulsations is minimal, it cannot be ignored in lighting applications for the general public.
Extensive psychophysiological research allows us to specify the arousing, relaxing, awareness sharpening, or pacifying effects of various colors. Such research originates in the early work of pioneers such as Dinshah Ghadiali (1863-1966) with his Spectro-Chrome Color Therapy system, and includes treatment modalities such as Syntonic Optometry as developed by Dr. Spitler from 1927. More recent examples include the research of Dr. John Nash Ott (author of "Health and Light", 1973), Dr. Fritz Hollowich (author of "The influence of ocular light perception on metabolism in man and animal", 1969) and Jacob Liberman (Light: Medecine of the Future", 1984). For example, it is well established that so-called cool colors (in the green-blue spectrum) have a tendency to stimulate the parasympathetic portion of the autonomous nervous system (ANS), leading to reduced pulse rate and relaxation. Conversely, so-called warm colors (in the red-orange-yellow spectrum) have a tendency to stimulate the sympathetic portion of the ANS, leading to increased pulse rate and arousal. Intermediate colors (lime and magenta) have a tendency to bring balance and equilibrium between both portions of the ANS. Due to limitations of existing colored light generation technology, most existing color therapy systems have been making use of the application of single static colors, sometimes presented in sequences of chosen colors.
Combining the effect of color with brainwave photic driving has been shown to have great therapeutic potential. Previous inventions making use of this combination include the Photron and Lumitron by John Downing (1984) and the Color Receptivity Trainer by Jacob Liberman (1991). However these devices can only present a single color combined with a single stroboscopically pulsing frequency, with a changing of either parameter requiring a manual intervention.
There may be therapeutic benefits in presenting more complex light projections involving the simultaneous presentation of more than one color, or sequences of colors in a more rapid succession than that allowed by manual control (e.g. more than once per second). Furthermore, there may be therapeutic benefits to combining colors with brainwave pulsations of the colored light intensity without incurring the discomfort of stroboscopic flashes or the risk of epileptic complications. As will be shown below, such modulated light projections can prove particularly effective to induce relaxing, energizing or balancing effects in humans and animals. Through facilitating the induction of a state of deep relaxation, they can also prove particularly effective in reducing stress levels. It is well-known in medical science that stress is a major contributor in a wide variety of health problems: recent research suggests that anywhere from 60 to 90 percent of illness is stress-related. The above-described modulated light projections may therefore assist in the treatment of pathologies generated by excessive stress of the nervous system.
Prior art in the field of light modulation includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,399 (MARTEL) entitled "Light Color and Intensity Modulation System", issued in 1991, which describes a system comprising a color scaling device receiving a hue control signal and producing a plurality of color component signals being supplied as the output to color light projectors, and one LFO whose output is an intensity modulation signal for varying the intensity of the plurality of color component signals. While such a system is capable of performing basic light modulation as shown in FIG. 2 (PRIOR ART), its capabilities are limited to a single type of visual effect, i.e., the intensity modulation with one frequency.
There remains however a need for improved systems in this field.


A frame for converting any object into a fishing lure is formed from a length of wire bent at its center into two strands approximating a wishbone symmetrical about a longitudinal axis. The strands extend through a diverging segment, a converging clamping segment and a connecting segment looped for pivotal engagement on the converging segment. The converging segment is resiliently laterally expandable and the clamping segment is resiliently rotatively expandable with the pivotally engaged connecting segment to receive and hold the object to be converted into a fishing lure therebetween. A tension ring girdingly slidable on the converging segment limits resilient lateral expansion of the frame. Preferably, the wishbone has an eye for connection to the fishing line and a shank. A fish hook may be rigged on the tension ring. A bait hook fixed to the wishbone shank can be used to secure the object in place on the frame. A second shank fixed to the wishbone shank has a second eye for connection of a second fish hook.

This invention relates generally to fishing equipment and more particularly concerns baits used for fishing.
A great variety of baits are available to the modern angler, including a selection of indigenous live baits and many types of artificial lures, including feathers, jigs and wood, metal and plastic lures, all of which can be modified to the angler's personal preferences by changing the skirts, weights and hooks associated with them. However, the seemingly limitless choices for the angler also present some problems. One problem is that, with so many options, it is neither physically practical nor economically sensible to collect all of the baits. Another problem is that while some of the baits can be modified by the addition of enhancing devices such as feathers, skirts, weights and the like, a change of baits most often means a change of the entire rig connected to the line. A further problem is that, while an angler's available choices may be extensive, on any given day, fish may be attracted to a shape or movement not provided by any of the baits on hand. In addition, baits are generally suitable for either top or bottom fishing, but not both. Also, live bait and simulated live bait rigs generally involve setting the hook in the bait in a manner that mars the natural appearance of the bait, damages its structure and/or makes baiting the hook an unpleasant task for many, and particularly younger, anglers.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a fishing lure frame which enables the angler to convert anything, whether live or artificial into a fishing lure. Another object of this invention is to provide a fishing lure frame which permits the angler to change baits without detaching the rig from the line. A further object of this invention is to provide a fishing lure frame for use in top or bottom fishing. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a fishing lure frame which helps to maintain the natural appearance of live and simulated live baits. It is also an object of this invention to provide a fishing lure frame which does not require threading of the bait onto a hook. Still another object of this invention is to provide a fishing lure frame with which the angler may use skirts, weights, feathers or any other useful attachments.


Work-handling apparatus, such as may be used in automatically loading and unloading a press in the manufacture of large sheet metal components, is arranged to reciprocate a work-handling attachment substantially linearly. The attachment is pivotally mounted on a crank lever, which is pivotally mounted on a crank arm, which is pivotally mounted on mounting means, the pivot axes of the crank arm, which is pivotally mounted on mounting means, the pivot axes of the crank arm and the attachment being substantially equi-distant from that of the crank lever. By means of geared connection between the mounting means and the crank lever (in the ratio of substantially 2:1), and between the crank arm and the attachment (in the ratio of substantially 1:2) the attachment is caused to maintain a substantially constant angular orientation during linear movement resulting from the coordinated rotations of the crank lever and the crank arm.

This invention is concerned with improvements in or relating to work pick-up and/or handling apparatus such as may be used in automatically picking up, moving, and releasing workpieces with respect to different positions or stations in a repetitive manufacturing process. For example, such an apparatus may be used in loading and/or unloading a press in the manufacture of sheet metal pressings or stampings. In particular, the invention relates to such apparatus which is arranged to impart to work-supporting means of the apparatus, and so to a workpiece when held, a reciprocable linear movement.
One such apparatus is described in U.K. Patent specification No. 1,395,058. That known apparatus comprises a linearly-reciprocable wheeled carriage for supporting any one of a variety of work-handling attachments. The carriage is constrained by guide rails to remain in a constant orientation as it is reciprocated to and fro along a linear path. The carriage is pivotally connected to a crank lever which, in turn, is pivotally connected to a crank arm, the three pivot axes being in parallel and the effective lengths of the crank arm and crank lever, measured between the pivot axes, being equal. By means of a geared connection in the ratio of 2:1 from a stationary gear on the pivot axis of the crank arm to a gear which is fast with the crank lever on the pivot axis of the crank lever, it is provided that linear motion is imparted to the carriage upon rotation of the crank arm about its pivot axis, the linear path of the carriage being intersected by the pivot axis of the crank arm.

Apparatus for loading and/or unloading industrial presses


Mitigation of processing artifacts caused by surfaces with high contrast printing or coloring transitions within a system to compare signatures derived from inherent physical surface properties of different articles to authenticate or validate articles and within a system to generate signatures from inherent physical surface properties of different articles.

In the fields of authenticating of physical articles it is known to rely upon an identifier for the article. An identifier based on a physical property may be used, these can include embedded reflective particles (WO02/50790A1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,214) or an unmodified surface of the article (WO2005/088533).
To provide an authentication result based upon such an identifier, it is necessary to compare a reading from the article to be authenticated to a stored reading result. For this comparison, a match finding algorithm is used.
The present invention has been conceived in the light of known drawbacks of existing systems.


A technique for arbitrating conflicting usage of a communications channel of a wearable communications device is disclosed. In at least one embodiment of the invention, a method includes transmitting a voice signal from a microphone to a portable device using a first communications channel in a first mode of operating a system. The method includes transmitting a monitor signal to the portable device using the first communications channel for a predetermined period of time in response to detection of a beacon signal initiated by an application executing on the portable device. The first and second signals may be ultrasonic signals received over the first communications channel and may have the same frequency and different phases. The beacon signal may be detected based on the first and second signals. The first communications channel may include an audio jack of the portable device.

Field of the Invention
This application relates to wearable electronic devices and more particularly to monitor applications in wearable electronic devices.
Description of the Related Art
A wearable electronic device or portable device may include a content delivery system (e.g., an audio player), mobile communications device (smart phone), or clothing and accessories including computer and advanced electronic technologies. A typical wearable electronic device includes a limited number of input/output ports. Adding additional ports to a wearable device may increase size and cost of the wearable device. Accordingly, increasing the functionality of existing input/ports is desired.

Bi-directional communications in a wearable monitor


A backlight unit and a liquid crystal display using the same are disclosed. The backlight unit includes a plurality of light sources generating light, a light source printed circuit board (PCB) on which the plurality of light sources are mounted, a protrusion that protrudes from one side of the light source PCB and is fastened to a connector used to supply a driving power to the plurality of light sources, and a bottom cover that receives the light source PCB and has a through hole through which the protrusion passes. The connector is exposed to the outside through the through hole.

1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a backlight unit and a liquid crystal display using the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A range of application for liquid crystal displays has gradually widened because of its excellent characteristics such as light weight, thin profile, and low power consumption. The liquid crystal displays have been used in personal computers such as notebook PCs, office automation equipments, audio/video equipments, interior/outdoor advertising display devices, and the like. A backlit liquid crystal display occupying most of the liquid crystal displays controls an electric field applied to a liquid crystal layer and modulates light coming from a backlight unit, thereby displaying an image.
The backlight unit is classified into a direct type backlight unit and an edge type backlight unit. In the direct type backlight unit, a plurality of light sources are positioned on a lower surface of a diffusion plate, and thus light travels to a back surface of a liquid crystal display panel. On the other hand, the edge type backlight unit includes a plurality of light sources positioned opposite the side of a light guide plate and a plurality of optical sheets between the liquid crystal display panel and the light guide plate. In the edge type backlight unit, the light guide plate converts line light or point light coming from the light sources into planar light, and the optical sheets allow the planar light to travel to the back surface of the liquid crystal display panel.
More specifically, the edge type backlight unit includes a cover bottom, the plurality of light sources that are positioned at one side of the cover bottom and provide light, the light guide plate that is positioned under the liquid crystal display panel so as to guide light from the light sources to the liquid crystal display panel, a reflection sheet for reflecting light reflected under the light guide plate to the front of the light guide plate, the plurality of optical sheets that are stacked on the light guide plate and provide uniform light to the liquid crystal display panel, and a guide panel for supporting the liquid crystal display panel.
In the related art, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), a hot cathode fluorescent lamp (HCFL), an external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL), etc. were used as the light source of the backlight unit. However, a light emitting diode (LED) has been recently spotlighted because it can be driven at a low voltage and has excellent characteristics such as low power consumption, an excellent color reproduction characteristic, an excellent contrast ratio, and a long life span.
As shown in FIG. 1, when the LED is generally used as the light source in the related art, a plurality of LEDs 1 are mounted on a light source printed circuit board (PCB) 2 to constitute an LED array. The LED array is fastened to the side of a bottom cover 4 with a heat sink 3 interposed between the LED array and the bottom cover 4. A connector 5 is fastened to one side of the light source PCB 2 and thus is used to apply a driving power supplied through a wire 6 to the LEDs 1. The wire 6 is electrically connected to a light source driver (not shown) via a through hole 7 formed in a bottom surface of the bottom cover 4.
In the related art backlight unit, because the connector 5 is positioned inside a liquid crystal module including the liquid crystal display panel and the backlight unit, the wire 6 is fastened to the connector 5 in an initial assembly stage (i.e., before the reflection sheet, the light guide plate, etc. are assembled) of the backlight unit and then has to be drawn out through the through hole 7. The backlight unit may include the plurality of connectors 5 based on its type. As a result, in the related art, when the wire 6 is drawn out, an assembly performance may be reduced because it is difficult to arrange the wire 6. This increases the assembly cost.
Further, in the related art, because the wire 6 is fastened to the connector 5 in the initial assembly stage of the backlight unit, it is impossible for a user to confirm whether or not the wire 6 is well fastened to the connector 5 with his or her eyes after the assembly of the liquid crystal module is completed.
Further, in the related art, because a bezel width BZ of the liquid crystal display is forced to increase by an area of the light source PCB 2 the connector 5 occupies, it is difficult to achieve a narrow bezel technology.

Liquid crystal display and backlight unit comprising a bottom cover including a through hole wherein a connector is exposed to the outside of a bottom surface of the bottom cover


A DC adapter that can be housed in a battery housing portion of an electronic apparatus selectively with a primary and secondary battery. The DC adapter is connected to an AC/DC converter and is inserted into a battery housing portion of an electronic apparatus so as to supply the electronic apparatus with a DC power, wherein a substantially cylindrical adapter main body has an insertion limiting portion which is guided by an insertion guide portion of the battery housing portion when the DC adapter is inserted into the battery housing portion with the proper polarity, and comes into contact with the contact portion of the battery housing portion when the DC adapter is inserted into the battery housing portion with the reversed polarity so as to limit the insertion of the DC adapter. The insertion limiting portion is formed by projecting a part of the outer circumference of the cylindrical adapter main body in a rectangular manner along the longitudinal direction of the main body and has two sides each of which extends from a part of the outer circumference of the DC adapter. The center angle of the circular arc obtained by connecting the proximal ends of the two sides on the outer circumference of the DC adapter is less than 90°.

Conventionally, an electronic apparatus that uses primary and secondary batteries as a power source has widely been used. The electronic apparatus of this type has a battery housing portion into which the primary battery or secondary battery is inserted. From the battery housed in the battery housing portion, a power is supplied to the apparatus and thereby the electronic apparatus is driven. By putting the secondary battery for use in the electronic apparatus in a dedicated battery charger, it can be re-charged and used repeatedly.
As the primary battery for use in an electronic apparatus that is driven by a battery, a size AA battery is available. Some electronic apparatuses that use the size AA battery have a battery housing portion into which two size AA batteries are inserted in consideration of power consumption of the apparatus or battery life.
In order to house the secondary battery in the battery housing portion in a compatible manner with the size AA battery in an electronic apparatus capable of using both primary and secondary batteries, a secondary battery having the same shape as that of the size AA battery is adopted. By making the shape of the secondary battery identical to the shape of the size AA battery as described above, it is possible to put the secondary battery in the battery housing portion for the size AA battery in a compatible manner with the size AA battery.
In this case, in the secondary battery which can be housed in the battery housing portion for the size AA battery in a compatible manner, when the battery housing portion into which two size AA batteries are inserted is used, the secondary batteries each having the same shape as that of the size AAA battery are arranged, as an assembled battery.
Some electronic apparatus capable of using both primary and secondary batteries are configured to use a DC adapter. The DC adapter converts a commercial alternating power into a DC power using an AC/DC converter and supplies the apparatus with the DC power. Some DC adapters of this type are configured to be housed in the battery housing portion for primary and secondary batteries. In order to realize this configuration, proposed is a DC adapter having substantially the same size as that of the assembled secondary battery whose size is the same as that obtained by arranging the two size AA batteries and having substantially a similar shape to the assembled secondary battery. Electrodes are formed on the DC adapter. The DC adapter is provided with electrodes. When being housed in the battery housing portion for the primary and secondary batteries, the electrodes come into contact with terminals formed in the battery housing portion with which the electrodes provided in the primary and secondary batteries come into contact. Therefore, when the DC adapter is housed in the battery housing portion, the electrodes come into contact with terminals formed in the battery housing portion, and a DC power is supplied to an electronic apparatus through the terminals and electrodes.
The use of thus configured DC adapter eliminates the need to form a DC jack connector for an AC/DC adapter or DC adapter on the electronic apparatus side, that is, it is only necessary to form a battery housing portion on the electronic apparatus side, contributing to reduction in the number of parts of the electronic apparatus to be used and, eventually, the size of the electronic apparatus itself.
In such a DC adapter that can be housed in the battery housing portion for the primary and secondary batteries in a compatible manner, electrode terminals formed on the DC adapter have defined polarity like the primary and secondary batteries. Thus, if the DC adapter is inserted into the battery housing portion with the polarity thereof wrongly set, the electronic apparatus does not operate, or any trouble related to the operation of the apparatus may be caused. In order to prevent the wrong insertion, a configuration can be considered in which the DC adapter is formed in a left-right asymmetrical shape and the shape of the battery housing portion is correspondingly formed. As a result, however, when the primary or secondary battery, or assembled battery obtained by arranging the secondary batteries are inserted into the battery housing portion having the above configuration, the inserted battery may rattle within the housing portion. In addition, assume that the terminals of the battery housing portion with which the electrodes of the DC adapter come into contact are shared between the primary or secondary battery and DC adapter. In this case, when the DC adapter is used in the apparatuses other than its conforming apparatus, there is a possibility that the operating voltage may differ from that of the primary or secondary battery, so that it is impossible to ensure safety of the electronic apparatus, in some cases.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

DC adapter and electronic apparatus using the same


A test board can be inserted to a test head and removed from the test head while the connecting section for mounting thereon devices under test is mounted on the upper portion of the test head. A test head for retaining therein at least one test board for testing devices under test, includes: a casing provided with, on one side surface thereof, an opening through which the at least one test board is inserted and removed, the casing retaining therein the at least one test board with an upper side thereof oriented towards an upper surface of the casing; and a mounting member that guides a lower side of the at least one test board through the opening to a pre-set position, imposes an upward force to the lower side of the at least one test board, thereby mounting the at least one test board to the casing.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a test head, a test board and a test apparatus.
2. Related Art
A test apparatus for testing a semiconductor apparatus includes: a test head for retaining therein a test board that exchanges signals with devices under test; and a connecting section to mount thereon the devices under test. The connecting section to mount thereon the devices under test is mounted on the test head and electrically connects the devices under test to the test board.    Patent Document No. 1: U.S. Pat. No. 7,385,385    Patent Document No. 2: Japanese Patent No. 4365213
In conventional test apparatuses, a test board is mounted into a test head first, and thereafter a connecting section is mounted thereon for assuredly connecting the test board to the test head. With this conventional structure, so as to exchange the test board mounted to the test head, the connecting section has to be removed from the test head.

Test head, test board and test apparatus


A method for enhancing the accuracy of sounds heard by a hearing-impaired listener is disclosed. The method for enhancing the accuracy of sounds heard by a hearing-impaired listener includes receiving an input sound, determining if it is necessary to modify the frequency of the input sound, and modifying the input sound into a modified input sound if necessary. The determination relies on the frequency and energy of the input sound. The ratio of the energy of lower frequencies of the modified input sound will be increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and hearing aid for enhancing the accuracy of sounds heard by a hearing-impaired listener; more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and hearing aid for enhancing the accuracy of sounds heard by a hearing-impaired listener by means of modifying the frequency of an input sound.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hearing aids have existed for decades. The main concept of the hearing aid is to amplify the sound so as to help a hearing-impaired listener to hear the previously-unheard sound. As a result, the hearing-impaired listener can hear the voice of a speaker without the need for the speaker to intentionally speak louder. However, hearing aids do not allow the hearing impaired listener to hear all sounds. Types of sounds that hearing-impaired listeners cannot hear have two characteristics: the frequency is too high, and the intensity is too low. Sounds with these two characteristics are often undetected by the hearing-impaired listener. For example, because the Mandarin consonants "", "" and "" have such characteristics, the hearing-impaired listener has trouble hearing these syllables. However, most conventional hearing aids, which are used only for enhancing the energy of the overall sound without identifying individual phonemes that need to be enhanced, may distort the sounds during amplification. Related known prior arts regarding improving the sound by processing the frequency are briefly described hereinafter:
U.S. Pat. No. 7,305,100 discloses a "dynamic compression in a hearing aid" mainly used for minimizing sound delay.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,609 discloses a "speech intelligibility enhancement" used for enhancing the consonant sounds of speech with high frequencies. The greater the high-frequency content relative to the low, the more the high-frequency content is boosted. In this known prior art, high-frequency consonant sounds are enhanced. However, it is very difficult to detect the occurrence of consonants in daily conversations. Therefore, this known prior art is not applicable to a hearing aid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,071 discloses an "automatic noise eliminator for hearing aids" mainly used for noise elimination. It removes all sounds below a predetermined level and transmits a compressed sound range for all sounds above a predetermined level. The object of this known prior art is different from that of the present invention. Further, it may cause sound distortion by removing all sounds below the predetermined level.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,577,739 discloses an "apparatus and methods for proportional audio compression and frequency shifting", which provides an understandable audio signal to listeners who have hearing loss in particular frequency ranges by proportionally compressing the audio signal. However, this known prior art compresses all audio signals, which may result in serious sound distortion.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,609,841 (hereinafter as "the '841 patent") discloses a "frequency shifter for use in adaptive feedback cancellers for hearing aids", which improves a conventional frequency shifting method by means of applying frequency shifting only to the high frequency portion of the signal (which is shifted alternately upward and/or downward), wherein the frequency shifting ratio is less than 6%. Although the '841 patent also applies frequency shifting to high frequency signals, its frequency shifting intensity and frequency shifting direction are different from those of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,580,536 (hereinafter "the '536 patent") discloses a "sound enhancement for hearing-impaired listeners", which provides a method of enhancing the sound heard by a hearing-impaired listener. The '536 patent compresses high frequency sounds with energy greater than a predetermined threshold or shifts the high frequency sounds to a lower frequency range without altering low frequency sounds (such as normal human speaking frequencies). According to the embodiment of the '536 patent, the processed high frequency sounds are at 32 kHz (column 6, line 18), which is not a normal human speaking frequency. Further, the specification of the '536 patent does not disclose the value of the "predetermined threshold".
Therefore, there is a need to provide a method and hearing aid for enhancing the accuracy of sounds heard by a hearing-impaired listener capable of identifying the sound that needs to be enhanced so as to modify the frequency accordingly, thereby mitigating and/or obviating the aforementioned problems.

Method and hearing aid for enhancing the accuracy of sounds heard by a hearing-impaired listener


A decorative slider for slide fasteners has a slider body having a through mounting hole extending therethrough. A decorative plate has a through hole formed therethrough and placed on the slider body with the through hole aligned with the mounting hole. A retaining pin extends loosely through the through hole and is fitted in the mounting hole so as to attach the decorative plate to the slider body for diversifying the appearance of sliders without changing the whole appearance of the slider.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a slider for slide fasteners, and more particularly to a decorative slider designed to appeal to consumers aesthetically.
2. Description of the Prior Art
These days, it is often said that consumer's tastes and demands concerning products, especially, in their designs are very diversified. Furthermore, consumers desire to have what others do not. This trend of consumers forces manufactures to produce, stock in their warehouse and supply to the market sliders of various appearances or designs. Heretofore, in order to produce slider bodies of a variety of appearances, manufacturers must start from scratch by producing molds for slider bodies of a variety of appearances. This, however, disadvantageously costs alot and takes a long time.


A document sheet length detection portion detects document sheets placed on a tray while distinguishing between a first size document sheet whose length in a conveyance direction is equal to or longer than a reference length, and a second size document sheet whose length in the conveyance direction is shorter than the reference length. A selection portion selects, as a specified conveyance process, one of a first conveyance process and a second conveyance process. A control portion, after a predetermined start event occurs, causes a conveyance device to execute the second conveyance process when the second conveyance process has been selected as the specified conveyance process and the document sheet length detection portion has detected the first size document sheet, and causes the conveyance device to execute the first conveyance process when a number of document sheets conveyed during the second conveyance process has reached an upper-limit number.

The present disclosure relates to an image reading device configured to convey a document sheet along one of two conveyance paths.
An image reading device may include a conveyance device and an image reading portion, wherein the conveyance device conveys a document sheet, and the image reading portion reads an image from the conveyed document sheet. Furthermore, the conveyance device may convey the document sheet along one of a turning conveyance path and a straight conveyance path.
In addition, a document sheet that is short in a conveyance direction may not be suitable for being conveyed along the turning conveyance path. On the other hand, such a short document sheet may be conveyed along the straight conveyance path.
For example, there is known a configuration of the image reading device in which a conveyance route of the document sheet is selected based on a detection result of a sensor disposed at a conveyance path. The sensor may be, for example, a thickness sensor that detects the thickness of the document sheet, or a document sheet detecting sensor that detects a passing time of the document sheet.


An apparatus for securing and fueling a surface water vessel at a floating receptacle that is towed by a parent ship. The surface water vessel may be a manned or an unmanned surface vehicle, for example. According to the invention, the surface water vessel includes a retractable probe for securing the water vessel to the floating receptacle and also for receiving fuel from the parent ship via the floating receptacle. The floating receptacle has first and second arms pivotally attached to a mounting block, forming a substantially V-shape having an adjustable apex angle.

The recovery of smaller surface water vessels, such as manned or unmanned surface water vessels (USVs), by larger parent ships is an emerging technology. Once recovered by the parent ship, servicing operations such as fueling may be performed. Typically, the recovery of a smaller vessel is accomplished by driving the smaller vessel alongside a parent ship and lifting by davit into the ship. Alternatively, the smaller water vessel may be driven up a ramp into the stern of the larger ship.
Traditional methods of capturing smaller surface water vessels can cause damage to the hull of the smaller vessel. For example, some USVs weigh about 20,000 lbs and are made from materials such as aluminum. A capturing method that for example, requires the USV to be driven into a parent ship or be lifted and dropped onto the parent ship can cause damage to the aluminum hull, resulting in expensive repairs. The prior art does not teach an apparatus that automatically guides, latches, and simultaneously fuels a smaller surface water vessel at a floating receptacle remote from the parent ship.

Sea surface vessel recovery and fueling system

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


An endoscope has built-in components, which include a spiral tube, a braid, angulation wires, and angulation coils, passed through a sheathing of a flexible tube that is an integral part of a soft insertion member. Conditions are determined so that the sum total of strengths of forces the built-in components exert in correcting their extent of deformation that is caused by sterilization with high-temperature high-pressure steam will be larger than the strength of force the sheathing exerts in correcting its extent of deformation during the high-temperature high-pressure steam sterilization (which includes a high temperature load). Thus, the extent of deformation derived from sterilization with high-temperature high-pressure steam is suppressed.

This application claims benefit of Japanese Application No. 2000-202544 filed in Japan on Jul. 4, 2000, the contents of which are incorporated by this reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope having a soft insertion member and capable of being sterilized with high-temperature high-pressure steam.
2. Description of the Related Art
An endoscope having a soft insertion member is inserted into a tortuous body cavity, whereby endoscopic examination may be carried out or a therapeutic instrument may be, if required, used to perform a cure. Endoscopes are therefore widely used in various fields including the medical field.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2-283346 describes an art relating to such an endoscope. Herein, a flexible tube that is an integral part of an insertion member of the endoscope has a two-ply sheathing made of a high polymer material. Consequently, excellent inserting smoothness is ensured and improved durability is offered.
A recent trend is not to use ethylene oxide to sterilize an endoscope from the viewpoint of being friendly to the environment. Therefore, a high-temperature high-pressure steam sterilizer that employs harmless high-temperature high-pressure steam instead of ethylene oxide is sometimes used to sterilize an endoscope.
When such a high-temperature high-pressure steam sterilizer is used to sterilize an endoscope, the endoscope is first stowed in a sterilization case and then sterilized.
However, as mentioned above, when an endoscope is stowed in a sterilization case and then sterilized, the soft insertion member of the endoscope is exposed to high-temperature high-pressure steam while being settled in a tray, which is placed in the case, in a specific shape. A thermal load is applied to the insertion member in the case where tortuousness for a resin used in the insertion member occurs. Consequently, the insertion member may be deformed in the specific shape, which is defined by the tray, at the room temperature after completion of sterilization. This may affect inserting smoothness and maneuverability.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an endoscope that is bent by a small magnitude at room temperature after completion of sterilization with high-temperature high-pressure steam. The endoscope can therefore offer improved inserting smoothness and maneuverability.
Briefly, according to the present invention, there is provided an endoscope having a soft insertion member. The insertion member consists mainly of a flexible tube whose sheathing layer is made of a resin and one or more built-in components incorporated in the flexible tube. At least one of the built-in components deforms by an extent smaller than an extent by which the flexible tube deforms, at room temperature, after being subjected to a high-temperature high-pressure steam sterilization (which includes a high temperature load) that is performed with the insertion member settled in a specific shape.


A side brush assembly mechanism for a floor surface maintenance vehicle including a linkage assembly supporting a brush deck, a pivot assembly and a cable connected to the linkage assembly, and a cable tensioning device for retracting the cable. The cable tensioning device is capable of lifting and retracting the brush deck. The side brush assembly mechanism may include a biasing mechanism for lowering and extending the brush deck.

Surface maintenance vehicles and cleaning devices have a long history subject to gradual innovation and improvement toward improved and oftentimes automated performance in removing debris and contamination from floors. These vehicles and devices may be self-powered, towed, or pushed, and/or manually powered and may carry a human operator during cleaning operations. Such vehicles and devices include scrubbers, extractors, sweepers and vacuums, as well as combinations thereof, intended for cleaning, scrubbing, wiping and/or drying a portion of a substantially flat surface both indoors and outdoors. Many such vehicles and devices employ a side brush assembly for accessing a larger floor envelope. Such side brush assemblies make it easier to clean near walls or other obstacles without damaging the machine or the wall while at the same time widening the cleaning path of the machine to increase productivity (area cleaned/time).
The side brush assembly of such prior art cleaning vehicles often mounts at or near the side of a surface maintenance vehicle and swings outwardly away from a machine center and downwardly toward the surface to be cleaned. Prior art side brush assembly mechanisms have included separate actuators or linkages to lift the side brush assembly and rotate the side brush assembly inwardly or outwardly. Some prior art cleaning vehicles have included side brush mechanisms that provide only a lift motion, such as the side brush mechanism of surface cleaning machine model 530E, manufactured by Tennant Company, of Minneapolis, Minn., while other machines have used two separate mechanisms to control lifting and retracting, such as those provided on machine models 528, 7400, M20, T20, and M30, manufactured by Tennant Company.
A lift motion of the side brush assembly is desired to raise the brush deck to provide ground clearance when the scrubbing functions are turned off. An extension/retraction motion is desired to extend the deck past the machine envelope when operating, and to retract the deck back when not operating the side brush. Portions of the side brush assembly retracted behind the machine frame are protected from damage.
Thus, there is a need for an improved side brush assembly mechanism which provides both lift motion and extend/retract motion.


A signal processing device is provided. In a programmable switch in which one of a source and a drain of a first transistor is connected to a gate of a second transistor to control continuity between a source and a drain of the second transistor, a capacitance connected to the gate of the second transistor (which is indicated by CS and includes a parasitic capacitance) is less than twice a capacitance represented by the following formula:

1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to a signal processing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patent Documents 1 to 3, for example, each disclose a signal processing device (programmable logic device: PLD) in which with the use of a transistor that achieves ultra-high off-state resistance by using an oxide semiconductor or the like, charge accumulated in a gate capacitor of a pass transistor or a capacitor electrically connected to the gate of the pass transistor is controlled so that the on/off state of the pass transistor is maintained for a long time, and substantial connection between nodes through the pass transistor is controlled without changing apparent connection in a circuit configuration.

Abstract: C      gs        +                            C          gd                        C                              C          gd                +        C              ,where C is a load capacitance, Cgs is a capacitance between the source and gate of the second transistor, and Cgd is a capacitance between the drain and gate of the second transistor.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A relay node (34) which wirelessly communicates on a backhaul link over a first interface with a base station node (28) of a radio access technology network and which wirelessly communicates on an access link over a second interface with a wireless terminal (30). The relay node (34) comprises a transceiver (36) and a duplexer section (40). The transceiver (36) comprises a transmitter (42) and a receiver (44). The duplexer section (40) comprises plural transceiver ports (50, 52) and at least one antenna port (48). The relay node (34) is configured to provide a transmit signal from the transmitter (42) in a manner whereby a backhaul link portion of the transmit signal is conveyed through a different transceiver port (50) of the duplexer section than is an access link portion of the transmit signal.

The technology disclosed herein pertains to telecommunications, and particularly to structure and operation of a relay node in a cellular telecommunications system.
In a typical cellular radio system, wireless terminals communicate via a radio access network (RAN) to one or more core networks. Wireless terminals are also known as mobile stations and/or user equipment units (UEs). The wireless terminals can be mobile stations or user equipment units (UE) such as mobile telephones, "cellular" telephones, and laptops with wireless capability and/or mobile termination, and thus can be, for example, portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included, or car-mounted mobile devices which communicate voice and/or data via the radio access network.
The radio access network (RAN) covers a geographical area which is divided into cell areas, with each cell area being served by a base station, e.g., a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks is also called "NodeB" or "B node". A cell is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio base station equipment at a base station site. Each cell is identified by an identity within the local radio area, which is broadcast in the cell. The base stations communicate over the air interface operating on radio frequencies with the user equipment units (UE) within range of the base stations.
In some versions of the radio access network, particularly earlier versions, several base stations are typically connected to a radio network controller (RNC). The connection can be by landlines or microwave. The radio network controller, also sometimes termed a base station controller (BSC), supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural base stations connected thereto. The radio network controllers are typically connected to one or more core networks.
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile communication system, which evolved from the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and is intended to provide improved mobile communication services based on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) access technology. UTRAN is essentially a radio access network using wideband code division multiple access for user equipment units (UEs). The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has undertaken to evolve further the UTRAN and GSM based radio access network technologies.
Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a variant of a 3GPP radio access technology wherein the radio base station nodes are connected directly to a core network rather than to radio network controller (RNC) nodes. In general, in LTE the functions of a radio network controller (RNC) node are performed by the radio base station nodes. As such, the radio access network (RAN) of an LTE system has an essentially "flat" architecture comprising radio base station nodes that do not report to radio network controller (RNC) nodes.
Relays have been identified as an important complement to boost system capacity of cellular communication systems based on standards like 3GPP LTE. A relay can be thought of as an enhanced repeater, where the cell coverage and also possibly cell-edge throughput can be extended/improved. A new interface, Un interface, exists between the traditional eNodeB and a relay node. An example of relaying in LTE-Advanced, also known as 3GPP Release 10, is Layer 3 relaying with self backhauling.
Various scenarios can be devised including everything from large outdoor relays operating very much like full-fledged base-stations serving large areas and many users to very small indoor relays for home or office use supporting very limited area and a few users. With a denser deployment of the latter the cost of relays has to be correspondingly lower till the point that the choice of radio architecture starts to have a major impact on total cost.
A simplified radio architecture may require the definition of new relay classes and associated functional and performance requirements in the standard. One such contribution is described in R1-101119, "Relay UL/DL timing discussion", 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #60, San Francisco, USA, 22-26 Feb. 2010, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, where the aim is to reduce the number of transceivers by allowing transmission in one direction at a time, either on the Un link (UL frequency) or on the Uu link (DL frequency). Correspondingly, at any given point time reception is only allowed either on the Un link (DL frequency) or on the Uu link (UL frequency).


An apparatus for joining organ wall portions of first and second hollow organs, including first and second connectors, wherein the first and second connectors are magnetically attracted to one another. A device for delivering and deploying the first and second connectors to portions of the first and second hollow organs can be provided, wherein the device is configured and dimensioned to axially align the first and second connectors for performing circular anastomosis of the first and second hollow organs.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a surgical device for treating hollow organs and, more particularly, to a surgical device suitable for performing circular anastomosis of hollow organs.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Anastomosis is the surgical joining of separate hollow organ sections. The site of the attachment is also sometimes called an anastomosis. Typically, an anastomosis procedure follows surgery in which a diseased or defective section of a hollow organ is removed and the remaining end sections are to be joined. Depending on the desired anastomosis procedure, the sections may be joined by end-to-end, end-to-side or side-to-side organ reconstruction methods.
End-to-end anastomosis is generally performed using surgical staples. The staples are usually left in the patient. In a circular stapled anastomosis procedure, the two ends of the organ sections are joined by means of a stapling instrument which drives a circular array of staples through the organ end sections and simultaneously cores and removes any tissue located interior of the driven circular array of staples to free a tubular passage.
In some applications of a circular anastomosis procedure, an anvil rod having an attached anvil head is mounted to the distal end of a surgical stapling instrument shaft prior to insertion of the instrument into the tissue to be anastomosed. However, in other applications, it is preferable to utilize a detachable anvil rod which may be mounted to the instrument subsequent to positioning of the instrument and the anvil assembly within respective tissue sections. In such instances, the stapling instrument and the anvil assembly are separately delivered to the operative site. Each tissue section is secured to a respective anvil or staple holding component by a purse string suture. The anvil assembly is mounted to the stapling instrument by inserting a mounting portion of the anvil rod within the distal end of the instrument so that a mounting mechanism within the instrument securely engages the rod.
FIG. 1 illustrates a surgical stapling instrument for performing circular anastomosis of hollow organs. Referring to FIG. 1, the stapling device 10 includes a proximal handle assembly 12, an elongated central body portion 14 including a curved elongated outer tube 14a, and a distal head portion 16. Handle assembly 12 includes a stationary handle 18, a firing lever 20, a rotatable approximation knob 22 and an indicator 24. Indicator 24 includes indicia, such as color coding or alpha-numeric labeling, to identify to a surgeon whether the device is approximated and is ready to be fired. Head portion 16 includes a staple holding component (cartridge) 31 and an anvil assembly 30 including an anvil rod 52 with attached anvil head 63. Opposed end portions of tissue to be stapled are clamped between the anvil head 63 and the staple holding component 31. The clamped tissue is stapled by driving one or more staples from the staple holding component 31 so that the ends of the staples pass through the tissue and are deformed by the anvil pockets of anvil head 63.
Methods and devices for forming anastomoses between hollow anatomical structures using magnetic force have been proposed. However, many of the proposed anastomotic couplings are simply too cumbersome and difficult to deliver or deploy.
It would be beneficial to provide a surgical device for performing circular anastomosis of hollow organs utilizing magnetic force that is easy to use and produces a reliable anastomosis, placing the hollow organs in flow communication.


A ball bearing includes an inner ring, an outer ring, a plurality of balls rollably provided between the inner ring and the outer ring, and a cage configured to hold the plurality of balls at equal intervals in a circumferential direction. The cage includes a plurality of pockets configured to hold the balls. The plurality of pockets include at least two types of pockets including a first pocket and a second pocket. A gap on each of an outer circumferential surface side and an inner circumferential surface side of the cage between the ball and an inner circumferential surface of the second pocket is larger than a gap on each of the outer circumferential surface side and the inner circumferential surface side of the cage between the ball and an inner circumferential surface of the first pocket.

A swing arm of a current hard disk drive (hereinafter also referred to as HDD) is generally supported by a pivot bearing unit 10 including two small bearings shown in FIG. 1.
The pivot bearing unit 10 includes a shaft 12 erected on a base of the a sleeve 18 on which the swing area is mounted, and a pair of ball bearings 14 provided between the shaft 12 and the sleeve 18. The sleeve 18 may be molded integrally With a spacer 20. The sleeve 18 may also be omitted so that the swing arm may be directly mounted on an outer ring 31 of the bearing.
The ball bearing 14 includes an inner ring 30 and the outer ring 31 serving as a pair of bearing rings facing each other and rotatable relative to each other, a plurality of balls 32 rollably provided between the inner ring 30 and the outer ring 31, and a cage 33 that holds the plurality of balls 32 at equal intervals in a circumferential direction. The ball bearing 14 is generally lubricated by grease sealed in the bearing. The ball bearing 14 further includes one or a pair of non-contact shield members 34 respectively provided on one or two sides between the inner ring 30 and the outer ring 31 to seal the inside of the bearing. Accordingly, foreign matters (for example, dust) are prevented from intruding from outside of the bearing and grease composition sealed in the bearing is prevented from leaking out of the bearing.
As shown in FIG. 2, the cage 33 is a synthetic, resin-made crown cage and is formed with a plurality of spherical pockets 41A at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction. Each of the plurality of spherical pockets 41A has an opening on one side thereof in an axial, direction. In FIG. 2, a reference numeral 42 denotes an annular body of the cage 33, a reference numeral 43 denotes a pillar portion, and a reference numeral 44 denotes a claw portion. Currently, a synthetic resin-made crown cage is generally used for requirements such as low torque and mass productivity.
In the ball bearing 14, the inner ring 30 is fitted onto the shaft 12 and the outer ring 31 is fitted into the sleeve 18. The annular spacer 20 provided between the pair of ball bearings 14 is fitted to a portion of the sleeve 18 on an inner circumferential side. Accordingly, the pair of ball bearings 14 are fixed at predetermined positions with predetermined preload applied thereto.
A crown cage for a ball bearing known in the related art has pockets each having a spherical shaped first pocket surface formed on an outer ring side of the bearing in a radial direction and a cylindrical shaped second pocket surface formed on an inner ring side of the bearing in the radial direction to prevent oil particles (for example, see Patent Literature 1).


The present disclosure is directed toward a two-conveyor mechanical conveyor belt system for granulated raw materials including a first conveyor that may be larger than a second conveyor. Both conveyors are configured to be mounted onto a mobile base such that the conveyor system has dimensions similar to a trailer for conventional cargo transport truck. The conveyor system may be used for loading and unloading granulated raw materials, preferably silica sand, into transporting trailers that are suitable for feedstock. The longer-length conveyor belt of the first conveyor defines a transporting belt. The second conveyor may be configured to be positioned between the first conveyor and a trailer, and includes a shorter-length belt that defines a connecting belt disposed between the first conveyor and the trailer. The configuration of the first and second conveyors provides an airtight or otherwise sealed connection between a raw materials-transporting trailer and a specialized container.

Related technologies differ from the systems of the present disclosure both in form and function. For example, these related technologies are shorter, narrower, and take longer to move raw materials, and therefore yield inferior performance.
In addition, in some related technologies, a device including a band, such as conveyor, must be loaded onto a platform dedicated for device transport, and unloaded from the platform upon arrival to destination operation. In addition, in related technologies, material is evacuated at high speeds from a device and lands on a hatch of container.

Mechanical conveyor belts for granulated raw materials


A display panel includes a display region and a non-display region. The display region includes a first display region and at least one second display region. The first display region at least partially surrounds the at least one second display region. Each second display region of the at least one second display region includes at least two semi-transparent regions and a spacing region disposed between adjacent semi-transparent regions. The display region is provided with a plurality of sub-pixels and pixel driving circuits electrically connected to the plurality of sub-pixels. Pixel driving circuits electrically connected to the sub-pixels in each semi-transparent region of the at least two semi-transparent regions are at least partially disposed in the first display region and the spacing region.

With the development of display technology, display panels have increasingly higher screen-to-body ratios, and full screens have received widespread attention due to their narrow or even borderless display effects. At present, display devices such as mobile phones and tablet computers often need to reserve space for commonly used electronic photosensitive devices, such as front cameras, infrared sensing devices, fingerprint recognition devices, etc. For example, these photosensitive devices are arranged on the top of the front of the display device, and the corresponding position forms a non-display region, thereby reducing the screen-to-body ratio of the device.
In existing technology, in order to increase the screen-to-body ratio, a highly light-transmissive region can be opened in the display region of the display panel to accommodate the photosensitive devices described above.
With the development of full screens, more and more electronic photosensitive devices need to be integrated under the screen. For example, a semi-transparent region is disposed on the display screen, and a camera is disposed under the screen and corresponding to the semi-transparent region. In normal display, the semi-transparent region can be used for display; and when taking photos or videos is needed, the camera may take photos or videos through the semi-transparent region, so that the semi-transparent region can realize the functions of display and picture-taken simultaneously. How to simplify the production process while achieving high transmittance in the semi-transparent region has become one of the technical problems that need to be solved immediately at this stage. The disclosed display panel and display device are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems in the art.

Wuhan Tianma Micro-Electronics Co., Ltd.


Systems, methods, and computer program products are defined for notifying customers, post-transaction of the ability to change payment form for the just completed transaction. In addition, the notification may include the advantages presented by the alternative payment forms and/or the optimal payment form for the completed transaction. Once notified, the customer may effortlessly and automatically change the payment form if so desired. If the payment form is changed to an interest-bearing payment form, such as a credit or loan account, the customer may be subsequently notified with an option to automatically and immediately pay-off the transaction amount using another customer account, such as a savings account, checking account or the like.

In many instances a customer is not aware of the advantages that a certain payment type (e.g., a specific credit account, a debit account, a checking account, e-commerce payment entity, cash or the like) may afford them at the time the customer conducts the transaction. In some instances this is because the advantages may be tied to the type of products or services being purchased, the transaction amount and/or the merchant associated with the transaction.
These advantages may come in the form of a lower cost for the product or service transacted for, lower interest rates, cash-back rewards, loyalty program points or rewards, extended warranty coverage or the like. However, in many instances, the advantages served by a payment type may be offset by detriments that customer prefers not to incur. For example, while certain credit payment forms (e.g. credit accounts) may afford cash-back rewards, loyalty program points/rewards, extended warranties or the like, they come at the cost of higher interest rates.
From the merchant and/or financial institution perspective, these entities will typically benefit from the consumer using some sort of payment type tied to the entity, such as merchant-branded or issued credit, financial institution credit or debit or the like. Historically the merchant and/or financial institution has encouraged the customer to use their merchant or financial institution-specific payment form prior to the customer conducting a transaction. More recently, merchant and financial institutions have attempted to encourage the customer to use their specific payment form at the point-of-sale (POS) or online check-out process just prior to the customer completing the transaction. Such payment type persuasion may come in the form of signage, sales associate encouragement and/or special offers on e-commerce check-out page. However, customers are usually in a hurry to complete the transaction and are, therefore, prone to ignore any suggestions or offers to change payment type, even if the suggested payment type may be highly advantageous to the customer.
Therefore, a need exists for providing customers the ability, post-transaction, to change payment types. The customer should be presented with such a proposition shortly after the transaction has been conducted, such that the transaction is fresh in the mind of the customer and such that the payment form used to conduct the transaction has yet to post. The process for changing payment form should be simplified and automatic, such that the customer is not burdened in any way by a time-consuming process. In addition, the payment form change proposals may provide for the advantages of the alternative payment forms so that the customer is aware of the benefits posed by the proposed alternative payment types. In addition, in those instances in which the customer makes a change in payment form and the changed payment form is a credit account which accrues interest, a need exists for insuring that the credit account is paid off in a timely manner to eliminate or lessen the accrual of interest in the account.

Notification of alternative payment channel


A surgical stapling and severing instrument particularly suited to endoscopic procedures incorporates a handle that produces separate closing and firing motions to actuate an end effector. In particular, the handle produces multiple firing strokes in order to reduce the required amount of force required to fire (i.e., staple and sever) the end effector. A linked transmission reduces the required handle longitudinal length, yet achieves a rigid, strong configuration when straightened for firing. A traction biased firing mechanism avoids binding in driving this straightened linked rack. The instrument further has a manually actuatable retraction system that does not require the use of additional springs or other mechanisms to generate retraction forces which must be overcome when generating the forces necessary to fire the device. In various embodiments, the retraction system provides a visual indication to the surgeon as to how far firing has progressed.

Endoscopic surgical instruments are often preferred over traditional open surgical devices since a smaller incision tends to reduce the post-operative recovery time and complications. Consequently, significant development has gone into a range of endoscopic surgical instruments that are suitable for precise placement of a distal end effector at a desired surgical site through a cannula of a trocar. These distal end effectors engage the tissue in a number of ways to achieve a diagnostic or therapeutic effect (e.g., endocutter, grasper, cutter, staplers, clip applier, access device, drug/gene therapy delivery device, and energy device using ultrasound, RF, laser, etc.).
Known surgical staplers include an end effector that simultaneously makes a longitudinal incision in tissue and applies lines of staples on opposing sides of the incision. The end effector includes a pair of cooperating jaw members that, if the instrument is intended for endoscopic or laparoscopic applications, are capable of passing through a cannula passageway. One of the jaw members receives a staple cartridge having at least two laterally spaced rows of staples. The other jaw member defines an anvil having staple-forming pockets aligned with the rows of staples in the cartridge. The instrument commonly includes a plurality of reciprocating wedges which, when driven distally, pass through openings in the staple cartridge and engage drivers supporting the staples to effect the firing of the staples toward the anvil.
An example of a surgical stapler suitable for endoscopic applications is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,895 to Brian D. Knodel, Richard P. Nuchols, and Warren P. Williamson, IV, which advantageously provides distinct closing and firing actions. Thereby, a clinician is able to close the jaw members upon tissue to position the tissue prior to firing. Once the clinician has determined that the jaw members are properly gripping tissue, the clinician can then fire the surgical stapler with a single firing stroke, thereby severing and stapling the tissue. The simultaneous severing and stapling avoids complications that may arise when performing such actions sequentially with different surgical tools that respectively only sever or staple.
One specific advantage of being able to close upon tissue before firing is that the clinician is able to verify via an endoscope that the desired location for the cut has been achieved, including that a sufficient amount of tissue has been captured between opposing jaws. Otherwise, opposing jaws may be drawn too close together, especially pinching at their distal ends, and thus not effectively forming closed staples in the severed tissue. At the other extreme, an excessive amount of clamped tissue may cause binding and an incomplete firing.
Generally, a single closing stroke followed by a single firing stroke is a convenient and efficient way to perform severing and stapling. However, in some instances, it would be desirable for multiple firing strokes to be required. For example, surgeons are able to select a length of staple cartridge for the desired length of cut from a range of jaw sizes. Longer staple cartridges require a longer firing stroke. Thus, to effect the firing, a hand-squeezed trigger is required to exert a larger force for these longer staple cartridges in order to sever more tissue and drive more staples as compared to a shorter staple cartridge. It would be desirable for the amount of force to be lower and comparable to shorter cartridges so as not to exceed the hand strength of some surgeons. In addition, some surgeons, not familiar with the larger staple cartridges, may become concerned that binding or other malfunction has occurred when an unexpectedly higher force is required.
One approach for lowering the required force for a firing stroke is a ratcheting mechanism that allows a firing trigger to be stroked multiple times, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,762,256 and 6,330,965, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference. These known surgical stapling instruments with multiple-stroke firing mechanisms do not have the advantages of a separate closure and firing actions.
Other ratcheting surgical instruments are disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,083,075, issued Aug. 1, 2006 to Jeffrey S. Swayze, Frederick E. Shelton, IV, Kevin Ross Doll, and Douglass B. Hoffman, entitled Multi-Stroke Mechanism With Automatic End of Stroke Retraction, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Various embodiments disclosed therein employ a handle that produces separate closing and firing motions to actuate an end effector. In particular, the handle is configured to generate the firing force necessary to staple and sever the tissue clamped within the end effector through multiple actuations of a firing trigger. The device may further employ a linked transmission which reduces the required handle length, yet achieves a rigid, strong configuration when straightened for firing. A traction biased firing mechanism avoids binding in driving this straightened linked rack in cooperation with an anti-backup mechanism, with a lockout mechanism that prevents releasing the closure trigger during firing. Furthermore, an external indicator gives feedback to the surgeon as to how far firing has progressed, as well as providing a manual retraction capability. These embodiments also generally employ a relatively strong spring to automatically retract the cutting member after the end effector has been fired. While such designs are extremely effective, the use of the retraction spring requires additional firing force to be generated to overcome the opposing spring force during firing. This problem can also be somewhat exacerbated when using articulating end effectors. In particular, when an articulating end effector is employed, a larger return spring must generally be employed to retract the articulating firing member. Use of such larger spring further increases the amount of firing forces that must be generated to overcome the spring force and fire the end effector components.
Consequently, a significant need exists for a surgical stapling instrument having a multiple stroke or other type of firing mechanism that is equipped with a manually actuatable retraction mechanism and does not employ an additional retraction means such as a spring or the like that generates forces that must be overcome during the firing stroke.

Surgical stapling and cutting instrument with manually retractable firing member


Methods, apparatus and systems for implementing an algorithm for N-symbol noncoherent processing of M-ary DPSK signals in a pilotless, wireless system is provided. The algorithm is carried out with (N−1) recurrent steps (iterations) plus a decision step. Each iterative step includes simple trigonometrical transformation of quadrature components of the current symbol and summation of the transforms with results of the previous step. A final N-symbol decision regarding the current transmitted symbol corresponds to the vector of maximum length, calculated after the (N−1)-th step of the iterative procedure. The general algorithm is optionally implemented with one or more intersymbol processors, one or more memory blocks for saving results of the intersymbol processors, and a decision block. In addition, shift registers for quadrature components of the received signal may be utilized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunications. The invention more particularly relates to wireless telecommunications apparatus, systems and methods which implement data transmission via a plurality of telecommunication channels such as radio channels with variable parameters, including multipath wireless channels. More specifically, the invention relates to pilotless wireless systems with mobile transmitters and/or receivers, although it is not limited thereto.
2. State of the Art
Development of pilotless data transmission and signal processing is an important problem of wireless system design. Pilotless wireless systems provide the highest real data rate by utilizing system capacity exclusively for data transmission and providing all receiving functions without any accompanying pilot signals.
One manner of implementing a pilotless system is using coherent demodulation based on a reference signal and extracting all necessary information from signals-bearing data. In this case, precise estimation and tracking of the carrier phase plays a critical role. A conventional approach to carrier phase estimation is described in John Proakis, "Digital Communications", McGraw Hill, Fourth Edition, 2000, Sections 6.2.4-6.2.5 which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety. A new method of carrier phase tracking was proposed in co-owned U.S. Ser. No. 10/628,943 filed Jul. 29, 2003, and entitled "Pilotless, Wireless, Telecommunications Apparatus, Systems and Methods" which is also hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In that invention, phase tracking is based on reducing and averaging differential quadrature components of received symbols.
Coherent processing, based on carrier phase tracking, provides the maximum possible performance in channels with comparatively slow phase changing and comparatively high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). If one of those conditions is not satisfied, the coherent demodulator loses its advantages. For example, when the bit error rate BER>0.01, phase estimation becomes less precise. The SNR penalty depends on the method of phase tracking but it may reach 1-2 dB. However, much more performance loss can be caused by fast phase changing or, especially, phase jumping. Fast phase changing and phase jumping are typical phenomenon in communications involving mobile clients because in the mobile environment the multipath configuration may change instantly. This change can cause coherent detection degradation even at a comparatively high SNR because any phase tracking algorithm, based on symbol averaging, is not capable of instantly estimating the phase changing. As a result, the coherent receiver provides a long sequence (burst) of errors after phase jumping even at a comparatively high SNR. This is the reason why wireless system designers consider approaches other than coherent processing for pilotless systems.
For multipath radio channels in a mobile environment, a promising manner of implementing a pilotless system involves the utilization of noncoherent signal processing which does not need any information about the initial phase of the reference signal and consequently does not require phase tracking at all. In the case of phase modulation, noncoherent processing can be only used in combination with Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) in contrast to coherent processing which can be used with both DPSK and PSK. As is emphasized in Dariush Divsalar, and Marvin Simon, "Multiple-Symbol Differential Detection of MPSK", IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 38, N3, March 1990 (which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety), for multipath channels with fast phase changing, a DPSK-with-noncoherent-processing scheme is the only way to provide robust data transmission.
Conventional noncoherent DPSK processing includes a two-symbol interval for making a decision. With a two-symbol interval, if a phase jump occurs during the symbol interval, only one error will take place. However, two-symbol non-coherent DPSK suffers from a performance penalty when compared to ideal coherent DPSK. For example, at BER=10−5 the penalty is about 0.75 dB for DBPSK (Differential Binary PSK), and about 2.2 dB for DQPSK (Differential Quadrature PSK). For M-ary DPSK (DMPSK) the penalty increases with increasing M.
A well-known way to mitigate the performance loss of the non-coherent receiver and preserving its advantages is to increase the interval of the non-coherent processing. This approach, known as multisymbol non-coherent detection (or processing) was considered in the previously incorporated article by Dariush Divsalar, and Marvin Simon. The conventional approach to multisymbol processing is based on allowing the observation interval over which symbol decisions are made to be more than a two-symbol interval while at the same time making a joint decision on several symbols simultaneously as opposed to symbol-by-symbol decisions. An obvious disadvantage of the joint decision on several symbols is the additional symbol delay which results in the receiver. In addition, the joint decision procedure is undesirable for some decoding algorithms.

Method and apparatus for noncoherent signal processing in pilotless wireless systems


A powered track assembly (20) is provided for allowing selective forward and rearward adjustment of a seat assembly (10) along an interior floor of an automotive vehicle. The upper track (24) is fixedly secured to a bottom portion of the seat assembly (10). A rigid shaft (32) having a generally continuous helical thread (38) is rotatably supported by the upper track (24). A plurality of nuts (40) is threadingly engaged with the shaft (32). A cage (42) having a plurality of compartments (58) is fixedly secured to the lower track (22). Each compartment (58) supports one nut (40) to allow relative rotational movement of the rigid shaft (32) relative to the nuts (40). The nuts (40) are allowed a predetermined amount of movement within the respective compartments (58) to prevent binding between the nuts (40) and the rigid shaft (32) due to relative lateral or vertical movement between the upper and lower tracks.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a seat track for an automotive vehicle seat, and more particularly, to a flexible support assembly for supporting a lead screw within the seat track.
2. Description of the Related Art
Automotive vehicles include seat assemblies for supporting occupants above an interior floor of the vehicle. The seat assembly typically includes a generally horizontal seat cushion and a generally upright seat back coupled to the seat cushion for selective adjustment of the seat back relative to the seat cushion between a plurality of reclined positions. The seat assembly also typically includes a track assembly coupled between the seat cushion and the floor of the vehicle to allow linear forward and rearward movement of the seat cushion along the floor of the vehicle.
The track assembly typically includes a lower track fixedly secured to the floor of the vehicle and an upper track slidably coupled to the lower track and fixedly secured to a bottom portion of the seat cushion. It is well known in the seating art to provide a powered track assembly having a lead screw mechanism driven by an electric motor for moving the upper track relative to the lower track. However, conventional powered track assemblies are known to be susceptible to binding, noise or otherwise erratic operation of the lead screw mechanism due to generally lateral or vertical loading or pre-loading of the upper track relative to the lower track. Such loading or pre-loading can be caused by dimensional variations in the floor of the vehicle, shifting of occupant weight on the seat assembly, or other vehicle accelerations or road inputs associated with normal driving conditions.
Thus, it remains desirable to provide a powered seat track assembly having a lead screw mechanism or drive assembly that provides smooth and quiet adjustment of the upper track relative to the lower track under lateral or vertical loading or pre-loading conditions associated with normal driving conditions.

Power seat track having a flexible support assembly for a lead screw