In a liquid ejecting apparatus, when a ON/OFF detector detects that power of the liquid ejecting apparatus is switched to an ON state from an OFF state, a controller controls a liquid transfer unit such that liquid is transferred to a tank of which residual amount of liquid is smaller from a tank of which residual amount of liquid is larger based on the residual amount of liquid in a first tank detected by the first liquid residual amount detector and the residual amount of liquid in a second tank detected by the second liquid residual amount detector.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus.
2. Related Art
As a liquid ejecting apparatus, an ink jet printer (hereinafter, referred to as printer) which ejects ink (liquid) onto a recording medium from ejection orifices (nozzles) of a recording head (liquid ejecting head) has been known.
The printer includes a tank which accommodates ink. In the printer, ink in the tank is supplied to a recording head and ink is discharged from the recording head. The ink is commonly made of a dispersion containing solid content such as pigment and a dispersion medium such as a solvent.
When such ink is used in the printer, particularly if the printer is made to be in an OFF state and is kept to be in a non-used state for a long period of time, the solid content in the ink accommodated in the tank is separated and settled down (precipitated). This causes non-uniformity of solid content concentration in the ink. Then, if the solid content is settled down and the solid content concentration is made non-uniform as described above, the following disadvantages are caused. When after power is turned OFF, the power is turned ON again and ink is discharged so as to perform printing, the solid content settled down in the tank is supplied to the ink jet head as it is. Therefore, there arise disadvantages that nozzle clogging of the recording head is caused and further unevenness of recording quality is caused.
Then, the following recording apparatus (printer) has been known (for example, see JP-A-2008-213281) in order to prevent such disadvantages. In the recording apparatus, a main tank and a sub tank are prepared as tanks for storing (accommodating) ink. Further, the main tank and the sub tank are connected with one flow path and one of the main tank and the sub tank is set to be at high pressure and the other is set to be at low pressure. Then, ink is made to reciprocate between the tanks so as to prevent solid content from being settled down in both of the main tank and the sub tank.
In the recording apparatus, capacities of the main tank and the sub tank are set to be substantially the same. Further, in order to completely mix ink for preventing solid content from being settled down in each of the main tank and the sub tank and, ink is fed to one of the main tank and the sub tank until ink in the other becomes substantially empty. Then, a liquid feeding direction is changed before the tank becomes completely empty so as to make ink flow all the time.
However, in the above recording apparatus, operations while the power is in the ON state are described but operations while the power is in the OFF state are not described at all. Therefore, operations when the power is switched to the ON state from the OFF state are not considered at all.
For example, it is assumed that the capacities of the main tank and the sub tank are set to 100 ml and power is turned OFF while ink is being fed from the main tank to the sub tank. Further, it is assumed that a residual amount of ink in the main tank is 90 ml and a residual amount of ink in the sub tank is 10 ml when the power is turned OFF. In this case, even if solid contents of inks in both of the tanks have been settled down while the power has been in the OFF state, if ink is flown into the sub tank from the main tank by 10 ml when the power is turned ON, ink in the sub tank is sufficiently stirred.
However, if it is assumed that the residual amount of ink in the main tank is 10 ml and the residual amount of ink in the sub tank is 90 ml, even if ink is flown into the sub tank from the main tank by 10 ml when the power is turned ON, a sufficient stirring effect cannot be obtained in the sub tank.

Liquid ejecting apparatus with two liquid tanks, wherein liquid is transferred to a tank of which residual amount of liquid is smaller from a tank of which residual amount of liquid is larger when the power is turned on


Disclosed herein, in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure, are adaptive harmonic diffractive liquid crystal lenses and methods of making and use thereof.

Ophthalmic lenses have stringent requirements, including high light efficiency, relatively large aperture, fast switching, low driving voltage, and power-failure-safe configuration. None of the current lenses satisfy these requirements simultaneously. Different structures for liquid crystal adaptive lenses have been suggested for various applications, e.g., by filling empty lens shaped cavities with liquid crystals31-33 or by sandwiching liquid crystals between planar electrode plates34-48 and generating a refractive index gradient. The latter permits a power-failure-safe configuration for driving and thinner liquid crystal layers with fast switching, both of which are critical for ophthalmic lenses. However, the apertures of those lenses are not large enough (smaller than 5 mm in diameter), high working voltages are required, or the liquid crystal layer is still relatively thick, which significantly increases the response time. For refractive lenses, the focal length is f=r2/(2*OPD),26 where r is the radius of the lens, OPD is the optical path difference and equal to Δn*d (Δn is the tunable refractive index change or birefringence, and d is the thickness).
To maintain acceptable response time for vision correction, d should not be more than 15 μm. Even using the highest Δn parameter for a known liquid crystal (Δn=0.36), the refractive liquid crystal lenses cannot meet the fundamental requirement for eyeglass. The diffractive structure allows relatively large aperture. A few binary liquid crystal zone plates have been demonstrated, but the light efficiency is too low for ophthalmic lenses. High efficiency switchable diffractive lenses have been developed, but the concept of conventional diffractive (CD) lenses puts limits on the implementation. Based on the limitations imposed by conventional diffractive lenses, further development of liquid crystal lenses is needed. The adaptive harmonic diffractive liquid crystal lenses and methods described herein address these and other needs.

Adaptive harmonic diffractive liquid crystal lens and method of making and use thereof


An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) actinic reticle imaging system suitable for discharge produced plasma (DPP) or laser produced plasma (LPP) reticle imaging systems using a thin film coating spectral purity filter (SPF) positioned on or proximate to the EUV imaging sensor; an EUV imaging sensor carrying this SPF; and methods for making and using the SPF for reticle inspection. The coating may be applied to the imaging sensor in any manner suitable for the particular coating selected. The coating may be composed of a single layer or multiple layers. Typical SPF coating materials include zirconium (Zr) and silicon-zirconium (Si/Zr) in a thickness between 10 nm and 100 nm.

As the demand for smaller semiconductor features continues to increase, so too does the demand for optical-based semiconductor inspections systems capable of imaging such small features. One semiconductor processing technique developed to achieve the increased fabrication demands includes extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. EUV lithographic integrated circuit (IC) fabrication involves the use of a reticle carrying a pattern mask to expose an integrated circuit into silicon wafers using EUV light, generate by a EUV source, such as discharge produced plasma source or a laser produced plasma source. In order to accommodate the corresponding demands on inspection technologies improved EUV spectral purity filters are required. Past EUV spectral purity filters include gas stream based filters, multi-layered structures disposed on mesh-like grids, pellicles disposed on mesh-like grids, and diffractive grating based filters. Each of these types of EUV spectral purity filters carries along with it a number of disadvantages, such as chemical contamination, difficulty of implementation, and lack of transmission efficiency. It is therefore desirable to produce a spectral purity filter which overcomes the deficiencies identified in previous spectral purity filters.

EUV actinic reticle inspection system using imaging sensor with thin film spectral purity filter coating


A charging apparatus operable to provide different charging outputs. The charging apparatus includes an adapter (100) configured to receive a power supply cable (202). The charging apparatus also includes at least one charging module (300) associated with a specific charging output. One of the at least one charging module (300) is operatively and detachably coupled to the adapter. Further, the adapter is configured to be replaceably coupled to other charging modules of the at least one charging module having different charging outputs.

The proliferation of battery-powered devices continues to expand as technology increases. One such example includes use of batteries in electric vehicles, such as electrical cars, bikes, cycles, segways and the like. Generally, such batteries are rechargeable in nature and need to be recharged based on the usage thereof. Typically, charging stations may be used for charging such batteries of the electric vehicles.
The charging stations are generally open spaces having number of charging units (or charging stands) installed therein. Therefore, the job of setting up a charging station is very expensive and time consuming task. To address such problem, the use of charging apparatuses, which can be mounted on electrical structures, such as lamp post, are known in the art. Specifically, such charging apparatuses are electrically coupled to a power supply cable (carried by the lamp post) to provide the required electrical charging power.
In a United States patent application US20110246014, there is described a modular charging station system for conductive charging of the batteries of electric vehicles. The modular charging station system includes a base unit, a master module, and a user module. The base unit is configured without electronics and has at least one clamping device for the power feed and compartments for accommodating the master module and the user module. The master module and the user module form a high-current transmission device, with the master module having a socket and the user module having a plug that corresponds to the socket of the master module.
In another United States patent application US20110140657, there is described a method and system to deploy electrical charge spots in stages according to demand. During a first stage a plurality of infrastructure adapters are installed, which may involve demolishing and rebuilding portions of the infrastructure and laying down power cables from the electrical power supply to the charge spot locations. The infrastructure adapters are then coupled to an electrical power supply. Further, if not all, many of the infrastructure adapters are covered with a temporary housing protecting them from vandalism and weather. During a second stage, in response to a demand for charge stations, the charge stations are completed. During the second stage, at least one external unit is attached to an infrastructure adapter by making an infrastructure adapter quick connect interface with an external unit quick connect interface.
Typically, such charging apparatuses may be associated with specific charging outputs, for example 16 Ampere (A), 32 A, 63 A or 120 A. Therefore, once such charging apparatuses are mounted or installed on the electrical structures, such electrical structures (or charging point) are configured to provide charging outputs corresponding to the charging apparatuses installed thereon. For example, a charging apparatus installed in a particular lamp post may provide 32 A of charging output, similarly another charging apparatus installed in another lamp post may provide 63 A of charging output. Therefore, it may not be possible to obtain different charging outputs from a same charging point (particularly, from the same electrical structure or the same charging apparatus). Accordingly, to obtain increased or decreased charging output re-installation of the whole charging apparatus needs to be performed on the electrical structure, which is again an expensive and a time-consuming task.
Therefore, in light of the foregoing discussion, there exists a need to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks of conventional charging apparatuses.

Charging apparatus and charging network having such charging apparatuses


An information recording medium is for recording of information, and identification information indicating whether the information is an album content distributed by electronic distribution or information edited by a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording medium on which information can be recorded, especially an information recording medium on which at least one of audio information and still picture information can be recorded; and a recording apparatus, an editing apparatus, a reproduction apparatus, a recording method, an editing method, and a reproduction method for use with the information recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the invention of various types of compression encoding techniques and rapid proliferation of the internet technology, a great number of electronic music distribution systems have recently been introduced into service. Owing to the use of compression encoding techniques such as, for example, MP3, these systems can distribute song information to users within an appropriate length of time, even using a network having narrow bandwidth. Recently, some systems distribute still picture information and/or text information together with the song information as one content. In this specification, the expression "song information" encompasses information representing songs with or without lyrics.
Referring to FIG. 13, it is assumed that a content 300 is distributed including song information 310, three pieces of still picture information 311, 312 and 313, and text information on, for example, a song title and lyrics 314 and 315. On a user's terminal, three still pictures like pages of the booklet contained in, for example, a CD case are displayed one by one while the song information 310 is being reproduced. The song title is displayed in a song menu screen. Such a content is generally recorded on an information recording medium of the user as follows. First, the song information is recorded, and then the still picture information and the text information corresponding to the song information are recorded in association with the recorded song information.
It is expected that an album content including a plurality of such contents will be distributed in the future. Referring to FIG. 14, an album content 320, for example, includes pieces of song information 330 through 332, pieces of still picture information 333 through 340, pieces of text information 342 through 346, album still picture information 347 such as an album jacket which represents the entire album content, and text information 341 which represents an album title or the like. The album still picture information 347 and the text information 341 are used as information to be referred to regarding the album content. For example, the album still picture, the album title and the like are displayed in a menu screen displayed while the album content is being reproduced.
In the case where a great number of pieces of song information are recorded on one information recording medium, the user may create a play list and reproduce his/her favorite pieces of song information in his/her favorite order. As shown in FIG. 15, a play list includes at least one piece of song information selected from a plurality of pieces of song information 351 through 356 recorded on the information recording medium (a play list 361 includes a plurality of pieces of song information 353, 351, and 356), and defines the order of reproduction thereof. When the play list 361 is reproduced, song information 353, song information 351, and song information 356 are reproduced in this order. The user may create another play list, for example, a play list 362 including a plurality of pieces of song information 355 and 352. When creating a plurality of play lists, the user can select the play list he/she wishes to reproduce in accordance with the situation.
It is also possible to reproduce song information from an information recording medium which is different from the information recording medium on which the song information was first recorded. For example, it is possible to first record an album content, recorded on a CD or distributed by electronic distribution, on a DVD-RAM and then record a part of the plurality of pieces of song information selected from the album content on an SD (Secure Digital) memory card. In this case, the user can listen to the songs recorded on the SD memory card away from home. The song information recorded on the DVD-RAM can be recorded on the SD memory card using "transfer" means. "Transfer" refers to copying song information, recorded on an original information recording medium, on another information recording medium and then deleting the copied song information from the original information recording medium. The "transfer" means allows the user to listen to the songs in various places.
Currently, there is a demand for a system for recording and reproducing song information, distributed by an electronic distribution system, by a consumer apparatus. For example, it is conceived to record and reproduce the distributed song information by a consumer-use audio recorder/player. A distributed album content may be recorded on a DVD-RAM. For performing such recording and reproduction, the following information editing and information creation processes are necessary. With the conventional recording formats applied to information recording mediums, it is impossible to perform such information editing and information creation procedures.
An album content which is distributed by electronic distribution is created with a certain creative intention of its distributor regarding the selected pieces of song information and the order of reproduction. Therefore, it is desirable that the user is prohibited from editing the album content, for example, from dividing, combining, and deleting one or more pieces of song information included in the album content and from changing the order of reproduction. Accordingly, when recording a distributed album content on a DVD-RAM, namely, when recording a play list formed of all the pieces of song information in the album content on a DVD-RAM, it is necessary to prohibit the play list from being edited. However, when the user transfers such song information included in the album content to an SD memory card or the like for reproduction, the song information recorded on the DVD-RAM needs to be deleted. In consideration of the "transfer", it is desirable that the editing processing of deleting the song information is not prohibited.
The user may create a play list by selecting arbitrary pieces of song information recorded on an information recording medium such as a DVD-RAM or the like. For the private use of the user, it is desirable not to prohibit the user from editing the created play list, for example, from dividing, combining, and deleting one or more pieces of song information included in the play list, changing the order of reproduction of the pieces of song information, and adding a new piece of song information. In order to appropriately prohibit or permit editing of the play list, it is desirable that the play list is identified as an album content or as including one or more pieces of song information arbitrarily selected by the user.
Referring to FIG. 16, a user may create play lists 363, 364, etc. by selecting arbitrary pieces of information from a plurality of pieces of song information 371 through 376 included in a plurality of album contents 321 through 323. Displaying information indicating which album content includes each of the selected pieces of song information, can provide the user with a new way of enjoying music. Specifically, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 12, it is desirable to display an album still picture of the album content 322 including the song 373 while the song information 373 in the play list 363 is being reproduced, if the user wishes. In order to realize this, when the song information and the still picture information in the album content are recorded on an information recording medium, the album still picture needs to be associated with the song information. In addition, still pictures displayed one by one while the song information is being reproduced need to be distinguished from the album still picture.

Information recording medium, recording apparatus, editing apparatus, reproduction apparatus, recording method, editing method, and reproduction method


The present invention provides materials for negative electrodes of lithium rechargeable batteries. These materials include lithium alloy composites. Each lithium alloy composite has a core-shell structure with one or more lithium alloy granules as its core and a carbon material as its shell. The average granule diameter of the lithium alloy granule is between 5 μm and 40 μm. The average thickness of the shell layer is between 50 Å and 1000 Å. The average diameter of the lithium alloy composite is between 10 μm to 50 μm. The methods of fabrication for the material includes the following steps: stirring lithium alloy granules in an organic solution with a coating substance, drying the solid product in the organic solution with a coating substance, calcining the dried product to obtain the negative electrode material with lithium alloy composites.

The lithium ion battery is a relatively new and environmentally friendly electro-chemical energy source. When compared with the traditional nickel cadmium battery and nickel hydrogen battery, a lithium ion battery has the advantages of having higher voltage, longer life, and large energy density. It is also lightweight, has no memory effects, and is less harmful to the environment. Because of these superior characteristics, the lithium ion battery has developed rapidly and is now widely used in portable equipment.
The negative electrode of traditional lithium ion batteries uses graphitized carbon materials such as natural graphite, artificial graphite, and non-graphitized carbon materials such as non-graphitized charcoal, charcoal obtained from oxidizing macromolecule materials of poly-hydrocarbon at high temperatures, pyrolytic carbon, coke, calcined organic macromolecule, and active carbon. However, these carbon materials form a SEI (surface electrolyte interface) on the surface layer of the carbon material during the initial charging process. The formation of the SEI and other reactions in the electrolyte reduces the initial charge-discharge electrical efficiency and affect the performance of a battery's capacity.
Adding a quantity of lithium alloy to the material for the negative electrode can effectively solve the problem of decreasing battery capacity resulting from the reduction of initial charge-discharge electrical efficiency. However, this volume of the added lithium alloy will expand with the continuous charge-discharge process of a battery. This will cause the loosening of materials in the electrode, and can even cause the material of the electrode to detach. This process also increases the internal resistance and affects the cycling properties of the battery.
Due to the limitations of the prior art, it is therefore desirable to have novel materials and novel methods of fabricating materials for negative electrodes such that, when these materials are used in negative electrodes of batteries, produces batteries with excellent initial charge-discharge efficiency, large battery capacity, and long cycling life.

Materials for negative electrodes of lithium ion batteries


A moved mass of hydraulic medium is used as a compensating mass at critical frequencies of the suspension system to achieve a frequency-selective dynamic damping, and a suitable hydraulic transmission ratio can ensure that a relatively small quantity of hydraulic medium is moved at high speed in order to achieve a good compensating effect, despite the low mass of moved hydraulic medium. A displacement unit can be connected to the sprung mass via an elastic bearing part and to the associated spring accumulator via a hydraulic line. The spring constant of the bearing part, the mass of that part of the displacement unit or of the spring unit mounted on the bearing part, the cross-section of the hydraulic line and its length, the effective cross-section of the displacement unit and the density of the hydraulic medium are so sized that the resonant frequency of the spring unit is near a critical frequency of the suspension system, for example near the frequency of the axle resonance of a vehicle. Alternatively, the displacement unit can be connected to a first spring accumulator which is connected to a second spring accumulator via a hydraulic channel. The length and cross-section of the channel are so coordinated with the density of the hydraulic medium and with the characteristics of the spring accumulators that the natural frequency of vibrations of the fluid mass in the channel coincides at least approximately with one of the critical frequencies of the suspension system.

The present invention relates to a motor vehicle suspension system, with hydropneumatic spring units which each consist essentially of a hydraulic displacement unit arranged between a sprung mass, e.g. the vehicle body, and an unsprung mass, e.g. a vehicle axle, and, more particularly to a suspension system with at least one especially pneumatic spring accumulator connected hydraulically to the displacement unit and a compensating arrangement for suppressing critical relative vibrations between the sprung and the unsprung masses.
A suspension system is shown in German Auslegeschrift No. 1,430,836 wherein arranged between the body of the vehicle and its axles or wheels, are respective hydropneumatic spring units which each have a displacement unit configured as a piston/cylinder unit and a hydropneumatic accumulator connected thereto via a throttle and possessing a main gas cushion acting as a spring. A further smaller hydropneumatic accumulator is connected in a non-throttled manner to the displacement unit and possesses an auxiliary gas cushion acting as a spring. In this arrangement, low-frequency vibrations between the sprung and the unsprung mass are damped by the throttle between the displacement unit and the first-mentioned hydropneumatic accumulator. In contrast, vibrations of higher frequency are damped only extremely weakly because the other hydropneumatic accumulator is connected in a non-throttled manner to the displacement unit. In order nevertheless to make it possible effectively to suppress vibrations even of higher frequency, the unsprung mass is coupled to a compensating arrangement rated for these vibrations of higher frequency.
This known arrangement allows for the fact that, with a view to a high degree of comfort, it is basically desirable, in all suspension systems for motor vehicles, to keep the damping of the system, that is to say the friction occurring in the system, as low as possible. However, this is not directly possible because resonant vibrations can occur, specifically, where motor vehicles are concerned, especially a relatively low-frequency body resonance and an axle resonance of comparatively higher frequency. Typical values for the body resonance are around 1 Hz, while the axle resonance occurs at approximately 13 Hz, i.e. a frequency approximately 10 times that of the body resonance.
An object of the present invention is to provide a suspension system which can work with increased damping in critical resonant ranges and which is characterized at the same time by an especially simple construction.
This object has been achieved in accordance with the invention by a suspension system in which parts of the hydraulic medium can be excited as a compensating mass, in relation to the sprung mass, to vibrations whose natural frequency coincides at least approximately with the frequency of the critical relative vibrations.
With a view to an especially effective suppression of critical relative vibrations, the system is so configured that relative movements between the sprung and the unsprung mass lead to comparatively high speeds of movement of the hydraulic medium.
The present invention is based on the general concept of utilizing the moved mass of hydraulic medium as a compensating mass at critical frequencies of the suspension system and thereby achieving a frequency-selective dynamic damping. At the same time, a suitable hydraulic transmission ratio can ensure that a relatively small quantity of hydraulic medium is moved at high speed in order to achieve a good compensating effect, despite the low mass of moved hydraulic medium.
According to a first advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the displacement unit is connected to the sprung mass via an elastic bearing part and to the associated spring accumulator via a hydraulic line, while the spring constant of the bearing part, the mass of that part of the displacement unit or of the spring unit mounted on the bearing part, the cross-section of the hydraulic line and its length, the effective cross-section of the displacement unit and the density of the hydraulic medium are so calculated or coordinated with one another that the resonant frequency of the spring unit is near a critical frequency of the suspension system, for example near the frequency of the axle resonance of a vehicle.
It is a feature of a further preferred embodiment of the present invention that the displacement unit is connected to a first spring accumulator, and the latter is connected to a second spring accumulator via a hydraulic channel. The length and cross-section of the channel are so coordinated with the density of the hydraulic medium and with the characteristics of the spring accumulators that the natural frequency of vibrations of the fluid mass in the channel coincides at least approximately with one of the critical frequencies of the suspension system, again for example the frequency of the axle resonance of a vehicle.
The latter preferred embodiment is characterized by an especially high compensating effect. Moreover, a high freedom of construction is guaranteed in the coordination of the suspension system. It is to be stressed particularly that the elasticity of bearing parts to be arranged, if appropriate, between the sprung mass and the displacement or spring unit can be set largely as desired, so that, for example in motor vehicles, the best possible wheel guidance can be guaranteed.


A plastic bag having an aperture serving as a handle which has a contour of peaks and valleys. The peaks fold in an accordion-like manner when pressed by fingers to cushion the fingers. A T-shirt style bag has strap handles whose juncture with the mouth of the bag has a wave form configuration of peaks and valleys. A dispensing rack having two support arms which hold open a plastic bag either by notches, bends or sleeves. The plastic bag has opposing pairs of aligned apertures whose contour has peaks and valleys. The support arms are inserted each through are respective pair of aligned apertures.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to plastic bags, an aperture handle construction for thermoplastic films and plastic bags, and a dispensing rack.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Thin-gauge thermoplastic films and plastic bags are known to have apertures which serve as handles and to have apertures used for suspending the films or bags on racks. The racks generally have two arms extending parallel to each other for supporting a stack of the bags for dispensing them one at a time. T-shirt style bags are also known to have strap handles extending upwardly from opposite sides of the mouth.
An aperture handle may be die-cut and configured to be grasped for carrying the bag. The two most common conventional handle designs are round and oval. Round handle apertures generally have stronger strength characteristics but are usually not very comfortable to carry. Handle comfort can be improved by making bags with a heavier film gauge, or by increasing the film thickness in the handle region. This is the case in "thick-thin" versions of plastic bags in which the upper strip of bag material is a thicker gauge than the body in order to improve handle comfort. Handle apertures of an oval configuration have a top portion which is a straight horizontal edge that typically cuts right into the carrier's hand, causing discomfort for the carrier. Comfort for this handle style can be improved by attaching a plastic patch directly inside the bag wall prior to the handle die-cut operation, hence doubling up the material and improving the handle padding.

Plastic bags and handle construction for plastic bags


The draw-off mechanism for a flat bar knitting machine having needle beds includes a pair of driven feed rollers arranged axially parallel to each other and located adjacent to the needle beds under a gap between the needle beds; a pair of pivoting levers, each pivoting lever being two-armed and having a feed roller mounted at one end thereof and an adjustable stop device for setting a minimum spacing between the feed rollers located at another end of each pivoting lever remote from the feed rollers; and a device for adjusting an initial tension on at least one of the pivoting levers to urge the pivoting levers closer together, so that the driven feed rollers can cooperate with each other and act on a workpiece running between them.

The present invention relates to a draw-off mechanism for a flat bar knitting machine.
A draw-off mechanism for a flat bar knitting machine is known comprising at least one pair of feed rollers arranged axially parallel to each other and adjacent the needle beds under the gap between the needle beds. At least one feed roller of a pair of feed rollers is driven. At least one feed roller of that pair is mounted on a pivoting lever urged under tension toward the opposite feed roller of that pair.
Draw-off mechanisms of the above-described type are already known in several different forms, in which a feed roller of a pair of feed rollers is under an adjustable tension urging it toward the opposite feed roller. These draw-off mechanisms of the prior art in which the roller tension is adjustable have a comparatively expensive structure and are described in European Published Patent Application EP-OS 4,216,665. None of the above-mentioned draw-off mechanisms is however adapted for an article or workpiece being knitted on a flat bar knitting machine to a satisfactory and sufficient extent.

Draw-off mechanism for a flat bar knitting machine


A battery module (5) for a motor vehicle. The battery module (5) includes a battery unit (2), a negative pole (21), a positive pole (22), a switching unit (60), which is connected electrically in series with the battery unit (2) and has at least one controllable switching element, and a management system (30) for controlling the at least one switching element. A hold circuit (40) is provided, which is connected to the management system (30) and to the switching unit (60) in such a way that a control signal from the management system (30) can be transferred through the hold circuit (40) to the switching unit (60), and is designed such that, in an active state of the hold circuit (40), a control signal from the management system (30) to open the at least one switching element can be transferred to the switching unit (60) with a time delay.

The invention relates to a battery module for a motor vehicle, which battery module comprises at least one battery unit, a negative pole, a positive pole, a switching unit, which is connected electrically in series with the at least one battery unit and has at least one controllable switching element, and a management system for controlling the at least one switching element. The invention also relates to a motor vehicle comprising a battery module according to the invention.
Conventional motor vehicles comprise a powertrain, which usually includes an internal combustion engine. In addition, conventional motor vehicles comprise a battery module for supplying electrical power to a starter motor and to additional loads in the motor vehicle, and an alternator for charging the battery module. A battery module of the type in question comprises a battery unit containing at least one battery cell, preferably a plurality of battery cells, which are connected in series, for instance, with the result that the battery module has a nominal voltage of 12 V, 24 V or 48 V, for example. The battery cells are lithium-ion battery cells, for example.
A battery module of the type in question also comprises a switching unit, by means of which the battery unit can be switched in, i.e. connected to an electrical system of the motor vehicle, and switched out, i.e. disconnected from said electrical system. When the battery is switched in, then said nominal voltage supplied by the battery cells lies between a positive pole and a negative pole of the battery module. For this purpose, the switching unit comprises a switching element, for example embodied as an electromechanical relay or a contactor, which can be opened and closed by appropriate control.
A battery module of the type in question also comprises a management system, which is used to monitor the battery unit and to control the switching unit. By means of appropriate control by the management system, the switching element of the switching unit can be opened, thereby switching out the battery unit, and can be closed, thereby switching in the battery unit.
The switching unit and the management system are normally designed such that in order to close the switching element, an appropriate control signal in the form of a control voltage is transferred from the management system to the switching unit. The switching element remains closed as long as the control voltage is present at the switching unit. If the control voltage at the switching unit drops, then the switching element is opened.
In the event of the management system malfunctioning briefly, for instance as a result of a reset of a microcontroller in the management system, the control voltage at the switching unit drops. This has the effect of opening the switching element, thereby switching out the battery unit. The battery unit is hence disconnected from the electrical system until the management system is fully operational again and the control voltage is again present at the switching unit.

Battery module for a motor vehicle, and motor vehicle


A system and method of selecting an area of interest from a plurality of images captured by a plurality of cameras are described. The method includes receiving a request for an area of interest from a plurality of images, the area of interest containing an object of interest selected by a user, the object of interest being captured in one or more images captured by one or more of the plurality of cameras, the plurality of cameras having overlapping field of views; determining a camera within the plurality of cameras that wholly contains the area of interest; transforming the physical location of the object of interest into a pixel position such that the area of interest being essentially centered around the pixel position corresponding to the physical location of the object of interest; and extracting the area of interest.

Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to image data management and in particular to a method and system of selecting a view or an area of interest (AOI) from a plurality of images captured by a plurality of cameras.
Discussion of Related Art
A relatively large image generally contains a plurality of pixels, e.g., millions of pixels. Each pixel has one, two or more bands. Each band has a certain color depth or bit depth. For example, an RGB color-based image has 3 bands, the red band (R), the green band (G) and the blue band (B). Each of the R, G and B bands can have a depth of 8 bits or more. Hence, in this example, each pixel can have a total bit depth of 24 bits or more.
A video or film camera captures a plurality of images or frames at a certain rate, i.e., a number of times per second (frames per second). Each captured image or frame, in a digital form, has a certain size defined by its pixel height and its pixel width. Pixel height corresponds to a number of rows of pixels in the image and pixel width corresponds to the number of columns in the image. Each image pixel has one or more bands. Each band can represent a quantized signal from a range of frequencies from the electromagnetic spectrum. For example, in the visible spectrum, the bands can represent different colors such as red, blue, and green (RGB).
An image sensor or camera can be used to capture a series of images or frames. Each image or frame in the series of images or frames can have thousands of pixels. Each image may have a relatively high resolution, such as 4K, 6K, 8K or more. As understood in the art, a 4K resolution refers to content or image(s) having horizontal resolution on the order of 4,000 pixels. Several 4K resolutions exist in the fields of digital television and digital cinematography. In the movie projection industry, DIGITAL CINEMA INITIATIVES (DCI) is the dominant 4K standard. A 4K resolution, as defined by DCI, is 4096 pixels×2160 pixels (approximately a 1.9:1 aspect ratio). An image of 4096 pixels by 2160 pixels has about 9 Megapixels (MP). As specified in standards for Ultra High Definition television, 4K resolution is also defined as 3840 pixels×2160 pixels (approximately a 1.78:1 aspect ratio). The following TABLE 1 provides examples of known standards for relatively high resolution images captured by industry standard camera sensors.
TABLE 1Resolution (W pixels wide byFormatH pixels tall or W × H)Ultra high definition television (UHDTV)3840 × 2160(Aspect Ratio is 1.78:1)Ultra wide television5120 × 2160(Aspect Ratio is 2.33:1)WHXGA (Aspect Ratio is 1.6:1)5120 × 3200DCI 4K (native)4096 × 2160(Aspect Ratio is 1.90:1)DCI 4K (Cinemascope)4096 × 1716(Aspect Ratio is 2.39:1)DCI 4K (flat cropped)3996 × 2160(Aspect Ratio is 1.85:1)8K-UHD (Aspect Ratio is 2.4:1)7680 × 3200
The images may be captured in sequence, for example at a reasonably constant frequency (e.g., 24 images or frames per second (fps), 48 fps, 60 fps, etc.). Each image (i.e., each still image or frame) in the sequence or series of images may have one or more distinct bands and may cover any part of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be captured by the image sensor or camera, including, the visible (VIS) spectrum, the infrared (IR) spectrum or the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum. The image sensor or camera may be a single sensor or a combination or a matrix of multiple smaller sensors or cameras that can be arranged to generate a larger image. Each smaller sensor or camera can be configured to capture a plurality of smaller images. The smaller images captured by the smaller sensors or cameras can then be combined (or stitched) to form a plurality of larger images.
In the media and entertainment industry, on network television, on cable television, on broadcast television, and on digitally distributed video content, some of the highest image pixel resolutions are known as 4K and 8K. For film, 4K is an image frame that is 4096 pixels wide by 2160 pixels tall. For ultra-high definition TV, 4K is an image frame that is 3840 pixels wide by 2160 pixels tall. In addition, 8K image frame sizes are also gaining ground. However, the most popular distribution formats are still 720P and 1080P which have image frame sizes of 1280 pixels wide by 720 pixels tall and 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels tall, respectively. Recently, 4K media playback devices have reached the mainstream market. These devices can also interpolate and display 1080P content.
Those skilled in the media and entertainment industry are aware of various existing and published standards in the industry. For example, in sport broadcasts, such as NASCAR®, NFL®, NHL®, NBA®, and FIFA®, with the advent of live and archive media streaming, the "second-screen" experience has gained popularity. For example, some sports venues have employed custom camera configurations that capture a video of a relatively high resolution that is larger than 1920 pixel wide and 1080 pixels tall. A video of image size 1920×1080 captured at 30 fps or 60 fps is also referred to as 1080P. For example, 3D-4U based in Seattle, Wash., USA, creates a very wide strip of video that is approximately 18000 pixels wide by 720 pixels tall or 1080 pixels tall. Using custom software and computers, they extract a smaller area of interest a size substantially smaller in pixel width and height than the captured strip content. This smaller area is optimized for display on a virtual reality environment or an APPLE iPad®.
However, none of the known image technologies or systems are able to provide or deliver a plurality of images or a video where an object in physical space captured in one or more images of the plurality of images can be mapped to pixels of the one or more images.

Systems and methods of selecting a view from a plurality of cameras


A fluid ejection device is described. In an example, a device includes a substrate having a chamber formed thereon to contain a fluid. A metal layer includes a resistor under the chamber having a surface thermally coupled to the chamber. At least one layer is deposited on the metal layer. A polysilicon layer is under the metal layer comprising a polysilicon structure under the resistor to change topography of the resistor such that the surface is uneven.

Inkjet technology is widely used for precisely and rapidly dispensing small quantities of fluid. Inkjets eject droplets of fluid out of a nozzle by creating a short pulse of high pressure within a firing chamber. During printing, this ejection process can repeat thousands of times per second. One way to create pressure in the firing chamber is by heating the ink in the firing chamber. A thermal inkjet (TIJ) device include a heating element (e.g., resistor) in the firing chamber. To eject a droplet, an electrical current is passed through the heating element. As the heating element generates heat, a small portion of the fluid within the firing chamber is vaporized. The vapor rapidly expands, forcing a small droplet out of the firing chamber and nozzle. The electrical current is then turned off and the heating element cools. The vapor bubble rapidly collapses, drawing more fluid into the firing chamber.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An ultrasound transmitting circuit includes an electrical transmitter from which electrical oscillations can be fed at an electrical transmission power level over a connecting line into an ultrasound transducer. The electrical oscillations are formed of a current signal and a voltage signal. The ultrasound transducer can be excited by the electrical oscillations to produce ultrasound oscillations. In order to allow ultrasound oscillation power to be controlled more accurately, the current signal and the voltage signal can be supplied to a phase regulator. A variable impedance, which is coupled to the connecting line, can be actuated by the phase regulator in such a manner that the current signal and the voltage signal are in phase.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasound transmitting circuit including an electrical transmitter from which electrical oscillations, formed of a current signal and a voltage signal, can be fed at an electrical transmission power level over a connecting line into an ultrasound transducer that can be excited by the electrical oscillations to produce ultrasound oscillations.
Such an ultrasound transmitting circuit is used, for example, in therapeutic ultrasound arrays. The use of ultrasound arrays is dependent on a specific amplitude relationship, in addition to a specific phase relationship, between the individual ultrasound transducers in the ultrasound array. Major deviations from the predetermined relationship may cause serious deviations from the desired beam, which, under some circumstances, may even result in injuries to personnel.
The total power level fed in from the electrical transmitter can, in general, be preset very precisely. However, the individual ultrasound transducers have an impedance which, on one hand, is subject to major tolerances from one ultrasound transducer to another by virtue of the production techniques and, on the other hand, also varies dynamically as a function of the type of operation. Due to those impedance variations, the distribution of the transmitted ultrasound amplitudes deviates to a major extent from the predetermined electrical amplitude distribution of the individual electrical transmitters.

Ultrasound transmitting circuit and ultrasound transmitting system having a plurality of ultrasound transmitting circuits


1,8-naphthyridinone compounds as modulators of an adenosine receptor are provided. The compounds may find use as therapeutic agents for the treatment of diseases mediated through a G-protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway and may find particular use in oncology.

Adenosine receptors (ARs) are distributed throughout the body and are responsible for numerous biological functions. The seven trans-membrane G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been divided into four different subtypes: A1, A2A, A2B, and A3. The A2A and A2B ARs stimulate activity of the adenylyl cyclase, inducing an increase of cAMP levels. A2A ARs have a distinct tissue localization, different biochemical pathways, and specific pharmacological profiles.
Adenosine is one of the human body's most important neuromodulators in both the central and the peripheral nervous systems. Adenosine is released from tumor cells and its concentration in the extracellular fluid of tumors can reach immunosuppressive levels (Blay et al. (1997), Cancer Res., 57(13), pp. 2602-5). The extracellular fluid of solid carcinomas contains immunosuppressive concentrations of adenosine. Id. This increase in adenosine concentration is a result of increases in CD73 (ecto-5′-nucleotidase) and CD39 (nucleoside triphosphate dephosphorylase) enzymes, which are responsible for directly catabolizing ATP into adenosine. These upregulations are triggered by hypoxia and the generation of HIF-1α. High levels of adenosine around tumor cells act to regulate multiple immune cells (e.g., CD4+ T-cells and cytotoxic CD8+ T-cells) via activation of multiple adenosine receptor subtypes, but particularly A2A receptors, resulting in the suppressing of pro-inflammatory activities and upregulation of anti-inflammatory molecules and immunoregulatory cells (Kumar et al. (2013), Adenosine as an endogenous immunoregulator in cancer pathogenesis: where to go? Purinergic Signal., 9(2), pp 145-65 and Sitkowsky et al., Hostile, hypoxia-A2-adenosinergic tumor biology as the next barrier to overcome for tumor immunologists. Cancer Immunol. Res. 2(7), pp 598-605; Ohta (2016), A Metabolic Immune Checkpoint: Adenosine in Tumor Microenvironment. Frontiers in Immunology., 7 article #109, pp 1-11). It was demonstrated that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells upregulate A2ARs upon antigen-specific stimulation in vitro and in vivo (Beavls (2017), Targeting the Adenosine 2A Receptor Enhances Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Efficacy. J of Clin Invest. 127 (3): pp 929-941).
Survival of cancer cells is dependent on their ability to avoid attack by the immune system. In addition, tumor cells can overtake the immune system to facilitate tumor survival and metastasis. Adenosine, whose concentration increases within hypoxic regions of solid tumors, has been recognized as being able to interfere with the recognition of tumor cells by cytolytic effector cells of the immune system. (Tuite and Riss (2013). Recent developments in the pharmacological treatment of Parkinson's disease. Expert Opin. Investig. Drugs, 12(8) pp 1335-52, Popoli et al. (2002). Blockade of striatal adenosine A2A receptor reduces, through a presynaptic mechanism, quinolinic acid-induced excitotoxicity: possible relevance to neuroprotective interventions in neurodegenerative diseases of the striatum, J. Neurosci, 22(5) pp. 1967-75, Gessi et al. (2011). Adenosine receptors and cancer. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1808(5), pp. 1400-12).
Although all adenosine receptors now have an increasing number of recognized biological roles in tumors, the A2A and A3 subtypes appear promising targets for therapeutic development. In particular, activation of A2A receptors leads to immunosuppressive effects, which decreases anti-tumoral immunity and thereby encourages tumor growth.
The A2B receptor is another potential target for therapeutic development. Autocrine/paracrine stimulation of A2B expressed on tumor cells is believed to enhance their metastatic potential and A2B blockade may reduce tumor metastasis in an immune-independent manner (Beavis et al. (2013). Blockade of A2A receptors potently suppresses the metabolism of CD73+ Tumors. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 110(36) pp. 14711-6). A2B expression also correlates with relapse-free survival (RFS) in triple negative breast cancer suggesting that this pathway may be clinically relevant. A2B blockade also has the potential to modulate the immunosuppressive properties of tumor-associated immune cells including dendritic cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) (Cekic et al. (2011). Adenosine A2B receptor blockade slows growth of bladder and breast tumors. J. Immunol. 188(1), pp. 198-205; Sorrentino et al. (2015). Myeloid-derived suppressor cells contribute to A2B adenosine receptor-induced VEGF production and angiogenesis in a mouse melanoma model. Oncotarget 6(29), pp. 27478-89; Iannone et al. (2013). Blockade of A2B adenosine receptor reduces tumor growth and immune suppression mediated by myeloid-derived suppressor cells in a mouse model of melanoma. Neoplasia, 15(12), pp. 1400-9.
There remains a continuing need for new therapies for the treatment of diseases and disorders related to the adenosine signaling pathway.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

1,8-naphthyridinone compounds and uses thereof


The invention relates to a front end for a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle, which has diametrically opposed A pillars (12) in the vehicle transverse direction (y), of which each A pillar (12) is constructed with an internal sheet metal molded part (31) and an external sheet metal molded part (29) which are connected to each other, in particular welded, via edge flange joints (35), the A pillar additionally being connected to at least one tension element (37) whose outer end (39) in the vehicle transverse direction (y) is connected, in particular, to a hinge element (45) mounted on the external sheet metal molded part (29) and whose inner end (43) is connected to the internal sheet metal molded part (31). According to the invention, the inner end (43) of the tension element (37) is fastened between the internal sheet metal molded part (31) of the A pillar (12) and a counter-holder (55) in at least one three-layer structure (57).

In a vehicle collision with only a minor lateral overlap, the problem arises that the collision forces are not directly applied to the front bumper cross member and on to the vehicle longitudinal member. Instead, in this special accident constellation, the force is applied past the bumper cross member via the side body top shell and, in particular, via the vehicle wheel facing the crash onto the upper and lower A pillar nodes located therebehind, from which the applied collision forces are transferred farther to the vehicle door as well as to the side sills adjoining the footwell.
A front end for a vehicle according to the definition of the species is known from DE 10 2008 036 868 A1. This front end has diametrically opposed A pillars, viewed in the vehicle transverse direction. Each of these A pillars is designed as a hollow profile and has an internal sheet metal molded part and an external sheet metal molded part, which are spot-welded to each over via edge flange joints. In the area of the upper A pillar node, a hinge element for a motor vehicle door is attached to the external sheet metal molded part. To provide a structurally rigid connection, the hinge element is mounted on a bolt-like torque support, which extends through the cavity of the A pillar to the internal sheet metal molded part of the A pillar and is welded on its inside.
In the special accident constellation described above, with only a minor lateral overlap, a tensile/shear load may act, in particular, upon the flange joints between the internal and external sheet metal molded parts of the A pillar. This may cause the flange joints to break apart and the external sheet metal molded part of the A pillar to bulge sideways to the outside.
A hinge fastener on a vehicle body is known from DE 100 63 509 A1, in which a hinge element for the vehicle door is supported via a reinforcing part. The reinforcing part extends through the cavity of the A pillar and is fastened on the inside of the internal sheet metal molded part and on the inside of the external sheet metal molded part of the supporting pillar.


An insulin conjugate having improved in vivo duration and stability is provided. The conjugate is prepared by covalently linking insulin with an immunoglobulin Fc region via a non-peptidyl polymer, a long-acting formulation comprising the same, and a preparation method thereof. The insulin conjugate of the present invention maintains in vivo activity of the peptide at a relatively high level and remarkably increases the serum half-life thereof, thereby greatly improving drug compliance upon insulin treatment.

Insulin, a peptide secreted by the pancreatic beta cells, plays a central role in the control of blood glucose levels in the body. When insulin is not properly secreted or the secreted insulin does not work in the body, the blood glucose level is not regulated, and thus diabetes occurs. This diabetes is called type II diabetes. Type I diabetes is caused when the pancreas does not make enough insulin to increase the blood glucose level.
Type II diabetes is usually treated with oral hypoglycemic agents chemically synthesized, and in some cases, patients are treated with insulin. Meanwhile, type I diabetes requires insulin treatment.
The insulin treatment method currently used is injection of insulin before/after meals. However, such insulin injection should be continuously administered three times per day, which causes pain or discomfort to the patients. There have been various attempts to overcome the problem. One of them is a method of delivering a peptide drug via oral or nasal inhalation by improving its membrane permeability. Undesirably, the method showed very low delivery efficiency, compared to the injectable formulations, and thus there are still many difficulties in maintaining in vivo activity of the peptide drug at the required level.
Meanwhile, there was a method of delaying drug absorption after a subcutaneous injection of a large amount of the drug, so as to maintain the blood level by only one daily injection. Some of the developed drugs (Lantus, Sanofi-aventis) were approved, and are now used for the patients. In addition, studies have been conducted to prolong the action, leading to development of Levemir (Novo Nordisk) prepared by modification of insulin with fatty acid, in which the protracted action occurs through self-association of insulin molecules at the site of injection and through reversible binding to albumin in the blood. However, these methods generate pains at the site of injection, and the daily injections also cause considerable discomfort to the patient.
Many efforts have been made to improve the serum stability of peptide drugs and maintain the drugs in the blood at high levels for a prolonged period of time, thereby maximizing the pharmaceutical efficacy of the drugs. These long-acting formulations of peptide drugs need to increase the stability of the peptide drugs and maintain the titers at sufficiently high levels without causing immune responses in patients. For the preparation of the long-acting formulations of peptide drugs, a polymer having high solubility, such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), was conventionally used to chemically modify the surface of a peptide drug.
PEG non-specifically binds to a specific site or various sites of a target peptide to give an effect of increasing the molecular weight of a peptide, and thus inhibiting the loss by the kidney, and preventing hydrolysis, without causing any side-effects. For example, WO 2006/076471 describes that a B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), which binds to NPR-A to activate the production of cGMP and leads to reduction in the arterial blood pressure, and as a result, is used as a congestive heart failure therapeutic agent, is linked to PEG, thereby sustaining its physiological activity. U.S. Pat. No. 6,924,264 describes that PEG binds to the lysine residue of an exendin-4 to increase its in-vivo residence time. This method increases the molecular weight of PEG, and thus increases the in-vivo residence time of the peptide drug. However, as the molecular weight is increased, the titer of the peptide drug is remarkably reduced, and the reactivity with the peptide is also reduced. Accordingly, it undesirably lowers the yield.
WO 02/46227 describes a fusion protein prepared by coupling GLP-1, an exendin-4, or an analog thereof with human serum albumin or an immunoglobulin fragment (Fc) using a genetic recombination technology. U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,480 describes an Fc fusion protein prepared by coupling a parathyroid hormone (PTH) and an analog thereof with Fc region. These methods can address the problems such as low pegylation yield and non-specificity, but they still have a problem in that the effect of increasing the blood half-life is not as noticeable as expected, and in some cases, the titers are also low. In order to maximize the effect of increasing the blood half-life, various kinds of peptide linkers have been used, but there is a possibility of causing an immune response. Further, if a peptide having disulfide bonds, such as BNP, is used, there is a high probability of misfolding, and if a peptide having non-naturally occurring amino acid residues is used, it can be produced by genetic recombination only with great difficulty.

Insulin conjugate using an immunoglobulin fragment


An image processing device is provided. The image processing device includes a determination unit configured to determine a scheme of capturing a pixel value of an imaging element at a time of imaging operation of moving image contents using a feature amount which is obtained from a plurality of regions in a frame which configures the moving image contents; and a correction unit configured to perform a correction of focal plane distortion with respect to the moving image contents based on the determined capturing scheme. An image processing system is also provided.

The present application relates to an image processing device. Specifically, the present application relates to an image processing device which handles an image, an image processing method, and a program which causes the method to be executed in a computer.
In the related art, an image processing device such as an imaging apparatus which generates an image (image data) by imaging an object such as a person using an image sensor has become widespread. In addition, as the image sensor, for example, there is a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, or a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) image sensor. In addition, an image processing device such as a reproducing device which reproduces an image which is generated in this manner has been widely spread.
For example, a correction device which corrects distortion of an imaged image (focal plane distortion) due to a focal plane phenomenon which occurs in the CMOS image sensor, or the like, has been proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-208580).

Image processing device and image processing system to determine capturing scheme for capturing a pixel value during moving image capture

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation


A heating/cooling control system that can effectively control the temperature of the air discharged at the rear interior of the motor vehicle. The heating/cooling control system includes a front control and a rear control. The front control is capable of operating within a predetermined temperature range. The temperature range of the rear control is determined by the set point of the front control.

This invention relates to a Heat Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system installed in a motor vehicle. More specifically, this invention relates to a control strategy for controlling temperature of the air discharged at the rear of the motor vehicle.
Typically in today""s HVAC system installed in motor vehicles, controls are provided for controlling the front climate control and the rear climate control. However, the current technology for rear temperature control from the front control normally utilizes slide lever controls or rotary knobs, which allows for infinite temperature selection over a wide range.
The current problems associated with using rocker or push buttons to control the temperature of the rear climate control system from the front climate control is that the temperature change that corresponds to one increment of the rocker button selection is very large due to the large operating range of the HVAC system and limited indicators directed by styling. To achieve appropriate indication to the customer regarding temperature selection over the entire operating range would require a large amount of displays, these solutions are costly and may be difficult to package. For example, typical discharge air temperature range of the rear climate control system is 120xc2x0 F. (160xc2x0 F. to 40xc2x0 F.). Typically the number of LED indicators allowed is limited by styling direction and cost. For example if the styling dictates five LED buttons, the temperature gradient per LED (assumed evenly distributed and one LED per button push) is 120xc2x0 F./5=24xc2x0 F. As seen, this temperature gradient per button push is much too large to achieve occupant comfort.
Therefore, there is a need in the industry to control the rear climate control system such that the temperature gradient of the rear system has smaller increments.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a control strategy for controlling the temperature of the rear climate control system is disclosed. Preferably, the temperature range of the rear system is controlled by the front control system set point.
Preferably, the temperature selected in the front control system determines the selectable temperature range of the air discharged from the rear control system. According to the preferred embodiment, the temperature of the front system is set as the median temperature of the rear control system. Therefore, any temperature range of the rear control system is measured from the set point of the front control system.

Temperature control strategy for a rear control system


Retractable needle/syringe devices for blood collection, catheterization, and medicinal injection procedures adapted to fixedly project the needle from a device housing to perform the procedure, and, after the procedure is completed, retract the needle back into the housing for disposal, substantially without risk of persons handling these devices coming into contaminating contact with a used needle or syringe. One embodiment of the device including a needle/syringe assembly spring biased in a first position within a housing. A push button locking mechanism disposed through the top of the housing in abutting alignment with the syringe barrel is operated to forwardly translate the syringe to a second position and lock it in place so as to fixedly project the needle from the housing. A plunger arm perpendicularly connected to the syringe plunger and projecting out of the housing through cooperating apertures formed on the syringe barrel and housing is operated to draw fluid (blood or medicament) into and discharge fluid from the syringe barrel. Thereafter, the push button is operated again to release the locking mechanism and retract the needle back into the housing. For use in medicinal injection procedures, an ampule filled with an injectant and formed with a front seal and a movable rear seal is frictionally enclosed by the barrel. A plunger mechanism connected to the rear seal of the ampule is operated to translate the ampule forward until the portion of the needle disposed within the barrel penetrates the front seal of the ampule and establishes fluid communication with the injectant. The front of the barrel provides a stop against further forward movement of the ampule pursuant to which further pressure applied to the knob will cause the rear seal to move forward so as to discharge the injectant from the ampule.

The present invention relates generally to devices which reduce the risk of infection associated with the use of disposable medical implements in hospitals and other medical facilities (such as a clinic or doctor's office), and, more particularly, to hypodermic needle/syringe devices used in blood collection and medicinal injection procedures, wherein the needle and syringe are pre-assembled in a device housing adapted to fixedly project the needle therefrom to perform the procedure, and, after the procedure is performed, safely retract the needle back into the housing for disposal, substantially without risk of contaminating contact by the operator of the device with the used needle or syringe.
In today's hospitals, a wide variety of disposable needle and syringe devices are routinely used to administer medication by injection, for intravenous blood collection, and for insertion of catheter devices. For the typical injection procedure, the nurse or medical technician will assemble a sterile needle/syringe device and pre-fill the syringe with medication at the nurses' station or at a medication cart outside the patient's room. During blood collection procedures, the nurse will assemble a sterile needle/syringe device to draw blood for immediate transfer to a vacuum tube collection device, or draw the blood directly into the collector by means of a multi-sample needle/collection tube holder device.
For catheter insertion procedures, the catheter tube is slipped over a hypodermic needle which is then grasped by its hub portion to guide the catheter into the patient's vein. Often, while the needle and catheter are held in place, a syringe is affixed to the needle hub and then operated to draw a small potion of blood from the vein to ensure that the catheter has been properly placed. Thereafter, the catheter is held in place and the needle is removed from the vein. The catheter will then be typically hooked up via a tubing connection to an intravenous ("I.V.") apparatus. A potential danger inherent in such a procedure results from the fact that once the needle guiding the catheter punctures the patient's vein, blood will shoot out through the needle and possibly onto the clothes or skin of the person performing the catheterization.
With the widespread use of disposable hypodermic needles and syringes, there exists a definite need for ways to safely and conveniently dispose of such implements after use without risk of exposing medical personal handling them to injury, infection or disease by puncture or contact with a used needle or syringe. Today's health professionals, especially those who attend to patients suffering from highly contagious diseases such as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ("AIDS") and Hepatitis, are acutely aware of such risks.
Once a needle and/or syringe is used, both implements are contaminated and must be disposed of in a safe manner. It had been once common practice to break or cut the needle after use before transport to ultimate disposal in order to eliminate the sharp end point and thereby reduce the risk of puncture, scratching or other injury which might result from handling. Such practices are now disfavored because of the substantial danger of an accidental puncture during the breaking or cutting operations, and the recognition that the cutting tool itself can be a breeding ground for disease-causing micro-organisms.
While the used needle presents the most significant risk of injury or infection through accidental puncture or scratching of a person's skin, the used syringe may also present a risk of infection. For example, a used syringe can contain residual blood or medication which, if exposed to a person's skin, may be absorbed topically (particularly if a cut or break is present) and may cause a serious internal infection or other reaction.
As a result of the foregoing dangers, it is preferred current practice to dispose of such devices in-tact, without dismantling them. In disposing of the whole hypodermic needle and syringe, however, medical personnel would sometimes attempt to recap the used needle before disposal with the same protective cap that covered the needle during shipment from the manufacturer. This practice itself could result in accidental puncture or contact while the needle point is being recapped. Because of this danger, it is now recommended by the Center For Disease Control ("C.D.C") that needles not be recapped after use.
In order to overcome such difficulties, various retractable needle/syringe devices have been developed wherein a hypodermic needle is pre-assembled within a syringe or device housing adapted to dispense a volume of injectant, and which provides means for fixedly projecting the needle from the device to give an injection and retracting it back into the device for disposal. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,117 to Vining et al. describes a needle/syringe device wherein the needle is fixedly projected from the syringe by lockingly engaging a pair of locking members formed on the syringe plunger with a pair of recessed portions formed on the needle mounting base, and then lockingly engaging a second pair of locking members formed on the mounting base with a second pair of recessed portions formed on the neck of the syringe barrel. The plunger must be rotated clockwise to lock each pair of locking members to their respective recessed portions. To fill the syringe with medication, the plunger is unlocked from the mounting base and drawn back as in a conventional syringe. The needle is retracted after injection by unlocking the base from the neck and drawing back on the plunger.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,413 to Haber et al. discloses a dental syringe wherein a pre-filled ampule of medication is spring biased within a cylinder proximate a hypodermic needle. A retaining collar engaging the ampule is pushed into the cylinder to place the ampule into fluid communication with the needle and project the needle from the cylinder against the yielding spring. To keep the needle in a projected state, the operator of the device uses two fingers to compress a pair of opposed spring-like locking arms formed on the cylinder into engagement with a locking skirt formed on the retaining collar. Holding the locking arms in this position, the operator then uses his thumb to depress a plunger member into the ampule to discharge the injectant therefrom. To retract the needle, the operator releases the locking arms causing the spring to urge the ampule and needle back to their pre-injection positions.
The art also discloses retractable needle mechanisms for use in catheter insertion procedures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,831 to Kulli discloses a needle/handle assembly wherein the needle lockingly projects outwardly from a bore formed in the handle. When the catheter has been placed, a spring activated retraction mechanism provided for the handle can be operated to automatically retract the needle into the handle.
While the foregoing devices should generally yield good results, they suffer some disadvantages. First, the Vining et al. and Haber et al. devices can be cumbersome to operate. The Vining et al. device requires multiple steps to lockingly project the needle from the syringe, requires unlocking of the plunger from the needle mounting base to draw fluid into the syringe, and requires unlocking of the base from the syringe neck to retract the needle. The Haber et al. device requires the operator to rely on finger pressure exerted by two fingers on the locking arms to hold the needle in a projected state while attempting to give the injection using a third finger of the same hand.
These injection devices suffer a further drawback where the site of the injection is critical. For example, drugs such as xylocaine and novocaine, if administered intravenously, can cause a patient to have a cardiac arhythmia which can subsequently result in death. Accordingly, these drugs must be administered intramuscularly or in fatty tissue. When a conventional needle/syringe device is used to give the injection, the syringe plunger is drawn back slightly prior to injection to "aspirate" for blood and thereby ensure that the needle has not been inadvertently placed in a patient's vein or artery. If blood appears in the injectant through the aspiration process, a new site for the injection must be chosen. Moreover, because of the potential contamination to the injectant by the blood, the injectant should be replaced. The Haber et al. device is adapted to dispense an ampule of medication and provides no means to aspirate for blood. The Vining et al. device can only aspirate for blood like a conventional syringe, and thus, cannot protect the injectant from contamination.
In the Kulli catheter insertion device discussed above, the needle is constantly in a projected state outside of the handle prior to use. As a result, there exists a greater risk of potential contamination to the needle from dropping or otherwise mishandling the device, and thus, a greater risk to persons operating the device of coming into contaminating contact with the needle.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide new retractable needle/syringe devices which overcome the foregoing disadvantages of the prior art. It is also an object of the present invention to provide new retractable needle/syringe devices for use in blood collection, medicinal injection and catheterization procedures, which can be economically fabricated, and which are of a durable yet lightweight construction.
It is another object of the present invention to provide new retractable needle/syringe devices which are compact in size so as to be easily placed in a uniform pocket prior to use, and easily locked inside a standard hospital medication cart when unattended, thus obviating the risks caused by leaving unattended devices in a patient's room.
It is a another object of the present invention to provide new retractable needle/syringe devices wherein the entire device can be safely transported to ultimate disposal after use without need to remove the needle from the syringe, thus substantially reducing the risk of exposing the person handling the device to injury, infection, or disease by puncture or contact with the used needle or syringe.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide new retractable needle/syringe devices for use in blood collection, medicinal injection, and catheterization procedures, wherein the needle and syringe are pre-assembled in a device housing adapted to automatically lockingly project the needle therefrom by use of a simple push button mechanism, leaving the hands of the person using the device free to operate the syringe, and safely retract the needle back into the housing after use by means of the same push button.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a retractable needle/syringe device capable of dispensing a pre-filled ampule of medicament, wherein the device can be operated to aspirate for blood prior to giving the injection, when necessary, substantially without danger of contamination to the medicament.
The foregoing specific objects and advantages of the invention are illustrative of those which can be achieved by the present invention and are not intended to be exhaustive or limiting of the possible advantages which can be realized. Thus, these and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description herein or can be learned from practicing the invention, both as embodied herein or as modified in view of any variations which may be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the present invention resides in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.


Apparatus for decoding, block by block, image block of N.times.N pixels, in coded image signal form obtained by successfully coding pixel values of plural peripheral pixels in the vicinity of a coding target pixel, the apparatus including means for replacing a pixel value of an undecoded pixel among three lines of nearby peripheral pixels with a pseudo pixel value obtained from a decoded peripheral pixel located closest to and on the same line as the uncoded pixel; means for generating a prediction pixel value for the target pixel from the value of the decoded pixel and the replacement pixel value of the undecoded pixel; means for (a) receiving the coded image signal, (b) performing a decoding process using the pixel values of at least one decoded pixel in each of a previously decoded block, the decoding target block, and a pseudo pixel value of an undecoded pixel, and (c) outputting a decoded image signal for each block; and means for combining decoded image signals corresponding to the blocks.

Conventional image coding processes are broadly divided into two of coding processes performed in block units, represented by MPEG2-based coding methods, and coding processes performed in pixel units, such as differential pulse code modulation (DPCM: Differential Pulse Code Modulation).
The coding process in block units is a method in which a single image display region is divided into plural blocks and a coding process for an image signal that is input (hereinafter referred to as an input image signal) is performed block by block. In this case, the single image display region corresponds to a single display screen in the MPEG2-based coding process, and in an MPEG4-based coding process, it corresponds to a display region having a shape and a size corresponding to each object on a single display screen. Further, each of the above-mentioned blocks is a display region composed of a prescribed number of pixels within the single image display region, and a rectangle shape which is easily processed is used as the shape of the block in many cases.
As described above, in the coding method in which a coding process for an input image signal is performed block by block, the coding process for the input image signal corresponding to a single image display region is completed in each block. Therefore, there is the advantage that, even though a transmission error occurs when a coded image signal obtained by performing the coding process for the input image signal is transmitted, influence of the error can be converged in each block.
However, the block-by-block coding method has the following drawbacks.
Since the coding process for the input image signal is completed in each block in the block-by-block coding method, it is difficult to use an inter-block pixel correlation, that is, a correlation of pixel values which are present in different blocks, in the coding process.
Further, in a predictive coding method for an image signal, a pixel value of a coding target pixel being a target of coding (a coding target pixel value) is predicted with reference to pixel values of plural coded pixels which have previously been coded (coded pixel values), and the coding target pixel value is adaptively coded using the predicted pixel value. In this predictive coding method, however, when the coding process is performed block by block, the coded pixel values to be referred to when coding the coding target pixel value are limited to pixels within each block, so that the reference coded pixel values are small in number. Therefore, the accuracy of the predicted value of the coding target pixel is reduced, and the coding efficiency is not increased very much.
On the other hand, the coding method in pixel units is a method in which an input image signal is coded pixel by pixel, and in this coding method, it is possible to change the coding process for the input image signal pixel by pixel. Therefore, when this coding method includes a universal coding process, such as adaptive arithmetic coding in which code words are automatically updated pixel by pixel adaptively to the characteristics of the input image signal, an image signal having any characteristic can be coded with a significantly high coding efficiency.
However, since, on the decoding side, a coded image signal obtained by the pixel-by-pixel coding method including the universal coding process is subjected to a decoding process in which code words are updated in the same manner as on the coding side, when a transmission error occurs when the coded image signal is transmitted, the state in which the decoding process for the coded image signal cannot be carried out accurately because of the influence of the transmission error on the decoding side, continues long.
By the way, the block-by-block coding method and the pixel-by-pixel coding method can be combined, and in a coding method in which these coding methods are combined (hereinafter referring to this coding method as a combination coding method for explanation), code words can be adaptively changed for each pixel, and the influence of transmission error can be converged in each block, whereby a coding process with a high coding efficiency, such as adaptive arithmetic coding, can be performed while suppressing the influence of transmission error.
A description is now given of this combination coding method.
FIG. 13(a) shows the state in which a single frame screen is divided into a plurality of rectangle blocks, and FIG. 13(b) shows arrangement of pixels in blocks, especially in a coding target block being a target of coding and blocks in the vicinity of the coding target block. Needless to say, these pixels are arranged in matrix along horizontal scanning lines in the single frame screen.
In the figures, FG denotes a screen corresponding to a single frame, B1 denotes a coded block in which a coding process for an image signal has already been performed, Bx denotes a coding target block being a target of coding, and B0 denotes an uncoded block in which a coding process for an image signal has not been performed. When no distinction is made between blocks, blocks are denoted by B. BLu, BLs, BLh, and BLm denote upper, lower, left, and right boundaries of the coding target block in the single frame screen, respectively. A solid line circle shows a coded pixel whose pixel value has already been coded, and a dotted line circle shows an uncoded pixel whose pixel value has not been coded yet. Each block B is an image display region comprising 4.times.4 pixels, in the single frame screen FG.
FIG. 14 shows positional relationships between a coding target pixel Px to be coded and peripheral pixels P0.about.P9 surrounding the coding target pixel, and the pixel values of these peripheral pixels P0.about.P9 are referred to when the pixel value of the coding target pixel Px is predicted, so that these pixels are called reference pixels hereinafter.
The reference pixels P8 and P9 are pixels which are positioned in the same horizontal scanning line as the coding target pixel Px, and the reference pixels P9 and P8 are positioned one pixel and two pixels before the coding target pixel Px, respectively. The positions of the reference pixels P5 and P1 in the horizontal direction on the single frame screen FG correspond to the position of the coding target pixel Px, and the reference pixels P5 and P1 are positioned in a horizontal scanning line by one pixel and two pixels upper than the coding target pixel Px, respectively. Further, the reference pixels P3, P4, P6, and P7 are pixels which are positioned in the same horizontal scanning line as the reference pixel P5, the reference pixels P4 and P3 are positioned one pixel and two pixels before the coding target pixel Px, respectively, and the reference pixels P6 and P7 are positioned one pixel and two pixels after the coding target pixel Px, respectively. Further, the reference pixels P0 and P2 are pixels which are positioned in the same horizontal scanning line as the reference pixel P1, the reference pixel P0 is positioned one pixel before the reference pixel P1, and the reference pixel P2 is positioned one pixel after the reference pixel P1.
In the combination coding method, initially, an image signal corresponding to the single frame screen FG is divided correspondingly to plural blocks B constituting the single frame screen as shown in FIG. 13(a) and FIG. 13(b), and a coding process for the divided image signal is performed block by block.
This block-by-block coding process is completed by performing a horizontal process in which pixel values of pixels are successively coded from the left to the right along each horizontal pixel line in a block B, for all of the horizontal pixel lines in the block from the uppermost line to the lower most line.
In this coding process, as shown in FIG. 14, the pixel value of the coding target pixel Px is adaptively predicted from the pixel values of the reference pixels P0.about.P9 positioned in the vicinity of the coding target pixel, and code words used for the coding process of the coding target pixel are adaptively selected according to a predicted value obtained by the prediction.
Therefore, in the combination coding method, the influence of transmission error on the decoding side can be converged in each block, and the coding efficiency can be improved as compared with the simple block-by-block coding process.
FIG. 16(a), FIG. 16(b), and FIG. 17 are diagrams for explaining a combination decoding method corresponding to the above-mentioned combination coding method, and in the figures, B' denotes each block in a single frame, Bx' denotes a decoding target block, B1' denotes an already decoded block, B0' denotes an undecoded block, BLu', BLs', BLh', and Blm' denote block boundaries of the decoding target block Bx' at the upper, lower, left, and right sides, respectively, and P0'.about.P9' denote reference pixels corresponding to a decoding target pixel Px'. In this case, the arrangement of the reference pixels P0'.about.P9' with respect to the decoding target pixel Px' is identical to that described for the coding process shown in FIG. 13(a), FIG. 13(b), and FIG. 14.
In the combination decoding method, initially, an image signal corresponding to a single frame screen FG' is divided correspondingly to plural blocks B' constituting the single frame screen as shown in FIG. 16(a) and FIG. 16(b), and a decoding process for the divided image signal is performed block by block.
This block-by-block decoding process is completed by performing a horizontal process in which pixel values of pixels are successively decoded from the left to the right along each horizontal pixel line in a block B', for all of the horizontal pixel lines in the block from the uppermost line to the lower most line.
In this decoding process, as shown in FIG. 17, the pixel value of the decoding target pixel Px' is adaptively predicted from the pixel values of the reference pixels P0'.about.P9' positioned in the vicinity of the decoding target pixel, and code words used for the decoding process of the decoding target pixel Px' are adaptively selected according to a predicted value obtained by the prediction.
However, the combination coding method in which the block-by-block coding process and the pixel-by-pixel coding process are combined has the following drawbacks.
In this combination coding method, since the coding process proceeds block by block, when the coding target pixel Px abuts the right boundary BLm of the coding target block Bx as shown in FIG. 15, the reference pixels P2, P6, and P7 corresponding to the coding target pixel Px are uncoded pixels.
In this case, when the pixel value of the coding target pixel Px is predicted with reference to the pixel values of the uncoded pixels P2, P6, and P7 and the pixel value of the coding target pixel Px is coded using the predicted value, a coded image signal corresponding to this coding target pixel Px cannot be accurately decoded on the decoding side. More specifically, in order to accurately decode a coded image signal which is obtained by coding the pixel value of the coding target pixel Px using the predicted value, the predicted value of the decoding target pixel Px' used in the decoding process must agree with the predicted value of the coding target pixel Px corresponding to the decoding target pixel Px', used in the coding process. In other words, on the coding side, the reference pixel values referred to for generating the predicted value of the coding target pixel Px must completely agree with the reference pixel values referred to for generating the predicted value of the decoding target pixel Px' corresponding to the coding target pixel Px.
For this reason, for example, as shown in FIG. 15, when the coding process for the coding target pixel Px is performed, if the predicted value of the coding target pixel Px is generated with reference to the pixel values of the uncoded pixels P2, P6, and P7 among the reference pixels P0.about.P9 corresponding to the decoding target pixel Px, as shown in FIG. 18, when the decoding process for the decoding target pixel Px' is performed on the decoding side, the predicted value of the decoding target pixel Px' is generated with reference to the pixel values of the reference pixels P0'.about.P9' corresponding to the decoding target pixel Px', but among the reference pixels P0'.about.P9', pixel values of the undecoded pixels P2', P6', and P7' are not obtained on the decoding side, so that the pixel value of the decoding target pixel Px' corresponding to the coding target pixel Px cannot be decoded.
Therefore, in the conventional combination coding method, in order to avoid the problem that the decoding process becomes difficult when uncoded pixels are included in the reference pixels P0.about.P9 corresponding to the coding target pixel Px as described above, there is taken a countermeasure in which the predicted value of the coding target pixel Px is generated with the pixel values of the uncoded pixels being regarded as a fixed value which has been previously set (e.g., 0), and the coding process for the coding target pixel Px is performed using this predicted value.
Although the combination coding method with the above-mentioned countermeasure enables the decoding process to be accurately performed for all of the pixels in each block using their predicted values, since the pixel values of the reference pixels being uncoded pixels are uniformly replaced with a fixed value, the correlation of pixel values between the uncoded pixel and the coded pixel is degraded, resulting in the problem that the efficiency in predicting the coding target pixel, i.e., the accuracy of the predicted value of the coding target pixel, is degraded.
The present invention is subjected to solving the above-described problems, and has an object to provide an image processing apparatus and an image processing method, which can combine an adaptive pixel-by-pixel coding process and a block-by-block coding process, without degrading correlation of pixel values between uncoded pixels and coded pixels, with avoiding that decoding of a coded image signal becomes difficult, and to provide a data recording medium in which an image processing program for realizing the image processing method is recorded.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus and an image processing method, which can perform an accurate decoding process for a coded image signal which has been coded, without degrading an efficiency in predicting coding target pixels, and to provide a data recording medium in which an image processing program for realizing the image processing method is recorded.

Image encoder, image encoding method, image decoder, image decoding method, and data recording medium

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.