A motor controller is programmed for detecting motor-stall condition of a dc motor under the control of a motor control system. The motor control system includes a programmable microcontroller in connection with the motor controller and a motor driver. The motor driver communicates with a dc motor. The dc motor is coupled to a position encoder which encoder is in communication with the microcontroller. The method comprises the steps of providing an average stall threshold value ASV and providing the motor controller with a time counter for counting each time interval T to a maximum count N. The motor controller is programmed to issue a motor command representing the position error between the desired motor position and the actual motor position for some time interval T. During each time interval T, the motor command is compared to the average threshold value ASV, if the motor command is greater than the ASV then the count in the time counter is compared with the maximum count N. If the count is equal to the maximum count N then the controller signals the microcontroller a "motor stall" fault. If not, the motor is "OK" and the method is repeated for the next time interval T.

The present invention relates to a DC motor servo system utilizing an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) under the influence of a microcomputer for controlling a DC motor.
In many systems a DC motor is employed as a prime mover. One such system is a novel mail processing system. The mail processing system employs a plurality of system modules for processing envelopes. Particularly, the mail processing system includes a feeder section having a envelope stack receiving module, a singulation module, and an envelope flap moistening module. The feeder section is followed by a mailing machine section having an integral scale module, tape module, meter module and transport module.. A more detailed description of the mail processing system is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,078, entitled "High Through-Put Mail Processing System".
The mail processing system of particular interest offers the advantage of providing a minimum foot print and high through-put rate. In order to achieve this advantage, realizing that the mail processing system must accommodate a variety of different sized envelopes, it is necessary for the microcomputer system to exercise exacting servo control over the motors associated with one or more of the modules. In order to achieve the high through-put rate in light of the minimum feed path (foot print), a system constraint is to accommodate maximum acceleration and deceleration of a respective motor under system loads without destructively over-driving the motor.
It has been considered advantageous to provide the mail processing system with not only a minimum feed path but also minimum overall profile. In order to obtain this advantage along with the accompanying cost advantage, motors have been selected which provide the necessary transport torque, as a result, the smallest motor which provides sufficient transport torque has been chosen. In order to achieve the necessary accelerations, the motor must be overdriven for a short period. It has been empirically determined that the motors can survive the accelerator phase provided the motor is closely servo-ed by the motor controller. However, a particularly destructive condition occurs during an envelope jam. An envelope jam can cause a motor stall condition. This condition can be destructive to the motor as the motor controller is causing the motor to be overdriven, i.e., the motor controller is causing the motor driver to deliver excessive current or voltage to the motor for a prolonged time due to the stall condition.


This invention relates to a stair assembly to be arranged in a stairwell opening of an upper floor, comprising: —a girder assembly; —a plurality of steps mounted to the girder assembly; and —a guard structure, wherein the girder assembly is pivotably mountable to the upper floor to pivot about a pivot axis between an operational position, in which the girder assembly extends obliquely downwards, and a hidden position, in which the girder assembly extends horizontally, wherein the moveable guard structure is moveable between an operational position, in which the guard structure extends upwards, and a hidden position, in which the guard structure has moved downwards, and wherein the stair assembly is configured such that when the girder assembly and the guard structure are in their respective hidden positions a person is able to walk over the stair assembly as part of the upper floor.

The invention relates to a moveable stair assembly, an object provided with such a stair assembly, and a method of operating the stair assembly.
Moveable stair assemblies are well-known, especially to get temporarily access to an attic only when necessary. As the stairs to an attic are usually not used all the time, the stair may be moveable to prevent interference with the stairs and keep sufficient space available for movement of persons and goods when the stair is not needed. Such stairs are thus only applied to the upper most floors of a building where access to the upper most floor is not required permanently. Although moveable stairs can also be applied to other floors of a building, this comes with the drawback that hiding the stair does not result in usable floor space on the upper floor and safety is not guaranteed on the upper floor. Especially with children, this provides a significant drawback.
A prior art moveable stair assembly not used for the upper most floors is disclosed in US patent publication U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,953. This publication discloses a moveable stair assembly allowing selectively access between two upper floors at the same level or between one of the upper floors and a lower floor by being moveable between a so-called catwalk position and a stairway position, respectively.
Although this disclosure provides safety at all times due to the presence of the handrails at all times, it does not provide usable floor space.

Stair assembly, an object and a stair assembly operating method


Solid forms of N-[2,4-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-5-hydroxyphenyl]-1,4-dihydro-4-oxoquinoline-3-carboxamide are described herein, including crystalline forms thereof.

N-[2,4-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-5-hydroxyphenyl]-1,4-dihydro-4-oxoquinoline-3-carboxamide (hereinafter "Compound 1") has the structure below:
Compound 1 is described and claimed in International PCT publication WO 2006002421 and has the following molecular formula: C24H28N2O3.
Compound 1 has been demonstrated to restore the function of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein, the defective cell membrane protein responsible for the progression of CF. Defects in the CFTR protein can affect the transport of chloride and other ions across cells, and lead to the accumulation of thick, sticky mucus in the lungs of patients with CF. This mucus can foster chronic infection and inflammation, and can result in irreversible lung damage. Potentiator compounds such as Compound 1 can increase the probability that the CFTR channel is open, which could result in an increase in chloride transport across the cell surface in some patients. In laboratory experiments, using cells from patients with CF where CFTR proteins are present on the cell surface, Compound 1 has restored the function of defective CFTR channels.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A catheter-delivered electrode array is used to three dimensionally map the endomyocardial monophasic action potential (MAP). The catheter is used in a method for endomyocardial MAP mapping and for establishing diagnostic criteria for the cardiac myocyte injury. During allograft rejection, conduction impairment occurs within the atrial myocardium. Abnormalities of the terminal force of the P wave in Lead V1 (ptfV1) and dispersion of corrected atrial repolarization (Ta-TcD) represent interatrial conduction defects that accompanies the rejection process. Three dimensional endomyocardium monophasic action potential mappings are used to directly monitor the pathophysiological changes in cardiac myocytes. Changes in amplitude, duration and morphology of the action potential were recorded and used to detect the early rejection of the transplant organ with high sensitivity and specificity. Using this MAP-mapping system, the area of myocardium injury induced by a coronary artery occlusion or by ablation can be pin pointed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of electrocardiology and in particular to a method and apparatus for endomyocardial monophasic action potential for early detection of myocardium pathology.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrocardiography (ECG) has been used for clinical diagnosis since end of last century. The concept of ECG is that the properties of electrical flow or conductance of the heart is reflected by the body surface electrical signal change. However, it is subject to a number of well known limitations, which arise mainly due to the indirect nature of the measurement. Using microelectronics to directly measure the transmembrane action potential has been practices on the isolated bundles of cardiac fibers or cardiac myocytes in the basic research laboratory for several decades. The changes in the amplitude, time course and the morphology of the action potential characteristically represent the electrophysiology of the cardiac myocytes. Directly measuring the monophasic action potential of the cluster of the myocytes in the endomyocardium using a monophasic action potential (MAP) catheter has been introduced in clinical electrophysiologic testing for more than two decades. Although direct measurement could record the changes of the electrophysiological function of cell membrane in several cardiac myocytes measured in a local region of about 1 mm diameter area, it could not represent the pathophysiological changes in whole heart. The measurement area can not be increased, because too many cells would need to be measured by one electrode. The electrical signal from each cell will interact each other cell to cause a false reading.
To avoid these problems, the prior art solution was to place the electrode in several areas and measure the MAP one by one. This is extremely time consuming, and it is hard to tell the precise position of each of the measurements. Therefore, manual point-to-point measurement is not practical clinically. Also known are electrical signal mappin xe2x80x9csockxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccarpetxe2x80x9d techniques used to map the electrical signals in the epicardium, which is not MAP, for isolated heart preparation and open chest preparation in experimental laboratories. The use of a basket or xe2x80x9clanternxe2x80x9d shape for contact measurements with the endomyocardium has also been attempted by Boston Scientific in a device marketed under the trademark, Constellation catheter. Although the significance was not appreciated, known or practiced in the prior art, the Constellation catheter does not have Ag/AgCl electrodes and the structure of the basket is too soft or limp to obtain good electric contact with the endomyocardium. Consequently, the Constellation catheter is incapable of sensing or recording the MAP and can only record general electrical signals, which have no material diagnostic significance or uniqueness.
The invention is an apparatus for three-dimensional mapping of endomyocardial monophasic action potential (MAP) of endomycardial tissue. The invention comprises a catheter with a distal and proximal end. A wire basket is disposed on the distal end of the catheter. A plurality of electrodes is carried by the basket. The basket is self-expandable by reason of resiliency of the basket to a size and stiffness sufficient to cause the electrodes to make intimate contact with the endomycardial tissue. A flexible cable or other means of electrical communication is disposed in the catheter electrically coupling the plurality of electrodes to the proximal end of the catheter. The flexible cable is comprised of a plurality of flexible wires with one wire being provided to each electrode.
The plurality of electrodes is provided with a Ag/AgCl plating. The number of the electrodes carried by the basket is preferably at least 64. The number of support wires defining the basket is preferably at least 8 and each support wire has at least 8 electrodes. Thin electrical wires carried by the support wires may be connected individually to each of the electrodes or the electrodes may be electrically coupled to each other in different sets. The electrodes are preferably equally or uniformly distributed or arranged on the basket. The basket wires and electrode are insulated. It is to be expressly understood that fewer or more electrodes than 64 are also within the scope of the invention and that the arrangemenit of their mutual connection is arbitrary.
The apparatus further comprises a sheath. The sheath is temporarily disposed over the basket to retain the basket in a collapsed configuration. The sheath is telescopically removable from the basket to allow the basket to self-expand.
The apparatus further comprises an electrophysiological analyzer coupled to the cable to record data from each of the plurality of electrodes and to analyze the data to generate a three-dimensional endomyocardium mapping of endomyocardial monophasic action potential from the plurality of electrodes.
The invention is also defined as a method of determining the myocardium injury lelectrical-pathophysiology of cardiac myocytes. The method comprises the steps of providing a catheter as described above, namely a catheter having with a distal and proximal end, and a wire basket disposed on the distal end of the catheter with a plurality of Ag/AgCl plated electrodes carried by the basket, having a flexible cable disposed in the catheter electrically coupling the plurality of electrodes to the proximal end of the catheter, and a sheath temporarily disposed over the basket to retain the basket in a collapsed configuration. The catheter is disposed into a heart chamber to be mapped. The sheath is telescopically removed from the basket to allow the basket to self-expand in the heart chamber. The basket is self-expandable by reason of resiliency of the basket to a size and stiffness sufficient to cause the electrodes to make intimate contact with the endomyocardial tissue. A heart data signal from each of the plurality of electrodes is recorded and electrophysiologically analyzed to generate a three-dimensional endomyocardium mapping of endomyocardial monophasic action potential from the plurality of electrodes.
In the illustrated embodiment the changes in ptf-V1 and/or the dispersion of Ta-Tc in the body surface 12-lead-electrocardiograms (ECG) is analyzed to determine atrial conduction disturbance associated with myocardium injury. If the ptf-V1 signal equals or exceeds 0.04 or the Ta-TcD signal equals or exceeds 0.06 sxc2xd or both, then a determination is made that there is very likely some myocardium injury or dysfunction, in particular rejection of a heart transplant. The data signal, such as the ptf-V1 and/or Ta-TcD signal, is correlated to an the severity of the cardiac allograft rejection grade.
Accordingly, the endomyocardium monophasic action potential was measured using conventional single electrode MAP catheter in a rabbit heart transplant model. The characteristic changes in amplitude, duration and morphology of the action potential were observed to be able to detect the early rejection with high sensitivity and specificity. The three-dimensional MAP-mapping was able to pin point the area of the myocardium injury induced by a coronary artery occlusion or ablation.

Endomyocardial monophasic action potential for early detection of myocardium pathology

The Regents of the University of California


An improvement to a cooling pond is disclosed which utilizes metallic heat pipes to transmit heat from the cooling pond to the ambient air environment.

This invention relates generally to the art of heat exchange and more particularly to an enhancement to improve the cooling ability of cooling ponds.
Cooling ponds are traditionally utilized to conduct heat from heat sources to the ambient atmosphere. Typical applications of cooling ponds include the cooling of compressors of air conditioning units. The heat is normally conducted into the cooling pond by conduction or by exchange of warm water from cooling coils to be replenished by the cooler water of the remaining body of the cooling pond. The cooling pond responds by exchanging the heat thus absorbed to the ambient atmosphere by radiation convection and by the cooling effect of evaporation of the water in the cooling pond into the ambient atmosphere. Such heat exchange between the cooling pond and ambient atmosphere is frequently enhanced by the utilization of fountains which promote additional heat exchange by the mechanisms above described.
While these heat conducting mechanisms have proved generally satisfactory, any enhancement in the cooling efficiency would promote better utilization of such cooling ponds.


A K-edge filter whose main portion functions as a filter member and is made of a material containing at least two kinds of elements, and an X-ray apparatus is fabricated so as to include such a K-edge filter.

The present invention relates to a K-edge filter for X-ray, which is used for obtaining predetermined spectra in X-ray apparatuses such as a medical X-ray diagnostic apparatus, a bone density measuring apparatus, a non-destructive inspection apparatus, an X-ray analyzer or the like and an X-ray apparatus employing the K-edge filter.
Generally, X-rays generated by an X-ray generator are constituted by photons having various energy levels and have on energy spectrum in which a characteristic X-ray spectrum of a steep waveform is added to gentle continuous X-ray spectrum as shown in FIG. 12. Absorption of X-rays transmitted through a substance is caused either by a phenomenon (1) in which X-rays produce a photoelectric effect in the substance so as to emit photoelectrons such that photons vanish or by a phenomenon (2) in which X-rays are partially scattered during travel of the X-rays through the substance. The absorption of X-rays caused by the phenomenon (2) exhibits a noncontinuous change (referred to as an "absorption edge") in the attenuation coefficient (absorption coefficient). The absorption edge based on K-shell electrons is referred to as a "K-absorption edge" and noncontinuous change characteristics of the attenuation coefficient are employed for an X-ray filter.
In an X-ray diagnostic apparatus, a non-destructive inspection apparatus, an X-ray analyzer or the like, it is a common practice that the X-rays used are measured by limiting the wavelength range or X-rays having a plurality of limited wavelength ranges are measured so as to be compared with one another. Meanwhile, in an apparatus for measuring a substance, for example, a bone mineral densitometry, by dividing the wavelength of the X-rays into a plurality of wavelength ranges, namely, by employing measurement results of a plurality of X-rays made monochromatic in a pseudo manner, a calculation is performed so as to effect a measurement. A K-edge filter is used as an X-ray filter for separating energy spectrum of X-rays into high and low energy regions. The K-edge filter is made of a material which not only has a K-absorption edge in a target energy region of the X-rays but possesses a dependence of its attenuation coefficient upon energy as shown in FIG. 13. The amount of X-rays which have passed through the K-edge filter changes markedly before and after the K-absorption edge, so that energy spectrum of X-rays is separated into the two energy regions.
FIG. 14 shows an X-ray spectrum obtained after X-rays have passed through a K-edge filter made of gadolinium (Gd) and having a thickness of 100 .mu.m. It will be seen from FIG. 14 that the energy spectrum of X-rays is separated into two energy regions at a K-absorption edge of Gd of 50.2 keV. Such conventional K-edge filters are usually made of only one element having a K-absorption edge in the X-ray region, for example, cerium (Ce), samarium (Sm) or the like.
Meanwhile, in a measuring apparatus employing a K-edge filter, an X-ray detector is usually formed by the combination of a scintillator of NaI or GdWO.sub.3 and a photomultiplier tube. A K-edge filter used for the X-ray detector is made of Sm or Ce or the like.
However, the prior art arrangements referred to above have the following drawbacks. In the known K-edge filter made of a single element as shown in FIG. 14, the difference between an effective energy of the low energy region and that of the high energy region of the separated energy spectrum of the X-rays is small and the amount of X-rays becomes large in the vicinity of the boundary of the energy separation. Therefore, the energy spectrum of X-rays cannot be distinctly separated into high and low energy regions. Furthermore, since the width of the spectra of the two energy regions becomes large, a plurality of monochromatic X-rays cannot be produced in a pseudo manner. Meanwhile, if the thickness of the K-edge filter made of a single element is increased so as to clearly separate the energy spectrum of the X-rays into high and low energy regions, the number of X-ray photons passing through the K-edge filter decreases undesirably.
In an X-ray detector, the characteristic X-ray proper to the substance forming the X-ray detector is produced by an incident X-ray. When this characteristic X-ray is again absorbed into the X-ray detector, an output pulse signal accurately representing the energy of an incident X-ray can be obtained. However, if the characteristic X-ray is emitted out of the X-ray detector without being absorbed thereinto, namely, if the characteristic X-ray escapes, only a pulse signal having a pulse height smaller than that corresponding to the energy of an incident X-ray is outputted. In other words, X-rays are detected at this time as if X-rays having an energy smaller than that of the actual incident X-rays are incident upon the X-ray detector. This phenomenon is generally referred to as "characteristic X-ray escape". Output pulses having a pulse height lowered by this phenomenon are referred to as "escape peak of K-shell characteristic X-rays". The frequency of occurrence of characteristic X-ray escape depends on the volume of the X-ray detector and becomes larger as the volume of the X-ray detector is reduced.
When ordinary X-rays having an energy spectrum shown in FIG. 12 is detected, the pulse height distribution of output pulses is obtained as shown by the curve a in FIG. 15. This pulse height distribution contains a pulse height component due to characteristic X-ray escape as shown by the curve b in FIG. 15. Meanwhile, also in the case where the energy spectrum of the X-rays is separated into high and low energy regions by passing X-rays through the K-edge filter and is detected the pulse component due to the characteristic X-ray escape exists. Therefore, in the case where the energy spectrum of the X-rays is separated by the K-edge filter into high and low energy regions by employing energy in the vicinity of the K-absorption edge as the boundary of the high and low energy regions so as to be measured such that the data on the numbers of photons present in the high and low energy regions are utilized, even photons having an energy of the high energy region appear as signals partially in the low energy region owing to the characteristic X-ray escape. As a result, it is impossible to obtain the accurate energy distribution of photons incident upon the X-ray detector.
For example, in an NaI scintillation detector, characteristic X-rays of about 1 keV and 28.3-33.2 keV are respectively, produced for Na and I. In the above characteristic X-rays, especially the characteristic X-rays for I poses a problem. FIG. 16 shows results of measurement in which X-ray emitting photons of a maximum energy of 80 keV are measured by the NaI scintillation detector through its energy separation based on-a K-edge filter of Ce having the K-absorption edge at 40.4 keV. The NaI scintillation detector is operated in a photon counting mode and the pulse height of output pulses of the NaI scintillation detector is proportional to the energy of incident X-ray photons. In the abscissa of FIG. 16, pulse height is converted into the energy of photons. When characteristic X-rays of I have escaped, only pulses having a pulse height corresponding to an energy 28.3-33.2 keV lower than the energy of incident photons are outputted. For example, assuming that X-ray photons of 70 keV are incident upon the NaI scintillation detector and characteristic X-ray of I escapes, pulses having a pulse height corresponding to an energy of 36.8-41.7 keV are outputted. An effective energy of an output peak at the side lower than a separation energy of 40.4 keV is 38 keV, while an effective energy of an output peak at the side higher than the separation energy is 74 keV. In FIG. 16, the curve b illustrates the output due to the characteristic X-ray escape. As shown by the hatching in FIG. 16, an effective energy of the X-ray escape peak induced by the incident X-ray at the side higher than the separation energy is 44 keV.
When total counts of signals corresponding to an energy not less than the separation energy of 40.4 keV and the total counts of signals corresponding to energy not more than the separation energy of 40.4 keV are obtained as data, the signals shown by the hatching in FIG. 16 are produced by the incidence of photons in the high energy region separated by the K-edge filter but are measured at the sides which are both higher and lower than the separation energy based on the K-edge filter. In this example, 40% of the signals shown by the hatching in FIG. 16 are measured at the side higher than the separation energy.
By using the NaI scintillation detector, X-ray photons having a maximum energy of 100 keV are measured through the energy separation based on the K-edge filter in the same manner as described above. FIG. 17 shows results of pulse height analysis in the case of the K-edge filter made of Sm. Sm has a separation energy of 47 keV. An effective energy of the peak at the side lower than the separation energy is 45 keV, while an effective energy of the peak at the side higher than the separation energy is 80 keV. As shown by the hatching in FIG. 17, an effective energy of the escape peak of the characteristic X-rays induced by the incident X-rays at the side higher than the separation energy is 50 keV. Since the separation energy of 47 keV is smaller than the effective energy of the 50 keV of escape peak of the characteristic X-rays induced by the incident X-rays at the side higher than the separation energy, about 40% of the output pulses based on the characteristic X-ray escape appear at the side higher than the separation energy.
In the case where signals based on the characteristic X-ray escape are measured at the sides which are both higher and lower than the separation-energy, this influence should be corrected. However, as the number of such signals is increased further, it becomes more difficult to correct for the influence, so that the effects of correction of the influence diminish and the measurement accuracy of the substance, etc. deteriorates.

K-edge filter and X-ray apparatus employing the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A back light module includes a bezel, a light source assembly and a first circuit board. The bezel has a carrier surface, a first back surface opposite to the first back surface, and a through hole passing through the bezel from the carrier surface to the first back surface. The light source assembly is disposed on the carrier surface, and the first circuit board is disposed on the first back surface. The light source assembly includes a second circuit board and a plurality of light emitting elements. The second circuit board is electrically connected to the first circuit board by its conductive pin set via the through hole. Since the light source assembly is electrically connected to the first circuit board by the conductive pin set, the assembly process is simplified and the cost is decreased. A display device using the back light module is also provided.

FIG. 1A shows a schematic partial three-dimensional view of a conventional back light module, and FIG. 1B shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the conventional back light module taken along line I-I′ of FIG. 1A. Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, a display device 100 includes a display panel 110 and a back light module 120, and the display panel 110 is disposed on the back light module 120. The back light module 120 includes a bezel 122, a light source assembly 124 and a driving circuit board 126, wherein the bezel 122 has a carrier surface 122a and a back surface 122b opposite to the carrier surface 122a, and a light source assembly 124 is disposed on the carrier surface 122a of the bezel 122.
Owing to the light emitting diode having several advantages such as high brightness, low power consumption, long usage life, and low heat generation, the light emitting diode is broadly used as the back light source of the liquid crystal display device. The light source assembly 124 has several light emitting diodes 124a and a circuit board 124b, wherein the light emitting diodes 124a are electrically connected to the circuit board 124b. In addition, the driving circuit board 126 is disposed on the back surface 122b of the bezel 122 and electrically connected to the circuit of the display panel 110 through a flexible circuit board 130. A chip 140 for driving the light source assembly 124 and a chip (not shown) for driving the display panel 110 are electrically connected to the driving circuit board 126. The circuit board 124b of the light source assembly 124 is electrically connected to the driving circuit board 126 by a connector 170 such that the light emitting diodes are electrically connected to the chip 140.
However, the assembly process of the display device 100 is complex and time consuming because the circuit board 124b must be pulled out from a lateral side of the bezel 122 and bent to a side of the back surface 122b of the bezel 122, and then the circuit board 124b is plugged into the connector 170 to electrically connect the circuit board 124b and the driving circuit board 126. In addition, the circuit board 124b may be broken due to the bent part of the circuit board 124b is repeatedly bent or nibs against other elements. It will affect the connection of the light source assembly 124 and chip 140 and result in the problem of abnormal display in the device.

Back light module and display device using the same


An ophthalmic lens which has three elements, a contact lens, a center lens, and an entry lens. The lens produces a wide field, aerial image of the fundus of the eye. The lens is particularly useful because it provides high resolution of the peripheral retina, and causes little or no distortion of the laser beam used for peripheral fundus laser treatment.

The present invention relates to ophthalmic lenses employed in connection with ophthalmic diagnostic and surgical procedures and, more particularly, to a compound ophthalmic lens that is utilized for observation of the fundus, and particularly the peripheral retina of the eye, and for delivery of laser energy thereto.
Opthalmic lense are conventionally utilized for observation of various locations within the eye by ophthalmologists. These ophthalmic lenses normally include a contact lens, that is, a lens that directly contacts the cornea of the eye and may include an entry lens that is spaced in the anterior direction from the contact lens. The entry lens usually magnifies that portion of the eye being observed. The two lenses are normally joined by a housing. Mirrors are sometimes interposed between the contact lens and the entry lens to increase the field that can be viewed by the physicain through the lens.
Most ophthalmic lenses of the type just described have been created and designed for use as an observation tool utilized in conjunction with a slit lamp or ophthalmic microscope employed by ophthalmologists. While most prior lenses function reasonably well for use as an observation tool, the advent of laser microsurgery and the accompanying need to deliver a laser beam safely within the eye has created a need for ophthalmic lenses that not only provide improved images of the desired location in the eye but also have the capability to deliver laser energy to the desired location with minimum effect on other portions of the eye.
One example of the use of laser energy is in connection with the treatment of a patient's fundus. This treatment requires not only the capability to observe the fundus over a wide angle but the capability of being able to deliver a laser beam within the eye and focus it on the fundus. One lens currently available for wide-field fundus observation has at least three elements. Some of these elements are cemented together such that it is effectively a two lens system. The lens forms a real image within the final lens element. While the fundus image so created is adequate, axial magnification is poor, and the internal and external reflections caused by the various lens elements degrades the overall image available and reduces fundus detail if the ocular media is hazy. Moreover, the prior lens exhibits aberrations around the peripheral portion of the image and laser delivery to the peripheral retina is adversely affected by beam astigmatism induced by the lens.
A significantly improved lens is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,183. That lens uses an aspheric entry lens to produce an aerial image spaced from and anterior of the entry lens. The combination of the contact lens and the aspheric lens produces an aerial image that has very high resolution, even in the peripheral areas of the image. The lens also produces very little reflected or scattered light as well as a nondistorting path through which the laser beam can pass during treatment of a patient's pathology. The lens disclosed in this patent also maintains a wide cone angle on the laser beam as it passes through the patient's cornea and crystalline lens to minimize energy absorption in those elements of the patient's eye.
The lens disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,183, however, has certain drawbacks even though it produces a superior optical image. First, the field of view is limited generally to the central and mid-peripheral fundus and, upon manipulation of the lens, to areas of the retina approaching the equator. It is desirable to increase the field of view of the lens so that the peripheral retina in the region of the equator and slightly beyond can be viewed. This increased field of view is desirable not only for delivery of laser energy for treatment of retinal detachment in the peripheral area but also for other procedures such as panretinal photocoagulation. One suggestion for increasing the field of view is to merely increase the power of the contact lens. However, the greater curvature of the anterior surface of the lens required to increase the field would greatly increase the aberrations in peripheral regions of the aerial image and thus make it unacceptable for use in diagnosis and laser delivery. Additionally, the lens disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,728,183 produces an aerial image some 12 mm from the anterior surface of the entry lens. The distance between the aerial image and the patient's eye makes this lens unusable with some slit lamps employed by physicians. It is therefore desirable to reduce the distance between the aerial image and the patient's eye to provide a lens that is universally compatible with modern slit lamp microscopes.


A switch gear system is described. In some implementations, a switch gear arrestor system can include a switch gear and one or more arrestors mounted on a non-conductive insulated bar. The one or more arrestors can be connected to one or more isolators through a respective aperture in the non-conductive insulated bar. Each arrestor can be connected to one of the one or more electrical energy sources at a first end and can be connected to one of the one or more isolators at a second end. The switch gear arrestor system can further include one or more ground leads. Each ground lead can connect one of the one or more isolators to a conductive grounding bar.

Some existing switchgear arrestors may be commonly used to protect electrical circuits and appliances from over-voltage. Commonly used switchgear arrestors may be mounted on a conductive (e.g., metal) bar that is grounded. The arrestor may be designed to pull excess load to ground upon receiving the over-voltage. But, in most cases, the arrestor may short out internally, causing the arrestor to stay connected to ground. The arrestor staying connected to ground can result in the arrestor overheating, catching fire, or blowing up and damaging the switchgear cabinet constituents/components.
It may be desirable to provide a new and improved switchgear arrestor system that, after the arrestor pulls the over/excess voltage/load to ground, prevents the arrestor from burning or blowing up and causing damage to other components/parts/constituents within the switchgear cabinet in which the arrestor is mounted. Some implementations were conceived in light of the above-mentioned limitations, needs, or problems, among other things.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

Switchgear arrestor system with isolators


A test apparatus includes a tray including at least a first region and a second region, and a cap disposed over the tray. The cap includes a cap body, and at least a first magnet and a second magnet disposed over the cap body. The first magnet is configured to provide a first magnetic field to the first region of the tray, and the second magnet is configured to provide a second magnetic field to the second region of the tray. A strength of the first magnetic field is different from a strength of the second magnetic field.

Semiconductor devices are used in variety of electronic applications, such as personal computers, cell phones, digital cameras and other electronic equipment. Semiconductor devices are typically fabricated by sequentially depositing insulating or dielectric layers, conductive layers and semiconductive layers of material over a semiconductor substrate, and patterning the various material layers using lithography to form circuit components and elements thereon.
During the fabricating of the semiconductor devices or after the forming of the semiconductor devices, characterization is performed, so that quantities such as depletion width, carrier concentration, optical generation and recombination rate, carrier lifetimes, defect concentration, trap states, etc. can be characterized. Characterization of the semiconductor devices helps the manufacturer understand or describe behaviors of the semiconductor devices under a variety of conditions in order to facilitate further development of the semiconductor device.

Test apparatus and testing method using the same

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.


A fixing device having: a heating roller and a presser that form a fixing nip portion therebetween; a pair of brackets having holes for supporting both end portions of the heating roller; a biasing member for pressing the presser against the heating roller to form the fixing nip portion; and a pair of semicircular arc slide bearings that are fitted in the holes of the respective brackets so as to be located between the respective brackets and the heating roller, on an opposite side of the heating roller to a side thereof pressed by the presser.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fixing device, and particularly to a fixing device to be employed in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, such as a copier and a printer, as a device for fixing a toner image on a sheet by heat.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, in a fixing device of this kind, a heating roller and a pressing roller are juxtaposed to be pressed against each other with a specified pressing force, and while a recording sheet with a toner image thereon is passing between the rollers, the toner image is fixed on the recording sheet. The heating roller is driven to rotate at a predetermined rate, and the heating roller is held by a bearing member that permits the heating roller to freely rotate in the radial direction while regulating the position of the heating roller in the thrust direction. Conventionally, there has been normally used a slide bearing or a C-ring for positional regulation in the thrust direction, in combination with a radial bearing.
However, combining two or more components for a bearing member is not good because it requires a larger number of components as well as a larger number of assembly steps. Further, in order to mount the heating roller to such a conventional bearing member, the heating roller is required to be moved in the thrust direction, which is a complicated operation. Moreover, the radial bearing hardly expands/contracts with a temperature change because of the material and the structure thereof, while the heating roller, which is made of aluminum, expands/contracts to a relatively large degree with a temperature change. Thus, when there is a large difference in thermal expansion coefficient between the bearing member and the heating roller, an unexpected backlash or bite occurs with a temperature change. Also, a process of fitting the C-ring, which is a component for regulating the position of the heating roller in the thrust direction, to the heating roller is troublesome, and this process may cause damage on the heating roller. Further, in order to permit the C-ring fitting process, it is necessary to make a slit in the heating roller, which necessitates an elongation of the heating roller, that is, prevents downsizing of the heating roller.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-171387 describes that a sleeve-like slide bearing composed of two fired bodies that are made of a material mainly containing tetrafluoroethylene resin into shapes with semicircular arc cross sections in the axial directions is used as a bearing of the heating roller. Although this slide bearing has a favorable characteristic of having a low rotational torque, the slide bearing complicates the structure of the bearing member. Specifically, this bearing member requires another component for regulating the position of the heating roller in the thrust direction, and in mounting the heating roller in the bearing member, it is necessary to move the heating roller in the axial direction. Thus, the above-described problems are left unsolved.

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


A method and apparatus are provided for processing video. The method includes the steps of a security system providing video of a secured area, a security person monitoring the provided video, the security person superimposing markings onto one or more frames of the monitored video through a display of the monitored video and the security system saving one or more video frames and markings within a set of respective files of a memory device where the video frames occupy a first file of the set of respective files and the markings occupy a second file of the set of files, where the first and second files are different and where the markings are related to the corresponding one or more video frames via a cross reference.

Security systems are generally known. Such systems typically include a physical barrier (e.g., walls, doors, etc.) that define and protect a secured area and number of sensors placed around a periphery or within the secured area to detect intruders. The sensors may include one or more switches placed on doors or windows. The sensors may also include passive infrared (PIR) detectors, motion detectors and a number of security cameras.
The security cameras may be monitored either locally or remotely for intruders. Alternatively, a video stream from each of the video cameras may be analyzed by a computer processor on a frame-by-frame basis to detect the motion of an intruder based upon differences between successive frames.
The sensors of a security system are typically connected to a common control panel. The control panel may be arm or disarmed by an occupant through a user interface on the control panel. Once armed, the control panel may monitor each of the sensors. Upon activation of an intrusion sensor, the control panel may activate a local alarm and/or send an alarm signal to a central monitoring station.
While such systems work well, they are often not as effective as they could be. For example, some areas of a secured space are normally occupied by people in the ordinary course of use of the secured space. While a computer processor is able to process successive images to detect at least some abnormal events, there are also events that the computer processor cannot detect. Accordingly, a need exists for methods of processing video that accommodates the ability to detect and record the possibility of suspicious activity.

Graphical bookmarking of video data with user inputs in video surveillance


A method for training an image processing model, includes: acquiring M frames of long-distance shot images of each of N training scenes, both N and M being positive integers greater than 1; acquiring a short-distance standard image of each training scene; for each training scene, clipping the M frames of long-distance shot images to obtain a same field of view as that of the short-distance standard image, and aligning the M frames of long-distance shot images after being clipped with the short-distance standard image; forming a training sample couple of each training scene by the M frames of long-distance shot images and the short-distance standard image after alignment, and forming a training sample set by N training sample couples corresponding to the N training scenes; and training an image processing model based on the training sample set.

A phone or a camera generally includes a zoom function. A user may zoom in on a distant object while taking a photo, for example, on a wild animal or an athlete, as to observe the object in more details. Some smart phones are even equipped with two cameras with different zoom levels. Optical zooming is one choice for image zoom, and can maintain high image quality. However, a zoom lens generally is expensive and heavy. Therefore, digital zooming is mainly taken for image enhancement. Digital zooming can increase an area of each pixel in a picture through a processor in a mobile phone or a digital camera, as to achieve enlargement.
However, a traditional digital zooming method may just perform upward sampling on a clipping area input by a camera sensor, which may produce a fuzzy output.

Method and apparatus for training image processing model, and storage medium

Beijing Xiaomi Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.


In the present methods, the automatic detection of polyps is converted into a 2D pattern recognition problem using conformal mapping and direct volume rendering. The colon surface is first segmented and extracted from the CT data set of the abdomen, which is then mapped to a 2D plane using conformal mapping. Ray casting is used to determine sub-surface density values and the flattened image is rendered using a volume rendering technique with a translucent electronic biopsy transfer function. Polyp candidates are detected by a clustering method which identifies regions of elevated sub-surface density. The potential for false positives is reduced by analyzing the volumetric shape and texture features of the polyp candidate regions.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Most colorectal cancers are believed to arise within benign adenomatous polyps that develop slowly over the course of many years. Accepted guidelines recommend the screening of adults who are at average risk for colorectal cancer, since the detection and removal of adenomas has been shown to reduce the incidence of cancer and cancer-related mortality. Some researchers have advocated screening programs to detect polyps with a diameter of less than one centimeter. Unfortunately, most people do not follow this advice because of the discomfort and inconvenience of the traditional optical colonoscopy. To encourage people to participate in screening programs, virtual colonoscopy (VC), also known as computed tomographic colonography (CTC), has been proposed and developed to detect colorectal neoplasms by using a computed tomography (CT) or MRI scan. Virtual colonoscopy is minimally invasive and does not require sedation or the insertion of a colonoscope. Virtual colonoscopy exploits computers to reconstruct a 3D model of the CT scans taken of the patient's abdomen, and create a virtual fly through of the colon to help radiologists navigate the model and make an accurate and efficient diagnosis. Previously known systems and methods for performing virtual colonoscopy are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,971,767, 6,331,116 and 6,514,082, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties.
It has been demonstrated that the performance of a virtual colonoscopy compares favorably with that of a traditional optical colonoscopy. However, because of the complicated geometric and topological structure of colon models, inspecting the whole colon can be time consuming and prone to perceptual errors. For example, a single examination can typically generate 400-700 512×512 CT images and may require 10-15 minutes to be interpreted. The large amount of interpretation effort involved in the virtual colonoscopy screening procedure make a computer-aided detection (CAD) scheme highly desirable.
A CAD scheme that automatically detects the locations of the potential polyp candidates could substantially reduce the radiologists' interpretation time and increase their diagnostic performance with higher accuracy. However, the automatic detection of colonic polyps is a very challenging task because the polyps can have various sizes and shapes. Moreover, false positives (FPs) can arise since the colon exhibits numerous folds and residual colonic materials on the colon wall often have characteristics that mimic polyps. A practical CAD scheme for clinical purposes should have the ability to identify the true polyps and effectively eliminate or at least substantially reduce the number of false-positives.
It has been reported that the internal tissues of polyps have a slightly higher density and different texture than healthy tissues. See "Interactive Electronic Biopsy for 3d Virtual colonoscopy," Wan et al., SPIE Medical Imaging 4321: 483-488, 2001, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. However, these high density areas reside beneath the colon wall and cannot be seen during optical colonoscopy and are not identified in surface rendered virtual colonoscopy. It would be desirable to be able to use the increased sub-surface density characteristics of a polyp to provide improved CAD results.

System and method for computer aided polyp detection

The Research Foundation of State University of New York


An adjustable telescoping flagpole that has a plurality of hollow tube sections and a plurality of flagpole clips. The telescoping flagpole may be extended and locked at any point from the fully extended length to the fully compacted length. Each telescoping section of the flagpole has a fixed flagpole clip at the top of the telescoping section and an adjustable clip that may be moved along the telescoping section to produce a flagpole of a desired length.

Telescoping poles have many uses and, generally, comprise multiple hollow tube sections of different diameters wherein the smaller diameter tubes are received within at least one larger diameter tube. The tubes may all be nested within one another or individually slid relative to another tube in a telescoping manner to extend the pole, thereby allowing the pole to be extended and retained at various lengths.
The total length of a telescoping pole is generally based upon the number and length of the individual tube sections that make up the pole and the length of each pole that remains within the pole of next larger diameter. A pole comprised of a greater number of sections of equivalent length will extend farther than a similar pole comprised of fewer sections of the same length. As such, the length of a fully extended telescoping pole may be increased by either increasing the length of the tube sections or by increasing the number of sections.
Two consecutive tube sections can be described as a receiving tube section and a received tube section. The received tube section fits slidably within the receiving tube section. The inner diameter of the receiving tube section is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the received tube section. Each received tube section may also be hollow itself and also be considered to be a receiving tube section relative to a smaller diameter tube. All the tubes may nest in this manner and slidably receiving in another internal section except for the tube section with the greatest diameter and the pole section with the smallest diameter. For a flagpole, the receiving tube section with the largest diameter is the base of the pole and the received tube section with the smallest diameter is the top tube section of the flag pole.
To prevent a telescoping flagpole from reverting to the nested position and remain in the extended position, each individual section of the telescoping pole having a locking mechanism that remains partially within the associated receiving tube section. Whether fully or partially extended, the tube sections of the telescoping pole need to stay affixed in some manner to the adjoining sections so the pole will remain in place once positioned to a desired length. Locking mechanisms are located at the end of each received tube sections to lock the relative positions of neighboring receiving tube sections to retain the telescoping flagpole sufficiently rigid enough to remain in the extended position.
Typically, the locking mechanisms can be switched to the locking position by counter-rotating adjoining sections of the pole or, in other embodiments, by rotating a locking collar threadedly engaged to the receiving tube section. Further, each receiving tube section comprises a cap or cover at the top or junction or joint between two tube sections that may provide a sliding surface for the received section and to cover potential pinch points.
Flagpole clips are used to retain a flag to the top sections of the flagpole must be moved to a position into appropriate to drape a flag properly and then moved again for the flagpole to be compacted to its nested storage position.
There is a need for a telescoping flagpole comprising flagpole clips that are incorporated into parts of the flagpole and function efficiently to allow ease in positioning at least one flag on the flagpole and retaining the flag in the desired position.
There is a further need for a combination cap or cover for the telescoping flagpole sections that incorporate and flagpole clip to simplify and more securely hold the flagpole at the desired length and the flag in the desired location while, in some embodiments, allowing the flag to freely rotate around the flagpole in shifting winds.


A plunger switch for use as a switch element in an electrical circuit, has a housing and a plunger movable axially in a bore of the housing in the direction of a longitudinal axis and when in an operating position in which it is depressed toward the housing, acts on an electronic sensor unit situated in the housing, which in turn initiates a switching procedure in the electrical circuit by electrical pulses, and the plunger, in its axial plunging region into the bore of the housing, is peripherally provided with at least one lubricating groove, which permits a lubricating fluid to travel into the axial plunging region between the plunger and bore, and the electronic sensor unit is protected from a penetration of lubricating fluid.

The invention relates to a plunger switch for use as a switch element in an electrical circuit, having a housing and a plunger that is able to move axially in a bore of the housing in the direction of a longitudinal axis and when in an operating position in which it is depressed toward the housing, acts on an electronic sensor unit situated in the housing, which in turn initiates a switching procedure in the electrical circuit by means of electrical pulses.
A plunger switch of this kind is known, for example, from EP 1 710 821 A1 or US 2007/0290642 A1.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,806 A describes a plunger switch that acts on an inductive proximity switch with an oscillating electromagnetic field, which is interrupted in order to initiate a switching procedure by means of a metal pin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,359 A discloses a push-button with a helical compression spring for mechanically driving a switch element.
Plunger switches are generally used to initiate switching procedures in electrical circuits by means of mechanical actuation of the plunger, in particular in order to close and/or open electrical switching contacts, which then in turn can trigger control operations in a larger system of which it is a part.
The vast majority of plunger switches currently available on the market are still based on a purely mechanical contact actuation of the type described, for example, in US 2008/0258853 A1. The plunger switches disclosed in US 2009/0127080 A1 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,276 A likewise have mechanical contact elements and each feature a lubrication of the plunger.
As discussed at the beginning, however, electronic plunger switches are also already available in which only the triggering of the switching procedure is produced by the mechanical movement of the plunger; the actual physical opening and closing of electrical contacts is carried out by means of a sensor unit that reacts to the plunger movement and can be embodied in a wide variety of ways. It is thus possible to simply detect axial on/off positions of the plunger without requiring special adaptation or design of the plunger and electrical contacts with regard to closing force and the like. In addition, this permits an automated electronic state diagnosis or function check of the plunger switch to be carried out in a simple way. Frequently, switches of this kind are also used in vehicle transmissions for detecting the current shifting state.
As before, though, even when using electronic sensor units in plunger switches, because of the necessary mechanical action of the plunger, which does in fact have to be actuated either automatically by moving machine parts or manually by an operator, the best that can be achieved is a switching capacity of at most 1 million actuations over the service life of the plunger switch. After this, at the very least, the mechanical part of the switch is worn out and as a rule, the entire plunger switch must be replaced.
In the plunger switch described in the above-mentioned US 2009/0127080 A1, whose plunger acts on a purely mechanical switch element, in order to separate an actuating chamber from a contact chamber, a diaphragm and other moving parts are provided, which result in high friction-induced actuation forces at various temperatures. Experience has shown that such an apparatus can malfunction after a few hundred thousand actuations.


A device for storing and deploying cable, including but not limited to optical fiber cable. The device includes a substantially planar bottom support surface having juxtaposed thumb segments and an intervening finger segment. An outer wall is affixed to the bottom surface about its perimeter and extends upwardly therefrom. A substantially circular guide wall is disposed on the bottom surface extending upwardly therefrom. A substantially circular inner wall is concentrically arranged with respect to the guide wall. A top flange is joined to the support surface by the outer wall and, together with the thumb segments, form entry and exit ports for the cable. The guide wall and the inner wall define a guide track that is dimensioned so as to enable continuous adjustment of variable lengths of cable in an area of the device bounded by the guide track, the outer wall and a transverse barrier that extends the length of the finger segment. The guide track operates to secure the cable in the device once an appropriate length has been accumulated or deployed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to optical fiber technology and, more particularly, to a device for storing and deploying optical fiber cable in a manner that enables continuous adjustment to the length of optical fiber cable that may be stored and/or deployed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Largely because of the demonstrated capacity to transport prodigious quantities of data, optical fiber cable finds extensive application in telephony, computer systems and other applications where large quantities of data or information must be conveyed. However, unlike metallic conductors, optical fibers are brittle and may fracture if bent beyond a minimum bend radius. Even at bending radii greater than that at which cracking or breaking may occur, performance of the optical cable may nonetheless be degraded as a result of optical loss within the fibers that are subjected to the bending. For example, although the bend radius that may cause cleavage of fiber optic cables used in telecommunications applications may be approximately 12 mm, degradation in performance may occur at larger radii, starting at a bend radius of approximately 25 mm. In the discussion to follow, the bend radius at which degradation in optical performance becomes noticeable will sometimes be referred to as the "minimum bend radius".
Further, since a cable may be covered or enclosed in a sheath, or since only selected fibers in a cable may break, a break may not be detected until there has been loss of data. At that point, the break may then be inconvenient to localize and may be both difficult as well as expensive to correct. It is, therefore, desirable that when such cables are handled, suitable constraints be observed so as to assure that the cable is not bent at a radius that violates an applicable minimum bend radius restriction.
A common situs for a break or other degradation in a fiber optic cable as a result of overbending may be found at switching panels in a telephone carrier's central office. Typically, a large number of interconnect switching or other types of circuits are mounted adjacent each other in a panel, with cables extending from a selected side or sides of each of the circuits. In one application, there may be multiple cables, each extending from each circuit. Some of the cables may represent inputs and others outputs for the circuit, and it is desirable that cables exiting a given circuit be able to extend toward either end of the panel to interconnect with other circuits on the panel or with circuits and locations external to the panel. However, to avoid undesirable signal degradation or discontinuities occurring in the cables, it is important that in extending the cables from the circuit board through the panel the cables not be excessively stressed at any point along the path of travel. Existing systems for managing and controlling the distribution of fiber optic cables in a switching panel generally do not provide specific guides that assure that cables are not overbent as they are run through the panel, while concurrently accommodating multiple cables and permitting multiple routing directions. Similar problems, also unresolved, may also be germane to other transmission media, such as coaxial cable systems, where characteristic impedance may be altered or where wire or shielding may be cracked or broken if excessive bending occurs.
Typical existing devices permit optical fiber cable to be wound only around a fixed radius. This radius is usually 27 mm or greater, so as to minimize signal loss due to the bending of the fiber. These devices tolerate only discrete incremental take-up adjustments, roughly concomitant to the perimeter of the geometry around which the fiber is wound. Some devices incorporate multiple paths to afford at least a limited adjustment of the take-up length. In order to route a length of optical fiber cable from source to destination often requires exceeding the minimum bend radius, and sometimes stresses the cable beyond physical limits. In addition, many known devices incorporate multiple capture tabs to contain the fiber within the defined paths. The capture tabs are necessary in most systems, but repetitive use required by trial and error causes fatigue and breakage in the cable and in the tabs themselves.
Accordingly, what is desired is a device that promotes convenient protection, storage deployment of optical fiber cable. The device will accommodate the accumulation of a generous length of cable so that sufficient cable is on hand to satisfy a continual need to make and modify connections to and between telecommunications equipments with interconnection panels, such as optical switches, multiplexers, digital cross-connects and the like. Preferably, the device will facilitate continuous adjustment in the length of cable that is stored and/or deployed, thereby responding to the myriad configurations encountered in the length of cable distributed by cable suppliers, manufacturer equipments and carrier installation environments. Repeated requirements to add or remove cable from the device are to be minimized, if not eliminated. The device provides a space for the fibers to accumulate in a controlled manner, always observing the minimum bend radius. That is, the device allows lengths of cable to be added to or withdrawn from the space to conform to installation requirement. The designer can define a path from source to destination with the proper bend radius, confident that the device will prevent over bending. Manufacturing tolerances may then be relaxed to provide economy without sacrificing optimal performance.

Cable storage device providing continuous adjustability with controlled bend radius

Avago Technologies Fiber IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


An electromechanical lock, and its operation method are disclosed. The method includes: generating electric power from mechanical power by an electric generator; reading data from an external source with the electric power; matching the data against a predetermined criterion with the electric power; powering the electric generator by the electric power; and setting the lock mechanically from a locked state to a mechanically openable state by the electric generator, provided that the data matches the predetermined criterion.

Various types of electromechanical locks are replacing the traditional mechanical locks. Electromechanical locks require an external supply of electric power, a battery inside the lock, a battery inside the key, or means for generating electric power within the lock making the lock user-powered. Further refinement is needed for making the electromechanical locks to fit into a small space and to be reliable.


A diaphragm-type of variable load control valve device having a diaphragm piston assembly for effectively providing pressurized fluid to the brake cylinders of a railway vehicle in accordance with the brake demand established by a vehicle operator and at a pressure level in conformance with the load condition of the vehicle.

It is well known to those skilled in the art that overbraking and ensuing wheel lockup and wheel sliding on lightly loaded rapid and/or mass transit vehicles must be avoided since flat spots and damage to the wheels may occur during the braking of passenger trains. On heavily loaded railway vehicles there is the possibility that underbraking conditions may result in longer braking distances which may cause a railway train to overrun its normal stopping point at a station or a block section. In order to avoid an overbraking and underbraking condition, it is common practice to employ a standard variable load control valve device such as shown and disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,460,872; 3,504,698; 3,517,971; 3,583,772, and 4,453,779. However, these previous variable load control valves which are used in existing brake equipment generally consist of a stepped or graduated piston to obtain brake cylinder pressure in proportion to the air spring pressure which corresponds to the load on the railway vehicle. The piston member includes dynamic 0-ring seals that move within a cylindrical bushing which is properly dimensioned to prevent air leakage between the air spring pressure chamber and brake cylinder pressure chamber. However, it has been found that the break-away friction characteristics associated with the dynamic 0-ring seals can cause a relatively large variation in the output pressure particularly when the valve has been idle or unoperated for a long period of time, such as, an overnight layover. Even though the 0-rings are thoroughly lubricated during the initial assembly of the valve, the lubricant is eventually dissipated or dispersed during the subsequent operation of the valve so that the amount of static friction is dramatically increased. Further, it will be appreciated that the brake cutoff pressure is a function of the ratio of the effective pressures that are supplied to the upper and lower surface areas of the graduated piston of the variable load control valve. Since various transit properties have different brake and load characteristics, it is necessary to provide a multitude of different pressure ratios between the air spring pressure and the brake cylinder pressure. However, in any given stepped piston type of variable load control valve, the pressure ratio is fixed and can only be varied or changed by substituting a different size of graduated piston, O-rings and bushings and, in some cases, a different intermediate filling member or casing to accommodate the different-size bushings. Thus, it will be appreciated that a relatively large number of different parts must be kept in inventory to ensure that the variable load valve devices are capable of being adapted to fill the braking requirements of the various transit authorities. Further, it will be noted that the close manufacturing and machining tolerances required by the different stepped pistons and the cooperatively associated bushings are expensive to machine and manufacture.

Variable load control valve with dual diaphragms reinforced by washers and spacer members


An electrically insulating film capable of maintaining a preferable insulating property even with a film thickness of only some .mu.and a method for preparing the same are disclosed. The insulating film comprises a first layer formed on a surface of a conductor substrate of a transition metal and comprised of molecules fixed on the surface of the conductor substrate through chemical bonds such as transition metal-sulfur bonds or chelate bonds, and a second layer formed on the first layer and comprised of a resin bonded to the molecules of the first layer through covalent bonds.

The present invention relates to an electrically insulating film, particularly an insulating film to be formed on a surface of a conductor substrate, and a method for preparing the same.
Hitherto, the surfaces of conductors have been treated by applying a tape made of a resin on them, or coating them with a resin layer, in order to secure an insulating property of the surfaces of conductors. When a thin insulating film is required, for instance, it is produced by applying a precursor of a resin on the surface of a conductor and baking it with heat as represented by varnish treatment for enamel wires.
With the recent miniaturization of portable electronic appliances, designs of electronic components and motors are directed to their smaller and thinner sizes, and their smaller power consumptions commensurate with the miniaturization of electronic appliances, and thus thinner insulating films are now being required.
However, the insulating film obtained by the above-mentioned surface treatment with a resin tape generally has an insufficient thickness of only not less than dozens of .mu.m due to restricted durability and workability of the resin tape. On the other hand, varnish-coated films for enamel wire can be reduced in thickness, but, when the thickness is reduced to some .mu.or less, they easily develop pinholes and lose their insulating property. Similarly, if treated by the method of high speed winding as is often used for production of motor coils, the insulating film loses its insulating property due to possible extension and bending of enamel wire during the winding process, and its withstand voltage per .mu.drops to about 500 V.
The above phenomenon may be explained that the resin constituting the insulating film is bonded to the surface of metal only mechanically and is easily separated or transferred by an external force.

Insulating film and method for preparing the same


A display system in which subsequent failures of plant equipment and plant systems are predicted to occur and in which the probability of failure before a specified date and the probability of failure after a specified date is determined and displayed and in which the calendar date is determined and displayed when the desired probability that the equipment not fail prior to the calendar date is specified. The system includes an Equipment Failure And Degradation Module that determines the remaining equipment/system life; a Probability-of-Failure Predictor Module that determines the probability of the equipment/system failing prior to a specified date and the probability of the equipment/system failing after a specified date; and a Date-of-Failure Predictor Module that determines the calendar date that corresponds to a specified probability that equipment not fail prior to the date.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to process monitoring display systems and more particularly to predictive maintenance display systems that determine, with a measure of specificity, the date on which components should be serviced to avoid the likelihood that they will fail during operation.
2. Related Art
Many industries, such as the power generation industry, have experienced an increased awareness of and emphasis on the benefits and use of predictive maintenance technologies. Use of such technologies has the potential to improve the long-term availability and reliability of plant components resulting in an overall improvement to plant operability.
Predictive maintenance methodologies currently utilize a variety of techniques in order to predict subsequent equipment and system failures. With the present state of the art, the predicted failures that are based on time remaining to failure are typically depicted in terms of the future point in time in which the failure will likely occur along with a corresponding confidence interval. A typical representative prediction can be stated as:
Predicted failure point: 2000 hours (+/xe2x88x92500 hours with a 95% confidence interval).
The above example indicates that the system is predicted to fail within 2000 hours from now (mean-time-to-failure). It further indicates that failure will occur between 1500 and 2500 hours from now with a 95% confidence (that is, 95 out of 100 times the failure will occur between 1500 and 2500 hours from now, and 5 out of 100 times the failure will occur for times outside this range).
However, such predictions contain a number of deficiencies, for example:
1. The predicted failure range is often too wide and thus, it becomes difficult to efficiently and cost effectively schedule maintenance in advance of the predicted failure.
2. Operations and maintenance personnel are often misled by predictions of failure in which a failure interval is given (as illustrated above). An implicit assumption is often made that since equipment failure can occur anywhere within the predicted interval, that it is better to wait until the end of the interval in order to obtain additional operating life from the equipment and not replace the equipment prematurely. However, this logic is faulty because the probability of failure is based on a continuous increasing probability continuum. Thus, the probability that the equipment will fail in service before the predicted mean-time-to-failure is low for a time interval that occurs near the beginning of the predicted interval. However, the probability that the equipment will fail in service before the predicted mean-time-to-failure is high for a time interval that occurs near the end of the predicted interval.
xe2x80x83As an illustration, considering the example noted above and referring to FIG. 1, assume the equipment failure prediction conforms to a Normal Distribution, and assume it is desired to refurbish/replace the equipment prior to experiencing an xe2x80x9cin-servicexe2x80x9d failure, then:
At 1500 hours, the probability that the equipment will fail xe2x80x9cin-servicexe2x80x9d (prior to the 1500 hour point) will be only 2.5% (another way of stating this is that there is a 97.5% probability that the equipment will fail after 1500 hours). Thus, if a decision is made to perform maintenance on the equipment at the 1500-hour point, there is only a 2.5% chance that the equipment will fail in-service, prior to the 1500-hour point. Therefore, it is highly likely that the equipment can be successfully refurbished/replaced prior to the occurrence of an xe2x80x9cin-servicexe2x80x9d failure.
At 2500 hours, the probability that the equipment will fail xe2x80x9cin-servicexe2x80x9d (prior to 2500 hours) will be 97.5% (another way of stating this is that there is a 2.5% probability that the equipment will fail after 2500 hours). Thus, if a decision is made to perform maintenance on the equipment at the 2500 hour point, there is a very significant 97.5% chance that the equipment will fail xe2x80x9cin-service,xe2x80x9d prior to the 2500 hour point. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that the equipment can be successfully refurbished/replaced prior to the occurrence of an xe2x80x9cin-servicexe2x80x9d failure.
xe2x80x83Such information, on the probability of equipment failing prior to a selected maintenance date, is unavailable based on current predictive maintenance display methodologies, and represents a significant shortcoming with the current methodologies.
3. Simply providing the expected interval in which the failure is likely to occur does not alone provide maintenance and operational personnel sufficiently detailed information on the probability of failure from any specific point in time within the predicted failure interval. Because failure predictions are based on a continuous increasing probability continuum, there is wide variance on the probability of failure from anywhere within the expected failure interval. In order to efficiently accommodate and plan for future equipment and system failures, the maintenance and operational personnel require the specific probability of equipment/system failure from any point within a predicted failure interval.
4. Currently, the capability for operators and maintenance personnel to perform interactive xe2x80x9cwhat ifxe2x80x9d scenarios based on future points in time, does not exist. Such capability will allow personnel to explore various maintenance scheduling alternatives, by determining what the specific probability of equipment failure will be for any future point in time. By obtaining the specific probability of failure on a given date, the operations and maintenance personnel can explore xe2x80x9cwhat ifxe2x80x9d scenarios to better decide when to schedule refurbishment/repair activities. Providing such capability will allow operators and maintenance personnel to fully explore the probability continuum and optimize maintenance and scheduling activities.
5. Currently, the capability for operators and maintenance personnel to perform interactive xe2x80x9cwhat ifxe2x80x9d scenarios based on the desired probability of equipment failing before a calendar date, does not exist. Such capability will allow personnel to explore various maintenance scheduling alternatives, by determining what calendar date corresponds to a specified probability of equipment failing prior to the calendar date. By obtaining the calendar date for a specified probability of failure prior to the calendar date, the operations and maintenance personnel can explore xe2x80x9cwhat ifxe2x80x9d scenarios to better decide when to schedule refurbishment/repair activities. Providing such capability will allow operators and maintenance personnel to fully explore the probability continuum and further optimize maintenance and scheduling activities.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a predictive maintenance display system that will identify the specific probability of failure of a monitored component for any given date inputted by plant personnel. Additionally, it is a further object of this invention to provide such a display system that will identify the date a monitored component is not likely to fail on or before for a given probability inputted by plant personnel.
These and other objects are achieved by this invention which includes an Equipment Failure And Degradation Module that determines the remaining equipment/system life from measurements taken from plant sensors that monitor various components and subcomponents in a plant. Preferably, various methodologies are utilized by the Equipment Failure And Degradation Module to ascertain the potential of incipient equipment failures and to predict the equipment remaining life, to best fit the methodology to the component monitored. Examples of these methodologies include trend analysis, pattern recognition, correlation techniques, limits and ranges, data comparison, and statistical process analysis. The predictive maintenance algorithms utilized by the Equipment Failure And Degradation Module will employ a variety of the aforementioned techniques that best suit the equipment or system that is being analyzed. The foregoing methodologies can be applied by the Equipment Failure And Degradation Module with a number of analytical operations to predict the remaining life of the monitored components, e.g., vibration analysis, temperature measurements, flow measurements, valve analysis, electrical analysis, thickness measurement analysis, efficiency analysis, and analysis of position and alignment. Predictions of subsequent equipment failures, as determined by the Equipment Failure And Degradation Module, are fitted to appropriate normalized statistical models.
The invention also provides a Probability-of-Failure Predictor Module that determines the probability of the equipment/system failing prior to a specified date utilizing the statistical models generated by the Equipment Failure And Degradation Module. Preferably, the Probability-of-Failure Predictor Module also determines for a specified date the probability that a failure will occur after the specified date.
The invention additionally provides a Date-of-Failure Predictor Module that determines the calendar date that corresponds to a specified probability that equipment not fail prior to the date. The Date-of-Failure Predictor Module also operates on the derived statistical models generated by the Equipment Failure And Degradation Module.
For certain equipment, components or systems which are composed of subunits or sub-systems (hereafter at times referred to as subcomponents) the failure of the equipment, components or systems may be dependent upon the logically combined probability of failure of the subcomponents which comprise the subject equipment, component, or system. For such cases, the overall probability of failure is logically derived based upon the individual failure contributions of the constituent elements which are monitored.


The CPU of a face orientation detection apparatus which acquires an image frame photographed by a camera through a cable detects the face region in the horizontal direction of the acquired image frame by executing computer programs stored on a hard disk. Moreover, the CPU detects the eye position in the vertical direction from the image frame, and detects the nose position in the horizontal direction based on the detected eye position. Furthermore, the CPU detects the orientation of the face included in the image frame, based on the detected nose position and face region.

The present invention relates to a face orientation detection apparatus, a face orientation detection method and a computer memory product, for detecting the orientation of a face from image data acquired by photographing the face.
As an apparatus for assisting driving of a vehicle such an automobile, there has been proposed an apparatus for detecting the orientation of a driver's face based on image data obtained by photographing the face of the driver with a camera mounted in the vehicle at a position capable of photographing the face of the driver. With the use of such an apparatus, it is possible to detect inattentive driving from the orientation of the driver's face detected by the apparatus, and also possible to build a system for warning the driver of inattentive driving (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-243367/1994).
However, it is often the case that an apparatus as mentioned above is constructed to determine the orientation of a driver's face by storing image data acquired by photographing the face of the driver in a plurality of orientations in advance, comparing these image data with image data sequentially acquired when the vehicle is running, and selecting image data of an orientation having a higher degree of correlation. In such a structure, since a plurality of pieces of image data acquired by photographing the face facing respective orientations need to be stored in advance, the memory capacity for storing the respective image data is very large. Moreover, since the image data with a high degree of correlation is selected for each piece of sequentially acquired image data, it takes a long time to determine the face orientation.
Furthermore, owing to the process for judging the face orientation based on the image data acquired by photographing a predetermined driver in advance, if another driver drives the vehicle, it is impossible to judge the face orientation. Besides, even when the same driver drives the vehicle, if the distance between the camera mounted in the vehicle and the driver as an object to be photographed differs from the distance when the image data was photographed, there is a difference in the size of the face region of the driver between these image data, and it is necessary to perform an enlargement or reducing process on the face region of sequentially acquired image data. Thus, such an apparatus suffers from the problem that it can not flexibly meet various conditions. Besides, since the apparatus of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-243367 (1994) is constructed to extract the tear ducts of both eyes and both ends of the lips from image data acquired by photographing the face of a driver and detect the orientation of the driver's face, based on the positional relationship among the extracted four points, if sequentially acquired image data does not include the lips of the driver, for example, there arises a problem that the apparatus can not detect the orientation of the driver's face.

Face orientation detection apparatus, face orientation detection method, and computer memory product


An electron emission device includes a substrate; a cathode electrode formed on the substrate; a gate electrode crossing the cathode electrode and insulated from the cathode electrode; and an electron emission region electrically connected to the cathode electrode. The cathode electrode includes a main electrode with an inner opening portion, an isolate electrode placed in the opening portion and spaced apart from the main electrode by a distance, and a resistance layer disposed between the main electrode and the isolate electrode. The isolate electrode has a via hole. The electron emission region contacts the isolate electrode, and is placed in the via hole. The isolate electrode has a first height, and the electron emission region has a second height smaller than the first height.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron emission device, and in particular, to an electron emission device having an improved cathode electrode structure and heightened electron beam focusing efficiency, and an electron emission display device with the electron emission device.
Description of Related Art
Depending upon the kinds of electron sources, electron emission elements can be classified into those using hot cathodes or those using cold cathodes.
There are several types of cold cathode electron emission elements including a field emitter array (FEA) type, a surface-conduction emission (SCE) type, a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) type, and a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) type.
To construct an electron emission display device, an array of the electron emission elements is formed on a first substrate to make an electron emission device, and the electron emission device is combined with a second substrate having a light emission unit including a phosphor layer, a black layer, and an anode electrode.
In a common FEA-type electron emission display device, electron emission regions are formed on a first substrate, and cathode and gate electrodes are provided for respective sub-pixels as driving electrodes for controlling the emission of electrons from the electron emission regions. A phosphor layer, a black layer, and an anode electrode for accelerating the electron beams are formed on a surface of a second substrate facing the first substrate.
The electron emission regions are electrically connected to the cathode electrodes to receive electric currents required for the electron emission. The gate electrodes are placed on a plane different from the cathode electrodes, and an insulating layer is interposed between the gate electrodes and the cathode electrodes. For instance, the gate electrodes may be placed over the cathode electrodes in an insulating manner. Openings are formed at the gate electrodes and the insulating layer to expose the electron emission regions.
When predetermined driving voltages are applied to the cathode and gate electrodes, an electric field is formed around the electron emission regions at the sub-pixels where the voltage difference between the two electrodes exceeds a threshold value, and electrons are emitted from those electron emission regions. The emitted electrons are attracted by a high voltage applied to the anode electrode, and directed toward the second substrate to collide with the phosphors at the relevant sub-pixels and to emit light.
However, with the above-described light emission structure, the electric field is not uniformly focused over the entire area of an electron emission region. That is, the electric field is mainly focused on the upper periphery of the electron emission region facing a gate electrode, and electrons are emitted therefrom. The emitted electrons are spread toward the second substrate with random inclination angles, and land on the correct color phosphors of the corresponding sub-pixels as well as on the incorrect color phosphors at the sub-pixels neighboring thereto, thereby deteriorating the screen color purity.
Furthermore, with the operation of the electron emission display device, non-stable driving voltages are applied to the cathode electrodes, or non-stable voltage drops are made at the cathode electrodes, so that the electron emission regions at the respective sub-pixels may receive different driving voltages. In this case, the emission characteristics of the electron emission regions become non-uniform, and the light emission uniformity of the respective sub-pixels is deteriorated.

Electron emission device and electron emission display device using the same


An apparatus for use with a commercial grill to increase safety, efficiency, and organization. The apparatus includes a barrier extending upwardly from the cooking surface, and extending along the backsplash of the grill, the barrier having an accessory staging feature along a topmost portion, the topmost portion being at least eight inches above the cooking surface. The accessory staging feature can support one or more accessories. The invention may thereby increase usable grill surface area. The apparatus can also include an attachment assembly for attaching the barrier to a standard backsplash, or the barrier can be an integral extension of the backsplash. The invention substantially reduces the likelihood of ventilation/exhaust well fires. The invention makes cleaning the factory backsplash much easier, because the backsplash is substantially protected from splatter by the invention. The invention substantially protects the stainless steel or tile kitchen back wall from splatter, smoke, grease, and soot.

A griddle or a charbroiler is often the first piece of equipment purchased for a new restaurant because it is an essential focal point for activity in the kitchen. Owners of restaurants, hotels, hospitals, military bases, cruise ships, colleges, etc all use a griddle or a charbroiler to cook many of their offerings.
Commercially available griddles and charbroilers provide a large cooking surface to efficiently cook food. However, after a prolonged period of cooking food on a griddle and/or a charbroiler, large quantities of ejectile food residue, including hot fat and oil splatter, and food particles, are produced. Such ejectile splatter and food residue lands in the ventilation well of a griddle and accumulates. With time, the air flow of the ventilation well dries the food residue, resulting in a dangerous potential for fire.
Commercially available griddles and charbroilers have a backsplash, typically rising no more than 6 inches above the cooking surface. Cleaning the backsplash at the end of each shift is essential to maintain a safe and professional-looking cooking environment. However, because food ejectile accumulating on the hot backsplash becomes very difficult to remove, one must get close to the backsplash to apply sufficient scrubbing force. Since a cooking surface takes several hours to sufficiently cool, cleaning the backsplash near the cooking surface is dangerous, since it's difficult to avoid coming into contact with the hot cooking surface.
Moreover, food and oil ejectile accumulates on the wall immediately behind the griddle or charbroiler. Such ejectile accumulation must be regularly cleaned. However, it is difficult to clean this accumulation with sufficient frequency to maintain a sanitary condition and a professional impression.
Also, grill cooks can benefit from cooking accessories such as a butter pan, or a sauce water bath. However, such cooking accessories are typically placed on the grill cooking surface, taking up valuable surface area intended for cooking food.

Barrier system for enhancing the safe operation of a commercial cooking appliance


The present invention relates to composite particles, coated particles, a method of producing composite particles, a ligand-containing solid phase carrier, and a method of detecting or separating a target substance in a sample. The above described composite particles each contains an organic polymer and inorganic nanoparticles, wherein the content of the inorganic nanoparticles in the composite particles is more than 80% by mass, and wherein the composite particles have a volume average particle size of from 10 to 1,000 nm.

In recent years, particles such as magnetic particles are actively applied, particularly, in the fields of, for example, diagnostic drugs and pharmaceutical researches, because of their ability to provide an excellent reaction field for, for example, an immunological reaction between an antigen and an antibody, or hybridization between DNAs or between DNA and RNA.
Magnetic particles having a small particle size are characterized in that they have a large surface area per unit mass, and thus capable of binding a large amount of biochemical substance. However, the use of such particles in an application as described above results in a longer time for performing magnetic separation; namely, the magnetic particles having a small particle size have a disadvantage in that they are poor in magnetic separation performance. In contrast, when it is intended to shorten the time required for magnetic separation, namely, when the magnetic separation performance is emphasized, magnetic particles having a large particle size, such as those described in Patent Document 1, should be used. However, in general, an increase in the particle size of magnetic particles leads to a decrease in the amount of biochemical substance bound per unit mass of the particles. In other words, it has been difficult to balance between increasing the amount of biochemical substance bound and realizing an excellent magnetic separation performance.
Since conventional magnetic particles have a low magnetic substance content, in particular, there have been problems, such as, for example, that the magnetic particles exhibit a low magnetic collection performance when formed to have a smaller particle size, and that magnetic separation cannot be performed in a state where the particles are dispersed in a liquid.

Composite particles, coated particles, method for producing composite particles, ligand-containing solid phase carrier and method for detecting or separating target substance in sample