The present document describes a ladder rack system for displacing a ladder between a loading/unloading position on one of a side, a front and a rear of a vehicle and a stored position on a roof top of a vehicle, the ladder having a first ladder end and a second ladder end, the ladder rack system comprising: a first assembly to be mounted on a first end of the roof top for receiving the first ladder end; and a second assembly to be mounted on a second end of the roof top at a distance from the first end for receiving the second ladder end, the second assembly comprising: a pivoting rail to be pivoted between the loading/unloading position in which the pivoting rail extends substantially vertically or at an angle on the one of a side, a front and a rear of the vehicle and the stored position in which the pivoting rail extends longitudinally along the roof top; and a carriage slidably mounted on the pivoting rail for receiving the second ladder end and for sliding along the pivoting rail when the pivoting rail is in the loading/unloading position; wherein when the carriage is slid on the roof of the vehicle, the pivoting rail can be pivoted in the stored position longitudinally along the roof top.

(a) Field
The subject matter disclosed generally relates to racks and methods for loading and unloading a ladder, a step ladder or a substantially longitudinal load on/from the roof of a vehicle and/or on/from a storing area, and more particularly relates to a ladder rack including a pivoting rail and a carriage.
(b) Related Prior Art
Many systems have been designed with the goal of loading a ladder on the roof of a utility vehicle and unloading the ladder from the side of the vehicle. The most predominant type of ladder rack system includes a frame for location on the roof of the vehicle, with a hook or grip affixed to the frame, near the front of the vehicle, and a pivoting mechanism affixed to the frame, near the rear of the vehicle. Such a system is described, for example, in Canadian patent application no. CA 2,535,688.
An advantage of such systems is that they are simple to operate, sturdy and yet relatively inexpensive. However, when in the unloading position, such racks are limited with regards to the distance from the ground at which the ladder can be lowered, when extending on the side of the vehicle.
When one wants to load a ladder with such a system, the top portion of the ladder is first hooked on the front hook. The bottom portion of the ladder is then elevated from the ground, and hooked on the rear hook of the back pivoting mechanism. With a handle, the pivoting mechanism is operated such that the ladder moves from the side of the vehicle up to the roof. As one can understand, when such a rack system is in the loading position on the side of the vehicle, the higher the rear pivoting mechanism is, the harder it will be to raise the bottom portion of the ladder up to rear hook.
In an attempt to overcome this drawback, other types of ladder racks have been designed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,181 to Bradley et al. concerns a ladder rack provided with a carriage assembly located at its rear end. The carriage assembly includes a carriage mounted on a pivoting arm, the carriage sliding on the pivoting arm. The pivoting arm can pivot from the top to the side of the vehicle. When the arm extends on the side of the vehicle, the carriage slightly extends from the arm and allows lowering the rear portion of the rack, so as to ease the loading of the ladder. However, this system requires pivoting the complete rear portion of the rack, including the carriage, once the ladder is loaded, which requires a great amount of force, especially for heavy ladders.
Another system, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,891 to Olms et al., proposes a rack system which includes a front static stationery rack and a rear pivotable and extendable ladder rack assembly (also referred to as a motorized rack). The rear rack assembly includes an elongated pivoting member and a sliding carriage member. The carriage includes telescoping members which telescope into the elongated pivoting member, allowing for the elongation of the rear rack assembly, such that when placed in the loading position on the side of the vehicle, the carriage member is closer to the ground. One drawback of such a system is that it is relatively complex and heavy.
Yet another ladder rack system involving a carriage is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,097,409 to Richter. The ladder rack of Richter includes a front pivot point and a rear hinged guide assembly on which a carriage can slide. One drawback of such system is that it is limited with regards to the height at which the ladder can be lowered when in the loading/unloading position.
Also known to the Applicant are the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 5,058,791; 5,297,912; 6,092,972; 6,360,930; 6,427,889; and 6,764,268.
In light of the above, there is a need for an improved ladder rack system which allows lowering one end of the ladder closer to the ground when in a loading/unloading position. There is also a need for a ladder rack system which allows the ladder to easily move from a loading position to a stored position on the roof of the vehicle. Finally, this improved system should be compact and convenient when in the stored position. There is also a need for an improved rack system for displacing a substantially longitudinal load between a loading/unloading position on one of a side, a front and a rear of a storing area and a stored position on a surface of a storing area.


Building safety systems, methods, and mediums are provided. A method includes receiving a voice input by the building safety system. The method includes receiving voice data produced by a speech recognition process performed on the voice input. The method includes determining a response to the voice input based on the voice data. The method includes producing the response by the building safety system.

Building automation systems encompass a wide variety of systems that aid in the monitoring and control of various aspects of building operation. Building automation systems include security systems, fire safety systems, lighting systems, and HVAC systems. The elements of a building automation system are widely dispersed throughout a facility. These building automation systems typically may have one or more centralized control stations from which system data may be monitored and various aspects of system operation may be controlled and/or monitored. A building can have one or more fire safety control panels as part of the fire safety system of the building.
To allow for monitoring and control of the dispersed control system elements, building automation systems often employ multi-level communication networks to communicate operational and/or alarm information between operating elements, such as sensors (such as smoke detectors) and actuators (such as strobes or other notification appliances), a fire safety control panel, and a centralized monitoring system.
Fire safety systems can play an integral part in building automation systems. A typical fire safety system uses automated smoke and heat detectors, and also relies on manual "pull stations" for individuals to activate the fire safety system. Pull stations are generally required to have braille markings for the use of blind person, but if those persons are not familiar with a building, it can be very difficult for a visually-impaired individual to locate a pull station.
Moreover, if smoke develops in area of a building or residence with a disarmed or non-functioning detector, a person who is not blind may have difficulty locating and activating a pull station to cause the fire safety system to notify an emergency responder.
Furthermore, other non-fire emergency events (such as a terrorist in a building) may cause a person to want to locate a pull station to signal the fire safety system or building automation system to notify an emergency responder.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improvement in pull stations or other devices in a fire safety system or building automation system to enable a visually-impaired person to signal such system of an emergency event in order to notify an emergency responder.

Visually-impaired-accessible building safety system


Systems and methods for presenting contextual clips for distributed content are disclosed. Some embodiments include receiving an input for presenting content while the content is currently being distributed at a first distribution time point within the content, transmitting a request for contextual content prior to the first distribution time point, receiving information for displaying a plurality of contextual content clips distributed prior to the first distribution time point, wherein each of the plurality of contextual content clips corresponds to an event depicted in the content, displaying the plurality of contextual content clips using the received information, and displaying the content at a second distribution time point after all of the plurality of contextual content clips have been displayed.

With the advancement of technology in the fields of content generation, storage, retrieval, distribution, and consumption, consumers are provided with ever-increasing avenues and platforms for consuming particular items of desired content. On-demand video and audio services as well as digital streaming services and content available on the Internet provide consumers with a large number of options.
However, the ability to consume content as it is broadcast or otherwise distributed in real time to the rest of the general population of consumers still holds immeasurable value to consumers, particularly in view of the increasing popularity of social media. The ability to consume content in real-time as it is distributed—along with the rest of the consuming public—allows consumers to participate in discussion about the content with other members of the consuming public, and this is further driven by the immediacy of information and social commentary available on social media platforms such as TWITTER, FACEBOOK, SNAPCHAT, and the like.
While participating in discussion about a particular piece of content in traditional forums—such as the fabled office water cooler—take place the day after a particular content is distributed, the same discussion in today's social media context is being held within seconds of the content being broadcast or otherwise distributed. In some cases, the discussion is immediate, as is the case with the example of "Live-Tweeting," where a user provides real-time commentary on the TWITTER social media platform for a particular live content item being broadcast, where the content, such as political election coverage, award shows, or live sporting events, often has a large numbers of simultaneous viewers.
Additionally, the desire for users to consume or experience content in a real-time setting is not driven only by discussion of that content. There is still a strong desire for consumers to consume or experience content in real-time as the content is being distributed simply for the sake of knowing the outcome or viewing the unfolding of a particular outcome, for example in the case of live sporting events. While tools such as digital video recorders allow users to view time-shifted content, users still run the risk of being exposed to spoilers, such as information via their smartphones, laptops, tablets, smart televisions, smart watches and devices, and the like, related to the content being broadcast before they have had a chance to watch and fully consume the content themselves. Thus, it is challenging for users to record broadcast content such as an important live sporting event, and not be exposed to spoiler information related to the score, plays, or significant events during the sporting event which may ruin the experience for the user.
In cases where the user is unable to make time to begin viewing live content exactly at the broadcast's start time, users are faced with the undesirable options of beginning to view the content starting from a mid-point of the content already underway (thus not knowing all the events which took place prior), or watching the entire content from a recording or other available medium, where the user then runs the risk of being inadvertently exposed to information which may ruin the content experience, such as spoiler information or final game score.
Thus, the existing systems and methods are unable to provide a solution for a user who wishes to view live broadcast or distribution content in real-time, but may need to begin viewing the content at a mid-point of the broadcast or distribution already underway, while also wanting to view or experience the events or content which took place prior to tuning in. Therefore, it may be advantageous for a system and method to present contextual content for the distributed content when a viewer begins viewing at a point during the live content already underway.

System and method for presenting contextual clips for distributed content


An antenna is disclosed that includes a ground plane extending in a first direction on a substrate and a radiating element occupying a same plane as the ground plane on the substrate, and coupled to the ground plane, the radiating element comprising a first portion with a first end and a second end extending in a substantially parallel direction to the ground plane, a feed line coupled to the first end of the first portion of the radiating element and extending in a substantially perpendicular direction from the first portion of the radiating element and a second portion having a third end and a fourth end, wherein the third end is coupled to the ground plane and the fourth end is coupled to the radiating element at a point between the first end and the second end.

Planar antennas that are used in conjunction with printed circuits are known. One type of planar antennas used with printed circuits is the inverted-F antenna. One feature common to planar antennas used with printed circuits is their multi-layer structure, where the antennas must occupy more than one layer of the circuit. Typically, one layer of the circuit board forms a ground plane and another layer forms the antenna, while circuit board vias are used to connect the antenna to the ground plane at desired places.


A method of masking part of a surface of a wall of a gas turbine component including at least one area having cooling holes defined therein, the method including applying a viscous curable masking compound to the part of the surface over an entirety of each of the at least one area, including blocking access to the cooling holes from the surface by applying the masking compound over the cooling holes without completely filling the cooling holes with the masking compound, and forming a respective solid masking element completely covering each of the at least one area and the cooling holes defined therein by curing the masking compound.

A variety of surface treatments are routinely used in the manufacture of gas turbine engine components, including abrasive or thermal treatments. It is known to protect cooling holes in a component from such surface treatment by applying a masking compound only in the cooling holes, which are individually filled, thus typically requiring the position of each hole on the component to be known. However, such a process typically increases in complexity and length as the number of cooling holes is increased.


This invention provides a homogeneous antiperspirant cosmetic stick or roll-on product containing a deodorant ingredient which consists of particles that contain multiple fine crystallites of a bicarbonate compound encapsulated with a hydrophilic polymer coating that lowers the relative density of the particles and improves the dimensional stability of the cosmetic product.

Antiperspirants combat axillary odors by inhibiting perspiration through the action of astringent salts such as aluminum and zinc salts, but may be irritating to a large number of users. Deodorants function by neutralizing the objectionable odors resulting from the degradation of several components of perspiration by chemical and microbial action into malodorous fatty acids.
Numerous solid antiperspirant and/or deodorant compositions have been described in the chemical and cosmetic literature. These compositions generally are emulsion sticks or suspensoid sticks. Emulsion sticks contain a solution of the antiperspirant ingredient incorporated into the stick via an emulsion. Although emulsion sticks are desirable in certain respects, they tend to be unstable, exhibit tackiness, and leave a visible residue on the skin after use. Suspensoid sticks contain the powdered antiperspirant ingredient suspended in the stick without the use of water or an emulsion. While suspensoids have stability, they tend to leave a white chalky residue on the skin after application.
Manufacturers have found that anhydrous antiperspirant stick systems are more marketable and have good consumer acceptance primarily due to the ease of application to the skin, good cosmetic esthetics and an acceptable degree of effectiveness. Previous to the development of anhydrous stick systems, numerous water based systems were developed in which the active astringent salts were solubilized in a thickened or gelled composition. This is exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,732,327; 2,857,315; 3,255,082; and 3,928,557. The water based systems are difficult to apply to the skin, and their consistency and effectiveness are variable.
Many anhydrous stick compositions have been described in the literature which attempt to improve the delivery and the effectiveness of their antiperspirant and deodorant characteristics. Antiperspirant stick systems consisting of low molecular weight monohydric alcohols in conjunction with polyhydric alcohols are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,306. These sticks have the advantage of quicker drying rates, but the residue of the polyhydric alcohols in combination with the astringent salts produces a high degree of tack, and their effectiveness is limited to the type and amount of astringent salts that could be incorporated in the stick matrix.
Anhydrous stick compositions that suspend the aluminum salt in a hydrophobic matrix are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,792. These compositions employ waxy materials and long chain fatty esters to form a stick that delivers the active astringent salts to the skin.
Cosmetic stick compositions made in accordance with these embodiments are greasy, and the active astringent salt is enveloped in a manner that prevents maximum performance. To alleviate this inherent negative characteristic, volatile silicone fluids replacement of the less volatile long chain fatty esters is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,679. This disclosure teaches the advantage of utilizing a volatile non-staining liquid such as cyclic dimethylpolysiloxanes (referred to as volatile silicones), in combination with various types of waxes, as a carrier for the active astringent salts in an antiperspirant stick composition. Similar antiperspirant stick compositions containing volatile silicones are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,511,554; 4,980,156; and 4,985,238.
With respect to deodorant activity, sodium bicarbonate has long been recognized for its deodorant properties, and has commonly been used as a household deodorant. Plain powdered sodium bicarbonate, or sodium bicarbonate diluted with talc or other filler, has been used as an underarm deodorant as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,079. Other publications which describe cosmetic stick compositions containing a bicarbonate deodorant include U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,602 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,945.
However, .the development of a practical and effective antiperspirant composition in cosmetic stick or roll-on form which is also capable of deodorization, and which is capable of consumer acceptability, presents many factors which are unique. Because alkali metal and ammonium bicarbonate have only limited solubility in water, alcohol and other solvents, the preparation of a composition suitable for dispensing in cosmetic stick or roll-on form has involved many processing obstacles. In addition to the problem of limited solubility, a bicarbonate ingredient is incompatible with the active astringent salts and with other ingredients of conventional stick compositions. Also, the dimensional stability of the cosmetic product containing bicarbonate ingredient, and the esthetic appearance and the "feel" on the skin, are just a few of the additional difficulties encountered in the preparation of a low residue antiperspirant-deodorant cosmetic product.
Another problem associated with the incorporation of a bicarbonate deodorant ingredient in an antiperspirant formulation is the tendency for the high density bicarbonate salt particles to settle in the fluid medium during processing. Also, under the elevated temperature conditions required for the admixing and blending of ingredients, bicarbonate degradation and evolution of carbon dioxide and water occur.
There is continuing interest in the development of antiperspirant cosmetic products which exhibit deodorizing activity, and in improved processes for their preparation.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a process for the manufacture of an antiperspirant-deodorant cosmetic product which contains a bicarbonate deodorant ingredient, and which is characterized by excellent esthetics and cosmetic properties.
It is another object of this invention to provide a homogeneous antiperspirant cosmetic stick or roll-on product containing a compatible bicarbonate deodorant ingredient which is a particulate solid having particles with a hydrophilic polymeric coating that lowers the relative density of the particles, and improves the dimensional stability of the cosmetic product.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention shall become apparent from the accompanying description and examples.


A parking lock unit for a transmission assembly of a motor vehicle includes a parking ratchet wheel defining a longitudinal axis and a first spring arrangement. A second spring arrangement is arranged radially outwards of the first spring arrangement with respect to a longitudinal axis. A supporting sleeve is arranged coaxially to the parking ratchet wheel and is supported in a circumferential direction by the transmission assembly. The supporting sleeve has at least one opening. At least one locking element is arranged between the first and second spring arrangements and is radially movable in the at least one opening with respect to the longitudinal axis. The locking element is spring loaded by at least one of the first and second spring arrangements. The at least one locking element is movable radially inwards into a locked position and radially outwards into a release position by rotation of an actuating ring about the longitudinal axis.

A transmission assembly may include a parking lock unit whose main task is to hold the vehicle securely in a parked condition. In particular, due to the use of electrically actuated parking brakes instead of mechanically actuated parking brakes, the parking lock is increasingly becoming the main safeguard against unintentional movement of the vehicle. The locking effect is usually achieved by a locking element that positively engages in a parking ratchet wheel.
Transmission assemblies are necessary in the drivelines of motor vehicles in order to translate the speed-torque characteristics of the drive unit to the speed-torque requirement at the tire. For this purpose, a high speed of the drive unit is usually reduced to the lower speed of the tires via the transmission assembly and the torque of the drive unit is increased inversely proportional to this. If the drive unit is an internal combustion engine, shiftable gears are provided in the transmission assembly to adapt the speed-torque characteristic to the demand characteristic at the tire. The speed-torque characteristic of electric motors, on the other hand, is similar to the demand characteristic on the tire, so that shiftable gears do not usually need to be provided. Since high-speed electric motors have an advantageous power density and are therefore space-optimized, a transmission assembly is usually provided in electrified drivelines anyway, although it has a fixed transmission ratio.
From U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,294 B1 a parking lock unit is known, which blocks the output shaft when the parking lock is activated by the gear change actuator. For this purpose, the parking lock unit comprises a parking ratchet wheel, which is arranged on a drive shaft in a rotationally fixed manner, and a pawl, which is rotatably mounted in the transmission housing and can be selectively engaged with and disengaged from the parking ratchet wheel. For this purpose, in the inserted state, the pawl is pressed against a spring force into the effective range of the ratchet wheel by an actuator rod, so that a tooth of the pawl engages in a tooth structure of the ratchet wheel and thus blocks the rotation of the ratchet wheel and the drive shaft respectively.
From DE 10 2008 061 201 A1 a mechanical rotation lock is known, which is designed as a parking lock of a motor vehicle. The parking lock comprises a disc-shaped bearing shell in which three locking elements are arranged and guided radially with respect to an axis of rotation and parallel to the disc plane. The locking elements are each by a spring element force loaded radially outwards towards a locking position of the parking lock. In the locking position of the parking lock, the three locking elements engage in corresponding recesses formed on an inner circumference of a gear member. By rotating a shift ring, the locking elements can be moved radially inwards against the spring force of the spring elements towards a release position in which the locking elements are located outside the effective range of the recesses.
From DE 10 2016 201 177 A1 a parking lock device for a vehicle transmission is known, in which a locking device is selectively movable by a linear actuator device parallel to a rotational axis of a parking ratchet wheel from a locking position, in which the locking device blocks a rotational movement of the ratchet wheel, to a release position, in which the locking device releases the ratchet wheel, and vice versa.
From EP 1 889 763 A2 a release mechanism for a parking lock coupling is known.

Parking lock unit and transmission assembly therefor


An orthopedic screw for reducing a malleolus bone fracture that includes a unitary shaft with screw threads on a distal end of the shaft and a head on a proximal end. An enlarged terminal end segment of the head includes a socket for receiving a tool adapted for rotating the screw into aligned fibula and malleolus bone fragments at the fracture site. First and second spaced-apart tapered transition segments are formed at a juncture of the shaft and head and a juncture of the head and an enlarged terminal end segment of the head the such that rotation of the screw provides progressively increased fracture-reducing pressure between the fibula and malleolus bone fragments as the first and second tapered transition segments drives the malleolus against the fibula. A method of using the screw for reducing a malleolus bone fracture is also disclosed.

This invention relates to a cannulated orthopedic screw having particular application in the distal proximal fixation of lateral malleolus fractures. The ankle joint is made up of three bones coming together. The tibia, which is the main bone of the lower leg, makes up the medial, or inside, anklebone. The fibula is a smaller bone that parallels the tibia in the lower leg and makes up the lateral, or outside, anklebone. The enlarged distal ends of both the tibia and fibula are known as the malleoli (singular "malleolus"). Together, they form an arch that sits on top of the talus, one of the bones in the foot. These three bones (tibia, fibula, and talus) make up the bony elements of the ankle joint. A fibrous membrane called the joint capsule, lined with a smoother layer called the synovium, encases the joint architecture. The joint capsule contains the synovial fluid produced by the synovium. The synovial fluid allows for smooth movement of the joint surfaces. The ankle joint is stabilized by several ligaments, which hold these bones in place.
Ankle fractures occur when one or both of the malleoli are broken. These fractures are very common. Ankle fractures can happen after falls, car accidents or severe twisting of the ankle. One, two or all three malleoli can be broken. Fixation procedures for a lateral malleolus fracture have evolved over many years. Initial preferred treatment was a closed reduction of the fracture and immobilizing the malleolus with a cast or splint. Later practices have included the use of rush rods, screws and simple plates that join the fracture but without axial compression. More recent treatments have included the use of stronger and wider plates with screws or locking plates that still join the fracture but without axial compression.
Patients are instructed in non-weight bearing or minimal weight-bearing activities based on the fracture pattern, bone density, weight of the patient, mental condition and level of fixation obtained at surgery. Accurate and complete fixation in young patients is essential for good long-term results but even with accurate fixation, some patients develop non-union or articular cartilage damage and require some type of replacement later due to the cartilage damage or infection.
Older patients with osteopenia or age-related physical problems require a different approach. Most fixations of the lateral malleolus, if displaced, require open stripping of tissue from the distal fibula and plate fixation with multiple cortical and cancellous screws. A distal-to-proximal fixation of the lateral malleolus offers another way to reduce and stabilize the lateral malleolus. Such a procedure alleviates the need for open fixation, i.e., an incision and tissue retraction along the length of the ankle through which plates are mounted to the side of the bones with laterally-inserted screws. Lateral fixation with plates and screws is particularly problematic in older patients with Alzheimer's, osteoporosis, and other medical conditions. A distal-to-proximal fixation of the lateral malleolus permits a quicker fixation with a retrograde screw from the distal tip of the lateral malleolus up the medullary canal of the proximal fibula. Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 9,655,661 discloses one advancement in lateral malleolus fixation utilizing a screw that includes screw threads along the entire length of the shaft of the screw.
The present application discloses a further improvement in with a screw that has enhanced features that permit a more accurate and robust fixation that is more resistant to displacement during healing.

Cannulated orthopedic screw and method of reducing a fracture of the lateral malleolus


A micro-strip patch antenna for a radiotelephone transceiver includes a dielectric ceramic module for transmission and reception having a first ground plate, just one dielectric ceramic part for synchronizing frequencies, a conductive patch on the dielectric ceramic part for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves, transmission and reception power supply terminals projecting from different sides of the conductive patch. The antenna also has printed circuit board having a base, a second ground plate on the base to contact the first, and strip lines formed on the base so as to be adjacent but spaced from to the ground plates. The strip lines take care of impedance matching, and antenna provides for the use of a single channel power supply without modification.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a micro-strip patch antenna for a radiotelephone transceiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile radio terminals, such as portable radiotelephones, are getting smaller and lighter. In wireless communications, the antenna has a great influence on the performance of the radiotelephone. The antenna is the interface between the radiotelephone and free space. Since most "regular-sized" antennas exhibit close-to-theoretical performance when outside influence is not significant, they typically can easily be designed. Small antennas, however, have low radiation efficiency and a narrow frequency bandwidth. In addition, since a current may be induced in the radiotelephone body by electromagnetic interaction between antenna elements and the radiotelephone body, an electromagnetic wave may be radiated in an unexpected direction.
The types of linear antennas generally used in portable radiotelephones are the .lambda./2 monopole antenna (the length of which is set to half of the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave employed), a .lambda./4 monopole antenna (an improved version of the .lambda./2 monopole antenna), and a .lambda./2 whip antenna. These antennas have a length of 16 or 8 cm when the employed frequency is 900 MHz or 1.9 GHz, respectively, and can be enclosed in the radiotelephone body.
When the 900 MHz band is assigned as the frequency for radiotelephone communication, however, the length of the antenna must be 16 cm so as to receive the electromagnetic wave with the .lambda./2 monopole antenna.
Since the length of the above monopole antennas is relatively long, as depicted in FIG. 1, a radiotelephone using a monopole antenna as described above must use an external antenna 3 which projects outward from the radiotelephone body 1.
In a radiotelephone having such an external antenna, as illustrated in an RF (radio frequency) characteristic curve shown in FIG. 2, it is difficult to attain the maximum gain at the upper and lower limit frequencies actually containing receiving (Rx) and transmitting (Tx) communication signals. Therefore, when the bandwidth is set to be wide (so as to attain the maximum gain), there arises a problem in that noise tends to interfere with the signal wave easily. Further, the monopole type external antenna is an element that severely limits the freedom of the designer in designing the radiotelephone.
A known alternative to the monopole type external antenna is the general micro-strip patch antenna. The general micro-strip patch antenna, although more compact, has several drawbacks, as will now be described.
A general micro-strip patch antenna may use a dielectric ceramic, but requires two dielectric ceramic element parts for transmitting and receiving signals when the transmission and reception bandwidths are different from each other (as is usually the case with portable radiotelephones).
FIG. 3 shows a conventional internal antenna with a transmitting patch 30, a transmitting dielectric ceramic 32, a common ground 34, a receiving dielectric ceramic 36, and a receiving patch 38. In a radiotelephone having separate transmitting and receiving frequency bandwidths, the two dielectric antennas, which respectively perform the transmitting and receiving functions, are bonded to each other with the transmitting and receiving patches 30 and 38 facing outward.
Thus, such an antenna really is two dielectric antennas (one for transmission and one for reception), and it is difficult to reduce the size of a portable radiotelephone using such a general micro-strip antenna.
There are other problems with the general micro-strip antenna. For one thing, the supplying of power from what is typically a sole power supply point to the dielectric antennas is difficult, and it is also difficult to draw a common ground line. Further, the unit price of this type of antenna is high, and they are heavy enough to contribute significantly to the total weight of a radiotelephone. Furthermore, since the power to the antennas is normally supplied through only one channel, there is a disadvantage in that the main circuit of the radiotelephone must be altered because of the use of two antennas.

Micro-strip patch antenna for transceiver


The tool comprises a body (2); a cable support head connected to the body; a knife holder supporting a cable sheath incision knife (8), the cutting portion (9) of the knife (8) being capable of extending beyond the knife holder. The knife holder (7) receives a socket (34) supporting the incision knife (8), and a clip (36) arranged so as to be movable inside the socket (34). The clip (36) is provided with a locking/unlocking opening intended to interact with a groove (102) arranged on the shaft (100) of the knife (8).

In the field of industrial maintenance it is usual to act on cables covered with a sheath, in order to eliminate a portion of this sheath by a stripping operation. However, the cutting member is subjected to wear which means that it must be changed periodically.
It is known from FR-A1-2 818 039 to use a tool to cut the outer layer of insulation from an elongated cable. The tool comprises a body which holds a cable incision knife which projects from a knife holder, as well as a member for moving the cable towards the knife. The body is equipped with a device for rapid adjustment of the projection height of the knife from the knife holder. The knife is provided with a circular groove in which a split ring maintains the knife in an axial position in the device. However, with this device it is not possible to change the incision knife rapidly.


A development tool for optimizing a software program is disclosed herein. The tool may be implemented as machine readable instructions, part of a specially configured computer, or part of a practical application of a specialized process. The tool may comprise: an automation rig for executing the program, a capture tool having a plurality of data recorders, an aggregator for generating cluster data based on code block execution patterns, and a code writer for generating optimized binary programs.

Software programs may be designed to be compatible with a wide variety of data and users. Web browsers, for example, process millions of different websites, using many different scripts and applets. In the competitive field of software development, an application's loading speed, execution speed, and memory consumption may be important to customers. Optimizing the binary layout of the software to suit the typical usage of the software can improve its loading time and execution speed, while reducing its memory consumption. However, testing of the software across the large number of test cases can be time consuming. Also, determining which code blocks to reorganize and how they affect program performance for a large program can be difficult to determine.


Particular portions or events of recorded television programming identified as having especially significant or interesting detail may be played-back at normal speed without user input; whereas other portions or events of the recorded television programming may be played-back at greater than normal speed.

The advent of the DVR (Digital Video Recorder) and the availability of high-capacity and affordable computer-readable storage devices have made available many possibilities to television programming service providers and viewers alike. Recently, television viewers have come to expect the ability to customize and manage the recording and playback of television programming


A sheath for a medical needle device such as a syringe or blood collection device comprises a barrel, hub, cone and shield. The needle device is guided into a visible aperture surrounded by the shield at the top of the cone for ultimate extension of the needle through the hub and into the barrel. The sheath precludes splashing of body fluids onto the user upon capping as well as accidental puncture. The barrel, hub and cone elements of the sheath provide a plurality of friction-fit engagements with the medical needle device to preclude accidental decapping and seepage of fluids from the sheathed needle and onto the user.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for safely disposing of used medical needles, and more particularly, to devices which allow for a simple, safe, permanent and cost-effective resheathing of a used medical needle.
Subsequent to withdrawal of a needle from a patient, the tip of a needle, whether associated with a drug injection or fluid collection device, may carry body fluids of the patient. Such a body fluid may be transmitted to the medical user by splashing onto the skin or accidental puncture of the user's skin by the needle. Such transmission may communicate an undesirable disease, associated with the body fluid, to the needle user. The term "user" comprises a medical technician, nurse, doctor, etc.
The occurrences of needle-stick injuries caused by various devices in a university hospital is a significant problem in the medical art. An article in the New England Journal of Medicine, 319:284-288 (Aug. 4, 1988) identifies various characteristics of devices that caused needle-stick injuries in a university hospital over a ten-month period. Of the 326 injuries studied over a ten-month period, it was found that disposable syringes accounted for 35%, intravenous tubing and needle assemblies for 26%, pre-filled cartridge syringes for 12%, winged steel-needle intravenous sets for 7%, phlebotomy needles for 5%, intravenous catheters stylists for 2% and other devices for 13%. The study found that one-third of the needle puncture injuries were related to recapping of a used needle.
The recapping incidents were found to occur in three ways:
1. The needle user missed the original needle cap which caused the needle to stick in the opposing hand of the user;
2. The needle pierced the needle cap during recapping;
3. The cap fell off a recapped needle.
As to this latter problem, a hazard remains after a cap is replaced, because of a variability in the friction fit securing the cap to the needle hub. Accordingly, it is apparent that there is a need in the medical area for effective needle recapping devices. Although various devices have been suggested to address this need, they are relatively complex in structure and use and may not be effective in a medical environment. Moreover, they do not appear to address the safety aspects of recapping the needle and holding the cap in place.
In response thereto, I have developed a needle sheath which easily and safely guides a used medical needle assembly therein and offers a positive friction fit between the needle sheath and needle assembly so as to preclude any undesirable needle puncture and decapping. My holder presents an elongated barrel for enclosing the used needle; an integral hub element for enclosing the hub or base of the needle assembly; an integral cone element for enclosing the distal portion of the fluid collection cylinder of the needle assembly and an integral shield at the top end therein for enclosing a distal portion of the fluid collection tube and for protecting the opposite hand of the user. The shield and cone elements present sloping walls so as to guide the needle into successively downstream elements and ultimately into the barrel so as to preclude undesirable puncture of the needle through the sheath. Concurrently, the various integral elements provide a plurality of friction fits of the holder with the needle assembly to preclude the sheath from falling off the needle subsequent to capping. Accordingly, my device addresses the three problems set forth in the above-identified article.
It is therefore a general object of this invention to provide a sheath for safely enclosing a used medical needle assembly.
Another object of this invention is to provide a sheath, as aforesaid, which safely guides a used medical needle into a protective enclosure.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a sheath, as aforesaid, which encompasses portions of the accompanying needle assembly so as to enhance the recapping of the used needle and preclude undesirable splashing of body fluids.
A more particular object of this invention is to provide a sheath, as aforesaid, which presents structure for providing a plurality of friction fits with the needle assembly.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of this invention.

Needle sheath holder with seepage precluding engagement zones


A process for producing a polyimide platy object includes (a) providing a solution containing a solvent and a solute (i.e., a polyimide precursor or polyimide); (b) pouring the solution onto a supporting member; (c) removing a portion of the solvent from the solution at a first temperature lower than boiling point of the solvent, thereby forming a precursory platy object thereon, the precursory platy object having a self-supporting property and a first surface in contact with the supporting member and a second surface away therefrom and a first content of the solvent at the first surface and a second content (less than the first content by 2-10 wt %) of the solvent at the second surface; and (d) detaching the precursory platy object therefrom; and (e) heating the precursory platy object at a second temperature higher than boiling point of the solvent and is lower than decomposition temperature of the polyimide.

The present invention relates to a process for producing a polyimide platy object, which can be used as a substrate of optical devices, electronic devices or electrooptical devices, and relates to such polyimide platy object having a sufficient strength and a sufficient surface flatness.
Materials for optical waveguides are required to have characteristics, for example, that optical loss is small, that their production procedures are simple, that their core and cladding can be well controlled in refractive index, and that they are improved in heat resistance. Hitherto, quartz-based materials have been studied the most intensively among optical waveguide materials. Quartz-based materials, however, have some defects in their production that they require a long time for producing an optical waveguide, that they require a heating at high temperature, and that it is difficult to form them into a piece of large area. In view of this, polymer materials (e.g., polymethylmethacrylate, polycarbonate, polysiloxane, and polyimide) have attracted much attention in recent years as hopeful optical waveguide materials.
In fact, polymethylmethacrylate has an advantage that it is possible to form an optical waveguide at low temperature with low production cost. In contrast, it is inferior in heat resistance and humidity resistance.
Polyimide is considerably superior to other plastics in heat resistance. Conventional polyimides were, however, inferior in light transmission. To overcome this defect, some studies have been conducted. Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication JP-A-3-72528 discloses a fluorinated polyimide superior in light transmission. JP-A-4-8734 discloses a fluorinated polyimide copolymer capable of controlling refractive index for the formation of an optical waveguide. JP-A-4-9807, JP-A-4-235505 and JP-A-4-235506 disclose fluorinated polyimide optical waveguides.
Even such polyimide optical waveguides, which are superior in light transmission and heat resistance, have some defects. For example, it is a problem of birefringence (double refraction). The occurrence of birefringence in polyimide optical waveguides is caused by residual stress remaining in the inside of the waveguides. It is known that this residual stress is caused by the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between polyimide and its substrate. In connection with this, JP-A-9-15608 discloses a polyimide film that is low in birefringence, produced by using a polyimide substrate for supporting thereon the polyimide film. With this, it becomes possible to eliminate the above-mentioned problem of thermal expansion coefficient difference therebetween. Such polyimide substrates are, however, generally large in surface roughness. Therefore, polyimide optical waveguides formed on such polyimide substrates have a defect that they do not easily transmit light therethrough, causing a large optical loss. Thus, such polyimide optical waveguides are not suitable for optical use. In connection with this, JP-A-11-23870 discloses that it is necessary to grind the surface of conventional polyimide substrates in order to use them for optical use and that an easily grindable film is formed on a polyimide substrate, followed by grinding of this film.
JP-A-11-262985 discloses a process for producing a polyimide substrate by laminating polyimide films using an adhesive (e.g., acrylic resin adhesives, epoxy resin adhesives). The use of such adhesive causes damage to the original characteristics of polyimide. That is, its heat resistance becomes inferior, and its thermal expansion coefficient deviates from the original value. There are some other problems, too. For example, it is necessary to have a complicated facility for laminating polyimide films in an industrial scale. Furthermore, it is difficult to adjust the thickness of such polyimide substrate.
Each of JP-A-10-45918 and JP-A-11-302380 discloses a process for molding a polyimide powder into a molded product. Since the particle size of the polyimide powder has an influence on the surface roughness of the molded product, it is difficult to achieve a sufficient flatness of the molded product. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a grinding or the like to obtain its flatness.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a polyimide platy object that is substantially free of the above-mentioned problem(s).
It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a polyimide platy object that has superior heat resistance and superior strength of the original polyimide itself and a surface flatness sufficient for use in producing optical waveguides.
According to the present invention, there is provided a process for producing a polyimide platy object. This process comprises:
(a) providing a solution containing therein a solvent and a solute that is a polyimide precursor or a polyimide;
(b) pouring said solution onto a supporting member;
(c) removing a portion of said solvent from said solution by evaporation of said solvent at a first temperature that is lower than a boiling point of said solvent, thereby forming a precursory platy object on said supporting member,
said precursory platy object having a self-supporting property,
said precursory platy object having a first surface that is in contact with said supporting member and a second surface that is away from said supporting member,
said precursory platy object having a first content of said solvent at said first surface and a second content of said solvent at said second surface,
said first content being greater than said second content by an amount of 2-10 wt %;
(d) detaching said precursory platy object from said supporting member; and
(e) heating said precursory platy object at a second temperature that is higher than said boiling point of said solvent and is lower than a decomposition temperature of said polyimide, thereby producing said polyimide platy object.

Process for producing polyimide platy object


A plasma generating apparatus for plasma processing applications is based on a permanent magnet line-cusp plasma confinement chamber coupled to a compact single-coil microwave waveguide launcher. The device creates an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma in the launcher and a second ECR plasma is created in the line cusps due to a 0.0875 tesla magnetic field in that region. Additional special magnetic field configuring reduces the magnetic field at the substrate to below 0.001 tesla. The resulting plasma source is capable of producing large-area (20-cm diam), highly uniform (.+-.5%) ion beams with current densities above 5 mA/cm.sup.2. The source has been used to etch photoresist on 5-inch diam silicon wafers with good uniformity.

High power microwaves can break down a gas to produce electrons and ions, and the ionization process is enhanced by also applying a magnetic field. This is the basis for microwave electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion sources. --David B. Miller and George W. Bethke, "Cyclotron Resonance Thruster Design Techniques," AIAA J, 4(5), 835-840 (1966). In semiconductor manufacture, microwave ECR ion sources have been applied to the plasma etching and ion implanting of substrates. In such sources, an etching gas is fed into a microwave waveguide plasma production region which is itself within the magnetic field region. Microwave power is introduced into the waveguide resulting in an ECR discharge from which the etching or implanting ion beam is obtained. --Keizo Suzuki, et al, "Microwave Plasma Etching," Jap. J. of App. Physics, 16(11), 1979-1984 (1977). --Seitaro Matsuo and Yoshio Adachi, "Reactive Ion Beam Etching Using a Broad Beam ECR Ion Source," Jap. J. of App. Physics, 21(1), L4-L6 (1982). --Noriyuki Sakudo, et al, "High-Current Ion Implanter Using a Microwave Ion Source," Rev. Sci. Instrum. 54(6), 681-684 (1983).
In the field of plasma physics, a particular type of plasma confinement known as the magnetic multipole is known for its ability to produce a quiescent and uniform large-area plasma. --Rudolf Limpaecher and K. R. MacKenzie, "Magnetic Multipole Containment of Large Uniform Collisionless Quiescent Plasmas," Rev. Sci. Instrum. 44(6), 726-731 (1973). A line cusp magnetic multipole configuration was used in the 1970's to improve the plasma density and uniformity of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory duoPIGatron ion source. --C. C. Tsai et al, "DuoPIGatron Ion Source for PLT Injectors," Proc. of the 7th Symp. on Eng. Problems of Fusion Research, IEEE Pub. No. 77CH1267-4-NPS, 278-283 (1977). --W. L. Stirling, C. C. Tsai, and P. M. Ryan, "15 cm duoPIGatron Ion Source," Rev. Sci. Instrum. 48(5), 533-536 (1977).
In 1984, a filament-emission line cusp magnetic multipole device was applied to plasma etching. --Thomas D. Mantei, U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,737 (Nov. 20, 1984). Also in 1984, microwave ECR sources began to be combined with magnetic multipoles, with the possibility of applying the technology to large scale plasma etching being immediately recognized. --L. Pomathiod, et al, "Microwave Excitation of Large Volumes of Plasma at Electron Cyclotron Resonance in Multipolar Confinement," Physics Letters, 106A(7), 301-304 (1984). --Y. Arnal, et al, "Plasma Etching in Magnetic Multipole Microwave Discharge," Appl. Phys. Lett 45(2), 132-134 (1984).
In 1988, a distributed ECR source appeared which injected the microwave energy into the line cusps of a magnetic multipole by means of multiple tubular applicators. --Rudolf R. Burke and Claude Pomot, "Microwave Multipolar Plasma for Etching and Deposition," Solid State Technology, 67-71 (Feb. 1988). --Michel Pichot, Jacques Pelletier, and Yues Arnal, U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,337 (May 17, 1988). --RCE 160: The Microwave DECR Reactor, Product Bulletin, ALCATEL DVM, France (May 1988). Again in 1988, there appeared a plasma generating apparatus which utilized permanent magnets in the microwave launcher; Yoshimi Hakamata, "Plasma Generating Apparatus", European Patent Application No. 0 286 132 (Filed Apr. 8, 1988).
A recent paper describes apparatus which combines an ECR source chamber with a multipole magnet structure. --Thomas D. Mantei, "High Density Plasmas for Semiconductor Processing," Proc. 7th Symp. on Plasma Processing, 173rd Mtg. of the Electrochemical Society, Atlanta (1988).
In addition to this prior art, various other plasma generating devices are known. Some of these are: --Jes Asmussen, "Electron Cyclotron Resonance Microwave Discharges for Etching and Thin Film Deposition," to be published as Chapter 11 of Plasma-Based Processing, edited by S. M. Rossnagel, J. J. Cuomo and W. D. Westwood, Noyes Pub. N.J. in 1989. --Davod J. Drage and Toufic Safi, U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,138 (Aug. 15, 1989). --Akihisa Yoshida, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,908 (Aug. 22, 1989).

Plasma generating apparatus for large area plasma processing


A stress stabilized ferrimagnetic material has a retained stress to provide enhanced initial permeability stability over a range of operating temperatures, such as from −40° C. to 85° C., as well as pressures. Stress is introduced into the ferrimagnetic material, wherein subsequent processing relieves only a portion of the induced stress, and preferably less than 50% of the induced stress.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ferrimagnetic materials, and more particularly to a stress stabilized ferrimagnetic material having improved stability of initial permeability throughout a relatively wide range of temperature and external pressure, and a method of manufacturing the stress stabilized ferrimagnetic material.
2. Description of Related Art
In the telecommunications field, the use of relatively high permeability ferrimagnetic materials, in the range of 5,000 to 20,000 is required in a number of systems. However, the operating environments for these telecommunication systems are subject to substantial variances. For example, the temperature surrounding the telecommunication system can range from −40° C. to 85° C.
The initial permeability (μi) of soft ferrite materials is sensitive to stress and temperature. In existing ferrimagnetic materials, a 40° C. temperature fluctuation can result in more than a 20% variance of initial permeability (μi). Such variance typically limits or precludes operation of the device incorporating the ferrimagnetic material. In addition, conventional ferrimagnetic materials have an initial permeability of less than 5,000 at −40° C. Specifically, it has been found that at low temperatures, initial permeability substantially decreases, which can adversely affect an operating characteristic of the ferrimagnetic component, which in turn can jeopardize the link in a surrounding communications network.
Further, manufacturing processes can subject the ferrimagnetic materials to external stresses, pressures or loading. These external pressures are often associated with operably installing the ferrimagnetic component in a system and can also adversely affect the initial permeability of the ferrimagnetic materials, and lead to unacceptable performance characteristics.
The influences from the external stress and temperature appear to be unavoidable in both packaging and operating environments. Also, smaller ferrimagnetic packages and incorporation of ferrimagnetics into connector modules force a minimization of the ferrimagnetic materials. Potting and molding techniques as well as flow and reflow soldering are now employed for operably packaging the ferrimagnetic materials. These packaging techniques can cause a significant drop in the initial permeability of the ferrimagnetic material. It is believed these drops in initial permeability can be as much as 60% of the engineered nominal value. Conventional ferrimagnetic materials do not work well under these conditions.
Therefore, the need exists for ferrimagnetic materials that can provide more consistent initial permeability across greater temperature ranges. The need also exists for ferrimagnetic materials that can maintain a initial permeability within acceptable ranges, while withstanding external pressures and loading, such as associated with manufacture and installation.

Stress stabilized ferrimagnetic material and method of manufacture


System extracts metadata of system committed change numbers, system change numbers for backup copies. System generates start system change numbers as minimums of committed change numbers, end system change numbers as maximums of change numbers, and identifiers for archive log backup copies. System identifies dependent system change numbers from start number to end number for backup copy. System identifies backed-up system change numbers, from start numbers to end numbers for log backup copies, which are in dependent numbers. If backed-up numbers don't include all dependent numbers, system outputs missing system change numbers. System generates start numbers, end numbers, and identifiers for new archive log backup copies, identifies new backed-up system change numbers, from start numbers to end numbers for new log backup copies, which are in missing numbers. If new backed-up numbers include all missing numbers, system stores backup copy with each log backup copy corresponding to any backed-up numbers.

A data object may be a set of information that is backed up as a unit. If a software error corrupts a data object, or if erroneous data updates the data object, a data protection administrator may restore the data object to a previous state that does not include the corrupted or erroneous data. A backup/restore application executes a backup operation either occasionally or continuously to enable this restoration, storing a copy of each desired data object state (such as the values of data and these values' embedding in a database's data structures) within dedicated backup files. When the data protection administrator decides to return the data object to a previous state, the data protection administrator specifies the desired previous state by identifying a desired time when the data object was in this state, and then instructs the backup/restore application to execute a restore operation to restore a copy of the corresponding backup file(s) for that state to the data object.
A data object may be stored on a storage array, which may be a disk-based retention system that includes multiple disk drives. Unlike a disk enclosure, a storage array has cache memory and advanced functionality, such as virtualization and Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID). A data protection administrator can instruct a backup/restore application to create backups files of data objects and store the backup files of data objects on multiple storage arrays.
A backup/restore application can create a full backup copy for a data object by backing up all of the data in the data object. A full backup copy may be created at infrequent intervals and can serve as a reference point for subsequent incremental cumulative backup copies, incremental differential backup copies, and/or transaction log backup copies. A backup/restore application can create an incremental cumulative backup copy for a data object by backing up all of the data that has changed in the data object since the last full backup copy was created for the data object. As the elapsed time increases since the most recent full backup copy, the accumulated changes increase in a data object, as does the time to create an incremental cumulative backup copy. A backup/restore application can create an incremental differential backup copy for a data object by backing up only data that is new or changed in the data object since the most recent previous backup copy was created, which may have been a full backup copy, an incremental cumulative backup copy, or another incremental differential backup copy. Since an incremental differential backup copy does not store duplicate copies of unchanged data, a system can efficiently store more backup copies created at more points in time by organizing the data into increments of change between points in time.
A backup/restore application can create a transaction log backup copy for a data object by only backing up a history of actions executed by the data object's management system. The data object's management system can use a transaction log backup copy to re-apply the changes made by committed transitions that are not materialized in a data object and roll back the changes to a data object that were made by uncommitted transactions. A transaction log may be referred to as a redo log, and a stored copy of a transaction log may be referred to as an archive redo log, an archive log, or an archive log backup copy.
A backup/restore application can use an application data manager that requests application data management agents on application hosts to discover the application resources that are stored on these hosts, such as discovering the application host configurations (which may be referred to as application servers), the file systems, the applications, the databases, and the copy metadata of all backups on all application hosts. After discovering these application resources, the application data management agents can send copies of these application resources and information about these application resources to the requesting application data manager.
A backup copy of/for a data object may depend on another backup copy of the data object when the backup copy is used to restore or recover the data object to a previous state of the data object. For example, an incremental cumulative backup copy of a database depends upon the preceding full backup copy of the database because data from the incremental cumulative backup copy needs to be combined with data from the preceding full backup copy to restore or recover the database to the state of the database at the time that the incremental cumulative backup copy was created. In this example, the incremental cumulative backup copy may be referred to as a dependent backup copy because it depends on another backup copy, the full backup copy may be referred to as a base backup copy because another backup copy depends on it by using it as a basis for the recovery. In similar examples, an archive log backup copy may depend on the preceding full backup copy and therefore may be referred to as a dependent backup copy. For some types of databases, a full backup copy of the database may be referred to as an independent backup copy because the data from the full backup copy does not need to be combined with anything from any other backup copy to restore the database to the state that the database was in at the time that the full backup copy was created. However, for other types of databases, a full backup copy of the database may be referred to as an dependent backup copy because the data from the full backup copy needs to be combined with something from another backup copy to restore the database to the state that the database was in at the time that the full backup copy was created.
For example, a database administrator schedules a full backup copy of an Oracle database from 7:30 P.M. to 11:30 P.M., and archive log backup copies for the Oracle database every 15 minutes from 7:30 P.M. to 11:30 P.M. When a backup/restore application creates a backup copy of an Oracle database that is currently being accessed by system users who are in different stages of committing transactions to the database, the backup copy stores data that is considered to be in a fuzzy state because only some of the users' transactions have been committed when the creation of the "hot" backup copy is complete. Therefore, a hot backup copy depends upon corresponding archive log backup copies that contain the transaction logs in order to perform a recovery of the Oracle database to the state of the Oracle database at the time that the hot backup copy was created. Consequently, if the backup/restore application replicates only the full backup copy of the Oracle database or moves only the full backup copy of the Oracle database to a cloud tier, the full backup copy of the Oracle database would be useless for restoring the Oracle database without the full backup copy's corresponding archive log backup copies.
Different databases and application may use different algorithms and parameters to identify dependent backup copies. For example, a backup server which replicates and moves backup copies uses different algorithms to identify dependent backup copies for different types of applications' databases. Each application host sends application-specific data to the backup server, which stores the application-specific data and analyzes the application-specific data to identify dependent backup copies for each application's database. For example, during backup discovery for an Oracle database, an application host sends the database incarnation number, the copy number, and the range of the system change numbers for each backup copy to the backup server, which stores all of this metadata for its corresponding backup copy, and uses the metadata to identify which backup copies are dependent on other backup copies.
When a backup server is identifying which backup copies for a database depend on which other backup copies for the database, and creates a backup copy for the database at the same time or a future time, the backup server may not be able to identify that the backup copy created at the same time or a future time is a backup copy that another backup copy depends on. For example, a backup server creates a full backup copy of an Oracle database from 7:30 P.M. to 11:30 P.M., and is scheduled to create an archive log backup copy of the Oracle database at 1:00 A.M., and discovers the full backup copy at 11:45 P.M. If the backup server replicates only the full backup copy of the Oracle database or moves only the full backup copy of the Oracle database to a cloud tier, the full backup copy of the Oracle database would be useless for restoring the Oracle database without its corresponding archive log backup copy that is scheduled to be created at 1:00 A.M., following a lag after 11:30 P.M. Even if the backup server created multiple archive log backup copies for the Oracle database between 7:30 P.M. and 11:30 P.M., the backup server may be able to identify only some of the archive log backup copies that the full backup copy depends upon, but not all of the archive log backup copies required to restore the Oracle database to the state of the Oracle database at the time that the full backup copy was created.
An application error may prevent a backup server from identifying dependent backup copies. For example, even if all of the archive log backup copies are scheduled to be created before the full backup copy is completed at 11:30 P.M., an application error may delay the creation of some of the required archive log backup copies until after 11:30 P.M., such the full backup copy would be useless for restoring the database until the error-delayed archive log backup copy is completed. Additionally, if a backup server creates a full backup copy and some of the archive log backup copies for an Oracle database supported by the first node in a cluster before the first node becomes unavailable, and then a lag-scheduled or error-delayed archive log backup copy is created for the Oracle database supported by the second node in the cluster, the backup server may not be able to identify any dependencies between backup copies created from different cluster nodes. Consequently, the backup server may indicate that a backup copy of a database has been created, but the backup server should delay using the backup copy to restore the database to the state of the database at the time that the backup copy was created, until a lag-scheduled or error-delayed archive log backup copy is created at some future time. Therefore, the backup server should not use a backup copy for recovery, replication, or moving until the backup copy's incomplete dependencies are resolved.
If a system user manually deletes some of an Oracle database's archive logs which have not been backed up yet, due to disk space limitations, and then runs a crosscheck, any subsequently created archive log backup copy for the Oracle database will not enable the correct recovery of the Oracle database due to missing transactions that were contained in the deleted archive logs. If the system administrator knew that any subsequent archive log backup copy would be incomplete, they could take a corrective measure, such as by executing a full backup copy of the Oracle database, instead of continuing to follow a schedule for executing a sequence of incremental backup copies.

Dynamically updating database archive log dependency and backup copy recoverability


A hydromount suitable for mounting a motor vehicle engine on a vehicle body includes: a load-supporting spring that supports a mount core, encloses a working chamber, and is supported on an outer ring, an intermediate plate, and a compensation chamber separated from the working chamber by the intermediate plate and delimited by a compensation diaphragm. The compensation chamber and the working chamber are filled with a damping liquid and are connected with each other in a liquid-conducting manner via a damping channel disposed in the intermediate plate. The intermediate plate may include an upper nozzle disk, a lower nozzle disk, and a diaphragm disposed between the upper nozzle disk and the lower nozzle disk. The diaphragm may have an inner circumference, an outer circumference, and at least one valve opening. The at least one valve opening may be disposed completely between the inner circumference and the outer circumference.

Hydraulic damping mounts are used, in particular, for supporting a motor vehicle engine on a vehicle body in order to, on the one hand, dampen the vibrations caused by road bumps and, on the other hand, to provide insulation against acoustic vibrations. The vibrations caused by road bumps are dampened by a hydraulic system, with the hydraulic system being formed by the liquid-dampened working chamber, the compensation chamber, and the damping channel connecting the two chambers with each other. The mode of operation of the hydraulic system can be described as follows: The working chamber is made larger or smaller by a movement of the load-supporting spring, with the liquid located in the working chamber being pressed via the damping channel into the compensation chamber. The liquid oscillating in the damping channel causes a damping action. In the event of negative pressure in the working chamber relative to the compensation chamber, the liquid flows back from the compensation chamber into the working chamber.
A vibration-isolating device with a separating member is known from DE 11 2013 002 243 T5. The separating member includes a diaphragm having an overpressure valve in a central section. The central section with the overpressure valve is configured to be thinner than the main body of the diaphragm, and has an overpressure hole in its center.
It is an object of the present invention to improve devices of the known type with respect to the development of unwanted noise at large amplitudes.
This object is achieved by means of a hydromount according to the present disclosure. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims.

Hydraulic mount with negative-pressure valve


A method and an apparatus for detecting relocation of endpoint devices used for accessing services provided on packet networks, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) networks are disclosed. For example, the method receives a report of a detected inertial movement of a customer endpoint device, and the method then uses the report of the detected inertial movement for determining whether a relocation of the customer endpoint device has occurred.

One of the advantages of obtaining services on an Internet Protocol (IP) based infrastructure is the flexibility of being able to access services from anywhere with an Internet connection. Namely, customers are provided with flexible services and can obtain the same service regardless of whether the call originated from a home, a hotel, a dormitory, etc. When a customer requests for a service, the customer's telephone number and device are associated with the service. For example, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) customer may relocate a telephone adaptor to a new location and access services while away from home. However, some services are provided based on the physical location of the caller. For example, calls to obtain emergency service, e.g., 911 calls, are routed to the closest center equipped to provide the emergency service. For example, in North America, when a customer dials 911, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) determines the caller's telephone number, associates the call with a location (address), and provides the telephone number and location of the caller to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP).
When 911 calls originate in a packet network such as a VoIP network, the VoIP service provider is required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to determine the telephone number and physical location of the caller so that the information is sent to the proper PSAP through the PSTN network. For example, the VoIP service provider may obtain the service address when a customer subscribes to a VoIP service. However, due to the flexible nature of the VoIP service, the customer may at a later time move the customer endpoint device (terminal adaptor) to another physical location and continue accessing VoIP services. Thus, the address obtained during the service subscription may no longer be usable for calls that rely on the physical location of the caller, e.g., E911 calls. The VoIP service then cannot be provided to the customer at the new address while meeting the FCC requirements for E911 calls. Namely, if the service provider is capable of determining that the customer has changed his/her location, then the service provider may deny or interrupt access to the VoIP service until the customer provides a new valid physical address.

Method and apparatus for detecting relocation of endpoint devices


A secondary battery containing at least a negative electrode, a positive electrode, an electrolyte comprising an alkaline metal salt dissolved therein, and a separator in which the said separator includes a high molecular solid electrolyte membrane formed by coating a latex on a porous membrane, and then drying the material. The separator may include a high molecular solid electrolyte membrane formed by coating a latex on both surfaces of a porous membrane, and then drying the material.

In order to apply a high molecular solid electrolyte to electrochemical devices such as a battery, the electrolyte needs to exhibit not only good ionic conductivity to reduce its resistance but also excellent film-forming properties and high film strength to prevent internal shortcircuiting. Further, the starting materials of the high molecular solid electrolyte need to be easily prepared. However, a high molecular solid electrolyte satisfying all of these requirements has never been developed.
For example, vinyl polymers having polyethylene oxide groups in side chains (hereinafter referred to as "PEO") as disclosed in D. J. Banister et al., "Polymer", 25, 1600, 1984, D. F. Shriver et al., "Journal of American Chemical Society", 106, 6854, 1984. Materials comprising low molecular PEO incorporated in polysiloxane are disclosed in Watanabe et al., "Journal of Power Sources", 20, 327, 1987. These high molecular solid electrolytes exhibit excellent film-forming properties and high strength. However, all these high molecular solid electrolytes also exhibit a low ionic conductivity and thus cannot be put into practical use.
In order to enhance the ionic conductivity of such materials at room temperature, a material comprising a liquid ionic conductor retained in a high molecular solid electrolyte has been studied. For example, JP-B-61-23947 (The term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined Japanese patent publication") discloses a material comprising 90% by weight or more of an organic electrolyte having a relative dielectric constant of 10 or more incorporated in a high molecular solid electrolyte having a relative dielectric constant of 4 or more. However, the ionic conductivity of such a material is not sufficient. Further, JP-A-63-135477 (The term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") discloses a material comprising a low molecular PEO retained in a crosslinked high molecular matrix containing PEO group. Such a material also exhibits insufficient ionic conductivity.
Further examples of the enhancement of the ionic conductivity of such a material at room temperature are materials comprising a high molecular matrix having a polar group in side chains impregnated with an aprotic polar solvent such as propylene carbonate (hereinafter referred to as "PC") as disclosed in JP-B-57-9671, JP-A-63-239779 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,701), U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,939, and EP026084. However, these materials must retain a large amount of such a solvent to exhibit an enhanced ionic conductivity. Thus, these materials exhibit a remarkably poor film strength and hence cannot be put into practical use.
One known approach for the enhancement of film strength uses a material comprising a porous membrane such as nonwoven fabric impregnated with a high molecular solid electrolyte. For example, JP-A-60-195878 discloses a material comprising a PC solution of polyvinylidene fluoride coated on a nonwoven fabric. However, even such a material cannot attain a sufficient ionic conductivity. Further, JP-A-61-219469, JP-A-63-40270, and JP-A-63-102104 disclose similar approaches. However, none of these approaches can provide satisfactory ionic conductivity and film strength altogether.
Known methods for the preparation of these high molecular solid electrolytes include a method which comprises heating a monomer in the presence or absence of a solvent capable of dissolving the monomer therein (as disclosed in JP-A-62-50263, JP-A-1-241764), polymerization by ultraviolet rays (as disclosed in JP-A-63-135477), and polymerization by electron rays (as disclosed in JP-A-2-602). All these methods can provide an excellent ionic conductivity but a poor film strength.
Further, an approach which comprises spray-drying a latex of polyvinyl chloride, and then heat-melting the material to form a film which is then used as a separator is disclosed in Romanian Patent 96,422. This separator provides a sufficient film strength in an aqueous solution system battery but is disadvantageous in that it is subject to dissolution or swelling and provides high resistance in a nonaqueous electrolyte system.
As mentioned above, these high molecular solid electrolytes cannot provide a solution to all the foregoing problems such as remarkably low ionic conductivity at room temperature and poor film strength. It has thus been desired to provide a solid electrolyte providing a solution to all these problems.


A memory redundancy circuit using FLOTOX transistors instead of conventional link fuses and thus capable of redundancy programming even after the packaging of the chip. The redundancy circuit is capable of generating spare signals in order to use spare memory cells for particular addresses. The circuit includes: a reference line having a certain voltage level for generating spare signals; a reference voltage supplying circuit for supplying the required voltage to the reference line; two or more FLOTOX transistors connected to the reference line; and high voltage driving circuits provided for the FLOTOX transistors, and connected to address lines in such a manner as to supply the required voltage to the gates of the FLOTOX transistors for programming.

In conventional semiconductor memories, programming is made in such a manner that, if there happens to be formed a defect in the memory cell of a particular address, a redundancy memory is used for that particular address by utilizing link fuses. The use of link fuses, however, can cause various problems.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional redundancy circuit, and FIG. 2 illustrates the constitution and operating principle of a link fuse. In a conventional redundancy circuit as shown in FIG. 1, spare rows and columns are used instead of the addresses of defective memory cells in the manner as described below. That is, the link fuses, which are connected to the drains of transistors so as to correspond to the defective addresses, are burned using a laser repair apparatus or by allowing an electrical overcurrent to flow through them, thereby cutting the fuses.
As shown in FIG. 2(A), the link fuse is constituted such that the following layers are formed upon silicon substrate Si-Sub in the indicated order: a thick oxide layer Fox, a polysilicon 2 or polycide layer, an LTO (low temperature oxidation) layer, and a PSG (phosphorus silicate glass) or BPSG (boron psg) layer.
FIG. 2(A) illustrates the structure before the programming, i.e., before the burning, and FIG. 2(B) illustrates the structure after the programming, i.e., after the burning.
Dotted line W of FIG. 2(B) illustrates a case in which the fuse link is not cut off due to insufficiency of the intensity of the laser beam or positional inaccuracy of the laser apparatus, on the one hand, and dotted line U illustrates a case in which silicon substrate Si-Sub is damaged due to excessive burning, on the other hand.
The conventional redundancy circuit of a semiconductor memory using address suppression will be described below with reference to FIG. 1.
A signal SPAREENB stays in a "0" state during operation. When the programming has not been performed, one of the two transistors of each transistor pair, which are connected respectively to the pairs of A.sub.0 and A.sub.0, A.sub.1 and A.sub.1, . . . A.sub.n and A.sub.n, remains in a turned-on state. That is, n+1 transistors among the 2(n+1) transistors, which includes all of the transistors with fuse links connected thereto, are always in a turned-on state, so that the voltage on line B stays at a "0" level.
In such a circuit constituted as described above, the method of programming so that a particular defective address, e.g., addresses "A.sub.0, A.sub.1, . . . A.sub.n ", corresponding to "0, 1, . . . 1", is replaced with the redundancy circuit of FIG. 1, is carried out in the manner described below. That is, programming is carried out by burning link fuses which are connected, respectively, to the drains of NMOS transistors, which are in turn connected, respectively, to addresses A.sub.0, A.sub.1, . . . A.sub.n.
If the programming is carried out in the above described manner, the voltage on line B is shifted to a "1" state only when the addresses correspond, for example, to "0, 1, . . . 1", while the voltage on line B stays in a "0" state otherwise. The main decoder connected to the original memory cell array is not operated in a "1" state of the spare signal on line B, but is operated in a "0" state of the spare signal on line B. If the spare signal on line B is shifted to a "1" state, the spare rows and columns are activated so that the spare rows and columns are able to store and output signals instead of the original rows and columns.
In the above described conventional redundancy circuit, in order to cut off the link fuses, a special laser repair apparatus or high current circuit is required. In procuring, maintaining and using the apparatus or circuit, higher costs are incurred, and further, frequent failures occur in cutting off the link fuses due to positional inaccuracy or variation of the uniformness of the intensity of the laser beam, with the result that defects are formed in the memory devices. Further, if the cutting power is too high, leakage current flows from the link fuse to the silicon substrate, or debris from the burnt fuse flies to other portions of the circuit, thereby forming defects in the memory devices.

Redundancy circuit for semiconductor memory device


A high-pressure discharge lamp is effective to prevent initial blackening on an outer casing thereof, is of a long service life, and can easily be manufactured. A tungsten wire is wound as a double coiled winding around an electrode metal rod, leaving a tip end thereof, and the double coiled winding is machined into a melted tip end by a YAG laser beam, with the remaining double coiled winding used as a coil. The left tip end of the metal rod is machined into a nipple on the distal end of the melted tip end. If it is assumed that the melted tip end has a diameter D1 and a length L1 up to its distal end, the nipple has a proximal end having a diameter D2 and a length L2 from the proximal end up to the distal end thereof, and the coil and the melted tip end (including the nipple) have a volume V1 and the melted tip end (including the nipple) has a volume V2, then the electrode assembly is machined to satisfy at least one of the conditions 0.15xe2x89xa6D2/D1xe2x89xa60.3, 0.2xe2x89xa6L2/L1xe2x89xa60.4, and 0.2xe2x89xa6V2/V1xe2x89xa60.4. The machined electrode assembly is incorporated as an electrode into a lamp bulb.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-pressure discharge lamp, and more particularly to the shape of an electrode of a high-pressure discharge lamp and a method of manufacturing such a high-pressure discharge lamp.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of ultrahigh-pressure mercury lamps (high-pressure discharge lamps), as electrodes are designed for shorter arcs across the electrode gap, reductions and fluctuations in the illuminance due to temperature rises of the electrodes and variations of discharge starting points are posing serious problems.
For suppressing a blackening phenomenon due to a scattering of tungsten, it has been proposed, as disclosed in Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2000-299086, to construct an electrode to meet the condition of 1/50*R3xe2x89xa6xcex94Lxe2x89xa61/5*R3 where R3 represents the diameter of a thicker coil of the double winding of the electrode and xcex94L represents the distance between the tip end of the thicker coil and the tip end of the electrode, and also to ensure that the tip end of the electrode be fixed in position by being welded when energized after the lamp bulb is sealed.
Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 6-13029 discloses an electrode shaped such that the diameter (D) progressively increases from the base end to the tip end thereof and the electrode has a tip having a small diameter (d) on the face of the thicker tip end, the diameters satisfying the relationship of 0.2 less than d/D less than 0.5.
Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 10-92377 reveals an electrode having a structure of large thermal capacity disposed on the tip end thereof and having a diameter greater than the shank of the electrode, and a heat radiator disposed behind the electrode and comprising a tungsten wire coiled around the shank of the electrode.
Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 10-208693 shows an electrode having a thick wound portion which comprises a tungsten wire (diameter="PHgr"K) coiled as a double winding around an electrode rod (diameter="PHgr"E) from behind (d) the tip end of the electrode rod. If the lamp power is represented by W and the initial current peak value by A, then the ranges of 0.0017XW+0.18xe2x89xa6"PHgr"Exe2x89xa60.0017XW+0.38 and AXd/("PHgr"E+"PHgr"K)xe2x89xa712 are satisfied.
Conventional high-pressure discharge lamps have suffered the problems of the blackening of outer casings due to a scattering of tungsten and illuminance fluctuations, and various countermeasures have been proposed to improve those shortcomings.
Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2000-299086 attempts to avoid the blackening phenomenon by limiting an initial structure of the tip end of the electrode such that the distance between the electrodes remains unchanged even when they are melted by a discharge caused by an initial current. However, the disclosed electrode structure fails to avoid the instability of a discharge starting point which is responsible for illuminance fluctuations.
According to Japanese laid-open patent publication No.6-13029, the electrode is prevented from being heated by a large current based on a large thermal capacity which is provided by a frustoconical electrode shape with a projection at its tip end. However, since the tip end of the electrode has a blocky large shape, the cooling factor is poorer than an electrode having a coiled heat radiator, and the electrode has a large size and is not sufficiently efficient.
According to Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 10-92377, the heat radiating coil is wound around the electrode, and the electrode shank at the tip end is melted into a semispherical electrode, so that the electrode can easily be machined. The electrode surface is generally semispherical in shape and may be machined into a truncated conical shape. However, the disclosed electrode fails to prevent the instability of a discharge starting point, and is expected to suffer illuminance fluctuations.
According to Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 6-13029, the electrode has an electrode portion greater in diameter than the electrode shank to suppress an excessive temperature increase with an electrode structure having a large thermal capacity and a heat radiating structure of a coiled winding. However, the electrode portion on the tip end is spherical or truncated conical in shape, causing an unstable discharge starting point which is responsible for illuminance fluctuations.
Japanese laid-open patent publication No. 10-208693 discloses that the maximum temperature of the electrode is lowered to provide good service life characteristics and initial characteristics by lowering an initial current peak value immediately after the lamp starts to be energized. However, because the tip end of the electrode has a cross-sectional shape which is equal to the cross-sectional shape of the electrode rod, the electrode causes an unstable discharge starting point which is responsible for illuminance fluctuations. Furthermore, there is a danger of a coil discharge between the tip end of the electrode and the tip end of the coil. Since it is important to provide conditions for setting up an allowable range for preventing the coil discharge, the disclosed electrode is disadvantageous in that a strict process of machining the electrode is required.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a high-pressure discharge lamp which can easily be limited by numerical values, is effective to prevent blackening on an outer casing thereof, and is of a long service life.
According to the present invention, there is provided a high-pressure discharge lamp comprising an outer casing of quartz glass filled with mercury, an inactive gas, and a halogen gas, a pair of electrodes disposed in the outer casing and coupled to respective sealing metal foil members, each of the electrodes comprising a metal rod and a metal wire closely wound around the metal rod, the electrode having a semispherical or truncated conical tip end with a smooth surface in the shape of a solid of revolution, with a nipple disposed on the distal end of the tip end.
The mercury is present in an amount ranging from 0.12 to 0.30 mg/mm3 and at least one of Cl, Br, and I is present as the halogen gas in an amount ranging from 10xe2x88x928 through 10xe2x88x922 xcexcmol/mm3.
The tip end and the nipple are formed by a YAG laser beam machining process. Preferably, the tip end has a base portion having a diameter D1 and the nipple has a proximal end having a diameter D2, the ratio D2/D1 being in the range of 0.15xe2x89xa6D2/D1xe2x89xa60.3.
Preferably, the tip end has a length L1 and the nipple has a length L2, the ratio L2/L1 being in the range of 0.2xe2x89xa6L2/L1xe2x89xa60.4. The electrode including the coil, the nipple, and the tip end has a volume V1 and the tip end including the nipple has a volume V2, the ratio V2/V1 being in the range of 0.2xe2x89xa6V2/V1xe2x89xa60.4. The tip end has a diameter D1 and the nipple has a proximal end having a diameter D2, the ratio D2/D1 being in the range of 0.15xe2x89xa6D2/D1xe2x89xa60.3.
According to the present invention, there is also provide a method of manufacturing a high-pressure discharge lamp, comprising the steps of combining an electrode metal rod and a heat radiating coil into an electrode assembly with a dedicated jig, placing the electrode assembly on a predetermined jig, machining the electrode assembly with a YAG laser beam while the electrode assembly is in rotation, to turn the tip end of the coil into a body of rotation with a smooth surface, leaving a central region of the tip end of the metal rod, thus producing a melted tip end, and machining the left central region of the tip end of the metal rod into a nipple.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate an example of the present invention.