Improvement in telephone handset supports or, more specifically, shoulder supports for telephone handsets; such a support versatilely adjustable for users of different physical conformations, particularly with respect to the configuration of the user's head and shoulders; a device readily, simply and dependably changeable by the user to permit either left or right shoulder use, the versatility of adjustment with respect to size and configuration of the user's head and shoulders remaining the same with respect to each shoulder; a new, different and versatile connecting piece adjustably connecting and fixable with respect to the telephone handset on one end and a shoulder pad for the user on the other.

Numerous previously developed and commercial telephone handset support devices, for use on a phone user's shoulder, work and operate to enable the user to both listen and speak over a unitary receiver/transmitter telephone handset without holding the handset in his hands. Such telephone handset support devices have also previously been provided which may be used, alternatively, on either the left or right shoulder of the user person. Particular problems of such known devices have involved the necessity for considerable adjustment of the parts of the device with respect to the particular size and configuration of a user's head and shoulders, with such set of adjustments available with respect to either left or right shoulder-use. Shoulder-use typically varies with respect to the handedness of the user.
Improvements and developments have been made in the known devices, but such yet are not fully satisfactory and effective. Such available handset supports for telephone units are of a structure which typically include means for connection of the support structure to the grasping hand portion of an integral telephone receiver/transmitter member, as well as a suitable cradle or frame adapted to rest upon a selected one of the telephone user's shoulders (alternatively, upon readjustment, upon the other shoulder). Such devices must comfortably support the telephone handset or instrument in a continuous, easy, proper and optimum position in relation to the user's ear and mouth. Problems have been encountered with respect to simplifying and optimizing structure and function of the adjusting means and mechanisms for the relative positioning of the support device parts. More particularly, providing means and mechanisms for swiftly and easily affecting the precise adjustments required for conditioning and preparing the support device for being comfortably rested upon the user's left or right shoulder, according to the preference and optimum utility and comfort of the individual user, are necessary. Once set in a particular position for a particular user, the device must solidly retain its set configuration without variation or change.
From a survey of the devices available to the public on the market, improvements in shoulder support means for a telephone handset of the dual purpose type (having a handle means with a transmitter at one end and a receiver at the opposite end) are badly needed. What is desired is to provide such a handset shoulder support having a new, highly useful, novel arrangement of cooperating parts of minimum number and of the simplest configuration which, in use, combine to provide a new structural support device and adaptation thereof that most aptly fulfills the precise requirements and needs of a busy phone user.
As noted, many and varied forms of prior art handset holders have been devised and used by others. Such have met with varying degrees of success, although there seems to be no single prior device or holder of the character described which has met with widespread adoption and use, providing all the features needed at a reasonable price.
It thus becomes very desirable to structurally, functionally and otherwise improve upon similarly functioning or performing prior art phone handset holders, by virtue of developing a new structure and device embodying great simplicity but incorporating highly adaptable and adjustable refinements and improvements, which more aptly conform to and with the truly basic and important requirements and needs of manufacturers and users alike.
The optimum device of this sort must, in addition to offering left and right shoulder-use options, be fully and continuously adjustable for both angle and length. Optionally, such a device would easily and effectively fit on and engage any telephone receiver/transmitter handset that has approximately one square inch of free surface on the handle between the opposite ended transmitter and receiver thereof.

Adjustable phone handset shoulder support


An image forming apparatus is provided by which a certain test pattern is recorded with a recording head having a plurality of recording elements, and the degree of density unevenness of each recording element of the recording head is calculated by reading the test pattern. The temperature of the recording head is detected and the degree of density unevenness calculated is corrected according to the detected temperature, thereby calculating correction data with respect to each recording element. At the time of image recording, image data input for each recording element is changed based on the correction data to correct any unevenness in density of the recorded image.

1. Field Of the Invention
This invention relates to an image recording apparatus and, more particularly, to an image recording apparatus that includes a multi-element head having a plurality of recording elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the popularization of computers and communication apparatuses, the application of recording apparatuses for effecting digital image recording with an ink jet type or thermal transfer type recording head has rapidly been promoted. As recording heads for image forming apparatuses, multi-element heads having a plurality of image recording elements integrally combined are generally used for the purpose of increasing recording speed. For example, ink jet recording heads are generally constructed as multi-nozzle heads having a plurality of nozzles integrally combined. Also, thermal transfer type heads are usually constructed by combining a plurality of heaters.
However, it is difficult to uniformly manufacture a multi-element head having a plurality of image recording elements, and the characteristics of the image recording elements vary to some extent. For example, in an ink jet multi-element head, there are variations in the shape of the nozzles. In a thermal transfer multi-element head, there are variations in the shape and the resistance of the heaters. Non-uniformity of the characteristics of image recording elements appears as non-uniformity of the size or the density of dots recorded by the image recording elements, so that the recorded image is uneven in density.
To cope with this problem, various methods for obtaining a uniform image have been proposed which are based on changing signals supplied to the image recording elements so as to correct such unevenness. For example, in the case of a multi-element head having recording elements 2 arranged as shown in FIG. 5(a), density unevenness may occur as shown in FIG. 5(c) when the input signal level is constant as shown in FIG. 5(b) . In this case, the input signal level is changed for compensation as shown in FIG. 5(d); the input signal is supplied at a higher level to the recording elements corresponding to a low-density portion while the input signal is supplied at a lower level to the recording elements corresponding to a high-density portion. In the case of a recording system capable of changing the diameter or density of dots, the diameter of dots recorded by each recording element is changed in accordance with the input signal level. For example, the drive voltage or the width of pulses applied to each piezoelectric element in the case of piezoelectric ink jet printing or to each heater in the case of thermal transfer printing is changed in accordance with the input signal so that the dot diameters or the dot densities determined by the recording elements are generally equal, and so that the distribution of density of the recorded image is made uniform as shown in FIG. 5(e). In a case where it is impossible or difficult to change the dot diameter or dot density, the number of dots is changed according to the input signal in such a manner that a greater number of dots are formed by the image recording elements corresponding to a low-density portion while a smaller number of dots are formed by the recording elements corresponding to a high-density portion, thereby making the density distribution uniform, as shown in FIG. 5(e).
The following is an example of a method of determining the amount of this compensation.
A case of density unevenness correction for a multi-element head having 256 nozzles will be described below.
It is assumed here that the distribution of density unevenness in the case of recording using a uniform image signal S is as shown in FIG. 6. First, the mean density OD of an image formed by this head is obtained. Next, the density OD.sub.1 to OD.sub.256 of portions corresponding to the nozzles are measured. The deviation for each nozzle, .DELTA.OD.sub.n, is obtained using the formula: .DELTA.OD.sub.n =OD-OD.sub.n (n=1 to 256). If the relationship between the level of the image signal and the output density is as shown in FIG. 7, the image signal may be changed by .DELTA.S to correct the density by .DELTA.OD.sub.n. For this correction, the image signal may be changed by table conversion as shown in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, the line A is a straight line having a slope or inclination of 1.0. With respect to the straight line A, the input signal is output without being changed. With respect to the line B, which is a straight line having a slope smaller than that of the line A, an output S-.DELTA.S is obtained from an input Accordingly, the image signal supplied to the nth nozzle may be changed by table conversion as indicated by the line B in FIG. 8 before driving the head, whereby the density of the portion printed by this nozzle is made equal to OD. If this processing is performed with respect to all the nozzles, the density unevenness is corrected and an uniform image can be obtained. That is, data for suitable conversion tables for compensation of image signals with respect to the nozzles is prepared to enable correction of such unevenness.
Although density unevenness can be suitably corrected by this method for at least the initial usage of the device, it is necessary to change the amount of compensation of the input signal for correcting the unevenness, if the degree of density unevenness is changed after time. In the case of an ink jet head, the density distribution is usually changed by deposits of ink or extraneous material to a nozzle portion in the vicinity of the ink outlet. In the case of a thermal transfer head, as well, there is a possibility of a change in the density distribution due to deterioration or change in the characteristics of each heater. In such cases, the amount of input correction initially set for density unevenness correction becomes insufficient, and the density unevenness becomes more conspicuous with time.
A method has been proposed of providing a density unevenness reader section in an image recording apparatus and revising density unevenness correction data by periodically reading the density unevenness distribution with the reader. In this method, the correction data is revised according to the change in the density unevenness distribution of the head to constantly maintain the desired uniformity of the recorded image free from density unevenness.
Correction data is prepared with respect to each recording apparatus actually used, and it is therefore necessary to set the period of time for preparing correction data to a very short time to limit the down time of the apparatus.
However, the effect of correction is unsatisfactory if reading of density unevenness and formation of correction data are performed only one time, and, in most cases, the uniformity of the recording image cannot be improved as desired unless these operations are repeated several times or ten and several times. The cause of this fact is a change in a variation in a gradation characteristic due to a change in the temperature of the head, which is caused as described below. In a case where the head has a gradation characteristic such as that indicated by the line C in FIG. 9, a degree .DELTA.OD of density unevenness can be corrected by changing the image signal S by .DELTA.S, as described above. However, the gradation characteristic of the recording head depends upon the temperature of the head. For example, in the case of ink jet recording, if the temperature of the head is increased, the viscosity of the ink is reduced, so that the amount of ink is increased while the ejection energy is constant, resulting in an increase in dot diameter. That is, a gradation characteristic such as that indicated by the line D in FIG. 9 is exhibited. When the head has this gradation characteristic, and when correction of .DELTA.S is effected based on detecting density unevenness .DELTA.OD, the amount of density unevenness correction is only .DELTA.OD', and a uniform image cannot be obtained by performing the correction operation only one time.
Thus, the necessary amount of correction is changed as the gradation characteristic of the head varies. The density unevenness cannot be sufficiently corrected by effecting reading and correction one or two times, and it is necessary to repeat the same operation many times.

Image recording apparatus capable of correcting density unevenness


There is provided a non-intrusive movement measuring apparatus and method using wearable electro-conductive fibers. A non-intrusive movement measuring apparatus using wearable electro-conductive fibers according to an aspect of the invention may include a signal measurement device measuring a plurality of movement signals using a plurality of electro-conductive fibers put on user's body parts and having resistances varying according to the volume of the user's body parts; a movement analysis device analyzing the plurality of movement signals to obtain a user's movement patterns and movement intensity; and a movement display device displaying a movement analysis result of the movement analysis device. Accordingly, user's movement can be measured without limiting the user's radius of action.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to a movement measurement apparatus, and more particularly, to a non-intrusive movement measuring apparatus and method using wearable electro-conductive fibers that can measure a user's movements without limiting the user's radius of action.
2. Description of the Related Art
As many people's quality of life has been raised, public interest in health has been on the rise. In order for individuals to take care of and maintain their health, there has been an increasing demand to continuously measure a user's movements in order to analyze the intensity of exercise and the intensity of an activity.
To this end, movement measuring apparatuses using an electromyograph (EMG), a goniometer, an image analyzer or a force plate have been proposed.
An electromyograph using biological signals observes the state of muscles, causing a movement, that is, muscular activation rather than direct information about a change in joint angle. Unlike a goniometer or an image analyzer, the electromyograph is not suited for the accurate and constant measurement of changes in joint angle. Further, calculations are required to obtain useful information.
Since a goniometer is attached to the joints to analyze direct joint motions, the goniometer is the easiest, fastest and simplest method. However, since it is difficult to attach a goniometer to the body, continuous measurement is difficult to perform and freedom of movement is limited, thereby resulting in poor reproducibility.
An image analyzer is an expensive piece of equipment and is restricted by space. That is, a large space is required to install the image analyzer, and the image analyzer can only be used at a place where it is installed. In addition, many calculations are required to obtain movement analysis data from acquired image signals.
A shoe type force plate or pressure sensor is manufactured to measure pressure distribution while a user is walking. However, this device is only used to measure changes in pressure on the bottom of user's feet or a gait cycle, and it is difficult to obtain information about upper extremity movement or other body movements.
Electro-conductive fibers that combine fiber technologies and electronics have recently been under development. These electro-conductive fibers have electrical characteristics that vary according to the outside environment. Therefore, when electro-conductive fibers are woven into clothing, the clothes themselves are able to perform various electronic functions.

Non-intrusive movement measuring apparatus and method using wearable electro-conductive fiber

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


The present invention relates to an audio recording electronic book apparatus featuring a recording function to take an audio note, comprising a display module for displaying the contents of an electronic book; a memory unit for storing at least one electronic book file; a micro process unit for reading an electronic book file and displaying it on the display module; a recording/broadcasting module for inputting an audio note after startup and storing in the memory unit as an audio data file; and a correspondence table for recording the linkage relationship related to the audio data file and the electronic book file.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device; in particular, the present invention relates to an electronic book apparatus featuring a recording function and a touch input function for note taking.
2. Description of Related Art
The electronic book apparatus is a new type of display devices manufactured by using a bistable displayer which enables electrical power-saving capability because of the bi-stability thereof. Additionally, the electronic book apparatus can be configured with an extremely large memory space allowing to store a great amount of electronic books, and also provides features of small and slim sizes, convenient operations as well as suitability for long-time readings and the like, further offering advantages in terms of convenient access to the contents of electronic books via wireless transmissions, such that the electronic book apparatus has now become popular progressively and has been applied widely.
However, even with the aforementioned advantages in the electronic book apparatus, it is still unable to satisfactorily meet the requirements on reading and learning for numerous students and readers. For many students and readers, they usually have to carry various books around to facilitate effective and complete learning, while the electronic book apparatus may eliminate or reduce such a carry-on burden in weight caused by printed books and also provides a display device suitable for long-time readings. Nevertheless, for general readers or students, taking notes or learning remarks during reading or learning may facilitate more efficient reviews or prompts for future individual studies, yet currently available electronic book apparatuses or other types of display devices can only provide the display function, lacking of features for taking notes or learning remarks; hence general readers or students are not allowed to promptly take notes during classes or any learning annotations in real-time, or else other tools, e.g., papers and pens, are needed for recording. For common users, this may cause great inconvenience in use, further reducing the effect of student learning and willingness of use. Besides, since notes or annotations recorded by means of papers can not be related with the contents of the electronic book apparatus, misplacement of notes or remarks, or even problems of paper note or remark losses, may occur.

Audio recording electronic book apparatus and control method thereof


A calorimeter cell of a calorimetry system is provided, having a cell body having an internal region for receiving a first substance, the cell body being comprised of a chemically inert material, and a thermally conductive layer at least partially surrounding the chemically inert cell body. Furthermore, an associated calorimeter and method is also provided, including a sample cell, a reference cell, a thermostat in thermal communication with the sample cell and the reference cell, a first conductive wire, the first conductive wire having a first end connected to the thermostat and a second end connected to the sample cell, and a second conductive wire, the second conductive wire having a first end connected to the thermostat and a second end connected to the reference cell.

Using low thermally conductive materials to comprise a sample cell in isothermal titration calorimetry and differential scanning applications can degrade a performance of the calorimeter. For example, low thermally conductive materials forming the cell body can lead to a longer equilibration time after loading a sample within the sample cell, as well as difficulty in maintaining a time constant for measuring a heat signal. Materials having suitably high thermally conductive materials may not be chemically compatible with samples to be tested by the calorimeter.
Thus, a need exists for an apparatus and method for an improved calorimeter cell.


A method and an apparatus for correcting wireless signal quality are provided. The apparatus includes an abnormality detector and a quality adjuster. The abnormality detector collects multiple measurement values reported by a user equipment (UE), calculates a variation degree value according to the measurement values, and compares the variation degree value with a predetermined threshold value. The measurement values are generated by the UE when the UE measures the wireless signal quality of an evolved node B. The measurement values include a first reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ) of the evolved node B. When the variation degree value is larger than the predetermined threshold value, the quality adjuster corrects the first RSRQ based on the measurement values to generate a second RSRQ of the evolved node B.

A long term evolution (LTE) technique and an LTE-advanced (LTE-A) technique belong to a next generation wireless communication network. Newly provided enhanced inter-cell interference coordination (eICIC) of the LTE-A under a heterogeneous network (HetNet) mixing with high power evolved nodes B (eNBs) and low power eNBs is a mechanism capable of revolving a co-channel interference between the high power eNBs and the low power eNBs in the HetNet, and a principle thereof is that the high power eNBs and the low power eNBs can use an almost blank subframe (ABS) mechanism to avoid the co-channel interference.
In the LTE-A system, a user equipment (UE) probably detects signals of a plurality of eNBs, simultaneously, and one of the eNBs provides a wireless communication service to the UE, and such eNB is referred to as a serving eNB, and the other eNBs are referred to as neighboring eNBs. The UE measures a reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ) of each of the neighboring eNBs, and reports the same to the serving eNB, and the serving eNB determines whether to hand over the UE.
The RSRQ of one eNB is proportional to a reference signal receiving power (RSRP) of the eNB measured by the UE divided by a received signal strength indicator (RSSI). Since the eNB does not transmit date when it uses the ABS, a total power average (including a noise power) in a frequency band is decreased, and the RSSI is accordingly decreased, which may results in a fact that the RSRQ reported to the serving eNB by the UE is greater than an actual value, and causes an abnormal handover operation. For example, when the serving eNB uses the ABS, it probably mistakes that it has higher RSRQ, and determines not to hand over the UE. When the neighboring eNB uses the ABS, the serving eNB probably mistakes that the neighboring eNB has higher RSRQ, and incorrectly performs the handover.
A 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) provides a solution of the above problem for the UE of the LTE-A, though the UE of the LTE cannot use such solution.

Method and apparatus for correcting wireless signal quality

Industrial Technology Research Institute


The present disclosure provides a display device, a display apparatus, and a method for manufacturing a display device. The display device comprises a mainboard, a display panel disposed on the mainboard, and a fingerprint recognition sensor. The fingerprint recognition sensor is disposed on the mainboard, and the fingerprint recognition sensor is located between the mainboard and the display panel. A groove is formed on a surface of the display panel facing the mainboard, and an orthographic projection of the groove on the mainboard corresponds to a position of the fingerprint recognition sensor. The groove is configured to form an air gap between the fingerprint recognition sensor and the display panel.

At present, fingerprint recognition is widely used as an important function in display technology. In the related art, a fingerprint recognition sensor module (for example, a fingerprint recognition sensor) is generally provided on a display panel. Specifically, a glue frame is attached to the display panel, and the glue frame has a certain height such that, when the fingerprint recognition sensor is disposed on the glue frame, an air gap may be formed between the fingerprint recognition sensor and the display panel to meet function requirements of the fingerprint recognition sensor. The fingerprint recognition sensor is adhered to the glue frame by an edge sealant so that the fingerprint recognition sensor and the display panel may be fixed to each other.
However, there are two main defects in the above-mentioned design of the fingerprint recognition module. One defect is reliability-test impression. The glue frame, edge sealant, and display device have different thermal expansion coefficients and shrinkage coefficients, which results in that after the fingerprint recognition module is placed in an environmental reliability test, the display panel is deformed, and an apparent impression on a region corresponding to the fingerprint recognition sensor may be seen from the front of the display panel, which affects product appearance. The other defect is that the fingerprint recognition sensor is easily loosened. The edge sealant for fixing the fingerprint recognition sensor is only dispensed on the glue frame to fix the fingerprint recognition sensor on the glue frame, therefore the fingerprint recognition sensor only depends on the adherence of the glue frame to be fixed on the display panel (such as an OLED panel). When undergoing some mechanical tests, the above-mentioned fixing structure easily becomes loose and comes off.

Display device with fingerprint recognition sensor and manufacturing method thereof

Chengdu BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.

Beijing BOE Technology Development Co., Ltd.


Exemplary methods and systems for providing enhanced content by way of a virtual channel are disclosed herein. An exemplary method includes a service provider subsystem providing a virtual channel, associating the virtual channel with a content provider, receiving enhanced content to be provided by way of the virtual channel from the content provider, associating one or more selectable triggers with the virtual channel, and providing a user with access to the enhanced content in response to a selection by the user of one of the one or more selectable triggers. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.

As media content distribution and processing technologies have advanced, media outlets through which advertisements are distributed have increased both in number and type. The increased number and type of media outlets have provided a variety of platforms that may be used by advertisers to distribute advertisement content to potential consumers. For example, set-top box devices and other media content access devices are often capable of receiving and/or delivering advertisement content to users. The delivered advertisement content may be associated with one of a variety of products for sale. For example, an advertisement may promote a media content instance, such as a pay-per-view event, a video-on-demand program, a movie, music, and/or any other type of media content instance that is available for purchase.
However, it is sometimes difficult to generate user interest in an advertised product through traditional advertisements. This is due at least in part to various limitations associated with traditional advertisements. For example, traditional broadcast advertisements are limited to a relatively short amount of time to generate user interest in a product being advertised. Hence, alternative approaches to promoting and incentivizing the purchase of advertised products are desirable.

Methods and systems for providing enhanced content by way of a virtual channel


It is combination lock, in which the main rod is made of steel, while the movable sleeve is made of copper. The main rod is mounted with five combination rings. The lock is to be mounted between the shift rod and the hand-brake handle so as to prevent a burgler from operating the shift and releasing the hand-brake normally.

The fast material civilization development has greatly elevated our daily living standards; for instance, any person can afford to have a car. The car-stealing cases have been increased each year as a result of the increase of car owners. The society security, the rights of the insurance company and the car owners have been jeapardized. There have been several kinds of car locks, such as the steering lock, a stick lock, an electronic lock, etc.; all these locks have been developed with improvements one way or the other so as to obtain a satisfactory way to prevent a car from being stolen. Unfortunately, all the aforesaid locks still can not prevent a car from being stolen.

Combination lock for the shift rod and the hand-brake rod of a car


A helmet for use with a bicycle, motorcycle or other vehicle. In one embodiment, a duct is located at each side of the helmet, and used for the dual functions of drawing air from the interior of the helmet and channeling ambient sounds inside the helmet where the sounds can be heard by a user. Sounds may be enhanced by the use of microphones, speakers, and other electronic equipment. The side ducts extend to the rear of the helmet and help to reduce drag and turbulence-induced vibration due to air flow. In another embodiment, separate air and sound ducts are located at each side of the helmet. The separate air and sound ducts function more efficiently because air and sound waves pass through different inlet ports and openings in the helmet. Breakaway joints may be used for the helmet. The breakaway joints provide increased protection for a user because the joints will break apart when the helmet is subjected to excessive forces, causing the air and sound ducts to break apart and separate from the rest of the helmet. The helmet has an adjustable face shield which may be moved forward or backward.

The present invention relates generally to helmets worn when driving a motorcycle or other vehicle, and more particularly to a helmet having air and sound ducts used to aspirate interior air from the helmet, and to enhance sound so that a wearer is better able to hear sounds, including rear sounds.
Heretofore, motorcycle riders have disliked wearing helmets, in part because of heat build-up within the helmet, and also because helmets cut down visibility to the side and rear and reduce the driver's sense of hearing, thus severely impairing the driver's ability to sense the presence of other vehicles on the road. The loss of hearing is particularly dangerous with regard to vehicles approaching from and/or shifting position to the rear of the motorcyclist, as rearward visibility of the motorcyclist is very poor.
In the past, a variety of different methods have been used to discharge air from within a helmet when driving a motorcycle or other vehicle. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,700, issued to Sundahl on Nov. 18, 1986, discloses a helmet having at least one opening in a medial portion thereof. Air flowing over the helmet acts to aspirate air from within the helmet, up through channels in the helmet's lining, and out through the opening in the helmet. U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,348, issued to Sundahl on May 26, 1987, describes a helmet which draws air inside the helmet through slits in a lower front portion near a wearer's chin and upward behind a face shield. The air exits at the top of the shield between the shield and helmet.
A helmet for use with motorcycles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,099, issued to Kamiya, et al., on May 28, 1985. Air enters the helmet through air inlets at the top of the helmet, and then travels through channels in the helmet's lining, exiting at the rear of the helmet. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,758, issued to Mattheis on Feb. 1, 1983, describes a helmet having devices attached to the sides of the helmet which attenuate noise generated from turbulence when the helmet passes through air. However, the helmet does not have openings in the helmet near a wearer's ears which would facilitate hearing sounds when the wearer is riding a bicycle or driving a motorcycle or vehicle.
None of the helmets disclosed in the above-mentioned patents effectively reduce drag and turbulence-induced vibration caused by air flowing over the helmets.


A dynamic sense current supply circuit and an associated method for rapidly characterizing a resistive memory array is disclosed. In one embodiment, the disclosed circuit comprises a first and second dynamically programmable current mirror sub-circuit. Responsive to a bank of control signals, each dynamically programmable current mirror sub-circuit provides a dynamically adjustable current scaling factor. These scaling factors are used to scale a supplied reference current to generate a plurality of sense currents which can be used within a plurality of read operations on a resistive memory array. A digital circuit is also provided to sense and store the result of each read operation.

1. Technical Field
The present application generally relates to memory arrays and more particularly to circuits and methods for sensing, reading, and characterizing memory arrays.
2. Discussion of Related Art
As memory arrays have increased in size and developed in complexity, fabrication challenges have arisen. Specifically, it has become increasingly important to test and/or qualify specific electrical characteristics and parameters associated with the individual memory cells in large memory arrays. For example, it is often important to test the electrical characteristics and parameters including, but not limited to, minimum write voltages, minimum and maximum read voltages/currents (depending on the memory cell technology employed), minimum data-retention voltages (within volatile memory circuits), minimum data-retention times (within non-volatile memory technologies), and electrical noise tolerances. Each can be useful in gauging the performance of the individual memory cells and identifying faults and defects. Further, as the state of the art drives memory array circuits into increasingly complex structures—increasing memory array dimensions (the number of memory cells within an array) and decreasing physical dimensions of individual memory cells—the need to accurately and completely characterize such circuits becomes increasingly critical to optimizing the design and the long term reliability of such structures.
Resistive memory arrays have taken many forms. For example, carbon nanotube memory arrays disclosed by Bertin et al. in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/280,786, filed Nov. 15, 2005, entitled "Two-Terminal Nanotube Devices and Systems and Methods of Making Same" and, more particularly, carbon nanotube block memory arrays disclosed by Bertin et al., in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/835,856, entitled "Nonvolatile Nanotube Diodes and Nonvolatile Nanotube Blocks and Systems Using Same and Methods of Making Same" are comprised of multiple cells which can each be set (programmed) to a plurality of nonvolatile resistive states. Each aforementioned reference is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. In other examples, resistive memory arrays can take the form of magneto-resistive memory arrays such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,999,340 to Shimizu. As disclosed in the aforementioned references, the memory cells can be set to a plurality of non-volatile resistive states and thus can be used to encode digital information. For example, a high resistive state can be used to indicate a digital "1" (or high) and a low resistive state can be used to indicate a digital "0" (or low). In a typical read operation, a sense current (sometimes referred to as a "read current" by those skilled in the art) is applied to a memory cell and the resulting voltage used to determine the resistive state of the cell.
A key parameter in resistive memory array circuits is the device's responsiveness to a given range of sense currents. In a typical sense current characterization operation, each cell within the memory array is written with a test value. Various electrical currents are then supplied to each memory cell within the memory array, and the resulting voltages analyzed to determine if the expected value was successfully read by each of the plurality of applied sense currents. In this way, the effectiveness of different sense currents can be characterized for the entire memory array.
While such a sense current characterization operation is effective in providing test information with regard to the effectiveness of different sense current values, such an operation can be limiting with respect to processing time. Characterizing a very large memory array with a significantly large set of sense current values (as is becoming increasingly common and necessary as the state of the art within nonvolatile memory devices advances) can become unacceptably costly and time consuming. To this end, a plurality of improved characterization and test methods have been proposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,106,644 to Chou teaches an improved circuit and associated test method for performing a burn in test on a memory array. A plurality of current limiting circuits are used to limit the current through each word line during the burn-in test, thus allowing a test voltage to sufficiently stress a plurality of word lines simultaneously.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,704,233 to Conte et al. teaches a circuit and associated method for reading a memory cell within a memory array. The circuit of Conte et al. comprises a reference memory cell, a current supply, a pair of transimpedance amplifiers, and a comparator. In the corresponding method Conte et al. generates and then passes a sense (read) current through both the memory cell under test and the reference memory cell, converting the currents through the memory cell under test and the reference memory cell to voltages (via the transimpedance amplifiers). Finally, the resulting voltages can be compared to obtain a digital representation of the bit stored in the memory cell under test.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,422 to Haukness teaches a circuit and associated method for rapidly testing a large memory array. A plurality of memory cells are sensed by a circuit which reports a digital value (a "high" or a "low") indicating if all of the bits stored within said plurality of memory cells are of the same value. That is, Haukness' method significantly reduces the time required to verify a memory array by verifying the data state of a plurality of individual memory cells simultaneously.
While these methods reduce the amount of test time required within a characterization operation, they fail to provide the detailed test data obtained through a more traditional "brute force" sense current characterization operation.
Any discussion of the related art above and throughout this specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such art is widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in the field.

Dynamic sense current supply circuit and associated method for reading and characterizing a resistive memory array


A kit comprises in combination a table game component and at least one other component removably positionable thereon. The table game component includes a playing surface defining an aperture therethrough, a rotatable drive disposed below the playing surface and accessible through the aperture, a game piece capable of moving over the playing surface, and a bat for engaging the game piece so as to cause it to move over the playing surface. The at least one other component is adapted to be removably positioned in the aperture and comprises a rotatable deflector having, when removably positioned in the aperture, a deflecting element of a given composition, size and configuration positioned above the playing surface for deflecting the movement of the game piece when the deflecting element contacts the game piece, and a driving element disposed below the playing surface for operatively engaging the rotatable drive for rotation therewith.

The present invention relates generally to kits for table games, and more particularly a kit for a table game having a spinning deflector.
It is well known to provide table games in which each opponent urges a projectile towards the opponent's goal and defends his own goal against entry by the projectile. It is also known to provide such a table game with a spinning deflector, typically located in the center of the playing area, which is independently powered so as not to be under the control of the players. While the players may avoid the spinning deflector by banking shots off any sideboards or bumper strips into the opponent's goal, any contact between the spinning deflector and the projectile introduces a random factor affecting the accuracy of the shot and possibly even returning the projectile to the shooter's own goal. The spinning deflector makes the game more challenging, even for one accomplished in the game, because it is typically positioned in the center of the playing area so as to preclude goal-to-goal direct line shots and requires either banking goal-to-goal shots or shots from the sidelines towards the opponent's goal. However, the games having a powered spinning deflector have not proven to be entirely satisfactory in use.
The games which the expert finds challenging and exciting are not suitable for use by the tyro who finds them too difficult and random and thus loses interest in them. On the other hand, those which the tyro finds challenging and exciting are boring and uninteresting to the expert. Thus, the need remains for a game appealing both to the tyro and the expert as well as those at various stages therebetween.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a kit for forming a table game in which there is a removable powered rotating deflector, so that the game may be played with or without the deflector.
Another object is to provide such a kit which may include a plurality of interchangeable components for varying the difficulty and randomness of the game.
A further object is to provide such a kit which may include plug means for providing a flush playing surface when the deflector has been removed from the game.
A final object is to provide such a game in which the removable component is concealed from the view of the players during normal play of the game, so as to add a further element of chance and mystery.


Portable radio equipment having a display for displaying a message and an illuminating device for back-lighting the display. The illuminating device has a function of back-lighting the display and a function of sensing illumination on the surface of the display. Implemented by an electroluminescent lamp, the illuminating device back-lights the display surely and, yet, without wasteful consumption of power.

The present invention relates to portable radio equipment having a liquid crystal display (LCD) or similar display which itself does not emit light and, more particularly, to portable radio equipment having a function of back-lighting a display thereof by an electroluminescent (EL) lamp.
With portable radio equipment of the type described, it has been customary to back-light a display by the following implementation. Specifically, a phototransistor or similar light-sensitive element is so disposed as to sense light, or illumination, around the display, while a light-sensitive circuit is connected to the light-sensitive element. An output of the light-sensitive circuit representative of a dark condition and an output indicating that the display is in operation are ANDed. The resulting AND output operates a driver associated with a light source so as to energize a light emitting element which is independent of the light-sensitive element, whereby the display is back-lighted. A problem with this kind of prior art equipment is that the light-sensitive element responsive to illumination is simply located relatively close to the display to sense illumination around the display. Specifically, the light-sensitive element cannot sense the illumination of light incident to the display directly. Hence, when spot light is incident to the light-sensitive element only and not to the display, the display is not back-lighted at all despite that it is too dark to see. Conversely, when spot light illuminates only the display, the display is back-lighted despite that it is readable without back-light. Such wasteful consumption of power has to be eliminated because this type of radio equipment is powered by a miniature battery whose capacity is small. Another problem is that the equipment needs a casing which has an exclusive opening for the light-sensitive element, in addition to an opening which is associated with the display.

Portable radio equipment with a display back-lighting function


A tandem axle system has a forward axle system and a rear axle system. A method of selectively driving one or both of the axle systems is described.

The typical North American class 8 truck rear tandem axle is a full time 6×4 driveline with an inter-axle differential lock and optional wheel differential lock(s). This system offers good traction in most conditions, but suffers from spin loss and gear mesh inefficiencies. Alternate 6×2 drive-line systems can improve the spin loss and gear loss efficiency, but these systems are limited on tractive effort due to the single drive axle. The 6×2 system can utilize a wheel differential lock and to shift weight to the drive axle under low traction conditions to improve tractive effort, but cannot equal the performance of the 6×4 system traction. What is needed is a tandem axle system that has the efficiency of a 6×2 tandem with the tractive effort of the 6×4 system.


A control technology for a synchronous motor for suppressing rotational pulsation caused by variation in individuals without making a control algorithm complex is provided. In a motor drive system which is a control device for a synchronous motor, in order to suppress the pulsation component of N times as high as the AC frequency for driving the synchronous motor, a controller in which the phase property of the disturbance response of the controller with respect to the pulsation frequency is within ±45° is arranged. Therefore, the torque pulsation component generated from distortion in induction voltage or variation between phases is suppressed.

For example, in the drive system of spindle motors of HDD devices, reduction in rotational pulsation is strongly desired. If the rotational pulsation is large, read or write error occurs, which becomes a great impediment in enhancing the recording density. Furthermore, the rotational pulsation is preferably as small as possible to reduce the noise that HDD devices generate.
Accordingly, in recent years, a technology to make a waveform of driving current of the motor to an ideal sinusoidal current has been the mainstream (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-102447 (Patent Document 1)). In principle, the rotational pulsation can be suppressed by driving the motor by sinusoidal current.
Further, as Driving methods which suppress the rotational pulsation itself, a method of tabling a pulsation pattern in advance and correcting the same (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 11-103588 (Patent Document 2)), a method of estimation calculating a disturbance torque component, which is a factor of pulsation, with an observer and performing a control to cancel such disturbance torque component (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-352789 (Patent Document 3)), and the like have been proposed.


The present disclosure relates to semiconductor structures and, more particularly, to photonics chips and methods of manufacture. A structure includes: a photonics chip having a grated optical coupler; an interposer attached to the photonics chip, the interposer having a grated optical coupler; an optical epoxy material provided between the grated optical coupler of the photonics chip and the grated optical coupler of the interposer; and epoxy underfill material provided at interstitial regions between the photonics chip and the interposer which lie outside of an area of the grated optical couplers of the photonics chip and the interposer.

Silicon photonics chips are being developed for high speed interconnects between dies. Waveguides can be built on SOI wafers and can be integrated with CMOS devices. In these structures, though, a connection must be made between an "off-chip" optical fiber and the waveguide. Out-of-plane coupling uses an optical grating to couple light from the fiber to the waveguide, but this limits the optical signal to one wavelength. In-plane coupling, on the other hand, allows broadband transmission (e.g., multiple wavelengths) and hence higher bandwidth.


A method is shown for handling a slag pot or ladle and pyrometallurgical tools made form steel or cast iron, comprising the steps of spraying a mineral suspension onto a wall and bringing said slag pot or ladle or the pyrometallurgical tool into service, wherein said mineral suspension comprises calcic particles in suspension in an aqueous phase forming a calcic particle milk having a calcic particle content of between 20% and 60% by weight with respect to the weight of said calcic particle milk, said mineral layer being a fine layer.

Typically, the pyrometallurgy industry produces slag, also known as cinders, which floats above the molten metal bath because of its density lower than that of the molten metal.
The slag is collected in various ways. A first technique lies in the tilting of the pot in which it is supernatant above the molten metal bath. The slag may also be collected by raking or by overflowing during tilting.
It is then recovered in slag pots or ladles, which are typically formed from refractory material, cast iron or steel.
In the ferrous metallurgy industry, there are blast-furnace slags and steelworks slags.
Blast-furnace slag is a by-product resulting from the manufacture of cast iron in a blast furnace, where it corresponds to rocks of the iron ore, to which there are added mineral additions and fuel cinders, in particular of coke, of coal and/or alternative fuels. It is therefore separated from the liquid molten iron by difference in density.
The quantity of slag produced corresponds directly to the richness of the iron ore used. For a blast furnace functioning with ores rich in iron, a proportion of 180 to 350 kg of slag for one tonne of cast iron produced is generally achieved.
Steelworks slag comes from pyrometallurgic tools, such as various refining tools such as tools for desulphurisation of cast iron, the converters transforming the cast iron into steel (BOF—basic oxygen furnace), electric furnaces (EAF—electric arc furnaces), stainless-steel refining converters (AOD—argon oxygen decarburisation) and the various tools for secondary metallurgy grading. For a tonne of steel produced, 50 to 150 kg of steelworks stag is produced.
The function of steelworks slag is to collect together the impurities and the undesirable chemical elements. The latter are in the great majority of cases in the form of oxides. They are generally generated during the use of the pyrometallurgy tool concerned.
For this purpose, it is essential to manage its composition so as to make it reactive. A high lime content will for example make the slag capable of capturing the phosphorus oxides at the converter, which makes it possible to envisage reprocessing it as a fertiliser. In ladle metallurgy a high lime content makes the slag basic, which is favourable to the capture of alumina inclusions. However, this slag must also take care of the refractory bricks.
The present invention relates more particularly to the field of the handling of slag pots and ladles but also crucibles and shells, made from steel or cast iron, used in the workshops for preparing metal in ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy.
More particularly, the slag involved in the context of the present invention is steelworks slag or slag from non-ferrous metallurgy.
In the context of the present invention, pots, ladles, crucibles, shells and the like made from steel or cast iron intended to collect the steelworks slag or slag from the metallurgical industry will be referred to simply as "slag pots".
In the metallurgical industry, the handling of slag pots is often entrusted to subcontractors, the slag pots forming part of the fabrication often forming part of the metallurgy industry.
Among other things, during the conveying of the slag pots, for reasons of safety, it is necessary to keep the slag pots above 150° C. in order to prevent any accumulation of water. This is because this would cause explosions when the slag itself is poured at a temperature of more than 1200° C. It is consequently normal practice to heat the slag pots before they are brought into service.
During normal use of slag pots, their temperature remains stable and usually above 250° C. by virtue of the accumulation and retention of the heat coming from the slag. The difference in coefficient of expansion between the slag and the cast iron or steel forming the pot should in fact cause shedding when the temperature of the pot fluctuates. However, during normal use, said temperature does not fluctuate sufficiently to cause shedding. Consequently the formation of a "skull" is promoted. The present invention aims among other things to overcome this lack.
Naturally, the formation of a "skull" is inherent in the process and occurs in all cases. However, it may occur to a greater or lesser extent depending on whether or not the handling method is optimum.
The formation of a "skull" also depends on the steelmaking tool that produced the stag. Some being of a physical or chemical nature more liable than others to form skulls.
In addition, when the cleaning of the slag pots takes a long time and it is necessary to "de-skull" (mechanically remove the layer of skull that adheres to the walls of the slag pot), the slag pots cool significantly following exposure to climatic conditions and to the duration of the "de-skulling" process. It is then necessary to reheat subsequently. However, this heating represents a significant and excessively expensive calorific energy in order to make it possible to return to the optimum temperature ranges around 250° C. Thus, generally, after cleaning, the vessels are reheated to around 150° C. for the safety reasons mentioned above.
At the present time, a mineral layer may be deposited on the internal wall of the slag pots. This solution acts mainly on the formation of intermediate slag phases. For example, this mineral layer deposited may involve the formation of an intermediate slag phase by means of an endothermic reaction that provides a cooling effect, or on the contrary the formation of an intermediate phase with a higher melting point, or act on other effects in relation to a phase transformation, such as by acting on the expansion or on contraction.
These techniques mentioned above use mainly refractory suspensions or mineral suspensions of lime and stag in a mixture. However, these suspensions comprise compounds in a mixture, the composition of which has an impact on the composition of the slag, the chemical properties of which are thus modified, such as for example the basicity (determined by the ratio of the quantity of basic elements to the quantity of acidic elements in the solid fraction), a basicity that is modified by adapting the basicity of the suspension according to the basicity of the slag poured into the slag pot or ladle.
Although these technical solutions involving suspensions are currently considered to be functioning correctly, they are also highly dependent on the chemical composition and the homogeneity of the slag that is poured into the slag pots or ladles. Consequently, as the composition of the slags is frankly not always homogeneous, and as its global composition may also vary from one tool to another or even vary over time for the same tool, the composition of these suspensions must also be adapted, which makes the process particularly complex and highly manual. This is for example described in the document U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,890.
The document U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,890 discloses a pretreatment of the walls of slag pots with refractory materials with an essentially mineral mixture comprising lime, slag fines and water in order to prevent the adhesion of slag to the refractory walls, which destroys the walls of the pot.
In the past, sometimes, suspensions of lime were used in this type of application. Workshops in the metallurgy industry then produced roughly a suspension of lime, which had many drawbacks such as for example low efficacy, a great thickness of cladding on the walls, the presence of residual water in the vessel or in the slag pot, which represents a danger, vary dirty and complex and highly manual applications, and finally, these solutions were very expensive in comparison with poor results obtained in terms of simplification of handling.
The documents JP 2015/094020 and the document JPS 63295456 report for example on treatment with lime suspensions.
For example, the document JP 2015/094020 discloses a treatment of the internal surface of slag pots by spraying a suspension of lime to be used in the process of recycling of hot slags during the implementation of the desulphurisation treatment. The pipe spraying the suspension of lime is connected to a lime-suspension reservoir, in which the lime suspension has a lime concentration of 13.5 to 15% by weight with respect to the total weight of lime suspension. The excess of lime suspension and washing water, both sprayed onto the internal surface of the slag pots, returns to the lime-suspension reservoir.
The document JPS 63295458 also discloses that slaked lime is fed onto the walls of the slag pots in order to facilitate the emptying of slag from the pot, when it is cooled and solidified. However, this document does not disclose any characteristic of the lime, or how, or even in what proportion it is applied to the internal wall of the slag pots. In addition, it does not describe anything with regard to the deposition of slag by tipping. On the contrary, according to this document, the solidification of the slag is awaited in order to be able to remove it from the slag pot or ladle.
As can be seen, the existing techniques use either mineral suspensions the composition of which is complex and requires formulation steps that can be adapted to the composition of the slag, or very coarse and uncontrolled mineral suspensions that are in the end not very effective. There therefore remains a need to procure a handling of slag pots or ladles that is optimised, simple to implement and effective.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for handling a slag pot or ladle and pyrometallurgical tools


A shot dispenser comprises a housing (30), and a chamber (50) having a cap (60). The chamber is movable axially of the housing to open an outlet whereby the contents of the chamber can drain past the base. A tear band (32,33) prevents movement of the chamber until removed.

The present invention relates to a device for dispensing a dose of material, and particularly to a container adapted to dispense into another material, such as a diluent or reactant.
It is known to provide sealed containers of a precise dose of material. Such containers may be used to dispense the dose directly or to dispense the dose into another material to form a mixture. In the first case the dose may comprise a human medicament or a measure of alcoholic beverage. In the second case, the dose may comprise one component of a reactive compound, or a concentrate intended for dilution at the time of use.
A particular problem arises with the packaging of alcoholic beverages, in particular those which comprise a spirit intended for dilution in another liquid, such as gin and tonic. Generally speaking each component is provided separately, either as an individual dose or by way of bulk container. Pre-mixing is unacceptable.
A further difficulty is that a container, such as a glass, must be provided and into which the spirit and diluent is poured. This arrangement requires additional resources, and concentration by the user so as to avoid spillage.
Dispensing containers have been proposed for attachment to the mouth of a bottle, so that manipulation of the container will release the contents thereof into the bottle. Such prior proposals have not been commercially successful.
Similar problems arise in connection with two component reactive materials, such as epoxy resins and the like.
What is required is a dispensing container which is reliable in operation, has a minimum number of components, is inexpensive, and is readily adaptable to existing technology.

Abstract: The dispenser permits mixing of two liquids just prior to use.


A method is provided that can form a clear textural structure image of a processed food or a raw material for the processed. Also, said method can form an image clear enough to clearly discern even an intertwined structure of starches, proteins and lipids of a processed food or a raw material for the processed food. The method includes light-exciting the processed food or the raw material for the processed food which is stained with a fluorescent dye having triphenylmethane skeleton; collecting data about the light-excited processed food or the light-excited raw material using at least three kinds of monitoring lights, that is, a monitoring light A having a fluorescence wavelength of 380 nm or longer and shorter than 450 nm, a monitoring light B having a fluorescence wavelength of 450 nm or longer and shorter than 560 nm, and a monitoring light C having a fluorescence wavelength of 560 nm to 700 nm; and forming an image on the basis of the collected data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming a textural structure image of a processed food or a raw material for the processed food. The present invention also relates to a fluorescent dye used for forming a textural structure image of a processed food or a raw material for the processed food.
2. Description of the Related Art
From the earliest times, a variety of foods have been known, and vast amounts of researches are still underway to meet the demand for tasty foods. This is also true for processed foods—particularly for processed foods derived from a grain, and more particularly for secondary processed foods, such as breads, noodles, cooked rice, confectioneries, and a surface layer of tempuras, whose principal raw material is wheat flour or rice, which opens avenues of study and research for providing savory processed foods to be conducted.
For example, since taste perception and oral perception have a great effect on the taste of foods, taste perception and oral perception of foods have been researched. As a result, particularly for secondary processed foods, it has been considered that taste perception and oral perception of foods are greatly affected by what form of starches, proteins, and lipids (that are accepted to be three major nutrients) exist in the foods.
Conventionally, taste perception and oral perception of foods have been evaluated only through sensory testing by professional panels. In recent years, attempts have been made to form an image (textural structure image) showing the textural structure (tissue structure) of a food using various apparatuses and devices, and to determine taste perception from the thus-displayed textural structure. However, observation of textural structure obtained from using such apparatuses and devices does not always yield satisfactory evaluation results because borders between respective components of food are unclear, and obtained images are planar.
For example, in the case of observation using an electron microscope, the textural structure of a specimen is observed by applying an electron beam to the specimen and then detecting the reflected electrons (scanning electron microscopy). This method enables observation of the specimen at very high resolution. However, since this method does not permit staining of the sample, discriminating specific components is difficult, and thus structural analysis of borders between the components is also difficult. In the case of observation through an optical microscope, the textural structure of a specimen is observed after staining specific components of a slice to obtain the specimen. However, this method also provides unclear borders between the respective components. Multi-staining may be performed to improve the clearness of the borders between the specific components. Such a multi-staining improves color segmentation of the specific components. However, discernment of the textural structure remains virtually impossible because staining specificity of the specific components is low, and dyes overlap the specific components (Non-Patent Document 1).
The method for observing a textural structure of a specimen after staining specific components of a specimen by joint use of fluorescence observation and non-fluorescence observation including phase contrast observation, differential interference observation, and the like provides a very clear image in comparison to the conventional method. However, the method is still unsatisfactory in that, for example, it fails to provide clear discernment of intertwined starches, proteins and lipids (Patent Documents 1 and 2).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2002-323449    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2003-294626    Non-Patent Document 1: Food Histology (p. 213˜). Koseikan Co., Ltd., Tadahiko Hoshino and two others, published Jun. 5, 1998

Method of forming tissue structure image of processed food or raw material for producing the same


Systems and methods providing automated extraction of information contained in video data and uses thereof are described. In particular, systems and associated methods are described that provide techniques for extracting data embedded in video, for example measurement-value pairs of medical videos, for use in a variety of applications, for example video indexing, searching and decision support applications.

Video is being increasingly used in healthcare as part of a patient's medical record for storing a diagnostic scan or recording a medical procedure. Thus, medical videos are often produced and stored during procedures such as cardiac catheterizations and echocardiographic exams. For example, echocardiogram (echo) videos are an important modality for cardiac decision support. In addition to describing the shape and motion of the heart, echo videos capture diagnostic measurements as textual feature-value pairs that are indicators of underlying disease. Some examples of diagnostic measurements embedded in these videos as textual feature-value pairs include area of the left ventricle, the velocity of the Doppler flow jet, and mitral valve area. Given the vast number of patients and medical procedures in a typical hospital group and the amount of these videos, leveraging the information they contain in new and useful ways is important.

Systems and methods for automated extraction of measurement information in medical videos

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention concerns a router for providing isochronous data transfer and asynchronous data transfer on the basis of a predetermined protocol between devices of different network sections connected to the router, when a connection management application executed by the router translates a user request to transfer data from a transmitting device of a first network section to a receiving device of a second network section into commands of the protocol for establishing a first data connection between the transmitting device and the router and a second data connection between the router and the receiving device when the data is transferred from the transmitting device via the established data connections to the receiving device.

The invention relates to a router and a method for providing isochronous data transfer and asynchronous data transfer on the basis of a predetermined protocol between devices of different network sections connected to the router.
Currently, there are commercially available devices that can transmit isochronous audio packets, isochronous video packets and IP-packets from an IEEE 1394-capable device to other IEEE 1394-capable devices that reside on the same IEEE 1394-bus as the transmitting device. IEEE 1394 is also known as firewire. IEEE 1394 is a standard for isochronous and asynchronous data transfer. There are different IEEE data transfer protocols, such as IEEE 1394, IEEE 1394a, IEEE 1394b, IEEE 1394c and IEEE 1394.1.
Devices connected to an IEEE 1394-bus incorporate a non-permanent device identification having n=6 bits. Therefore, current IEEE 1394-networks are limited to 63 devices and there is no isolation of devices to separate buses. All devices connected to an IEEE 1394-bus are exposed to all bus resets within this network section. As a consequence of a bus reset, the device-ID of each device is reset and each device gets a new device-ID. This means that the device-identification of each device in the network section is non-permanent and will change with each bus reset. A bus reset is triggered by any change of the network topology, such as adding a new device to the network.
In IEEE 1394.1 a bridge between IEEE 1394-buses is specified. The specified IEEE 1394.1 bridge does not provide for control over the transmission of asynchronous packets from one bus to another. Since IP-control messages are carried by asynchronous packets, the conventional IEEE 1394.1 bridge as specified does not allow for security measures to be put in place with regard to across bridge control over devices.
The conventional IEEE 1394.1 bridge as specified allows the transfer of isochronous and asynchronous data only if the devices are bridge-aware. Conventional devices are not capable of interpreting messages received from a bridge, such as an IEEE 1394.1-bridge. An IEEE 1394.1-bridge can provide an isochronous and asynchronous data transfer between devices of different network sections connected to the bridge only if the transmitting device which is connected to a first network section and a receiving device which is connected to a second network section are both bridge-aware. However, there is a plurality of devices in the field which are not bridge-aware.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a router and a method allowing isochronous and asynchronous data transfer between devices of different network sections wherein the devices do not have to be able to respond to messages from the router.

U-Man Universal Media Access Networks GmbH

Networked Audio Solutions (proprietary) Limited


An alarm switch operating apparatus for operating a plurality of circuit breaker alarm switches wherein a circuit breaker crossbar is further rotated from a tripped position by a rotation of a latch through a latch receiver during a tripping operation such that an alarm switch actuator is operated by the crossbar and wherein because the insulating bar of the crossbar extends across the left and right poles of the circuit breaker, the plurality of alarm switches are easily provided without damaging the insulation of the alarm switches.

1. The present invention relates to an apparatus for operating an alarm switch incorporated in a compact circuit breaker.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some circuit breakers such as wiring breakers incorporate an alarm switch for sending an alarm signal to a distant place when the circuit breaker performs a tripping operation due to a failure such as short-circuit. In such an alarm switch, a microswitch is used as the switch body and is generally housed in either the left or right pole of the circuit breaker.
In such a conventional circuit breaker configuration, in order to actuate the alarm switch so that it operates when the circuit breaker performs a tripping operation, typically, an alarm switch actuator is provided so as to abut directly on a latch of a central pole portion which is one of the constituent members of a switching mechanism and wherein the alarm switch actuator rotates in response to a spring force of a switching spring. In the alternative, the alarm switch actuator is arranged so as to abut an operating rod connected to the latch so as to project sidewards (for example, see Japanese Utility Model Post-exam. Publication No. 58-24362).
However, the foregoing conventional configurations have the following disadvantages.
In the configuration wherein the alarm switch actuator is arranged so as to abut directly on the latch, it is impossible, in view of the small size of the latch, to provide two alarm switch actuators to abut on the latch at the same time. Therefore, an alarm switch can only be provided on either the left or the right circuit breaker pole and not both.
On the other hand, in the configuration wherein the alarm switch actuator is arranged so as to abut an operating rod which is coupled to the latch, it is possible to provide two alarm switches on one side of the latch if the two alarm switches are aligned side by side in the axial direction with respect to the operating rod. Alternatively, it is possible to provide two alarm switches, one on the left circuit breaker pole and the other on the right circuit breaker pole, if the operating rod is arranged such that it projects left and right. However, in this configuration, the operating rod must extend through a partition between the right and left poles in the body casing so that it can rotate as the latch rotates. Accordingly, a large window must be opened in the partition between the right and left poles thereby making the insulation between the two alarm switches and the conductor at the central pole portion of the circuit breaker difficult to configure. Particularly in the case where two alarm switches are provided on one side of the latch, the insulation of the alarm switch near the central pole also becomes difficult to configure.

Circuit breaker alarm-switch operating apparatus


A traffic collision avoidance system has a transponder with an interrogation monitoring engine for receiving interrogations and an interrogation response engine for inhibiting responses to the interrogations if the interrogations are air traffic control interrogations and the transponder is in a quiet mode. Typically the transponder enters quiet mode during military formation flight if the aircraft in which the transponder is installed is not a tail or lead member of the formation.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to collision avoidance systems.
In order to reduce the risk of midair collisions between aircraft, a system of the type known as a Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) equipment has been installed on many aircraft, such as commercial airline aircraft. In a conventional TCAS system, TCAS provides traffic advisories (TAs) and proximity warnings of nearby aircraft to flight crew, thereby assisting flight crew in seeing aircraft to avoid them. In addition, TCAS, specifically, TCAS II equipment, also provides resolution advisories (RAs), i.e., recommended escape maneuvers, to either increase or maintain vertical separation between aircraft traffic.
To generate TAs and RAs, TCAS equipment transmits radio frequency (RF) interrogation signals. The TCAS equipment then calculates slant range based on replies received from the transponders from other aircraft. Further, the replies may also include altitude information. From several successive replies, the TCAS equipment calculates a closure rate and then calculates a time to reach a closest point of approach (i.e., divide slant range by closure rate). Based on the calculated values, the TCAS equipment generates TAs and RAs to assist the flight crew in avoiding other aircraft.
When aircraft are flown in formation (e.g., military formation flights), the transponder and TCAS equipment, if so equipped, are generally placed in a standby mode so that the transponders do not respond to interrogation. Accordingly, TCAS equipment in aircraft that are not in the formation will not be able to detect aircraft in the formation flight. Likewise, aircraft that are in the formation flight will not be able to detect other aircraft whether or not these other aircraft are in the formation flight. Placing transponders into standby mode during large formation flights is desirable so as to reduce RF interference and to reduce Air Traffic Control (ATC) screen clutter due to a large number of aircraft transponders responding to ATC interrogations simultaneously.
Accordingly, a new system and method for inhibiting transponder replies to ATC interrogations during military formation flight while maintaining all other transponder and TCAS functions is needed.
A system, according to various aspects of the present invention, inhibits transponder replies to some types of interrogations during formation flight. In one embodiment of the invention, the system has a TCAS computer unit (CU) coupled to a transponder. The TCAS CU includes a flight formation detection engine that determines if the host aircraft is in a formation and if so, if the aircraft is not a tail or lead aircraft. If the host aircraft is a not a tail or lead aircraft in a formation flight, the engine also notifies the transponder to inhibit replies.
The transponder comprises an interrogation response engine that responds to all interrogations received. In addition, the response engine receives a command to inhibit replies (e.g., quiet mode command) that is sent by the detection engine. Upon receipt of such a command, the response engine will inhibit certain replies, for example, by responding to interrogations received from other aircraft and ignoring interrogations sent by ATC.
The present invention further provides a method for inhibiting transponder replies to some types of interrogations during formation flight while continuing other transponder functions. The method comprises: receiving an interrogation; classifying the interrogation according to flight formation status and type of interrogation; and responding to the interrogation in accordance with the classification.
Accordingly, by inhibiting transponder replies to ATC interrogations during formation flights and not inhibiting replies to TCAS interrogations, the system and method beneficially reduces ATC screen clutter while also reducing the risk of midair collisions between aircraft.

System and method for inhibiting transponder replies

Aviation Communication and Surveillance Systems LLC


The present invention is directed to an optical coupling device for facilitating the coupling of an optical fiber to an optical waveguide and to a method for fabricating such coupling device. Another aspect of this invention relates to optical fiber to optical waveguide interconnect comprising the coupling device of this invention, and arrays comprising a plurality of such arrays.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an optical coupling device for facilitating the coupling of an optical fiber to an optical waveguide and to a method for fabricating such coupling device. Another aspect of this invention relates to optical fiber to optical waveguide interconnect comprising the coupling device of this invention, and arrays comprising a plurality of such arrays.
2. Description of the Prior Act
Recent developments in the area of optical communications have provided a large number of optical waveguide devices for the control and routing of light. Optical waveguide devices which are created on independent substrates are often referred to as planar integrated optical devices or photonic devices. These devices can be further characterized as passive devices, those which serve only to route the propagation of light along a particular path, and active devices, those which control some function of the propagating light, such as its intensity or polarization, or which dynamically control the path along which the light propagates. However, the propagation of light on a substrate bearing an optical waveguide is usually suitable only for short propagation distances, usually much less than a meter. For longer distance propagation the optical fiber is the medium of choice due to its excellent transmission characteristics and ability to be fabricated in lengths of many kilometers. Therefore, if an optical waveguide device is to be utilized in an optical communication or sensor or distribution system, it is usually required that it be coupled to an optical fiber at least one point, and often at many points, on the substrate, An optical waveguide device which has been coupled to lengths of optical fibers for ease of insertion into an optical fiber system is sometimes referred to as a "pigtailed" waveguide device by those skilled in the art. Light propagates through the core region of optical fibers and these core regions can be as small as a few microns in diameter. Thus, in order that the fiber to waveguide coupling is accomplished in an efficient manner that does not waste most of the light, the alignment of the fiber to the waveguide is of necessity a critical parameter. Numerous articles and methods have been devised in the prior art to provide for efficient coupling of optical fibers to substrates bearing optical waveguide devices. The need for critical alignment tolerances has resulted in a high degree of complexity and cost for these devices and methods of the prior art. There are many descriptions of methods which utilize silicon "V-grooves" as a positioning element, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,174, which make use of the fact that certain crystalline orientations of silicon can be preferentially etched to a high degree of accuracy. This is accomplished by a series of lithographic steps including resist coating and exposure, followed by liquid etching. However, the V-groove, once fabricated, serves only to position the optical fiber relative to the surface of the silicon wafer. It still remains to position the fiber end relative to the waveguide end. This is usually accomplished by micromanipulation of the two components relative to each other followed by fixing the alignment by an optical quality glue. Micromanipulation is an expensive and time consuming operation for use in a manufacturing operation. Alternatively, the V-groove and optical fiber can be positioned relative to the waveguide by the use of additional positioning elements, but these also increase the complexity and therefore cost of the method. Even when the V-groove technique is utilized only to couple two optical fibers to one another, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,126 there are several additional positioning elements required. Also, the V-groove techniques serve to position an optical fiber relative to some surface, such as that of the silicon itself, but the V-groove does not provide any force to retain the optical fiber in position. That is, the optical fiber can easily slip out of the groove unless one or more additional elements are present to provide some retaining force. Typically, a cover plate or a second substrate containing V-grooves is forced down in contact with the optical fibers to hold them in the V-grooves and an optical cement or photopolymer is used to hold the assembly together.
Several methods have been taught in the prior art for creating optical fiber positioning devices on the substrate which also bears a waveguide or integrated optical device. These techniques do serve to reduce the overall number of separate elements which must be assembled to complete the optical fiber to waveguide coupling. However, the techniques still remain complex in manufacture or they lack sufficient retaining force to provide a simple, low-cost, yet effective method of providing such a coupling. U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,440 describes a method wherein waveguides are printed in a plastic film, in which film are subsequently created rectangular grooves, as by excimer laser ablation of the film near the waveguide terminus. Subsequently, the film bearing the waveguide and grooves is laminated on both sides with additional film layers such that the openings of square cross section are created in the plane of the waveguide. The ends of the openings are generally made accessible and smooth by a subsequent microtoming step. The square opening is then filled with a liquid photopolymer adhesive and optical fibers are then admitted into the square opening and fixed in place with a cementing process. This method involves a large number of manufacturing steps such as lamination and excimer laser ablation and is limited to the specific waveguide type of invention, that is, to waveguides created in thin plastic sheets of the same order thickness as the waveguide which can be conveniently notched by methods such as laser ablation. The method does not provide for a convenient method of attaching optical fibers to optical waveguides created on other useful substrates such as semiconductor wafers, polyimide circuit board materials, glass, lithium niobate and other crystalline and ceramic substrates. Neither does it provide for a method of attaching optical fibers to any film except those which are the thickness of the optical waveguide, unless they are supported on another layer which is removable after the notching process, which adds further complexity to the manufacturing process. U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,677 describes a method for providing guides for aligning optical fibers on the surface of a silicon substrate. In this method it is necessary to first grow a layer of glass on the silicon wafer by a soot process wherein a glass precursor is treated by flame hydrolysis to deposit glass particles on the silicon, followed by heating in an electric furnace to consolidate the glass. This layer of glass is then lithographically patterned and etched, as by reactive ion etching (RIE), to form the positioning elements. After formation of these elements, an optical fiber can be inserted between them and fixing is accomplished with an adhesive or by melting the glass with a CO.sub.2 laser beam. This technique involves a great number of processing steps and is limited to substrates which are not damaged by high temperature processes or those which do not contain sensitive electronic devices which would be damaged by an RIE etch. A number of desirable substrates for waveguide devices such as polyimide printed circuit boards and polycarbonate would not be useful for these reasons. Further, like the V-groove techniques, it serves only to position the optical fibers yet provides no rigidity or retaining force to the coupling except through the addition of an adhesive or another high temperature melting process. Several methods for forming fiber optic positioning devices in molded thermoplastics are provided. Japan Kokai Patent 278004 provides for optical fiber guide grooves of approximately triangular cross section by a method of compression molding a thermoplastic resin in a die. This essentially provides a die-molded plastic version of a silicon V-groove. While eliminating the need for a lithographic etch to produce the V-grooves, the remaining drawbacks of the technique remain. Thus the need to align the V-grooves to the waveguide is still present and the need for additional elements to hold the fiber optics into the V-grooves still exists and is taught in Kokai Patent 278004. Japan Patent Publication 254404 further teaches hybrid optical circuits formed by die-molding an inorganic glass or a plastic resin. The result is a substrate bearing positioning elements for optical devices and optical fibers such as with U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,677, but without the need to deposit a soot layer and etch. However, the shape of the optical fiber holding channel must be such that the dimension of the top is equal to or larger than the bottom, or it will be difficult or impossible to release the substrate from the die mold. Japan Patent Publication 254404 teaches that release from the mold is made easier if the holding blocks are made V-shape or trapezoid shape with the top of the channel larger than the bottom of the channel. Thus again, this method partially solves the problem of positioning an optical fiber relative to a waveguide, but does not provide for a secure retaining force on the fiber. In all of these prior art methods, some force must be applied to hold the optical fiber within the positioning grooves. Further, if a liquid optical cement or photoactive monomer or optical matching fluid is introduced to the coupling region it will wet between the optical fiber and the wall of the positioning groove by the force of capillary action. This will serve to float the fiber within the groove and thus misalign it with the waveguide, unless the secondary element is present to hold the optical fiber down within the groove with a greater force. The methods of die molding a plastic resin suffer the additional drawback of the necessity of maintaining the die free of any contamination. If the grooves in the master die which will form the waveguide or the positioning elements become contaminated on repeated use, the error will be faithfully repeated on each successive molding, and prevent accurate optical fiber positioning. Finally, in the die mold method of Japan Patent Publication No. 254404, the substrate, waveguide and positioning elements are formed together from the same material. This precludes the ability to position optical fibers to waveguides created on other desirable substrates such as silicon wafers, lithium niobate wafers and printed circuit boards, and limits the choice of waveguide material to the class of die-moldable plastics and glasses.
Thus, the need remains for devices and methods which allow for simple, accurate positioning of optical fibers to optical waveguides on a variety of desirable substrates, which do not require many additional manufacturing steps or positioning elements or elaborate alignment by micromanipulator and which provide a secure retaining force to the optical fiber without the need for additional elements held in place by optical adhesives or thermal heat treatments.

Polymer microstructures which facilitate fiber optic to waveguide coupling


A printer with an elongated media output port is disclosed. The printer may be used for a digital tachograph of a motor vehicle. The printer includes at least one bearing surface which limits the media output in the transverse direction and along which the printing medium slides during output. The boundary conditions for the operation of a small-format printer in a digital tachograph of a motor vehicle makes it necessary that the media output port has to be sealed off against the ingress of harmful media. Therefore, the media output port includes an elongate sealing closure which is movable in the transverse direction and presses elastically against the bearing surface by a sealing feed guide. The printing medium is capable of being outputted between the bearing surface and the sealing closure in an output direction.

The invention relates to a printer with an elongate media output port, in particular for a digital tachograph of a motor vehicle, with at least one bearing surface which delimits the media output port in the transverse direction and along which the printing medium slides during output. In addition, a printing method for a printer of the abovementioned type is the subject of the invention.
Printers of the abovementioned type are, in particular, small-format appliances, such as are provided, for example, at check-out workstations or in automatic banking machines for the printing of receipts. The media stock is in this case usually wound up on a roll, and printed portions can be separated from the media stock by means of a tear-off edge.
Requirements unknown hitherto confront development in the use of a printer in the future generation of tachographs, the digital tachograph, in which a chip card is employed, instead of the chart used hitherto, for recording the data specific to the driver's workstation. One possibility for outputting the recorded data is to print out the relevant data onto a paper strip by means of a built-in printer. According to the hazardous substance regulations/roads (GGVS), an appliance built into the vehicle in this way must conform to protection class IP 54,and the printer and also its media output port must correspondingly be splashproof under specific conditions.


A particle sorting cell (10) comprises a cavity (12), an inlet (16) of a fluid flow (14) into the cavity, a first outlet (18) of a first part (22) of the fluid flow out from the cavity and a second outlet (20) of a second part (24) of the fluid flow out from the cavity. The second outlet is displaced from the first outlet in a first direction (Y) transverse to the flow direction (X). An acoustic generator (40) is arranged to apply an acoustic standing wave. The standing wave is transverse to the flow direction as well as to the first direction. A controller (42) is arranged to control a selective operation of the acoustic generator in dependence of an input data signal (44) associated with a particle (32) comprised in the fluid flow. The particle (32) can selectively be separated into the first outlet or the second outlet.

In many microbiological procedures, there is a need for separating different types of particles, typically cells, from each other. There are e.g. large scale fluorescence-activated cell sorters, FACS, offering cell throughputs of even up to 20000 particles per second. However, such equipment is complex, expensive and requires well-educated operators. The environment for the particles to be sorted is often also quite tough. In applications when the throughput is not the most crucial parameter, smaller, less complex and less expensive solutions would be to prefer. Such small scale solutions also enable integration with other microfluidic modules to enable several tasks in so called lab-on-a-chip solutions.
There is a number of small scale particle sorter equipments proposed, typically intended as on-chip arrangements. Some techniques rely on physical differences between the particles, so-called label-less sorting. However, since the sorting is dependent on the actual particle properties, such approaches are not generally applicable to all types of particles. One example of a label-less separation method based on acoustic forces on particles in a stationary wave is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,750. In the published international patent application WO 2004/024287, an apparatus for directing particles in a fluid to a plane surface boundary is disclosed. An ultrasound standing wave with a single pressure node is utilized to move the particles towards a pressure node or anti-node along the standing wave.
A similar technique is utilized in the published U.S. patent application 2006/0163166 to separate particles that are differently responsive to such standing waves.
Another group of techniques are called labelled techniques, where the particles of interest are labelled at some stage. A typical example of such a label is a fluorescent substance selectively attached to the particles of interest. In the stream of particles, the labelling is detected and a successive sorting makes use of the detection information and some switch is used to displace the particles accordingly. The switching can be performed by different techniques, either moving the particles or the fluid which contains the particles. Non-exclusive examples are hydro-dynamical switching, optical sorting, electro-kinetic sorting and magnetic sorting.
Prior art micro-sorting methods have different disadvantages. Some of them expose the particles for incautious handling, e.g. high electrical fields, high optical intensity or heat. Other methods put severe demands on e.g. the fluids in which the particles are transported, e.g. electrokinetic methods, which make integration with other systems difficult. Further other methods involve movable puts, which may be sources for clogging.


A web wrap apparatus is provided and has a brake device that exerts pressure on a roll of a web material. In order to exert pressure even after the web material is cut, the brake device is locked by a retainer once the web is separated and is released by a feeder, when moving from a home position to a web feed position.

EP 2 044 830 A1 discloses a wrapping means tensioning device having a control arm and a brake arm, both being pivotally connected to one another and pivoting as a unit about an axis. The brake arm presses on a net roll to achieve a certain tension in the net during the wrapping process. The free end of the control arm is applied by the net and is deflected by it even more as the tension in the net increases. As a result, the pressing force onto the web roll will disappear, once the net is cut.
The problem this invention is based on is seen in the fact, that the net roll continues with its rotation even after the net is cut, which results in net being wound off the roll and being apt to create a net curl.