An ultrasonic transmitter system(s) and method(s) are described having location and tracking capabilities. The transmitter's, by using ultra sound and encoded micro-modulation, are able to provide enhanced longevity and reliability. A maze algorithm is devised that further provides discrimination of false detections, versus true detections, and no detection.

Personnel or asset location systems are routinely used in manufacturing and hospital environments. However, with increasing concerns for security and inventory control, such systems have progressed beyond typical manufacturing and hospital environments to other areas such as, for example, government and corporate environments.
In order to provide accurate location of the tracked object, a transmitter is commonly attached to the object. The transmitter stores information regarding the object's characteristic and routinely, or upon prompting, using various transmission methodologies transmits, for example, radio, ultrasonic, or optical signals to various receivers located within the tracking environment. Based on either time-difference of arrival information or other methods a locator system can be developed. However, problems with reliability, power consumption, signal interference, and the like have plagued conventional systems.
For example, location systems using radio frequency transmitters are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,295 by Gaisser et al., for tracking of hospital patients. The Gaisser system has the disadvantage that it requires, in addition to the radio frequency (RF) signal, an infrared signal to accurately locate objects within the tracking environment. Also, RF waves are very directional and in steel buildings require multiple receivers due to reflections and ghosting. Also radio frequency signals are easily contaminated with ambient electronic noise such as motors starting, fluorescent lights, computers, and low power communication systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,314 to Linwood et al. discloses a tracking system using a light based transmitter, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,195 to Heller et al. uses light, such as infrared transmitted signals, to determine the location of a tracked object. However, infrared based location systems suffer from narrow beam widths and beam blockage. Also, infrared radiation is known to go through glass windows and, therefore, transmitters using infrared radiation can "leak" into other rooms or locations resulting in false locations.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,320 to Ward describes a personnel location system using ultrasonic transducers using unique frequencies to identify the tracked person. U.S. Pat. No. 3,805,265 to Lester discloses a location system using any one of radiant waves such as light waves, acoustic waves, ultrasonic waves, or microwaves, which are carried and transmitted from a central console to track a particular person. However, Lester describes a chained network of transducers conveying location signals from one cell to the next to arrive at the central console. Multiple frequencies are used to distinguish each transmitter from member transmitters, the transmitters acting as transceivers for each link in the chain.
Despite the various methods used above for tracking or locating objects within an environment, each of the above systems suffer from disadvantages such as for example, an excessive size, short battery life, interference, mislocation, and/or false location reads. Therefore, there has been a long standing need in the tracking field for a locating system that at least to some extent overcomes the limitations described above.


A climbing tree stand includes upper and lower support assemblies for aiding an operator in climbing a tree and for supporting the operator in the tree. The upper and lower assemblies are attached to the trunk of the tree by straps that wrap around the trunk, and by cleats that are pressed into the trunk by the cantilevered weight of the assemblies. The upper assembly provides upper and lower seating positions for the operator. In both seating positions, the operator's weight is suspended below where the cleat engages the trunk of the tree. The upper seating position, which positions the operator's seat well above a railing provided by the upper assembly, is most advantageous for bow hunting. The lower seating position puts the operator's seat below the railing, allowing the operator to rest a gun on the railing when gun hunting. The stand has wheels attached to the lower assembly, and may be converted into a game cart by attaching the upper and lower assemblies together.

It is well understood by deer hunters that an advantage may be gained by elevating themselves well above the deer, such as up in a tree. When the hunter is in an elevated position, a deer is less likely to see or smell the hunter. The elevated position also gives the hunter a better view of the approaching deer, and often times, a better shooting angle.
Although there are several commercially-available devices that aid a hunter in climbing a tree, and in supporting the hunter while in the tree, these known devices are lacking in several respects. Many of the devices are unsafe, in that they may lose their grip on the tree if the hunter shifts his weight in one direction or another. Many of the devices do not offer the hunter the flexibility of sitting or standing, or of choosing the height of the sitting position relative to the device structure. Most of the devices are unwieldy and difficult to use.
Therefore, what is needed is a climbing tree stand that provides safety, flexibility, and ease of use.


A flexible magnetic data storage disk with a ferromagnetic surveillance ring-shaped marker integrally bonded to the disk substrate around the central aperture. A series of slits are formed in the disk substrate under the marker to serve as "tear initiators" if a user attempts to remove the surveillance marker thus rendering the disk unusable and thereby protecting the data on the disk from unauthorized removal from a secure area.

Article surveillance systems that work on the principle of detecting the presence of a particular form of ferromagnetic material in a periodically changing low level magnetic field are well known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,136 illustrates a representative system of this type in which an article to be protected against unauthorized removal from a defined area, such as a store or library, has a marker attached to it that has in it a strip of low coercivity ferromagnetic material of high permeability. When the article, with the marker attached, is brought into an interrogation zone in which the low level periodically changing magnetic field is applied via a radiating antenna located at the edge of the zone, the presence of the strip modifies the pattern of the applied field, generating magnetic sub-fields at harmonics of the fundamental frequency of the applied field. These harmonic fields are picked up by a receiving antenna also located at the edge of the interrogation zone and fed to a receiver where they are detected and used to trigger an alarm to signal the unauthorized removal of the article. Other representative examples of ferromagnetic marker systems of this general type are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,665,449; 3,747,086; 3,820,104 and 4,710,752.
There is a recognized need for surveillance systems to provide corresponding security protection for computer disk magnetic media. With the proliferation in business and government of personal computers and the ready portability and easy concealability of the miniature data disks used by these computers it is important to provide article surveillance sensor systems for flexible computer data storage disks that ensure that sensitive data is not lost or compromised intentionally or unintentionally by unauthorized removal from secure areas in which the data is normally used. While non-magnetic marker systems are available for surveillance purposes and would have the advantage of not interfering with the magnetic media of data disks, they are generally not physically suited to the miniature size and slim geometries of conventional 5.25" and 3.5" flexible data disks employed with personal computers.
One proposal for a surveillance system for flexible magnetic data disks involves the attachment of a low coercivity, high magnetic permeability ferromagnetic marker strip to an inside surface of the jacket in which the disk is housed. This, however, would allow the system to be easily defeated by removing the disk from the jacket and reinserting it into another, non-protected jacket with the data on the disk still intact.
An improved form of surveillance protection for computer data disks is disclosed in the commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,625. As described in this patent, a band of preferably amorphous ferromagnetic marker material is integrally formed directly on the data disk about the central aperture of the disk and concentric therewith. This has the advantage that the disk itself bears the surveillance marker thus eliminating the ability to defeat the protection by removing the disk from the jacket. Moreover, by integrally forming the marker on the disk substrate, as by adhesive or ultrasonic bonding, any attempts to remove the marker will have a tendency to damage the disk thus effectively protecting the data on the disk from unauthorized removal from a secure area. While advantageous for this purpose, it has been found that extremely cautious removal of the marker, for example with the aid of a razor blade, can be effective, in some cases, to remove the marker without damaging the disk sufficiently to make the disk unusable, thus circumventing one of the purposes of integrally bonding the marker to the disk.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improved article surveillance protection for a computer data disk, and more specifically for a flexible disk.

Article surveillance protection of flexible magnetic computer data storage disks


The object of the present invention is to provide method for discriminating between liver cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis by serodiagnosis using a simple enzyme immunoassay method without performing histopathological examinations by biopsy and so forth.. The present invention discloses an enzyme immunoassay method for cholinesterase using monoclonal antibody, a method for detecting Aleuria aurantia lectin-reactive cholinesterase using monoclonal antibody and Aleuria aurantia lectin, and a method for discriminating between liver cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis on the basis of those results.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for measuring total cholinesterase in, for example, serum; a method for measuring Aleuria aurantia lectin-reactive cholinesterase in, for example, serum; and an in vitro diagnostic method for distinguishing liver cirrhosis, liver carcinoma and hepatitis using those methods.
2. Related Art
Two types of cholinesterase exist in the body that differ in terms of enzymological properties, physiological function and distribution in the body. Namely, the first is acetylcholinesterase (E.C.22.214.171.124), which specifically breaks down acetylcholine, exists in a large amount in erythrocytes, neural tissue, muscle and so forth, and is distributed in relation to these physiological functions. The other is cholinesterase (also referred to as pseudocholinesterase or butylcholinesterase) (E.C.18.104.22.168), which acts on cholines, such as benzoylcholine and butylcholine, exists in a large amount in the serum and liver, is produced in the liver, and the physiological action of which is considered to most likely be involved with the neuromuscular system.
At present, the cholinesterase that is frequently measured in clinical laboratory examinations is cholinesterase in serum (pseudocholinesterase or butylcholinesterase). This enzyme is a glycoprotein having a molecular weight of approximately 340,000 and is composed of four identical subunits. Each subunit is composed of 574 amino acids and has nine asparagine-coupled carbohydrate chains. Clinically, a decrease in its activity, as determined by measuring this enzyme, has significance in terms of determining the degree of functional impairment the liver parenchyma in liver disease, and particularly chronic liver parenchymal disorders such as liver cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis. Since serum cholinesterase is produced in liver parenchymal cells, its decrease indicates a chronic functional decrease of liver cells. In addition, acute decreases in cholinesterase activity are observed in cases of poisoning by organic phosphorous-based agricultural chemicals, measurement of the activity of this enzyme is indispensable in these cases. In addition, increases in the activity of this enzyme are observed prominently in nephrotic syndromes.
In the past, measurement of cholinesterase was performed by various methods including a thiocholine method, wherein thiocholine released by cholinesterase is measured by coloring it with an SH group assay reagent using the synthetic substrates of acetylthiocholine, propionylthiocholine and butylthiocholine; a UV method wherein a direct decrease in substrate is measured in the form of the reduction in absorbance of the ultraviolet using benzylcholine as the substrate; a pH colorimetric method wherein an organic acid produced by cholinesterase is measured using a pH indicator; and an enzyme method (cholinoxidase method) wherein the hydrogen peroxide produced during specific decomposition of choline by cholinesterase is measured with a coloration system using benzoylcholine as the substrate and cholinoxidase and peroxidase as cooperative enzymes.
In addition, ever since the development of technology for producing monoclonal antibodies by G. Kohler and C. Milstein in 1975 (Nature, Vol. 256, p. 495, 1975), numerous monoclonal antibodies have been prepared for various antigens. The use of monoclonal antibodies has proceeded in the fields of in vitro diagnostic drugs, in vivo diagnostic drugs, therapeutic drugs and affinity purification reagents. Some of these have already reached the level of practical application, while research and development are being actively conducted, on others, to reach practical application.
Monoclonal antibodies to cholinesterase have also been produced. Examples of methods that have already been reported include a method wherein cholinesterase is measured by an enzyme immunoassay method using immobilized polyclonal antibody to cholinesterase and monoclonal antibody to cholinesterase (A. Broch, et al., J. Clin. Chem. Clin. Biochem., Vol. 28, p. 222, 1990), and a method wherein cholinesterase is measured by an enzyme immunoassay method using immobilized monoclonal antibody to cholinesterase and polyclonal antibody to cholinesterase (M. Whittaker, et al., Hum. Hered, Vol. 40, p. 153, 1990).
Aleuria aurantia lectin is a protein that is free of carbohydrate chains prepared from Aleuria aurantia. It contains large amounts of serine and glycine, has a molecular weight of 72,000 and has subunits having a molecular weight of 31,000. It has one carbohydrate binding site per subunit. It has affinity for L-fucose as a -monosaccharide. The lectin binds with .alpha.1.fwdarw.2 L-fucose and .alpha.1.fwdarw.3 L-fucose residues, and binds strongly with a carbohydrate chain having an .alpha.1.fwdarw.6 L-fucose residue.
Recently, a serum was treated by chromatography using an affinity column on which Aleuria aurantia was immobilized (T. Ohkura and T. Hada et al.) When this column was used to measure the enzyme activity of Aleuria aurantia lectin-reactive cholinesterase retained on the column and to determine the ratio of that cholinesterase to the total enzyme activity of cholinesterase originally present in the serum, that ratio was indicated as being significantly higher in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and liver cirrhosis than in patients with chronic hepatitis and normal controls (Cancer Research, Vol. 54, p. 55, 1994). In addition, there is no other method at present for diagnosing liver cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis than by performing histological examinations of liver tissue specimens obtained by biopsy or operation, thus causing a considerable burden on patients.

Method for measuring cholinesterase and method for distinguishing between liver cirrhosis and hepatitis


Example systems and methods of context-driven information access are presented. In one example, a request for information concerning an application is received from a user device employing the application. Also received from the user device is context information related to execution of the application. Based on the request and the context information, information concerning the application is retrieved. The information concerning the application is then transmitted to the user device while the user device is employing the application. In some examples, this information may also be shared among other user devices.

Software application users often encounter issues, such as cryptic error messages, unclear interface specifications, and so on, with one or more applications they are utilizing. At times, the documentation supplied with an application, whether in hardcopy or electronic form, may be incorrect, or at least may not provide enough detail to alleviate these issues.
As a result, a user may consult any number of online, web-based sources available over the Internet, such as online user communities or chat forums associated with the application of interest, customer support websites operated by the provider of the application (e.g., support web pages providing preexisting documentation), and the like. In some situations, the user may be able to retrieve helpful information that already exists from these online resources. If such preexisting information is not available, the user may pose a question to a website, community forum, or the like, to which the initiating user hopes to receive a response from another user that helps the user solve the issue. In these examples, the other user may ask the initiating user some targeted queries to determine more about the initiating user's particular application environment. Moreover, a dialog may occur between the two users, resulting in a potential solution to the initiating user's issue.
In yet other examples, a user may call a customer support phone line operated by the provider of the application to provide information regarding the issue involved in the hope that the customer support representative may be able to provide the user some information leading to resolution of the problem.
In each of the above scenarios, resolution of the issue may require a significant amount of time and effort of the user and other parties involved.

Context-driven application information access and knowledge sharing


A method of fabricating vertical sidewalls on silicon (110) substrates for use in Si/SiGe photodetectors includes preparing a silicon (110) layer wherein the silicon (110) plane is parallel to an underlying silicon wafer surface. Masking the silicon (110) layer with mask sidewalls parallel to a silicon (111) layer plane and etching the silicon (110) layer to remove an un-masked portion thereof, leaving a patterned silicon (110) layer having vertical silicon (111) sidewalls. Removing the mask; growing SiGe-containing layers on the patterned silicon (110) layer; and fabricating a photodetector.

Photo detecting in the near infrared regime, i.e., having a wavelength of between 0.7 μm to 2 μm, has many applications, such as in fiber-optic communication, security applications, machine vision and night vision imaging. Although III-V compound semiconductors provide superior optical performance over their silicon-based counterparts, the compatibility of silicon based materials with current silicon-IC technology provides the possibility of making cheap, small and highly integrated optical systems. The following references provide additional background for the invention: Maiti et al., Strained Silicon Heterostructures: Materials and Devices, Chapter 10: Si/SiGe Optoelectronics, The Institution of Electrical Engineer, 2001; Murtaza et al., Room Temperature Electroabsorption in GexSi1-x PIN Photodiode, IEEE Trans. on Electron Devices, 2297-2300, Vol. 41, No. 12, 1994; Tashiro et al., A Selective Epitaxial SiGe/Si Planar Photodetector for Si-Based OEICs, IEEE Trans. on Electron Devices, 545-550, Vol. 44, No. 4, 1997; Vonsovici et al., Room Temperature Photocurrent Spectroscopy of SiGe/Si p-i-n Photodiodes Grown by Selective Epitaxy, IEEE Trans. on Electron Devices, 538-542, Vol. 45, No. 2, 1998; and Jones et al., Fabrication and Modeling of Gigahertz Photodetectors in Heteroepitaxial Ge-on-Si using Graded Buffer Layer Deposited by Low Energy Plasma Enhanced CVD, IEDM, 2002.
Silicon photodiodes are widely used as photodetectors for visible light due to their low dark current and compatibility with silicon IC technologies. The use of Si1-xGex (SiGe) alloys in silicon processing permits photo detection operating in the 0.8 μm to 1.6 μm wavelength regime.
SiGe alloys have larger lattice constants than pure silicon, thus, the epitaxial growth of SiGe on silicon has a critical thickness, above which the film begins to relax by the nucleation of dislocations. The critical thickness of SiGe depends on the germanium concentration and device process temperature. Houghton, Strain relaxation kinetics in Si1-xGex/Si heterostructures, J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 780, No. 4, 1991.
A high germanium concentration and high device process temperature result in a smaller critical thickness. In common practice, the SiGe critical thickness is in the range of few hundred angstroms to a maximum of a couple thousand angstroms. Once the SiGe thickness is grown above its critical thickness, lattice defects in SiGe are inevitable. An IR photo detector built on SiGe containing lattice defects will have a high dark current and produce electronic noise.
Quantum efficiency is the number of electron-hole pairs generated per incident photon and is a parameter for photo detector sensitivity. The quantum efficiency is defined as:η=(Ip/q)/(Popt/hν)  (1)where Ip is the photo-generated current by the absorption of incident optical power Popt at the light frequency ν, where q is the electron charge, and h is Planck's constant.
One of the key factors that determines the quantum efficiency is the absorption coefficient, α. Silicon has a cutoff wavelength of about 1.1 μm and is transparent to wavelengths beyond ˜1.2 μm. The SiGe absorption edge shifts to the red with increasing germanium mole fraction and is shown in FIG. 1. The absorption coefficient of SiGe alloy is small and the critical thickness limits the absorbing layer thickness. The major aim of SiGe based photo detectors is to achieve high quantum efficiency and integration with existing silicon electronics.
One way to increase the optical path and improve the quantum efficiency is to illuminate the edge of the photo detector with light so that the light propagates parallel to the heterojunction (SiGe/Si) interfaces. However, this does not allow the device to be used in image detection. Growing strained, defect-free SiGe films or SiGe/Si multilayer structures on the sidewalls of etched silicon structures has been disclosed by Lee et al., Surface-Normal Optical Path Structure for Infrared Photodetection, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0136637-A1, published Jun. 23, 2005; and Tweet et al., Vertical Optical Path Structure for Infrared Photodetection, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0153474-A1, published Jul. 14, 2005. In devices incorporating the technology described in the two preceding references, illumination of the device is normal to the silicon substrate, however, light travels parallel to the heterojunction interface to increase the optical path length. Therefore, two-dimensional IR image detection may be achieved within thin SiGe or SiGe/Si film thicknesses.
Fabrication of high quality, defect-free strained SiGe films requires SiGe growth on a defect-free silicon surface. However, referring to FIG. 2, reactive ion-etching (RIE) of silicon usually results in a sloped sidewall, shown generally at 10, and in poor crystal quality near the sidewall surface, as shown generally at 12, where a damaged area of silicon is formed near an RIE-etched sidewall. Also, the surface is often rather rough. Ideally, these defects may be cured by use of a selective etch, which etches the desired sidewall crystal plane more slowly than it does other planes. For various kinds of silicon device fabrication, silicon substrates having a (001) plane parallel to the wafer surface are most commonly used. Etching of a trench in this substrate renders the sidewalls parallel to the (110) planes or (100) planes, depending on the azimuthal rotation of the wafer. Making these sidewalls more vertical requires a selective etch, which etches the (110) or (100) planes, respectively, more slowly than other planes. However, such an etch process is not known in the prior art. Instead, there are well-known selective etches which etch the (111) plane much more slowly than other planes.
One way around this problem is to change the substrate to one with the silicon (110) plane parallel to the wafer surface, Liu et al., Multi-Fin Double-Gate MOSFET Fabricated by using (110)-Oriented SOI wafers and Orientation-Dependent Etching, Electrochemical Society Proceedings, vol. 2003-06, 566 (2003). Then, the sidewall plane may be silicon (111) or any other related, equivalent orthogonal plane. Liu et al. used a 2.38% tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution to etch vertical sidewalls and form a silicon fin structure with rectangular cross-section on silicon-on-insulator wafers. These were then used to fabricate silicon-FINFET (FIN Field-Effect Transistor) devices. Liu et al. report that TMAH etches (110) planes 23-25 times faster than silicon (111) planes. In addition, the use of a selective wet etch instead of RIE results in undamaged crystalline silicon at the sidewall surfaces.

Fabrication of vertical sidewalls on (110) silicon substrates for use in Si/SiGe photodetectors


An apparatus for separating water from oil-based drilling fluid includes an separation tank, a chemical treatment apparatus having one or more de-oiling polymer preparation tanks, and a dissolved air flotation unit. Slop mud is directed into the separation tank where surfactant is added to separate the drilling fluid from oily water. The drilling fluid is drained for further processing. The oily water is removed by an outlet arrangement from the separation tank and directed to an initial treatment line. One or more de-oiling polymers are added to the oily water in the initial treatment line and mixed therewith. The mixture may then be directed to the dissolved air flotation unit where dissolved air is released into the bottom of the mixture. The dissolved air adheres to suspended solids in the mixture and lifts them to the top surface as a froth. The froth is skimmed from the top surface of the mixture and collected. The de-frothed water is reused or directed to a filtration system where it is prepared for discharge. A clarifying tank may be included after the de-oiling polymers are added to further separate the oil and water. The oil is removed from the top surface by a weir while the water is directed to the filtration system and discharged.

As a result of rigorous environmental regulations shifting towards zero-discharge, drilling wastes are the focus of attention in the oil and gas exploration industry. Drilling with oil-base mud (OBM) or synthetic-base mud (SBM) generates waste streams often referred to as "slop mud" or "slop water." "Slop water" or "slop mud" are among the significant waste streams from exploration and development activities. Slop water or slop mud is a waste stream which is produced when an oil/synthetic/diesel-based drilling fluid becomes contaminated with water. These waste streams are byproducts of cleaning the drill floor, shaker room, pump room and other areas where spillage and interfaces during displacement occur. Contamination can also take place during boat cleaning operations, pit cleaning and other similar operations.
After contamination, the drilling fluid may contain 50 to 90% loosely emulsified water and 10 to 50% non-aqueous drilling fluid. This affects the properties of the drilling fluid by lowering the oil-water ratio (OWR), increasing viscosity, decreasing emulsion stability and ultimately forming an unusable drilling fluid. Hydrocarbon contamination renders these slops ineligible for overboard discharge. This unusable mud is typically sent for disposal or reconditioning. For operators, these volumes add up to enormous disposal expenses and represent a potentially expensive environmental issue.
In addition to good fluid design and solids-control equipment to help reduce the amount of waste generated, current separation processes exist to treat slop water/mud waste streams by breaking the weakly emulsified water phase and recovering the OBM/SBM so that mud can be reused without incurring the cost of expensive reconditioning and at the same time reduce the amount of waste generated. Currently, these slop wastes are pumped into treatment tanks where appropriate chemicals (demulsifiers) are added to separate the water from the drilling fluid. The demulsifier treatment concentration ranges from 2 to 4% by volume. The primary goal of this form of slop separation is to break only the weakly emulsified water phase and recover the oil/synthetic/diesel-based drilling fluid. The objective is to leave the OBM/SBM intact, so the mud can be reused with minimal reconditioning. The separation process lasts from 8 to 24 hours.
Once separation has occurred, the separated constituents (drilling fluid and water) are transferred to separate holding/treatment vessels. The recovered water is treated (flocculation and filtration) to local charge standards, if possible. If it cannot be discharged, it must be reused.
It would be an improvement to the art to have a system that includes a chemical technology that decreases the time required for phase separation and increases the quantity of water recovered. It would be a further improvement to the art to treat slop mud and clean/polish recovered water to make it dischargeable without further treatment. A shorter separation time could radically increase the quantity of slop processed. Increase in the phase separation efficiency would improve the drilling fluid OWR. Reducing the concentration of the water-soluble surfactant consumed would likewise reduce the organics in the recovered water and ease the downstream polishing of the water to meet discharge criteria. Too much shear can cause the separated water to re-emulsify back into the slop. A more effective surfactant/mixing technology would reduce the likelihood of re-emulsification. Current water treatment practices necessitate frequent changing of filter cartridges, which is expensive, labor intensive and time consuming.

Apparatus for separation of water from oil-based drilling fluid and advanced water treatment


I came up with the idea of the “Three-in-One Car Seat” because of the benefits and convenience for both parents and children. Now parents do not need to carry a car seat, a potty, and a booster seat when on the go. Some of the benefits of this car seat includes: keeping your child on track during potty training, safe from dangerous germs and bacteria (such as e-coli) found in public restrooms, as well as the convenience of having a potty ready for your child whenever he/she needs it, because everything needed can now be housed in one unit. It also comes in a handy for older kids too. This car seat takes a child from car seat, booster seat, potty training and beyond!

Child safety seats are designed for use in automobiles to protect children from injury. The seats typically provide a passive restraint for the child and are secured to the seat belt assembly or some fixed point in the automobile.
One of the disadvantages of existing child safety seats is that when an infant is placed in the seat during a long trip, the infant must be taken out of the seat to be changed whenever the infant goes potty.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,737, issued to Hodge, on Nov. 1, 1994 discloses a convertible multi-functional seat apparatus. This seat apparatus also includes a seat on the cover supported on the seat for movement between a first position adjacent to the seat in which the cover overlies and conceals the opening and a second position remote from the seat in which the covers displaced from and exposes the opening. The potty assembly is disposed in the opening and supported by an internal rim of the seat forming the opening therein. The potty assembly includes a replaceable plastic bag and an annular retainer rings supporting the bag about a peripheral edge portion thereof in the opening by the internal rim of the seat.


A multi-spectrum, multi-channel imaging spectrometer includes two or more input slits or other light input devices, one for each of two or more input channels. The input slits are vertically and horizontally displaced, with respect to each other. The vertical displacements cause spectra from the two channels to be vertically displaced, with respect to each other, on a single image sensor on a stationary image plane. The horizontal displacements cause incident light beams from the respective input channels to strike a convex grating at different respective incidence angles and produce separate spectra having different respective spectral ranges. A retroflective spectrometer includes a convex grating that, by diffraction, disperses wavelengths of light at different angles and orders approximately back along an incident light beam. A single concave mirror reflects both the input channel and the dispersed spectrum. A prism, set of mirrors, beam splitters or other optical element(s) folds the input channel(s) of a spectrometer to enable the input(s) to be moved away from the plane of the image sensor, thereby enabling a large camera or other device to be attached to the spectrometer without blocking the input(s). A mounting mechanism enables a curved optical element to be adjusted through lateral and transverse translations, without requiring a gimbal mount.

The present invention relates to imaging spectrometers and, more particularly, to compact, multi-channel and/or multi-spectrum imaging concentric spectrometers.
A spectrometer is an instrument that separates radiation, such as light, into a spectrum of energy bands (wavelengths) and indicates the relative intensity of each band. In the case of visible light, a spectrometer typically separates the light into a spectrum that ranges from violet (short wavelength) light to red (long wavelength) light.
Analyzing a spectrum of electromagnetic energy that is reflected from, or emitted by, an object can assist in identifying the chemical composition or physical properties of the object. For example, spectrometers are used in astronomy to analyze the chemical composition of stars. In another example ("Raman laser spectroscopy"), an object is illuminated by a laser. The laser light excites atoms of the object, and these atoms emit light of a wavelength, or several wavelengths, different than the laser light. Comparing the wavelength of the laser light with the wavelength(s) of the emitted light can assist in identifying the chemical composition of the object. Raman and other laser spectroscopy techniques are used to analyze minerals and geological samples, semiconductor wafers, process manufacturing samples and chemicals, such as suspected biological or chemical warfare agents. In another example of spectral analysis, scanning a scene, such as a scene viewed from a reconnaissance aircraft or a satellite, with a spectrometer can be used to detect features of interest, such as freshly disturbed soil. Such an analysis can be useful in detecting freshly planted crops or recently laid landmines, for example. Products based on optical wavelength separation capabilities (such as multiplexers and de-multiplexers) can also be used in fiber optic telecommunication systems for optical wavelength switching to separate wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) channels carried over a single optical fiber.
Conventional spectrometers used for Raman analysis are relatively large and heavy laboratory-based instruments, primarily due to the large optical focal lengths inherent in the designs of high resolution instruments. In addition, conventional spectrometers can produce spectra of fairly limited ranges of wavelengths at higher reciprocal dispersions.

Multi-channel, multi-spectrum imaging spectrometer


An augmented reality (AR) effect system can improve application of AR effects by sharing resources between AR effects. The AR effect system can employ manifests for AR effects that define which resources are required to render each AR effect. The AR effect system can organize rendering operations used by selected AR effects into a pipeline and can use the manifests of the AR effects to determine when each resource will be needed. Based on this pipeline, the AR effect system can create a cache order defining a resource schedule which specifies, when a resource is freed, conditions for whether to save the resource to a local cache or unload the resource. As rendering of the video with the AR effects progresses, the resource schedule can control whether resources not currently being used to render an AR effect should be unloaded or cached for fast access for future render operations.

People are capturing, sharing, and viewing videos at an incredible rate. According to one estimate, one large social media website facilitates around four billion video viewing events each day. With this ever-increasing demand, users want the ability to customize such videos e.g., with filters, captions, overlays, and other effects. The enhancement of a video with computer-generated perceptual information in various modalities such as visual, auditory, haptic, etc., is referred to as applying augmented reality (AR) effects.
In some cases, visual AR effects can be "view locked," where aspects of the effect are positioned relative to the dimensions of a video frame and may move but without relation to the content of the video. An example of a view locked AR effect is a logo placed in the bottom-right corner of the video, no matter how the camera moves. In other cases, visual AR effects can be "world locked" where the effect is positioned relative to video content, such as a particular displayed person or object, even when the camera view shifts. An example of a world locked AR effect is a crown placed on a depicted user's head that appears to remain in the same position on the user's head as the camera moves. AR effects can also be "non-reactive" (i.e., have a pre-defined output irrespective of the video content), or "reactive" (i.e., the effect can present differently depending on video content, such as specified triggers the system can identify). An example of a non-reactive AR effect is a spaceship flying around the video frame which doesn't change as the video content changes. An example of a reactive AR effect is that same spaceship, but it moves to avoid a depicted user's hands and appears to explode if a user's hand intersects with it. AR effects can have many other characteristics, which can rely on a variety of subsystems such as machine learning models, 3D modeling, hand tracking, object recognition, target tracking, location services, audio graphing, etc.
While existing systems can apply AR effects to live or previously captured videos, they tend to limit the total number and timing of applied AR effects.
The techniques introduced here may be better understood by referring to the following Detailed Description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate identical or functionally similar elements.

Augmented reality effect resource sharing


A switching control circuit includes a serial-to-parallel converter, a rewritable storage device, and a decoder. The serial-to-parallel converter performs serial-to-parallel conversion for converting an inputted first control signal into a first parallel signal, and outputs the first parallel signal. The rewritable storage device has a write mode and a read mode selectively switched over in response to a storage mode switching signal, stores therein data of the first parallel signal in the write mode, and outputs the stored data as a second parallel signal in the read mode. In the read mode, the decoder decodes the first control signal and the second parallel signal to generate and output a plurality of element control signals to a plurality of elements, respectively. In the write mode, the decoder holds the plurality of element control signals generated in the read mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switching control circuit for use in a radio communication apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to a switching control circuit for use in a radio communication apparatus for transmitting and receiving a signal with switching over between a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) mode and a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) mode, and a radio communication apparatus including the switching control circuit, where the GSM mode is a mode such as a GSM system, and the CDMA mode is a mode such as a WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) system or a CDMA 2000 system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a mobile telephone has been developed and put to practical use, where the mobile telephone has a multi-mode radio communication function for selectively switching over between the GSM mode, such as the GSM system which is called the second generation, and the CDMA mode which is called the third generation.
Nowadays, in the GSM system, a mobile telephone system has been established by using a quad-band that uses four bands in total including two bands located in 800 MHz band and two bands located in 1.8 GHz band. In addition, in the WCDMA system, a mobile telephone system has been established by using nine bands of Bands I to IX.
In order to constitute a multi-mode transmitter circuit for switching over among a plurality of different systems as described, a multi-mode radio apparatus according to a prior art was constituted by including a switching controller circuit for selectively switching over among the plurality of systems and bands, and a controller for controlling the operation of the switching controller circuit (See United States patent application publication No. 2004/0166823, and semiconductor product information "NJG1540JA3, 5×10 dual-band antenna switch GaAsMMIC", New Japan Radio Co., Ltd., http://semicon.njr.cojp/pdf/ie/ie10008.pdf, Apr. 3, 2006).
However, the radio communication apparatus constituted as stated above and having the GSM mode and the CDMA mode has such a problem that as the number of modes and bands switched over by the controller increases, the number of control signals for controlling the switching control circuit increases, and the number of signal lines between the controller and the switching control circuit increases. Accordingly, as the number of devices such as antennas, demodulators, and modulators increases, which are switched over with the switchover among the modes and the bands, the number of signal lines between the switching control circuits provided in the respective devices and the controller increases. This leads to such a problem that the circuit size of the entire radio communication apparatus becomes larger.

Switching control circuit provided with serial to parallel converter and storage unit, and radio communication apparatus using the same


An optoelectronic pickup for providing an electrical output signal that is a linear representation of the relative displaced position of a mounted string. A collimated light source enables high contrast shadows of the string to be sensed by a photodetector. It also excludes information about the displaced position of the string in all directions except those along a single axis. The photodetector has a large flat surfaced area providing an output signal throughout the entire normal operating displacement range of the string. The design of the detector system results in a linear relationship between the relative position of the string and the total integrated illumination of the active area of the photodetector and hence the electrical output signal. A dual detector scheme allows the pickup to be immune to stray light and also to noise pickup on the lead wires.

The magnetic pickup has become the standard pickup for the guitar as well as for other stringed instruments. Recently however, there has been some effort to overcome its inherent disadvantages which include a weak signal, sensitivity to stray fluctuating magnetic fields, limited frequency response, and dependency on metal strings.
Optoelectronic pickups have been devised in an attempt to overcome some of these problems. They generally consist of a light emitter-detector combination configured in such a way as to detect the motion of a string as it moves through, and interferes with, the light path between the emitter and the detector.
Although they may generally overcome some of the problems of the magnetic pickup, they exhibit certain inadequacies and even generate problems of their own. For example, none of these new pickups guarantee a linear relationship, or any definitive relationship for that matter, between the actual position or speed of the string and the electrical output signal of the pickup. They also tend to combine the two dimensions of motion of a cross section of a vibrating string into a one dimensional output signal in a vague and often undesirable way.
No well defined continuous relationship between string motion and signal output exists in these systems. For example, many such pickups work simply by relying on the string to chop a beam of light, indicating that the relationship between the string motion and position and output signal is highly nonlinear and noncontinuous.
Intentionally or unintentionally combining the electrical representation of the two dimensions of the string motion in the output signals of these pickups can produce undesirable effects. When they are combined, the portion of the output signal due to string motion along one axis of motion can interfere with the portion of the output signal due to string motion along another axis causing harmonic distortion of the output signal. This is an important consequence since it is expected to have the string moving significantly in two dimensions whenever its vibrating. The belief that the string only vibrates significantly along one axis after it is strummed or plucked is really a misconception. In fact it is actually quite difficult to intentionally make it vibrate in this manner. During normal guitar playing the strings are typically going through a variety of complex and changing paths including elliptical, circular, etc.
A nonlinear relationship between the string position and the output signal also generates harmonic distortion. This is a principal reason that a pickup should have an output signal that is a definitive linear representation of the relative position of the string being observed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,733,953 issued May 22, 1973 to Ferber discloses an optoelectronic pickup that operates on the principal of a string intersecting the path of a light beam from a light emitting device toward a light-detecting device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,931 issued Jan. 14, 1986 to Siebeneiker discloses a system for scanning the vibrations of a mass. It includes a source of scanning radiation, and the umbra behind the mass and the surrounding illuminated area is collected by a focusing lens and projected onto an optoelectronic converter.
In the ensuing description of the present invention, the axis of a string or the longitudinal axis of a string shall be understood to mean the imaginary line through the center of the stationary string when mounted taught. When referring to a cross section of a string it will be meant the intersection between the string and a two dimensional plane to which the axis of the string is normal. To define a relative string position or a relative position of a string, first consider the center point of a given cross section of a mounted string. Now consider the position of this point relative to a given second point that is also on the same cross sectional plane that contains the string cross section. Assume also that this second point is fixed within the reference frame of the string's mount. The position of the first point relative to the given second point shall be called the relative string position. Typically then, whenever discussing a relative string position it will be understood to be with respect to a given cross sectional plane, and more than likely to be where an optical pickup is to be placed.
As a result of the inability of current optoelectronic pickup systems to isolate one or more orthogonal components of string position or motion, they are susceptible to harmonic distortion and other undesirable effects. This is one of the main reasons it is important to be able to break up this relative position or motion into components along one or two orthogonal axes and then translate these components into one or two respective output signals.
Once these components are separated, it is also important to provide a linear, or proportional relationship between the relative string position and the output signal.
The prior art does not address the problem of the effects of interference between the two orthogonal components of relative string position or motion. Nor does it sufficiently teach how to construct pickups with definitive linear relationships between the string position and the electrical output signal.
Still other optoelectronic pickup systems are more concerned with providing piecewise information about string motion rather than generating a signal analogous to a more complete description of the trajectory of a vibrating string. This may be acceptable for what they were intended for, which typically is generating only that information about string plucking needed by synthesizers. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,530 issued Mar. 15, 1988 to Bonanno discloses a synthesizer guitar controller pickup method for generating control signals for a synthesizer.
Although there is sometimes a narrow linear range of operation for existing optoelectronic pickups for guitar synthesizers, for the majority of typical string positions they are providing only a simple control signal to a synthesizer and so could not be used to replace a standard magnetic pickup for nonsynthesizer type of playing.
Another problem common to all previous optoelectronic pickups is susceptibility to stray light. The typical solution to this so far has been to enclose the pickup system in some sort of light-tight shield. This adds to the cost and complexity of the system however, and since the string must pass through this enclosure on at least one side, there must always be an opening where stray light could enter. Stray light can cause problems in at least two ways. First, it can add to an undesirable DC bias at the detector output which will change for different room light levels. Second, any ambient light with AC components in the audio range e.g. florescent lights, lights with dimmers, infrared remote controls or just lights being turned on or off could be audible at the final output.
Present optoelectronic pickups still at some point have to convert the optical signal to an electronic signal for use by external equipment. The leads that carry this output signal are no more immune to electrical interference than pickups that use nonoptical means. It is desirable to significantly reduce or eliminate this noise.
Also, this type of pickup requires a source of electrical power for the light source. Therefore there may be a need for an efficient way to use this power since it may be desirable to power the pickup with a battery pack instead of running an extra set of power leads off of the guitar.

Optoelectronic pickup for stringed instruments


A positive electrode plate for a lithium ion secondary battery is made of aluminum and includes a positive current collecting foil made of aluminum, in which at least a main surface portion constituting a main surface is porous, a positive active material layer formed on the main surface portion of the positive current collecting foil, and a coating layer, having electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance, formed between the positive current collecting foil and the positive active material layer to directly coat the main surface of the positive current collecting foil.

With the recent popularization of portable electronics such as cellular phones, notebook-sized personal computers and video camcorders as well as vehicles such as hybrid electric cars, a demand for batteries for use in the driving power sources of those devices and vehicles is growing.
As the batteries used in such applications, lithium ion secondary batteries (hereinafter referred to as "batteries") are widely known which use a positive electrode plate for a lithium ion secondary battery (hereinafter referred to as "positive electrode plate"), the positive electrode plate having positive active material layers laid over the main surfaces, respectively, of a positive current collecting foil made of aluminum.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a battery using a positive electrode (a positive electrode plate) in which active material layers (positive active material layers) containing active material are formed on a current collector (a positive current collecting foil). This current collector is made of aluminum and has surfaces (main surfaces) which have been made porous by AC etching. This battery is able to exhibit good charge/discharge properties because it can retain electrolyte in the holes of the current collector (the positive current collecting foil).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Positive electrode plate for use in lithium ion secondary battery, lithium ion secondary battery, vehicle, device with battery mounted thereon, and method for producing positive electrode plate for lithium ion secondary battery


A method of providing through-thickness reinforcement of a laminated material which includes a matrix material including a step of creating a locally heated zone in the laminated material so as to locally soften the matrix material by focussing a set of at least two energy beams at a location where through-thickness reinforcement is required and a step of inserting a reinforcement element through the thickness of the laminated material at the location of the locally heated zone to through-thickness reinforce the laminated material.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to a method of through-thickness reinforcing a laminated material with a reinforcing element. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of heating a laminated material to insert a reinforcing element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Laminated composite materials, in which reinforcing fibres are held within a polymeric matrix, are extensively used in many engineering applications. Such materials can generally provide a higher strength and stiffness per unit weight than conventional metallic materials. This makes such composite materials advantageous for weight sensitive applications, such as those in the field of aerospace.
A known problem with laminated composite materials is their poor inter-laminar, or through-thickness, mechanical properties in comparison to the corresponding in-plane properties. Such low inter-laminar strength and fracture toughness can constrain the design of composite parts and may even limit the use of such materials for certain applications.
One solution to this problem is the use of a toughened matrix material. Such matrix materials are generally significantly more expensive than conventional matrix materials, often have poor high temperature properties and may still not provide a sufficient increase in fracture toughness.
An alternative solution to improving inter-laminar strength properties is the insertion of through-thickness fibres into the laminated material. Various techniques have been developed for the insertion of such reinforcing fibres.
One method for inserting through-thickness reinforcing fibres into the laminated material is stapling or z-pinning. These reinforcing fibres are generally fibrous in structure and may be formed with a 45° chamfer at the insertion end. Through-thickness reinforcing fibres are intended to resist shear forces so as to improve the inter-laminar strength and fracture toughness.
The reinforcing fibres may be inserted into laminated material which is pre-impregnated with the matrix material. Once the reinforcing fibres have been inserted into the laminated material, the laminated material and matrix combination can then be cured in order to form a consolidated composite material. The composite material may then, with or without further processing, form composite components.
Inserting the through-thickness reinforcing fibres through the pre-impregnated material is easier, and causes less damage to the reinforcing fibres, if the matrix material has an appropriately low viscosity. The viscosity should be such that the reinforcing fibre can be inserted, but that the matrix material surrounding the layers making up the laminated material is retained.
FIG. 6, which is a rheology plot (dynamic viscosity vs. temperature) for a typical epoxy resin material that might be used in a laminated composite material, shows how this can be achieved by heating the pre-impregnated laminated material enough that the reinforcing fibres can be inserted through the softened matrix material. It can be seen from FIG. 6 that, by heating the laminated material, the dynamic viscosity of the epoxy resin will be considerably lower than at room temperature. This reduction in viscosity greatly aids the process of inserting the reinforcing fibres.
However, the heating process presents challenges as, usually, many thousands of reinforcing fibres are required in order to manufacture a suitably strong composite component.
One option is to heat the pre-impregnated laminated material just enough that the matrix material does not reach its gel point. The gel point is the temperature at which the curing process begins and the matrix material will begin to harden. The gel point is shown in FIG. 6 as the inflection point of the rheology plot, i.e. the point where the reduction in viscosity induced by heating ceases and further heating causes a rapid increase in viscosity as the material starts to cure or harden. Once begun, the curing process cannot be reversed.
Keeping the matrix material below its gel point may be achieved by cycles of heating and cooling the laminated material as the many reinforcing fibres are inserted. This need to keep the laminated material cool enough adds considerable time and complexity to the manufacturing process. It can also therefore, be a process which consumes a large amount of energy. Taken alone, the process of heating the laminated material so that the matrix material is uniformly softened can be time consuming.
Another option is to heat the pre-impregnated laminated material to a known temperature having a corresponding known and finite time-interval until the matrix material reaches its gel point. Once this temperature is reached, all the reinforcing fibres, which are to be inserted, must be in place before the matrix material begins to harden. It follows that, by reinforcing the laminated material in this way, there is limited scope for correcting production errors in the insertion process as once begun the curing process cannot be stopped.

Method of through-thickness reinforcing a laminated material


An elongated implant device for stabilizing the spinal column includes a rod-shaped member having a first end and a second end, the rod-shaped member defining a longitudinal axis of the implant device, a sleeve which is slidably arranged on the rod-shaped member, the sleeve having a free end and a coupled end, the coupled end being connected with an axial dampening element, and the axial dampening element, which is connected between the sleeve and the second end of the rod-shaped member to damp a movement of the sleeve along the longitudinal axis. The first end of the rod-shaped member may be configured to be connected to a first bone anchor and the sleeve may be configured to be connected to a second bone anchor.

The present application relates to an elongated implant device and bone stabilization device.
Bone anchors which are respectively inserted into adjacent human vertebrae may be connected to the implant device, in particular to the slidable sleeve and the first end of the rod-shaped member in order to stabilize the vertebral column. Since the sleeve is arranged to be slidable with respect to the first end of the rod-shaped member, some degree of flexion or torsion between vertebrae of the vertebral column can be maintained. Moreover, the dampening element may absorb shocks and relieves and/or distributes the load acting on the vertebrae participating in the bone stabilization.
An example of such a device is known from US 2007/0276,380 A1. A connection unit of an implant device has a first end and a second end. A flexible element extends between the first and the second end, where a cap is attached. A spacer extends between the first end and the cap at the second end. The spacer has a central ring element and, on either side thereof, a resilient spring element. Thereby, the spacer is formed in a sleeve-like fashion such that the flexible element is lead through the spacer, which is thus guided by flexible element. A bone anchor may then each be connected to the first end and the ring element, such that—by means of both resilient spring elements—the ring element may be displaced from a rest position along the longitudinal axis of the flexible element, when forces are exerted on respective bone anchors.
The major forces act in tension or compression along the rod axis. In addition there are secondary loading components, which are bending, shearing and torsional loads. The inner flexible element is mostly acting against such secondary loads. This results in a major bending zone in between the two bone anchors. Such bending is directly transferred onto the flexible spring element, which is arranged between the ring element and the first end.
While the above described flexion does not imply problems with regard to the durability of the resilient spring element arranged between the bone anchors, which may also be valid in the case of torsion, a distinct perspective has to be attained with regard to shear, when material long-term fatigue after several millions of cycles is key.
Therefore, material fatigue of dampening elements, such as resilient spring elements, which are mainly intended to serve for dampening or absorbing forces acting in the longitudinal direction of an implant device, due, e.g., shear stress occurring between adjacent bone anchors should be prevented.
Further, mutual distances between adjacent bone anchors in an implant should be kept small and the resulting degree of flexion of the flexible element should be kept in a limited range.

Elongated implant device and bone stabilization device including the same


A multilayer ceramic electronic component includes a ceramic body including a dielectric layer and first and second internal electrodes, a first external electrode connected to the first internal electrode, and a second external electrode connected to the second internal electrode. The ceramic body includes a capacitance formation portion having first and a second surfaces opposing each other in a first direction, third and fourth surfaces opposing each other in a second direction, and fifth and sixth surfaces opposing each other in a third direction, the ceramic body including a first margin portion disposed on the third and fifth surfaces and a second margin portion disposed on the fourth and sixth surfaces.

In general, electronic components using ceramic materials, such as capacitors, inductors, piezoelectric elements, varistors or thermistors, include a ceramic body formed of a ceramic material, internal electrodes formed inside of the body, and external electrodes installed on the surface of the ceramic body to be connected to the internal electrodes.
In recent years, as electronic products have been miniaturized and multifunctionalized, chip parts have also been miniaturized and have become highly functional. Therefore, multilayer ceramic electronic parts are also required for high-capacity products having a small size and high capacity.
In the related art, the area of the dielectric layer is formed to be larger than the area of the internal electrode, such that a margin portion is formed in the remaining circumferential portions of internal electrodes, excluding a portion thereof connected to the external electrode. However, in this case, when tens to hundreds of dielectric layers are stacked, the dielectric layers may be stretched to fill step portions, and the internal electrodes may also be bent. When the internal electrode is bent, a problem occurs in that the breakdown voltage (BDV) decreases in the corresponding part.
To prevent this problem, a method of separately preparing and attaching a sheet-shaped margin portion has recently been used. However, when a separately manufactured sheet is attached to form a margin portion, there is a problem in which delamination occurs between the margin portion and the ceramic body.

Multilayer ceramic electronic component and method of manufacturing the same


Data is transferred from a transmitter to a data buffer of a receiver according to the clock of the transmitter. When the amount of data in the data buffer exceeds an upper limit, the frequency of the reference clock of the receiver is increased to read the data faster, which is transferred to a digital-to-analog converting and audio amplifying section. When the amount of data falls below the upper limit, data is read at the original frequency of the reference clock of the receiver. When the amount of data falls below a lower limit, the frequency of the reference clock of the receiver is decreased.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for correcting jitter of transmission data. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for correcting jitter of transmission data that arises from a clock frequency difference between devices operating with independent clocks when sound or music data that requires real-time characteristics is transmitted between such devices for playback of the data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information, including sound and music data, may be transmitted and received between devices through a wireless connection such as BLUETOOTH or wireless LAN. A variety of audio and video systems are proposed in which a DVD player or a personal computer that plays back and displays video images, a CD players an FM tuner or similar source devices are wirelessly connected to a speaker which outputs sound signals from such devices received by the wireless connection.
FIG. 7 shows an example of an audio system according to the known art, illustrating how sound data is transmitted and played back.
The audio system according to the known art shown in FIG. 7 includes a transmitter 41 (source device) that plays back or generates sound or music data (hereinafter, both sound and music data together or separately may be referred to as music data), such as a DVD player, a personal computer, a CD player, or an FM tuner; and a receiver 42 having a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter (not shown), an audio amplifier (AMP) (not shown), and a speaker (not shown) connected thereto. The receiver 42 includes a data buffer 43 for temporarily storing data. The receiver 42 receives music data in packets from the transmitter 41 into the data buffer 43, transfers the music data from the data buffer 43 to the digital-to-analog converter, and finally outputs the data from the speaker.
In the known audio system described above, the transmitter 41 and the receiver 42 are operated based on their respective reference clocks, which are independent of each other. Let us assume that the transmitter 41 has a reference clock of nominally 44.1 kHz, which is the sampling frequency of music data, and breaks music data into packets to transmit the data to the receiver 42 according to the 44.1-kHz reference clock. Under this assumption, the receiver 42 receives the packets of music data from the transmitter 41 and sequentially stores the received music data into the data buffer 43 according to the reference clock of the transmitter 41. The data buffer 43 operates on a FIFO scheme and can normally store about 200 ms of data.
The receiver 42 reads out the music data stored in the data buffer 43 according to its 44.1-kHz reference clock and transfers the music data to the digital-to-analog converter. The music signals are converted to analog signals through the digital-to-analog converter, amplified through a device such as the audio amplifier and are then output from the speaker.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-128171 discloses a technology that allows sound and music to be transmitted wirelessly between devices as described above.
In the known method for transmitting data, the transmitter 41 and the receiver 42 are provided with respective reference clocks, which are independent of each other. The nominal reference clock frequency of the receiver 42, may not completely match that of the transmitter 41. The data buffer 43 in the receiver 42 is used to accommodate this difference between the nominal frequencies of the reference clocks.
The known art described above, however, has a disadvantage in that while music data is being read from the data buffer 43 for continuous playback, the data buffer 43 may become empty or full due to the difference in reference clock frequencies, thus generating jitter that causes unpleasant sound artifacts during playback, such as skipping of the music data being played back, or other sounds not faithfully reproducing the data that has been received over the wireless connection.

Method for correcting jitter of transmission data


A method of drying an anesthesia breathing system includes removing a CO2 absorber from the anesthesia breathing system, when the CO2 absorber is connected to an absorber inlet port and an absorber outlet port. The method further includes moving a bag-to-vent flow diverter to an intermediate position so as to simultaneously open both a bag channel and a ventilator channel, and connecting an inspiratory port and an expiratory port of the anesthesia breathing system together. A dry gas source is connected to an absorber outlet channel, and then a dry gas flow is provided through the bag channel and the ventilator channel so as to dry out moisture from a bag circuit and a ventilator circuit of the anesthesia breathing system.

The present disclosure generally relates to anesthesia breathing systems, and more particularly to methods and systems for drying anesthesia breathing systems and kits for drying anesthesia breathing systems.
Conventional anesthesia breathing systems have a patient delivery circuit comprising an inspiratory section and an expiratory section. The patient delivery circuit delivers breathing gases to the patient comprising oxygen and other gases, optionally infused with an inhalational anesthetic agent. As used herein, the term "ventilation" refers to a process of providing mechanical assistance to a patient for breathing. As used herein, "breathing gases" refer to gases inhaled by the patient from the patient delivery circuit and gases exhaled by the patient into the patient delivery circuit during breathing. Also, as used herein, "inspiratory gases" refers to gases transported along an inspiratory section of the patient delivery circuit, including gases that are inhaled or inspired by a patient from the inspiratory section of the patient delivery circuit and gases bypassing patient inhalation and transported directly into the expiratory section of the patient delivery circuit. Also, as used herein, "expiratory gases" refer to gases that are exhaled or expired by the patient into the expiratory section of the patient delivery circuit and gases bypassing inhalation and transported directly into the expiratory section from the inspiratory section which are not exhaled by the patient, both of which are transported along the expiratory section. Conventional anesthesia delivery systems are typically configured as bellows systems where patient ventilation is driven by a bellow.

Anesthesia breathing system and a method and kit for drying an anesthesia breathing system


Apparatus and methods for generating electrical power for powering a device associated with a bladed rotor driven by a gas turbine engine of an aircraft are disclosed. The apparatus includes a rotor shaft coupled the bladed rotor of the aircraft and driven by a turbine shaft of the engine via a speed-reducing gear train. A speed-augmenting power transfer device has an input coupled to the rotor shaft and an output for outputting a rotation speed higher than a rotation speed of the rotor shaft received at the input of the speed-augmenting power transfer device. An electric generator disposed in a hub of the bladed rotor is coupled to the output of the speed-augmenting power transfer device and configured to generate electrical power for the device associated with the bladed rotor.

Prime mover rotors such as propellers of fixed-wing aircraft and main rotors of rotary-wing aircraft have associated equipment such as pitch control devices for adjusting the pitch of the blades of the rotors and also de-icing devices. Typically, hydraulic power from the engine oil is used for pitch control and electrical power can be used for de-icing. Hydraulic power can be relatively inefficient to generate since pumps must be sized for maximum demand and then bypassed for much of the flight cycle and hence can represent a parasitic loss. With respect to supplying electrical power to de-icing devices of a rotor, multiple slip rings and brushes can be necessary to transfer the de-icing power. Slip rings and brushes can be prone to wear and require periodic maintenance.
Improvement is therefore desirable.

Apparatus and methods for powering an electrical device associated with an aircraft rotor


A lightweight hand-held scanning device for repetitively scanning a laser light source having a laser light generating means and at least one high speed scanning motor controlled by a resonant motor circuit which automatically controls the frequency and amplitude of oscillation of a high speed scanning motor. The frequency and amplitude control is accomplished by using a single feedback signal obtained from the windings of the motor which indicates resonance and which also measures the amplitude of oscillation. The feedback signal obtained is a second harmonic of the driving current. The circuit can be utilized to tune and maintain the motor in a resonant oscillating mode. By controlling both the frequency and amplitude of oscillation the high speed scanning motor can maintain a consistent scanning speed and use less power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to laser scanning systems for reading bar code symbols, and more particularly, to motor control circuits for hand held portable laser scanning heads.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The increased use of bar code symbols to identify products, particularly in retail business, has resulted in the development of various bar code reading systems. Many applications of bar code scanners require portable hand-held scanners which place a premium on size, weight and power requirements for the devices. One such system is a laser scanning bar code reading system as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,831, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention and incorporated by reference herein.
The laser scanning system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,831 includes a portable hand-held scanning head which may be embodied in various shapes but preferably has a gun-shaped housing made of lightweight but flexible plastic. A handle and barrel portion are provided to house the various components of the scanning head therein. Within the barrel portion are mounted a miniature light source, miniature scanning means for sweeping the light source across a bar code symbol, and miniature sensing means for detecting reflected light from the bar code symbol being scanned. The handle portion generally supports a d.c. power supply.
The miniature light source comprises a laser tube such as a co-axial helium-neon laser tube, or preferably, a semiconductor laser diode, which is considerably smaller and more lightweight than a laser tube, which of course will cut down on the required size and weight of the scanning head, thus making the scanning head easier to handle and more maneuverable. Light generated by the light source passes through the optic train which focuses the beam to impinge upon the scanning means, which are mounted in the light path within the barrel portion of the scanning head. The scanning means sweeps the laser beam across the bar code symbol, and comprises at least one scanning motor for sweeping the beam lengthwise across the symbol, and preferably comprises two motors, where the second motor sweeps the beam widthwise across the symbol. Light reflecting means such as mirrors are mounted on the motor shafts to direct the beam through the outlet port to the symbol. The sensing means then detects and processes the light reflected off the symbol, and generally comprises photosensitive elements such as semiconductor photodiodes.
The structural aspects of the scanning motor are analogous to a simplified stepper motor which is a device used to convert electrical pulses into discrete mechanical angular movements every time the currents in the stator windings are changed. By alternately energizing and de-energizing the two stator coils of a stepper motor, the magnetic interaction between the rotor poles and the stator poles causes the rotor to turn in discrete angular steps over the entire 360 degree circumference of the output shaft. In contradistinction to stepper motors, the scanning motor control means is operative to oscillate the shaft first in one circumferential direction over an arc length less than 360 degrees and secondly in the opposite circumferential direction over an arc length less than 360 degrees, and thereafter to repeat the aforementioned cycle at a high rate of speed.
The motor control means for the portable scanning head includes a reference means for applying a generally constant low level direct current voltage to one of the stator windings, thereby energizing one set of stator poles as north and south. The motor control means also includes a variable means for applying a periodic voltage of time-varying amplitude to the second set of stator windings, thereby energizing the second set of stator poles as north and south. The first set of stator poles, due to the d.c. current, define a neutral rotor position. When the rotor is displaced by a small angle from the neutral position, the stator poles exert a restoring torque on the rotor which is approximately proportional to the product of the d.c. current and the rotor displacement. The restoring torque is very similar to that generated by a spring. The spring-like action of the d.c. current and the rotating mass form an oscillatory system with a natural resonant frequency which increases as the d.c. current increases. The second set of stator poles exert an oscillatory torque on the rotor, which is thus forced to oscillate at the same frequency of the periodic voltage. The periodic voltage is referred to as the driving voltage, the current it generates is known as the driving current, and its frequency is called the driving frequency. The driving frequency will hereinafter be referred to as the fundamental frequency. When the natural resonant frequency is equal to the driving frequency, a condition of resonance exists, and the driving current required to maintain a given amplitude of oscillation is at its minimum value. However, there is no means for automatically adjusting to the resonance condition in the prior art.
In another aspect of the above referenced patent, a closed loop control circuit is disclosed t provide linear tracking of the laser scanning beam. The control circuit comprises a primary coil, two or more secondary coils and a moveable shield. The shield is fixedly mounted on the motor shaft for joint oscillatory movement therewith, and is located between the primary coil and the two secondary coils. Tuning capacitors are used to tune the secondary coils to resonate at the frequency at which the primary coil is excited, the secondary coils are inductively coupled to it to establish an oscillating magnetic field, and an a.c. voltage of the same high oscillating frequency as the primary coil appears across the secondary coils, and is detected by sensing circuitry. The sensing circuitry detects the voltage on its respectively associated secondary coil, and feeds the voltages to a differential amplifier for generating a difference signal which is proportional to the angular displacement of the shaft. This difference signal is, in turn, fed to one input of another differential amplifier whose input is supplied with a control voltage, and the output of the amplifier is then fed to the stator coil. The device of the aforementioned patent, therefore, sets forth an elaborate system to control the amplitude of oscillation of the motor shaft. However, there is no provision for continually monitoring and adjusting both the frequency and amplitude of oscillation of the motor shaft from a single internal feedback signal.

Portable laser scanning system and scanning methods having a resonant motor control circuit


Provided is a sheet feeder, which includes: a sheet placing table; a rotary body which is movable and sends out sheets; a sheet placement detection portion for detecting placement of sheets; an upper limit detection portion for detecting that the rotary body has reached an upper limit position; a transport detection portion for detecting transport of sheets; and a control part which rotates the rotary body so as to perform sheet feeding operation regardless of a detection state of the upper limit detection portion when sheets are set on the sheet placing table, determines that a non-feed jam has occurred when no sheet arriving is detected, and stops rotating the rotary body by determining that the sheet feeder is brought into a sheet feeding restriction state, when sheets are set again on the sheet placing table and the rotary body is detected to be in the upper limit position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet feeder for transporting sheets, an original document transport device which includes the sheet feeder, and an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a multifunction peripheral, or a facsimile machine. The present invention also relates to a sheet feeding method for the sheet feeder.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, an image forming apparatus that handles sheets, such as a copying machine, a multifunction peripheral, or a facsimile machine, is provided with a sheet feeder for receiving sheets and sending out the sheets as necessary. For example, the sheet feeder is disposed inside an original document transport device for automatically and successively feeding original documents (sheets) one by one to a reading position of an image reading part which reads the original document and generates image data. However, when sheets are stacked exceeding a sheet stacking capacity, the sheet feeder may be jammed with sheets, and hence sheet feeding operation cannot be performed appropriately. Further, the sheets may be damaged by being folded or the like. In view of this, some sheet feeders do not perform sheet feeding operation when too many sheets are stacked thereon.
For example, there is known a sheet feeder which includes: a sheet stacking part; a sheet feeding mechanism for feeding sheets one by one from the sheet stacking part; a device casing for supporting the sheet stacking part so as to be movable in a vertical direction; a driving mechanism for moving the sheet stacking part in the vertical direction; sheet stacking detection means for detecting stacking of sheets on the sheet stacking part; sheet position detection means for detecting that an uppermost sheet is positioned in a sheet feedable position, when the sheet stacking part is moved in an upward direction; and control means for determining that a sheet stacking amount is exceeded when the sheet stacking detection means and the sheet position detection means are each in a detection state before the sheet stacking part is moved in the upward direction, in which the control means prohibits operations of the sheet feeding mechanism and the driving mechanism when it is determined that the sheet stacking amount is exceeded. This configuration is intended for avoiding sheet feeding trouble.
For example, an original document transport device, which is a kind of the sheet feeder, feeds original documents as sheets. The original document transport device may include an original document feeding roller which comes into contact with an uppermost sheet of the original documents placed on the sheet placing table. The original document feeding roller is configured to be movable in a vertical direction, for example, so as not to interfere with the placement of original documents when an original document stack (sheet stack) including a large number of sheets are placed. Further, an upper limit detection sensor may be provided for detecting that the original document feeding roller has reached an upper limit position.
Here, there may be a case where, for example, an original document stack to be placed on the sheet placing table slightly exceeds a loadable thickness (maximum thickness capable of being transported without causing a non-feed jam). In such a case, the original document stack may be placed on the sheet placing table, but may be sandwiched between the original document feeding roller and the sheet placing table because the original document feeding roller is capable of moving upward. In this state, the original document feeding roller may fail to rotate, for example, and hence the original documents cannot be sent out appropriately, which leads to a non-feed jam.
In view of the above, as in the known sheet feeder, the feeding of original documents may be stopped without exception, when the upper limit detection sensor (sheet position detection means) detects that the original document feeding roller is in the upper limit position when original documents are set. When such a control is performed, the occurrence of a non-feed jam may certainly be prevented.
However, depending on the configuration and the mounting position of the upper limit sensor, the upper limit sensor may sometimes detect that the original document feeding roller is in the upper limit position even when the original document feeding roller has not reached the upper limit position completely. In other words, an allowance may be made in the detection performed by the upper limit sensor. Accordingly, even when the upper limit sensor detects that the original document feeding roller is in the upper limit position when original documents are set, a non-feed jam does not necessarily occur. That is, even when the upper limit sensor has detected that the original document feeding roller has reached the upper limit position, feeding operation of sheets or original documents may still be performed without causing a non-feed jam even when several more sheets or original documents are additionally placed thereon.
As described above, in a configuration where the sheet feeding operation is stopped without exception when the upper limit sensor has detected that the sheet feeding roller has reached the upper limit position, there arises a problem that the thickness (number of sheets or original documents) of the sheet stack or of the original document stack to be loaded at one time is reduced as compared with the thickness (number of sheets or original documents) of the sheet stack or of the original document stack that may originally be loadable in the device.

Sheet feeder, original document transport device, image forming apparatus, and sheet feeding method


A digital dynamic delay modulator and the method thereof are applied to a flyback converter. A first input voltage signal from the flyback converter is received and compared with a threshold voltage to determine whether a counting condition is matched. When the counting condition is matched, an integer predetermined count number is counted to determine a delay time. After finishing the counting, a first output signal is generated to turn on a switching device for the flyback converter. The slope of the first input voltage signal is detected when the switching device is turned on, and the slope is used to adjust the count number with integer increment/decrement. Therefore, the delay time for switching the flyback converter can be precisely controlled in digital and dynamic manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to power electronics, especially to an apparatus and a method for precise valley detection in quasi-resonant (QR) flyback converters.
2. Description of Prior Art
Flyback converters are extensively employed in low-power conversion applications due to the advantages of low cost and simple architecture. More specifically, quasi-resonant (QR) flyback converters can enhance the system performance without increasing system complexity and elements used. Therefore, QR flyback converters are advantageous in economic and environmental aspects.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a prior art QR flyback converter. FIG. 2 shows the signal waveforms relevant to the operation of the QR flyback converter in FIG. 1. After energy is fully discharged from the secondary winding Ns, a resonant is established by a resonant tank consisting of the magnetizing inductor of the primary winding Np and the parasitic capacitor of the switching device Q in FIG. 1. With reference to FIG. 2, the switching loss of the QR flyback converter can be reduced if the switching device Q is turned on during the valley voltage across the switching device Q. Namely, the switching device Q is turned on by a gate voltage VG after a delay time Td is elapsed from the moment the parasitic capacitor of the switching device Q starts to discharge (the onset of the resonant). However, the mass-produced QR flyback converters have difficulty to achieve soft switching at valley voltage of the switching device; therefore, the efficiency of the mass-produced QR flyback converters cannot be guaranteed.
To solve above-mentioned problem, U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,897 discloses a QR flyback converter turning on the switching device at a valley voltage across the switching device. FIG. 3 shows a circuit arrangement for valley voltage detection in U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,897. The circuit arrangement can be employed in the QR flyback converter shown in FIG. 1; therefore, the description thereof will be made with reference also to FIG. 1. In the circuit arrangement of FIG. 3, VAUX is a stable positive voltage source for maintaining operation of the circuit arrangement. When the secondary winding Ns starts to discharge, a voltage signal VAUXIN of an auxiliary winding (not shown) is a positive voltage proportional to the resonant waveform (the resonant waveform is shown, for example, by the curve of the drain voltage VD in FIG. 1). With reference to FIG. 3, an electric current flows from VAUXIN to node DMAG and then flows to the transistor M3; moreover, the transistor T1 is turned off at this moment. When the energy of the secondary winding Ns is fully discharged, the drain voltage VD of the switching device Q starts to resonate. At this time, an electric current proportional to the resonant waveform flows from the node DMAG to VAUXIN, a mirrored current flows through the transistor M2, which forms a current mirror with the transistor M1. An inverse signal VM is generated at the serial circuit of the transistor M2 and the resistor R, and the inverse signal VM is inversely proportional to the resonant waveform. The inverse signal VM is at its peak value (maximal value) when the drain voltage VD of the switching device Q resonates to a valley value (minimal value). The inverse signal VM triggers the logic circuit 74 to turn on the switching device Q. The circuit arrangement disclosed by this patent triggers the logic circuit 74 at the peak of the inverse signal VM (corresponding to the valley of the voltage VAUXIN at the auxiliary winding), and then the logic circuit 74 controls the switching of the switching device Q. However, there is a propagation delay between the triggering time and the switching time. Therefore, switching device Q cannot be precisely switched at the resonant valley.
Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 7,394,670 discloses a valley detection circuit. FIG. 4 shows the bottom voltage detector 51 disclosed in this patent. The bottom voltage detector 51 can be employed in the QR flyback converter shown in FIG. 1; therefore, the description thereof will be made with reference also to FIG. 1. The drain voltage VD of the switching device Q shown in FIG. 1 starts to resonate when the energy in the secondary winding Ns is fully discharged. The auxiliary winding 2C also has similar waveform with that of the primary winding (not shown). When the drain voltage VD starts to resonate, the diode 52 is turned off. At this time, the voltage at negative input of the comparator 57 is RC discharged through the capacitor 55 and the resistor 54. The voltage at negative input of the comparator 57 is compared with a threshold voltage VTH to generate a triggering voltage VBD. The triggering voltage VBD can be used to switch the switching device Q shown in FIG. 1. In this patent, RC discharging constant is used to provide a constant delay time. However, the control circuits of the mass-produced QR flyback converters generally have different propagation delays, and the constant delay time cannot switch all of the mass-produced QR flyback converters at the resonant valley.
Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 7,426,120 and No. 7,466,569 disclose switching control circuit having a valley voltage detector, and a power converter having phase lock circuit for quasi-resonant soft switching, respectively. FIG. 5 shows the circuit diagram of the phase lock circuit 200 disclosed by these patents. The phase lock circuit 200 can be employed in the QR flyback converter shown in FIG. 1 to determine a programmable delay time; therefore, the description thereof will be made with reference also to FIG. 1. In the phase lock circuit 200, a time delay TDLY is determined by the current source 230 and the capacitor 235, and the time delay TDLY is roughly equal to the delay time Td (from the time drain voltage Vd starts to resonate to the time the resonant valley occurs) shown in FIG. 2. When the time delay TDLY is elapsed and the switching device is to be switched, a slope detection circuit 300 detects the slope of the inverse signal VM at this moment. When the time delay TDLY is excessively long, the slope detection circuit 300 detects a positive slope in the inverse signal VM. The counter 210 controls the current source 230 to have larger current, thus shortening the time delay TDLY for next cycle. On the contrary, when the time delay TDLY is excessively short, the slope detection circuit 300 detects a negative slope. The counter 210 controls the current source 230 to have smaller current, thus prolonging the time delay TDLY for next cycle. Hence, the time delay TDLY will be automatically adjusted to achieve valley switching. However, the adjustment of the time delay TDLY is realized by the current source 230 and the capacitor 235. It is inevitable for the time delay TDLY to have analog error. More particularly, current source 230 with variable and precise current range is difficult to realize. The capacitor 235 and the comparison voltage VY also have manufacture offset. The above-mentioned analog error factors are aggravated for advanced manufacture process, and this makes circuit design more difficult.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a digital dynamic delay modulator and the method thereof for flyback converter to overcome the problems in above-mentioned prior arts.

Digital dynamic delay modulator and the method thereof for flyback converter